which, at the Globe, Willette Kershaw, an American actress, achieved success in an emotional part that made a strong human appeal. Another sort of appeal-that, mainly, of horror-was not made in vain in several series of "Grand Guignol " thrillers at the Little Theatre.

On the light side of the account the most notable success of the year came with a farce by the American author, Walter Hackett, entitled "Ambrose Applejohn's Adventure," and staged at the Criterion (July 19). Charles Hawtrey appeared as the protagonist, and the part was admirably designed for the display of his characteristic comedic gifts in situations ludicrously incongruous. Three other comedies that figured fairly prominently in the list had won popularity previously in America: "Polly with a Past," in which Donald Calthrop and Edna Best played the chief parts at the St. James's; "Miss Nell o' New Orleans," which showed Irene Vanbrugh to advantage in her lighter vein at the Duke of York's, and "Welcome Stranger," a piece in which a Jewish comedian, Harry Green, made a distinct personal success at the Lyric. In the list of home-made comedies to which the public took kindly should be included "A Safety Match," adapted by Ian Hay from one of his novels, and produced by Arthur Bourchier at the Strand. The serious element in this play gave it an interest above the common. But more original, because of its fantastic conception, was Lord Dunsany's "If," which, with Henry Ainley and Gladys Cooper in the leading parts, proved attractive at the Ambassador's. On the other hand, H. G. Wells and St. John Ervine's fantastic dream-play, "The Wonderful Visit," founded on a novel by the former, and beautifully staged at the St. Martin's, was pronounced more than a little disappointing. The central idea was one difficult to transplant effectively to the footlights, and, as a matter of fact, the story was handled in a fashion none too happy, with the result that the unreality of the whole thing was emphasised to the detriment of the play's interests.

A few of the year's musical productions also deserve passing notice. For the most part they were not of the kind that might tempt one to linger over their merits. "Cairo" has already been dealt with. Daly's, as the chief home of musical plays, introduced us to the long-talked-of "Sybil," a work of German (or Austrian) origin, with music-quite good in parts-by Victor Jacobi, the English version, shaped by Harry Graham, containing effective rôles for José Collins, Harry Welchman, and Huntley Wright. This piece enjoyed greater favour than another somewhat similar importation, "The Gipsy Princess," produced at the Prince of Wales's. Its tuneful score, composed by Emmerich Kalman, was better than the book. The same remark applies, though even more forcibly, to a native comic opera, "The Rebel Maid," composed by Montague Phillips, and seen at the Empire, with a cast including Clara Butterworth, Thorpe Bates, and Walter Passmore. Two other home-made products were "My Nieces," a version of Pinero's old farce, "The Schoolmistress," in which Percy Greenbank and Howard Talbot successfully collaborated; and "The Golden Moth," a musical comedy, equipped with jingles of the popular type by Ivor Novello, and housed at the Adelphi, with W. H. Berry as chief comedian. An American importation, "Sally," with music by Jerome D. Kern, proved immensely popular at the Winter Garden. E

A very beautiful production, partly of the revue type, was C. B. Cochran's "The League of Notions," the staging of which, at the New Oxford, was said to have cost nearly 30,000l. Nevertheless it made a profit. On the other hand, an attempt at the Gaiety to revive the glories of old-time burlesque, with a piece called "Faust on Toast," resulted in a disastrous loss. Earlier in the year that theatre had witnessed a very artistic, but financially unsuccessful, production of Maeterlinck's "The Betrothal," for which special music, mostly incidental, was composed by C. Armstrong Gibbs.

