MR. H. A. WOLLENHAUPT has written two compositions, published by O. Ditson & Co., both of which will prove very successful. One is a brilliant, yet not difficult transcription of the well-known song, "Ever of Thee," and the other a galop, called "The Meteor Grand Galop," a very brilliant and effective piece, and yet within reach of the ability of most of our amateurs.

EUROPEAN ITEMS.

WE read in the Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik, that the original score of "Le Nozze di Figaro,” in Mozart's hand-writing, is for sale. Those who wish to purchase it, must address, Mr. V. Schurig, in Presburg, (Hungary,) 82 Nonnenbahn.

MR. STEPHEN HELLER has published in London, twelve waltzes for the piano-forte, which are highly spoken of in English papers.

FIGURES, it is well known, play an important part now-a-days. At the conclusion of 1860, there were in Europe, 18,140 actors and singers, 21,609 actresses and female singers, 1,733 theatrical managers and directors; the sum total of persons of all classes employed in theaters was 82,216. The number of musicians can only be approximately calculated: if we take it at a million, of whom 600,000 are piano-forte players, we shall be pretty near the truth. A reward will be given to any one who shall answer the following question:-What relation does the total of 1,082,216 artists, Richard Wagner included, bear to the progress of

dramatic and musical art?

THE Moniteur has published the plan of the site of a new Opera House in Paris, which differs from all those yet issued, together with a notice that the work is thrown open to public competition. The theater is to stand in the midst of a large space, and will have no building within sixty feet of any portion of it. Its façade will be in view of the Boulevard, and at not more than 50 or 60 yards' distance. The theater is to contain from 1,800 to 2,000 persons; the length from the back of the boxes to the proscenium to be about 60 feet. The stage is to be capable of holding about 400 persons, its width 45 feet, and its depth 104. The total length of the building-which is to include not only the theater, but all its accessories-is to be 490 feet by 228. The grand hotel of the Opera is to be built between the new theater and the Boulevard; it will cover about 8,000 square yards of ground, and contain 600 bedrooms, besides saloons, dining-rooms, and every other feature of an hotel. A similar building is now nearly completed, as regards the shell of the construction, on the Boulevard de Sebastopol. This latter is to be called the Grand Hôtel du Commerce, and the two promise to be formidable rivals to the Hôtel du Louvre.

I HEAR, by the way, that Mr. Lumley, the ex-manager of Her Majesty's Theater, has secured a new prima donna of extraordinary endowments and accomplishments, and who, in all probability, will be heard in London next season. Her name is Galetti, and, furthermore, rumor is loud in praise of her beauty and general appearance—a second Grisi, in short, about to come to judgment.

HEINRICH MARCHNER, the German composer, is in Paris. He is about to produce his new opera, "Hiarne, the King of the Singers," at the Grand Opera, in obedience to the express commands-at least so it is said-of the Emperor Napoleon.

H. TRUHN, in Berlin, remarks, in regard to a performance of Schumann's Symphony in E flat (the same which will be heard to-night at the Philharmonic Concert), that the scoring of this work ought to have been done by Niels W. Gade, as Schumann was not able to bring his undeniably poetical thoughts to a general appreciation. (?)

A. B. MARX considers the Sonata for Piano and Violin, in E minor, op. 73, by J. Raff, as one of the best compositions of its kind which have been written since Beethoven.

MR. S. F. PETERS, in Leipzig, has just published "Four Symphonies for Orchestra, by Charles Philip Emanuel Bach. No. 1, in D: Score and Parts." These are the symphonies which were recently performed at one of the Gewandhaus Concerts in Leipzig with great success. piano score will also be shortly published.

The

EIGHT Sketch-books of Beethoven, in his own hand-writing, 1005 pages, are for sale. They contain sketches of motivos from the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and ninth Symphony, from "Fidelio" and "Egmont," his Quartets and Trios, his Sonatas for Piano and Violin, his Piano Concertos in E flat and G. The editor of the Deutsche Musik Zeitung, in Vienna, is to be addressed for particulars with regard to this sale

MAD. PLEYEL, the pianist, is expected in Paris for concert purposes. Liszt, Vieuxtemps, Bulow, and Gottschalk, it is said, also intend giving concerts this winter in the French Capital.

THE receipts for concerts, operatic and theatrical performances in Paris during the month of December last, amounted to over $300,000.

CHRYSANDER, in his Life of Handel, remarks: "With all his mighty genius he never gave troublesome nights to his parents by his eccentricities."

TO THE list of composers now trying their hands at opera-writing may be added the name of that estimable professor and excellent pianoforte-player, Herr Pauer; who, we learn, is far advanced in a musical draina, which is to be produced at Mannheim.-One remark may be made, and with reference to a former paragraph adverting to similar experiments. Those who write for the stage can only complete the study of their art by hearing their works executed. In that world, "the unheard melodies," immortalized by Keats, have no existence. It is not till a creation is exposed to the hard ordeal of public performance, that the wisest or most fanciful of composers can find out precisely where he has succeeded or why he has failed. "When I have written four or five operas," said Mendelssohn, "then perhaps I shall make something good."-Thus, all-tempting though the foot-lights be, and the power of swaying an audience more tempting still,-artists who cannot devote themselves to stage-craft,-be they in all respects and qualifications ever so excellent,-must write their one or two operas under as many chances of failure as of success.-London Atheœnm.

MISCELLANEOUS.

"SEEK not, young artist, the meaning expressed by the word genius. If you are inspired with its flame, you feel it. Are you destitute of genius, you will never be acquainted with it. The genius of a musician subunits the universe to his art. He paints objects by sounds; he gives a language even to silence itself; he renders ideas by sentiments, sentiments by accents; and the passions he represents are drawn from the recesses of the gives utterance, draws forth our sighs; he is continually burning, but heart. By his aid pleasure assumes new charms; the grief to which he never consumed. He expresses with fire even the coldest subjects; in painting the horrors of death, he conveys to the soul that sentiment of life which never abandons it, and which he communicates to all hearts formed for its reception. But, alas! his strains avail nothing to those in whom seeds like his own are not implanted; and his prodigies are scarcely felt by those who are incapable of imitating the fervor that gives them birth. Do you wish to know whether any spark of this devouring flame inspires you? Be quick! hasten to Naples-listen to the master-pieces of Leo, Durante, Jomelli, and Pergolese. If your eyes are filled with tears, if you feel your heart palpitate, if joy agitates your bosom, if sorrow involves you in transports, take Metastasio in in your hand, and labor: his genius will inflame yours; you will form a creation after his example. Stimulants like those will animate your genius; and the eyes of others will afterward restore you the tears your masters have caused you to shed. But if the charms of this grand art leave you tranquil and contented, if you feel no ravishing transports, if you discover nothing beautiful, dare you ask what is genius? Vulgar mortal! profane not the sacred appellation. What would it avail thee to know it-thou who canst not feel it? Compose in the French style and peaceably retire.-Rousseau.

ALMOST every genius until now has been one-sided, the result of a diseased constitution.-Novalis.