Music from beyond the grave.

The Spirit of Mozart has just dictated to our excellent medium, Mr. Bryon-Dorgeval, a fragment of a sonata. As a means of verification, the latter had it heard by several artists, without indicating its source to them, simply asking them what they thought of the piece. All recognized, without hesitation, the style of Mozart. It was performed at the session of the Society on the past 8th of April, in the presence of numerous experts, by Miss de Davans, a pupil of Chopin and a distinguished pianist, who was kind enough to lend her assistance. As an element of comparison, Miss Davans first performed a sonata that Mozart had composed while alive. All were in agreement in recognizing not only the perfect identity of the genre, but also the superiority of the Spirit composition. Next, a piece by Chopin was performed by the same pianist who, once again, revealed her customary talent. We could not let this occasion pass without invoking the two composers, with whom we had the following conversation: MOZART.

No doubt you know the reason why we have called you.

Answer. – Your call gives me immense pleasure.

Do you recognize the piece we have just heard as having been dictated by you?

Answer. – Yes, very well. I recognize it perfectly. The medium who served me as interpreter is a friend who did not betray me.

Which of the two pieces do you prefer?

Answer. – Beyond comparison, the second.

Why?

Answer. – In it the sweetness and the charm are, at the same time, more vivid and more tender. Observation. – Indeed, these are qualities recognized in the piece.

Can the music of the world you inhabit be compared to ours?

Answer. – You would have difficulty understanding it. We have senses that, for now, you still do not possess.

We have been told that in your world there is a natural, universal harmony that we do not find on Earth. Answer. – It is true. On your planet you make the music; here, all of Nature makes melodious sounds be heard.

Could you play the piano?

Answer. – No doubt I can, but I do not wish to. It would be useless.

Nevertheless, it would be a powerful motive for conviction.

Ans. – Are you not yet convinced?

Observation. – It is known that Spirits never submit to tests. Often they spontaneously do that which we do not ask of them.

This, moreover, falls into the category of physical manifestations, with which elevated Spirits do not occupy themselves.

What do you think of the recent publication of your letters?

Answer. – They greatly revived my memory.

Your memory is in everyone's recollection. Could you assess the effect that those letters produced on public opinion? Answer. – Yes; I became more beloved and people grew much more attached to me as a man than before. Observation. – A stranger to the Society, the person who asked these last questions confirms that this was exactly the impression produced by that publication.

We wish to question Chopin. Will it be possible?

Answer. – Yes; he is sadder and more somber than I.

CHOPIN.

(After the evocation.) – Could you tell us in what situation you find yourself as a Spirit?

Answer. – Still wandering.

Do you long for earthly life?

Answer. – I am not unhappy.

Are you happier than before?

Answer. – Yes, a little.

You say a little, which means that there is no great difference. What is lacking for you to be happier? Answer. – I say a little in relation to what could have been, because, with my intelligence, I could have advanced more than I did.

Do you hope to attain one day the happiness that you currently lack?

Answer. – Certainly it will come. First, however, new trials will be necessary.

Mozart said that you are somber and sad. Why?

Answer. – Mozart spoke the truth. I grieve for having undertaken a trial that I did not carry out well and for no longer having the courage to begin it again.

How do you regard your musical productions?

Answer. – I prize them greatly, but in our midst we make them better; above all we perform them better. We have more resources at our disposal.

Who, then, are your performers?

Answer. – Under our orders we have legions of performers who play our compositions with a thousand times more art than any of yours. They are complete musicians. The instrument they use is, so to speak, the throat itself; they are aided by a few instruments, kinds of organs of a precision and a melody that, it seems, you cannot yet understand.

Are you wandering?

Answer. – Yes; that is, I do not belong, exclusively, to any planet.

Are your performers also wandering?

Answer. – Wandering like me.

(To Mozart.) Could you explain to us what Chopin has just said? We do not understand this performance by wandering Spirits.

Answer. – I understand your surprise; nevertheless, we have already told you that there are worlds particularly destined for wandering beings, worlds that can serve them as a temporary dwelling, kinds of bivouacs [encampments], of fields where they may rest from a too-long erraticity, this state being always somewhat painful.

(To Chopin.) Do you recognize here one of your pupils?

Answer. – Yes, it seems so.

Would you willingly attend the performance of a piece of your composition?

Answer. – That will give me great pleasure, especially if performed by someone who kept a fond remembrance of me. May she receive my thanks.

What is your opinion of Mozart's music?

Answer. – I appreciate it greatly. I regard Mozart as my master.

Do you share his opinion on the music of today?

Answer. – Mozart said that music was better understood in his time than today: that is true. Nevertheless, I will object that there still exist true artists. Note. – The fragment of the sonata dictated by the Spirit of Mozart has just been published. It can be acquired at the Office of the Spiritist Review or at the Spiritist bookshop of Mr. Ledoyen, Palais Royal, Galerie d'Orléans, 31. Price: 2 francs. — It will be sent free of postage charges, against a postal order in that amount.