III. MUSIC.

The absence of grand opera was an outstanding feature of the musical life of 1921. True, we were not entirely without opera, for at the Royal Victoria Hall, familiarly and fondly known as The Old Vic., there were many performances of surprising excellence, of "Don Giovanni," into which was introduced, practically for the first time in England, the original Sextet Finale, and of "Tristan and Isolde," among other operas ; Nicholas Gatty's "Prince Ferelon was produced. Then the Carl Rosa Company held a ten-weeks' season at Covent Garden during the autumn, with a more or less conventional repertory. But in addition they played three parts of "The Ring" and revived "The Mastersingers" and "Lohengrin" with John Coates in the title-rôle. Incidentally they attempted to galvanise into life Naylor's "The Angelus," a rather oldfashioned affair, and produced D'Orlay's "Le Chant Fatal." Vladimir Rosing gave a series of performances of what were described as "Opèras intimes" at the Eolian Hall; at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, Gustav Holst's "Savitri" was given, and there also that colossally successful "Beggars' Opera" continued its unbroken career right through the year. From the ashes of the Beecham Opera Company (see ANNUAL REGISTER, 1920) there sprang the British National Opera Company, the founders of which were a number of the principal singers, etc., of the Beecham Company. Many meetings were held in London and various important provincial cities, the foundations were, seemingly, well and truly laid, but by the turn of the year we had the promise only of a series of performances. The once brilliant "grand" opera season in the spring seems unquestionably to have passed away.

The orchestral position was as parlous as ever. There was little, if any, sign of a change in the well-nigh prohibitive cost of an orchestral concert from that of the previous year, nor is it easy to see how a reduction of any importance can be made. The fact, however, remains, that with the rise of fees due to cost of living, and the more or less definite fixture of the prices of entry, some drastic measures must be adopted or orchestral concerts must cease to exist. In spite of this the usual serial orchestral concerts were held, and if they paid their way, funds were provided to a considerable extent in the manner of private subscriptions which formed a kind of subsidy. The Royal Philharmonic Society held its usual season in the spring under the direction of Albert Coates and Hamilton Harty, and in the autumn Lionel Tertis played for the first time Arnold Bax's Viola Concerto, and Holst's ballet "The Perfect Fool"

was produced; but there is no denying the fact that complaints were rife that the historic old Society owed not a little of its more or less doubtful position to its own lack of initiative-which, in its turn, was due to paucity of funds. This vicious circle, however, was not the sole prerogative of the R.P.S. Albert Coates conducted the London Symphony Orchestra's season, during which he produced a symphonic poem by Laurence Collingwood-a former coadjutor of Coates in Petrograd-and "A Song of the Night," by Karol Szymanoffsky, a Polish composer hitherto quite unknown to us; but again the complaint was loud and long of the shortage of money. A very fine performance was given at one concert of Brahms's Requiem" with the aid of the young Philharmonic Choir, and at another of Bach's B-Minor Mass. It is worth recording that for a week before this latter performance, advertisements announced that the Queen's Hall was sold out. Yet the balance sheet of the Society showed that there was a considerable deficit on the concerta fact, on the face of it, to give one pause. The Queen's Hall Symphony concerts, Sir Henry J. Wood conducting, as always before went their way, producing an occasional new work, and though these new works included a symphony by Sibelius, an Indian Fantasy by Busoni, the "Prelude to a Drama" by the leader of the advanced German School of to-day, Schreker, and Grainger's suite "In a Nutshell," it is little likely that any will take a permanent place in the concert repertory. Apart from the regular series of concerts, several interesting experiments were made by younger men, who organised serial concerts, the basis of which was different in some way or other from the ordinary. Thus Edward Clark and Anthony Bernard gave concerts with very small orchestras of about twenty to twenty-five players-and each met with a complete artistic success. They introduced no little of the most recent English and Continental music as well as old, and it was found to be something of a new pleasure to note how much clearer the inner parts of many of these compositions sounded than under the old conditions. Adrian C. Boult organised a series of fine orchestral concerts on Sunday afternoons at the People's Palace, and though there was a financial deficit at the end, the good purpose served by the concerts was so well appreciated by the Directors that they themselves undertook the burthen of a further series. The Queen's Hall "Promenades" were more than ever successful, and it is noteworthy in this connexion that the most popular evening of the week was Friday when a severely classical programme, usually of Bach and Beethoven, was offered. Eugène Goossens gave a series of concerts in Queen's Hall with a superb orchestra selected by himself from the elect of existing orchestras. Here was the home of the extreme modern in music, though it is worthy of record that in spite of the success of "Sacre du Printemps," the most powerful success was made by Elgar's transcription for a full orchestra of Bach's C-minor fugue-a work that enjoyed the unusual fate of having to be repeated at each of its first few performances. Goossens established his claim to consideration as a very first-rate conductor by means of these concerts. The Albert Hall and Queen's Hall Sunday concerts were as insistent as usual.

