diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/13291.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/13291.txt | 9618 |
1 files changed, 9618 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/13291.txt b/old/13291.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2bf9f18 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13291.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9618 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The World's Great Men of Music, by Harriette Brower + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The World's Great Men of Music + Story-Lives of Master Musicians + +Author: Harriette Brower + +Release Date: August 25, 2004 [EBook #13291] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WORLD'S GREAT MEN OF MUSIC *** + + + + +Produced by Ronald Holder and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +THE WORLD'S GREAT MEN OF MUSIC + +BY + +HARRIETTE BROWER + +_Author of "Piano Mastery, First and Second Series," +"Home-Help in Music Study," "Self-Help in +Piano Study," "Vocal Mastery," etc_. + + +Also Published Under the Title of +"Story-Lives of Master Musicians" + + + + +1922 + +FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY + +Printed in the United States of America + + + + +FOREWORD + + +The preparation of this volume began with a period of delightful +research work in a great musical library. As a honey-bee flutters +from flower to flower, culling sweetness from many blossoms, so +the compiler of such stories as these must gather facts from many +sources--from biography, letters, journals and musical history. Then, +impressed with the personality and individual achievement of each +composer, the author has endeavored to present his life story. + +While the aim has been to make the story-sketches interesting to +young people, the author hopes that they may prove valuable to musical +readers of all ages. Students of piano, violin or other instruments +need to know how the great composers lived their lives. In every +musical career described in this book, from the old masters +represented by Bach and Beethoven to the musical prophets of our own +day, there is a wealth of inspiration and practical guidance for the +artist in any field. Through their struggles, sorrows and triumphs, +divine melody and harmony came into being, which will bless the world +for all time to come. + + + + + CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + FOREWORD + + I PALESTRINA + + II JOHN SEBASTIAN BACH + + III GEORGE FREDERICK HANDEL + + IV CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK + + V JOSEF HAYDN + + VI WOLFGANG MOZART + + VII LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN + + VIII CARL MARIA VON WEBER + + IX FRANZ SCHUBERT + + X FELIX MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY + + XI ROBERT SCHUMANN + + XII FREDERIC CHOPIN + + XIII HECTOR BERLIOZ + + XIV FRANZ LISZT + + XV GIUSEPPE VERDI + + XVI RICHARD WAGNER + + XVII CESAR FRANCK + + XVIII JOHANNES BRAHMS + + XIX EDWARD GRIEG + + XX PETER ILYITCH TSCHAIKOWSKY + + XXI EDWARD MACDOWELL + + XXII CLAUDE ACHILLE DEBUSSY + + XXIII ARTURO TOSCANINI + + XXIV LEOPOLD STOKOWSKY + + XXV SERGE KOUSSEVITZKY + + +[Illustration: LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN] + +[Illustration: JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH] + +[Illustration: JOHANNES BRAHMS] + +[Illustration: PETER ILYITCH TSCHAIKOWSKY] + + + + + +STORY-LIVES OF + +MASTER MUSICIANS + + + + +I + +PALESTRINA + + +To learn something of the life and labors of Palestrina, one of the +earliest as well as one of the greatest musicians, we must go back in +the world's history nearly four hundred years. And even then we may +not be able to discover all the events of his life as some of the +records have been lost. But we have the main facts, and know that +Palestrina's name will be revered for all time as the man who strove +to make sacred music the expression of lofty and spiritual meaning. + +Upon a hoary spur of the Apennines stands the crumbling town of +Palestrina. It is very old now; it was old when Rome was young. Four +hundred years ago Palestrina was dominated by the great castle of its +lords, the proud Colonnas. Naturally the town was much more important +in those days than it is to-day. + +At that time there lived in Palestrina a peasant pair, Sante Pierluigi +and his wife Maria, who seem to have been an honest couple, and not +grindingly poor, since the will of Sante's mother has lately been +found, in which she bequeathed a house in Palestrina to her two sons. +Besides this she left behind a fine store of bed linen, mattresses and +cooking utensils. Maria Gismondi also had a little property. + +To this pair was born, probably in 1526, a boy whom they named +Giovanni Pierluigi, which means John Peter Louis. This boy, from a +tiniest child, loved beauty of sight and sound. And this is not at +all surprising, for a child surrounded from infancy by the natural +loveliness and glory of old Palestrina, would unconsciously breathe in +a sense of beauty and grandeur. + +It was soon discovered the boy had a voice, and his mother is said +to have sold some land she owned to provide for her son's musical +training. + +From the rocky heights on which their town was built, the people +of Palestrina could look across the Campagna--the great plain +between--and see the walls and towers of Rome. At the time of our +story, Saint Peter's had withstood the sack of the city, which +happened a dozen years before, and Bramante's vast basilica had +already begun to rise. The artistic life of Rome was still at high +tide, for Raphael had passed away but twenty years before, and Michael +Angelo was at work on his Last Judgment. + +Though painting and sculpture flourished, music did not keep pace with +advance in other arts. The leading musicians were Belgian, Spanish or +French, and their music did not match the great achievements attained +in the kindred art of the time--architecture, sculpture and painting. +There was needed a new impetus, a vital force. Its rise began when +the peasant youth John Peter Louis descended from the heights of +Palestrina to the banks of the Tiber. + +It is said that Tomasso Crinello was the boy's master; whether this +is true or not, he was surely trained in the Netherland manner of +composition. + +The youth, whom we shall now call Palestrina, as he is known by the +name of his birthplace, returned from Rome at the age of eighteen to +his native town, in 1544, as a practising musician, and took a post at +the Cathedral of Saint Agapitus. Here he engaged himself for life, to +be present every day at mass and vespers, and to teach singing to +the canons and choristers. Thus he spent the early years of his young +manhood directing the daily services and drumming the rudiments of +music into the heads of the little choristers. It may have been dry +and wearisome labor; but afterward, when Palestrina began to reform +the music of the church, it must have been of great advantage to him +to know so absolutely the liturgy, not only of Saint Peter's and Saint +John Lateran, but also that in the simple cathedral of his own small +hill-town. + +Young Palestrina, living his simple, busy life in his home town, never +dreamed he was destined to become a great musician. He married in +1548, when he was about twenty-two. If he had wished to secure one of +the great musical appointments in Rome, it was a very unwise thing for +him to marry, for single singers were preferred in nine cases out of +ten. Palestrina did not seem to realize this danger to a brilliant +career, and took his bride, Lucrezia, for pure love. She seems to have +been a person after his own heart, besides having a comfortable dowry +of her own. They had a happy union, which lasted for more than thirty +years. + +Although he had agreed to remain for life at the cathedral church of +Saint Agapitus, it seems that such contracts could be broken without +peril. Thus, after seven years of service, he once more turned his +steps toward the Eternal City. + +He returned to Rome as a recognized musician. In 1551 he became master +of the Capella Giulia, at the modest salary of six scudi a month, +something like ten dollars. But the young chapel master seemed +satisfied. Hardly three years after his arrival had elapsed, when +he had written and printed a book containing five masses, which he +dedicated to Pope Julius III. This act pleased the pontiff, who, in +January, 1555, appointed Palestrina one of the singers of the Sistine +Chapel, with an increased salary. + +It seems however, that the Sistine singers resented the appointment +of a new member, and complained about it. Several changes in the Papal +chair occurred at this time, and when Paul IV, as Pope, came into +power, he began at once with reforms. Finding that Palestrina and two +other singers were married men, he put all three out, though granting +an annuity of six scudi a month for each. + +The loss of this post was a great humiliation, which Palestrina found +it hard to endure. He fell ill at this time, and the outlook was dark +indeed, with a wife and three little children to provide for. + +But the clouds soon lifted. Within a few weeks after this unfortunate +event, the rejected singer of the Sistine Chapel was created Chapel +Master of Saint John Lateran, the splendid basilica, where the young +Orlandus Lassus had so recently directed the music. As Palestrina +could still keep his six scudi pension, increased with the added +salary of the new position, he was able to establish his family in a +pretty villa on the Coelian Hill, where he could be near his work at +the Lateran, but far enough removed from the turmoil of the city to +obtain the quiet he desired, and where he lived in tranquillity for +the next five years. + +Palestrina spent forty-four years of his life in Rome. All the eleven +popes who reigned during this long period honored Palestrina as a +great musician. Marcellus II spent a part of his three weeks' reign +in showing kindness to the young Chapel master, which the composer +returned by naming for this pontiff a famous work, "Mass of Pope +Marcellus." Pius IV, who was in power when the mass was performed, +praised it eloquently, saying John Peter Louis of Palestrina was a new +John, bringing down to the church militant the harmonies of that +"new song" which John the Apostle heard in the Holy City. The +musician-pope, Gregory XIII, to whom Palestrina dedicated his grandest +motets, entrusted him with the sacred task of revising the ancient +chant. Pope Sixtus V greatly praised his beautiful mass, "Assumpta est +Maria" and promoted him to higher honors. + +With this encouragement and patronage, Palestrina labored five years +at the Lateran, ten years at Santa Maria Maggiore and twenty three at +Saint Peter's. At the last named it was his second term, of course, +but it continued from 1571 to his death. He was happy in his work, in +his home and in his friends. He also saved quite a little money and +was able to give his daughter-in-law, in 1577, 1300 scudi; he is known +indeed, to have bought land, vineyards and houses in and about Rome. + +All was not a life of sunshine for Palestrina, for he suffered many +domestic sorrows. His three promising sons died one after another. +They were talented young men, who might have followed in the footsteps +of their distinguished father. In 1580 his wife died also. Yet neither +poignant sorrow, worldly glory nor ascetic piety blighted his homely +affections. At the Jubilee of Pope Gregory XIII, in 1575, when 1500 +pilgrims from the town of Palestrina descended the hills on the way +to Rome, it was their old townsman, Giovanni Pierluigi, who led their +songs, as they entered the Eternal City, their maidens clad in white +robes, and their young men bearing olive branches. + +It is said of Palestrina that he became the "savior of church music," +at a time when it had almost been decided to banish all music from the +service except the chant, because so many secular subjects had been +set to music and used in church. Things had come to a very difficult +pass, until at last the fathers turned to Palestrina, desiring him +to compose a mass in which sacred words should be heard throughout. +Palestrina, deeply realizing his responsibility, wrote not only one +but three, which, on being heard, pleased greatly by their piety, +meekness, and beautiful spirit. Feeling more sure of himself, +Palestrina continued to compose masses, until he had created +ninety-three in all. He also wrote many motets on the Song of Solomon, +his Stabat Mater, which was edited two hundred and fifty years later +by Richard Wagner, and his lamentations, which were composed at the +request of Sixtus V. + +Palestrina's end came February 2, 1594. He died in Rome, a devout +Christian, and on his coffin were engraved the simple but splendid +words: "Prince of Music." + + + + +II + +JOHN SEBASTIAN BACH + + +Away back in 1685, almost two hundred and fifty years ago, one of the +greatest musicians of the world first saw the light, in the little +town of Eisenach, nestling on the edge of the Thuringen forest. The +long low-roofed cottage where little Johann Sebastian Bach was born, +is still standing, and carefully preserved. + +The name Bach belonged to a long race of musicians, who strove to +elevate the growing art of music. For nearly two hundred years there +had been organists and composers in the family; Sebastian's father, +Johann Ambrosius Bach was organist of the Lutheran Church in Eisenach, +and naturally a love of music was fostered in the home. It is no +wonder that little Sebastian should have shown a fondness for music +almost from infancy. But, beyond learning the violin from his father, +he had not advanced very far in his studies, when, in his tenth +year he lost both his parents and was taken care of by his brother +Christoph, fourteen years older, a respectable musician and organist +in a neighboring town. To give his little brother lessons on the +clavier, and send him to the Lyceum to learn Latin, singing and other +school subjects seemed to Christoph to include all that could be +expected of him. That his small brother possessed musical genius of +the highest order, was an idea he could not grasp; or if he did, he +repressed the boy with indifference and harsh treatment. + +Little Sebastian suffered in silence from this coldness. Fortunately +the force of his genius was too great to be crushed. He knew all the +simple pieces by heart, which his brother set for his lessons, and +he longed for bigger things. There was a book of manuscript music +containing pieces by Buxtehude and Frohberger, famous masters of the +time, in the possession of Christoph. Sebastian greatly desired to +play the pieces in that book, but his brother kept it under lock and +key in his cupboard, or bookcase. One day the child mustered courage +to ask permission to take the book for a little while. Instead of +yielding to the boy's request Christoph became angry, told him not to +imagine he could study such masters as Buxtehude and Frohberger, but +should be content to get the lessons assigned him. + +The injustice of this refusal fired Sebastian with the determination +to get possession of the coveted book at all costs. One moonlight +night, long after every one had retired, he decided to put into +execution a project he had dreamed of for some time. + +Creeping noiselessly down stairs he stood before the bookcase and +sought the precious volume. There it was with the names of the various +musicians printed in large letters on the back in his brother's +handwriting. To get his small hands between the bars and draw the book +outward took some time. But how to get it out. After much labor he +found one bar weaker than the others, which could be bent. + +When at last the book was in his hands, he clasped it to his breast +and hurried quickly back to his chamber. Placing the book on a table +in front of the window, where the moonlight fell full upon it, he took +pen and music paper and began copying out the pieces in the book. + +This was but the beginning of nights of endless toil. For six months +whenever there were moonlight nights, Sebastian was at the window +working at his task with passionate eagerness. + +At last it was finished, and Sebastian in the joy of possessing it for +his very own, crept into bed without the precaution of putting +away all traces of his work. Poor boy, he had to pay dearly for his +forgetfulness. As he lay sleeping, Christoph, thinking he heard sounds +in his brother's room, came to seek the cause. His glance, as he +entered the room, fell on the open books. There was no pity in +his heart for all this devoted labor, only anger that he had been +outwitted by his small brother. He took both books away and hid them +in a place where Sebastian could never find them. But he did not +reflect that the boy had the memory of all this beautiful music +indelibly printed on his mind, which helped him to bear the bitter +disappointment of the loss of his work. + +When he was fifteen Sebastian left his brother's roof and entered the +Latin school connected with the Church of St. Michael at Lueneburg. It +was found he had a beautiful soprano voice, which placed him with the +scholars who were chosen to sing in the church service in return for +a free education. There were two church schools in Lueneburg, and the +rivalry between them was so keen, that when the scholars sang in the +streets during the winter months to collect money for their support, +the routes for each had to be carefully marked out, to prevent +collision. + +Soon after he entered St. Michael's, Bach lost his beautiful soprano +voice; his knowledge of violin and clavier, however, enabled him +to keep his place in the school. The boy worked hard at his musical +studies, giving his spare time to the study of the best composers. He +began to realize that he cared more for the organ than for any other +instrument; indeed his love for it became a passion. He was too +poor to take lessons, for he was almost entirely self-dependent--a +penniless scholar, living on the plainest of fare, yet determined to +gain a knowledge of the music he longed for. + +One of the great organists of the time was Johann Adam Reinken. When +Sebastian learned that this master played the organ in St. Katharine's +Church in Hamburg, he determined to walk the whole distance thither to +hear him. Now Hamburg was called in those days the "Paradise of German +music," and was twenty-five good English miles from the little town +of Lueneburg, but what did that matter to the eager lad? Obstacles only +fired him to strive the harder for what he desired to attain. + +The great joy of listening to such a master made him forget the long +tramp and all the weariness, and spurred him on to repeat the journey +whenever he had saved a few shillings to pay for food and lodging. On +one occasion he lingered a little longer in Hamburg than usual, until +his funds were well-nigh exhausted, and before him was the long walk +without any food. As he trudged along he came upon a small inn, from +the open door of which came a delightful savory odor. He could not +resist looking in through the window. At that instant a window above +was thrown open and a couple of herrings' heads were tossed into the +road. The herring is a favorite article of food in Germany and poor +Sebastian was glad to pick up these bits to satisfy the cravings of +hunger. What was his surprise on pulling the heads to pieces to +find each one contained a Danish ducat. When he recovered from his +astonishment, he entered the inn and made a good meal with part of the +money; the rest ensured another visit to Hamburg. + +After remaining three years in Lueneburg, Bach secured a post as +violinist in the private band of Prince Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar; +but this was only to fill the time till he could find a place to +play the instrument he so loved. An opportunity soon came. The old +Thuringian town Arnstadt had a new church and a fine new organ. The +consistory of the church were looking for a capable organist and +Bach's request to be allowed to try the instrument was readily +granted. + +As soon as they heard him play they offered him the post, with promise +of increasing the salary by a contribution from the town funds. Bach +thus found himself at the age of eighteen installed as organist at a +salary of fifty florins, with thirty thalers in addition for board and +lodging, equal, all in all, to less than fifty dollars. In those days +this amount was considered a fair sum for a young player. On August +14, 1703, the young organist entered upon his duties, promising +solemnly to be diligent and faithful to all requirements. + +The requirements of the post fortunately left him plenty of leisure to +study. Up to this time he had done very little composing, but now he +set about teaching himself the art of composition. + +The first thing he did was to take a number of concertos written for +the violin by Vivaldi, and set them for the harpsichord. In this way +he learned to express himself and to attain facility in putting his +thoughts on paper without first playing them on an instrument. He +worked alone in this way with no assistance from any one, and often +studied till far into the night to perfect himself in this branch of +his art. + +From the very beginning, his playing on the new organ excited +admiration, but his artistic temperament frequently threatened to +be his undoing. For the young enthusiast was no sooner seated at the +organ to conduct the church music than he forgot that the choir and +congregation were depending on him and would begin to improvise at +such length that the singing had to stop altogether, while the people +listened in mute admiration. Of course there were many disputes +between the new organist and the elders of the church, but they +overlooked his vagaries because of his genius. + +Yet he must have been a trial to that well-ordered body. Once he asked +for a month's leave of absence to visit Luebeck, where the celebrated +Buxtehude was playing the organ in the Marien Kirche during Advent. +Luebeck was fifty miles from Arnstadt, but the courageous boy made the +entire journey on foot. He enjoyed the music at Luebeck so much that +he quite forgot his promise to return in one month until he had stayed +three. His pockets being quite empty, he thought for the first time of +returning to his post. Of course there was trouble on his return, but +the authorities retained him in spite of all, for the esteem in which +they held his gifts. + +Bach soon began to find Arnstadt too small and narrow for his soaring +desires. Besides, his fame was growing and his name becoming known in +the larger, adjacent towns. When he was offered the post of organist +at St. Blasius at Muelhausen, near Eisenach, he accepted at once. He +was told he might name his own salary. If Bach had been avaricious he +could have asked a large sum, but he modestly named the small amount +he had received at Arnstadt with the addition of certain articles of +food which should be delivered at his door, gratis. + +Bach's prospects were now so much improved that he thought he might +make a home for himself. He had fallen in love with a cousin, Maria +Bach, and they were married October 17, 1707. + +The young organist only remained in Muelhausen a year, for he received +a more important offer. He was invited to play before Duke Wilhelm +Ernst of Weimar, and hastened thither, hoping this might lead to an +appointment at Court. He was not disappointed, for the Duke was so +delighted with Bach's playing that he at once offered him the post of +Court organist. + +A wider outlook now opened for Sebastian Bach, who had all his young +life struggled with poverty and privation. He was now able to give +much time to composition, and began to write those masterpieces for +the organ which have placed his name on the highest pinnacle in the +temple of music. + +In his comfortable Weimar home the musician had the quiet and +leisure that he needed to perfect his art on all sides, not only in +composition but in organ and harpsichord playing. He felt that he had +conquered all difficulties of both instruments, and one day boasted +to a friend that he could play any piece, no matter how difficult, at +sight, without a mistake. In order to test this statement the friend +invited him to breakfast shortly after. On the harpsichord were +several pieces of music, one of which, though apparently simple, +was really very difficult. His host left the room to prepare the +breakfast, while Bach began to try over the music. All went well until +he came to the difficult piece which he began quite boldly but stuck +in the middle. It went no better after several attempts. As his friend +entered, bringing the breakfast, Bach exclaimed:--"You are right. One +cannot play everything perfectly at sight,--it is impossible!" + +Duke Wilhelm Ernst, in 1714, raised him to the position of +Head-Concert Master, a position which offered added privileges. Every +autumn he used his annual vacation in traveling to the principal towns +to give performances on organ and clavier. By such means he gained a +great reputation both as player and composer. + +On one of these tours he arrived in Dresden in time to learn of a +French player who had just come to town. Jean Marchand had won a great +reputation in France, where he was organist to the King at Versailles, +and regarded as the most fashionable musician of the day. All this had +made him very conceited and overbearing. Every one was discussing the +Frenchman's wonderful playing and it was whispered he had been offered +an appointment in Dresden. + +The friends of Bach proposed that he should engage Marchand in a +contest, to defend the musical honor of the German nation. Both +musicians were willing; the King promised to attend. + +The day fixed for the trial arrived; a brilliant company assembled. +Bach made his appearance, and all was ready, but the adversary failed +to come. After a considerable delay it was learned that Marchand had +fled the city. + +In 1717, on his return from Dresden, Bach was appointed Capellmeister +to the young Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Coethen. The Prince was an +enthusiastic lover of music, and at Coethen Bach led a happy, busy +life. The Prince often journeyed to different towns to gratify his +taste for music, and always took Bach with him. On one of these trips +he was unable to receive the news that his wife had suddenly passed +away, and was buried before he could return to Coethen. This was a +severe blow to the whole family. + +Four years afterward, Bach married again, Anna Magdalena Wuelkens was +in every way suited for a musician's wife, and for her he composed +many of the delightful dances which we now so greatly enjoy. He also +wrote a number of books of studies for his wife and his sons, several +of whom later became good musicians and composers. + +Perhaps no man ever led a more crowded life, though outwardly a quiet +one. He never had an idle moment. When not playing, composing or +teaching, he would be found engraving music on copper, since that work +was costly in those days. Or he would be manufacturing some kind of +musical instrument. At least two are known to be of his invention. + +Bach began to realize that the Coethen post, while it gave him plenty +of leisure for his work, did not give him the scope he needed for his +art. The Prince had lately married, and did not seem to care as much +for music as before. + +The wider opportunity which Bach sought came when he was appointed +director of music in the churches of St. Thomas and St. Nicholas +in Leipsic, and Cantor of the Thomas-Schule there. With the Leipsic +period Bach entered the last stage of his career, for he retained this +post for the rest of his life. He labored unceasingly, in spite of +many obstacles and petty restrictions, to train the boys under his +care, and raise the standard of musical efficiency in the Schule, as +choirs of both churches were recruited from the scholars of the Thomas +School. + +During the twenty-seven years of life in Leipsic, Bach wrote some of +his greatest works, such as the Oratorios of St. Matthew and St. John, +and the Mass in B Minor. It was the Passion according to St. Matthew +that Mendelssohn, about a hundred years later discovered, studied +with so much zeal, and performed in Berlin, with so much devotion and +success. + +Bach always preferred a life of quiet and retirement; simplicity had +ever been his chief characteristic. He was always very religious; his +greatest works voice the noblest sentiments of exaltation. + +Bach's modesty and retiring disposition is illustrated by the +following little incident. Carl Philip Emmanuel, his third son, was +cembalist in the royal orchestra of Frederick the Great. His Majesty +was very fond of music and played the flute to some extent. He had +several times sent messages to Bach by Philip Emmanuel, that he would +like to see him. But Bach, intent on his work, ignored the royal +favor, until he finally received an imperative command, which could +not be disobeyed. He then, with his son Friedmann, set out for +Potsdam. + +The King was about to begin the evening's music when he learned that +Bach had arrived. With a smile he turned to his musicians: "Gentlemen, +old Bach has come." Bach was sent for at once, without having time +to change his traveling dress. His Majesty received him with great +kindness and respect, and showed him through the palace, where he +must try the Silbermann pianofortes, of which there were several. Bach +improvised on each and the King gave a theme which he treated as a +fantasia, to the astonishment of all. Frederick next asked him to play +a six part fugue, and then Bach improvised one on a theme of his own. +The King clapped his hands, exclaiming over and over, "Only one Bach! +Only one Bach!" It was a great evening for the master, and one he +never forgot. + +Just after completing his great work, The Art of Fugue, Bach became +totally blind, due no doubt, to the great strain he had always put +upon his eyes, in not only writing his own music, but in copying out +large works of the older masters. Notwithstanding this handicap he +continued at work up to the very last. On the morning of the day on +which he passed away, July 28, 1750, he suddenly regained his sight. A +few hours later he became unconscious and passed in sleep. + +Bach was laid to rest in the churchyard of St. John's at Leipsic, but +no stone marks his resting place. Only the town library register tells +that Johann Sebastian Bach, Musical Director and Singing Master of the +St. Thomas School, was carried to his grave July 30, 1750. + +But the memory of Bach is enduring, his fame immortal and the love his +beautiful music inspires increases from year to year, wherever that +music is known, all over the world. + + + + +III + +GEORGE FREDERICK HANDEL + + +While little Sebastian Bach was laboriously copying out music by pale +moonlight, because of his great love for it, another child of the same +age was finding the greatest happiness of his life seated before an +old spinet, standing in a lumber garret. He was trying to make music +from those half dumb keys. No one had taught him how to play; it was +innate genius that guided his little hands to find the right harmonies +and bring melody out of the old spinet. + +The boy's name was George Frederick Handel, and he was born in the +German town of Halle, February 23, 1685. Almost from infancy he showed +a remarkable fondness for music. His toys must be able to produce +musical sounds or he did not care for them. The child did not inherit +a love for music from his father, for Dr. Handel, who was a surgeon, +looked on music with contempt, as something beneath the notice of a +gentleman. He had decided his son was to be a lawyer, and refused +to allow him to attend school for fear some one might teach him his +notes. The mother was a sweet gentle woman, a second wife, and much +younger than her husband, who seemed to have ruled his household with +a rod of iron. + +When little George was about five, a kind friend, who knew how he +longed to make music, had a spinet sent to him unbeknown to his +father, and placed in a corner of the old garret. Here the child loved +to come when he could escape notice. Often at night, when all were +asleep, he would steal away to the garret and work at the spinet, +mastering difficulties one by one. The strings of the instrument had +been wound with cloth to deaden the sound, and thus made only a tiny +tinkle. + +After this secret practising had been going on for some time, it was +discovered one night, when little George was enjoying his favorite +pastime. He had been missed and the whole house went in search. +Finally the father, holding high the lantern in his hand and followed +by mother and the rest of the inmates, reached the garret, and there +found the lost child seated at his beloved spinet, quite lost to +the material world. There is no record of any angry outburst on the +father's part and it is likely little George was left in peace. + +One day when the boy was seven years old, the father was about to +start for the castle of the Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels, to see his son, +a stepbrother of George, who was a _valet de chambre_ to the Duke. +Little George begged to go too, for he knew there was music to be +heard at the castle. In spite of his father's refusal he made up his +mind to go if he had to run every step of the way. So watching his +chance, he started to run after the coach in which his father rode. +The child had no idea it was a distance of forty miles. He strove +bravely to keep pace with the horses, but the roads were rough and +muddy. His strength beginning to fail, he called out to the coachman +to stop. His father, hearing the boy's voice looked out of the window. +Instead of scolding the little scamp roundly, he was touched by his +woebegone appearance, had him lifted into the coach and carried on to +Weissenfels. + +George enjoyed himself hugely at the castle. The musicians were very +kind to him, and his delight could hardly be restrained when he was +allowed to try the beautiful organ in the chapel. The organist stood +behind him and arranged the stops, and the child put his fingers on +the keys that made the big pipes speak. During his stay, George had +several chances to play; one was on a Sunday at the close of the +service. The organist lifted him upon the bench and bade him play. +Instead of the Duke and all his people leaving the chapel, they stayed +to listen. When the music ceased the Duke asked: "Who is that child? +Does anybody know his name?" The organist was sent for, and then +little George was brought. The Duke patted him on the head, praised +his playing and said he was sure to become a good musician. The +organist then remarked he had heard the father disapproved of his +musical studies. The Duke was greatly astonished. He sent for the +father and after speaking highly of the boy's talent, said that +to place any obstacle in the child's way would be unworthy of the +father's honorable profession. + +And so it was settled that George Frederick should devote himself to +music. Frederick Zachau, organist of the cathedral at Halle, was +the teacher chosen to instruct the boy on the organ, harpsichord and +violin. He also taught him composition, and showed him how different +countries and composers differed in their ideas of musical style. Very +soon the boy was composing the regular weekly service for the church, +besides playing the organ whenever Zachau happened to be absent. At +that time the boy could not have been more than eight years old. + +After three years' hard work his teacher told him he must seek another +master, as he could teach him nothing more. So the boy was sent to +Berlin, to continue his studies. Two of the prominent musicians there +were Ariosti and Buononcini; the former received the boy kindly and +gave him great encouragement; the other took a dislike to the little +fellow, and tried to injure him. Pretending to test his musicianship, +Buononcini composed a very difficult piece for the harpsichord +and asked him to play it at sight. This the boy did with ease and +correctness. The Elector was delighted with the little musician, +offered him a place at Court and even promised to send him to Italy +to pursue his studies. Both offers were refused and George returned to +Halle and to his old master, who was happy to have him back once more. + +Not long after this the boy's father passed away, and as there was but +little money left for the mother, her son decided at once that he must +support himself and not deprive her of her small income. He acted as +deputy organist at the Cathedral and Castle of Halle, and a few years +later, when the post was vacant, secured it at a salary of less +than forty dollars a year and free lodging. George Frederick was now +seventeen and longed for a broader field. Knowing that he must leave +Halle to find it, he said good-by to his mother, and in January 1703, +set out for Hamburg to seek his fortune. + +The Opera House Orchestra needed a supplementary violin. It was a very +small post, but he took it, pretending not to be able to do anything +better. However a chance soon came his way to show what he was capable +of. One day the conductor, who always presided at the harpsichord, was +absent, and no one was there to take his place. Without delay George +came forward and took his vacant seat. He conducted so ably, that he +secured the position for himself. + +The young musician led a busy life in Hamburg, filled with teaching, +study and composition. As his fame increased he secured more pupils, +and he was not only able to support himself, but could send some money +to his mother. He believed in saving money whenever he could; he knew +a man should not only be self supporting, but somewhat independent, in +order to produce works of art. + +Handel now turned his attention to opera, composing "Almira, Queen of +Castile," which was produced in Hamburg early in January 1705. This +success encouraged him to write others; indeed he was the author of +forty operas, which are only remembered now by an occasional aria. +During these several years of hard work he had looked forward to a +journey to Italy, for study. He was now a composer of some note and +decided it was high time to carry out his cherished desire. + +He remained some time in Florence and composed the opera "Rodrigo," +which was performed with great success. While in Venice he brought +out another opera, "Agrippina," which had even greater success. Rome +delighted him especially and he returned for a second time in 1709. +Here he composed his first oratorio, the "Resurrection," which was +produced there. Handel returned to Germany the following year. The +Elector of Hanover was kind to him, and offered him the post of +Capellmeister, with a salary of about fifteen hundred dollars. He +had long desired to visit England, and the Elector gave him leave of +absence. First, however, he went to Halle to see his mother and his +old teacher. We can imagine the joy of the meeting, and how proud and +happy both were at the success of the young musician. After a little +time spent with his dear ones, he set out for England. + +Handel came to London, preceded by the fame of his Italian success. +Italian opera was the vogue just then in the English capital, but +it was so badly produced that a man of Handel's genius was needed to +properly set it before the people. He had not been long on English +soil when he produced his opera "Rinaldo," at the Queen's Theater; +it had taken him just two weeks to compose the opera. It had great +success and ran night after night. There are many beautiful airs in +"Rinaldo," some of which we hear to-day with the deepest pleasure. +"Lascia ch'jo pianga" and "Cara si's sposa" are two of them. The +Londoners had welcomed Handel with great cordiality and with his +new opera he was firmly established in their regard. With the young +musician likewise there seemed to be a sincere affection for England. +He returned in due time to his duties in Hanover, but he felt that +London was the field for his future activities. + +It was not very long after his return to Germany that he sought +another leave of absence to visit England, promising to return within +a "reasonable time." London received him with open arms and many great +people showered favors upon him. Lord Burlington invited him to his +residence in Piccadilly, which at that time consisted of green fields. +The only return to be made for all this social and home luxury was +that he should conduct the Earl's chamber concerts. Handel devoted his +abundant leisure to composition, at which he worked with much ardor. +His fame was making great strides, and when the Peace of Utrecht was +signed and a Thanksgiving service was to be held in St. Paul's, he was +commissioned to compose a Te Deum and Jubilate. To show appreciation +for his work and in honor of the event, Queen Anne awarded Handel a +life pension of a thousand dollars. + +The death of the Queen, not long after, brought the Elector of Hanover +to England, to succeed her as George I. It was not likely that King +George would look with favor on his former Capellmeister, who had so +long deserted his post. But an opportunity soon came to placate his +Majesty. A royal entertainment, with decorated barges on the Thames +was arranged. An orchestra was to furnish the music, and the Lord +Chamberlain commissioned Handel to compose music for the fete. He +wrote a series of pieces, since known as "Water Music." The king was +greatly delighted with the music, had it repeated, and learning that +Handel conducted in person, sent for him, forgave all and granted him +another pension of a thousand dollars. He was also appointed teacher +to the daughters of the Prince of Wales, at a salary of a thousand +a year. With the combined sum (three thousand dollars) which he now +received, he felt quite independent, indeed a man of means. + +Not long after this Handel was appointed Chapel master to the Duke +of Chandos, and was expected to live at the princely mansion he +inhabited. The size and magnificence of The Cannons was the talk of +the country for miles around. Here the composer lived and worked, +played the organ in the chapel, composed church music for the service +and wrote his first English oratorio, "Esther." This was performed in +the Duke's chapel, and the Duke on this occasion handed the composer +five thousand dollars. Numerous compositions for the harpsichord +belong to this period, among them the air and variations known as +"The Harmonious Blacksmith." The story goes that Handel was walking +to Cannons through the village of Edgeware, and being overtaken by a +heavy shower, sought shelter in the smithy. The blacksmith was singing +at his work and his hammer kept time with his song. The composer was +struck with the air and its accompaniment, and as soon as he reached +home, wrote out the tune with the variations. This story has been +disputed, and it is not known whether it is true or not. + +When Handel first came to London, he had done much to encourage the +production of opera in the Italian style. Later these productions +had to be given up for lack of money, and the King's Theater remained +closed for a long time. Finally a number of rich men formed a society +to revive opera in London. The King subscribed liberally to the +venture. Handel was at once engaged as composer and impressario. He +started work on a new opera and when that was well along, set out for +Germany, going to Dresden to select singers. On his return he stopped +at Halle, where his mother was still living, but his old teacher had +passed away. + +The new opera "Radamisto" was ready early in 1720, and produced at the +Royal Academy of Music, as the theater was now called. The success +of the production was tremendous. But Handel, by his self-will had +stirred up envy and jealousy, and an opposition party was formed, +headed by his old enemy from Hamburg, Buononcini, who had come to +London to try his fortunes. A test opera was planned, of which Handel +wrote the third act, Buononcini the second and a third musician the +first. When the new work was performed, the third act was pronounced +by the judges much superior to the second. But Buononcini's friends +would not accept defeat, and the battle between all parties was +violent. Newspapers were full of it, and many verses were written. +Handel cared not a whit for all this tempest, but calmly went his way. + +In 1723, his opera "Ottone" was to be produced. The great singer +Cuzzoni had been engaged, but the capricious lady did not arrive in +England till the rehearsals were far advanced, which of course did not +please the composer. When she did appear she refused to sing the aria +as he had composed it. He flew into a rage, took her by the arm and +threatened to throw her out of the window unless she obeyed. The +singer was so frightened by his anger that she sang as he directed, +and made a great success of the aria. + +Handel's industry in composing for the Royal Academy of Music +was untiring. For the first eight years from the beginning of the +Society's work he had composed and produced fourteen operas. During +all this time, his enemies never ceased their efforts to destroy him. +The great expense of operatic production, the troubles and quarrels +with singers, at last brought the Academy to the end of its resources. +At this juncture, the famous "Beggar's Opera," by John Gay, was +brought out at a rival theater. It was a collection of most beautiful +melodies from various sources, used with words quite unworthy of them. +But the fickle public hailed the piece with delight, and its success +was the means of bringing total failure to the Royal Academy. Handel, +however, in spite of the schemes of his enemies, was determined to +carry on the work with his own fortune. He went again to Italy to +engage new singers, stopping at Halle to see his mother who was ill. +She passed away the next year at the age of eighty. + +Handel tried for several years to keep Italian opera going in London, +in spite of the lack of musical taste and the opposition of his +enemies; but in 1737, he was forced to give up the struggle. He was +deeply in debt, his whole fortune of ten thousand pounds had been +swept away and his health broken by anxiety. He would not give up; +after a brief rest, he returned to London to begin the conflict anew. +The effort to re-awaken the English public's interest in Italian opera +seemed useless, and the composer at last gave up the struggle. He was +now fifty-five, and began to think of turning his attention to more +serious work. Handel has been called the father of the oratorio; he +composed at least twenty-eight works in this style, the best +known being "Samson," "Israel in Egypt," "Jephtha," "Saul," "Judas +Maccabaeus" and greatest of all, the "Messiah." + +The composer conceived the idea of writing the last named work in +1741. Towards the end of this year he was invited to visit Ireland +to make known some of his works. On the way there he was detained at +Chester for several days by contrary winds. He must have had the score +of the "Messiah" with him, for he got together some choir boys to try +over a few of the choral parts. "Can you sing at sight?" was put to +each boy before he was asked to sing. One broke down at the start. +"What de devil you mean!" cried the impetuous composer, snatching the +music from him. "Didn't you say you could sing at sight?" + +"Yes sir, but not at _first_ sight." + +The people of Dublin warmly welcomed Handel, and the new oratorio, +the "Messiah," was performed at Music Hall, with choirs of both +cathedrals, and with some concertos on the organ played by the +composer. The performance took place, April 13, 1742. Four hundred +pounds were realized, which were given to charity. The success was so +great that a second performance was announced. Ladies were requested +to come without crinoline, thereby providing a hundred more seats than +at the first event. + +The Irish people were so cordial, that the composer remained almost +a year among them. For it was not till March 23, 1743, that the +"Messiah" was performed in London. The King was one of the great +audience who heard it. All were so deeply impressed by the Hallelujah +chorus, that with the opening words, "For the Lord God omnipotent +reigneth," the whole audience, including the King, sprang to their +feet, and remained standing through the entire chorus. From that time +to this it has always been the custom to stand during this chorus, +whenever it is performed. + +Once started on this line of thought, one oratorio after another +flowed from his prolific pen, though none of them proved to be as +exalted in conception as the "Messiah." The last work of this style +was "Jephtha," which contains the beautiful song, "Waft her, angels." +While engaged in composing this oratorio, Handel became blind, but +this affliction did not seem to lessen his power for work. He was now +sixty-eight, and had conquered and lived down most of the hostility +that had been so bitter against him. His fortunes also constantly +improved, so that when he passed away he left twenty thousand pounds. + +The great composer was a big man, both physically and mentally. A +friend describes his countenance as full of fire; "when he smiled it +was like the sun bursting out of a black cloud. It was a sudden flash +of intelligence, wit and good humor, which illumined his countenance, +which I have hardly ever seen in any other." He could relish a joke, +and had a keen sense of humor. Few things outside his work interested +him; but he was fond of the theater, and liked to go to picture sales. +His fiery temper often led him to explode at trifles. No talking among +the listeners could be borne by him while he was conducting. He did +not hesitate to visit violent abuse on the heads of those who ventured +to speak while he was directing and not even the presence of royalty +could restrain his anger. + +Handel was always generous in assisting those who needed aid, and he +helped found the Society for Aiding Distressed Musicians. His last +appearance in public, was at a performance of the "Messiah," at Covent +Garden, on April 6, 1759. His death occurred on the 14th of the same +month, at the house in Brook Street where he had lived for many years. +Thus, while born in the same year as Sebastian Bach, he outlived him +by about a decade. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, and later a +fine monument was erected to his memory. The most of his manuscripts +came into the possession of King George III, and are preserved in the +musical library of Buckingham Palace. + + + + +IV + +CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK + + +Christoph Willibald Gluck has been called the "regenerator of the +opera" for he appeared just at the right moment to rescue opera +from the deplorable state into which it had fallen. At that time the +composers often yielded to the caprices of the singers and wrote to +suit them, while the singers themselves, through vanity and ignorance, +made such requirements that opera itself often became ridiculous. +Gluck desired "to restrict the art of music to its true object, that +of aiding the effect of poetry by giving greater expression to words +and scenes, without interrupting the action or the plot." He wrote +only operas, and some of his best works keep the stage to-day. They +are simple in design yet powerful in appeal: very original and stamped +with refinement and true feeling. + +The boy Christoph, like many another lad who became a great musician, +had a sorrowful childhood, full of poverty and neglect. His home was +in the little town of Weissenwangen, on the borders of Bohemia, where +he was born July 2, 1714. As a little lad he early manifested a love +for music, but his parents were in very straitened circumstances and +could not afford to pay for musical instruction. He was sent to one of +the public schools. Fortunately the art of reading music from notes, +formation of scales and fundamentals, was taught along with general +school subjects. + +While his father lived the boy was sure of sympathy and affection, +though circumstances were of the poorest. But the good man passed away +when the boy was quite young, and then matters were much worse. He was +gradually neglected until he was at last left to shift for himself. + +He possessed not only talent but perseverance and the will to succeed. +The violoncello attracted him, and he began to teach himself to play +it, with no other help than an old instruction book. Determination +conquered many difficulties however, and before long he had made +sufficient progress to enable him to join a troop of traveling +minstrels. From Prague they made their way to Vienna. + +Arrived in Vienna, that rich, gay, laughter-loving city, where the +people loved music and often did much for it, the youth's musical +talent together with his forlorn appearance and condition won sympathy +from a few generous souls, who not only provided a home and took care +of his material needs, but gave him also the means to continue his +musical studies. Christoph was overcome with gratitude and made the +best possible use of his opportunities. For nearly two years he gave +himself up to his musical studies. + +Italy was the goal of his ambition, and at last the opportunity +to visit that land of song was within his grasp. At the age of +twenty-four, in the year 1738, Gluck bade adieu to his many kind +friends in Vienna, and set out to complete his studies in Italy. Milan +was his objective point. Soon after arriving there he had the good +fortune to meet Padre Martini, the celebrated master of musical +theory. Young Gluck at once placed himself under the great man's +guidance and labored diligently with him for about four years. How +much he owed to the careful training Martini was able to give, was +seen in even his first attempts at operatic composition. + +At the conclusion of this long period of devoted study, Gluck began to +write an opera, entitled "Artaxerxes." When completed it was accepted +at the Milan Theater, brought out in 1741 and met with much success. +This success induced one of the managers in Venice to offer him an +engagement for that city if he would compose a new opera. Gluck then +produced "Clytemnestra." This second work had a remarkable success, +and the managers arranged for the composition of another opera, which +was "Demetrio," which, like the others was most favorably received. +Gluck now had offers from Turin, so that the next two years were spent +between that city and Milan, for which cities he wrote five or six +operas. By this time the name of Gluck had become famous all over +Italy; indeed his fame had spread to other countries, with the +result that tempting offers for new operas flowed in to him from all +directions. Especially was a London manager, a certain Lord Middlesex, +anxious to entice the young composer from Italy to come over to +London, and produce some of his works at the King's Theater in the +Haymarket. + +The noble manager made a good offer too, and Gluck felt he ought to +accept. He reached London in 1745, but owing to the rebellion which +had broken out in Scotland all the theaters were closed, and the city +in more or less confusion. However a chance to hear the famous German +composer, who had traveled such a distance, was not to be lost, and +Lord Middlesex besought the Powers to re-open the theater. After much +pleading his request was finally granted. The opening opera, written +on purpose to introduce Gluck to English audiences, was entitled "La +Caduta del Giganti,"--"Fall of the Giants"--and did not seem to please +the public. But the young composer was undaunted. His next opera, +"Artamene," pleased them no better. The mind of the people was taken +up at that period with politics and political events, and they cared +less than usual for music and the arts. Then, too, Handel, at the +height of his fame, was living in London, honored and courted by the +aristocracy and the world of fashion. + +Though disappointed at his lack of success, Gluck remained in England +several years, constantly composing operas, none of which seemed to +win success. At last he took his way quietly back to Vienna. In 1754, +he was invited to Rome, where he produced several operas, among them +"Antigone"; they were all successful, showing the Italians appreciated +his work. He now proceeded to Florence, and while there became +acquainted with an Italian poet, Ranieri di Calzabigi. They were +mutually attracted to each other, and on parting had sworn to use +their influence and talents to reform Italian opera. + +Gluck returned to Vienna, and continued to compose operas. In 1764, +"Orfeo" was produced,--an example of the new reform in opera! "Orfeo" +was received most favorably and sung twenty-eight times, a long run +for those days. The singing and acting of Guadagni made the opera +quite the rage, and the work began to be known in England. Even in +Paris and Parma it became a great favorite. The composer was +now fifty, and his greatest works had yet--with the exception or +"Orfeo"--to be written. He began to develop that purity of style which +we find in "Alceste," "Iphigenie en Tauride" and others. "Alceste" was +the second opera on the reformed plan which simplified the music to +give more prominence to the poetry. It was produced in Vienna in 1769, +with the text written by Calzabigi. The opera was ahead of "Orfeo" in +simplicity and nobility, but it did not seem to please the critics. +The composer himself wrote: "Pedants and critics, an infinite +multitude, form the greatest obstacle to the progress of art. They +think themselves entitled to pass a verdict on 'Alceste' from some +informal rehearsals, badly conducted and executed. Some fastidious +ear found a vocal passage too harsh, or another too impassioned, +forgetting that forcible expression and striking contrasts are +absolutely necessary. It was likewise decided in full conclave, that +this style of music was barbarous and extravagant." + +In spite of the judgment of the critics, "Alceste" increased the +fame of Gluck to a great degree. Paris wanted to see the man who had +revolutionized Italian opera. The French Royale Academie had made him +an offer to visit the capital, for which he was to write a new opera +for a debut. A French poet, Du Rollet, living in Vienna, offered to +write a libretto for the new opera, and assured him there was every +chance for success in a visit to France. The libretto was thereupon +written, or rather arranged from Racine's "Iphigenie en Aulide," and +with this, Chevalier Gluck, lately made Knight of the papal order of +the Golden Spur, set out for Paris. + +And now began a long season of hard work. The opera "Iphigenie" +took about a year to compose, besides a careful study of the French +language. He had even more trouble with the slovenly, ignorant +orchestra, than he had with the French language. The orchestra +declared itself against foreign music; but this opposition was +softened down by his former pupil and patroness, the charming Marie +Antoinette, Queen of France. + +After many trials and delays, "Iphigenie" was produced August 19, +1774. The opera proved an enormous success. The beautiful Queen +herself gave the signal for applause in which the whole house joined. +The charming Sophie Arnould sang the part of Iphigenie and seemed +to quite satisfy the composer. Larrivee was the Agamemnon, and other +parts were well sung. The French were thoroughly delighted. They +feted and praised Gluck, declaring he had discovered the music of the +ancient Greeks, that he was the only man in Europe who could express +real feelings in music. Marie Antoinette wrote to her sister: "We had, +on the nineteenth, the first performance of Gluck's 'Iphigenie,' and +it was a glorious triumph. I was quite enchanted, and nothing else is +talked of. All the world wishes to see the piece, and Gluck seems well +satisfied." + +The next year, 1775, Gluck brought out an adaptation suitable for +the French stage, of his "Alceste," which again aroused the greatest +enthusiasm. The theater was crammed at every performance. Marie +Antoinette's favorite composer was again praised to the skies, and was +declared to be the greatest composer living. + +But Gluck had one powerful opponent at the French Court, who was none +other than the famous Madame du Barry, the favorite of Louis XV. Since +the Queen had her pet musical composer, Mme. du Barry wished to have +hers. An Italian by birth, she could gather about her a powerful +Italian faction, who were bent upon opposition to the Austrian Gluck. +She had listened to his praises long enough, and the tremendous +success of "Alceste" had been the last straw and brought things to a +climax. Du Barry would have some one to represent Italian music, and +applied to the Italian ambassador to desire Piccini to come to Paris. + +On the arrival of Piccini, Madame du Barry began activities, aided by +Louis XV himself. She gathered a powerful Italian party about her, +and their first act was to induce the Grand Opera management to make +Piccini an offer for a new opera, although they had already made the +same offer to Gluck. This breach of good faith led to a furious war, +in which all Paris joined; it was fierce and bitter while it lasted. +Even politics were forgotten for the time being. Part of the press +took up one side and part the other. Many pamphlets, poems and satires +appeared, in which both composers were unmercifully attacked. Gluck +was at the time in Germany, and Piccini had come to Paris principally +to secure the tempting fee offered him. The leaders of the feud kept +things well stirred up, so that a stranger could not enter a cafe, +hotel or theater without first answering the question whether he stood +for Gluck or Piccini. Many foolish lies were told of Gluck in his +absence. It was declared by the Piccinists that he went away on +purpose, to escape the war; that he could no longer write melodies +because he was a dried up old man and had nothing new to give France. +These lies and false stories were put to flight one evening when the +Abbe Arnaud, one of Gluck's most ardent adherents, declared in an +aristocratic company, that the Chevalier was returning to France with +an "Orlando" and an "Armide" in his portfolio. + +"Piccini is also working on an 'Orlando,'" spoke up a follower of that +redoubtable Italian. + +"That will be all the better," returned the abbe, "for we shall then +have an 'Orlando' and also an 'Orlandino.'" + +When Gluck arrived in Paris, he brought with him the finished opera of +"Armide," which was produced at the Paris Grand Opera on September +23, 1777. At first it was merely a _succes d'estime_, but soon became +immensely popular. On the first night many of the critics were against +the opera, which was called too noisy. The composer, however, felt he +had done some of his best work in "Armide"; that the music was written +in such style that it would not grow old, at least not for a long +time. He had taken the greatest pains in composing it, and declared +that if it were not properly rehearsed at the Opera he would not let +them have it at all, but would retain the work himself for his own +pleasure. He wrote to a friend: "I have put forth what little strength +is left in me, into 'Armide'; I confess I should like to finish my +career with it." + +It is said the Gluck composed "Armide" in order to praise the beauty +of Marie Antoinette, and she for her part showed the deepest interest +in the success of the piece, and really "became quite a slave to +it." Gluck often told her he "rearranged his music according to the +impression it made upon the Queen." + +"Great as was the success of 'Armide,'" wrote the Princess de +Lamballe, "no one prized this beautiful work more highly than the +composer of it. He