MUSIC.
"The Minstrel sleeps!" Ode to the memory of Sir WALTER Scow. Written by ROBERT GILFILLAN ; composed by FINLA.Y Dux.
There are poetry and feeling in this ode, and there are originality and beauty in the music to which it is set. The opening symphony is a funeral march ; the solemn strains of which, dying into silence, almost lead the listener to anticipate the first words of the singer,
" The Minstrel sleeps !" The song begins with a happy allusion to
the prophetic and affecting words of the illustrious dead.—
" The Minstrel sleeps I the charm is o'er.
The bowl beside the fount is broken;
And we shall hear that harp no more, Whose tones to every land have spoken !"
The accompaniment to this song is full of fine orchestral effects; and, were it sung by BRAIIAM, and the composer's design developed by the proper instruments, it would be a vocal tribute much more worthy of its object than any that has yet been offered.
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