In the realm of Chamber Music there was much activity in spite of the prolonged absence on foreign tours of the leading players, the London

String Quartet. Before they left, however, they held a Beethoven Festival in the Æolian Hall, and incidentally they produced a Quartet by the eminent violinist, Fritz Kreisler. Other Chamber Music Organisations which met with success were the Josef Holbrooke, the Spencer Dyke, the London Trio, the Chamber Music Players, the Philharmonic Quartet, the Flonzaleys, the Classical Concert Society.

Diaghileff's Russian Ballet Company visited London twice. In the summer, at the Prince's Theatre, they produced, for the first time, "Chout," a ballet by the Russian Prokofieff. But not for long has anything at their hands equalled the beauty of Tchaikovsky's ballet "The Sleeping Princess," more especially in the matter of Bakst's wonderful décor. This beautiful work occupied the Alhambra Theatre during the autumn.

The Royal Choral Society continued as usual upon its well-worn track of popular oratorio and cantata; the London Choral Society was revived by Arthur Fagge, its original founder, and the Bach Choir now directed by Dr. Ralph Vaughan Williams, the fine Glasgow Orpheus Choir, the London Orpheus Choir under Kennedy Scott, gave highly successful concerts.

Soloists visited London during the year from most parts of the world. The eminent Russian Chalyapin, having obtained a permit from the Russian Government to travel abroad, appeared with immense success, and amongst other singers were Ethel Frank and Roland Hayes, a very accomplished negro singer, Tetrazzini and D'Alvarez. The pianists of real distinction were abundant and welcome. They included Siloti, Rosenthal, Busoni, Pouishnoff, Josef Hofmann, Cortot, Rubinstein, Gabrilowitsch, Brailowsky a brilliant newcomer; Harold Samuel, a Londoner, held his own against all as a player of Bach, of whose music he gave six recitals in one week. Kreisler, the violinist, created a furore: he visited England in the summer and again-to play Elgar's concerto-in December. Kubelik also returned after many years absence, and Thibaud, Toscha Seidel (first appearance), Albert Sammons, Lionel Tertis, Felix Salmond, Beatrice Harrison, Casals, Joseph Salmon, and Boris Hambourg all appeared.

Musical littérateurs were very busy. Apart from several new musical journals were some volumes of note. Of these the chief were the English or American-edition of Thayer's "Life of Beethoven," edited by H. E. Krehbiel, and a useful American volume of Grove's "Dictionary of Music and Musicians." At the end of the year a striking success was made by "A Musician's Pilgrim's Progress."

During the twelve months far more native music was heard than usual, and notable among the musicians who emphasised the mark previously made were Adrian Boult, Eugène Goossens, Arthur Bliss, John Ireland.

FINANCE AND COMMERCE IN 1921.

NOT for a hundred years has British finance and commerce experienced such a disappointing year as 1921. It was a period of unrelieved gloom. The collapse in commodity prices which began in the closing months of 1920 continued without interruption throughout 1921, and at the end of December The Times index number of wholesale prices of commodities was 162-1 (100 representing the average monthly price level in 1913), as compared with 251-2 on December 31, 1920, and with 352.9 on April 30, 1920, which represented the peak of the advance. The fall in 1921 was thus 35.5 per cent. The monthly average of the index number was 189.5, as compared with 3218 in 1920, a decline of 41 per cent. During the year the fall in food and raw materials was approximately the same, the fall in the former being 35.5 per cent. and the latter 35.3 per cent. We reproduce below The Times index numbers since January, 1920, based on the prices of sixty commodities, with the percentage changes in the total index number as compared with the preceding month :

The actual prices of the commodities included in the calculation are shown in the following table, comparison being made with the quotations on December 31, 1920 :