was passionately enamored of it; he told the Queen +the air of France had rejuvenated his creative powers, and the sight +of her majesty had given such a wonderful impetus to the flow +of ideas, that his composition had become like herself, angelic, +sublime." + +The growing success of "Armide" only added fuel to the flame of +controversy which had been stirred up. To cap the climax, Piccini +had finished his opera, which was duly brought out and met with a +brilliant reception. Indeed its success was greater than that won by +"Armide," much to the delight of the Piccinists. Of course the natural +outcome was that the other party should do something to surpass the +work of their rivals. Marie Antoinette was besought to prevail on +Gluck to write another opera. + +A new director was now in charge of the Opera House. He conceived the +bright idea of setting the two composers at work on the same subject, +which was to be "Iphigenie en Tauride." This plan made great commotion +in the ranks of the rival factions, as each wished to have their +composer's work performed first. The director promised that Piccini's +opera should be first placed in rehearsal. Gluck soon finished his +and handed it in, but the Italian, trusting to the director's word of +honor, was not troubled when he heard the news, though he determined +to complete his as soon as possible. A few days later, when he went to +the Opera House with his completed score, he was horrified to find the +work of his rival already in rehearsal. There was a lively scene, but +the manager said he had received orders to produce the work of Gluck +at once, and he must obey. On the 18th of May, 1779, the Gluck opera +was first performed. It produced the greatest excitement and had a +marvelous success. Even Piccini succumbed to the spell, for the music +made such an impression on him that he did not wish his own work to be +brought out. + +The director, however, insisted, and soon after the second Iphigenie +appeared. The first night the opera did not greatly please; the next +night proved a comic tragedy, as the prima donna was intoxicated. +After a couple of days' imprisonment she returned and sang well. But +the war between the two factions continued till the death of Gluck, +and the retirement of Piccini. + +The following year, in September, Gluck finished a new opera, "Echo et +Narcisse," and with this work decided to close his career, feeling he +was too old to write longer for the lyric stage. He was then nearly +seventy years old, and retired to Vienna, to rest and enjoy the fruits +of all his years of incessant toil. He was now rich, as he had earned +nearly thirty thousand pounds. Kings and princes came to do him honor, +and to tell him what pleasure his music had always given them. + +Gluck passed away on November 15, 1787, honored and beloved by all. +The simple beauty and purity of his music are as moving and expressive +to-day as when it was written, and the "Michael of Music" speaks to us +still in his operas, whenever they are adequately performed. + + + + +V + +JOSEF HAYDN + + +In Josef Haydn we have one of the classic composers, a sweet, gentle +spirit, who suffered many privations in early life, and through his +own industrious efforts rose to positions of respect and honor, the +result of unremitting toil and devotion to a noble ideal. Like many +of the other great musicians, through hardship and sorrow he won his +place among the elect. + +Fifteen leagues south of Vienna, amid marshy flats along the river +Leitha, lies the small village of Rehrau. At the end of the straggling +street which constitutes the village, stood a low thatched cottage +and next to it a wheelwright's shop, with a small patch of greensward +before it. The master wheelwright, Mathias Haydn, was sexton, too, of +the little church on the hill. He was a worthy man and very religious. +A deep love for music was part of the man's nature, and it was shared +to a large extent by his wife Maria. Every Sunday evening he would +bring out his harp, on which he had taught himself to play, and he +and his wife would sing songs and hymns, accompanied by the harp. The +children, too, would add their voices to the concert. The little +boy Josef, sat near his father and watched his playing with rapt +attention. Sometimes he would take two sticks and make believe play +the violin, just as he had seen the village schoolmaster do. And +when he sang hymns with the others, his voice was sweet and true. The +father watched the child with interest, and a new hope rose within +him. His own life had been a bitter disappointment, for he had been +unable to satisfy his longing for a knowledge of the art he loved. +Perhaps Josef might one day become a musician--indeed he might even +rise to be Capellmeister. + +Little Josef was born March 31, 1732. The mother had a secret desire +that the boy should join the priesthood, but the father, as we have +seen, hoped he would make a musical career, and determined, though +poor in this world's goods, to aid him in every possible way. + +About this time a distant relative, one Johann Mathias Frankh by name, +arrived at the Haydn cottage on a visit. He was a schoolmaster at +Hainburg, a little town four leagues away. During the regular evening +concert he took particular notice of Josef and his toy violin. The +child's sweet voice indicated that he had the makings of a good +musician. At last he said: "If you will let me take Sepperl, I will +see he is properly taught; I can see he promises well." + +The parents were quite willing and as for little Sepperl, he was +simply overjoyed, for he longed to learn more about the beautiful +music which filled his soul. He went with his new cousin, as he called +Frankh, without any hesitation, and with the expectation that his +childish day dreams were to be realized. + +A new world indeed opened to the six year old boy, but it was not all +beautiful. Frankh was a careful and strict teacher; Josef not only was +taught to sing well, but learned much about various instruments. +He had school lessons also. But his life in other ways was hard +and cheerless. The wife of his cousin treated him with the utmost +indifference, never looking after his clothing or his well being in +any way. After a time his destitute and neglected appearance was +a source of misery to the refined, sensitive boy, but he tried to +realize that present conditions could not last forever, and he bravely +endeavored to make the best of them. Meanwhile the training of his +voice was well advanced and when not in school he could nearly always +be found in church, listening to the organ and the singing. Not long +after, he was admitted to the choir, where his sweet young voice +joined in the church anthems. Always before his mind was a great city +where he knew he would find the most beautiful music--the music of his +dreams. That city was Vienna, but it lay far away. Josef looked down +at his ragged clothing and wondered if he would ever see that magical +city. + +One morning his cousin told him there would be a procession through +the town in honor of a prominent citizen who had just passed away. A +drummer was needed and the cousin had proposed Josef. He showed the +boy how to make the strokes for a march, with the result that Josef +walked in the procession and felt quite proud of this exhibition of +his skill. The very drum he used that day is preserved in the little +church at Hamburg. + +A great event occurred in Josef's prospects at the end of his second +year of school life at Hamburg. The Capellmeister, Reutter by name, of +St. Stephen's cathedral in Vienna, came to see his friend, the pastor +of Hamburg. He happened to say he was looking for a few good voices +for the choir. "I can find you one at least," said the pastor; "he is +a scholar of Frankh, the schoolmaster, and has a sweet voice." + +Josef was sent for and the schoolmaster soon returned leading him by +the hand. + +"Well my little fellow," said the Capellmeister, drawing him to his +knee, "can you make a shake?" + +"No sir, but neither can my cousin Frankh." + +Reutter laughed at this frankness, and then proceeded to show him how +the shake was done. Josef after a few trials was able to perform the +shake to the entire satisfaction of his teacher. After testing him on +a portion of a mass the Capellmeister was willing to take him to the +Cantorei or Choir school of St. Stephen's in Vienna. The boy's heart +gave a great leap. Vienna, the city of his dreams. And he was really +going there! He could scarcely believe in his good fortune. If he +could have known all that was to befall him there, he might not have +been so eager to go. But he was only a little eight-year-old boy, and +childhood's dreams are rosy. + +Once arrived at the Cantorei, Josef plunged into his studies with +great fervor, and his progress was most rapid. He was now possessed +with a desire to compose, but had not the slightest idea how to go +about such a feat. However, he hoarded every scrap of music paper he +could find and covered it with notes. Reutter gave no encouragement to +such proceedings. One day he asked what the boy was about, and when +he heard the lad was composing a "Salve Regina," for twelve voices, +he remarked it would be better to write it for two voices before +attempting it in twelve. "And if you must try your hand at +composition," added Reutter more kindly, "write variations on the +motets and vespers which are played in church." + +As neither the Capellmeister nor any of the teachers offered to +show Josef the principles of composition, he was thrown upon his own +resources. With much self denial he scraped together enough money to +buy two books which he had seen at the second hand bookseller's and +which he had longed to possess. One was Fox's "Gradus ad Parnassum," +a treatise on composition and counterpoint; the other Matheson's "The +Complete Capellmeister." Happy in the possession of these books, Josef +used every moment outside of school and choir practise to study them. +He loved fun and games as well as any boy, but music always came +first. The desire to perfect himself was so strong that he often added +several hours each day to those already required, working sixteen or +eighteen hours out of the twenty-four. + +And thus a number of years slipped away amid these happy surroundings. +Little Josef was now a likely lad of about fifteen years. It was +arranged that his younger brother Michael was to come to the Cantorei. +Josef looked eagerly forward to this event, planning how he would help +the little one over the beginning and show him the pleasant things +that would happen to him in the new life. But the elder brother could +not foresee the sorrow and privation in store for him. From the moment +Michael's pure young voice filled the vast spaces of the cathedral, it +was plain that Josef's singing could not compete with it. His soprano +showed signs of breaking, and gradually the principal solo parts, +which had always fallen to him, were given to the new chorister. On +a special church day, when there was more elaborate music, the "Salve +Regina," which had always been given to Josef, was sung so beautifully +by the little brother, that the Emperor and Empress were delighted, +and they presented the young singer with twenty ducats. + +Poor Josef! He realized that his place was virtually taken by the +brother he had welcomed so joyously only a short time before. No one +was to blame of course; it was one of those things that could not be +avoided. But what actually caused him to leave St. Stephen's was a +boyish prank played on one of the choir boys, who sat in front of +him. Taking up a new pair of shears lying near, he snipped off, in a +mischievous moment, the boy's pigtail. For this jest he was punished +and then dismissed from the school. He could hardly realize it, in his +first dazed, angry condition. Not to enjoy the busy life any more, not +to see Michael and the others and have a comfortable home and sing +in the Cathedral. How he lived after that he hardly knew. But several +miserable days went by. One rainy night a young man whom he had known +before, came upon him near the Cathedral, and was struck by his +white, pinched face. He asked where the boy was living. "Nowhere--I am +starving," was the reply. Honest Franz Spangler was touched at once. + +"We can't stand here in the rain," he said. "You know I haven't a +palace to offer, but you are welcome to share my poor place for one +night anyway. Then we shall see." + +It was indeed a poor garret where the Spanglers lived, but the +cheerful fire and warm bread and milk were luxuries to the starving +lad. Best of all was it to curl up on the floor, beside the dying +embers and fall into refreshing slumber. The next morning the world +looked brighter. He had made up his mind not to try and see his +brother; he would support himself by music. He did not know just how +he was going to do this, but determined to fight for it _and never +give in_. + +Spangler, deeply touched by the boy's forlorn case, offered to let +him occupy a corner of his garret until he could find work, and Josef +gratefully accepted. The boy hoped he could quickly find something to +do; but many weary months were spent in looking for employment and +in seeking to secure pupils, before there was the slightest sign +of success. Thinly clad as he was and with the vigorous appetite of +seventeen, which was scarcely ever appeased, he struggled on, hopeful +that spring would bring some sort of good cheer. + +But spring came, yet no employment was in sight. His sole earnings had +been the coppers thrown to him as he stood singing in the snow covered +streets, during the long cold winter. Now it was spring, and hope rose +within him. He had been taught to have simple faith in God, and felt +sure that in some way his needs would be met. + +At last the tide turned slightly. A few pupils attracted by the small +fee he charged, took lessons on the clavier; he got a few engagements +to play violin at balls and parties, while some budding composers got +him to revise their manuscripts for a small fee. All these cheering +signs of better times made Josef hopeful and grateful. One day a +special piece of good fortune came his way. A man who loved music, +at whose house he had sometimes played, sent him a hundred and fifty +florins, to be repaid without interest whenever convenient. + +This sum seemed to Haydn a real fortune. He was able to leave the +Spanglers and take up a garret of his own. There was no stove in it +and winter was coming on; it was only partly light, even at midday, +but the youth was happy. For he had acquired a little worm-eaten +spinet, and he had added to his treasures the first six sonatas of +Emmanuel Bach. + +On the third floor of the house which contained the garret, lived a +celebrated Italian poet, Metastasio. Haydn and the poet struck up an +acquaintance, which resulted in the musician's introduction to the +poet's favorite pupil, Marianne Martinez. Also through Metastasio, +Haydn met Nicolo Porpora, an eminent teacher of singing and +composition. About this time another avenue opened to him. It was a +fashion in Vienna to pick up a few florins by serenading prominent +persons. A manager of one of the principal theaters in Vienna, Felix +Kurz, had recently married a beautiful woman, whose loveliness was +much talked of. It occurred to Haydn to take a couple of companions +along and serenade the lady, playing some of his own music. Soon after +they had begun to play the house door opened and Kurz himself stood +there in dressing gown and slippers. "Whose music was that you were +playing?" he asked. "My own," was the answer. "Indeed; then just step +inside." The three entered, wondering. They were presented to Madame, +then were given refreshments. "Come and see me to-morrow," said Kurz +when the boys left; "I think I have some work for you." + +Haydn called next day and learned the manager had written a libretto +of a comic opera which he called "The Devil on two Sticks," and was +looking for some one to compose the music. In one place there was to +be a tempest at sea, and Haydn was asked how he would represent that. +As he had never seen the sea, he was at a loss how to express it. The +manager said he himself had never seen the ocean, but to his mind it +was like this, and he began to toss his arms wildly about. Haydn tried +every way he could think of to represent the ocean, but Kurz was not +satisfied. At last he flung his hands down with a crash on each end +of the keyboard and brought them together in the middle. "That's it, +that's it," cried the manager and embraced the youth excitedly. All +went well with the rest of the opera. It was finished and produced, +but did not make much stir, a fact which was not displeasing to the +composer, as he was not proud of his first attempt. + +His acquaintance with Porpora promised better things. The singing +master had noticed his skill in playing the harpsichord, and offered +to engage him as accompanist. Haydn gladly accepted at once, hoping to +pick up much musical knowledge in this way. Old Porpora was very +harsh and domineering at first, treating him more like a valet than +a musician. But at last he was won over by Haydn's gentleness and +patience, until he was willing to answer all his questions and +to correct his compositions. Best of all he brought Haydn to the +attention of the nobleman in whose house he was teaching, so that +when the nobleman and his family went to the baths of Mannersdorf for +several months, Haydn was asked to go along as accompanist to Porpora. + +The distinguished musicians he met at Mannersdorf were all very kind +to him and showed much interest in his compositions, many of which +were performed during this visit. The nobleman, impressed with Haydn's +desire to succeed, allotted him a pension of a sum equal to fifteen +dollars a month. The young musician's first act on receiving this was +to buy himself a neat suit of black. + +Good fortune followed him on his return to Vienna. More pupils came, +until he was able to raise his prices and move into better lodgings. +A wealthy patron of music, the Countess of Thun, sent for him to come +and see her. She had heard one of his clavier sonatas played, found +it charming and wished to see the composer. Her manner was so +sympathetic, that Haydn was led to tell her the story of his +struggles. Tears came into her eyes as she listened. She promised her +support as friend and pupil, and Haydn left her with a happy, grateful +heart. + +His compositions were heard in the best musical circles in Vienna, and +the future was bright with promise. A wealthy music patron persuaded +him to write a string quartet, the first of many to follow. Through +this man he received, in 1759, an appointment of music director to a +rich Bohemian, Count Morzin, who had a small orchestra at his country +seat. In the same year the first Symphony was composed. + +As brighter days dawned, Haydn procured all the works on theory +obtainable, and studied them deeply. He had mastered the difficulties +of the "Gradus," one of the books purchased years before, and without +any outside help had worked out his musical independence, uninfluenced +by any other musician. He was now twenty-six, and his fame was +growing. Meanwhile an affair of the heart had great influence on his +life. Sometime previously Haydn had been engaged to give lessons +on the harpsichord to two daughters of a wig-maker named Keller. An +attachment soon sprang up between the teacher and the younger of the +girls. His poverty had stood in the way of making his feelings known. +But as prosperity began to dawn, he grew courageous and asked the +maiden to become his wife. His disappointment was keen when he found +the girl had in the meantime decided to take the veil. The wig-maker +proved to be a matchmaker, for when he learned how matters stood he +urged the composer to take the sister, who was only three years older. +The gentle Haydn was unable to withstand the pressure brought to bear, +and consented. After his bride was his he found he had won a virago, +one who cared nothing for art or for her husband's ideals, if only she +could have enough money to spend. + +The composer was in sad straits for a while, but fortunately a way +opened by means of which he could be free. Count Morzin, where he had +conducted the orchestra, was obliged to reduce his establishment and +dismissed his band and its director. As soon as this was known, the +reigning Prince of Hungary, Paul Anton Esterhazy offered Haydn the +post of assistant Capellmeister at his country seat of Eisenstadt. +The head Capellmeister, Werner, was old, but the Prince kept him +on account of his long service. Haydn, however, was to have +entire control of the orchestra, and also of most of the musical +arrangements. + +Haydn was blissfully happy over the realization of his highest hopes. +In his wildest dreams he had never imagined such magnificence as he +found at the palace of Eisenstadt. The great buildings, troops of +servants, the wonderful parks and gardens, with their flowers, lakes +and fountains almost made him believe he was in fairyland. Of course +there would be some hard work, though it would not seem hard amid such +fascinating surroundings and there would be plenty of leisure for his +own creative activities. Best of all his wife could not be with him. + +Prince Paul Anton passed away after a year and his brother Nikolaus +succeeded him. He advanced Haydn still further, and increased his +salary. Werner, the old Capellmeister, died in 1766, and Haydn +succeeded to the full title. This was the father's dream for his boy +Josef, and it had been abundantly realized. His mother had passed +away, but his father was living, and had come, on one occasion, +to Eisenstadt to see him. His brother Michael who had now become +Concertmeister in Salzburg, spent several happy days with him also. + +The summer residence of Prince Nikolaus at Esterhazy had been rebuilt, +enlarged and was more magnificent than Eisenstadt. The music was more +elaborate. The Prince was so fond of the life there that he postponed +his return to town till late in the autumn. + +In order to give him a hint through music, Haydn composed what he +called the "Farewell Symphony," in which, toward the close each pair +of players in turn rose, extinguished their candles and passed out, +until only the first violinist remained. He last of all blew out his +light and left, while Haydn prepared to follow. The Prince at last +understood, and treating the whole as a joke, gave orders for the +departure of the household. + +In 1790 Haydn lost the master to whom he was so devotedly attached. +He received a pension of a thousand florins on condition that he would +retain his post. But Prince Anton, who succeeded his brother, cared +nothing for music; Haydn was not obliged to live at the palace and +returned to Vienna. Several attempts had already been made to induce +him to visit London, but he always had refused. Now there seemed to be +no obstacle in the way. One day a visitor called. "My name is Salomon; +I have come from London to fetch you; we will settle terms to-morrow." +On the sail from Calais to Dover, the composer first saw the sea and +was reminded of his boyish efforts to describe it in tones. + +London welcomed Haydn warmly, for his fame had preceded him and his +music was familiar. The first concert was given March 11, 1790 at the +Hanover Square Rooms, and was a great success. This was followed by a +series of concerts, and at last a benefit for the composer on May 16, +which was an ovation and realized three hundred and fifty pounds. He +heard the "Messiah" for the first time and when, at the "Hallelujah +Chorus," the audience sprang to its feet, he burst into tears, +exclaiming "He is the master of us all!" + +At Oxford, in July, he received the honorary degree of Doctor of +Music, and three great concerts were given in his honor, with special +performers brought from London. In fact the whole visit to England had +been such a success that he repeated the trip in 1794, and received +even greater honors. His symphonies were heard on all London +programs. He was the lion of the season, and was frequently invited to +Buckingham Palace to play for the King and Queen, who always urged +him to live in England. Haydn was now sixty-five; he had composed +quantities of music, but his greatest work, "The Creation," was not +yet written. While in London, Salomon had shown him a poem founded on +"Paradise Lost," written years before in the hope that Handel would +use it for an oratorio. Haydn decided to try his hand at oratorio on +this subject. As he went on, it grew to be a labor of love and prayer. +It was finished and performed in Vienna, March 19, 1799, and made +a profound impression. The composer at once began work on a second +oratorio, founded on Thompson's "Seasons." The desire for work was +strong within, but his health was failing. "'The Seasons' gave me my +finishing stroke," he often remarked to friends. + +Haydn was acknowledged on every hand as the father of instrumental +music. He laid great stress on melody. "It is the air which is +the charm of music," he said, "and it is the air which is the most +difficult to produce. The invention of a fine melody is a work of +genius." + +Full of years and honors, respected and beloved, Father Haydn passed +away. As Vienna was at that time in the hands of the French, he was +given a very simple burial. In 1820 Prince Esterhazy had the remains +reinterred in the upper parish church at Eisenstadt, where a simple +stone with Latin inscription is placed in the wall above the vault to +mark the spot. + + + + +VI + +WOLFGANG MOZART + + +The early December dusk was closing in over the quaint old city of +Salzburg. Up on the heights above the town the battlements of the +great castle caught a reflection of the last gleams of light in the +sky. But the narrow streets below were quite in shadow. + +In one of the substantial looking houses on a principal thoroughfare, +called the Getreide Gasse, lights gleamed from windows on the third +floor. Within, all was arranged as if for some special occasion. +The larger room, with its three windows looking on the street, was +immaculate in its neatness. The brass candlesticks shone like gold, +the mahogany table was polished like a mirror, the simple furniture +likewise. For today was Father Mozart's birthday and the little +household was to celebrate the event. + +Mother Mozart had been busy all day putting everything in order +while Nannerl, the seven year old daughter, had been helping. Little +Wolfgang, now three years old, in his childish eagerness to be as busy +as the others, had only hindered, and had to be reprimanded once in a +while. One could never be vexed with the little elf, even if he turned +somersaults in new clean clothes, or made chalk figures all over the +living-room chairs. He never meant to do any harm, and was always so +tenderhearted and lovable, it was hard to scold him. + +And this was the Father's birthday, about the most important of all +the family celebrations. Already the roast on the spit was nearing +perfection, while in the oven a fine cake was browning. + +When all was ready and Leopold Mozart had received the good wishes +of the little household, baby Wolfgang was mounted on a footstool to +recite a poem, in honor of the occasion. When he had finished it he +stood quietly a moment then reaching out his tiny arms, clasped them +tightly about his father's neck, and said: + +"Dear papa, I love you very, very much; after God, next comes my +papa." + +Leopold Mozart was a musician and held the post of Vice-Capellmeister. +Music was honored in this simple home, and when two of the Court +musicians, friends of Father Mozart, came in to join the festivities +on this birthday night, a toast was drunk to the honor of _Musica_, +the divine goddess of tones. + +"I wonder if even a little of my own musical knowledge and love for +the art will overflow upon the two dear children," remarked Father +Mozart, gazing down tenderly on the little ones. + +"Why not," answered the mother; "you long ago promised to begin +lessons with Nannerl; can she not start this very night?" + +"Yes, indeed, Papachen, may I not learn to play the piano? I promise +to work very hard." + +"Very well," answered the father; "you shall see I am grateful for all +the love you have showed me tonight, and I will begin to teach Nannerl +at once." + +"I want to learn music too," broke in little Wolfgang, looking at his +father with beaming eyes. + +Every one laughed at this, while the father said baby Wolfgang would +have to grow some inches before he could reach the keys. + +The lesson began, and the little girl showed both quickness and +patience to grasp the ideas. No one at first noticed the tiny child +who planted himself at his sister's elbow, the light of the candles +falling on his delicate, sensitive features and bright brown hair. His +glance never left Nannerl's fingers as they felt hesitatingly +among the white and black keys, while his ear easily understood the +intervals she tried to play. + +When the little girl left the piano, or the harpsichord, as it was +called in those days, Wolfgang slipped into her place and began to +repeat with his tiny fingers what his father had taught her. He sought +the different intervals, and when at last he found them, his little +face beamed with joy. In a short time he was able to play all the +simple exercises that had been given his sister. + +The parents listened to their wonder-child with ever increasing +astonishment, mingled with tears of emotion. It was plain to be seen +that Wolfgang must have lessons as well as Nannerl. And what joy it +would be to teach them both. + +It was a happy household that retired that night. Nannerl was happy +because she at last had the chance to take piano lessons. Wolfgang, +little "Starbeam," dreamed of the wonderful Goddess of Music, who +carried him away to fairyland which was filled with beautiful music. +The parents were filled with joy that heaven had granted them such +blessings in their children. + +The musical progress of the children was quite remarkable. Marianne, +which was Nannerl's real name, soon began to play very well indeed, +while little Wolfgang hardly had to be told anything in music, for +he seemed to know it already. The father would write Minuets for the +little girl to study; her tiny brother would learn them in half an +hour. Soon Wolfgang was able to compose his own Minuets. Several have +come down to us which he wrote when he was five years old; and they +are quite perfect in form and style. + +One day Father Mozart brought home Schachtner, the Court trumpeter, to +dinner. Coming suddenly into the living-room, they found the tiny elf +busily writing at his father's desk. + +"Whatever are you doing, Wolferl?" cried his father, gazing at the ink +stained fingers of his little son and then at the paper covered with +blots. + +"Oh, Papa, a piano sonata, but it isn't finished yet." + +"Never mind that," said Leopold Mozart, "let us see it, it must be +something very fine." Taking up the paper the father and his friend +looked at it curiously. The sheets were bedaubed with ink stains that +almost concealed the notes. For the child had thrust his pen each time +to the bottom of the ink well, so that frequent blots on the paper +were the result. These did not trouble him in the least, for he +merely rubbed his hand over the offending blot and proceeded with his +writing. + +At first the two friends laughed heartily to see how the little +composer had written the notes over smudges, but soon the father's +eyes filled with happy tears. + +"Look, my dear Schachtner!" he cried. "See how correct and orderly it +all is, all written according to rule. Only one could never play it +for it seems to be too difficult." + +"But it's a sonata, Papa, and one must practice it first, of course, +but this is the way it should go." + +He sprang to the piano and began to play. The small fingers could not +master the more intricate parts, but gave sufficient idea of how he +intended the piece to sound. + +They stood in speechless astonishment at this proof of the child's +powers; then Leopold Mozart caught up the little composer and kissing +him cried, "My Wolfgang, you will become a great musician." + +Wolfgang, not content with merely learning the piano, begged to study +the violin also. His violin lessons had hardly begun when one evening +his father and two friends were about to play a set of six trios, +composed by Wentzl, one of the players. Wolfgang begged to be allowed +to play the second violin. Needless to say his request was refused. +At last he was told he might sit next to Schachtner and make believe +play, though he must make no sound. + +The playing began, when before long it was seen the boy was actually +playing the second violin part and doing it correctly. The second +violin ceased bowing in amazement and allowed Wolfgang to go on alone. +After this he was permitted to play all the second violin part of +the whole six pieces. Emboldened by this success, he volunteered +to attempt the first violin part, an offer which was greeted with +laughter; but nothing daunted, he took up his violin and began. There +were mistakes here and there, of course, but he persisted to the end, +to the astonishment of all. + +Three years had passed swiftly by since little Wolfgang Mozart began +to study music the night of his father's fortieth birthday. He had +made marvelous progress and already the fame of his powers had passed +beyond the narrow limits of his native town. Leopold Mozart had no +means other than the salary which he received from the Court. His +children's musical gifts induced the father to turn them to advantage, +both to supply the family needs and to provide the children a broad +education in music. He determined to travel with the children. A +first experiment in January, 1762, had proved so successful that the +following September they set out for Vienna. Wolfgang was now six +years old and Marianne eleven. + +At Linz they gave a successful concert and every one was delighted +with the playing of the children. From here they continued their +journey as far as the monastery of Ips, where they expected to stay +for the night. It had been a wonderful day, spent in sailing down +the majestic Danube, till they reached the grey old building with +its battlemented walls. Soon after they arrived, Father Mozart took +Wolfgang into the chapel to see the organ. + +The child gazed with awe at the great pipes, the keyboard and the +pedals. He begged his father to explain their working, and then as +the father filled the great bellows the tiny organist pushed aside +the organ bench, stood upon the pedals and trod them, as though he had +always known how. The monks in the monastery hastened to the chapel, +holding their breath as one pointed to the figure of a tiny child in +the organ loft. Was it possible, they asked themselves, that a child +could produce such beautiful music? They remained rooted to the spot, +till Wolfgang happened to see them and crept meekly down from his +perch. + +All the rest of the journey to Vienna, Wolfgang was the life of the +party, eager to know the name and history of everything they met. At +the custom-house on the frontier, he made friends with the officials +by playing for them on his violin, and thus secured an easy pass for +the party. + +Arrived at Vienna, Leopold Mozart found the fame of the children's +playing had preceded them. A kind and gracious welcome awaited the +little party when they went to the palace of Schoenbrunn. The Emperor +Franz Josef took to Wolfgang at once, was delighted with his playing +and called him his "little magician." The boy's powers were tested by +being required to read difficult pieces at sight, and playing with one +finger, as the Emperor jestingly asked him to do. Next, the keyboard +was covered with a cloth, as a final test, but little Wolfgang played +as finely as before, to the great delight of the company who applauded +heartily. The little magician was so pleased with the kindness of both +the Emperor and Empress that he returned it in his own childish way, +by climbing into the lap of the Empress and giving her a hug and a +kiss, just as though she were his own mother. He was also greatly +attracted by the little Princess Marie Antoinette, a beautiful child +of about his own age, with long fair curls and laughing blue eyes. The +two struck up an immediate friendship. + +After the favor shown them at Court, the gifted children became the +rage in Vienna society. Invitations poured in from every side, and +many gifts. Those bestowed by the royal family were perhaps the most +valued. Wolfgang's present was a violet colored suit, trimmed with +broad gold braid, while Nannerl received a pretty white silk dress. +Each of the children also received a beautiful diamond ring from the +Emperor. A portrait of the boy in his gala suit, which was painted at +the time, is still preserved. + +The following year the Mozarts took the children on a longer journey, +this time with Paris in view. They stopped at many towns and cities +on the way. At Frankfort the first performance was so successful that +three more were given. A newspaper of the time says "little Mozart +is able to name all notes played at a distance, whether single or in +chords, whether played on the piano, or any other instrument, bell, +glass or clock." The father offered as an additional attraction that +Wolfgang would play with the keyboard covered. + +The family stayed five months in Paris; the children played before +the Court at Versailles, exciting surprise and enthusiasm there and +wherever they appeared. From Paris they traveled to London, in April, +1764. + +Leopold Mozart's first care on reaching the great English metropolis +was to obtain an introduction at Court. King George III and the Queen +were very fond of music, and it was not long before an invitation came +for the children to attend at the Palace. The King showed the greatest +interest in Wolfgang, asking him to play at sight difficult pieces by +Bach and Handel. Then the boy, after accompanying the Queen in a song, +selected the bass part in a piece by Handel, and improvised a charming +melody to it. The King was so impressed that he wished him to play the +organ, in the playing of which Wolfgang won a further triumph. + +The King's birthday was to be celebrated on June 4 and London was +crowded with people from all parts of the country. Leopold Mozart had +chosen June 5 as the date for his first public concert. The hall was +filled to overflowing; one hundred guineas being taken in. Many of the +assisting performers would take no fee for their services, which added +to the father's gratitude and happiness. + +Not long after this Leopold Mozart fell ill, and the little family +moved to Chelsea, for the quiet and good air. Later they were +given another reception at Court, where, after Wolfgang's wonderful +performances, the children won much applause by playing some piano +duets composed by the boy--a style of composition then quite new. + +In July, 1765, the family left London and traveled in Holland, after +which came a second visit to Paris, where they added to their former +triumphs, in addition to playing in many towns on the way back. +Finally the long tour was brought to a close by the return to Salzburg +in November, 1766. + +At the period of musical history in which the gifted boy lived, a +musician's education was not complete unless he went to Italy, for +this country stood first as the home of music. Leopold Mozart had made +a couple of trips to Vienna with his children, the account of which +need not detain us here. He had decided that Wolfgang must go to +Italy, and breathe in the atmosphere of that land of song. And so in +December, 1769, father and son set out for the sunny south, with high +hopes for success. + +Mozart's happy nature was jubilant over the journey. He watched +eagerly the peasants as they danced on the vine-clad terraces, +overlooking the deep blue lakes,--or listened as they sang at their +work in the sunny fields. He gazed at the wonderful processions of +priests through narrow streets of the towns, but above all there was +the grand music in the cathedrals. + +The young musician had plenty of work to do, more than most boys +of thirteen. For, besides the concerts he had to give, he was set +difficult problems by the various professors who wished to test his +powers. The fame of his playing constantly spread, so the further he +traveled into Italy there were more demands to hear him. At Roveredo, +where it was announced he would play the organ in St. Thomas's Church, +the crowd was so great he could scarcely get to the organ-loft. The +vast audience listened spellbound, and then refused to disperse till +they had caught a glimpse of the boy player. At Verona he had another +triumph; one of his symphonies was performed, and his portrait was +ordered to be painted. + +When they reached Milan the Chief musician of the city subjected the +boy to severe tests, all of which he accomplished to the astonishment +and delight of everybody. It was at Bologna however, where he met +the most flattering reception. Here was the home of the famous Padre +Martini, the aged composer of church music. Father Martini was almost +worshiped by the Italians; he was a most lovable man and looked up to +as a great composer. He had long ago given up attending concerts, so +that every one was astonished when he was present in the brilliant +audience gathered at Count Pallavicini's mansion to listen to the +boy's playing. Wolfgang did his best, for he realized the importance +of the event. Father Martini took the boy to his heart at once, +invited him to visit him as often as possible during his stay, +and gave him several fugue subjects to work out. These the boy +accomplished with ease, and the Padre declared he was perfectly +satisfied with his knowledge of composition. + +The journey to Rome was now continued, and for Wolfgang it was a +succession of triumphs. At Florence he played before the Court of the +Archduke Leopold, and solved every problem put to him by the Court +music director as easily as though he were eating a bit of bread. + +It was Holy Week when young Mozart and his father entered Rome, and +the city lay under the spell of the great festival of the year. They +soon joined the throngs that filled the vast temple of St. Peter's, +to which all turn during this solemn season. After attending a service +and viewing the treasures of the Cathedral, they turned their steps to +the Sistine Chapel, which contains the wonderful painting of the Last +Judgment by Michael Angelo. It was here that the celebrated Miserere +by Allegri was performed. Wolfgang had been looking forward to this +moment all through the latter part of his journey. His father had told +him how jealously guarded this music was; it could never be performed +in any other place, and the singers could never take their parts out +of the chapel. He was intensely eager to hear this work. And indeed it +would be difficult to imagine anything more beautiful and impressive +than the singing of the Miserere, which means "Have Mercy." It follows +the solemn service called Tenebrae, (Darkness) during which the six +tall candles on the altar are extinguished one by one,--till but one +is left, which is removed to a space behind the altar. Then in almost +complete darkness the Miserere begins. A single voice is heard singing +the antiphon, or short introduction,--and then comes silence, a +silence so profound that the listener scarcely dares to breathe +for fear of disturbing it. At length the first sad notes of the +supplication are heard, like the softest wailing of an anguished +spirit; they gradually gain force till the whole building seems to +throb with the thrilling intensity of the music. + +The young musician was profoundly moved; the father too was much +affected by the solemn service. Neither spoke as they left the chapel +and sought their lodgings. After they had retired the boy could not +sleep; his thoughts were filled with the wonderful music he had heard. +He arose, lit the lamp, and got out pens and music paper. He worked +industriously the long night through. When morning dawned the boy sat +with his beautiful head upon his folded arms, asleep, while before him +on the table lay a score of the Miserere of Allegri, entirely written +from memory. + +The next day, Good Friday, the Miserere was performed for the second +time. Wolfgang, the boy of fourteen, who had performed the wonderful +feat of writing this work out after one hearing, again attended the +service, keeping the score in his hat, and found his work was nearly +perfect, needing but a couple of trifling corrections. + +The news of this startling feat gained for the young musician a +cordial welcome into the houses of the great in Rome; during their +stay father and son were feted to their hearts' content. + +At Naples, their next stopping place, Wolfgang played before a +brilliant company, and excited so much astonishment, that people +declared his power in playing came from a ring he wore on his finger. +"He wears a charm," they cried. Mozart smiled, took off the ring and +played more brilliantly than ever. Then the enthusiasm was redoubled. +The Neapolitans showed them every attention and honor. A carriage +was provided for their use, and we have an account of how they drove +through the best streets, the father wearing a maroon-colored coat +with light blue facings, and Wolfgang in one of apple green, with +rose-colored facings and silver buttons. + +It was indeed a wonderful tour which they made in Italy, though there +is not time to tell of many things that happened. On their return to +Rome, the Pope gave him the order of the Golden Spur, which made him +Chevalier de Mozart. Arriving at Bologna the young musician was made a +member of the Accademia Filharmonica. The test for this admission was +setting an antiphon in four parts. Wolfgang was locked in a room till +the task should be finished. To the astonishment of everybody he asked +to be let out at the end of half an hour,--having completed the work. + +The travelers now proceeded to Milan, where Mozart was to work on his +first opera, for which he had received a commission. It was a great +task for a boy to accomplish and we find the young composer writing +to his mother and sister to pray for his success. The opera was called +"Mitridate," and was finished after three months' hard work. The first +performance was given in Milan, December 26, 1770, and was conducted +by Wolfgang himself. It was a proud, happy day for the father, indeed +for the whole family. "Mitridate" succeeded beyond their hopes; it was +given twenty times before crowded houses; and its success brought an +election to the Accademia, and also a commission to write a dramatic +Serenata for an approaching royal wedding. This work also was a great +success. The Empress who had commissioned Mozart to compose the work +was so pleased, that besides the promised fee, she gave the composer a +gold watch with her portrait set in diamonds on the back. + +Sunshine and success had followed the gifted boy through all his +travels; but now shadows and disappointments were to come, due to +jealousy, intrigue and indifference of those in power who might have +helped him but failed to recognize his genius. Shortly after the +return of the father and son to their home town of Salzburg, their +protector and friend, the good Archbishop of Salzburg, died. His +successor was indifferent to art and held in contempt those who +followed it as a profession. He persistently refused to appoint the +young musician to any office worthy his talent or to recognize his +gifts in any way. While Mozart remained at home in Salzburg, hoping +his prospects would improve, he worked at composing with untiring +diligence. By the time he was twenty-one he had accumulated a mass +of music that embraced every branch of the art. He had a growing +reputation as a composer but no settled future. He had the post of +concertmaster, it is true, but the salary was but a trifle and he +was often pressed for money. Leopold therefore decided to undertake +another professional tour with his son. The Archbishop however +prevented the father leaving Salzburg. So the only course left open +was to allow Wolfgang and his mother to travel together. They set out +on the morning of September 23, 1777. Wolfgang's spirits rose as the +town of Salzburg faded into the haze of that September morning; the +sense of freedom was exhilarating; he had escaped the place associated +in his mind with tyranny and oppression, to seek his fortune in new +and wider fields. + +At Munich where they first halted, Wolfgang sought an engagement +at the Elector's Court. He had an audience at the Nymphenburg, a +magnificent palace on the outskirts of the city. The Elector said +there was no vacancy; he did not know but later it might be possible +to make one, after Mozart had been to Italy and had made a name for +himself. With these words the Elector turned away. Mozart stood as +if stunned. To Italy, when he had concertized there for about seven +years, and had been showered with honors! It was too much. He shook +off the dust of Munich and he and his mother went on to Mannheim. +Here was a more congenial atmosphere. The Elector maintained a fine +orchestra, and with the conductor, Cannabich, Mozart became great +friends, giving music lessons to his daughter. But he could not seem +to secure a permanent appointment at Court, worthy his genius and +ability. Money became more scarce and the father and sister must make +many sacrifices at home to send money to maintain mother and son. With +the best of intentions Wolfgang failed to make his way except as a +piano teacher. The father had resorted to the same means of securing +the extra sums required, and wrote quite sharply to the son to bestir +himself and get something settled for the future. + +For the young genius, Mannheim possessed a special attraction of which +the father knew nothing. Shortly after their arrival in the city, +Wolfgang became acquainted with the Weber family. The two oldest +daughters, Aloysia, fifteen, and Constanza, fourteen, were charming +girls just budding into womanhood. Aloysia had a sweet, pure voice, +and was studying for the stage; indeed she had already made her debut +in opera. It was not at all strange that young Mozart, who often +joined the family circle, should fall in love with the girl's fair +beauty and fresh voice, should write songs for her and teach her +to sing them as he wished. They were much together and their early +attraction fast ripened into love. Wolfgang formed a project for +helping the Webers, who were in rather straitened circumstances, by +undertaking a journey to Italy in company with Aloysia and her father; +he would write an opera in which Aloysia should appear as prima donna. +Of this brilliant plan he wrote his father, saying they could stop in +Salzburg on the way, when the father and Nannerl could meet the fair +young singer, whom they would be sure to love. + +Leopold Mozart was distracted at news of this project. He at once +wrote, advising his son to go to Paris and try there to make a name +and fame for himself. The son dutifully yielded at once. With a heavy +heart he prepared to leave Mannheim, where he had spent such a happy +winter, and his love dream came to an end. It was a sad parting with +the Weber household, for they regarded Wolfgang as their greatest +benefactor. + +The hopes Leopold Mozart had built on Wolfgang's success in Paris were +not to be realized. The enthusiasm he had aroused as a child prodigy +was not awarded to the matured musician. Three months passed away in +more or less fruitless endeavor. Then the mother, who had been his +constant companion in these trials and travels, fell seriously ill. On +July 3, 1778, she passed away in her son's arms. + +Mozart prepared to leave Paris at once, and his father was the +more willing, since the Archbishop of Salzburg offered Wolfgang +the position of Court organist, at a salary of 500 florins, with +permission to absent himself whenever he might be called upon to +conduct his own operas. Leopold urged Wolfgang's acceptance, as their +joint income would amount to one thousand florins a year--a sum that +would enable them to pay their debts and live in comparative comfort. + +To Mozart the thought of settling down in Salzburg under the +conditions stated in his father's letter was distasteful, but he had +not the heart to withstand his father's appeal. He set out from Paris +at once, promising himself just one indulgence before entering the +bondage which lay before him, a visit to his friends the Webers at +Mannheim. When he arrived there he found they had gone to Munich to +live. Therefore he pushed on to Munich. The Weber family received him +as warmly as of old, but in Aloysia's eyes there was only a friendly +greeting, nothing more. A few short months had cooled her fickle +attachment for the young composer. This discovery was a bitter +trial to Wolfgang and he returned to his Salzburg home saddened by +disappointed love and ambition. + +Here in his old home he was cheered by a rapturous welcome; it was +little short of a triumph, this greeting and homage showered on him by +father, sister and friends. In their eyes his success was unshadowed +by failure; to them he was Mozart the great composer, the genius among +musicians. He was very grateful for these proofs of affection and +esteem, but he had still the same aversion to Salzburg and his Court +duties. So it was with new-kindled joy that he set out once more for +Munich, in November, 1780, to complete and produce the opera he had +been commissioned to write for the carnival the following year. + +The new opera, "Idomeneo," fulfilled the high expectations his Munich +friends had formed of the composer's genius. Its reception at the +rehearsals proved success was certain, and the Elector who was +present, joined the performers in expressing his unqualified approval. +At home the progress of the work was followed with deepest interest. +The first performance of "Idomeneo" took place on January 29, 1781. +Leopold and Marianne journeyed to Munich to witness Wolfgang's +triumph. It was a proud, happy moment for all three; the enthusiastic +acclaim which shook the theater seemed to the old father, who watched +with swimming eyes the sea of waving hands around him, to set the seal +of greatness on his son's career. + +The Archbishop, under whom Mozart held the meager office we have +spoken of, grew more overbearing in his treatment; he was undoubtedly +jealous that great people of Vienna were so deferential to one of his +servants, as he chose to call him. At last the rupture came; after a +stormy scene Mozart was dismissed from his service, and was free. + +Father Mozart was alarmed when he heard the news of the break, and +endeavored to induce Wolfgang to reconsider his decision and return to +Salzburg. But the son took a firm stand for his independence. "Do not +ask me to return to Salzburg," he wrote his father; "ask me anything +but that." + +And now came a time of struggling for Mozart. His small salary was cut +off and he had but one pupil. He had numerous friends, however, and +soon his fortunes began to mend. He was lodging with his old friends +the Webers. Aloysia, his former beloved, had married; Madame Weber +and her two unmarried daughters were now in Vienna and in reduced +circumstances. Mozart's latest opera, "The Elopement," had brought +him fame both in Vienna and Prague, and he had the patronage of many +distinguished persons, as well as that of Emperor Josef. + +Mozart had now decided to make a home for himself, and chose as his +bride Constanza Weber, a younger sister of Aloysia, his first love. In +spite of Leopold Mozart's remonstrance, the young people were married +August 16, 1782. + +Constanza, though a devoted wife, was inexperienced in home keeping. +The young couple were soon involved in many financial troubles +from which there seemed no way out, except by means of some Court +appointment. This the Emperor in spite of his sincere interest in the +composer, seemed disinclined to give. + +Mozart now thought seriously of a journey to London and Paris, but +his father's urgent appeal that he would wait and exercise patience, +delayed him. Meanwhile he carried out an ardent desire to pay a visit +to his father and sister in Salzburg, to present to them his bride. +It was a very happy visit, and later on, when Mozart and his wife were +again settled in Vienna, they welcomed the father on a return visit. +Leopold found his son immersed in work, and it gladdened his heart to +see the appreciation in which his playing and compositions were held. +One happy evening they spent with Josef Haydn who, after hearing some +of Mozart's quartets played, took the father aside, saying: "I declare +before God, as a man of honor, that your son is the greatest composer +I know, either personally or by reputation. He has taste, but more +than that the most consummate knowledge of the art of composition." + +This happy time was to be the last meeting between father and son. +Soon after Leopold's return to Salzburg, he was stricken with illness, +and passed away May 28, 1787. The news reached the composer shortly +after he had achieved one of the greatest successes of his life. The +performances of his latest opera, "The Marriage of Figaro," had been +hailed with delight by enthusiastic crowds in Vienna and Prague; its +songs were heard at every street corner, and village ale house. "Never +was anything more complete than the triumph of Mozart and his 'Nozze +di Figaro,'" wrote a singer and friend.