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The adaptability of Longfellow's poems to musical illustration has long been recognized, and it is safe to say that no poet of the English language, not even excepting Tennyson, has been so much drawn upon by the composers. Two operas, many cantatas, part songs, duets, and songs innumerable, are found on the catalogues of the music publishers. The Golden Legend has formed the basis of four cantatas: one by Franz Liszt, dealing with the prologue only, under the title, The Bells of Strasburg Cathedral ; another by H. E. Hodson, originally published by Novello, Ewer & Co.; a third by Dudley Buck, which took the 91,000 prize for the best composition, offered by the Cincinnati Festival of 1880; and the fourth by Arthur Sullivan, composed for and produced at the Music Festival at Leeds, England, last October. The whole poem is, of course, too long, and, in a great degree, unfitted for music in any practical case, so texts for the composer have to be specially prepared. For Mr. Buck's cantata, the text was prepared by the composer himself, and consists of various scenes from the poem, not dramatically connected. Indeed, the correct title of the cantata is, Scenes from Longfellow's 'Golden Legend' ; but in Sullivan's case, a connected and dramatic story was constructed by Mr. Joseph Bennett, an English litterateur, who has had much experience in this work. .Ha used the poet's own language, but compressed .the story so as to get it into practicable shape for an evening. Both composers treat the prologue entire, for upon this prologue depends the ethical significance of the poem. Not having heard either work performed, we confine our remarks to a perusal of the piano score alone, and it might be that on a hearing some of onr opinions might be changed, for it often happens that effects that look well in print do not come out in hearing; and, on the other hand, orchestral combinations that are extremely effective in performance, are not indicated at all, or very faintly, on the printed vocal and piano score. -Frank Leslie's Sunday Magazine, Volume 21

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