students. His family still preserve some sketch for compositions of this period, little fragments which already betray the hand of a master, but which are written on the back of those sheets of figures of theatrical characters which are still to be bought in old-fashioned shops for 'a penny plain, or two-pence coloured.' The dates at which the compositions of the next few years were finished show plainly this extraordinarily speedy development of his powers as a musician. His first symphony was completed on 6 April 1832, his first concerto in October, his second symphony on 9 Dec, and the overture to the ' Tempest ' on 31 Dec. of the same year. In 1833 the overture in D minor was finished on 12 Oct., the second concerto on 4 Nov. In the following year the overture to the ' Merry Wives of Windsor ' was written in May, and the third concerto finished on 31 Oct. In 1835 he produced the overture to 'Parisina' (2 Nov.), besides finishing a symphony in G minor (18 Oct.), and the sestet (1 Dec.) Of the above works, one was destined to have an important influence upon his future life. The first concerto (subsequently published as Opus 1) was produced at a pupils' concert at the Royal Academy on 26 June 1833, Bennett himself playing the pianoforte part. The work was received with every mark of favour, the directors of the Academy undertaking to publish it at their own expense ; but of more importance to the young composer was the fact that it attracted the attention of Mendelssohn, who was amongst the audience. The German musician, himself only seven years older than Bennett, seems to have been at once attracted by the work of one who possessed so many of his own idiosyncrasies. The curious manner in which, superficially at least, their compositions present similar characteristics, though not so marked at this period as it was when the two composers were drawn into closer connection, has given rise to a current idea that Bennett became the pupil of Mendelssohn. This was never the case, for Bennett received no instruction beyond what he obtained at the Academy. The influence of Mendelsohn upon Bennett — an influence which was much less than is generally supposed — was only the result of the close intimacy between them which had its origin at the Academy concert during the summer of 1833, and reached its height during Bennett's stay at Leipzig in 1836-7. In 1834 Bennett was elected organist at Wandsworth Church, a post he did not retain very long. Though still devoting himself chiefly to the pianoforte and composition, he had not entirely neglected the study of other instruments, for on 24, 26, and 28 June and 1 July his name occurs amongst the viola players in the orchestra or the Handel Festival held in Westminster Abbey. The month of August he spent at his grandfather's at Cambridge, but in October he was back at the Academy, and on the 17th of the next month he played his second concerto at a concert of the Society of British Musicians, on which occasion Miss Birch sang his scena, 'In radiant loveliness.' On 8 Dec. the same society produced his overture to the 'Merry Wives of Windsor.' In 1835 he gave a concert at Cambridge on 26 Feb., and on 11 May made his first appearance at the Philharmonic Society's concerts, on which occasion he played his second con- certo. In October he finished a third symphony, and in November the Society of British Musicians produced his fine overture 'Parisina,' a work which he subsequently re-scored twice. In January 1830 he was at Cambridge once more, where he occupied his holidays by writing the third (dramatic) concerto. This work was begun on 8 Jan. and finished on the 22nd of the same month, but was not produced until the following April, when Bennett played it at a Philharmonic concert. In May, accompanied by Mendelssohn's friend, Klingemann, and by J. W. Davison, the critic, Bennett started for Düsseldorf, where the Lower Rhine Festival was held that year. The occasion was a memorable one, for Mendelssohn's first oratorio, 'St. Paul,' was to be produced, besides which the programme included the two overtures to 'Leonore,' one of the Chandos anthems, 'Davidde Penitente,' and the Ninth Symphony. The performances took place on 22, 23, and 24 May, under Mendelssohn's personal direction. Occupied as he must have been, he nevertheless found time to renew his acquaintance with Bennett, whom he strongly pressed to visit Leipzig, and as the English musicians were about to return home, he advised them not to do so without taking a trip up the Rhine. Fortunately for posterity, the advice was followed, for on. this excursion Bennett conceived the idea of his most lovely work, the overture 'The Naiads,' the first sketch of which was actually written in Germany, though the work was not finished until the following September at Cambridge, where he went on his return to England. On 23 Sept. he left the Academy,, and soon afterwards wrote to Mendelssohn about coming to Leipzig. Financial difticul- ties being fortunately overcome by the kind- ness of Messrs. Broadwood, he started for Germany in October, and arrived at Ham- burg on the 25th. Two days later he was at,