--"And for Mozart himself, I +shall never forget his face when lighted up with the glowing rays of +genius; it is as impossible to describe as to paint sunbeams." + +Despite the success of Figaro, Mozart was still a poor man, and must +earn his bread by giving music lessons. Finally the Emperor, hoping +to keep him in Germany, appointed him Chamber-composer at a salary +of about eighty pounds a year. It must have seemed to Mozart and his +friends a beggarly sum for the value his Majesty professed to set upon +the composer's services to art. "Too much for the little I am asked to +produce, too little for what I could produce," were the bitter words +he penned on the official return stating the amount of his salary. + +Mozart was inclined to be somewhat extravagant in dress and household +expenditure, also very generous to any one who needed assistance. +These trials, added to the fact that his wife was frequently in +ill health, and not very economical, served to keep the family in +continual straits. Occasionally they were even without fire or food, +though friends always assisted such dire distress. Mozart's father had +declared procrastination was his son's besetting sin. Yet the son was +a tireless worker, never idle. In September, 1787, he was at Prague, +writing the score of his greatest opera, "Don Giovanni"; the time was +short, as the work was to be produced October 29. On the evening of +the 28th it was found he had not yet written the overture. It only +had to be written down, for this wonderful genius had the music quite +complete in his head. He set to work, while his wife read fairy tales +aloud to keep him awake, and gave him strong punch at intervals. By +seven o'clock next morning the score was ready for the copyist. It was +played in the evening without rehearsal, with the ink scarcely dry on +the paper. + +Even the successes of "Don Giovanni," which was received with thunders +of applause, failed to remedy his desperate financial straits. Shortly +after this his pupil and patron, Prince Karl Lichnowsky, proposed he +should accompany him to Berlin. Mozart gladly consented, hoping for +some betterment to his fortunes. The King of Prussia received him +with honor and respect and offered him the post of Capellmeister, at +a salary equal to about three thousand dollars. This sum would have +liberated him from all his financial embarrassments, and he was +strongly tempted to accept. But loyalty to his good Emperor Josef +caused him to decline the offer. + +The month of July, 1791, found Mozart at home in Vienna at work on a +magic opera to help his friend Salieri, who had taken a little theater +in the suburb of Wieden. One day he was visited by a stranger, a tall +man, who said he came to commission Mozart to compose a Requiem. He +would neither give his own name nor that of the person who had sent +him. + +Mozart was somewhat depressed by this mysterious commission; however +he set to work on the Requiem at once. The composing of both this and +the fairy opera was suddenly interrupted by a pressing request that he +would write an opera for the coronation of Leopold II at Prague. The +ceremony was fixed for September 6, so no time was to be lost. Mozart +set out at once for Prague. The traveling carriage was at the door. +As he was about to enter it, the mysterious stranger suddenly appeared +and enquired for the Requiem. The composer could only promise to +finish on his return, when hastily entering his carriage, he drove +away. + +The new opera, "La Clemenza di Tito," was finished in time and +performed, but was received somewhat indifferently. Mozart returned to +Vienna with spirits depressed and body exhausted by overwork. However, +he braced himself anew, and on September 30th, the new fairy opera, +the "Magic Flute," was produced, and its success increased with each +performance. + +The Requiem was not yet finished and to this work Mozart now turned. +But the strain and excitement he had undergone for the past few months +had done their work: a succession of fainting spells overcame him, and +the marvelous powers which had always been his seemed no longer at his +command. He feared he would not live to complete the work. "It is for +myself I am writing the Requiem," he said sadly to Constanza, one day. + +On the evening of December 4, friends who had gathered at his bedside, +handed him, at his desire, the score of the Requiem, and, propped up +by pillows he tried to sing one of the passages. The effort was too +great; the manuscript slipped from his nerveless hand and he fell back +speechless with emotion. A few hours later, on the morning of December +5, 1791, this great master of whom it was prophesied that he would +cause all others to be forgotten, passed from the scene of his many +struggles and greater triumphs. + + + + +VII + +LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN + + +The Shakespeare of the realm of music, as he has been called, first +saw the light on December 16, 1770, in the little University town +of Bonn, on the Rhine. His father, Johann Beethoven, belonged to the +court band of the Elector of Cologne. The family were extremely poor. +The little room, where the future great master was born, was so low, +that a good-sized man could barely stand upright in it. Very small +it was too, and not very light either, as it was at the back of the +building and looked out on a walled garden. + +The fame of young Mozart, who was acclaimed everywhere as a marvelous +prodigy, had naturally reached the father's ears. He decided to train +the little Ludwig as a pianist, so that he should also be hailed as +a prodigy and win fame and best of all money for the poverty-stricken +family. So the tiny child was made to practice scales and finger +exercises for hours together. He was a musically gifted child, but how +he hated those everlasting tasks of finger technic, when he longed to +join his little companions, who could run and play in the sunshine. If +he stopped his practice to rest and dream a bit, the stern face of his +father would appear at the doorway, and a harsh voice would call out, +"Ludwig! what are you doing? Go on with your exercises at once. There +will be no soup for you till they are finished." + +The father, though harsh and stern, wished his boy to have as thorough +a knowledge of music as his means would permit. The boy was also sent +to the public school, where he picked up reading and writing, but did +not make friends very quickly with the other children. The fact +was the child seemed wholly absorbed in music; of music he dreamed +constantly; in the companionship of music he never could be lonely. + +When Ludwig was nine his father, regarding him with satisfaction and +some pride, declared he could teach him no more--and another master +must be found. Those childhood years of hard toil had resulted in +remarkable progress, even with the sort of teaching he had received. +The circumstances of the family had not improved, for poverty had +become acute, as the father became more and more addicted to drink. +Just at this time, a new lodger appeared, who was something of a +musician, and arranged to teach the boy in part payment for his room. +Ludwig wondered if he would turn out to be a more severe taskmaster +than his father had been. The times and seasons when his instruction +was given were at least unusual. Tobias Pfeiffer, as the new lodger +was called, soon discovered that father Beethoven generally spent his +evenings at the tavern. As an act of kindness, to keep his drunken +landlord out of the way of the police, Tobias used to go to the tavern +late at night and bring him safely home. Then he would go to the +bedside of the sleeping boy, and awake him by telling him it was time +for practice. The two would go to the living room, where they would +play together for several hours, improvising on original themes and +playing duets. This went on for about a year; meanwhile Ludwig studied +Latin, French, Italian and logic. He also had organ lessons. + +Things were going from bad to worse in the Beethoven home, and in the +hope of bettering these unhappy conditions, Frau Beethoven undertook +a trip through Holland with her boy, hoping that his playing in the +homes of the wealthy might produce some money. The tour was successful +in that it relieved the pressing necessities of the moment, but the +sturdy, independent spirit of the boy showed itself even then. "The +Dutch are very stingy, and I shall take care not to trouble them +again," he remarked to a friend. + +The boy Ludwig could play the organ fairly well, as he had studied it +with Christian Neefe, who was organist at the Court church. He also +could play the piano with force and finish, read well at sight and +knew nearly the whole of Bach's "Well Tempered Clavichord." This was +a pretty good record for a boy of 11, who, if he went on as he had +begun, it was said, would become a second Mozart. + +Neefe was ordered to proceed with the Elector and Court to Muenster, +which meant to leave his organ in Bonn for a time. Before starting +he called Ludwig to him and told him of his intended absence. "I must +have an assistant to take my place at the organ here. Whom do you +think I should appoint?" Seeing the boy had no inkling of his meaning, +he continued: "I have thought of an assistant, one I am sure I can +trust,--and that is you, Ludwig." + +The honor was great, for a boy of eleven and a half. To conduct the +service, and receive the respect and deference due the position, quite +overwhelmed the lad. Honors of this kind were very pleasant, but, +alas, there was no money attached to the position, and this was what +the straitened family needed most sorely. The responsibilities of the +position and the confidence of Neefe spurred Ludwig on to a passion of +work which nothing could check. He began to compose; three sonatas +for the pianoforte were written about this time. Before completing his +thirteenth year, Ludwig obtained his first official appointment from +the Elector; he became what is called cembalist in the orchestra, +which meant that he had to play the piano in the orchestra, and +conduct the band at rehearsals. With this appointment there was no +salary attached either, and it was not until a year later when he was +made second organist to the Court, under the new Elector, Max Franz, +that he began to receive a small salary, equal to about sixty-five +dollars a year. We have seen that the straits of the family had not +prevented Ludwig from pursuing his musical studies with great ardor. +With his present attainments and his ambition for higher achievements, +he longed to leave the little town of Bonn, and see something of the +great world. Vienna was the center of the musical life of Germany; the +boy dreamed of this magical city by day as he went about his routine +of work, and by night as he lay on his poor narrow cot. Like Haydn, +Vienna was the goal of his ambition. When a kind friend, knowing his +great longing, came forward with an offer to pay the expenses of the +journey, the lad knew his dream was to become a reality. In Vienna he +would see the first composers of the day; best of all he would see and +meet the divine Mozart, the greatest of them all. + +Ludwig, now seventeen, set out for the city of his dreams with the +brightest anticipations. On his arrival in Vienna he went at once to +Mozart's house. He was received most kindly and asked to play, but +Mozart seemed preoccupied and paid but little attention. Ludwig, +seeing this stopped playing and asked for a theme on which to +improvise. Mozart gave a simple theme, and Beethoven, taking the +slender thread, worked it up with so much feeling and power, that +Mozart, who was now all attention and astonishment, stepped into the +next room, where some friends were waiting for him, and said, "Pay +attention to this young man; he will make a noise in the world some +day." + +Shortly after his return home he was saddened by the loss of his +good, kind, patient mother, and a few months later his little sister +Margaretha passed away. No doubt these sorrows were expressed in some +of his most beautiful compositions. But brighter days followed the +dark ones. He became acquainted with the Breuning family, a widow +lady and four children, three boys and a girl, all young people. The +youngest boy and the girl became his pupils, and all were very fond +of him. He would stay at their house for days at a time and was always +treated as one of the family. They were cultured people, and in +their society Beethoven's whole nature expanded. He began to take an +interest in the literature of his own country and in English authors +as well. All his spare time was given to reading and composition. +A valuable acquaintance with the young Count Von Waldstein was made +about this time. The Count called one day and found the composer at +his old worn out piano, surrounded by signs of abject poverty. It +went to his heart to see that the young man, whose music he so greatly +admired should have to struggle for the bare necessities of life while +he himself enjoyed every luxury. It seemed to him terribly unjust. He +feared to offend the composer's self-respect by sending him money, but +shortly after the call Beethoven was made happy by the gift of a fine +new piano, in place of his old one. He was very grateful for this +friendship and later dedicated to the Count one of his finest sonatas, +the Op. 53, known as the "Waldstein Sonata." + +With a view of aiding the growth of the opera, and operatic art, the +Elector founded a national theater, and Beethoven was appointed viola +player in the orchestra besides still being assistant organist in the +chapel. In July, 1792, the band arranged a reception for Haydn, who +was to pass through Bonn on his way from London, where he had had +a wonderful success, to his home in Vienna. Beethoven seized the +opportunity to show the master a cantata he had just composed. Haydn +praised the work and greatly encouraged the young musician to go +forward in his studies. The Elector, hearing of Haydn's words of +praise, felt that Beethoven should have the chance to develop his +talents that he might be able to produce greater works. Therefore +he decided to send the young composer, at his own expense, to +study strict counterpoint with Haydn. He was now twenty-two and his +compositions already published had brought him considerable fame and +appreciation in his vicinity. Now he was to have wider scope for his +gifts. + +He bade farewell to Bonn in November of this year and set out a second +time for the city of his dreams--Vienna. He was never to see Bonn +again. He arrived in Vienna comparatively unknown, but his fine piano +playing and wonderful gift for improvising greatly impressed all +who heard him. He constantly played in the homes of the wealthy +aristocracy. Many who heard him play, engaged lessons and he was +well on the road to social success. Yet his brusque manners often +antagonized his patrons. He made no effort to please or conciliate; +he was obstinate and self-willed. In spite of all this, the innate +nobleness and truth of his character retained the regard of men and +women belonging to the highest ranks of society. With the Prince and +Princess Lichnowsky Beethoven shortly became very intimate, and was +invited to stay at the Palace. The Princess looked after his personal +comfort with as motherly an affection as Madame Breuning had done. +The etiquette of the Palace however, offended Ludwig's love of +Bohemianism, especially the dressing for dinner at a certain time. +He took to dining at a tavern quite frequently, and finally engaged +lodgings. The Prince and his good lady, far from taking offense at +this unmannerly behavior, forgave it and always kept for Beethoven a +warm place in their hearts, while he, on his part was sincere in his +affection for his kind friends. + +Beethoven began his lessons with Haydn, but they did not seem to get +on well together. The pupil thought the master did not give him enough +time and attention. When Haydn went to England, about a year after the +lessons began, Beethoven studied with several of the best musicians +of the city, both in playing and composition. Albrechtsberger, one of +these, was a famous contrapuntist of his time, and the student gained +much from his teaching. The young musician was irresistible when he +seated himself at the piano to extemporize. "His improvisating was +most brilliant and striking," wrote Carl Czerny, a pupil of Beethoven. +"In whatever company he might be, he knew how to produce such an +effect upon the listeners that frequently all eyes would be wet, +and some listeners would sob; there was something wonderful in his +expressive style, the beauty and originality of his ideas and his +spirited way of playing." Strange to say the emotion he roused in +his hearers seemed to find no response in Beethoven himself. He would +sometimes laugh at it, at other times he would resent it, saying, "We +artists don't want tears, we want applause." These expressions however +only concealed his inner feelings--for he was very sympathetic +with those friends he loved. His anger, though sharp, was of short +duration, but his suspicions of those whose confidence he had won by +his genius and force of character, were the cause of much suffering to +himself and others. + +Beethoven in appearance was short and stockily built; his face was not +at all good looking. It is said he was generally meanly dressed and +was homely, but full of nobility, fine feeling and highly cultivated. +The eyes were black and bright, and they dilated, when the composer +was lost in thought, in a way that made him look inspired. A mass of +dark hair surmounted a high broad forehead. He often looked gloomy, +but when he smiled it was with a radiant brightness. His hands were +strong and the fingers short and pressed out with much practise. He +was very particular about hand position when playing. As a conductor +he made many movements, and is said to have crouched below the desk in +soft passages; in Crescendos he would gradually lift himself up +until at the loudest parts he would rise to his full height with arms +extended, even springing into the air, as though he would float in +space. + +Beethoven as a teacher, showed none of the impatience and carelessness +that were seen in his personal habits. He insisted on a pupil +repeating the passage carefully a number of times, until it could be +played to his satisfaction. He did not seem to mind a few wrong notes, +but the pupil must not fail to grasp the meaning or put in the right +expression, or his anger would be aroused. The first was an accident, +the other would be a lack of knowledge of feeling. + +Beethoven loved nature as much or more than any musician ever did. How +he hailed the spring because he knew the time would soon come when he +could close the door of his lodgings in the hot city, and slip away to +some quiet spot and hold sweet communion with nature. A forest was a +paradise, where he could ramble among the trees and dream. Or he +would select a tree where a forking branch would form a seat near the +ground. He would climb up and sit in it for hours, lost in thought. +Leaning against the trunk of a lime tree, his eyes fixed upon the +network of leaves and branches above him, he sketched the plan of his +oratorio "The Mount of Olives"; also that of his one opera "Fidelio," +and the third Symphony, known as the "Eroica." He wrote to a friend, +"No man loves the country more than I. Woods, trees and rocks give the +response which man requires. Every tree seems to say 'Holy, holy.'" + +Already, as a young man, symptoms of deafness began to appear, and +the fear of becoming a victim of this malady made the composer more +sensitive than ever. He was not yet thirty when this happened, and +believing his life work at an end, he became deeply depressed. Various +treatments were tried for increasing deafness; at one time it seemed +to be cured by the skill of Dr. Schmidt, to whom out of gratitude he +dedicated his Septet, arranged as a Trio. By his advice the composer +went for the summer of 1820 to the little village of Heiligenstadt +(which means Holy City) in the hope that the calm, sweet environment +would act as a balm to his troubled mind. During this period of rest +and quiet his health improved somewhat, but from now on he had to give +up conducting his works, on account of his deafness. + +It may be thought that one so reticent and retiring, of such hasty +temper and brusque manners, would scarcely be attracted to women. +But Beethoven, it is said, was very susceptible to the charm of the +opposite sex. He was however, most careful and high-souled in all his +relations with women. He was frequently in love, but it was usually a +Platonic affection. For the Countess Julie Guicciardi he protested +the most passionate love, which was in a measure returned. She was +doubtless his "immortal beloved," whose name vibrates through the +Adagio of the "Moonlight Sonata," which is dedicated to her. He wrote +her the most adoring letters; but the union, which he seemed to desire +so intensely, was never brought about, though the reason is not known. +For Bettina von Arnim, Goethe's little friend, he conceived a tender +affection. Another love of his was for the Countess Marie Erdoedy, +to whom he dedicated the two fine Trios, Op. 70, but this was also +a purely Platonic affection. The composer was unfortunate in his +attachments, for the objects were always of a much higher social +standing than himself. As he constantly associated with people of rank +and culture, it was natural that the young girl nobly born, with all +the fascinations of the high bred aristocrat, should attract him far +more than the ordinary woman of his own class. And thus it happened +that several times he staked his chances of happiness on a love he +knew could never be consummated. Yet no one needed a kind, helpful, +sympathetic wife more than did our poet-musician. She would have +soothed his sensitive soul when he suffered from fancied wrongs, +shielded him from intrusion, shared his sorrows and triumphs, and +attended to his house-keeping arrangements, which were always in a sad +state of confusion. This blissful state was seemingly not for him. It +was best for the great genius to devote himself wholly to his divine +art, and to create those masterpieces which will always endure. + +In 1804 Beethoven completed one of his greatest symphonies, the +"Eroica." He made a sketch, as we have seen, two years before. He had +intended it to honor Napoleon, to whose character and career he was +greatly attracted. But when Napoleon entered Paris in triumph and was +proclaimed Emperor, Beethoven's worship was turned to contempt. He +seized the symphony, tore the little page to shreds and flung the work +to the other end of the room. It was a long time before he would look +at the music again, but finally, he consented to publish it under the +title by which it is now known. + +When we consider the number and greatness of Beethoven's compositions +we stand aghast at the amount of labor he accomplished. "I live only +in my music," he wrote, "and no sooner is one thing done than the next +is begun. I often work at two or three things at once." Music was his +language of expression, and through his music we can reach his heart +and know the man as he really was. At heart he was a man capable of +loving deeply and most worthy to be loved. + +Of the composer's two brothers, one had passed away and had left his +boy Carl, named after himself, as a solemn charge, to be brought up by +Uncle Ludwig as his own son. The composer took up this task generously +and unselfishly. He was happy to have the little lad near him, one of +his own kin to love. But as Carl grew to young manhood he proved to +be utterly unworthy of all this affection. He treated his good uncle +shamefully, stole money from him, though he had been always generously +supplied with it, and became a disgrace to the family. There is no +doubt that his nephew's dissolute habits saddened the master's life, +estranged him from his friends and hastened his death. + +How simple and modest was this great master, in face of his mighty +achievements! He wrote to a friend in 1824: "I feel as if I had +scarcely written more than a few notes." These later years had been +more than full of work and anxiety. Totally deaf, entirely thrown in +upon himself, often weak and ill, the master kept on creating work +after work of the highest beauty and grandeur. + +Ludwig van Beethoven passed from this plane March 26, 1827, having +recently completed his fifty-sixth year, and was laid to rest in the +Waehring Cemetery near Vienna. Unlike Mozart, he was buried with much +honor. Twenty thousand people followed him to his grave. Among them +was Schubert, who had visited him on his deathbed, and was one of the +torch bearers. Several of the Master's compositions were sung by a +choir of male voices, accompanied by trombones. At the grave Hummel +laid three laurel wreaths on the casket. + + + + +VIII + +CARL MARIA VON WEBER + + +As we have already seen in the life stories of a number of musicians, +the career they were to follow was often decided by the father, who +determined to form them into wonder children, either for monetary gain +or for the honor and glory of the family. The subject of this story is +an example of such a preconceived plan. + +Franz Anton von Weber, who was a capable musician himself, had always +cherished the desire to give a wonder child to the world. In his +idea wonder children need not be born such, they could be made by the +proper care and training. He had been a wealthy man, but at the time +of our story, was in reduced circumstances, and was traveling about +Saxony at the head of a troupe of theatrical folk, called "Weber's +Company of Comedians." + +Little Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst, to give his full name, was born +December 18, 1786, at Eutin, a little town in Lower Saxony. He was the +first child of a second marriage, and before the baby boy could +speak, his career had been planned; the father had made up his mind +to develop his son into an extraordinary musical genius. It is not +recorded what his young mother, a delicate girl of seventeen, thought +about it; probably her ideas for her baby son did not enter into the +father's plan. Mother and child were obliged to follow in the train +of the wandering comedians, so baby Carl was brought up amid the +properties of stage business. Scenery, canvas, paints and stage lights +were the materials upon which Carl's imagination was fed. He learned +stage language with his earliest breath; it is no wonder he turned to +writing for the stage as to the manner born. + +As a child he was neither robust nor even healthy, which is not +surprising, since he was not allowed to run afield with other +children, enjoying the sweet air of nature, the flowers, the sunshine +and blue sky. No, he must stay indoors much of the time and find his +playmates among cardboard castles and painted canvas streets. This +treatment was not conducive to rosy cheeks and strong, sturdy little +legs. Then, before the delicate child was six years old, a violin was +put into his hand, and if his progress on it was thought to be too +slow by his impatient father, he was treated to raps and blows by way +of incentive to work yet harder. His teachers, too, were continually +changing, as the comedians had to travel about from place to place. +After awhile he was taken in hand by Michael Haydn, a brother of the +great Josef. Michael was a famous musician himself and seldom gave +lessons to any one. But he was interested in Carl and took charge of +his musical education for some time. + +It was not long before Carl Maria's genius began definitely to show +itself, for he started to write for the lyric stage. Two comic operas +appeared, "The Dumb Girl of the Forest," and "Peter Schmoll and his +Neighbors." They were both performed, but neither made a hit. + +When Carl was seventeen, the father decided he should go to Vienna, +for there he would meet all the great musicians of the time. The +boy was at the most impressionable age: he was lively, witty, with +pleasant manners and amiable disposition; he soon became a favorite in +the highest musical circles. It was a gay life and the inexperienced +youth yielded to its allurements. In the meantime he did some serious +studying under the famous Abbe Vogler. The following year the Abbe +recommended him to the conductorship of the Breslau Opera House. This +was a very difficult post for a boy of eighteen, and he encountered +much jealousy and opposition from the older musicians, who did not +relish finding themselves under the leadership of such a youth. A year +served to disgust him with the work and he resigned. During the year +he had found time to compose most of his opera "Rubezahl." + +For the next few years there were many "ups and downs" in Carl's life. +From Breslau he went to Carlsruhe, and entered the service of Prince +Eugene. For about a year he was a brilliant figure at the Court. Then +war clouds gathered and the gay Court life came to an end. Music +under the present conditions could no longer support him, as the whole +social state of Germany had altered. The young composer was forced to +earn his livelihood in some way, and now became private secretary to +Prince Ludwig of Wurtemburg, whose Court was held at Stuttgart. The +gay, dissolute life at the Court was full of temptation for our young +composer, yet he found considerable time for composition; his opera +"Sylvana" was the result, besides several smaller things. During the +Stuttgart period, his finances became so low, that on one occasion he +had to spend several days in prison for debt. Determined to recruit +his fortunes, he began traveling to other towns to make known his art. +In Mannheim, Darmstadt and Baden, he gave concerts, bringing out +in each place some of his newer pieces, and earning enough at each +concert to last a few weeks, when another concert would keep the wolf +from the door a little longer. + +In 1810, when he was twenty-four, he finished his pretty opera "Abu +Hassan," which, on the suggestion of his venerable master, Vogler, +he dedicated to the Grand Duke. The Duke accepted the dedication with +evident pleasure, and sent Carl a purse of gold, in value about two +hundred dollars. The opera was performed on February 6, 1811, and its +reception was very gratifying to the composer. The Grand Duke took one +hundred and twenty tickets and the performance netted over two hundred +florins clear profit. It was after this that Carl Maria went on a tour +of the principal German cities and gave concerts in Munich, Prague, +Berlin, Dresden and other places. He was everywhere welcomed, his +talents and charming manners winning friends everywhere. Especially in +Prague he found the highest and noblest aristocracy ready to bid him +welcome. + +Weber paid a visit to Liebich, director of the Prague theater, almost +as soon as he arrived in town. The invalid director greeted him +warmly. + +"So, you are _the_ Weber! I suppose you want me to buy your operas. +One fills an evening, the other doesn't. Very well, I will give +fifteen hundred florins for the two. Is it a bargain?" Weber accepted, +and promised to return the next spring to conduct the operas. He kept +his promise, and the result was much better than he ever dreamed. For +beyond the performance of his operas, he was offered the post of music +director of the Prague theater, which post was just then vacant. +The salary was two thousand florins, with a benefit concert at a +guaranteed sum of one thousand more, and three months leave of absence +every year. This assured sum gave young Weber the chance of paying his +debts and starting afresh, which, he writes "was a delight to him." + +The composer now threw himself heart and soul into improving the +orchestra placed in his charge. Before long he had drilled it to a +high state of excellence. Many new operas were put on the stage in +quick succession. Thus Weber worked on with great industry for three +years. The success he achieved created enemies, and perhaps because of +intrigues, envy and ill feeling which had arisen, he resigned his +post in 1816. The three years in Prague had been fruitful in new +compositions. Several fine piano sonatas, a set of "National Songs," +and the Cantata, "Kampf und Sieg," (Struggle and Victory). This last +work soon became known all over Germany and made the gifted young +composer very popular. During this period Weber became engaged to +Caroline Brandt, a charming singer, who created the title role in his +opera of "Sylvana." + +Weber had many kind, influential friends in Prague, who admired his +zeal and efficiency as music director. One of them, Count Vitzhum, did +all he could to secure Weber for Dresden. On Christmas morning, 1816, +he received the appointment. He wrote to Caroline: "Long did I look on +Count Vitzhum's letter without daring to open it. Did it contain joy +or sorrow? At length I took courage and broke the seal. It was joy! +I am Capellmeister to his Majesty the King of Saxony. I must now rig +myself out in true Court style. Perhaps I ought to wear a pigtail to +please the Dresdeners. What do you say? I ought at least to have an +extra kiss from you for this good news." + +He went to Dresden, and at first looked over the situation. On nearer +view the prospect was not as bright as it had appeared at first. There +was a rival faction, strongly opposed to his plans for the promotion +of German opera. There had never been anything tolerated at Dresden +but Italian opera, and there were many talented Italian singers to +interpret them. Weber was encouraged by a new national spirit, which +he felt would favor German opera, and was determined to conquer at +all costs. He finally succeeded, for, as he wrote to a friend, "The +Italians have moved heaven, earth and hell also, to swallow up the +whole German opera and its promoter. But they have found in me a +precious tough morsel; I am not easily swallowed." It was the same +kind of fight that Handel waged in England, and that Gluck fought +against the Piccinists. + +"Joseph and his Brethren," by Mehul, was the first opera to be taken +up by the new conductor. He drilled the orchestra much more carefully +than they had been accustomed, and while, in the beginning, some were +sulky at the strictness they were subjected to, yet they finally saw +the justice of it and at last took pride in doing their work well. +"Joseph" was brought out January 30, 1817. The King and Court were +present, and everything passed off well, indeed remarkably well. His +majesty was greatly pleased and did not cough once during the whole +performance, as he used to do when things did not go to suit him. + +In spite of Italian opposition which still continued, Weber's efforts +to establish German opera kept right on, until at last it became a +State institution, and the composer was appointed musical director for +life. With this bright prospect in view he was able to wed his beloved +Caroline. They were married on November 4. A quotation from his diary +shows the talented musician had become a serious, earnest man. "May +God bless our union, and grant me strength and power to make my +beloved Lina as happy and contented as my inmost heart would desire. +May His mercy lead me in all things." + +Weber was now entering the most prolific and brilliant period of his +life. His music became richer, more noble and beautiful. The happy +union with Caroline seemed to put new life and energy into him, and as +a result his works became quickly known all over Europe. His mind +was literally teeming with original themes, which crowded each other, +struggling to be expressed. First there was the "Mass in E flat," a +beautiful, original work; then a festal Cantata, "Nature and Love," +written to celebrate the Queen of Saxony's birthday. After this the +"Jubilee Cantata," composed to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary +of the reign of Augustus, of Saxony. The Italian faction prevented a +performance of the whole work, and only the Overture was given. +When the entire work was heard it made a great sensation. Now came a +Jubilee Mass and some piano pieces, among them the charming and famous +"Invitation to the Dance," with which every one is familiar. While +writing all these works, the composer was busy with one of his +greatest operas, "Der Freischuetz." On May 8, 1820, a hundred years +ago, the score of "Der Freischuetz," was sent to the director of the +Berlin theater, and directly put in rehearsal. The rehearsals had not +proceeded very far before Weber, the tireless ceaseless worker, had +finished his important opera, "Preciosa," which was also despatched to +Berlin. "Preciosa" was brought out before "Der Freischuetz," which was +just as it should be, as the public needed to be educated up to the +"Freischuetz" music. "Preciosa" was founded on a Spanish story, "The +Gypsy of Madrid," and Weber has written for it some of his most +charming melodies, full of Spanish color, life and vivacity. Nowadays +the opera is neglected, but we often hear the overture. It is to be +noted that the overtures to each of Weber's operas contain the leading +themes and melodies of the operas themselves, showing with what skill +the artist wrought. When Weber's widow presented the original score +of "Der Freischuetz" to the Royal Library in Berlin, it was found there +was not a single erasure or correction in the whole work. + +On June 18, 1821, came the first performance of Weber's masterpiece, +"Der Freischuetz." The theater was beseiged for hours by eager crowds, +and when the doors were at last opened, there was a grand rush to +enter. The whole house from pit to galleries was soon filled, and +when the composer entered the orchestra, there was a roar of applause, +which it seemed would never end. As the performance proceeded, the +listeners became more charmed and carried away, and at the close there +was a wild scene of excitement. The success had been tremendous, and +the frequent repetitions demanded soon filled the treasury of the +theater. Everybody was happy, the composer most of all. The melodies +were played on every piano in Germany and whistled by every street +urchin. Its fame spread like lightning over Europe, and quickly +reached England. In London the whole atmosphere seemed to vibrate with +its melodies. In Paris, however, it did not please on first hearing, +perhaps because it was so thoroughly German. But somewhat later, when +renamed "Robin des Bois,"--"Robin of the Forest,"--it was performed +some three hundred and fifty times before being withdrawn. + +Weber kept ever at work. Two years after the production of "Der +Freischuetz" the opera of "Euryanthe" was completed. The libretto was +the work of a half demented woman, Helmine von Chezy, but Weber set +out to produce the best opera he was capable of, and to this story he +has joined some wonderful music. It was his favorite work; he wrote +to his beloved wife two hours before the first performance: "I rely +on God and my 'Euryanthe.'" The opera was produced at the Kaernthnertor +Theater, in Vienna, on October 25, 1823. The composer, though weak and +ill, made the long journey to the great city, that he might personally +introduce his favorite to the Viennese. He wrote his wife after the +performance: "Thank God, as I do, beloved wife, for the glorious +success of 'Euryanthe.' Weary as I am, I must still say a sweet good +night to my beloved Lina, and cry Victory! All the company seemed in +a state of ecstasy; singers, chorus, orchestra;--all were drunk, as it +were, with joy." + +The title role was taken by Henrietta Sontag, a young girl, still in +her teens, though giving high promise of the great things she achieved +a few years later. Strange to say, a short time after its first +appearance, "Euryanthe" failed to draw. One reason might have been +laid to the poor libretto, another to the rumor, started, it is said, +by no less an authority than the great master Beethoven, that the +music of the opera was "only a collection of diminished sevenths." + +The composer lost no time in laying his score before Beethoven, who +said he should have visited him _before_, not _after_ the performance. +He advised him to do what he himself had done to "Fidelio," cut out +nearly a third of the score. Weber took this advice, and remade parts +of the opera, where he deemed it necessary. + +The strain of the production of "Euryanthe" told severely on the +composer's delicate health, and he returned to Dresden in an exhausted +state. There was no rest for him here, as official duties were +pressing. The malady afflicting his lungs had made rapid progress and +he began to fear he should not be long spared to his wife and little +ones. + +He shook off the apathy and took up his pen once more. His fame +was known all over Europe and many tempting offers came in from all +directions. One of these was from Covent Garden Theater, London, in +the summer of 1824, which resulted in a visit to the English capital. +Charles Kemble, the director of Covent Garden, desired Weber to write +a new opera for production there. "Oberon" was the subject at last +decided upon; it was taken from an old French romance. Weber at once +set to work on the music of this fairy opera, and with the exception +of the overture, had finished the work in time to bring it to London +in 1826. He was ill and suffering at the time he left home, February +7, and it seemed as though he were bidding a final good-by to his wife +and little ones. + +Arrived in London, Sir George Smart invited him to take up his +residence in his house. Here he had every comfort, a beautiful piano +too was placed at his disposal by one of the first makers in London. +"No King could be served with greater love and affection in all +things," he wrote; "I cannot be sufficiently grateful to heaven for +the blessings which surround me." Here he composed the beautiful +Overture to "Oberon" which was only completed a few days before the +first performance of the opera. + +"Oberon" was given at Covent Garden on April 12. The house was packed +from pit to dome, and the success was tremendous. Next morning the +composer was in a highly nervous and exhausted state, but felt he must +keep his promise to Kemble and conduct the first twelve performances +of "Oberon." He was to have a benefit concert, and hoped through this +to have a goodly sum to take back to his little family. Sad to relate, +on the evening chosen, May 26, a heavy rain fell and the hall was +nearly empty. After the concert he was so weak he had to be assisted +from the room. The physician ordered postponement of the journey home, +but he cried continually, "I must go to my own--I must! Let me see +them once more and then God's will be done." + +The next morning, when they came to call him, all was still in his +chamber; he had passed away peacefully in sleep. + +Weber was buried in London. His last wish--to return home,--was +finally fulfilled. Eighteen years after, his remains were brought to +Dresden, and the composer was at last at home. + + + + +IX + +FRANZ SCHUBERT + + +In the old Lichtenthal quarter of the city of Vienna, in the vicinity +of the fortifications, there still stands an old house. It is +evidently a public house, for there hangs the sign--"At the Red Crab." +Beside this there is a marble tablet fastened above the doorway, which +says that Franz Schubert was born in this house. At the right of his +name is placed a lyre crowned with a star, and at the left a laurel +wreath within which is placed the date, January 31, 1797. + +This then was the birthplace of the "most poetical composer who ever +lived," as Liszt said of him; the man who created over six hundred +songs, eight symphonies, operas, masses, chamber works and much +beautiful piano music, and yet only lived to be thirty-one. It is +almost unbelievable. Let us get a nearer view of this remarkable +musician. + +His father kept a school here; there were five children, four boys and +a girl to provide for, and as there was nothing to depend on but +the school-master's pay, it is easy to see the family was in poor +circumstances, though the wife managed most carefully to make ends +meet. They were a very devoted family altogether. Little Franz early +showed a decided fondness for music, and tried to pick out bits +of tunes of his own by ear on an old dilapidated piano the family +possessed. He made friends with a young apprentice who took him +sometimes to a piano wareroom in the city, where he was allowed to +play his little tunes on a fine piano. + +When Franz was seven he began to have music lessons at home, the +father teaching him violin and his big brother Ignaz, the piano. +Franz, in his eagerness to learn soon outstripped his home teachers, +and told them he could go on alone. It was then decided he should go +to the parish choir master, Holzer, to learn piano, violin, organ, +singing and thorough bass. Soon Holzer was astonished at the boy's +progress. "Whenever I begin to teach him anything I find he knows +it already; I never had such a pupil before." By the time Franz was +eleven, his voice had come out so well that he was given the place of +head soprano in the parish church, and played violin solos whenever +they occurred in the service. He had even begun at home to compose and +write down little piano pieces and songs. The parents considered that +this remarkable talent should be cultivated further, if possible, in +order that it might assist the slender purse of the family. There was +a choir school, called the Convict, which trained its boys for the +Imperial Chapel. If Franz could prove his ability to enter this +school, he would receive free education in return for his services. + +One fine morning in October, 1808, Franz in his homespun grey suit, +spectacles shielding his bright, near-sighted eyes, his bushy +black hair covered by an old fashioned hat, presented himself for +examination by the Court Capellmeister and the singing master. The +other boys jeered at his odd appearance, but he kept his good humor. +When his turn came to sing, after solving all the problems given, his +singing of the trial pieces was so astonishing that he was passed in +at once, and ordered to put on the uniform of the imperial choristers. + +The boy soon found plenty to fill his time and occupy his mind. There +was the school orchestra, in which he was able to take a prominent +place. There was daily practise, in which the boys learned the +overtures and symphonies of Mozart and Haydn, and even Beethoven. He +loved best Mozart's "Symphony in G minor," in which he said he heard +angels singing. The leader of the orchestra was attracted to the +lad's playing the very first day he entered, for he played with such +precision and understanding. One day Franz mustered courage to talk +a little to the big conductor, whose name was Spaun, and confessed he +had composed quite a good deal already, adding he would like to do +it every day, only he could not afford to get the music paper. Spaun +received this burst of confidence with sympathy, and saw to it that +the boy was, in the future, supplied with the necessary music paper. + +Franz had soon made such progress on the violin, that he began to take +the first violin parts and when the conductor was absent he was asked +to lead the orchestra. Indeed by his deep earnestness and sincerity, +as well as ability, the gifted boy had become a power in the school. +When he went home to see his people, which could only be on Sundays +and holidays, it was a happy reunion for all. If he brought home a +new string quartet, the father would get out his 'cello, Ignaz and +Ferdinand would take first and second violins and the young composer +the viola. After it had been played through, then all the players +discussed it and offered their criticism. Indeed Franz was composing +at such an astonishing rate, that it was difficult to keep him +supplied with music paper. One of his works of this time was a +fantasia for four hands, in twelve movements. Then came a first +attempt at song writing, a long affair which also contained twelve +movements, and was in melancholy mood. + +Five years the boy Franz Schubert remained at the Convict School and +as he had decided to give himself entirely to music, there was no +reason for his remaining longer in the school. At the end of the year +1813, he left, and his departure was celebrated by the composition of +his first Symphony, in honor of Dr. Lang, the musical director. The +lad, now seventeen, stood at the beginning of his career; he was full +of hope and energy, and determined to follow in the footsteps of the +great masters of music. Of all his compositions so far produced, his +songs seemed to be the most spontaneous. He probably did not guess +that he was to open up new paths in this field. + +Hardly had he left the school when he was drafted for the army. This +meant several years of virtual captivity, for conscription could not +be avoided. The only other thing he could do was to return home and +become a teacher in his father's school. He chose the lesser evil and +qualified at once to become his father's assistant, which would also +assure him a certain amount of leisure. We can imagine him installed +as teacher of the infant class, and realize how distasteful was the +daily round of school work, and how he longed to have it over, that he +might put on paper all the lovely themes that had come to him through +the school day. Other bright spots were the happy hours he spent with +the Grob family, who lived also in the district of Lichtenthal. +The family consisted of a mother, a son and daughter. They were all +musical. Therese Grob had a fine voice and she enjoyed the songs +Schubert brought her to sing, while her brother Heinrich could play +both piano and 'cello. Many evenings filled with music were passed by +the young people. His friends at the Convict too, welcomed each new +piece he wrote. Nor did he forget his old master Holzer, the organist +of the little church where the composer himself regularly attended. +During 1814, Schubert composed his first mass, which was performed +October 16. It excited so much interest that it was repeated ten days +later at the Augustine church. Franz conducted, the choir was led +by Holzer, Ferdinand sat at the organ, and Therese sang the soprano +solos. In the audience sat old Salieri, Court Capellmeister of Vienna, +with whom Beethoven had studied. Salieri praised Schubert for his +work, and said that he should become his pupil. He kept his word and +gave the young composer daily lessons for some time. The father was +so proud and happy that he bought a five octave piano for his boy, to +celebrate the event. + +Schubert added many compositions to his list this year, among them +seventeen songs, including "Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel." His +acquaintance with the poet Johann Mayrhofer, with whom he soon became +intimate, was of benefit to both. The poet produced verses that +his friend might set to music. The following year, 1815, he wrote a +hundred and thirty-seven songs, to say nothing of six operas, and much +music for church and piano. Twenty-nine of these songs were written +in the month of August. One day in August eight songs were created; on +another day seven. Some of the songs were quite long, making between +twenty and thirty pages when printed. + +A new friend came into Schubert's life the next year. His name was +Franz Schober, and he intended entering the University in Vienna. +Being a great lover of music and also familiar with some of Schubert's +manuscript songs, he lost no time, on arriving in Vienna, in seeking +out the composer. He found the young musician at his desk very busily +writing. School work was over for the day, and he could compose in +peace. The two young men became friends at once, for they felt the +sympathetic bond between them. They were soon talking as though they +had always known each other. In a few words Schubert told his new +friend how he was situated at home, and how he disliked the daily +drudgery of school teaching. On hearing of these trials Schober +suggested they should make a home together, which arrangement would +free the composer from the grinding life he was living and enable him +to give his whole time to his art. The proposal delighted Franz, and +the father willingly gave his consent. And so it came about that +the composer was free at last, and took up his abode at his friend's +lodgings. He insisted on giving him musical instruction, to make some +return for all his kindness, though this did not last long, owing to +the dislike Franz always had for teaching of any sort. + +Schubert, at the age of twenty-four, had composed a great quantity +of music, but none of it had as yet been published. He was almost +unknown, and publishers were unwilling to undertake issuing the work +of an unknown man. When his songs were performed by good artists, +as had been done a number of times, they won instant recognition and +success. Seeing that the publishers were unwilling to print the work +of an unknown musician, two of Schubert's friends undertook to publish +the "Erlking," one of his first songs, at their own risk. At the +Sonnleithner mansion, where musicals were regularly held, the +"Erlking" had been much applauded, and when it was decided to have it +published, the decision was announced. A hundred copies were at once +subscribed for, and with this encouragement the engraving of the +"Erlking" and "Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel" was forthwith begun. +The pieces were sold by the music publishers on commission. The plan +succeeded beyond expectation, so that other songs were issued in the +same way, until, when seven had appeared the publishers were willing +to risk the engraving of other songs themselves. Before all this had +taken place, Johann Vogl, an admired opera singer in Vienna at the +time, had learned Schubert's "Erlking," and had sung it in March, +1821, at a public concert patronized by royalty. The song was received +with storms of applause. Schober, who knew the singer, constantly +talked to him about the gifts of his friend and begged him to come and +see Schubert. At last one day he consented. They found the composer +hard at work as usual, music sheets covering the floor as well as the +table and chair. Vogl, used to the highest society, made himself quite +at home and did his best to put Schubert at his ease, but the +composer remained shy and confused. The singer began looking over some +manuscripts. When he left he shook Schubert's hand warmly, remarking; +"There is stuff in you, but you squander your fine thoughts instead of +making the most of them." + +Vogl had been much impressed by what he had seen that day, and +repeated his visit. Before long the two were close friends. Schubert +wrote to his brother: "When Vogl sings and I accompany him, we seem +for the moment to be one." Vogl wrote of Schubert's songs that they +were "truly divine inspirations." + +Schubert's residence with his friend Schober only lasted six months, +for Schober's brother came to live with him, and the composer had to +shift for himself. Teaching was exceedingly distasteful to him, yet as +his music did not bring in anything for years after he left home, +he had to find some means of making a living. In these straits he +accepted a position as music teacher in the family of Count Johann +Esterhazy. This meant that he must live with the family in their +Vienna home in winter, and go with them to their country seat in the +summer. The change from the free life he had enjoyed with his +friends who idolized him and his beautiful music, to the etiquette of +aristocratic life, was great. But there were many comforts amid his +new surroundings; the family was musical, the duties were not heavy, +and so Schubert was not unhappy. + +At the Esterhazy country estate of Zelesz, he heard many Hungarian +melodies sung or played by the gipsies, or by servants in the castle. +He has employed some of these tunes in his first set of Valses. In +his present position he had much leisure for composition. Indeed Franz +Schubert's whole life was spent in giving out the vast treasures of +melody with which he had been so richly endowed. These flowed from his +pen in a constant stream, one beautiful work after another. He wrote +them down wherever he happened to be and when a scrap of paper could +be had. The exquisite song "Hark, Hark the Lark" was jotted down on +the back of a bill of fare, in a beer garden. The beautiful works +which he produced day after day brought him little or no money, +perhaps because he was so modest and retiring, modestly undervaluing +everything he did. He had no desire to push himself, but wrote because +impelled to by the urge within. So little did he sometimes value his +work that a fine composition would be tucked away somewhere and quite +forgotten. His physical strength was not robust enough to stand the +strain of constant composition. Then too, when funds were very low, +as they often were, he took poor lodgings, and denied himself the +necessary nourishing food. If he could have had a dear companion to +look after his material needs and share his aims and aspirations, his +earthly life might have been prolonged for many a year. With no one to +advise him, and often pressed with hunger and poverty, he was induced +to sell the copyrights of twelve of his best songs, including the +"Erlking" and the "Wanderer," for a sum equal to about four hundred +dollars. It is said the publishers made on the "Wanderer" alone, up to +the year 1861, a sum of about five thousand five hundred dollars. It +is true that "everything he touched turned to music," as Schumann once +said of him. The hours of sleep were more and more curtailed, for he +wrote late at night and rose early the next day. It is even said he +slept in his spectacles, to save the trouble and time of putting them +on in the morning. + +In Schubert's boyhood, the music of Mozart influenced him most. This +is seen in his earlier compositions. Beethoven was a great master +to him then, but as time went on the spell of his music always grew +stronger. In 1822, he wrote and published a set of variations on a +French air, and dedicated them to Beethoven. He greatly desired to +present them in person to the master he adored, but was too shy to go +alone. Diabelli, the publisher, finally went with him. Beethoven was +courteous but formal, pushing paper and pencil toward his guest, as he +was totally deaf. Schubert was too shy to write a single word. +However he produced his Variations. Beethoven seemed pleased with the +dedication, and looked through the music. Soon he found something in +it he did not approve of and pointed it out. The young author, losing +his presence of mind, fled from the house. But Beethoven really liked +the music and often played it to his nephew. + +Five years later, during his last illness, a collection of some sixty +of Schubert's songs was placed in his hands. He turned them over and +over with amazement and delight. "Truly Schubert has the divine fire," +he exclaimed. He wanted to see the composer of such beautiful music. +Schubert came and was allowed to have a talk with him first, before +other friends who were waiting. When Schubert paid another visit to +the bedside of the master, it was almost the end of his life, though +he could recognize all who stood about him. Overcome with emotion, +Schubert left the room. + +A couple of weeks after this Schubert was one of the torch bearers who +accompanied the great master to the last resting place. Little did the +young man of thirty dream that he would soon follow after. His life at +this time was full of disappointments. He had always longed to write +for the lyric stage. He composed numerous operas; but they were always +rejected, for one reason or another. The last, "Fierabras," which was +on the point of being produced, was finally given up. The composer +became very dejected, and believed himself to be the most unfortunate, +the most miserable being on earth. But, fortunately for Schubert, +his cheerfulness again asserted itself and the stream of production +resumed its flow. With his temperament, at one moment he would be +utterly despairing, the next his troubles would seem to be forgotten, +and he would be writing a song, a symphony or a sonata. At all +events, constant work filled his days. The last year of his life was +productive of some of his finest works. + +About the end of October, 1828, he began to show signs of a serious +breakdown. He was living at the home of his brother Ferdinand, in one +of the suburbs of the city. Although he revived a little during +the early part of November, so that he could resume walks in the +neighborhood, the weakness increased, and eleven days passed without +food or drink. Lingering till the nineteenth of November, he passed +peacefully away, still in his early manhood. The old father, the +schoolmaster at the old home, hoped to have his son buried in the +little cemetery near by. But Ferdinand knew his brother's wish, to be +placed near Beethoven in Waehringer Cemetery. The monument, erected by +his friends and admirers the following year, bears, above the name, +this inscription: + + "Music has here entombed a rich treasure, but much fairer + hopes." + + + + +X + +FELIX MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY + + +Mendelssohn has often been named "Felix the Happy," and he truly +deserved the title. Blest with a most cheerful disposition, with the +power to make friends of every one he met, and wherever he went, the +son of a rich banker, surrounded with everything that wealth could +give, it was indeed no wonder that Felix Mendelssohn was happy. He did +not have to struggle with poverty and privation as most of the +other great musicians were forced to do. Their music was often the +expression of struggle and sorrow. He had none of these things to +bear; he was carefree and happy, and his music reflects the joyous +contentment of his life. + +The Mendelssohn family originally lived in Hamburg. Their house faced +one of the fine squares of the city, with a handsome church on +the opposite side. The building is still there and well preserved, +although the principal story is used as public dining rooms. A large +tablet has been placed above the doorway, with a likeness of the +composer encircled by a wreath of laurel. Here little Felix was born, +February 3, 1809. There were other children, Fanny a year or two +older, then after Felix came Rebekka and little Paul. When French +soldiers occupied the town in 1811, life became very unpleasant for +the German residents, and whoever could, sought refuge in other cities +and towns. Among those who successfully made their escape was the +Mendelssohn-Bartholdy family, the second name belonged to the family +and was used to distinguish their own from other branches of the +Mendelssohn family. With his wife and children, Abraham Mendelssohn +fled to Berlin, and made his home for some years with the grandmother, +who had a house on the Neue Promenade, a fine broad street, with +houses only on one side, the opposite side descended in a grassy slope +to the canal, which flowed lazily by. + +It was a happy life the children led, amid ideal surroundings. Felix +very early showed a great fondness for music, and everything was done +to foster his budding talent. With his sister Fanny, to whom he was +devotedly attached, he began to have short music lessons from +his mother when he was only four years old. Their progress was so +satisfactory, that after a while, professional musicians were engaged +to teach them piano, violin and composition, as a regular part of +their education. Besides these, they must study Greek, Latin, drawing +and school subjects. With so much study to be done each day, it was +necessary to begin work at five o'clock in the morning. But in spite +of hard work all were happy, and as for Felix nothing could dampen the +flow of his high spirits; he enjoyed equally work and play, giving the +same earnest attention to each. Both he and Fanny were beginning +to compose, and Felix's attempts at improvising upon some comical +incident in their play time would call forth peals of laughter from +the inseparable children. + +Soon more ambitious attempts at composition were made, the aim being +to write little operas. But unless they could be performed, it was +useless to try and make operas. This was a serious difficulty; but +Felix was deeply in earnest in whatever he undertook, and decided he +must have an orchestra to try out his operatic efforts. It looked like +an impossibility, but love and money can accomplish wonders. A small +orchestra was duly selected from among the members of the Court band. +The lad Felix was to conduct these sedate musicians, which he did +modestly but without embarrassment, standing on a footstool before +his men, waving the baton like a little general. Before the first +performance was quite ready, Felix felt there must be some one present +who could really judge of the merits of his little piece. Who would +do so better than his old professor of thorough bass and composition, +Carl Zelter, the director of the Berlin Singakademie. Zelter agreed +to accept this delicate office, and a large number of friends were +invited for the occasion. + +This was only the beginning of a series of weekly musical evenings at +the Mendelssohn home. Felix, with his dark curls, his shining eyes, +and charming manners, was the life of anything he undertook. He +often conducted his little pieces, but did not monopolize the time. +Sometimes all four children took part, Fanny at the piano, Rebekka +singing, Paul playing the 'cello and Felix at the desk. Old Zelter was +generally present, and though averse to praising pupils, would often +say a few words of encouragement at the close. + +Felix was at this time but little more than twelve years old. He had +within the last year composed fifty or sixty pieces, including a trio +for piano and strings, containing three movements, several sonatas for +the piano, some songs and a musical comedy in three scenes, for +piano and voices. All these were written with the greatest care and +precision, and with the date of each neatly added. He collected his +pieces into volumes; and the more work he did the more neatly he +wrote. + +The boy Felix had a wonderful gift for making friends. One day he +suddenly caught sight of Carl Maria von Weber walking along the +streets of Berlin, near his home. He recognized the famous composer at +once, as he had lately visited his parents. The boy's dark eyes glowed +with pleasure at the recognition, and tossing back his curls, he +sprang forward and threw his arms about Weber's neck, begging him to +go home with him. When the astonished musician recovered himself, he +presented the boy to Jules Benedict, his young friend and pupil who +walked at his side, saying, "This is Felix Mendelssohn." For response +Felix, with a bright look, seized the young man's hand in both his +own. Weber stood by smiling at the boy's enthusiasm. Again Felix +besought them to come home with him, but Weber had to attend a +rehearsal. "Is it for the opera?" the boy cried excitedly. + +"Yes," answered the composer. + +"Does he know all about it?" asked Felix, pointing to Benedict. + +"Indeed he does," answered the composer laughing, "or if he doesn't he +ought to for he has been bored enough with it already." The boy's eyes +flashed. + +"Then _you_, will come with me to my home, which is quite near, will +you not?" There was no refusing those appealing dark eyes. Felix again +embraced Weber, and then challenged his new friend, Mr. Benedict, to +race him to the door of his house. On entering he dragged the visitor +upstairs to the drawing-room, exclaiming, "Mama, Mama, here is a +gentleman, a pupil of Carl Weber, who knows all about the new opera, +'Der Freischuetz.'" + +The young musician received a warm welcome, and was not able to leave +until he had played on the piano all the airs he could remember +from the wonderful new opera, which Weber had come to Berlin to +superintend. Benedict was so pleased with his first visit that he came +again. This time he found Felix writing music and asked what it was. +"I am finishing my new quartet for piano and strings," was the simple +reply. To say that Benedict was surprised at such an answer from a boy +of twelve hardly expresses what he felt. It was quite true he did not +yet know Felix Mendelssohn. "And now," said the boy, laying down his +pen, "I will play to you, to prove how grateful I am that you played +to us last time." He then sat down at the piano and played correctly +several melodies from "Der Freischuetz," which Benedict had played on +his first visit. After that they went into the garden, and Felix for +the moment, became a rollicking boy, jumping fences and climbing trees +like a squirrel. + +Toward the close of this year, 1821, his teacher Zelter announced he +intended going to Wiemar, to see Goethe, the aged poet of Wiemar, and +was willing to take Felix with him. The poet's house at Wiemar was +indeed a shrine to the elect, and the chance of meeting the object +of so much hero worship, filled the impressionable mind of Felix with +reverential awe. Zelter on his part, felt a certain pride in bringing +his favorite pupil to the notice of the great man, though he would not +have permitted Felix to guess what he felt for anything he possessed. + +When they arrived, Goethe was walking in his garden. He greeted both +with kindness and affection, and it was arranged that Felix should +play for him next day. Zelter had told Goethe much about his pupil's +unusual talents, but the poet wished to prove these accounts by his +own tests. Selecting piece after piece of manuscript music from his +collection, he asked the boy to play them at sight. He was able to do +so with ease, to the astonishment of the friends who had come in to +hear him. They were more delighted when he took a theme from one of +the pieces and improvised upon it. Withholding his praise, Goethe +announced he had a final test, and placed on the music desk a sheet +which seemed covered with mere scratches and blotches. The boy +laughingly exclaimed, "Who could ever read such writing as that?" +Zelter rose and came to the piano to look at this curiosity. "Why, it +is Beethoven's writing; one can see that a mile off! He always wrote +as if he used a broomstick for a pen, then wiped his sleeve over the +wet ink!" + +The boy picked out the strange manuscript bit by bit; when he came to +the end he cried, "Now I will play it through for you," which he did +without a mistake. Goethe was well pleased and begged Felix to come +every day and play, while he was in the city. The two became fast +friends; the poet treated him as a son, and at parting begged he would +soon return to Wiemar, that they might again be together. During the +following summer the whole family made a tour through Switzerland, +much to the delight of Felix, who enjoyed every moment. There was +little time for real work in composition, but a couple of songs and +the beginning of a piano quartet were inspired by the view of Lake +Geneva and its exquisite surroundings. + +When Felix returned to Berlin, he had grown much, physically as well +as mentally. He was now tall and strong, his curling locks had been +clipped, and he seemed at a single bound to have become almost a man. +His happy, boyish spirits, however, had not changed in the least. +About this time the family removed from their home on the Neue +Promenade, to a larger and more stately mansion, No. 3 Leipsiger +Strasse, then situated on the outskirts of the town, near the Potsdam +Gate. As those who know the modern city realize, this house, now no +longer a private residence, stands in the very heart of traffic and +business. The rooms of the new home were large and elegant, with +a spacious salon suitable for musicals and large functions. A fine +garden or park belonged to the house, where were lawns shaded by +forest trees, winding paths, flowering shrubs and arbors in shady +nooks, offering quiet retreats. Best of all there was a garden house, +with a central hall, which would hold several hundred people, having +long windows and glass doors looking out upon the trees and flowers. +Sunday concerts were soon resumed and given in the garden house, +where, on week days the young people met, with friends and elders, to +play, and act and enjoy the social life of the home. The mansion and +its hospitality became famous, and every great musician, at one time +or another, came to pay his respects and become acquainted with this +art-loving family. + +At a family party in honor of Felix's fifteenth birthday, his teacher +Zelter saluted him as no longer an apprentice, but as an "assistant" +and member of the Brotherhood of Art. Very soon after this the young +composer completed two important works. The first was an Octet for +strings. He was not yet seventeen when the Octet was finished, +which was pronounced the most fresh and original work he had yet +accomplished. It marked a distinct stage in the gifted youth's +development. The composition which followed was the beautiful +"Midsummer Night's Dream" music. He and his sister Fanny had lately +made the acquaintance of Shakespeare through a German translation, and +had been fascinated by this fairy play. The young people spent much of +their time in the lovely garden that summer, and amid these delightful +surroundings the music was conceived. + +The Overture was first to spring into being. When it was written +out, Felix and Fanny often played it as a duet. In this form the +composer-pianist Moscheles heard it and was impressed by its beauty. +The fascinating Scherzo and dreamy Nocturne followed. When all were +elaborated and perfected, the complete work was performed by the +garden house orchestra for a crowded audience, who abundantly +expressed their delight. Sir G. Macfarren has said of it: "No one +musical work contains so many points of harmony and orchestration that +are novel yet none of them have the air of experiment, but all seem to +have been written with a certainty of their success." + +And now a great plan occupied Mendelssohn's mind, a project which had +been forming for some time; this was nothing less than to do something +to arouse people to know and appreciate the great works of Johann +Sebastian Bach. Two years before Felix had been presented with a +manuscript score of Bach's "Passion according to St. Matthew," which +Zelter had allowed to be copied from the manuscript preserved in the +Singakademie. The old man was a devoted lover of Bach's music, and +had taught his pupil in the same spirit. When Felix found himself the +possessor of this wonderful book, he set to work to master it, until +he knew every bit of it by heart. As he studied it deeply he was more +and more impressed with its beauty and sublimity. He could hardly +believe that this great work was unknown throughout Germany, since +more than a hundred years had passed since it had been written. He +determined to do something to arouse people from such apathy. + +Talking the matter over with musicians and friends, he began to +interest them in the plan to study the music of the Passion. Soon +he had secured sixteen good voices, who rehearsed at his home once +a week. His enthusiasm fired them to study the music seriously, and +before very long they were anxious to give a public performance. +There was a splendid choir of nearly four hundred voices conducted by +Zelter, at the Singakademie; if he would only lend his chorus to give +a trial performance, under Mendelssohn's conducting, how splendid that +would be! But Felix knew that Zelter had no faith in the public taking +any interest in Bach, so there was no use asking. This opinion was +opposed by one of his little choir, named Devrient, who insisted that +Zelter should be approached on the subject. As he himself had been +a pupil of Zelter, he persuaded Mendelssohn to accompany him to the +director's house. + +Zelter was found seated at his instrument, enveloped by a cloud of +smoke from a long stemmed pipe. Devrient unfolded the plan of bringing +this great work of Bach to the knowledge of the public. The old man +listened to their plea with growing impatience, until he became quite +excited, rose from his chair and paced the floor with great strides, +exclaiming, "No, it is not to be thought of--it is a mad scheme." To +Felix argument then seemed useless and he beckoned his friend to +come away, but Devrient refused to move, and kept up his persuasive +argument. Finally, as though a miracle had been wrought, Zelter began +to weaken, and at last gave in, and besides promised all the aid in +his power. + +How this youth, not yet twenty, undertook the great task of preparing +this masterpiece, and what he accomplished is little short of the +marvelous. The public performance, conducted by Mendelssohn, took +place March 11, 1829, with every ticket sold and more than a thousand +persons turned away. A second performance was given on March 21, the +anniversary of Bach's birth, before a packed house. These performances +marked the beginning of a great Bach revival in Germany and England, +and the love for this music has never been lost, but increases each +year. + +And now it seemed best for Felix to travel and see something of other +countries. He had long wished to visit England, and the present seemed +a favorable time, as his friends there assured him of a warm +welcome. The pleasure he felt on reaching London was increased by the +enthusiastic greeting he received at the hands of the musical public. +He first appeared at a Philharmonic concert on May 25, when his +Symphony in C minor was played. The next day he wrote to Fanny: "The +success of the concert last night was beyond all I had ever dreamed. +It began with my Symphony. I was led to the desk and received an +immense applause. The Adagio was encored, but I went on; the Scherzo +was so vigorously applauded that I had to repeat it. After the Finale +there was lots more applause, while I was thanking the orchestra and +shaking hands, till I left the room." + +A continual round of functions interspersed with concerts at which he +played or conducted, filled the young composer's time. The overture to +"Midsummer Night's Dream" was played several times and always received +with enthusiasm. On one occasion a friend was so careless as to leave +the manuscript in a hackney coach on his way home and it was lost. +"Never mind, I will write another," said Mendelssohn, which he was +able to do, without making a single error. + +When the London season closed, Mendelssohn and his friend Klingemann +went up to Scotland, where he was deeply impressed with the varied +beauty of the scenery. Perhaps the Hebrides enthralled him most, with +their lonely grandeur. His impressions have been preserved in the +Overture to "Fingal's Cave," while from the whole trip he gained +inspiration for the Scottish Symphony. + +On his return to London and before he could set out for Berlin, Felix +injured his knee, which laid him up for several weeks, and prevented +his presence at the home marriage of his sister Fanny, to William +Hensel, the young painter. This was a keen disappointment to all, but +Fanny was not to be separated from her family, as on Mendelssohn's +return, he found the young couple had taken up their residence in the +Gartenhaus. + +Mendelssohn had been greatly pleased with his London visit, and though +the grand tour he had planned was really only begun, he felt a strong +desire to return to England. However, other countries had to be +visited first. The following May he started south, bound for Vienna, +Florence and Rome. His way led through Wiemar and gave opportunity for +a last visit to Goethe. They passed a number of days in sympathetic +companionship. The poet always wanted music, but did not seem to care +for Beethoven's compositions, which he said did not touch him at all, +though he felt they were great, astonishing. + +After visiting numerous German cities, Switzerland was reached and +its wonderful scenery stirred Mendelssohn's poetic soul to the depths. +Yet, though his passionate love of nature was so impressed by the +great mountains, forests and waterfalls, it was the sea which he loved +best of all. As he approached Naples, and saw the sea sparkling in +the sun lighted bay, he exclaimed: "To me it is the finest object in +nature! I love it almost more than the sky. I always feel happy when +I see before me the wide expanse of water." Rome, of course, was a +center of fascination. Every day he picked out some special object +of interest to visit, which made that particular day one never to +be forgotten. The tour lasted until the spring of 1832, before +Mendelssohn returned to his home in Berlin, only to leave it shortly +afterwards to return to London. This great city, in spite of its fogs, +noises and turmoil, appealed to him more than the sunshine of Naples, +the fascination of Florence or the beauty of Rome. + +The comment on Mendelssohn that "he lived years where others only +lived weeks," gives a faint idea of the fulness with which his time +was occupied. It is only possible to touch on his activities in +composition, for he was always at work. In May 1836 when he was +twenty-seven, he conducted in Duesseldorf the first performance of his +oratorio of "St. Paul." At this period he wrote many of those charming +piano pieces which he called "Songs without Words." This same year +brought deepest happiness to Mendelssohn, in his engagement to Cecile +Jean-Renaud, the beautiful daughter of a French Protestant clergyman. +The following spring they were married, a true marriage of love and +stedfast devotion. + +The greatest work of Mendelssohn's career was his oratorio of +"Elijah" which had long grown in his mind, until it was on the eve +of completion in the spring of 1846. In a letter to the famous singer +Jenny Lind, an intimate friend, he writes: "I am jumping about my +room for joy. If my work turns out half as good as I fancy it is, how +pleased I shall be." + +During these years in which he conceived the "Elijah," his fame had +spread widely. Honors had been bestowed on him by many royalties. +The King of Saxony had made him Capellmeister of his Court, and Queen +Victoria had shown him many proofs of personal regard, which endeared +him more than ever to the country which had first signally recognized +his genius. + +It was Leipsic perhaps which felt the power of his genius most +conclusively. The since famous Leipsic Conservatory was founded +by him, and he was unceasing in his labors to advance art in every +direction. He also found time to carry out a long cherished plan to +erect, at the threshold of the Thomas School, Leipsic, a monument to +the memory of Sebastian Bach. + +Let us take one more glimpse of our beloved composer. It was the +morning of August 26, 1846. The Town Hall of Birmingham, England, +was filled with an expectant throng, for today the composer of the +"Elijah" was to conduct his greatest work, for the first time before +an English audience. When Mendelssohn stepped upon the platform, he +was greeted by a deafening shout; the reception was overwhelming, and +at the close the entire audience sprang to its feet in a frenzy of +admiration. He wrote to his brother Paul that evening: "No work of +mine ever went so admirably at the first performance, or was received +with such enthusiasm both by musicians and public." During April the +following year, four performances of the "Elijah" took place in Exeter +Hall, the composer conducting, the Queen and Prince Albert being +present on the second occasion. This visit to England which was to be +his last, had used his strength to the limit of endurance, and there +was a shadow of a coming breakdown. Soon after he rejoined his family +in Frankfort, his sister Fanny suddenly passed away in Berlin. +The news was broken to him too quickly, and with a shriek he fell +unconscious to the floor. + +From this shock he never seemed to rally, though at intervals for a +while, he still composed. His death occurred November 4, 1847. It +can be said of him that his was a beautiful life, in which "there was +nothing to tell that was not honorable to his memory and profitable to +all men." + +Mendelssohn's funeral was imposing. The first portion was solemnized +at Leipsic, attended by crowds of musicians and students, one of the +latter bearing on a cushion a silver crown presented by his pupils of +the Conservatory. Beside the crown rested the Order "Pour le Merite," +conferred on him by the King of Prussia. The band, during the long +procession, played the E minor "Song without Words," and at the close +of the service the choir sang the final chorus from Bach's "Passion." +The same night the body was taken to Berlin and placed in the family +plot in the old Dreifaltigkeit Kirch-hof, beside that of his devoted +sister Fanny. + + + + +XI + +ROBERT SCHUMANN + + +Many of the composers whose life stories we have read were surrounded +by musical atmosphere from their earliest years; Robert Schumann seems +to have been an exception. His father, August Schumann, was the son +of a poor pastor, and the boy August was intended to be brought up a +merchant. At the age of fifteen he was put into a store in Nonneburg. +He was refined in his tastes, loved books, and tried even in boyhood +to write poetry. He seemed destined, however, to live the life marked +out for him, at least for a time. It grew so distasteful, that later +he gave it up and, on account of extreme poverty, returned to his +parents' home, where he had the leisure to write. At last he secured +a position in a book store in Zeitz. In this little town he met the +daughter of his employer. The engagement was allowed on the condition +that he should leave the book store and set up his own business. But +where was the money to come from? He left the store, returned home +and in a year and a half had earned a thousand thalers, then quite a +handsome sum. + +He now claimed the hand of his chosen love and established in the book +business, labored so unceasingly, that the business increased. Then +he moved to a more favorable location, choosing the mining town of +Zwickau, in Saxony. + +Here, this industrious, honorable man and his attractive, intelligent, +but rather narrow and uneducated young wife lived out their lives, and +brought up their children, of whom Robert, born June 8, 1810, was +the youngest; before him there were three brothers and a sister. All +passed away before Robert himself. + +He was the so-called "handsome child" of the family, and much petted +by the women. Besides his mother there was his god-mother, who was +very fond of him, and at her home he would spend whole days and +nights. As his talents developed, the boy became the spoilt darling of +everybody. This lay at the foundation of his extreme susceptibility, +even the obstinacy of his riper years. + +Little Robert at six was sent to a popular private school and now for +the first time mingled with a number of children of his own age. +The first symptoms of ambition, the source of much of his later +achievement, began to show itself, though quite unconsciously. It made +him the life of all childish games. If the children played "soldiers," +little Robert was always captain. The others loved his good nature and +friendliness, and always yielded to him. + +He was a good student in the primary school, but in no way +distinguished himself in his studies. The following year he was +allowed to take piano lessons of an old pedantic professor from +Zwickau High School. This man had taught himself music, but had heard +little of it. The kind of instruction he was able to give may be +imagined, yet Robert was faithful all his life to this kind old +friend. + +In spite of inadequate guidance, music soon kindled the boy's soul. +He began to try to make music himself, though entirely ignorant of +the rules of composition. The first of these efforts, a set of little +dances, were written during his seventh or eighth year. It was soon +discovered that he could improvise on the piano; indeed he could +sketch the disposition of his companions by certain figures on the +piano, so exactly and comically that every one burst out laughing +at the portraits. He was fond of reading too, much to his father's +delight, and early tried his hand at authorship. He wrote robber +plays, which he staged with the aid of the family and such of his +youthful friends as were qualified. The father now began to hope +his favorite son would become an author or poet; but later Robert's +increasing love for music put this hope to flight. + +The father happened to take his boy with him to Carlsbad in the summer +of 1819, and here he heard for the first time a great pianist, Ignatz +Moscheles. His masterful playing made a great impression on the nine +year old enthusiast, who began now to wish to become a musician, and +applied himself to music with redoubled zeal. He also made such +good progress at school that at Easter 1820 he was able to enter the +Zwickau Academy. + +The love for music grew with each day. With a boy of his own age, +as devoted as himself to music, four-hand works of Haydn, Mozart and +Beethoven, as well as pieces by Weber, Hummel and Czerny, were played +almost daily. The greatest ecstasy was caused by the arrival of a +Steck piano at the Schumann home, which showed that father Schumann +endeavored to further his boy's taste for music. About this time +Robert found by chance, the orchestral score of an old Italian +overture. He conceived the bold idea of performing it. So a bit of +an orchestra was gathered among the boys he knew, who could play an +instrument. There were two violins, two flutes, a clarinet and two +horns. Robert, who conducted with great fervor, supplied as best he +could the other parts on the piano. + +This effort was a great incentive to the boys, principally to Robert, +who began to arrange things for his little band and composed music for +the one hundred fiftieth Psalm. This was in his twelfth year. + +August Schumann was more and more convinced that Providence had +intended his son to become a musician, and though the mother struggled +against it, he resolved to see that Robert had a musical education. +Carl Maria von Weber, then living in Dresden, was written to, and +answered he was willing to accept the boy as a student. The plan never +came to anything however, for what reason is not known. The boy was +left now to direct his own musical studies, just when he needed an +expert guiding hand. He had no rivals in his native town, where he +sometimes appeared as a pianist. It was no wonder he thought he was on +the right road, and that he tried more than ever to win his mother's +consent to his following music as a life work. + +And now a great change took place in the lively, fun-loving boy. +He seemed to lose his gay spirits and become reflective, silent and +reserved. This condition of mind never left him, but grew into a +deeper reserve as the years passed. + +Two events deeply stirred Robert's nature with great force--the death +of his father in 1826, and his acquaintance with the works of Jean +Paul. The Jean Paul fever attacked him in all its transcendentalism, +and this influence remained through life, with more or less intensity. + +After his father left him, Robert found he must make a choice of a +profession. His mother had set her heart on his making a study of law, +while his heart was set on music. Yielding to her wishes for a time he +went to Leipsic in March 1828 to prepare to enter the University as +a student of law. He also gained consent to study piano at the same +time, and began lessons with Frederick Wieck. The desire to study with +Wieck was inspired by the piano playing of his little daughter, Clara, +then nine years old, who had already gained a considerable degree of +musical culture and promised to make her mark as a pianist. + +Under his new teacher, Robert for the first time was obliged to study +a rational system of technic and tone production. He was also expected +to learn harmony correctly, but strangely enough he seemed to take no +interest in it, even saying he thought such knowledge useless. He held +to this foolish idea for some time, not giving it up till forced to by +realizing his total ignorance of this branch of the art. + +Robert now became greatly impressed by the genius of Franz Schubert. +He eagerly played everything the master had composed for the piano, +both for two and four hands, and Schubert's death during this year, +filled him with profound grief. The young musical friends with whom +Robert had become intimate, while living in Leipsic, shared his +enthusiasm about his hero of German song, and they desired to enlarge +their knowledge of Schubert's work. They did more, for they decided +to take one representative composition and practise together till they +had reached the highest perfection. The choice fell on the Trio in B +flat major, Op. 99, whose beauties had greatly impressed them. After +much loving labor the performance was well nigh perfect. Schumann +arranged a musical party at which the Trio was played. Besides +students and friends, Wieck was invited and given the seat of honor. + +This musical evening was the forerunner of many others. Weekly +meetings were held in Robert's room, where much music was played +and discussed. The talk often turned to grand old Bach and his +"Well-tempered Clavichord," to which in those early days, he gave +ardent study. + +With all this music study and intercourse with musical friends there +was very little time left for the study of law. Yet he still kept +up appearances by attending the lectures, and had intended for some +months to enter the Heidelberg University. This decision was put into +execution in May 1829, when he started by coach for Heidelberg. + +We find Robert Schumann at nineteen domiciled in the beautiful city of +Heidelberg, and surrounded by a few musical friends, who were kindred +spirits. With a good piano in his room, the "life of flowers," as +he called it, began. Almost daily they made delightful trips in a +one-horse carriage into the suburbs. For longer trips they went to +Baden-Baden, Wurms, Spires and Mannheim. Whenever Robert went with +his friends he always carried a small "dumb piano" on which he +industriously practised finger exercises, meanwhile joining in the +conversation. During the following August and September, Robert and +two or three chosen companions made a delightful journey through +Italy, the young man preparing himself by studying Latin, in which he +became so fluent that he could translate poems from one language to +the other. + +The next winter Robert devoted himself to music more than +ever--"played the piano much," as he says. His skill as a pianist +gradually became known in Heidelberg and he frequently played in +private houses. But he was not content with the regular study of +the piano. He wanted to get ahead faster and invented some sort of a +device to render his fourth finger more firm and supple. It did not +have the desired effect however, but was the means in time of injuring +his hands so that he never could attain the piano virtuosity he +dreamed of. + +Before starting on the trip to Italy just mentioned, he felt that a +decision must be reached about his music. It had become as the breath +of life to him. He wrote his mother and laid bare his heart to her. +"My whole life has been a twenty years struggle between poetry and +prose, or let us say--between music and law. If I follow my own bent, +it points, as I believe correctly, to music. Write yourself to Wieck +at Leipsic and ask him frankly what he thinks of me and my plan. Beg +him to answer at once and decisively." The letter was duly written to +Wieck, who decided in favor of Robert and his plans. + +Robert on hearing his decision was wild with joy. He wrote an +exuberant letter to Wieck promising to be most submissive as a piano +pupil and saying "whole pailfuls of very very cold theory can do me no +harm and I will work at it without a murmur. I give myself up wholly +to you." + +With a heart full of hope, young Schumann returned to Leipsic, which +he had gladly left more than a year before. It was during this early +resumption of piano lessons with Wieck that he began the treatment +which he thought would advance his technic in such a marvelously +short time. He fastened his third finger into a machine, of his own +invention, then practised unceasingly with the other four. At last +he lost control over the muscles of the right hand, to his great +distress. He now practised unremittingly with the left hand, which +gained great facility, remarkable long after he had given up piano +playing. + +Under these difficulties piano lessons with Wieck had to be given +up and were never resumed. He studied theory for a short time with +Kupach, but soon relinquished this also. He was now free to direct his +own path in music and to study--study, and compose. + +One of the first pieces he wrote was "The +Papillons"--"Butterflies,"--published as Op. 2. It was dedicated to +his three sisters-in-law, of all of whom he was very fond. In the +various scenes of the Butterflies there are allusions to persons and +places known to the composer; the whimsical spirit of Jean Paul broods +over the whole. + +Robert began to realize more and more his lack of thorough theoretical +knowledge and applied to Dorn, who stood high in the musical +profession in Leipsic. On his introduction, in spite of his lame hand +he played his "Abegg Variations," published as Op. 1, and Dorn was +willing to accept the timid quiet youth as pupil. He studied with +great ardor, going from the A.B.C. to the most involved counterpoint. + +Thus passed two or three busy years. Part of the time Schumann had +a room in the house of his teacher Wieck and thus was thrown more or +less in the society of Clara Wieck, now a young girl of thirteen or +fourteen. Later he gave up his room--though not his intimate relations +with the family--and moved to a summer residence in Riedel's Garden, +where he spent the days in music and the evenings with his friends. + +The year 1833, was one of the most remarkable in his life so far. +Not the least important event was the establishment of the "Neue +Zeitschrift fuer Musik." Schumann himself says of this:-- + +"At the close of the year '33, a number of musicians, mostly young, +met in Leipsic every evening, apparently by accident at first, but +really for the interchange of ideas on all musical subjects. One day +the young hot heads exclaimed: 'Why do we look idly on? Let's take +hold and make things better.' Thus the new Journal for music began. + +"The youthful, fresh and fiery tone of the Journal is to be in +sharp contrast to the characterless, worn-out Leipsic criticism. The +elevation of German taste, the encouragement of young talent must be +our goal. We write not to enrich tradespeople, but to honor artists." + +Schumann took up arms in favor of the younger generation of musicians +and helped make the fame of many now held in the world's highest +esteem. Sometimes, he admits, his ardor carried him too far in +recognition of youthful talent, but in the main he was very just +in his estimates. We do not forget how his quick commendation aided +Brahms. + +The young musicians who founded the paper had formed themselves also +into an alliance, which they called the Davidsbuendlerschaft. The +idea of this alliance, which was derived from David's war with the +Philistines, seemed to exist only in the mind of Schumann himself. +It gave him a chance to write under the name of different characters, +chief of whom were Florestan and Eusebius, between whom stood Master +Raro. In Florestan Schumann expressed the powerful, passionate side of +his nature, and in Eusebius the mild and dreamy side. + +He wrote to a friend: "Florestan and Eusebius are my double nature, +which I would gladly--like Raro--melt down into one man." As time +passed however, he made less and less use of these fanciful images +until they finally seemed to fade out of his mind. + +An important event of 1834, was Schumann's acquaintance with Ernestine +von Fricken, who came to Leipsic from the little town of Asch, on +the Bohemian border. She lived at the Wiecks', expecting to become a +pianist under Papa Wieck's tuition. Schumann became greatly interested +in Ernestine and for some time he had in mind an engagement with her. +The noble "Etudes Symphoniques" were written this year. The theme was +suggested by Ernestine's father. The "Carnival" was partly written +in this year, but not completed till the following year. In this +collection of charming short pieces he brings in the characters of his +dreams,--Florestan, Eusebius, Chiarina (Clara), Estrella (Ernestine). +There is the March against the Philistines, and the titles of many +other of the little pieces are characteristic. It is a true Schumann +composition, full of his traits. Here we have the sweet, graceful, +elegant and the very humorous and comical finale. + +The tone creations of 1835 consist of the two Sonatas, F sharp minor, +Op. 11 and G minor, Op. 22, which are held by pianists to be among his +most interesting and poetical works. + +By the next year Schumann had suffered a deep sorrow in the loss of +his mother, and also his love for Ernestine began to cool, until the +partial bond was amicably dissolved. Meanwhile his affection for +Clara Wieck, who was just budding into womanhood, began to ripen into +devoted love. This, too, was the beginning of the long struggle for +the possession of his beloved, since the father had opposed such a +connection from beginning to end. Schumann wrote a friend in 1839: +"Truly from the struggle Clara has cost me, much music has been caused +and created; the Concerto, Sonatas, Davidsbuendler Dances, Kreisleriana +and Novellettes are the result." Beyond the compositions just +mentioned, he relieved his oppressed heart by a composition rich in +meaning--nothing less than the great Fantaisie, Op. 17. He meant to +contribute the profits from its sale to the fund for the erection of a +monument to Beethoven. The titles to the three movements were "Ruins," +"Triumphal Arch," "Starry Crown." He afterwards gave up the whole +idea, and dedicated the work to Franz Liszt. + +Schumann lived a quiet, busy life, and if he could have gained +the consent of Clara's father for their union, he would have been +supremely happy. He feared the principal reason of Wieck's refusal was +that the young man should earn more money first, before thinking of +settling down with a wife. Robert therefore reverted more seriously to +a plan he had thought of, to go to Vienna, and move his paper to that +city, hoping to better his fortunes. He felt, too, that he ought to +travel, as he had remained in Leipsic for eight years without change. + +Thus, by the end of September, 1838, Schumann started for Vienna with +many high hopes. A friend invited him to remain at his house, which +was of much advantage. He made many calls and visits, saw musicians +and publishers, and really learned to know the city for itself. He +found it would not be profitable for him to publish the Journal there, +also that the Austrian capital was a no more propitious place to make +one's fortune than the smaller town of Leipsic. However he was able to +compose a number of works which have become among the best known and +beloved of all, including the "Arabesque," "Faschingsschwank," or +"Carnival Strains from Vienna," the "Night Pieces," Op. 24, and other +short compositions. + +When Robert discovered Vienna was not the city to prosper in, he +thought of a return to Leipsic, to win his bride. He came back in +April, and succeeded, with the help of legal proceedings, in securing +Clara's hand in marriage. This was in 1840. From now on Schumann began +to write songs. In this one year he composed as many as a hundred and +thirty-eight songs, both large and small. He writes at this time: "The +best way to cultivate a taste for melody, is to write a great deal for +the voice and for independent chorus." + +He now began to express himself not only in song but in orchestral +music. His first effort was the beautiful B flat major Symphony, +which, with the songs of that time seems to embody all the happiness +he enjoyed in winning his Clara. She proved a most admirable helpmate, +trying to shield him from interruptions and annoyance of every sort, +so he should have his time undisturbed for his work. Thus many of +his best compositions came into being in the early years of wedded +happiness. + +This retirement was interrupted in 1844, by a long concert tour +planned by Clara. She was firmly decided to go and made Robert +solemnly promise to accompany her to St. Petersburg. He was loath +to leave the quiet he loved, but it had to be done. Clara had great +success everywhere, as a pianist, giving many recitals during their +travels from place to place. From Russia the artist pair went to +Helsingfors, Stockholm and Copenhagen. They started on their tour in +January and did not reach home till the first of June. + +Schumann now seemed to lose interest in the Journal and expressed +a wish to withdraw from it and live only for his creative art. An +alarming state of health--both mind and body--seemed to make this +retirement desirable. Perhaps owing to this condition of health he +decided to leave Leipsic for good and make his home in Dresden. He and +his wife took formal leave of Leipsic in a Matinee musical given on +the eighth of December. + +But life in Dresden became even more strenuous and more racking than +it had been in Leipsic. He threw himself into the labor of composing +the epilogue of Goethe's "Faust" with such ardor that he fell into +an intensely nervous state where work was impossible. However, with +special medical treatment he so far recovered that he was able to +resume the work, but still was not himself. We can divine from brief +remarks he let drop from time to time, that he lived in constant +fear--fear of death, insanity or disaster of some kind. He could +not bear the sight of Sonnenstein, an insane asylum near Dresden. +Mendelssohn's sudden death in November, 1847, was a great shock and +preyed on his mind. + +Schumann had intervals of reprieve from these morbid dreams, and +he again began to compose with renewed--almost abnormal--vigor and +productiveness. + +The artist pair took a trip to Vienna where Clara gave several +concerts. They spent some weeks there and before returning to Dresden, +gave two splendid concerts in Prague, where Schumann received a +perfect ovation for his piano quintette and some songs. A little +later the two artists made a trip north. In Berlin Robert conducted +a performance of "Paradise and the Peri" at the Singakademie, while +Clara gave two recitals. + +This year of 1847 was a very active one outside of the musical +journeys. The master composed several piano trios, much choral music, +and began the opera "Genevieve," which was not completed however, +until the middle of 1848. All the compositions of the previous year +were perfectly lucid and sane. The opera unfortunately had a text from +which all the beauty and romance had been left out. + +The music, however, revealed a rare quality of creative power, +combined with deep and noble feeling. Schumann's nature was more +lyric than dramatic; he was not born to write for the stage. The lyric +portions of his opera are much the best. He did not realize that +he failed on the dramatic side in his work, indeed seemed quite +unconscious of the fact. + +"Genevieve" was given in Leipsic in June 1850, directed by the +composer. Two more performances were given and then the work was laid +away. + +In 1848, Schumann, who loved children dearly and often stopped his +more serious work to write for them, composed the "Album for the +Young," Op. 68, a set of forty-two pieces. The title originally was: +"Christmas Album for Children who like to play the Piano." How many +children, from that day to this have loved those little pieces, the +"Happy Farmer," "Wild Rider," "First Loss," "Reaper's Song," and all +the rest. Even the great pianists of our time are not above performing +these little classics in public. They are a gift, unique in musical +literature, often imitated, but never equaled by other writers. +Schumann wrote of them: "The first thing in the Album I wrote for my +oldest child's birthday. It seems as if I were beginning my life as a +composer anew, and there are traces of the old human here and there. +They are decidedly different from 'Scenes from Childhood' which are +retrospective glances by a parent, and for elders, while 'Album for +the Young' contains hopes, presentments and peeps into futurity _for +the young_." + +After the children's Album came the music to Byron's "Manfred." This +consists of an overture and fifteen numbers. The whole work, with one +exception, is deep in thought and masterly in conception. The +overture especially is one of his finest productions, surpassing other +orchestral works in intellectual grandeur. + +A choral club of sixty-seven members, of which Schumann was the +director, inspired him to compose considerable choral music, and his +compositions of this time, 1848-9, were numerous. + +The intense creative activity of 1849 was followed by a period of +rest when the artist pair made two trips from Dresden, early in 1850. +Leipsic, Bremen, and Hamburg were visited. Most of the time in Hamburg +was spent with Jenny Lind, who sang at his last two concerts. + +The late summer of 1850 brought Schumann an appointment of director of +music in Duesseldorf, left vacant by the departure of Ferdinand Hiller +for Cologne. Schumann and his wife went to Duesseldorf the first week +of September and were received with open arms. A banquet and concert +were arranged, at which some of the composer's important works were +performed. His duties in the new post were conducting the subscription +concerts, weekly rehearsals of the Choral Club and other musical +performances. He seemed well content with the situation and it did not +require too much of his physical strength. + +Outside of his official duties his passion for work again gained the +ascendent. From November 2, to December 9, he sketched and completed +the Symphony in E flat in five parts, a great work, equal to any of +the other works in this form. + +From this time on, one important composition followed another, until +increasing illness forshadowed the sad catastrophe of the early part +of 1854. He wrote in June 1851, "we are all tolerably well, except +that I am the victim of occasional nervous attacks; a few days ago I +fainted after hearing Radecke play the organ." These nervous attacks +increased in 1852. He could not think music in rapid tempo and wished +everything slow. He heard special tones to the exclusion of all +others. + +The close of 1853, brought two joyful events to Schumann. In October +he met Johann Brahms, whom he had introduced to the world through his +Journal, as the "Messiah of Art." In November he and his wife took a +trip through Holland, which was a triumphal procession. He found his +music almost as well known in Holland as at home. In Rotterdam and +Utrecht his third symphony was performed; in The Hague the second was +given, also "The Pilgrimage of the Rose." Clara also played at many +concerts. + +Just before Christmas the artist pair returned to Duesseldorf. + +The hallucinations which had before obsessed him now returned with +alarming force. He could no longer sleep--he seemed to be lost in +mental darkness. + +One day in February 1854, his physician made a noon call upon him. +They sat chatting when suddenly Schumann left the room without a word. +The doctor and his friends supposed he would return. His wife went in +search of him. It seems he had left the house in dressing-gown, gone +to the Rhine bridge and thrown himself into the river. Some sailors +rescued him. + +He now received constant care, and it was found best to place him in +a private hospital near Bonn. Here he remained till the end of July, +1856, when the end came. + +In his death the world of music lost one of the most highly gifted +spirits. His life was important and instructive for its moral and +intellectual grandeur, its struggles for the noblest, loftiest +subjects as well as for its truly great results. + + + + +XII + +FREDERIC CHOPIN + + +What would the piano playing world do without the music of Frederic +Chopin? We can hardly think of the piano without thinking of Chopin, +since he wrote almost exclusively for the universal instrument. His +music touches the heart always rather than the head, the emotional +message far outweighs the intellectual meaning. It is vital +music--love music, winning the heart by its tenderness, voicing the +highest sentiments by its refinement, its purity, its perfection of +detail and finish. + +And the man who could compose with such refinement, with such +appealing eloquence, must have possessed those qualities which +shine out in his music. He must have been gentle, chivalrous, +high-thoughted. We cannot avoid expressing ourselves in our work--in +whatever we do. + +The father of this beloved composer was a Frenchman, born in Nancy, +Lorraine, in 1770, the same year Beethoven saw the light in Bonn. He +was carefully brought up, well-bred and well-educated. When a friend +of his in Warsaw, Poland, in the tobacco and snuff trade, then in high +repute with the nobility, needed help with his book-keeping, he sent +for the seventeen-year-old lad. Thus it happened that Nicholas Chopin +came to Warsaw in 1787. It was a time of unrest, when the nation was +struggling for liberty and independence. The young man applied himself +to master the language, and study the character and needs of his +adopted country, that he might be well informed. During the period of +insecurity in political affairs, the tobacco factory had to be closed +and Nicholas Chopin looked for other activity. A few years later we +find him in the household of Countess Skarbek, as a tutor to her son, +Frederic. Here he met his bride, Justina de Krzyzanowska, a young +lady of noble but poor family, whom he married in 1806. She became the +mother of his four children, three girls and a boy. + +The boy Frederic Chopin, was born on March 1, 1809, in the little +village of Zelazowa Wola, belonging to the Countess Skarbek, about +twenty-eight miles from Warsaw. It is probable the family did not +remain here long, for the young husband was on the lookout for more +profitable employment. He was successful, for on October 1, 1810, +he was appointed Professor of French in the newly founded Lyceum in +Warsaw. He also soon organized a boarding school for boys in his own +home, which was patronized by the best Polish families of the country. + +Surrounded by refined, cultivated people, in an atmosphere at once +moral and intellectual, little Frederic passed a fortunate childhood. +He soon manifested such fondness for music, especially for the piano, +that his parents allowed him to have lessons, his teacher being +Adalbert Zywny, the best-known master of the city. It is related that +Zywny only taught his little pupil first principles, for the child's +progress was so extraordinary that before long he had mastered all +his teacher could impart, and at twelve he was left to shape his own +musical destiny. + +He early gave proofs of his talents. Before he was eight years old +he played at a large evening company, with such surprising cleverness +that it was predicted he would become another Mozart. The next year he +was invited to take part in a large concert given under distinguished +patronage. The boy was a simple, modest child, and played the piano as +the bird sings, with unconscious art. When he returned home after this +concert, his mother asked: "What did the people like best?" and he +answered naively: "Oh, mama, every one was looking at my collar." + +After this, little Frederic became more than ever the pet of the +aristocracy of Warsaw; his charming manners, his unspoiled nature, his +musical gifts made him welcome in princely homes. He had also begun +to compose; indeed these efforts started soon after he began piano +lessons, and before he could handle a pen. His teacher had to write +down what the little composer played. Among those early pieces were +mazurkas, polonaises, valses and the like. At the age of ten he +dedicated a march to Grand Duke Constantine, who had it scored for +band and played on parade. He started lessons in composition with +Joseph Eisner, a celebrated teacher, who became a life-long adviser +and friend. + +Up to the age of fifteen, Frederic was taught at home, in his father's +school. He now entered the Warsaw Lyceum, and proved a good student, +twice carrying off a prize. With this studiousness was joined a gaiety +and sprightliness that manifested itself in all sorts of fun and +mischief. He loved to play pranks on his sisters, comrades and others, +and had a fondness for caricature, taking off the peculiarities of +those about him with pose and pen. Indeed it was the opinion of a +clever member of the profession, that the lad was born to become a +great actor. All the young Chopins had a great fondness for literature +and writing; they occasionally tried their hand at poetry, and the +production of original one-act plays, written for birthday fetes and +family parties. + +The most important event of Frederic's fifteenth year was the +publication of his first composition for piano, a Rondo in C minor. +This was soon followed by a set of Variations, Op. 2, on an air from +Mozart's "Don Giovanni." In these early pieces, written perhaps even +before he was fifteen, we find the first stages of his peculiar style. +Even at this early time he was pleased with chords that had the tones +spread apart in extended harmony. As his hands were small he invented +a contrivance which separated the fingers as far apart as possible, +in order that he might reach the new chords more easily. This he wore +even during the night. The contrivance however, did not result in +injury to his hands, as did Schumann's efforts to strengthen his +fourth finger. + +In 1827, Chopin finished his studies at the Lyceum and determined +to adopt music as his profession. He was now seventeen, of slender +figure, finely cut features, high forehead, delicate brows above +dreamy, soulful eyes. Though not weak or sickly, as some accounts make +out, he was never very robust; he would far rather lie under beautiful +trees in delightful day dreams, than take long excursions afoot. One +of his aversions was smoking or tobacco in any form; he never used it +in his whole life. He was vivacious, active, hard working at music and +reasonably healthy in early youth, but not of a hardy organism. His +mother and sisters constantly cautioned him to wrap up in cold or damp +weather, and like an obedient son and good brother, he obeyed. + +Young Chopin greatly wished to travel and see something of the +world. A much longed-for opportunity to visit Berlin came to him the +following year. An old friend of his father's, Dr. Jarocki, Professor +in the Warsaw University, was invited to attend a Philosophic +Congress, presided over by Alexander von Humboldt, to be held in that +city. The good Professor was willing to take his friend's son under +his wing, and Frederic was quite beside himself with joy, for now he +believed he could meet some of the musical celebrities of Berlin, and +hear some great music. As to the latter his hopes were realized, but +he did not meet many musicians, and could only gaze at them from a +distance. It may have been a certain shyness and reticence that stood +in the way, for he wrote home about a concert in the Singakademie: +"Spontini, Zelter and Felix Mendelssohn were all there, but I spoke to +none of these gentlemen, as I did not think it becoming to introduce +myself." Music and things connected with music, music-shops and piano +factories, took up most of his time, as he declined to attend the +meetings of the Congress. + +"At the time of the Berlin visit," writes Niecks, his biographer, +"Chopin was a lively, well-educated, well-mannered youth, who walked +through life, pleased with its motley garb, but as yet unconscious +of the deeper truths, the immensities of joy and sadness, of love and +hate, which lie beneath the surface." + +After a stay of two weeks in the Prussian capital, Professor Jarocki +and Frederic started on their return to Poland. During the journey +they were obliged to halt an hour for fresh horses. Chopin began to +look about the little inn for some sort of amusement to while away the +time. He soon discovered in a corner, an old piano, which proved to +be in tune. Of course he lost no time, but sat down and began to +improvise on Polish melodies. Soon his fellow passengers of the +stage-coach began to drop in one after another; at last came the post +master with his wife and pretty daughter. Even when the hour was +up and the horses had been put to the chaise, they begged the young +musician to go on and on. Although he remonstrated, saying it was now +time to go, they protested so convincingly that the boy sat down again +and resumed his playing. Afterwards wine was brought in and they all +drank to the health of the young master. Chopin gave them a mazurka +for farewell, then the tall post master caught him up and carried him +out to the coach, and all travelers started away in high spirits. + +About the middle of July, 1829, Chopin with three young friends, +started out for Vienna. In those days an artist, in order to make +himself and his work known, had to travel about the world and arrange +concerts here and there, introduce himself to prominent people in each +place and make them acquainted with his gifts. The present journey had +for its object Vienna, the city of Beethoven and Schubert and other +great masters. + +Of course the young musician carried many letters of introduction, +both to publishers and influential persons, for whom he played. Every +one told him he ought to give a concert, that it would be a disgrace +to parents, teachers and to himself not to appear in public. At last +Frederic overcame his hesitation. In a letter home he writes; "I have +made up my mind; they tell me I shall create a furore, that I am an +artist of the first rank, worthy of a place beside Moscheles, Herz +and Kalbrenner," well-known musicians of the day. One must forgive the +nineteen year old boy, if he felt a little pride in being classed with +these older and more famous musicians. + +The concert took place in the Imperial Opera House, just ten days +after his arrival, and from all accounts was a great success. Chopin +was more than satisfied, he was delighted. Indeed his success was so +emphatic that a second concert was given the following week. In both +he played some of his own compositions and improvised as well. + +"It goes crescendo with my popularity here, and this gives me much +pleasure," he wrote home, at the end of the fortnight, and on the eve +of starting to return. On the way back the travelers visited Prague, +Teplitz and Dresden. A couple of days were spent in each, and then the +party arrived safely in Warsaw. + +With such an intense nature, friendship and love were two vital forces +controlling life and action. Chopin was devoted to his friends; he +clung to them with effusive ardor, incomprehensible to those less +sensitive and romantic. With Titus Woyciechowski he was heart to heart +in closest intimacy, and wrote him the most adoring letters when they +chanced to be separated. Titus was less demonstrative, but always +remained devoted. + +Love for women was destined to play a large part in the inner life of +Chopin. The first awakening of this feeling came from his admiration +of Constantia Gladowska, a beautiful girl and vocal pupil at the +Conservatory at Warsaw. Strangely enough he admired the young lady for +some time at a distance, and if report be true, never really declared +himself to her. But she filled his thoughts by day, and he confessed +to dreaming of her each night. When she made her debut in opera, he +hung on every note she sang and rejoiced in her success but did not +make his feelings known to her. All this pent-up emotion was confined +to his piano, in impassioned improvisations. + +Seeing no suitable field for his genius in Warsaw and realizing he +ought to leave home and strike out for himself, he yet delayed making +the break. He continued putting off the evil day of parting from home +and friends, and especially putting a wide distance between himself +and the object of his adoration, Constantia. + +The two years of indecision were fruitful in producing much piano +music and in completing the beautiful E minor Concerto, which was +rehearsed with orchestra and was performed at the third and last +concert he ever gave in Warsaw. This concert was arranged for October +11, 1830. Chopin requested Constantia Gladowska, whom he had never +met, to sing an aria. In the success of the evening sorrow was +forgotten. He wrote to his friend: "Miss Gladowska wore a white gown +with roses in her hair and was wondrously beautiful; she had never +sung so well." + +After this event, Chopin decided the time had come for him to depart. +His trunk was bought, his clothing ready, pocket-handkerchiefs hemmed; +in fact nothing remained but the worst of all, the leave-taking. On +November I, 1830, Elsner and a number of friends accompanied him to +Wola, the first village beyond Warsaw. There they were met by a group +of students from the Conservatory, who sang a cantata, composed by +Elsner for the occasion. Then there was a banquet. During this last +meal together, a silver goblet filled with Polish earth was presented +to Chopin in the name of them all. + +We can imagine the tender leave-takings after that. "I am convinced," +he said, "I am saying an eternal farewell to my native country; I have +a presentiment I shall never return." And so indeed it proved. + +Again to Vienna, by way of Breslau, Dresden and Prague. In Vienna +all was not as rosy as it had been on his first visit. Haslinger was +unwilling to publish more of his compositions, though there were the +two concertos, etudes and many short pieces. The way did not open to +give a concert. He was lonely and unhappy, constantly dreaming of home +and the beloved Constantia. From graphic letters to one of his dearest +friends, a few sentences will reveal his inner life. + +"To-day is the first of January (1831). Oh, how sadly this year begins +for me! I love you all above all things. My poor parents! How are my +friends faring? I could die for you all. Why am I doomed to be here so +lonely and forsaken? You can at least open your hearts to each other. +Go and see my parents--and--Constantia." + +Although it did not seem advisable to give concerts in Vienna, yet +Chopin made many pleasant acquaintances among the musicians and +prominent people, and was constantly invited. He had planned to +go from Vienna to either Italy or France. As there were political +troubles in the former country, he decided to start for Paris, +stopping on the way at a few places. In Munich he gave a morning +concert, in the hall of the Philharmonie, which won him renown. From +Munich he proceeded to Stuttgart, and during a short stay there, heard +the sad news of the taking of Warsaw by the Russians. This event, it +is said, inspired him to compose the C minor Etude, Op. 10, No. 12. + +The Poles and everything Polish were at that time the rage in Paris. +The young Polish master found ready entrance into the highest musical +and literary circles of this most delightful city of the world. All +was romance, fantasy, passion, which fitted with Chopin's sensitive +and romantic temperament. Little wonder that he became inspired by +contact with some of the greatest in the world of arts and letters. + +There were Victor Hugo. King of the romanticists, Heine, poet and +novelist; De Musset, Flaubert, Zola, Lamartine, Chateaubriand, +Baudelaire, Ary Scheffer, Merimee, Gautier, Berlioz, Balzac, Rossini, +Meyerbeer, Hiller, Nourrit, to mention a few. Liszt was there too, and +George Sand, Mendelssohn and Kalkbrenner. Chopin called on the last +named, who was considered the first pianist of the day, and played for +him. Kalkbrenner remarked he had the style of Cramer and the touch of +Field. He proposed that Chopin should study three years with him, +and he would then become a great virtuoso. Of course the young artist +might have learned something-on the mechanical side, but at the risk +of injuring the originality and style of his playing. His old friend +and teacher Elsner, kept him from doing this. + +The first year in Paris Chopin played at a number of concerts and +functions, with ever increasing success. But in spite of the artistic +success, his finances ran low, and he began to consider a trip to +America. Fortunately he met Prince Radziwill on the street at this +time, and was persuaded to play at a Rothschild soiree in the evening. +From this moment, it is said, his prospects brightened, and he secured +a number of wealthy patrons as pupils. Whether this be true or not, he +came to know many titled personages. One has only to turn the pages of +his music to note how many pieces are dedicated to Princess This and +Countess That. This mode of life was reflected in his music, which +became more elegant and aristocratic. + +During the season of 1833 and 1834, Chopin continued to make his way +as composer, pianist and teacher. A letter to friends in Poland, says: +"Frederic looks well and strong; he turns the heads of all the French +women, and makes the men jealous. He is now the fashion." + +In the spring of 1834 Chopin had been persuaded by Ferdinand Hiller +to accompany him to Aix-la-Chapelle, to attend the Lower Rhine Music +Festival. Before they started Chopin found he had not the money to go, +as it had been spent or given to some needy countryman. Hiller did not +like to go alone, and asked if his friend could think of no way out of +the dilemma. At last Chopin took the manuscript of the E flat Valse, +Op. 18, went with it to Pleyel the publisher, and returned with five +hundred francs. They could now go and enjoy the trip they had planned. + +In July, 1835, Chopin met his parents at Carlsbad, where his father +had been sent by the Warsaw physicians to take the cure. The young +musician, now famous, had not seen his parents in nearly five years, +and the reunion must have been a happy one. From here he went to +Dresden and Leipsic, meeting Schumann and Mendelssohn. Schumann +admired the young Pole greatly and wrote much about him in his musical +magazine. Mendelssohn considered him a "really perfect virtuoso, whose +piano playing was both original and masterly," but he was not sure +whether his compositions were right or wrong. Chopin also stopped +in Heidelberg on the way to Paris, visiting the father of his pupil +Adolph Gutman. He must have been back in Paris about the middle of +October, for the papers mention that "M. Chopin, one of the most +eminent pianists of our epoch, has just made a tour of Germany, which +has been for him a real ovation. Everywhere his admirable talent +obtained the most flattering reception and excited much enthusiasm." + +The story of Chopin's attraction for Marie Wodzinski and his reported +engagement to her, is soon told. During his visit in Dresden, after +leaving his parents in Carlsbad, he saw much of his old friends, Count +Wodzinski and his family. The daughter, Marie, aged nineteen, was +tall and slender, not beautiful but charming, with soft dark hair and +soulful eyes. Chopin spent all his evenings at their home and saw much +of Marie. The last evening the girl gave him a rose, and he composed a +valse for her. + +The next summer the two met again at Marienbad, and resumed their +walks, talks and music. She drew his portrait, and one day Chopin +proposed. She assured him she would always remain his friend, but her +family would never consent to their marriage. So that brief romance +was over. + +An attachment of a different sort was that with Mme. Dudevant, known +in literature as George Sand. Books have been written about this +remarkable woman. The family at Nohant where she had spent her +childhood, where her two children, Maurice and Solange, lived, and +where her husband sometimes came, became distasteful to her; she +wanted to see life. Paris offered it. Although possessing ample means, +she arranged to spend six months in Paris each year, and live on two +hundred and fifty francs a month. She came in 1831. Her _menage_ +was of the simplest--three small rooms, with meals from a near-by +restaurant at two francs; she did the washing herself. Woman's attire +was too expensive, so, as she had worn man's attire when riding and +hunting at Nohant, she saw nothing shocking in wearing it in Paris. + +Her literary student life, as she called it, now began. She went about +the streets at all times, in all weathers; went to garrets, studios, +clubs, theaters, coffee-houses, everywhere but the _salons_. The +romance of society-life as it was lived in the French capital, were +the studies she ardently pursued. From these studies of life grew the +several novels she produced during the years that followed. + +It is said that Chopin met Mme. Sand at a musical matinee, given by +the Marquis of C, where the aristocracy of genius, wealth and beauty +had assembled. Chopin had gone to the piano and was absorbed in an +improvisation, when lifting his eyes from the keys he encountered the +fiery glances of a lady standing near. Perhaps the truer account of +their first meeting is that given by Chopin's pupil Gutman. Mme. Sand, +who had the faculty of subjugating every man of genius she came in +contact with, asked Liszt repeatedly to introduce her. + +One morning, early in the year 1837, Liszt called on his brother +artist and found him in good spirits over some new compositions. He +wished to play them to some friends, so it was arranged that a party +of them should come to his rooms that evening. Liszt came with his +special friend, Mme. d'Agoult and George Sand. Afterwards these +meetings were frequently repeated. Liszt poetically describes one such +evening, in his "Life of Chopin." + +The fastidious musician was not at first attracted to the rather +masculine-looking woman, addicted to smoking, who was short, stout, +with large nose, coarse mouth and small chin. She had wonderful eyes, +though, and her manners were both quiet and fascinating. + +Her influence over Chopin began almost at once; they were soon seen +together everywhere. Sand liked to master a reserved, artistic nature +such as that of the Polish musician. She was not herself musical, but +appreciated all forms of art. + +In 1838 Mme. Sand's son Maurice became ill, and she proposed a trip to +Majorca. Chopin went with the party and fell ill himself. There were +many discomforts during their travels, due to bad weather and other +inconveniences. + +Chopin's health now began to be a source of anxiety to his friends. +He had to be very careful, gave fewer lessons during the season, and +spent his vacations at Nohant. He played rarely in public, though +there were two public concerts in 1841 and '42 at Pleyel's rooms. From +1843 to 1847 he lived quietly and his life was apparently happy. He +was fond of the Sand children, and amused himself with them when at +Nohant. + +But the breach, which had started some years before, between Mme. Sand +and Chopin, widened as time passed, and they parted in 1847. It was +the inevitable, of course. Chopin never had much to say about it; Sand +said more, while the students asserted she had killed their beloved +master. Probably it all helped to undermine the master's feeble +health. His father passed away in 1844, his sister also, of pulmonary +trouble; he was lonely and ill himself. He gave his last concert in +Paris, February 16, 1848. Though weak he played beautifully. Some one +said he fainted in the artist's room. The loss of Sand, even though he +had long wearied of her was the last drop. + +To secure rest and change, he undertook a trip to London, for the +second and last time, arriving April 21, 1848. He played at different +great houses and gave two matinees, at the homes of Adelaide Kemble +and Lord Falmouth, June 23, and July 7. These were attended by many +titled personages. Viardot Garcia sang. The composer was thin, pale, +and played with "wasted fingers," but the money helped replenish his +depleted purse. + +Chopin visited Scotland in August of the same year, and stayed with +his pupil Miss Jane Stirling, to whom he dedicated the two Nocturnes, +Op. 55. He played in Manchester, August 28; his playing was rather +weak, but retained all its elegance, finish and grace. He was encored +for his familiar Mazurka, Op. 7, No. 1, and repeated it with quite +different nuances. One survivor of this audience remarked subsequently +in a letter to a friend: "My emotion was so great I was compelled to +retire to recover myself. I have heard all the celebrated stars of +the musical firmament, but never has one left such an impression on my +mind." + +Chopin returned to London in November, and left England in January +1849. His purse was very low and his lodgings in the Rue Chaillot, +Paris, were represented as costing half their value, the balance being +paid by a Russian Countess, who was touched by his need. The generous +hearted Miss Stirling raised 25,000 francs for the composer, so his +last days were cheered by every comfort. He passed away October 17, +1849, and every writer agrees it was a serene passing. His face was +beautiful and young, in the flower-covered casket, says Liszt, +for friends filled his rooms with blossoms. He was buried from +the Madeleine, October thirtieth. The B flat minor Funeral March, +orchestrated by Reber, was given, and during the service Lefebure +Wely played on the organ the E and B minor Preludes. His grave in Pere +Lachaise is sought out by many travelers who admire his great art. It +is difficult to find the tomb in that crowded White City, but no +doubt all music lovers seek to bring away at least a leaf--as did the +writer--from the earthly resting place of the most ideal pianist and +composer who ever lived. + +Chopin was preeminently a composer for the piano. With the exception +of the Trio, Op. 8 and a book of Polish songs, everything he wrote was +for his favorite instrument. There are seventy-one opus numbers in the +list, but often whole sets of pieces are contained in one opus number, +as is the case with the Etudes, of which there are twelve in Op. 10, +and the same in Op. 25. These Etudes take up every phase of piano +technic; each one has a definite aim, yet each is a beautiful finished +work as music. They have been edited and re-edited by the greatest +masters. + +The twenty-four Preludes were composed before the trip to Majorca, +though they were perfected and polished while there. Written early in +his career, they have a youthful vigor not often found in later +works. "Much in miniature are these Preludes of the Polish poet," says +Huneker. + +There are four Impromptus and four Ballades, also four Scherzos. In +them the composer is free, fascinating, often bold and daring. The +great Fantaisie, Op. 49, is an epic poem, much as the Barcarolle is a +poem of love. The two Sonatas, not to mention an early effort in this +form, are among the modern classics, which are bound to appear on the +programs of every great pianist of the present, and doubtless of +the future. The two Concertos are cherished by virtuosi and audience +alike, and never fail to make an instant and lasting appeal. + +And think of the eleven Polonaises, those courtly dances, the most +characteristic and national of his works; the fourteen Valses, beloved +of every young piano student the world over; the eighteen Nocturnes, +of starry night music; the entrancing Mazurkas, fifty-two in number. +One marvels, in merely glancing over the list, that the composer, who +lived such a super-sensitive hectic life, whose days were so occupied +with lesson giving, ever had the time to create such a mass of music, +or the energy to write it. + +When one considers the amount of it, the beauty, originality and glory +of it, one must acknowledge Frederic Chopin as one of the greatest +piano geniuses of all time. + + + + +XIII + +HECTOR BERLIOZ + + +In the south of France, near Grenoble, is found a romantic spot, La +Cote Saint-Andre. It lies on a hillside overlooking a wide green and +golden plain, and its dreamy majesty is accentuated by the line of +mountains that bounds it on the southeast. These in turn are crowned +by the distant glory of snowy peaks and Alpine glaciers. Here one of +the most distinguished men of the modern movement in French musical +art, Hector Berlioz, first saw the light, on December 11, 1803. + +He was an only son of a physician. His father, a learned man, with +the utmost care, taught his little boy history, literature, geography, +languages, even music. Hector was a most romantic, impressionable +child, who peopled nature with fairies and elves, as he lay under +great trees and dreamed fantastic day dreams. Poetry and romantic +tales were his delight and he found much to feed his imagination in +his father's large library. + +His mother's father lived at Meylan, a little village not far from +Grenoble, and there, in this picturesque valley, the family used to +spend a part of each summer. + +Above Meylan, in a crevice of the mountain, stood a white house amid +its vineyards and gardens. It was the home of Mme. Gautier and her two +nieces, of whom the younger was called Estelle. When the boy Hector +saw her for the first time, he was twelve, a shy, retiring little +fellow. Estelle was just eighteen, tall, graceful, with beautiful +dusky hair and large soulful eyes. Most wonderful of all, with her +simple white gown, she wore pink slippers. The shy boy of twelve fell +in desperate love with this white robed apparition in pink slippers. +He says himself: + +"Never do I recall Estelle, but with the flash of her large dark +eyes comes the twinkle of her dainty pink shoes. To say I loved her +comprises everything. I was wretched, dumb, despairing. By night I +suffered agonies--by day I wandered alone through the fields of Indian +corn, or, like a wounded bird, sought the deepest recesses of my +grandfather's orchard. + +"One evening there was a party at Mme. Gautier's and various games +were played. In one of them I was told to choose first. But I dared +not, my heart-beats choked me. Estelle, smiling, caught my hand, +saying: 'Come, I will begin; I choose Monsieur Hector.' But, ah, she +laughed! + +"I was thirteen when we parted. I was thirty when, returning from +Italy, I passed through this district, so filled with early memories. +My eyes filled at sight of the white house: I loved her still. On +reaching my old home I learned she was married!" + +With pangs of early love came music, that is, attempts at musical +composition. His father had taught him the rudiments of music, and +soon after gave him a flute. On this the boy worked so industriously +that in seven or eight months he could play fairly well. He also +took singing lessons, as he had a pretty soprano voice. Harmony was +likewise studied by this ambitious lad, but it was self taught. He had +found a copy of Rameau's "Harmony" among some old books and spent many +hours poring over those labored theories in his efforts to reduce them +to some form and sense. + +Inspired by these studies he tried his hand at music making in +earnest. First came some arrangements of trios and quartettes. Then +finally he was emboldened to write a quintette for flute, two violins, +viola and 'cello. Two months later he had produced another quintette, +which proved to be a little better. At this time Hector was twelve +and a half. His father had set his heart on the boy's following his +footsteps and becoming a doctor; the time was rapidly approaching when +a decision had to be made. Doctor Berlioz promised if his son would +study anatomy and thoroughly prepare himself in this branch of the +profession, he should have the finest flute that could be bought. His +cousin Robert shared these anatomical lessons; but as Robert was a +good violinist, the two boys spent more time over music than over +osteology. The cousin, however, really worked over his anatomy, and +was always ready at the lessons with his demonstrations, while Hector +was not, and thus drew upon himself many a reprimand. However he +managed to learn all his father could teach him, and when he was +nineteen consented to go to Paris, with Robert, and--though much +against his will--become a doctor. + +When the boys reached Paris, in 1822, Hector loyally tried to keep his +promise to his father and threw himself into the studies which were +so repugnant to him. He says he might have become a common-place +physician after all, had he not one night gone to the opera. That +night was a revelation; he became half frantic with excitement and +enthusiasm. He went again and again. Learning that the Conservatoire +library, with its wealth of scores, was open to the public, he began +to study the scores of his adored Gluck. He read, re-read and copied +long parts and scenes from these wonderful scores, even forgetting +to eat, drink or sleep, in his wild enthusiasm. Of course, now, the +career of doctor must be given up; there was no question of that. He +wrote home that in spite of father, mother, relations and friends, a +musician he would be and nothing else. + +A short time after this the choir master of Saint Roch, suggested that +Hector should write a mass for Innocents' Day, promising a chorus and +orchestra, with ample rehearsals, also that the choir boys would copy +the parts. He set to work with enthusiasm. But alas, after one trial +of the completed work, which ended in confusion owing to the countless +mistakes the boys had made in copying the score, he rewrote the whole +composition. Fearing another fiasco from amateur copyists, the young +composer wrote out all the parts himself. This took three months. With +the help of a friend who advanced funds, the mass was performed at +Saint Roch, and was well spoken of by the press. + +The hostility of Hector's family to music as a profession, died down +a bit, owing to the success of the mass, but started up with +renewed vigor when the son and brother failed to pass the entrance +examinations at the Conservatoire. His father wrote that if he +persisted in staying on in Paris his allowance would be stopped. +Lesueur, his teacher, promised to intercede and wrote an appealing +letter, which really made matters worse instead of better. Then +Hector went home himself, to plead his cause in person. He was coldly +received by his family; his father at last consented to his return +to Paris for a time, but his mother forbade it absolutely. In case he +disobeyed her will, she would disown him and never again wished to see +his face. So Hector at last set out again for Paris with no kind look +or word from his mother, but reconciled for the time being with the +rest of the family. + +The young enthusiast began life anew in Paris, by being very +economical, as he must pay back the loan made for his mass. He found +a tiny fifth floor room, gave up restaurant dinners and contented +himself with plain bread, with the addition of raisins, prunes +or dates. He also secured some pupils, which helped out in this +emergency, and even got a chance to sing in vaudeville, at the +enormous sum of 50 francs per month! + +These were strenuous days for the eager ardent musician. Teaching from +necessity, in order to live, spending every spare moment on composing; +attending opera whenever he got a free ticket; yet, in spite of many +privations there was happiness too. With score under arm, he always +made it a point to follow the performance of any opera he heard. And +so in time, he came to know the sound--the voice as it were, of +each instrument in the orchestra. The study of Beethoven, Weber and +Spontini--watching for rare and unusual combinations of sounds, being +with artists who were kind enough to explain the compass and powers of +their instruments, were the ways and means he used to perfect his art. + +When the Conservatoire examinations of 1827, came on, Hector tried +again, and this time passed the preliminary test. The task set for +the general competition was to write music for Orpheus torn by the +Bacchantes. An incompetent pianist, whose duty it was to play over the +compositions, for the judges, could seem to make nothing of Hector's +score. The six judges, headed by Cherubini, the Director of the +Conservatoire, voted against the aspirant, and he was thrown out a +second time. + +And now came to Berlioz a new revelation--nothing less than the +revelation of the art of Shakespeare. An English company of actors had +come to Paris, and the first night Hamlet was given, with Henrietta +Smithson--who five years later became his wife--as Ophelia. + +In his diary Berlioz writes: "Shakespeare, coming upon me unawares, +struck me down as with a thunderbolt. His lightning spirit opened to +me the highest heaven of Art, and revealed to me the best and grandest +and truest that earth can give." He began to worship both the genius +of Shakespeare and the art of the beautiful English actress. Every +evening found him at the theater, but days were spent in a kind of +dumb despair, dreaming of Shakespeare and of Miss Smithson, who had +now become the darling of Paris. + +At last this sort of dumb frenzy spent itself and the musician in him +awoke and he returned to his normal self. A new plan began to take +shape in his mind. He would give a concert of his own works: up to +that time no French musician had done so. Thus he would compel her +to hear of him, although he had not yet met the object of his devoted +admiration. + +It was early spring of the year 1828, when he set to work with frantic +energy, writing sixteen hours a day, in order to carry through the +wonderful plan. The concert, the result of so much labor, was given +the last of May, with varying success. But alas, Miss Smithson, +adsorbed in her own affairs, had not even heard of the excitable young +composer who had dared and risked so much to make a name that might +attract her notice. + +As Berlioz pere again stopped his allowance, Hector began to write +for musical journals. At first ignorant of the ways of journalism, his +wild utterances were the despair of his friends; later his trenchant +pen was both admired and feared. + +For the third time, in June of this year, he entered the Conservatoire +contest, and won a second prize, in this case a gold medal. Two years +later he won the coveted Prix de Rome, which gives the winner five +years' study, free of expense, in the Eternal City. + +Before this honor was achieved, however, a new influence came into his +life, which for a time overshadowed the passion for Shakespeare and +Miss Smithson. It happened on this wise. + +Ferdinand Hiller, composer, pianist and one of Hector's intimate +friends, fell deeply in love with Marie Moke, a beautiful, talented +girl who, later on, won considerable fame as a pianist. She became +interested in the young French composer, through hearing of his mental +suffering from Hiller. They were thrown together in a school where +both gave lessons, she on the piano and he on the--guitar! Meeting so +constantly, her dainty beauty won a warm place in the affections of +the impressionable Hector. She was but eighteen, while her admirer was +twenty-five. + +Hiller saw how things were going and behaved admirably. He called it +fate, wished the pair every happiness, and left for Frankfort. + +Then came the Prix de Rome, which the poor boy had struggled so long +to win, and now did not care so much for, as going to Italy would mean +to leave Paris. On August 23, 1830, he wrote to a friend: + +"I have gained the Prix de Rome. It was awarded unanimously--a thing +never known before. My sweet Ariel was dying of anxiety when I told +her the news; her dainty wings were all ruffled, till I smoothed them +with a word. Even her mother, who does not look too favorably on our +love, was touched to tears. + +"On November 1, there is to be a concert at the Theater Italien. I +am asked to write an Overture and am going to take as subject +Shakespeare's Tempest; it will be quite a new style of thing. My great +concert, with the Symphonie Fantastique, will take place November +14, but I must have a theatrical success; Camille's parents insist on +that, as a condition of our marriage. I hope I shall succeed." + +These concerts were both successful and the young composer passed from +deepest anxiety to exuberant delight. He wrote to the same friend; + +"The Tempest is to be played a second time at the opera. It is new, +fresh, strange, grand, sweet, tender, surprising. Fetis wrote two +splendid articles about it for the Revue Musicale.--My marriage is +fixed for Easter, 1832, on condition that I do not lose my pension, +and that I go to Italy for one year. My blessed Symphonie has done the +deed." + +The next January Berlioz went home to his family, who were now +reconciled to his choice of music as a profession, and deluged him +with compliments, caresses and tender solicitude. The parents had +fully forgiven their gifted son. + +"There is Rome, Signore." + +It was true. The Eternal City lay spread out in purple majesty before +the young traveler, who suddenly realized the grandeur, the poetry +of this heart of the world. The Villa Medici, the venerable ancient +palace, centuries old, had been reserved by the Academie of France as +home for her students, whose sole obligation was to send, once a year, +a sample of their work to the Academie in Paris. + +When Hector Berlioz arrived in Rome he was twenty-seven, and of +striking appearance. A mass of reddish auburn hair crowned a high +forehead; the features were prominent, especially the nose; the +expression was full of sensitive refinement. He was of an excitable +and ardent temperament, but in knowledge of the world's ways often +simple as a child. + +Berlioz, who was welcomed with many humorous and friendly jests on his +appearance among the other students, had just settled down to work, +when he learned that his Ariel--otherwise Marie Moke--had forsaken him +and had married Pleyel. In a wild state of frenzy he would go to Paris +at once and seek revenge. He started, got as far as Nice, grew calmer, +remained at Nice for a month, during which time the Overture to "King +Lear" was written, then returned to Rome by the way of Genoa and +Florence. + +By July 1832, Berlioz had returned to La Cote Saint Andre for a home +visit. He had spent a year in Italy, had seen much, composed a number +of important things, but left Rome without regrets, and found the +familiar landscape near his home more fascinating than anything Italy +could show. + +The rest of the summer was spent in the beautiful Dauphiny country, +working on the "Damnation of Faust." In the fall he returned to Paris. +The vision of his Ophelia, as he used to call Miss Smithson, was +seldom long absent from his thoughts, and he now went to the house +where she used to live, thinking himself very lucky to be able to find +lodging there. Meeting the old servant, he learned Miss Smithson was +again in Paris, and would manage a new English theater, which was +to open in a few days. But Berlioz was planning a concert of his own +compositions, and did not trust himself to see the woman he had so +long adored until this venture was over. It happened, however, that +some friends induced her to attend the concert, the success of which +is said to have been tremendous. The composer had the happiness of +meeting the actress the same evening. The next day he called on her. +Their engagement lasted nearly a year, opposed by her mother and +sister, and also by Hector's family. The following summer Henrietta +Smithson, all but ruined from her theatrical ventures, and weak from +a fall, which made her a cripple for some years, was married to Hector +Berlioz, in spite of the opposition of their two families. + +And now there opened to Berlioz a life of stress and struggle, +inseparable from such a nature as his. At one moment he would be +in the highest heaven of happiness, and the next in the depths of +despair. His wife's heavy debts were a load to carry, but he manfully +did his best to pay them. We can be sure that every work he ever +produced was composed under most trying circumstances, of one kind +or another. One of his happiest ventures was a concert of his own +compositions, given at the Conservatoire on October 22, 1833. Of it he +wrote: "The concert, for which I engaged the very best artists, was a +triumphant success. My musicians beamed with joy all evening, and to +crown all, I found waiting for me a man with long black hair, piercing +eyes and wasted form. Catching my hand, he poured forth a flood of +burning praise and appreciation. It was Paganini!" + +Paganini commissioned Berlioz to write a solo for his beautiful Strad. +viola. The composer demurred for a time, and then made the attempt. +While the result was not just what the violinist wished, yet the +themes afterward formed the basis for Berlioz' composition "Childe +Harold." + +The next great work undertaken by Berlioz was the Requiem. It seems +that, in 1836, the French Minister of the Interior set aside yearly, +3,000 francs to be given to a native composer, chosen by the Minister, +to compose a religious work, either a mass or an oratorio, to be +performed at the expense of the Government. + +"I shall begin with Berlioz," he announced: "I am sure he could write +a good Requiem." + +After many intrigues and difficulties, this work was completed and +performed in a way the composer considered "a magnificent triumph." + +Berlioz, like most composers, always wished to produce an opera. +"Benvenuto Cellini" was the subject finally chosen. It took a long +time to write, and perhaps would never have been finished, since +Berlioz was so tied to bread-winning journalistic labors, if a kind +friend--Ernest Legouve--had not offered to lend him two thousand +francs. This loan made him independent for a little time, and gave him +the necessary leisure in which to compose. + +The "Harold" music was now finished and Berlioz advertised both this +and the Symphonie Fantastique for a concert at the Conservatoire, +December 16, 1838. Paganini was present, and declared he had never +been so moved by music before. He dragged the composer back on the +platform, where some of the musicians still lingered, and there knelt +and kissed his hand. The next day he sent Berlioz a check for twenty +thousand francs. + +Berlioz and his wife, two of the most highly strung individuals to be +found anywhere, were bound to have plenty of storm and stress in their +daily life. And so it came about that a separation, at least for a +time, seemed advisable. Berlioz made every provision in his power +for her comfort, and then started out on various tours to make his +compositions known. Concerts were given in Stuttgart, Heckingen, +Weimar, Leipsic, and in Dresden two, both very successful. Others took +place in Brunswick, Hamburg, Berlin, Hanover, finishing at Darmstadt, +where the Grand Duke insisted not only on the composer taking the full +receipts for the concert, but, in addition, refused to let him pay any +of the expenses. + +And now back in Paris, at the treadmill of writing again. Berlioz had +the sort of mentality which could plan, and also execute, big musical +enterprises on a grand scale. It was proposed that he and Strauss +should give a couple of monster concerts in the Exhibition Building. +He got together a body of 1022 performers, all paid except the singers +from the lyric theaters, who volunteered to help for the love of +music. + +It was a tremendous undertaking, and though an artistic success, the +exertion nearly finished Berlioz, who was sent south by his physician. +Resting on the shores of the Mediterranean, he afterwards gave +concerts in Marseilles, Lyons, and Lille and then traveled to Vienna. +He writes of this visit: + +"My reception by all in Vienna--even by my fellow-plowmen, the +critics--was most cordial; they treated me as a man and a brother, for +which I am heartily grateful. + +"After my third concert, there was a grand supper, at which my friends +presented me with a silver-gilt baton, and the Emperor sent me eleven +hundred francs, with the odd compliment: 'Tell Berlioz I was really +amused.'" + +His way now led through Hungary. Performances were given in Pesth and +Prague, where he was royally entertained and given a silver cup. + +On returning to Paris, he had much domestic trouble to bear. His wife +was paralyzed and his only son, Louis, wished to leave home and become +a sailor--which he did eventually, though much against the wishes of +his parents. + +The "Damnation of Faust," now finished, was given at the Opera, and +was not a success. Berlioz then conceived the idea of going to Russia +to retrieve his fortunes. With the help of kind friends, who advanced +the money, he was able to carry out the plan. He left for Russia on +February 14, 1847. The visits to both St. Petersburg and Moscow proved +to be very successful financially as well as artistically. To cap the +climax, "Romeo and Juliette" was performed at St. Petersburg. Then the +King of Prussia, wishing to hear the "Faust," the composer arranged to +spend ten days in Berlin: then to Paris and London, where success was +also achieved. + +Shadows as well as sunshine filled the next few years. The composer +was saddened by the passing of his father. Then a favorite sister also +left, and last of all his wife passed quietly away, March 3, 1854. +With all these sorrows Berlioz was at times nearly beside himself. But +as he became calmer he decided, after half a year, to wed a woman who +had been of great assistance to him in his work for at least fourteen +years. + +The remaining span of Berlioz' life was outwardly more peaceful and +happy. He continued to travel and compose. Everywhere he went he was +honored and admired. + +Among his later compositions were the Te Deum, "Childhood of Christ," +"Lelio," "Beatrice and Benedict" and "The Trojans." + +At last, after what he called thirty years of slavery, he was able +to resign his post of critic. "Thanks to 'The Trojans,' the wretched +quill driver is free!" + +A touching episode, told in his vivid way, was the meeting, late in +life, with his adored Estelle of the pink shoes. He called on her and +found a quiet widow, who had lost both husband and children. They +had a poignant hour of reminiscence and corresponded for some time +afterwards. + +Hector Berlioz passed away March 8, 1869. The French Institute sent a +deputation, the band of the National Guard played selections from his +Funeral Symphony; on the casket lay wreaths from the Saint Cecilia +Society, from the youths of Hungary, from Russian nobles and from the +town of Grenoble, his old home. + +The music of Berlioz is conceived on large lines, in broad masses of +tone color, with new harmonies and imposing effects. He won a noble +place in art through many trials and hardships. His music is the +expression, the reflection of the mental struggles of a most intense +nature. The future will surely witness a greater appreciation of its +merits than has up to now been accorded it. + + + + +XIV + +FRANZ LISZT + + +Franz Liszt, in his day the king of pianists, a composer whose +compositions still glow and burn with the fire he breathed into them; +Liszt the diplomat, courtier, man of the world--always a conqueror! +How difficult to tell, in a few pages, the story of a life so complex +and absorbing! + +A storm outside: but all was warmth and simple comfort in the large +sitting-room of a steward's cottage belonging to the small estate of +Raiding, in Hungary. + +It was evening and father Liszt, after the labors of the day were +over, could call these precious hours his own. He was now at the old +piano, for with him music was a passion. He used all his leisure time +for study and had some knowledge of most instruments. He had taught +himself the piano, indeed under the circumstances had become quite +proficient on it. To-night he was playing something of Haydn, for he +greatly venerated that master. Adam Liszt made a striking figure as +he sat there, his fine head, with its mass of light hair, thrown back, +his stern features softened by the music he was making. + +At a table near sat his wife, her dark head with its glossy braids +bent over her sewing. Hers was a sweet, kindly face, and she endeared +herself to every one by her simple, unassuming manners. + +Quite near the old piano stood little Franz, not yet six. He was +absolutely absorbed in the music. The fair curls fell about his +childish face and his deep blue eyes were raised to his father, +as though the latter were some sort of magician, creating all this +beauty. + +When the music paused, little Franz awoke as from a trance. + +"Did you like that, Franzerl?" asked his father, looking down at him. +The child bent his curly head, hardly able to speak. + +"And do you want to be a musician when you grow up?" Franzerl +nodded, then, pointing to a picture of Beethoven hanging on the wall, +exclaimed with beaming eyes: "I want to be such a musician as he is!" + +Adam Liszt had already begun to teach his baby son the elements of +music, at the child's earnest and oft-repeated request. He had no real +method, being self-taught himself, but in spite of this fact Franz +made remarkable progress. He could read the notes and find the keys +with as much ease as though he had practised for years. He had a +wonderful ear, and his memory was astonishing. The father hoped his +boy would become a great musician, and carry out the dream which he +had failed to realize in himself. + +Little Franz was born in the eventful year of 1811,--the "year of the +comet." The night of October 21, the night of his birth, the tail +of the meteor seemed to light up the roof of the Liszt home and was +regarded as an omen of destiny. His mother used to say he was always +cheerful, loving, never naughty but most obedient. The child seemed +religious by nature, which feeling was fostered by his good mother. He +loved to go to church on Sundays and fast days. The midnight mass on +Christmas eve, when Adam Liszt, carrying a lantern, led the way to +church along the country road, through the silent night, filled the +child's thoughts with mystic awe. + +Those early impressions have doubtless influenced the creations of +Liszt, especially that part of his "Christus" entitled "Christmas +Oratorio." + +Before Franz was six, as we have seen, he had already begun his +musical studies. If not sitting at the piano, he would scribble +notes--for he had learned without instruction how to write them long +before he knew the letters of the alphabet, or rudiments of writing. +His small hands were a source of trouble to him, and he resorted to +all kinds of comical expedients, such as sometimes playing extra notes +with the tip of his nose. Indeed his ingenuity knew no bounds, when it +came to mastering some musical difficulty. + +Franz was an open minded, frank, truth-loving child, always ready +to confess his faults, though he seemed to have but few. Strangely +enough, though born an Hungarian, he was never taught to speak his +native tongue, which indeed was only used by the peasants. German, the +polite language of the country, was alone used in the Liszt home. + +The pronounced musical talent of his boy was a source of pride to Adam +Liszt, who spoke of it to all his friends, so that the little fellow +began to be called "the artist." The result was that when a concert +was to be given at the neighboring Oldenburg, Adam was requested to +allow his wonder child to play. + +When Franz, now a handsome boy of nine, heard of the concert, he was +overjoyed at the prospect of playing in public. It was a happy day for +him when he started out with his father for Oldenburg. He was to play +a Concerto by Reis, and a Fantaisie of his own, accompanied by the +orchestra. In this his first public attempt Franz proved he possessed +two qualities necessary for success--talent and will. All who heard +him on this occasion were so delighted, that Adam then and there made +arrangements to give a second concert on his own account, which was +attended with as great success as the first. + +The father had now fully made up his mind Franz was to be a musician. +He decided to resign his post of steward at Raiding and take the boy +to Vienna for further study. + +On the way to Pressburg, the first stop, they halted to call at +Eisenstadt, on Prince Esterhazy. The boy played for his delighted +host, who gave him every encouragement, even to placing his castle at +Pressburg at his disposal for a concert. The Princess, too, was most +cordial, and gave the boy costly presents when they left. + +At Pressburg Adam Liszt succeeded in arranging a concert which +interested all the Hungarian aristocracy of the city. It was given +in the spacious drawing-rooms of the Prince's palace, and a notable +audience was present. Little Franz achieved a triumph that night, +because of the fire and originality of his playing. Elegant women +showered caresses upon the child and the men were unanimous that such +gifts deserved to be cultivated to the utmost without delay. + +When it was learned that father Liszt had not an ample purse, and +there would be but little for Franz's further musical education, six +Hungarian noblemen agreed to raise a subscription which would provide +a yearly income for six years. With this happy prospect in view, which +relieved him of further anxiety, the father wrote to Hummel, now in +employ of the Court at Weimar, asking him to undertake Franz's musical +education. Hummel, though a famous pianist, was of a grasping nature; +he wrote back that he was willing to accept the talented boy as a +pupil, but would charge a louis d'or per lesson! + +As soon as the father and his boy arrived in Vienna, the best teachers +were secured for Franz. Carl Czerny was considered head of the piano +profession. Czerny had been a pupil of Beethoven, and was so overrun +with pupils himself, that he at first declined to accept another. But +when he heard Franz play, he was so impressed that he at once promised +to teach him. His nature was the opposite of Hummel's, for he was most +generous to struggling talent. At the end of twelve lessons, when Adam +Liszt wished to pay the debt, Czerny would accept nothing, and for the +whole period of instruction--a year and a half--he continued to teach +Franz gratuitously. + +At first the work with such a strict master of technic as Czerny, was +very irksome to the boy, who had been brought up on no method at all, +but was allowed free and unrestrained rein. He really had no technical +foundation; but since he could read rapidly at sight and could glide +over the keys with such astonishing ease, he imagined himself already +a great artist. Czerny soon showed him his deficiencies; proving to +him that an artist must have clear touch, smoothness of execution and +variety of tone. The boy rebelled at first, but finally settled down +to hard study, and the result soon astonished his teacher. For Franz +began to acquire a richness of feeling and beauty of tone wonderful +for such a child. Salieri became his teacher of theory. He was now +made to analyze and play scores, also compose little pieces and short +hymns. In all these the boy made fine progress. + +He now began to realize he needed to know something besides music, +and set to work by himself to read, study and write. He also had +great opportunity, through his noble Hungarian patrons, to meet the +aristocracy of Vienna. His talents, vivacity and grace, his attractive +personality, all helped to win the notice of ladies--even in those +early days of his career. + +After eighteen busy months in Vienna, father Liszt decided to bring +his boy out in a public concert. The Town Hall was placed at his +disposal and a number of fine artists assisted. With beaming face and +sparkling eyes, the boy played with more skill, fire and confidence +than he had ever done before. The concert took place December 1, 1822. +On January 12, 1823, Franz repeated his success in another concert, +again at the Town Hall. + +It was after this second concert that Franz's reputation reached the +ears of Beethoven, always the object of the boy's warmest admiration. +Several times Franz and his father had tried to see the great master, +but without success. Schindler was appealed to and promised to do his +best. He wrote in Beethoven's diary, as the master was quite deaf: + +"Little Liszt has entreated me to beg you to write him a theme for +to-morrow's concert. He will not break the seal till the concert +begins. Czerny is his teacher--the boy is only eleven years old. Do +come to his concert, it will encourage the child. Promise me you will +come." + +It was the thirteenth of April, 1823. A very large audience filled the +Redouten Saal. When Franz stepped upon the platform, he perceived the +great Beethoven seated near. A great joy filled him. Now he was to +play for the great man, whom all his young life he had worshiped from +afar. He put forth every effort to be worthy of such an honor. Never +had he played with such fire; his whole being seemed thrilled--never +had he achieved such success. In the admiration which followed, +Beethoven rose, came upon the platform, clasped the boy in his arms +and kissed him repeatedly, to the frantic cheers of the audience. + +The boy Franz Liszt had now demonstrated that already at eleven years +old, he was one of the leading virtuosi of the time; indeed his great +reputation as a pianist dates from this third Vienna concert. The +press praised him highly, and many compared him to the wonderful +genius, Mozart. Adam Liszt wished him now to see more of the world, +and make known his great talents, also to study further. He decided +to take the boy to Paris, for there lived the celebrated composer, +Cherubini, at that time Director of the Paris Conservatoire. + +On the way to Paris, concerts were given in various cities. In Munich +he was acclaimed "a second Mozart." In Strassburg and Stuttgart he had +great success. + +Arrived in Paris, father and son visited the Conservatoire at once, +for it would have been a fine thing for the boy to study there for +a time, as it was the best known school for counterpoint and +composition. Cherubini, however, refused to even read the letters +of recommendation, saying no foreigner, however talented, could be +admitted to the French National School of Music. Franz was deeply +hurt by this refusal, and begged with tears to be allowed to come, but +Cherubini was immovable. + +However they soon made the acquaintance of Ferdinand Paer, who offered +to give the child lessons in composition. + +Franz made wonderful progress, both in this new line of study, and +in becoming known as a piano virtuoso. Having played in a few of the +great houses, he soon found himself the fashion; everybody was anxious +for "le petit Litz" as he was called, to attend and play at their +soirees. Franz thus met the most distinguished musicians of the day. +When he played in public the press indulged in extravagant praise, +calling him "the eighth wonder of the world," "another Mozart," and +the like. Of course the father was overjoyed that his fondest hopes +were being realized. Franz stood at the head of the virtuosi, and +in composition he was making rapid strides. He even attempted an +operetta, "Don Sancho," which later had several performances. + +The eminent piano maker, Erard, who had a branch business in London +and was about to start for that city, invited Liszt to accompany +him and bring Franz. They accepted this plan, but in order to save +expense, it was decided that mother Liszt, who had joined them in +Paris, should return to Austria and stay with a sister till the +projected tours were over. + +Franz was saddened by this decision, but his entreaties were useless; +his father was stern. The separation was a cruel one for the boy. For +a long time thereafter the mere mention of his mother's name would +bring tears. + +In May, 1824, father and son, with Erard, started for England, and on +June 21 Franz gave his first public concert in London. He had already +played for the aristocracy in private homes, and had appeared at +Court by command of King George IV. The concert won him great success, +though the English were more reserved in their demonstrations, and not +like the impulsive, open-hearted French people. He was happy to return +to Paris, after the London season, and to resume his playing in the +French salons. + +The next spring, accompanied by his father, he made a tour of the +French provinces, and then set out for a second trip to England. He +was now fourteen; a mere boy in years, but called the greatest pianist +of the day. He had developed so quickly and was so precocious that +already he disliked being called "le petit Litz," for he felt himself +full grown. He wished to be free to act as he wished. Adam, however, +kept a strict watch on all his movements, and this became irksome to +the boy, who felt he was already a man. + +But father Liszt's health became somewhat precarious; constant +traveling had undermined it. They remained in Paris quietly, till the +year 1826, when they started on a second tour of French cities +till Marseilles was reached, where the young pianist's success was +overwhelming. + +Returning to Paris, Franz devoted much of his time to ardent study of +counterpoint, under Anton Reicha. In six months' study he had mastered +the difficulties of this intricate art. + +Adam Liszt and Franz spent the winter of 1826-7 in Switzerland, the +boy playing in all important cities. They returned to Paris in the +spring, and in May, set out again for England on a third visit. Franz +gave his first concert in London on June ninth and proved how much he +had gained in power and brilliancy. Moscheles, who was present, +wrote: "Franz Liszt's playing surpasses in power and the overcoming of +difficulties anything that has yet been heard." + +The strain of constant travel and concert playing was seriously +telling on the boy's sensitive, excitable nature. He lost his sunny +gaiety, grew quiet, sometimes almost morose. He went much to church, +and wanted to take orders, but his father prevented this step. +Indeed the father became alarmed at the boy's pale face and +changed condition, and took him to the French watering place of +Boulogne-sur-Mer. Here both father and son were benefited by the +sea baths and absolute rest. Franz recovered his genial spirits and +constantly gained in health and strength. + +But with Adam Liszt the gain was only temporary. He was attacked with +a fever, succumbed in a few days and was buried at Boulogne. The loss +of his father was a great blow to Franz. He was prostrated for days, +but youth at last conquered. Aroused to his responsibilities, he began +to think for the future. He at once wrote his mother, telling her what +had happened, saying he would give up his concert tours and make a +home for her in Paris, by giving piano lessons. + +Looking closer into his finances, of which he had no care before, +Franz found the expenses of his father's illness and death had +exhausted their little savings, and he was really in debt. He decided +to sell his grand piano, so that he should be in debt to no one. This +was done, every one was paid off and on his arrival in Paris his old +friend Erard invited him to his own home till the mother came. + +It was a sweet and happy meeting of mother and son, after such a +long separation. The two soon found a modest apartment in the Rue +Montholon. + +As soon as his intention to give lessons became known, many +aristocratic pupils came and found him a remarkable teacher. Among his +new pupils was Caroline Saint Cricq, youngest daughter of Count Saint +Cricq, then Minister of the Interior, and Madame his wife. + +Caroline, scarcely seventeen, the same age as her young teacher, was +a beautiful girl, as pure and refined as she was talented. Under the +eyes of the Countess, the lessons went on from month to month, and the +mother did not fail to see the growing attachment between the young +people. But love's young dream was of short duration. The Countess +fell ill and the lessons had to be discontinued. Caroline did not see +her devoted teacher till all was over. + +There was now another bond between them, the sympathy over the loss +of their dear ones. The Count had requested that the lessons should be +resumed. But when the young teacher remained too long in converse with +his pupil after the lessons, he was dismissed by the Count, and all +their sweet intercourse came to an abrupt end. + +Mme. Liszt did all she could to soothe the grief and despair of her +son. For days and weeks he remained at home, neglecting his piano and +his work. He again thought of the church with renewed ardor and told +his mother he now had decided to become a monk. His spirits sank very +low; he became ill, unable to leave the house and it was reported +everywhere he had passed away. + +Again he rallied and his strong constitution conquered. As strength +slowly returned, so also did his activity and love of life. + +During his long convalescence he was seized with a great desire for +knowledge, and read everything he could lay hands on. He would often +sit at the piano, busying his fingers with technic while reading a +book on the desk before him. He had formerly given all his time to +music and languages; now he must know literature, politics, history +and exact sciences. A word casually dropped in conversation, would +start him on a new line of reading. Then came the revolution of 1830. +Everybody talked politics, and Franz, with his excitable spirits, +would have rushed into the conflict if his mother had not restrained +him. + +With all this awakening he sought to broaden his art, to make his +instrument speak of higher things. Indeed the spirit must speak +through the form. This he realized the more as he listened to the +thrilling performances of that wizard of the violin, Paganini, +who appeared in Paris in 1831. This style of playing made a deep +impression on Liszt. He now tried to do on the piano what Paganini +accomplished on the violin, in the matter of tone quality and +intensity. He procured the newly published Caprices for violin and +tried to learn their tonal secrets, also transcribing the pieces for +piano. + +Liszt became fast friends with the young composer, Hector Berlioz, +and much influenced by his compositions, which were along new harmonic +lines. Chopin, the young Polish artist, now appeared in Paris, playing +his E minor Concerto, his Mazurkas and Nocturnes, revealing new phases +of art. Chopin's calm composure tranquilized Liszt's excitable nature. +From Chopin, Liszt learned to "express in music the poetry of the +aristocratic salon." Liszt ever remained a true and admiring friend of +the Pole, and wrote the poetic study sketch of him in 1849. + +Liszt was now twenty-three. Broadened and chastened by all he had +passed through, he resumed his playing in aristocratic homes. He also +appeared in public and was found to be quite a different artist from +what the Parisians had previously known. His bold new harmonies in +his own compositions, the rich effects, showed a deep knowledge of +his art. He had transcribed a number of Berlioz's most striking +compositions to the piano and performed them with great effect. + +The handsome and gifted young artist was everywhere the object of +admiration. He also met George Sand, and was soon numbered among that +wonderful and dangerous woman's best friends. Later he met the young +and beautiful Countess Laprunarede, and a mutual attraction ensued. +The elderly Count, her husband, pleased with the dashing young +musician, invited him to spend the winter at his chateau, in +Switzerland, where the witty Countess virtually kept him prisoner. + +The following winter, 1833-34, when the salons opened again, Liszt +frequented them as before. He was in the bloom of youth and fame, when +he met the woman who was to be linked with his destiny for the next +ten years. + +We have sketched the childhood and youth of this wonderful artist up +to this point. We will pass lightly over this decade of his career, +merely stating briefly that the lady--the beautiful Countess d'Agoult, +captivated by the brilliant talents of the Hungarian virtuoso, left +her husband and child, and became for ten years the faithful companion +of his travels and tours over Europe. Many writers agree that Liszt +endeavored to dissuade her from this attraction, and behaved as +honorably as he could under the circumstances. A part of the time +they lived in Switzerland, and it was there that many of Liszt's +compositions were written. + +Of their three children, the boy died very young. Of the girls, +Blandine became the wife of Emile Ollivier, a French literary man and +statesman. Her sister, Cosima, married first Hans von Buelow and later +Richard Wagner. + +In 1843 Liszt intended to take Madame with him to Russia, but instead, +left her and her children in Paris, with his mother, as the Countess +was in failing health. His first concert, in St. Petersburg, realized +the enormous sum of fifty thousand francs--ten thousand dollars. +Instead of giving one concert in Moscow, he gave six. Later he played +in Bavaria, Saxony and other parts of Germany. He then settled in +Weimar for a time, being made Grand Ducal Capellmeister. Then, in +1844-45, longing for more success, he toured Spain and Portugal. + +A generous act was his labor in behalf of the Beethoven monument, to +be erected in the master's birthplace, Bonn. The monument was to be +given by subscriptions from the various Princes of Germany. Liszt +helped make up the deficit and came to Bonn to organize a Festival in +honor of the event. He also composed a Cantata for the opening day of +the Festival, and in his enthusiasm nearly ruined himself by paying +the heavy expenses of the Festival out of his own pocket. + +The political events of 1848 brought him back to Weimar, and he +resumed his post of Court Music Director. He now directed his energies +toward making Weimar the first musical city of Germany. Greatly +admiring Wagner's genius, he undertook to perform his works in Weimar, +and to spread his name and fame. Indeed it is not too much to say that +without Liszt's devoted efforts, Wagner would never have attained his +vogue and fame. Wagner himself testified to this. + +While living in Weimar, Liszt made frequent journeys to Rome and to +Paris. In 1861 there was a rumor that the object of his visits to +Rome was to gain Papal consent to his marriage with the Princess +Sayn-Wittgenstein. During a visit to Rome in 1864, the musician was +unable to resist longer the mysticism of the church. He decided to +take orders and was made an Abbe. + +Since that time, Abbe Franz Liszt did much composing. He also +continued to teach the piano to great numbers of pupils, who flocked +to him from all parts of the world. Many of the greatest artists now +before the public were numbered among his students, and owe much of +their success to his artistic guidance. + +In 1871, the Hungarian Cabinet created him a noble, with a yearly +pension of three thousand dollars. In 1875, he was made Director of +the Academy at Budapest. In addition, Liszt was a member of nearly all +the European Orders of Chivalry. + +Franz Liszt passed away August 1, 1886, in the house of his friend, +Herr Frohlich, near Wagner's Villa Wahnfried, Bayreuth, at the age of +seventy-five. As was his custom every summer, Liszt was in Bayreuth, +assisting in the production of Wagner's masterpieces, when he +succumbed to pneumonia. Thus passed a great composer, a world famous +piano virtuoso, and a noble and kindly spirit. + +For the piano, his chosen instrument, Liszt wrote much that was +beautiful and inspiring. He created a new epoch for the virtuoso. His +fifteen Hungarian Rhapsodies, B minor Sonata, Concert Etudes and many +transcriptions, appear on all modern programs, and there are many +pieces yet to be made known. He is the originator of the Symphonic +Poem, for orchestra; while his sacred music, such as the Oratorio +"Christus," and the beautiful "Saint Elizabeth," a sacred opera, are +monuments to his great genius. + + + + +XV + +GIUSEPPE VERDI + + +In the little hamlet of Le Roncole, at the foot of the Apeninnes, +a place that can hardly be found on the map, because it is just a +cluster of workmen's houses, Giuseppe Verdi, one of the greatest +operatic composers, was born, October 9, 1813. + +There were great wars going on in Europe during that time. When +Giuseppe was a year old, the Russian and Austrian soldiers marched +through Italy, killing and destroying everywhere. Some of them came +to Le Roncole for a few hours. All the women and children ran to the +church and locked themselves in for safety. But these savage men had +no respect for the house of God. They took the hinges off the doors +and rushing in murdered and wounded the helpless ones. Luigia Verdi, +with the baby Giuseppe in her arms, escaped, ran up a narrow staircase +to the belfry, and hid herself and child among some old lumber. Here +she stayed in her hiding place, until the drunken troops were far away +from the little village. + +The babe Giuseppe was born among very poor, ignorant working +people, though his father's house was one of the best known and most +frequented among the cluster of cottages. His parents Carlo Verdi +and Luigia his wife, kept a small inn at Le Roncole and also a little +shop, where they sold sugar, coffee, matches, spirits, tobacco and +clay pipes. Once a week the good Carlo would walk up to Busseto, three +miles away, with two empty baskets and would return with them filled +with articles for his store, carrying them slung across his strong +shoulders. + +Giuseppe Verdi who was to produce such streams of beautiful, +sparkling music,--needing an Act of Parliament to stop them, as once +happened,--was a very quiet, thoughtful little fellow, always good and +obedient; sometimes almost sad, and seldom joined in the boisterous +games of other children. That serious expression found in all of +Verdi's portraits as a man was even noticeable in the child. The only +time he would rouse up, was when a hand organ would come through the +village street; then he would follow it as far as his little legs +would carry him, and nothing could keep him in the house, when he +heard this music. Intelligent, reserved and quiet, every one loved +him. + +In 1820, when Giuseppe was seven years old, Carlo Verdi committed a +great extravagance for an innkeeper; he bought a spinet for his son, +something very unheard of for so poor a man to do. + +Little Giuseppe practised very diligently on his spinet. At first he +could only play the first five notes of the scale. Next he tried +very hard to find out chords, and one day was made perfectly happy +at having sounded the major third and fifth of C. But the next day +he could not find the chord again, and began to fret and fume and +got into such a temper, that he took a hammer and tried to break +the spinet in pieces. This made such a commotion that it brought his +father into the room. When he saw what the child was doing, he gave a +blow on Giuseppe's ear that brought the little fellow to his senses +at once. He saw he could not punish the good spinet because he did not +know enough to strike a common chord. + +His love of music early showed itself in many ways. One day he +was assisting the parish priest at mass in the little church of +Le Roncole. At the moment of the elevation of the Host, such sweet +harmonies were sounding from the organ, that the child stood perfectly +motionless, listening to the beautiful music, all unconscious of +everything else about him. + +"Water," said the priest to the altar boy. Giuseppe, not hearing him, +the priest repeated the call. Still the child, who was listening to +the music, did not hear. "Water," said the priest a third time and +gave Giuseppe such a sharp kick that he fell down the steps of the +altar, hitting his head on the stone floor, and was taken unconscious +into the sacristy. + +After this Giuseppe was allowed to have music lessons with +Baistrocchi, the organist of the village church. At the end of a +year Baistrocchi said there was nothing more he could teach his young +pupil, so the lessons came to an end. + +Two years later, when old Baistrocchi died, Giuseppe, who was then +only ten, was made organist in his place. This pleased his parents +very much, but his father felt the boy should be sent to school, where +he could learn to read and write and know something of arithmetic. +This would have been quite impossible had not Carlo Verdi had a good +friend living at Busseto, a shoemaker, named Pugnatta. + +Pugnatta agreed to give Giuseppe board and lodging and send him to +the best school in the town, all for a small sum of three pence a day. +Giuseppe went to Pugnatta's; and while he was always in his place in +school and studied diligently, he still kept his situation as organist +of Le Roncole, walking there every Sunday morning and back again to +Busseto after the evening service. + +His pay as organist was very small, but he also made a little money +playing for weddings, christenings and funerals. He also gained a few +lire from a collection which it was the habit of artists to make at +harvest time, for which he had to trudge from door to door, with a +sack upon his back. The poor boy's life had few comforts, and this +custom of collections brought him into much danger. One night while +he was walking toward Le Roncole, very tired and hungry, he did not +notice he had taken a wrong path, when suddenly, missing his footing, +he fell into a deep canal. It was very dark and very cold and his +limbs were so stiff he could not use them. Had it not been for an old +woman who was passing by the place and heard his cries, the exhausted +and chilled boy would have been carried away by the current. + +After two years' schooling, Giuseppe's father persuaded his friend, +Antonio Barezzi of Busseto, from whom he was in the habit of buying +wines and supplies for his inn and shop,--to take the lad into his +warehouse. That was a happy day for Giuseppe when he went to live with +Barezzi, who was an enthusiastic amateur of music. The Philharmonic +Society, of which Barezzi was the president, met, rehearsed and gave +all its concerts at his house. + +Giuseppe, though working hard in the warehouse, also found time to +attend all the rehearsals of the Philharmonics, and began the task +of copying out separate parts from the score. His earnestness in this +work attracted the notice of the conductor, Ferdinando Provesi, who +began to take great interest in the boy, and was the first one to +understand his talent and advised him to devote himself to music. A +Canon in the Cathedral offered to teach him Latin, and tried to make a +priest of him, saying, "What do you want to study music for? You +have a gift for Latin and it would be much better for you to become a +priest. What do you expect from your music? Do you think that some +day you will become organist of Busseto? Stuff and nonsense! That can +never be." + +A short time after this, there was a mass at a chapel in Busseto, +where the Canon had the service. The organist was unable to attend, +and Verdi was called at the last moment to take his place. Very much +impressed with the unusually beautiful organ music, the priest, at the +close of the service desired to see the organist. His astonishment was +great when he saw his scholar whom he had been seeking to turn from +the study of music. "Whose music did you play?" he asked. "It was most +beautiful." + +"Why," timidly answered the boy, "I had no music, I was playing +extempore--just as I felt." + +"Ah, indeed," replied the Canon; "well I am a fool and you cannot do +better than to study music, take my word for it." + +Under the good Provesi, Verdi studied until he was sixteen and made +such rapid progress that both Provesi and Barezzi felt he must be sent +to Milan to study further. The lad had often come to the help of his +master, both at the organ and as conductor of the Philharmonic. The +records of the society still have several works written by Verdi at +that time--when he was sixteen--composed, copied, taught, rehearsed +and conducted by him. + +There was an institution in Busseto called the Monte di Pieta, which +gave four scholarships of three hundred francs a year, each given for +four years to promising young men needing money to study science or +art. Through Barezzi one of these scholarships was given to Verdi, it +being arranged that he should have six hundred francs a year for two +years, instead of three hundred francs for four years. Barezzi himself +advanced the money for the music lessons, board and lodging in Milan +and the priest gave him a letter of introduction to his nephew, a +professor there, who received him with a hearty welcome, and insisted +upon his living with him. + +Like all large music schools, there were a great many who presented +themselves for admittance by scholarship and only one to be chosen. +And Verdi did not happen to be that one, Basili not considering his +compositions of sufficient worth. This was not because Verdi was +really lacking in his music, but because Basili had other plans. This +did not in the least discourage Giuseppe, and at the suggestion of +Alessando Rolla, who was then conductor of La Scala, he asked Lavigna +to give him lessons in composition and orchestration. + +Lavigna was a former pupil of the Conservatoire of Naples and an able +composer. Verdi showed him some of the same compositions he had shown +Basili. After examining them he willingly accepted the young aspirant +as a pupil. + +Verdi spent most of his evenings at the home of the master, when +Lavigna was not at La Scala and there met many artists. One night it +chanced that Lavigna, Basili and Verdi were alone, and the two masters +were speaking of the deplorable result of a competition for the +position of Maitre di Capelle and organist of the Church of San +Giovanni di Monza. Out of twenty-eight young men who had taken part +in the competition, not one had known how to develop correctly the +subject given by Basili for the construction of a fugue. Lavigna, with +a bit of mischief in his eyes, began to say to his friend:--"It is +really a remarkable fact. Well, look at Verdi, who has studied fugue +for two short years. I lay a wager he would have done better than your +eight and twenty candidates." + +"Really?" replied Basili, in a somewhat vexed tone. + +"Certainly. Do you remember your subject? Yes, you do? Well, write it +down." + +Basili wrote and Lavigne, giving the theme to Verdi, said: + +"Sit down there at the table and just begin to work out this subject." + +Then the two friends resumed their conversation, until Verdi, coming +to them said simply: "There, it is done." + +Basili took the paper and examined it, showing signs of astonishment +as he continued to read. When he came to the conclusion he +complimented the lad and said: "But how is it that you have written a +double canon on my subject?" + +"It is because I found it rather poor and wished to embellish +it," Verdi replied, remembering the reception he had had at the +Conservatoire. + +In 1833 his old master Provesi died. Verdi felt the loss keenly, for +Provesi was the one who first taught him music and who showed him how +to work to become an artist. Though he wished to do greater things, he +returned to Busseto to fulfill his promise to take Provesi's place as +organist of the Cathedral and conductor of the Philharmonic, rather +big positions to fill for a young man of twenty. + +And now Verdi fell in love with the beautiful Margherita, the oldest +daughter of Barezzi, who did not mind giving his daughter to a poor +young man, for Verdi possessed something worth far more than money, +and that was great musical talent. The young people were married in +1836, and the whole Philharmonic Society attended. + +About the year 1833-34 there flourished in Milan a vocal society +called the Philharmonic, composed of excellent singers under the +leadership of Masini. Soon after Verdi came to the city, the Society +was preparing for a performance of Haydn's "Creation." Lavigna, with +whom the young composer was studying composition, suggested his pupil +should attend the rehearsals, to which he gladly agreed. It seems that +three Maestri shared the conducting during rehearsals. One day none of +them were present at the appointed hour and Masini asked young Verdi +to accompany from the full orchestral score, adding, "It will be +sufficient if you merely play the bass." Verdi took his place at the +piano without the slightest hesitation. The slender, rather shabby +looking stranger was not calculated to inspire much confidence. +However he soon warmed to his work, and after a while grew so excited +that he played the accompaniment with the left hand while conducting +vigorously with the right. The rehearsal went off splendidly, and +many came forward to greet the young conductor, among them were +Counts Pompeo Belgiojoso and Remato Borromes. After this proof of his +ability, Verdi was appointed to conduct the public performance, which +was such a success that it was repeated by general request, and was +attended by the highest society. + +Soon after this Count Borromes engaged Verdi to write a Cantata for +chorus and orchestra, to honor the occasion of a marriage in the +family. Verdi did so but was never paid a sou for his work. The next +request was from Masini, who urged Verdi to compose an opera for +the Teatro Filodramatico, where he was conductor. He handed him a +libretto, which with a few alterations here and there became "Oberto, +Conte di San Bonifacio." Verdi accepted the offer at once, and being +obliged to move to Busseto, where he had been appointed organist, +remained there nearly three years, during which time the opera was +completed. On returning to Milan he found Masini no longer conductor, +and lost all hope of seeing the new opera produced. After long waiting +however, the impressario sent for him, and promised to bring out the +work the next season, if the composer would make a few changes. Young +and as yet unknown, Verdi was quite willing. "Oberto" was produced +with a fair amount of success, and repeated several times. On the +strength of this propitious beginning, the impressario, Merelli, made +the young composer an excellent offer--to write three operas, one +every eight months, to be performed either in Milan or in Vienna, +where he was impressario of both the principal theaters. He promised +to pay four thousand lire--about six hundred and seventy dollars--for +each, and share the profits of the copyright. To young Verdi this +seemed an excellent chance and he accepted at once. Rossi wrote a +libretto, entitled "Proscritto," and work on the music was about to +begin. In the spring of 1840, Merelli hurried from Vienna, saying he +needed a comic opera for the autumn season, and wanted work begun on +it at once. He produced three librettos, none of them very good. Verdi +did not like them, but since there was no time to lose, chose the +least offensive and set to work. + +The Verdis were living in a small house near the Porta Ticinesa; the +family consisted of the composer, his wife and two little sons. Almost +as soon as work was begun on the comic opera, Verdi fell ill and was +confined to his bed several days. He had quite forgotten that the rent +money, which he always liked to have ready on the very day, was due, +and he had not sufficient to pay. It was too late to borrow it, but +quite unknown to him the wife had taken some of her most valuable +trinkets, had gone out and brought back the necessary amount. This +sweet act of devotion greatly touched her husband. + +And now sudden sorrow swept over the little family. At the beginning +of April one of the little boys fell ill. Before the doctors could +understand what was the matter, the little fellow breathed his last +in the arms of his desperate mother. A few days after this, the other +child sickened and died. In June the young wife, unable to bear the +strain, passed away and Verdi saw the third coffin leave his door +carrying the last of his dear ones. And in the midst of these crushing +trials he was expected to compose a comic opera! But he bravely +completed his task. "Un Giorno di Regno" naturally proved a dead +failure. In the despondency that followed, the composer resolved to +give up composition altogether. Merelli scolded him roundly for such +a decision, and promised if, some day, he chose to take up his pen +again, he would, if given two months' notice, produce any opera Verdi +might write. + +At that time the composer was not ready to change his mind. He could +not live longer in the house filled with so many sad memories, but +moved to a new residence near the Corsia di Servi. One evening on +the street, he ran against Merelli, who was hurrying to the theater. +Without stopping he linked his arm in that of the composer and made +him keep pace. The manager was in the depths of woe. He had secured +a libretto by Solera, which was "wonderful, marvelous, extraordinary, +grand," but the composer he had engaged did not like it. What was to +be done? Verdi bethought him of the libretto "Proscritto," which Rossi +had once written for him, and he had not used. He suggested this +to Merelli. Rossi was at once sent for and produced a copy of the +libretto. Then Merelli laid the other manuscript before Verdi. "Look, +here is Solera's libretto; such a beautiful subject! Take it home and +read it over." But Verdi refused. "No, no, I am in no humor to read +librettos." + +"It won't hurt you to look at it," urged Merelli, and thrust it into +the coat pocket of the reluctant composer. + +On reaching home, Verdi pulled the manuscript out and threw it on the +writing table. As he did so a stanza from the book caught his eye; it +was almost a paraphrase from the Bible, which had been such a solace +to him in his solitary life. He began to read the story and was more +and more enthralled by it, yet his resolution to write no more was +not altered. However, as the days passed there would be here a line +written down, there a melody--until at last, almost unconsciously the +opera of "Nabucco" came into being. + +The opera once finished, Verdi hastened to Merelli, and reminded him +of his promise. The impressario was quite honorable about it, but +would not agree to bring the opera out until Easter, for the season of +1841-42, was already arranged. Verdi refused to wait until Easter, +as he knew the best singers would not then be available. After many +arguments and disputes, it was finally arranged that "Nabucco" should +be put on, but without extra outlay for mounting. At the end +of February 1842, rehearsals began and on March ninth the first +performance took place. + +The success of "Nabucco" was remarkable. No such "first night" had +been known in La Scala for many years. "I had hoped for success," said +the composer, "but such a success--never!" + +The next day all Italy talked of Verdi. Donizetti, whose wealth of +melodious music swayed the Italians as it did later the English, +was so impressed by it that he continually repeated, "It is fine, +uncommonly fine." + +With the success of "Nabucco" Verdi's career as a composer may be +said to have begun. In the following year "I Lombardi" was produced, +followed by "Ernani." Then came in quick succession ten more operas, +among them "Attila" and "Macbeth." + +In 1847, we find Verdi in London, where on July 2, at Her Majesty's +Theater, "I Masnadieri" was brought out, with a cast including +Lablanche, Gardoni, Colletti, and above all Jenny Lind, in a part +composed expressly for her. All the artists distinguished themselves; +Jenny Lind acted admirably and sang her airs exquisitely, but the +opera was not a success. No two critics could agree as to its merits. +Verdi left England in disgust and took his music to other cities. + +The advantage to Verdi of his trips through Europe and to England is +shown in "Rigoletto," brought out in Vienna in 1851. In this opera +his true power manifests itself. The music shows great advance in +declamation, which lifts it above the ordinary Italian style of that +time. With this opera Verdi's second period begins. Two years later +"Trovatore" was produced in Rome and had a tremendous success. +Each scene brought down thunders of applause, until the very walls +resounded and outside people took up the cry, "Long live Verdi, +Italy's greatest composer! Vive Verdi!" It was given in Paris in 1854, +and in London the following year. In 1855, "La Traviata" was produced +in Vienna. This work, so filled with delicate, beautiful music, nearly +proved a failure, because the consumptive heroine, who expires on the +stage, was sung by a prima donna of such extraordinary stoutness that +the scene was received with shouts of laughter. After a number of +unsuccessful operas, "Un Ballo in Maschera" scored a success in Rome +in 1859, and "La Forza del Destino," written for Petrograd, had a +recent revival in New York. + +When Rossini passed away, November 13, 1868, Verdi suggested a requiem +should be written jointly by the best Italian composers. The work was +completed, but was not satisfactory on account of the diversity of +styles. It was then proposed that Verdi write the entire work himself. +The death of Manzoni soon after this caused the composer to carry out +the idea. Thus the great "Manzoni Requiem" came into being. + +In 1869, the Khedive of Egypt had a fine opera house built in Cairo, +and commissioned Verdi to write an opera having an Egyptian subject, +for the opening. The ever popular "Aida" was then composed and brought +out in 1871, with great success. This proved to be the beginning of +the master's third period, for he turned from his earlier style which +was purely lyric, to one with far more richness of orchestration. + +Verdi had now retired to his estate of Sant'Agata, and it was supposed +his career as composer had closed, as he gave his time principally +to the care of his domain. From time to time it was rumored he was +writing another opera. The rumor proved true, for on February 5, 1887, +when Verdi was seventy-four years old, "Otello" was produced at La +Scala, Milan, amid indescribable enthusiasm. Six years later the +musical world was again startled and overjoyed by the production of +another Shakespearean opera, "Falstaff," composed in his eightieth +year. In all, his operas number over thirty, most of them serious, all +of them containing much beautiful music. + +At Sant'Agata the master lived a quiet, retired life. The estate was +situated about two miles from Busseto, and was very large, with a +great park, a large collection of horses and other live stock. The +residence was spacious, and the master's special bedroom was on the +first floor. It was large, light and airy and luxuriously furnished. +Here stood a magnificent grand piano, and the composer often rose in +the night to jot down the themes which came to him in the silence of +the midnight hours. Here "Don Carlos" was written. In one of the upper +rooms stood the old spinet that Verdi hacked at as a child. + +Verdi was one of the noblest of men as well as one of the greatest of +musical composers. He passed away in Milan, January 27, 1901, at the +age of eighty-eight. + + + + +XVI + +RICHARD WAGNER + + +One of the most gigantic musical geniuses the world has yet known was +Richard Wagner. Words have been exhausted to tell of his achievements; +books without number have been written about him; he himself, in +his Autobiography, and in his correspondence, has told with minutest +detail how he lived and what his inner life has been. What we shall +strive for is the simple story of his career, though in the simple +telling, it may read like a fairy tale. + +Richard Wagner first saw the light on May 22, 1813, in Leipsic. Those +were stirring times in that part of the world, for revolution was +often on the eve of breaking out. The tiny babe was but six months +old when the father passed away. There were eight other children, the +eldest son being only fourteen. The mother, a sweet, gentle little +woman, found herself quite unable to support her large family of +growing children. No one could blame her for accepting the hand of her +husband's old friend, Ludwig Geyer, in less than a year after the +loss of her first husband. Geyer was a man of much artistic talent, +an actor, singer, author and painter. He thought little Richard might +become a portrait painter, or possibly a musician, since the child had +learned to play two little pieces on the piano. + +Geyer found employment in a Dresden theater, so the family removed to +that city. But he did not live to see the blossoming of his youngest +step-son's genius, as he passed away on September 30, 1821, when the +child was eight years old. + +Little Richard showed wonderful promise even in those years of +childhood. At the Kreuzschule, where his education began, he developed +an ardent love for the Greek classics, and translated the first twelve +books of the Odyssey, outside of school hours. He devoured all stories +of mythology he could lay hands on, and soon began to create vast +tragedies. He revelled in Shakespeare, and finally began to write +a play which was to combine the ideas of both Hamlet and King Lear. +Forty-two persons were killed off in the course of the play and had +to be brought back as ghosts, as otherwise there would have been no +characters for the last act. He worked on this play for two years. + +Everything connected with the theater was of absorbing interest to +this precocious child. Weber, who lived in Dresden, often passed their +house and was observed with almost religious awe by little Richard. +Sometimes the great composer dropped in to have a chat with the +mother, who was well liked among musicians and artists. Thus Weber +became the idol of the lad's boyhood, and he knew "Der Freischuetz" +almost by heart. If he was not allowed to go to the theater to +listen to his favorite opera, there would be scenes of weeping and +beseeching, until permission was granted for him to run off to the +performance. + +In 1827 the family returned to Leipsic, and it was at the famous +Gewandhaus concerts that the boy first heard Beethoven's music. He +was so fired by the Overture to "Egmont," that he decided at once to +become a musician. But how--that was the question. He knew nothing of +composition, but, borrowing a treatise on harmony, tried to learn the +whole contents in a week. + +It was a struggle, and one less determined than the fourteen-year-old +boy would have given up in despair. He was made of different stuff. +Working alone by himself, he composed a sonata, a quartette and +an aria. At last he ventured to announce the result of his secret +studies. At this news his relatives were up in arms; they judged +his desire for music to be a passing fancy, especially as they knew +nothing of any preparatory studies, and realized he had never learned +to play any instrument, not even the piano. + +The family, however, compromised enough to engage a teacher for him. +But Richard would never learn slowly and systematically. His mind shot +far ahead, absorbing in one instance the writings of Hoffmann, whose +imaginative tales kept the boy's mind in a continual state of nervous +excitement. He was not content to climb patiently the mountain; +he tried to reach the top at a bound. So he wrote overtures for +orchestras, one of which was really performed in Leipsic--a marvelous +affair indeed, with its tympani explosions. + +Richard now began to realize the need of solid work, and settled down +to study music seriously, this time under Theodor Weinlig, who was +cantor in the famous Thomas School. + +In less than six months the boy was able to solve the most difficult +problems in counterpoint. He learned to know Mozart's music, and tried +to write with more simplicity of style. A piano sonata, a polonaise +for four hands and a fantaisie for piano belong to this year. After +that he aspired to make piano arrangements of great works, such as +Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony." Then came his own symphony, which +was really performed at Gewandhaus, and is said to have shown great +musical vigor. + +Instrumental music no longer satisfied this eager, aspiring boy; he +must compose operas. He was now twenty, and went to Wuerzburg, where +his brother Albert was engaged at the Wuerzburg Theater as actor, +singer and stage manager. Albert secured for him a post as chorus +master, with a salary of ten florins a month. + +The young composer now started work on a second opera, the first, +called "The Marriage," was found impracticable. The new work was +entitled "The Fairies." This he finished, and the work, performed +years later, was found to be imitative of Beethoven, Weber, and +Marschner; the music was nevertheless very melodious. + +Wagner returned to Leipsic in 1834. Soon there came another impetus +to this budding genius: he heard for the first time the great singer +Wilhelmina Schroeder-Devrient, whose art made a deep impression on +him. + +It was a time for rapid impressions to sway the ardent temperament of +this boy genius of twenty-one. He read the works of Wilhelm Heinse, +who depicts both the highest artistic pleasures and those of the +opposite sort. Other authors following the same trend made him believe +in the utmost freedom in politics, literature and morals. Freedom in +everything--the pleasures of the moment--seemed to him the highest +good. + +Under the sway of such opinions he began to sketch the plot of +his next opera, "Prohibition of Love" (Liebesverbot), founded on +Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure." This was while he was in Teplitz +on a summer holiday. In the autumn he took a position as conductor +in a small operatic theater in Magdeburg. Here he worked at his new +opera, hoping he could induce the admired Schroeder-Devrient to be his +heroine. + +Wagner remained in this place about two years and finished his opera +there. The performance of it, for which he labored with great zeal, +was a fiasco. The theater, too, failed soon after and the young +composer was thrown out of work. His sojourn there influenced his +after career, as he met Wilhelmina Planer, who was soon to become his +wife. + +Hearing there was an opening for a musical director at Koenigsberg, +he traveled to that town, and in due course secured the post. Minna +Planer also found an engagement at the theater, and the two were +married on November 24, 1836; he was twenty-three and she somewhat +younger. Kind, gentle, loving, she was quite unable to understand she +was linked with a genius. Wagner was burdened with debts, begun in +Magdeburg and increased in Koenigsberg. She was almost as improvident +as he. They were like two children playing at life, with fateful +consequences. It was indeed her misfortune, as one says, that this +gentle dove was mismated with an eagle. But Minna learned later, +through dire necessity, to be more economical and careful, which is +more than can be said of her gifted husband. + +After a year the Koenigsberg Theater failed and again Wagner was out +of employment. Through the influence of his friend Dorn, he secured +a directorship at Riga, Minna also being engaged at the theater. At +first everything went well; the salary was higher and the people among +whom they were placed were agreeable. But before long debts began to +press again, and Wagner was dissatisfied with the state of the lyric +drama, which he was destined to reform in such a wonderful way. He was +only twenty-four, and had seen but little of the world. Paris was the +goal toward which he looked with longing eyes, and to the gay French +capital he determined to go. + +When he tried to get a passport for Paris, he found it impossible +because of his debts. Not to be turned from his purpose, he, Minna and +the great Newfoundland dog, his pet companion, all slipped away from +Riga at night and in disguise. At the port of Pillau the trio embarked +on a sailing vessel for Paris, the object of all his hopes. The +young composer carried with him one opera and half of a second +work--"Rienzi," which he had written during the years of struggle in +Magdeburg and Koenigsberg. In Riga he had come upon Heine's version +of the Flying Dutchman legend, and the sea voyage served to make the +story more vital. + +He writes: "This voyage I shall never forget as long as I live; it +lasted three weeks and a half, and was rich in mishaps. Thrice we +endured the most violent storms, and once the captain had to put +into a Norwegian haven. The passage among the crags of Norway made a +wonderful impression on my fancy, the legends of the Flying Dutchman, +as told by the sailors, were clothed with distinct and individual +color, heightened by the ocean adventures through which we passed." + +After stopping a short time in London, the trio halted for several +weeks in Boulogne, because the great Meyerbeer was summering there. +Wagner met the influential composer and confided his hopes and +longings. Meyerbeer received the poor young German kindly, praised his +music, gave him several letters to musicians in power in Paris, but +told him persistence was the most important factor in success. + +With a light heart, and with buoyant trust in the future, though +with little money for present necessities, Wagner and his companions +arrived in Paris in September, 1839. Before him lay, if he had but +known it, two years and a half of bitter hardship and privation; +but--"out of trials and tribulations are great spirits molded." + +There were many noted musicians in the French capital at that time, +and many opportunities for success. The young German produced his +letters of introduction and received many promises of assistance from +conductors and directors. Delighted with his prospects he located in +the "heart of elegant and artistic Paris," without regarding cost. + +Soon the skies clouded; one hope after another failed. His +compositions were either too difficult for conductors to grasp, or +theaters failed on which he depended for assistance. He became in +great distress and could not pay for the furniture of the apartment, +which he had bought on credit. It was now that he turned to writing +for musical journals, to keep the wolf from the door, meanwhile +working on the score of "Rienzi," which was finished in November, 1840 +and sent to Dresden. In later years it was produced in that city. + +But the Wagners, alas, were starving in Paris. One of Richard's +articles at this time was called "The End of a Musician in Paris," +and he makes the poor musician die with the words; "I believe in +God--Mozart and Beethoven." It was almost as bad as this for Wagner +himself. He determined to turn his back on all the intrigues and +hardships he had endured for over two years, and set out for the +homeland, which seemed the only desirable spot on earth. + +The rehearsals for "Rienzi" began in Dresden in July 1842. Wagner had +now finished "The Flying Dutchman," and had completed the outline of +"Tannhaeuser," based on Hoffmann's story of the Singers' Contest at the +Wartburg. + +And now Wagner's star as a composer began to rise and light was seen +ahead. On October 20, 1842 "Rienzi" was produced in the Dresden Opera +House and the young composer awoke the next morning to find himself +famous. The performance was a tremendous success, with singers, public +and critics alike. The performance lasted six hours and Wagner, next +day, decided the work must be cut in places, but the singers loudly +protested: "The work was heavenly," they assured him, "not a measure +could be spared." + +With this first venture Wagner was now on the high road to success, +and spent a happy winter in the Saxon capital. He could have gone on +writing operas like "Rienzi," to please the public, but he aimed far +higher. To fuse all the arts in one complete whole was the idea that +had been forming in his mind. He first illustrated this in "The Flying +Dutchman," and it became the main thought of his later works. This +theory made both vocal and instrumental music secondary to the +dramatic plan, and this, at that time, seemed a truly revolutionary +idea. + +"The Flying Dutchman" was produced at the Dresden Opera House January +2. 1843, with Mme. Schroeder-Devrient as Senta. Critics and public +had expected a brilliant and imposing spectacle like "Rienzi" and were +disappointed. In the following May and June "The Dutchman" was heard +in Riga and Cassel, conducted by the famous violinist and composer, +Spohr. + +In spite of the fact that "The Flying Dutchman" was not then a +success, and in Dresden was shelved for twenty years, Wagner secured +the fine post of Head Capellmeister, at a salary of nearly twelve +hundred dollars. This post he retained for seven years, gaining a +great deal of experience in orchestral conducting, and producing +Beethoven's symphonies with great originality, together with much that +was best in orchestral literature. + +"Tannhaeuser" was now complete, and during the following summer, at +Marienbad, sketches for "Lohengrin" and "Die Meistersinger" were +made. During the winter, the book being made he began on the music +of "Lohengrin." In March of the exciting year 1848, the music of +"Lohengrin" was finished. There was a wide difference in style between +that work and "Tannhaeuser." And already the composer had in mind a new +work to be called "The Death of Siegfried." He wrote to Franz Liszt, +with whom he now began to correspond, that within six months he would +send him the book of the new work complete. As he worked at the drama, +however, it began to spread out before him in a way that he could not +condense into one opera, or even two; and thus-it finally grew into +the four operas of the "Ring of the Nibelungen." + +It must not be imagined that Wagner had learned the lesson of +carefulness in money matters, or that, with partial success he always +had plenty for his needs. He had expensive tastes, loved fine clothing +and beautiful surroundings. Much money, too, was needed to produce new +works; so that in reality, the composer was always in debt. The many +letters which passed between Wagner and Liszt, which fill two large +volumes, show how Liszt clearly recognized the brilliant genius of his +friend, and stood ready to help him over financial difficulties, and +how Wagner came to lean more and more on Liszt's generosity. + +Just what part Wagner played in the revolution of 1848 is not quite +clear. He wrote several articles which were radical protests for +freedom of thought. At all events he learned it would be better for +him to leave Dresden in time. In fact he remained in exile from his +country for over eleven years. + +Wagner fled to Switzerland, leaving Minna still in Dresden, though in +due time he succeeded in scraping together funds for her to follow him +to Zurich. He was full of plans for composing "Siegfried," while she +continually urged him to write pleasing operas that Paris would +like. Wagner believed the world should take care of him while he was +composing his great works, whereas Minna saw this course meant living +on the charity of friends, and at this she rebelled. But Wagner grew +discouraged over these petty trials, and for five years creative work +was at a standstill. + +How to meet daily necessities was the all absorbing question. A +kind friend, who greatly admired his music, Otto Wesendonck, made it +possible for him to rent, at a low price, a pretty chalet near Lake +Zurich, and there he and Minna lived in retirement, and here he wrote +many articles explaining his theories. + +During the early years at Zurich Wagner's only musical activity was +conducting a few orchestral concerts. Then, one day, he took out the +score of his "Lohengrin," and read it, something he rarely did with +any of his works. Seized with a deep desire to have this opera brought +out, he sent a pleading letter to Liszt, begging him to produce the +work. Liszt faithfully accomplished this task at Weimar, where he was +conducting the Court Opera. The date chosen was Goethe's birthday, +August 28, and the year 1850. Wagner was most anxious to be present, +but the risk of arrest prevented him from venturing on German soil. +It was not till 1861, in Vienna, that the composer heard this the most +popular of all his operas. Liszt was profoundly moved by the beautiful +work, and wrote his enthusiasm to the composer. + +Wagner now took up his plan of the Nibelung Trilogy, that is the three +operas and a prologue. Early in 1853 the poem in its new form was +complete, and in February he sent a copy to Liszt, who answered: "You +are truly a wonderful man, and your Nibelung poem is surely the most +incredible thing you have ever done!" + +So Wagner was impelled by the inner flame of creative fire, to work +incessantly on the music of the great epic he had planned. And work he +must, in spite of grinding poverty and ill health. It was indeed to be +the "Music of the Future." + +After a brief visit to London, to conduct some concerts for the London +Philharmonic, Wagner was back again in Zurich, hard at work on the +"Walkuere," the first opera of the three, as the "Rheingold" was +considered the introduction. By April 1856, the whole opera was +finished and sent to Liszt for his opinion. Liszt and his great +friend, Countess Wittgenstein, studied out the work together, and both +wrote glowing letters to the composer of the deep effect his music +made upon them. + +And now came a halt in the composition of these tremendous music +dramas. Wagner realized that to produce such great works, a special +theater should be built, of adaptable design. But from where would the +funds be forthcoming? While at work on the "Walkuere," the stories of +"Tristan" and "Parsifal" had suggested themselves, and the plan of +the first was already sketched. He wrote to Liszt: "As I have never in +life felt the bliss of real love, I must erect a monument to the most +beautiful of all my dreams." The first act of "Tristan and Isolde" +was finished on the last day of the year 1857. In his retreat in +Switzerland, the composer longed for sympathetic, intellectual +companionship, which, alas, Minna could not give him. He found it in +the society of Marie Wesendonck, wife of the kind friend and music +lover, who had aided him in many ways. This marked attention to +another aroused Minna's jealousy and an open break was imminent. The +storm, however, blew over for a time. + +In June, 1858, Wagner was seized with a desire for luxury and quiet, +and betook himself to Venice, where he wrote the second act of +"Tristan." Then came the trouble between Wagner and the Wesendoncks +which caused the composer to leave Zurich finally, on August 17, 1859. +Minna returned to Dresden while Wagner went to Paris, where Minna +joined him for a time, before the last break came. + +What promised to be a wonderful stroke of good luck came to him here. +His art was brought to the notice of the Emperor, Napoleon III, who +requested that one of his operas should be produced, promising carte +blanche for funds. All might have gone well with music of the accepted +pattern. But "Tannhaeuser" was different, its composer particular as to +who sang and how it was done. The rehearsals went badly, an opposing +faction tried to drown the music at the first performance. Matters +were so much worse at the second performance that Wagner refused to +allow it to proceed. In spite of the Emperor's promises, he had borne +much of the expense, and left Paris in disgust, burdened with debt. + +From Paris Wagner went to Vienna, where he had the great happiness of +hearing his "Lohengrin" for the first time. He hoped to have "Tristan" +brought out, but the music proved too difficult for the singers of +that time to learn. After many delays and disappointments, the whole +thing was given up. Reduced now to the lowest ebb, Wagner planned a +concert tour to earn a living. Minna now left him finally; she could +no longer endure life with this "monster of genius." She went back to +her relatives in Leipsic, and passed away there in 1866. + +The concert tours extended over a couple of years, but brought +few returns, except in Russia. Wagner became despondent and almost +convinced he ought to give up trying to be a composer. People called +him a freak, a madman and ridiculed his efforts at music making. +And yet, during all this troublesome time, he was at work on his one +humorous opera, "Die Meistersinger." On this he toiled incessantly. + +And now, when he was in dire need, and suffering, a marvelous boon was +coming to him, as wonderful as any to be found in fairy tale. A fairy +Prince was coming to the rescue of this struggling genius. This Prince +was the young monarch of Bavaria, who had just succeeded to the throne +left by the passing of his father. The youthful Prince, ardent and +generous, had long worshiped in secret the master and his music. +One of his first acts on becoming Ludwig of Bavaria, was to send for +Wagner to come to his capital at once and finish his life work in +peace. "He wants me to be with him always, to work, to rest, to +produce my works," wrote Wagner to a friend in Zurich, where he had +been staying. "He will give me everything I need; I am to finish my +Nibelungen and he will have them performed as I wish. All troubles +are to be taken from me; I shall have what I need, if I only stay with +him." + +The King placed a pretty villa on Lake Starnberg, near Munich, at +Wagner's disposal, and there he spent the summer of 1864. The King's +summer palace was quite near, and monarch and composer were much +together. In the autumn a residence in the quiet part of Munich +was set apart for Wagner. Hans von Buelow was sent for as one of the +conductors; young Hans Richter lived in Munich and later became one of +the most distinguished conductors of Wagner's music. + +The Buelows arrived in Munich in the early autumn, and almost at once +began the attraction of Mme. Cosima von Buelow and Wagner. She, +the daughter of Liszt, was but twenty five, of deeply artistic +temperament, and could understand the aims of the composer as no +other woman had yet done. This ardent attraction led later to Cosima's +separation from her husband and finally to her marriage with Wagner. + +The first of the Wagner Festivals under patronage of the King, took +place in Munich June 10, 13, 19, and July 1, 1865. The work was +"Tristan and Isolde," perhaps the finest flower of Wagner's genius, +and already eight years old. Von Buelow was a superb conductor and +Ludwig an inspired Tristan. Wagner was supremely happy. Alas, such +happiness did not last. Enemies sprang up all about him. The King +himself could not stem the tide of false rumors, and besought the +composer to leave Munich for a while, till public opinion calmed +down. So Wagner returned to his favorite Switzerland and settled +in Triebschen, near Lucerne, where he remained till he removed to +Bayreuth in 1872. + +In 1866, the feeling against Wagner had somewhat declined and the King +decided to have model performances of "Tannhaeuser" and "Lohengrin" +at Munich. The Festival began June 11, 1867. The following year "Die +Meistersinger" was performed--June 21, 1868. + +And now the King was eager to hear the "Ring." It was not yet complete +but the monarch could not wait and ordered "Das Rheingold," the +Introduction to the Trilogy, to be prepared. It was poorly given +and was not a success. Not at all discouraged, he wished for "Die +Walkuere," which was performed the following year, June 26, 1870. + +It had long been Wagner's desire to have a theater built, in which his +creations could be properly given under his direction. Bayreuth had +been chosen, as a quiet spot where music lovers could come for the +sole purpose of hearing the music. He went to live there with +his family in April, 1872. Two years later they moved into Villa +Wahnfried, which had been built according to the composer's ideas. +Meanwhile funds were being raised on both sides of the water, through +the Wagner Societies, to erect the Festival Theater. The corner stone +was laid on Wagner's birthday--his fifty-ninth--May 22, 1872. It was +planned to give the first performances in the summer of 1876; by that +time Wagner's longed-for project became a reality. + +The long-expected event took place in August, 1876. The Festival +opened on the thirteenth with "Das Rheingold," first of the Ring music +dramas. On the following night "Die Walkuere" was heard; then came +"Siegfried" and "Goetterdaemmerung," the third and fourth dramas being +heard for the first time. Thus the Ring of the Nibelungen, on which +the composer had labored for a quarter of a century at last found +a hearing, listened to by Kings and Potentates, besides a most +distinguished audience of musicians from all parts of the world. + +At last one of Wagner's dreams was realized and his new gospel of art +vindicated. + +One music drama remained to be written--his last. Failing health +prevented the completion of the drama until 1882. The first +performance of this noble work was given on July 26, followed by +fifteen other hearings. After the exertions attending these, Wagner +and his wife, their son Siegfried, Liszt and other friends, went to +Italy and occupied the Vendramin Palace, on the Grand Canal, Venice. +Here he lived quietly and comfortably, surrounded by those he loved. +His health failed more and more, the end coming February 13, 1883. + +Thus passed from sight one of the most astonishing musicians of all +time. He lives in his music more vitally than when his bodily presence +was on earth, since the world becomes more familiar with his music as +time goes on. And to know this music is to admire and love it. + + + + +XVII + +CESAR FRANCK + + +Whatever we learn of Cesar Franck endears him to all who would know +and appreciate the beautiful character which shines through his art. +He was always kind, loving, tender, and these qualities are felt in +the music he composed. Some day we shall know his music better. It has +been said of this unique composer: "Franck is enamored of gentleness +and consolation; his music rolls into the soul in long waves, as on +the slack of a moonlit tide. It is tenderness itself." + +In Liege, Belgium, it was that Cesar Franck was born, December 10, +1822. Chopin had come a dozen years earlier, so had Schumann, Liszt +and other gifted ones; it was a time of musical awakening. + +The country about Liege was peculiarly French, not only in outward +appearance, but in language and sentiment. Here were low hills covered +with pines and beeches, here charming valleys; there wide plains +where the flowering broom flourished in profusion. It was the Walloon +country, and the Francks claimed descent from a family of early +Walloon painters of the same name. The earliest of these painters was +Jerome Franck, born away back in 1540. Thus the name Franck had stood +for art ideals during a period of more than two and a half centuries. + +When Cesar and his brother were small children, the father, a man +of stern and autocratic nature--a banker, with many friends in the +artistic and musical world--decided to make both his sons professional +musicians. + +His will had to be obeyed, there was no help for it. In the case of +Cesar, however, a musician was what he most desired to become, so that +music study was always a delight. + +Before he was quite eleven years old, his father took him on a tour of +Belgium. It looked then as though he had started on a virtuoso career, +as the wonder children--Mozart, Chopin, Thalberg, Liszt and others who +had preceded him, had done. The future proved, however, that Cesar's +life work was to be composing, teaching and organ playing, with a +quiet life, even in busy Paris, instead of touring the world to make +known his gifts. + +During this youthful tour of Belgium, he met a child artist, a year +or two older than himself, a singer, also touring as a virtuoso. The +little girl was called Pauline Garcia, who later became famous as Mme. +Pauline Viardot Garcia. + +When Cesar was twelve he had learned what they could teach him at +the Liege Conservatory, and finished his studies there. His father, +ambitious for the musical success of his sons, emigrated with +his family to Paris, in 1836. Cesar applied for entrance to the +Conservatoire, but it was not until the following year, 1837, that he +gained admission, joining Leborne's class in composition, and becoming +Zimmermann's pupil in piano playing. At the end of the year the boy +won a prize for a fugue he had written. In piano he chose Hummel's +Concerto in A minor for his test, and played it off in fine style. +When it came to sight reading, he suddenly elected to transpose the +piece selected a third below the key in which it was written, which he +was able to do at sight, without any hesitation or slip. + +Such a feat was unheard of and quite against the time-honored rules of +competition. And to think it had been performed by an audacious +slip of a boy of fifteen! The aged Director, none other than Maestro +Cherubini, was shocked out of the even tenor of his way, and declared +that a first prize could not be awarded, although he must have +realized the lad deserved it. To make amends, however, he proposed +a special award to the audacious young pianist, outside the regular +competition, to be known as "The Grand Prize of Honor." This was the +first time, and so far as is known, the only time such a prize has +been awarded. + +Cesar Franck won his second prize for fugue composition in 1839. Fugue +writing had become so natural and easy for him, that he was able to +finish his task in a fraction of the time allotted by the examiners. +When he returned home several hours before the other students had +finished, his father reproached him roundly for not spending more time +on the test upon which so much depended. With his quiet smile the boy +answered he thought the result would be all right. And it was! The +next year he again secured the first prize for fugue; this was in July +1840. The year following he entered the organ contest, which was a +surprise to the examiners. + +The tests for organ prizes have always been four. First, the +accompaniment of a plain chant, chosen for the occasion; second, the +performance of an organ piece with pedals; third, the improvising of +a fugue; fourth, improvising a piece in sonata form. Both the +improvisations to be on themes set by the examiners. Cesar at once +noticed that the two themes could be combined in such a way that one +would set off the other. He set to work, and soon became so absorbed +in this interweaving of melodies that the improvisation extended to +unaccustomed lengths, which bewildered the examiners and they decided +to award nothing to such a tiresome boy. Benoist, teacher of this +ingenious pupil, explained matters with the result that Cesar was +awarded a second prize for organ. + +He now began to prepare for the highest honor, the Prix de Rome. But +here parental authority interfered. For some unexplained reason, his +father compelled him to leave the Conservatoire before the year was +up. It may have been the father desired to see his son become a famous +virtuoso pianist and follow the career of Thalberg and Liszt. At any +rate he insisted his boy should make the most of his talents as a +performer and should also compose certain pieces suitable for public +playing. To this period of his life belong many of the compositions +for piano solo, the showy caprices, fantaisies and transcriptions. +Being obliged to write this kind of music, the young composer sought +for new forms in fingering and novel harmonic effects, even in his +most insignificant productions. Thus among the early piano works, the +Eclogue, Op. 3, and the Ballade, Op. 9, are to be found innovations +which should attract the pianist and musician of to-day. + +His very first compositions, a set of three Trios, Op. 1, were +composed while he was still at the Conservatoire, and his father +wished them dedicated "To His Majesty, Leopold I, King of the +Belgians." He wished to secure an audience with the King and have his +son present the composition to his Majesty in person. It may have +been for this reason he withdrew the boy so suddenly from the +Conservatoire. However this may have been, the Franck family returned +to Belgium for two years. At the end of that time, they all returned +to Paris, with almost no other resources than those earned by the +two young sons, Josef and Cesar, by private teaching and concert +engagements. + +And now began for Cesar Franck that life of regular and tireless +industry, which lasted nearly half a century. This industry was +expressed in lesson-giving and composing. + +One of the first works written after his return to Paris, was a +musical setting to the Biblical story of "Ruth." The work was given +in the concert room of the Conservatoire, on January 4, 1846, when the +youthful composer was twenty-three. The majority of the critics +found little to praise in the music, which, they said, was but a poor +imitation of "Le Desert," by David. One critic, more kindly disposed +than the others, said: "M. Cesar Franck is exceedingly naive, and this +simplicity we must confess, has served him well in the composition of +his sacred oratorio of 'Ruth.'" A quarter of a century later, a second +performance of "Ruth" was given, and the same critic wrote: "It is +a revelation! This score, which recalls by its charm and melodic +simplicity Mehul's 'Joseph,' but with more tenderness and modern +feeling, is certainly a masterpiece." + +But alas, hard times came upon the Franck family. The rich pupils, who +formed the young men's chief clientele, all left Paris, alarmed by the +forebodings of the revolution of 1848. Just at this most inopportune +moment, Cesar decided to marry. He had been in love for some time +with a young actress, the daughter of a well-known tragedienne, Madame +Desmousseaux, and did not hesitate to marry in the face of bad times +and the opposition of his parents, who strongly objected to his +bringing a theatrical person into the family. + +Cesar Franck was then organist in the church of Notre Dame de Lorette, +and the marriage took place there, February 22, 1848, in the very +thick of the revolution. Indeed, to reach the church, the wedding +party were obliged to climb a barricade, helped over by the +insurgents, who were massed behind this particular fortification. + +Soon after the wedding, Franck, having now lost his pupils--or most +of them--and being continually blamed by his father, whom he could no +longer supply with funds, decided to leave the parental roof and set +up for himself in a home of his own. Of course he had now to work +twice as hard, get new pupils and give many more lessons. But with all +this extra labor, he made a resolve, which he always kept sacredly, +which was to reserve an hour or two each day for composition, or for +the study of such musical and literary works as would improve and +elevate his mind. Nothing was ever allowed to interfere with this +resolution, and to it we owe all his great works. + +Franck made his first attempt at a dramatic work in 1851, with a +libretto entitled "The Farmer's Man." As he must keep constantly at +his teaching during the day, he devoted the greater part of the night +to composition. He worked so hard that the opera, begun in December +1851, was finished in two years, but he paid dearly for all this extra +labor. He fell ill--a state of nervous prostration--and was unable for +some time to compose at all. + +It was indeed a time of shadows for the young musician, but the skies +brightened after a while. He had the great good fortune to secure the +post of organist and choir master in the fine new basilica of Sainte +Clothilde, which had lately been erected, and which had an organ +that was indeed a masterpiece. This wonderful instrument kept all its +fulness of tone and freshness of timbre after fifty years of use. "If +you only knew how I love this instrument," Father Franck used to say +to the cure of Sainte Clothilde; "it is so supple beneath my fingers +and so obedient to all my thoughts." + +As Vincent d'Indy, one of Franck's most gifted and famous pupils, +writes: + +"Here, in the dusk of this organ-loft, which I can never think of +without emotion, he spent the best part of his life. Here he came +every Sunday and feast day--and toward the end of his life, every +Friday morning too, fanning the fire of his genius by pouring out his +spirit in wonderful improvisations, which were often far more lofty in +thought than many skilfully elaborated compositions. And here, too, +he must have conceived the sublime melodies which afterward formed the +groundwork of his 'Beatitudes.'" + +"Ah, we knew it well, we who were his pupils, the way up to that +thrice-blessed organ loft, a way as steep and difficult as that which +the Gospels tell us leads to Paradise. But when we at last reached the +little organ chamber, all was forgotten in the contemplation of that +rapt profile, the intellectual brow, from which seemed to flow without +effort a stream of inspired melody and subtle, exquisite harmonies." + +Cesar Franck was truly the genius of improvisation. It is said no +other modern organist, not excepting the most renowned players, could +hold any comparison to him in this respect. Whether he played for the +service, for his pupils or for some chosen musical guest, Franck's +improvisations were always thoughtful and full of feeling. It was a +matter of conscience to do his best always. "And his best was a sane, +noble, sublime art." + +For the next ten years Franck worked and lived the quiet life of a +teacher and organist; his compositions during this time were organ +pieces and church music. But a richer inner life was the outgrowth of +this period of calm, which was to blossom into new, deeper and more +profoundly beautiful compositions. + +One of these new works was "The Beatitudes." For years he had had the +longing to compose a religious work on the Sermon on the Mount. In +1869, he set to work on the poem, and when that was well under way, +began to create, with great ardor, the musical setting. + +In the very midst of this absorbing work came the Franco-Prussian war, +and many of his pupils must enter the conflict, in one way or another. +Then early in 1872, he was appointed Professor of Organ at the +Conservatoire, which was an honor he appreciated. + +The same year, while occupied with the composition of the +"Beatitudes," he wrote and completed his "Oratorio of the Redemption." +After this he devoted six years to the finishing of the "Beatitudes," +which occupied ten years of his activity, as it was completed in 1879. +A tardy recognition of his genius by the Government granted him the +purple ribbon as officer of the Academy, while not until five or six +years later did he receive the ribbon of a Chevalier of the Legion of +Honor. + +In consequence of this event his pupils and friends raised a fund +to cover expenses of a concert devoted entirely to the master's +compositions. These works were given--conducted by Pasdeloup: +Symphonic Poem--"Le Chasseur Maudit," Symphonic Variations, piano +and orchestra, Second Part of "Ruth." Part II was conducted by the +composer and consisted of March and Air de Ballet, with chorus, from +"Hulda" and the Third and Eighth Beatitudes. + +The Franck Festival occurred January 30, 1887, and was not a very +inspiring performance. The artist pupils of the master voiced to him +their disappointment that his works should not have been more worthily +performed. But he only smiled on them and comforted them with the +words: "No, no, you are too exacting, dear boys; for my part I am +quite satisfied." + +No wonder his pupils called him "Father Franck," for he was ever kind, +sympathetic and tender with them all. + +During the later years of Cesar Franck's earthly existence, he +produced several masterpieces. Among them the Violin Sonata, composed +for Eugene and Theophile Ysaye, the D minor Symphony, the String +Quartet, the two remarkable piano pieces, Prelude, Chorale and Fugue, +Prelude, Aria and Finale, and finally the Three Chorales for organ, +his swan song. His health gradually declined, due to overwork and an +accident, and he passed quietly away, November 8, 1890. + +Chabrier, who only survived Franck a few years, ended his touching +remarks at the grave with these words: + +"Farewell, master, and take our thanks, for you have done well. In you +we salute one of the greatest artists of the century, the incomparable +teacher, whose wonderful work has produced a whole generation of +forceful musicians and thinkers, armed at all points for hard-fought +and prolonged conflicts. We salute, also, the upright and just man, +so humane, so distinguished, whose counsel was sure, as his words were +kind. Farewell!" + + + + +XVIII + +JOHANNES BRAHMS + + +It has been truly said that great composers cannot be compared one +with another. Each is a solitary star, revolving in his own orbit. +For instance it is impossible to compare Wagner and Brahms; the former +could not have written the German Requiem or the four Symphonies any +more than Brahms could have composed "Tristan." In the combination of +arts which Wagner fused into a stupendous whole, he stands without a +rival. But Brahms is also a mighty composer in his line of effort, +for he created music that continually grows in beauty as it is better +known. + +Johannes Brahms was born in Hamburg, May 7, 1833. The house at 60 +Speckstrasse still stands, and doubtless looks much as it did seventy +years ago. A locality of dark, narrow streets with houses tall and +gabled and holding as many families as possible. Number 60 stands in +a dismal court, entered by a close narrow passage. A steep wooden +staircase in the center, used to have gates, closed at night. +Jakob and Johanna lived in the first floor dwelling to the left. It +consisted of a sort of lobby or half kitchen, a small living room +and a tiny sleeping closet--nothing else. In this and other small +tenements like it, the boy's early years were spent. It certainly was +an ideal case of low living and high thinking. + +The Brahms family were musical but very poor in this world's goods. +The father was a contra bass player in the theater; he often had to +play in dance halls and beer gardens, indeed where he could. Later he +became a member of the band that gave nightly concerts at the Alster +Pavillion. The mother, much older than her husband, tried to help out +the family finances by keeping a little shop where needles and thread +were sold. + +Little Johannes, or Hannes as he was called, was surrounded from his +earliest years by a musical atmosphere, and must have shown a great +desire to study music. We learn that his father took him to Otto +Cossel, to arrange for piano lessons. Hannes was seven years old, pale +and delicate looking, fair, with blue eyes and a mass of flaxen hair. +The father said: + +"Herr Cossel, I wish my son to become your pupil; he wants so much +to learn the piano. When he can play as well as you do it will be +enough." + +Hannes was docile, eager and quick to learn. He had a wonderful memory +and made rapid progress. In three years a concert was arranged for +him, at which he played in chamber music with several other musicians +of Hamburg. The concert was both a financial and artistic success. Not +long after this, Cossel induced Edward Marxsen, a distinguished master +and his own teacher, to take full charge of the lad's further musical +training. Hannes was about twelve at the time. + +Marxsen's interest in the boy's progress increased from week to week, +as he realized his talents. "One day I gave him a composition of +Weber's," he says. "The next week he played it to me so blamelessly +that I praised him. 'I have also practised it in another way,' he +answered, and played me the right hand part with the left hand." Part +of the work of the lessons was to transpose long pieces at sight; +later on Bach's Preludes and Fugues were done in the same way. + +Jakob Brahms, who as we have seen was in very poor circumstances, was +ready to exploit Hannes' gift whenever occasion offered. He had the +boy play in the band concerts in the Alster Pavillion, which are +among the daily events of the city's popular life, as all know who are +acquainted with Hamburg, and his shillings earned in this and similar +ways, helped out the family's scanty means. But late hours began to +tell on the boy's health. His father begged a friend of his, a wealthy +patron of music, to take the lad to his summer home, in return for +which he would play the piano at any time of day desired and give +music lessons to the young daughter of the family, a girl of about his +own age. + +Thus it came about that early in May, 1845, Hannes had his first taste +of the delights of the country. He had provided himself with a small +dumb keyboard, to exercise his fingers upon. Every morning, after he +had done what was necessary in the house, Hannes was sent afield by +the kind mistress of the household, and told not to show himself till +dinner time. Perhaps the good mistress did not know that Hannes had +enjoyed himself out of doors hours before. He used to rise at four +o'clock and begin his day with a bath in the river. Shortly after this +the little girl, Lischen, would join him and they would spend a couple +of hours rambling about, looking for bird's nests, hunting butterflies +and picking wild flowers. Hannes' pale cheeks soon became plump and +ruddy, as the result of fresh air and country food. Musical work +went right on as usual. Studies in theory and composition, begun with +Marxsen, were pursued regularly in the fields and woods all summer. + +When the summer was over and all were back in Hamburg again, Lischen +used to come sometimes to Frau Brahms, of whom she soon grew very +fond. But it troubled her tender heart to see the poor little flat so +dark and dreary; for even the living room had but one small window, +looking into the cheerless courtyard. She felt very sorry for her +friends, and proposed to Hannes they should bring some scarlet runners +to be planted in the court. He fell in with the idea at once and it +was soon carried out. But alas, when the children had done their part, +the plants refused to grow. + +Johannes had returned home much improved in health, and able to play +in several small concerts, where his efforts commanded attention. +The winter passed uneventfully, filled with severe study by day and +equally hard labor at night in playing for the "lokals." But the next +summer in Winsen brought the country and happiness once more. + +Hannes began to be known as a musician among the best families of +Winsen, and often played in their homes. He also had the chance to +conduct a small chorus of women's voices, called the Choral Society of +Winsen. He was expected to turn his theoretical studies to account by +composing something for this choir. It was for them he produced his +"A B C" song for four parts, using the letters of the alphabet. The +composition ended with the words "Winsen, eighteen-hundred seven and +forty," sung slowly and fortissimo. The little piece was tuneful and +was a great favorite with the teachers, from that day to this. + +The boy had never heard an opera. During the summer, when Carl Formes, +then of Vienna, was making a sensation in Hamburg, Lischen got her +father to secure places and take them. The opera was the "Marriage +of Figaro." Hannes was almost beside himself with delight. "Lischen, +listen to the music! there was never anything like it," he cried over +and over again. The father, seeing it gave so much pleasure, took the +children again to hear another opera, to their great delight. + +But the happy summer came to an end and sadness fell, to think +Johannes must leave them, for he had found many kind friends in +Winsen. He was over fifteen now and well knew he must make his way as +a musician, help support the family, and pay for the education of his +brother Fritz, who was to become a pianist and teacher. There was a +farewell party made for him in Winsen, at which there was much music, +speech making and good wishes for his future success and for his +return to Winsen whenever he could. + +Johannes made his new start by giving a concert of his own on +September 21, 1848. The tickets for this concert were one mark; he +had the assistance of some Hamburg musicians. In April next, 1849, he +announced a second concert, for which the tickets were two marks. At +this he played the Beethoven "Waldstein Sonata," and the brilliant +"Don Juan Fantaisie." These two works were considered about the top +of piano virtuosity. Meanwhile the boy was always composing and still +with his teacher Marxsen. + +The political revolution of 1848, was the cause of many refugees +crowding into Hamburg on their way to America. One of these was the +violinist, Edward Remenyi, a German Hungarian Jew, whose real name +was Hofmann. But it seemed Remenyi was really in no haste to leave +Hamburg. Johannes, engaged as accompanist at the house of a wealthy +patron, met the violinist and was fascinated by his rendering of +national Hungarian music. Remenyi, on his side, saw the advantage of +having such an accompanist for his own use. So it happened the two +played together frequently for a time, until the violinist disappeared +from Germany, for several years. He reappeared in Hamburg at the close +of the year 1852. He was then twenty-two, while Brahms was nineteen. +It was suggested that the two musicians should do a little concert +work together. They began to plan out the trip which became quite +a tour by the time they had included all the places they wished to +visit. + +The tour began at Winsen, then came Cella. Here a curious thing +happened. The piano proved to be a half tone below pitch, but Brahms +was equal to the dilemma. Requesting Remenyi to tune his violin a +half tone higher, making it a whole tone above the piano, he then, +at sight, transposed the Beethoven Sonata they were to play. It was +really a great feat, but Johannes performed it as though it were an +every day affair. + +The next place was Luneburg and there the young musician had such +success that a second concert was at once announced. Two were next +given at Hildesheim. Then came Leipsic, Hanover and after that Weimer, +where Franz Liszt and his retinue of famous pupils held court. Here +Johannes became acquainted with Raff, Klindworth, Mason, Pruekner and +other well-known musicians. + +By this time his relations with Remenyi had become somewhat irksome +and strained and he decided to break off this connection. One morning +he suddenly left Weimar, and traveled to Goettingen. There he met +Joseph Joachim, whom he had long wished to know, and who was the +reigning violinist of his time. Without any announcement, Johannes +walked in on the great artist, and they became fast friends almost +at once. Joachim had never known what it was to struggle; he had had +success from the very start; life had been one long triumph, whereas +Johannes had come from obscurity and had been reared in privation. At +this time Johannes was a fresh faced boy, with long fair hair and deep +earnest blue eyes. Wuellner, the distinguished musician of Cologne, +thus describes him: "Brahms, at twenty, was a slender youth, with +long blond hair and a veritable St. John's head, from whose eyes shone +energy and spirit." + +Johannes was at this time deeply engaged on his piano Sonata in F +minor, Op. 5. He had already written two other piano sonatas, as yet +little known. The Op. 5, is now constantly heard in concert rooms, +played by the greatest artists of our time. + +In disposition Hannes was kindly and sincere; as a youth merry and +gay. A friend in Duesseldorf, where he now spent four weeks, thus +describes him: + +"He was a most unusual looking young musician, hardly more than a boy, +in his short summer coat, with his high-pitched voice and long fair +hair. Especially fine was his energetic, characteristic mouth, and his +earnest, deep gaze. His constitution was thoroughly healthy; the most +strenuous mental exercise hardly fatigued him and he could go to sleep +at any hour of the day he pleased. He was apt to be full of pranks, +too. At the piano he dominated by his characteristic, powerful, and +when necessary, extraordinarily tender playing." Schumann, whom he now +came to know in Duesseldorf, called him the "young eagle--one of the +elect." In fact Schumann, in his musical journal, praised the young +musician most highly. And his kindness did not stop there. He wrote to +Hannes' father, Jakob Brahms, in Hamburg, commending in glowing terms +his son's compositions. This letter was sent to Johannes and the +result was the offering of some of his compositions to Breitkopf and +Haertel for publication. He had already written two Sonatas, a Scherzo, +and a Sonata for piano and violin. The Sonata in C, now known as Op. +I, although not his first work, was the one in which he introduced +himself to the public. For, as he said: "When one first shows one's +self, it is to the head and not to the heels that one wishes to draw +attention." + +Johannes made his first appearance in Leipsic, as pianist and +composer, at one of the David Quartet Concerts, at which he played his +C major Sonata and the Scherzo. His success was immediate, and as a +result, he was able to secure a second publisher for his Sonata Op. 5. + +And now, after months of traveling, playing in many towns and meeting +with many musicians and distinguished people, Johannes turned his +steps toward Hamburg, and was soon in the bosom of the home circle. +It is easy to imagine the mother's joy, for Hannes had always been the +apple of her eye, and she had kept her promise faithfully, to write +him a letter every week. But who shall measure the father's pride and +satisfaction to have his boy return a real musical hero? + +The concert journey just completed was the bridge over which Johannes +Brahms passed from youth to manhood. With the opening year of 1854, he +may be said to enter the portals of a new life. + +He now betook himself to Hanover, to be near his devoted friend +Joachim, plunged into work and was soon absorbed in the composition +of his B major Piano Trio. Later Schumann and his charming wife, the +pianist, came to Hanover for a week's visit, which was the occasion +for several concerts in which Brahms, Joachim and Clara Schumann took +part. Soon after this Schumann's health failed and he was removed to +a sanatorium. In sympathy for the heavy trial now to be borne by Clara +Schumann, both young artists came to Duesseldorf, to be near the wife +of their adored master, Robert Schumann. There they remained and by +their encouragement so lifted the spirits of Frau Clara that she was +able to resume her musical activities. + +Johann had been doing some piano teaching when not occupied with +composition. But now, on the advice of his musical friends, he decided +to try his luck again as a concert pianist. He began by joining Frau +Clara and Joachim in a concert at Danzig. Each played solos. Johann's +were Bach's "Chromatic Fantaisie" and several manuscript pieces of +his own. After this the young artist went his own way. He played with +success in Bremen, also in Hamburg. It is said he was always nervous +before playing, but especially so in his home city. However all passed +off well. He now settled definitely in Hamburg, making musical trips +to other places when necessary. + +Robert Schumann rallied for a while from his severe malady, and hopes +were held out of his final recovery. Frau Clara, having her little +family to support, resumed her concert playing in good earnest, and +appeared with triumphant success in Vienna, London and many other +cities. When possible Brahms and Joachim accompanied her. Then +Schumann's malady took an unfavorable turn. When the end was near, +Brahms and Frau Clara went to Endenich and were with the master till +all was over. On July 31, 1856, a balmy summer evening, the mortal +remains of the great composer were laid to rest in the little cemetery +at Bonn, on the Rhine. The three chief mourners were: Brahms--who +carried a laurel wreath from the wife--Joachim and Dietrich. + +Frau Schumann returned to Duesseldorf the next day, accompanied by +Brahms and Joachim. Together they set in order the papers left by the +composer, and assisted the widow in many little ways. A little later +she went to Switzerland to recover her strength, accompanied by +Brahms and his sister Elise. A number of weeks were spent in rest and +recuperation. By October the three musicians were ready to take up +their ordinary routine again. Frau Clara began practising for her +concert season, Joachim returned to his post in Hanover, and Johann +turned his face toward Hamburg, giving some concerts on the way, in +which he achieved pronounced success. + +The season of 1856-7, was passed uneventfully by Brahms, in composing, +teaching and occasional journeys. He may be said to have had four +homes, besides that of his parents in Hamburg. In Duesseldorf, Hanover, +Goettingen and Bonn he had many friends and was always welcome. + +It may be asked why Brahms, who had the faculty of endearing himself +so warmly to his friends, never married. It is true he sometimes +desired to found a home of his own, but in reality the mistress of +his absorbing passion was his art, to which everything else remained +secondary. He never swerved a hair's breadth from this devotion to +creative art, but accepted poverty, disappointment, loneliness and +often failure in the eyes of the world, for the sake of this, his true +love. + +Johannes was now engaged as conductor of a Choral Society in Detmold, +also as Court Pianist and teacher in the royal family. The post +carried with it free rooms and living, and he was lodged at the Hotel +Stadt Frankfort, a comfortable inn, exactly opposite the Castle, and +thus close to the scene of his new labors. + +He began his duties by going through many short choral works of the +older and modern masters. With other musicians at Court much chamber +music was played, in fact almost the entire repertoire. The young +musician soon became a favorite at Court, not only on account of his +musical genius but also because of the general culture of his mind. +He could talk on almost any subject. "Whoever wishes to play well must +not only practise a great deal but read many books," was one of his +favorite sayings. One of his friends said, of meetings in Brahms' +rooms at night, when his boon companions reveled in music: "And how +Brahms loved the great masters! How he played Haydn and Mozart! With +what beauty of interpretation and delicate shading of tone. And then +his transposing!" Indeed Johann thought nothing of taking up a new +composition and playing it in _any_ key, without a mistake. His score +reading was marvelous. Bach, Handel, Mozart, Haydn, all seemed to flow +naturally from under his fingers. + +The post in Detmold only required Brahms' presence a part of the year, +but he was engaged for a term of years. The other half of the year +was spent in Hamburg, where he resumed his activities of composing and +teaching. The summer after his first winter in Detmold was spent +in Goettingen with warm friends. Clara Schumann was there with her +children, and Johann was always one of the family--as a son to her. +He was a famous playfellow for the children, too. About this time +he wrote a book of charming Children's Folk Songs, dedicated to the +children of Robert and Clara Schumann. Johann was occupied with his +Piano Concerto in D minor. His method of working was somewhat like +Beethoven's, as he put down his ideas in notebooks. Later on he formed +the habit of keeping several compositions going at once. + +The prelude to Johann's artistic life was successfully completed. Then +came a period of quiet study and inward growth. A deeper activity was +to succeed. It opened early in the year 1859, when the young musician +traveled to Hanover and Leipsic, bringing out his Concerto in D minor. +He performed it in the first named city, while Joachim conducted the +orchestra. It was said the work "with all its serious striving, +its rejection of the trivial, its skilled instrumentation, seemed +difficult to understand; but the pianist was considered not merely a +virtuoso but a great artist of piano playing." + +The composer had now to hurry to Leipsic, as he was to play with the +famous Gewandhaus orchestra. How would Leipsic behave towards this new +and serious music? Johann was a dreamer, inexperienced in the ways +of the world; he was an idealist--in short, a genius gifted with an +"imagination, profound, original and romantic." The day after the +concert he wrote Joachim he had made a brilliant and decided failure. +However he was not a whit discouraged by the apathy of the Leipsigers +toward his new work. He wrote: "The Concerto will please some day, +when I have made some improvements, and a second shall sound quite +different." + +It has taken more than half a century to establish the favor of the +Concerto, which still continues on upward wing. The writer heard the +composer play this Concerto in Berlin, toward the end of his life. +He made an unforgettable figure, as he sat at the piano with his long +hair and beard, turning to gray; and while his technic was not of +the virtuoso type, he created a powerful impression by his vivid +interpretation. + +After these early performances of the Concerto, Johann returned +to Hamburg, to his composing and teaching. He, however, played the +Concerto in his native city on a distinguished occasion, when Joachim +was a soloist in Spohr's Gesang-Scene, Stockhausen in a magnificent +Aria, and then Johann, pale, blond, slight, but calm and self +controlled. The Concerto scored a considerable success at last, and +the young composer was content. + +In the autumn of this year, Johann paid his third visit to Detmold, +and found himself socially as well as musically the fashion. It was +the correct thing to have lessons from him and his presence gave +distinction to any assemblage. But Johann did not wish to waste his +time at social functions; when obliged to be present at some of these +events he would remain silent the entire evening, or else say sharp +or biting things, making the hosts regret they had asked him. His +relations with the Court family, however, remained very pleasant. +Yet he began to chafe under the constant demands on his time, and the +rigid etiquette of the little Court. The next season he definitely +declined the invitation to revisit Detmold, the reason given was that +he had not the time, as he was supervising the publication of a number +of his works. Brahms had become interested in writing for the voice, +and had already composed any number of beautiful vocal solos and part +songs. + +We are told that Frau Schumann, Joachim and Stockhausen came +frequently to Hamburg during the season of 1861, and all three made +much of Johannes. All four gave concerts together, and Johannes took +part in a performance of Schumann's beautiful Andante and Variations, +for two pianos, while Stockhausen sang entrancingly Beethoven's +Love Songs, accompanied by Brahms. On one occasion Brahms played his +Variations on a Handel Theme, "another magnificent work, splendidly +long, the stream of ideas flowing inexhaustibly. And the work was +wonderfully played by the composer; it seemed like a miracle. The +composition is so difficult that none but a great artist can attempt +it." So wrote a listener at the time. That was in 1861. We know this +wonderful work in these days, for all the present time artists perform +it. At each of Frau Schumann's three appearances in Hamburg during the +autumn of this year, she performed one of Brahms' larger compositions; +one of them was the Handel Variations. + +Although one time out of ten Johann might be taciturn or sharp, +the other nine he would be agreeable, always pleased--good humored, +satisfied, like a child with children. Every one liked his earnest +nature, his gaiety and humor. + +Johann had had a great longing to see Vienna, the home of so many +great musicians; but felt that when the right time came, the way would +open. And it did. Early in September, 1862, he wrote a friend: "I am +leaving on Monday, the eighth, for Vienna. I look forward to it like a +child." + +He felt at home in Vienna from the start, and very soon met the +leading lights of the Austrian capital. On November 16, he gave his +first concert, with the Helmesberger Quartet, and before a crowded +house. It was a real success for "Schumann's young prophet." Although +concert giving was distasteful, he appeared again on December 20, and +then gave a second concert on January 6, 1863, when he played Bach's +Chromatic Fantaisie, Beethoven's Variations in C minor, his own Sonata +Op. 5, and Schumann's Sonata OP. 11. + +Johann returned home in May, and shortly after was offered the post +of Conductor of the Singakademie, which had just become vacant. He had +many plans for the summer, but finally relinquished them and sent an +acceptance. By the last of August he was again in Vienna. + +Now followed years of a busy musical life. Brahms made his +headquarters in Vienna, and while there did much composing. The +wonderful Piano Quintette, one of his greatest works, the German +Requiem, the Cantata Rinaldo and many beautiful songs came into being +during this period. Every little while concert tours and musical +journeys were undertaken, where Brahms often combined with other +artists in giving performances of his compositions. A series of three +concerts in Vienna in February and March, 1869, given by Brahms and +Stockhausen, were phenomenally successful, the tickets being sold +as soon as the concerts were announced. The same series was given in +Budapest with equal success. + +Early in the year 1872, when our composer was nearly forty, we find +him installed in the historic rooms in the third floor of Number 4 +Carl's Gasse, Vienna, which were to remain to the end of his life +the nearest approach to an establishment of his own. There were three +small rooms. The largest contained his grand piano, writing table, a +sofa with another table in front of it. The composer was still +smooth of face and looked much as he did at twenty, judging from his +pictures. It was not until several years later, about 1880, that +he was adorned by the long heavy beard, which gave his face such a +venerable appearance. + +The year 1874, was full of varied excitement. Many invitations +were accepted to conduct his works in North Germany, the Rhine, +Switzerland, and other countries. A tour in Holland in 1876, brought +real joy. He played his D minor Concerto in Utrecht and other cities, +conducted his works and was everywhere received with honors. But the +greatest event of this year was the appearance of his first Symphony. +It was performed for the first time from manuscript in Carlsruhe and +later in many other cities. In this work "Brahms' close affinity with +Beethoven must become clear to every musician, who has not already +perceived it," wrote Hanslick, the noted critic. + +We have now to observe the unwearied energy with which Brahms, during +the years that followed added one after another to his list, in each +and every branch of serious music; songs, vocal duets, choral and +instrumental works. In the summer of 1877 came the Second Symphony. In +1879 appeared the great Violin Concerto, now acclaimed as one of the +few masterpieces for that instrument. It was performed by Joachim at +the Gewandhaus, Leipsic, early in the year. There were already four +Sonatas for Piano and Violin. The Sonata in G, the Rhapsodies Op. 79 +and the third and fourth books of Hungarian Dances, as duets, were the +publications of 1880. He now wrote a new Piano Concerto, in B flat, +which he played in Stuttgart for the first time, November 22, 1881. In +1883 the Third Symphony appeared, which revealed him at the zenith of +his powers. This work celebrated his fiftieth birthday. + +The Fourth Symphony was completed during the summer of 1885. Then came +the Gipsy Songs. + +From 1889 onward, Brahms chose for his summer sojourn the town of +Ischl, in the Salzkammergut. The pretty cottage where he stayed was +on the outskirts of the town, near the rushing river Traun. He always +dined at the "Keller" of the Hotel Elizabeth, which was reached by +a flight of descending steps. In this quiet country, among mountain, +valley and stream, he could compose at ease and also see his friends +at the end of the day. + +A visit to Italy in the spring of 1890, afforded rest, refreshment and +many pleasant incidents. + +The "Four Serious Songs," were published in the summer of 1896. At +this time Brahms had been settled in his rooms at Ischl scarcely a +fortnight when he was profoundly shaken by news of Clara Schumann's +death. She passed peacefully away in Frankfort, and was laid beside +her husband, in Bonn, May 24. Brahms was present, together with many +musicians and celebrities. + +The master felt this loss keenly. He spent the summer in Ischl as +usual, composing, among other things, the Eleven Choral Preludes. Most +of these have death for their subject, showing that his mind was taken +up with the idea. His friends noticed he had lost his ruddy color and +that his complexion was pale. In the autumn he went to Carlsbad for +the cure. + +After six weeks he returned to Vienna, but not improved, as he had +become very thin and walked with faltering step. He loved to be with +his friends, the Fellingers, as much as possible, as well as with +other friends. He spent Christmas eve with them, and dined there the +next day. From this time on he grew worse. He was very gentle the last +months of his life, and touchingly grateful for every attention shown +him. Every evening he would place himself at the piano and improvise +for half an hour. When too fatigued to continue, he would sit at the +window till long after darkness had fallen. He gradually grew weaker +till he passed peacefully away, April 3, 1897. + +The offer of an honorary grave was made by the city of Vienna, and +he has found resting place near Beethoven and Mozart, just as he had +wished. + +Memorial tablets have been placed on the houses in which Brahms lived +in Vienna, Ischl and Thun, also on the house of his birth, in Hamburg. + + + + +XIX + +EDWARD GRIEG + + "_From every point of view Grieg is one of the most original + geniuses in the musical world of the present or past. His + songs are a mine of melody, surpassed in wealth only by + Schubert, and that only because there are more of Schubert's. + In originality of harmony and modulation he has only six + equals. Bach, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, Wagner and Liszt. In + rhythmic invention and combination he is inexhaustible, and as + orchestrator he ranks among the most fascinating_." + + HENRY T. FINCK + + +Edward Hargarup Grieg, "the Chopin of the North," was a unique +personality, as well as an exceptional musician and composer. While +not a "wonder child," in the sense that Mozart, Chopin and Liszt were, +he early showed his love for music and his rapt enjoyment of the music +of the home circle. Fortunately he lived and breathed in a musical +atmosphere from his earliest babyhood. His mother was a fine musician +and singer herself, and with loving care she fostered the desire for +it and the early studies of it in her son. She was his first teacher, +for she kept up her own musical studies after her marriage, and +continued to appear in concerts in Bergen, where the family lived. +Little Edward, one of five children, seemed to inherit the mother's +musical talent and had vivid recollections of the rhythmic animation +and spirit with which she played the works of Weber, who was one of +her favorite composers. + +The piano was a world of mystery to the sensitive musical child. His +baby fingers explored the white keys to see what they sounded like. +When he found two notes together, forming an interval of a third, they +pleased him better than one alone. Afterwards three keys as a triad, +were better yet, and when he could grasp a chord of four or five tones +with both hands, he was overjoyed. Meanwhile there was much music to +hear. His mother practised daily herself, and entertained her musical +friends in weekly soirees. Here the best classics were performed with +zeal and true feeling, while little Edward listened and absorbed music +in every pore. + +When he was six years old piano lessons began. Mme. Grieg proved a +strict teacher, who did not allow any trifling; the dreamy child found +he could not idle away his time. As he wrote later: "Only too soon it +became clear to me I had to practise just what was unpleasant. Had I +not inherited my mother's irrepressible energy as well as her musical +capacity, I should never have succeeded in passing from dreams to +deeds." + +But dreams were turned into deeds before long, for the child tried to +set down on paper the little melodies that haunted him. It is said he +began to do this at the age of nine. A really serious attempt was +made when he was twelve or thirteen. This was a set of variations for +piano, on a German melody. He brought it to school one day to show one +of the boys. The teacher caught sight of it and reprimanded the young +composer soundly, for thus idling his time. It seems that in school he +was fond of dreaming away the hours, just as he did at the piano. + +The truth was that school life was very unsympathetic to him, +very narrow and mechanical, and it is no wonder that he took every +opportunity to escape and play truant. He loved poetry and knew +all the poems in the reading books by heart; he was fond, too, of +declaiming them in season and out of season. + +With the home atmosphere he enjoyed, the boy Grieg early became +familiar with names of the great composers and their works. One of +his idols was Chopin, whose strangely beautiful harmonies were just +beginning to be heard, though not yet appreciated. His music must have +had an influence over the lad's own efforts, for he always remained +true to this ideal. + +Another of his admirations was for Ole Bull, the famous Norwegian +violinist. One day in summer, probably in 1858, when Edward was +about fifteen, this "idol of his dreams" rode up to the Grieg home on +horseback. The family had lived for the past five years at the fine +estate of Landaas, near Bergen. The great violinist had just returned +from America and was visiting his native town, for he too was born in +Bergen. That summer he came often to the Griegs' and soon discovered +the great desire of young Edward for a musical career. He got the boy +to improvise at the piano, and also to show him the little pieces he +had already composed. There were consultations with father and mother, +and then, finally, the violinist came to the boy, stroked his cheek +and announced; "You are to go to Leipsic and become a musician." + +Edward was overjoyed. To think of gaining his heart's desire so easily +and naturally; it all seemed like a fairy tale, too good to be true. + +The Leipsic Conservatory, which had been founded by Mendelssohn, and +later directed for a short time by Schumann, was now in the hands of +Moscheles, distinguished pianist and conductor. Richter and Hauptmann, +also Papperitz, taught theory; Wenzel, Carl Reinecke and Plaidy, +piano. + +Some of these later gained the reputation of being rather dry and +pedantic; they certainly were far from comprehending the romantic +trend of the impressionable new pupil, for they tried to curb his +originality and square it with rules and customs. This process was +very irksome, for the boy wanted to go his own gait. + +Among his fellow students at the Conservatory were at least a half +dozen who later made names for themselves. They were: Arthur Sullivan, +Walter Bache, Franklin Taylor, Edward Dannreuther and J.F. Barnett. +All these were making rapid progress in spite of dry methods. So +Edward Grieg began to realize that if he would also accomplish +anything, he must buckle down to work. He now began to study with +frantic ardor, with scarcely time left for eating and sleeping. The +result of this was a complete breakdown in the spring of 1860, with +several ailments, incipient lung trouble being the most serious. +Indeed it was serious enough to deprive Grieg of one lung, leaving him +for the remainder of his life somewhat delicate. + +When his mother learned of his illness, she hurried to Leipsic and +took him back to Bergen, where he slowly regained his health. His +parents now begged him to remain at home, but he wished to return to +Leipsic. He did so, throwing himself into his studies with great zeal. +In the spring of 1862, after a course of four years, he passed his +examinations with credit. On this occasion he played some of his +compositions--the four which have been printed as Op. 1--and achieved +success, both as composer and pianist. + +After a summer spent quietly with his parents at Landaas, he began +to prepare for coming musical activities. The next season he gave +his first concert in Bergen, at which the piano pieces of Op. 1, Four +Songs for Alto, and a String Quartet were played. With the proceeds +of this concert he bought orchestral and chamber music, and began to +study score, which he had not previously learned to do. In the spring +of 1863--he was hardly twenty then--he left home and took up his +residence in Copenhagen, a much larger city, offering greater +opportunities for an ambitious young musician. It was also the home of +Niels W. Gade, the foremost Scandinavian composer. + +Of course Grieg was eager to meet Gade, and an opportunity soon +occurred. Gade expressed a willingness to look at some of his +compositions, and asked if he had anything to show him. Edward +modestly answered in the negative. "Go home and write a symphony," was +the retort. This the young composer started obediently to do, but the +work was never finished in this form. It became later Two Symphonic +Pieces for Piano, Op. 14. + +Two sources of inspiration for Grieg were Ole Bull and Richard +Nordraak. We remember that Ole Bull was the means of influencing his +parents to send Edward to Leipsic. That was in 1858. Six years later, +when Ole Bull was staying at his country home, near Bergen, where +he always tried to pass the summers, the two formed a more intimate +friendship. They played frequently together, sonatas by Mozart and +others, or trios, in which Edward's brother John played the 'cello +parts. Or they wandered together to their favorite haunts among +mountains, fjords or flower clad valleys. They both worshiped nature +in all her aspects and moods, and each, the one on his instrument, the +other in his music, endeavored to reproduce these endless influences. + +Richard Nordraak was a young Norwegian composer of great talent, who, +in his brief career, created a few excellent works. The two musicians +met in the winter of 1864 and were attracted to each other at once. +Nordraak visited Grieg in his home, where they discussed music and +patriotism to their hearts' content. Nordraak was intensely patriotic, +and wished to see the establishment of Norse music. Grieg, who had +been more or less influenced by German ideas, since Leipsic days, +now cast off the fetters and placed himself on the side of Norwegian +music. To prove this he composed the Humoresken, Op. 6, and dedicated +them to Nordraak. From now on he felt free to do as he pleased in +music--to be himself. + +In 1864 Grieg became engaged to his cousin, Nina Hargerup, a slender +girl of nineteen, who had a lovely voice and for whom he wrote many of +his finest songs. He returned to Christiania from a visit to Rome, and +decided to establish himself in the Norwegian capital. Soon after his +arrival, in the autumn of 1856, he gave a concert, assisted by his +fiancee and Mme. Norman Neruda, the violinist. The program was made +up entirely of Norwegian music, and contained his Violin Sonata Op. +8, Humoresken, Op. 6, Piano Sonata, Op. 7. There were two groups of +songs, by Nordraak and Kjerulf respectively. The concert was a +success with press and public and the young composer's position seemed +assured. He secured the appointment of Conductor of the Philharmonic +Society, and was quite the vogue as a teacher. He married Nina +Hargerup the following June, 1867, and they resided in Christiania for +the next eight years. + +Grieg could not endure "amateurish mediocrity," and made war upon it, +thus drawing jealous attacks upon himself. His great friend and ally, +Nordraak, passed away in 1868, and the next year his baby daughter, +aged thirteen months, the only child he ever had, left them. + +In spite of these discouragements, some of his finest compositions +came into being about this period of his life. Songs, piano pieces and +the splendid Concerto followed each other in quick succession. + +Another satisfaction to Grieg was a most sympathetic and cordial +letter from Liszt on making acquaintance with his Sonata for violin +and piano, Op. 8, which he praised in high terms. He invited Grieg +to come and visit him, that they might become better acquainted. This +unsolicitated appreciation from the famous Liszt was a fine honor +for the young composer, and was the means of inducing the Norwegian +Government to grant him an annuity. This sum enabled him the following +year, to go to Rome and meet Liszt personally. + +He set out on this errand in October, and later wrote his parents of +his visits to Liszt. The first meeting took place at a monastery near +the Roman Forum, where Liszt made his home when in town. + +"I took with me my last violin Sonata, the Funeral March on the death +of Nordraak and a volume of songs. I need not have been anxious, for +Liszt was kindness itself. He came smiling towards me and said in the +most genial manner: + +"'We have had some little correspondence, haven't we?' + +"I told him it was thanks to his letters that I was now here. He eyed +somewhat hungrily the package under my arm, his long, spider-like +fingers approaching it in such an alarming manner that I thought it +advisable to open at once. He turned over the leaves, reading through +the Sonata. He had now become interested, but my courage dropped to +zero when he asked me to play the Sonata, but there was no help for +it. + +"So I started on his splendid American Chickering grand. Right in the +beginning, where the violin starts in, he exclaimed: 'How bold that +is! Look here, I like that; once more please.' And where the violin +again comes in _adagio_, he played the part on the upper octaves with +an expression so beautiful, so marvelously true and singing, it made +me smile inwardly. My spirits rose because of his lavish approval, +which did me good. After the first movement, I asked his permission to +play a solo, and chose the Minuet, from the Humoresken." + +At this point Grieg was brave enough to ask Liszt to play for him. +This the master did in a superb manner. To go on with the letter: + +"When this was done, Liszt said jauntily, 'Now let us go on with +the Sonata'; to which I naturally retorted, 'No thank you, not after +this.' + +"'Why not? Then give it to me, I'll do it.' And what does Liszt do? +He plays the whole thing, root and branch, violin and piano; nay more, +for he plays it fuller and more broadly. He was literally over the +whole piano at once, without missing a note. And how he did play! With +grandeur, beauty, unique comprehension. + +"Was this not geniality itself? No other great man I have met is like +him. I played the Funeral March, which was also to his taste. Then, +after a little talk, I took leave, with the consciousness of having +spent two of the most interesting hours of my life." + +The second meeting with Liszt took place soon after this. Of it he +writes in part: + +"I had fortunately received the manuscript of my Concerto from +Leipsic, and took it with me. A number of musicians were present. + +"'Will you play?' asked Liszt. I answered in the negative, as you +know I had never practised it. Liszt took the manuscript, went to the +piano, and said to the assembled guests: 'Very well, then, I will show +you that I also cannot.' Then he began. I admit that he took the +first part too fast, but later on, when I had a chance to indicate the +tempo, he played as only he can play. His demeanor is worth any price +to see. Not content with playing, he at the same time converses, +addressing a bright remark now to one, now to another of his guests, +nodding from right to left, particularly when something pleases him. +In the Adagio, and still more in the Finale, he reached a climax, both +in playing and in the praise he bestowed. + +"When all was over, he handed me the manuscript, and said, in a +peculiarly cordial tone: 'Keep steadily on; you have the ability, +and--do not let them intimidate you!' + +"This final admonition was of tremendous importance to me; there +was something in it like a sanctification. When disappointment and +bitterness are in store for me, I shall recall his words, and the +remembrance of that hour will have a wonderful power to uphold me in +days of adversity." + +When Edward Grieg was a little over thirty, in the year 1874, the +Norwegian Government honored him with an annuity of sixteen hundred +crowns a year, for life. Another good fortune was a request from the +distinguished poet, Henrik Ibsen, to produce music for his drama of +"Peer Gynt." + +With the help of the annuity Grieg was able to give up teaching and +conducting and devote himself to composition. He left Christiania, +where he and Mme. Grieg had resided for eight years, and came back +for a time to Bergen. Here, in January 1874, Ibsen offered him the +proposition of writing music for his work, for which he was arranging +a stage production. + +Grieg was delighted with the opportunity, for such a task was very +congenial. He completed the score in the autumn of 1875. The first +performance was given on February 24, 1876, at Christiania. Grieg +himself was not present, as he was then in Bergen. The play proved +a real success and was given thirty-six times that season, for which +success the accompanying original and charming music was largely +responsible. + +Norway is a most picturesque country, and no one could be more +passionately fond of her mountains, fjords, valleys and waterfalls +than Edward Grieg. For several years he now chose to live at Lofthus, +a tiny village, situated on a branch of the Hardanger Fjord. It +is said no spot could have been more enchanting. The little study, +consisting of one room, where the composer could work in perfect +quiet, was perched among the trees above the fjord, with a dashing +waterfall near by. No wonder Grieg could write of the "Butterfly," the +"Little Bird," and "To the Spring," in such poetical, vivid harmonies. +He had only to look from his window and see the marvels of nature +about him. + +A few years later he built a beautiful villa at Troldhaugen, not +far from Bergen, where he spent the rest of his life. Some American +friends who visited them in 1901, speak of the ideal existence of +the artist pair. Grieg himself is described as very small and frail +looking, with a face as individual, as unique and attractive as his +music--the face of a thinker, a genius. His eyes were keen and blue; +his hair, almost white, was brushed backward like Liszt's. His hands +were thin and small; they were wonderful hands and his touch on the +piano had the luscious quality of Paderewski's. Mme. Grieg received +them with a fascinating smile and won all hearts by her appearance and +charm of manner. She was short and plump, with short wavy gray hair +and dark blue eyes. Her sister, who resembled her strongly, made up +the rest of the family. Grieg called her his "second wife" and they +seemed a most united family. + +Here, too, Grieg had his little work cabin away from the house, down +a steep path, among the trees of the garden. In this tiny retreat he +composed many of his unique pieces. + +As a pianist, there are many people living who have heard Grieg play, +and all agree that his performance was most poetical and beautiful. He +never had great power, for a heavy wagon had injured one of his hands, +and he had lost the use of one of his lungs in youth. But he always +brought out lyric parts most expressively, and had a "wonderfully +crisp and buoyant execution in rhythmical passages." He continued to +play occasionally in different cities, and with increased frequency +made visits to England, France and Germany, to make known his +compositions. He was in England in the spring of 1888, for on May +3, the London Philharmonic gave almost an entire program of Grieg's +music. He acted in the three-fold capacity of composer, conductor and +pianist. It was said by one of the critics: "Mr. Grieg played his +own Concerto in A minor, after his own manner; it was a revelation." +Another wrote; "The Concerto is very beautiful. The dreamy charm of +the opening movement, the long-drawn sweetness of the Adagio, the +graceful, fairy music of the final Allegro--all this went straight +to the hearts of the audience. Grieg as a conductor gave equal +satisfaction. It is to be hoped the greatest representative of 'old +Norway' will come amongst us every year." + +Grieg did return the next year and appeared with the Philharmonic, +March 14, 1889. The same critic then wrote: + +"The hero of the evening was unquestionably Mr. Grieg, the heroine +being Madame Grieg, who sang in her own unique and most artistic +fashion, a selection of her husband's songs, he accompanying with +great delicacy and poetic feeling. Grieg is so popular in London, both +as composer and pianist, that when he gave his last concert, people +were waiting in the street before the doors from eleven in the +morning, quite as in the old Rubinstein days." + +In only a few cities did the artist pair give their unique piano and +song recitals. These were: Christiania, Copenhagen, Leipsic, Rome, +Paris, London and Edinburgh. They were indeed artistic events, in +which Nina Grieg was also greatly admired. While not a great singer, +it was said she had the captivating abandon, dramatic vivacity and +soulful treatment of the poem, which reminded of Jenny Lind. + +Mme. Grieg made her last public appearance in London in 1898. After +that she sang only for her husband and his friends. Grieg's sixtieth +birthday, June 15, 1903, was celebrated in the cities of Scandanavia, +throughout Europe and also in America: thus he lived to see the +recognition of his unique genius in many parts of the world. + +Grieg was constantly using up his strength by too much exertion. To a +friend in 1906, he wrote: "Yes, at your age it is ever hurrah-vivat. +At my age we say, sempre diminuendo. And I can tell you it is not easy +to make a beautiful diminuendo." Yet he still gave concerts, saying +he had not the strength of character to refuse. Indeed he had numerous +offers to go to America, which he refused as he felt he could not +endure the sea voyage. Always cheerful, even vivacious, he kept up +bravely until almost the end of his life, but finally, the last of +August, 1907, he was forced to go to a hospital in Bergen. On the +night of September 3, his life ebbed away in sleep. + +The composer who through his music had endeared himself to the whole +world, was granted a touching funeral, at which only his own music +was heard, including his Funeral March, which he had composed for his +friend Nordraak. The burial place is as romantic as his music. Near +his home there is a steep cliff, about fifty feet high, projecting +into the fjord. Half way up there is a natural grotto, which can only +be reached by water. In this spot, chosen by Grieg himself, the urn +containing his ashes was deposited some weeks after the funeral. Then +the grotto was closed and a stone slab with the words "Edward Grieg" +cut upon it, was cemented in the cliff. + + + + +XX + +PETER ILYITCH TSCHAIKOWSKY + + +Russian composers and Russian music are eagerly studied by those +who would keep abreast of the time. This music is so saturated with +strong, vigorous life that it is inspiring to listen to. Its rugged +strength, its fascinating rhythms, bring a new message. It is +different from the music of other countries and at once attracts by +its unusual melodies and its richness of harmony. + +Among the numerous composers of modern Russia, the name of Peter +Ilyitch Tschaikowsky stands out most prominently. This distinctive +composer was born on April 28, 1840, in Votinsk, where his father, who +was a mining engineer, had been appointed inspector of the mines +at Kamsko-Votinsk. The position of manager of such important mines +carried with it much luxury, a fine house, plenty of servants and an +ample salary. Thus the future young musician's home life was not one +of poverty and privation, as has been the lot of so many gifted ones, +who became creators in the beautiful art of music. + +Peter Ilyitch was less than five years old when a new governess came +into the family, to teach his elder brother Nicholas and his cousin +Lydia. As a little boy he was apt to be untidy, with buttons missing +and rumpled hair. But his nature was so affectionate and sympathetic +that he charmed every one with his pretty, loving ways. This natural +gift he always retained. The governess was a very superior person and +her influence over her young charges was healthful and beneficial. The +child Peter was most industrious at his lessons; but for recreation +often preferred playing the piano, reading, or writing poetry, to +playing with other children. + +When Peter was eight, the family moved to St. Petersburg, and the two +younger boys were sent to boarding school. The parting from his home +but especially from his mother--though he saw her once a week--nearly +broke his heart. Such a school was no place for a sensitive, +high-strung boy like Peter, who needed the most tender fostering care. +The work of the school was very heavy, the hours long. The boys often +sat over their books till far into the night. Besides the school +work, Peter had music lessons of the pianist Philipov, and made rapid +progress. At this time music in general excited the boy abnormally; +a hand organ in the street would enchant him, an orchestra strangely +agitated him. He seemed to live at a high strung, nervous tension, and +had frequent ailments, which kept him out of school. + +In 1849 the father secured another appointment, this time at Alapaiev, +a little town, where, though there was not so much luxury, the family +tried to revive the home life of Votinsk. + +No one at Alapaiev seemed to take any interest in the boy Peter's +music. He was really making great progress, for he had learned much in +the lessons he had taken in St. Petersburg. He studied many pieces by +himself, and often improvised at the piano. His parents did nothing +to further his musical education; this may have been because they +were afraid of a return of the nervous disorders that the quiet of the +present home surroundings had seemed to cure. + +From the fact that the father had held government appointments, his +sons were eligible for education at the School of Jurisprudence. Peter +was accordingly entered there as a scholar, and completed his course +at the age of nineteen. In those nine years the child Peter developed +into maturity. During this period he suffered the loss of his mother, +a handsome and very estimable woman, whom he adored with passionate +devotion, and from whom he could never bear to be separated. + +While attending the Law School, music had to be left in the +background. His family and companions only considered it as a pastime +at best, and without serious significance; he therefore kept his +aspirations to himself. The old boyish discontent and irritability, +which were the result of his former nervous condition, had now given +place to his natural frankness of character and charm of manner, which +attracted all who came in contact with him. + +In 1859, when Peter had finished his studies at the School of +Jurisprudence, he received an appointment in the Ministry of Justice, +as clerk of the first class. This would have meant much to some young +men, but did not greatly impress Peter, as he did not seem to take his +work very seriously. During the three years in which he held the post, +he followed the fashion of the day, attended the opera and theater, +meanwhile receiving many impressions which molded his character and +tastes. The opera "Don Giovanni," Mozart's masterpiece, made a deep +impression upon him, also the acting of Adelaide Ristori and the +singing of Lagrona. + +The new Conservatoire of Music was founded at St. Petersburg in 1862, +with Anton Rubinstein as director, and Tschaikowsky lost no time in +entering as a pupil, studying composition and kindred subjects with +Professor Zaremba. His progress was so rapid in the several branches +he took up--piano, organ and flute--that Rubinstein advised him to +make music his profession, and throw his law studies to the winds. +Thanks to Rubinstein, he secured some pupils and also engagements as +accompanist. Meanwhile he worked industriously at composition, and one +of his pieces was a Concert Overture in F, scored for small orchestra. +In 1865 he took his diploma as a musician and also secured a silver +medal for a cantata. One year after this the Moscow Conservatoire +was founded, with Nicholas Rubinstein at its head. The position +of Professor of Composition and Musical History was offered to +Tschaikowsky, then only twenty-six. It was a flattering offer for so +young a man, when many older heads would have liked to secure such +an honor. He moved to Moscow, and retained his position in the +Conservatoire for at least twelve years, in the meantime making many +friends for himself and his art, as his fame as a composer grew. One +of these friends was the publisher Jurgenson, who was to play rather +an important part in the composer's life, through accepting and +putting forth his compositions. + +During those first years in Moscow, Tschaikowsky made his home with +Nicholas Rubinstein. His life was of the simplest, his fare always so. +Later on when money was more abundant, and he had his own house in the +country, he lived with just the same simplicity. One would think that +all this care and thought for expense would have taught him the value +of money. Not at all. He never could seem to learn its value, never +cared for it, and never could keep it. He liked to toss his small +change among groups of street boys, and it is said he once spent his +last roubles in sending a cablegram to von Buelow in America, to thank +him for his admirable performance of his first Piano Concerto. Often +his friends protested against this prodigality, but it was no use to +protest, and at last they gave up in despair. + +Soon after he began his professorship in Moscow, he composed a Concert +Overture in C minor. To his surprise and disappointment, Rubinstein +disapproved of the work in every way. This was a shock, after the lack +of encouragement in St. Petersburg. But he recovered his poise, though +he made up his mind to try his next work in St. Petersburg instead of +Moscow. He called the new piece a Symphonic Poem, "Winter Daydreams," +but it is now known as the First Symphony, Op. 13. About the end of +1866, he started out with it, only to be again rebuffed and cast down. +The two men whose good opinion he most desired, Anton Rubinstein and +Professor Zaremba, could find nothing good in his latest work, and +the young composer returned to Moscow to console himself with renewed +efforts in composition. Two years later the "Winter Daydreams" +Symphony was produced in Moscow with great success, and its author +was much encouraged by this appreciation. He was, like most composers, +very sensitive to criticism and had a perfect dread of controversy. +Efforts to engage him in arguments of this sort only made him withdraw +into himself. + +Tschaikowsky held the operas of Mozart before him as his ideal. He +cared little for Wagner, considering his music dramas to be built on +false principles. Thus his first opera, "Voivoda," composed in 1866, +evidently had his ideal, Mozart, clearly in mind. It is a somewhat +curious fact that Tschaikowsky, who was almost revolutionary in other +forms of music, should go back to the eighteenth century for his ideal +of opera. Soon after it was completed "Voivoda" was accepted to be +produced at the Moscow Grand Theater. The libretto was written by +Ostrowsky, one of the celebrated dramatists of the day. The first +performance took place on January 30, 1869. We are told it had several +performances and considerable popular success. But the composer was +dissatisfied with its failure to win a great artistic success, and +burnt the score. He did the same with his next work, an orchestral +fantaisie, entitled "Fatum." Again he did the same with the score of +a complete opera, "Undine," finished in 1870, and refused at the St. +Petersburg Opera, where he had offered it. + +"The Snow Queen," a fairy play with music, was the young Russian's +next adventure; it was mounted and produced with great care, yet it +failed to make a favorable impression. But these disappointments did +not dampen the composer's ardor for work. Now it was in the realm of +chamber music. Up to this time he had not seemed to care greatly +for this branch of his art, for he had always felt the lack of tone +coloring and variety in the strings. The first attempt at a String +Quartet resulted in the one in D major, Op. 11. To-day, fifty years +after, we enjoy the rich coloring, the characteristic rhythms of this +music; the Andante indeed makes special appeal. A bit of history about +this same Andante shows how the composer prized national themes and +folk tunes, and strove to secure them. It is said that morning after +morning he was awakened by the singing of a laborer, working on the +house below his window. The song had a haunting lilt, and Tschaikowsky +wrote it down. The melody afterwards became that touching air which +fills the Andante of the First String Quartet. Another String Quartet, +in F major, was written in 1814, and at once acclaimed by all who +heard it, with the single exception of Anton Rubinstein. + +Tschaikowsky wrote six Symphonies in all. The Second, in C minor +was composed in 1873; in this he used themes in the first and last +movements, which were gathered in Little Russia. The work was produced +with great success in Moscow in 1873. The next orchestral composition +was a Symphonic Poem, called "The Tempest," with a regular program, +prepared by Stassow. It was brought out in Paris at the same time +it was heard in Moscow. Both at home and in France it made a deep +impression. The next work was the splendid piano Concerto in B flat +minor, Op. 23, the first of three works of this kind. At a trial +performance of it, his friend and former master, Nicholas Rubinstein, +to whom it was dedicated, and who had promised to play the piano part, +began to criticize it unmercifully and ended by saying it was quite +unplayable, and unsuited to the piano. + +No one could blame the composer for being offended and hurt. He at +once erased the name of Nicholas Rubinstein from the title page and +dedicated the work to Hans von Billow, who not long after performed +it with tremendous success in America, where he was on tour. When we +think of all the pianists who have won acclaim in this temperamental, +inspiring work, from Carreno to Percy Grainger, to mention two who +have aroused special enthusiasm by their thrilling performance of it, +we can but wonder that his own countrymen were so short sighted at +the time it was composed. Later on Nicholas Rubinstein gave a superb +performance of the Concerto in Moscow, thus making some tardy amends +for his unkindness. + +Tschaikowsky was now thirty-five. Most of his time was given to the +Conservatoire, where he often worked nine hours a day. Besides, he had +written a book on harmony, and was contributing articles on music to +two journals. In composition he had produced large works, including +up to this time, two Symphonies, two Operas, the Concerto, two String +Quartets and numerous smaller pieces. To accomplish such an amount +of work, he must have possessed immense energy and devotion to his +ideals. + +One of the operas just mentioned was entitled "Vakoula the Smith." +It bears the date of 1874, and was first offered in competition with +others. The result was that it not only was considered much the +best work of them all but it won both the first and second prizes. +"Vakoula" was splendidly mounted and performed in St. Petersburg, at +the Marinsky Theater at least seventeen times. Ten years later, in +January 1887, it appeared again. The composer meanwhile had re-written +a good part of it and now called it "Two Little Shoes." This time +Tschaikowsky was invited to conduct his own work. The invitation +filled him with alarm, for he felt he had no gift in that direction, +as he had tried a couple of times in the early years of his career and +had utterly failed. However, he now, through the cordial sympathy of +friends, decided to make the attempt. Contrary to his own fears, he +obtained a successful performance of the opera. + +It proved an epoch-making occasion. For this first success as +conductor led him to undertake a three months' tour through western +Europe in 1888. On his return to St. Petersburg he conducted a program +of his own compositions for the Philharmonic Society, which was +also successful, in spite of the intense nervousness which he always +suffered. As a result of his concert he received offers to conduct +concerts in Hamburg, Dresden, Leipsic, Vienna, Copenhagen and London, +many of which he accepted. + +To go back a bit in our composer's life story, to an affair of +the heart which he experienced in 1868. He became engaged to the +well-known singer Desiree Artot; the affair never went further, for +what reason is not known. He was not yet thirty, impressionable and +intense. Later on, in the year 1877, at the age of thirty-seven, he +became a married man. How this happened was doubtless told in his +diaries, which were written with great regularity: but unfortunately +he destroyed them all a few years before his death. The few facts that +have been gleaned from his intimate friend, M. Kashkin, are that he +was engaged to the lady in the spring of this year, and married her +a month or so afterward. It was evidently a hasty affair and +subsequently brought untold suffering to the composer. When +the professors of his Conservatoire re-assembled in the autumn, +Tschaikowsky appeared among them a married man, but looking the +picture of despair. A few weeks later he fled from Moscow, and when +next heard of was lying dangerously ill in St. Petersburg. One thing +was evident, the ill-considered marriage came very near ruining his +life. The doctors ordered rest and change of scene, and his brother +Modeste Ilyitch took him to Switzerland and afterward to Italy. The +peaceful life and change of scene did much to restore his shattered +nerves. Just at this time a wealthy widow lady, Madame von Meek, a +great admirer of Tschaikowsky's music, learning of his sad condition, +settled on him a generous yearly allowance for life. He was now +independent and could give his time to composition. + +The following year he returned to Moscow and seemed quite his natural +self. A fever of energy for work took possession of him. He began a +new opera, "Eugen Onegin," and completed his Fourth Symphony, in F +minor. The score of the opera was finished in February, 1878, and +sent at once to Moscow, where the first performance was given in March +1879. In the beginning the opera had only a moderate success, but +gradually grew in favor till, after five years, it was performed +in St. Petersburg and had an excellent reception. It is considered +Tschaikowsky's most successful opera, sharing with Glinka's "Life of +the Tsar" the popularity of Russian opera. In 1881 he was invited +to compose an orchestral work for the consecration of the Temple of +Christ in Moscow. The "Solemn Overture 1812," Op. 49, was the outcome +of this. Later in the year he completed the Second Piano Concerto. +The Piano Trio in A minor, "To the memory of a great artist," Op. +50, refers to his friend and former master, Nicholas Rubinstein, who +passed away in Paris, in 1881. + +Tschaikowsky's opera, "Mazeppa," was his next important work. In the +same year the Second Orchestral Suite, Op. 53, and the Third, Op. 55, +followed. Two Symphonic Poems, "Manfred" and "Hamlet" came next. The +latter of these was written at the composer's country house, whose +purchase had been made possible by the generosity of his benefactress, +and to which he retired at the age of forty-five, to lead a peaceful +country life. He had purchased the old manor house of Frovolo, on the +outskirts of the town of Klin, near Moscow. Here his two beautiful +ballets and two greatest Symphonies, the Fifth and Sixth, were +written. The Fifth Symphony was composed in 1888 and published the +next year. On its first hearing it made little impression and was +scarcely heard again till Nikisch, with unerring judgment, rescued it +from neglect; then the world discovered it to be one of the composer's +greatest works. + +Tschaikowsky's two last operas, the "Pique Dame" (Queen of Spades), +Op. 68, and "King Rene's Daughter" are not considered in any way +distinctive, although the former was performed in New York, at the +Metropolitan. The Third Piano Concerto, Op. 75, occupied the master +during his last days at Frovolo; it was left unfinished by him and was +completed by the composer Taneiev. The wonderful Sixth Symphony, Op. +74, is a superb example of Tschaikowsky's genius. It was composed in +1893, and the title "Pathetic" was given it by the composer after its +first performance, in St. Petersburg, shortly before his death, as the +reception of it by the public did not meet his anticipations. In this +work the passion and despair which fill so many of the master's +finest compositions, rise to the highest tragic significance. The +last movement, with its prophetic intimation of his coming death, is +heart-breaking. One cannot listen to its poignant phrases without +deep emotion. The score is dated August 81, 1893. On October twelfth, +Tschaikowsky passed away in St. Petersburg, a victim of cholera. + +A couple of years before he passed away, Tschiakowsky came to America. +In May, 1891, he conducted four concerts connected with the formal +opening of Carnegie Hall, New York. We well remember his interesting +personality, as he stood before the orchestra, conducting many of his +own works, with Adele Aus der Ohe playing his famous Concerto in B +flat minor. + +The music of this representative Russian composer has made rapid +headway in the world's appreciation, during the last few years. Once +heard it will always be remembered. For we can never forget the deeply +human and touching message which is brought to us through the music of +Peter Ilyitch Tschaikowsky. + + + + +XXI + +EDWARD MACDOWELL + + +Edward MacDowell has been acclaimed America's greatest composer. If +we try to substitute another name in its place, one of equal potency +cannot be found. + +Our composer's ancestors were Irish and Scotch, though his father was +born in New York City and his mother was an American girl. Edward was +their third son, and appeared December 18, 1861; this event happened +at the home of his parents, 220 Clinton Street, New York. + +The father was a man of artistic instincts, and as a youth, fond of +drawing and painting. His parents had been Quakers of a rather severe +sort and had discouraged all such artistic efforts. Little Edward +seems to have inherited his father's artistic gifts, added to his own +inclination toward music. + +The boy had his first piano lessons when he was about eight years old, +from a family friend, Mr. Juan Buitrago, a native of Bogota, South +America. Mr. Buitrago became greatly interested in Edward and asked +permission to teach him his notes. At that time the boy was not +considered a prodigy, or even precocious, though he seemed to have +various gifts. He was fond of covering his music and exercise books +with little drawings, which showed he had the innate skill of a born +artist. Then he liked to scribble bits of verses and stories and +invent fairy tales. He could improvise little themes at the piano, but +was not fond of technical drudgery at the instrument in those early +days. + +The lessons with Mr. Buitrago continued for several years, and then he +was taken to a professional piano teacher, Paul Desvernine, with +whom he remained till he was fifteen. During this time he received +occasional lessons from the brilliant Venezuelan pianist, Teresa +Carreno, who admired his gifts and later played his piano concertos. + +Edward was now fifteen, and his family considered he was to become +a musician. In those days and for long after, even to the present +moment, it was thought necessary for Americans to go to Europe for +serious study and artistic finish. It was therefore determined the +boy should go to Paris for a course in piano and theory at the +Conservatoire. In April, 1876, accompanied by his mother, he left +America for France. + +He passed the examinations and began the autumn term as a pupil of +Marmontel in piano and of Savard in theory and composition. + +Edward's knowledge of French was very uncertain, and while he could +get along fairly well in the piano class, he had considerable trouble +in following the lessons in theory. He determined to make a special +study of the language, and a teacher was engaged to give him private +lessons. + +His passion for drawing was liable to break out at any moment. During +one of the lesson hours he was varying the monotony by drawing, +behind his book, a picture of his teacher, whose special facial +characteristic was a very large nose. Just as the sketch was finished +he was detected and was asked to show the result. The professor, +instead of being angry, considered it a remarkable likeness and asked +to keep it. Shortly after this the professor called on Mrs. MacDowell, +telling her he had shown the drawing to an eminent painter, also +an instructor at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. The painter had been so +greatly impressed with the boy's talent that he offered him a three +years' course of free instruction, under his own supervision. He also +promised to be responsible for Edward's support during that time. + +This was a vital question to decide; the boy's whole future hung in +the balance. Mrs. MacDowell, in her perplexity, laid the whole matter +before Marmontel, who strongly advised against diverting her son from +a musical career. The decision was finally left to Edward himself, and +he chose to remain at the Conservatoire. + +Conditions there, however, were not just to his liking, and after two +years he began to think the school was not the place for him. It was +the summer of 1878, the year of the Exposition. Edward and his mother +attended a festival concert and heard Nicholas Rubinstein play the +Tschaikowsky B flat minor piano Concerto. His performance was a +revelation. "I can never learn to play the piano like that if I stay +here," exclaimed Edward, as they left the hall. + +They began to consider the merits of the different European schools +of music, and finally chose Stuttgart. Mrs. MacDowell and her son went +there in November hoping that in this famous Conservatory could be +found the right kind of instruction. + +But alas, MacDowell soon found out his mistake. He discovered that +he would have to unlearn all he had acquired and begin from the +beginning. And even then the instruction was not very thorough. + +They now thought of Frankfort, where the composer Joachim Raff was the +director and Carl Heymann, a very brilliant pianist, was one of the +instructors. + +After months of delay, during which young MacDowell worked under the +guidance of Ehlert, he at last entered the Frankfort Conservatory, +studying composition with Raff, and piano with Heymann. Both proved +very inspiring teachers. For Heymann he had the greatest admiration, +calling him a marvel, whose technic was equal to anything. "In hearing +him practise and play, I learned more in a week than I ever knew +before." + +Edward MacDowell remained in close study at the Frankfort Conservatory +for two years, his mother having in the meantime returned to America. +He had hoped to obtain a place as professor on the teaching staff of +the institution. Failing to do this he took private pupils. One of +these, Miss Marian Nevins, he afterwards married. He must have been a +rather striking looking youth at this time. He was nineteen. Tall and +vigorous, with blue eyes, fair skin, rosy cheeks, very dark hair and +reddish mustache, he was called "the handsome American." He seemed +from the start, to have success in teaching, though he was painfully +shy, and always remained so. + +In 1881, when he was twenty, he applied for the position of head piano +teacher in the Darmstadt Conservatory, and was accepted. It meant +forty hours a week of drudgery, and as he preferred to live in +Frankfort, he made the trip each day between the two towns. Besides +this he went once a week to a castle about three hours away, and +taught some little counts and countesses, really dull and sleepy +children, who cared but little if anything for music. However the +twelve hours spent in the train each week, were not lost, as he +composed the greater part of his Second Modern Suite for piano, Op. +14; the First Modern Suite had been written in Frankfort the year +before. He was reading at this period a great deal of poetry, both +German and English, and delving into the folk and fairy lore of +romantic Germany. All these imaginative studies exerted great +influence on his subsequent compositions, both as to subject and +content. + +MacDowell found that the confining labors at Darmstadt were telling +on his strength, so he gave up the position and remained in Frankfort, +dividing his time between private teaching and composing. He hoped +to secure a few paying concert engagements, as those he had already +filled had brought in no money. + +One day, as he sat dreaming before his piano, some one knocked at +the door, and the next instant in walked his master Raff, of whom the +young American stood in great awe. In the course of a few moments, +Raff suddenly asked what he had been writing. In his confusion the boy +stammered he had been working on a concerto. When Raff started to go, +he turned back and told the boy to bring the concerto to him the next +Sunday. As even the first movement was not finished, its author set to +work with vigor. When Sunday came only the first movement was ready. +Postponing the visit a week or two, he had time to complete the work, +which stands today, as he wrote it then, with scarcely a correction. + +At Raff's suggestion, MacDowell visited Liszt in the spring of 1882. +The dreaded encounter with the master proved to be a delightful +surprise, as Liszt treated him with much kindness and courtesy. Eugen +D'Albert, who was present, was asked to accompany the orchestral part +of the concerto on a second piano. Liszt commended the work in warm +terms: "You must bestir yourself," he warned D'Albert, "if you do not +wish to be outdone by our young American." Liszt praised his piano +playing too, and MacDowell returned to Frankfort in a happy frame of +mind. + +At a music Convention, held that year in Zurich, in July, MacDowell +played his First Piano Suite, and won a good success. The following +year, upon Liszt's recommendation, both the First and Second Modern +Suites were brought out by Breitkopf and Haertel. "Your two Piano +Suites are admirable," wrote Liszt from Budapest, in February, 1883, +"and I accept with sincere pleasure and thanks the dedication of your +piano Concerto." + +The passing of Raff, on June 25, 1882, was a severe blow to MacDowell. +It was in memory of his revered teacher that he composed the "Sonata +Tragica," the first of the four great sonatas he has left us. The slow +movement of this Sonata especially embodies his sorrow at the loss of +the teacher who once said to him: "Your music will be played when mine +is forgotten." + +For the next two years MacDowell did much composing. Then in June 1884 +he returned to America, and in July was married to his former pupil, +Miss Marian Nevins, a union which proved to be ideal for both. Shortly +after this event the young couple returned to Europe. + +The next winter was spent in Frankfort, instructing a few private +pupils, but mostly in composing, with much reading of the literature +of various countries, and, in the spring, with long walks in the +beautiful woods about Frankfort. Wiesbaden became their home during +the winter of 1885-6. The same year saw the completion of the second. +Piano Concerto, in D minor. + +In the spring of 1887, MacDowell, in one of his walks about the town, +discovered a deserted cottage on the edge of the woods. It overlooked +the town, with the Rhine beyond, and woods on the other side of the +river. Templeton Strong, an American composer, was with him at the +time, and both thought the little cottage an ideal spot for a home. +It was soon purchased, and the young husband and wife lived an idyllic +life for the next year. A small garden gave them exercise out of +doors, the woods were always enticing and best of all, MacDowell was +able to give his entire time to composition. Many beautiful songs +and piano pieces were the result, besides the symphonic poem "Lamia," +"Hamlet and Ophelia," the "Lovely Aida," "Lancelot and Elaine," and +other orchestral works. + +In September, 1888, the MacDowells sold their Wiesbaden cottage and +returned to America, settling in Boston. Here MacDowell made himself +felt as a pianist and teacher. He took many pupils, and made a +conspicuous number of public appearances. He also created some of his +best work, among which were the two great Sonatas, the "Tragica" and +"Eroica." One of the important appearances was his playing of the +Second Concerto with the Philharmonic Orchestra of New York, under +Anton Seidl, in December, 1894. + +In the spring of 1896 a Department of Music was founded at Columbia +University, of New York, the professorship of which was offered to +MacDowell. He had now been living eight years in Boston; his fame as a +pianist and teacher was constantly growing; indeed more pupils came to +him than he could accept. The prospect of organizing a new department +from the very beginning was a difficult task to undertake. At first he +hesitated; he was in truth in no hurry to accept the offer, and wished +to weigh both sides carefully. But the idea of having an assured +income finally caused him to decide in favor of Columbia, and he moved +from Boston to New York the following autumn. + +He threw himself into this new work with great ardor and entire +devotion. With the founding of the department there were two distinct +ideas to be carried out. First, to train musicians who would be able +to teach and compose. Second, to teach musical history and aesthetics. + +All this involved five courses, with many lectures each week, +taking up form, harmony, counterpoint, fugue, composition, vocal and +instrumental music, both from the technical and interpretative +side. It was a tremendous labor to organize and keep all this going, +unaided. After two years he was granted an assistant, who took over +the elementary classes. But even with this help, MacDowell's labors +were increasingly arduous. He now had six courses instead of five, +which meant more classes and lectures each week. Perhaps the most +severe drain on his time and strength was the continual correction of +exercise books and examination papers, a task which he performed with +great patience and thoroughness. Added to all this, he devoted every +Sunday morning to his advanced students, giving them help and advice +in their piano work and in composition. + +Amid all this labor his public playing had to be given up, but +composition went steadily on. During the eight years of the Columbia +professorship, some of the most important works of his life were +produced; among them were, Sea Pieces the two later Sonatas, the Norse +and the Keltic, Fireside Tales, and New England Idyls. The Woodland +Sketches had already been published and some of his finest songs. +Indeed nearly one quarter of all his compositions were the fruit of +those eight years while he held the post at Columbia. + +In 1896 he bought some property near Peterboro, New Hampshire--fifteen +acres with a small farmhouse and other buildings, and fifty acres of +forest. The buildings were remodeled into a rambling but comfortable +dwelling, and here, amid woods and hills he loved, he spent the summer +of each year. He built a little log cabin in the woods near by, and +here he wrote some of his best music. + +In 1904 MacDowell left Columbia, but continued his private piano +classes, and sometimes admitted free such students as were unable +to pay. After his arduous labors at Columbia, which had been a great +drain on his vitality, he should have had a complete rest and change. +Had he done so, the collapse which was imminent might have been +averted. But he took no rest though in the spring of 1905 he began to +show signs of nervous breakdown. The following summer was spent, as +usual, in Peterboro but it seemed to bring no relief to the exhausted +composer. In the fall of that year his ailment appeared worse. +Although he seemed perfectly well in body, his mind gradually became +like that of a child. The writer was privileged to see him on one +occasion, and retains an ineffaceable memory of the composer in his +white flannels, seated in a large easy chair, taking little notice +of what was passing about him, seldom recognizing his friends or +visitors, but giving the hand of his devoted wife a devoted squeeze +when she moved to his side to speak to him. + +This state continued for over two years, until his final release, +January 23, 1908, as he had just entered his forty-seventh year. The +old Westminster Hotel had been the MacDowell home through the long +illness. From here is but a step to St. George's Episcopal Church, +where a simple service was held. On the following day the composer was +taken to Peterboro, his summer home, a spot destined to play its part, +due to the untiring efforts of Mrs. MacDowell, in the development of +music in America. + +Mr. Gilman tells us: + +"His grave is on an open hill-top, commanding one of the spacious and +beautiful views he had loved. On a bronze tablet are these lines of +his own, used as a motto for his 'From a Log Cabin,' the last music he +ever wrote: + + 'A house of dreams untold + It looks out over the whispering tree-tops + And faces the setting sun.'" + + + + +XXII + +CLAUDE ACHILLE DEBUSSY + + "_I love music too much to speak of it otherwise than + passionately_." + DEBUSSY + + + "_Art is always progressive; it cannot return to the past, + which is definitely dead. Only imbeciles and cowards look + backward. Then--Let us work_!" + DEBUSSY + + +It is difficult to learn anything of the boyhood and youth of this +rare French composer. Even his young manhood and later life were so +guarded and secluded that few outside his intimate circle knew much +of the man, except as mirrored in his music. After all that is just as +the composer wished, to be known through his compositions, for in +them he revealed himself. They are transparent reflections of his +character, his aims and ideals. + +Only the barest facts of his early life can be told. We know that he +was born at Saint Germain-en-Laye, France, August 22, 1862. From the +very beginning he seemed precociously gifted in music, and began at a +very early age to study the piano. His first lessons on the instrument +were received from Mme. de Sivry, a former pupil of Chopin. At ten he +entered the Paris Conservatoire, obtaining his Solfege medals in 1874, +'75, and '76, under Lavignac; a second prize for piano playing +from Marmontel in 1877, a first prize for accompanying in 1880; an +accessory prize for counterpoint and fugue in 1882, and finally the +Grande Prix de Rome, with his cantata, "L'Enfant Prodigue," in 1884, +as a pupil of Guirand. + +Thus in twelve years, or at the age of twenty-two, the young +musician was thoroughly furnished for a career. He had worked through +carefully, from the beginning to the top, with thoroughness and +completeness, gaining his honors, slowly, step by step. All this +painstaking care, this overcoming of the technical difficulties of his +art, is what gave him such complete command and freedom in using the +medium of tone and harmony, in his unique manner. + +While at work in Paris, young Debussy made an occasional side trip to +another country. In 1879 he visited Russia, where he learned to know +the music of that land, yet undreamed of by the western artists. When +his turn came to go to Rome, for which honor he secured the prize, he +sent home the required compositions, a Symphonic Suite "Spring," and +a lyric poem for a woman's voice, with chorus and orchestra, entitled +"La Demoiselle Elue." + +From the first Claude Debussy showed himself a rare spirit, who looked +at the subject of musical art from a different angle than others +had done. For one thing he must have loved nature with whole souled +devotion, for he sought to reflect her moods and inspirations in his +compositions. Once he said: "I prefer to hear a few notes from an +Egyptian shepherd's flute, for he is in accord with his scenery and +hears harmonies unknown to your treatises. Musicians too seldom turn +to the music inscribed in nature. It would benefit them more to watch +a sunrise than to listen to a performance of the Pastorale Symphony. +Go not to others for advice but take counsel of the passing breezes, +which relate the history of the world to those who can listen." + +Again he says, in a way that shows what delight he feels in beauty +that is spontaneous and natural: + +"I lingered late one autumn evening in the country, irresistibly +fascinated by the magic of old world forests. From yellowing leaves, +fluttering earthward, celebrating the glorious agony of the trees, +from the clangorous angelus bidding the fields to slumber, rose a +sweet persuasive voice, counseling perfect oblivion. The sun was +setting solitary. Beasts and men turned peacefully homeward, having +accomplished their impersonal tasks." + +When as a youth Debussy was serving with his regiment in France, he +relates of the delight he experienced in listening to the tones of +the bugles and bells. The former sounded over the camp for the various +military duties; the latter belonged to a neighboring convent and +rang out daily for services. The resonance of the bugles and the +far-reaching vibrations of the bells, with their overtones and +harmonics, were specially noted by the young musician, and used by him +later in his music. It is a well-known fact that every tone or +sound is accompanied by a whole series of other sounds; they are +the vibrations resulting from the fundamental tone. If the tone C +is played in the lower octave of the piano, no less than sixteen +overtones vibrate with it. A few of these are audible to the ordinary +listener, but very keen ears will hear more of them. In Claude +Debussy's compositions, his system of harmony and tonality is +intimately connected with these laws of natural harmonics. His chords, +for instance, are remarkable for their shifting, vapory quality; they +seem to be on the border land between major and minor--consonance and +dissonance; again they often appear to float in the air, without any +resolution whatever. It was a new aspect of music, a new style of +chord progression. At the same time the young composer was well versed +in old and ancient music; he knew all the old scales, eight in number, +and used them in his compositions with compelling charm. The influence +of the old Gregorian chant has given his music a certain fluidity, +free rhythm, a refinement, richness and variety peculiarly its own. + +We can trace impressions of early life in Debussy's music, through his +employment of the old modes, the bell sounds which were familiar to +his boyhood, and also circumstances connected with his later life. +As a student in Rome, he threw himself into the study of the music +of Russian composers, especially that of Moussorgsky; marks of the +Oriental coloring derived from these masters appear in his own later +music. When he returned to Paris for good, he reflected in music the +atmosphere of his environment. By interest and temperament he was +in sympathy with the impressionistic school in art, whether it be in +painting, literature or in music. In Debussy's music the qualities of +impressionism and symbolism are very prominent. He employs sounds as +though they were colors, and blends them in such a way as literally to +paint a picture in tones, through a series of shaded, many-hued chord +progressions. Fluid, flexible, vivid, these beautiful harmonies, +seemingly woven of refracted rays of light, merge into shadowy melody, +and free, flowing rhythm. + +What we first hear in Debussy's music, is the strangeness of the +harmony, the use of certain scales, not so much new as unfamiliar. +Also the employment of sequences of fifths or seconds. He often takes +his subjects from nature, but in this case seems to prefer a sky less +blue and a landscape more atmospheric than those of Italy, more like +his native France. His music, when known sufficiently, will reveal a +sense of proportion, balance and the most exquisite taste. It may lack +strength at times, it may lack outbursts of passion and intensity, but +it is the perfection of refinement. + +Mr. Ernest Newman, in writing of Debussy, warmly praises the +delightful naturalness of his early compositions. "One would feel +justified in building the highest hopes on the young genius who can +manipulate so easily the beautiful shapes his imagination conjures +up." + +The work of the early period shows Debussy developing freely and +naturally. The independence of his thinking is unmistakable, but it +does not run into wilfulness. There is no violent break with the past, +but simply the quickening of certain French qualities by the infusion +of a new personality. It seemed as if a new and charming miniaturist +had appeared, who was doing both for piano and song what had never +been done before. The style of the two Arabesques and the more +successful of the Ariettes oubliees is perfect. A liberator seemed to +have come into music, to take up, half a century later, the work of +Chopin--the work of redeeming the art from the excessive objectivity +of German thought, of giving it not only a new soul but a new body, +swift, lithe and graceful. And that this exquisitely clear, pellucid +style could be made to carry out not only gaiety and whimsicality but +emotion of a deeper sort, is proved by the lovely "Clair de Lune." + +Among Debussy's best known compositions are "The Afternoon of a Faun," +composed in 1894 and called his most perfect piece for orchestra, +which he never afterward surpassed. There are also Three Nocturnes for +orchestra. In piano music, as we have briefly shown, he created a +new school for the player. All the way from the two Arabesques just +mentioned, through "Gardens in the Rain," "The Shadowy Cathedral," "A +Night in Granada," "The Girl with Blond Hair," up to the two books of +remarkable Preludes, it is a new world of exotic melody and harmony to +which he leads the way. "Art must be hidden by art," said Rameau, long +ago, and this is eminently true in Debussy's music. + +Debussy composed several works for the stage, one of which was +"Martyrdom of Saint Sebastien," but his "Pelleas and Melisande" is +the one supreme achievement in the lyric drama. As one of his critics +writes: "The reading of the score of 'Pelleas and Melisande' remains +for me one of the most marvelous lessons in French art: it would be +impossible for him to express more with greater restraint of means." +The music, which seems so complicated, is in reality very simple. It +sounds so shadowy and impalpable, but it is really built up with +as sure control as the most classic work. It is indeed music which +appeals to refined and sensitive temperaments. + +This mystical opera was produced in Paris, at the Opera Comique, +in April, 1902, and at once made a sensation. It had any number of +performances and still continues as one of the high lights of the +French stage. Its fame soon reached America, and the first performance +was given in New York in 1907, with a notable cast of singing actors, +among whom Mary Garden, as the heroine gave an unforgettable, poetic +interpretation. + +Many songs have been left us by this unique composer. He was +especially fond of poetry and steeped himself in the verse of +Verlaine, Villon, Baudelaire and Mallarme. He chose the most +unexpected, the most subtle, and wedded it to sounds which invariably +expressed the full meaning. He breathed the breath of life into these +vague, shadowy poems, just as he made Maeterlinck's "Pelleas" live +again. + +As the years passed, Claude Debussy won more and more distinction as +a unique composer, but also gained the reputation of being a very +unsociable man. Physically it has been said that in his youth he +seemed like an Assyrian Prince; through life he retained his somewhat +Asiatic appearance. His eyes were slightly narrowed, his black hair +curled lightly over an extremely broad forehead. He spoke little +and often in brusque phrase. For this reason he was frequently +misunderstood, as the irony and sarcasm with which he sometimes spoke +did not tend to make friends. But this attitude was only turned toward +those who did not comprehend him and his ideals, or who endeavored to +falsify what he believed in and esteemed. + +A friend of the artist writes: + +"I met Claude Debussy for the first time in 1906. Living myself in +a provincial town, I had for several years known and greatly admired +some of the songs and the opera, 'Pelleas and Melisande,' and I +made each of my short visits to Paris an opportunity of improving my +acquaintance with these works. A young composer, Andre Caplet, with +whom I had long been intimate, proposed to introduce me to Debussy; +but the rumors I had heard about the composer's preferred seclusion +always made me refuse in spite of my great desire to know him. I +now had a desire to express the feelings awakened in me, and +to communicate to others, by means of articles and lectures, my +admiration for, and my belief in, the composer and his work. The +result was that one day, in 1906, Debussy let me know through +a friend, that he would like to see me. From that day began our +friendship." + +Later the same friend wrote: + +"Debussy was invited to appear at Queen's Hall with the London +Symphony Orchestra, on February 1, 1908, to conduct his 'Afternoon +of a Faun,' and 'The Sea.' The ovation he received from the English +public was exceptional. I can still see him in the lobby, shaking +hands with friends after the concert, trying to hide his emotion, and +saying repeatedly: 'How nice they are--how nice they are!'" + +He went again the next year to London, but the state of his health +prevented his going anywhere else. For a malady, which finally proved +fatal, seemed to attack the composer when in his prime, and eventually +put an end to his work. We cannot guess what other art works he might +have created. But there must be some that have not yet seen the light. +It is known that he was wont to keep a composition for some time in +his desk, correcting and letting it ripen, until he felt it was ready +to be brought out. + +One of his cherished dreams had been to compose a "Tristan." + +The characters of Tristan and Iseult are primarily taken from a French +legend. Debussy felt the story was a French heritage and should be +restored to its original atmosphere and idea. This it was his ardent +desire to accomplish. + +Debussy passed away March 26, 1918. + +Since his desire to create a Tristan has been made impossible, let us +cherish the rich heritage of piano, song and orchestral works, which +this original French artist and thinker has left behind, to benefit +art and his fellow man. + + + + +XXIII + +ARTURO TOSCANINI + + +The sharp rap of Arturo Toscanini's baton that cuts the ear like a +whiplash brought the rehearsal of the NBC Symphony Orchestra to +a sudden, shocking stop. Overtones from chords of Wagner's "Faust +Overture," killed in mid-career, vibrated through the throat-gripping +silence. + +The men stared at their music, bowed their heads a little in +anticipation of the storm. "Play that again," the Maestro commanded +William Bell, the bass tuba player, who had just finished a solo. On +Mr. Bell's face there was an expression of mixed worry and wonderment. +Mr. Toscanini noticed the troubled anxious look. + +"No, no, no," he said, with that childlike smile of his that suffuses +his whole face with an irresistible light. "There is nothing wrong. +Play it again; please, play it again, just for me. It is so beautiful. +I have never heard these solo passages played with such a lovely +tone." + +There you have a side of Mr. Toscanini that the boys have forgotten to +tell you about. For years newspaper and magazine writers (in the last +couple of seasons the Maestro has even "made" the Broadway columns!) +have doled out anecdotes concerning his terrible temper. + +From these stories there emerged a demoniacal little man with the +tantrums of a dozen prima donnas, a temperamental tyrant who, at +the dropping of a stitch in the orchestral knitting, tore his hair, +screamed at the top of his inexhaustible Latin lungs, doused his +trembling players with streams of blistering invective. + +That's how you learned that, to the king of conductors, a musician +playing an acid note is a "shoemaker," a "swine," an "assassin" or +even something completely unprintable. + +So far as they went the stories were true. Mr. Toscanini, as all the +world knows by now, is the world's No. 1 musical purist. Nothing but +perfection satisfies him. He hates compromise, loathes the half-baked +and mediocre, refuses to put up with "something almost as good." + +As Stefan Zweig puts it: "In vain will you remind him that the +perfect, the absolute, are rarely attainable in this world; that, +even to the sublimest will, no more is possible than an approach to +perfection.... His glorious unwisdom makes it impossible to recognize +this wise dispensation." + +His rages, then, are the spasms of pain of a perfectionist wounded +by imperfection. It was his glorious unwisdom that caused him, at a +rehearsal not long ago, to fling a platinum watch to the floor, where, +of course, it was smashed into fragments. + +In the shadows of the studio that afternoon lurked John F. Royal, +program director of NBC. Next day he presented the Maestro with two $1 +watches, both inscribed, "For Rehearsals Only." Mr. Toscanini was so +amused that he forgot to get angry with Mr. Royal for breaking +the grimly enforced rule barring all but orchestra members from +rehearsals. + +The sympathetic program director also had the shattered platinum watch +put together by what must have been a Toscanini among watchmakers. By +that time the incident had become such a joke that the orchestra +men dared to give the Maestro a chain, of material and construction +guaranteed to be unbreakable, to attach the brace of Ingersolls to the +dark, roomy jacket which for years he has worn at rehearsals. + +Less than a week later that same choleric director, with the burning +deep-set black eyes, the finely chiseled features and the halo of +silver hair surrounding a bald spot that turns purple in his passions, +walked into a room where a girl of this reporter's acquaintance stood +beside a canary cage, making a rather successful attempt at whistling, +in time and tune with the bird. + +For a moment the man who can make music like no one else on earth +listened to the girl and her pet. Then he sighed and said: + +"Oh, if I could only whistle!" + +Those who know Mr. Toscanini intimately find in those six simple words +the key to his character. He is, they say, the most modest man who +ever lived, a man sincerely at a loss to understand the endless fuss +that is made about him. + +Time and again he has told his friends that he has no fonder desire +than to be able to walk about undisturbed, to saunter along the +avenue, look into shop-windows, do the thousand-and-one common little +things that are permitted other human beings. + +That same humility, that same incurable bewilderment at public acclaim +must have been apparent to all who ever attended a Toscanini concert, +saw him at the close of a superb interpretation bowing as one of the +group of players and making deprecating gestures that seemed to +say: "What you have heard was a great score brought to life by these +excellent musicians--why applaud me?" + +At rehearsals he is the strictest of disciplinarians but not a prima +donna conductor. He demands the utmost attention and concentration +from his men, brooks no disturbance or interruption. On the other +hand, he is punctual to a fault, arrives fifteen minutes ahead of +time, never asks for special privileges of any kind. + +He has been described as the world's most patient and impatient +orchestral director. In rehearsal he will take the men through a +passage, a mere phrase, innumerable times to achieve a certain tonal +or dynamic effect. But he explodes when he feels that he is faced with +stupidity or stubbornness. + +Some famous conductors have added the B of Barnum to the three +immortal B's of music--Bach, Beethoven and Brahms. Those wielders of +the stick are great showmen as well as great musicians. + +Not so Mr. Toscanini. In his platform manner there is nothing +calculated for theatrical effect. He doesn't care in the least what he +looks like "from out front." His gestures are designed not to impress, +enrapture or englamour the musical groundlings, but to convey his +sharply defined wishes to his men and transmit to them the flaming +enthusiasm that consumes him. + +His motions are patiently sincere, almost unconscious. He enters +carrying his baton under his right arm, like a riding crop. Orchestra +and audience rise. He acknowledges this mark of respect and the +tumultuous applause with a quick bow, an indulgent smile and a gesture +that plainly say: "Thanks, thanks, all this is very nice, you're a +lot of kind, good children, but for heaven's sake let's get down to +business." + +While waiting a few seconds for listeners and players to settle +themselves he rests his baton against his right shoulder, like a +sword. Then the sharp rap. The Maestro closes his eyes. Another rap, +sharper than the first. Oppressive, electrical silence. He lifts the +baton as if saluting the orchestra. The concert begins. + +As a rule the right hand gives the tempo and tracks down every +smallest melody, wherever it may hide in the score. In passages for +the strings, the baton indicates the type of bowing the conductor +wants from the violins, violas or cellos. + +The left hand, with the long thumb separate from the other fingers, +is the orchestra's guide to the Maestro's interpretative desires. It +wheedles the tone from the men. It coaxes, hushes, demands increased +volume. It moves, trembling, to the heart to ask for feeling, closes +into a fist to get sound and fury from the brasses, thunder from the +drums. Through it all, the Maestro talks, sings, whistles and blows +out his cheeks for the benefit of trumpeters and trombonists. + +After a concert, keyed to feverish excitement, he often plays over +piano scores of every number that appeared on the program. Then he +may lie awake all night, worrying over two possible tempi in which +he might have taken some passage--shadings in rhythm that the average +listener would not, could not discern. + +He is never satisfied with himself. Some years ago, when he was still +conducting at the Scala in Milan, he came home one night after the +opera. Mr. Toscanini does not eat before a performance, and his family +wait with the evening meal until he joins them. + +As he stepped into the hall he saw his wife and daughters walking into +the dining room. "Where are you going?" he asks them. "In to supper, +of course," one of them told him. The Maestro exploded: "What? After +THAT performance? Oh, no, you're not. It shall never be said of my +family that they could eat after such a horrible show!" All of them, +including the great man himself, went to bed without supper that +night. + +It stands to reason that a man of this type detests personal +publicity. The interviews he has granted in the fifty-six years of +his career--Mr. Toscanini, who is seventy-five, began conducting at +nineteen--can be counted on the fingers of one hand. He feels and has +often told friends that all he has to say he can say in musical terms; +that he gladly leaves to others what satisfaction they may derive from +publicly bandying words. + +But his frequent brushes with news photographers don't come under this +head. The existence of numerous fine camera studies of the Maestro +proves that he doesn't dislike being photographed. Nor does he dislike +photographers. But he hates flashlights because they hurt his eyes. + +This has bolstered the popular notion--based on the fact that he +conducts from memory--that his sight is so poor as to amount almost to +blindness. + +Mr. Toscanini is neither blind nor half-blind. He does not use a +strong magnifying glass to study his scores, note by note. He is +near-sighted, but not more so than millions of others, and reads with +the aid of ordinary spectacles. + +He has always conducted from memory because he believes that having +the score in his head gives a conductor greater freedom and authority +to impose his musical will upon his men. At rehearsals the score is +kept on a stand a few feet from the Maestro. From time to time he +consults it to verify a point at dispute. He has never been known to +be wrong. + +His memory is, of course, phenomenal. Anything he has once seen, +read and particularly, heard, he not only remembers but is unable to +forget. The other day he and a friend were discussing the concerto +played by a certain pianist on his American debut in 1911. Mr. +Toscanini remembered it as Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto; the +friend maintained it was the Second. + +The Maestro said: "I recall the concert very well. He was soloist with +the Philharmonic." And he reeled off all the other compositions on +that program of twenty-seven years ago. + +To settle the argument the skeptical friend called the office of +the Philharmonic. Mr. Toscanini had been right about the Beethoven +Concerto and had correctly remembered the purely orchestral numbers as +well. + +He is a profound student, not only of music but of all available +literature bearing upon it. A music critic who visited him in +Salzburg a few years ago, just before he was to conduct Wagner's "Die +Meistersinger," found him in a room littered with books on the opera, +books on Wagner, volumes of the composer's correspondence. + +The Maestro, who has been coming to this country since 1908, speaks +better English than most of us. He knows his English literature and is +in the sometimes disconcerting habit of quoting by the yard from the +works of Shakespeare, Keats, Shelley and Swinburne. + +Almost as great a linguist as he is a musician, he coaxes and curses +his men in perfect, idiomatic French, German and Spanish as well as +English and Italian. + +He likes reading, listening to the radio--he is fond of good jazz--and +driving out in the country. He loves speed. An American friend who +some years ago accompanied him on a motor trip from Milan to Venice +groaned when the speedometer began hovering around 78. "What's the +matter with you?" the Maestro wanted to know. "We're only jogging +along." Whenever possible he flies. + +Since 1926 he and Mrs. Toscanini have occupied an apartment in the +Astor--the same suite of four smallish rooms. The place is +furnished by the hotel, but the Maestro always brings his beloved +knickknacks--his miniature of Beethoven, his Wagner and Verdi +manuscripts, his family photographs. + +He has no valet and dislikes being pawed by barbers. He shaves +himself, and Mrs. Toscanini or one of the daughters cuts his hair. He +eats very little--two plates of soup (preferably minestrone), a piece +of bread and a glass of chianti do him nicely for dinner. + +He begrudges the time spent in eating and sleeping. Like the child +he is at heart, he loves staying up late. Occasionally he takes a +nocturnal prowl. + +The other night, after a concert, he asked a friend to take him +somewhere--"some place where they won't know me and make a fuss over +me." + +The friend took him to a little place in the Village. The moment Mr. +Toscanini entered, the proprietor dashed forward, bowed almost to the +ground and said: "Maestro, I am greatly honored ... I'll never forget +this hour ..." Then he led the party to the most conspicuous spot in +the room. + +Mr. Toscanini wanted a nip of brandy, but the innkeeper insisted that +he try some very special wine of the house's own making. From a +huge jug he poured a brownish-red, viscous liquid into a couple of +tumblers. The Maestro's companion says it tasted like a mixture of +castor oil, hair tonic and pitch. + +Turning white at the first sip, Mr. Toscanini drained his glass at +a gulp. Outside, his friend asked him: "Why did you drink that vile +stuff?" + +The Maestro said: "The poor fellow meant well, and I didn't want to +refuse. A man can do anything." + + + + +XXIV + +LEOPOLD STOKOWSKI + + +Many years ago this reporter was traveling, as a non-fiddling, +non-tooting member of the Philadelphia Orchestra, on a train that +carried the organization on one of its Pennsylvania-Maryland-Ohio +tours. + +It was 2 o'clock in the morning, Mr. Stokowski, the conductor, was +secluded in his drawing room, perhaps asleep, but more likely trying +to digest three helpings of creamed oysters in which he had indulged +at the home of an effusive Harrisburg hostess. Mr. Stokowski in those +days couldn't let creamed oysters alone, but neither could he take +them. + +In the Pullman smoker sat the handsome gentleman who was then manager +of the orchestra and your correspondent. "Tell me," said the reporter, +"just between you and me--where did Stoky get that juicy accent?" + +The manager removed his cigar to reply: + +"God alone knows." + +Mr. Stokowski then had been in this country nearly twenty years. He +has been here now more than thirty years, and still no one on earth, +with the possible exception of Mr. Stokowski himself, can tell you +where he dug up his rich luscious accent that trickles down the +portals of the ear as the sauce of creamed oysters trickles down the +gullet. + +Surely he didn't get it in London where, on April 18, 1882, he was +born. Nor did he learn it in Queens College, Oxford, where he was +considered a bright student, or on Park Avenue, New York, where he +landed in 1905 to play the organ at St. Bartholomew's. + +Mr. Stokowski's dialectic vagaries are among the mysteries in which, +for his own good reasons, he has chosen to wrap himself. Another one +concerns his name and origin. Is he really Leopold Antoni Stanislaw +Stokowski? Was his father one Joseph Boleslaw Kopernicus Stokowski, a +Polish emigre who became a London stockbroker? Was his mother an Irish +colleen and the granddaughter of Tom Moore, who wrote "Believe Me +If All Those Endearing Young Charms"? Or is Stoky just plain Lionel +Stokes, the sprout of a humble cockney family? + +Nobody knows. But everybody knows that Leopold Stokowski is one of the +world's really great orchestra conductors, a true poet of the stick +(though he has dispensed with the baton in recent years), and that he +has made the name of the Philadelphia Orchestra synonymous with superb +singing, beauty of tone and dazzling brilliance. + +Everybody knows, too, that he has few peers as an interpreter of Bach, +many of whose compositions he unearthed from the organ repertoire and +gave to the general public in shimmering orchestral arrangements, and +that critics trot out their choicest adjectives to praise his playing +of Brahms and all Russian composers. + +Everybody knows, further, that he and his orchestra have made a larger +number of phonograph recordings of symphonic music than any other +conductor and band, and that the Philadelphia organization was the +first of its kind to dare the raised eyebrows of the musical tories by +going on the air as a commercially sponsored attraction. + +The list, here necessarily condensed, is one of impressive musical +achievements, which many an artist of a more placid temperament than +Mr. Stokowski's would have considered ample to insure his fame. + +But the slender, once golden-locked, now white-thatched Leopold is +and always was a restless fellow, a bundle of nervous energy, an +insatiable lover of experiment, innovation and--the limelight. + +Those traits began to come to the surface in 1922, when he had been +bossing the Philadelphia band for ten years. About that time he seemed +no longer satisfied with merely playing to his audiences--he started +talking to them. + +There were (and still are) two groups of Philadelphia Orchestra +subscribers--the Friday afternoon crowd, consisting largely of stuffy +dowagers, and the Saturday night clientele, composed mostly of persons +genuinely interested in music. + +The old society gals went to the Friday matinees because it was +the thing to do. While "that dear, handsome boy" and his men on the +platform were discoursing Beethoven, Schubert and Wagner, the ladies +swapped gossip, recipes and lamented the scarcity of skillful, loyal +but inexpensive domestics. + +It was at one of those whispering bees (your reporter, who was there, +swears it really happened) that, during the playing of a gossamer +pianissimo passage, a subscriber informed her neighbor in a resonant +contralto: + +"I always mix butter with MINE!" Mr. Stokowski did not address the +audience on that occasion. He gave his first lecture at another +concert, and then he scolded the women not for talking but for +applauding. + +Many of the Friday afternoon customers were in such a rush to catch +trains for their Main Line suburbs that they seldom remained long +enough to give conductor and orchestra a well-deserved ovation. So +nobody ever quite knew whether the dead-pan Stoky was in earnest +or moved by an impish sense of humor when, following the usual thin +smattering of applause, he said: + +"This strange beating together of hands has no meaning, and to me +it is very disturbing. I do not like it. It destroys the mood my +colleagues and I have been trying to create with our music." + +Shortly afterward, the Philadelphia Orchestra and its blond, romantic +conductor invaded New York. Their Tuesday night concerts at Carnegie +Hall became the rage. The uninhibited music lovers of this town not +only applauded Stoky but cheered, yelled and stamped to express their +frenzied approval. He never lectured THEM. + +But in Philadelphia he continued his extra-conductorial antics. When +the audience hissed an ultra-modern composition, he told them: "I am +glad you are hissing. It is so much better than apathy." Another time, +when they booed an atonal piece, he repeated it immediately. + +He scolded the audience for coming late. He scolded them for leaving +early. Once he scolded them for coughing. They continued the rasping +noise. After the intermission, on Stoky's orders, the 100-odd men of +the orchestra walked out on the stage barking as if in the last stages +of an epidemic bronchial disease. + +All those didoes promptly made the front page. Thereafter Mr. +Stokowski, who had tasted blood, or rather, printer's ink, came out on +the average of once a month with a new notion to astound the Quakers. + +He shocked them with a demand for Sunday concerts--then a heresy in +Philadelphia. He changed the seating arrangement of the orchestra. He +discarded the wooden amphitheatre on which, since the dark symphonic +ages, the players had sat in tiers, and put them on chairs directly on +the stage. Then he shuffled the men, making the cellos change places +with the second violins, the battery with the basses. There must have +been some merit in all this switching, for several conductors copied +it. + +Next he announced that light was a distraction at a concert. +Henceforth, the Philadelphia Orchestra would play in darkness. Wails +of dismay from the Friday afternoon dowagers. How on earth was any one +going to see what her friends were wearing? + +At the next matinee the Academy of Music was black as a crypt. On +the stage, at each of the players' desks, hung a small, green-shaded +light. Then Mr. Stokowski walked out on the podium. The moment he had +mounted the dais, a spotlight was trained on his head, turning his +hair into a glittering golden halo. The ladies forgot all about their +friends' dresses. Why, the darling boy looked like an angel descended +into a tomb to waken the dead! + +Stoky explained to the press that the spot was necessary to enable his +men to follow the play of his facial expressions. + +Most conductors make their appearance in a leisurely manner. Carrying +the stick, they stride out on the platform, acknowledge the audience's +reception with a courtly bow, say a few kind words to the men, and +when musicians and listeners have composed themselves, begin the +concert. + +Leopold changed all that. Leander-like, he leaped from the wings, +dashed to the center of the stage, nodded curtly to the customers, +then accepted the baton which was handed to him, with a flourish, by +one of the viola players, and, before you could say "Wolfgang Amadeus +Mozart," plunged into the opening number. + +His audiences, particularly the ladies, doted on his conducting +technique. His slim, youthful, virile figure was held erect, his feet +remained still as if nailed to the floor, while his arms went through +a series of sensuously compelling, always graceful motions. The view +from the back was enhanced by the fact that the tailor who cut his +morning and evening coats was almost as great as Stoky himself. And +his hands! Ah, my dear, those hands----! + +There was so much ecstatic comment on those slender, nervous, +expressive hands that Mr. Stokowski decided to give the gals a full, +unhampered view. He did away with the baton. + +About the same time he invented a new way of rehearsing the +orchestra--the remote-control method. An assistant conductor wielded +the stick while Stoky sat in the rear of the dark hall manipulating an +intricate system of colored lights that made known his wishes to his +understudy on the platform. + +Mr. Stokowski is inordinately fond of gadgets and fancies himself as +quite a technical expert. When he first conducted for the radio he +strenuously objected to the arrangement whereby the engineers in the +control room had the last word as to the volume of sound that was to +go out on the air. + +Radio executives pacified him by rigging up an elaborate set of dials +on his desk. These he happily twirled, completely unaware that the +doodads were dead. + +Meanwhile--and please don't lose sight of this cardinal fact--he made +transcendently beautiful music. His stature as a conductor grew +with the years and so did the repertoire of scores he conducted from +memory. This feat involved heartbreaking work, for his memory, while +good, is not unusually retentive. In the middle years of his career, +he devoted from ten to twelve hours a day to studying scores. + +In periods when the Stokowski brain was unproductive of new stunts, +his private life and his recurrent rows with the directors of the +orchestra about matters of salary and control kept him in the papers. + +His divorce from Mme. Olga Samaroff, the pianist, a Texan born as Lucy +Hickenlooper, whom he married in the dim days when he conducted in +Cincinnati, provided Rittenhouse Square with chit-chat for a whole +winter. So did his marriage to Evangeline Brewster Johnson, an +extremely wealthy, eccentric and independent young woman, who later +divorced him. + +Mr. Stokowski's doings of the last few years can no longer be classed +as minor-league musical sensations. They have become Hot Hollywood +Stuff. First, there was his appearance in films. Then his +collaboration with Mickey Mouse. Then his friendship with Greta Garbo. +Then his five-month sentimental journey over half of Europe with the +Duse of the screen. Today he is as big a feature of the fan magazines +as Clark Gable and Robert Taylor. + +Upon his return from Europe in August, Stoky made the most amusing +remark of a long amusing career. He told this reporter: + +"I am not interested in publicity." + + + + +XXV + +SERGE KOUSSEVITZKY + + +In the official biographies of Serge Alexandrovitch Koussevitzky you +will find that the boss of the Boston Symphony learned the art and +mystery of conducting at the Royal Hochschule in Berlin under the +great Artur Nikisch, but in this town there lives and breathes a +rather well-known Russian pianist who tells a different story. + +Long ago, says this key-tickler, when he was a youth, he was hired by +Koussevitzky, then also a young fellow, to play the piano scores of +the entire standard symphony repertoire. + +He pounded away by the hour, the day and the week, while Koussevitzky +conducted, watching himself in a set of three tall mirrors in a corner +of the drawing room of his Moscow home. + +The job lasted just about a year, and our pianist has never looked at +a conductor since. + +There's also an anecdote to the effect that, much earlier, when Serge +was still a little boy in his small native town in the province of +Tver, in northern Russia, he would arrange the parlor chairs in rows +and, with some score open in front of him, conduct them. Once in +a while he'd stop short and berate the chairs. Then little Serge's +language was something awful. + +Whether these stories are true or not, the fact remains that Mr. +Koussevitzky became a conductor and a great one--one of the greatest. +The yarn of the mirrors is the most credible of the lot, for the +Russian batonist's platform appearance is so meticulous and his +movements are so obviously studied to produce the desired effects that +he seems to conduct before an imaginary pier glass. + +For elegant tailoring he has no peer among orchestral chiefs, except, +perhaps, Mr. Stokowski. It's a toss-up between the two. Both are as +sleek as chromium statues. Mr. Stokowski, slim, lithe, romantic in +a virile way, looks as a poet should look, but never does. Mr. +Koussevitzky, broad-shouldered, narrow-waisted, extremely military and +virile in a dramatic way, looks as a captain of dragoons in civvies +should have looked but never did. + +Mr. Koussevitzy's conductorial gestures are literally high, wide and +handsome. His wing-spread, so to speak, is much larger than that of +either Mr. Stokowski or Mr. Toscanini, and he has a greater repertoire +of unpredictable motions than both of them put together. Time cannot +wither, nor custom stale, the infinite variety of his shadow boxing. + +Those who knew his history look upon Mr. Koussevitzky's joyous, +unrestrained gymnastics with tolerant eyes. They realize that, for +years, he was forced to hide his fine figure and athletic prowess from +thousands of potential admirers. + +For Mr. Koussevitzky, before he became a conductor, was a world-famous +performer on the double bass, that big growling brute of an instrument +popularly known as the bull fiddle. In those days all that was visible +of his impressive person was his head, one of his shoulders and his +arms. + +He didn't want to be a bull fiddler any more than you or you or +you, and it's greatly to his credit and indicative of his iron will, +consuming ambition and extraordinary musicianship that he developed, +according to authoritative opinion, into the best bull fiddler of his +time. + +Here's what happened: + +Serge was the son of a violinist who scratched away for a meager +living in a third-rate theatre orchestra. The boy, intensely musical, +wished to be a fiddler like his father. When he was fourteen, his +family gave him their blessing, which was all they had to give, +and sent him to Moscow to try for a scholarship at the Philharmonic +School. + +He arrived with three rubles in his pocket. At the school he was told +that the only available scholarship was one in bull fiddling. Serge +tried for it and won. He was, so far as is known, the first musician +to make the barking monster into a solo instrument. + +An overburdened troubadour, he dragged the cumbersome thing all over +Russia and played it in recitals with amazing success. In 1903, when +Mr. Koussevitzky was twenty-nine (he's sixty-eight now but looks +a mettlesome fifty), the Czar decorated him--the only instance in +history of a decoration bestowed for bull fiddling. + +That same year, while giving a concert in Moscow, the virtuoso +happened to look into the audience and his eyes met those of a +stunning brunette in the front row. The owner of the lovely eyes, +Natalya Konstantinova Ushkova, became his wife two years later. + +Natalya, the daughter of a wealthy merchant and a rich girl in her own +right, promised him anything he wanted for a wedding gift. "Give me a +symphony orchestra." was Koussevitzky's startling request. The bride +was taken aback, for it was with the bull fiddle that he had wooed and +won her and she hated to see him give it up, but she kept her word. + +Now here is where our old pianist comes in. It was at that time, he +says, that Mr. Koussevitzky sent for him and began an intensive course +of study before the triple mirror. + +A year or so later Natalya hired eighty-five of the best musicians in +Moscow. After a season of rehearsals Mr. Koussevitzky took his band on +tour aboard a steamer--a little gift from his father-in-law. + +They rode up and down the Volga. Every evening the vessel--a sort of +musical showboat--tied up at a different city, town or village and the +orchestra gave a concert, often before peasants and small-town +folk who had never heard symphony music before. In seven years Mr. +Koussevitzky and his men traveled some 3,000 miles. + +Came the revolution. Kerensky ordered Koussevitzy and his men: "Keep +up with your music." They did, but it wasn't easy. It was a terribly +severe winter; the country was in the killing grip of cold and famine. + +Koussevitzky and his players starved for weeks on end. The boss +conducted in mittens. The men wore mittens, too, but they had holes in +them, so they could finger the strings and keys of their instruments. + +The Bolsheviks made Mr. Koussevitzky director of the state orchestras +which, in those early Soviet days, were at low musical ebb. He labored +in that job for three years, from 1917 to 1920, but he was out of +sympathy with the Lenin-Trotzky regime and asked permission to leave +the country. It was refused because officials said, "Russia needs your +music." + +The fiery Koussevitzky told the Government that, unless he were +allowed to travel abroad, he'd never play or conduct another note in +Russia. They let him go. + +Mr. Koussevitzky says that the Bolsheviks robbed him of about a +million in money, land and other property. In illustration of the +state of things that impelled him to leave his native land, he likes +to tell this story: + +A minor Bolshevik official came in one day to check up on the affairs +of the orchestra. "Who are those people?" he asked, pointing to a +group of players at the conductor's left. "Those," said Koussevitzky, +"are the first violins." + +"And those over there?" asked the inspector, indicating a group at the +conductor's right. "The second violins," was the reply. + +"What!" yelled the official. "Second violins in a Soviet state +orchestra? Clear them out!" + +Mr. Koussevitzky went to Paris, where he conducted a series of +orchestral concerts and performances of Moussorgsky's "Boris +Godounoff" and Tschaikowsky's "Pique Dame" at the Opera. Between 1921 +and 1924 he also appeared in Barcelona, Rome and Berlin. In Paris +he established a music publishing house (still in existence), which +issued the works of such modern Russian composers as Stravinsky, +Scriabine, Medtner, Prokofieff and Rachmaninoff. + +In 1924, the offer of a $50,000 salary and the opportunity of +rebuilding the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which had sadly deteriorated +since the days of Dr. Karl Muck, lured him to this country. + +American customs, he now admits, at first appalled him. He was amazed +to find musicians smoking in intermissions at rehearsals and concert. +This he called "an insult to art." He forbade smoking. The players +raised an unholy rumpus, but Koussevitzky persisted. The men haven't +taken a puff in Symphony Hall since that time. + +The next unpopular move he made was to fire a number of the old +standbys who had sat in the orchestra for most of its forty-four-year +history. "I vant yongk blott!" he cried in his then still very thick +accent. "If dose old chentlemen vant to sleep, let dem sleep in deir +houses!" + +The Boston music lovers didn't like it. To them the Symphony is a +sacred cow and they regarded the older members in the light of +special pets. But when, at the opening of the new season, they heard +a brilliant, completely rejuvenated orchestra, they forgave the new +conductor. Since then, he has restored the Symphony to its old-time +glory. Today Beacon Hill has no greater favorite than Serge +Alexandrovitch Koussevitzky. + +The orchestra men, too, learned to like him. They discovered that, +with all his public histrionics, he was on the level as a musician. +He is a merciless task master, but in rehearsals he gives himself no +airs. Dressed in an old pair of pants and a disreputable brown woolen +sweater, which he has worn in private since the day he landed in +Boston, he works like a stevedore. When he, the pants and the sweater +had been with the Symphony ten years, the men gave him a testimonial +dinner. + +Next to Mr. Toscanini he's the world's most temperamental conductor, +but he has the ability to keep himself in check--when he wants to. +"Koussevitzky," says Ernest Newman, the eminent English music critic, +"has a volcanic temperament, yet never have I known it to run away +with him. It is precisely when his temperament is at the boiling point +that his hand on the regulator is steadiest." + +At a concert in Carnegie Hall four years ago he gave a dramatic +demonstration of self-control. He was conducting Debussy's "Prelude +to the Afternoon of a Faun," when smoke from an incinerator fire in a +neighboring building penetrated the hall. The smoke grew dense. People +rose, rushed for the exits in near-panic. Women screamed. + +He stopped the orchestra, turned to the audience, held up his hand and +shouted: + +"Come back! Sit down! Sit down--all of you! Everything is all right!" + +The customers meekly resumed their seats. Mr. Koussevitzky swung +'round and continued playing Debussy's brooding, sensuous dreampiece +as if nothing had happened. + +Because he has done so much, both as conductor and publisher, for +living composers (he is the high priest of the Sibelius cult), he has +been called a modernist. The label infuriates him. + +"Nonsense!" he snarls. "I'm not a modernist and I'm not a classicist. +I'm a musician! The first movement of the Ninth Symphony of Beethoven +is the greatest music ever written and George Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in +Blue' is a masterpiece." + +"There you are! Make the best of it!" + +[Transcriber's Notes: +a. The spelling of names and places are noted as having changed +between the publication of this book and the year 2004: +Chapter I (Palestrina): +'Michael Angelo' vs. 'Michaelangelo' (also in Chapter VI) +Chapter II (Bach): +Leipsic vs. Leipzig (repeated in following chapters) +Lueneberg vs. Lueneburg +Chapter X (Mendelssohn): +'Dreifaltigkeit Kirch-hof' vs. 'Dreifaltigkeit Kirchhof' +'Wiemar' vs. 'Weimar' +Chapter XIII (Berlioz): +Academie vs. Academie +Chapter XIV (Verdi): +'Sant' Agata' vs. 'Sant'Agata' +'Apeninnes' vs. 'Apennines' +'Corsia di Servi' vs. 'Corsia dei Servi' +Chpater XXI (McDowell): +Frankfort vs. Frankfurt (Germany) +Peterboro vs. Peterborough (New Hampshire) + * * * * * +b. Spelling errors found, not corrected: +beseiged (besieged); +Esterhazy (spelled unaccented twice) vs. Esterhazy (spelled with accent +6 times) +Carreno vs. Carreno (Teresa; each spelling used once.) +Academie (Academie) +Scandanavia (Scandinavia) + * * * * * +c. Obvious spelling errors corrected: +Lueneberg (in 1 place) to Lueneburg (this spelling found in 3 places) +Febuary to February (One day in February ...); +obsorbed to absorbed (... soon became so absorbed ...); +polish to Polish (... a Polish emigre ...); +Intrumental to Instrumental (Instrumental music no longer satisfied ...); +Opportunties to opportunities (... greater opportunties for an +ambitious ...); +financee to fiancee (... assisted by his +financee ...); +turing to turning (... turing his hair ...) + * * * * * +d. Chapter numbers (Roman numerals) omitted +for start of chapters on Toscanini, Stokowski and Koussevitzky, +but were present in the Table of Contents; +so the proper numbers (XXIII, XXIV, XXV) were entered in the proper +places.] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The World's Great Men of Music, by Harriette Brower + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WORLD'S GREAT MEN OF MUSIC *** + +***** This file should be named 13291.txt or 13291.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/2/9/13291/ + +Produced by Ronald Holder and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + |