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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/17463-8.txt b/17463-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9f6a3d4 --- /dev/null +++ b/17463-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7723 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Great Violinists And Pianists, by George T. Ferris + +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: Great Violinists And Pianists + +Author: George T. Ferris + +Release Date: January 4, 2006 [EBook #17463] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GREAT VIOLINISTS AND PIANISTS *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +GREAT VIOLINISTS AND PIANISTS + +By George T. Ferris + + +Copyright, 1881, By D. Appleton and Company. + + + +NOTE + +The title of this little book may be misleading to some of its readers, +in its failure to include sketches of many eminent artists well worthy +to be classed under such a head. There has been no attempt to cover +the immense field of executive music, but only to call attention to the +lives of those musical celebrities who are universally recognized as +occupying the most exalted places in the arts of violin and pianoforte +playing; who stand forth as landmarks in the history of music. To do +more than this, except in a merely encyclopedic fashion, within the +allotted space, would have been impossible. The same necessity of limits +has also compelled the writer to exclude consideration of the careers +of noted living performers; as it was thought best that discrimination +should be in favor of those great artists whose careers have been +completely rounded and finished. + +An exception to the above will be noted in the case of Franz Liszt; but, +aside from the fact that this greatest of piano-forte virtuosos, though +living, has practically retired from the held of art, to omit him from +such a volume as this would be an unpardonable omission. In connection +with the personal lives of the artists sketched in this volume, the +attempt has been made, in a general, though necessarily imperfect, +manner, to trace the gradual development of the art of playing from its +cruder beginnings to the splendid virtuosoism of the present time. +The sources from which facts have been drawn are various, and, it +is believed, trustworthy, including French, German, and English +authorities, in some cases the personal reminiscences of the artists +themselves. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +THE VIOLINISTS AND PIANISTS. + +The Ancestry of the Violin.--The Origin of the Cremona School of +Violin-Making.--The Amatis and Stradiuarii.--Extraordinary Art +Activity of Italy at this Period.--Antonius Stradiuarius and Joseph +Guarnerius.--Something about the Lives of the Two Greatest Violin-Makers +of the World.--Corelli, the First Great Violinist.--His Contemporaries +and Associates.--Anecdotes of his Career.--Corelli's +Pupil, Geminiani.--Philidor, the Composer, Violinist, and +Chess-Player.--Giuseppe Tartini.--Becomes an Outcast from his Family +on Account of his Love of Music.--Anecdote of the Violinist +Vera-cini.--Tartini's Scientific Discoveries in Music.--His Account of +the Origin of the "Devil's Trill."--Tartini's Pupils. + + +VIOTTI. + +Viotti, the Connecting Link between the Early and Modern Violin +Schools.--His Immense Superiority over his Contemporaries and +Predecessors.--Other Violinists of his Time, Giornowick and +Boccherini.--Viotti's Early Years.--His Arrival in Paris, and the +Sensation he made.--His Reception by the Court.--Viotti's Personal Pride +and Dignity.--His Rebuke to Princely Impertinence.--The Musical Circles +of Paris.--Viotti's Last Public Concert in Paris.--He suddenly departs +for London.--Becomes Director of the King's Theatre.--Is compelled to +leave the Country as a Suspected Revolutionist.--His Return to England, +and Metamorphosis into a Vintner.--The French Singer, Garat, finds him +out in his London Obscurity.--Anecdote of Viotti's Dinner Party.--He +quits the Wine Trade for his own Profession.--Is made Director of the +Paris Grand Opéra.--Letter from Rossini.--Viotti's Account of the "Ranz +des Vaches."--Anecdotes of the Great Violinist.--Dies in London in +1824.--Viotti's Place as a Violinist, and Style of Playing.--The Tourté +Bow first invented during his Time.--An Indispensable Factor in Great +Playing on the Violin.--Viotti's Pupils, and his Influence on the +Musical Art. + + +LUDWIG SPOHR. + +Birth and Early Life of the Violinist Spohr.--He is presented with his +First Violin at six.--The French _Emigré_ Dufour uses his Influence with +Dr. Spohr, Sr., to have the Boy devoted to a Musical Career.--Goes +to Brunswick for fuller Musical Instruction.--Spohr is appointed +_Kammer-musicus_ at the Ducal Court.--He enters under the Tuition of +and makes a Tour with the Violin Virtuoso Eck.--Incidents of the Russian +Journey and his Return.--Concert Tour in Germany.--Loses his Fine +Guarnerius Violin.--Is appointed Director of the Orchestra at Gotha.--He +marries Dorette Schiedler, the Brilliant Harpist.--Spohr's Stratagem to +be present at the Erfurt Musical Celebration given by Napoleon in +Honor of the Allied Sovereigns.--Becomes Director of Opera in +Vienna.--Incidents of his Life and Production of Various Works.--First +Visit to England.--He is made Director of the Cassel Court +Oratorios.--He is retired with a Pension.--Closing Years of his +Life.--His Place as Composer and Executant. + + +NICOLO PAGANINI. + +The Birth of the Greatest of Violinists.--His Mother's +Dream.--Extraordinary Character and Genius.--Heine's Description of his +Playing.--Leigh Hunt on Paganini.--Superstitious Rumors current +during his Life.--He is believed to be a Demoniac.--His Strange +Appearance.--Early Training and Surroundings.--Anecdotes of +his Youth.--Paga-nini's Youthful Dissipations.--His Passion for +Gambling.--He acquires his Wonderful Guarnerius Violin.--His Reform +from the Gaming-table.--Indefatigable Practice and Work as a Young +Artist.--Paganini as a _Preux Chevalier_.--His Powerful Attraction for +Women.--Episode with a Lady of Rank.--Anecdotes of his Early Italian +Concertizing.--The Imbroglio at Ferrara.--The Frail Health of +Paganini.--Wonderful Success at Milan where he first plays One of +the Greatest of his Compositions, "Le Streghe."--Duel with +Lafont.--Incidents and Anecdotes.--His First Visit to Germany.--Great +Enthusiasm of his Audiences.--Experiences at Vienna, Berlin, and other +German Cities.--Description of Paganini, in Paris, by Castil-Blaze and +Fetis.--His English Reception and the Impression made.--Opinions of the +Critics.--Paganini not pleased with England.--Settles in Paris for Two +Years, and becomes the Great Musical Lion.--Simplicity and Amiability +of Nature.--Magnificent Generosity to Hector Berlioz.--The Great +Fortune made by Paganini.--His Beautiful Country Seat near Parma.--An +Unfortunate Speculation in Paris.--The Utter Failure of his +Health.--His Death at Nice.--Characteristics and Anecdotes.--Interesting +Circumstances of his Last Moments.--The Peculiar Genius of Paganini, and +his Influence on Art. + + +DE BÉRIOT. + +De Bériot's High Place in the Art of the Violin and Violin Music.--The +Scion of an Impoverished Noble Family.--Early Education and Musical +Training.--He seeks the Advice of Viotti in Paris.--Becomes a Pupil of +Robrechts and Baillot successively.--De Bériot finishes and perfects his +Style on his Own Model.--Great Success in England.--Artistic Travels +in Europe.--Becomes Soloist to the King of the Netherlands.--He meets +Malibran, the Great Cantatrice, in Paris.--Peculiar Circumstances which +drew the Couple toward Each Other.--They form a Connection which only +ends with Malibran's Life.--Sketch of Malibran and her Family.--The +Various Artistic Journeys of Malibran and De Bériot.--Their Marriage +and Mme. de Bériot's Death.--De Bériot becomes Professor in the Brussels +Conservatoire.--His Later Life in Brussels.--His Son Charles Malibran de +Bériot.--The Character of De Bériot as Composer and Player. + + +OLE BULL. + +The Birth and Early Life of Ole Bull at Bergen, Norway.--His Family and +Connections.--Surroundings of his Boyhood.--Early Display of his Musical +Passion.--Learns the Violin without Aid.--Takes Lessons from an Old +Musical Professor, and soon surpasses his Master.--Anecdotes of his +Boyhood.--His Father's Opposition to Music as a Profession.--Competes +for Admittance to the University at Christiania.--Is consoled +for Failure by a Learned Professor.--"Better be a Fiddler than +a Preacher."--Becomes Conductor of the Philharmonic Society at +Bergen.--His first Musical Journey.--Sees Spohr.--Fights a Duel.--Visit +to Paris.--He is reduced to Great Pecuniary Straits.--Strange Adventure +with Vidocq, the Great Detective.--First Appearance in Concert in +Paris.--Romantic Adventure leading to Acquaintance.--First Appearance +in Italy.--Takes the Place of De Bériot by Great Good Luck.--Ole Bull +is most enthusiastically received.--Extended Concert Tour in Italy and +France.--His _Début_ and Success in England.--One Hundred and Eighty +Concerts in Six Months.--Ole Bull's Gaspar di Salo Violin, and the +Circumstances under which he acquired it.--His Answer to the King of +Sweden.--First Visit and Great Success in America in 1848.--Attempt +to establish a National Theatre.--The Norwegian Colony in +Pennsylvania.--Latter Years of Ole Bull.--His Personal Appearance.--Art +Characteristics. + + +MUZIO CLEMENTI. + +The Genealogy of the Piano-forte.--The Harpsichord its Immediate +Predecessor.--Supposed Invention of the Piano-forte.--Silbermann the +First Maker.--Anecdote of Frederick the Great.--The Piano-forte only +slowly makes its Way as against the Clavichord and Harpsichord.--Emanuel +Bach, the First Composer of Sonatas for the Piano-forte.--His Views +of playing on the New Instrument.--Haydn and Mozart as Players.--Muzio +Clementi, the Earliest Virtuoso, strictly speaking, as a Pianist.--Born +in Rome in 1752.--Scion of an Artistic Family.--First Musical +Training.--Rapid Development of his Talents.--Composes Contrapuntal +Works at the Age of Fourteen.--Early Studies of the Organ and +Harpsichord.--Goes to England to complete his Studies.--Creates +an Unequaled Furore in London.--John Christian Bach's Opinion of +Clementi.--Clementi's Musical Tour.--His Duel with Mozart before the +Emperor.--Tenor of Clementi's Life in England.--Clementi's Pupils.--Trip +to St. Petersburg.--Sphor's Anecdote of Him.--Mercantile and +Manufacturing Interest in the Piano as Partner of Collard.--The Players +and Composers trained under Clementi.--His Composition.--Status as +a Player.--Character and Influence as an Artist.--Development of the +Technique of the Piano, culminating in Clementi. + + +MOSCHELES. + +Clementi and Mozart as Points of Departure in Piano-forte +Playing.--Moscheles the most Brilliant Climax reached by the Viennese +School.--His Child-Life at Prague.--Extraordinary Precocity.--Goes to +Vienna as the Pupil of Salieri and Albrechtsburger.--Acquaintance with +Beethoven.--Moscheles is honored with a Commission to make a Piano +Transcription of Beethoven's "Fidelio."--His Intercourse with the Great +Man.--Concert Tour.--Arrival in Paris.--The Artistic Circle into which +he is received.--Pictures of Art-Life in Paris.--London and its Musical +Celebrities.--Career as a Wandering Virtuoso.--Felix Mendelssohn becomes +his Pupil.--The Mendelssohn Family.--Moseheles's Marriage to a +Hamburg Lady.--Settles in London.--His Life as Teacher, Player, and +Composer.--Eminent Place taken by Moscheles among the Musicians of +his Age.--His Efforts soothe the Sufferings of Beethoven's +Death-bed.--Friendship for Mendelssohn.--Moscheles becomes connected +with the Leipzig Conservatorium.--Death in 1870.--Moscheles as Pianist +and Composer.--Sympathy with the Old as against the New School of the +Piano.--His Powerful Influence on the Musical Culture and Tendencies of +his Age. + + +THE SCHUMANNS AND CHOPIN. + +Robert Schumann's Place as a National Composer.--Peculiar Greatness as +a Piano-forte Composer.--Born at Zwickau in 1810.--His Father's +Aversion to his Musical Studies.--Becomes a Student of Jurisprudence +in Leipzig.--Makes the Acquaintance of Clara Wieck.--Tedium of his Law +Studies.--Vacation Tour to Italy.--Death of his Father, and Consent +of his Mother to Schumann adopting the Profession of Music.--Becomes +Wieck's Pupil.--Injury to his Hand which prevents all Possibilities of +his becoming a Great Performer.--Devotes himself to Composition.--The +Child, Clara Wieck--Remarkable Genius as a Player.--Her Early +Training.--Paganini's Delight in her Genius.--Clara Wieck's +Concert Tours.--Schumann falls deeply in Love with her, and +Wieck's Opposition.--His Allusions to Clara in the "Neue +Zeit-schrift."--Schumann at Vienna.--His Compositions at first +Unpopular, though played by Clara Wieck and Liszt.--Schumann's Labors +as a Critic.--He marries Clara in 1840.--His Song Period inspired by +his Wife.--Tour to Russia, and Brilliant Reception given to the +Artist Pair.--The "Neue Zeitschrift" and its Mission.--The +Davidsbund.--Peculiar Style of Schumann's Writing.--He moves to +Dresden.--Active Production in Orchestral Composition.--Artistic Tour in +Holland.--He is seized with Brain Disease.--Characteristics as a Man, +as an Artist, and as a Philosopher.--Mme. Schumann as her Husband's +Interpreter.--Chopin a Colaborer with Schumann.--Schumann on Chopin +again.--Chopin's Nativity.--Exclusively a Piano-forte Composer.--His +Genre as Pianist and Composer.--Aversion to Concert-giving.--Parisian +Associations.--New Style of Technique demanded by his Works.--Unique +Treatment of the Instrument.--Characteristics of Chopin's Compositions. + + +THALBERG AND GOTTSCHALK. + +Thalberg one of the Greatest of Executants.--Rather a Man of Remarkable +Talents than of Genius.--Moseheles's Description of him.--The +Illegitimate Son of an Austrian Prince.--Early Introduction to +Musical Society in London and Vienna.--Beginning of his Career as a +Virtuoso.--The Brilliancy of his Career.--Is appointed Court Pianist to +the Emperor of Austria.--His Marriage.--Visits to America.--Thalberg's +Artistic Idiosyncrasy.--Robert Schumann on his Playing.--His Appearance +and Manner.--Characterization by George William Curtis.--Thalberg's +Style and Worth as an Artist.--His Piano-forte Method, and Place as a +Composer for the Piano.--Gottschalk's Birth and Early Years.--He is sent +to Paris for Instruction.--Successful _Début_ and Publie Concerts +in Paris and Tour through the French Cities.--Friendship with +Berlioz.--Concert Tour to Spain.--Romantic Experiences.--Berlioz on +Gottschalk.--Reception of Gottschalk in America.--Criticism of his +Style.--Remarkable Success of his Concerts.--His Visit to the West +Indies, Mexico, and Central America.--Protracted Absence.--Gottschalk +on Life in the Tropics.--Return to the United States.--Three Brilliant +Musical Years.--Departure for South America.--Triumphant Procession +through the Spanish-American Cities.--Death at Rio Janeiro.--Notes on +Gottschalk as Man and Artist. + + +FRANZ LISZT. + +The Spoiled Favorite of Fortune.--His Inherited Genius.--Birth and +Early Training.--First Appearance in Concert.--Adam Liszt and his Son +in Paris.--Sensation made by the Boy's Playing.--His Morbid Religious +Sufferings.--Franz Liszt thrown on his own Resources.--The Artistic +Circle in Paris.--Liszt in the Ranks of Romanticism.--His Friends and +Associates.--Mme. D'Agoult and her Connection with Franz +Liszt.--He retires to Geneva.--Is recalled to Paris by the Thalberg +_Furore_.--Rivalry between the Artists and their Factions.--He commences +his Career as Traveling Virtuoso.--The Blaze of Enthusiasm throughout +Europe.--Schumann on Liszt as Man and Artist.--He ranks the Hungarian +Virtuoso as the Superior of Thalberg.--Liszt's Generosity to his own +Countrymen.--The Honors paid to him in Pesth.--Incidents of his +Musical Wanderings.--He loses the Proceeds of Three Hundred +Concerts.--Contributes to the Completion of the Cologne Cathedral.--His +Connection with the Beethoven Statue at Bonn, and the Celebration of +the Unveiling.--Chorley on Liszt.--Berlioz and Liszt.--Character of the +Enthusiasm called out by Liszt as an Artist.--Remarkable Personality +as a Man.--Berlioz characterizes the Great Virtuoso in a Letter.--Liszt +ceases his Life as a Virtuoso, and becomes Chapel-Master and Court +Conductor at Weimar.--Avowed Belief in the New School of Music, and +Production of Works of this School.--Wagner's Testimony to Liszt's +Assistance.--Liszt's Resignation of his Weimar Post after Ten +Years.--His Subsequent Life.--He takes Holy Orders.--Liszt as a Virtuoso +and Composer.--Entitled to be placed among the most Remarkable Men of +his Age. + + + + +THE GREAT VIOLINISTS AND PIANISTS. + + + + +THE VIOLIN AND EARLY VIOLINISTS. + +The Ancestry of the Violin.--The Origin of the Cremona School of +Violin-Making.--The Amatis and Stradiuarii.--Extraordinary Art +Activity of Italy at this Period.--Antonius Stradiuarius and Joseph +Guarnerius.--Something about the Lives of the Two Greatest Violin-Makers +of the World.--Corelli, the First Great Violinist.--His Contemporaries +and Associates.--Anecdotes of his Career.--Corelli's +Pupil, Geminiani.--Philidor, the Composer, Violinist, and +Chess-Player.--Giuseppe Tartini.--Becomes an Outcast from his Family +on Account of his Love of Music.--Anecdote of the Violinist +Veracini.--Tartini's Scientific Discoveries in Music.--His Account of +the Origin of the "Devil's Trill."--Tartini's Pupils. + + +I. + +The ancestry of the violin, considering this as the type of stringed +instruments played with a bow, goes back to the earliest antiquity; and +innumerable passages might be quoted from the Oriental and classical +writers illustrating the important part taken by the forefathers of the +modern violin in feast, festival, and religious ceremonial, in the fiery +delights of battle, and the more dulcet enjoyments of peace. But it +was not till the fifteenth century, in Italy, that the art of making +instruments of the viol class began to reach toward that high perfection +which it speedily attained. The long list of honored names connected +with the development of art in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth +centuries is a mighty roll-call, and among these the names of the great +violin-makers, beginning with Gaspard de Salo, of Brescia, who first +raised a rude craft to an art, are worthy of being included. From +Brescia came the masters who established the Cremona school, a name not +only immortal in the history of music, but full of vital significance; +for it was not till the violin was perfected, and a distinct school of +violin-playing founded, that the creation of the symphony, the highest +form of music, became possible. + +The violin-makers of Cremona came, as we have said, from Brescia, +beginning with the Ama-tis. Though it does not lie within the province +of this work to discuss in any special or technical sense the history of +violin-making, something concerning the greatest of the Cremona masters +will be found both interesting and valuable as preliminary to the +sketches of the great players which make up the substance of the +volume. The Amatis, who established the violin-making art at Cremona, +successively improved, each member of the class stealing a march on +his predecessor, until the peerless masters of the art, Antonius +Stradiuarius and Joseph Guarnerius del Jesű, advanced far beyond the +rivalry of their contemporaries and successors. The pupils of the +Amatis, Stradiuarius, and Guarnerius settled in Milan, Florence, and +other cities, which also became centers of violin-making, but never to +an extent which lessened the preeminence of the great Cremona makers. +There was one significant peculiarity of all the leading artists of this +violin-making epoch: each one as a pupil never contented himself with +making copies of his master's work, but strove incessantly to strike +out something in his work which should be an outcome of his own genius, +knowledge, and investigation. It was essentially a creative age. + +Let us glance briefly at the artistic activity of the times when the +violin-making craft leaped so swiftly and surely to perfection. If we +turn to the days of Gaspard di Salo, Morelli, Magini, and the Amatis, we +find that when they were sending forth their fiddles, Raphael, Leonardo +da Vinci, Titian, and Tintoretto were busily painting their great +canvases. While Antonius Stradiuarius and Joseph Guarnerius were +occupied with the noble instruments which have immortalized their names, +Canaletto was painting his Venetian squares and canals, Giorgio was +superintending the manufacture of his inimitable maiolica, and the +Venetians were blowing glass of marvelous beauty and form. In the +musical world, Corelli was writing his gigues and sarabandes, Geminiani +composing his first instruction book for the violin, and Tartini +dreaming out his "Devil's Trill"; and while Guadognini (a pupil of +Antonius Stradiuarius), with the stars of lesser magnitude, were +exercising their calling, Viotti, the originator of the school of modern +violin-playing, was beginning to write his concertos, and Boccherini +laying the foundation of chamber music. + +Such was the flourishing state of Italian art during the great Cremona +period, which opened up a mine of artistic wealth for succeeding +generations. It is a curious fact that not only the violin but violin +music was the creature of the most luxurious period of art; for, in that +golden age of the creative imagination, musicians contemporary with the +great violin-makers were writing music destined to be better understood +and appreciated when the violins then made should have reached their +maturity. + +There can be no doubt that the conditions were all highly favorable +to the manufacture of great instruments. There were many composers +of genius and numerous orchestras scattered over Italy, Germany, and +France, and there must have been a demand for bow instruments of a high +order. In the sixteenth century, Palestrina and Zarlino were writing +grand church music, in which violins bore an important part. In the +seventeenth, lived Stradella, Lotti, Buononcini, Lulli, and Corelli. In +the eighteenth, when violin-making Avas at its zenith, there were such +names among the Italians as Scarlatti, Geminiani, Vivaldi, Locatelli, +Boccherini, Tartini, Piccini, Viotti, and Nardini; while in France it +was the epoch of Lecler and Gravinies, composers of violin music of +the highest class. Under the stimulus of such a general art culture the +makers of the violin must have enjoyed large patronage, and the more +eminent artists have received highly remunerative prices for their +labors, and, correlative to this practical success, a powerful stimulus +toward perfecting the design and workmanship of their instruments. These +plain artisans lived quiet and simple lives, but they bent their whole +souls to the work, and belonged to the class of minds of which Carlyle +speaks: "In a word, they willed one thing to which all other things were +made subordinate and subservient, and therefore they accomplished it. +The wedge will rend rocks, but its edge must be sharp and single; if it +be double, the wedge is bruised in pieces and will rend nothing." + + +II. + +So much said concerning the general conditions under which the craft +of violin-making reached such splendid excellence, the attention of the +reader is invited to the greatest masters of the Cremona school. + + + "The instrument on which he played + Was in Cremona's workshops made, + By a great master of the past, + Ere yet was lost the art divine; + Fashioned of maple and of pine, + That in Tyrolean forests vast + Had rooked and wrestled with the blast. + + "Exquisite was it in design, + A marvel of the lutist's art, + Perfect in each minutest part; + And in its hollow chamber thus + The maker from whose hand it came + Had written his unrivaled name, + 'Antonius Stradivarius.'" + + +The great artist whose work is thus made the subject of Longfellow's +verse was born at Cremona in 1644. His renown is beyond that of all +others, and his praise has been sounded by poet, artist, and musician. +He has received the homage of two centuries, and his name is as little +likely to be dethroned from its special place as that of Shakespeare +or Homer. Though many interesting particulars are known concerning +his life, all attempt has failed to obtain any connected record of the +principal events of his career. Perhaps there is no need, for there +is ample reason to believe that Antonius Stradiuarius lived a quiet, +uncheckered, monotonous existence, absorbed in his labor of making +violins, and caring for nothing in the outside world which did not touch +his all-beloved art. Without haste and without rest, he labored for +the perfection of the violin. To him the world was a mere workshop. The +fierce Italian sun beat down and made Cremona like an oven, but it was +good to dry the wood for violins. On the slopes of the hills grew grand +forests of maple, pine, and willow, but he cared nothing for forest +or hillside except as they grew good wood for violins. The vineyards +yielded rich wine, but, after all, the main use of the grape was that it +furnished the spirit wherewith to compound varnish. The sheep, ox, and +horse were good for food, but still more important because from them +came the hair of the bow, the violin strings, and the glue which held +the pieces together. It was through this single-eyed devotion to +his life-work that one great maker was enabled to gather up all the +perfections of his predecessors, and stand out for all time as the +flower of the Cremonese school and the master of the world. George +Eliot, in her poem, "The Stradivari," probably pictures his life +accurately: + + + "That plain white-aproned man, who stood at work, + Patient and accurate full fourscore years, + Cherished his sight and touch by temperance; + And since keen sense is love of perfectness, + Made perfect violins, the needed paths + For inspiration and high mastery." + + +M. Fetis, in his notice of the greatest of violin-makers, summarizes his +life very briefly. He tells us the life of Antonius Stradiuarius was +as tranquil as his calling was peaceful. The year 1702 alone must have +caused him some disquiet, when during the war the city of Cremona was +taken by Marshal Villeroy, on the Imperialist side, retaken by Prince +Eugene, and finally taken a third time by the French. That must have +been a parlous time for the master of that wonderful workshop whence +proceeded the world's masterpieces, though we may almost fancy the +absorbed master, like Archimedes when the Romans took Syracuse, so +intent on his labor that he hardly heard the din and roar of battle, +till some rude soldier disturbed the serene atmosphere of the room +littered with shavings and strewn with the tools of a peaceful craft. + +Polledro, not many years ago first violin at the Chapel Royal of Turin, +who died at a very advanced age, declared that his master had known +Stradiuarius, and that he was fond of talking about him. He was, he +said, tall and thin, with a bald head fringed with silvery hair, covered +with a cap of white wool in the winter and of cotton in the summer. He +wore over his clothes an apron of white leather when he worked, and, as +he was always working, his costume never varied. He had acquired what +was regarded as wealth in those days, for the people of Cremona were +accustomed to say "As rich as Stradiuarius." The house he occupied is +still standing in the Piazza Roma, and is probably the principal place +of interest in the old city to the tourists who drift thitherward. +The simple-minded Cremonese have scarcely a conception to-day of the +veneration with which their ancient townsman is regarded by the musical +connoisseurs of the world. It was with the greatest difficulty that they +were persuaded a few years ago, by the efforts of Italian and French +musicians, to name one street Stradiuarius, and another Amati. Nicholas +Amati, the greatest maker of his family, was the instructor of Antonius +Stradiuarius, and during the early period of the latter artist the +instruments could hardly be distinguished from those of Amati. But, in +after-years, he struck out boldly in an original line of his own, and +made violins which, without losing the exquisite sweetness of the Amati +instruments, possessed far more robustness and volume of tone, reaching, +indeed, a combination of excellences which have placed his name high +above all others. It may be remarked of all the Cremona violins of the +best period, whether Amati, Stradiuarius, Guarnerius, or Steiner, +that they are marked no less by their perfect beauty and delicacy of +workmanship than by their charm of tone. These zealous artisans were not +content to imprison the soul of Ariel in other form than the lines +and curves of ideal grace, exquisitely marked woods, and varnish as of +liquid gold. This external beauty is uniformly characteristic of the +Cremona violins, though shape varies in some degree with each maker. +Of the Stradiuarius violins it may be said, before quitting the +consideration of this maker, that they have fetched in latter years +from one thousand to five thousand dollars. The sons and grandsons of +Antonius were also violin-makers of high repute, though inferior to the +chief of the family. + +The name of Joseph Guarnerius del Jesű is only less in estimation than +that of Antonius Stradiuarius, of whom it is believed by many he was a +pupil or apprentice, though of this there is no proof. Both his uncle +Andreas and his cousin Joseph were distinguished violin-makers, but the +Guarnerius patronymic has now its chiefest glory from that member known +as "del Jesű." This great artist in fiddle-making was born at Cremona in +the year 1683, and died in 1745. He worked in his native place till +the day of his death, but in his latter years Joseph del Jesű became +dissipated, and his instruments fell off somewhat in excellence of +quality and workmanship. But his _chef d'oeuvres_ yield only to those +of the great Stradiuarius in the estimation of connoisseurs. Many of the +Guarnerius violins, it is said, were made in prison, where the artist +was confined for debt, with inferior tools and material surreptitiously +obtained for him by the jailer's daughter, who was in love with the +handsome captive. These fruits of his skill were less beautiful in +workmanship, though marked by wonderful sweetness and power of tone. +Mr. Charles Reade, a great violin amateur as well as a novelist, says of +these "prison" fiddles, referring to the comical grotesqueness of their +form: "Such is the force of genius, that I believe in our secret hearts +we love these impudent fiddles best, they are so full of _chic_." +Paganini's favorite was a Guarnerius del Jesű, though he had no less +than seven instruments of the greatest Cremona masters. Spohr, the +celebrated violinist and composer, offered to exchange his Strad, one +of the finest in the world, for a Guarnerius, in the possession of Mr. +Mawkes, an English musician. + +Carlo Bergonzi, the pupil of Antonius Stradiuarius, was another of the +great Cremona makers, and his best violins have commanded extraordinary +prices. He followed the model of his master closely, and some of his +instruments can hardly be distinguished in workmanship and tone from +genuine Strads. Something might be said, too, of Jacob Steiner, +who, though a German (born about 1620), got the inspiration for his +instruments of the best period so directly from Cremona that he ought +perhaps to be classified with the violin-makers of this school. His +famous violins, known as the Elector Steiners, were made under peculiar +circumstances. Almost heartbroken by the death of his wife, he retired +to a Benedictine monastery with the purpose of taking holy orders. +But the art-passion of his life was too strong, and he made in his +cloister-prison twelve instruments, on which he lavished the most +jealous care and attention. These were presented to the twelve Electors +of Germany, and their extraordinary merit has caused them to rank high +among the great violins of the world. A volume might be easily compiled +of anecdotes concerning violins and violin-makers. The vicissitudes +and changes of ownership through which many celebrated instruments have +passed are full of romantic interest. Each instrument of the greatest +makers has a pedigree, as well authenticated as those of the great +masterpieces of painting, though there have been instances where a Strad +or a Guarnerius has been picked up by some strange accident for a mere +trifle at an auction. There have been many imitations of the genuine +Cremonas palmed off, too, on the unwary at a high price, but the +connoisseur rarely fails to identify the great violins almost instantly. +For, aside from their magical beauty of tone, they are made with the +greatest beauty of form, color, and general detail. So much has been +said concerning the greatest violin-makers, in view of the fact that +coincident with the growth of a great school of art-manufacture in +violins there also sprang up a grand school of violin-playing; for, +indeed, the one could hardly have existed without the other. + + +III. + +The first great performer on the violin whose career had any special +significance, in its connection with the modern world of musical art, +was Archangelo Corelli, who was born at Fusignano, in the territory of +Bologna, in the year 1653. Corelli's compositions are recognized to-day +as types of musical purity and freshness, and the great number of +distinguished pupils who graduated from his teaching relate him closely +with all the distinguished violinists even down to the present day. In +Corelli's younger days the church had a stronger claim on musicians +than the theatre or concert-room. So we find him getting his earliest +instruction from the Capuchin Simonelli, who devoted himself to the +ecclesiastical style. The pupil, however, yielded to an irresistible +instinct, and soon put himself under the care of a clever and skillful +teacher, the well-known Bassani. Under this tuition the young musician +made rapid advancement, for he labored incessantly in the practice of +his instrument. At the age of twenty Corelli followed that natural bent +which carried him to Paris, then, as now, a great art capital; and we +are told, on the authority of Fetis, that the composer Lulli became +so jealous of his extraordinary skill that he obtained a royal mandate +ordering Corelli to quit Paris, on pain of the Bastille. + +In 1680 he paid a visit to Germany, and was specially well received, +and was so universally admired, that he with difficulty escaped the +importunate invitations to settle at various courts as chief musician. +After a three years' absence from his native land he returned and +published his first sonatas. The result of his assiduous labor was that +his fame as a violinist had spread all over Europe, and pupils came from +distant lands to profit by his instruction. We are told of his style as +a solo player that it was learned and elegant, the tone firm and even, +that his playing was frequently impressed with feeling, but that during +performance "his countenance was distorted, his eyes red as fire, and +his eyeballs rolled as if he were in agony." For about eighteen years +Corelli was domiciled at Rome, under the patronage of Cardinal Ottoboni. +As leader of the orchestra at the opera, he introduced many reforms, +among them that of perfect uniformity of bowing. By the violin sonatas +composed during this period, it is claimed that Corelli laid the +foundation for the art of violin-playing, though it is probable that he +profited largely by those that went before him. It was at the house of +Cardinal Ottoboni that Corelli met Handel, when the violent temper +of the latter did not hesitate to show itself. Corelli was playing a +sonata, when the imperious young German snatched the violin from his +hand, to show the greatest virtuoso of the age how to play the music. +Corelli, though very amiable in temper, knew how to make himself +respected. At one of the private concerts at Cardinal Ottoboni's, he +observed his host and others talking during his playing. He laid his +violin down and joined the audience, saying he feared his music might +interrupt the conversation. + +In 1708, according to Dubourg, Corelli accepted a royal invitation +from Naples, and took with him his second violin, Matteo, and a +violoncellist, in case he should not be well accompanied by the +Neapolitan orchestra. He had no sooner arrived than he was asked to play +some of his concertos before the king. This he refused, as the whole of +his orchestra was not with him, and there was no time for a rehearsal. +However, he soon found that the Neapolitan musicians played the +orchestral parts of his concertos as well as his own accompanists did +after some practice; for, having at length consented to play the first +of his concertos before the court, the accompaniment was so good +that Corelli is said to have exclaimed to Matteo: "_Si suona a +Napoli!_"--"They _do_ play at Naples!" This performance being quite +successful, he was presented to the king, who afterward requested him +to perform one of his sonatas; but his Majesty found the adagio "so +long and so dry that he got up and _left the room_ (!), to the great +mortification of the eminent virtuoso." As the king had commanded the +piece, the least he could have done would have been to have waited +till it was finished. "If they play at Naples, they are not very polite +there," poor Corelli must have thought! Another unfortunate mishap also +occurred to him there, if we are to believe the dictum of Geminiani, +one of Corelli's pupils, who had preceded him at Naples. It would appear +that he was appointed to lead a composition of Scarlatti's, and on +arriving at an air in C minor he led off in C major, which mistake he +twice repeated, till Scarlatti came on the stage and showed him the +difference. This anecdote, however, is so intrinsically improbable +that it must be taken with several "grains of salt." In 1712 Corelli's +concertos were beautifully engraved at Amsterdam, but the composer only +survived the publication a few weeks. A beautiful statue, bearing the +inscription "_Corelli princeps musicorum_," was erected to his memory, +adjacent that honoring the memory of Raffaelle in the Pantheon. He +accumulated a considerable fortune, and left a valuable collection of +pictures. The solos of Corelli have been adopted as valuable studies by +the most eminent modern players and teachers. + +Francesco Geminiani was the most remarkable of Corelli's pupils. Born at +Lucca in 1680, he finished his studies under Corelli at Rome, and spent +several years with great musical _éclat_ at Naples. In 1714 he went +to England, in which country he spent many years. His execution was of +great excellence, but his compositions only achieved temporary favor. +His life is said to have been full of romance and incident. Geminiani's +connection with Handel has a special musical interest. The king, who +arrived in England in September, 1714, and was crowned at Westminster a +month later, was irritated with Handel for having left Germany, where he +held the position of chapel-master to George, when Elector of Brunswick, +and still more so by his having composed a _Te Deum_ on the Peace of +Utrecht, which was not favorably regarded by the Protestant princes of +Germany. Baron Kilmanseck, a Hanoverian, and a great admirer of Handel, +undertook to bring them together again. Being informed that the king +intended to picnic on the Thames, he requested the composer to write +something for the occasion. Thereupon Handel wrote the twenty-five +little concerted pieces known under the title of "Water Music." They +were executed in a barge which followed the royal boat. The orchestra +consisted of four violins, one tenor, one violoncello, one double-bass, +two hautboys, two bassoons, two French horns, two flageolets, one flute, +and one trumpet. The king soon recognized the author of the music, +and his resentment against Handel began to soften. Shortly after this +Geminiani was requested to play some sonatas of his own composition in +the king's private cabinet; but, fearing that they would lose much +of their effect if they were accompanied in an inferior manner, he +expressed the desire that Handel should play the accompaniments. Baron +Kilmanseck carried the request to the king, and supported it strongly. +The result was that peace was made, and an extra pension of two hundred +pounds per annum settled upon Handel. Geminiani, after thirty-five +years spent in England, went to Paris for five years, where he was most +heartily welcomed by the musical world, but returned across the Channel +again to spend his latter years in Dublin. It was here that Matthew +Dubourg, whose book on "The Violin and Violinists" is a perfect +treasure-trove of anecdote, became his pupil. + +Another remarkable violinist was an intimate friend of Geminiani, a +name distinguished alike in the annals of chess-playing and music, André +Danican Philidor. This musician was born near Paris in 1726, and was the +grandson of the hautboy-player to the court of Louis XIII. His father +and several of his relations were also eminent players in the royal +orchestras of Louis XIV and Louis XV. Young Philidor was received into +the Chapel Royal at Versailles in 1732, being then six years old, and +when eleven he composed a motette which extorted much admiration. In +the Chapel Royal there were about eighty musicians daily in attendance, +violins, hautboys, violas, double-basses, choristers, etc.; and, +cards not being allowed, they had a long table inlaid with a number of +chess-boards, with which they amused their leisure time. When fourteen +years old Philidor was the best chess-player in the band. Four years +later he played at Paris two games of chess at the same time, without +seeing the boards, and afterward extended this feat to playing five +games simultaneously, which, though far inferior to the wonderful +feats of Morphy, Paulsen, and others in more recent years, very much +astonished his own generation. Philidor was an admirable violinist, and +the composer of numerous operas which delighted the French public for +many years. He died in London in 1759. + +There were several other pupils of Corelli who achieved rank in their +art and exerted a recognizable influence on music. Locatelli displayed +originality and genius in his compositions, and his studies, "Arte di +Nuova Modulazione," was studied by Paganini. Another pupil, Lorenzo +Somis, became noted as the teacher of Lecler, Pugnani (the professor of +Viotti), and Giardini. Visconti, of Cremona, who was taught by Corelli, +is said to have greatly assisted by his counsels the constructive genius +of Antonius Stradiuarius in making his magnificent instruments. + + +IV. + +The name of Giuseppe Tartini will recur to the musical reader more +familiarly than those previously mentioned. He was the scion of a noble +stock, and was born in Istria in 1692. Originally intended for the law, +he was entered at the University of Padua at the age of eighteen for +this profession, but his time was mostly given to the study of music and +fencing, in both of which he soon became remarkably proficient, so +that he surpassed the masters who taught him. It may be that accident +determined the future career of Tartini, for, had he remained at the +university, the whole bent of his life might have been different. Eros +exerted his potent sway over the young student, and he entered into a +secret marriage, that being the lowest price at which he could win his +_bourgeois_ sweetheart. Tartini became an outcast from his family, and +was compelled to fly and labor for his own living. After many hardships, +he found shelter in a convent at Assisi, the prior of which was a family +connection, who took compassion on the friendless youth. Here Tartini +set to work vigorously on his violin, and prosecuted a series of +studies which resulted in the "Sonata del Diavolo" and other remarkable +compositions. At last he was reconciled to his family through the +intercession of his monastic friend, and took his abode in Venice that +he might have the benefit of hearing the playing of Veracini, a great +but eccentric musician, then at the head of the Conservatario of that +city. Veracini was nicknamed "Capo Pazzo," or "mad-head," on account of +his eccentricity. Dubourg tells a curious story of this musician: Being +at Lucca at the time of the annual festival called "Festa della Croce," +on which occasion it was customary for the leading artists of Italy to +meet, Veracini put his name down for a solo. When he entered the choir, +he found the principal place occupied by a musician of some rank named +Laurenti. In reply to the latter's question, "Where are you going?" +Veracini haughtily answered, "To the place of the first violinist." It +was explained by Laurenti that he himself had been engaged to fill that +post, but, if his interlocutor wished to play a solo, he could have +the privilege either at high mass or at vespers. Evidently he did not +recognize Veracini, who turned away in a rage, and took his position +in the lowest place in the orchestra. When his turn came to play his +concerto, he begged that instead of it he might play a solo where he +was, accompanied on the violoncello by Lanzetti. This he did in so +brilliant and unexpected a manner that the applause was loud and +continued, in spite of the sacred nature of the place; and whenever he +was about to make a close, he turned toward Laurenti and called out: +"Cost se suona per fare il primo violino"--"This is the way to play +first violin." + +Veracini played upon a fine Steiner violin. The only master he ever had +was his uncle Antonio, of Florence; and it was by traveling all over +Europe, and by numerous performances in public, that he formed a +style of playing peculiar to himself, very similar to what occurred +to Pa-ganini and the celebrated De Bériot in later years. It does not +appear certain that Tartini ever took lessons from Veracini; but hearing +the latter play in public had no doubt a very great effect upon him, and +caused him to devote many years to the careful study of his instrument. +Some say that Veracini's performance awakened a vivid emulation in +Tartini, who was already acknowledged to be a very masterly player. Up +to the time, however, that Tartini first heard Veracini, he had +never attempted any of the more intricate and difficult feats of +violin-playing, as effected by the management of the bow. An intimate +friendship sprang up between the two artists and another clever +musician named Marcello, and they devoted much time to the study of the +principles of violin-playing, particularly to style and the varied kinds +of bowing. Veracini's mind afterward gave way, and Tartini withdrew +himself to Ancona, where in utter solitude he applied himself to working +out the fundamental principles of the bow in the technique of the +violin--principles which no succeeding violinist has improved or +altered. Tartini, even while absorbed in music, did not neglect the +study of science and mathematics, of which he was passionately fond, +and in the pursuit of which he might have made a name not less than his +reputation as a musician. It was at this time that Tartini made a very +curious discovery, known as the _phenomenon of the third sound_, which +created some sensation at the time, and has since given rise to numerous +learned discourses, but does not appear to have led to any great +practical result. Various memoirs or treatises were written by him, and +that in which he develops the nature of the _third sound_ is his "Tratto +di Musica se-condo la vera scienza de l'Armonia." In this and others of +his works, he appears much devoted to _theory_, and endeavors to place +all his practical facts upon a thoroughly scientific basis. The effect +known as the _third sound_ consists in the sympathetic resonance of a +third note when the two upper notes of a chord are played in perfect +tune. "If you do not hear the bass," Tartini would say to his pupils, +"the thirds or sixths which you are playing are not perfect in +intonation." + +At Ancona, Tartini attained such reputation as a player and musician +that he was appointed, in 1721, to the directorship of the orchestra of +the church of St. Anthony at Padua. Here, according to Fetis, he spent +the remaining forty-nine years of his life in peace and comfort, solely +occupied with the labors connected with the art he loved. + +His great fame brought him repeated offers from the principal cities of +Europe, even London and Paris, hat nothing could induce him to leave his +beloved Italy. Though Tartini could not have been heard out of Italy, +his violin school at Padua graduated many excellent players, who were +widely known throughout the musical world. Tartini's compositions +reached no less than one hundred and fifty works, distinguished not only +by beauty of melody and knowledge of the violin, but by soundness +of musical science. Some of his sonatas are still favorites in the +concert-room. Among these, the most celebrated is the "Trille +del Dia-volo," or "Devil's Sonata," composed under the following +circumstances, as related by Tartini himself to his pupil Lalande: + +"One night in 1713," he says, "I dreamed that I had made a compact with +the devil, who promised to be at my service on all occasions. Everything +succeeded according to my mind; my wishes were anticipated and desires +always surpassed by the assistance of my new servant. At last I thought +I would offer my violin to the devil, in order to discover what kind of +a musician he was, when, to my great astonishment, I heard him play +a solo, so singularly beautiful and with such superior taste and +precision, that it surpassed all the music I had ever heard or conceived +in the whole course of my life. I was so overcome with surprise and +delight that I lost my power of breathing, and the violence of this +sensation awoke me. Instantly I seized my violin in the hopes of +remembering some portion of what I had just heard, but in vain! The work +which this dream suggested, and which I wrote at the time, is doubtless +the best of all my compositions, and I still call it the 'Sonata del +Diavolo'; but it sinks so much into insignificance compared with what +I heard, that I would have broken my instrument and abandoned music +altogether, had I possessed any other means of subsistence." + +Tartini died at Padua in 1770, and so much was he revered and admired +in the city where he had spent nearly fifty years of his life, that his +death was regarded as a public calamity. He used to say of himself that +he never made any real progress in music till he was more than thirty +years old; and it is curious that he should have made a great change +in the nature of his performance at the age of fifty-two. Instead of +displaying his skill in difficulties of execution, he learned to prefer +grace and expression. His method of playing an adagio was regarded as +inimitable by his contemporaries; and he transmitted this gift to his +pupil Nardini, who was afterward called the greatest adagio player in +the world. Another of Tartini's great _élevés_ was Pugnani, who before +coming to him had been instructed by Lorenzo Somis, the pupil of +Corelli. So it may be said that Pugnani united in himself the schools of +Corelli and Tartini, and was thus admirably fitted to be the instructor +of that grand player, who was the first in date of the violin virtuosos +of modern times, Viotti. + +Both as composer and performer, Pugnani was held in great esteem +throughout Europe. His first meeting with Tartini was an incident of +considerable interest. He made the journey from Paris to Padua expressly +to see Tartini, and on reaching his destination he proceeded to the +house of the great violinist. + +Tartini received him kindly, and evinced some curiosity to hear him +play. Pugnani took up his instrument and commenced a well-known solo, +but he had not played many bars before Tartini suddenly seized his arm, +saying, "Too loud, my friend, too loud!" The Piedmontese began again, +but at the same passage Tartini stopped him again, exclaiming this time, +"Too soft, my good friend, too soft!" Pugnani therefore laid down the +violin, and begged of Tartini to give him some lessons. He was at +once received among Tartini's pupils, and, though already an excellent +artist, began his musical education almost entirely anew. Many anecdotes +have been foisted upon Pugnani, some evidently the creation of rivals, +and not worth repeating. Others, on the contrary, tend to enlighten us +upon the character of the man. Thus, when playing, he was so completely +absorbed in the music, that he has been known, at a public concert, to +walk about the platform during the performance of a favorite cadenza, +imagining himself alone in the room. Again, at the house of Madame +Denis, when requested to play before Voltaire, who had little or no +music in his soul, Pugnani stopped short, when the latter had the bad +taste to continue his conversation, remarking in a loud, clear voice, +"M. de Voltaire is very clever in making verses, but as regards music +he is devilishly ignorant." Pugnani's style of play is said to have been +very broad and noble, "characterized by that commanding sweep of the +bow, which afterward formed so grand a feature in the performance of +Viotti." He was distinguished as a composer as well as a player, and +among his numerous works are some seven or eight operas, which were very +successful for the time being on the Italian stage. + + + + +VIOTTI. + + +Viotti, the Connecting Link between the Early and Modern Violin +Schools.--His Immense Superiority over his Contemporaries and +Predecessors.--Other Violinists of his Time, Giornowick and +Boccherini.--Viotti's Early Years--His Arrival in Paris, and the +Sensation he made--His Reception by the Court.--Viotti's Personal Pride +and Dignity.--His Rebuke to Princely Impertinence.--The Musical Circles +of Paris.--Viotti's Last Publie Concert in Paris.--He suddenly departs +for London.--Becomes Director of the King's Theatre.--Is compelled to +leave the Country as a Suspected Revolutionist.--His Return to England, +and Metamorphosis into a Vintner.--The French Singer, Garat, finds him +out in his London Obscurity.--Anecdote of Viotti's Dinner Party.--He +quits the Wine Trade for his own Profession.--Is made Director of the +Paris Grand Opéra.--Letter from Rossini.--Viotti's Account of the +"Ranz des Vaches."--Anecdotes of the Great Violinist.--Dies in London in +1824.--Viotti's Place as a Violinist, and Style of Playing.--The Tourté +Bow first invented during his Time.--An Indispensable Factor in Great +Playing on the Violin.--Viotti's Pupils, and his Influence on the +Musical Art. + + +I. + +In the person of the celebrated Viotti we recognize the link connecting +the modern school of violin-playing with the schools of the past. He +was generally hailed as the leading violinist of his time, and his +influence, not merely on violin music but music in general, was of a +very palpable order. In him were united the accomplishments of the great +virtuoso and the gifts of the composer. At the time that Viotti's star +shot into such splendor in the musical horizon, there were not a few +clever violinists, and only a genius of the finest type could have +attained and perpetuated such a regal sway among his contemporaries. At +the time when Viotti appeared in Paris the popular heart was completely +captivated by Giornowick, whose eccentric and quarrelsome character as +a man cooperated with his artistic excellence to keep him constantly +in the public eye. Giornowick was a Palermitan, born in 1745, and his +career was thoroughly artistic and full of romantic vicissitudes. His +style was very graceful and elegant, his tone singularly pure. One of +the most popular and seductive tricks in his art was the treating of +well-known airs as rondos, returning ever and anon to his theme after +a variety of brilliant excursions in a way that used to fascinate his +hearers, thus anticipating some of his brilliant successors. + +Michael Kelly heard him at Vienna. "He was a man of a certain age," he +tells us, "but in the full vigor of talent. His tone was very powerful, +his execution most rapid, and his taste, above all, alluring. No +performer in my remembrance played such pleasing music." Dubourg relates +that on one occasion, when Giornowick had announced a concert at Lyons, +he found the people rather retentive of their money, so he postponed the +concert to the following evening, reducing the price of the tickets to +one half. A crowded company was the result. But the bird had flown! The +artist had left Lyons without ceremony, together with the receipts from +sales of tickets. + +In London, where he was frequently heard between 1792 and 1796, he once +gave a concert which was fully attended, but annoying to the player +on account of the indifference of the audience and the clatter of +the tea-cups; for it was then the custom to serve tea during the +performance, as well as during the intervals. Giornowick turned to the +orchestra and ordered them to cease playing. "These people," said he, +"know nothing about music; anything is good enough for drinkers of warm +water. I will give them something suited to their taste." Whereupon he +played a very trivial and commonplace French air, which he disguised +with all manner of meretricious flourishes, and achieved a great +success. When Viotti arrived in Paris in 1779, Giornowick started on +his travels after having heard this new rival once. + +A distinguished virtuoso and composer, with whom Viotti had already been +thrown into contact, though in a friendly rather than a competitive way, +was Boccherini, who was one of the most successful early composers of +trios, quartets, and quintets for string instruments. During the latter +part of Boccherini's life he basked in the sunlight of Spanish royalty, +and composed nine works annually for the Royal Academy of Madrid, in +which town he died in 1806, aged sixty-six. A very clever saying is +attributed to him. The King of Spain, Charles IV, was fond of playing +with the great composer, and was very ambitious of shining as a great +violinist; his cousin, the Emperor of Austria, was also fond of the +violin, and played tolerably well. One day the latter asked Boccherini, +in a rather straightforward manner, what difference there was between +his playing and that of his cousin Charles IV. "Sire," replied +Boccherini, without hesitating for a moment, "Charles IV plays like a +king, and your Majesty plays like an emperor." + +Giovanni Battista Viotti was born in a little Piedmontese village called +Fontaneto, in the year 1755. The accounts of his early life are +too confused and fragmentary to be trustworthy. It is pretty well +established, however, that he studied under Pugnani at Turin, and that +at the age of twenty he was made first violin at the Chapel Royal of +that capital. After remaining three years, he began his career as a +solo player, and, after meeting with the greatest success at Berlin and +Vienna, directed his course to Paris, where he made his _debut_ at the +"Concerts Spirituels." + + +II. + +Fetis tells us that the arrival of Viotti in Paris produced a sensation +difficult to describe. No performer had yet been heard who had attained +so high a degree of perfection, no artist had possessed so fine a tone, +such sustained elegance, such fire, and so varied a style. The fancy +which was developed in his concertos increased the delight he produced +in the minds of his auditory. His compositions for the violin were +as superior to those which had previously been heard as his execution +surpassed that of all his predecessors and contemporaries. Giornowick's +style was full of grace and suave elegance; Viotti was characterized +by a remarkable beauty, breadth, and dignity. Lavish attentions were +bestowed on him from the court circle. Marie Antoinette, who was an +ardent lover and most judicious patron of music, sent him her commands +to play at Versailles. The haughty artistic pride of Viotti was signally +displayed at one of these concerts before royalty. A large number of +eminent musicians had been engaged for the occasion, and the audience +was a most brilliant one. Viotti had just begun a concerto of his own +composition, when the arrogant Comte d'Artois made a great bustle in +the room, and interrupted the music by his loud whispers and utter +indifference to the comfort of any one but himself. Viotti's dark eyes +flashed fire as he stared sternly at this rude scion of the blood royal. +At last, unable to restrain his indignation, he deliberately placed his +violin in the case, gathered up his music from the stand, and withdrew +from the concert-room without ceremony, leaving the concert, her +Majesty, and his Royal Highness to the reproaches of the audience. +This scene is an exact parallel of one which occurred at the house +of Cardinal Ottoboni, when Corelli resented in similar fashion the +impertinence of some of his auditors. + +Everywhere in artistic and aristocratic circles at the French capital +Viotti's presence was eagerly sought. Private concerts were so much the +vogue in Paris that musicians of high rank found more profit in these +than in such as were given to the miscellaneous public. A delightful +artistic rendezvous was the hôtel of the Comte de Balck, an enthusiastic +patron and friend of musicians. Here Viotti's friend, Garat, whose voice +had so great a range as to cover both the tenor and barytone registers, +was wont to sing; and here young Orfila, the brilliant chemist, +displayed his magnificent tenor voice in such a manner as to attract the +most tempting offers from managers that he should desert the laboratory +for the stage. But the young Portuguese was fascinated with science, +and was already far advanced in the career which made him in his day +the greatest of all authorities on toxicological chemistry. The most +brilliant and gifted men and women of Paris haunted these reunions, +and Viotti always appeared at his best amid such surroundings. +Another favorite resort of his was the house of Mme. Montegerault at +Montmorency, a lady who was a brilliant pianist. Sometimes she would +seat herself at her instrument and begin an improvisation, and Viotti, +seizing his violin, would join in the performance, and in a series of +extemporaneous passages display his great powers to the delight of all +present. + +He evinced the greatest distaste for solo playing at public concerts, +and, aside from charity performances, only consented once to such an +exhibition of his talents. A singular concert was arranged to take place +on the fifth story of a house in Paris, the apartment being occupied +by a friend of Viotti, who was also a member of the Government. "I will +play," he said, on being urged, "but only on one condition, and that +is, that the audience shall come up here to us--we have long enough +descended to them; but times are changed, and now we may compel them to +rise to our level"; or something to that effect. It took place in due +course, and was a very brilliant concert indeed. The only ornament was a +bust of Jean Jacques Rousseau. A large number of distinguished artists, +both instrumental and vocal, were present, and a most aristocratic +audience. A good deal of Boccherini's music was performed that evening, +and though many of the titled personages had mounted to the fifth floor +for the first time in their lives, so complete was the success of the +concert that not one descended without regret, and all were warm in +their praise of the performances of the distinguished violinist. + +What the cause of Viotti's sudden departure from Paris in 1790 was, +it is difficult to tell. Perhaps he had offended the court by the +independence of his bearing; perhaps he had expressed his political +opinions too bluntly, for he was strongly democratic in his views; +perhaps he foresaw the terrible storm which was gathering and was soon +to break in a wrack of ruin, chaos, and blood. Whatever the cause, our +violinist vanished from Paris with hardly a word of farewell to his most +intimate friends, and appeared in London at Salomon's concerts with the +same success which had signalized his Parisian _début_. Every one +was delighted with the originality and power of his playing, and the +exquisite taste that modified the robustness and passion which entered +into the substance of his musical conceptions. + +Viotti was one of the artistic celebrities of London for several years, +but his eccentric and resolute nature did not fail to involve him in +several difficulties with powerful personages. He became connected with +the management of the King's Theatre, and led the music for two years +with signal ability. But he suddenly received an order from the +British Government to leave England without delay. His sharp tongue and +outspoken language were never consistent with courtly subserviency. We +can fancy our musician shrugging his shoulders with disdain on receiving +his order of banishment, for he was too much of a cosmopolite to be +disturbed by change of country. He took up his residence at Schönfeld, +Holland, in a beautiful and splendid villa, and produced there several +of his most celebrated compositions, as well as a series of studies of +the violin school. + + +III. + +The edict which had sent Viotti from England was revoked in 1801, and +he returned with commercial aspirations, for he entered into the wine +trade. It could not be said of him, as of another well-known composer, +who attempted to conduct a business in the vending of sweet sounds and +the juice of the grape simultaneously, that he composed his wines and +imported his music; for Viotti seems to have laid music entirely aside +for the nonce, and we have no reason to suspect that his port and sherry +were not of the best. Attention to business did not keep him from losing +a large share of his fortune, however, in this mercantile venture, and +for a while he was so completely lost in the London Babel as to have +passed out of sight and mind of his old admirers. The French singer, +Garat, tells an amusing story of his discovery of Viotti in London, when +none of his Continental friends knew what had become of him. + +In the very zenith of his powers and height of his reputation, the +founder of a violin school which remains celebrated to this day, Viotti +had quitted Paris suddenly, and since his departure no one had received, +either directly or indirectly, any news of him. According to Garat, some +vague indications led him to believe that the celebrated violinist +had taken up his residence in London, but, for a long time after his +(Garat's) arrival in the metropolis, all his attempts to find him were +fruitless. At last, one morning he went to a large export house for +wine. It had a spacious courtyard, filled with numbers of large barrels, +among which it was not easy to move toward the office or counting-house. +On entering the latter, the first person who met his gaze was Viotti +himself. Viotti was surrounded by a legion of employees, and so absorbed +in business that he did not notice Garat. At last he raised his head, +and, recognizing his old friend, seized him by the hand, and led him +into an adjoining room, where he gave him a hearty welcome. Garat could +not believe his senses, and stood motionless with surprise. + +"I see you are astonished at the metamorphosis," said Viotti; "it is +certainly _drôle_--unexpected; but what _could_ you expect? At Paris +I was looked upon as a ruined man, lost to all my friends; it was +necessary to do something to get a living, and here I am, making my +fortune!" + +"But," interrupted Garat, "have you taken into consideration all the +drawbacks and annoyances of a profession to which you were not brought +up, and which must be opposed to your tastes?" + +"I perceive," continued Viotti, "that you share the error which so many +indulge in. Commercial enterprise is generally considered a most prosaic +undertaking, but it has, nevertheless, its seductions, its prestige, its +poetical side. I assure you no musician, no poet, ever had an existence +more full of interesting and exciting incidents than those which cause +the heart of the merchant to throb. His imagination, stimulated by +success, carries him forward to new conquests; his clients increase, his +fortune augments, the finest dreams of ambition are ever before him." + +"But art!" again interrupted his friend; "the art of which you are one +of the finest representatives--you can not have entirely abandoned it?" + +"Art will lose nothing," rejoined Viotti, "and you will find that I +can conciliate two things without interfering with either, though you +doubtless consider them irreconcilable. We will continue this subject +another time; at present I must leave you; I have some pressing business +to transact this afternoon. But come and dine with me at six o'clock, +and be sure you do not disappoint me." + +Garat, who relates this conversation, tells us that at the appointed +time he returned to the house. All the barrels and wagons that had +encumbered the courtyard were cleared away, and in their place were +coroneted carriages, with footmen and servants. A lackey in brilliant +livery conducted the visitor to the drawing-room on the first floor. +The apartments were magnificently furnished, and glittered with +mirrors, candelabra, gilt ornaments, and the most quaint and costly +_bric-ŕ-brac_. Viotti received his guests at the head of the staircase, +no longer the plodding man of business, but the courtly, high-bred +gentleman. Garat's amazement was still further increased when he heard +the names of the other guests, all distinguished men. After an admirably +cooked dinner, there was still more admirable music, and Viotti proved +to the satisfaction of his French friend that he was still the same +great artist who had formerly delighted his listeners in Paris. + +The wine business turned out so badly for our violinist that he was fain +to return to his old and legitimate profession. Through the intervention +of powerful friends in Paris, he was appointed director of the Grand +Opéra, but he became discontented in a very onerous and irritating +position, and was retired at his own request with a pension. An +interesting letter from the great Italian composer Rossini, who was then +first trying his fortune in the French metropolis, written to Viotti +in 1821, is pleasant proof of the estimate placed on his talents and +influence: + +"Most esteemed Sir: You will be surprised at receiving a letter from an +individual who has not the honor of your personal acquaintance, but I +profit by the liberality of feeling existing among artists to address +these lines to you through my friend Hérold, from whom I have learned +with the greatest satisfaction the high, and, I fear, somewhat +undeserved opinion you have of me. The oratorio of 'Moďse,' composed by +me three years ago, appears to our mutual friend susceptible of dramatic +adaptation to French words; and I, who have the greatest reliance on +Hérold's taste and on his friendship for me, desire nothing more than to +render the entire work as perfect as possible, by composing new airs in +a more religious style than those which it at present contains, and +by endeavoring to the best of my power that the result shall neither +disgrace the composer of the partition, nor you, its patron and +protector. If M. Viotti, with his great celebrity, will consent to +be the Mecćnas of my name, he may be assured of the gratitude of his +devoted servant, + +"Gioacchino Rossini. + +"P.S.--In a month's time I will forward you the alterations of the drama +'Moďse,' in order that you may judge if they are conformable to the +operatic style. Should they not be so, you will have the kindness to +suggest any others better adapted to the purpose." + + +IV. + +Viotti, though in many respects proud, resolute, and haughty in +temperament, was simple-hearted and enthusiastic, and a passionate lover +of nature. M. Eymar, one of his intimate friends, said of him, "Never +did a man attach so much value to the simplest gifts of nature, and +never did a child enjoy them more passionately." A modest flower growing +in the grass of the meadow, a charming bit of landscape, a rustic +_fęte_, in short, all the sights and sounds of the country, filled him +with delight. All nature spoke to his heart, and his finest compositions +were suggested and inspired by this sympathy. He has left the world a +charming musical picture of the feelings experienced in the mountains +of Switzerland. It was there he heard, under peculiar circumstances, +and probably for the first time, the plaintive sound of a mountain-horn, +breathing forth the few notes of a kind of "Ranz des Vaches." + +"The 'Ranz des Vaches' which I send you," he says in one of his letters, +"is neither that with which our friend Jean Jacques has presented us, +nor that of which M. De la Bord speaks in his work on music. I can +not say whether it is known or not; all I know is, that I heard it +in Switzerland, and, once heard, I have never forgotten it. I was +sauntering along, toward the decline of day, in one of those sequestered +spots.... Flowers, verdure, streamlets, all united to form a picture +of perfect harmony. There, without being fatigued, I seated myself +mechanically on a fragment of rock, and fell into so profound a reverie +that I seemed to forget that I was upon earth. While sitting thus, +sounds broke on my ear which were sometimes of a hurried, sometimes of +a prolonged and sustained character, and were repeated in softened tones +by the echoes around. I found they proceeded from a mountain-horn; and +their effect was heightened by a plaintive female voice. Struck as if +by enchantment, I started from my dreams, listened with breathless +attention, and learned, or rather engraved upon my memory, the 'Ranz des +Vaches' which I send you. In order to understand all its beauties, you +ought to be transplanted to the scene in which I heard it, and to +feel all the enthusiasm that such a moment inspired." It was a similar +delightful experience which, according to Rossini's statement, first +suggested to that great composer his immortal opera, "Guillaume Tell." + +Among many interesting anecdotes current of Viotti, and one which +admirably shows his goodness of heart and quickness of resource, is one +narrated by Ferdinand Langlé to Adolph Adam, the French composer. The +father of the former, Marie Langlé, a professor of harmony in the French +Conservatoire, was an intimate friend of Viotti, and one charming summer +evening the twain were strolling on the Champs Élysées. They sat down on +a retired bench to enjoy the calmness of the night, and became buried +in reverie. But they were brought back to prosaic matters harshly by a +babel of discordant noises that grated on the sensitive ears of the two +musicians. They started from their seats, and Viotti said: + +"It can't be a violin, and yet there is some resemblance to one." + +"Nor a clarionet," suggested Langlé, "though it is something like it." + +The easiest manner of solving the problem was to go and see what it was. +They approached the spot whence the extraordinary tones issued, and saw +a poor blind man standing near a miserable-looking candle and playing +upon a violin--but the latter was an instrument made of tin-plate. + +"Fancy!" exclaimed Viotti, "it is a violin, but a violin of tin-plate! +Did you ever dream of such a curiosity?" and, after listening a while, +he added, "I say, Langlé, I must possess that instrument. Go and ask the +old blind man what he will sell it for." + +Langlé approached and asked the question, but the old man was +disinclined to part with it. + +"But we will give you enough for it to enable you to purchase a better," +he added; "and why is not your violin like others?" + +The aged fiddler explained that, when he got old and found himself +poor, not being able to work, but still able to scrape a few airs upon a +violin, he had endeavored to procure one, but in vain. At last his good, +kind nephew Eustache, who was apprenticed to a tinker, had made him one +out of a tin-plate. "And an excellent one, too," he added; "and my poor +boy Eustache brings me here in the morning when he goes to work, and +fetches me away in the evening when he returns, and the receipts are +not so bad sometimes--as, when he was out of work, it was I who kept the +house going." + +"Well," said Viotti, "I will give you twenty francs for your violin. You +can buy a much better one for that price; but let me try it a little." + +He took the violin in his hands, and produced some extraordinary +effects from it. A considerable crowd gathered around, and listened +with curiosity and astonishment to the performance. Langlé seized on +the opportunity, and passed around the hat, gathering a goodly amount of +chink from the bystanders, which, with the twenty francs, was handed to +the astonished old beggar. + +"Stay a moment," said the blind man, recovering a little from his +surprise; "just now I said I would sell the violin for twenty francs, +but I did not know it was so good. I ought to have at least double for +it." + +Viotti had never received a more genuine compliment, and he did not +hesitate to give the old man two pieces of gold instead of one, and then +immediately retired from the spot, passing through the crowd with the +tin-plate instrument under his arm. He had scarcely gone forty yards +when he felt some one pulling at his sleeve; it was a workman, who +politely took off his cap, and said: + +"Sir, you have paid too dear for that violin; and if you are an amateur, +as it was I who made it, I can supply you with as many as you like at +six francs each." + +This was Eustache; he had just come in time to hear the conclusion of +the bargain, and, little dreaming that he was so clever a violin-maker, +wished to continue a trade that had begun so successfully. However, +Viotti was quite satisfied with the one sample he had bought. He never +parted with that instrument; and, when the effects of Viotti were sold +in London after his death, though the tin fiddle only brought a few +shillings, an amateur of curiosities sought out the purchaser, and +offered him a large sum if he could explain how the strange instrument +came into the possession of the great violinist. + +After resigning his position as director of the Grand Opéra, Viotti +returned to London, which had become a second home to him, and spent his +remaining days there. He died on the 24th of March, 1824. + + +V. + +Viotti established and settled for ever the fundamental principles of +violin-playing. He did not attain the marvelous skill of technique, the +varied subtile and dazzling effects, with which his successor, Paganini, +was to amaze the world, but, from the accounts transmitted to us, his +performance must have been characterized by great nobility, breadth, and +beauty of tone, united with a fire and agility unknown before his time. +Viotti was one of the first to use the Tourté bow, that indispensable +adjunct to the perfect manipulation of the violin. The value of this +advantage over his predecessors cannot be too highly estimated. + +The bows used before the time of François Tourté, who lived in the +latter years of the last century in Paris, were of imperfect shape and +make. The Tourté model leaves nothing to be desired in all the qualities +required to enable the player to follow out every conceivable manner of +tone and movement--lightness, firmness, and elasticity. Tartini had made +the stick of his bow elastic, an innovation from the time of Corelli, +and had thus attained a certain flexibility and brilliancy in his bowing +superior to his predecessors. But the full development of all the powers +of the violin, or the practice of what we now call virtuosoism on this +instrument, was only possible with the modern bow as designed by Tourté, +of Paris. The thin, bent, elastic stick of the bow, with its greater +length of sweep, gives the modern player incalculable advantages over +those of an earlier age, enabling him to follow out the slightest +gradations of tone from the fullest _forte_ to the softest _piano_, +to mark all kinds of strong and gentle accents, to execute staccato, +legato, saltato, and arpeggio passages with the greatest ease and +certainty. The French school of violin-playing did not at first avail +itself of these advantages, and even Viotti and Spohr did not fully +grasp the new resources of execution. It was left for Paganini to open +a new era in the art. His daring and subtile genius perceived and seized +the wonderful resources of the modern bow at one bound. He used freely +every imaginable movement of the bow, and developed the movement of the +wrist to that high perfection which enabled him to practice all kinds +of bowing with celerity. Without the Tourté bow, Paganini and the modern +school of virtuosos, which has followed so splendidly from his example, +would have been impossible. To many of our readers an amplification of +this topic may be of interest. While the left hand of the violin-player +fixes the tone, and thereby does that which for the pianist is already +done by the mechanism of the instrument, and while the correctness of +his intonation depends on the proficiency of the left hand, it is the +action of the right hand, the bowing, which, analogous to the pianist's +touch, makes the sound spring into life. It is through the medium of +the bow that the player embodies his ideas and feelings. It is therefore +evident that herein rests one of the most important and difficult +elements of the art of violin-playing, and that the excellence of a +player, or even of a whole school of playing, depends to a great extent +on its method of bowing. It would have been even better for the art +of violin-playing as practiced to-day that the perfect instruments of +Stradiuarius and Guarnerius should not have been, than that the Tourté +bow should have been uninvented. + +The long, effective sweep of the bow was one of the characteristics +of Viotti's playing, and was alike the admiration and despair of his +rivals. His compositions for the violin are classics, and Spohr was +wont to say that there could be no better test of a fine player than +his execution of one of the Viotti sonatas or concertos. Spohr regretted +deeply that he could not finish his violin training under this +great master, and was wont to speak of him in terms of the greatest +admiration. Viotti had but few pupils, but among them were a number of +highly gifted artists. Rode, Robrechts, Cartier, Mdlle. Gerbini, Alday, +La-barre, Pixis, Mari, Mme. Paravicini, and Vacher are well-known names +to all those interested in the literature of the violin. The influence +of Viotti on violin music was a very deep one, not only in virtue of his +compositions, but in the fact that he molded the style not only of many +of the best violinists of his own day, but of those that came after him. + + + + +LUDWIG SPOHR. + +Birth and Early Life of the Violinist Spohr.--He is presented with his +First Violin at six.--The French _Emigré_ Dufour uses his Influence with +Dr. Spohr, Sr., to have the Boy devoted to a Musical Career.--Goes +to Brunswick for fuller Musical Instruction.--Spohr is appointed +_Kammer-musicus_ at the Ducal Court.--He enters under the Tuition of +and makes a Tour with the Violin Virtuoso Eck.--Incidents of the Russian +Journey and his Return.--Concert Tour in Germany.--Loses his Fine +Guarnerius Violin.--Is appointed Director of the Orchestra at Gotha.--He +marries Dorette Schiedler, the Brilliant Harpist.--Spohr's Stratagem to +be present at the Erfurt Musical Celebration given by Napoleon in +Honor of the Allied Sovereigns.--Becomes Director of Opera in +Vienna.--Incidents of his Life and Production of Various Works.--First +Visit to England.--He is made Director of the Cassel Court +Oratorios.--He is retired with a Pension.--Closing Years of his +Life.--His Place as Composer and Executant. + + +I. + +"The first singer on the violin that ever appeared!" Such was the +verdict of the enthusiastic Italians when they heard one of the greatest +of the world's violinists, who was also a great composer. The modern +world thinks of Spohr rather as the composer of symphony, opera, and +oratorio than as a wonderful executant on the violin; but it was in +the latter capacity that he enjoyed the greatest reputation during the +earlier part of his lifetime, which was a long one, extending from the +year 1784 to 1859. The latter half of Spohr's life was mostly devoted +to the higher musical ambition of creating, but not until he had +established himself as one of the greatest of virtuosos, and founded +a school of violin-playing which is, beyond all others, the most +scientific, exhaustive, and satisfactory. All of the great contemporary +violinists are disciples of the Spohr school of execution. Great as a +composer, still greater as a player, and widely beloved as a man--there +are only a few names in musical art held in greater esteem than his, +though many have evoked a deeper enthusiasm. + +Ludwig Spohr was born at Brunswick, April 5, 1784, of parents both of +whom possessed no little musical talent. His father, a physician +of considerable eminence, was an excellent flutist, and his mother +possessed remarkable talent both as a pianist and singer. To the family +concerts which he heard at home was the rapid development of the boy's +talents largely due. Nature had given him a very sensitive ear and a +fine clear voice, and at the age of four or five he joined his mother +in duets at the evening gatherings. From the very first he manifested +a taste for the instrument for which he was destined to become +distinguished. He so teased his father that, at the age of six, he was +presented with his first violin, and his joy on receiving his treasure +was overpowering. The violin was never out of his hand, and he +continually wandered about the house trying to play his favorite +melodies. Spohr tells us in his "Autobiography": "I still recollect +that, after my first lesson, in which I had learned to play the G-sharp +chord upon all four strings, in my rapture at the harmony, I hurried to +my mother, who was in the kitchen, and played the chord so incessantly +that she was obliged to order me out." + +Young Spohr was placed under the tuition of Dufour, a French _emigré_ of +the days of '91, who was an excellent player, though not a professional, +then living at the town of Seesen, the home of the Spohr family; and +under him the boy made very rapid progress. It was Dufour who, by +his enthusiastic representations, overcame the opposition of Ludwig's +parents to the boy's devoting himself to a life of music, for the notion +of the senior Spohr was that the name musician was synonymous with that +of a tavern fiddler, who played for dancers. In Germany, the land _par +excellence_ of music, there was a general contempt among the educated +classes, during the latter years of the eighteenth century, for the +musical profession. Spohr remained under the care of Dufour until he was +twelve years old, and devoted himself to his work with great sedulity. +Though he as yet knew but little of counterpoint and composition, his +creative talent already began to assert itself, and he produced several +duos and trios, as well as solo compositions, which evinced great +promise, though crude and faulty in the extreme. He was then sent +to Brunswick, that he might have the advantage of more scientific +instruction, and to this end was placed under the care of Kunisch, +an excellent violin teacher, and under Hartung for harmony and +counterpoint. The latter was a sort of Dr. Dryasdust, learned, barren, +acrid, but an efficient instructor. When young Spohr showed him one of +his compositions, he growled out, "There's time enough for that; you +must learn something first." It may be said of Spohr, however, that his +studies in theory were for the most part self-taught, for he was a most +diligent student of the great masters, and was gifted with a keenly +analytic mind. + +At the age of fourteen young Spohr was an effective soloist, and, as his +father began to complain of the heavy expense of his musical education, +the boy determined to make an effort for self-support. After revolving +many schemes, he conceived the notion of applying to the duke, who was +known as an ardent patron of music. He managed to place himself in the +way of his Serene Highness, while the latter was walking in his garden, +and boldly preferred his request for an appointment in the court +orchestra. The duke was pleased to favor the application, and young +Spohr was permitted to display his skill at a court concert, in which he +acquitted himself so admirably as to secure the cordial patronage of the +sovereign. Said the duke: "Be industrious and well behaved, and, if you +make good progress, I will put you under the tuition of a great master." +So Louis Spohr was installed as a _Kammer-musicus_, and his patron +fulfilled his promise in 1802 by placing his _protégé_ under the charge +of Francis Eck, one of the finest violinists then living. Under the +tuition of this accomplished instructor, the young virtuoso made such +rapid advance in the excellence of his technique, that he was soon +regarded as worthy of accompanying his master on a grand concert tour +through the principal cities of Germany and Russia. + + +II. + +This concert expedition of the two violinists, as narrated in Spohr's +"Autobiography," was full of interesting and romantic episodes. Both +master and pupil were of amorous and susceptible temperaments, and +their affairs were rarely regulated by a common sense of prudence. Spohr +relates with delightful _naivete_ the circumstances under which he fell +successively in love, and the rapidity with which he recovered from +these fitful spasms of the tender passion. Herr Eck, in addition to his +tendency to intrigues with the fairer half of creation, was also of +a quarrelsome and exacting disposition, and the general result was +ceaseless squabbling with authorities and musical societies in nearly +every city they visited. In spite of these drawbacks, however, the +two violinists gained both in fame and purse, and were everywhere well +received. If Herr Eck carried off the palm over the boyish Spohr as a +mere executant, the impression everywhere gained ground that the latter +was by far the superior in real depth of musical science, and many of +his own violin concertos were received with the heartiest applause. The +concert tour came to an end at St. Petersburg in a singular way. Eck +fell in love with a daughter of a member of the imperial orchestra, but +the idea of marriage did not enter into his project. As the young lady +soon felt the unfortunate results of her indiscretion, her parents +complained to the Empress, at whose instance Eck was given the choice of +marrying the girl or taking an enforced journey to Siberia. He chose the +former, and determined to remain in St. Petersburg, where he was offered +the first violin of the imperial orchestra. Poor Eck found he had +married a shrew, and, between matrimonial discords and ill health +brought on by years of excess, he became the victim of a nervous fever, +which resulted in lunacy and confinement in a mad-house. + +Spohr returned to his native town in July, 1803, and his first meeting +with his family was a curious one. "I arrived," he says, "at two o'clock +in the morning. I landed at the Petri gate, crossed the Ocker in a boat, +and hastened to my grandmother's garden, but found that the house +and garden doors were locked. As my knocking didn't arouse any one, I +climbed over the garden wall and laid myself down in a summer-house at +the end of the garden. Wearied by the long journey, I soon fell asleep, +and, notwithstanding my hard couch, would probably have slept for a +long while had not my aunts in their morning walk discovered me. Much +alarmed, they ran and told my grandmother that a man was asleep in the +summer-house. Returning together, the three approached nearer, and, +recognizing me, I was awakened amid joyous expressions, embraces, and +kisses. At first, I did not recollect where I was, but soon recognized +my dear relations, and rejoiced at being once again in the home and +scenes of my childhood." + +Spohr was most graciously received by the duke, who was satisfied +with the proofs of industry and ambition shown by his _protege_. The +celebrated Rode, Viotti's most brilliant pupil, was at that time in +Brunswick, and Spohr, who conceived the most enthusiastic admiration +of his style, set himself assiduously to the study and imitation of +the effects peculiar to Rode. On Rode's departure, Spohr appeared in a +concert arranged for him, in which he played a new concerto dedicated to +his ducal patron, and created an enthusiasm hardly less than that made +by Rode himself. He was warmly congratulated by the duke and the court, +and appointed first court-violinist, with a salary more than sufficient +for the musician's moderate wants. Shortly after this he undertook +another concert tour in conjunction with the violoncellist, Benike, +through the principal German cities, which added materially to +his reputation. But no amount of world's talk or money could fully +compensate him for the loss of his magnificent violin, one of the +_chefs-d'ouvre_ of Guarnerius del Gesů when that great maker was at his +best. This instrument he had brought from Russia, and it was an imperial +gift. A concert was announced for Gôttingen, and Spohr, with his +companion, was about to enter the town by coach, when he asked one of +the soldiers at the guard-house if the trunk, which had been strapped to +the back of the carriage, and which contained his precious instrument, +was in its place. "There is no trunk there," was the reply. + +"With one bound," says Spohr, "I was out of the carriage, and rushed +out through the gate with a drawn hunting-knife. Had I, with more +reflection, listened a while, I might have heard the thieves running out +through a side path. But in my blind rage I had far overshot the place +where I had last seen the trunk, and only discovered my overhaste when I +found myself in the open field. Inconsolable for my loss, I turned +back. While my fellow-traveler looked for the inn, I hastened to the +post-office, and requested that an immediate search might be made in the +garden houses outside the gate. With astonishment and vexation, I was +informed that the jurisdiction outside the gate belonged to Weende, and +that I must prefer my request there. As Weende was half a league from +Gottingen, I was compelled to abandon for that evening all further steps +for the recovery of my things. That these would prove fruitless on the +following morning I was well assured, and I passed a sleepless night in +a state of mind such as in my hitherto fortunate career had been unknown +to me. Had I not lost my splendid Guarneri violin, the exponent of all +the artistic success I had so far attained, I could have lightly borne +the loss of clothes and money." The police recovered an empty trunk +and the violin-case despoiled of its treasure, but still containing a +magnificent Tourté bow, which the thieves had left behind. Spohr managed +to borrow a Steiner violin, with which he gave his concert, but he did +not for years cease to lament the loss of his grand Guarneri fiddle. + +In 1805 Spohr was quietly settled in his avocation at Brunswick as +composer and chief _Kam-mer-musicus_ of the ducal court, when he +received an offer to compete for the direction of the orchestra at +Gotha, then one of the most magnificent organizations in Europe, to be +at the head of which would give him an international fame. The offer +was too tempting to be refused, and Spohr was easily victorious. His +new duties were not onerous, consisting of a concert once a week, and +in practicing and rehearsing the orchestra. The annual salary was five +hundred thalers. + +One of the most interesting incidents of Spohr's life now occurred. The +susceptible heart, which had often been touched, was firmly enslaved +by the charms of Dorette Schiedler, the daughter of the principal court +singer, and herself a fine virtuoso on the harp. Dorette was a woman +whose personal loveliness was an harmonious expression of her beauty +of character and artistic talent, and Spohr accepted his fate with +joy. This girl of eighteen was irresistible, for she was accomplished, +beautiful, tender, as good as an angel, and with the finest talent for +music, for she played admirably, not only on the harp, but on the piano +and violin. Spohr had reason to hope that the attachment was mutual, and +was eager to declare his love. One night they were playing together at a +court concert, and Spohr after the performance noticed the duchess, with +an arch look at him, whispering some words to Dorette which covered her +cheeks with blushes. That night, as the lovers were returning home in +the carriage, Spohr said to her, "Shall we thus play together for life?" +Dorette burst into tears, and sank into her lover's arms. The compact +was sealed by the joyous assent of the mother, and the young couple were +united in the ducal chapel, in the presence of the duchess and a large +assemblage of friends, on the 2d of February, 1806. + + +III. + +In the following year Spohr and his young wife set out on a musical +tour, "by which," he says, "we not only reaped a rich harvest of +applause, but saved a considerable sum of money." On his return to Gotha +he was met by a band of pupils, who unharnessed the horses from the +coach and drew him through the streets in triumph. He now devoted +himself to composition largely, and produced his first opera, "Alruna," +which is said to have been very warmly received, both at Gotha and +Weimar, in which latter city it was produced under the superintendence +of the poet Goethe, who was intendant of the theatre. Spohr, however, +allowed it to disappear, as his riper judgment condemned its faults more +than it favored its excellences. Among his amusing adventures, one which +he relates in his "Autobiography" as having occurred in 1808 is worth +repeating. He tells us: "In the year 1808 took place the celebrated +Congress of Sovereigns at Erfurt, on which occasion Napoleon entertained +his friend Alexander of Russia and the various kings and princes of +Germany. The lovers of sights and the curious of the whole country round +poured in to see the magnificence displayed. In the company of some +of my pupils, I made a pedestrian excursion to Erfurt, less to see the +great ones of the earth than to see and admire the great ones of the +French stage, Talma and Mars. The Emperor had sent to Paris for his +tragic performers, who played every evening in the classic works of +Corneille and Racine. I and my companions had hoped to have seen one +such representation, but unfortunately I was informed that they took +place for the sovereigns and their suites alone, and that everybody +else was excluded from them." In this dilemma Spohr had recourse to +stratagem. He persuaded four musicians of the orchestra to vacate their +places for a handsome consideration, and he and his pupils engaged to +fill the duties. But one of the substitutes must needs be a horn-player, +and the four new players could only perform on violin and 'cello. So +there was nothing to be done but for Spohr to master the French horn at +a day's notice. At the expense of swollen and painful lips, he managed +this sufficiently to play the music required with ease and precision. +"Thus prepared," he writes, "I and my pupils joined the other musicians, +and, as each carried his instrument under his arm, we reached our place +without opposition. We found the saloon in which the theatre had been +erected already brilliantly lit up and filled with the numerous suites +of the sovereigns. The seats for Napoleon and his guests were right +behind the orchestra. Shortly after, the most able of my pupils, to whom +I had assigned the direction of the music, and under whose leadership I +had placed myself as a new-fledged hornist, had tuned up the orchestra, +the high personages made their appearance, and the overture began. The +orchestra, with their faces turned to the stage, stood in a long row, +and each was strictly forbidden to turn around and look with curiosity +at the sovereigns. As I had received notice of this beforehand, I had +provided myself secretly with a small looking-glass, by the help of +which, as soon as the music was ended, I was enabled to obtain in +succession a good view of those who directed the destinies of Europe. +Nevertheless, I was soon so engrossed with the magnificent acting of the +tragic artists that I abandoned my mirror to my pupils, and directed my +whole attention to the stage. But at every succeeding _entr'acte_ the +pain of my lips increased, and at the close of the performance they +had become so much swollen and blistered that in the evening I could +scarcely eat any supper. Even the next day, on my return to Gotha, +my lips had a very negro-like appearance, and my young wife was not a +little alarmed when she saw me. But she was yet more nettled when I told +her that it was from kissing to such excess the pretty Erfurt women. +When I had related, however, the history of my lessons on the horn, she +laughed heartily at my expense." + +In October, 1809, Spohr and his wife started on an art journey to +Russia, but they were recalled by the court chamberlain, who said that +the duchess could not spare them from the court concerts, but would +liberally indemnify them for the loss. Spohr returned and remained at +home for nearly three years, during which time he composed a number of +important works for orchestra and for the violin. In 1812 a visit to +Vienna, during which he gave a series of concerts, so delighted the +Viennese that Spohr was offered the direction of the Ander Wien theatre +at a salary three times that received at Gotha, besides valuable +emoluments. This, and the assurance of Count Palffy, the imperial +intendant, that he meant to make the orchestra the finest in Europe, +induced Spohr to accept the offer. + +When it became necessary for our musician to search for a domicile +in Vienna, he met with another piece of good fortune. One morning +a gentleman waited on him, introducing himself as a wealthy clock +manufacturer and a passionate lover of music. The stranger made an +eccentric proposition. Spohr should hand over to him all that he should +compose or had composed for Vienna during the term of three years, the +original scores to be his sole property during that time, and Spohr not +even to retain a copy. "But are they not to be performed during that +time?" "Oh, yes! as often as possible; but each time on my lending them +for that purpose, and when I can be present myself." The bargain was +struck, and the ardent connoisseur agreed to pay thirty ducats for a +string quartet, five and thirty for a quintet, forty for a sextet, etc., +according to the style of composition. Two works were sold on the spot, +and Spohr said he should devote the money to house-furnishing. Herr Von +Tost undertook to provide the furniture complete, and the two made a +tour among the most fashionable shops. When Spohr protested against +purchasing articles of extreme beauty and luxury, Von Tost said, "Make +yourself easy, I shall require no cash settlement. You will soon +square all accounts with your manuscripts." So the Spohr domicile +was magnificently furnished from kitchen to attic, more fitly, as the +musician said, for a royal dignitary or a rich merchant than for a poor +artist. Von Tost claimed he would gain two results: "First, I wish to be +invited to all the concerts and musical circles in which you will +play your compositions, and to do this I must have your scores in my +possession; secondly, in possessing such treasures of art, I hope upon +my business journeys to make a large acquaintance among the lovers of +music, which I may turn to account in my manufacturing interests." Let +us hope that this commercial enthusiast found his calculations verified +by results. + +Spohr soon gave two important new works to the musical world, the opera +of "Faust," and the cantata, "The Liberation of Germany," neither of +which, however, was immediately produced. Weber brought out "Faust" at +Prague in 1816, and the cantata was first performed at Franken-hausen in +1815, at a musical festival on the anniversary of the battle of Leipsic, +a battle which turned the scale of Napoleon's career. The same year +(1815) also witnessed the quarrel between Spohr and Count Palffy, which +resulted in the rupture of the former's engagement. Spohr determined to +make a long tour through Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. Before shaking +the dust of Vienna from his feet, he sold the Von Tost household at +auction, and the sum realized was even larger than what had been paid +for it, so vivid were the public curiosity and interest in view of the +strange bargain under which the furniture had been bought. On the 18th +of March, 1815, Louis Spohr, with his beloved Dorette and young family, +which had increased with truly German fecundity, bade farewell to +Vienna. + +Two years of concert-giving and sight-seeing swiftly passed, to the +great augmentation of the German violinist's fame. On Spohr's return +home he was invited to become the opera and music director of the +Frankfort Theatre, and for two years more he labored arduously at this +post. He produced the opera of "Zemire and Azar" (founded on the fairy +fable of "Beauty and the Beast" ) during this period among other works, +and it was very enthusiastically received by the public. This opera was +afterward given in London, in English, with great success, though the +opinion of the critics was that it was too scientific for the English +taste. + + +IV. + +Louis Spohr's first visit to England was in 1820, whither he went on +invitation of the Philharmonic Society. He gives an amusing account of +his first day in London, on the streets of which city he appeared in +a most brilliantly colored shawl waistcoat, and narrowly escaped being +pelted by the enraged mob, for the English people were then in mourning +for the death of George III, which had recently occurred, and Spohr's +gay attire was construed as a public insult. He played several of his +own works at the opening Philharmonic concert, and the brilliant veteran +of the violin, Viotti, to become whose pupil had once been Spohr's +darling but ungratified dream, expressed the greatest admiration of the +German virtuoso's magnificent playing. The "Autobiography" relates an +amusing interview of Spohr with the head of the Rothschild's banking +establishment, to whom he had brought a letter of introduction from the +Frankfort Rothschild, as well as a letter of credit. "After Rothschild +had taken both letters from me and glanced hastily over them, he said +to me, in a subdued tone of voice, 'I have just read (pointing to +the "Times") that you manage your business very efficiently; but I +understand nothing of music. This is my music (slapping his purse); they +understand that on the exchange.' Upon which with a nod of the head he +terminated the audience. But just as I had reached the door he called +after me, 'You can come out and dine with me at my country house.' A few +days afterward Mme. Rothschild also invited me to dinner, but I did not +go, though she repeated the invitation." + +While in London on this visit Spohr composed his B flat Symphony, +which was given by the Philharmonic Society under the direction of the +composer himself, and, as he tells us in his "Autobiography," it was +played better than he ever heard it afterward. His English reception, on +the whole, was a very cordial one, and he secured a very high place +in public estimation, both as a violinist and orchestral composer. On +returning to Germany, Spohr gave a series of concerts, during which time +he produced his great D minor violin concerto, making a great sensation +with it. He had not yet visited Paris in a professional way, and in the +winter of 1821 he turned his steps thitherward, in answer to a pressing +invitation from the musicians of that great capital. On January 20th he +made his _début_ before a French audience, and gave a programme mostly +of his own compositions. Spohr asserts that the satisfaction of the +audience was enthusiastically expressed, but the fact that he did not +repeat the entertainment would suggest a suspicion that the impression +he made was not fully to his liking. It may be he did not dare take +the risk in a city so full of musical attractions of every description. +Certainly he did not like the French, though his reception from the +artists and literati was of the most friendly sort. He was disgusted +"with the ridiculous vanity of the Parisians." He writes: "When one or +other of their musicians plays anything, they say, 'Well! can you +boast of that in Germany?' Or when they introduce to you one of their +distinguished artists, they do not call him the first in Paris, but at +once the first in the world, although no nation knows less what other +countries possess than they do, in their--for their vanity's sake most +fortunate--ignorance." + +Spohr's appointment to the directorship of the court theatre at Cassel +occurred in the winter of 1822, and he confesses his pleasure in the +post, as he believed he could make its fine orchestra one of the most +celebrated in Germany. He remained in this position for about thirty +years, and during that time Cassel became one of the greatest musical +centers of the country. His labors were assiduous, for he had the +true tireless German industry, and he soon gave the world his opera +of "Jessonda," which was first produced on July 28, 1823, with marked +success. "Jessonda" has always kept its hold on the German stage, though +it was not received with much favor elsewhere. Another opera, "Der Berg +Geist" ("The Mountain Spirit"), quickly followed, the work having been +written to celebrate the marriage of the Princess of Hesse with the Duke +of Saxe-Meiningen. One of his most celebrated compositions, the oratorio +"Die Letzten Dinge" ("The Last Judgment"), which is more familiar +to English-speaking peoples than any other work of Spohr, was first +performed on Good Friday, 1826, and was recognized from the first as +a production of masterly excellence. Spohr's ability as a composer of +sacred music would have been more distinctly accepted, had it not been +that Handel, Haydn, and, in more recent years, Mendelssohn, raised the +ideal of the oratorio so high that only the very loftiest musical genius +is considered fit to reign in this sphere. The director of the Cassel +theatre continued indefatigable in producing works of greater or less +excellence, chamber-music, symphonies, and operas. Among the latter, +attention may be called to "Pietro Albano" and the "Alchemist," clever +but in no sense brilliant works, though, as it became the fashion in +Germany to indulge in enthusiasm over Spohr, they were warmly praised +at home. The best known of his orchestral works, "Die Weihe der Tone +" ("The Power of Sound"), a symphony of unquestionable greatness, was +produced in 1832. We are told that Spohr had been reading a volume of +poems which his deceased friend Pfeiffer had left behind him, when he +alighted on "Die Weihe der Tone," and the words delighted him so much +that he thought of using them as the basis of a cantata. But he changed +his purpose, and finally decided to delineate the subject of the poem +in orchestral composition. The finest of all Spohr's symphonies was the +outcome, a work which ranks high among compositions of this class. His +toil on the new oratorio of "Calvary" was sadly interrupted by the death +of his beloved wife Dorette, who had borne him a large family, and had +been his most sympathetic and devoted companion. Spohr was so broken +down by this calamity that it was several months before he could resume +his labors, and it was because Dorette during her illness had felt such +a deep interest in the progress of the work that the desolate husband +so soon plucked heart to begin again. When the oratorio was produced on +Good Friday, 1835, Spohr records in his diary: "The thought that my wife +did not live to listen to its first performance sensibly lessened the +satisfaction I felt at this my most successful work." This oratorio was +not given in England till 1839, at the Norwich festival, Spohr being +present to conduct it. The zealous and narrow-minded clergy of the day +preached bitterly against it as a desecration, and one fierce bigot +hurled his diatribes against the composer, when the latter was present +in the cathedral. A journal of the day describes the scene: "We now see +the fanatical zealot in the pulpit, and sitting right opposite to him +the great composer, with ears happily deaf to the English tongue, but +with a demeanor so becoming, with a look so full of pure good-will, and +with so much humility and mildness in the features, that his countenance +alone spoke to the heart like a good sermon. Without intending it, we +make a comparison, and can not for a moment doubt in which of the two +dwelt the spirit of religion which denoted the true Christian." + +Spohr had been two years a widower when he became enamored of one of +the daughters of Court Councilor Pfeiffer. He tells us he had long been +acquainted "with the high and varied intellectual culture of the two +sisters, and so I became fully resolved to sue for the hand of the +elder, Marianne, whose knowledge of music and skill in pianoforte +playing I had already observed when she sometimes gave her assistance +at the concerts of the St. Cecilia Society. As I had not the courage +to propose to her by word of mouth, there being more than twenty years +difference in our ages, I put the question to her in writing, and added, +in excuse for my courtship, the assurance that I was as yet perfectly +free from the infirmities of age." The proposition was accepted, and +they were married without delay on January 3, 1836. The bridal couple +made a long journey through the principal German cities, and were +universally received with great rejoicings. Musical parties and banquets +were everywhere arranged for them, at which Spohr and his young +wife delighted every one by their splendid playing. The "Historical" +symphony, descriptive of the music and characteristics of different +periods, was finished in 1839, and made a very favorable impression both +in Germany and England. Spohr had now become quite at home in England, +where his music was much liked, and during different years went to the +country, where oratorio music is more appreciated than anywhere else +in the musical world, to conduct the Norwich festival. One of his most +successful compositions of this description, "The Fall of Babylon," was +written expressly for the festival of 1842. When it was given the next +year in London under Spohr's own direction, the president of the Sacred +Harmonic Society presented the composer at the close of the performance +with a superb silver testimonial in the name of the society. + + +V. + +Louis Spohr had now become one of the patriarchs of music, for his life +spanned a longer arch in the history of the art than any contemporary +except Cherubini. He was seven years old when Mozart died, and before +Haydn had departed from this life Spohr had already begun to acquire +a name as a violinist and composer. He lived to be the friend of +Mendelssohn, Meyerbeer, Liszt, and Wagner. Everywhere he was held in +veneration, even by those who did not fully sympathize with his musical +works, for his career had been one of great fecundity in art. In +addition to his rank as one of the few very great violin virtuosos, he +had been indefatigable in the production of compositions in nearly all +styles, and every country of Europe recognized his place as a musician +of supereminent talent, if not of genius, one who had profoundly +influenced contemporary music, even if he should not mold the art of +succeeding ages. Testimonials of admiration and respect poured in on him +from every quarter. + +He composed the opera of "The Crusaders" in 1845, and he was invited +to conduct the first performance in Berlin. He relates two pleasing +incidents in his "Autobiography." He had been invited to a select dinner +party given at the royal palace, and between the king and Spohr, who +was seated opposite, there intervened an ornamental centerpiece +of considerable height in the shape of a flower vase. This greatly +interfered with the enjoyment by the king of Spohr's conversation. At +last his Majesty, growing impatient, removed the impediment with his own +hands, so that he had a full view of Spohr. + +The other incident was a pleasing surprise from his colleagues in art. +He was a guest of the Wickmann family, and they were all gathered in the +illuminated garden saloon, when there entered through the gloom of the +garden a number of dark figures swiftly following each other, who proved +to be the members of the royal orchestra, with Meyerbeer and Taubert at +their head. The senior member then presented Spohr with a beautifully +executed gold laurel-wreath, while Meyerbeer made a speech full of +feeling, in which he thanked him for his enthusiastic love of German +art, and for all the grand and beautiful works which he had created, +specially "The Crusaders." The twenty-fifth anniversary of Spohr's +connection with the court theatre of Cassel occurred in 1847, and was +to have been celebrated with a great festival. The death of Felix +Bartholdy Mendelssohn cast a great gloom over musical Germany that +year, so the festival was held not in honor of Spohr, but as a solemn +memorial of the departed genius whose name is a household word among all +those who love the art he so splendidly illustrated. + +Spohr's next production was the fine symphony known as "The Seasons," +one of the most picturesque and expressive of his orchestral works, in +which he depicts with rich musical color the vicissitudes of the year +and the associations clustering around them. This symphony was followed +by his seventh quintet, in G minor, another string quartet, the +thirty-second, and a series of pieces for the violin and piano, and in +1852 we find the indefatigable composer busy in remodeling his opera of +"Faust" for production by Mr. Gye, in London. It was produced with great +splendor in the English capital, and conducted by Spohr himself; but +it did not prove a great success, a deep disappointment to Spohr, who +fondly believed this work to be his masterpiece. "On this occasion," +writes a very competent critic, _ŕ propos_ of the first performance, +"there was a certain amount of heaviness about the performance which +told very much against the probability of that opera ever becoming +a favorite with the Royal Italian Opera subscribers. Nothing could +possibly exceed the poetical grace of Eonconi in the title rôle, or +surpass the propriety and expression of his singing. Mme. Castellan's +_Cunegonda_ was also exceedingly well sung, and Tamberlik outdid himself +by his thorough comprehension of the music, the splendor of his voice, +and the refinement of his vocalization in the character of _Ugo_.... +The _Mephistopheles_ of Herr Formes was a remarkable personation, being +truly demoniacal in the play of his countenance, and as characteristic +as any one of Retsch's drawings of Goethe's fiend-tempter. His singing +being specially German was in every way well suited to the occasion." In +spite of the excellence of the interpretation, Spohr's "Faust" did not +take any hold on the lovers of music in England, and even in Germany, +where Spohr is held in great reverence, it presents but little +attraction. The closing years of Spohr's active life as a musician were +devoted to that species of composition where he showed indubitable +title to be considered a man of genius, works for the violin and chamber +music. He himself did not recognize his decadence of energy and musical +vigor; but the veteran was more than seventy years old, and his royal +master resolved to put his baton in younger and fresher hands. So he was +retired from service with an annual pension of fifteen hundred thalers. +Spohr felt this deeply, but he had scarcely reconciled himself to the +change when a more serious casualty befell him. He fell and broke his +left arm, which never gained enough strength for him to hold the beloved +instrument again. It had been the great joy and solace of his life to +play, and, now that in his old age he was deprived of this comfort, he +was ready to die. Only once more did he make a public appearance. In the +spring of 1859 he journeyed to Meiningen to direct a concert on behalf +of a charitable fund. An ovation was given to the aged master. A +colossal bust of himself was placed on the stage, arched with festoons +of palm and laurel, and the conductor's stand was almost buried in +flowers. He was received with thunders of welcome, which were again and +again reiterated, and at the close of the performance he could hardly +escape for the eager throng who wished to press his hand. Spohr died on +October 22, 1859, after a few days' illness, and in his death Germany at +least recognized the loss of one of its most accomplished and versatile +if not greatest composers. + + +VI. + +Dr. Ludwig Spohr's fame as a composer has far overshadowed his +reputation as a violin virtuoso, but the most capable musical critics +unite in the opinion that that rare quality, which we denominate genius, +was principally shown in his wonderful power as a player, and his works +written for the violin. Spohr was a man of immense self-assertion, and +believed in the greatness of his own musical genius as a composer in the +higher domain of his art. His "Autobiography," one of the most fresh, +racy, and interesting works of the kind ever written, is full of varied +illustrations of what Chorley stigmatizes his "bovine self-conceit." His +fecund production of symphony, oratorio, and opera, as well as of the +more elaborate forms of chamber music, for a period of forty years or +more, proves how deep was his conviction of his own powers. Indeed, he +half confesses himself that he is only willing to be rated a little +less than Beethoven. Spohr was singularly meager, for the most part, in +musical ideas and freshness of melody, but he was a profound master of +the orchestra; and in that variety and richness of resources which +give to tone-creations the splendor of color, which is one of the great +charms of instrumental music, Spohr is inferior only to Wagner among +modern symphonists. Spohr's more pretentious works are a singular union +of meagerness of idea with the most polished richness of manner; but, in +imagination and thought, he is far the inferior of those whose knowledge +of treating the orchestra and contrapuntal skill could not compare with +his. There are more vigor and originality in one of Schubert's greater +symphonies than in all the multitudinous works of the same class ever +written by Spohr. In Spohr's compositions for the violin as a solo +instrument, however, he stands unrivaled, for here his true _genre_ as a +man of creative genius stamps itself unmistakably. + +Before the coming of Spohr violin music had been illustrated by a +succession of virtuosos, French and Italian, who, though melodiously +charming, planned in their works and execution to exhibit the effects +and graces of the players themselves instead of the instrument. Paganini +carried this tendency to its most remarkable and fascinating extreme, +but Spohr founded a new style of violin playing, on which the greatest +modern performers who have grown up since his prime have assiduously +modeled themselves. Mozart had written solid and simple concertos in +which the performer was expected to embroider and finish the composer's +sketch. This required genius and skill under instant command, instead +of merely phenomenal execution. Again, Beethoven's concertos were so +written as to make the solo player merely one of the orchestra, chaining +him in bonds only to set him free to deliver the cadenza. This species +of self-effacement does not consort with the purpose of solo playing, +which is display, though under that display there should be power, +mastery, and resource of thought, and not the trickery of the +accomplished juggler. Spohr in his violin music most felicitously +accomplished this, and he is simply incomparable in his compromise +between what is severe and classical, and what is suave and delightful, +or passionately exciting. In these works the musician finds nerve, +sparkle, _elan_, and brightness combined with technical charm and +richness of thought. Spohr's unconscious and spontaneous force in this +direction was the direct outcome of his remarkable power as a solo +player, or, more properly, gathered its life-like play and strength from +the latter fact. It may be said of Spohr that, as Mozart raised opera to +a higher standard, as Beethoven uplifted the ideal of the orchestra, as +Clementi laid a solid foundation for piano-playing, so Spohr's creative +force as a violinist and writer for the violin has established +the grandest school for this instrument, to which all the foremost +contemporary artists acknowledge their obligations. + +Dr. Spohr's style as a player, while remarkable for its display of +technique and command of resource, always subordinated mere display to +the purpose of the music. The Italians called him "the first singer on +the violin," and his profound musical knowledge enabled him to produce +effects in a perfectly legitimate manner, where other players had +recourse to meretricious and dazzling exhibition of skill. His title to +recollection in the history of music will not be so much that of a great +general composer, but that of the greatest of composers for the violin, +and the one who taught violinists that height of excellence as an +excutant should go hand in hand with good taste and self-restraint, to +produce its most permanent effects and exert its most vital influence. + + + + +NICOLO PAGANINI. + + +The Birth of the Greatest of Violinists.--His Mother's +Dream--Extraordinary Character and Genius.--Heine's Description of his +Playing.--Leigh Hunt on Paganini.--Superstitious Rumors current +during his Life.--He is believed to be a Demoniac.--His Strange +Appearance.--Early Training and Surroundings.--Anecdotes of his +Youth.--Paganini's Youthful Dissipations.--His Passion for Gambling.--He +acquires his Wonderful Guarnerius Violin.--His Reform from +the Gaming-table.--Indefatigable Practice and Work as a Young +Artist.--Paganini as a _Preux Chevalier_.--His Powerful Attraction for +Women.--Episode with a Lady of Rank.--Anecdotes of his Early Italian +Concertizing.--The Imbroglio at Ferrant.--The Frail Health of +Paganini.--Wonderful Success at Milan, where he first plays One of +the Greatest of his Compositions, "Le Streghe."--Duel with +Lafont.--Incidents and Anecdotes.--His First Visit to Germany.--Great +Enthusiasm of his Audiences.--Experiences at Vienna, Berlin, and other +German Cities.--Description of Paganini, in Paris, by Castil-Blaze and +Fetis.--His English Reception and the Impression made.--Opinions of the +Critics.--Paganini not pleased with England.--Settles in Paris for Two +Years, and becomes the Great Musical Lion.--Simplicity and Amiability +of Nature.--Magnificent Generosity to Hector Berlioz.--The Great +Fortune made by Paganini.--His Beautiful Country Seat near Parma.--An +Unfortunate Speculation in Paris.--The Utter Failure of his +Health.--His Death at Nice.--Characteristics and Anecdotes.--Interesting +Circumstances of his Last Moments.--The Peculiar Genius of Paganini, and +his Influence on Art. + + +I. + +In the latter part of the last century an Italian woman of Genoa had a +dream which she thus related to her little son: "My son, you will be a +great musician. An angel radiant with beauty appeared to me during the +night and promised to accomplish any wish that I might make. I asked +that you should become the greatest of all violinists, and the angel +granted that my desire should be fulfilled." The child who was thus +addressed became that incomparable artist, Paganini, whose name now, +a glorious tradition, is used as a standard by which to estimate the +excellence of those who have succeeded him. + +No artist ever lived who so piqued public curiosity, and invested +himself with a species of weird romance, which compassed him as with a +cloud. The personality of the individual so unique and extraordinary, +the genius of the artist so transcendant in its way, the mystery which +surrounded all the movements of the man, conspired to make him an +object of such interest that the announcement of a concert by him in +any European city made as much stir as some great public event. Crowds +followed his strange figure in the streets wherever he went, and, had +the time been the mediaeval ages, he himself a celebrated magician or +sorcerer, credited with power over the spirits of earth and air, his +appearance could not have aroused a thrill of attention more absorbing. +Over men of genius, as well as the commonplace herd, he cast the same +spell, stamping himself as a personage who could be compared with no +other. + +The German poet Heine thus describes his first acquaintance with this +paragon of violinists: + +"It was in the theatre at Hamburg that I first heard Paganini's violin. +Although it was fast-day, all the commercial magnates of the town were +present in the front boxes, the goddesses Juno of Wandrahm, and the +goddesses Aphrodite of Dreckwall. A religious hush pervaded the whole +assembly; every eye was directed toward the stage, every ear was +strained for hearing. At last a dark figure, which seemed to ascend from +the under world, appeared on the stage. It was Paganini in full evening +dress, black coat and waistcoat cut after a most villainous pattern, +such as is perhaps in accordance with the infernal etiquette of the +court of Proserpine, and black trousers fitting awkwardly to his thin +legs. His long arms appeared still longer as he advanced, holding in one +hand his violin, and in the other the bow, hanging down so as almost +to touch the ground--all the while making a series of extraordinary +reverences. In the angular contortions of his body there was something +so painfully wooden, and also something so like the movements of a droll +animal, that a strange disposition to laughter overcame the audience; +but his face, which the glaring footlights caused to assume an even +more corpse-like aspect than was natural to it, had in it something so +appealing, something so imbecile and meek, that a strange feeling +of compassion removed all tendency to laughter. Had he learned these +reverences from an automaton or a performing dog? Is this beseeching +look the look of one who is sick unto death, or does there lurk behind +it the mocking cunning of a miser? Is that a mortal who in the agony +of death stands before the public in the art arena, and, like a dying +gladiator, bids for their applause in his last convulsions? or is it +some phantom arisen from the grave, a vampire with a violin, who comes +to suck, if not the blood from our hearts, at least the money from our +pockets? Questions such as these kept chasing each other through the +brain while Paganini continued his apparently interminable series of +complimentary bows; but all such questionings instantly take flight the +moment the great master puts his violin to his chin and began to play. + +"Then were heard melodies such as the nightingale pours forth in the +gloaming when the perfume of the rose intoxicates her heart with sweet +forebodings of spring! What melting, sensuously languishing notes of +bliss! Tones that kissed, then poutingly fled from another, and at last +embraced and became one, and died away in the ecstasy of union! Again, +there were heard sounds like the song of the fallen angels, who, +banished from the realms of bliss, sink with shame-red countenance to +the lower world. These were sounds out of whose bottomless depth gleamed +no ray of hope or comfort; when the blessed in heaven hear them, the +praises of God die away upon their pallid lips, and, sighing, they veil +their holy faces." Leigh Hunt, in one of his essays, thus describes the +playing of this greatest of all virtuosos: "Paganini, the first time +I saw and heard him, and the first moment he struck a note, seemed +literally to strike it, to _give_ it a blow. The house was so crammed +that, being among the squeezers in the standing room at the side of the +pit, I happened to catch the first glance of his face through the arms +akimbo of a man who was perched up before me, which made a kind of +frame for it; and there on the stage through that frame, as through a +perspective glass, were the face, the bust, and the raised hand of +the wonderful musician, with the instrument at his chin, just going to +begin, and looking exactly as I describe him in the following lines: + + "His hand, Loading the air with dumb expectancy, + Suspended, ere it fell, a nation's breath. + He _smote_; and clinging to the serious chords + With Godlike ravishment drew forth a breath, + So deep, so strong, so fervid, thick with love-- + Blissful, yet laden as with twenty prayers-- + That Juno yearned with no diviner soul + To the first burthen of the lips of Jove. + The exceeding mystery of the loveliness + Sadden'd delight; and, with his mournful look, + Dreary and gaunt, hanging his pallid face + Twixt his dark flowing locks, he almost seemed + Too feeble, or to melancholy eyes + One that has parted from his soul for pride, + And in the sable secret lived forlorn. + +"To show the depth and identicalness of the impression which he made +on everybody, foreign or native, an Italian who stood near me said to +himself, with a long sigh, 'O Dio!' and this had not been said long, +when another person in the same tone uttered 'Oh Christ!' Musicians +pressed forward from behind the scenes to get as close to him as +possible, and they could not sleep at night for thinking of him." + +The impression made by Paganini was something more than that of a great, +even the greatest, violinist. It was as if some demoniac power lay +behind the human, prisoned and dumb except through the agencies of +music, but able to fill expression with faint, far-away cries of +passion, anguish, love, and aspiration--echoes from the supernatural +and invisible. His hearers forgot the admiration due to the wonderful +virtuoso, and seemed to listen to voices from another world. The strange +rumors that were current about him, Paganini seems to have been not +disinclined to encourage, for, mingled with his extraordinary genius, +there was an element of charlatanism. It was commonly reported that +his wonderful execution on the G-string was due to a long imprisonment, +inflicted on him for the assassination of a rival in love, during which +he had a violin with one string only. Paganini himself writes that, "At +Vienna one of the audience affirmed publicly that my performance was +not surprising, for he had distinctly seen, while I was playing my +variations, the devil at my elbow, directing my arm and guiding my bow. +My resemblance to the devil was a proof of my origin." Even sensible +people believed that Paganini had some uncanny and unlawful secret which +enabled him to do what was impossible for other players. At Prague he +actually printed a letter from his mother to prove that he was not the +son of the devil. It was not only the perfectly novel and astonishing +character of his playing, but to a large extent his ghostlike +appearance, which caused such absurd rumors. The tall, skeleton-like +figure, the pale, narrow, wax-colored face, the long, dark, disheveled +hair, the mysterious expression of the heavy eye, made a weirdly strange +_ensemble_. Heine tells us in "The Florentine Nights" that only one +artist had succeeded in delineating the real physiognomy of Paganini: "A +deaf and crazy painter, called Lyser, has in a sort of spiritual frenzy +so admirably portrayed by a few touches of his pencil the head of +Paganini that one is dismayed and moved to laughter at the faithfulness +of the sketch! 'The devil guided my hand,' said the deaf painter to me, +with mysterious gesticulations and a satirical yet good-natured wag of +the head, such as he was wont to indulge in when in the midst of his +genial tomfoolery." + + +II. + +Nicolo Paganini was born at Genoa on the night of February 18, 1784, +of parents in humbly prosperous circumstances, his father being a +ship-broker, and, though illiterate in a general way, a passionate lover +of music and an amateur of some skill. The father soon perceived the +child's talent, and caused him to study so severely that it not only +affected his constitution, but actually made him a tolerable player at +the age of six years. The elder Paganini's knowledge of music was not +sufficient to carry the lad far in mastering the instrument, but the +extraordinary precocity shown so interested Signor Corvetto, the leader +at the Genoese theatre, that he undertook to instruct the gifted child. +Two years later the young Paganini was transferred to the charge of +Signor Giacomo Costa, an excellent violinist, and director of church +music at one of the cathedrals, under whom he made rapid progress in +executive skill, while he studied harmony and counterpoint under the +composer Gnecco. It was at this time, Paganini not yet being nine years +of age, that he composed his first piece, a sonata now lost. In 1793 he +made his first appearance in public at Genoa, and played variations +on the air "La Carmagnole," then so popular, with immense effect. This +_début_ was followed by several subsequent appearances, in which he +created much enthusiasm. He also played a violin concerto every Sunday +in church, an attraction which drew great throngs. This practice was +of great use to Paganini, as it forced him continually to study fresh +music. About the year 1795 it was deemed best to place the boy under +the charge of an eminent professor, and Alessandro Rolla, of Parma, was +pitched on. When the Paganinis arrived, they found the learned professor +ill, and rather surly at the disturbance. Young Paganini, however, +speedily silenced the complaints of the querulous invalid. The great +player himself relates the anecdote: "His wife showed us into a room +adjoining the bedroom, till she had spoken to the sick man. Finding on +the table a violin and the music of Rolla's latest concerto, I took +up the instrument and played the piece at sight. Astonished at what +he heard, the composer asked for the name of the player, and could not +believe it was only a young boy till he had seen for himself. He then +told me that he had nothing to teach me, and advised me to go to Paër +for study in composition." But, as Paër was at this time in Germany, +Paganini studied under Ghiretti and Rolla himself while he remained in +Parma, according to the monograph of Fetis. + +The youthful player had already begun to search out new effects on the +violin, and to create for himself characteristics of tone and treatment +hitherto unknown to players. After his return to Genoa he composed his +first "Études," which were of such unheard-of difficulty that he was +sometimes obliged to practice a single passage ten hours running. His +intense study resulted not only in his acquirement of an unlimited +execution, but in breaking down his health. His father was a harsh and +inexorable taskmaster, and up to this time Paganini (now being fourteen) +had remained quiescent under this tyrant's control. But the desire of +liberty was breeding projects in his breast, which opportunity soon +favored. He managed to get permission to travel alone for the first +time to Lucca, where he had engaged to play at the musical festival +in November, 1798. He was received with so much enthusiasm that he +determined not to return to the paternal roof, and at once set off +to fulfill engagements at Pisa and other towns. In vain the angry and +mortified father sought to reclaim the young rebel who had slipped +through his fingers. Nicolo found the sweets of freedom too precious +to go back again to bondage, though he continued to send his father a +portion of the proceeds of his playing. + +The youth, intoxicated with the license of his life, plunged into all +kinds of dissipation, specially into gambling, at this time a universal +vice in Italy, as indeed it was throughout Europe. Alternate fits of +study and gaming, both of which he pursued with equal zeal, and the +exhaustion of the life he led, operated dangerously on his enfeebled +frame, and fits of illness frequently prevented his fulfillment of +concert engagements. More than once he wasted in one evening the +proceeds of several concerts, and was obliged to borrow money on his +violin, the source of his livelihood, in order to obtain funds wherewith +to pay his gambling debts. Anything more wild, debilitating, and ruinous +than the life led by this boy, who had barely emerged from childhood, +can hardly be imagined. On one occasion he was announced for a concert +at Leghorn, but he had gambled away his money and pawned his violin, so +that he was compelled to get the loan of an instrument in order to play +in the evening. In this emergency he applied to M. Livron, a French +gentleman, a merchant of Leghorn, and an excellent amateur performer, +who possessed a Guarneri del Gesů violin, reputed among connoisseurs one +of the finest instruments in the world. The generous Frenchman instantly +acceded to the boy's wish, and the precious violin was put in his hands. +After the concert, when Paganini returned the instrument to M. Livron, +the latter, who had been to hear him, exclaimed, "Never will I profane +the strings which your fingers have touched! That instrument is yours." +The astonishment and delight of the young artist may be more easily +imagined than described. It was upon this violin that Paganini afterward +performed in all his concerts, and the great virtuoso left it to the +town of Genoa, where it is now preserved in a glass case in the Museum. +An excellent engraving of it, from a photograph, was published in 1875 +in George Hart's book on "The Violin." + +At this period of his life, between the ages of seventeen and twenty, +Nicolo Paganini was surrounded by numerous admirers, and led into +all kinds of dissipation. He was naturally amiable and witty in +conversation, though he has been reproached with selfishness. There can +be no doubt that he was, at this period, constantly under the combined +influences of flattery and unbounded ambition; nevertheless, in spite +of all his successful performances at concerts, the style of life he was +leading kept him so poor that he frequently took in hand all kinds +of musical work to supply the wants of the moment. It is a curious +coincidence that the fine violin which was presented to him by M. +Livron, as we have just seen, was the cause of his abandoning, after a +while, the allurements of the gaming-tables. Paganini tells us himself +that a certain nobleman was anxious to possess this instrument, and had +offered for it a sum equivalent to about four hundred dollars; but the +artist would not sell it even if one thousand had been offered for it, +although he was, at this juncture, in great need of funds to pay off a +debt of honor, and sorely tempted to accept the proffered amount. Just +at this point Paganini received an invitation to a friend's house where +gambling was the order of the day. "All my capital," he says, "consisted +of thirty francs, as I had disposed of my jewels, watch, rings, etc.; +I nevertheless resolved on risking this last resource, and, if fortune +proved fickle, to sell my violin and proceed to St. Petersburg, without +instrument or baggage, with the view of reestablishing my affairs. My +thirty francs were soon reduced to three, and I already fancied myself +on the road to Russia, when luck took a sudden turn, and I won one +hundred and sixty francs. This saved my violin and completely set me up. +From that day forward I gradually gave up gaming, becoming more and more +convinced that a gambler is an object of contempt to all well-regulated +minds." + + +III. + +Love-making was also among the diversions which Paganini began early +to practice. Like nearly all great musicians, he was an object of great +fascination to the fair sex, and his life had its full share of amorous +romances. A strange episode was his retirement in the country château of +a beautiful Bolognese lady for three years, between the years 1801 +and 1804. Here, in the society of a lovely woman, who was passionately +devoted to him, and amid beautiful scenery, he devoted himself to +practicing and composition, also giving much study to the guitar (the +favorite instrument of his inamorata), on which he became a wonderful +proficient. This charming idyl in Paganini's life reminds one of the +retirement of the pianist Chopin to the island of Majorca in the company +of Mme. George Sand. It was during this period of his life that Paganini +composed twelve of his finest sonatas for violin and guitar. + +When our musician returned again to Genoa and active life in 1804, he +devoted much time also to composition. He was twenty years of age, +and wrote here four grand quartets for violin, tenor, violoncello, +and guitar, and also some bravura variations for violin with guitar +accompaniment. At this period he gave lessons to a young girl of Genoa, +Catherine Calcagno, about seven years of age; eight years later, when +only fifteen years old, this young lady astonished Italian audiences by +the boldness of her style. She continued her artistic career till the +year 1816, when she had attained the age of twenty-one, and all traces +of her in the musical world appear to be lost; doubtless, at this period +she found a husband, and retired completely from public life. + +In 1805 Paganini accepted the position of director of music and +conductor of the opera orchestra at Lucca, under the immediate patronage +of the Princess Eliza, sister of Napoleon and wife of Bacciochi. The +prince took lessons from him on the violin, and gave him whole charge of +the court music. It was at the numerous concerts given at Lucca during +this period of Paganini's early career that he first elaborated many of +those curious effects, such as performances on one string, harmonic +and pizzicato passages, which afterward became so characteristic of his +style. + +But the demon of unrest would not permit Paganini to remain very long +in one place. In 1808 he began his wandering career of concert-giving +afresh, performing throughout northern Italy, and amassing considerable +money, for his fame had now become so widespread that engagements poured +on him thick and fast. The lessons of his inconsiderate past had already +made a deep impression on his mind, and Paganini became very economical, +a tendency which afterward developed into an almost miserly passion for +money-getting and -saving, though, through his whole life, he performed +many acts of magnificent generosity. He had numerous curious adventures, +some of which are worth recording. At a concert in Leghorn he came on +the stage, limping, from the effects of a nail which had run into his +foot. This made a great laugh. Just as he began to play, the candles +fell out of his music desk, and again there was an uproar. Suddenly the +first string broke, and there was more hilarity; but, says Paganini, +naively, "I played the piece on three strings, and the sneers quickly +changed into boisterous applause." At Ferrara he narrowly escaped an +enraged audience with his life. It had been arranged that a certain +Signora Marcolini should take part in his concert, but illness prevented +her singing, and at the last moment Paganini secured the services of +Signora Pallerini, who, though a danseuse, possessed an agreeable voice. +The lady was very nervous and diffident, but sang exceedingly well, +though there were a few in the audience who were inconsiderate enough to +hiss. Paganini was furious at this insult, and vowed to be avenged. At +the end of the concert he proposed to amuse the audience by imitating +the noises of various animals on his violin. After he had reproduced the +mewing of a cat, the barking of a dog, the crowing of a cock, etc., he +advanced to the footlights and called out, "Questo č per quelli che +han fischiato" ("This is for those who hissed"), and imitated in an +unmistakable way the braying of the jackass. At this the pit rose to +a man, and charged through the orchestra, climbed the stage, and would +have killed Paganini, had he not fled incontinently, "standing not on +the order of his going, but going at once." The explanation of this +sensitiveness of the audience is found in the fact that the people of +Ferrara had a general reputation for stupidity, and the appearance of +a Ferrarese outside of the town walls was the signal for a significant +hee-haw. Paganini never gave any more concerts in that town. + +As he approached his thirtieth year his delicate and highly strung +organization, already undermined by the excesses of his early +youth, began to give way. He was frequently troubled with internal +inflammation, and he was obliged to regulate his habits in the strictest +fashion as to diet and hours of sleep. Even while comparatively well, +his health always continued to be very frail. + +Paganini composed his remarkable variations called "Le Streghe" ("The +Witches") at Milan in 1813. In this composition, the air of which was +taken from a ballet by Sussmayer, called "Il Noce de Benevento," at the +part where the witches appear in the piece as performed on the stage, +the violinist introduced many of his most remarkable effects. He played +this piece for the first time at La Scala theatre, and he was honored +with the most tumultuous enthusiasm, which for a long time prevented the +progress of the programme. Paganini always had a predilection for Milan +afterward, and said he enjoyed giving concerts there more than at any +other city in Europe. He gave no less than thirty-seven concerts here +in 1813. In this city, three years afterward, occurred his interesting +musical duel with Lafont, the well-known French violinist. Paganini +was then at Genoa, and, hearing of Lafont's presence at Milan, at +once hastened to that city to hear him play. "His performance," said +Pagani-ni, "pleased me exceedingly." When the Italian violinist, a week +later, gave a concert at La Scala, Lafont was in the audience, and the +very next day he proposed that Paganini and himself should play together +at the same concert. "I excused myself," said Paganini, "alleging that +such experiments were impolitic, as the public invariably looked upon +these matters as duels, in which there must be a victim, and that it +would be so in this case; for, as he was acknowledged to be the best of +the French violinists, so the public indulgently considered me to be +the best player in Italy. Lafont not looking at it in this light, I was +obliged to accept the challenge. I allowed him to arrange the programme. +We each played a concerto of our own composition, after which we played +together a duo concertante by Kreutzer. In this I did not deviate in the +least from the composer's text while we played together, but in the solo +parts I yielded freely to my own imagination, and introduced several +novelties, which seemed to annoy my adversary. Then followed a 'Russian +Air,' with variations, by Lafont, and I finished the concert with my +variations called 'Le Streghe.' Lafont probably surpassed me in tone; +but the applause which followed my efforts convinced me that I did not +suffer by comparison." There seems to be no question that the victory +remained with Paganini. A few years later Paganini played in a similar +contest with the Polish violinist Lipinski, at Placentia. The two +artists, however, were intimate friends, and there was not a spark +of rivalry or jealousy in their generous emulation. In fact, +Paganini appears to have been utterly without that conceit in his own +extraordinary powers which is so common in musical artists. Heine gives +an amusing illustration of this. He writes: "Once, after listening to a +concert by Paganini, as I was addressing him with the most impassioned +eulogies on his violin-playing, he interrupted me with the words, 'But +how were you pleased to-day with my compliments and reverences?'" The +musician thought more of his genuflexions than of his musical talent. + + +IV. + +In the year 1817 Rossini, Meyerbeer, and Paganini were at Rome during +Carnival time, and the trio determined on a grand frolic. Rossini had +composed a very clever part-song, "Carnavale, Carnavale," known in +English as "We are Poor Beggars," and the three great musicians, having +disguised themselves as beggars, sang it with great effect through the +streets. Rossini during this Carnival produced his "Cenerentola," and +Paganini gave a series of concerts which excited great enthusiasm. +Shortly after this, Paganini's health gave way completely at Naples, and +the landlord of the hotel where he was stopping got the impression that +his sickness was infectious. In the most brutal manner he turned the +sick musician into the street. Fortunately, at this moment a violoncello +player, Ciandelli, who knew Paga-nini well, was passing by, and came to +the rescue, and his anger was so great, when he saw what had happened +to the great violinist, that he belabored the barbarous landlord +unmercifully with a stick, and conveyed the invalid to a comfortable +lodging where he was carefully attended to. Some time subsequently +Paganini had an opportunity of repaying this kindness, for he gave +Ciandelli some valuable instruction, which enabled him in the course of +a few years to become transformed from a very indifferent performer into +an artist of considerable eminence. + +At the age of thirty-six Paganini again found himself at Milan, and +there organized a society of musical amateurs, called "Gli Orfei." He +conducted several of their concerts. But either the love of a roving +life or the necessity of wandering in order to fill his exchequer kept +him constantly on the move; and, though during these travels he is said +to have met with many extraordinary adventures, very little reliance can +be placed upon the accounts that have come down to us, the more so +when we consider that Paga-nini's mode of life was, as we shall see +presently, become by this time extremely sober. It was not until he +was forty-four years old that he finally quitted Italy to make himself +better known in foreign countries. He had been encouraged to visit +Vienna by Prince Metternich, who had heard and admired his playing at +Rome in 1817, and had repeatedly made plans to visit Germany, but his +health had been so wretched as to prevent his departure from his native +country. But a sojourn in the balmy climate of Sicily for a few months +had done him so much good that in 1828 he put his long-deferred +plans into execution. The first concert in March of that year made an +unparalleled sensation. He gave a great number of concerts in Vienna, +among them several for the poor. A fever seized all classes of society. +The shop windows were crowded with goods _ŕ la Paganini_; a good stroke +at billiards was called _un coup ŕ la Paganini_; dishes Avere named +after him; his portrait was enameled on snuff-boxes, and the Viennese +dandies carried his bust on the head of their walking-sticks. A cabman +wheedled out of the reluctant violinist permission to print on his cab, +_Cabriolet de Paganini_. By this cunning device, Jehu so augmented his +profits that he was able to rent a large house and establish a hotel, in +which capacity Paganini found him when he returned again to Vienna. + +Among the pleasant stories told of him is one similar to an incident +previously related of Viotti. One day, as he was walking in Vienna, +Paganini saw poor little Italian boy scraping some Neapolitan songs +before the windows of a large house. A celebrated composer who +accompanied the artist remarked to him, "There is one of your +compatriots." Upon which Paganini evinced a desire to speak to the lad, +and went across the street to him for that purpose. After ascertaining +that he was a poor beggar-boy from the other side of the Alps, and that +he supported his sick mother, his only relative, by his playing, the +great violinist appeared touched. He literally emptied his pockets into +the boy's hand, and, taking the violin and bow from him, began the +most grotesque and extraordinary performance possible. A crowd soon +collected, the great virtuoso was at once recognized by the bystanders, +and when he brought the performance to an end, amid the cheers and +shouts of all assembled, he handed round the boy's hat, and made a +considerable collection of coin, in which silver pieces were very +conspicuous. He then handed the sum to the young Italian, saying, "Take +that to your mother," and, rejoining his companion, walked off with him, +saying, "I hope I've done a good turn to that little animal." At +Berlin, where he soon afterward astonished his crowded audiences by his +marvelous playing, the same fanatical enthusiasm ensued; and, with +the exception of Palermo, Naples (where he seems to have had many +detractors), and Prague, his visits to the various cities of Europe were +one continued triumph. People tried in vain to explain his method of +playing, professors criticised him, and pamphlets were published which +endeavored to make him out a quack or a charlatan. It was all to no +purpose. Nothing could arrest his onward course; triumph succeeded +triumph wherever he appeared; and, though no one could understand him, +every one admired him, and he had only to touch his violin to enchant +thousands. A curious scene occurred at Berlin, at a musical evening +party to which Paganini was invited. A young and presumptuous professor +of the violin performed there several pieces with very little effect; he +was not aware of the presence of the Genoese giant, whom he did not know +even by sight. Others, however, quickly recognized him, and he was asked +to play, which he at first declined, but finally consented to do after +urgent solicitation. Purposely he played a few variations in wretchedly +bad style, which caused a suppressed laugh from those ignorant of his +identity. The young professor came forward again and played another +selection in a most pretentious and pointed way, as if to crush the +daring wretch who had ventured to compete with him. Paganini again took +up the instrument, and played a short piece with such touching pathos +and astonishing execution, that the audience sat breathless till the +last dying cadence wakened them into thunders of applause, and hearts +thrilled as the name "Paganini" crept from mouth to mouth. The young +professor had already vanished from the room, and was never again seen +in the house where he had received so severe a lesson. + +Paganini repeated his triumphs again the following year, performing +in Vienna and the principal cities of Germany, and everywhere arousing +similar feelings of admiration. Orders and medals were bestowed on him, +and his progress was almost one of royalty. His first concert in Paris +was given on March 9, 1831, at the opera-house. He was then forty-seven +years old, and Castil-Blaze described him as being nearly six feet +in height, with a long, pallid face, brilliant eyes, like those of an +eagle, long curling black hair, which fell down over the collar of his +coat, a thin and cadaverous figure--altogether a personality so gaunt +and delicate as to be more like a shadow than a man. The eyes sparkled +with a strange phosphorescent gleam, and the long bony fingers were so +flexible as to be likened only to "a handkerchief tied to the end of a +stick." Petis describes the impression he created at his first concert +as amounting to a "positive and universal frenzy." Being questioned as +to why he always performed his own compositions, he replied "that, if he +played other compositions than his own, he was obliged to arrange them +to suit his own peculiar style, and it was less trouble to write a piece +of his own." Indeed, whenever he attempted to interpret the works of +other composers, he failed to produce the effects which might have been +expected of him. This was especially the case in the works of Beethoven. + + +V. + +When Paganini appeared in England, of course there was a prodigious +curiosity to see and hear the great player. All kinds of rumors were +in the public mouth about him, and many of the lower classes really +believed that he had sold himself to the evil one. The capacious area +of the opera-house was densely packed, and the prices of admission were +doubled on the opening night. The enthusiasm awakened by the performance +can best be indicated by quoting from some of the contemporary accounts. +The concert opened with Beethoven's Second Symphony, performed by +the Philharmonic Society, and it was followed by Lablache, who sang +Rossini's "Largo al factotum." "A breathless silence then ensued," +writes Mr. Gardiner, an amateur of Leicester, who at the peril of his +ribs had been struggling in the crowd for two hours to get admission, +"and every eye watched the action of this extraordinary violinist as he +glided from the side scenes to the front of the stage. An involuntary +cheering burst from every part of the house, many persons rising from +their seats to view the specter during the thunder of this unprecedented +applause, his gaunt and extraordinary appearance being more like that +of a devotee about to suffer martyrdom than one to delight you with +his art. With the tip of his bow he set off the orchestra in a grand +military movement with a force and vivacity as surprising as it was +new. At the termination of this introduction, he commenced with a soft, +streamy note of celestial quality, and with three or four whips of his +bow elicited points of sound that mounted to the third heaven, and as +bright as stars.... Immediately an execution followed which was equally +indescribable. A scream of astonishment and delight burst from the +audience at the novelty of this effect.... etc." This _naive_ account +may serve to show the impression created on the minds of those not +trained to guard their words with moderation. + +"Nothing can be more intense in feeling," said a contemporary critic, +"than his conception and delivery of an adagio passage. His tone is, +perhaps, not quite so full and round as that of a De Bériot or Baillot, +for example; it is delicate rather than strong, but this delicacy was +probably never possessed equally by another player." "There is no trick +in his playing," writes another critic; "it is all fair scientific +execution, opening to us a new order of sounds.... All his passages +seem free and unpremeditated, as if conceived on the instant. One has no +impression of their having cost him either forethought or labor.... +The word difficulty has no place in his vocabulary.... etc." Paganini's +lengthened tour through London and the provinces was everywhere attended +with the same success, and brought him in a golden harvest, for his +reputation had now grown so portentous that he could exact the greatest +terms from managers. + +Paganini avowed himself as not altogether pleased with England, but, +under the surface of such complaints as the following, one detects the +ring of gratified vanity. He writes in a MS. letter, dated from London +in 1831, of the excessive and noisy admiration to which he was subjected +in the London streets, which left him no peace, and actually blocked his +passage to and from the theatre. "Although the public curiosity to see +me," says he, "is long since satisfied; though I have played in public +at least thirty times, and my likeness has been reproduced in all +possible styles and forms, yet I can never leave my home without being +mobbed by people who are not content with following and jostling me, but +actually get in front of me, and prevent my going either way, address me +in English of which I don't know a word, and even feel me as if to find +out if I am made of flesh and blood. And this is not only among the +common people, but among the upper classes." Paganini repeated his visit +to England during the next season, playing his final farewell concert at +the Victoria Theatre, London, June 17, 1832. The two following years +our artist lived in Paris, and was the great lion of musical and +social circles. People professed to be as much charmed with his lack of +pretension, his _naive_ and simple manners, as with his musical genius. +Yet no man was more exacting of his rights as an artist. One day a court +concert was announced at the Tuilleries, at which Paganini was asked +to play. He consented, and went to examine the room the day before. He +objected to the numerous curtains, so hung as to deaden the sound, +and requested the superintendent to see that they were changed. The +supercilious official ignored the artist's wish, and the offended +Paganini determined not to play. When the hour of the concert arrived, +there was no violinist. The royalties and their attendants were all +seated; murmurs arose, but still no Paganini. At last an official was +sent to the hotel of the artist, only to be informed that _the great +violinist had not gone out, but that he went to bed very early_. It was +during his residence in Paris in the winter of 1834 that he proposed +to Berlioz, for whom he had the most cordial esteem and admiration, +to write a concerto for his Stradiuarius violin, which resulted in the +famous symphony "Harold en Italie." Four years after this he bestowed +the sum of twenty thousand francs on Berlioz, who was then in pressing +need, delicately disguising the donation as a testimonial of his +admiration for the "Symphonie Fantastique." Though the eagerness of +Paganini to make money urged him to labor for years while his health was +exceedingly frail, and though he was justly stigmatized as penurious +in many ways, he was capable of princely generosity on occasions which +appealed strongly to the ardent sympathies which lay at the bottom of +his nature. + +Paganini made a great fortune by the exercise of his art, and in 1834 +purchased, among other property in his native country, a charming +country seat called Villa Gajona, near Parma. Here he spent two years +in comparative quiet, though still continuing to give concerts. At this +period and for some time previous many music-sellers had striven to buy +the copyright of his works. But Paganini put a price on it which +was prescriptive, the probability being that he did not wish his +compositions to pass out of his hands till he had given up his career on +the concert stage. He was willing that they should be arranged for the +piano, but not published as violin music. + +After his return to Italy Paganini gave several most successful +concerts, among others, one for the poor at Placentia, on the 14th of +November, 1834, and another at the court of the Duchess of Parma, in the +December following. But his health was already giving way most visibly. +Phthisis of the larynx, which rendered him a mere shadow of his former +self, and sometimes almost deprived him of speech, had been gaining +ground since his return to his native climate. In 1836, however, he was +better, and some unscrupulous Parisian speculators induced him to lend +his name to a joint-stock undertaking, a sort of gambling-room and +concert-hall, which they called the Casino Paganini. This was duly +opened in a fashionable part of Paris in 1837; but, as the Government +would not allow the establishment to be used as a gambling-house, and +the concerts did not pay the expenses, it became a great failure, and +the illustrious artist actually suffered loss by it to the extent of +forty thousand francs. + +One of his last, if not his very last, concert was given with the +guitar-player, Signor Legnani, at Turin, on the 9th of June, 1837, +for the benefit of the poor. He was then on his way to fulfill his +engagements at the fatal Parisian casino, which opened with much +splendor in the November following. But his health had again broken +down, and the fatigue of the journey had told upon him so much that he +was unable to appear at the casino. When the enterprise was found to +be a failure, a pettifogging lawsuit was carried on against him, and, +according to Fetis, who is very explicit on this subject, the French +judges condemned him to pay the aforesaid forty thousand francs, and to +be deprived of his liberty until that amount was paid--all this without +hearing his defense! + +The career of Paganini was at this critical period fast drawing to a +close. His medical advisers recommended him to return at once to the +South, fearing that the winter would kill him in Paris. He died at Nice +on May 27, 1840, aged fifty-six years. He left to his legitimized son +Achille, the offspring of his _liaison_ with the singer Antonia Bianchi, +a fortune of eighty thousand pounds, and the title of baron, of which he +had received the patent in Germany. His beautiful Guarnerius violin, the +vehicle of so many splendid artistic triumphs, he bequeathed to the town +of Genoa, where he was born. Though Paganini was superstitious, and died +a son of Holy Church, he did not leave any money in religious bequests, +nor did he even receive the last sacraments. The authorities of Rome +raised many difficulties about the funeral, and it was only after an +enormous amount of trouble and expense that Achille was able to have a +solemn service to the memory of his father performed at Parma. It was +five years after Paganini's death that this occurred, and permission +was obtained to have the body removed to holy ground in the village +churchyard near the Villa Gajona. During this long period the dishonored +remains of the illustrious musician were at the hospital of Nice, where +the body had been embalmed, and afterward at a country place near Genoa, +belonging to the family. The superstitious peasantry believed that +strange noises were heard about the grave at night--the wailings of +the unsatisfied spirit of Paganini over the unsanctified burial of its +earthly shell. It was to end these painful stories that the young +baron made a final determined effort to placate the ecclesiastical +authorities. + + +VI. + +The singular personality of Paganini displayed itself in his private no +less than in his artistic life, and a few out of the many anecdotes told +of him will be of interest, as throwing fresh light on the man. Paganini +was accused of being selfish and miserly, of caring little even for his +art, except as a means of accumulating money. While there is much in his +life to justify such an indictment, it is no less true that he on many +occasions displayed great generosity. He was always willing to give +concerts for the benefit of his fellow-artists and for other charitable +purposes, and on more than one occasion bestowed large sums of money for +the relief of distress. We may assume that he was niggardly by habit +and generous by impulse. Utterly ignorant of everything except the art +of music, bred under the most unfortunate and demoralizing conditions, +the fact that his character was, on the whole, so _naive_ and upright, +speaks eloquently for the native qualities of his disposition. His +eccentricities, perhaps, justified the unreasoning vulgar in believing +that he was slightly crazed. His appearance and manner on the platform +were fantastic in the extreme, and rarely failed to provoke ridicule, +till his magic bow turned all other emotions into one of breathless +admiration. He talked to himself continually when alone, a habit +which was partly responsible for the popular belief that he was always +attended by a familiar demon. When a stranger was introduced to him, his +corpse-like face became galvanized into a ghastly smile, which produced +a singular impression, half fascinating, half repulsive. He was taciturn +in society, except among his intimates, when his buoyant spirits bubbled +out in the most amusing jokes and anecdotes expressed in a polyglot +tongue, for he never knew any language well except his own. Naturally +irritable, his quick temper was inflamed by intestinal disease, which +racked him with a suffering that was aggravated by a nostrum, in the use +of which he indulged freely. Indeed, it was said by his friends that his +death was accelerated by his devotion to medical quackery, from a belief +in which no arguments could wean him. + +To his fellow-artists he was always polite and attentive, though they +annoyed him by their persistent curiosity as to the means by which he +produced his unrivaled effects--effects which the established technique +of violin-playing could not explain. An Englishman named George Harris, +who was an _attache_ of the Hanoverian court, attended Paganini for a +year as his private secretary, and he asserts that Paganini was never +seen to practice a single note of music in private. His astonishing +dexterity was kept up to its pitch by the numerous concerts which he +gave, and by his exquisitely delicate organization. He was accustomed to +say that his whole early life had been one of prodigious and continual +study, and that he could afford to repose in after years. Paganini's +knowledge of music was profound and exact, and the most difficult music +was mere child's play to him. Pasini, a well-known painter, living at +Parma, did not believe the stories told of Paganini's ability to play +the most difficult music at sight. Being the possessor of a valuable +Stradiuarius violin, he challenged our artist to play, at first hand, a +manuscript concerto which he placed before him. "This instrument +shall be yours," he said, "if you can play, in a masterly manner, that +concerto at first sight." The Genoese took the violin in his hand, +saying, "In that case, my friend, you may bid adieu to it at once," and +he immediately threw Pasini into ecstatic admiration by his performance +of the piece. There is little doubt that this is the Stradiuarius +instrument left by Paganini to his son, and valued at about six hundred +pounds sterling. + +Of Antonia Bianchi, the mother of his son Achille, Paganini tells us +that, after many years of a most devoted life, the lady's temper became +so violent that a separation was necessary. "Antonia was constantly +tormented," he says, "by the most fearful jealousy. One day she happened +to be behind my chair when I was writing some lines in the album of a +great pianiste, and, when she read the few amiable words I had composed +in honor of the artist to whom the book belonged, she tore it from my +hands, demolished it on the spot, and, so fearful was her rage, would +have assassinated me." + +He was very fond of his little son Achille. A French gentleman tells +us that he called once to take Paganini to dine with him. He found the +artist's room in great disorder. A violin on the table with manuscript +music, another upon a chair, a snuff-box on the bed along with his +child's toys, music, money, letters, articles of dress--all _pęle-męle_; +nor were the tables and chairs in their proper places. Everything was in +the most conspicuous confusion. The child was out of temper; something +had vexed him; he had been told to wash his hands; and, while the little +one gave vent to the most violent bursts of temper, the father stood +as calm and quiet as the most accomplished of nurses. He merely turned +quietly to his visitor, and said, in melancholy accents: "The poor child +is cross; I do not know what to do to amuse him; I have played with him +ever since morning, and I can not stand it any longer." + +"It was rather amusing," says the same writer, "to see Paganini in his +slippers doing battle with his child, who came about up to his knees. +The little one advanced boldly with his wooden sword, while the father +retired, crying out, 'Enough, enough! I am already wounded.' But it was +not enough; the young Achilles was never satisfied until his father, +completely vanquished, fell heavily on the bed." + +In the early part of the present century the facilities for travel +were far less convenient than at the present time, and it was always an +arduous undertaking to one in Paganini's frail condition of health. He +was, however, generally cheerful while jolting along in the post-chaise, +and chatted incessantly as long as his voice held out. Harris tells us +that the artist was in the habit of getting out when the horses +were changed, to stretch his long limbs after the confinement of the +carriage. Often he extended his promenades when he became interested in +the town through which he was passing, and would not return till +long after the fresh horses had been harnessed, thereby causing much +annoyance to the driver. On one occasion Jehu swore, if it occurred +again, he would drive on, and leave his passenger behind, to get along +as best he could. The secretary, Harris, was enjoying a nap, and the +driver was true to his resolution at the next stopping-place, leaving +Paganini behind. This made much trouble, and a special coach had to be +sent for the enraged artist, who was found sputtering oaths in half a +dozen languages. Paganini refused to pay for the carriage, and it was +only by force of law that he reluctantly settled the bill. + +His baggage was always of the plainest description; in fact, ludicrously +simple. A shabby box contained his precious Guarnerius fiddle, and +served also as a portmanteau wherein to pack his jewelry, his linen, and +sundry trifles. In addition to this he carried a small traveling-bag and +a hat-box. Mr. Harris tolls us that Paganini was in eating and drinking +exceedingly frugal. Table indulgence was forbidden him by the condition +of his health, as any deviation from the strictest diet resulted in +great suffering. He was a thorough Italian in all his habits and ideas. +Among other traits was a great disdain for the lower classes, though +he was by no means subservient to people of rank and wealth. It was +his habit, when an inferior addressed him, to inquire of his companion, +"What does this animal want with me?" If he was pleased with his +coachman, he would say, "That animal drives well." This seemed not so +much the vulgar arrogance of a small nature, elevated above the class in +life from which it sprang, as that pride of great gifts which made the +freemasonry of genius the measure by which he judged all others, noble +and simple. Like all men of highly nervous constitution, he was keenly +susceptible to both enjoyment and suffering. He was so sensitive +to atmospheric changes that his irritability was excessive during a +thunderstorm. He would then remain silent for hours together, while his +eyes rolled and his limbs twitched convulsively. Such fragile, nervous, +highly sensitive organizations are not unfrequently characteristic of +men of great genius, and in the great Italian violinist it was developed +in an abnormal degree. + +The circumstances accompanying the last scenes of Paganini's life are +very interesting. He had been intimate with most of the great people +of Europe, among them Lord Byron, Sir Clifford Constable, Lord Holland, +Rossini, Ugo Fascolo, Monti, Prince Jerome, the Princess Eliza, and most +of the great painters, poets, and musicians of his age. For Lord Byron +he had a most ardent and exaggerated admiration. Paganini had stopped at +Nice on his way from Paris, detained by extreme debility, for his +last hours were drawing near. Under the blue sky and balmy air of +this Mediterranean paradise the great musician somewhat recovered his +strength at first. One night he sat by his bedroom window, surrounded by +a circle of intimate friends, watching the glories of the Italian sunset +that emblazoned earth, air, and sky, with the richest dyes of nature's +palette. A soft breeze swept into the room, heavy with the perfumes of +flowers, and the twittering of the birds in the green foliage mingled +with the hum of talk from the throngs of gay promenaders sauntering on +the beach. For a while Paganini sat silently absorbed in watching the +joyous scene, when suddenly his eyes turned on the picture of Lord Byron +that hung on the wall. A flash of enthusiasm lightened his face, as if +a great thought were struggling to the surface, and he seized his violin +to improvise. The listeners declared that this "swan song" was the +most remarkable production of his life. He illustrated the stormy and +romantic career of the English poet in music. The accents of doubt, +irony, and despair mingled with the cry of liberty and the tumult of +triumph. Paganini had scarcely finished this wonderful musical picture +when the bow fell from the icy fingers that refused any longer to +perform their function, and the player sank into a dead swoon. + +The shock had been too great, and Paganini never quitted his bed +afterward. The day before his death he seemed a little better, and +directed his servant to buy a pigeon for him, as he had a slight return +of appetite. On the last evening of his life he seemed very tranquil, +and ordered the curtains to be drawn that he might look out of the +window at the beautiful night. The full moon was sailing through the +skies, flooding everything with splendor. Paganini gazed eagerly, gave a +long sigh of pleasure, and fell back on his pillow dead. + + +VII. + +Paganini was the first to develop the full resources of the violin as +a solo instrument. He departed entirely from the traditions of +violin-playing as practiced by earlier masters, as he believed that +great fame could never be acquired in pursuing their methods. A work of +Locatelli, one of the cleverest pupils of Corelli, and a great master +of technique, first seems to have inspired him with a conception of +the more brilliant possibilities of the violin. What further favored +Paganini's new departure was that he lived in an age when the artistic +mind, as well as thought in other directions, felt the desire of +innovation. The French Revolution stirred Europe to its deepest roots, +intellectually as well as politically. At a very early date in his +career Paganini seems to have begun experimenting with the new effects +for which he became famous, though these did not reach their full +fruitage until just before he left Italy on his first general tour. +Fetis says: "In adopting the ideas of his predecessors, in resuscitating +forgotten effects, in superadding what his genius and perseverance gave +birth to, he arrived at that distinctive character of performance which +contributed to his ultimate greatness. The diversity of sounds, the +different methods of tuning his instrument, the frequent employment +of harmonics, single and double, the simultaneous pizzicato and bow +passages, the various staccato effects, the use of double and even +triple notes, a prodigious facility in executing wide intervals with +unerring precision, together with an extraordinary knowledge of all +styles of bowing--such were the principal features of Paganini's talent, +rendered all the more perfect by his great execution, exquisitely +nervous sensibility, and his deep musical feeling." In a word, Paganini +possessed the most remarkable creative power in the technical treatment +of an instrument ever given to a player. Franz Liszt as a pianist +approaches him more nearly in this respect than any other virtuoso, +but the field open to the violinist was far greater and wider than +that offered to the great Hungarian pianist. It was not, however, mere +perfection of technical power that threw Europe into such paroxysms of +admiration; it was the irresistible power of a genius which has never +been matched, and which almost justified the vulgar conclusion that none +but one possessed with a demon could do such things. Paganini possessed +the oft-quoted attribute of genius, "the power of taking infinite +pains," but behind this there lay superlative gifts of mind, physique, +and temperament. He completely dazzled the greatest musical artists as +well as the masses. "His constant and daring flights," writes +Moscheles, "his newly discovered flageolet tones, his gift of fusing +and beautifying objects of the most diverse kinds--all these phases +of genius so completely bewilder my musical perceptions that for days +afterward my head is on fire and my brain reels." His tone lacked +roundness and volume. His use of very thin strings, made necessary by +his double harmonics and other specialties, necessarily prevented a +broad, rich tone. But he more than compensated for this defect by the +intense expression, "soft and melting as that of an Italian singer," to +use the language of Moscheles again, which characterized the quality of +sound he drew from his instrument. Spohr, a very great player, but, +with all his polish, precision, and classical beauty of style, somewhat +phlegmatic and conventional withal, critcised Paganini as lacking +in good taste. He could never get in sympathy with the bent of +individuality, the Southern passion and fire, and the exceptional gifts +of temperament which made Paganini's idiosyncrasies of style as a player +consummate beauties, where imitations of these effects on the part of +others would be gross exaggeration. Spohr developed the school of Viotti +and Rode, and in his attachment to that school could see no artistic +beauty in any deviation. Paganini's peculiar method of treating the +violin has never been regarded as a safe school for any other violinist +to follow. Without Paganini's genius to give it vitality, his technique +would justly be charged with exaggeration and charlatanism. Some of the +modern French players, who have been strongly influenced by the great +Italian, have failed to satisfy serious musical taste from this cause. +On the German violinists he has had but little influence, owing to the +powerful example of Spohr and the musical spirit of the great composers, +which have tended to keep players within the strictly legitimate lines +of art. Some of the principal compositions of Paganini are marked by +great originality and beauty, and are violin classics. Schumann and +Liszt have transcribed several of them for the piano, and Brahms for the +orchestra. But the great glory of Paganini was as a virtuoso, not as a +composer, and it has been generally agreed to place him on the highest +pedestal which has yet been reached in the executive art of the violin. + + + + +DE BÉRIOT + + +De Bériot's High Place in the Art of the Violin and Violin Music.--The +Scion of an Impoverished Noble Family.--Early Education and Musical +Training.--He seeks the Advice of Viotti in Paris.--Becomes a Pupil of +Kobrechts and Baillot successively.--De Bériot finishes and perfects his +Style on his Own Model.--Great Success in England.--Artistic Travels +in Europe.--Becomes Soloist to the King of the Netherlands.--He meets +Malibran, the Great Cantatrice, in Paris.--Peculiar Circumstances which +drew the Couple toward Each Other.--They form a Connection which only +ends with Malibran's Life.--Sketch of Malibran and her Family.--The +Various Artistic Journeys of Malibran and De Bériot.--Their Marriage +and Mme. de Bériot's Death.--De Bériot becomes Professor in the Brussels +Conservatoire.--His Later Life in Brussels.--His Son Charles Malibran de +Bériot.--The Character of De Bériot as Composer and Player. + + +I. + +Among the great players contemporary with Paganini, the name of Charles +Auguste de Bériot shines in the musical horizon with the luster of a +star of the first magnitude. His influence on music has been one of +unmistakable import, for he has perpetuated his great talents through +the number of gifted pupils who graduated from his teachings and +gathered an inspiration from an artist-master, in whom were united +splendid gifts as a player, an earnest musical spirit, depth and +precision of science, the chivalry of high birth and breeding, and +a width of intellectual culture which would have dignified the +_litterateur_ or scholar. De Bériot was for many years the chief of the +violin department at the Brussels Conservatoire, where, even before the +revolution of 1830, there was one of the finest schools of instruction +for stringed instruments to be found in Europe. When in the full +ripeness of his fame as a virtuoso and composer, De Bériot was called on +to take charge of the violin section of this great institution, and his +influence has thus been transmitted in the world of art in a degree by +no means limited to his direct greatness as an executant. + +De Bériot was born at Louvain, in 1802, of a noble family, which +had been impoverished through the crash and turmoil of the French +Revolution. Left an orphan at the age of nine years, without inheritance +except that of a high spirit and family pride, he would have fared badly +in these early years, had it not been for the kindness of M. Tiby, a +professor of music, who perceived the child's latent talent, and he +acquired skill in playing so rapidly that he was able to play one of +Viotti's concertos at the age of nine. His hearers, many of whom were +connoisseurs, were delighted, and prophesied for him the great career +which made the name of De Bériot famous. Naturally of a contemplative +and thoughtful mind, he lost no time in studying not only the art of +violin-playing but also acquiring proficiency in general branches of +knowledge. His theories of an art ideal even at that early age were far +more lofty and earnest than that which generally guides the aspirations +of musicians. De Bériot, in after years, attributed many of the elevated +ideas which from this time guided his life to the influence of the +well-known scholar and philosopher Jacotot, who, though a poor musician +himself, had very clear ideas as to the aesthetic and moral foundations +on which art success must be built. The text-book, Jacotot's "Method," +fell early into the young musician's hand, and imbued him with the +principles of self-reliance, earnestness, and patience which helped to +model his life, and contributed to the remarkable proficiency in his +art on which his fame rests. Two golden principles were impressed on De +Bériot's mind from these teachings: "All obstacles yield to unwearied +pursuit," and "We are not ordinarily willing to do all that we are +really able to accomplish." In after years De Bériot met Jacotot, and +had the pleasure of acknowledging the deep obligation under which he +felt himself bound. + +In 1821 young Charles de Bériot had attained the age of nineteen, and +it was determined that he should leave his native town and go to Paris, +where he could receive the teachings of the great masters of the violin. +At this time he was a handsome youth with a strongly knit figure, +somewhat above the middle height, with fine, dark eyes and hair, a +florid complexion, and very gentlemanly appearance. Good blood and +breeding displayed themselves in every movement, and ardent hope shone +in his face. He resided for several months in Brussels, which was +afterward to be his home, and associated with the scenes of his greatest +usefulness, and then pursued his eager way to Paris with a letter of +introduction to Viotti, then director of music at the Grand Opéra. De +Bériot's ambition was to play before the veteran violinist of +Europe, and to feed his own hopes on the great master's praise and +encouragement. + +"You have a fine style," said Viotti; "give yourself up to the business +of perfecting it; hear all men of talent; profit by everything, but +imitate nothing." There was at this time in Brussels a violinist named +Robrechts, a former pupil of Viotti, and one of the last artists who +derived instruction directly from the celebrated Italian. Andreas +Robrechts was born at Brussels on the 18th of December, 1797, and made +rapid progress as a musician under Planken, a professor, who, like the +late M. Wéry, who succeeded him, formed many excellent pupils. He then +entered himself at the Conservatoire of Paris in 1814, where he received +some private lessons from Baillot, while the institution itself was +closed during the occupation by the allied armies. + +Viotti, hearing the young Robrechts play, was so struck with his +magnificent tone and broad style that he undertook to give him finishing +lessons, with the approbation of Baillot. This was soon arranged, and +for many years the two violinists were inseparable. He even accompanied +Viotti in his journey to London, where they were heard more than once in +duets. The illustrious Italian had recognized in Robrechts the pupil +who most closely adhered to his style of playing, and one of the few who +were likely to diffuse it in after years. + +In 1820 Robrechts returned to Brussels, where he was elected first +violin solo to the king, Wil-helm I. It was shortly after this that De +Bériot took lessons from him, and he it was who gave him the letter +of introduction to Viotti. The same excellent professor also gave +instructions to the young Artot. He died in 1860, the last direct +representative of the great Viotti school. + +It will now be seen where De Bériot acquired the first principles of +that large, bold, and exquisitely charming style that in after life +characterized both his performances and his compositions. + + +II. + +Arriving at Paris, and believing probably that the classical style of +Robrechts, from whom he had had instruction in Brussels, did not lead +him swiftly forward enough in the path he would travel, he sought +Viotti, as we have related above, and by his advice entered himself in +the violin class of the Conservatoire, which was directed by Baillot, an +eminent player of the Viotti school, though never a direct pupil of the +latter master. De Bériot, however, did not remain long in the class, but +applied himself most assiduously to the study of the violin in his own +way. This is what Paganini had done, and through this course had been +able to form a style so peculiarly his own. It is not probable that De +Bériot at this time knew much about Paganini; certainly he had +never heard him. Paganini was at first looked on as a mere comet of +extraordinary brilliancy, without much soundness or true genius, and +many who afterward became his most ardent admirers began with sneering +at his pretensions. De Bériot was in later years undoubtedly powerfully +influenced by Paganini, but at the time of which we speak the young +violinist appears to have been determined to evolve a style and +character in art out of his own resources purely. He was carrying out +Viot-ti's advice. + +At this time our young artist was the possessor of a very fine +instrument by Giovanni Magini, a celebrated maker of the Brescian +school, and a pupil of Gaspar de Salo. Many of the violins of this make +are of an excellence hardly inferior to the Strads of the best period, +and De Bériot seems to have preferred this violin during the whole of +his career, though he afterward owned instruments of the most celebrated +makers. + +Very soon De Bériot made his public appearance in concerts, and was +brilliantly successful from the outset. The range of his ambition may be +seen from the fact that he had enough confidence in his own genius from +the very first to play his own music, and it was conceded to possess +great freshness and originality. These early "Airs Varié" consisted of +an introduction, a theme, followed by three or four variations, and a +brilliant finale. + +The young artist preceded Paganini in London several years, as he +made his first appearance before an English audience in 1826. It was +fortunate, perhaps, for De Bériot that such was the case, as it is more +than probable that, after the dazzling and electric displays of +the Geneose player, the more sedate and simple style which then +characterized De Bériot would have failed to please. As it was, he +was most cordially admired, and was generally recognized by English +connoisseurs, as well as by the general public, as one of the most +accomplished players who had ever visited England. The pecuniary results +of these concerts were large, and sufficient to relieve De Bériot, who +had formerly been rather straitened in his means, from the friction and +embarrassment which poverty so often imposes on struggling talent. +There was a peculiar charm in De Bériot's style which was permanently +characteristic of him, though his technical method did not always remain +the same. In addition to very facile execution and a rich, mellow tone, +he possessed the most refined taste. His playing impressed people less +as that of a great professional violinist than that of the marvelously +accomplished amateur, the gentleman of leisure and culture, who +performed with the easy, sparkling grace of one who took no thought of +whether he played well or not, but did great feats on his instrument +because he could not help it. Such was also the characteristic of Mario +as a singer, and there seems to have been many features of resemblance +between these two fine artists, though moving in different fields of +art. + +After traveling through Europe for several years, giving concerts with +great success, he was presented to King Wilhelm of the then united +kingdom of the Netherlands. This monarch, though quite ignorant of +music, was an enthusiastic patron of art, and, believing that De Bériot +was destined to be a great ornament of his native country (for he was +born in Belgium, though his parents were from France), bestowed on the +artist a pension of two thousand florins a year, and the title of first +violin solo to his majesty. But this honor was soon rudely snatched +from De Bériot's grasp. The revolution of 1830, which began with +the excitement inflamed in Brussels by the performance of Auber's +revolutionary opera, "La Muette di Portici," better known as +"Masaniello," dissolved the kingdom, and Belgium parted permanently +from Holland. It was, perhaps, owing to this apparent misfortune that +De Bériot made an acquaintance which culminated in the most interesting +episode of his life. He lost his official position at Brussels, but he +met Mme. Malibran. + + +III. + +De Bériot returned to Paris, where Sontag and Malibran were engaged in +ardent artistic rivalry, about equally dividing the suffrages of the +French public. Mlle. Sontag was a beautiful, fair-haired, blue-eyed +woman, in the very flush of her youth, with an expression of exquisite +sweetness and mildness. De Bériot became madly enamored of her at once, +and pressed his suit with vehemence, but without success. Henrietta +Sontag was already the betrothed of Count Rossi, whom she soon afterward +married, though the engagement was then a secret. The lady's firm +refusal of the young Belgian artist's overtures filled him with a deep +melancholy, which he showed so unmistakably that he became an object of +solicitude to all his friends. Among those was Mme. Malibran, whose warm +sympathies went out to an artist whose talents she admired. Malibran, +living apart from her husband, was obliged to be careful in her conduct, +to avoid giving food for the scandal of a censorious world, but this +did not prevent her from exhibiting the utmost pity and kindness in her +demeanor toward De Bériot. The violinist was soothed by this gentle and +delightful companion, and it was not long before a fresh affection, even +stronger than the other, sprang up in his susceptible nature for the +woman whose ardent Spanish frankness found it difficult to conceal the +fact that she cherished sentiments different from mere friendship. + +The splendid career of Mme. Malibran shines almost without a rival in +the records of the lyric stage, and her influence on De Bériot, first +her lover and afterward her husband, was most marked. Maria Garcia, +afterward Mme. Malibran, was one of a family of very eminent musicians. +She was trained by her father, Manuel Garcia, who, in addition to being +a tenor singer of world-wide reputation, was a composer of some repute, +and the greatest teacher of his time. Her sister, Pauline Garcia, in +after years became one of the greatest dramatic singers who ever lived, +and her brother Manuel also attained considerable eminence as singer, +song-composer, and teacher. The whole family were richly dowered with +musical gifts, and Maria was probably one of the most versatile and +accomplished musical artists of any age. At the age of thirteen she was +a professed musician, and at fifteen, when she came with her parents to +London, she obtained a complete triumph by accidentally performing in +Rossini's "Il Barbiere," to supply the place of a prima donna who was +unable to appear. + +We can not tarry here to enter into the details of her interesting life. +Her father having taken her to America, where she fulfilled a number +of engagements with an increasing success, she finally espoused there +a rich merchant named Malibran, much older than herself. It was a most +ill-advised marriage, and, to make matters worse, the merchant failed +very soon afterward. Some go so far as to say that he foresaw this +catastrophe before he contracted his marriage, in the hope of regaining +his fortune by the proceeds of the singer's career. However that may be, +a separation took place, and Mme. Malibran returned to Paris in 1827. +Her singing in Italian opera was everywhere a source of the most +enthusiastic ovation, and, as she rose like a star of the first +magnitude in the world of song, so the young De Bériot was fast earning +his laurels as one of the greatest violinists of the day. In 1830 an +indissoluble friendship united these two kindred spirits, and in 1832 De +Bériot, Lablache, the great basso, and Mme. Malibran set out for a tour +in Italy, where the latter had operatic engagements at Milan, Rome, +and Naples, and where they all three appeared in concerts with the most +_éclatant_ success--as may well be imagined. + +At Bologna, in 1834, it is difficult to say whether the cantatrice, +or the violinist, or the inestimable basso, produced the greatest +sensation; but her bust in marble was there and then placed under the +peristyle of the Opera-house. + +Henceforward De Bériot never quitted her, and their affection seems to +have increased as time wore on. In the year following she appeared in +London, where she gave forty representations at Drury Lane, performing +in "La Sonnambula," "The Maid of Artois," etc., for which she received +the sum of three thousand two hundred pounds. De Bériot would not have +made this amount probably with his violin in a year. + +After a second journey to Italy, in which Mme. Malibran renewed the +enthusiasm which she had first created in the public mind, and a series +of brilliant concerts which also added to De Bériot's prestige, they +returned to Paris to wait for the divorce of Mme. Malibran from her +husband, which had been dragging its way through the courts. The much +longed for release came in 1836, and the union of hearts and +lives, whose sincerity and devotion had more than half condoned its +irregularity, was sanctified by the Church. The happiness of the +artistic pair was not destined to be long. Only a month afterward Mme. +de Bériot, who was then singing in London, had a dangerous fall from +her horse. Always passionately fond of activity and exercise, she was an +excellent horsewoman, and was somewhat reckless in pursuing her favorite +pursuit. The great singer was thrown by an unruly and badly trained +animal, and received serious internal injuries. Her indomitable spirit +would not, however, permit her to rest. She returned to the Continent +after the close of the London season, to give concerts, in spite of her +weak health, and gave herself but little chance of recovery, before +she returned again to England in September to sing at the Manchester +festival, her last triumph, and the brilliant close of a short and very +remarkable life. She was seized with sudden and severe illness, and died +after nine days of suffering. During this period of trial to De Bériot, +he never left the bedside of his dying wife, but devoted himself +to ministering to her comfort, except once when she insisted on his +fulfilling an important concert engagement. Racked with pain as she was, +her greatest anxiety was as to his artistic success, fearing that his +mental anguish would prevent his doing full justice to his talents. It +is said that her friends informed her of the vociferous applause which +greeted his playing, and a happy smile brightened her dying face. She +died September 22, 1836, at the age of twenty-eight, but not too soon to +have attained one of the most dazzling reputations in the history of +the operatic stage. M. de Bériot was almost frantic with grief, for a +profound love had joined this sympathetic and well-matched pair, and +their private happiness had not been less than their public fame.* + + * For a full sketch of Mme. Malibran de Beriot's artistic and + personal career, the reader is referred to "Great Singers, + Malibran to Tietjens," Appletons' "Handy-Volume Series." + +The news of this calamity to the world of music spread swiftly through +the country, and was known in Paris the next day, where M. Mali-bran, +the divorced husband of the dead singer, was then living. As the fortune +which Mme. de Bériot had made by her art was principally invested in +France, and there were certain irregularities in the French law which +opened the way for claims of M. Malibran on her estate, De Bériot was +obliged to hasten to Paris before his wife's funeral to take out letters +of administration, and thus protect the future of the only child left by +his wife, young Charles de Bériot, who afterward became a distinguished +pianist, though never a professional musician. As the motives of this +sudden disappearance were not known, De Bériot was charged with the +most callous indifference to his wife. But it is now well known that +his action was guided by a most imperative necessity, the welfare of +his infant son, all that was left him of the woman he had loved so +passionately. The remains of Mme. de Bériot were temporarily interred +in the Collegiate Church in Manchester, but they were shortly afterward +removed to Laeken, near Brussels. Over her tomb in the Laeken churchyard +the magnificent mausoleum surmounted with her statue was erected by +De Bériot. The celebrated sculptor Geefs modeled it, and the work is +regarded as one of the _chefs-d'ouvre_ of the artist. + + +IV. + +M. de Bériot did not recover from this shock for more than a year, but +remained secluded at his country place near Brussels. It was not till +Pauline Garcia (subsequently Mme. Viardot) made her _debut_ in concert +in 1837, that De Bériot again appeared in public before one of the most +brilliant audiences which had ever assembled in Brussels. In honor of +this occasion the Philharmonic Society of that city caused two medals +to be struck for M. de Bériot and Mlle. Garcia, the molds of which were +instantly destroyed. The violinist gave a series of concerts assisted +by the young singer in Belgium, Germany, and France, and returned to +Brussels again on the anniversary of their first concert, where they +appeared in the Théâtre de la Renaissance before a most crowded and +enthusiastic audience. Among the features of the performance which +called out the warmest applause was Panseron's grand duo for voice and +violin, "Le Songe de Tartini," Mlle. Garcia both singing and playing +the piano-forte accompaniment with remarkable skill. Two years afterward +Mile. Garcia married M. Viardot, director of the Italian Opera at Paris, +and De Bériot espoused Mlle. Huber, daughter of a Viennese magistrate, +and ward of Prince Dietrischten Preskau, who had adopted her at an early +age. + +De Bériot became identified with the Royal Conservatory of Music at +Brussels in the year 1840, and thenceforward his life was devoted to +composition and the direction of the violin school. He gave much time +and care to the education of his son Charles, who, in addition to a +wonderful resemblance to his mother, appears to have inherited much of +the musical endowment of both parents. Had not an ample fortune rendered +professional labor unnecessary, it is probable that the son of Malibran +and De Bériot would have attained a musical eminence worthy of his +lineage; but he is even now celebrated for his admirable performances +in private, and his musical evenings are said to be among the most +delightful entertainments in Parisian society, gathering the most +celebrated artists and _litterateurs_ of the great capital. + +De Bériot ceased giving public concerts after taking charge of the +violin classes of the Brussels Conservatoire, though he continued to +charm select audiences in private concerts. Many of his pupils became +distinguished players, among whom may be named Monasterio, Standish, +Lauterbach, and, chief of all, Henri Vieuxtemps, with whose precocious +talents he was so much pleased that he gave him lessons gratuitously. +During his life at Brussels, and indeed during the whole of his +career, De Bériot enjoyed the friendship and esteem of many of the +most distinguished men of the day, among his most intimate friends and +admirers having been Prince de Chimay, the Russian Prince Youssoupoff, +and King Leopold I, of Belgium. The latter part of his life was not +un-laborious in composition, but otherwise of affluent and elegant ease. +During the last two years his eyesight failed him, and he gradually +became totally blind. He died, April 13, 1870, at the age of +sixty-eight, while visiting his friend Prince Youssoupoff at St. +Petersburg, of the brain malady which had long been making fatal inroads +on his health. + +In originality as a composer for the violin, probably no one can surpass +De Bériot except Paganini, who exerted a remarkable modifying influence +on him after he had formed his own first style. His works are full +of grace and poetic feeling, and worked out with an intellectual +completeness of form which gives him an honorable distinction even among +those musicians marked by affluence of ideas. These compositions are +likely to be among the violin classics, though some of the violinists +of the Spohr school have criticised them for want of depth. He produced +seven concertos, eleven _airs variés_, several books of studies, +four trios for piano, violin, and 'cello, and, together with Osborne, +Thalberg, and other pianists, a number of brilliant duos for piano and +violin. His book of instruction for the violin is among the best ever +written, though somewhat diffuse in detail. He may be considered the +founder of the Franco-Belgian school of violinists, as distinguished +from the classical French school founded by Viotti, and illustrated by +Rode and Baillot. His early playing was molded entirely in this style, +but the dazzling example of Paganini, in course of time, had its +effect on him, as he soon adopted the captivating effects of harmonics, +arpeggios, pizzicatos, etc., which the Genoese had introduced, though +he stopped short of sacrificing his breadth and richness of tone. He +combined the Paganini school with that of Viotti, and gave status to +a peculiar _genre_ of players, in which may be numbered such great +virtuosos as Vieuxtemps and Wieniawski, who successively occupied the +same professional place formerly illustrated by De Bériot, and the +latter of whom recently died. De Bériot's playing was noted for accuracy +of intonation, remarkable deftness and facility in bowing, grace, +elegance, and piquancy, though he never succeeded in creating the +unbounded enthusiasm which everywhere greeted Paganini. + + + + +OLE BULL. + + +The Birth and Early Life of Ole Bull at Bergen, Norway.--His Family and +Connections.--Surroundings of his Boyhood.--Early Display of his Musical +Passion.--Learns the Violin without Aid.--Takes Lessons from an Old +Musical Professor, and soon surpasses his Master.--Anecdotes of his +Boyhood.--His Father's Opposition to Music as a Profession.--Competes +for Admittance to the University at Christiania.--Is consoled +for Failure by a Learned Professor.--"Better be a Fiddler than +a Preacher."--Becomes Conductor of the Philharmonic Society at +Bergen.--His first Musical Journey.--Sees Spohr.--Fights a Duel.--Visit +to Paris.--He is reduced to Great Pecuniary Straits.--Strange Adventure +with Vidocq, the Great Detective.--First Appearance in Concert in +Paris.--Romantic Adventure leading to Acquaintance.--First Appearance +in Italy.--Takes the Place of Do Bériot by Great Good Luck.--Ole Bull +is most enthusiastically received.--Extended Concert Tour in Italy and +France.--His _Début_ and Success in England.--One Hundred and Eighty +Concerts in Six Months.--Ole Bull's Gaspar di Salo Violin, and the +Circumstances under which he acquired it.--His Answer to the King of +Sweden.--First Visit and Great Success in America in 1843.--Attempt +to establish a National Theatre.--The Norwegian Colony in +Pennsylvania.--Latter Years of Ole Bull.--His Personal Appearance.--Art +Characteristics. + + +I. + +The life of Olaus Bull, or Ole Bull, as he is generally known to the +world, was not only of much interest in its relation to music, but +singularly full of vicissitude and adventure. He was born at Bergen, +Norway, February 5, 1810, of one of the leading families of that resort +of shippers, timber-dealers, and fishermen. His father, John Storm Bull, +was a pharmaceutist, and among his ancestors he numbered the Norwegian +poet Edward Storm, author of the "Sinclair Lay," an epic on the fate of +Colonel Sinclair, who with a thousand Hebridean and Scotch pirates, made +a descent on the Norwegian coast, thus emulating the Vikingr forefathers +of the Norwegians themselves. The peasants slew them to a man by rolling +rocks down on them from the fearful pass of the Gulbrands Dahl, and +the event has been celebrated both by the poet's lay and the painter's +brush. By the mother's side Ole Bull came of excellent Dutch stock, +three of his uncles being captains in the army and navy, and another a +journalist of repute. A passion for music was inherent in the family, +and the editor had occasional quartet parties at his house, where the +works of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven were given, much to the delight of +young Ole, who was often present at these festive occasions. + +The romantic and ardent imagination of the boy was fed by the weird +legends familiar to every Norwegian nursery. The Scheherezade of this +occasion was the boy's own grandmother, who told him with hushed breath +the fairy folk-lore of the mysterious Huldra and the Fossikal, or Spirit +of the Waterfall, and Ole Bull, with his passion for music, was wont +to fancy that the music of the rushing waters was the singing of the +violins played by fairy artists. From an early age this Greek passion +for personifying all the sights and sounds of nature manifested itself +noticeably, but always in some way connected with music. He would fancy +even that he could hear the bluebells and violets singing, and perfume +and color translated themselves into analogies of sound. This poetic +imagination grew with his years and widened with his experience, +becoming the cardinal motive of Ole Bull's art life. For a long time the +young boy had longed for a violin of his own, and finally his uncle who +gave the musical parties presented him with a violin. Ole worked so hard +in practicing on his new treasure that he was soon able to take part in +the little concerts. + +There happened to be at this time in Bergen a professor of music named +Paulsen, who also played skillfully on the violin. Originally from +Denmark, he had come to Bergen on business, but, finding the brandy so +good and cheap, and his musical talent so much appreciated, he postponed +his departure so long that he became a resident. Paulsen, it was said, +would show his perseverance in playing as long as there remained a drop +in the brandy bottle before him, when his musical ambition came to a +sudden close. When the old man, for he was more than sixty when young +Ole Bull first knew him, had worn his clothes into a threadbare state, +his friends would supply him with a fresh suit, and at intervals he gave +concerts, which every one thought it a religious duty to attend. It +was to this Dominie Sampson that Ole Bull was indebted for his earliest +musical training; but it seems that the lad made such swift progress +that his master soon had nothing further to teach him. Poor old Paulsen +was in despair, for in his bright pupil he saw a successful rival, and, +fearing that his occupation was gone, he left Bergen for ever. + +In spite of the boy's most manifest genius for music, his father was +bent on making him a clergyman, going almost to the length of forbidding +him to practice any longer on the dearly loved fiddle, which had now +become a part of himself; but Ole persevered, and played at night +softly, in constant fear that the sounds would be heard. But his mother +and grandmother sympathized with him, and encouraged his labors of love +in spite of the paternal frowns. The author of a recent article in an +American magazine relates an interview with Ole Bull, in which the aged +artist gave some interesting facts of that early period in his life. +His father's assistant, who was musical, occasionally received musical +catalogues from Copenhagen, and in one of these the boy first saw the +name of Paganini, and reference to his famous "Caprices." One evening +his father brought home some Italian musicians, and Ole Bull heard from +them all they knew of the great player, who was then turning the musical +world topsy-turvy with a fever of excitement. "I went to my grandmother. +'Dear grandmother,' I said, 'can't I get some of Paganini's music?' +'Don't tell any one,' said that dear old woman, 'but I will try and buy +a piece of his for you if you are a good child.' And she did try, and +I was wild when I got the Paganini music. How difficult it was, but oh, +how beautiful! That garden-house was my refuge. Maybe--I am not so sure +of it--the cats did not go quite so wild as some four years before. One +day--a memorable one--I went to a quartet party. The new leader of our +philharmonic was there, a very fine violinist, and he played for us a +concerto of Spohr's. I knew it, and was delighted with his reading of +it. We had porter to drink in another room, and we all drank it, but +before they had finished I went back to the music-room, and commenced +trying the Spohr. I was, I suppose, carried away with the music, forgot +myself, and they heard me. + +"'This is impudence,' said the leader. 'And do you think, boy, that you +can play it?' 'Yes,' I said, quite honestly. I don't to this day see why +I should have told a story about it--do you? 'Now you shall play it,' +said somebody. 'Hear him! hear him!' cried my uncle and the rest of +them. I did try it, and played the allegro. All of them applauded save +the leader, who looked mad. + +"'You think you can play anything, then?' asked the leader. He took a +caprice of Paganini's from a music stand. 'Now you try this,' he said, +in a rage. 'I will try it,' I said. 'All right; go ahead.' + +"Now it just happened that this caprice was my favorite, as the cats +well knew. I could play it by memory, and I polished it off. When I did +that, they all shouted. The leader before had been so cross and savage, +I thought he would just rave now. But he did not say a word. He looked +very quiet and composed like. He took the other musicians aside, and I +saw that he was talking to them. Not long afterward this violinist left +Bergen. I never thought I would see him again. It was in 1840, when I +was traveling through Sweden on a concert tour, of a snowy day, that I +met a man in a sleigh. It was quite a picture: just near sunset, and +the northern lights were shooting in the sky; a man wrapped up in a +bear-skin a-tracking along the snow. As he drew up abreast of me and +unmuffled himself, he called out to my driver to stop. It was the +leader, and he said to me, 'Well, now that you are a celebrated +violinist, remember that, when I heard you play Paganini, I predicted +that your career would be a remarkable one.' 'You were mistaken,' I +cried, jumping up; 'I did not read that Paganini at sight; I had played +it before.' 'It makes no difference; good-by,' and he urged on his +horse, and in a minute the leader was gone." + + +II. + +To please his father, Ole Bull studied assiduously to fit himself for +the preliminary examination of the university, but he found time also to +pursue his beloved music. At the age of eighteen he was entered at the +University of Christiania as a candidate for admission, and went to that +city somewhat in advance of the day of ordeal to finish his studies. +He had hardly entered Christiania before he was seduced to play at a +concert, which beginning gave full play to the music-madness beyond all +self-restraint. As a result Ole Bull was "plucked," and at first he +did not dare write to his father of this downfall of the hopes of the +paternal Bull. + +We are told that he found consolation from one of the very professors +who had plucked him. "It's the best thing could have happened to you," +said the latter, by way of encouragement. + +"How so?" inquired Ole. + +"My dear fellow," was the reply, "do you believe you are a fit man for +a curacy in Finmarken or a mission among the Laps? Nature has made you a +musician; stick to your violin, and you will never regret it." + +"But my father, think of his disappointed hopes," said Ole Bull. + +"Your father will never regret it either," answered the professor. + +As good fortune ordered for the forlorn youth, his musical friends did +not desert him, but secured for him the temporary position of director +of the Philharmonic Society of Christiania, the regular incumbent being +ill. On the death of the latter shortly afterward, Ole Bull was tendered +the place. As the new duties were very well paid, and relieved the youth +from dependence on his father's purse, further opposition to his musical +career was withdrawn. + +In the summer of 1829 Ole Bull made a holiday trip into Germany, and +heard Dr. Spohr, then director of the opera at Cassel. "From this +excursion," said one of Ole Bull's friends, "he returned completely +disappointed. He had fancied that a violin-player like Spohr must be +a man who, by his personal appearance, by the poetic character of his +performance, or by the flash of genius, would enchant and overwhelm his +hearers. Instead of this, he found in Spohr a correct teacher, exacting +from the young Norwegian the same cool precision which characterized +his own performance, and quite unable to appreciate the wild, strange +melodies he brought from the land of the North." Spohr was a man of +clock-work mechanism in all his methods and theories--young Ole Bull was +all poetry, romance, and enthusiasm. + +At Minden our young violinist met with an adventure not of the +pleasantest sort. He had joined a party of students about to give +a concert at that place, and was persuaded to take the place of the +violinist of the party, who had been rather free in his libations, and +became "a victim of the rosy god." Ole Bull was very warmly applauded at +the concert, and so much nettled was the student whose failure had made +the vacancy for Ole Bull's talent, that the latter received a challenge +to fight a duel, which was promptly accepted. Ole Bull proved that he +could handle a sword as well as a fiddle-bow, for in a few passes he +wounded and disabled his antagonist. He was advised, however, to leave +that locality as soon as possible, and so he returned straight to +Christiania, "feeling as if the very soil of Europe repelled him" (to +use an expression from one of his letters). + +Ole Bull remained in Norway for two years, but he felt that he must +bestir himself, and go to the great centers of musical culture if +he would find a proper development and field for the genius which he +believed he possessed. His friends at Christiania idolized him, and were +loath to let him go, but nothing could stay him, so with pilgrim's staff +and violin-case he started on his journey. Scarcely twenty-one years +of age, nearly penniless, with no letters of introduction to people who +could help him, but with boundless hope and resolution, he first +set foot in Paris in 1831. The town was agog over Paganini and Mme. +Malibran, and of course the first impulse of the young artist was to +hear these great people. One night he returned from hearing Malibran, +and went to bed so late that he slept till nearly noon the next day. To +his infinite consternation, he discovered that his landlord had decamped +during the early morning, taking away the household furniture of any +value, and even abstracting the modest trunk which contained Ole Bull's +clothes and his violin. After such an overwhelming calamity as this, the +Seine seemed the only resource, and the young Norwegian, it is said, +had nearly concluded to find relief from his troubles in its turbid +and sin-weighted waters. But it happened that the young man had still a +little money left, enough to support him for a week, and he concluded to +delay the fatal plunge till the last sou was gone. It was while he was +slowly enjoying the last dinner which he was able to pay for, that he +made the acquaintance of a remarkable character, to whom he confided his +misery and his determination to find a tomb in the Seine. + + +III. + +Said the stranger, after pondering a few moments over the simple but sad +story of the young violinist, in whom he had taken a sudden interest: + +"Well, I will do something for you, if you have courage and five +francs." + +"I have both." + +"Then go to Frascate's at ten; pass through the first room, enter the +second, where they play 'rouge-et-noir,' and when a new _taille_ begins +put your five francs on _rouge_, and leave it there." + +This promise of an adventure revived Ole Bull's drooping spirits, and he +was faithful in carrying out his unknown friend's instructions. At the +precise hour the tall stalwart figure of the young Norwegian bent over +the table at Frascate's, while the game of "rouge-et-noir" was being +played. He threw his five francs on red; the card was drawn--red wins, +and the five francs were ten. Again Ole Bull bet his ten francs on +_rouge_, and again he won; and so he continued, leaving his money on the +same color till a considerable amount of money lay before him. By this +time the spirit of gaming was thoroughly aroused. Should he leave the +money and trust to red turning up again, or withdraw the pile of gold +and notes, satisfied with the kindness of Fortune, without further +tempting the fickle goddess? He said to a friend afterward, in relating +his feelings on this occasion: + +"I was in a fear--I acted as if possessed by a spirit not my own; no one +can understand my feelings who has not been so tried--left alone in the +world, as if on the extreme verge of an abyss yawning beneath, and at +the same time feeling something within that might merit a saving hand at +the last moment." + +Ole Bull stretched forth to grasp the money, when a white hand covered +it before his. He seized the wrist with a fierce grasp, while the +owner of it uttered a loud shriek, and loud threats came from the other +players, who took sides in the matter, when a dark figure suddenly +appeared on the scene, and spoke in a voice whose tones carried with +them a magic authority which stilled all tumult at once. "Madame, +leave this gold alone!"--and to Ole Bull: "Sir, take your money, if +you please." The winner of an amount which had become very considerable +lingered a few moments to see the further results of the play, and, much +to his disgust, discovered that he would have possessed quite a little +fortune had he left his pile undisturbed for one more turn of the cards. +He was consoled, however, on arriving at his miserable lodgings, for he +could scarcely believe that this stroke of good luck was true, and yet +there was something repulsive in it to the fresh, unsophisticated nature +of the man. He said in a letter to one of his friends, "What a hideous +joy I felt--what a horrible pleasure it was to have saved one's own soul +by the spoil of others!" The mysterious stranger who had thus befriended +Ole Bull was the great detective Vidocq, whose adventures and exploits +had given him a world-wide reputation. Ole Bull never saw him again. + +In exploring Paris for the purchase of a new violin, he accidentally +made the acquaintance of an individual named Labout, who fancied that he +had found the secret of the old Cremona varnish, and that, by using it +on modern-made violins, the instruments would acquire all the tone +and quality of the best old fiddles of the days of the Stradiuarii and +Amati. The inventor persuaded Ole Bull to appear at a private concert +where he proposed to test his invention, and where the Duke and Duchesse +de Montebello were to be present. The Norwegian's playing produced +a genuine sensation, and the duke took the young artist under his +patronage. The result was that Ole Bull was soon able to give a concert +on his own account, which brought him a profit of about twelve hundred +francs, and made him talked about among the musical _cognoscenti_ of +Paris. Of course every one at the time was Paganini mad, but Ole Bull +secured more than a respectful hearing, and opened the way toward +getting a solid footing for himself. + +Among the incidents which occurred to him in Paris about this time was +one which had a curiously interesting bearing on his life. Obliged to +move from his lodgings on account of the death of the landlord and his +wife of cholera, a disease then raging in Paris, Ole Bull was told of +a noble but impoverished family who had a room to let on account of the +recent death of the only son. The Norwegian violinist presented himself +at the somewhat dilapidated mansion of the Comtesse de Faye, and was +shown into the presence of three ladies dressed in deepest mourning. +The eldest of them, on hearing his errand, haughtily declined the +proposition, when the more beautiful of the two girls said, "Look at +him, mother!" with such eagerness as to startle the ancient dame. + +Ole Bull was surprised at this. The old lady put on her spectacles, and, +as she riveted her eyes upon him, her countenance changed suddenly. She +had found in him such a resemblance to the son she had lost that she +at once consented to his residing in her house. Some time afterward Ole +Bull became her son indeed, having married the fascinating girl who had +exclaimed, "Look at him, mother!" + +With the little money he had now earned he determined to go to Italy, +provided with some letters of introduction; and he gave his first +Italian concert at Milan in 1834. Applause was not wanting, but his +performance was rather severely criticised in the papers. The following +paragraph, reproduced from an Italian musical periodical, published +shortly after this concert, probably represents very truly the state of +his talent at that period: + +"M. Ole Bull plays the music of Spohr, May-seder, Pugnani, and others, +without knowing the true character of the music he plays, and partly +spoils it by adding a color of his own. It is manifest that this +color of his own proceeds from an original, poetical, and musical +individuality; but of this originality he is himself unconscious. He +has not formed himself; in fact, he has no style; he is an uneducated +musician. _Whether he is a diamond or not is uncertain; but certain it +is that the diamond is not polished_." + +In a short time Ole Bull discovered that it was necessary to cultivate, +more than he had done, his cantabile--this was his weakest point, and a +most important one. In Italy he found masters who enabled him to develop +this great quality of the violin, and from that moment his career as an +artist was established. The next concert of any consequence in which he +played was at Bologna under peculiar circumstances; and his reputation +as a great violinist appears to date from that concert. De Bériot and +Malibran were then idolized at Bologna, and just as Ole Bull arrived in +that ancient town, De Bériot was about to fulfill an engagement to play +at a concert given by the celebrated Philharmonic Society there. The +engagement had been made by the Marquis di Zampieri, between whom and +the Belgian artist there was some feeling of mutual aversion, growing +out of a misunderstanding and a remark of the marquis which had wounded +the susceptibilities of the other. The consequence was that on the day +of the concert De Bériot sent a note, saying that he had a sore finger +and could not play. + +Marquis Zampieri was in a quandary, for the time was short. In his +embarrassment he took council with Mme. Colbran Rossini, who was then at +Bologna with her husband, the illustrious composer. It happened that Ole +Bull's lodging was in the same palazzo, and Mme. Rossini had often heard +the tones of the young artist's violin in his daily practicing; her +curiosity had been greatly aroused about this unknown player, and now +was the chance to gratify it. She told the noble _entrepreneur_ that she +had discovered a violinist quite worthy of taking De Bériot's place. + +"Who is it?" inquired the marquis. + +"I don't know," answered the wife of Rossini. + +"You are joking, then?" + +"Not at all, but I am sure there is a genius in town, and he lodges +close by here," pointing to Ole Bull's apartment. "Take your net," +she added, "and catch your bird before he has flown away." The marquis +knocked at Ole Bull's door, and the delighted young artist soon +concluded an engagement which insured him an appearance under the best +auspices, for Mme. Malibran would sing at the same concert. + +In a few hours Ole Bull was performing before a distinguished audience +in the concert-hall of the Philharmonic Society. Among the pieces he +played, all of his own composition, was his "Quartet for One Violin," +in which his great skill in double and triple harmonics was admirably +shown. Enthusiastic applause greeted the young virtuoso, and he was +escorted home by a torchlight procession of eager and noisy admirers. +This was Ole Bull's first really great success, though he had played +in France and Germany. The Italians, with their quick, generous +appreciation, and their demonstrative manner of showing admiration, had +given him a reception of such unreserved approval as warmed his +artistic ambition to the very core. Mme. Malibran, though annoyed at the +mischance which glorified another at the expense of De Bériot, was too +just and amiable not to express her hearty congratulations to the young +artist, and De Bériot himself, when he was shortly afterward introduced +to Ole Bull, treated him with most brotherly kindness and cordiality. +Prince and Princess Poniatowsky also sent their cards to the now +successful artist, and gave him letters of introduction to distinguished +people which wore of great use in his concert tour. His career had now +become assured, and the world received him with open arms. + +The following year, 1835, contributed a catalogue of similar successes +in various cities of Italy and France, culminating in a grand concert at +Paris in the Opera-house, where the most distinguished musicians of the +city gave their warmest applause in recognition of the growing fame and +skill of Ole Bull, for he had already begun to illustrate a new field in +music by setting the quaint poetic legends and folk-songs of his native +land. His specialty as a composer was in the domain of descriptive +music, his genius was for the picturesque. His vivid imagination, +full of poetic phantasy, and saturated with the heroic traditions and +fairy-lore of a race singularly rich in this inheritance from an earlier +age, instinctively flowered into art-forms designed to embody this +legendary wealth. Ole Bull's violin compositions, though dry and +rigorous musicians object to them as lacking in depth of science, +as shallow and sensational, are distinctly tone-pictures full of +suggestiveness for the imagination. It was this peculiarity which early +began to impress his audiences, and gave Ole Bull a separate place by +himself in an age of eminent players. + + +IV. + +In 1836 and 1837 Ole Bull gave one hundred and eighty concerts in +England during the space of sixteen months. By this time he had become +famous, and a mere announcement sufficed to attract large audiences. +Subsequently he visited successively every town of importance in Europe, +earning large amounts of money and golden opinions everywhere. For +a long time our artist used a fine Guarnerius violin and afterward a +Nicholas Amati, which was said to be the finest instrument of this make +in the world. But the violin which Ole Bull prized in latter years +above all others was the famous Gaspar di Salo with the scroll carved +by Benvenuto Cellini. Mr. Barnett Phillips, an American _littérateur_, +tells the story of this noble old instrument, as related in Ole Bull's +words: + +"Well, in 1839 I gave sixteen concerts at Vienna, and then Rhehazek was +the great violin collector. I saw at his house this violin for the first +time. I just went wild over it. 'Will you sell it?' I asked. 'Yes,' was +the reply--'for one quarter of all Vienna.' Now Ehehazek was really as +poor as a church mouse. Though he had no end of money put out in the +most valuable instruments, he never sold any of them unless when forced +by hunger. I invited Rhehazek to my concerts. I wanted to buy the violin +so much that I made him some tempting offers. One day he said to +me, 'See here, Ole Bull, if I do sell the violin, you shall have the +preference at four thousand ducats.' 'Agreed,' I cried, though I knew it +was a big sum. + +"That violin came strolling, or playing rather, through my brain for +some years. It was in 1841. I was in Leipsic giving concerts. Liszt was +there, and so also was Mendelssohn. One day we were all dining together. +We were having a splendid time. During the dinner came an immense letter +with a seal--an official document. Said Mendelssohn, 'Use no ceremony; +open your letter.' 'What an awful seal!' cried Liszt. 'With your +permission,' said I, and I opened the letter. It was from Bhehazek's +son, for the collector was dead. His father had said that the violin +should be offered to me at the price he had mentioned. I told Liszt and +Mendelssohn about the price. 'You man from Norway, you are crazy,' said +Liszt. 'Unheard of extravagance, which only a fiddler is capable of,' +exclaimed Mendelssohn. 'Have you ever played on it? Have you ever tried +it?' they both inquired. 'Never,' I answered, 'for it can not be played +on at all just now.' + +"I never was happier than when I felt sure that the prize was mine. +Originally the bridge was of boxwood, with two fishes carved on it--that +was the zodiacal sign of my birthday, February--which was a good sign. +Oh, the good times that violin and I have had! As to its history, +Ehehazek told me that in 1809, when Innspruck was taken by the French, +the soldiers sacked the town. This violin had been placed in the +Innspruck Museum by Cardinal Aldobrandi at the close of the sixteenth +century. A French soldier looted it, and sold it to Ehehazek for a +trifle. This is the same violin that I played on, when I first came +to the United States, in the Park Theatre. That was on Evacuation day, +1843. I went to the Astor House, and made a joke--I am quite capable of +doing such things. It was the day when John Bull went out and Ole Bull +came in. I remember that at the very first concert one of my strings +broke, and I had to work out my piece on the three strings, and it was +supposed I did it on purpose." Ole Bull valued this instrument as beyond +all price, and justly, for there have been few more famous violins than +the Treasury violin of Innspruck, under which name it was known to all +the amateurs and collectors of the world. + +During his various art wanderings through Europe, Ole Bull made many +friends among the distinguished men of the world. A dominant pride +of person and race, however, always preserved him from the slightest +approach to servility. In 1838 he was presented to Carl Johann, king +of Sweden, at Stockholm. The king had at that time a great feeling of +bitterness against Norway, on account of the obstinate refusal of the +people of that country to be united with Sweden under his rule. At the +interview with Ole Bull the irate king let fall some sharp expressions +relative to his chagrin in the matter. + +"Sire," said the artist, drawing himself up to the fullness of his +magnificent height, and looking sternly at the monarch, "you forget that +I have the honor to be a Norwegian." + +The king was startled by this curt rebuke, and was about to make an +angry reply, but smoothed his face and answered, with a laugh: + +"Well! well! I know you d--d sturdy fellows." Carl Johann afterward +bestowed on Ole Bull the order of Gustavus Vasa. + + +V. + +Ole Bull's first visit to America was in 1843, and the impression +produced by his playing was, for manifest causes, even greater than that +created in Europe. He was the first really great violinist who had ever +come to this country for concert purposes, and there was none other +to measure him by. There were no great traditions of players who had +preceded him; there were no rivals like Spohr, Paganini, and De Bériot +to provoke comparisons. In later years artists discovered that this +country was a veritable El Dorado, and regarded an American tour as +indispensable to the fulfillment of a well-rounded career. But, when Ole +Bull began to play in America, his performances were revelations, to the +masses of those that heard him, of the possibilities of the violin. The +greatest enthusiasm was manifested everywhere, and, during the three +years of this early visit, he gave repeated performances in every city +of any note in America. The writer of this little work met Ole Bull a +few years ago in Chicago, and heard the artist laughingly say that, +when he first entered what was destined to be such a great city, it was +little more than a vast mudhole, a good-sized village scattered over +a wide space of ground, and with no building of pretension except Fort +Dearborn, a stockade fortification. + +Our artist returned to Europe in 1846, and for five years led a +wandering life of concert-giving in England, France, Holland, Germany, +Italy, and Spain, adding to his laurels by the recognition everywhere +conceded of the increased soundness and musicianly excellence of his +playing. It was indeed at this period that Ole Bull attained his best as +a virtuoso. He had been previously seduced by the example of Paganini, +and in the attempt to master the more strange and remote difficulties of +the instrument had often laid himself open to serious criticism. But Ole +Bull gradually formed a style of his own which was the outcome of his +passion for descriptive and poetic playing, and the correlative of the +mode of composition which he adopted. In still later years Ole Bull +seems to have returned again to what might be termed claptrap and +trickery in his art, and to have desired rather to excite wonder and +curiosity than to charm the sensibilities or to satisfy the requirements +of sound musical taste. + +In 1851 Ole Bull returned home with the patriotic purpose of +establishing a strictly national theatre. This had been for a long time +one of the many dreams which his active imagination had conjured up as +a part of his mission. He was one of the earliest of that school of +reformers, of whom we have heard so much of late years, that urge the +readoption of the old Norse language--or, what is nearest to it now, +the Icelandic--as the vehicle of art and literature. In the attempt to +dethrone Dansk from its preeminence as the language of the drama, Ole +Bull signally failed, and his Norwegian theatre, established at Bergen, +proved only an insatiable tax on money-resources earned in other +directions. + +The year succeeding this, Ole Bull again visited the United States, +and spent five years here. The return to America did not altogether +contemplate the pursuit of music, for there had been for a good while +boiling in his brain, among other schemes, the project of a great +Scandinavian colony, to be established in Pennsylvania under his +auspices. He purchased one hundred and twenty-five thousand acres of +land on the Susquehanna, and hundreds of sturdy Norwegians flocked over +to the land of milk and honey thus auspiciously opened to them. Timber +was felled, ground cleared, churches, cottages, school-houses built, +and everything was progressing desirably, when the ambitious colonizer +discovered that the parties who sold him the land were swindlers without +any rightful claim to it. With the unbusiness-like carelessness of the +man of genius, our artist had not investigated the claims of others +on the property, and he thus became involved in a most perplexing and +expensive suit at law. He attempted to punish the rascals who so nearly +ruined him, but they were shielded behind the quips and quirks of the +law, and got away scot free. Ole Bull's previously ample means were so +heavily drained by this misfortune that he was compelled to take up +his violin again and resume concert-giving, for he had incurred heavy +pecuniary obligations that must be met. Driven by the most feverish +anxiety, he passed from town to town, playing almost every night, till +he was stricken down by yellow fever in New Orleans. His powerful frame +and sound constitution, fortified by the abstemious habits which had +marked his whole life of queer vicissitudes, carried him through this +danger safely, and he finally succeeded in honorably fulfilling the +responsibility which he had assumed toward his countrymen. + +For many recent years Ole Bull, when not engaged in concert-giving in +Europe or America, has resided at a charming country estate on one +of the little islands off the coast of Norway. His numerous farewell +concert tours are very well known to the public, and would have won +him ridicule, had not the genial presence and brilliant talents of the +Norwegian artist been always good for a renewed and no less cordial +welcome. He frequently referred to the United States in latter years as +the beloved land of his adoption. One striking proof of his preference +was, at all events, displayed in his marriage to an American lady, Miss +Thorpe, of Wisconsin, in 1870. One son was the fruit of this second +marriage, and Mr. and Mrs. Ole Bull divided their time between Norway +and the United States. + +The magnificent presence of Ole Bull, as if of some grand old viking +stepped out of his armor and dressed in modern garb, made a most +picturesque personality. Those who have seen him can never forget him. +The great stature, the massive, stalwart form, as upright as a pine, the +white floating locks framing the ruddy face, full of strength and genial +humor, lit up by keen blue eyes--all these things made Ole Bull the most +striking man in _personnel_ among all the artists who have been familiar +to our public. + +While Ole Bull will not be known in the history of art as a great +scientific musician, there can be no doubt that his place as a brilliant +and gifted solo player will stand among the very foremost. As a composer +he will probably be forgotten, for his compositions, which made up the +most of his concert programmes, were so radically interwoven with his +executive art as a virtuoso that the two can not be dissevered. No one, +unless he should be inspired by the same feelings which animated the +breast of Ole Bull, could ever evolve from his musical tone-pictures +of Scandinavian myth and folk-lore the weird fascination which his +bow struck from the strings. Ole Bull, like Paganini, laid no claim to +greatness in interpreting the violin classics. His peculiar title to +fame is that of being, aside from brilliancy as a violin virtuoso, the +musical exponent of his people and their traditions. He died at Bergen, +Norway, on August 18, 1880, in the seventy-first year of his age, +and his funeral services made one of the most august and imposing +ceremonials held for many a long year in Norway. + + + + +MUZIO CLEMENTI + + +The Genealogy of the Piano-forte.--The Harpsichord its Immediate +Predecessor.--Supposed Invention of the Piano-forte.--Silbermann the +First Maker.--Anecdote of Frederick the Great.--The Piano-forte only +slowly makes its Way as against the Clavichord and Harpsichord.--Emanuel +Bach, the First Composer of Sonatas for the Piano-forte.--His Views +of playing on the New Instrument.--Haydn and Mozart as Players.--Muzio +Clementi, the Earliest Virtuoso, strictly speaking, as a Pianist.--Born +in Rome in 1752.--Scion of an Artistic Family.--First Musical +Training.--Rapid Development of his Talents.--Composes Contrapuntal +Works at the Age of Fourteen.--Early Studies of the Organ and +Harpsichord.--Goes to England to complete his Studies.--Creates +an Unequaled Furore in London.--John Christian Bach's Opinion of +Clementi.--Clementi's Musical Tour.--His Duel with Mozart before the +Emperor.--Tenor of Clementi's Life in England.--Clementi's Pupils.--Trip +to St. Petersburg.--Sphor's Anecdote of Him.--Mercantile and +Manufacturing Interest in the Piano as Partner of Collard.--The Players +and Composers trained under Clementi.--His Composition.--Status as +a Player.--Character and Influence as an Artist.--Development of the +Technique of the Piano, culminating in Clementi. + + +I. + +Before touching the life of Clementi, the first of the great virtuosos +who may be considered distinctively composers for and players on the +pianoforte, it is indispensable to a clear understanding of the theme +involved that the reader should turn back for a brief glance at the +history of the piano and piano-playing prior to his time. Before the +piano-forte came the harpsichord, prior to the latter the spinet, +then the virginal, the clavichord, and monochord; before these, the +clavieytherium. Before these instruments, which bring us down to modern +civilized times, and constitute the genealogy of the piano-forte, we +have the dulcimer and psaltery, and all the Egyptian, Grecian, and Roman +harps and lyres which were struck with a quill or plectrum. No product +of human ingenuity has been the outcome of a steady and systematic +growth from age to age by more demonstrable stages than this most +remarkable of musical instruments. As it is not the intention to offer +an essay on the piano, but only to make clearer the conditions under +which a great school of players began to appear, the antiquities of the +topic are not necessary to be touched. + +The modern piano-forte had as its immediate predecessor the harpsichord, +the instrument on which the heroines of the novels of Fielding, +Smollett, Richardson, and their contemporaries were wont to discourse +sweet music, and for which Haydn and Mozart composed some delightful +minor works. In the harpsichord the strings were set in vibration by +points of quill or hard leather. One of these instruments looked like +a piano, only it was provided with two keyboards, one above the other, +related to each other as the swell and main keyboards of an organ. +At last it occurred to lovers of music that all refinement of musical +expression depended on touch, and that whereas a string could be plucked +or pulled by machinery in but one way, it could be hit in a hundred +ways. It was then that the notion of striking the strings with a hammer +found practical use, and by the addition of this element the piano-forte +emerged into existence. The idea appears to have occurred to three men +early in the eighteenth century, almost simultaneously--Cristofori, an +Italian, Marins, a Frenchman, and Schrôter, a German. For years attempts +to carry out the new mechanism were so clumsy that good harpsichords +on the wrong principle were preferred to poor piano-fortes on the right +principle. But the keynote of progress had been struck, and the day +of the quill and leather jack was swiftly drawing to a close. A small +hammer was made to strike the string, producing a marvelously clear, +precise, delicate tone, and the "scratch" with a sound at the end of it +was about to be consigned to oblivion for ever and a day. + +Gottfried Silbermann, an ingenious musical instrument maker, of +Freyhurg, Saxony, was the first to give the new principle adequate +expression, about the year 1740, and his pianos excited a great deal of +curiosity among musicians and scientific men. He followed the mechanism +of Cristofori, the Italian, rather than of his own countrymen. Schrôter +and his instruments appear to have been ingenious, though Sebastian +Bach, who loved his "well-tempered clavichord" (the most powerful +instrument of the harpsichord class) too well to be seduced from his +allegiance, pronounced them too feeble in tone, a criticism which he +retracted in after years. Silbermann experimented and labored with +incessant energy for many years, and he had the satisfaction before +dying of seeing the piano firmly established in the affection and +admiration of the musical world. One of the most authentic of musical +anecdotes is that of the visit of John Sebastian Bach and his son to +Frederick the Great, at Potsdam, in 1747. The Prussian king was an +enthusiast in music, and himself an excellent performer on the flute, +of which, as well as of other instruments, he had a large collection. He +had for a long time been anxious for a visit from Bach, but that great +man was too much enamored of his own quiet musical solitude to +run hither and thither at the beck of kings. At last, after much +solicitation, he consented, and arrived at Potsdam late in the evening, +all dusty and travel-stained. The king was just taking up his flute +to play a concerto, when a lackey informed him of the coming of Bach. +Frederick was more agitated than he ever had been in the tumult of +battle. Crying aloud, "Gentlemen, old Bach is here!" he rushed out to +meet the king in a loftier domain than his own, and ushered him into the +lordly company of powdered wigs and doublets, of fair dames shining with +jewels, satins, and velvets, of courtiers glittering in all the colors +of the rainbow. "Old Bach" presented a shabby figure amid all this +splendor, but the king cared nothing for that. He was most anxious to +hear the grand old musician play on the new Silbermann piano, which was +the latest hobby of the Prussian monarch. + +It is not a matter of wonder that the lovers of the harpsichord and +clavichord did not take kindly to the piano-forte at first. The keys +needed a greater delicacy of treatment, and the very fact that the +instrument required a new style of playing was of course sufficient to +relegate the piano to another generation. The art of playing had at the +time of the invention of the piano attained a high degree of efficiency. +Such musicians as Do-menico Scarlatti in Italy and John Sebastian Bach +in Germany had developed a wonderful degree of skill in treating the +_clavecin_, or spinet, and the clavichord, and, if we may trust the old +accounts, they called out ecstasies of admiration similar to those which +the great modern players have excited. With the piano-forte, however, an +entirely new style of expression came into existence. The power to play +soft or loud at will developed the individual or personal feeling of the +player, and new effects were speedily invented and put in practice. The +art of playing ceased to be considered from the merely objective point +of view, for the richer resources of the piano suggested the indulgence +of individuality of expression. It was left to Emanuel Bach to make +the first step toward the proper treatment of the piano, and to adapt +a style of composition expressly to its requirements, though even he +continued to prefer the clavichord. The rigorous, polyphonic style of +his illustrious father was succeeded by the lyrical and singing +element, which, if fantastic and daring, had a sweet, bright charm very +fascinating. He writes in one of his treatises: "Methinks music +ought appeal directly to the heart, and in this no performer on +the piano-forte will succeed by merely thumping and drumming, or by +continual arpeggio playing. During the last few years my chief endeavor +has been to play the piano-forte, in spite of its deficiency in +sustaining the sound, so much as possible, in a singing manner, and +to compose for it accordingly. This is by no means an easy task, if we +desire not to leave the ear empty or to disturb the noble simplicity of +the cantabile by too much noise." + +Haydn and Mozart, who composed somewhat for the harpsichord (for until +the closing years of the eighteenth century this instrument had +not entirely yielded to the growing popularity of the piano-forte), +distinguished themselves still more by their treatment of the latter +instrument. They closely followed the maxims of Emanuel Bach. They +aimed to please the public by sweet melody and agreeable harmony, by +spontaneous elegance and cheerfulness, by suave and smooth simplicity. +Their practice in writing for the orchestra and for voices modified +their piano-forte style both as composers and players, but they never +sacrificed that intelligible and simple charm which appeals to the +universal heart to the taste for grand, complex, and eccentric effects, +which has so dominated the efforts of their successors. Mozart's most +distinguished contemporaries bear witness to his excellence as a player, +and his great command over the piano-forte, and his own remarks on +piano-playing are full of point and suggestion. He asserts "that the +performer should possess a quiet and steady hand, with its natural +lightness, smoothness, and gliding rapidity so well developed that the +passages should flow like oil.... All notes, graces, accents, etc., +should be brought out with fitting taste and expression.... In passages +[technical figures], some notes may be left to their fate without +notice, but is that right? Three things are necessary to a good +performer"; and he pointed significantly to his head, his heart, and +the tips of his fingers, as symbolical of understanding, sympathy, and +technical skill. But it was fated that Clementi should be the Columbus +in the domain of piano-forte playing and composition. He was the father +of the school of modern piano technique, and by far surpassed all his +contemporaries in the boldness, vigor, brilliancy, and variety of his +execution, and he is entitled to be called first (in respect of date) +of the great piano-forte virtuosos, Clementi wrote solely for this +instrument (for his few orchestral works are now dead). The piano, as +his sole medium of expression, became a vehicle of great eloquence and +power, and his sonatas, as pure types of piano-forte compositions, are +unsurpassed, even in this age of exuberant musical fertility. + + +II. + +Muzio Clementi was born at Rome in the year 1752, and was the son of +a silver worker of great skill, who was principally engaged on the +execution of the embossed figures and vases employed in the Catholic +worship. The boy at a very early age evinced a most decided taste +for music, a predilection which delighted his father, himself an +enthusiastic amateur, and caused him to bestow the utmost pains on the +cultivation of the child's talents. The boy's first master was Buroni, +choir-master a tone of the churches, and a relation of the family. +Later, young Clementi took lessons in thorough bass from an eminent +organist, Condicelli, and after a couple of years' application he was +thought sufficiently advanced to apply for the position of organist, +which he obtained, his age then being barely nine. He prosecuted his +studies with great zeal under the ablest masters, and his genius for +composition as well as for playing displayed a rapid development. By the +time Clementi had attained the age of fourteen he had composed several +contrapuntal works of considerable merit, one of which, a mass for four +voices and chorus, gained great applause from the musicians and public +of Rome. + +During his studies of counterpoint and the organ Clementi never +neglected his harpsichord, on which he achieved remarkable proficiency, +for the piano-forte at this time, though gradually coming into use, was +looked on rather as a curiosity than an instrument of practical value. +The turning-point of Clementi's life occurred in 1767, through his +acquaintance with an English gentleman of wealth, Mr. Peter Beckford, +who evinced a deep interest in the young musician's career. After much +opposition Mr. Beckford persuaded the elder Clementi to intrust his +son's further musical education to his care. The country seat of Mr. +Beckford was in Dorsetshire, England, and here, by the aid of a fine +library, social surroundings of the most favorable kind, and indomitable +energy on his own part, he speedily made himself an adept in the English +language and literature. The talents of Clementi made him almost an +Admirable Crichton, for it is asserted that, in addition to the most +severe musical studies, he made himself in a few years a proficient in +the principal modern languages, in Greek and Latin, and in the +whole circle of the belles-lettres. His studies in his own art were +principally based on the works of Corelli, Alexander Scarlatti, +Handel's harpsichord and organ music, and on the sonatas of Paradies, a +Neapolitan composer and teacher, who enjoyed high repute in London for +many years. Until 1770 Clementi spent his time secluded at his patron's +country seat, and then fully equipped with musical knowledge, and with +an unequaled command of the instrument, he burst on the town as pianist +and composer. He had already written at this time his "Opus No. 2," +which established a new era for sonata compositions, and is recognized +to-day as the basis for all modern works of this class. + +Clementi's attainments were so phenomenal that he carried everything +before him in London, and met with a success so brilliant as to be +almost without precedent. Socially and musically he was one of the +idols of the hour, and the great Handel himself had not met with as much +adulation. Apropos of the great sonata above mentioned, with which the +Clementi furore began in London, it is said that John Christian Bach, +son of Sebastian, one of the greatest executants of the time, confessed +his inability to do it justice, and Schrôter, one of those sharing the +honor of the invention of the piano-forte, and a leading musician of his +age, said, "Only the devil and Clementi could play it." For seven years +the subject of our sketch poured forth a succession of brilliant works, +continually gave concerts, and in addition acted as conductor of the +Italian opera, a life sufficiently busy for the most ambitious man. In +1780 Clementi began his musical travels, and gave the first concerts +of his tour at Paris, whither he was accompanied by the great singer +Pacchierotti. He was received with the greatest favor by the queen, +Marie Antoinette, and the court, and made the acquaintance of Gluck, who +warmly admired the brilliant player who had so completely revolutionized +the style of execution on instruments with a keyboard. Here he also met +Viotti, the great violinist, and played a _duo concertante_ with the +latter, expressly composed for the occasion. Clementi was delighted with +the almost frantic enthusiasm of the French, so different from the more +temperate approbation of the English. He was wont to say jocosely that +he hardly knew himself to be the same man. From Paris Clementi passed, +via Strasburg and Munich, where he was most cordially welcomed, +to Vienna, the then musical Mecca of Europe, for it contained two +world-famed men--"Papa" Haydn and the young prodigy Mozart. The Emperor +Joseph II, a great lover of music, could not let the opportunity slip, +for he now had a chance to determine which was the greater player, his +own pet Mozart or the Anglo-Italian stranger whose fame as an executant +had risen to such dimensions. So the two musicians fought a musical +duel, in which they played at sight the most difficult works, and +improvised on themes selected by the imperial arbiter. The victory +was left undecided, though Mozart, who disliked the Italians, spoke +afterward of Clementi, in a tone at variance with his usual gentleness, +as "a mere mechanician, without a pennyworth of feeling or taste." +Clementi was more generous, for he couldn't say too much of Mozart's +"singing touch and exquisite taste," and dated from this meeting a +considerable difference in his own style of play. + +With the exception of occasional concert tours to Paris, Clementi +devoted all his time up to 1802 in England, busy as conductor, composer, +virtuoso, and teacher. In the latter capacity he was unrivaled, and +pupils came to him from all parts of Europe. Among these pupils were +John B. Cramer and John Field, names celebrated in music. In 1802 +Clementi took the brilliant young Irishman, John Field, to St. +Petersburg on a musical tour, where both master and pupil were received +with unbounded enthusiasm, and where the latter remained in affluent +circumstances, having married a Russian lady of rank and wealth. +Field was idolized by the Russians, and they claim his compositions +as belonging to their music. He is now distinctively remembered as the +inventor of that beautiful form of musical writing, the nocturne. Spohr, +the violinist, met Clementi and Field at the Russian capital, and gives +the following amusing account in his "Autobiography": "Clementi, a man +in his best years, of an extremely lively disposition and very engaging +manners, liked much to converse with me, and often invited me after +dinner to play at billiards. In the evening I sometimes accompanied him +to his large piano-forte warehouse, where Field was often obliged +to play for hours to display instruments to the best advantage to +purchasers. I have still in recollection the figure of the pale +overgrown youth, whom I have never since seen. When Field, who had +outgrown his clothes, placed himself at the piano, stretching out his +arms over the keyboard, so that the sleeves shrank up nearly to the +elbow, his whole figure appeared awkward and stiff in the highest +degree. But, as soon as his touching instrumentation began, everything +else was forgotten, and one became all ear. Unfortunately I could not +express my emotion and thankfulness to the young man otherwise than +by the pressure of the hand, for he spoke no language but his mother +tongue. Even at that time many anecdotes of the remarkable avarice of +the rich Clementi were related, which had greatly increased in later +years when I again met him in London. It was generally reported that +Field was kept on very short allowance by his master, and was obliged to +pay for the good fortune of having his instruction by many privations. +I myself experienced a little sample of Clementi's truly Italian +parsimony, for one day I found teacher and pupil with upturned sleeves, +engaged at the wash-tub, washing their stockings and other linen. They +did not suffer themselves to be disturbed, and Clementi advised me to do +the same, as washing in St. Petersburg was not only very expensive, but +the linen suffered much from the method used in washing it." + +From the above it may be suspected that Clementi was not only player +and composer, but man of business. He had been very successful in +money-making in England from the start, and it was not many years before +he accumulated a sufficient amount to buy an interest in the firm of +Longman & Broderip, "manufacturers of musical instruments, and music +sellers to their majesties." The failure of the house, by which he +sustained heavy losses, induced him to try his hand alone at music +publishing and piano-forte manufacturing; and his great success (the +firm is still extant in the person of his partner's son, Mr. Col-lard) +proves he was an exception to the majority of artists, who rarely +possess business talents. Clementi met many reverses in his commercial +career. In March, 1807, the warehouses occupied by Clementi's new firm +were destroyed by fire, entailing a loss of about forty thousand pounds. +But the man's courage was indomitable, and he retrieved his misfortunes +with characteristic pluck and cheerfulness. After 1810 he gave up +playing in public, and devoted himself to composing and the conduct of +his piano-forte business, which became very large and valuable. Himself +an inventor and mechanician, he made many important improvements in the +construction of the piano, some of which have never been superseded. + + +III. + +Clementi numbers among his pupils more great names in the art of +piano-forte playing than any other great master. This is partly owing +to the fact, it may be, that he began his career in the infancy of the +piano-forte as an instrument, and was the first to establish a solid +basis for the technique of the instrument. In addition to John Field and +J. B. Cramer, previously mentioned, were Zeuner, Dussek, Alex. Kleugel, +Ludwig Berger, Kalkbrenner, Charles Mayer, and Meyerbeer. These +musicians not only added richly to the literature of the piano-forte, +but were splendid exponents of its powers as virtuosos. But mere +artistic fame is transitory, and it is in Clementi's contributions to +the permanent history of piano-forte playing that we must find his chief +claim on the admiration of posterity. He composed not a few works for +the orchestra, and transcriptions of opera, but these have now receded +to the lumber closet. The works which live are his piano concertos, of +which about sixty were written for the piano alone, and the remainder +as duets or trios; and, _par excellence_, his "Gradus ad Parnassum," a +superb series of one hundred studies, upon which even to-day the solid +art of piano-forte playing rests. Clementi's works must always remain +indispensable to the pianist, and, in spite of the fact that piano +technique has made such advances during the last half century, there are +several of Clementi's sonatas which tax the utmost skill of such players +as Liszt and Von Billow, to whom all ordinary difficulty is merely a +plaything. As Viotti was the father of modern violin-playing, Clementi +may be considered the father of virtuosoism on the piano-forte, and he +has left an indelible mark, both mechanically and spiritually, on +all that pertains to piano-playing. Compared with Clementi's style in +piano-forte composition, that of Haydn and Mozart appears poor and thin. +Haydn and Mozart regarded execution as merely the vehicle of ideas, and +valued technical brilliancy less than musical substance. Clementi, on +the other hand, led the way for that class of compositions which pay +large attention to manual skill. His works can not be said to burn with +that sacred fire which inspires men of the highest genius, but they are +magnificently modeled for the display of technical execution, brilliancy +of effect, and virile force of expression. The great Beethoven, who +composed the greatest works for the piano-forte, as also for the +orchestra, had a most exalted estimate of Clementi, and never wearied +of playing his music and sounding his praises. No musician has probably +exerted more far-reaching effects in this department of his art than +Clementi, though he can not be called a man of the highest genius, +for this lofty attribute supposes great creative imagination and rich +resources of thought, as well as knowledge, experience, skill, and +transcendent aptitude for a single instrument. + +As far as a musician of such unique and colossal genius as Beethoven +could be influenced by preceding or contemporary artists, his style as +a piano-forte player and composer was more modified by Clementi than +by any other. He was wont to say that no one could play till he +knew Clementi by heart. He adopted many of the peculiar figures and +combinations original with Clementi, though his musical mentality, +incomparably richer and greater than that of the other, transfigured +them into a new life. That Beethoven found novel means of expression +to satisfy the importunate demands of his musical conceptions; that his +piano works display a greater polyphony, stronger contrasts, bolder +and richer rhythm, broader design and execution, by no means impair +the value of his obligations to Clementi, obligations which the most +arrogant and self-centered of men freely allowed. Beethoven's fancy was +penetrated by all the qualities of tone which distinguish the string, +reed, and brass instruments; his imagination shot through and through +with orchestral color; and he succeeded in saturating his sonatas with +these rich effects without sacrificing the specialty of the piano-forte. +But in general style and technique he is distinctly a follower of +Clementi. The most unique and splendid personality in music has thus +been singled out as furnishing a vivid illustration of the influence +exerted by Clementi in the department of the piano-forte. + +Clementi lived to the age of eighty, and spent the last twelve years of +his life in London uninterruptedly, his growing feebleness preventing +him from taking his usual musical trips to the Continent. He retained +his characteristic energy and freshness of mind to the last, and +was held in the highest honor by the great circle of artists who had +centered in London, for he was the musical patriarch in England, as +Cherubini was in France at a little later date. He was married three +times, had children in his old age, and only a few months before +his death, Moscheles records in his diary, he was able to arouse the +greatest enthusiasm by the vigor and brilliancy of his playing, in spite +of his enfeebled physical powers. He died March 9, 1832, at Eversham, +and his funeral gathered a great convocation of musical celebrities. His +life covered an immense arch in the history of music. + +At his birth Handel was alive; at his death Beethoven, Schubert, +and Weber had found refuge in the grave from the ingratitude of a +contemporary public. He began his career by practicing Scarlatti's +harpsichord sonatas; he lived to be acquainted with the finest +piano-forte works of all time. When he first used the piano, he +practiced on the imperfect and feeble Silbermann instrument. When he +died, the magnificent instruments of Erard, Broadwood, and Collard, +to the latter of which his own mechanical and musical knowledge had +contributed much, were in common vogue. Such was the career of Muzio +Clementi, the father of piano-forte virtuosos. Had he lived later, he +might have been far eclipsed by the great players who have since adorned +the art of music. As Goethe says, through the mouthpiece of Wil-helm. +Meister: "The narrowest man may be complete while he moves within the +bounds of his own capacity and acquirements, but even fine qualities +become clouded and destroyed if this indispensable proportion is +exceeded. This unwholesome excess, however, will begin to appear +frequently, for who can suffice to the swift progress and increasing +requirements of the ever-soaring present time?" But, measured by his own +day and age, Clementi deserves the pedestal on which musical criticism +has placed him. + + + + +MOSCHELES. + + +Clementi and Mozart as Points of Departure in Piano-forte +Playing.--Moscheles the most Brilliant Climax reached by the Viennese +School.--His Child-Life at Prague.--Extraordinary Precocity.--Goes to +Vienna as the Pupil of Salieri and Albrechts-burger.--Acquaintance +with Beethoven.--Moscheles is honored with a Commission to make a Piano +Transcription of Beethoven's "Fidelio."--His Intercourse with the Great +Man.--Concert Tour.--Arrival in Paris.--The Artistic Circle into which +he is received.--Pictures of Art-Life in Paris.--London and its Musical +Celebrities.--Career as a Wandering Virtuoso.--Felix Mendelssohn becomes +his Pupil.--The Mendelssohn Family.--Moscheles's Marriage to a +Hamburg Lady.--Settles in London.--His Life as Teacher, Player, and +Composer.--Eminent Place taken by Moscheles among the Musicians of +his Age.--His Efforts soothe the Sufferings of Beethoven's +Deathbed.--Friendship for Mendelssohn.--Moscheles becomes connected with +the Leipzig Conservatorium.--Death in 1870.--Moscheles as Pianist +and Composer.--Sympathy with the Old as against the New School of the +Piano.--His Powerful Influence on the Musical Culture and Tendencies of +his Age. + + +I. + +The rivalry of Clementi and Mozart as exponents of piano-forte playing +in their day was continued in their schools of performance. The original +cause of this difference was largely based on the character of the +instruments on which they played. Clementi used the English piano-forte, +and Mozart the Viennese, and the style of execution was no less the +outcome of the mechanical difference between the two vehicles of +expression than the result of personal idiosyncrasies. The English +instrument was speedily developed into the production of a richer, +fuller, and more sonorous tone, while the Viennese piano-forte continued +for a long time to be distinguished by its light, thin, sweet quality of +sound, and an action so sensitive that the slightest pressure produced +a sound from the key, so that the term "breathing on the keys" became +a current expression, Clementi's piano favored a bold, masculine, +brilliant style of playing, while the Viennese piano led to a rapid, +fluent, delicate treatment. The former player founded the school which +has culminated, through a series of great players, in the magnificent +virtuosoism of Franz Liszt, while the Vienna school has no nearer +representative than Tgnaz Moscheles, one of the greatest players in the +history of the pianoforte, who, whether judged by his gifts as a +concert performer, a composer for the instrument which he so brilliantly +adorned, or from his social and intellectual prominence, must be set +apart as peculiarly a representative man. There were other eminent +players, such as Hummel, Czerny, and Herz, contemporary with Moscheles +and belonging to the same _genre_ as a pianist, but these names do not +stand forth with the same clear and permanent luster in their relation +to the musical art. + +Ignaz Moscheles was born at Prague, May 30, 1794, his parents being +well-to-do people of Hebrew stock. His father, a cloth merchant, was +passionately fond of music, and was accustomed to say, "One of my +children must become a thoroughbred musician." Ignaz was soon selected +as the one on whom the experiment should be made, and the rapid +progress he made justified the accident of choice, for all of the family +possessed some musical talent. The boy progressed too fast, for he +attempted at the age of seven to play Beethoven's "Sonata Pathétique." +He was traveling on the wrong road, attempting what he could in no +way attain, when his father took him to Dionys Weber, one of the best +teachers of the time. "I come," said the parent, "to you as our first +musician, for sincere truth instead of empty flattery. I want to find +out from you if my boy has such genuine talent that you can make a +really good musician of him." "Naturally, I was called on to play," says +Moscheles, in his "Autobiography," "and I was bungler enough to do it +with some conceit. My mother having decked me out in my Sunday best, I +played my best piece, Beethoven's 'Sonata Pathétique.' But what was my +astonishment on finding that I was neither interrupted by bravos nor +overwhelmed by praise! and what were my feelings when Dionys Weber +finally delivered himself thus: + +"'Candidly speaking, the boy has talent, but is on the wrong road, for +he makes bosh of great works which he does not understand, and to which +he is utterly unequal. I could make something of him if you could hand +him over to me for three years, and follow out my plan to the letter. +The first year he must play nothing but Mozart, the second Clementi, and +the third Bach; but only that: not a note as yet of Beethoven; and if +he persists in using the circulating libraries, I have done with him for +ever.'" + +This scheme was followed out strictly, and Moscheles at the age of +fourteen had acquired a sufficient mastery of the piano to give a +concert at Prague with brilliant success. The young musician continued +to pursue his studies assiduously under Weber's direction until +his father's death, and his mother then determined to yield to his +oft-repeated wish to try his musical fortunes in a larger field, and win +his own way in life. So young Ignaz, little more than a child, went to +Vienna, where he was warmly received in the hospitable musical circles +of that capital. He took lessons in counterpoint from Albrechts-burger, +and in composition from Salieri, and in all ways indicated that serene, +tireless industry which marked his whole after-career. Moscheles spent +eight years at Vienna, continually growing in estimation as artist and +beginning to make his mark as a composer. His own reminiscences of the +brilliant and gifted men who clustered in Vienna are very pleasant, but +it is to Beethoven that his admiration specially went forth. The great +master liked his young disciple much, and proposed to him that he should +set the numbers of "Fidelio" for the piano, a task which, it is needless +to say, was gladly accepted. Moscheles tells us one morning, when he +went to see Beethoven, he found him lying in bed. "He happened to be in +remarkably good spirits, jumped up immediately, and placed himself, just +as he was, at the window looking out on the Schotten-bastei, with the +view of examining the 'Fidelio' numbers which I had arranged. Naturally, +a crowd of street-boys collected under the window, when he roared out, +'Now, what do these confounded boys want?' I laughed and pointed to his +own figure. 'Yes, yes! You are quite right,' he said, and hastily put on +a dressing-gown." + +Moscheles's associations were even at this early period with all the +foremost people of the age, and he was cordially welcome in every +circle. He composed a good deal, besides giving concerts and playing in +private select circles, and was recognized as being the equal of Hummel, +who had hitherto been accepted as the great piano virtuoso of Vienna. +The two were very good friends in spite of their rivalry. They, as well +as all the Viennese musicians, were bound together by a common tie, very +well expressed in the saying of Moscheles: "We musicians, whatever we +be, are mere satellites of the great Beethoven, the dazzling luminary." + + +II. + +In the autumn of 1816 Moscheles bade a sorrowful adieu to the imperial +city, where he had spent so many happy years, to undertake an extended +concert tour, armed with letters of introduction to all the courts of +Europe from Prince Lichtenstein, Countess Hardigg, and other influential +admirers. He proceeded directly to Leipzig, where he was warmly received +by the musical fraternity of that city, especially by the Wiecks, of +whose daughter Clara he speaks in highly eulogistic words. He played his +own compositions, which already began to show that serene and finished +beauty so characteristic of his after-writings. Ŕ similar success +greeted him at Dresden, where, among other concerts, he gave one before +the court. Of this entertainment Moscheles writes: "The court actually +dined (this barbarous custom still prevails), and the royal household +listened in the galleries, while I and the court band made music to +them, and barbarous it really was; but, in regard to truth, I must add +that royalty and also the lackeys kept as quiet as possible, and the +former congratulated me, and actually condescended to admit me to +friendly conversation." He continued his concerts in Munich, Augsburg, +Amsterdam, Brussels, and other cities, creating the most genuine +admiration wherever he went, and finally reached Paris in December, +1817. + +Here our young artist was promptly received in the extraordinary world +of musicians, artists, authors, wits, and social celebrities which then, +as now, made Paris so delightful for those possessing the countersign of +admission. Baillot, the violinist, gave a private concert in his honor, +in which he in company with Spohr played before an audience made up of +such artists and celebrities as Cherubini, Auber, Herold, Adam, Lesueur, +Pacini, Paer, Habeneck, Plantade, Blangini, La-font, Pleyel, Ivan +Muller, Viotti, Pellegrini, Boďeldieu, Schlesinger, Manuel Garcia, and +others. These areopagites of music set the mighty seal of their approval +on Moscheles's genius. He was invited everywhere, to dinners, balls, and +_fętes_, and there was no _salon_ in Paris so high and exclusive which +did not feel itself honored by his presence. His public concerts were +thronged with the best and most critical audiences, and he by no means +shone the less that he appeared in conjunction with other distinguished +artists. He often entertained parties of jovial artists at his lodgings, +and music, punch, and supper enlivened the night till 3 A.M. Whoever +could play or sing was present, and good music alternated with amusing +tricks played on the respective instruments. "Altogether," he writes, +"it is a happy, merry time! Certainly, at the last state dinner of +the Rothschilds, in the presence of such notabilities as Canning +or Narischkin, I was obliged to keep rather in the background. The +invitation to a large, brilliant, but ceremonious ball appears a very +questionable way of showing me attention. The drive up, the endless +queue of carriages, wearied me, and at last I got out and walked. +There, too, I found little pleasure." On the other hand, he praises the +performance of Gluck's opera at the house of the Erards. The "concerts +spirituels" delight him. "Who would not," he says, "envy me this +enjoyment? These concerts justly enjoy a world-wide celebrity. There I +listen with the most solemn earnestness." On the other hand, there are +cheerful episodes, and jovial dinners with Carl Blum and Schlesinger, at +the Restaurant Lemelle. "Yesterday," he writes, "Schlesinger quizzed me +about my slowness in eating, and went so far as to make the stupid bet +with me, that he would demolish three dozen oysters while I ate one +dozen, and he was quite right. On perceiving, however, that he was on +the point of winning, I took to making faces, made him laugh so heartily +that he couldn't go on eating; thus I won my bet." We find the +following notice on the 20th of March: "I spent the evening at Ciceri's, +son-in-law of Isabey, the famous painter, where I was introduced to +one of the most interesting circles of artists. In the first room were +assembled the most famous painters, engaged in drawing several things +for their own amusement. In the midst of these was Cherubini, also +drawing. I had the honor, like every one newly introduced, of having +my portrait taken in caricature. Bégasse took me in hand, and succeeded +well. In an adjoining room were musicians and actors, among them +Ponchard, Le-vasseur, Dugazon, Panseron, Mlle, de Munck, and Mme. +Livčre, of the Théâtre Français. The most interesting of their +performances, which I attended merely as a listener, was a vocal quartet +by Cherubini, performed under his direction. Later in the evening, the +whole party armed itself with larger or smaller 'mirlitons' (reed-pipe +whistles), and on these small monotonous instruments, sometimes made +of sugar, they played, after the fashion of Russian horn music, the +overture to 'Demophon,' two frying-pans representing the drums." On the +27th of March this "mirliton" concert was repeated at Ciceri's, and on +this occasion Cherubini took an active part. Moscheles relates: "Horace +Vernet entertained us with his ventriloquizing powers, M. Salmon with +his imitation of a horn, and Dugazon actually with a 'mirliton' solo. +Lafont and I represented the classical music, which, after all, held, +its own." It was hard to tear himself from these gayeties; but he +had not visited London, and he was anxious to make himself known at a +musical capital inferior to none in Europe. He little thought that in +London he was destined to find his second home. He plunged into the +gayeties and enjoyments of the English capital with no less zest than he +had already experienced in Paris. He found such great players as J. B. +Cramer, Ferdinand Ries, Kalkbrenner, and Clementi in the field; but +our young artist did not altogether lose by comparison. Among other +distinguished musicians, Moscheles also met Kiesewetter, the violinist, +the great singers Mara and Catalani, and Dragonetti, the greatest of +double-bass players. Dragonetti was a most eccentric man, and of him +Moscheles says: "In his _salon_ in Liecester Square he has collected +a large number of various kinds of dolls, among them a negress. When +visitors are announced, he politely receives them, and says that this +or that young lady will make room for them; he also asks his intimate +acquaintances whether his favorite dolls look better or worse since +their last visit, and similar absurdities. He is a terrible snuff-taker, +helping himself out of a gigantic snuff-box, and he has an immense and +varied collection of snuff-boxes. The most curious part of him is his +language, a regular jargon, in which there is a mixture of his native +Bergamese, bad French, and still worse English." + +During the several months of this first English visit Moscheles made +many acquaintances which were destined to ripen into solid friendships, +and gave many concerts in which the most distinguished artists, vocal +and instrumental, participated. Altogether, he appears to have been +delighted with the London art and social world little less than he had +been with that of Paris. He returned, however, to the latter city in +August, and again became a prominent figure in the most fashionable and +admired concerts. During this visit to Paris he writes in his diary: +"Young Erard took me to-day to his piano-forte factory to try the new +invention of his uncle Sebastian. This quicker action of the hammer +seems to me so important that I prophesy a new era in the manufacture +of piano-fortes. I still complain of some heaviness in the touch, and, +therefore, prefer to play on Pape's and Petzold's instruments (Viennese +pianos). I admired the Erards, but am not thoroughly satisfied, and +urged him to make new improvements." + +From 1815, when Moscheles began his career as a virtuoso in the +production of his "Variationen fiber den Alexandermarsch," to 1826, +he established a great reputation as a virtuoso and composer for the +piano-forte. Though he played his own works at concerts with marked +approbation, he also became distinguished as an interpreter of Mozart +and Beethoven, for whom he had a reverential admiration. Moscheles often +records his own sense of insignificance by the side of these Titans +of music. A delightful characteristic of the man was his modesty about +himself, and his genial appreciation of other musicians. Nowhere do +those performers who, for example, came in active rivalry with himself, +receive more cordial and unalloyed praise. Moscheles was entirely devoid +of that littleness which finds vent in envy and jealousy, and was as +frank and sympathetic in his estimate of others as he was ambitious and +industrious in the development of his own great talents. In 1824 he gave +piano-forte lessons to Felix Mendelssohn, then a youth of fifteen, at +Berlin. He wrote of the Mendelssohn family: "This is a family the like +of which I have never known. Felix, a boy of fifteen, is a phenomenon. +What are all prodigies as compared with him? Gifted children, but +nothing else. This Felix Mendelssohn is already a mature artist, and +yet but fifteen years old! We at once settled down together for several +hours, for I was obliged to play a great deal, when really I wanted to +hear him and see his compositions, for Felix had to show me a concerto +in C minor, a double concerto, and several motets; and all so full of +genius, and at the same time so correct and thorough! His elder sister +Fanny, also extraordinarily gifted, played by heart, and with admirable +precision, fugues and passacailles by Bach. I think one may well call +her a thorough 'Mus. Doc' (guter Musiker). Both parents give one the +impression of being people of the highest refinement. They are far from +overrating their children's talents; in fact, they are anxious about +Felix's future, and to know whether his gift will prove sufficient to +lead to a noble and truly great career. Will he not, like so many other +brilliant children, suddenly collapse? I asserted my conscientious +conviction that Felix would ultimately become a great master, that I +had not the slightest doubt of his genius; but again and again I had +to insist on my opinion before they believed me. These two are not +specimens of the genus prodigy-parents (Wunderkinds Eltern), such as I +most frequently endure." Moscheles soon came to the conclusion that to +give Felix regular lessons was useless. Only a little hint from time +to time was necessary for the marvelous youth, who had already begun to +compose works which excited Moscheles's deepest admiration. + + +III. + +In January, 1825, Moscheles, in the course of his musical wanderings, +gave several concerts at Hamburg. Among the crowd of listeners who +came to hear the great pianist was Charlotte Embden, the daughter of an +excellent Hamburg family. She was enchanted by the playing of Moscheles, +and, when she accidentally made the acquaintance of the performer at the +house of a mutual acquaintance, the couple quickly became enamored of +each other. A brief engagement of less than a month was followed by +marriage, and so Moscheles entered into a relation singularly felicitous +in all the elements which make domestic life most blessed. After a brief +tour in the Rhenish cities, and a visit to Paris, Moscheles proceeded to +London, where he had determined to make his home, for in no country had +such genuine and unaffected cordiality boon shown him, and nowhere +were the rewards of musical talent, whether as teacher, virtuoso, or +composer, more satisfying to the man of high ambition. He made London +his home for twenty years, and during this time became one of the most +prominent figures in the art circles of that great city. Moscheles's +mental accomplishments and singular geniality of nature contributed, +with his very great abilities as a musician, to give him a position +attained by but few artists. He gave lessons to none but the most +talented pupils, and his services were sought by the most wealthy +families of the English capital, though the ability to pay great prices +was by no means a passport to the good graces of Moscheles. Among +the pupils who early came under the charge of this great master was +Thalberg, who even then was a brilliant player, but found in the exact +knowledge and great experience of Moscheles that which gave the +crowning finish to his style. Busy in teaching, composing, and public +performance; busy in responding to the almost incessant demands made by +social necessity on one who was not only intimate in the best circles +of London society, but the center to whom all foreign artists of merit +gravitated instantly they arrived in London; busy in confidential +correspondence with all the great musicians of Europe, who discussed +with the genial and sympathetic Moscheles all their plans and +aspirations, and to whom they turned in their moments of trouble, he +was indeed a busy man; and had it not been for the loving labors of his +wife, who was his secretary, his musical copyist, and his assistant in +a myriad of ways, he would have been unequal to his burden. Moscheles's +diary tells the story of a man whose life, though one of tireless +industry, was singularly serene and happy, and without those salient +accidents and vicissitudes which make up the material of a picturesque +life. + +He made almost yearly tours to the Continent for concert-giving +purposes, and kept his friendship with the great composers of the +Continent green by personal contact. Beethoven was the god of his +musical idolatry, and his pilgrimage to Vienna was always delightful +to him. When Beethoven, in the early part of 1827, was in dire distress +from poverty, just before his death, it was to Moscheles that he applied +for assistance; and it was this generous friend who promptly arranged +the concert with the Philharmonic Society by which one hundred pounds +sterling was raised to alleviate the dying moments of the great man +whom his own countrymen would have let starve, even as they had allowed +Schubert and Mozart to suffer the direst want on their deathbeds. + +An adequate record of Moscheles's life during the twenty years of his +London career would be a pretty full record of all matters of musical +interest occurring during this time. In 1832 he was made one of the +directors of the Philharmonic Society, and in 1837-'38 he conducted +with signal success Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony." When Sir Henry Bishop +resigned, in 1845, Moscheles was made the conductor, and thereafter +wielded the baton over this orchestra, the noblest in England. Among the +yearly pleasures to which our pianist looked forward with the greatest +interest were the visits of Mendelssohn, between whom and Moscheles +there was the most tender friendship. Whole pages of his diary are given +up to an account of Mendelssohn's doings, and to the most enthusiastic +expression of his love and admiration for one of the greatest musical +geniuses of modern times. + +We can not attempt to follow up the placid and gentle current of +Moscheles's life, flowing on to ever-increasing honor and usefulness, +but hasten to the period when he left England in 1846, to +become associated with Mendelssohn in the conduct of the Leipzig +Conservatorium, then recently organized. Mendelssohn lived but a few +months after achieving this great monument of musical education, but +Moscheles remained connected with it for nearly twenty years, and to his +great zeal, knowledge, and executive skill is due in large measure the +solid success of the institution. Mendelssohn's early death, while yet +in the very prime of creative genius, was a stunning blow to Moscheles; +more so, perhaps, than would have occurred from the loss of any one +except his beloved wife, the mother of his five children. Our musician +died himself, in Leipzig, March 10, 1870, and his passage from this +world was as serene and quiet as his passage through had been. He lived +to see his daughters married to men of high worth and position, and his +sons substantially placed in life. Perhaps few distinguished musicians +have lived a life of such monotonous happiness, unmarked by those events +which, while they give romantic interest to a career, make the gift at +the expense of so much personal misery. + + +IV. + +As a pianist Moscheles was distinguished by an incisive, brilliant +touch, wonderfully clear, precise phrasing, and close attention to the +careful accentuation of every phase of the composer's meaning. Of the +younger composers for the piano, Mendelssohn and Schumann were the only +ones with whose works he had any sympathy, though he often complains of +the latter on account of his mysticism. His intelligence had as much +if not more part in his art work than his emotions, and to this we may +attribute that fine symmetry and balance in his own compositions, which +make them equal in this respect to the productions of Mendelssohn. +Chopin he regarded with a sense of admiration mingled with dread, for +he could by no means enter into the peculiar conditions which make the +works of the Polish composer so unique. He wrote of Chopin's "Études," +in 1838: "My thoughts and consequently my fingers ever stumble and +sprawl at certain crude modulations, and I find Chopin's productions +on the whole too sugared, too little worthy of a man and an educated +musician, though there is much charm and originality in the national +color of his motive." When he heard Chopin play in after-years, however, +he confessed the fascination of the performance, and bewailed his own +incapacity to produce such effects in execution, though himself one of +the greatest pianists in the world. So, too, Moscheles, though dazzled +by Liszt's brilliant virtuosoism and power of transforming a single +instrument into an orchestra, shook his head in doubt over such +performances, and looked on them as charlatanism, which, however +magnificent as an exhibition of talent, would ultimately help to degrade +the piano by carrying it out of its true sphere. Moscheles himself was +a more bold and versatile player than any other performer of his school, +but he aimed assiduously to confine his efforts within the perfectly +legitimate and well-established channels of pianism. + +As an extemporaneous player, perhaps no pianist has ever lived who could +surpass Moscheles. His improvisation on themes suggested by the audience +always made one of the most attractive features of his concerts. His +profound musical knowledge, his strong sense of form, the clearness and +precision with which he instinctively clothed his ideas, as well as the +fertility of the ideas themselves, gave his improvised pieces something +of the same air of completeness as if they were the outcome of hours of +laborious solitude. His very lack of passion and fire were favorable +to this clear-cut and symmetrical expression. His last improvisation +in public, on themes furnished by the audience, formed part of the +programme of a concert at London, in 1865, given by Mme. Jenny Lind +Goldschmidt, in aid of the sufferers by the war between Austria and +Prussia, where he extemporized for half an hour on "See the Conquering +Hero Comes," and on a theme from the andante of Beethoven's C Minor +Symphony, in a most brilliant and astonishing style. + +Aside from his greatness as a virtuoso and composer for the piano-forte, +whose works will always remain classics in spite of vicissitudes +of public opinion, even as those of Spohr will for the violin, the +influence of Moscheles in furtherance of a solid and true musical taste +was very great, and worthy of special notice. Perhaps no one did more +to educate the English mind up to a full appreciation of the greatest +musical works. As teacher, conductor, player, and composer, the life +of Ignaz Moscheles was one of signal and permanent worth, and its +influences fertilized in no inconsiderable streams the public thought, +not only of his own times, but indirectly of the generation which has +followed. It is not necessary to attribute to him transcendent genius, +but lie possessed, what was perhaps of equal value to the world, an +intellect and temperament splendidly balanced to the artistic needs of +his epoch. The list of Moscheles's numbered compositions reaches Op. +142, besides a large number of ephemeral productions which he did not +care to preserve. + + + + +THE SCHUMANNS AND CHOPIN. + +Robert Schumann's Place as a National Composer.--Peculiar Greatness as +a Piano-forte Composer.--Born at Zwickau in 1810.--His Father's +Aversion to his Musical Studies.--Becomes a Student of Jurisprudence +in Leipzig.--Makes the Acquaintance of Clara Wieck.--Tedium of his Law +Studies.--Vacation Tour to Italy.--Death of his Father, and Consent +of his Mother to Schumann adopting the Profession of Music.--Becomes +Wieck's Pupil.--Injury to his Hand which prevents all Possibilities of +his becoming a Great Performer.--Devotes himself to Composition.--The +Child, Clara Wieck--Remarkable Genius as a Player.--Her Early +Training.--Paganini's Delight in her Genius.--Clara Wieck's +Concert Tours.--Schumann falls deeply in Love with her, and Wieck's +Opposition.--His Allusions to Clara in the "Neue Zeitschrift."--Schumann +at Vienna.--His Compositions at first Unpopular, though played by Clara +Wieck and Liszt.--Schumann's Labors as a Critic.--He Marries Clara +in 1840.--His Song Period inspired by his Wife.--Tour to Russia, and +Brilliant Reception given to the Artist Pair.--The "Neue Zeitschrift" +and its Mission.--The Davidsbund.--Peculiar Style of Schumann's +Writing.--He moves to Dresden.--Active Production in Orchestral +Composition.--Artistic Tour in Holland.--He is seized with +Brain Disease.--Characteristics as a Man, as an Artist, and as a +Philosopher.--Mme. Schumann as her Husband's Interpreter.--Chopin +a Colaborer with Schumann.--Schumann on Chopin again.--Chopin's +Nativity.--Exclusively a Piano-forte Composer.--His _Genre_ as Pianist +and Composer.--Aversion to Concert-giving.--Parisian Associations.--New +Style of Technique demanded by his Works.--Unique Treatment of the +Instrument.--Characteristics of Chopin's Compositions. + + +I. + +Robert Schumann shares with Weber the honor of giving the earliest +impulse to what may be called the romantic school of music, which has +culminated in the operatic creations of Richard Wagner. Greatly to the +gain of the world, his early aspirations as a mere player were crushed +by the too intense zeal through which he attempted to perfect his +manipulation, the mechanical contrivance he used having had the +effect of paralyzing the muscular power of one of his hands. But this +department of art work was nobly borne by his gifted wife, _nee_ Clara +Wieck, and Schumann concentrated his musical ambition in the higher +field of composition, leaving behind him works not only remarkable for +beauty of form, but for poetic richness of thought and imagination. +Schumann composed songs, cantatas, operas, and symphonies, but it is in +his works for the piano-forte that his idiosyncrasy was most strikingly +embodied, and in which he has bequeathed the most precious inheritance +to the world of art. All his powers were swept impetuously into one +current, the poetic side of art, and alike as critic and composer he +stands in a relation to the music of the pianoforte which places him on +a pinnacle only less lofty than that of Beethoven. + +Robert Schumann was born in the small Saxon town of Zwickau in the +year 1810, and was designed by his father, a publisher and author +of considerable reputation, for the profession of the law. The elder +Schumann, though a man of talent and culture, had a deep distaste for +his son's clearly displayed tendencies to music, and though he permitted +him to study something of the science in the usual school-boy way (for +music has always been a part of the educational course in Germany), he +discouraged in every way Robert's passion. The boy had quickly become a +clever player, and even at the age of eight had begun to put his ideas +on paper. We are told by his biographers that he was accustomed +to extemporize at school, and had such a knack in portraying the +characteristics of his school-fellows in music as to make his purpose +instantly recognizable. His father died when Schumann was only +seventeen, and his mother, who was also bent on her son becoming a +jurist, became his guardian. It was a severe battle between taste +and duty, but love for his widowed mother conquered, and young Robert +Schumann entered the University of Leipzig as a law student. It was with +a feeling almost of despair that he wrote at this time, "I have decided +upon law as my profession, and will work at it industriously, however +cold and dry the beginning may be." Previously, however, he had spent a +year in the household of Frederick Wieck, the distinguished teacher of +music. So much he had exacted before succumbing to maternal pleading. +At this time he first made the acquaintance of a charming and precocious +child, Clara Wieck, who played such an important part in his future +life. + +Robert Schumann's law studies were inexpressibly tedious to him, and so +he told his sympathetic professor, the learned Thibaut, author of the +treatise "On the Purity of Music," in a characteristic manner. He went +to the piano and played Weber's "Invitation to the Waltz," commenting on +the different passages: "Now she speaks--that's the love prattle; now +he speaks--that's the man's earnest voice; now both the lovers speak +together "; concluding with the remark, "Isn't all that better far than +anything that jurisprudence can utter?" The young student became quite +popular in society as a pianist, heard Ernst and Paganini for the first +time, and composed several works, among them the Toccata in D major. +The genius for music would come to the fore in spite of jurisprudence. +A vacation trip to Italy which the young man made gave fresh fuel to +the flame, and he began to write the most passionate pleas to his +mother that she should con sent to his adoption of a musical career. The +distressed woman wrote to Wieck to know what he thought, and the answer +was favorable to Robert's aspirations. Robert was intoxicated with his +mother's concession, and he poured out his enthusiasm to Wieck: "Take +me as I am, and, above all, bear with me. No blame shall depress me, no +praise make me idle. Pails upon pails of very cold theory can not hurt +me, and I will work at it without the least murmur." + +Taking lodgings at the house of Wieck, Schumann devoted himself to +piano-forte playing with intense ardor; but his zeal outran prudence. +To hasten his proficiency and acquire an independent action for each +finger, he contrived a mechanical apparatus which held the third +finger of the right hand immovable, while the others went through their +evolutions. The result was such a lameness of the hand that it was +incurable, and young Schumann's career as a virtuoso was for ever +checked. His deep sorrow, however, did not unman him long, for he turned +his attention to the study of composition and counterpoint under Kupsch, +and, afterward, Heinrich Dorn. He remained for three years under Wieck's +roof, and the companionship of the child Clara, whose marvelous musical +powers were the talk of Leipzig, was a sweet consolation to him in his +troubles and his toil, though ten years his junior. The love, which +became a part of his life, had already begun to flutter into unconscious +being in his feeling for a shy and reserved little girl. + +Schumann tells us that the year 1834 was the most important one of his +life, for it witnessed the birth of the "N'eue Zeitschrift fur Musik," +a journal which was to embody his notions of ideal music, and to be the +organ of a clique of enthusiasts in lifting the art out of Philistinism +and commonplace. The war-cry was "Reform in art," and never-ending +battle against the little and conventional ideas which were believed +then to be the curse of German music. Among the earlier contributors +were Wieck, Schumke, Knorr, Banck, and Schumann himself, who wrote +under the pseudonyms Florestan and Eusebius. Between his new journal and +composing, Schumann was kept busy, but he found time to persuade himself +that he was in love with Frâulein Ernestine von Fricken, a beautiful but +somewhat frivolous damsel, who became engaged to the young composer and +editor. Two years cooled off this passion, and a separation was mutually +agreed on. Perhaps Schumann recognized something, in the lovely child +who was swiftly blooming into maidenhood, which made his own inner soul +protest against any other attachment. + + +II. + +It would have been very strange indeed if two such natures as Clara +Wieck and Robert Schumann had not gravitated toward each other during +the almost constant intercourse between them which took place between +1835 and 1838. Clara, born in 1820, had been her father's pupil from her +tenderest childhood, but the development of her musical gifts was not +forced in such a way as to interfere with her health and the exuberance +of her spirits. The exacting teacher was also a tender father and a +man of ripe judgment, and he knew the bitter price which mere mental +precocity so frequently has to pay for its existence. + +But the young girl's gifts were so extraordinary, and withal her +character so full of childish simplicity and gayety, that it was +difficult to think of her as of the average child phenomenon. At the age +of nine she could play Mozart's concertos, and Hummel's A minor Concerto +for the orchestra, one of the most difficult of compositions. A year +later she began to compose, and improvised without difficulty, for her +lessons in counterpoint and harmony had kept pace with her studies of +pianoforte technique. Paganini visited Leipzig at this period, and was +so astonished at the little Clara's precocious genius that he insisted +on her presence at all his concerts, and addressed her with the deepest +respect as a fellow-artist. She first appeared in public concert at +the age of eleven, in Leipzig, Weimar, and other places, playing Pixis, +Moscheles, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, and Chopin. The latter of these +composers was then almost unknown in Germany, and Clara Wieck, young +as she was, contributed largely to making him popular. A year later she +visited Paris in company with her father, and heard Chopin, Liszt, and +Kalkbrenner, who on their part were delighted with the little artist, +who, beneath the delicacy and timidity of the child, indicated +extraordinary powers. Society received her with the most flattering +approbation, and when her father allowed her to appear in concert her +playing excited the greatest delight and surprise. Her improvisation +specially displayed a vigor of imagination, a fine artistic taste, and +a well-defined knowledge which justly called out the most enthusiastic +recognition. + +When Clara Wieck returned home, she gave herself up to work with fresh +ardor, studying composition under Heinrich Dorn, singing under the +celebrated Mieksch, and even violin-playing, so great was her ambition +for musical accomplishments. From 1836 to 1838 she made an extended +musical tour through Germany, and was welcomed as a musico-poetic ideal +by the enthusiasts who gathered around her. The poet Grillparzer spoke +of her as "the innocent child who first unlocked the casket in which +Beethoven buried his mighty heart," and it must be confessed that Clara +Wieck, even as a young girl, did more than any other pianist to develop +a love of and appreciation for the music of the Titan of composers. + +Long before Schumann distinctly contemplated the image of Clara as +the beloved one, the half of his soul, he had divined her genius, and +expressed his opinion of her in no stinted terms of praise. When she was +as yet only thirteen, he had written of her in his journal: "As I +know people who, having but just heard Clara, yet rejoice in their +anticipation of their next occasion of hearing her, I ask, What sustains +this continual interest in her? Is it the 'wonder child' herself, at +whose stretches of tenths people shake their heads while they are amazed +at them, or the most difficult difficulties which she sportively flings +toward the public like flower garlands? Is it the special pride of +the city with which a people regards its own natives? Is it that she +presents to us the most interesting productions of recent art in as +short a time as possible? Is it that the masses understand that art +should not depend on the caprices of a few enthusiasts, who would direct +us back to a century over whose corpse the wheels of time are hastening? +I know not; I only feel that here we are subdued by genius, which men +still hold in respect. In short, we here divine the presence of a power +of which much is spoken, while few indeed possess it.... Early she +drew the veil of Isis aside. Serenely the child looks up; older eyes, +perhaps, would have been blinded by that radiant light.... To Clara +we dare no longer apply the measuring scale of age, but only that of +fulfillment.... Clara Wieck is the first German artist.... Pearls do not +float on the surface; they must be sought for in the deep, often with +danger. But Clara is an intrepid diver." + +The child whose genius he admired ripened into a lovely young woman, and +Schumann became conscious that there had been growing in his heart for +years a deep, ardent love. He had fancied himself in love more +than once, but now he felt that he could make no mistake as to the +genuineness of his feelings. In 1836 he confessed his feelings to the +object of his affections, and discovered that he not only loved but +was loved, for two such gifted and sympathetic natures could hardly be +thrown together for years without the growth of a mutual tenderness. +The marriage project was not favored by Papa Wieck, much as he liked the +young composer who had so long been his pupil and a member of his family +circle. The father of Clara looked forward to a brilliant artistic +career for his daughter, perhaps hoped to marry her to some serene +highness, and Schumann's prospects were as yet very uncertain. So he +took Clara on a long artistic journey through Germany, with a view of +quenching this passion by absence and those public adulations which he +knew Clara's genius would command. But nothing shook the devotion of +her heart, and she insisted on playing the compositions of the young +composer at her concerts, as well as those of Beethoven, Liszt, and +Chopin, the latter two of whom were just beginning to be known and +admired. + +Hoping to overcome Papa Wieck's opposition by success, Schumann took +his new journal to Vienna, and published it in that city, carrying on +simultaneously with his editorial duties active labors in composition. +The attempt to better his fortunes in Vienna, however, did not prove +very successful, and after six months he returned again to Leipzig. +Schumann's generous sympathy with other great musicians was signally +shown in his very first Vienna experiences, for he immediately made +a pious pilgrimage to the Währing cemetery to offer his pious gift of +flowers on the graves of Beethoven and Schubert. On Beethoven's grave +he found a steel pen, which he preserved as a sacred treasure, and used +afterward in writing his own finest musical fancies. He remembered, too, +that the brother of Schubert, Ferdinand, was still living in a suburb +of Vienna. "He knew me," Schumann says, "from my admiration for his +brother, as I had publicly expressed it, and showed me many things. At +last he let me look at the treasures of Franz Schubert's compositions, +which he still possesses. The wealth that lay heaped up made me shudder +with joy, what to take first, where to cease. Among other things, he +also showed me the scores of several symphonies, of which many had never +been heard, while others had been tried, but put back, on the score of +their being too difficult and bombastic." One of these symphonies, that +in C major, the largest and grandest in conception, Schumann chose +and sent to Leipzig, where it was soon afterward produced under +Mendelssohn's direction at one of the Ge-wandhaus concerts, and produced +an immediate and profound sensation. For the first time the world +witnessed, in a more expanded sphere, the powers of a composer the very +beauties of whose songs had hitherto been fatal to his general success. +During this period of Schumann's life the most important works he +composed were the "Études Symphoniques," the famous "Carnival" dedicated +to Liszt, the "Scenes of Childhood," the "Fantasia" dedicated to Liszt, +the "Novellettes," and "Kreisleriana." As he writes to Heinrich Dorn: +"Much music is the result of the contest I am passing through for +Clara's sake." Schumann's compositions had been introduced to the public +by the gifted interpretation of Clara Wieck, with whom it was a labor of +love, and also by Franz Liszt, then rising almost on the top wave of his +dazzling fame as a virtuoso. Liszt was a profound admirer of the less +fortunate Schumann, and did everything possible to make him a favorite +with the public, but for a long time in vain. Liszt writes of this as +follows: "Since my first knowledge of his compositions I had played many +of them in private circles at Milan and Vienna, without having succeeded +in winning the approbation of my hearers. These works were, fortunately +for them, too far above the then trivial level of taste to find a home +in the superficial atmosphere of popular applause. The public did not +fancy them, and few players understood them. Even in Leipzig, where I +played the 'Carnival' at my second Gewandhaus concert, I did not +obtain my customary applause. Musicians, even those who claimed to be +connoisseurs also, carried too thick a mask over their ears to be able +to comprehend that charming 'Carnival,' harmoniously framed as it is, +and ornamented with such rich variety of artistic fancy. I did not +doubt, however, but that this work would eventually win its place in +general appreciation beside Beethoven's thirty-three variations on a +theme by Diabelli (which work it surpasses, according to my opinion, in +melody, richness, and inventiveness)." Both as a composer and writer on +music, Schumann embodied his deep detestation of the Philistinism and +commonplace which stupefied the current opinions of the time, and he +represented in Germany the same battle of the romantic in art against +what was known as the classical which had been carried on so fiercely in +France by Berlioz, Liszt, and Chopin. + + +III. + +The year 1840 was one of the most important in Schumann's life. In +February he was created Doctor of Philosophy in the University of Jena, +and, still more precious boon to the man's heart, Wieck's objections to +the marriage with Clara had been so far melted away that he consented, +though with reluctance, to their union. The marriage took place quietly +at a little church in Schônfeld, near Leipzig. This year was one of the +most fruitful of Schumann's life. His happiness burst forth in lyric +forms. He wrote the amazing number of one hundred and thirty-eight +songs, among which the more famous are the set entitled "Myrtles," the +cycles of song from Heine, dedicated to Pauline Viardot, Chamisso's +"Woman's Love and Life," and Heine's "Poet Love." Schumann as a +song-writer must be called indeed the musical reflex of Heine, for his +immortal works have the same passionate play of pathos and melancholy, +the sharp-cut epigrammatic form, the grand swell of imagination, +impatient of the limits set by artistic taste, which characterize the +poet themes. Schumann says that nearly all the works composed at this +time were written under Clara's inspiration solely. Blest with the +continual companionship of a woman of genius, as amiable as she was +gifted, who placed herself as a gentle mediator between Schumann's +intellectual life and the outer world, he composed many of his finest +vocal and instrumental compositions during the years immediately +succeeding his marriage; among them the cantata "Paradise and the +Peri," and the "Faust" music. His own connection with public life +was restricted to his position as teacher of piano-forte playing, +composition, and score playing at the Leipzig Conservatory, while the +gifted wife was the interpreter of his beautiful piano-forte works as an +executant. A more perfect fitness and companionship in union could not +have existed, and one is reminded of the married life of the poet pair, +the Brownings. After four years of happy and quiet life, in which mental +activity was inspired by the most delightful of domestic surroundings, +an artistic tour to St. Petersburg was undertaken by Robert and Clara +Schumann. Our composer did not go without reluctance. "Forgive me," he +writes to a friend, "if I forbear telling you of my unwillingness to +leave my quiet home." He seems to have had a melancholy premonition that +his days of untroubled happiness were over. A genial reception awaited +them at the Russian capital. They were frequently invited to the Winter +Palace by the emperor and empress, and the artistic circles of the city +were very enthusiastic over Mme. Schumann's piano-forte playing. Since +the days of John Field, Clementi's great pupil, no one had raised such +a furore among the music-loving Russians. Schumann's music, which it was +his wife's dearest privilege to interpret, found a much warmer welcome +than among his own countrymen at that date. In the Sclavonic nature +there is a deep current of romance and mysticism, which met with +instinctive sympathy the dreamy and fantastic thoughts which ran riot in +Schumann's works. + +On returning from the St. Petersburg tour, Schumann gave up the "Neue +Zeitschrift," the journal which he had made such a powerful organ of +musical revolution, and transferred it to Oswald Lorenz. Schumann's +literary work is so deeply intertwined with his artistic life and +mission that it is difficult, perhaps impossible, to separate the two. +He had achieved a great work--he had planted in the German mind the +thought that there was such a thing as progress and growth; that +stagnation was death; and that genius was for ever shaping for itself +new forms and developments. He had taught that no art is an end to +itself, and that, unless it embodies the deep-seated longings and +aspirations of men ever striving toward a loftier ideal, it becomes +barren and fruitless--the mere survival of a truth whose need had +ceased. He was the apostle of the musico-poetical art in Germany, and, +both as author and composer, strove with might and main to educate his +countrymen up to a clear understanding of the ultimate outcome of the +work begun by Beethoven, Schubert, and Weber. + +Schumann as a critic was eminently catholic and comprehensive. Deeply +appreciative of the old lights of music, he received with enthusiasm all +the fresh additions contributed by musical genius to the progress of +his age. Eschewing the cold, objective, technical form of criticism, +his method of approaching the work of others was eminently subjective, +casting on them the illumination which one man of genius gives +to another. The cast of his articles was somewhat dramatic and +conversational, and the characters represented as contributing +their opinions to the symposium of discussion were modeled on actual +personages. He himself was personified under the dual form of Florestan +and Eusebius, the "two souls in his breast"--the former, the fiery +iconoclast, impulsive in his judgments and reckless in attacking +prejudices; the latter, the mild, genial, receptive dreamer. Master +Raro, who stood for Wieck, also typified the calm, speculative side of +Schumann's nature. Chiara represented Clara Wieck, and personified the +feminine side of art. So the various personages were all modeled after +associates of Schumann, and, aside from the freshness and fascination +which this method gave his style, it enabled him to approach his +subjects from many sides. The name of the imaginary society was the +Davids-bund, probably from King David and his celebrated harp, or +perhaps in virtue of David's victories over the Philistines of his day. + +As an illustration of Schumann's style and method of treating musical +subjects, we can not do better than give his article on Chopin's "Don +Juan Fantasia": "Eusebius entered not long ago. You know his pale face +and the ironical smile with which he awakens expectation. I sat with +Florestan at the piano-forte. Florestan is, as you know, one of +those rare musical minds that foresee, as it were, coming novel or +extraordinary things. But he encountered a surprise today. With the +words 'Off with your hats, gentlemen! a genius,' Eusebius laid down a +piece of music. We were not allowed to see the title-page. I turned over +the music vacantly; the veiled enjoyment of music which one does not +hear has something magical in it. And besides this, it seems that every +composer has something different in the note forms. Beethoven looks +differently from Mozart on paper; the difference resembles that between +Jean Paul's and Goethe's prose. But here it seemed as if eyes, strange, +were glancing up to me--flower eyes, basilisk eyes, peacock's eyes, +maiden's eyes; in many places it looked yet brighter. I thought I +saw Mozart's 'La ci darem la mano' wound through a hundred chords. +_Leporello_ seemed to wink at me, and _Don Juan_ hurried past in his +white mantle. 'Now play it,' said Florestan. Eusebius consented, and we, +in the recess of a window, listened. Eusebius played as though he were +inspired, and led forward countless forms filled with the liveliest, +warmest life; it seemed that the inspiration of the moment gave to his +fingers a power beyond the ordinary measure of their cunning. It is true +that Florestan's whole applause was expressed in nothing but a happy +smile, and the remark that the variations might have been written by +Beethoven or Franz Schubert, had either of these been a piano virtuoso; +but how surprised he was when, turning to the title-page, he read 'La ci +darem la mano, varié pour le piano-forte, par Frederic Chopin, Ouvre 2,' +and with what astonishment we both cried out, 'An Opus 2!' How our faces +glowed as we wondered, exclaiming, 'That is something reasonable once +more! Chopin? I never heard of the name--who can he be? In any case, a +genius. Is not that _Zerlina's_ smile, And _Leporello_, etc' I could not +describe the scene. Heated with wine, Chopin, and our own enthusiasm, +we went to Master Raro, who with a smile, and displaying but little +curiosity for Chopin, said, 'Bring me the Chopin! I know you and your +enthusiasm.' We promised to bring it the next day. Eusebius soon bade us +good-night. I remained a short time with Master Raro. Florestan, who had +been for some time without a habitation, hurried to my house through the +moonlit streets. 'Chopin's variations,' he began, as if in a dream, +'are constantly running through my head; the whole is so dramatic +and Chopin-like; the introduction is so concentrated. Do you remember +_Leporello's_ springs in thirds? That seems to me somewhat unfitted +to the theme; but the theme--why did he write that in A flat? The +variations, the finale, the adagio, these are indeed something; genius +burns through every measure. Naturally, dear Julius, _Don Juan, Zerlina, +Leporello, Massetto_, are the _dramatis persona; Zerlina's_ answer in +the theme has a sufficiently enamored character; the first variation +expresses, a kind of coquettish coveteousness: the Spanish Grandee +flirts amiably with the peasant girl in it. This leads of itself to the +second, which is at once confidential, disputative, and comic, as though +two lovers were chasing each other and laughing more than usual about +it. How all this is changed in the third! It is filled with fairy music +and moonshine; _Masetto_ keeps at a distance, swearing audibly, but +without any effect on _Don Juan_. And now the fourth--what do you +think of it? Eusebius played it altogether correctly. How boldly, how +wantonly, it springs forward to meet the man! though the adagio (it +seems quite natural to me that Chopin repeats the first part) is in +B flat minor, as it should be, for in its commencement it presents a +beautiful moral warning to _Don Juan_. It is at once so mischievous +and beautiful that _Leporello_ listens behind the hedge, laughing and +jesting that oboes and clarionettes enchantingly allure, and that the +B flat major in full bloom correctly designates the first kiss of love. +But all this is nothing compared to the last (have you any more wine, +Julius?). That is the whole of Mozart's finale, popping champagne corks, +ringing glasses, _Leporello's_ voice between, the grasping, torturing +demons, the fleeing _Don Juan_--and then the end, that beautifully +soothes and closes all.' Florestan concluded by saying that he had never +experienced feelings similar to those awakened by the finale. When the +evening sunlight of a beautiful day creeps up toward the highest peaks, +and when the last beam vanishes, there comes a moment when the white +Alpine giants close their eyes. We feel that we have witnessed a +heavenly apparition. 'And now awake to new dreams, Julius, and sleep.' +'Dear Flores-tan,' I answered, 'these confidential feelings, are perhaps +praiseworthy, although somewhat subjective; but as deeply as yourself I +bend before Chopin's spontaneous genius, his lofty aim, his mastership; +and after that we fell asleep.'" This article was the first journalistic +record of Chopin's genius. + + +IV. + +When Schumann gave up his journal in 1845 he moved to Dresden, and he +began to suffer severely from the dreadful disorder to which he fell a +victim twelve years later. This disease--an abnormal formation of +bone in the brain--afflicted him with excruciating pains in the head, +sleeplessness, fear of death, and strange auricular delusions. A sojourn +at Parma, where he had complete repose and a course of sea-bathing, +partially restored his health, and he gave himself up to musical +composition again. During the next three years, up to 1849, Schumann +wrote some of his finest works, among which may be mentioned his opera +"Genoviva," his Second symphony, the cantata "The Rose's Pilgrimage," +more beautiful songs, much piano-forte and concerted music, and the +musical illustrations of Byron's "Manfred," which latter is one of his +greatest orchestral works. + +During the years 1850 to 1854 Schumann composed his "Rhenish Symphony," +the overtures to the "Bride of Messina" and "Hermann and Dorothea," +and many vocal and piano-forte works. He accepted the post of musical +director at Dűsseldorf in 1850, removed to that city with his wife and +children, and, on arriving, the artistic pair were received with a +civic banquet. The position was in many respects agreeable, but the +responsibilities were too great for Schumann's declining health, and +probably hastened his death. In 1853 Robert and Clara Schumann made +a grand artistic tour through Holland, which resembled a triumphal +procession, so great was the musical enthusiasm called out. When they +returned Schumann's malady returned with double force, and on February +27, 1854, he attempted to end his misery by jumping into the Rhine. +Madness had seized him with a clutch which was never to be released, +except at short intervals. Every possible care was lavished on him by +his heartbroken and devoted wife, and the assiduous attention of the +friends who reverenced the genius now for ever quenched. The last two +years of his life were spent in the private insane asylum at Endenich, +near Bonn, where he died July 20, 1856. Schumann possessed a wealth of +musical imagination which, if possibly equaled in a few instances, is +nowhere surpassed in the records of his art. For him music possessed +all the attributes inherent in the other arts--absolute color and +flexibility of form. That he attempted to express these phases of art +expression, with an almost boundless trust in their applicability to +tone and sound, not unfrequently makes them obscure to the last degree, +but it also gave much of his composition a richness, depth, and subtilty +of suggestive power which place them in a unique niche, and will +always preserve them as objects of the greatest interest to the musical +student. There is no doubt that his increasing mental malady is evident +in the chaotic character of some of his later orchestral compositions, +but, in those works composed during his best period, splendor of +imagination goes hand in hand with genuine art treatment. This is +specially noticeable in the songs and the piano-forte works. Schumann +was essentially lyrical and subjective, though his intellectual breadth +and culture (almost unrivaled among his musical compeers) always kept +him from narrowness as a composer. He led the van in the formation of +that pictorial and descriptive style of music which has asserted itself +in German music, but his essentially lyric personality in his attitude +to the outer world presented the external thoroughly saturated and +modified by his own moods and feelings. + +In his piano-forte works we find his most complete and satisfactory +development as the artist composer. Here the world, with its myriad +impressions, its facts, its purposes, its tendencies, met the man and +commingled in a series of exquisite creations, which are true tone +pictures. In this domain Beethoven alone was worthy to be compared with +him, though the animus and scheme of the Beethoven piano-forte works +grew out of a totally different method. + +In personal appearance Schumann bore the marks of the man of genius. As +he reached middle age we are told of him that his figure was of middle +height, inclined to stoutness, that his bearing was dignified, his +movements slow. His features, though irregular, produced an agreeable +impression; his forehead was broad and high, the nose heavy, the eyes +excessively bright, though generally veiled and downcast, the mouth +delicately cut, the hair thick and brown, his cheeks full and ruddy. His +head was squarely formed, of an intensely powerful character, and the +whole expression of his face sweet and genial. Even when young he was +distinguished by a kind of absent-mindedness that prevented him from +taking much part in conversation. Once, it is said, he entered a lady's +drawing-room to call, played a few chords on the piano, and smilingly +left without speaking a word. But, among intimate friends, he could be +extraordinarily fluent and eloquent in discussing an interesting topic. +He was conscious of his own shyness, and once wrote to a friend: "I +shall be very glad to see you here. In me, however, you must not expect +to find much. I scarcely ever speak except in the evening, and most in +playing the piano." His wife was the crowning blessing of his life. She +was not only his consoler, but his other intellectual life, for she, +with her great powers as a virtuoso, interpreted his music to the world, +both before and after his death. It has rarely been the lot of an artist +to see his most intimate feelings and aspirations embodied to the world +by the genius of the mother of his children. Well did Ferdinand Hiller +write of this artist couple: "What love beautified his life! A woman +stood beside him, crowned with the starry circlet of genius, to whom he +seemed at once the father to his daughter, the master to the scholar, +the bridegroom to the bride, the saint to the disciple." + +Clara Schumann still lives, though becoming fast an old woman in years, +if still young in heart, and still able to win the admiration of the +musical world by her splendid playing. Berlioz, who heard her in her +youth, pronounced her the greatest virtuoso in Germany, in one of his +letters to Heine; and while she was little more than a child she had +gained the heartiest admiration in England, France, and Germany. Henry +Chorley heard her at Leipzig in 1839, and speaks of "the organ-playing +on the piano of Mme. Schumann (better known in England under the name of +Clara Wieck), who commands her instrument with the enthusiasm of a sibyl +and the grasp of a man." Since Schumann's death, Mme. Schumann has been +known as the exponent of her husband's works, which she has performed in +Germany and England with an insight, a power of conception, and a beauty +of treatment which have contributed much to the recognition of his +remarkable genius. + + +V. + +The name of Frederic Francis Chopin is so closely linked in the minds +of musical students with that of Schumann in that art renaissance which +took place almost simultaneously in France and Germany, when so many +daring and original minds broke loose from the petrifactions of custom +and tradition, that we shall not venture to separate them here. Chopin +was too timid and gentle to be a bold aggressor, like Berlioz, Liszt, +and Schumann, but his whole nature responded to the movement, and his +charming and most original compositions, which glow with the fire of a +genius perhaps narrow in its limits, have never been surpassed for their +individuality and poetic beauty. The present brief sketch of Chopin +does not propose to consider his life biographically, full of pathos and +romance as that life may be.* + + * See article Chopin, in "Great German Composers." + +Schumann, in his "N'eue Zeitschrift," sums up the characteristics of the +Polish composer admirably; "Genius creates kingdoms, the smaller states +of which are again divided by a higher hand among talents, that these +may organize details which the former, in its thousand-fold activity, +would be unable to perfect. As Hummel, for example, followed the call +of Mozart, clothing the thoughts of that master in a flowing, sparkling +robe, so Chopin followed Beethoven. Or, to speak more simply, as Hummel +imitated the style of Mozart in detail, rendering it enjoyable to the +virtuoso on one particular instrument, so Chopin led the spirit of +Beethoven into the concert-room. + +"Chopin did not make his appearance accompanied by an orchestral army, +as great genius is accustomed to do; he only possessed a small cohort, +but every soul belongs to him to the last hero. + +"He is the pupil of the first masters--Beethoven, Schubert, Field. The +first formed his mind in boldness, the second his heart in tenderness, +the third his hand to its flexibility. Thus he stood well provided with +deep knowledge in his art, armed with courage in the full consciousness +of his power, when in the year 1830 the great voice of the people arose +in the West. Hundreds of youths had waited for the moment; but Chopin +was the first on the summit of the wall, behind which lay a cowardly +renaissance, a dwarfish Philistinism, asleep. Blows were dealt right +and left, and the Philistines awoke angrily, crying out, 'Look at the +impudent one!' while others behind the besieger cried, 'The one of noble +courage.' + +"Besides this, and the favorable influence of period and condition, fate +rendered Chopin still more individual and interesting in endowing him +with an original pronounced nationality; Polish, too, and because this +nationality wanders in mourning robes in the thoughtful artist, it +deeply attracts us. It was well for him that neutral Germany did not +receive him too warmly at first, and that his genius led him straight +to one of the great capitals of the world, where he could freely poetize +and grow angry. If the powerful autocrat of the North knew what a +dangerous enemy threatens him in Chopin's works in the simple melodies +of his mazurkas, he would forbid music. Chopin's works are cannons +buried in flowers.... He is the boldest, proudest poet soul of to-day." + +But Schumann could have said something more than this, and added that +Chopin was a musician of exceptional attainments, a virtuoso of the very +highest order, a writer for the piano pure and simple preeminent beyond +example, and a master of a unique and perfect style. + +Chopin was born of mixed French and Polish parentage, February 8, +1810, at Zelazowa-Wola, near Warsaw. He was educated at the Warsaw +Conservatory, and his eminent genius for the piano shone at this time +most unmistakably. He found in the piano-forte an exclusive organ for +the expression of his thoughts. In the presence of this confidential +companion he forgot his shyness and poured forth his whole soul. +A passionate lover of his native country, and burning with those +aspirations for freedom which have made Poland since its first partition +a volcano ever ready to break forth, the folk-themes of Poland are +at the root of all of Chopin's compositions, and in the waltzes and +mazurkas bearing his name we find a passionate glow and richness of +color which make them musical poems of the highest order. + +Chopin's art position, both as a pianist and composer, was a unique one. +He was accustomed to say that the breath of the concert-room stifled +him, whereas Liszt, his intimate friend and fellow-artist, delighted in +it as a war-horse delights in the tumult of battle. Chopin always shrank +from the display of his powers as a mere executant. To exhibit his +talents to the public was an offense to him, and he only cared for his +remarkable technical skill as a means of placing his fanciful original +poems in tone rightly before the public. It was with the greatest +difficulty that his intimate friends, Liszt, Meyerbeer, Nourrit, +Delacroix, Heine, Mme. George Sand, Countess D'Agoult, and others, could +persuade him to appear before large mixed audiences. His genius only +shone unconstrained as a player in the society of a few chosen intimate +friends, with whom he felt a perfect sympathy, artistic, social, and +intellectual. Exquisite, fastidious, and refined, Chopin was loss an +aristocrat from political causes, or even by virtue of social caste, +than from the fact that his art nature, which was delicate, feminine, +and sensitive, shrank from all companions except those molded of the +finest clay. We find this sense of exclusiveness and isolation in all +of the Chopin music, as in some quaint, fantastic, ideal world, whose +master would draw us up to his sphere, but never descend to ours. + +In the treatment of the technical means of the piano-forte, he entirely +wanders from the old methods. Moscheles, a great pianist in an age of +great players, gave it up in despair, and confessed that he could not +play Chopin's music. The latter teaches the fingers to serve his own +artistic uses, without regard to the notions of the schools. It is said +that M. Kalkbrenner advised Chopin to attend his classes at the Paris +Conservatoire, that the latter might learn the proper fingering. Chopin +answered his officious adviser by placing one of his own "Études" before +him, and asking him to play it. The failure of the pompous professor +was ludicrous, for the old-established technique utterly failed to do it +justice. Chopin's end as a player was to faithfully interpret the poetry +of his own composition. His genius as a composer taught him to make +innovations in piano-forte effects. He was thus not only a great +inventor as a composer, but as regards the technique of the piano-forte. +He not only told new things well worth hearing which the world would not +forget, but devised new ways of saying them, and it mattered but little +to him whether his more forcible and passionate dialectic offended what +Schumann calls musical Philistinism or no. Chopin formed a school of his +own which was purely the outcome of his genius, though as Schumann, in +the extract previously quoted, justly says: "He was molded by the +deep poetic spirit of Beethoven, with whom form only had value as it +expressed truthfully and beautifully symmetry of conception." + +The forms of Chopin's compositions grew out of the keyboard of the +piano, and their _genre_ is so peculiar that it is nearly impracticable +to transpose them for any other instrument. Some of the noted +contemporary violinists have attempted to transpose a few of the +Nocturnes and Études, but without success. Both Schumann and Liszt +succeeded in adapting Paganini's most complex and difficult violin works +for the piano-forte, but the compositions of Chopin are so essentially +born to and of the one instrument that they can not be well suited to +any other. The cast of the melody, the matchless beauty and swing of the +rhythm, his ingenious treatment of harmony, and the chromatic changes +and climaxes through which the motives are developed, make up a new +chapter in the history of the piano-forte. + +Liszt, in his life of Chopin, says of him: "His character was indeed +not easily understood. A thousand subtile shades, mingling, crossing, +contradicting, and disguising each other, rendered it almost +undecipherable at first view; kind, courteous, affable, and almost +of joyous manners, he would not suffer the secret convulsions which +agitated him to be ever suspected. His works, concertos, waltzes, +sonatas, ballades, polonaises, mazurkas, nocturnes, scherzi, all reflect +a similar enigma in a most poetical and romantic form." + +Chopin's moral nature was not cast in an heroic mold, and he lacked the +robust intellectual marrow which is essential to the highest forms of +genius in art as well as in literature and affairs, though it is not +safe to believe that he was, as painted by George Sand and Liszt, a +feeble youth, continually living at death's door in an atmosphere of +moonshine and sentimentality. But there can be no question that the +whole bent of Chopin's temperament and genius was melancholy, romantic, +and poetic, and that frequently he gives us mere musical moods and +reveries, instead of well-defined and well-developed ideas. His music +perhaps loses nothing, for, if it misses something of the clear, +inspiring, vigorous quality of other great composers, it has a subtile, +dreamy, suggestive beauty all its own. + +The personal life of Chopin was singularly interesting. His long and +intimate connection with George Sand; the circumstances under which it +was formed; the blissful idyl of the lovers in the isle of Majorca; the +awakening from the dream, and the separation--these and other striking +circumstances growing out of a close association with what was best in +Parisian art and life, invest the career of the man, aside from his art, +with more than common charm to the mind of the reader. Having touched +on these phases of Chopin's life at some length in a previous volume of +this series, we must reluctantly pass them by. + +In closing this imperfect review of the Polish composer, it is enough to +say that the present generation has more than sustained the judgment +of his own as to the unique and wonderful beauty of his compositions. +Hardly any concert programme is considered complete without one or more +numbers selected from his works; and though there are but few pianists, +even in a day when Chopin as a stylist has been a study, who can do +his subtile and wonderful fancies justice, there is no composer for the +piano-forte who so fascinates the musical mind. + + + + +THALBERG AND GOTTSCHALK. + + +Thalberg one of the Greatest of Executants.--Bather a Man of Remarkable +Talents than of Genius.--Moscheles's Description of him.--The +Illegitimate Son of an Austrian Prince.--Early Introduction to +Musical Society in London and Vienna.--Beginning of his Career as a +Virtuoso.--The Brilliancy of his Career.--Is appointed Court Pianist to +the Emperor of Austria.--His Marriage.--Visits to America.--Thalborg's +Artistic Idiosyncrasy.--Robert Schumann on his Playing.--His Appearance +and Manner.--Characterization by George William Curtis.--Thalberg's +Style and Worth as an Artist.--His Pianoforte Method, and Place as a +Composer for the Piano.--Gott-schalk's Birth and Early Years.--He is +sent to Paris for Instruction.--Successful _Début_ and Public +Concerts in Paris and Tour through the French Cities.--Friendship with +Berlioz.--Concert Tour to Spain.--Romantic Experiences.--Berlioz on +Gottschalk.--Reception of Gottschalk in America.--Criticism of his +Style.--Remarkable Success of his Concerts.--His Visit to the West +Indies, Mexico, and Central America.--Protracted Absence.--Gottschalk +on Life in the Tropics.--Return to the United States.--Three Brilliant +Musical Years.--Departure for South America.--Triumphant Procession +through the Spanish-American Cities.--Death at Rio Janeiro.--Notes on +Gottschalk as Man and Artist. + + +I. + +One of the most remarkable of the great piano-forte virtuosos was +unquestionably Sigismond Thalberg, an artist who made a profound +sensation in two hemispheres, and filled a large space in the musical +world for more than forty-five years. Originally a disciple of the +Viennese school of piano-forte playing, a pupil of Mosche-les, and a +rigid believer in making the instrument which was the medium of his +talent sufficient unto itself, wholly indifferent to the daring and +boundless ambition which made his great rival, Franz Liszt, pile Pelion +on Ossa in his grasp after new effects, Thalberg developed virtuoso-ism +to its extreme degree by a mechanical dexterity which was perhaps +unrivaled. But the fingers can not express more than rests in the heart +and brain to give to their skill, and Thalberg, with all his immense +talent, seems to have lacked the divine spark of genius. It goes without +saying, to those who are familiar with the current cant of criticism, +that the word genius is often applied in a very loose and misleading +manner. But, in all estimates of art and artists, where there are two +clearly defined factors, imagination or formative power and technical +dexterity, it would seem that there should not be any error in deciding +on the propriety of such a word as a measure of the quality of an +artist's gifts. The lack of the creative impulse could not be mistaken +in Thalberg's work, whether as player or composer. But the ability to +execute all that came within the scope of his sympathies or intelligence +was so prodigious that the world was easily dazzled into forgetting +his deficiencies in the loftier regions of art. Trifles are often very +significant. What, for example, could more vividly portray an artist's +tendencies than the description of Thalberg by Moscheles, who knew him +more thoroughly than any other contemporary, and felt a keener sympathy +with his _genre_ as an artist than with the more striking originality of +Chopin and Liszt. Moscheles writes: + +"I find his introduction of harp effects on the piano quite original. +His theme, which lies in the middle part, is brought out clearly in +relief with an accompaniment of complicated arpeggios which reminds me +of a harp. The audience is amazed. He himself sits immovably calm; +his whole bearing as he sits at the piano is soldierlike; his lips are +tightly compressed and his coat buttoned closely. He told me he acquired +this attitude of self-control by smoking a Turkish pipe while practicing +his piano-forte exercises: the length of the tube was so calculated as +to keep him erect and motionless." This exact discipline and mechanism +were not merely matters of technical culture; they were the logical +outcome of the man and surely a part of himself. But within his limits, +fixed as these were, Thalberg was so great that he must be conceded to +be one of the most striking and brilliant figures of an age fecund in +fine artists. + +Thalberg was born at Geneva, January 7,1812, and was the natural son of +Prince Dietrichstein, an Austrian nobleman, temporarily resident in that +city. His talent for music, inherited from both sides, for his mother +was an artist and his father an amateur of no inconsiderable skill, +became obvious at a very tender age, following the law which so +generally holds in music that superior gifts display themselves at an +early period. These indications of nature were not ignored, for the boy +was placed under instruction before he had completed his sixth year. It +is a little singular that his first teacher was not a pianist, though a +very superior musician. Mittag was one of the first bassoonists of +his times, and, in addition to his technical skill, a thoroughly +accomplished man in the science of his profession. Thalberg was +accustomed to attribute the wonderfully rich and mellow tone which +characterized his playing to the influence and training of Mittag. From +this instructor the future great pianist passed to the charge of the +distinguished Hummel, who was not only one of the greatest virtuosos of +the age, but ranked by his admirers as only a little less than Beethoven +himself in his genius for pianoforte compositions, though succeeding +generations have discredited his former fame by estimating him merely +a "dull classic." Contemporaneously with his pupilage under Hummel, +he studied the theory of music with Simon Sechter, an eminent +contrapuntist. Even at this early age, for Thalberg must have been +less than ten years old, he impressed all by the great precision of +his fingering and the instinctive ease with which he mastered the most +difficult mechanism of the art of playing. At the age of fourteen young +Thalberg went to London in the household of his father, who had been +appointed imperial ambassador to England, and the youth was then placed +under the instruction of the great pianist Moscheles. The latter speaks +of Thalberg as the most distinguished of his pupils, and as being, even +at that age, already an artist of distinction and mark. It was a source +of much pleasure to Moscheles that his brilliant scholar, who played +much at private soirées, was not only recognized by the _dilletante_ +public generally, but by such veteran artists as Clementi and Cramer. +Moscheles, in his diary, speaks of the wonderful brilliancy of a grand +fancy dress ball given by Thalberg's princely father at Covent Garden +Theatre. Pit, stalls, and proscenium were formed into one grand room, +in which the crowd promenaded. The costumes were of every conceivable +variety, and many of the most gorgeous description. The spectators, in +full dress, sat in the boxes; on the stage was a court box, occupied by +the royal family; and bands played in rooms adjoining for small parties +of dancers. "You will have some idea," wrote Mme. Moscheles, in a +letter, "of the crowd at this ball, when I tell you that we left the +ballroom at two o'clock and did not get to the prince's carriage till +four." One of the interesting features of this ball was that the +boy Thalberg played in one of the smaller rooms before the most +distinguished people present, including the royal family, all crowding +in to hear the youthful virtuoso, whose tacit recognition by his father +had already opened to him the most brilliant drawing-rooms in London. + +Thalberg did not immediately begin to perform in public, but, on +returning to Vienna in 1827, played continually at private soirées, +where he had the advantage of being heard and criticised by the foremost +amateurs and musicians of the Austrian capital. It had some time since +become obvious to the initiated that another great player was about to +be launched on his career. The following year the young artist tried his +hand at composition, for he published variations on themes from Weber's +"Euryanthe," which were well received. Thalberg in after-years spoke of +all his youthful productions with disdain, but his early works displayed +not a little of the brilliant style of treatment which subsequently gave +his fantasias a special place among compositions for the piano-forte. + +It was not till 1830 that young Thalberg fairly began his career as +a traveling player. The cities of Germany received him with the most +_éclatant_ admiration, and his feats of skill as a performer were +trumpeted by the newspapers and musical journals as something +unprecedented in the art of pianism. From Germany Thalberg proceeded to +France and England, and his audiences were no less pronounced in their +recognition. Liszt had already been before him in Paris, and Chopin +arrived about the same time. Kalkbrenner, Ferdinand Hiller, and +Field were playing, but the splendid, calm beauty of Thalberg's style +instantly captivated the public, and elicited the most extravagant +and delighted applause not only from the public, but from enlightened +connoisseurs. + +To follow the course of Thalberg's pianoforte achievements in his +musical travels through Europe would be merely to repeat a record of +uninterrupted successes. He disarmed envy and criticism everywhere, and +even those disposed to withhold a frank and generous acknowledgment of +his greatness did not dare to question powers of execution which +seemed without a technical flaw. During his travels Thalberg composed +a concerto for piano and orchestra, to play at his concerts. But this +species of composition was so obviously unsuited to his abilities that +he quickly forsook it, and thenceforward devoted his efforts exclusively +to the instrument of which he was such an eminent master. A more +extensive ambition had been rebuked in more ways than one. He composed +two operas, "Fiorinda" and "Christine," and of course easily yielded to +the entreaties of his admirers to have them produced. But it was clearly +evident that his musical idiosyncrasy, though magnificent of its kind, +was limited in range, and after the failure of his operas and attempts +at orchestral writing Thalberg calmly accepted the situation. + +In the year 1834 Thalberg was appointed pianist of the Imperial Chamber +to the court of Austria, and accompanied the Emperor Ferdinand to +Toplitz, where a convocation of the European sovereigns took place. His +performances were warmly received by the assembled monarchs, and he was +overwhelmed with presents and congratulations. Thalberg's way throughout +the whole of his life was strewn with roses, and, though his career did +not present the same romantic incidents which make the life of Franz +Liszt so picturesque, it was attended by the same lavish favors of +fortune. From one patron he received the gift of a fine estate, from +another a magnificent city mansion in Vienna, and testimonials, like +snuff-boxes set with diamonds, jeweled court-swords, superbly set +portraits of his royal and imperial patrons, and costly jewelry, poured +in on him continually. Imperial orders from Austria and Russia were +bestowed on him, and hardly any mark of favor was denied him by that +good fortune which had been auspicious to him from his very birth. In +1845, while still in the service of the Austrian emperor, though he did +not intermit his musical tours through the principal European cities, +Thalberg married the charming widow, whom he had known and admired +before her marriage, the daughter of the great singer Lablache, Mme. +Bouchot, whose first husband had been the distinguished French painter +of that name. The marriage was a happy one, though scandal, which loves +to busy itself about the affairs of musical celebrities, did not fail +to associate Thalberg's name with several of the most beautiful women of +his time. Mile. Thalberg, a daughter of this marriage, made her _début_ +with considerable success in London, in 1874. + +Thalberg's first visit to America was in 1853, and he came again in +1857, to more than repeat the enthusiastic reception with which he was +greeted by music-loving Americans. Musical culture at that time had not +attained the refinement and knowledge which now make an audience in +one of our greater cities as fastidious and intelligent as can be found +anywhere in the world. But Thalberg's wonderful playing, though lacking +in the fire, glow, and impetuosity which would naturally most arouse the +less cultivated musical sense, created a _furore_, which has never been +matched since, among those who specially prided themselves on being good +judges. He extended both tours to Cuba, Mexico, and South America, and +it is said took away with him larger gains than he had ever made during +the same period in Europe. + +During the latter years of Thalberg's life he spent much of his time +in elegant ease at his fine country estate near Naples, only giving +concerts at some few of the largest European capitals, like London and +Paris. He became an enthusiastic wine-grower, and wine from his estate +gained a medal at the Exposition Universelle of 1867. Many of his best +piano-forte compositions date from the period when he had given up the +active pursuit of virtuosoism. His works comprise a concerto, three +sonatas, many nocturnes, rondos, and études, about thirty fantasias, two +operas, and an instruction series, which latter has been adopted by many +of the best teachers, and has been the means of forming a number of able +pupils. This fine artist died at his Neapolitan estate, April 27, 1871. + + +II. + +Thalberg had but little sympathy with the dreamy romanticism which +found such splendid exponents, while he was yet in his early youth, +in Schumann, Chopin, and Liszt. Imagination in its higher functions he +seemed to lack. A certain opulence and picturesqueness of fancy united +in his artistic being with an intelligence both lucid and penetrating, +and a sense of form and symmetry almost Greek in its fastidiousness. The +sweet, vague, passionate aspiration^, the sensibility that quivers +with every breath of movement from the external world, he could not +understand. Placidity, grace, and repose he had in perfection. Yet he +was very highly appreciated by those who had little in common with his +artistic nature. As, for example, Robert Schumann writes of Thalberg and +his playing, on the occasion of a charity concert, given in Leipzig in +1841: "In his passing flight the master's pinions rested here awhile, +and, as from the angel's pinions in one of Rucker's poems, rubies and +other precious stones fell from them and into indigent hands, as the +master ordained it. It is difficult to say anything new of one who has +been so praise beshow-ered as he has. But every earnest virtuoso is glad +to hear one thing said at any time--that he has progressed in his +art since he last delighted us. This best of all praise we are +conscientiously able to bestow on Thalberg; for, during the last two +years that we have not heard him, he has made astonishing additions to +his acquirements, and, if possible, moves with greater boldness, grace, +and freedom than ever. His playing seemed to have the same effect on +every one, and the delight that he probably feels in it himself was +shared by all. True virtuosity gives us something more than mere +flexibility and execution: aman may mirror his own nature in it, and in +Thalberg's playing it becomes clear to all that he is one of the favored +ones of fortune, one accustomed to wealth and elegance. Accompanied +by happiness, bestowing pleasure, he commenced his career; under such +circumstances he has so far pursued it, and so he will probably continue +it. The whole of yesterday evening and every number that he played gave +us a proof of this. The public did not seem to be there to judge, but +only to enjoy; they were as certain of enjoyment as the master was of +his art." + +Thalberg in his appearance had none of the traditional wild +picturesqueness of style and manner which so many distinguished artists, +even Liszt himself, have thought it worth while to carry perhaps to +the degree of affectation. Smoothly shaven, quiet, eminently +respectable-looking, his handsome, somewhat Jewish-looking face composed +in an expression of unostentatious good breeding, he was wont to +seat himself at the piano with all the simplicity of one doing any +commonplace thing. He had the air of one who respected himself, his art, +and the public. His performance was in an exquisitely artistic sense +that of the gentleman, perfect, polished, and elaborately wrought. The +distinguished American litterateur, Mr. George William Curtis, who heard +him in New York in 1857, thus wrote of him: "He is a proper artist in +this, that he comprehends the character of his instrument. He neither +treats it as a violoncello nor a full orchestra. Those who in private +have enjoyed the pleasure of hearing--or, to use a more accurate +epithet, of seeing--Strepitoso, that friend of mankind, play the piano, +will understand what we mean when we speak of treating the piano as if +it were an orchestra. Strepitoso storms and slams along the keyboard +until the tortured instrument gives up its musical soul in despair +and breaks its heart of melody by cracking all its strings.... Every +instrument has its limitations, but Strepitoso will tolerate no such +theory. He extracts music from his piano, not as if he were sifting the +sands for gold, but as if he were raking oysters.... Now, Thalberg's +manner is different from Strepitoso's. He plays the piano; that is the +phrase which describes his performance. He plays it quietly and suavely. +You could sit upon the lawn on a June night and hear with delight +the sounds that trickled through the moonlight from the piano of this +master. They would not melt your soul in you; they would not touch those +longings that, like rays of starry light, respond to the rays of the +stars; they would not storm your heart with the yearning passion +of their strains, but you would confess it was a good world as you +listened, and be glad you lived in it--you would be glad of your home +and all that made it homelike; the moonlight as you listened would melt +and change, and your smiling eyes would seem to glitter in cheerful +sunlight as Thalberg ended." + +Thalberg's style was, perhaps, the best possible illustration of the +legitimate effects of the pianoforte carried to the highest by as +perfect a technique as could possibly be attained by human skill. + +That he lacked poetic fire and passion, that the sense of artistic +restraint and a refined fastidiousness chilled and fettered him, is +doubtlessly true. Whether the absence of the imaginative warmth and +vigor which suffuse a work of art with the glow of something that can +not be fully expressed, and kindle the thoughts of the hearer to take +hitherto unknown flights, is fully compensated for by that repose and +symmetry of style which know exactly what it wishes to express, and, +being perfect master of the means of expression, puts forth an exact +measure of effort and then stops as if shut down by an iron wall--this +is an open question, and must be answered according to one's art +theories. The exquisite modeling of a Benvenuto Cellini vase, wrought +with patient elaboration into a thing of unsurpassable beauty, does not +invoke as high a sense of pleasure as an heroic statue or noble painting +by some great master, but of its kind the pleasure is just as complete. +Apart from Thalberg's power as a player, however, there was something +captivating in the quality of his talent, which, though not creative, +was gifted with the power of seizing the very essence of the music to +be interpreted. A striking example of this is shown in the fantasias he +composed on the different operas, a form of writing which reached its +perfection in him. His own contribution is simply a most delightful +setting of the melodies of his subject, and the whole is steeped in the +very atmosphere and feeling of the original, as if the master himself +had done the work. + +A good example is the fantasia on Mozart's "Don Giovanni." The little, +wild, unformed melodies rustle in quick gusts along the keys as if +wavering shadows, yet with all the familiar rhythm and family likeness, +filling the mind of the hearer with the atmosphere and necessity of what +is to follow, while gradually the full harmonies unfold themselves. The +introduction of the minuet is one of the most striking portions. The +scene of the minuet in the opera is a vision of rural loveliness and +repose, whispering of flowers, fields, and happy flying hours. All this +becomes poetized, and the music seems to imply rich reaches of odorous +garden and moonlight, whispering foliage, and nightingales mad with the +delight of their own singing, and a palace on the lawn sounding with +riotous mirth. The player-composer weaves the glamour of such a dream, +and the hearer finds himself strolling in imagination through the +moonlit garden, listening to the birds, the waters, and the rustling +leaves, while the stately beat of the minuet comes throbbing through +it all, calling up the vision of gayly dressed cavaliers and beautiful +ladies fantastically moving to the tune. Such poetic sentiment as +this of the purely picturesque sort was in large measure Thalberg's +possession, but he could never understand that turbulent ground-swell of +passion which music can also powerfully express, and by which the +soul is lifted up to the heights of ecstasy or plunged in depths of +melancholy. Music as a vehicle for such meanings was mere Egyptian +hieroglyphic, utterly beyond his limitation, absolute bathos and +absurdity. + +It is doubtful whether any player ever possessed a more wonderfully +trained mechanism; the smallest details were polished and finished with +the utmost care, the scales marvels of evenness, the shakes rivaling the +trill of a canary bird. His arpeggios at times rolled like the waves +of the sea, and at others resembled folds of transparent lace floating +airily with the movements of the wearer. The octaves were wonderfully +accurate, and the chords appeared to be struck by steel mallets instead +of fingers. He was called the Bayard of pianists, "le Chevalier sans +peur et sans reproche." His tone was noble, yet mellow and delicate, and +the gradations between his forte and piano were traced most exquisitely. +In a word, technical execution could go no further. It is said that +he never played a piece in public till he had absolutely made it the +property of his fingers. He was the first to divide the melody between +the two hands, making the right hand perform a brilliant figure in the +higher register, while the left hand exhibited a full and rich bass +part, supplementing it with an accompaniment in chords. It was this +characteristic which made his fantasias so unique and interesting, in +spite of their lack of originality of motive, as compositions. Almost +all writers for the piano have since adopted this device, even the great +Mendelssohn using it in some of his concertos and "Songs without Words"; +and in many cases it has been transformed into a mere trick of arrant +musical charlatanism, designed to cover up with a sham glitter the utter +absence of thought and motive. No better suggestion of the dominant +characteristic of Thal-berg as a pianist can be found than a critical +word of his friend Moscheles: "The proper ground for finger gymnastics +is to be found in Thalberg's latest compositions; for mind [Geist], give +me Schumann." + + +III. + +During Thalberg's first visit to America he had an active and dangerous +rival in the young and brilliant pianist, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, +who was as fresh to New York audiences as Thalberg himself, though the +latter had the advantage over his young competitor in a fame which +was almost world-wide. Of American pianists Louis Gottschalk stands +confessedly at the head by virtue of remarkable native gifts, which, had +they been assisted by greater industry and ambition, might easily have +won him a very eminent rank in Europe as well as in his own country. An +easy, pleasure-loving, tropical nature, flexible, facile, and disposed +to sacrifice the future to the present, was the only obstacle to the +attainment to a place level with the foremost artists of his age. + +Edward Gottschalk, who came to America in his young manhood and settled +in New Orleans, and his wife, a French Creole lady, had five children, +of whom the future pianist was the eldest, born in 1829. His feeling for +music manifested itself when he was three years old by his ability to +play a melody on the piano which he had heard. Instantly he was strong +enough, he was placed under the instruction of a good teacher, and no +pains were spared to develop his precocious talent. At the age of six he +had made such progress on the piano that he was also instructed on +the violin, and soon was able to play pieces of more than ordinary +difficulty with taste and expression. We are told that the lad gave +a benefit concert at the age of eight to assist an unfortunate +violin-player, with considerable success, and was soon in great request +at evening parties as a child phenomenon. The propriety of sending +the little Louis to Paris had long been discussed, and it was finally +accomplished in 1842. + +On reaching Paris he was first put under the teaching of Charles Halle, +but, as the latter master was a little careless, he was replaced by M. +Camille Stamaty, who had the reputation of being the ablest professor +in the city. The following year he began the study of harmony and +counterpoint with M. Malidan, and the rapid progress he evinced in his +studies was of a kind to justify his parents in their wish to devote him +to the career of a pianist. + +Young Louis Gottschalk was much petted in the aristocratic salons of +Paris, to which he had admission through his aunts, the Comtesse de +Lagrange and the Comtesse de Bourjally. His remarkable musical gifts, +and more especially his talent for improvisation, excited curiosity and +admiration, even in a city where the love of musical novelty had been +sated by a continual supply of art prodigies. Young as he was, he wrote +at this time not a few charming compositions, which were in after-years +occasional features of his concerts. His delicate constitution succumbed +under hard work, and for a while a severe attack of typhoid fever +interrupted his studies. On his recovery, our young artist spent a few +months in the Ardennes. On returning to Paris, he became the pupil of +Hector Berlioz, who felt a deep interest in the young American, as an +art prodigy from a land of savages in harmony, and devoted himself so +assiduously to the study that he declined an invitation from the Spanish +queen to become a guest of the court at Madrid. + +An amusing incident occurred in a pedestrian trip which he made to the +Vosges in 1846. He had forgotten his passport, and, on arriving at a +small town, was arrested by a gendarme and taken before the maire. The +latter official was reading a newspaper containing a notice of his last +concert, and through this means he assured the worthy functionary of his +identity, and was cordially welcomed to the hospitality of the official +residence. + +His friend Berlioz, who was ever on the alert to help the American pupil +who promised to do him so much credit, arranged a series of concerts +for him at the Italian Opéra in the winter of 1846-'47, and these proved +brilliantly successful, not merely in filling the young artist's purse, +but in augmenting his fast-growing reputation. Steady labor in study and +concert-giving, many of his public performances being for charity, made +two years pass swiftly by. A musical tour through France in 1849 was +highly successful, and the young American returned to Paris, loaded +down with gifts, and rich in the sense of having justly earned the +congratulations which showered on him from all his friends. A second +invitation now came from Spain, and Louis Gottschalk on arriving at +Madrid was made a guest at the royal palace. From the king he received +two orders, the diamond cross of Isabella la Catholique and that of +Leon d'Holstein, and from the Duke de Montpensier he received a sword of +honor. We are told that at one of the private court concerts Gottschalk +played a duet with Don Carlos, the father of the recent pretender to the +Spanish throne. + +Among the romantic incidents narrated of this visit of Gottschalk to +Madrid, one is too characteristic to be overlooked, as showing the +tender, generous nature of the artist. An imaginative Spanish girl, +whose fancy had been excited by the public enthusiasm about Gottschalk, +but was too ill to attend his concerts, had a passionate desire to hear +him play, and pined away in the fret-fulness of ungratified desire. Her +family were not able to pay Gottschalk for the trouble of giving such an +exclusive concert, but, to satisfy the sick girl, made the circumstances +known to the artist. Gottschalk did not hesitate a moment, but ordered +his piano to be conveyed to the humble abode of the patient. Here by her +bedside he played for hours to the enraptured girl, and the strain of +emotion was so great that her life ebbed away before he had finished the +final chords. Gottschalk remained in Spain for two years, and it was not +till the autumn of 1852 that he returned to Paris, to give a series of +farewell concerts before returning again to America, where his father +and brothers were anxiously awaiting him. + + +IV. + +Before Gottschalk's departure from Paris, Hector Berlioz thus wrote of +his _protégé_, for whom we may fancy he had a strong bias of liking; and +no judge is so generous in estimation as one artist of another, unless +the critic has personal cause of dislike, and then no judge is so +sweepingly unjust: "Gottschalk is one of the very small number who +possess all the different elements of a consummate pianist, all the +faculties which surround him with an irresistible prestige, and give him +a sovereign power. He is an accomplished musician; he knows just how far +fancy may be indulged in expression. He knows the limits beyond which +any freedom taken with the rhythm produces only confusion and disorder, +and upon these limits he never encroaches. There is an exquisite grace +in his manner of phrasing sweet melodies and throwing off light touches +from the higher keys. The boldness, brilliancy, and originality of his +play at once dazzle and astonish, and the infantile _naivete_ of his +smiling caprices, the charming simplicity with which he renders simple +things, seem to belong to another individuality, distinct from that +which marks his thundering energy. Thus the success of M. Gottschalk +before an audience of musical cultivation is immense." + +But even this enthusiastic praise was pale in comparison with the +eulogiums of some of the New York journals, after the first concert of +Gottschalk at Niblo's Garden Theatre. One newspaper, which arrogated +special strength and good judgment in its critical departments, +intimated that after such a revelation it was useless any longer to +speak of Beethoven! Whether Beethoven as a player or Beethoven as a +composer was meant was left unknown. Gottschalk at his earlier concerts +played many of his own compositions, made to order for the display +of his virtuosoism, and their brilliant, showy style was very well +calculated to arouse the enthusiasm of the general public. Perhaps the +most sound and thoughtful opinion of Gottschalk expressed during the +first enthusiasm created by his playing was that of a well-known musical +journal published in Boston: + +"Well, at the concert, which, by the way, did not half fill the Boston +Music Hall, owing partly, we believe, to the one-dollar price, and +partly, we _hope_, to distrust of an artist who plays wholly his own +compositions, our expectation was confirmed. There was, indeed, most +brilliant execution; we have heard none more brilliant, but are not yet +prepared to say that Jaell's was less so. Gottschalk's touch is the most +clear and crisp and beautiful that we have ever known. His play is +free and bold and sure, and graceful in the extreme; his runs pure and +liquid; his figures always clean and perfectly denned; his command of +rapid octave passages prodigious; and so we might go through with all +the technical points of masterly execution. It _was_ great execution. +But what is execution, without some thought and meaning in the +combinations to be executed?... Skillful, graceful, brilliant, +wonderful, we own his playing was. But players less wonderful have given +us far deeper satisfaction. We have seen a criticism upon that concert, +in which it was regretted that his music was too fine for common +apprehension, 'too much addressed to the _reasoning_ faculties,' etc. +To us the want was, that it did _not_ address the reason; that it seemed +empty of ideas, of inspiration; that it spake little to the mind or +heart, excited neither meditation nor emotion, but simply dazzled by the +display of difficult feats gracefully and easily achieved. But of +what use were all these difficulties? ('Difficult! I wish it was +_impossible_,' said Dr. Johnson.) Why all that rapid tossing of handfuls +of chords from the middle to the highest octaves, lifting the hand with +such conscious appeal to our eyes? To what end all those rapid octave +passages? since in the intervals of easy execution, in the seemingly +quiet impromptu passages, the music grew so monotonous and commonplace: +the same little figure repeated and repeated, after listless pauses, in +a way which conveyed no meaning, no sense of musical progress, but only +the appearance of fastidiously critical scale-practicing." + +In the series of concerts given by Gottschalk throughout the United +States, the public generally showed great enthusiasm and admiration, +and the young pianist sustained himself very successfully against the +memories of Jaell, Henri Herz, and Leopold de Meyer, as well as the +immediate rivalry of Thalberg, who appealed more potently to a select +few. The hold the American pianist had secured on his public did not +lessen during the five years of concert-giving which succeeded. No +player ever displayed his skill before American audiences who had in so +large degree that peculiar quality of geniality in his style which so +endears him to the public. This characteristic is something apart from +genius or technical skill, and is peculiarly an emanation from the +personality of the man. + +In the spring of 1837 Gottschalk found himself in Havana, whither he had +gone to make the beginning of a musical tour through the West Indies. +His first concert was given at the Tacon Theatre, which Mr. Maretzek, +who was giving operatic representations then in Havana, yielded to +him for the occasion. The Cubans gave the pianist a tropical warmth of +welcome, and Gott-schalk's letters from the old Spanish city are full +of admiration for the climate, the life, and the people, with whom there +was something strongly sympathetic in his own nature. The artist had not +designed to protract his musical wanderings in the beautiful island of +the Antilles for any considerable period, but his success was great, +and the new experiences admirably suited his dreaming, sensuous, +pleasure-loving temperament. Everywhere the advent of Gottschalk at +a town was made the occasion of a festival, and life seemed to be one +continued gala-day with him. + + +V. + +In the early months of 1860 the young pianist, Arthur Napoleon, joined +Gottschalk at Havana, and the two gave concerts throughout the West +Indies, which were highly successful. The early summer had been designed +for a tour through Central America and Venezuela, but a severe attack of +illness prostrated Gottschalk, and he was not able to sail before August +for his new field of musical conquest. Our artist did not return to New +York till 1862, after an absence of five years, though his original plan +had only contemplated a tour of two years. It must not be supposed that +Gottschalk devoted his time continually to concert performances and +composition, though he by no means neglected the requirements of +musical labor. As he himself confesses, the balmy climate, the glorious +landscapes, the languid _dolce far niente_, which tended to enervate +all that came under their magic spell, wrought on his susceptible +temperament with peculiar effect. A quotation from an article written by +Gottschalk, and published in the "Atlantic Monthly," entitled "Notes of +a Pianist," will furnish the reader a graphic idea of the influence +of tropical life on such an imaginative and voluptuous character, +passionately fond of nature and outdoor life: "Thus, in succession, I +have visited all the Antilles--Spanish, French, English, Dutch, Swedish, +and Danish; the Guianas, and the coasts of Para. At times, having become +the idol of some obscure _pueblo_, whose untutored ears I had charmed +with its own simple ballads, I would pitch my tent for five, six, eight +months, deferring my departure from day to day, until finally I began +seriously to entertain the idea of remaining there for evermore. +Abandoning myself to such influences, I lived without care, as the bird +sings, as the flower expands, as the brook flows, oblivious of the past, +reckless of the future, and sowed both my heart and my purse with the +ardor of a husbandman who hopes to reap a hundred ears for every grain +he confides to the earth. But, alas! the fields where is garnered the +harvest of expended doubloons, and where vernal loves bloom anew, are +yet to be discovered; and the result of my prodigality was that, one +fine morning, I found myself a bankrupt in heart, with my purse +at ebb-tide. Suddenly disgusted with the world and myself, weary, +discouraged, mistrusting men (ay, and women too), I fled to a desert on +the extinct volcano of M------, where, for several months, I lived the +life of a cenobite, with no companion but a poor lunatic whom I had met +on a small island, and who had attached himself to me. He followed me +everywhere, and loved me with that absurd and touching constancy of +which dogs and madmen alone are capable. My friend, whose insanity was +of a mild and harmless character, fancied himself the greatest genius in +the world. He was, moreover, under the impression that he suffered from +a gigantic, monstrous tooth. Of the two idiosyncrasies, the latter alone +made his lunacy discernible, too many individuals being affected with +the other symptom to render it an anomalous feature of the human mind. +My friend was in the habit of protesting that this enormous tooth +increased periodically, and threatened to encroach upon his entire jaw. +Tormented, at the same time, with the desire of regenerating humanity, +he divided his leisure between the study of dentistry, to which he +applied himself in order to impede the progress of his hypothetical +tyrant, and a voluminous correspondence which he kept up with the Pope, +his brother, and the Emperor of the French, his cousin. In the latter +occupation he pleaded the interests of humanity, styled himself 'the +Prince of Thought,' and exalted me to the dignity of his illustrious +friend and benefactor. In the midst of the wreck of his intellect, one +thing still survived--his love of music. He played the violin; and, +strange as it may appear, although insane, he could not understand the +so-called _music of the future_. + +"My hut, perched on the verge of the crater, at the very summit of the +mountain, commanded a view of all the surrounding country. The rock +upon which it was built projected over a precipice whose abysses were +concealed by creeping plants, cactus, and bamboos. The species +of table-rock thus formed had been encircled with a railing, and +transformed into a terrace on a level with the sleeping-room, by my +predecessor in this hermitage. His last wish had been to be buried +there; and from my bed I could see his white tombstone gleaming in the +moonlight a few steps from my window. Every evening I rolled my piano +out upon the terrace; and there, facing the most incomparably beautiful +landscape, all bathed in the soft and limpid atmosphere of the tropics, +I poured forth on the instrument, and for myself alone, the thoughts +with which the scene inspired me. And what a scene! Picture to yourself +a gigantic amphitheatre hewn out of the mountains by an army of Titans; +right and left, immense virgin forests full of those subdued and distant +harmonies which are, as it were, the voices of Silence; before me, +a prospect of twenty leagues marvelously enhanced by the extreme +transparency of the air; above, the azure of the sky: beneath, the +creviced sides of the mountain sweeping down to the plain; afar, the +waving savannas; beyond them, a grayish speck (the distant city); and, +encompassing them all, the immensity of the ocean closing the horizon +with its deep-blue line. Behind me was a rock on which a torrent of +melted snow dashed its white foam, and there, diverted from its course, +rushed with a mad leap and plunged headlong into the gulf that yawned +beneath my window. + +"Amid such scenes I composed 'Réponds-moi la Marche des Gibaros,' +'Polonia,' 'Columbia,' 'Pastorella e Cavaličre,' 'Jeunesse,' and many +other unpublished works. I allowed my fingers to run over the keys, +wrapped up in the contemplation of these wonders; while my poor friend, +whom I heeded but little, revealed to me with a childish loquacity the +lofty destiny he held in reserve for humanity. Can you conceive the +contrast produced by this shattered intellect expressing at random its +disjointed thoughts, as a disordered clock strikes by chance any +hour, and the majestic serenity of the scene around me? I felt it +instinctively. My misanthropy gave way. I became indulgent toward myself +and mankind, and the wounds of my heart closed once more. My despair was +soothed; and soon the sun of the tropics, which tinges all things with +gold--dreams as well as fruits--restored me with new confidence and +vigor to my wanderings. + +"I relapsed into the manners and life of these primitive countries: +if not strictly virtuous, they are at all events terribly attractive. +Existence in a tropical wilderness, in the midst of a voluptuous and +half-civilized race, bears no resemblance to that of a London cockney, a +Parisian lounger, or an American Quaker. Times there were, indeed, when +a voice was heard within me that spoke of nobler aims. It reminded me +of what I once was, of what I yet might be; and commanded imperatively a +return to a healthier and more active life. But I had allowed myself to +be enervated by this baneful languor, this insidious _far niente_; and +my moral torpor was such that the mere thought of reappearing before +a polished audience struck me as superlatively absurd. 'Where was the +object?' I would ask myself. Moreover, it was too late; and I went on +dreaming with open eyes, careering on horseback through the savannas, +listening at break of day to the prattle of the parrots in the +guava-trees, at nightfall to the chirp of the _grillos_ in the +cane-fields, or else smoking my cigar, taking my coffee, rocking myself +in a hammock--in short, enjoying all the delights that are the very +heart-blood of a _guajiro_, and out of the sphere of which he can see +but death, or, what is worse to him, the feverish agitation of our +Northern society. Go and talk of the funds, of the landed interest, of +stock-jobbing, to this Sybarite lord of the wilderness, who can live all +the year round on luscious bananas and delicious cocoa-nuts which he +is not even at the trouble of planting; who has the best tobacco in +the world to smoke; who replaces today the horse he had yesterday by a +better one, chosen from the first _calallada_ he meets; who requires no +further protection from the cold than a pair of linen trousers, in that +favored clime where the seasons roll on in one perennial summer; who, +more than all this, finds at eve, under the rustling palm-trees, pensive +beauties, eager to reward with their smiles the one who murmurs in their +ears those three words, ever new, ever beautiful, 'Yo te quiero.'" + + +VI. + +Mr. Gottschalk's return to America in February, 1862, was celebrated by +a concert in Irving Hall, on the anniversary of his _début_ in New York. +This was the beginning of another brilliant musical series, in pursuance +of which he appeared in every prominent city of the country. While +many found fault with Gottschalk for descending to pure "claptrap" and +bravura playing, for using his great powers to merely superficial and +unworthy ends, he seemed to retain as great a hold as ever over the +masses of concert-goers. Gottschalk himself, with his epicurean, +easy-going nature, laughed at the lectures read him by the critics and +connoisseurs, who would have him follow out ideals for which he had no +taste. It was like asking the butterfly to live the life of the bee. +Great as were the gifts of the artist, it was not to be expected that +these would be pursued in lines not consistent with the limitations +of his temperament. Gottschalk appears to have had no desire except to +amuse and delight the world, and to have been foreign to any loftier +musical aspiration, if we may judge by his own recorded words. He passed +through life as would a splendid wild singing-bird, making music +because it was the law of his being, but never directing that talent +with conscious energy to some purpose beyond itself. + +In 1863 family misfortunes and severe illness of himself cooperated to +make the year vacant of musical doings, but instantly he recovered he +was engaged by M. Strakosch to give another series of concerts in the +leading Eastern cities. Without attempting to linger over his career for +the next two years, let us pass to his second expedition to the tropics +in 1865. Four years were spent in South America, each country that he +visited vieing with the other in doing him honor. Magnificent gifts were +heaped on him by his enthusiastic Spanish-American admirers, and life +was one continual ovation. In Peru he gave sixty concerts, and was +presented with a costly decoration of gold, diamond, and pearl. In Chili +the Government voted him a grand gold medal, which the board of public +schools, the board of visitors of the hospitals, and the municipal +government of Valparaiso supplemented by gold medals, in recognition +of Gottschalk's munificence in the benefit concerts he gave for various +public and humane institutions. The American pianist, through the whole +of his career, had shown the traditional benevolence of his class in +offering his services to the advancement of worthy objects. A similar +reception awaited Gottschalk in Montevideo, where the artist became +doubly the object of admiration by the substantial additions he made +to the popular educational fund. While in this city he organized and +conducted a great musical festival in which three hundred musicians +engaged, exclusive of the Italian Opera company then at Montevideo. + +The spring of 1869 brought Gottschalk to the last scene of his musical +triumphs, for the span of his career was about to close over him. Rio +Janeiro, the capital of Brazil, gave Gottschalk an ardent reception, +which made this city properly the culmination of his toils and triumphs. +Gottschalk wrote that his performances created such a _furore_ that +boxes commanded a premium of seventy-five dollars, and single seats +fetched twenty-five. He was frequently entertained by Dom Pedro at the +palace; in every way the Brazilians testified their lavish admiration of +his artistic talents. In the midst of his success Gottschalk was seized +with yellow fever, and brought very low. Indeed, the report came back +to New York that he was dead, a report, however, which his own letters, +written from the bed of convalescence, soon contradicted. + +In October of 1869 Gottschalk was appointed by the emperor to take the +leadership of a great festival, in which eight hundred performers in +orchestra and chorus would take part. Indefatigable labor, in rehearsing +his musicians and organizing the almost innumerable details of such an +affair, acted on a frame which had not yet recovered its strength from a +severe attack of illness. With difficulty he dragged himself through the +tedious preparation, and when he stood up to conduct the first concert +of the festival, on the evening of November 26, he was so weak that he +could scarcely stand. The next day he was too ill to rise, and, though +he forced himself to go to the opera-house in the evening, he was so +weak as to be unable to conduct the music, and he had to be driven back +to his hotel. The best medical skill watched over him, but his hour had +come, and after three weeks of severe suffering he died, December 18, +1869. The funeral solemnities at the Cathedral of Rio were of the most +imposing character, and all the indications of really heart-felt sorrow +were shown among the vast crowd of spectators, for Gottschalk had +quickly endeared himself to the public both as man and artist. At the +time of Gott-schalk's death, it was his purpose to set sail for Europe +at the earliest practicable moment, to secure the publication of some of +his more important works, and the production of his operas, of which he +had the finished scores of not less than six. + +Louis Moreau Gottschalk was an artist and composer whose gifts were +never more than half developed; for his native genius as a musician was +of the highest order. Shortly before he died, at the age of forty, he +seemed to have ripened into more earnest views and purposes, and, had +he lived to fulfill his prime, it is reasonable to hazard the conjecture +that he would have richly earned a far loftier niche in the pantheon +of music than can now be given him. A rich, pleasure-loving, Oriental +temperament, which tended to pour itself forth in dreams instead of +action; vivid emotional sensibilities, which enabled him to exhaust +all the resources of pleasure where imagination stimulates sense; and +a thorough optimism in his theories, which saw everything at its best, +tended to blunt the keen ambition which would otherwise inevitably have +stirred the possessor of such artistic gifts. Gottschalk fell far short +of his possibilities, though he was the greatest piano executant ever +produced by our own country. He might have dazzled the world even as he +dazzled his own partial countrymen. + +His style as a pianist was sparkling, dashing, showy, but, in the +judgment of the most judicious, he did not appear to good advantage in +comparison with Thalberg, in whom a perfect technique was dominated by +a conscious intellectualism, and a high ideal, passionless but severely +beautiful. + +Gottschalk's idiosyncrasy as a composer ran in parallel lines with +that of the player. Most of the works of this musician are brilliant, +charming, tender, melodious, full of captivating excellence, but +bright with the flash of fancy, rather than strong with the power +of imagination. We do not find in his piano-forte pieces any of that +subtile soul-searching force which penetrates to the deepest roots +of thought and feeling. Sundry musical cynics were wont to crush +Gottschalk's individuality into the coffin of a single epigram. "A +musical bonbon to tickle the palates of sentimental women." But this +falls as far short of justice as the enthusiasm of many of his admirers +overreaches it. The easy and genial temperament of the man, his ability +to seize the things of life on their bright side, and a naive indolence +which indisposed the artist to grapple with the severest obligations of +an art life, prevented Gottschalk from attaining the greatness possible +to him, but they contributed to make him singularly lovable, and to +justify the passionate attachment which he inspired in most of those +who knew him well. But, with all of Gottschalk's limitations, he must +be considered the most noticeable and able of pianists and composers for +the piano yet produced by the United States. + + + + +FRANZ LISZT. + + +The Spoiled Favorite of Fortune.--His Inherited Genius.--Birth and +Early Training.--First Appearance in Concert.--Adam Liszt and his Son +in Paris.--Sensation made by the Boy's Playing.--His Morbid Religious +Sufferings.--Franz Liszt thrown on his own Resources.--The Artistic +Circle in Paris.--Liszt in the Banks of Romanticism.--His Friends and +Associates.--Mme. D'Agoult and her Connection with Franz +Liszt.--He retires to Geneva.--Is recalled to Paris by the Thalberg +_Furore_.--Rivalry between the Artists, and their Factions.--He +commences his Career as Traveling Virtuoso.--The Blaze of Enthusiasm +throughout Europe.--Schumann on Liszt as Man and Artist.--He ranks the +Hungarian Virtuoso as the Superior of Thalberg.--Liszt's Generosity to +his own Countrymen.--The Honors paid to him in Pesth.--Incidents of +his Musical Wanderings.--He loses the Proceeds of Three Hundred +Concerts.--Contributes to the Completion of the Cologne Cathedral.--His +Connection with the Beethoven Statue at Bonn, and the Celebration of +the Unveiling.--Chorley on Liszt.--Berlioz and Liszt.--Character of the +Enthusiasm called out by Liszt as an Artist.--Remarkable Personality +as a Man.--Berlioz characterizes the Great Virtuoso in a Letter.--Liszt +erases his Life as a Virtuoso, and becomes Chapel-Master and Court +Conductor at Weimar.--Avowed Belief in the New School of Music, and +Production of Works of this School.--Wagner's Testimony to Liszt's +Assistance.--Liszt's Resignation of his Weimar Post after Ten +Years.--His Subsequent Life.--He takes Holy Orders.--Liszt as a Virtuoso +and Composer.--Entitled to be placed among tire most Remarkable Men of +his Age. + + +I. + +There are but few names in music more interesting than that of Franz +Liszt, the spoiled favorite of Europe for more than half a century, and +without question the greatest piano-forte virtuoso that ever lived. His +life has passed through the sunniest regions of fortune and success, +and from his cradle upward the gods have showered on him their richest +gifts. His career as an artist and musician has been most remarkable, +his personal life full of romance, and his connection with some of +the most vital changes in music which have occurred during the century +interesting and significant. From his first appearance in public, at the +age of twelve, his genius was acknowledged with enthusiasm throughout +the whole republic of art, from Beethoven down to the obscurest +_dilletante_, and it may be asserted that the history of music knows +no instance of success approaching that achieved by the performances +of this great player in every capital of Europe, from Madrid to St. +Petersburg. When he wearied of the fame of the virtuoso, and became +a composer, not only for the piano-forte, but for the orchestra, his +invincible energy soon overcame all difficulties in his path, and he has +lived to see himself accepted as one of the greatest of living musical +thinkers and writers. + +The life of Liszt is so crowded with important incidents that it is +difficult to condense into the brief limits of a sketch any fairly +adequate statement of his career. He was born October 22, 1811, in the +village of Raiding, in Hungary, and it is said that his father Adam +Liszt, who was in the service of the Prince Esterhazy, was firmly +convinced that the child would become distinguished on account of the +appearance of a remarkable comet during the year. Adam Liszt himself was +a fine pianist, gifted indeed with a talent which might have made him +eminent had he pursued it. All his ambition and hope, however, centered +in his son, in whom musical genius quickly declared itself; and the +father found teaching this gifted child not only a labor of love, but +a task smoothed by the extraordinary aptness of the pupil. He was +accustomed to say to the young Franz: "My son, you are destined to +realize the glorious ideal that has shone in vain before my youth. In +you that is to reach its fulfillment which I have myself but faintly +conceived. In you shall my genius grow up and bear fruit; I shall renew +my youth in you even after I am laid in the grave." Such prophetic words +recall the vision of the Genoese woman, who foresaw the future greatness +of the little Nicolo Paganini, a genius who resembled in many ways the +phenomenal musical force embodied in Franz Liszt. When the lad was very +young, perhaps not more than six, he read the "Kené" of Chateaubriand, +and it made such an indelible impression on his mind that he in after +years spoke of it as having been one of the most potent influences of +his life, since it stimulated the natural melancholy of his character +when his nature was most flexible and impressible. + +At the age of nine he made his first appearance in public at Odenburg, +playing Bies's concerto in three flats, and improvising a fantasia so +full of melodic ideas, striking rhythms, and well-arranged harmony as to +strike the audience with surprise and admiration. Among the hearers was +Prince Esterhazy, who was so pleased with the precocious talent shown +that he put a purse of fifty ducats in the young musician's hand. Soon +after this Adam Liszt went to Pres-burg to live, and several noblemen, +among whom were Prince Esterhazy, and the Counts Amadée and Szapary, all +of them enthusiastic patrons of music, determined to bear the burden of +the boy's musical education. To this end they agreed to allow him six +hundred florins a year for six years. Young Liszt was placed at Vienna +under the tutelage of the celebrated pianist and teacher Czerny, and +soon made such progress that he was able to play such works as those +even of Beethoven and Hummel at first sight. When Liszt did this for +one of Hummel's most difficult concertos, at the rooms of the music +publisher one day, it created a great sensation in Vienna, and he +quickly became one of the lions of the drawing-rooms of the capital. +Czerny himself was so much delighted with the genius of his charge +that he refused to accept the three hundred florins stipulated for his +lessons, saying he was but too well repaid by the success of the pupil. + +Though toiling with incessant industry in musical study and practice, +for the boy was working at composition with Salieri and Randhartinger, +as well as the piano-forte with Czerny, he found time to indulge in +those strange, mystical, and fantastic dreams which have molded his +whole life, oscillating between pietistic delirium, wherein he saw +celestial visions and felt the call to a holy life, and the most +voluptuous images and aspirations for earthly pleasures. Franz Liszt +at this early age had a sensibility so delicate, and an imagination so +quickly kindled, that he himself tells us no one can guess the extremes +of ecstasy and despair through which he alternately passed. These +spiritual experiences were perhaps fed by the mysticism of Jacob Boehme, +whose works came into his possession, and furnished a most delusive and +dangerous guide for the young enthusiast's fancy. But, dream and suffer +as he might, nothing was allowed to quench the ardor of his musical +studies. + +Eighteen months were passed in diligent labor under the guidance of the +masters, who found teaching almost unnecessary, as the wonderful lad +needed but a hint to work out for himself the most difficult problems, +and he toiled so incessantly that he often became conscious of the +change of day into night only by the failure of the light and the coming +of the candles. Finally, by advice of Salieri, after eighteen months of +labor, he determined to appear in concert in Vienna. On this occasion +the audience was composed of the most distinguished people of Vienna, +drawn thither to hear the young musical wonder of whom every one talked. +Among the hearers was Beethoven, who after the concert gave the proud +boy the most cordial praise, and prophesied a great career for him. + +The elder Liszt was already in Paris, and it was determined that +Franz should go to that city, to avail himself of the instructions of +Cherubini, at the Conservatoire, who as a teacher of counterpoint had +no equal in Europe. The Prince Metternich sent letters of the warmest +recommendation, but they were of no avail, for Cherubini, who was +singularly whimsical and obstinate in his notions, refused to accept +the new candidate, on account of the rule of the Conservatoire excluding +pupils of foreign birth, a plea which the famous director did not +hesitate to break when he chose. Franz, however, continued his studies +under Reicha and Paer, and, while the gates of the Conservatoire were +closed, all the salons of Paris opened to receive him. Everywhere he was +feted, courted, caressed. This fair-haired, blue-eyed lad, with the seal +of genius burning on his face, had made the social world mad over him. +The young adventurer was sailing in a treacherous channel, full of +dangerous reefs. Would he, in the homage paid to him, an unmatured +youth, by scholars, artists, wealth, beauty, and rank, forgot in mere +self-love and vanity his high obligations to his art and the sincere +devotion which alone could wrest from art its richest guerdon? This +problem seems to have troubled his father, for he determined to take his +young Franz away from the palace of Circe. The boy had already made an +attempt at composition in the shape of an operetta, in one act, "Don +Sanche," which was very well received at the Académie Royale. Adolph +Nourrit, the great singer, had led the young composer on the stage, +where he was received with thunders of applause by the audience, and +was embraced with transport by Rudolph Kreutzer, the director of the +orchestra. + +Adam Liszt and his son went to England, and spent about six months in +giving concerts in London and other cities. Franz was less than +fourteen years old, but the pale, fragile, slender boy had, in the deep +melancholy which stamped the noble outline of his face, an appearance +of maturity that belied his years. English audiences everywhere received +him with admiration, but he seemed to have lost all zest for the +intoxicating wine of public favor. A profound gloom stole over him, +and we even hear of hints at an attempt to commit suicide. Adam Liszt +attributed it to the sad English climate, which Hein-rich Heine cursed +with such unlimited bitterness, and took his boy back again to sunnier +France. But the dejection darkened and deepened, threatening even +to pass into epilepsy. It assumed the form of religious enthusiasm, +alternating with fits of remorse as of one who had committed the +unpardonable sin, and sometimes expressed itself in a species of frenzy +for the monastic life. These strange experiences alarmed the father, +and, in obedience to medical advice, he took the ailing, half-hysterical +lad to Boulogne-sur-Mer, for sea-bathing. + + +II. + +While by the seaside Franz Liszt lost the father who had loved him +with the devotion of father and mother combined. This fresh stroke of +affliction deepened his dejection, and finally resulted in a fit of +severe illness. When he was convalescent new views of life seemed +to inspire him. He was now entirely thrown on his own resources for +support, for Adam Liszt had left his affairs so deeply involved that +there was but little left for his son and widow. A powerful nature, +turned awry by unhealthy broodings, is often rescued from its own mental +perversities by the sense of some new responsibility suddenly imposed on +it. Boy as Liszt was, the Titan in him had already shown itself in +the agonies and struggles which he had undergone, and, now that the +necessity of hard work suddenly came, the atmosphere of turmoil and +gloom began to clear under the imminent practical burden of life. He set +resolutely to work composing and giving concerts. The religious mania +under which he had rested for a while turned his thoughts to sacred +music, and most of his compositions were masses. But the very effort of +responsible toil set, as it were, a background against which he could +appoint the true place and dimensions of his art work. There was another +disturbance, however, which now stirred up his excitable mind. He fell +madly in love with a lady of high rank, and surrendered his young heart +entirely to this new passion. The unfortunate issue of this attachment, +for the lady was much older than himself, and laughed with a gentle +mockery at the infatuation of her young adorer, made Liszt intensely +unhappy and misanthropical, but it did not prevent him from steady +labor. Indeed, work became all the more welcome, as it served to +distract his mind from its amorous pains, and his fantastic musings, +instead of feeding on themselves, expressed themselves in his art. +Certainly no healthier sign of one beginning to clothe himself in his +right mind again can easily be imagined. + +Liszt was now twenty years of age, and had regularly settled in Paris. +He became acquainted intimately with the leaders of French literature, +and was an habitué of the brilliant circles which gathered these great +minds night after night. Lamartine and Chateaubriand were yielding +place to a young and fiery school of writers and thinkers, but cordially +clasped hands with the successors whom they themselves had made +possible. Mme. George Sand, Balzac, Dumas, Victor Hugo, and others were +just then beginning to stir in the mental revolution which they made +famous. Liszt felt a deep interest in the literary and scientific +interests of the day, and he threw himself into the new movement with +great enthusiasm, for its strong wave moved art as well as letters with +convulsive throes. The musician found in this fresh impulse something +congenial to his own fiery, restless, aspiring nature. He entered +eagerly into all the intellectual movements of the day. He became a +St. Simonian and such a hot-headed politician that, had he not been an +artist, and as such considered a harmless fanatic, he would perhaps have +incurred some penalties. Liszt has left us, in his "Life of Chopin," and +his letters, some very vivid portraitures of the people and the events, +the fascinating literary and artistic reunions, and the personal +experiences which made this part of his life so interesting; but, +tempting as it is, we can not linger. There can be no question that this +section of his career profoundly colored his whole life, and that +the influence of Victor Hugo, Balzac, and Mme. George Sand is very +perceptible in his compositions not merely in their superficial tone +and character, but in the very theory on which they are built. Liszt +thenceforward cut loose from all classic restraints, and dared to fling +rules and canons to the winds, except so far as his artistic taste +approved them. The brilliant and daring coterie, defying conventionality +and the dull decorum of social law, in which our artist lived, wrought +also another change in his character. Liszt had hitherto been almost +austere in his self-denial, in restraint of passion and license, in +a religious purity of life, as if he dwelt in the cold shadow of the +monastery, not knowing what moment he should disappear within its gates. +There was now to be a radical change. + +One of the brilliant members of the coterie in which he lived a life of +such keen mental activity was Countess D'Agoult, who afterward became +famous in the literary world as "Daniel Stern." Beautiful, witty, +accomplished, imaginative, thoroughly in sympathy with her friend +George Sand in her views of love and matrimony, and not less daring +in testifying to her opinion by actions, the name of Mme. D'Agoult had +already been widely bruited abroad in connection with more than one +romantic escapade. In the powerful personality of young Franz Liszt, +instinct with an artistic genius which aspired like an eagle, vital with +a resolute, reckless will, and full of a magnetic energy that overflowed +in everything--looks, movements, talk, playing--the somewhat fickle +nature of Mme. D'Agoult was drawn to the artist like steel to a magnet. +Liszt, on the other hand, easily yielded to the refined and delicious +sensuousness of one of the most accomplished women of her time, who to +every womanly fascination added the rarest mental gifts and high social +place. + +The mutual passion soon culminated in a tie which lasted for many years, +and was perhaps as faithfully observed by both parties as could be +expected of such an irregular connection. Three children were the +offspring of this attachment, a son who died, and two daughters, one of +whom became the wife of M. Ollivier, the last imperial prime minister of +France, and the other successively Mme. Von Bűlow and Mme. Wagner, under +which latter title she is still known. The _chroniques scandaleuses_ +of Paris and other great cities of Europe are full of racy scandals +purporting to connect the name of Liszt with well-known charming and +beautiful women, but, aside from the uncertainty which goes with such +rumors, this is not a feature of Liszt's life on which it is our purpose +to dilate. The errors of such a man, exposed by his temperament and +surroundings to the fiercest breath of temptation, should be rather +veiled than opened to the garish day. Of the connection with Mme. +D'Agoult something has been briefly told, because it had an important +influence on his art career. Though the Church had never sanctioned the +tie, there is every reason to believe that the lady's power over Liszt +was consistently used to restrain his naturally eccentric bias, and to +keep his thoughts fixed on the loftiest art ideals. + + +III. + +Soon after Liszt's connection with Mme. D'Agoult began, he retired with +his devoted companion to Geneva, Switzerland, a city always celebrated +in the annals of European literature and art. In the quiet and charming +atmosphere of this city our artist spent two years, busy for the most +part in composing. He had already attained a superb rank as a pianist, +and of those virtuosos who had then exhibited their talents in Paris +no one was considered at all worthy to be compared with Liszt except +Chopin. Aside from the great mental grasp, the opulent imagination, the +fire and passion, the dazzling technical skill of the player, there was +a vivid personality in Liszt as a man which captivated audiences. This +element dominated his slightest action. He strode over the concert +stage with the haughty step of a despot who ruled with a sway not to be +contested. Tearing his gloves from his fingers and hurling them on +the piano, he would seat himself with a proud gesture, run his fingers +through his waving blonde locks, and then attack the piano with the +vehemence of a conqueror taking his army into action. Much of this +manner was probably the outcome of natural temperament, something the +result of affectation; but it helped to add to the glamour with which +Liszt always held his audiences captive. When he left Paris for a +studious retirement at Geneva, the throne became vacant. By and by there +came a contestant for the seat, a player no less remarkable in many +respects than Liszt himself, Sigismond Thalberg, whose performances +aroused Paris, alert for a new sensation, into an enthusiasm which +quickly mounted to boiling heat. Humors of the danger threatened to his +hitherto acknowledged ascendancy reached Liszt in his Swiss retreat. The +artist's ambition was stirred to the quick; he could not sleep at night +with the thought of this victorious rival who was snatching his laurels, +and he hastened back to Paris to meet Thalberg on his own ground. +The latter, however, had already left Paris, and Liszt only felt the +ground-swell of the storm he had raised. There was a hot division of +opinion among the Parisians, as there had been in the days of Gluck and +Piccini. Society was divided into Lisztians and Thalbergians, and to +indulge in this strife was the favorite amusement of the fashionable +world. Liszt proceeded to reestablish his place by a series of +remarkable concerts, in which he introduced to the public some of the +works wrought out during his retirement, among them transcriptions from +the songs of Schubert and the symphonies of Beethoven, in which the most +free and passionate poetic spirit was expressed through the medium of +technical difficulties in the scoring before unknown to the art of the +piano-forte. There can be no doubt that the influence of Thalberg's +rivalry on Liszt's mind was a strong force, and suggested new +combinations. Without having heard Thalberg, our artist had already +divined the secret of his effects, and borrowed from them enough to give +a new impulse to an inventive faculty which was fertile in expedients +and quick to assimilate all things of value to the uses of its own +insatiable ambition. + +Franz Liszt's career as a traveling virtuoso commenced in 1837, and +lasted for twelve years. Hitherto he had resisted the impulsion to +such a course, all his desires rushing toward composition, but the +extraordinary rewards promised cooperated with the spur of rivalry to +overcome all scruples. The first year of these art travels was made +memorable by the great inundation of the Danube, which caused so much +suffering at Pesth. Thousands of people were rendered homeless, and +the scene was one that appealed piteously to the humanitarian mind. The +heart of Franz Liszt burned with sympathy, and he devoted the proceeds +of his concerts for nearly two months to the alleviation of the woes of +his countrymen. A princely sum was contributed by the artist, which went +far to assist the sufferers. The number of occasions on which Liszt +gave his services to charity was legion. It is credibly stated that the +amount of benefactions contributed by his benefit concerts, added to the +immense sums which he directly disbursed, would have made him several +times a millionaire. + +The blaze of enthusiasm which Liszt kindled made his track luminous +throughout the musical centers of Europe. Cćsar-like, his very arrival +was a victory, for it aroused an indescribable ferment of agitation, +which rose at his concerts to wild excesses. Ladies of the highest rank +tore their gloves to strips in the ardor of their applause, flung +their jewels on the stage instead of bouquets, shrieked in ecstasy and +sometimes fainted, and made a wild rush for the stage at the close of +the music to see Liszt, and obtain some of the broken strings of the +piano, which the artist had ruined in the heat of his play, as precious +relics of the occasion. The stories told of the Liszt craze among the +ladies of Germany and Russia are highly amusing, and have a value as +registering the degree of the effect he produced on impressible minds. +Even sober and judicious critics who knew well whereof they spoke +yielded to the contagion. Schumann writes of him, _apropos_ of his +Dresden and Leipzig concerts in 1840: "The whole audience greeted his +appearance with an enthusiastic storm of applause, and then he began to +play. I had heard him before, but an artist is a different thing in the +presence of the public compared with what he appears in the presence of +a few. The fine open space, the glitter of light, the elegantly dressed +audience--all this elevates the frame of mind in the giver and receiver. +And now the demon's power began to awake; he first played with the +public as if to try it, then gave it something more profound, until +every single member was enveloped in his art; and then the whole mass +began to rise and fall precisely as he willed it. I never found any +artist except Paga-nini to possess in so high a degree this power of +subjecting, elevating, and leading the public. It is an instantaneous +variety of wildness, tenderness, boldness, and airy grace; the +instrument glows under the hand of its master.... It is most easy to +speak of his outward appearance. People have often tried to picture +this by comparing Liszt's head to Schiller's or Napoleon's; and the +comparison so far holds good, in that extraordinary men possess certain +traits in common, such as an expression of energy and strength of will +in the eyes and mouth. He has some resemblance to the portraits of +Napoleon as a young general, pale, thin, with a remarkable profile, +the whole significance of his appearance culminating in his head. While +listening to Liszt's playing, I have often almost imagined myself as +listening to one I heard long before. But this art is scarcely to be +described. It is not this or that style of piano-forte playing; it is +rather the outward expression of a daring character, to whom Fate has +given as instruments of victory and command, not the dangerous weapon of +war, but the peaceful ones of art. No matter how many and great artists +we possess or have seen pass before us of recent years, though some of +them equal him in single points, all must yield to him in energy and +boldness. People have been very fond of placing Thalberg in the lists +beside him, and then drawing comparisons. But it is only necessary to +look at both heads to come to a conclusion. I remember the remark of +a Viennese designer who said, not inaptly, that his countryman's head +resembled that of a handsome countess with a man's nose, while of Liszt +he observed that he might sit to every painter for a Grecian god. There +is a similar difference in their art. Chopin stands nearer to Liszt as a +player, for at least he loses nothing beside him in fairy-like grace and +tenderness; next to him Paganini, and, among women, Mme. Malibran; from +these Liszt himself says he has learned the most.... Liszt's most genial +performance was yet to come, Weber's 'Concert-stuck,' which he played +at the second performance. Virtuoso and public seemed to be in the +freshest mood possible on that evening, and the enthusiasm during and +after his playing almost exceeded anything hitherto known here. Although +Liszt grasped the piece from the begin-ing with such force and grandeur +that an attack on the battle-field seemed to be in question, yet he +carried this on with continually increasing power, until the passage +where the player seems to stand at the summit of the orchestra, leading +it forward in triumph. Here, indeed, he resembled that great commander +to whom he has been compared, and the tempestuous applause that greeted +him was not unlike an adoring 'Vive l'Empereur.'" + +Flattering to his pride, however, as were the universal honors bestowed +on the artist, none were so grateful as those from his own countrymen. +The philanthropy of his conduct had made a deep impression on the +Hungarians. Two cities, Pesth and Odenburg, created him an honorary +citizen; a patent of nobility was solicited for him by the _comitat_ of +Odenburg; and the "sword of honor," according to Hungarian custom, was +presented to him with due solemnities. A brief account from an Hungarian +journal of the time is of interest. + +"The national feeling of the Magyars is well known; and proud are they +of that star of the first magnitude which arose out of their nation. +Over the countries of Europe the fame of the Hungarian Liszt came to +them before they had as yet an opportunity of admiring him. The Danube +was swollen by rains, Pesth was inundated, thousands were mourning +the loss of friends and relations or of all their property. During +his absence in Milan Liszt learned that many of his countrymen were +suffering from absolute want. His resolution was taken. The smiling +heaven of Italy, the _dolce far niente_ of Southern life, could not +detain him. The following morning he had quitted Milan and was on his +way to Vienna. He performed for the benefit of those who had suffered +by the inundation at Pesth. His art was the horn of plenty from which +streamed forth blessings for the afflicted. Eighteen months afterward he +came to Pesth, not as the artist in search of pecuniary advantage, +but as a Magyar. He played for the Hungarian national theatre, for the +musical society, for the poor of Pesth and of Odenburg, always before +crowded houses, and the proceeds, fully one hundred thousand francs, +were appropriated for these purposes. Who can wonder that admiration +and pride should arise to enthusiasm in the breasts of his grateful +countrymen? He was complimented by serenades, garlands were thrown +to him; in short, the whole population of Pesth neglected nothing to +manifest their respect, gratitude, and affection. But these honors, +which might have been paid to any other artist of high distinction, did +not satisfy them. They resolved to bind him for ever to the Hungarian +nation from which he sprang. The token of manly honor in Hungary is +a sword, for every Magyar has the right to wear a sword, and avails +himself of that right. It was determined that their celebrated +countryman should be presented with the Hungarian sword of honor. The +noblemen appeared at the theatre, in the rich costume they usually wear +before the emperor, and presented Liszt, midst thunders of applause from +the whole assembled people, with a costly sword of honor." It was also +proposed to erect a bronze statue of him in Pesth, but Liszt persuaded +his countrymen to give the money to a struggling young artist instead. + + +IV. + +In the autumn of 1840 Liszt went from Paris, at which city he had been +playing for some time, to the north of Germany, where he at first found +the people colder than he had been wont to experience. But this soon +disappeared before the magic of his playing, and even the Hamburgers, +notorious for a callous, bovine temperament, gave wild demonstrations +of pleasure at his concerts. He specially pleased the worthy citizens +by his willingness to play off-hand, without notes, any work which they +called for, a feat justly regarded as a stupendous exercise of memory. +From Hamburg he went to London, where he gave nine concerts in a +fortnight, and stormed the affections and admiration of the English +public as he had already conquered the heart of Continental Europe. +While in London a calamity befell him. A rascally agent in whom he +implicitly trusted disappeared with the proceeds of three hundred +concerts, an enormous sum, amounting to nearly fifty thousand pounds +sterling. Liszt bore this reverse with cheerful spirits and scorned +the condolences with which his friends sought to comfort him, saying he +could easily make the money again, that his wealth was not in money, but +in the power of making money. + +The artist's musical wanderings were nearly without ceasing. His +restless journeying carried him from Italy to Denmark, and from the +British Islands to Russia, and everywhere the art and social world bowed +at his feet in recognition of a genius which in its way could only be +designated by the term "colossal." It seems cumbersome and monotonous to +repeat the details of successive triumphs; but some of them are attended +by features of peculiar interest. He offered, in the summer of 1841, +to give the proceeds of a concert to the completion of the Cathedral +of Cologne (who that loves music does not remember Liszt's setting of +Heine's song "Im Rhein," where he translates the glory of the Cathedral +into music?). Liszt was then staying at the island of Nonneworth, near +Bonn, and a musical society, the Liedertafel, resolved to escort him +up to Cologne with due pomp, and so made a grand excursion with a great +company of invited guests on a steamboat hired for the purpose. A fine +band of music greeted Liszt on landing, and an extensive banquet was +then served, at which Liszt made an eloquent speech, full of wit and +feeling. The artist acceded to the desire of the great congregation of +people who had gathered to hear him play; and his piano was brought +into the ruined old chapel of the ancient nunnery, about which so many +romantic Rhenish legends cluster. Liszt gave a display of his wonderful +powers to the delighted multitude, and the long-deserted hall of +Nonneworth chapel, which for many years had only heard the melancholy +call of the owl, resounded with the most magnificent music. Finally +the procession with Liszt at the head marched to the steamboat, and the +vessel glided over the bosom of the Rhine amid the dazzling glare of +fireworks and to the music of singing and instruments. All Cologne was +assembled to meet them, and Liszt was carried on the shoulders of his +frantic admirers to his hotel. + +In common with all other great musicians, Liszt has throughout life been +a reverential admirer of the genius of Beethoven, an isolated force +in music without peer or parallel. In his later years Liszt bitterly +reproached himself because, in the vanity and impetuosity of his youth, +he had dared to take liberties with the text of the Beethoven sonatas. +Many interesting facts in Liszt's life connect themselves, directly +or indirectly, with Beethoven. Among these is worthy of mention our +artist's part in the Beethoven festival at Bonn in 1845, organized to +celebrate the erection of a colossal bronze statue. The enterprise had +been languishing for a long time, when Liszt promptly declared he +would make up the deficiency single-handed, and this he did with great +celerity. In an incredibly short time the money was raised, and the +commission put in the hands of the sculptor Hilbnel, of Dresden, one of +the foremost artists of Germany. + +The programme for the celebration was drawn up by Liszt and Dr. Spohr, +who were to be the joint conductors of the festival music. A thousand +difficulties intervened to embarrass the organization of the affair, +the jealousies of prominent singers, who revolted against the +self-effacement they would needs undergo, a certain truly German +parsimony in raising the money for the expenses, and the envious +littleness of certain great composers and musicians, who feared that +Liszt would reap too much glory from the prominence of the part he +had taken in the affair, But Liszt's energy had surmounted all these +obstacles, when finally, only a month before the festival, which was +to take place in August, it was discovered that there was no suitable +Pesthalle in Bonn. The committee said, "What if the affair should not +pay expenses? would they not be personally saddled with the debt?" Liszt +promptly answered that, if the proceeds were not sufficient, he himself +would pay the cost of the building. The architect of the Cologne +Cathedral was placed at the head of the work, a waste plot of ground +selected, the trees grubbed up, timber fished up from one of the great +Rhine rafts, and the Festhalle rose with the swiftness of Aladdin's +palace. The erection of the statue of Beethoven at his birthplace, +and the musical celebration thereof in August, 1845, one of the most +interesting events of its kind that ever occurred, must be, for the most +part, attributed to the energy and munificence of Franz Liszt. Great +personages were present from all parts of Europe, among them King +William of Prussia and Queen Victoria of England. Henry Chorley, who +has given a pretty full description of the festival, says that Liszt's +performance of Beethoven's concerto in E flat was the crowning glory +of the festival, in spite of the richness and beauty of the rest of the +programme. "I must lastly commemorate, as the most magnificent piece of +piano-forte playing I ever heard, Dr. Liszt's delivery of the concerto +in E flat.... Whereas its deliverer restrained himself within all the +limits that the most sober classicist could have prescribed, he still +rose to a loftiness, in part ascribable to the enthusiasm of time and +place, in part referable to a nature chivalresque, proud, and poetic in +no common degree, which I have heard no other instrumentalist attain.... +The triumph in the mind of the executant sustained the triumph in the +idea of the compositions without strain, without spasm, but with a +breadth and depth and height such as made the genius of the executant +approach the genius of the inventor.... There are players, there are +poets; and as a poet Liszt was possibly never so sublimely or genuinely +inspired as in that performance, which remains a bright and precious +thing in the midst of all the curiously parti-colored recollections of +the Beethoven festival at Bonn." + +In 1846, among Liszt's other musical experiences, he played in concerts +with Berlioz throughout Austria and Southern Germany. The impetuous +Osechs and Magyars showed their hot Tartar blood in the passion of +enthusiasm they displayed. Berlioz relates that, at his first concert at +Pesth, he performed his celebrated version of the "Rákóczy March," and +there was such a furious explosion of excitement that it wellnigh put an +end to the concert. At the end of the performance Berlioz was wiping the +perspiration from his face in the little room off the stage, when the +door burst open, and a shabbily dressed man, his face glowing with a +strange fire, rushed in, throwing himself at Berlioz's feet, his eyes +brimming with tears. He kissed the composer over and over again, and +sobbed out brokenly: "Ah, sir! Me Hungarian... poor devil... not +speak French... _un, poco l'taliano_.... Pardon... my ecstasy... Ah! +understand your cannon... Yes! yes! the great battle... Germans, dogs!" +Then, striking great blows with his fists on his chest, "In my heart I +carry you... A Frenchman, revolutionist... know how to write music for +revolutions." At a supper given after the performance, Berlioz tells +us Liszt made an inimitable speech, and got so gloriously be-champagned +that it was with great difficulty that he could be restrained from +pistolling a Bohemian nobleman, at two o'clock in the morning, who +insisted that he could carry off more bottles under his belt than Liszt. +But the latter played at a concert next day at noon "assuredly as he had +never played before," says Berlioz. + +Before passing from that period of Liszt's career which was distinctly +that of the virtuoso, it is proper to refer to the unique character of +the enthusiasm which everywhere followed his track like the turmoil of +a stormy sea. Europe had been familiar with other great players, many of +them consummate artists, like Hummel, Henri Herz, Czerny, Kalkbrenner, +Field, Moscheles, and Thalberg, the most brilliant name of them all. But +the feeling which these performers aroused was pale and passionless +in comparison with that evoked by Franz Liszt. This was not merely the +outcome of Liszt as a player and musician, but of Liszt as a man. The +man always impressed people as immeasurably bigger than what he did, +great as that was. His nature had a lavishness that knew no bounds. He +lived for every distinguished man and beautiful woman, and with every +joyous thing. He had wit and sympathy to spare for gentle and simple, +and his kindliness was lavished with royal profusion on the scum as well +as the salt of the earth. This atmosphere of personal grandeur radiated +from him, and invested his doings, musical and otherwise, with something +peculiarly fine and fascinating. And then as a player Liszt rose above +his mates as something of a different genius, a different race, a +different world, to every one else who has ever handled a piano. He is +not to be considered among the great composers, also pianists, who have +merely treated their instrument as an interpreting medium, but as a +poet, who executively employed the piano as his means of utterance and +material for creation. In mere mechanical skill, after every one else +has ended, Liszt had still something to add, carrying every man's +discovery further. If he was surpassed by Thalberg in richness of sound, +he surpassed Thalberg by a variety of tone of which the redoubtable +Viennese player had no dream. He had his delicate, light, freakish +moods in which he might stand for another Chopin in qualities of fancy, +sentiment, and faëry brilliancy. In sweep of hand and rapidity of +finger, in fire and fineness of execution, in that interweaving of +exquisite momentary fancies where the work admits, in a memory so vast +as to seem almost superhuman; in that lightning quickness of view, +enabling him to penetrate instantaneously the meaning of a new +composition, and to light it up properly with its own inner spirit (some +touch of his own brilliancy added); briefly, in a mastery, complete, +spontaneous, enjoying and giving enjoyment, over every style and school +of music, all those who have heard Liszt assert that he is unapproached +among players and the traditions of players. + +In a letter from Berlioz to Liszt, the writer gives us a vivid idea of +the great virtuoso's playing and its effects. Berlioz is complaining of +the difficulties which hamper the giving of orchestral concerts. +After rehearsing his mishaps, he says: "After all, of what use is such +information to you? You can say with confidence, changing the mot of +Louis XIV, '_L'orchestre, c'est moi; le chour, c'est moi; le chef +c'est encore moi_.' My piano-forte sings, dreams, explodes, resounds; +it defies the flight of the most skillful forms; it has, like the +orchestra, its brazen harmonies; like it, and without the least +preparation, it can give to the evening breeze its cloud of fairy chords +and vague melodies. I need neither theatre, nor box scene, nor much +staging. I have not to tire myself out at long rehearsals. I want +neither a hundred, fifty, nor twenty players. I do not even need any +music. A grand hall, a grand pianoforte, and I am master of a grand +audience. I show myself and am applauded; my memory awakens, dazzling +fantasies grow beneath my fingers. Enthusiastic acclamations answer +them. I sing Schubert's "Ave Maria," or Beethoven's "Adelaida" on the +piano, and all hearts tend toward me, all breasts hold their breath.... +Then come luminous bombs, the banquet of this grand firework, and the +cries of the public, and the flowers and the crowns that rain around +the priest of harmony, shuddering on his tripod; and the young beauties, +who, all in tears, in their divine confusion kiss the hem of his +cloak; and the sincere homage drawn from serious minds and the feverish +applause torn from many; the lofty brows that bow down, and the narrow +hearts, marveling to find themselves expanding '.... It is a dream, one +of those golden dreams one has when one is called Liszt or Paganini." + +That such a man as this, brilliant in wit, extravagant in habit and +opinion, courted for his personal fascination by every one greatest in +rank and choicest in intellect from his prodigious youth to his ripe +manhood, should suddenly cease from display at the moment when his +popularity was at its highest, when no rival was in being, is a +remarkable trait in Dr. Franz Liszt's remarkable life. But this he did +in 1849, by settling in Weimar as conductor of the court theatre, his +age then being thirty-eight years. + + +V. + +Liszt closed his career as a virtuoso, and accepted a permanent +engagement at Weimar, with the distinct purpose of becoming identified +with the new school of music which was beginning to express itself so +remarkably through Richard Wagner. His new position enabled him to bring +works before the world which would otherwise have had but little chance +of seeing the light of day, and he rapidly produced at brief intervals +eleven works, either for the first time, or else revived from what had +seemed a dead failure. Among these works were "Lohengrin," "Rienzi," and +"Tannhâuser" by Wagner, "Benvenuto Cellini" by Berlioz, and Schumann's +"Genoveva," and music to Byron's "Manfred." Liszt's new departure +and the extraordinary band of artists he drew around him attracted +the attention of the world of music, and Weimar became a great musical +center, even as in the days of Goethe it had been a visiting shrine for +the literary pilgrims of Europe. Thus a nucleus of bold and enthusiastic +musicians was formed whose mission it was to preach the gospel of the +new musical faith. + +Richard Wagner says that, after the revolution of 1849, when he was +compelled to fly for his life, he was thoroughly disheartened as an +artist, and that all thought of musical creativeness was dead within +him. From this stagnation he was rescued by a friend, and that friend +was Franz Liszt. Let us tell the story in Wagner's own words: + +"I met Liszt for the first time during my earliest stay in Paris, at +a period when I had renounced the hope, nay, even a wish of a Paris +reputation, and, indeed, was in a state of internal revolt against the +artistic life which I found there. At our meeting he struck me as the +most perfect contrast to my own being and situation. In this world into +which it had been my desire to fly from my narrow circumstances, Liszt +had grown up from his earliest age so as to be the object of general +love and admiration at a time when I was repulsed by general coldness +and want of sympathy. In consequence, I looked upon him with suspicion. +I had no opportunity of disclosing my being and working to him, and +therefore the reception I met with on his part was of a superficial +kind, as was indeed natural in a man to whom every day the most +divergent impressions claimed access. But I was not in a mood to look +with unprejudiced eyes for the natural cause of this behavior, which, +though friendly and obliging in itself, could not but wound me in the +then state of my mind. I never repeated my first call on Liszt, and, +without knowing or even wishing to know him, I was prone to look on +him as strange and adverse to my nature. My repeated expression of this +feeling was afterward told to him, just at the time when my "Rienzi" +at Dresden was attracting general attention. He was surprised to find +himself misunderstood with such violence by a man whom he had scarcely +known, and whose acquaintance now seemed not without value to him. I am +still moved when I think of the repeated and eager attempts he made to +change my opinion of him, even before he knew any of my works. He acted +not from any artistic sympathy, but led by the purely human wish of +discontinuing a casual disharmony between himself and another being; +perhaps he also felt an infinitely tender misgiving of having really +hurt me unconsciously. He who knows the selfishness and terrible +insensibility of our social life, and especially of the relations +of modern artists to each other, can not be struck with wonder, nay, +delight, with the treatment I received from this remarkable man.... At +Weimar I saw him for the last time, when I was resting for a few days in +Thuringia, uncertain whether the threatening persecution would compel me +to continue my flight from Germany. The very day when my personal +danger became a certainty, I saw Liszt conducting a rehearsal of my +'Tannhouser,' and was astonished at recognizing my second self in +his achievement. What I had felt in inventing this music, he felt in +performing it; what I had wanted to express in writing it down, he +expressed in making it sound. Strange to say, through the love of this +rarest friend, I gained, at the very moment of becoming homeless, a real +home for my art which I had hitherto longed for and sought for in +the wrong place.... At the end of my last stay in Paris, when, ill, +miserable, and despairing, I sat brooding over my fate, my eye fell on +the score of my 'Lohengrin,' which I had totally forgotten. Suddenly I +felt something like compassion that this music should never sound from +off the death-pale paper. Two words I wrote to Liszt; the answer was +that preparation was being made for the performance on the grandest +scale which the limited means of Weimar permitted. Everything that +man or circumstances could do was done to make the work understood.... +Errors and misconceptions impeded the desired success. What was to be +done to supply what was wanted, so as to further the true understanding +on all sides and, with it, the ultimate success of the work? Liszt saw +it at once, and did it. He gave to the public his own impression of the +work in a manner the convincing eloquence and overpowering efficacy of +which remain unequaled. Success was his reward, and with this success he +now approaches me, saying, 'Behold, we have come so far! Now create us a +new work, that we may go still farther.'" + +Liszt remained at Weimar for ten years, when he resigned his place +on account of certain narrow jealousies and opposition offered to his +plans. Since 1859 he has lived at Weimar, Pesth, and Rome, always +the center of a circle of pupils and admirers, and, though no longer +occupying an active place in the world, full of unselfish devotion to +the true interests of music and musicians. In 1868 he took minor orders +in the Roman priesthood. Since his early youth Liszt had been the +subject of strong paroxysms of religious feeling, which more than once +had nearly carried him into monastic life, and thus his brilliant career +would have been lost to the world and to art. After he had gained every +reward that can be lavished on genius, and tasted to the very dregs +the wine of human happiness, so far as that can come of a splendid +prosperity and the adoration of the musical world for nearly half a +century, a sudden revulsion seems to have recalled again to the surface +that profound religious passion which the glory and pleasure of his busy +life had never entirely suppressed. It was by no means astonishing to +those who knew Liszt's life best that he should have taken holy orders. + +Abbé Liszt lives a portion of each year with the Prince-Cardinal +Hohenlohe, in the well-known Villa d'Esté, near Rome, a château with +whose history much romance is interwoven. He is said to be very zealous +in his religious devotions, and to spend much time in reading and +composing. He rarely touches the piano, unless inspired by the presence +of visitors whom he thoroughly likes, and even in such cases less for +his own pleasure than for the gratification of his friends. Even his +intimate friends would hardly venture to ask Liszt to play. His summer +months are divided between Pesth and Weimar, where his advent always +makes a glad commotion among the artistic circles of these respective +cities. Of the various pupils who have been formed by Liszt, Hans von +Bulow, who married his daughter Cosima, is the most distinguished, +and shares with Rubenstein the honor of being the first of European +pianists, now that Liszt has for so long a time withdrawn himself from +the field of competition. + + +VI. + +Liszt has been a very industrious and prolific writer, his works +numbering thirty-one compositions for the orchestra; seven for the +piano-forte and orchestra; two for piano and violin; nine for the organ; +thirteen masses, psalms, and other sacred music; two oratorios; +fifteen cantatas and chorals; sixty-three songs; and one hundred +and seventy-nine works for the piano-forte proper. The bulk of these +compositions, the most important of them at least, were produced in +the first forty years of his life, and testify to enormous energy and +capacity for work, as they came into being during his active period as +a virtuoso. In addition to his musical works, Liszt has shown +distinguished talent in letters, and his articles and pamphlets, notably +the monographs on Robert Franz, Chopin, and the Music of the Gypsies, +indicate that, had he not chosen to devote himself to music, he might +have made himself an enviable name in literature. + +Perhaps no better characterization of Liszt could be made than to call +him the musical Victor Hugo of his age. In both these great men we find +the same restless and burning imagination, a quickness of sensibility +easily aroused to vehemence, a continual reaching forward toward the new +and untried and impatience of the old, the same great versatility, the +same unequaled command of all the resources of their respective crafts, +and, until within the last twenty years, the same ceaseless fecundity. +Of Liszt as a player it is not necessary to speak further. Suffice it +that he is acknowledged to have been, while pursuing the path of the +virtuoso, not only great, but the greatest in the records of art, with +the possible exception of Paganini. To the possession of a technique +which united all the best qualities of other players, carrying each +a step further, he added a powerful and passionate imagination which +illuminated the work before him. Wagner wrote of him: "He who has had +frequent opportunities, particularly in a friendly circle, of hearing +Liszt play, for instance, Beethoven, must have understood that this +was not mere reproduction, but production. The actual point of division +between these two things is not so easily determined as most people +believe, but so much I have ascertained without a doubt, that, in order +to reproduce Beethoven, one must produce with him." It was this quality +which made Liszt such a vital interpreter of other composers, as well as +such a brilliant performer of his own works. As a composer for the piano +Franz Liszt has been accused of sacrificing substantial charm of motive +for the creation of the most gigantic technical difficulties, designed +for the display of his own skill. This charge is best answered by a +study of his transcriptions of songs and symphonies, which, difficult in +an extreme degree, are yet rich in no less excess with musical thought +and fullness of musical color. He transcribed the "Etudes" of Pa-ganini, +it is true, as a sort of "tour deforce", and no one has dared to attempt +them in the concert room but himself; but for the most part Liszt's +piano-forte writings are full of substance in their being as well as +splendid elaboration in their form. This holds good no less of the +purely original compositions, like the concertos and "Rhapsodies +Hongroises," than of the transcriptions and paraphrases of the _Lied_, +the opera, and symphony. + +As a composer for the orchestra Liszt has spent the ripest period of his +life, and attained a deservedly high rank. His symphonies belong to what +has been called, for want of a better name, "programme music," or music +which needs the key of the story or legend to explain and justify the +composition. This classification may yet be very misleading. Liszt does +not, like Berlioz, refer every feature of the music to a distinct event, +emotion, or dramatic situation, but concerns himself chiefly with +the pictorial and symbolic bearings of his subject. For example, the +"Mazeppa" symphony, based on Victor Hugo's poem, gets its significance, +not in view of its description of Mazeppa's peril and rescue, but +because this famous ride becomes the symbol of man: "_Lie vivant sur +la croupe fatale, Genie, ardent Coursier_." The spiritual life of this +thought burns with subtile suggestions throughout the whole symphony. + +Liszt has not been merely a devoted adherent of the "Music of the +Future" as expressed in operatic form, but he has embodied his belief +in the close alliance of poetry and music in his symphonies and +transcriptions of songs. Anything more pictorial, vivid, descriptive, +and passionate can not easily be fancied. It is proper also to say in +passing that the composer shows a command over the resources of the +orchestra similar to his mastery of the piano, though at times a +tendency to violent and strident effects offends the ear. Franz Liszt, +take him for all in all, must be regarded as one of the most remarkable +men of the last half century, a personality so stalwart, picturesque, +and massive as to be not only a landmark in music, but an imposing +figure to those not specially characterized by their musical sympathies. +His influence on his art has been deep and widespread; his connection +with some of the most important movements of the last two generations +well marked; and his individuality a fact of commanding force in the +art circles of nearly every country of Europe, where art bears any vital +connection with social and public life. + + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Great Violinists And Pianists, by George T. 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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: + + http://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. diff --git a/17463-8.zip b/17463-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..384c355 --- /dev/null +++ b/17463-8.zip diff --git a/17463-h.zip b/17463-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b120518 --- /dev/null +++ b/17463-h.zip diff --git a/17463-h/17463-h.htm b/17463-h/17463-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..508a83f --- /dev/null +++ b/17463-h/17463-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8272 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<title>Violinists and Pianists + by George T. Ferris +</title> + +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- + body {background:#faebd7; text-align:justify} + P { margin:10%; + text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } + hr { width: 50%; } + hr.full { width: 100%; } + .foot { margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 95%; } + img {border: 0;} + HR { width: 33%; text-align: center; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 10%; margin-left: 1%;} + .toc { margin-left: 15%; margin-bottom: 0em;} + CENTER { padding: 10px;} + PRE { font-size: 90%; margin-left: 20%;} + // --> +</style> + +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's Great Violinists And Pianists, by George T. Ferris + +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: Great Violinists And Pianists + +Author: George T. Ferris + +Release Date: January 4, 2006 [EBook #17463] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GREAT VIOLINISTS AND PIANISTS *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div style="height: 6em;"><br><br><br><br><br><br></div> + +<a name="image-0001"><!--IMG--></a> +<div class="figure"> +<center><img src="images/spines.jpg" height="757" width="720" +alt="spines.jpg +"></center> +<br /><br /> +<br /> + +</div> +<a name="image-0002"><!--IMG--></a> +<div class="figure"> +<center><img src="images/violin-tp.jpg" height="630" width="446" +alt="titlepage +"></center> +<br /> + +</div> +<a name="h2H_4_0001" id="h2H_4_0001"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<br /> + + +<h2> + GREAT VIOLINISTS AND PIANISTS +</h2><br /> +<br /> + +<h2> +By George T. Ferris +</h2> + + +<br /> +<br /> +<hr> +<br /> +<br /> + + +<a name="h2H_4_0002" id="h2H_4_0002"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + + + +<h2> + NOTE +</h2> +<p> +The title of this little book may be misleading to some of its readers, +in its failure to include sketches of many eminent artists well worthy +to be classed under such a head. There has been no attempt to cover +the immense field of executive music, but only to call attention to the +lives of those musical celebrities who are universally recognized as +occupying the most exalted places in the arts of violin and pianoforte +playing; who stand forth as landmarks in the history of music. To do +more than this, except in a merely encyclopedic fashion, within the +allotted space, would have been impossible. The same necessity of limits +has also compelled the writer to exclude consideration of the careers +of noted living performers; as it was thought best that discrimination +should be in favor of those great artists whose careers have been +completely rounded and finished. +</p> +<p> +An exception to the above will be noted in the case of Franz Liszt; but, +aside from the fact that this greatest of piano-forte virtuosos, though +living, has practically retired from the held of art, to omit him from +such a volume as this would be an unpardonable omission. In connection +with the personal lives of the artists sketched in this volume, the +attempt has been made, in a general, though necessarily imperfect, +manner, to trace the gradual development of the art of playing from its +cruder beginnings to the splendid virtuosoism of the present time. +The sources from which facts have been drawn are various, and, it +is believed, trustworthy, including French, German, and English +authorities, in some cases the personal reminiscences of the artists +themselves. +</p> + + + + +<br /> +<br /> +<hr> +<br /> +<br /> + + + +<h2>Contents</h2> +<center> +<table summary=""> +<tr><td> + + +<p class="toc"><a href="#h2H_4_0002"> +NOTE +</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#h2H_4_0004"> +THE GREAT VIOLINISTS AND PIANISTS. +</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#h2H_4_0005"> +THE VIOLIN AND EARLY VIOLINISTS. +</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#h2H_4_0006"> +VIOTTI. +</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#h2H_4_0007"> +LUDWIG SPOHR. +</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#h2H_4_0008"> +NICOLO PAGANINI. +</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#h2H_4_0009"> +DE BÉRIOT +</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#h2H_4_0010"> +OLE BULL. +</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#h2H_4_0011"> +MUZIO CLEMENTI +</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#h2H_4_0012"> +MOSCHELES. +</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#h2H_4_0013"> +THE SCHUMANNS AND CHOPIN. +</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#h2H_4_0014"> +THALBERG AND GOTTSCHALK. +</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#h2H_4_0015"> +FRANZ LISZT. +</a></p> + +</td></tr> +</table> +</center> + +<br /> +<br /> +<hr> +<br /> +<br /> + + +<a name="h2H_TOC" id="h2H_TOC"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<br /> +<br /> + + +<h2> + THE VIOLINISTS AND PIANISTS. +</h2> +<p> +The Ancestry of the Violin.—The Origin of the Cremona School of +Violin-Making.—The Amatis and Stradiuarii.—Extraordinary Art +Activity of Italy at this Period.—Antonius Stradiuarius and Joseph +Guarnerius.—Something about the Lives of the Two Greatest Violin-Makers +of the World.—Corelli, the First Great Violinist.—His Contemporaries +and Associates.—Anecdotes of his Career.—Corelli's +Pupil, Geminiani.—Philidor, the Composer, Violinist, and +Chess-Player.—Giuseppe Tartini.—Becomes an Outcast from his Family +on Account of his Love of Music.—Anecdote of the Violinist +Vera-cini.—Tartini's Scientific Discoveries in Music.—His Account of +the Origin of the "Devil's Trill."—Tartini's Pupils. +</p> +<center> +VIOTTI. +</center> +<p> +Viotti, the Connecting Link between the Early and Modern Violin +Schools.—His Immense Superiority over his Contemporaries and +Predecessors.—Other Violinists of his Time, Giornowick and +Boccherini.—Viotti's Early Years.—His Arrival in Paris, and the +Sensation he made.—His Reception by the Court.—Viotti's Personal Pride +and Dignity.—His Rebuke to Princely Impertinence.—The Musical Circles +of Paris.—Viotti's Last Public Concert in Paris.—He suddenly departs +for London.—Becomes Director of the King's Theatre.—Is compelled to +leave the Country as a Suspected Revolutionist.—His Return to England, +and Metamorphosis into a Vintner.—The French Singer, Garat, finds him +out in his London Obscurity.—Anecdote of Viotti's Dinner Party.—He +quits the Wine Trade for his own Profession.—Is made Director of the +Paris Grand Opéra.—Letter from Rossini.—Viotti's Account of the "Ranz +des Vaches."—Anecdotes of the Great Violinist.—Dies in London in +1824.—Viotti's Place as a Violinist, and Style of Playing.—The Tourté +Bow first invented during his Time.—An Indispensable Factor in Great +Playing on the Violin.—Viotti's Pupils, and his Influence on the +Musical Art. +</p> +<center> +LUDWIG SPOHR. +</center> +<p> +Birth and Early Life of the Violinist Spohr.—He is presented with his +First Violin at six.—The French <i>Emigré</i> Dufour uses his Influence with +Dr. Spohr, Sr., to have the Boy devoted to a Musical Career.—Goes +to Brunswick for fuller Musical Instruction.—Spohr is appointed +<i>Kammer-musicus</i> at the Ducal Court.—He enters under the Tuition of +and makes a Tour with the Violin Virtuoso Eck.—Incidents of the Russian +Journey and his Return.—Concert Tour in Germany.—Loses his Fine +Guarnerius Violin.—Is appointed Director of the Orchestra at Gotha.—He +marries Dorette Schiedler, the Brilliant Harpist.—Spohr's Stratagem to +be present at the Erfurt Musical Celebration given by Napoleon in +Honor of the Allied Sovereigns.—Becomes Director of Opera in +Vienna.—Incidents of his Life and Production of Various Works.—First +Visit to England.—He is made Director of the Cassel Court +Oratorios.—He is retired with a Pension.—Closing Years of his +Life.—His Place as Composer and Executant. +</p> +<center> +NICOLO PAGANINI. +</center> +<p> +The Birth of the Greatest of Violinists.—His Mother's +Dream.—Extraordinary Character and Genius.—Heine's Description of his +Playing.—Leigh Hunt on Paganini.—Superstitious Rumors current +during his Life.—He is believed to be a Demoniac.—His Strange +Appearance.—Early Training and Surroundings.—Anecdotes of +his Youth.—Paga-nini's Youthful Dissipations.—His Passion for +Gambling.—He acquires his Wonderful Guarnerius Violin.—His Reform +from the Gaming-table.—Indefatigable Practice and Work as a Young +Artist.—Paganini as a <i>Preux Chevalier</i>.—His Powerful Attraction for +Women.—Episode with a Lady of Rank.—Anecdotes of his Early Italian +Concertizing.—The Imbroglio at Ferrara.—The Frail Health of +Paganini.—Wonderful Success at Milan where he first plays One of +the Greatest of his Compositions, "Le Streghe."—Duel with +Lafont.—Incidents and Anecdotes.—His First Visit to Germany.—Great +Enthusiasm of his Audiences.—Experiences at Vienna, Berlin, and other +German Cities.—Description of Paganini, in Paris, by Castil-Blaze and +Fetis.—His English Reception and the Impression made.—Opinions of the +Critics.—Paganini not pleased with England.—Settles in Paris for Two +Years, and becomes the Great Musical Lion.—Simplicity and Amiability +of Nature.—Magnificent Generosity to Hector Berlioz.—The Great +Fortune made by Paganini.—His Beautiful Country Seat near Parma.—An +Unfortunate Speculation in Paris.—The Utter Failure of his +Health.—His Death at Nice.—Characteristics and Anecdotes.—Interesting +Circumstances of his Last Moments.—The Peculiar Genius of Paganini, and +his Influence on Art. +</p> +<p> +DE BÉRIOT. +</p> +<p> +De Bériot's High Place in the Art of the Violin and Violin Music.—The +Scion of an Impoverished Noble Family.—Early Education and Musical +Training.—He seeks the Advice of Viotti in Paris.—Becomes a Pupil of +Robrechts and Baillot successively.—De Bériot finishes and perfects his +Style on his Own Model.—Great Success in England.—Artistic Travels +in Europe.—Becomes Soloist to the King of the Netherlands.—He meets +Malibran, the Great Cantatrice, in Paris.—Peculiar Circumstances which +drew the Couple toward Each Other.—They form a Connection which only +ends with Malibran's Life.—Sketch of Malibran and her Family.—The +Various Artistic Journeys of Malibran and De Bériot.—Their Marriage +and Mme. de Bériot's Death.—De Bériot becomes Professor in the Brussels +Conservatoire.—His Later Life in Brussels.—His Son Charles Malibran de +Bériot.—The Character of De Bériot as Composer and Player. +</p> +<center> +OLE BULL. +</center> +<p> +The Birth and Early Life of Ole Bull at Bergen, Norway.—His Family and +Connections.—Surroundings of his Boyhood.—Early Display of his Musical +Passion.—Learns the Violin without Aid.—Takes Lessons from an Old +Musical Professor, and soon surpasses his Master.—Anecdotes of his +Boyhood.—His Father's Opposition to Music as a Profession.—Competes +for Admittance to the University at Christiania.—Is consoled +for Failure by a Learned Professor.—"Better be a Fiddler than +a Preacher."—Becomes Conductor of the Philharmonic Society at +Bergen.—His first Musical Journey.—Sees Spohr.—Fights a Duel.—Visit +to Paris.—He is reduced to Great Pecuniary Straits.—Strange Adventure +with Vidocq, the Great Detective.—First Appearance in Concert in +Paris.—Romantic Adventure leading to Acquaintance.—First Appearance +in Italy.—Takes the Place of De Bériot by Great Good Luck.—Ole Bull +is most enthusiastically received.—Extended Concert Tour in Italy and +France.—His <i>Début</i> and Success in England.—One Hundred and Eighty +Concerts in Six Months.—Ole Bull's Gaspar di Salo Violin, and the +Circumstances under which he acquired it.—His Answer to the King of +Sweden.—First Visit and Great Success in America in 1848.—Attempt +to establish a National Theatre.—The Norwegian Colony in +Pennsylvania.—Latter Years of Ole Bull.—His Personal Appearance.—Art +Characteristics. +</p> +<center> +MUZIO CLEMENTI. +</center> +<p> +The Genealogy of the Piano-forte.—The Harpsichord its Immediate +Predecessor.—Supposed Invention of the Piano-forte.—Silbermann the +First Maker.—Anecdote of Frederick the Great.—The Piano-forte only +slowly makes its Way as against the Clavichord and Harpsichord.—Emanuel +Bach, the First Composer of Sonatas for the Piano-forte.—His Views +of playing on the New Instrument.—Haydn and Mozart as Players.—Muzio +Clementi, the Earliest Virtuoso, strictly speaking, as a Pianist.—Born +in Rome in 1752.—Scion of an Artistic Family.—First Musical +Training.—Rapid Development of his Talents.—Composes Contrapuntal +Works at the Age of Fourteen.—Early Studies of the Organ and +Harpsichord.—Goes to England to complete his Studies.—Creates +an Unequaled Furore in London.—John Christian Bach's Opinion of +Clementi.—Clementi's Musical Tour.—His Duel with Mozart before the +Emperor.—Tenor of Clementi's Life in England.—Clementi's Pupils.—Trip +to St. Petersburg.—Sphor's Anecdote of Him.—Mercantile and +Manufacturing Interest in the Piano as Partner of Collard.—The Players +and Composers trained under Clementi.—His Composition.—Status as +a Player.—Character and Influence as an Artist.—Development of the +Technique of the Piano, culminating in Clementi. +</p> +<center> +MOSCHELES. +</center> +<p> +Clementi and Mozart as Points of Departure in Piano-forte +Playing.—Moscheles the most Brilliant Climax reached by the Viennese +School.—His Child-Life at Prague.—Extraordinary Precocity.—Goes to +Vienna as the Pupil of Salieri and Albrechtsburger.—Acquaintance with +Beethoven.—Moscheles is honored with a Commission to make a Piano +Transcription of Beethoven's "Fidelio."—His Intercourse with the Great +Man.—Concert Tour.—Arrival in Paris.—The Artistic Circle into which +he is received.—Pictures of Art-Life in Paris.—London and its Musical +Celebrities.—Career as a Wandering Virtuoso.—Felix Mendelssohn becomes +his Pupil.—The Mendelssohn Family.—Moseheles's Marriage to a +Hamburg Lady.—Settles in London.—His Life as Teacher, Player, and +Composer.—Eminent Place taken by Moscheles among the Musicians of +his Age.—His Efforts soothe the Sufferings of Beethoven's +Death-bed.—Friendship for Mendelssohn.—Moscheles becomes connected +with the Leipzig Conservatorium.—Death in 1870.—Moscheles as Pianist +and Composer.—Sympathy with the Old as against the New School of the +Piano.—His Powerful Influence on the Musical Culture and Tendencies of +his Age. +</p> +<center> +THE SCHUMANNS AND CHOPIN. +</center> +<p> +Robert Schumann's Place as a National Composer.—Peculiar Greatness as +a Piano-forte Composer.—Born at Zwickau in 1810.—His Father's +Aversion to his Musical Studies.—Becomes a Student of Jurisprudence +in Leipzig.—Makes the Acquaintance of Clara Wieck.—Tedium of his Law +Studies.—Vacation Tour to Italy.—Death of his Father, and Consent +of his Mother to Schumann adopting the Profession of Music.—Becomes +Wieck's Pupil.—Injury to his Hand which prevents all Possibilities of +his becoming a Great Performer.—Devotes himself to Composition.—The +Child, Clara Wieck—Remarkable Genius as a Player.—Her Early +Training.—Paganini's Delight in her Genius.—Clara Wieck's +Concert Tours.—Schumann falls deeply in Love with her, and +Wieck's Opposition.—His Allusions to Clara in the "Neue +Zeit-schrift."—Schumann at Vienna.—His Compositions at first +Unpopular, though played by Clara Wieck and Liszt.—Schumann's Labors +as a Critic.—He marries Clara in 1840.—His Song Period inspired by +his Wife.—Tour to Russia, and Brilliant Reception given to the +Artist Pair.—The "Neue Zeitschrift" and its Mission.—The +Davidsbund.—Peculiar Style of Schumann's Writing.—He moves to +Dresden.—Active Production in Orchestral Composition.—Artistic Tour in +Holland.—He is seized with Brain Disease.—Characteristics as a Man, +as an Artist, and as a Philosopher.—Mme. Schumann as her Husband's +Interpreter.—Chopin a Colaborer with Schumann.—Schumann on Chopin +again.—Chopin's Nativity.—Exclusively a Piano-forte Composer.—His +Genre as Pianist and Composer.—Aversion to Concert-giving.—Parisian +Associations.—New Style of Technique demanded by his Works.—Unique +Treatment of the Instrument.—Characteristics of Chopin's Compositions. +</p> +<center> +THALBERG AND GOTTSCHALK. +</center> +<p> +Thalberg one of the Greatest of Executants.—Rather a Man of Remarkable +Talents than of Genius.—Moseheles's Description of him.—The +Illegitimate Son of an Austrian Prince.—Early Introduction to +Musical Society in London and Vienna.—Beginning of his Career as a +Virtuoso.—The Brilliancy of his Career.—Is appointed Court Pianist to +the Emperor of Austria.—His Marriage.—Visits to America.—Thalberg's +Artistic Idiosyncrasy.—Robert Schumann on his Playing.—His Appearance +and Manner.—Characterization by George William Curtis.—Thalberg's +Style and Worth as an Artist.—His Piano-forte Method, and Place as a +Composer for the Piano.—Gottschalk's Birth and Early Years.—He is sent +to Paris for Instruction.—Successful <i>Début</i> and Publie Concerts +in Paris and Tour through the French Cities.—Friendship with +Berlioz.—Concert Tour to Spain.—Romantic Experiences.—Berlioz on +Gottschalk.—Reception of Gottschalk in America.—Criticism of his +Style.—Remarkable Success of his Concerts.—His Visit to the West +Indies, Mexico, and Central America.—Protracted Absence.—Gottschalk +on Life in the Tropics.—Return to the United States.—Three Brilliant +Musical Years.—Departure for South America.—Triumphant Procession +through the Spanish-American Cities.—Death at Rio Janeiro.—Notes on +Gottschalk as Man and Artist. +</p> +<center> +FRANZ LISZT. +</center> +<p> +The Spoiled Favorite of Fortune.—His Inherited Genius.—Birth and +Early Training.—First Appearance in Concert.—Adam Liszt and his Son +in Paris.—Sensation made by the Boy's Playing.—His Morbid Religious +Sufferings.—Franz Liszt thrown on his own Resources.—The Artistic +Circle in Paris.—Liszt in the Ranks of Romanticism.—His Friends and +Associates.—Mme. D'Agoult and her Connection with Franz +Liszt.—He retires to Geneva.—Is recalled to Paris by the Thalberg +<i>Furore</i>.—Rivalry between the Artists and their Factions.—He commences +his Career as Traveling Virtuoso.—The Blaze of Enthusiasm throughout +Europe.—Schumann on Liszt as Man and Artist.—He ranks the Hungarian +Virtuoso as the Superior of Thalberg.—Liszt's Generosity to his own +Countrymen.—The Honors paid to him in Pesth.—Incidents of his +Musical Wanderings.—He loses the Proceeds of Three Hundred +Concerts.—Contributes to the Completion of the Cologne Cathedral.—His +Connection with the Beethoven Statue at Bonn, and the Celebration of +the Unveiling.—Chorley on Liszt.—Berlioz and Liszt.—Character of the +Enthusiasm called out by Liszt as an Artist.—Remarkable Personality +as a Man.—Berlioz characterizes the Great Virtuoso in a Letter.—Liszt +ceases his Life as a Virtuoso, and becomes Chapel-Master and Court +Conductor at Weimar.—Avowed Belief in the New School of Music, and +Production of Works of this School.—Wagner's Testimony to Liszt's +Assistance.—Liszt's Resignation of his Weimar Post after Ten +Years.—His Subsequent Life.—He takes Holy Orders.—Liszt as a Virtuoso +and Composer.—Entitled to be placed among the most Remarkable Men of +his Age. +</p> +<a name="h2H_4_0004" id="h2H_4_0004"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + THE GREAT VIOLINISTS AND PIANISTS. +</h2> +<a name="h2H_4_0005" id="h2H_4_0005"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + THE VIOLIN AND EARLY VIOLINISTS. +</h2> +<p> +The Ancestry of the Violin.—The Origin of the Cremona School of +Violin-Making.—The Amatis and Stradiuarii.—Extraordinary Art +Activity of Italy at this Period.—Antonius Stradiuarius and Joseph +Guarnerius.—Something about the Lives of the Two Greatest Violin-Makers +of the World.—Corelli, the First Great Violinist.—His Contemporaries +and Associates.—Anecdotes of his Career.—Corelli's +Pupil, Geminiani.—Philidor, the Composer, Violinist, and +Chess-Player.—Giuseppe Tartini.—Becomes an Outcast from his Family +on Account of his Love of Music.—Anecdote of the Violinist +Veracini.—Tartini's Scientific Discoveries in Music.—His Account of +the Origin of the "Devil's Trill."—Tartini's Pupils. +</p> +<center> +I. +</center> +<p> +The ancestry of the violin, considering this as the type of stringed +instruments played with a bow, goes back to the earliest antiquity; and +innumerable passages might be quoted from the Oriental and classical +writers illustrating the important part taken by the forefathers of the +modern violin in feast, festival, and religious ceremonial, in the fiery +delights of battle, and the more dulcet enjoyments of peace. But it +was not till the fifteenth century, in Italy, that the art of making +instruments of the viol class began to reach toward that high perfection +which it speedily attained. The long list of honored names connected +with the development of art in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth +centuries is a mighty roll-call, and among these the names of the great +violin-makers, beginning with Gaspard de Salo, of Brescia, who first +raised a rude craft to an art, are worthy of being included. From +Brescia came the masters who established the Cremona school, a name not +only immortal in the history of music, but full of vital significance; +for it was not till the violin was perfected, and a distinct school of +violin-playing founded, that the creation of the symphony, the highest +form of music, became possible. +</p> +<p> +The violin-makers of Cremona came, as we have said, from Brescia, +beginning with the Ama-tis. Though it does not lie within the province +of this work to discuss in any special or technical sense the history of +violin-making, something concerning the greatest of the Cremona masters +will be found both interesting and valuable as preliminary to the +sketches of the great players which make up the substance of the +volume. The Amatis, who established the violin-making art at Cremona, +successively improved, each member of the class stealing a march on +his predecessor, until the peerless masters of the art, Antonius +Stradiuarius and Joseph Guarnerius del Jesű, advanced far beyond the +rivalry of their contemporaries and successors. The pupils of the +Amatis, Stradiuarius, and Guarnerius settled in Milan, Florence, and +other cities, which also became centers of violin-making, but never to +an extent which lessened the preeminence of the great Cremona makers. +There was one significant peculiarity of all the leading artists of this +violin-making epoch: each one as a pupil never contented himself with +making copies of his master's work, but strove incessantly to strike +out something in his work which should be an outcome of his own genius, +knowledge, and investigation. It was essentially a creative age. +</p> +<p> +Let us glance briefly at the artistic activity of the times when the +violin-making craft leaped so swiftly and surely to perfection. If we +turn to the days of Gaspard di Salo, Morelli, Magini, and the Amatis, we +find that when they were sending forth their fiddles, Raphael, Leonardo +da Vinci, Titian, and Tintoretto were busily painting their great +canvases. While Antonius Stradiuarius and Joseph Guarnerius were +occupied with the noble instruments which have immortalized their names, +Canaletto was painting his Venetian squares and canals, Giorgio was +superintending the manufacture of his inimitable maiolica, and the +Venetians were blowing glass of marvelous beauty and form. In the +musical world, Corelli was writing his gigues and sarabandes, Geminiani +composing his first instruction book for the violin, and Tartini +dreaming out his "Devil's Trill"; and while Guadognini (a pupil of +Antonius Stradiuarius), with the stars of lesser magnitude, were +exercising their calling, Viotti, the originator of the school of modern +violin-playing, was beginning to write his concertos, and Boccherini +laying the foundation of chamber music. +</p> +<p> +Such was the flourishing state of Italian art during the great Cremona +period, which opened up a mine of artistic wealth for succeeding +generations. It is a curious fact that not only the violin but violin +music was the creature of the most luxurious period of art; for, in that +golden age of the creative imagination, musicians contemporary with the +great violin-makers were writing music destined to be better understood +and appreciated when the violins then made should have reached their +maturity. +</p> +<p> +There can be no doubt that the conditions were all highly favorable +to the manufacture of great instruments. There were many composers +of genius and numerous orchestras scattered over Italy, Germany, and +France, and there must have been a demand for bow instruments of a high +order. In the sixteenth century, Palestrina and Zarlino were writing +grand church music, in which violins bore an important part. In the +seventeenth, lived Stradella, Lotti, Buononcini, Lulli, and Corelli. In +the eighteenth, when violin-making Avas at its zenith, there were such +names among the Italians as Scarlatti, Geminiani, Vivaldi, Locatelli, +Boccherini, Tartini, Piccini, Viotti, and Nardini; while in France it +was the epoch of Lecler and Gravinies, composers of violin music of +the highest class. Under the stimulus of such a general art culture the +makers of the violin must have enjoyed large patronage, and the more +eminent artists have received highly remunerative prices for their +labors, and, correlative to this practical success, a powerful stimulus +toward perfecting the design and workmanship of their instruments. These +plain artisans lived quiet and simple lives, but they bent their whole +souls to the work, and belonged to the class of minds of which Carlyle +speaks: "In a word, they willed one thing to which all other things were +made subordinate and subservient, and therefore they accomplished it. +The wedge will rend rocks, but its edge must be sharp and single; if it +be double, the wedge is bruised in pieces and will rend nothing." +</p> +<center> +II. +</center> +<p> +So much said concerning the general conditions under which the craft +of violin-making reached such splendid excellence, the attention of the +reader is invited to the greatest masters of the Cremona school. +</p> +<pre> + "The instrument on which he played + Was in Cremona's workshops made, + By a great master of the past, + Ere yet was lost the art divine; + Fashioned of maple and of pine, + That in Tyrolean forests vast + Had rooked and wrestled with the blast. + + "Exquisite was it in design, + A marvel of the lutist's art, + Perfect in each minutest part; + And in its hollow chamber thus + The maker from whose hand it came + Had written his unrivaled name, + 'Antonius Stradivarius.'" +</pre> +<p> +The great artist whose work is thus made the subject of Longfellow's +verse was born at Cremona in 1644. His renown is beyond that of all +others, and his praise has been sounded by poet, artist, and musician. +He has received the homage of two centuries, and his name is as little +likely to be dethroned from its special place as that of Shakespeare +or Homer. Though many interesting particulars are known concerning +his life, all attempt has failed to obtain any connected record of the +principal events of his career. Perhaps there is no need, for there +is ample reason to believe that Antonius Stradiuarius lived a quiet, +uncheckered, monotonous existence, absorbed in his labor of making +violins, and caring for nothing in the outside world which did not touch +his all-beloved art. Without haste and without rest, he labored for +the perfection of the violin. To him the world was a mere workshop. The +fierce Italian sun beat down and made Cremona like an oven, but it was +good to dry the wood for violins. On the slopes of the hills grew grand +forests of maple, pine, and willow, but he cared nothing for forest +or hillside except as they grew good wood for violins. The vineyards +yielded rich wine, but, after all, the main use of the grape was that it +furnished the spirit wherewith to compound varnish. The sheep, ox, and +horse were good for food, but still more important because from them +came the hair of the bow, the violin strings, and the glue which held +the pieces together. It was through this single-eyed devotion to +his life-work that one great maker was enabled to gather up all the +perfections of his predecessors, and stand out for all time as the +flower of the Cremonese school and the master of the world. George +Eliot, in her poem, "The Stradivari," probably pictures his life +accurately: +</p> +<pre> + "That plain white-aproned man, who stood at work, + Patient and accurate full fourscore years, + Cherished his sight and touch by temperance; + And since keen sense is love of perfectness, + Made perfect violins, the needed paths + For inspiration and high mastery." +</pre> +<p> +M. Fetis, in his notice of the greatest of violin-makers, summarizes his +life very briefly. He tells us the life of Antonius Stradiuarius was +as tranquil as his calling was peaceful. The year 1702 alone must have +caused him some disquiet, when during the war the city of Cremona was +taken by Marshal Villeroy, on the Imperialist side, retaken by Prince +Eugene, and finally taken a third time by the French. That must have +been a parlous time for the master of that wonderful workshop whence +proceeded the world's masterpieces, though we may almost fancy the +absorbed master, like Archimedes when the Romans took Syracuse, so +intent on his labor that he hardly heard the din and roar of battle, +till some rude soldier disturbed the serene atmosphere of the room +littered with shavings and strewn with the tools of a peaceful craft. +</p> +<p> +Polledro, not many years ago first violin at the Chapel Royal of Turin, +who died at a very advanced age, declared that his master had known +Stradiuarius, and that he was fond of talking about him. He was, he +said, tall and thin, with a bald head fringed with silvery hair, covered +with a cap of white wool in the winter and of cotton in the summer. He +wore over his clothes an apron of white leather when he worked, and, as +he was always working, his costume never varied. He had acquired what +was regarded as wealth in those days, for the people of Cremona were +accustomed to say "As rich as Stradiuarius." The house he occupied is +still standing in the Piazza Roma, and is probably the principal place +of interest in the old city to the tourists who drift thitherward. +The simple-minded Cremonese have scarcely a conception to-day of the +veneration with which their ancient townsman is regarded by the musical +connoisseurs of the world. It was with the greatest difficulty that they +were persuaded a few years ago, by the efforts of Italian and French +musicians, to name one street Stradiuarius, and another Amati. Nicholas +Amati, the greatest maker of his family, was the instructor of Antonius +Stradiuarius, and during the early period of the latter artist the +instruments could hardly be distinguished from those of Amati. But, in +after-years, he struck out boldly in an original line of his own, and +made violins which, without losing the exquisite sweetness of the Amati +instruments, possessed far more robustness and volume of tone, reaching, +indeed, a combination of excellences which have placed his name high +above all others. It may be remarked of all the Cremona violins of the +best period, whether Amati, Stradiuarius, Guarnerius, or Steiner, +that they are marked no less by their perfect beauty and delicacy of +workmanship than by their charm of tone. These zealous artisans were not +content to imprison the soul of Ariel in other form than the lines +and curves of ideal grace, exquisitely marked woods, and varnish as of +liquid gold. This external beauty is uniformly characteristic of the +Cremona violins, though shape varies in some degree with each maker. +Of the Stradiuarius violins it may be said, before quitting the +consideration of this maker, that they have fetched in latter years +from one thousand to five thousand dollars. The sons and grandsons of +Antonius were also violin-makers of high repute, though inferior to the +chief of the family. +</p> +<p> +The name of Joseph Guarnerius del Jesű is only less in estimation than +that of Antonius Stradiuarius, of whom it is believed by many he was a +pupil or apprentice, though of this there is no proof. Both his uncle +Andreas and his cousin Joseph were distinguished violin-makers, but the +Guarnerius patronymic has now its chiefest glory from that member known +as "del Jesű." This great artist in fiddle-making was born at Cremona in +the year 1683, and died in 1745. He worked in his native place till +the day of his death, but in his latter years Joseph del Jesű became +dissipated, and his instruments fell off somewhat in excellence of +quality and workmanship. But his <i>chef d'oeuvres</i> yield only to those +of the great Stradiuarius in the estimation of connoisseurs. Many of the +Guarnerius violins, it is said, were made in prison, where the artist +was confined for debt, with inferior tools and material surreptitiously +obtained for him by the jailer's daughter, who was in love with the +handsome captive. These fruits of his skill were less beautiful in +workmanship, though marked by wonderful sweetness and power of tone. +Mr. Charles Reade, a great violin amateur as well as a novelist, says of +these "prison" fiddles, referring to the comical grotesqueness of their +form: "Such is the force of genius, that I believe in our secret hearts +we love these impudent fiddles best, they are so full of <i>chic</i>." +Paganini's favorite was a Guarnerius del Jesű, though he had no less +than seven instruments of the greatest Cremona masters. Spohr, the +celebrated violinist and composer, offered to exchange his Strad, one +of the finest in the world, for a Guarnerius, in the possession of Mr. +Mawkes, an English musician. +</p> +<p> +Carlo Bergonzi, the pupil of Antonius Stradiuarius, was another of the +great Cremona makers, and his best violins have commanded extraordinary +prices. He followed the model of his master closely, and some of his +instruments can hardly be distinguished in workmanship and tone from +genuine Strads. Something might be said, too, of Jacob Steiner, +who, though a German (born about 1620), got the inspiration for his +instruments of the best period so directly from Cremona that he ought +perhaps to be classified with the violin-makers of this school. His +famous violins, known as the Elector Steiners, were made under peculiar +circumstances. Almost heartbroken by the death of his wife, he retired +to a Benedictine monastery with the purpose of taking holy orders. +But the art-passion of his life was too strong, and he made in his +cloister-prison twelve instruments, on which he lavished the most +jealous care and attention. These were presented to the twelve Electors +of Germany, and their extraordinary merit has caused them to rank high +among the great violins of the world. A volume might be easily compiled +of anecdotes concerning violins and violin-makers. The vicissitudes +and changes of ownership through which many celebrated instruments have +passed are full of romantic interest. Each instrument of the greatest +makers has a pedigree, as well authenticated as those of the great +masterpieces of painting, though there have been instances where a Strad +or a Guarnerius has been picked up by some strange accident for a mere +trifle at an auction. There have been many imitations of the genuine +Cremonas palmed off, too, on the unwary at a high price, but the +connoisseur rarely fails to identify the great violins almost instantly. +For, aside from their magical beauty of tone, they are made with the +greatest beauty of form, color, and general detail. So much has been +said concerning the greatest violin-makers, in view of the fact that +coincident with the growth of a great school of art-manufacture in +violins there also sprang up a grand school of violin-playing; for, +indeed, the one could hardly have existed without the other. +</p> +<center> +III. +</center> +<p> +The first great performer on the violin whose career had any special +significance, in its connection with the modern world of musical art, +was Archangelo Corelli, who was born at Fusignano, in the territory of +Bologna, in the year 1653. Corelli's compositions are recognized to-day +as types of musical purity and freshness, and the great number of +distinguished pupils who graduated from his teaching relate him closely +with all the distinguished violinists even down to the present day. In +Corelli's younger days the church had a stronger claim on musicians +than the theatre or concert-room. So we find him getting his earliest +instruction from the Capuchin Simonelli, who devoted himself to the +ecclesiastical style. The pupil, however, yielded to an irresistible +instinct, and soon put himself under the care of a clever and skillful +teacher, the well-known Bassani. Under this tuition the young musician +made rapid advancement, for he labored incessantly in the practice of +his instrument. At the age of twenty Corelli followed that natural bent +which carried him to Paris, then, as now, a great art capital; and we +are told, on the authority of Fetis, that the composer Lulli became +so jealous of his extraordinary skill that he obtained a royal mandate +ordering Corelli to quit Paris, on pain of the Bastille. +</p> +<p> +In 1680 he paid a visit to Germany, and was specially well received, +and was so universally admired, that he with difficulty escaped the +importunate invitations to settle at various courts as chief musician. +After a three years' absence from his native land he returned and +published his first sonatas. The result of his assiduous labor was that +his fame as a violinist had spread all over Europe, and pupils came from +distant lands to profit by his instruction. We are told of his style as +a solo player that it was learned and elegant, the tone firm and even, +that his playing was frequently impressed with feeling, but that during +performance "his countenance was distorted, his eyes red as fire, and +his eyeballs rolled as if he were in agony." For about eighteen years +Corelli was domiciled at Rome, under the patronage of Cardinal Ottoboni. +As leader of the orchestra at the opera, he introduced many reforms, +among them that of perfect uniformity of bowing. By the violin sonatas +composed during this period, it is claimed that Corelli laid the +foundation for the art of violin-playing, though it is probable that he +profited largely by those that went before him. It was at the house of +Cardinal Ottoboni that Corelli met Handel, when the violent temper +of the latter did not hesitate to show itself. Corelli was playing a +sonata, when the imperious young German snatched the violin from his +hand, to show the greatest virtuoso of the age how to play the music. +Corelli, though very amiable in temper, knew how to make himself +respected. At one of the private concerts at Cardinal Ottoboni's, he +observed his host and others talking during his playing. He laid his +violin down and joined the audience, saying he feared his music might +interrupt the conversation. +</p> +<p> +In 1708, according to Dubourg, Corelli accepted a royal invitation +from Naples, and took with him his second violin, Matteo, and a +violoncellist, in case he should not be well accompanied by the +Neapolitan orchestra. He had no sooner arrived than he was asked to play +some of his concertos before the king. This he refused, as the whole of +his orchestra was not with him, and there was no time for a rehearsal. +However, he soon found that the Neapolitan musicians played the +orchestral parts of his concertos as well as his own accompanists did +after some practice; for, having at length consented to play the first +of his concertos before the court, the accompaniment was so good +that Corelli is said to have exclaimed to Matteo: "<i>Si suona a +Napoli!</i>"—"They <i>do</i> play at Naples!" This performance being quite +successful, he was presented to the king, who afterward requested him +to perform one of his sonatas; but his Majesty found the adagio "so +long and so dry that he got up and <i>left the room</i> (!), to the great +mortification of the eminent virtuoso." As the king had commanded the +piece, the least he could have done would have been to have waited +till it was finished. "If they play at Naples, they are not very polite +there," poor Corelli must have thought! Another unfortunate mishap also +occurred to him there, if we are to believe the dictum of Geminiani, +one of Corelli's pupils, who had preceded him at Naples. It would appear +that he was appointed to lead a composition of Scarlatti's, and on +arriving at an air in C minor he led off in C major, which mistake he +twice repeated, till Scarlatti came on the stage and showed him the +difference. This anecdote, however, is so intrinsically improbable +that it must be taken with several "grains of salt." In 1712 Corelli's +concertos were beautifully engraved at Amsterdam, but the composer only +survived the publication a few weeks. A beautiful statue, bearing the +inscription "<i>Corelli princeps musicorum</i>," was erected to his memory, +adjacent that honoring the memory of Raffaelle in the Pantheon. He +accumulated a considerable fortune, and left a valuable collection of +pictures. The solos of Corelli have been adopted as valuable studies by +the most eminent modern players and teachers. +</p> +<p> +Francesco Geminiani was the most remarkable of Corelli's pupils. Born at +Lucca in 1680, he finished his studies under Corelli at Rome, and spent +several years with great musical <i>éclat</i> at Naples. In 1714 he went +to England, in which country he spent many years. His execution was of +great excellence, but his compositions only achieved temporary favor. +His life is said to have been full of romance and incident. Geminiani's +connection with Handel has a special musical interest. The king, who +arrived in England in September, 1714, and was crowned at Westminster a +month later, was irritated with Handel for having left Germany, where he +held the position of chapel-master to George, when Elector of Brunswick, +and still more so by his having composed a <i>Te Deum</i> on the Peace of +Utrecht, which was not favorably regarded by the Protestant princes of +Germany. Baron Kilmanseck, a Hanoverian, and a great admirer of Handel, +undertook to bring them together again. Being informed that the king +intended to picnic on the Thames, he requested the composer to write +something for the occasion. Thereupon Handel wrote the twenty-five +little concerted pieces known under the title of "Water Music." They +were executed in a barge which followed the royal boat. The orchestra +consisted of four violins, one tenor, one violoncello, one double-bass, +two hautboys, two bassoons, two French horns, two flageolets, one flute, +and one trumpet. The king soon recognized the author of the music, +and his resentment against Handel began to soften. Shortly after this +Geminiani was requested to play some sonatas of his own composition in +the king's private cabinet; but, fearing that they would lose much +of their effect if they were accompanied in an inferior manner, he +expressed the desire that Handel should play the accompaniments. Baron +Kilmanseck carried the request to the king, and supported it strongly. +The result was that peace was made, and an extra pension of two hundred +pounds per annum settled upon Handel. Geminiani, after thirty-five +years spent in England, went to Paris for five years, where he was most +heartily welcomed by the musical world, but returned across the Channel +again to spend his latter years in Dublin. It was here that Matthew +Dubourg, whose book on "The Violin and Violinists" is a perfect +treasure-trove of anecdote, became his pupil. +</p> +<p> +Another remarkable violinist was an intimate friend of Geminiani, a +name distinguished alike in the annals of chess-playing and music, André +Danican Philidor. This musician was born near Paris in 1726, and was the +grandson of the hautboy-player to the court of Louis XIII. His father +and several of his relations were also eminent players in the royal +orchestras of Louis XIV and Louis XV. Young Philidor was received into +the Chapel Royal at Versailles in 1732, being then six years old, and +when eleven he composed a motette which extorted much admiration. In +the Chapel Royal there were about eighty musicians daily in attendance, +violins, hautboys, violas, double-basses, choristers, etc.; and, +cards not being allowed, they had a long table inlaid with a number of +chess-boards, with which they amused their leisure time. When fourteen +years old Philidor was the best chess-player in the band. Four years +later he played at Paris two games of chess at the same time, without +seeing the boards, and afterward extended this feat to playing five +games simultaneously, which, though far inferior to the wonderful +feats of Morphy, Paulsen, and others in more recent years, very much +astonished his own generation. Philidor was an admirable violinist, and +the composer of numerous operas which delighted the French public for +many years. He died in London in 1759. +</p> +<p> +There were several other pupils of Corelli who achieved rank in their +art and exerted a recognizable influence on music. Locatelli displayed +originality and genius in his compositions, and his studies, "Arte di +Nuova Modulazione," was studied by Paganini. Another pupil, Lorenzo +Somis, became noted as the teacher of Lecler, Pugnani (the professor of +Viotti), and Giardini. Visconti, of Cremona, who was taught by Corelli, +is said to have greatly assisted by his counsels the constructive genius +of Antonius Stradiuarius in making his magnificent instruments. +</p> +<center> +IV. +</center> +<p> +The name of Giuseppe Tartini will recur to the musical reader more +familiarly than those previously mentioned. He was the scion of a noble +stock, and was born in Istria in 1692. Originally intended for the law, +he was entered at the University of Padua at the age of eighteen for +this profession, but his time was mostly given to the study of music and +fencing, in both of which he soon became remarkably proficient, so +that he surpassed the masters who taught him. It may be that accident +determined the future career of Tartini, for, had he remained at the +university, the whole bent of his life might have been different. Eros +exerted his potent sway over the young student, and he entered into a +secret marriage, that being the lowest price at which he could win his +<i>bourgeois</i> sweetheart. Tartini became an outcast from his family, and +was compelled to fly and labor for his own living. After many hardships, +he found shelter in a convent at Assisi, the prior of which was a family +connection, who took compassion on the friendless youth. Here Tartini +set to work vigorously on his violin, and prosecuted a series of +studies which resulted in the "Sonata del Diavolo" and other remarkable +compositions. At last he was reconciled to his family through the +intercession of his monastic friend, and took his abode in Venice that +he might have the benefit of hearing the playing of Veracini, a great +but eccentric musician, then at the head of the Conservatario of that +city. Veracini was nicknamed "Capo Pazzo," or "mad-head," on account of +his eccentricity. Dubourg tells a curious story of this musician: Being +at Lucca at the time of the annual festival called "Festa della Croce," +on which occasion it was customary for the leading artists of Italy to +meet, Veracini put his name down for a solo. When he entered the choir, +he found the principal place occupied by a musician of some rank named +Laurenti. In reply to the latter's question, "Where are you going?" +Veracini haughtily answered, "To the place of the first violinist." It +was explained by Laurenti that he himself had been engaged to fill that +post, but, if his interlocutor wished to play a solo, he could have +the privilege either at high mass or at vespers. Evidently he did not +recognize Veracini, who turned away in a rage, and took his position +in the lowest place in the orchestra. When his turn came to play his +concerto, he begged that instead of it he might play a solo where he +was, accompanied on the violoncello by Lanzetti. This he did in so +brilliant and unexpected a manner that the applause was loud and +continued, in spite of the sacred nature of the place; and whenever he +was about to make a close, he turned toward Laurenti and called out: +"Cost se suona per fare il primo violino"—"This is the way to play +first violin." +</p> +<p> +Veracini played upon a fine Steiner violin. The only master he ever had +was his uncle Antonio, of Florence; and it was by traveling all over +Europe, and by numerous performances in public, that he formed a +style of playing peculiar to himself, very similar to what occurred +to Pa-ganini and the celebrated De Bériot in later years. It does not +appear certain that Tartini ever took lessons from Veracini; but hearing +the latter play in public had no doubt a very great effect upon him, and +caused him to devote many years to the careful study of his instrument. +Some say that Veracini's performance awakened a vivid emulation in +Tartini, who was already acknowledged to be a very masterly player. Up +to the time, however, that Tartini first heard Veracini, he had +never attempted any of the more intricate and difficult feats of +violin-playing, as effected by the management of the bow. An intimate +friendship sprang up between the two artists and another clever +musician named Marcello, and they devoted much time to the study of the +principles of violin-playing, particularly to style and the varied kinds +of bowing. Veracini's mind afterward gave way, and Tartini withdrew +himself to Ancona, where in utter solitude he applied himself to working +out the fundamental principles of the bow in the technique of the +violin—principles which no succeeding violinist has improved or +altered. Tartini, even while absorbed in music, did not neglect the +study of science and mathematics, of which he was passionately fond, +and in the pursuit of which he might have made a name not less than his +reputation as a musician. It was at this time that Tartini made a very +curious discovery, known as the <i>phenomenon of the third sound</i>, which +created some sensation at the time, and has since given rise to numerous +learned discourses, but does not appear to have led to any great +practical result. Various memoirs or treatises were written by him, and +that in which he develops the nature of the <i>third sound</i> is his "Tratto +di Musica se-condo la vera scienza de l'Armonia." In this and others of +his works, he appears much devoted to <i>theory</i>, and endeavors to place +all his practical facts upon a thoroughly scientific basis. The effect +known as the <i>third sound</i> consists in the sympathetic resonance of a +third note when the two upper notes of a chord are played in perfect +tune. "If you do not hear the bass," Tartini would say to his pupils, +"the thirds or sixths which you are playing are not perfect in +intonation." +</p> +<p> +At Ancona, Tartini attained such reputation as a player and musician +that he was appointed, in 1721, to the directorship of the orchestra of +the church of St. Anthony at Padua. Here, according to Fetis, he spent +the remaining forty-nine years of his life in peace and comfort, solely +occupied with the labors connected with the art he loved. +</p> +<p> +His great fame brought him repeated offers from the principal cities of +Europe, even London and Paris, hat nothing could induce him to leave his +beloved Italy. Though Tartini could not have been heard out of Italy, +his violin school at Padua graduated many excellent players, who were +widely known throughout the musical world. Tartini's compositions +reached no less than one hundred and fifty works, distinguished not only +by beauty of melody and knowledge of the violin, but by soundness +of musical science. Some of his sonatas are still favorites in the +concert-room. Among these, the most celebrated is the "Trille +del Dia-volo," or "Devil's Sonata," composed under the following +circumstances, as related by Tartini himself to his pupil Lalande: +</p> +<p> +"One night in 1713," he says, "I dreamed that I had made a compact with +the devil, who promised to be at my service on all occasions. Everything +succeeded according to my mind; my wishes were anticipated and desires +always surpassed by the assistance of my new servant. At last I thought +I would offer my violin to the devil, in order to discover what kind of +a musician he was, when, to my great astonishment, I heard him play +a solo, so singularly beautiful and with such superior taste and +precision, that it surpassed all the music I had ever heard or conceived +in the whole course of my life. I was so overcome with surprise and +delight that I lost my power of breathing, and the violence of this +sensation awoke me. Instantly I seized my violin in the hopes of +remembering some portion of what I had just heard, but in vain! The work +which this dream suggested, and which I wrote at the time, is doubtless +the best of all my compositions, and I still call it the 'Sonata del +Diavolo'; but it sinks so much into insignificance compared with what +I heard, that I would have broken my instrument and abandoned music +altogether, had I possessed any other means of subsistence." +</p> +<p> +Tartini died at Padua in 1770, and so much was he revered and admired +in the city where he had spent nearly fifty years of his life, that his +death was regarded as a public calamity. He used to say of himself that +he never made any real progress in music till he was more than thirty +years old; and it is curious that he should have made a great change +in the nature of his performance at the age of fifty-two. Instead of +displaying his skill in difficulties of execution, he learned to prefer +grace and expression. His method of playing an adagio was regarded as +inimitable by his contemporaries; and he transmitted this gift to his +pupil Nardini, who was afterward called the greatest adagio player in +the world. Another of Tartini's great <i>élevés</i> was Pugnani, who before +coming to him had been instructed by Lorenzo Somis, the pupil of +Corelli. So it may be said that Pugnani united in himself the schools of +Corelli and Tartini, and was thus admirably fitted to be the instructor +of that grand player, who was the first in date of the violin virtuosos +of modern times, Viotti. +</p> +<p> +Both as composer and performer, Pugnani was held in great esteem +throughout Europe. His first meeting with Tartini was an incident of +considerable interest. He made the journey from Paris to Padua expressly +to see Tartini, and on reaching his destination he proceeded to the +house of the great violinist. +</p> +<p> +Tartini received him kindly, and evinced some curiosity to hear him +play. Pugnani took up his instrument and commenced a well-known solo, +but he had not played many bars before Tartini suddenly seized his arm, +saying, "Too loud, my friend, too loud!" The Piedmontese began again, +but at the same passage Tartini stopped him again, exclaiming this time, +"Too soft, my good friend, too soft!" Pugnani therefore laid down the +violin, and begged of Tartini to give him some lessons. He was at +once received among Tartini's pupils, and, though already an excellent +artist, began his musical education almost entirely anew. Many anecdotes +have been foisted upon Pugnani, some evidently the creation of rivals, +and not worth repeating. Others, on the contrary, tend to enlighten us +upon the character of the man. Thus, when playing, he was so completely +absorbed in the music, that he has been known, at a public concert, to +walk about the platform during the performance of a favorite cadenza, +imagining himself alone in the room. Again, at the house of Madame +Denis, when requested to play before Voltaire, who had little or no +music in his soul, Pugnani stopped short, when the latter had the bad +taste to continue his conversation, remarking in a loud, clear voice, +"M. de Voltaire is very clever in making verses, but as regards music +he is devilishly ignorant." Pugnani's style of play is said to have been +very broad and noble, "characterized by that commanding sweep of the +bow, which afterward formed so grand a feature in the performance of +Viotti." He was distinguished as a composer as well as a player, and +among his numerous works are some seven or eight operas, which were very +successful for the time being on the Italian stage. +</p> +<a name="h2H_4_0006" id="h2H_4_0006"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + VIOTTI. +</h2> +<p> +Viotti, the Connecting Link between the Early and Modern Violin +Schools.—His Immense Superiority over his Contemporaries and +Predecessors.—Other Violinists of his Time, Giornowick and +Boccherini.—Viotti's Early Years—His Arrival in Paris, and the +Sensation he made—His Reception by the Court.—Viotti's Personal Pride +and Dignity.—His Rebuke to Princely Impertinence.—The Musical Circles +of Paris.—Viotti's Last Publie Concert in Paris.—He suddenly departs +for London.—Becomes Director of the King's Theatre.—Is compelled to +leave the Country as a Suspected Revolutionist.—His Return to England, +and Metamorphosis into a Vintner.—The French Singer, Garat, finds him +out in his London Obscurity.—Anecdote of Viotti's Dinner Party.—He +quits the Wine Trade for his own Profession.—Is made Director of the +Paris Grand Opéra.—Letter from Rossini.—Viotti's Account of the +"Ranz des Vaches."—Anecdotes of the Great Violinist.—Dies in London in +1824.—Viotti's Place as a Violinist, and Style of Playing.—The Tourté +Bow first invented during his Time.—An Indispensable Factor in Great +Playing on the Violin.—Viotti's Pupils, and his Influence on the +Musical Art. +</p> +<center> +I. +</center> +<p> +In the person of the celebrated Viotti we recognize the link connecting +the modern school of violin-playing with the schools of the past. He +was generally hailed as the leading violinist of his time, and his +influence, not merely on violin music but music in general, was of a +very palpable order. In him were united the accomplishments of the great +virtuoso and the gifts of the composer. At the time that Viotti's star +shot into such splendor in the musical horizon, there were not a few +clever violinists, and only a genius of the finest type could have +attained and perpetuated such a regal sway among his contemporaries. At +the time when Viotti appeared in Paris the popular heart was completely +captivated by Giornowick, whose eccentric and quarrelsome character as +a man cooperated with his artistic excellence to keep him constantly +in the public eye. Giornowick was a Palermitan, born in 1745, and his +career was thoroughly artistic and full of romantic vicissitudes. His +style was very graceful and elegant, his tone singularly pure. One of +the most popular and seductive tricks in his art was the treating of +well-known airs as rondos, returning ever and anon to his theme after +a variety of brilliant excursions in a way that used to fascinate his +hearers, thus anticipating some of his brilliant successors. +</p> +<p> +Michael Kelly heard him at Vienna. "He was a man of a certain age," he +tells us, "but in the full vigor of talent. His tone was very powerful, +his execution most rapid, and his taste, above all, alluring. No +performer in my remembrance played such pleasing music." Dubourg relates +that on one occasion, when Giornowick had announced a concert at Lyons, +he found the people rather retentive of their money, so he postponed the +concert to the following evening, reducing the price of the tickets to +one half. A crowded company was the result. But the bird had flown! The +artist had left Lyons without ceremony, together with the receipts from +sales of tickets. +</p> +<p> +In London, where he was frequently heard between 1792 and 1796, he once +gave a concert which was fully attended, but annoying to the player +on account of the indifference of the audience and the clatter of +the tea-cups; for it was then the custom to serve tea during the +performance, as well as during the intervals. Giornowick turned to the +orchestra and ordered them to cease playing. "These people," said he, +"know nothing about music; anything is good enough for drinkers of warm +water. I will give them something suited to their taste." Whereupon he +played a very trivial and commonplace French air, which he disguised +with all manner of meretricious flourishes, and achieved a great +success. When Viotti arrived in Paris in 1779, Giornowick started on +his travels after having heard this new rival once. +</p> +<p> +A distinguished virtuoso and composer, with whom Viotti had already been +thrown into contact, though in a friendly rather than a competitive way, +was Boccherini, who was one of the most successful early composers of +trios, quartets, and quintets for string instruments. During the latter +part of Boccherini's life he basked in the sunlight of Spanish royalty, +and composed nine works annually for the Royal Academy of Madrid, in +which town he died in 1806, aged sixty-six. A very clever saying is +attributed to him. The King of Spain, Charles IV, was fond of playing +with the great composer, and was very ambitious of shining as a great +violinist; his cousin, the Emperor of Austria, was also fond of the +violin, and played tolerably well. One day the latter asked Boccherini, +in a rather straightforward manner, what difference there was between +his playing and that of his cousin Charles IV. "Sire," replied +Boccherini, without hesitating for a moment, "Charles IV plays like a +king, and your Majesty plays like an emperor." +</p> +<p> +Giovanni Battista Viotti was born in a little Piedmontese village called +Fontaneto, in the year 1755. The accounts of his early life are +too confused and fragmentary to be trustworthy. It is pretty well +established, however, that he studied under Pugnani at Turin, and that +at the age of twenty he was made first violin at the Chapel Royal of +that capital. After remaining three years, he began his career as a +solo player, and, after meeting with the greatest success at Berlin and +Vienna, directed his course to Paris, where he made his <i>debut</i> at the +"Concerts Spirituels." +</p> +<center> +II. +</center> +<p> +Fetis tells us that the arrival of Viotti in Paris produced a sensation +difficult to describe. No performer had yet been heard who had attained +so high a degree of perfection, no artist had possessed so fine a tone, +such sustained elegance, such fire, and so varied a style. The fancy +which was developed in his concertos increased the delight he produced +in the minds of his auditory. His compositions for the violin were +as superior to those which had previously been heard as his execution +surpassed that of all his predecessors and contemporaries. Giornowick's +style was full of grace and suave elegance; Viotti was characterized +by a remarkable beauty, breadth, and dignity. Lavish attentions were +bestowed on him from the court circle. Marie Antoinette, who was an +ardent lover and most judicious patron of music, sent him her commands +to play at Versailles. The haughty artistic pride of Viotti was signally +displayed at one of these concerts before royalty. A large number of +eminent musicians had been engaged for the occasion, and the audience +was a most brilliant one. Viotti had just begun a concerto of his own +composition, when the arrogant Comte d'Artois made a great bustle in +the room, and interrupted the music by his loud whispers and utter +indifference to the comfort of any one but himself. Viotti's dark eyes +flashed fire as he stared sternly at this rude scion of the blood royal. +At last, unable to restrain his indignation, he deliberately placed his +violin in the case, gathered up his music from the stand, and withdrew +from the concert-room without ceremony, leaving the concert, her +Majesty, and his Royal Highness to the reproaches of the audience. +This scene is an exact parallel of one which occurred at the house +of Cardinal Ottoboni, when Corelli resented in similar fashion the +impertinence of some of his auditors. +</p> +<p> +Everywhere in artistic and aristocratic circles at the French capital +Viotti's presence was eagerly sought. Private concerts were so much the +vogue in Paris that musicians of high rank found more profit in these +than in such as were given to the miscellaneous public. A delightful +artistic rendezvous was the hôtel of the Comte de Balck, an enthusiastic +patron and friend of musicians. Here Viotti's friend, Garat, whose voice +had so great a range as to cover both the tenor and barytone registers, +was wont to sing; and here young Orfila, the brilliant chemist, +displayed his magnificent tenor voice in such a manner as to attract the +most tempting offers from managers that he should desert the laboratory +for the stage. But the young Portuguese was fascinated with science, +and was already far advanced in the career which made him in his day +the greatest of all authorities on toxicological chemistry. The most +brilliant and gifted men and women of Paris haunted these reunions, +and Viotti always appeared at his best amid such surroundings. +Another favorite resort of his was the house of Mme. Montegerault at +Montmorency, a lady who was a brilliant pianist. Sometimes she would +seat herself at her instrument and begin an improvisation, and Viotti, +seizing his violin, would join in the performance, and in a series of +extemporaneous passages display his great powers to the delight of all +present. +</p> +<p> +He evinced the greatest distaste for solo playing at public concerts, +and, aside from charity performances, only consented once to such an +exhibition of his talents. A singular concert was arranged to take place +on the fifth story of a house in Paris, the apartment being occupied +by a friend of Viotti, who was also a member of the Government. "I will +play," he said, on being urged, "but only on one condition, and that +is, that the audience shall come up here to us—we have long enough +descended to them; but times are changed, and now we may compel them to +rise to our level"; or something to that effect. It took place in due +course, and was a very brilliant concert indeed. The only ornament was a +bust of Jean Jacques Rousseau. A large number of distinguished artists, +both instrumental and vocal, were present, and a most aristocratic +audience. A good deal of Boccherini's music was performed that evening, +and though many of the titled personages had mounted to the fifth floor +for the first time in their lives, so complete was the success of the +concert that not one descended without regret, and all were warm in +their praise of the performances of the distinguished violinist. +</p> +<p> +What the cause of Viotti's sudden departure from Paris in 1790 was, +it is difficult to tell. Perhaps he had offended the court by the +independence of his bearing; perhaps he had expressed his political +opinions too bluntly, for he was strongly democratic in his views; +perhaps he foresaw the terrible storm which was gathering and was soon +to break in a wrack of ruin, chaos, and blood. Whatever the cause, our +violinist vanished from Paris with hardly a word of farewell to his most +intimate friends, and appeared in London at Salomon's concerts with the +same success which had signalized his Parisian <i>début</i>. Every one +was delighted with the originality and power of his playing, and the +exquisite taste that modified the robustness and passion which entered +into the substance of his musical conceptions. +</p> +<p> +Viotti was one of the artistic celebrities of London for several years, +but his eccentric and resolute nature did not fail to involve him in +several difficulties with powerful personages. He became connected with +the management of the King's Theatre, and led the music for two years +with signal ability. But he suddenly received an order from the +British Government to leave England without delay. His sharp tongue and +outspoken language were never consistent with courtly subserviency. We +can fancy our musician shrugging his shoulders with disdain on receiving +his order of banishment, for he was too much of a cosmopolite to be +disturbed by change of country. He took up his residence at Schönfeld, +Holland, in a beautiful and splendid villa, and produced there several +of his most celebrated compositions, as well as a series of studies of +the violin school. +</p> +<center> +III. +</center> +<p> +The edict which had sent Viotti from England was revoked in 1801, and +he returned with commercial aspirations, for he entered into the wine +trade. It could not be said of him, as of another well-known composer, +who attempted to conduct a business in the vending of sweet sounds and +the juice of the grape simultaneously, that he composed his wines and +imported his music; for Viotti seems to have laid music entirely aside +for the nonce, and we have no reason to suspect that his port and sherry +were not of the best. Attention to business did not keep him from losing +a large share of his fortune, however, in this mercantile venture, and +for a while he was so completely lost in the London Babel as to have +passed out of sight and mind of his old admirers. The French singer, +Garat, tells an amusing story of his discovery of Viotti in London, when +none of his Continental friends knew what had become of him. +</p> +<p> +In the very zenith of his powers and height of his reputation, the +founder of a violin school which remains celebrated to this day, Viotti +had quitted Paris suddenly, and since his departure no one had received, +either directly or indirectly, any news of him. According to Garat, some +vague indications led him to believe that the celebrated violinist +had taken up his residence in London, but, for a long time after his +(Garat's) arrival in the metropolis, all his attempts to find him were +fruitless. At last, one morning he went to a large export house for +wine. It had a spacious courtyard, filled with numbers of large barrels, +among which it was not easy to move toward the office or counting-house. +On entering the latter, the first person who met his gaze was Viotti +himself. Viotti was surrounded by a legion of employees, and so absorbed +in business that he did not notice Garat. At last he raised his head, +and, recognizing his old friend, seized him by the hand, and led him +into an adjoining room, where he gave him a hearty welcome. Garat could +not believe his senses, and stood motionless with surprise. +</p> +<p> +"I see you are astonished at the metamorphosis," said Viotti; "it is +certainly <i>drôle</i>—unexpected; but what <i>could</i> you expect? At Paris +I was looked upon as a ruined man, lost to all my friends; it was +necessary to do something to get a living, and here I am, making my +fortune!" +</p> +<p> +"But," interrupted Garat, "have you taken into consideration all the +drawbacks and annoyances of a profession to which you were not brought +up, and which must be opposed to your tastes?" +</p> +<p> +"I perceive," continued Viotti, "that you share the error which so many +indulge in. Commercial enterprise is generally considered a most prosaic +undertaking, but it has, nevertheless, its seductions, its prestige, its +poetical side. I assure you no musician, no poet, ever had an existence +more full of interesting and exciting incidents than those which cause +the heart of the merchant to throb. His imagination, stimulated by +success, carries him forward to new conquests; his clients increase, his +fortune augments, the finest dreams of ambition are ever before him." +</p> +<p> +"But art!" again interrupted his friend; "the art of which you are one +of the finest representatives—you can not have entirely abandoned it?" +</p> +<p> +"Art will lose nothing," rejoined Viotti, "and you will find that I +can conciliate two things without interfering with either, though you +doubtless consider them irreconcilable. We will continue this subject +another time; at present I must leave you; I have some pressing business +to transact this afternoon. But come and dine with me at six o'clock, +and be sure you do not disappoint me." +</p> +<p> +Garat, who relates this conversation, tells us that at the appointed +time he returned to the house. All the barrels and wagons that had +encumbered the courtyard were cleared away, and in their place were +coroneted carriages, with footmen and servants. A lackey in brilliant +livery conducted the visitor to the drawing-room on the first floor. +The apartments were magnificently furnished, and glittered with +mirrors, candelabra, gilt ornaments, and the most quaint and costly +<i>bric-ŕ-brac</i>. Viotti received his guests at the head of the staircase, +no longer the plodding man of business, but the courtly, high-bred +gentleman. Garat's amazement was still further increased when he heard +the names of the other guests, all distinguished men. After an admirably +cooked dinner, there was still more admirable music, and Viotti proved +to the satisfaction of his French friend that he was still the same +great artist who had formerly delighted his listeners in Paris. +</p> +<p> +The wine business turned out so badly for our violinist that he was fain +to return to his old and legitimate profession. Through the intervention +of powerful friends in Paris, he was appointed director of the Grand +Opéra, but he became discontented in a very onerous and irritating +position, and was retired at his own request with a pension. An +interesting letter from the great Italian composer Rossini, who was then +first trying his fortune in the French metropolis, written to Viotti +in 1821, is pleasant proof of the estimate placed on his talents and +influence: +</p> +<p> +"Most esteemed Sir: You will be surprised at receiving a letter from an +individual who has not the honor of your personal acquaintance, but I +profit by the liberality of feeling existing among artists to address +these lines to you through my friend Hérold, from whom I have learned +with the greatest satisfaction the high, and, I fear, somewhat +undeserved opinion you have of me. The oratorio of 'Moďse,' composed by +me three years ago, appears to our mutual friend susceptible of dramatic +adaptation to French words; and I, who have the greatest reliance on +Hérold's taste and on his friendship for me, desire nothing more than to +render the entire work as perfect as possible, by composing new airs in +a more religious style than those which it at present contains, and +by endeavoring to the best of my power that the result shall neither +disgrace the composer of the partition, nor you, its patron and +protector. If M. Viotti, with his great celebrity, will consent to +be the Mecćnas of my name, he may be assured of the gratitude of his +devoted servant, +</p> +<p> +"Gioacchino Rossini. +</p> +<p> +"P.S.—In a month's time I will forward you the alterations of the drama +'Moďse,' in order that you may judge if they are conformable to the +operatic style. Should they not be so, you will have the kindness to +suggest any others better adapted to the purpose." +</p> +<center> +IV. +</center> +<p> +Viotti, though in many respects proud, resolute, and haughty in +temperament, was simple-hearted and enthusiastic, and a passionate lover +of nature. M. Eymar, one of his intimate friends, said of him, "Never +did a man attach so much value to the simplest gifts of nature, and +never did a child enjoy them more passionately." A modest flower growing +in the grass of the meadow, a charming bit of landscape, a rustic +<i>fęte</i>, in short, all the sights and sounds of the country, filled him +with delight. All nature spoke to his heart, and his finest compositions +were suggested and inspired by this sympathy. He has left the world a +charming musical picture of the feelings experienced in the mountains +of Switzerland. It was there he heard, under peculiar circumstances, +and probably for the first time, the plaintive sound of a mountain-horn, +breathing forth the few notes of a kind of "Ranz des Vaches." +</p> +<p> +"The 'Ranz des Vaches' which I send you," he says in one of his letters, +"is neither that with which our friend Jean Jacques has presented us, +nor that of which M. De la Bord speaks in his work on music. I can +not say whether it is known or not; all I know is, that I heard it +in Switzerland, and, once heard, I have never forgotten it. I was +sauntering along, toward the decline of day, in one of those sequestered +spots.... Flowers, verdure, streamlets, all united to form a picture +of perfect harmony. There, without being fatigued, I seated myself +mechanically on a fragment of rock, and fell into so profound a reverie +that I seemed to forget that I was upon earth. While sitting thus, +sounds broke on my ear which were sometimes of a hurried, sometimes of +a prolonged and sustained character, and were repeated in softened tones +by the echoes around. I found they proceeded from a mountain-horn; and +their effect was heightened by a plaintive female voice. Struck as if +by enchantment, I started from my dreams, listened with breathless +attention, and learned, or rather engraved upon my memory, the 'Ranz des +Vaches' which I send you. In order to understand all its beauties, you +ought to be transplanted to the scene in which I heard it, and to +feel all the enthusiasm that such a moment inspired." It was a similar +delightful experience which, according to Rossini's statement, first +suggested to that great composer his immortal opera, "Guillaume Tell." +</p> +<p> +Among many interesting anecdotes current of Viotti, and one which +admirably shows his goodness of heart and quickness of resource, is one +narrated by Ferdinand Langlé to Adolph Adam, the French composer. The +father of the former, Marie Langlé, a professor of harmony in the French +Conservatoire, was an intimate friend of Viotti, and one charming summer +evening the twain were strolling on the Champs Élysées. They sat down on +a retired bench to enjoy the calmness of the night, and became buried +in reverie. But they were brought back to prosaic matters harshly by a +babel of discordant noises that grated on the sensitive ears of the two +musicians. They started from their seats, and Viotti said: +</p> +<p> +"It can't be a violin, and yet there is some resemblance to one." +</p> +<p> +"Nor a clarionet," suggested Langlé, "though it is something like it." +</p> +<p> +The easiest manner of solving the problem was to go and see what it was. +They approached the spot whence the extraordinary tones issued, and saw +a poor blind man standing near a miserable-looking candle and playing +upon a violin—but the latter was an instrument made of tin-plate. +</p> +<p> +"Fancy!" exclaimed Viotti, "it is a violin, but a violin of tin-plate! +Did you ever dream of such a curiosity?" and, after listening a while, +he added, "I say, Langlé, I must possess that instrument. Go and ask the +old blind man what he will sell it for." +</p> +<p> +Langlé approached and asked the question, but the old man was +disinclined to part with it. +</p> +<p> +"But we will give you enough for it to enable you to purchase a better," +he added; "and why is not your violin like others?" +</p> +<p> +The aged fiddler explained that, when he got old and found himself +poor, not being able to work, but still able to scrape a few airs upon a +violin, he had endeavored to procure one, but in vain. At last his good, +kind nephew Eustache, who was apprenticed to a tinker, had made him one +out of a tin-plate. "And an excellent one, too," he added; "and my poor +boy Eustache brings me here in the morning when he goes to work, and +fetches me away in the evening when he returns, and the receipts are +not so bad sometimes—as, when he was out of work, it was I who kept the +house going." +</p> +<p> +"Well," said Viotti, "I will give you twenty francs for your violin. You +can buy a much better one for that price; but let me try it a little." +</p> +<p> +He took the violin in his hands, and produced some extraordinary +effects from it. A considerable crowd gathered around, and listened +with curiosity and astonishment to the performance. Langlé seized on +the opportunity, and passed around the hat, gathering a goodly amount of +chink from the bystanders, which, with the twenty francs, was handed to +the astonished old beggar. +</p> +<p> +"Stay a moment," said the blind man, recovering a little from his +surprise; "just now I said I would sell the violin for twenty francs, +but I did not know it was so good. I ought to have at least double for +it." +</p> +<p> +Viotti had never received a more genuine compliment, and he did not +hesitate to give the old man two pieces of gold instead of one, and then +immediately retired from the spot, passing through the crowd with the +tin-plate instrument under his arm. He had scarcely gone forty yards +when he felt some one pulling at his sleeve; it was a workman, who +politely took off his cap, and said: +</p> +<p> +"Sir, you have paid too dear for that violin; and if you are an amateur, +as it was I who made it, I can supply you with as many as you like at +six francs each." +</p> +<p> +This was Eustache; he had just come in time to hear the conclusion of +the bargain, and, little dreaming that he was so clever a violin-maker, +wished to continue a trade that had begun so successfully. However, +Viotti was quite satisfied with the one sample he had bought. He never +parted with that instrument; and, when the effects of Viotti were sold +in London after his death, though the tin fiddle only brought a few +shillings, an amateur of curiosities sought out the purchaser, and +offered him a large sum if he could explain how the strange instrument +came into the possession of the great violinist. +</p> +<p> +After resigning his position as director of the Grand Opéra, Viotti +returned to London, which had become a second home to him, and spent his +remaining days there. He died on the 24th of March, 1824. +</p> +<center> +V. +</center> +<p> +Viotti established and settled for ever the fundamental principles of +violin-playing. He did not attain the marvelous skill of technique, the +varied subtile and dazzling effects, with which his successor, Paganini, +was to amaze the world, but, from the accounts transmitted to us, his +performance must have been characterized by great nobility, breadth, and +beauty of tone, united with a fire and agility unknown before his time. +Viotti was one of the first to use the Tourté bow, that indispensable +adjunct to the perfect manipulation of the violin. The value of this +advantage over his predecessors cannot be too highly estimated. +</p> +<p> +The bows used before the time of François Tourté, who lived in the +latter years of the last century in Paris, were of imperfect shape and +make. The Tourté model leaves nothing to be desired in all the qualities +required to enable the player to follow out every conceivable manner of +tone and movement—lightness, firmness, and elasticity. Tartini had made +the stick of his bow elastic, an innovation from the time of Corelli, +and had thus attained a certain flexibility and brilliancy in his bowing +superior to his predecessors. But the full development of all the powers +of the violin, or the practice of what we now call virtuosoism on this +instrument, was only possible with the modern bow as designed by Tourté, +of Paris. The thin, bent, elastic stick of the bow, with its greater +length of sweep, gives the modern player incalculable advantages over +those of an earlier age, enabling him to follow out the slightest +gradations of tone from the fullest <i>forte</i> to the softest <i>piano</i>, +to mark all kinds of strong and gentle accents, to execute staccato, +legato, saltato, and arpeggio passages with the greatest ease and +certainty. The French school of violin-playing did not at first avail +itself of these advantages, and even Viotti and Spohr did not fully +grasp the new resources of execution. It was left for Paganini to open +a new era in the art. His daring and subtile genius perceived and seized +the wonderful resources of the modern bow at one bound. He used freely +every imaginable movement of the bow, and developed the movement of the +wrist to that high perfection which enabled him to practice all kinds +of bowing with celerity. Without the Tourté bow, Paganini and the modern +school of virtuosos, which has followed so splendidly from his example, +would have been impossible. To many of our readers an amplification of +this topic may be of interest. While the left hand of the violin-player +fixes the tone, and thereby does that which for the pianist is already +done by the mechanism of the instrument, and while the correctness of +his intonation depends on the proficiency of the left hand, it is the +action of the right hand, the bowing, which, analogous to the pianist's +touch, makes the sound spring into life. It is through the medium of +the bow that the player embodies his ideas and feelings. It is therefore +evident that herein rests one of the most important and difficult +elements of the art of violin-playing, and that the excellence of a +player, or even of a whole school of playing, depends to a great extent +on its method of bowing. It would have been even better for the art +of violin-playing as practiced to-day that the perfect instruments of +Stradiuarius and Guarnerius should not have been, than that the Tourté +bow should have been uninvented. +</p> +<p> +The long, effective sweep of the bow was one of the characteristics +of Viotti's playing, and was alike the admiration and despair of his +rivals. His compositions for the violin are classics, and Spohr was +wont to say that there could be no better test of a fine player than +his execution of one of the Viotti sonatas or concertos. Spohr regretted +deeply that he could not finish his violin training under this +great master, and was wont to speak of him in terms of the greatest +admiration. Viotti had but few pupils, but among them were a number of +highly gifted artists. Rode, Robrechts, Cartier, Mdlle. Gerbini, Alday, +La-barre, Pixis, Mari, Mme. Paravicini, and Vacher are well-known names +to all those interested in the literature of the violin. The influence +of Viotti on violin music was a very deep one, not only in virtue of his +compositions, but in the fact that he molded the style not only of many +of the best violinists of his own day, but of those that came after him. +</p> +<a name="h2H_4_0007" id="h2H_4_0007"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + LUDWIG SPOHR. +</h2> +<p> +Birth and Early Life of the Violinist Spohr.—He is presented with his +First Violin at six.—The French <i>Emigré</i> Dufour uses his Influence with +Dr. Spohr, Sr., to have the Boy devoted to a Musical Career.—Goes +to Brunswick for fuller Musical Instruction.—Spohr is appointed +<i>Kammer-musicus</i> at the Ducal Court.—He enters under the Tuition of +and makes a Tour with the Violin Virtuoso Eck.—Incidents of the Russian +Journey and his Return.—Concert Tour in Germany.—Loses his Fine +Guarnerius Violin.—Is appointed Director of the Orchestra at Gotha.—He +marries Dorette Schiedler, the Brilliant Harpist.—Spohr's Stratagem to +be present at the Erfurt Musical Celebration given by Napoleon in +Honor of the Allied Sovereigns.—Becomes Director of Opera in +Vienna.—Incidents of his Life and Production of Various Works.—First +Visit to England.—He is made Director of the Cassel Court +Oratorios.—He is retired with a Pension.—Closing Years of his +Life.—His Place as Composer and Executant. +</p> +<center> +I. +</center> +<p> +"The first singer on the violin that ever appeared!" Such was the +verdict of the enthusiastic Italians when they heard one of the greatest +of the world's violinists, who was also a great composer. The modern +world thinks of Spohr rather as the composer of symphony, opera, and +oratorio than as a wonderful executant on the violin; but it was in +the latter capacity that he enjoyed the greatest reputation during the +earlier part of his lifetime, which was a long one, extending from the +year 1784 to 1859. The latter half of Spohr's life was mostly devoted +to the higher musical ambition of creating, but not until he had +established himself as one of the greatest of virtuosos, and founded +a school of violin-playing which is, beyond all others, the most +scientific, exhaustive, and satisfactory. All of the great contemporary +violinists are disciples of the Spohr school of execution. Great as a +composer, still greater as a player, and widely beloved as a man—there +are only a few names in musical art held in greater esteem than his, +though many have evoked a deeper enthusiasm. +</p> +<p> +Ludwig Spohr was born at Brunswick, April 5, 1784, of parents both of +whom possessed no little musical talent. His father, a physician +of considerable eminence, was an excellent flutist, and his mother +possessed remarkable talent both as a pianist and singer. To the family +concerts which he heard at home was the rapid development of the boy's +talents largely due. Nature had given him a very sensitive ear and a +fine clear voice, and at the age of four or five he joined his mother +in duets at the evening gatherings. From the very first he manifested +a taste for the instrument for which he was destined to become +distinguished. He so teased his father that, at the age of six, he was +presented with his first violin, and his joy on receiving his treasure +was overpowering. The violin was never out of his hand, and he +continually wandered about the house trying to play his favorite +melodies. Spohr tells us in his "Autobiography": "I still recollect +that, after my first lesson, in which I had learned to play the G-sharp +chord upon all four strings, in my rapture at the harmony, I hurried to +my mother, who was in the kitchen, and played the chord so incessantly +that she was obliged to order me out." +</p> +<p> +Young Spohr was placed under the tuition of Dufour, a French <i>emigré</i> of +the days of '91, who was an excellent player, though not a professional, +then living at the town of Seesen, the home of the Spohr family; and +under him the boy made very rapid progress. It was Dufour who, by +his enthusiastic representations, overcame the opposition of Ludwig's +parents to the boy's devoting himself to a life of music, for the notion +of the senior Spohr was that the name musician was synonymous with that +of a tavern fiddler, who played for dancers. In Germany, the land <i>par +excellence</i> of music, there was a general contempt among the educated +classes, during the latter years of the eighteenth century, for the +musical profession. Spohr remained under the care of Dufour until he was +twelve years old, and devoted himself to his work with great sedulity. +Though he as yet knew but little of counterpoint and composition, his +creative talent already began to assert itself, and he produced several +duos and trios, as well as solo compositions, which evinced great +promise, though crude and faulty in the extreme. He was then sent +to Brunswick, that he might have the advantage of more scientific +instruction, and to this end was placed under the care of Kunisch, +an excellent violin teacher, and under Hartung for harmony and +counterpoint. The latter was a sort of Dr. Dryasdust, learned, barren, +acrid, but an efficient instructor. When young Spohr showed him one of +his compositions, he growled out, "There's time enough for that; you +must learn something first." It may be said of Spohr, however, that his +studies in theory were for the most part self-taught, for he was a most +diligent student of the great masters, and was gifted with a keenly +analytic mind. +</p> +<p> +At the age of fourteen young Spohr was an effective soloist, and, as his +father began to complain of the heavy expense of his musical education, +the boy determined to make an effort for self-support. After revolving +many schemes, he conceived the notion of applying to the duke, who was +known as an ardent patron of music. He managed to place himself in the +way of his Serene Highness, while the latter was walking in his garden, +and boldly preferred his request for an appointment in the court +orchestra. The duke was pleased to favor the application, and young +Spohr was permitted to display his skill at a court concert, in which he +acquitted himself so admirably as to secure the cordial patronage of the +sovereign. Said the duke: "Be industrious and well behaved, and, if you +make good progress, I will put you under the tuition of a great master." +So Louis Spohr was installed as a <i>Kammer-musicus</i>, and his patron +fulfilled his promise in 1802 by placing his <i>protégé</i> under the charge +of Francis Eck, one of the finest violinists then living. Under the +tuition of this accomplished instructor, the young virtuoso made such +rapid advance in the excellence of his technique, that he was soon +regarded as worthy of accompanying his master on a grand concert tour +through the principal cities of Germany and Russia. +</p> +<center> +II. +</center> +<p> +This concert expedition of the two violinists, as narrated in Spohr's +"Autobiography," was full of interesting and romantic episodes. Both +master and pupil were of amorous and susceptible temperaments, and +their affairs were rarely regulated by a common sense of prudence. Spohr +relates with delightful <i>naivete</i> the circumstances under which he fell +successively in love, and the rapidity with which he recovered from +these fitful spasms of the tender passion. Herr Eck, in addition to his +tendency to intrigues with the fairer half of creation, was also of +a quarrelsome and exacting disposition, and the general result was +ceaseless squabbling with authorities and musical societies in nearly +every city they visited. In spite of these drawbacks, however, the +two violinists gained both in fame and purse, and were everywhere well +received. If Herr Eck carried off the palm over the boyish Spohr as a +mere executant, the impression everywhere gained ground that the latter +was by far the superior in real depth of musical science, and many of +his own violin concertos were received with the heartiest applause. The +concert tour came to an end at St. Petersburg in a singular way. Eck +fell in love with a daughter of a member of the imperial orchestra, but +the idea of marriage did not enter into his project. As the young lady +soon felt the unfortunate results of her indiscretion, her parents +complained to the Empress, at whose instance Eck was given the choice of +marrying the girl or taking an enforced journey to Siberia. He chose the +former, and determined to remain in St. Petersburg, where he was offered +the first violin of the imperial orchestra. Poor Eck found he had +married a shrew, and, between matrimonial discords and ill health +brought on by years of excess, he became the victim of a nervous fever, +which resulted in lunacy and confinement in a mad-house. +</p> +<p> +Spohr returned to his native town in July, 1803, and his first meeting +with his family was a curious one. "I arrived," he says, "at two o'clock +in the morning. I landed at the Petri gate, crossed the Ocker in a boat, +and hastened to my grandmother's garden, but found that the house +and garden doors were locked. As my knocking didn't arouse any one, I +climbed over the garden wall and laid myself down in a summer-house at +the end of the garden. Wearied by the long journey, I soon fell asleep, +and, notwithstanding my hard couch, would probably have slept for a +long while had not my aunts in their morning walk discovered me. Much +alarmed, they ran and told my grandmother that a man was asleep in the +summer-house. Returning together, the three approached nearer, and, +recognizing me, I was awakened amid joyous expressions, embraces, and +kisses. At first, I did not recollect where I was, but soon recognized +my dear relations, and rejoiced at being once again in the home and +scenes of my childhood." +</p> +<p> +Spohr was most graciously received by the duke, who was satisfied +with the proofs of industry and ambition shown by his <i>protege</i>. The +celebrated Rode, Viotti's most brilliant pupil, was at that time in +Brunswick, and Spohr, who conceived the most enthusiastic admiration +of his style, set himself assiduously to the study and imitation of +the effects peculiar to Rode. On Rode's departure, Spohr appeared in a +concert arranged for him, in which he played a new concerto dedicated to +his ducal patron, and created an enthusiasm hardly less than that made +by Rode himself. He was warmly congratulated by the duke and the court, +and appointed first court-violinist, with a salary more than sufficient +for the musician's moderate wants. Shortly after this he undertook +another concert tour in conjunction with the violoncellist, Benike, +through the principal German cities, which added materially to +his reputation. But no amount of world's talk or money could fully +compensate him for the loss of his magnificent violin, one of the +<i>chefs-d'ouvre</i> of Guarnerius del Gesů when that great maker was at his +best. This instrument he had brought from Russia, and it was an imperial +gift. A concert was announced for Gôttingen, and Spohr, with his +companion, was about to enter the town by coach, when he asked one of +the soldiers at the guard-house if the trunk, which had been strapped to +the back of the carriage, and which contained his precious instrument, +was in its place. "There is no trunk there," was the reply. +</p> +<p> +"With one bound," says Spohr, "I was out of the carriage, and rushed +out through the gate with a drawn hunting-knife. Had I, with more +reflection, listened a while, I might have heard the thieves running out +through a side path. But in my blind rage I had far overshot the place +where I had last seen the trunk, and only discovered my overhaste when I +found myself in the open field. Inconsolable for my loss, I turned +back. While my fellow-traveler looked for the inn, I hastened to the +post-office, and requested that an immediate search might be made in the +garden houses outside the gate. With astonishment and vexation, I was +informed that the jurisdiction outside the gate belonged to Weende, and +that I must prefer my request there. As Weende was half a league from +Gottingen, I was compelled to abandon for that evening all further steps +for the recovery of my things. That these would prove fruitless on the +following morning I was well assured, and I passed a sleepless night in +a state of mind such as in my hitherto fortunate career had been unknown +to me. Had I not lost my splendid Guarneri violin, the exponent of all +the artistic success I had so far attained, I could have lightly borne +the loss of clothes and money." The police recovered an empty trunk +and the violin-case despoiled of its treasure, but still containing a +magnificent Tourté bow, which the thieves had left behind. Spohr managed +to borrow a Steiner violin, with which he gave his concert, but he did +not for years cease to lament the loss of his grand Guarneri fiddle. +</p> +<p> +In 1805 Spohr was quietly settled in his avocation at Brunswick as +composer and chief <i>Kam-mer-musicus</i> of the ducal court, when he +received an offer to compete for the direction of the orchestra at +Gotha, then one of the most magnificent organizations in Europe, to be +at the head of which would give him an international fame. The offer +was too tempting to be refused, and Spohr was easily victorious. His +new duties were not onerous, consisting of a concert once a week, and +in practicing and rehearsing the orchestra. The annual salary was five +hundred thalers. +</p> +<p> +One of the most interesting incidents of Spohr's life now occurred. The +susceptible heart, which had often been touched, was firmly enslaved +by the charms of Dorette Schiedler, the daughter of the principal court +singer, and herself a fine virtuoso on the harp. Dorette was a woman +whose personal loveliness was an harmonious expression of her beauty +of character and artistic talent, and Spohr accepted his fate with +joy. This girl of eighteen was irresistible, for she was accomplished, +beautiful, tender, as good as an angel, and with the finest talent for +music, for she played admirably, not only on the harp, but on the piano +and violin. Spohr had reason to hope that the attachment was mutual, and +was eager to declare his love. One night they were playing together at a +court concert, and Spohr after the performance noticed the duchess, with +an arch look at him, whispering some words to Dorette which covered her +cheeks with blushes. That night, as the lovers were returning home in +the carriage, Spohr said to her, "Shall we thus play together for life?" +Dorette burst into tears, and sank into her lover's arms. The compact +was sealed by the joyous assent of the mother, and the young couple were +united in the ducal chapel, in the presence of the duchess and a large +assemblage of friends, on the 2d of February, 1806. +</p> +<center> +III. +</center> +<p> +In the following year Spohr and his young wife set out on a musical +tour, "by which," he says, "we not only reaped a rich harvest of +applause, but saved a considerable sum of money." On his return to Gotha +he was met by a band of pupils, who unharnessed the horses from the +coach and drew him through the streets in triumph. He now devoted +himself to composition largely, and produced his first opera, "Alruna," +which is said to have been very warmly received, both at Gotha and +Weimar, in which latter city it was produced under the superintendence +of the poet Goethe, who was intendant of the theatre. Spohr, however, +allowed it to disappear, as his riper judgment condemned its faults more +than it favored its excellences. Among his amusing adventures, one which +he relates in his "Autobiography" as having occurred in 1808 is worth +repeating. He tells us: "In the year 1808 took place the celebrated +Congress of Sovereigns at Erfurt, on which occasion Napoleon entertained +his friend Alexander of Russia and the various kings and princes of +Germany. The lovers of sights and the curious of the whole country round +poured in to see the magnificence displayed. In the company of some +of my pupils, I made a pedestrian excursion to Erfurt, less to see the +great ones of the earth than to see and admire the great ones of the +French stage, Talma and Mars. The Emperor had sent to Paris for his +tragic performers, who played every evening in the classic works of +Corneille and Racine. I and my companions had hoped to have seen one +such representation, but unfortunately I was informed that they took +place for the sovereigns and their suites alone, and that everybody +else was excluded from them." In this dilemma Spohr had recourse to +stratagem. He persuaded four musicians of the orchestra to vacate their +places for a handsome consideration, and he and his pupils engaged to +fill the duties. But one of the substitutes must needs be a horn-player, +and the four new players could only perform on violin and 'cello. So +there was nothing to be done but for Spohr to master the French horn at +a day's notice. At the expense of swollen and painful lips, he managed +this sufficiently to play the music required with ease and precision. +"Thus prepared," he writes, "I and my pupils joined the other musicians, +and, as each carried his instrument under his arm, we reached our place +without opposition. We found the saloon in which the theatre had been +erected already brilliantly lit up and filled with the numerous suites +of the sovereigns. The seats for Napoleon and his guests were right +behind the orchestra. Shortly after, the most able of my pupils, to whom +I had assigned the direction of the music, and under whose leadership I +had placed myself as a new-fledged hornist, had tuned up the orchestra, +the high personages made their appearance, and the overture began. The +orchestra, with their faces turned to the stage, stood in a long row, +and each was strictly forbidden to turn around and look with curiosity +at the sovereigns. As I had received notice of this beforehand, I had +provided myself secretly with a small looking-glass, by the help of +which, as soon as the music was ended, I was enabled to obtain in +succession a good view of those who directed the destinies of Europe. +Nevertheless, I was soon so engrossed with the magnificent acting of the +tragic artists that I abandoned my mirror to my pupils, and directed my +whole attention to the stage. But at every succeeding <i>entr'acte</i> the +pain of my lips increased, and at the close of the performance they +had become so much swollen and blistered that in the evening I could +scarcely eat any supper. Even the next day, on my return to Gotha, +my lips had a very negro-like appearance, and my young wife was not a +little alarmed when she saw me. But she was yet more nettled when I told +her that it was from kissing to such excess the pretty Erfurt women. +When I had related, however, the history of my lessons on the horn, she +laughed heartily at my expense." +</p> +<p> +In October, 1809, Spohr and his wife started on an art journey to +Russia, but they were recalled by the court chamberlain, who said that +the duchess could not spare them from the court concerts, but would +liberally indemnify them for the loss. Spohr returned and remained at +home for nearly three years, during which time he composed a number of +important works for orchestra and for the violin. In 1812 a visit to +Vienna, during which he gave a series of concerts, so delighted the +Viennese that Spohr was offered the direction of the Ander Wien theatre +at a salary three times that received at Gotha, besides valuable +emoluments. This, and the assurance of Count Palffy, the imperial +intendant, that he meant to make the orchestra the finest in Europe, +induced Spohr to accept the offer. +</p> +<p> +When it became necessary for our musician to search for a domicile +in Vienna, he met with another piece of good fortune. One morning +a gentleman waited on him, introducing himself as a wealthy clock +manufacturer and a passionate lover of music. The stranger made an +eccentric proposition. Spohr should hand over to him all that he should +compose or had composed for Vienna during the term of three years, the +original scores to be his sole property during that time, and Spohr not +even to retain a copy. "But are they not to be performed during that +time?" "Oh, yes! as often as possible; but each time on my lending them +for that purpose, and when I can be present myself." The bargain was +struck, and the ardent connoisseur agreed to pay thirty ducats for a +string quartet, five and thirty for a quintet, forty for a sextet, etc., +according to the style of composition. Two works were sold on the spot, +and Spohr said he should devote the money to house-furnishing. Herr Von +Tost undertook to provide the furniture complete, and the two made a +tour among the most fashionable shops. When Spohr protested against +purchasing articles of extreme beauty and luxury, Von Tost said, "Make +yourself easy, I shall require no cash settlement. You will soon +square all accounts with your manuscripts." So the Spohr domicile +was magnificently furnished from kitchen to attic, more fitly, as the +musician said, for a royal dignitary or a rich merchant than for a poor +artist. Von Tost claimed he would gain two results: "First, I wish to be +invited to all the concerts and musical circles in which you will +play your compositions, and to do this I must have your scores in my +possession; secondly, in possessing such treasures of art, I hope upon +my business journeys to make a large acquaintance among the lovers of +music, which I may turn to account in my manufacturing interests." Let +us hope that this commercial enthusiast found his calculations verified +by results. +</p> +<p> +Spohr soon gave two important new works to the musical world, the opera +of "Faust," and the cantata, "The Liberation of Germany," neither of +which, however, was immediately produced. Weber brought out "Faust" at +Prague in 1816, and the cantata was first performed at Franken-hausen in +1815, at a musical festival on the anniversary of the battle of Leipsic, +a battle which turned the scale of Napoleon's career. The same year +(1815) also witnessed the quarrel between Spohr and Count Palffy, which +resulted in the rupture of the former's engagement. Spohr determined to +make a long tour through Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. Before shaking +the dust of Vienna from his feet, he sold the Von Tost household at +auction, and the sum realized was even larger than what had been paid +for it, so vivid were the public curiosity and interest in view of the +strange bargain under which the furniture had been bought. On the 18th +of March, 1815, Louis Spohr, with his beloved Dorette and young family, +which had increased with truly German fecundity, bade farewell to +Vienna. +</p> +<p> +Two years of concert-giving and sight-seeing swiftly passed, to the +great augmentation of the German violinist's fame. On Spohr's return +home he was invited to become the opera and music director of the +Frankfort Theatre, and for two years more he labored arduously at this +post. He produced the opera of "Zemire and Azar" (founded on the fairy +fable of "Beauty and the Beast" ) during this period among other works, +and it was very enthusiastically received by the public. This opera was +afterward given in London, in English, with great success, though the +opinion of the critics was that it was too scientific for the English +taste. +</p> +<center> +IV. +</center> +<p> +Louis Spohr's first visit to England was in 1820, whither he went on +invitation of the Philharmonic Society. He gives an amusing account of +his first day in London, on the streets of which city he appeared in +a most brilliantly colored shawl waistcoat, and narrowly escaped being +pelted by the enraged mob, for the English people were then in mourning +for the death of George III, which had recently occurred, and Spohr's +gay attire was construed as a public insult. He played several of his +own works at the opening Philharmonic concert, and the brilliant veteran +of the violin, Viotti, to become whose pupil had once been Spohr's +darling but ungratified dream, expressed the greatest admiration of the +German virtuoso's magnificent playing. The "Autobiography" relates an +amusing interview of Spohr with the head of the Rothschild's banking +establishment, to whom he had brought a letter of introduction from the +Frankfort Rothschild, as well as a letter of credit. "After Rothschild +had taken both letters from me and glanced hastily over them, he said +to me, in a subdued tone of voice, 'I have just read (pointing to +the "Times") that you manage your business very efficiently; but I +understand nothing of music. This is my music (slapping his purse); they +understand that on the exchange.' Upon which with a nod of the head he +terminated the audience. But just as I had reached the door he called +after me, 'You can come out and dine with me at my country house.' A few +days afterward Mme. Rothschild also invited me to dinner, but I did not +go, though she repeated the invitation." +</p> +<p> +While in London on this visit Spohr composed his B flat Symphony, +which was given by the Philharmonic Society under the direction of the +composer himself, and, as he tells us in his "Autobiography," it was +played better than he ever heard it afterward. His English reception, on +the whole, was a very cordial one, and he secured a very high place +in public estimation, both as a violinist and orchestral composer. On +returning to Germany, Spohr gave a series of concerts, during which time +he produced his great D minor violin concerto, making a great sensation +with it. He had not yet visited Paris in a professional way, and in the +winter of 1821 he turned his steps thitherward, in answer to a pressing +invitation from the musicians of that great capital. On January 20th he +made his <i>début</i> before a French audience, and gave a programme mostly +of his own compositions. Spohr asserts that the satisfaction of the +audience was enthusiastically expressed, but the fact that he did not +repeat the entertainment would suggest a suspicion that the impression +he made was not fully to his liking. It may be he did not dare take +the risk in a city so full of musical attractions of every description. +Certainly he did not like the French, though his reception from the +artists and literati was of the most friendly sort. He was disgusted +"with the ridiculous vanity of the Parisians." He writes: "When one or +other of their musicians plays anything, they say, 'Well! can you +boast of that in Germany?' Or when they introduce to you one of their +distinguished artists, they do not call him the first in Paris, but at +once the first in the world, although no nation knows less what other +countries possess than they do, in their—for their vanity's sake most +fortunate—ignorance." +</p> +<p> +Spohr's appointment to the directorship of the court theatre at Cassel +occurred in the winter of 1822, and he confesses his pleasure in the +post, as he believed he could make its fine orchestra one of the most +celebrated in Germany. He remained in this position for about thirty +years, and during that time Cassel became one of the greatest musical +centers of the country. His labors were assiduous, for he had the +true tireless German industry, and he soon gave the world his opera +of "Jessonda," which was first produced on July 28, 1823, with marked +success. "Jessonda" has always kept its hold on the German stage, though +it was not received with much favor elsewhere. Another opera, "Der Berg +Geist" ("The Mountain Spirit"), quickly followed, the work having been +written to celebrate the marriage of the Princess of Hesse with the Duke +of Saxe-Meiningen. One of his most celebrated compositions, the oratorio +"Die Letzten Dinge" ("The Last Judgment"), which is more familiar +to English-speaking peoples than any other work of Spohr, was first +performed on Good Friday, 1826, and was recognized from the first as +a production of masterly excellence. Spohr's ability as a composer of +sacred music would have been more distinctly accepted, had it not been +that Handel, Haydn, and, in more recent years, Mendelssohn, raised the +ideal of the oratorio so high that only the very loftiest musical genius +is considered fit to reign in this sphere. The director of the Cassel +theatre continued indefatigable in producing works of greater or less +excellence, chamber-music, symphonies, and operas. Among the latter, +attention may be called to "Pietro Albano" and the "Alchemist," clever +but in no sense brilliant works, though, as it became the fashion in +Germany to indulge in enthusiasm over Spohr, they were warmly praised +at home. The best known of his orchestral works, "Die Weihe der Tone +" ("The Power of Sound"), a symphony of unquestionable greatness, was +produced in 1832. We are told that Spohr had been reading a volume of +poems which his deceased friend Pfeiffer had left behind him, when he +alighted on "Die Weihe der Tone," and the words delighted him so much +that he thought of using them as the basis of a cantata. But he changed +his purpose, and finally decided to delineate the subject of the poem +in orchestral composition. The finest of all Spohr's symphonies was the +outcome, a work which ranks high among compositions of this class. His +toil on the new oratorio of "Calvary" was sadly interrupted by the death +of his beloved wife Dorette, who had borne him a large family, and had +been his most sympathetic and devoted companion. Spohr was so broken +down by this calamity that it was several months before he could resume +his labors, and it was because Dorette during her illness had felt such +a deep interest in the progress of the work that the desolate husband +so soon plucked heart to begin again. When the oratorio was produced on +Good Friday, 1835, Spohr records in his diary: "The thought that my wife +did not live to listen to its first performance sensibly lessened the +satisfaction I felt at this my most successful work." This oratorio was +not given in England till 1839, at the Norwich festival, Spohr being +present to conduct it. The zealous and narrow-minded clergy of the day +preached bitterly against it as a desecration, and one fierce bigot +hurled his diatribes against the composer, when the latter was present +in the cathedral. A journal of the day describes the scene: "We now see +the fanatical zealot in the pulpit, and sitting right opposite to him +the great composer, with ears happily deaf to the English tongue, but +with a demeanor so becoming, with a look so full of pure good-will, and +with so much humility and mildness in the features, that his countenance +alone spoke to the heart like a good sermon. Without intending it, we +make a comparison, and can not for a moment doubt in which of the two +dwelt the spirit of religion which denoted the true Christian." +</p> +<p> +Spohr had been two years a widower when he became enamored of one of +the daughters of Court Councilor Pfeiffer. He tells us he had long been +acquainted "with the high and varied intellectual culture of the two +sisters, and so I became fully resolved to sue for the hand of the +elder, Marianne, whose knowledge of music and skill in pianoforte +playing I had already observed when she sometimes gave her assistance +at the concerts of the St. Cecilia Society. As I had not the courage +to propose to her by word of mouth, there being more than twenty years +difference in our ages, I put the question to her in writing, and added, +in excuse for my courtship, the assurance that I was as yet perfectly +free from the infirmities of age." The proposition was accepted, and +they were married without delay on January 3, 1836. The bridal couple +made a long journey through the principal German cities, and were +universally received with great rejoicings. Musical parties and banquets +were everywhere arranged for them, at which Spohr and his young +wife delighted every one by their splendid playing. The "Historical" +symphony, descriptive of the music and characteristics of different +periods, was finished in 1839, and made a very favorable impression both +in Germany and England. Spohr had now become quite at home in England, +where his music was much liked, and during different years went to the +country, where oratorio music is more appreciated than anywhere else +in the musical world, to conduct the Norwich festival. One of his most +successful compositions of this description, "The Fall of Babylon," was +written expressly for the festival of 1842. When it was given the next +year in London under Spohr's own direction, the president of the Sacred +Harmonic Society presented the composer at the close of the performance +with a superb silver testimonial in the name of the society. +</p> +<center> +V. +</center> +<p> +Louis Spohr had now become one of the patriarchs of music, for his life +spanned a longer arch in the history of the art than any contemporary +except Cherubini. He was seven years old when Mozart died, and before +Haydn had departed from this life Spohr had already begun to acquire +a name as a violinist and composer. He lived to be the friend of +Mendelssohn, Meyerbeer, Liszt, and Wagner. Everywhere he was held in +veneration, even by those who did not fully sympathize with his musical +works, for his career had been one of great fecundity in art. In +addition to his rank as one of the few very great violin virtuosos, he +had been indefatigable in the production of compositions in nearly all +styles, and every country of Europe recognized his place as a musician +of supereminent talent, if not of genius, one who had profoundly +influenced contemporary music, even if he should not mold the art of +succeeding ages. Testimonials of admiration and respect poured in on him +from every quarter. +</p> +<p> +He composed the opera of "The Crusaders" in 1845, and he was invited +to conduct the first performance in Berlin. He relates two pleasing +incidents in his "Autobiography." He had been invited to a select dinner +party given at the royal palace, and between the king and Spohr, who +was seated opposite, there intervened an ornamental centerpiece +of considerable height in the shape of a flower vase. This greatly +interfered with the enjoyment by the king of Spohr's conversation. At +last his Majesty, growing impatient, removed the impediment with his own +hands, so that he had a full view of Spohr. +</p> +<p> +The other incident was a pleasing surprise from his colleagues in art. +He was a guest of the Wickmann family, and they were all gathered in the +illuminated garden saloon, when there entered through the gloom of the +garden a number of dark figures swiftly following each other, who proved +to be the members of the royal orchestra, with Meyerbeer and Taubert at +their head. The senior member then presented Spohr with a beautifully +executed gold laurel-wreath, while Meyerbeer made a speech full of +feeling, in which he thanked him for his enthusiastic love of German +art, and for all the grand and beautiful works which he had created, +specially "The Crusaders." The twenty-fifth anniversary of Spohr's +connection with the court theatre of Cassel occurred in 1847, and was +to have been celebrated with a great festival. The death of Felix +Bartholdy Mendelssohn cast a great gloom over musical Germany that +year, so the festival was held not in honor of Spohr, but as a solemn +memorial of the departed genius whose name is a household word among all +those who love the art he so splendidly illustrated. +</p> +<p> +Spohr's next production was the fine symphony known as "The Seasons," +one of the most picturesque and expressive of his orchestral works, in +which he depicts with rich musical color the vicissitudes of the year +and the associations clustering around them. This symphony was followed +by his seventh quintet, in G minor, another string quartet, the +thirty-second, and a series of pieces for the violin and piano, and in +1852 we find the indefatigable composer busy in remodeling his opera of +"Faust" for production by Mr. Gye, in London. It was produced with great +splendor in the English capital, and conducted by Spohr himself; but +it did not prove a great success, a deep disappointment to Spohr, who +fondly believed this work to be his masterpiece. "On this occasion," +writes a very competent critic, <i>ŕ propos</i> of the first performance, +"there was a certain amount of heaviness about the performance which +told very much against the probability of that opera ever becoming +a favorite with the Royal Italian Opera subscribers. Nothing could +possibly exceed the poetical grace of Eonconi in the title rôle, or +surpass the propriety and expression of his singing. Mme. Castellan's +<i>Cunegonda</i> was also exceedingly well sung, and Tamberlik outdid himself +by his thorough comprehension of the music, the splendor of his voice, +and the refinement of his vocalization in the character of <i>Ugo</i>.... +The <i>Mephistopheles</i> of Herr Formes was a remarkable personation, being +truly demoniacal in the play of his countenance, and as characteristic +as any one of Retsch's drawings of Goethe's fiend-tempter. His singing +being specially German was in every way well suited to the occasion." In +spite of the excellence of the interpretation, Spohr's "Faust" did not +take any hold on the lovers of music in England, and even in Germany, +where Spohr is held in great reverence, it presents but little +attraction. The closing years of Spohr's active life as a musician were +devoted to that species of composition where he showed indubitable +title to be considered a man of genius, works for the violin and chamber +music. He himself did not recognize his decadence of energy and musical +vigor; but the veteran was more than seventy years old, and his royal +master resolved to put his baton in younger and fresher hands. So he was +retired from service with an annual pension of fifteen hundred thalers. +Spohr felt this deeply, but he had scarcely reconciled himself to the +change when a more serious casualty befell him. He fell and broke his +left arm, which never gained enough strength for him to hold the beloved +instrument again. It had been the great joy and solace of his life to +play, and, now that in his old age he was deprived of this comfort, he +was ready to die. Only once more did he make a public appearance. In the +spring of 1859 he journeyed to Meiningen to direct a concert on behalf +of a charitable fund. An ovation was given to the aged master. A +colossal bust of himself was placed on the stage, arched with festoons +of palm and laurel, and the conductor's stand was almost buried in +flowers. He was received with thunders of welcome, which were again and +again reiterated, and at the close of the performance he could hardly +escape for the eager throng who wished to press his hand. Spohr died on +October 22, 1859, after a few days' illness, and in his death Germany at +least recognized the loss of one of its most accomplished and versatile +if not greatest composers. +</p> +<center> +VI. +</center> +<p> +Dr. Ludwig Spohr's fame as a composer has far overshadowed his +reputation as a violin virtuoso, but the most capable musical critics +unite in the opinion that that rare quality, which we denominate genius, +was principally shown in his wonderful power as a player, and his works +written for the violin. Spohr was a man of immense self-assertion, and +believed in the greatness of his own musical genius as a composer in the +higher domain of his art. His "Autobiography," one of the most fresh, +racy, and interesting works of the kind ever written, is full of varied +illustrations of what Chorley stigmatizes his "bovine self-conceit." His +fecund production of symphony, oratorio, and opera, as well as of the +more elaborate forms of chamber music, for a period of forty years or +more, proves how deep was his conviction of his own powers. Indeed, he +half confesses himself that he is only willing to be rated a little +less than Beethoven. Spohr was singularly meager, for the most part, in +musical ideas and freshness of melody, but he was a profound master of +the orchestra; and in that variety and richness of resources which +give to tone-creations the splendor of color, which is one of the great +charms of instrumental music, Spohr is inferior only to Wagner among +modern symphonists. Spohr's more pretentious works are a singular union +of meagerness of idea with the most polished richness of manner; but, in +imagination and thought, he is far the inferior of those whose knowledge +of treating the orchestra and contrapuntal skill could not compare with +his. There are more vigor and originality in one of Schubert's greater +symphonies than in all the multitudinous works of the same class ever +written by Spohr. In Spohr's compositions for the violin as a solo +instrument, however, he stands unrivaled, for here his true <i>genre</i> as a +man of creative genius stamps itself unmistakably. +</p> +<p> +Before the coming of Spohr violin music had been illustrated by a +succession of virtuosos, French and Italian, who, though melodiously +charming, planned in their works and execution to exhibit the effects +and graces of the players themselves instead of the instrument. Paganini +carried this tendency to its most remarkable and fascinating extreme, +but Spohr founded a new style of violin playing, on which the greatest +modern performers who have grown up since his prime have assiduously +modeled themselves. Mozart had written solid and simple concertos in +which the performer was expected to embroider and finish the composer's +sketch. This required genius and skill under instant command, instead +of merely phenomenal execution. Again, Beethoven's concertos were so +written as to make the solo player merely one of the orchestra, chaining +him in bonds only to set him free to deliver the cadenza. This species +of self-effacement does not consort with the purpose of solo playing, +which is display, though under that display there should be power, +mastery, and resource of thought, and not the trickery of the +accomplished juggler. Spohr in his violin music most felicitously +accomplished this, and he is simply incomparable in his compromise +between what is severe and classical, and what is suave and delightful, +or passionately exciting. In these works the musician finds nerve, +sparkle, <i>elan</i>, and brightness combined with technical charm and +richness of thought. Spohr's unconscious and spontaneous force in this +direction was the direct outcome of his remarkable power as a solo +player, or, more properly, gathered its life-like play and strength from +the latter fact. It may be said of Spohr that, as Mozart raised opera to +a higher standard, as Beethoven uplifted the ideal of the orchestra, as +Clementi laid a solid foundation for piano-playing, so Spohr's creative +force as a violinist and writer for the violin has established +the grandest school for this instrument, to which all the foremost +contemporary artists acknowledge their obligations. +</p> +<p> +Dr. Spohr's style as a player, while remarkable for its display of +technique and command of resource, always subordinated mere display to +the purpose of the music. The Italians called him "the first singer on +the violin," and his profound musical knowledge enabled him to produce +effects in a perfectly legitimate manner, where other players had +recourse to meretricious and dazzling exhibition of skill. His title to +recollection in the history of music will not be so much that of a great +general composer, but that of the greatest of composers for the violin, +and the one who taught violinists that height of excellence as an +excutant should go hand in hand with good taste and self-restraint, to +produce its most permanent effects and exert its most vital influence. +</p> +<a name="h2H_4_0008" id="h2H_4_0008"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + NICOLO PAGANINI. +</h2> +<p> +The Birth of the Greatest of Violinists.—His Mother's +Dream—Extraordinary Character and Genius.—Heine's Description of his +Playing.—Leigh Hunt on Paganini.—Superstitious Rumors current +during his Life.—He is believed to be a Demoniac.—His Strange +Appearance.—Early Training and Surroundings.—Anecdotes of his +Youth.—Paganini's Youthful Dissipations.—His Passion for Gambling.—He +acquires his Wonderful Guarnerius Violin.—His Reform from +the Gaming-table.—Indefatigable Practice and Work as a Young +Artist.—Paganini as a <i>Preux Chevalier</i>.—His Powerful Attraction for +Women.—Episode with a Lady of Rank.—Anecdotes of his Early Italian +Concertizing.—The Imbroglio at Ferrant.—The Frail Health of +Paganini.—Wonderful Success at Milan, where he first plays One of +the Greatest of his Compositions, "Le Streghe."—Duel with +Lafont.—Incidents and Anecdotes.—His First Visit to Germany.—Great +Enthusiasm of his Audiences.—Experiences at Vienna, Berlin, and other +German Cities.—Description of Paganini, in Paris, by Castil-Blaze and +Fetis.—His English Reception and the Impression made.—Opinions of the +Critics.—Paganini not pleased with England.—Settles in Paris for Two +Years, and becomes the Great Musical Lion.—Simplicity and Amiability +of Nature.—Magnificent Generosity to Hector Berlioz.—The Great +Fortune made by Paganini.—His Beautiful Country Seat near Parma.—An +Unfortunate Speculation in Paris.—The Utter Failure of his +Health.—His Death at Nice.—Characteristics and Anecdotes.—Interesting +Circumstances of his Last Moments.—The Peculiar Genius of Paganini, and +his Influence on Art. +</p> +<center> +I. +</center> +<p> +In the latter part of the last century an Italian woman of Genoa had a +dream which she thus related to her little son: "My son, you will be a +great musician. An angel radiant with beauty appeared to me during the +night and promised to accomplish any wish that I might make. I asked +that you should become the greatest of all violinists, and the angel +granted that my desire should be fulfilled." The child who was thus +addressed became that incomparable artist, Paganini, whose name now, +a glorious tradition, is used as a standard by which to estimate the +excellence of those who have succeeded him. +</p> +<p> +No artist ever lived who so piqued public curiosity, and invested +himself with a species of weird romance, which compassed him as with a +cloud. The personality of the individual so unique and extraordinary, +the genius of the artist so transcendant in its way, the mystery which +surrounded all the movements of the man, conspired to make him an +object of such interest that the announcement of a concert by him in +any European city made as much stir as some great public event. Crowds +followed his strange figure in the streets wherever he went, and, had +the time been the mediaeval ages, he himself a celebrated magician or +sorcerer, credited with power over the spirits of earth and air, his +appearance could not have aroused a thrill of attention more absorbing. +Over men of genius, as well as the commonplace herd, he cast the same +spell, stamping himself as a personage who could be compared with no +other. +</p> +<p> +The German poet Heine thus describes his first acquaintance with this +paragon of violinists: +</p> +<p> +"It was in the theatre at Hamburg that I first heard Paganini's violin. +Although it was fast-day, all the commercial magnates of the town were +present in the front boxes, the goddesses Juno of Wandrahm, and the +goddesses Aphrodite of Dreckwall. A religious hush pervaded the whole +assembly; every eye was directed toward the stage, every ear was +strained for hearing. At last a dark figure, which seemed to ascend from +the under world, appeared on the stage. It was Paganini in full evening +dress, black coat and waistcoat cut after a most villainous pattern, +such as is perhaps in accordance with the infernal etiquette of the +court of Proserpine, and black trousers fitting awkwardly to his thin +legs. His long arms appeared still longer as he advanced, holding in one +hand his violin, and in the other the bow, hanging down so as almost +to touch the ground—all the while making a series of extraordinary +reverences. In the angular contortions of his body there was something +so painfully wooden, and also something so like the movements of a droll +animal, that a strange disposition to laughter overcame the audience; +but his face, which the glaring footlights caused to assume an even +more corpse-like aspect than was natural to it, had in it something so +appealing, something so imbecile and meek, that a strange feeling +of compassion removed all tendency to laughter. Had he learned these +reverences from an automaton or a performing dog? Is this beseeching +look the look of one who is sick unto death, or does there lurk behind +it the mocking cunning of a miser? Is that a mortal who in the agony +of death stands before the public in the art arena, and, like a dying +gladiator, bids for their applause in his last convulsions? or is it +some phantom arisen from the grave, a vampire with a violin, who comes +to suck, if not the blood from our hearts, at least the money from our +pockets? Questions such as these kept chasing each other through the +brain while Paganini continued his apparently interminable series of +complimentary bows; but all such questionings instantly take flight the +moment the great master puts his violin to his chin and began to play. +</p> +<p> +"Then were heard melodies such as the nightingale pours forth in the +gloaming when the perfume of the rose intoxicates her heart with sweet +forebodings of spring! What melting, sensuously languishing notes of +bliss! Tones that kissed, then poutingly fled from another, and at last +embraced and became one, and died away in the ecstasy of union! Again, +there were heard sounds like the song of the fallen angels, who, +banished from the realms of bliss, sink with shame-red countenance to +the lower world. These were sounds out of whose bottomless depth gleamed +no ray of hope or comfort; when the blessed in heaven hear them, the +praises of God die away upon their pallid lips, and, sighing, they veil +their holy faces." Leigh Hunt, in one of his essays, thus describes the +playing of this greatest of all virtuosos: "Paganini, the first time +I saw and heard him, and the first moment he struck a note, seemed +literally to strike it, to <i>give</i> it a blow. The house was so crammed +that, being among the squeezers in the standing room at the side of the +pit, I happened to catch the first glance of his face through the arms +akimbo of a man who was perched up before me, which made a kind of +frame for it; and there on the stage through that frame, as through a +perspective glass, were the face, the bust, and the raised hand of +the wonderful musician, with the instrument at his chin, just going to +begin, and looking exactly as I describe him in the following lines: +</p> +<pre> + "His hand, Loading the air with dumb expectancy, + Suspended, ere it fell, a nation's breath. + He <i>smote</i>; and clinging to the serious chords + With Godlike ravishment drew forth a breath, + So deep, so strong, so fervid, thick with love— + Blissful, yet laden as with twenty prayers— + That Juno yearned with no diviner soul + To the first burthen of the lips of Jove. + The exceeding mystery of the loveliness + Sadden'd delight; and, with his mournful look, + Dreary and gaunt, hanging his pallid face + Twixt his dark flowing locks, he almost seemed + Too feeble, or to melancholy eyes + One that has parted from his soul for pride, + And in the sable secret lived forlorn. +</pre> +<p> +"To show the depth and identicalness of the impression which he made +on everybody, foreign or native, an Italian who stood near me said to +himself, with a long sigh, 'O Dio!' and this had not been said long, +when another person in the same tone uttered 'Oh Christ!' Musicians +pressed forward from behind the scenes to get as close to him as +possible, and they could not sleep at night for thinking of him." +</p> +<p> +The impression made by Paganini was something more than that of a great, +even the greatest, violinist. It was as if some demoniac power lay +behind the human, prisoned and dumb except through the agencies of +music, but able to fill expression with faint, far-away cries of +passion, anguish, love, and aspiration—echoes from the supernatural +and invisible. His hearers forgot the admiration due to the wonderful +virtuoso, and seemed to listen to voices from another world. The strange +rumors that were current about him, Paganini seems to have been not +disinclined to encourage, for, mingled with his extraordinary genius, +there was an element of charlatanism. It was commonly reported that +his wonderful execution on the G-string was due to a long imprisonment, +inflicted on him for the assassination of a rival in love, during which +he had a violin with one string only. Paganini himself writes that, "At +Vienna one of the audience affirmed publicly that my performance was +not surprising, for he had distinctly seen, while I was playing my +variations, the devil at my elbow, directing my arm and guiding my bow. +My resemblance to the devil was a proof of my origin." Even sensible +people believed that Paganini had some uncanny and unlawful secret which +enabled him to do what was impossible for other players. At Prague he +actually printed a letter from his mother to prove that he was not the +son of the devil. It was not only the perfectly novel and astonishing +character of his playing, but to a large extent his ghostlike +appearance, which caused such absurd rumors. The tall, skeleton-like +figure, the pale, narrow, wax-colored face, the long, dark, disheveled +hair, the mysterious expression of the heavy eye, made a weirdly strange +<i>ensemble</i>. Heine tells us in "The Florentine Nights" that only one +artist had succeeded in delineating the real physiognomy of Paganini: "A +deaf and crazy painter, called Lyser, has in a sort of spiritual frenzy +so admirably portrayed by a few touches of his pencil the head of +Paganini that one is dismayed and moved to laughter at the faithfulness +of the sketch! 'The devil guided my hand,' said the deaf painter to me, +with mysterious gesticulations and a satirical yet good-natured wag of +the head, such as he was wont to indulge in when in the midst of his +genial tomfoolery." +</p> +<center> +II. +</center> +<p> +Nicolo Paganini was born at Genoa on the night of February 18, 1784, +of parents in humbly prosperous circumstances, his father being a +ship-broker, and, though illiterate in a general way, a passionate lover +of music and an amateur of some skill. The father soon perceived the +child's talent, and caused him to study so severely that it not only +affected his constitution, but actually made him a tolerable player at +the age of six years. The elder Paganini's knowledge of music was not +sufficient to carry the lad far in mastering the instrument, but the +extraordinary precocity shown so interested Signor Corvetto, the leader +at the Genoese theatre, that he undertook to instruct the gifted child. +Two years later the young Paganini was transferred to the charge of +Signor Giacomo Costa, an excellent violinist, and director of church +music at one of the cathedrals, under whom he made rapid progress in +executive skill, while he studied harmony and counterpoint under the +composer Gnecco. It was at this time, Paganini not yet being nine years +of age, that he composed his first piece, a sonata now lost. In 1793 he +made his first appearance in public at Genoa, and played variations +on the air "La Carmagnole," then so popular, with immense effect. This +<i>début</i> was followed by several subsequent appearances, in which he +created much enthusiasm. He also played a violin concerto every Sunday +in church, an attraction which drew great throngs. This practice was +of great use to Paganini, as it forced him continually to study fresh +music. About the year 1795 it was deemed best to place the boy under +the charge of an eminent professor, and Alessandro Rolla, of Parma, was +pitched on. When the Paganinis arrived, they found the learned professor +ill, and rather surly at the disturbance. Young Paganini, however, +speedily silenced the complaints of the querulous invalid. The great +player himself relates the anecdote: "His wife showed us into a room +adjoining the bedroom, till she had spoken to the sick man. Finding on +the table a violin and the music of Rolla's latest concerto, I took +up the instrument and played the piece at sight. Astonished at what +he heard, the composer asked for the name of the player, and could not +believe it was only a young boy till he had seen for himself. He then +told me that he had nothing to teach me, and advised me to go to Paër +for study in composition." But, as Paër was at this time in Germany, +Paganini studied under Ghiretti and Rolla himself while he remained in +Parma, according to the monograph of Fetis. +</p> +<p> +The youthful player had already begun to search out new effects on the +violin, and to create for himself characteristics of tone and treatment +hitherto unknown to players. After his return to Genoa he composed his +first "Études," which were of such unheard-of difficulty that he was +sometimes obliged to practice a single passage ten hours running. His +intense study resulted not only in his acquirement of an unlimited +execution, but in breaking down his health. His father was a harsh and +inexorable taskmaster, and up to this time Paganini (now being fourteen) +had remained quiescent under this tyrant's control. But the desire of +liberty was breeding projects in his breast, which opportunity soon +favored. He managed to get permission to travel alone for the first +time to Lucca, where he had engaged to play at the musical festival +in November, 1798. He was received with so much enthusiasm that he +determined not to return to the paternal roof, and at once set off +to fulfill engagements at Pisa and other towns. In vain the angry and +mortified father sought to reclaim the young rebel who had slipped +through his fingers. Nicolo found the sweets of freedom too precious +to go back again to bondage, though he continued to send his father a +portion of the proceeds of his playing. +</p> +<p> +The youth, intoxicated with the license of his life, plunged into all +kinds of dissipation, specially into gambling, at this time a universal +vice in Italy, as indeed it was throughout Europe. Alternate fits of +study and gaming, both of which he pursued with equal zeal, and the +exhaustion of the life he led, operated dangerously on his enfeebled +frame, and fits of illness frequently prevented his fulfillment of +concert engagements. More than once he wasted in one evening the +proceeds of several concerts, and was obliged to borrow money on his +violin, the source of his livelihood, in order to obtain funds wherewith +to pay his gambling debts. Anything more wild, debilitating, and ruinous +than the life led by this boy, who had barely emerged from childhood, +can hardly be imagined. On one occasion he was announced for a concert +at Leghorn, but he had gambled away his money and pawned his violin, so +that he was compelled to get the loan of an instrument in order to play +in the evening. In this emergency he applied to M. Livron, a French +gentleman, a merchant of Leghorn, and an excellent amateur performer, +who possessed a Guarneri del Gesů violin, reputed among connoisseurs one +of the finest instruments in the world. The generous Frenchman instantly +acceded to the boy's wish, and the precious violin was put in his hands. +After the concert, when Paganini returned the instrument to M. Livron, +the latter, who had been to hear him, exclaimed, "Never will I profane +the strings which your fingers have touched! That instrument is yours." +The astonishment and delight of the young artist may be more easily +imagined than described. It was upon this violin that Paganini afterward +performed in all his concerts, and the great virtuoso left it to the +town of Genoa, where it is now preserved in a glass case in the Museum. +An excellent engraving of it, from a photograph, was published in 1875 +in George Hart's book on "The Violin." +</p> +<p> +At this period of his life, between the ages of seventeen and twenty, +Nicolo Paganini was surrounded by numerous admirers, and led into +all kinds of dissipation. He was naturally amiable and witty in +conversation, though he has been reproached with selfishness. There can +be no doubt that he was, at this period, constantly under the combined +influences of flattery and unbounded ambition; nevertheless, in spite +of all his successful performances at concerts, the style of life he was +leading kept him so poor that he frequently took in hand all kinds +of musical work to supply the wants of the moment. It is a curious +coincidence that the fine violin which was presented to him by M. +Livron, as we have just seen, was the cause of his abandoning, after a +while, the allurements of the gaming-tables. Paganini tells us himself +that a certain nobleman was anxious to possess this instrument, and had +offered for it a sum equivalent to about four hundred dollars; but the +artist would not sell it even if one thousand had been offered for it, +although he was, at this juncture, in great need of funds to pay off a +debt of honor, and sorely tempted to accept the proffered amount. Just +at this point Paganini received an invitation to a friend's house where +gambling was the order of the day. "All my capital," he says, "consisted +of thirty francs, as I had disposed of my jewels, watch, rings, etc.; +I nevertheless resolved on risking this last resource, and, if fortune +proved fickle, to sell my violin and proceed to St. Petersburg, without +instrument or baggage, with the view of reestablishing my affairs. My +thirty francs were soon reduced to three, and I already fancied myself +on the road to Russia, when luck took a sudden turn, and I won one +hundred and sixty francs. This saved my violin and completely set me up. +From that day forward I gradually gave up gaming, becoming more and more +convinced that a gambler is an object of contempt to all well-regulated +minds." +</p> +<center> +III. +</center> +<p> +Love-making was also among the diversions which Paganini began early +to practice. Like nearly all great musicians, he was an object of great +fascination to the fair sex, and his life had its full share of amorous +romances. A strange episode was his retirement in the country château of +a beautiful Bolognese lady for three years, between the years 1801 +and 1804. Here, in the society of a lovely woman, who was passionately +devoted to him, and amid beautiful scenery, he devoted himself to +practicing and composition, also giving much study to the guitar (the +favorite instrument of his inamorata), on which he became a wonderful +proficient. This charming idyl in Paganini's life reminds one of the +retirement of the pianist Chopin to the island of Majorca in the company +of Mme. George Sand. It was during this period of his life that Paganini +composed twelve of his finest sonatas for violin and guitar. +</p> +<p> +When our musician returned again to Genoa and active life in 1804, he +devoted much time also to composition. He was twenty years of age, +and wrote here four grand quartets for violin, tenor, violoncello, +and guitar, and also some bravura variations for violin with guitar +accompaniment. At this period he gave lessons to a young girl of Genoa, +Catherine Calcagno, about seven years of age; eight years later, when +only fifteen years old, this young lady astonished Italian audiences by +the boldness of her style. She continued her artistic career till the +year 1816, when she had attained the age of twenty-one, and all traces +of her in the musical world appear to be lost; doubtless, at this period +she found a husband, and retired completely from public life. +</p> +<p> +In 1805 Paganini accepted the position of director of music and +conductor of the opera orchestra at Lucca, under the immediate patronage +of the Princess Eliza, sister of Napoleon and wife of Bacciochi. The +prince took lessons from him on the violin, and gave him whole charge of +the court music. It was at the numerous concerts given at Lucca during +this period of Paganini's early career that he first elaborated many of +those curious effects, such as performances on one string, harmonic +and pizzicato passages, which afterward became so characteristic of his +style. +</p> +<p> +But the demon of unrest would not permit Paganini to remain very long +in one place. In 1808 he began his wandering career of concert-giving +afresh, performing throughout northern Italy, and amassing considerable +money, for his fame had now become so widespread that engagements poured +on him thick and fast. The lessons of his inconsiderate past had already +made a deep impression on his mind, and Paganini became very economical, +a tendency which afterward developed into an almost miserly passion for +money-getting and -saving, though, through his whole life, he performed +many acts of magnificent generosity. He had numerous curious adventures, +some of which are worth recording. At a concert in Leghorn he came on +the stage, limping, from the effects of a nail which had run into his +foot. This made a great laugh. Just as he began to play, the candles +fell out of his music desk, and again there was an uproar. Suddenly the +first string broke, and there was more hilarity; but, says Paganini, +naively, "I played the piece on three strings, and the sneers quickly +changed into boisterous applause." At Ferrara he narrowly escaped an +enraged audience with his life. It had been arranged that a certain +Signora Marcolini should take part in his concert, but illness prevented +her singing, and at the last moment Paganini secured the services of +Signora Pallerini, who, though a danseuse, possessed an agreeable voice. +The lady was very nervous and diffident, but sang exceedingly well, +though there were a few in the audience who were inconsiderate enough to +hiss. Paganini was furious at this insult, and vowed to be avenged. At +the end of the concert he proposed to amuse the audience by imitating +the noises of various animals on his violin. After he had reproduced the +mewing of a cat, the barking of a dog, the crowing of a cock, etc., he +advanced to the footlights and called out, "Questo č per quelli che +han fischiato" ("This is for those who hissed"), and imitated in an +unmistakable way the braying of the jackass. At this the pit rose to +a man, and charged through the orchestra, climbed the stage, and would +have killed Paganini, had he not fled incontinently, "standing not on +the order of his going, but going at once." The explanation of this +sensitiveness of the audience is found in the fact that the people of +Ferrara had a general reputation for stupidity, and the appearance of +a Ferrarese outside of the town walls was the signal for a significant +hee-haw. Paganini never gave any more concerts in that town. +</p> +<p> +As he approached his thirtieth year his delicate and highly strung +organization, already undermined by the excesses of his early +youth, began to give way. He was frequently troubled with internal +inflammation, and he was obliged to regulate his habits in the strictest +fashion as to diet and hours of sleep. Even while comparatively well, +his health always continued to be very frail. +</p> +<p> +Paganini composed his remarkable variations called "Le Streghe" ("The +Witches") at Milan in 1813. In this composition, the air of which was +taken from a ballet by Sussmayer, called "Il Noce de Benevento," at the +part where the witches appear in the piece as performed on the stage, +the violinist introduced many of his most remarkable effects. He played +this piece for the first time at La Scala theatre, and he was honored +with the most tumultuous enthusiasm, which for a long time prevented the +progress of the programme. Paganini always had a predilection for Milan +afterward, and said he enjoyed giving concerts there more than at any +other city in Europe. He gave no less than thirty-seven concerts here +in 1813. In this city, three years afterward, occurred his interesting +musical duel with Lafont, the well-known French violinist. Paganini +was then at Genoa, and, hearing of Lafont's presence at Milan, at +once hastened to that city to hear him play. "His performance," said +Pagani-ni, "pleased me exceedingly." When the Italian violinist, a week +later, gave a concert at La Scala, Lafont was in the audience, and the +very next day he proposed that Paganini and himself should play together +at the same concert. "I excused myself," said Paganini, "alleging that +such experiments were impolitic, as the public invariably looked upon +these matters as duels, in which there must be a victim, and that it +would be so in this case; for, as he was acknowledged to be the best of +the French violinists, so the public indulgently considered me to be +the best player in Italy. Lafont not looking at it in this light, I was +obliged to accept the challenge. I allowed him to arrange the programme. +We each played a concerto of our own composition, after which we played +together a duo concertante by Kreutzer. In this I did not deviate in the +least from the composer's text while we played together, but in the solo +parts I yielded freely to my own imagination, and introduced several +novelties, which seemed to annoy my adversary. Then followed a 'Russian +Air,' with variations, by Lafont, and I finished the concert with my +variations called 'Le Streghe.' Lafont probably surpassed me in tone; +but the applause which followed my efforts convinced me that I did not +suffer by comparison." There seems to be no question that the victory +remained with Paganini. A few years later Paganini played in a similar +contest with the Polish violinist Lipinski, at Placentia. The two +artists, however, were intimate friends, and there was not a spark +of rivalry or jealousy in their generous emulation. In fact, +Paganini appears to have been utterly without that conceit in his own +extraordinary powers which is so common in musical artists. Heine gives +an amusing illustration of this. He writes: "Once, after listening to a +concert by Paganini, as I was addressing him with the most impassioned +eulogies on his violin-playing, he interrupted me with the words, 'But +how were you pleased to-day with my compliments and reverences?'" The +musician thought more of his genuflexions than of his musical talent. +</p> +<center> +IV. +</center> +<p> +In the year 1817 Rossini, Meyerbeer, and Paganini were at Rome during +Carnival time, and the trio determined on a grand frolic. Rossini had +composed a very clever part-song, "Carnavale, Carnavale," known in +English as "We are Poor Beggars," and the three great musicians, having +disguised themselves as beggars, sang it with great effect through the +streets. Rossini during this Carnival produced his "Cenerentola," and +Paganini gave a series of concerts which excited great enthusiasm. +Shortly after this, Paganini's health gave way completely at Naples, and +the landlord of the hotel where he was stopping got the impression that +his sickness was infectious. In the most brutal manner he turned the +sick musician into the street. Fortunately, at this moment a violoncello +player, Ciandelli, who knew Paga-nini well, was passing by, and came to +the rescue, and his anger was so great, when he saw what had happened +to the great violinist, that he belabored the barbarous landlord +unmercifully with a stick, and conveyed the invalid to a comfortable +lodging where he was carefully attended to. Some time subsequently +Paganini had an opportunity of repaying this kindness, for he gave +Ciandelli some valuable instruction, which enabled him in the course of +a few years to become transformed from a very indifferent performer into +an artist of considerable eminence. +</p> +<p> +At the age of thirty-six Paganini again found himself at Milan, and +there organized a society of musical amateurs, called "Gli Orfei." He +conducted several of their concerts. But either the love of a roving +life or the necessity of wandering in order to fill his exchequer kept +him constantly on the move; and, though during these travels he is said +to have met with many extraordinary adventures, very little reliance can +be placed upon the accounts that have come down to us, the more so +when we consider that Paga-nini's mode of life was, as we shall see +presently, become by this time extremely sober. It was not until he +was forty-four years old that he finally quitted Italy to make himself +better known in foreign countries. He had been encouraged to visit +Vienna by Prince Metternich, who had heard and admired his playing at +Rome in 1817, and had repeatedly made plans to visit Germany, but his +health had been so wretched as to prevent his departure from his native +country. But a sojourn in the balmy climate of Sicily for a few months +had done him so much good that in 1828 he put his long-deferred +plans into execution. The first concert in March of that year made an +unparalleled sensation. He gave a great number of concerts in Vienna, +among them several for the poor. A fever seized all classes of society. +The shop windows were crowded with goods <i>ŕ la Paganini</i>; a good stroke +at billiards was called <i>un coup ŕ la Paganini</i>; dishes Avere named +after him; his portrait was enameled on snuff-boxes, and the Viennese +dandies carried his bust on the head of their walking-sticks. A cabman +wheedled out of the reluctant violinist permission to print on his cab, +<i>Cabriolet de Paganini</i>. By this cunning device, Jehu so augmented his +profits that he was able to rent a large house and establish a hotel, in +which capacity Paganini found him when he returned again to Vienna. +</p> +<p> +Among the pleasant stories told of him is one similar to an incident +previously related of Viotti. One day, as he was walking in Vienna, +Paganini saw poor little Italian boy scraping some Neapolitan songs +before the windows of a large house. A celebrated composer who +accompanied the artist remarked to him, "There is one of your +compatriots." Upon which Paganini evinced a desire to speak to the lad, +and went across the street to him for that purpose. After ascertaining +that he was a poor beggar-boy from the other side of the Alps, and that +he supported his sick mother, his only relative, by his playing, the +great violinist appeared touched. He literally emptied his pockets into +the boy's hand, and, taking the violin and bow from him, began the +most grotesque and extraordinary performance possible. A crowd soon +collected, the great virtuoso was at once recognized by the bystanders, +and when he brought the performance to an end, amid the cheers and +shouts of all assembled, he handed round the boy's hat, and made a +considerable collection of coin, in which silver pieces were very +conspicuous. He then handed the sum to the young Italian, saying, "Take +that to your mother," and, rejoining his companion, walked off with him, +saying, "I hope I've done a good turn to that little animal." At +Berlin, where he soon afterward astonished his crowded audiences by his +marvelous playing, the same fanatical enthusiasm ensued; and, with +the exception of Palermo, Naples (where he seems to have had many +detractors), and Prague, his visits to the various cities of Europe were +one continued triumph. People tried in vain to explain his method of +playing, professors criticised him, and pamphlets were published which +endeavored to make him out a quack or a charlatan. It was all to no +purpose. Nothing could arrest his onward course; triumph succeeded +triumph wherever he appeared; and, though no one could understand him, +every one admired him, and he had only to touch his violin to enchant +thousands. A curious scene occurred at Berlin, at a musical evening +party to which Paganini was invited. A young and presumptuous professor +of the violin performed there several pieces with very little effect; he +was not aware of the presence of the Genoese giant, whom he did not know +even by sight. Others, however, quickly recognized him, and he was asked +to play, which he at first declined, but finally consented to do after +urgent solicitation. Purposely he played a few variations in wretchedly +bad style, which caused a suppressed laugh from those ignorant of his +identity. The young professor came forward again and played another +selection in a most pretentious and pointed way, as if to crush the +daring wretch who had ventured to compete with him. Paganini again took +up the instrument, and played a short piece with such touching pathos +and astonishing execution, that the audience sat breathless till the +last dying cadence wakened them into thunders of applause, and hearts +thrilled as the name "Paganini" crept from mouth to mouth. The young +professor had already vanished from the room, and was never again seen +in the house where he had received so severe a lesson. +</p> +<p> +Paganini repeated his triumphs again the following year, performing +in Vienna and the principal cities of Germany, and everywhere arousing +similar feelings of admiration. Orders and medals were bestowed on him, +and his progress was almost one of royalty. His first concert in Paris +was given on March 9, 1831, at the opera-house. He was then forty-seven +years old, and Castil-Blaze described him as being nearly six feet +in height, with a long, pallid face, brilliant eyes, like those of an +eagle, long curling black hair, which fell down over the collar of his +coat, a thin and cadaverous figure—altogether a personality so gaunt +and delicate as to be more like a shadow than a man. The eyes sparkled +with a strange phosphorescent gleam, and the long bony fingers were so +flexible as to be likened only to "a handkerchief tied to the end of a +stick." Petis describes the impression he created at his first concert +as amounting to a "positive and universal frenzy." Being questioned as +to why he always performed his own compositions, he replied "that, if he +played other compositions than his own, he was obliged to arrange them +to suit his own peculiar style, and it was less trouble to write a piece +of his own." Indeed, whenever he attempted to interpret the works of +other composers, he failed to produce the effects which might have been +expected of him. This was especially the case in the works of Beethoven. +</p> +<center> +V. +</center> +<p> +When Paganini appeared in England, of course there was a prodigious +curiosity to see and hear the great player. All kinds of rumors were +in the public mouth about him, and many of the lower classes really +believed that he had sold himself to the evil one. The capacious area +of the opera-house was densely packed, and the prices of admission were +doubled on the opening night. The enthusiasm awakened by the performance +can best be indicated by quoting from some of the contemporary accounts. +The concert opened with Beethoven's Second Symphony, performed by +the Philharmonic Society, and it was followed by Lablache, who sang +Rossini's "Largo al factotum." "A breathless silence then ensued," +writes Mr. Gardiner, an amateur of Leicester, who at the peril of his +ribs had been struggling in the crowd for two hours to get admission, +"and every eye watched the action of this extraordinary violinist as he +glided from the side scenes to the front of the stage. An involuntary +cheering burst from every part of the house, many persons rising from +their seats to view the specter during the thunder of this unprecedented +applause, his gaunt and extraordinary appearance being more like that +of a devotee about to suffer martyrdom than one to delight you with +his art. With the tip of his bow he set off the orchestra in a grand +military movement with a force and vivacity as surprising as it was +new. At the termination of this introduction, he commenced with a soft, +streamy note of celestial quality, and with three or four whips of his +bow elicited points of sound that mounted to the third heaven, and as +bright as stars.... Immediately an execution followed which was equally +indescribable. A scream of astonishment and delight burst from the +audience at the novelty of this effect.... etc." This <i>naive</i> account +may serve to show the impression created on the minds of those not +trained to guard their words with moderation. +</p> +<p> +"Nothing can be more intense in feeling," said a contemporary critic, +"than his conception and delivery of an adagio passage. His tone is, +perhaps, not quite so full and round as that of a De Bériot or Baillot, +for example; it is delicate rather than strong, but this delicacy was +probably never possessed equally by another player." "There is no trick +in his playing," writes another critic; "it is all fair scientific +execution, opening to us a new order of sounds.... All his passages +seem free and unpremeditated, as if conceived on the instant. One has no +impression of their having cost him either forethought or labor.... +The word difficulty has no place in his vocabulary.... etc." Paganini's +lengthened tour through London and the provinces was everywhere attended +with the same success, and brought him in a golden harvest, for his +reputation had now grown so portentous that he could exact the greatest +terms from managers. +</p> +<p> +Paganini avowed himself as not altogether pleased with England, but, +under the surface of such complaints as the following, one detects the +ring of gratified vanity. He writes in a MS. letter, dated from London +in 1831, of the excessive and noisy admiration to which he was subjected +in the London streets, which left him no peace, and actually blocked his +passage to and from the theatre. "Although the public curiosity to see +me," says he, "is long since satisfied; though I have played in public +at least thirty times, and my likeness has been reproduced in all +possible styles and forms, yet I can never leave my home without being +mobbed by people who are not content with following and jostling me, but +actually get in front of me, and prevent my going either way, address me +in English of which I don't know a word, and even feel me as if to find +out if I am made of flesh and blood. And this is not only among the +common people, but among the upper classes." Paganini repeated his visit +to England during the next season, playing his final farewell concert at +the Victoria Theatre, London, June 17, 1832. The two following years +our artist lived in Paris, and was the great lion of musical and +social circles. People professed to be as much charmed with his lack of +pretension, his <i>naive</i> and simple manners, as with his musical genius. +Yet no man was more exacting of his rights as an artist. One day a court +concert was announced at the Tuilleries, at which Paganini was asked +to play. He consented, and went to examine the room the day before. He +objected to the numerous curtains, so hung as to deaden the sound, +and requested the superintendent to see that they were changed. The +supercilious official ignored the artist's wish, and the offended +Paganini determined not to play. When the hour of the concert arrived, +there was no violinist. The royalties and their attendants were all +seated; murmurs arose, but still no Paganini. At last an official was +sent to the hotel of the artist, only to be informed that <i>the great +violinist had not gone out, but that he went to bed very early</i>. It was +during his residence in Paris in the winter of 1834 that he proposed +to Berlioz, for whom he had the most cordial esteem and admiration, +to write a concerto for his Stradiuarius violin, which resulted in the +famous symphony "Harold en Italie." Four years after this he bestowed +the sum of twenty thousand francs on Berlioz, who was then in pressing +need, delicately disguising the donation as a testimonial of his +admiration for the "Symphonie Fantastique." Though the eagerness of +Paganini to make money urged him to labor for years while his health was +exceedingly frail, and though he was justly stigmatized as penurious +in many ways, he was capable of princely generosity on occasions which +appealed strongly to the ardent sympathies which lay at the bottom of +his nature. +</p> +<p> +Paganini made a great fortune by the exercise of his art, and in 1834 +purchased, among other property in his native country, a charming +country seat called Villa Gajona, near Parma. Here he spent two years +in comparative quiet, though still continuing to give concerts. At this +period and for some time previous many music-sellers had striven to buy +the copyright of his works. But Paganini put a price on it which +was prescriptive, the probability being that he did not wish his +compositions to pass out of his hands till he had given up his career on +the concert stage. He was willing that they should be arranged for the +piano, but not published as violin music. +</p> +<p> +After his return to Italy Paganini gave several most successful +concerts, among others, one for the poor at Placentia, on the 14th of +November, 1834, and another at the court of the Duchess of Parma, in the +December following. But his health was already giving way most visibly. +Phthisis of the larynx, which rendered him a mere shadow of his former +self, and sometimes almost deprived him of speech, had been gaining +ground since his return to his native climate. In 1836, however, he was +better, and some unscrupulous Parisian speculators induced him to lend +his name to a joint-stock undertaking, a sort of gambling-room and +concert-hall, which they called the Casino Paganini. This was duly +opened in a fashionable part of Paris in 1837; but, as the Government +would not allow the establishment to be used as a gambling-house, and +the concerts did not pay the expenses, it became a great failure, and +the illustrious artist actually suffered loss by it to the extent of +forty thousand francs. +</p> +<p> +One of his last, if not his very last, concert was given with the +guitar-player, Signor Legnani, at Turin, on the 9th of June, 1837, +for the benefit of the poor. He was then on his way to fulfill his +engagements at the fatal Parisian casino, which opened with much +splendor in the November following. But his health had again broken +down, and the fatigue of the journey had told upon him so much that he +was unable to appear at the casino. When the enterprise was found to +be a failure, a pettifogging lawsuit was carried on against him, and, +according to Fetis, who is very explicit on this subject, the French +judges condemned him to pay the aforesaid forty thousand francs, and to +be deprived of his liberty until that amount was paid—all this without +hearing his defense! +</p> +<p> +The career of Paganini was at this critical period fast drawing to a +close. His medical advisers recommended him to return at once to the +South, fearing that the winter would kill him in Paris. He died at Nice +on May 27, 1840, aged fifty-six years. He left to his legitimized son +Achille, the offspring of his <i>liaison</i> with the singer Antonia Bianchi, +a fortune of eighty thousand pounds, and the title of baron, of which he +had received the patent in Germany. His beautiful Guarnerius violin, the +vehicle of so many splendid artistic triumphs, he bequeathed to the town +of Genoa, where he was born. Though Paganini was superstitious, and died +a son of Holy Church, he did not leave any money in religious bequests, +nor did he even receive the last sacraments. The authorities of Rome +raised many difficulties about the funeral, and it was only after an +enormous amount of trouble and expense that Achille was able to have a +solemn service to the memory of his father performed at Parma. It was +five years after Paganini's death that this occurred, and permission +was obtained to have the body removed to holy ground in the village +churchyard near the Villa Gajona. During this long period the dishonored +remains of the illustrious musician were at the hospital of Nice, where +the body had been embalmed, and afterward at a country place near Genoa, +belonging to the family. The superstitious peasantry believed that +strange noises were heard about the grave at night—the wailings of +the unsatisfied spirit of Paganini over the unsanctified burial of its +earthly shell. It was to end these painful stories that the young +baron made a final determined effort to placate the ecclesiastical +authorities. +</p> +<center> +VI. +</center> +<p> +The singular personality of Paganini displayed itself in his private no +less than in his artistic life, and a few out of the many anecdotes told +of him will be of interest, as throwing fresh light on the man. Paganini +was accused of being selfish and miserly, of caring little even for his +art, except as a means of accumulating money. While there is much in his +life to justify such an indictment, it is no less true that he on many +occasions displayed great generosity. He was always willing to give +concerts for the benefit of his fellow-artists and for other charitable +purposes, and on more than one occasion bestowed large sums of money for +the relief of distress. We may assume that he was niggardly by habit +and generous by impulse. Utterly ignorant of everything except the art +of music, bred under the most unfortunate and demoralizing conditions, +the fact that his character was, on the whole, so <i>naive</i> and upright, +speaks eloquently for the native qualities of his disposition. His +eccentricities, perhaps, justified the unreasoning vulgar in believing +that he was slightly crazed. His appearance and manner on the platform +were fantastic in the extreme, and rarely failed to provoke ridicule, +till his magic bow turned all other emotions into one of breathless +admiration. He talked to himself continually when alone, a habit +which was partly responsible for the popular belief that he was always +attended by a familiar demon. When a stranger was introduced to him, his +corpse-like face became galvanized into a ghastly smile, which produced +a singular impression, half fascinating, half repulsive. He was taciturn +in society, except among his intimates, when his buoyant spirits bubbled +out in the most amusing jokes and anecdotes expressed in a polyglot +tongue, for he never knew any language well except his own. Naturally +irritable, his quick temper was inflamed by intestinal disease, which +racked him with a suffering that was aggravated by a nostrum, in the use +of which he indulged freely. Indeed, it was said by his friends that his +death was accelerated by his devotion to medical quackery, from a belief +in which no arguments could wean him. +</p> +<p> +To his fellow-artists he was always polite and attentive, though they +annoyed him by their persistent curiosity as to the means by which he +produced his unrivaled effects—effects which the established technique +of violin-playing could not explain. An Englishman named George Harris, +who was an <i>attache</i> of the Hanoverian court, attended Paganini for a +year as his private secretary, and he asserts that Paganini was never +seen to practice a single note of music in private. His astonishing +dexterity was kept up to its pitch by the numerous concerts which he +gave, and by his exquisitely delicate organization. He was accustomed to +say that his whole early life had been one of prodigious and continual +study, and that he could afford to repose in after years. Paganini's +knowledge of music was profound and exact, and the most difficult music +was mere child's play to him. Pasini, a well-known painter, living at +Parma, did not believe the stories told of Paganini's ability to play +the most difficult music at sight. Being the possessor of a valuable +Stradiuarius violin, he challenged our artist to play, at first hand, a +manuscript concerto which he placed before him. "This instrument +shall be yours," he said, "if you can play, in a masterly manner, that +concerto at first sight." The Genoese took the violin in his hand, +saying, "In that case, my friend, you may bid adieu to it at once," and +he immediately threw Pasini into ecstatic admiration by his performance +of the piece. There is little doubt that this is the Stradiuarius +instrument left by Paganini to his son, and valued at about six hundred +pounds sterling. +</p> +<p> +Of Antonia Bianchi, the mother of his son Achille, Paganini tells us +that, after many years of a most devoted life, the lady's temper became +so violent that a separation was necessary. "Antonia was constantly +tormented," he says, "by the most fearful jealousy. One day she happened +to be behind my chair when I was writing some lines in the album of a +great pianiste, and, when she read the few amiable words I had composed +in honor of the artist to whom the book belonged, she tore it from my +hands, demolished it on the spot, and, so fearful was her rage, would +have assassinated me." +</p> +<p> +He was very fond of his little son Achille. A French gentleman tells +us that he called once to take Paganini to dine with him. He found the +artist's room in great disorder. A violin on the table with manuscript +music, another upon a chair, a snuff-box on the bed along with his +child's toys, music, money, letters, articles of dress—all <i>pęle-męle</i>; +nor were the tables and chairs in their proper places. Everything was in +the most conspicuous confusion. The child was out of temper; something +had vexed him; he had been told to wash his hands; and, while the little +one gave vent to the most violent bursts of temper, the father stood +as calm and quiet as the most accomplished of nurses. He merely turned +quietly to his visitor, and said, in melancholy accents: "The poor child +is cross; I do not know what to do to amuse him; I have played with him +ever since morning, and I can not stand it any longer." +</p> +<p> +"It was rather amusing," says the same writer, "to see Paganini in his +slippers doing battle with his child, who came about up to his knees. +The little one advanced boldly with his wooden sword, while the father +retired, crying out, 'Enough, enough! I am already wounded.' But it was +not enough; the young Achilles was never satisfied until his father, +completely vanquished, fell heavily on the bed." +</p> +<p> +In the early part of the present century the facilities for travel +were far less convenient than at the present time, and it was always an +arduous undertaking to one in Paganini's frail condition of health. He +was, however, generally cheerful while jolting along in the post-chaise, +and chatted incessantly as long as his voice held out. Harris tells us +that the artist was in the habit of getting out when the horses +were changed, to stretch his long limbs after the confinement of the +carriage. Often he extended his promenades when he became interested in +the town through which he was passing, and would not return till +long after the fresh horses had been harnessed, thereby causing much +annoyance to the driver. On one occasion Jehu swore, if it occurred +again, he would drive on, and leave his passenger behind, to get along +as best he could. The secretary, Harris, was enjoying a nap, and the +driver was true to his resolution at the next stopping-place, leaving +Paganini behind. This made much trouble, and a special coach had to be +sent for the enraged artist, who was found sputtering oaths in half a +dozen languages. Paganini refused to pay for the carriage, and it was +only by force of law that he reluctantly settled the bill. +</p> +<p> +His baggage was always of the plainest description; in fact, ludicrously +simple. A shabby box contained his precious Guarnerius fiddle, and +served also as a portmanteau wherein to pack his jewelry, his linen, and +sundry trifles. In addition to this he carried a small traveling-bag and +a hat-box. Mr. Harris tolls us that Paganini was in eating and drinking +exceedingly frugal. Table indulgence was forbidden him by the condition +of his health, as any deviation from the strictest diet resulted in +great suffering. He was a thorough Italian in all his habits and ideas. +Among other traits was a great disdain for the lower classes, though +he was by no means subservient to people of rank and wealth. It was +his habit, when an inferior addressed him, to inquire of his companion, +"What does this animal want with me?" If he was pleased with his +coachman, he would say, "That animal drives well." This seemed not so +much the vulgar arrogance of a small nature, elevated above the class in +life from which it sprang, as that pride of great gifts which made the +freemasonry of genius the measure by which he judged all others, noble +and simple. Like all men of highly nervous constitution, he was keenly +susceptible to both enjoyment and suffering. He was so sensitive +to atmospheric changes that his irritability was excessive during a +thunderstorm. He would then remain silent for hours together, while his +eyes rolled and his limbs twitched convulsively. Such fragile, nervous, +highly sensitive organizations are not unfrequently characteristic of +men of great genius, and in the great Italian violinist it was developed +in an abnormal degree. +</p> +<p> +The circumstances accompanying the last scenes of Paganini's life are +very interesting. He had been intimate with most of the great people +of Europe, among them Lord Byron, Sir Clifford Constable, Lord Holland, +Rossini, Ugo Fascolo, Monti, Prince Jerome, the Princess Eliza, and most +of the great painters, poets, and musicians of his age. For Lord Byron +he had a most ardent and exaggerated admiration. Paganini had stopped at +Nice on his way from Paris, detained by extreme debility, for his +last hours were drawing near. Under the blue sky and balmy air of +this Mediterranean paradise the great musician somewhat recovered his +strength at first. One night he sat by his bedroom window, surrounded by +a circle of intimate friends, watching the glories of the Italian sunset +that emblazoned earth, air, and sky, with the richest dyes of nature's +palette. A soft breeze swept into the room, heavy with the perfumes of +flowers, and the twittering of the birds in the green foliage mingled +with the hum of talk from the throngs of gay promenaders sauntering on +the beach. For a while Paganini sat silently absorbed in watching the +joyous scene, when suddenly his eyes turned on the picture of Lord Byron +that hung on the wall. A flash of enthusiasm lightened his face, as if +a great thought were struggling to the surface, and he seized his violin +to improvise. The listeners declared that this "swan song" was the +most remarkable production of his life. He illustrated the stormy and +romantic career of the English poet in music. The accents of doubt, +irony, and despair mingled with the cry of liberty and the tumult of +triumph. Paganini had scarcely finished this wonderful musical picture +when the bow fell from the icy fingers that refused any longer to +perform their function, and the player sank into a dead swoon. +</p> +<p> +The shock had been too great, and Paganini never quitted his bed +afterward. The day before his death he seemed a little better, and +directed his servant to buy a pigeon for him, as he had a slight return +of appetite. On the last evening of his life he seemed very tranquil, +and ordered the curtains to be drawn that he might look out of the +window at the beautiful night. The full moon was sailing through the +skies, flooding everything with splendor. Paganini gazed eagerly, gave a +long sigh of pleasure, and fell back on his pillow dead. +</p> +<center> +VII. +</center> +<p> +Paganini was the first to develop the full resources of the violin as +a solo instrument. He departed entirely from the traditions of +violin-playing as practiced by earlier masters, as he believed that +great fame could never be acquired in pursuing their methods. A work of +Locatelli, one of the cleverest pupils of Corelli, and a great master +of technique, first seems to have inspired him with a conception of +the more brilliant possibilities of the violin. What further favored +Paganini's new departure was that he lived in an age when the artistic +mind, as well as thought in other directions, felt the desire of +innovation. The French Revolution stirred Europe to its deepest roots, +intellectually as well as politically. At a very early date in his +career Paganini seems to have begun experimenting with the new effects +for which he became famous, though these did not reach their full +fruitage until just before he left Italy on his first general tour. +Fetis says: "In adopting the ideas of his predecessors, in resuscitating +forgotten effects, in superadding what his genius and perseverance gave +birth to, he arrived at that distinctive character of performance which +contributed to his ultimate greatness. The diversity of sounds, the +different methods of tuning his instrument, the frequent employment +of harmonics, single and double, the simultaneous pizzicato and bow +passages, the various staccato effects, the use of double and even +triple notes, a prodigious facility in executing wide intervals with +unerring precision, together with an extraordinary knowledge of all +styles of bowing—such were the principal features of Paganini's talent, +rendered all the more perfect by his great execution, exquisitely +nervous sensibility, and his deep musical feeling." In a word, Paganini +possessed the most remarkable creative power in the technical treatment +of an instrument ever given to a player. Franz Liszt as a pianist +approaches him more nearly in this respect than any other virtuoso, +but the field open to the violinist was far greater and wider than +that offered to the great Hungarian pianist. It was not, however, mere +perfection of technical power that threw Europe into such paroxysms of +admiration; it was the irresistible power of a genius which has never +been matched, and which almost justified the vulgar conclusion that none +but one possessed with a demon could do such things. Paganini possessed +the oft-quoted attribute of genius, "the power of taking infinite +pains," but behind this there lay superlative gifts of mind, physique, +and temperament. He completely dazzled the greatest musical artists as +well as the masses. "His constant and daring flights," writes +Moscheles, "his newly discovered flageolet tones, his gift of fusing +and beautifying objects of the most diverse kinds—all these phases +of genius so completely bewilder my musical perceptions that for days +afterward my head is on fire and my brain reels." His tone lacked +roundness and volume. His use of very thin strings, made necessary by +his double harmonics and other specialties, necessarily prevented a +broad, rich tone. But he more than compensated for this defect by the +intense expression, "soft and melting as that of an Italian singer," to +use the language of Moscheles again, which characterized the quality of +sound he drew from his instrument. Spohr, a very great player, but, +with all his polish, precision, and classical beauty of style, somewhat +phlegmatic and conventional withal, critcised Paganini as lacking +in good taste. He could never get in sympathy with the bent of +individuality, the Southern passion and fire, and the exceptional gifts +of temperament which made Paganini's idiosyncrasies of style as a player +consummate beauties, where imitations of these effects on the part of +others would be gross exaggeration. Spohr developed the school of Viotti +and Rode, and in his attachment to that school could see no artistic +beauty in any deviation. Paganini's peculiar method of treating the +violin has never been regarded as a safe school for any other violinist +to follow. Without Paganini's genius to give it vitality, his technique +would justly be charged with exaggeration and charlatanism. Some of the +modern French players, who have been strongly influenced by the great +Italian, have failed to satisfy serious musical taste from this cause. +On the German violinists he has had but little influence, owing to the +powerful example of Spohr and the musical spirit of the great composers, +which have tended to keep players within the strictly legitimate lines +of art. Some of the principal compositions of Paganini are marked by +great originality and beauty, and are violin classics. Schumann and +Liszt have transcribed several of them for the piano, and Brahms for the +orchestra. But the great glory of Paganini was as a virtuoso, not as a +composer, and it has been generally agreed to place him on the highest +pedestal which has yet been reached in the executive art of the violin. +</p> +<a name="h2H_4_0009" id="h2H_4_0009"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + DE BÉRIOT +</h2> +<p> +De Bériot's High Place in the Art of the Violin and Violin Music.—The +Scion of an Impoverished Noble Family.—Early Education and Musical +Training.—He seeks the Advice of Viotti in Paris.—Becomes a Pupil of +Kobrechts and Baillot successively.—De Bériot finishes and perfects his +Style on his Own Model.—Great Success in England.—Artistic Travels +in Europe.—Becomes Soloist to the King of the Netherlands.—He meets +Malibran, the Great Cantatrice, in Paris.—Peculiar Circumstances which +drew the Couple toward Each Other.—They form a Connection which only +ends with Malibran's Life.—Sketch of Malibran and her Family.—The +Various Artistic Journeys of Malibran and De Bériot.—Their Marriage +and Mme. de Bériot's Death.—De Bériot becomes Professor in the Brussels +Conservatoire.—His Later Life in Brussels.—His Son Charles Malibran de +Bériot.—The Character of De Bériot as Composer and Player. +</p> +<center> +I. +</center> +<p> +Among the great players contemporary with Paganini, the name of Charles +Auguste de Bériot shines in the musical horizon with the luster of a +star of the first magnitude. His influence on music has been one of +unmistakable import, for he has perpetuated his great talents through +the number of gifted pupils who graduated from his teachings and +gathered an inspiration from an artist-master, in whom were united +splendid gifts as a player, an earnest musical spirit, depth and +precision of science, the chivalry of high birth and breeding, and +a width of intellectual culture which would have dignified the +<i>litterateur</i> or scholar. De Bériot was for many years the chief of the +violin department at the Brussels Conservatoire, where, even before the +revolution of 1830, there was one of the finest schools of instruction +for stringed instruments to be found in Europe. When in the full +ripeness of his fame as a virtuoso and composer, De Bériot was called on +to take charge of the violin section of this great institution, and his +influence has thus been transmitted in the world of art in a degree by +no means limited to his direct greatness as an executant. +</p> +<p> +De Bériot was born at Louvain, in 1802, of a noble family, which +had been impoverished through the crash and turmoil of the French +Revolution. Left an orphan at the age of nine years, without inheritance +except that of a high spirit and family pride, he would have fared badly +in these early years, had it not been for the kindness of M. Tiby, a +professor of music, who perceived the child's latent talent, and he +acquired skill in playing so rapidly that he was able to play one of +Viotti's concertos at the age of nine. His hearers, many of whom were +connoisseurs, were delighted, and prophesied for him the great career +which made the name of De Bériot famous. Naturally of a contemplative +and thoughtful mind, he lost no time in studying not only the art of +violin-playing but also acquiring proficiency in general branches of +knowledge. His theories of an art ideal even at that early age were far +more lofty and earnest than that which generally guides the aspirations +of musicians. De Bériot, in after years, attributed many of the elevated +ideas which from this time guided his life to the influence of the +well-known scholar and philosopher Jacotot, who, though a poor musician +himself, had very clear ideas as to the aesthetic and moral foundations +on which art success must be built. The text-book, Jacotot's "Method," +fell early into the young musician's hand, and imbued him with the +principles of self-reliance, earnestness, and patience which helped to +model his life, and contributed to the remarkable proficiency in his +art on which his fame rests. Two golden principles were impressed on De +Bériot's mind from these teachings: "All obstacles yield to unwearied +pursuit," and "We are not ordinarily willing to do all that we are +really able to accomplish." In after years De Bériot met Jacotot, and +had the pleasure of acknowledging the deep obligation under which he +felt himself bound. +</p> +<p> +In 1821 young Charles de Bériot had attained the age of nineteen, and +it was determined that he should leave his native town and go to Paris, +where he could receive the teachings of the great masters of the violin. +At this time he was a handsome youth with a strongly knit figure, +somewhat above the middle height, with fine, dark eyes and hair, a +florid complexion, and very gentlemanly appearance. Good blood and +breeding displayed themselves in every movement, and ardent hope shone +in his face. He resided for several months in Brussels, which was +afterward to be his home, and associated with the scenes of his greatest +usefulness, and then pursued his eager way to Paris with a letter of +introduction to Viotti, then director of music at the Grand Opéra. De +Bériot's ambition was to play before the veteran violinist of +Europe, and to feed his own hopes on the great master's praise and +encouragement. +</p> +<p> +"You have a fine style," said Viotti; "give yourself up to the business +of perfecting it; hear all men of talent; profit by everything, but +imitate nothing." There was at this time in Brussels a violinist named +Robrechts, a former pupil of Viotti, and one of the last artists who +derived instruction directly from the celebrated Italian. Andreas +Robrechts was born at Brussels on the 18th of December, 1797, and made +rapid progress as a musician under Planken, a professor, who, like the +late M. Wéry, who succeeded him, formed many excellent pupils. He then +entered himself at the Conservatoire of Paris in 1814, where he received +some private lessons from Baillot, while the institution itself was +closed during the occupation by the allied armies. +</p> +<p> +Viotti, hearing the young Robrechts play, was so struck with his +magnificent tone and broad style that he undertook to give him finishing +lessons, with the approbation of Baillot. This was soon arranged, and +for many years the two violinists were inseparable. He even accompanied +Viotti in his journey to London, where they were heard more than once in +duets. The illustrious Italian had recognized in Robrechts the pupil +who most closely adhered to his style of playing, and one of the few who +were likely to diffuse it in after years. +</p> +<p> +In 1820 Robrechts returned to Brussels, where he was elected first +violin solo to the king, Wil-helm I. It was shortly after this that De +Bériot took lessons from him, and he it was who gave him the letter +of introduction to Viotti. The same excellent professor also gave +instructions to the young Artot. He died in 1860, the last direct +representative of the great Viotti school. +</p> +<p> +It will now be seen where De Bériot acquired the first principles of +that large, bold, and exquisitely charming style that in after life +characterized both his performances and his compositions. +</p> +<center> +II. +</center> +<p> +Arriving at Paris, and believing probably that the classical style of +Robrechts, from whom he had had instruction in Brussels, did not lead +him swiftly forward enough in the path he would travel, he sought +Viotti, as we have related above, and by his advice entered himself in +the violin class of the Conservatoire, which was directed by Baillot, an +eminent player of the Viotti school, though never a direct pupil of the +latter master. De Bériot, however, did not remain long in the class, but +applied himself most assiduously to the study of the violin in his own +way. This is what Paganini had done, and through this course had been +able to form a style so peculiarly his own. It is not probable that De +Bériot at this time knew much about Paganini; certainly he had +never heard him. Paganini was at first looked on as a mere comet of +extraordinary brilliancy, without much soundness or true genius, and +many who afterward became his most ardent admirers began with sneering +at his pretensions. De Bériot was in later years undoubtedly powerfully +influenced by Paganini, but at the time of which we speak the young +violinist appears to have been determined to evolve a style and +character in art out of his own resources purely. He was carrying out +Viot-ti's advice. +</p> +<p> +At this time our young artist was the possessor of a very fine +instrument by Giovanni Magini, a celebrated maker of the Brescian +school, and a pupil of Gaspar de Salo. Many of the violins of this make +are of an excellence hardly inferior to the Strads of the best period, +and De Bériot seems to have preferred this violin during the whole of +his career, though he afterward owned instruments of the most celebrated +makers. +</p> +<p> +Very soon De Bériot made his public appearance in concerts, and was +brilliantly successful from the outset. The range of his ambition may be +seen from the fact that he had enough confidence in his own genius from +the very first to play his own music, and it was conceded to possess +great freshness and originality. These early "Airs Varié" consisted of +an introduction, a theme, followed by three or four variations, and a +brilliant finale. +</p> +<p> +The young artist preceded Paganini in London several years, as he +made his first appearance before an English audience in 1826. It was +fortunate, perhaps, for De Bériot that such was the case, as it is more +than probable that, after the dazzling and electric displays of +the Geneose player, the more sedate and simple style which then +characterized De Bériot would have failed to please. As it was, he +was most cordially admired, and was generally recognized by English +connoisseurs, as well as by the general public, as one of the most +accomplished players who had ever visited England. The pecuniary results +of these concerts were large, and sufficient to relieve De Bériot, who +had formerly been rather straitened in his means, from the friction and +embarrassment which poverty so often imposes on struggling talent. +There was a peculiar charm in De Bériot's style which was permanently +characteristic of him, though his technical method did not always remain +the same. In addition to very facile execution and a rich, mellow tone, +he possessed the most refined taste. His playing impressed people less +as that of a great professional violinist than that of the marvelously +accomplished amateur, the gentleman of leisure and culture, who +performed with the easy, sparkling grace of one who took no thought of +whether he played well or not, but did great feats on his instrument +because he could not help it. Such was also the characteristic of Mario +as a singer, and there seems to have been many features of resemblance +between these two fine artists, though moving in different fields of +art. +</p> +<p> +After traveling through Europe for several years, giving concerts with +great success, he was presented to King Wilhelm of the then united +kingdom of the Netherlands. This monarch, though quite ignorant of +music, was an enthusiastic patron of art, and, believing that De Bériot +was destined to be a great ornament of his native country (for he was +born in Belgium, though his parents were from France), bestowed on the +artist a pension of two thousand florins a year, and the title of first +violin solo to his majesty. But this honor was soon rudely snatched +from De Bériot's grasp. The revolution of 1830, which began with +the excitement inflamed in Brussels by the performance of Auber's +revolutionary opera, "La Muette di Portici," better known as +"Masaniello," dissolved the kingdom, and Belgium parted permanently +from Holland. It was, perhaps, owing to this apparent misfortune that +De Bériot made an acquaintance which culminated in the most interesting +episode of his life. He lost his official position at Brussels, but he +met Mme. Malibran. +</p> +<center> +III. +</center> +<p> +De Bériot returned to Paris, where Sontag and Malibran were engaged in +ardent artistic rivalry, about equally dividing the suffrages of the +French public. Mlle. Sontag was a beautiful, fair-haired, blue-eyed +woman, in the very flush of her youth, with an expression of exquisite +sweetness and mildness. De Bériot became madly enamored of her at once, +and pressed his suit with vehemence, but without success. Henrietta +Sontag was already the betrothed of Count Rossi, whom she soon afterward +married, though the engagement was then a secret. The lady's firm +refusal of the young Belgian artist's overtures filled him with a deep +melancholy, which he showed so unmistakably that he became an object of +solicitude to all his friends. Among those was Mme. Malibran, whose warm +sympathies went out to an artist whose talents she admired. Malibran, +living apart from her husband, was obliged to be careful in her conduct, +to avoid giving food for the scandal of a censorious world, but this +did not prevent her from exhibiting the utmost pity and kindness in her +demeanor toward De Bériot. The violinist was soothed by this gentle and +delightful companion, and it was not long before a fresh affection, even +stronger than the other, sprang up in his susceptible nature for the +woman whose ardent Spanish frankness found it difficult to conceal the +fact that she cherished sentiments different from mere friendship. +</p> +<p> +The splendid career of Mme. Malibran shines almost without a rival in +the records of the lyric stage, and her influence on De Bériot, first +her lover and afterward her husband, was most marked. Maria Garcia, +afterward Mme. Malibran, was one of a family of very eminent musicians. +She was trained by her father, Manuel Garcia, who, in addition to being +a tenor singer of world-wide reputation, was a composer of some repute, +and the greatest teacher of his time. Her sister, Pauline Garcia, in +after years became one of the greatest dramatic singers who ever lived, +and her brother Manuel also attained considerable eminence as singer, +song-composer, and teacher. The whole family were richly dowered with +musical gifts, and Maria was probably one of the most versatile and +accomplished musical artists of any age. At the age of thirteen she was +a professed musician, and at fifteen, when she came with her parents to +London, she obtained a complete triumph by accidentally performing in +Rossini's "Il Barbiere," to supply the place of a prima donna who was +unable to appear. +</p> +<p> +We can not tarry here to enter into the details of her interesting life. +Her father having taken her to America, where she fulfilled a number +of engagements with an increasing success, she finally espoused there +a rich merchant named Malibran, much older than herself. It was a most +ill-advised marriage, and, to make matters worse, the merchant failed +very soon afterward. Some go so far as to say that he foresaw this +catastrophe before he contracted his marriage, in the hope of regaining +his fortune by the proceeds of the singer's career. However that may be, +a separation took place, and Mme. Malibran returned to Paris in 1827. +Her singing in Italian opera was everywhere a source of the most +enthusiastic ovation, and, as she rose like a star of the first +magnitude in the world of song, so the young De Bériot was fast earning +his laurels as one of the greatest violinists of the day. In 1830 an +indissoluble friendship united these two kindred spirits, and in 1832 De +Bériot, Lablache, the great basso, and Mme. Malibran set out for a tour +in Italy, where the latter had operatic engagements at Milan, Rome, +and Naples, and where they all three appeared in concerts with the most +<i>éclatant</i> success—as may well be imagined. +</p> +<p> +At Bologna, in 1834, it is difficult to say whether the cantatrice, +or the violinist, or the inestimable basso, produced the greatest +sensation; but her bust in marble was there and then placed under the +peristyle of the Opera-house. +</p> +<p> +Henceforward De Bériot never quitted her, and their affection seems to +have increased as time wore on. In the year following she appeared in +London, where she gave forty representations at Drury Lane, performing +in "La Sonnambula," "The Maid of Artois," etc., for which she received +the sum of three thousand two hundred pounds. De Bériot would not have +made this amount probably with his violin in a year. +</p> +<p> +After a second journey to Italy, in which Mme. Malibran renewed the +enthusiasm which she had first created in the public mind, and a series +of brilliant concerts which also added to De Bériot's prestige, they +returned to Paris to wait for the divorce of Mme. Malibran from her +husband, which had been dragging its way through the courts. The much +longed for release came in 1836, and the union of hearts and +lives, whose sincerity and devotion had more than half condoned its +irregularity, was sanctified by the Church. The happiness of the +artistic pair was not destined to be long. Only a month afterward Mme. +de Bériot, who was then singing in London, had a dangerous fall from +her horse. Always passionately fond of activity and exercise, she was an +excellent horsewoman, and was somewhat reckless in pursuing her favorite +pursuit. The great singer was thrown by an unruly and badly trained +animal, and received serious internal injuries. Her indomitable spirit +would not, however, permit her to rest. She returned to the Continent +after the close of the London season, to give concerts, in spite of her +weak health, and gave herself but little chance of recovery, before +she returned again to England in September to sing at the Manchester +festival, her last triumph, and the brilliant close of a short and very +remarkable life. She was seized with sudden and severe illness, and died +after nine days of suffering. During this period of trial to De Bériot, +he never left the bedside of his dying wife, but devoted himself +to ministering to her comfort, except once when she insisted on his +fulfilling an important concert engagement. Racked with pain as she was, +her greatest anxiety was as to his artistic success, fearing that his +mental anguish would prevent his doing full justice to his talents. It +is said that her friends informed her of the vociferous applause which +greeted his playing, and a happy smile brightened her dying face. She +died September 22, 1836, at the age of twenty-eight, but not too soon to +have attained one of the most dazzling reputations in the history of +the operatic stage. M. de Bériot was almost frantic with grief, for a +profound love had joined this sympathetic and well-matched pair, and +their private happiness had not been less than their public fame.* +</p> +<pre> + * For a full sketch of Mme. Malibran de Beriot's artistic and + personal career, the reader is referred to "Great Singers, + Malibran to Tietjens," Appletons' "Handy-Volume Series." +</pre> +<p> +The news of this calamity to the world of music spread swiftly through +the country, and was known in Paris the next day, where M. Mali-bran, +the divorced husband of the dead singer, was then living. As the fortune +which Mme. de Bériot had made by her art was principally invested in +France, and there were certain irregularities in the French law which +opened the way for claims of M. Malibran on her estate, De Bériot was +obliged to hasten to Paris before his wife's funeral to take out letters +of administration, and thus protect the future of the only child left by +his wife, young Charles de Bériot, who afterward became a distinguished +pianist, though never a professional musician. As the motives of this +sudden disappearance were not known, De Bériot was charged with the +most callous indifference to his wife. But it is now well known that +his action was guided by a most imperative necessity, the welfare of +his infant son, all that was left him of the woman he had loved so +passionately. The remains of Mme. de Bériot were temporarily interred +in the Collegiate Church in Manchester, but they were shortly afterward +removed to Laeken, near Brussels. Over her tomb in the Laeken churchyard +the magnificent mausoleum surmounted with her statue was erected by +De Bériot. The celebrated sculptor Geefs modeled it, and the work is +regarded as one of the <i>chefs-d'ouvre</i> of the artist. +</p> +<center> +IV. +</center> +<p> +M. de Bériot did not recover from this shock for more than a year, but +remained secluded at his country place near Brussels. It was not till +Pauline Garcia (subsequently Mme. Viardot) made her <i>debut</i> in concert +in 1837, that De Bériot again appeared in public before one of the most +brilliant audiences which had ever assembled in Brussels. In honor of +this occasion the Philharmonic Society of that city caused two medals +to be struck for M. de Bériot and Mlle. Garcia, the molds of which were +instantly destroyed. The violinist gave a series of concerts assisted +by the young singer in Belgium, Germany, and France, and returned to +Brussels again on the anniversary of their first concert, where they +appeared in the Théâtre de la Renaissance before a most crowded and +enthusiastic audience. Among the features of the performance which +called out the warmest applause was Panseron's grand duo for voice and +violin, "Le Songe de Tartini," Mlle. Garcia both singing and playing +the piano-forte accompaniment with remarkable skill. Two years afterward +Mile. Garcia married M. Viardot, director of the Italian Opera at Paris, +and De Bériot espoused Mlle. Huber, daughter of a Viennese magistrate, +and ward of Prince Dietrischten Preskau, who had adopted her at an early +age. +</p> +<p> +De Bériot became identified with the Royal Conservatory of Music at +Brussels in the year 1840, and thenceforward his life was devoted to +composition and the direction of the violin school. He gave much time +and care to the education of his son Charles, who, in addition to a +wonderful resemblance to his mother, appears to have inherited much of +the musical endowment of both parents. Had not an ample fortune rendered +professional labor unnecessary, it is probable that the son of Malibran +and De Bériot would have attained a musical eminence worthy of his +lineage; but he is even now celebrated for his admirable performances +in private, and his musical evenings are said to be among the most +delightful entertainments in Parisian society, gathering the most +celebrated artists and <i>litterateurs</i> of the great capital. +</p> +<p> +De Bériot ceased giving public concerts after taking charge of the +violin classes of the Brussels Conservatoire, though he continued to +charm select audiences in private concerts. Many of his pupils became +distinguished players, among whom may be named Monasterio, Standish, +Lauterbach, and, chief of all, Henri Vieuxtemps, with whose precocious +talents he was so much pleased that he gave him lessons gratuitously. +During his life at Brussels, and indeed during the whole of his +career, De Bériot enjoyed the friendship and esteem of many of the +most distinguished men of the day, among his most intimate friends and +admirers having been Prince de Chimay, the Russian Prince Youssoupoff, +and King Leopold I, of Belgium. The latter part of his life was not +un-laborious in composition, but otherwise of affluent and elegant ease. +During the last two years his eyesight failed him, and he gradually +became totally blind. He died, April 13, 1870, at the age of +sixty-eight, while visiting his friend Prince Youssoupoff at St. +Petersburg, of the brain malady which had long been making fatal inroads +on his health. +</p> +<p> +In originality as a composer for the violin, probably no one can surpass +De Bériot except Paganini, who exerted a remarkable modifying influence +on him after he had formed his own first style. His works are full +of grace and poetic feeling, and worked out with an intellectual +completeness of form which gives him an honorable distinction even among +those musicians marked by affluence of ideas. These compositions are +likely to be among the violin classics, though some of the violinists +of the Spohr school have criticised them for want of depth. He produced +seven concertos, eleven <i>airs variés</i>, several books of studies, +four trios for piano, violin, and 'cello, and, together with Osborne, +Thalberg, and other pianists, a number of brilliant duos for piano and +violin. His book of instruction for the violin is among the best ever +written, though somewhat diffuse in detail. He may be considered the +founder of the Franco-Belgian school of violinists, as distinguished +from the classical French school founded by Viotti, and illustrated by +Rode and Baillot. His early playing was molded entirely in this style, +but the dazzling example of Paganini, in course of time, had its +effect on him, as he soon adopted the captivating effects of harmonics, +arpeggios, pizzicatos, etc., which the Genoese had introduced, though +he stopped short of sacrificing his breadth and richness of tone. He +combined the Paganini school with that of Viotti, and gave status to +a peculiar <i>genre</i> of players, in which may be numbered such great +virtuosos as Vieuxtemps and Wieniawski, who successively occupied the +same professional place formerly illustrated by De Bériot, and the +latter of whom recently died. De Bériot's playing was noted for accuracy +of intonation, remarkable deftness and facility in bowing, grace, +elegance, and piquancy, though he never succeeded in creating the +unbounded enthusiasm which everywhere greeted Paganini. +</p> +<a name="h2H_4_0010" id="h2H_4_0010"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + OLE BULL. +</h2> +<p> +The Birth and Early Life of Ole Bull at Bergen, Norway.—His Family and +Connections.—Surroundings of his Boyhood.—Early Display of his Musical +Passion.—Learns the Violin without Aid.—Takes Lessons from an Old +Musical Professor, and soon surpasses his Master.—Anecdotes of his +Boyhood.—His Father's Opposition to Music as a Profession.—Competes +for Admittance to the University at Christiania.—Is consoled +for Failure by a Learned Professor.—"Better be a Fiddler than +a Preacher."—Becomes Conductor of the Philharmonic Society at +Bergen.—His first Musical Journey.—Sees Spohr.—Fights a Duel.—Visit +to Paris.—He is reduced to Great Pecuniary Straits.—Strange Adventure +with Vidocq, the Great Detective.—First Appearance in Concert in +Paris.—Romantic Adventure leading to Acquaintance.—First Appearance +in Italy.—Takes the Place of Do Bériot by Great Good Luck.—Ole Bull +is most enthusiastically received.—Extended Concert Tour in Italy and +France.—His <i>Début</i> and Success in England.—One Hundred and Eighty +Concerts in Six Months.—Ole Bull's Gaspar di Salo Violin, and the +Circumstances under which he acquired it.—His Answer to the King of +Sweden.—First Visit and Great Success in America in 1843.—Attempt +to establish a National Theatre.—The Norwegian Colony in +Pennsylvania.—Latter Years of Ole Bull.—His Personal Appearance.—Art +Characteristics. +</p> +<center> +I. +</center> +<p> +The life of Olaus Bull, or Ole Bull, as he is generally known to the +world, was not only of much interest in its relation to music, but +singularly full of vicissitude and adventure. He was born at Bergen, +Norway, February 5, 1810, of one of the leading families of that resort +of shippers, timber-dealers, and fishermen. His father, John Storm Bull, +was a pharmaceutist, and among his ancestors he numbered the Norwegian +poet Edward Storm, author of the "Sinclair Lay," an epic on the fate of +Colonel Sinclair, who with a thousand Hebridean and Scotch pirates, made +a descent on the Norwegian coast, thus emulating the Vikingr forefathers +of the Norwegians themselves. The peasants slew them to a man by rolling +rocks down on them from the fearful pass of the Gulbrands Dahl, and +the event has been celebrated both by the poet's lay and the painter's +brush. By the mother's side Ole Bull came of excellent Dutch stock, +three of his uncles being captains in the army and navy, and another a +journalist of repute. A passion for music was inherent in the family, +and the editor had occasional quartet parties at his house, where the +works of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven were given, much to the delight of +young Ole, who was often present at these festive occasions. +</p> +<p> +The romantic and ardent imagination of the boy was fed by the weird +legends familiar to every Norwegian nursery. The Scheherezade of this +occasion was the boy's own grandmother, who told him with hushed breath +the fairy folk-lore of the mysterious Huldra and the Fossikal, or Spirit +of the Waterfall, and Ole Bull, with his passion for music, was wont +to fancy that the music of the rushing waters was the singing of the +violins played by fairy artists. From an early age this Greek passion +for personifying all the sights and sounds of nature manifested itself +noticeably, but always in some way connected with music. He would fancy +even that he could hear the bluebells and violets singing, and perfume +and color translated themselves into analogies of sound. This poetic +imagination grew with his years and widened with his experience, +becoming the cardinal motive of Ole Bull's art life. For a long time the +young boy had longed for a violin of his own, and finally his uncle who +gave the musical parties presented him with a violin. Ole worked so hard +in practicing on his new treasure that he was soon able to take part in +the little concerts. +</p> +<p> +There happened to be at this time in Bergen a professor of music named +Paulsen, who also played skillfully on the violin. Originally from +Denmark, he had come to Bergen on business, but, finding the brandy so +good and cheap, and his musical talent so much appreciated, he postponed +his departure so long that he became a resident. Paulsen, it was said, +would show his perseverance in playing as long as there remained a drop +in the brandy bottle before him, when his musical ambition came to a +sudden close. When the old man, for he was more than sixty when young +Ole Bull first knew him, had worn his clothes into a threadbare state, +his friends would supply him with a fresh suit, and at intervals he gave +concerts, which every one thought it a religious duty to attend. It +was to this Dominie Sampson that Ole Bull was indebted for his earliest +musical training; but it seems that the lad made such swift progress +that his master soon had nothing further to teach him. Poor old Paulsen +was in despair, for in his bright pupil he saw a successful rival, and, +fearing that his occupation was gone, he left Bergen for ever. +</p> +<p> +In spite of the boy's most manifest genius for music, his father was +bent on making him a clergyman, going almost to the length of forbidding +him to practice any longer on the dearly loved fiddle, which had now +become a part of himself; but Ole persevered, and played at night +softly, in constant fear that the sounds would be heard. But his mother +and grandmother sympathized with him, and encouraged his labors of love +in spite of the paternal frowns. The author of a recent article in an +American magazine relates an interview with Ole Bull, in which the aged +artist gave some interesting facts of that early period in his life. +His father's assistant, who was musical, occasionally received musical +catalogues from Copenhagen, and in one of these the boy first saw the +name of Paganini, and reference to his famous "Caprices." One evening +his father brought home some Italian musicians, and Ole Bull heard from +them all they knew of the great player, who was then turning the musical +world topsy-turvy with a fever of excitement. "I went to my grandmother. +'Dear grandmother,' I said, 'can't I get some of Paganini's music?' +'Don't tell any one,' said that dear old woman, 'but I will try and buy +a piece of his for you if you are a good child.' And she did try, and +I was wild when I got the Paganini music. How difficult it was, but oh, +how beautiful! That garden-house was my refuge. Maybe—I am not so sure +of it—the cats did not go quite so wild as some four years before. One +day—a memorable one—I went to a quartet party. The new leader of our +philharmonic was there, a very fine violinist, and he played for us a +concerto of Spohr's. I knew it, and was delighted with his reading of +it. We had porter to drink in another room, and we all drank it, but +before they had finished I went back to the music-room, and commenced +trying the Spohr. I was, I suppose, carried away with the music, forgot +myself, and they heard me. +</p> +<p> +"'This is impudence,' said the leader. 'And do you think, boy, that you +can play it?' 'Yes,' I said, quite honestly. I don't to this day see why +I should have told a story about it—do you? 'Now you shall play it,' +said somebody. 'Hear him! hear him!' cried my uncle and the rest of +them. I did try it, and played the allegro. All of them applauded save +the leader, who looked mad. +</p> +<p> +"'You think you can play anything, then?' asked the leader. He took a +caprice of Paganini's from a music stand. 'Now you try this,' he said, +in a rage. 'I will try it,' I said. 'All right; go ahead.' +</p> +<p> +"Now it just happened that this caprice was my favorite, as the cats +well knew. I could play it by memory, and I polished it off. When I did +that, they all shouted. The leader before had been so cross and savage, +I thought he would just rave now. But he did not say a word. He looked +very quiet and composed like. He took the other musicians aside, and I +saw that he was talking to them. Not long afterward this violinist left +Bergen. I never thought I would see him again. It was in 1840, when I +was traveling through Sweden on a concert tour, of a snowy day, that I +met a man in a sleigh. It was quite a picture: just near sunset, and +the northern lights were shooting in the sky; a man wrapped up in a +bear-skin a-tracking along the snow. As he drew up abreast of me and +unmuffled himself, he called out to my driver to stop. It was the +leader, and he said to me, 'Well, now that you are a celebrated +violinist, remember that, when I heard you play Paganini, I predicted +that your career would be a remarkable one.' 'You were mistaken,' I +cried, jumping up; 'I did not read that Paganini at sight; I had played +it before.' 'It makes no difference; good-by,' and he urged on his +horse, and in a minute the leader was gone." +</p> +<center> +II. +</center> +<p> +To please his father, Ole Bull studied assiduously to fit himself for +the preliminary examination of the university, but he found time also to +pursue his beloved music. At the age of eighteen he was entered at the +University of Christiania as a candidate for admission, and went to that +city somewhat in advance of the day of ordeal to finish his studies. +He had hardly entered Christiania before he was seduced to play at a +concert, which beginning gave full play to the music-madness beyond all +self-restraint. As a result Ole Bull was "plucked," and at first he +did not dare write to his father of this downfall of the hopes of the +paternal Bull. +</p> +<p> +We are told that he found consolation from one of the very professors +who had plucked him. "It's the best thing could have happened to you," +said the latter, by way of encouragement. +</p> +<p> +"How so?" inquired Ole. +</p> +<p> +"My dear fellow," was the reply, "do you believe you are a fit man for +a curacy in Finmarken or a mission among the Laps? Nature has made you a +musician; stick to your violin, and you will never regret it." +</p> +<p> +"But my father, think of his disappointed hopes," said Ole Bull. +</p> +<p> +"Your father will never regret it either," answered the professor. +</p> +<p> +As good fortune ordered for the forlorn youth, his musical friends did +not desert him, but secured for him the temporary position of director +of the Philharmonic Society of Christiania, the regular incumbent being +ill. On the death of the latter shortly afterward, Ole Bull was tendered +the place. As the new duties were very well paid, and relieved the youth +from dependence on his father's purse, further opposition to his musical +career was withdrawn. +</p> +<p> +In the summer of 1829 Ole Bull made a holiday trip into Germany, and +heard Dr. Spohr, then director of the opera at Cassel. "From this +excursion," said one of Ole Bull's friends, "he returned completely +disappointed. He had fancied that a violin-player like Spohr must be +a man who, by his personal appearance, by the poetic character of his +performance, or by the flash of genius, would enchant and overwhelm his +hearers. Instead of this, he found in Spohr a correct teacher, exacting +from the young Norwegian the same cool precision which characterized +his own performance, and quite unable to appreciate the wild, strange +melodies he brought from the land of the North." Spohr was a man of +clock-work mechanism in all his methods and theories—young Ole Bull was +all poetry, romance, and enthusiasm. +</p> +<p> +At Minden our young violinist met with an adventure not of the +pleasantest sort. He had joined a party of students about to give +a concert at that place, and was persuaded to take the place of the +violinist of the party, who had been rather free in his libations, and +became "a victim of the rosy god." Ole Bull was very warmly applauded at +the concert, and so much nettled was the student whose failure had made +the vacancy for Ole Bull's talent, that the latter received a challenge +to fight a duel, which was promptly accepted. Ole Bull proved that he +could handle a sword as well as a fiddle-bow, for in a few passes he +wounded and disabled his antagonist. He was advised, however, to leave +that locality as soon as possible, and so he returned straight to +Christiania, "feeling as if the very soil of Europe repelled him" (to +use an expression from one of his letters). +</p> +<p> +Ole Bull remained in Norway for two years, but he felt that he must +bestir himself, and go to the great centers of musical culture if +he would find a proper development and field for the genius which he +believed he possessed. His friends at Christiania idolized him, and were +loath to let him go, but nothing could stay him, so with pilgrim's staff +and violin-case he started on his journey. Scarcely twenty-one years +of age, nearly penniless, with no letters of introduction to people who +could help him, but with boundless hope and resolution, he first +set foot in Paris in 1831. The town was agog over Paganini and Mme. +Malibran, and of course the first impulse of the young artist was to +hear these great people. One night he returned from hearing Malibran, +and went to bed so late that he slept till nearly noon the next day. To +his infinite consternation, he discovered that his landlord had decamped +during the early morning, taking away the household furniture of any +value, and even abstracting the modest trunk which contained Ole Bull's +clothes and his violin. After such an overwhelming calamity as this, the +Seine seemed the only resource, and the young Norwegian, it is said, +had nearly concluded to find relief from his troubles in its turbid +and sin-weighted waters. But it happened that the young man had still a +little money left, enough to support him for a week, and he concluded to +delay the fatal plunge till the last sou was gone. It was while he was +slowly enjoying the last dinner which he was able to pay for, that he +made the acquaintance of a remarkable character, to whom he confided his +misery and his determination to find a tomb in the Seine. +</p> +<center> +III. +</center> +<p> +Said the stranger, after pondering a few moments over the simple but sad +story of the young violinist, in whom he had taken a sudden interest: +</p> +<p> +"Well, I will do something for you, if you have courage and five +francs." +</p> +<p> +"I have both." +</p> +<p> +"Then go to Frascate's at ten; pass through the first room, enter the +second, where they play 'rouge-et-noir,' and when a new <i>taille</i> begins +put your five francs on <i>rouge</i>, and leave it there." +</p> +<p> +This promise of an adventure revived Ole Bull's drooping spirits, and he +was faithful in carrying out his unknown friend's instructions. At the +precise hour the tall stalwart figure of the young Norwegian bent over +the table at Frascate's, while the game of "rouge-et-noir" was being +played. He threw his five francs on red; the card was drawn—red wins, +and the five francs were ten. Again Ole Bull bet his ten francs on +<i>rouge</i>, and again he won; and so he continued, leaving his money on the +same color till a considerable amount of money lay before him. By this +time the spirit of gaming was thoroughly aroused. Should he leave the +money and trust to red turning up again, or withdraw the pile of gold +and notes, satisfied with the kindness of Fortune, without further +tempting the fickle goddess? He said to a friend afterward, in relating +his feelings on this occasion: +</p> +<p> +"I was in a fear—I acted as if possessed by a spirit not my own; no one +can understand my feelings who has not been so tried—left alone in the +world, as if on the extreme verge of an abyss yawning beneath, and at +the same time feeling something within that might merit a saving hand at +the last moment." +</p> +<p> +Ole Bull stretched forth to grasp the money, when a white hand covered +it before his. He seized the wrist with a fierce grasp, while the +owner of it uttered a loud shriek, and loud threats came from the other +players, who took sides in the matter, when a dark figure suddenly +appeared on the scene, and spoke in a voice whose tones carried with +them a magic authority which stilled all tumult at once. "Madame, +leave this gold alone!"—and to Ole Bull: "Sir, take your money, if +you please." The winner of an amount which had become very considerable +lingered a few moments to see the further results of the play, and, much +to his disgust, discovered that he would have possessed quite a little +fortune had he left his pile undisturbed for one more turn of the cards. +He was consoled, however, on arriving at his miserable lodgings, for he +could scarcely believe that this stroke of good luck was true, and yet +there was something repulsive in it to the fresh, unsophisticated nature +of the man. He said in a letter to one of his friends, "What a hideous +joy I felt—what a horrible pleasure it was to have saved one's own soul +by the spoil of others!" The mysterious stranger who had thus befriended +Ole Bull was the great detective Vidocq, whose adventures and exploits +had given him a world-wide reputation. Ole Bull never saw him again. +</p> +<p> +In exploring Paris for the purchase of a new violin, he accidentally +made the acquaintance of an individual named Labout, who fancied that he +had found the secret of the old Cremona varnish, and that, by using it +on modern-made violins, the instruments would acquire all the tone +and quality of the best old fiddles of the days of the Stradiuarii and +Amati. The inventor persuaded Ole Bull to appear at a private concert +where he proposed to test his invention, and where the Duke and Duchesse +de Montebello were to be present. The Norwegian's playing produced +a genuine sensation, and the duke took the young artist under his +patronage. The result was that Ole Bull was soon able to give a concert +on his own account, which brought him a profit of about twelve hundred +francs, and made him talked about among the musical <i>cognoscenti</i> of +Paris. Of course every one at the time was Paganini mad, but Ole Bull +secured more than a respectful hearing, and opened the way toward +getting a solid footing for himself. +</p> +<p> +Among the incidents which occurred to him in Paris about this time was +one which had a curiously interesting bearing on his life. Obliged to +move from his lodgings on account of the death of the landlord and his +wife of cholera, a disease then raging in Paris, Ole Bull was told of +a noble but impoverished family who had a room to let on account of the +recent death of the only son. The Norwegian violinist presented himself +at the somewhat dilapidated mansion of the Comtesse de Faye, and was +shown into the presence of three ladies dressed in deepest mourning. +The eldest of them, on hearing his errand, haughtily declined the +proposition, when the more beautiful of the two girls said, "Look at +him, mother!" with such eagerness as to startle the ancient dame. +</p> +<p> +Ole Bull was surprised at this. The old lady put on her spectacles, and, +as she riveted her eyes upon him, her countenance changed suddenly. She +had found in him such a resemblance to the son she had lost that she +at once consented to his residing in her house. Some time afterward Ole +Bull became her son indeed, having married the fascinating girl who had +exclaimed, "Look at him, mother!" +</p> +<p> +With the little money he had now earned he determined to go to Italy, +provided with some letters of introduction; and he gave his first +Italian concert at Milan in 1834. Applause was not wanting, but his +performance was rather severely criticised in the papers. The following +paragraph, reproduced from an Italian musical periodical, published +shortly after this concert, probably represents very truly the state of +his talent at that period: +</p> +<p> +"M. Ole Bull plays the music of Spohr, May-seder, Pugnani, and others, +without knowing the true character of the music he plays, and partly +spoils it by adding a color of his own. It is manifest that this +color of his own proceeds from an original, poetical, and musical +individuality; but of this originality he is himself unconscious. He +has not formed himself; in fact, he has no style; he is an uneducated +musician. <i>Whether he is a diamond or not is uncertain; but certain it +is that the diamond is not polished</i>." +</p> +<p> +In a short time Ole Bull discovered that it was necessary to cultivate, +more than he had done, his cantabile—this was his weakest point, and a +most important one. In Italy he found masters who enabled him to develop +this great quality of the violin, and from that moment his career as an +artist was established. The next concert of any consequence in which he +played was at Bologna under peculiar circumstances; and his reputation +as a great violinist appears to date from that concert. De Bériot and +Malibran were then idolized at Bologna, and just as Ole Bull arrived in +that ancient town, De Bériot was about to fulfill an engagement to play +at a concert given by the celebrated Philharmonic Society there. The +engagement had been made by the Marquis di Zampieri, between whom and +the Belgian artist there was some feeling of mutual aversion, growing +out of a misunderstanding and a remark of the marquis which had wounded +the susceptibilities of the other. The consequence was that on the day +of the concert De Bériot sent a note, saying that he had a sore finger +and could not play. +</p> +<p> +Marquis Zampieri was in a quandary, for the time was short. In his +embarrassment he took council with Mme. Colbran Rossini, who was then at +Bologna with her husband, the illustrious composer. It happened that Ole +Bull's lodging was in the same palazzo, and Mme. Rossini had often heard +the tones of the young artist's violin in his daily practicing; her +curiosity had been greatly aroused about this unknown player, and now +was the chance to gratify it. She told the noble <i>entrepreneur</i> that she +had discovered a violinist quite worthy of taking De Bériot's place. +</p> +<p> +"Who is it?" inquired the marquis. +</p> +<p> +"I don't know," answered the wife of Rossini. +</p> +<p> +"You are joking, then?" +</p> +<p> +"Not at all, but I am sure there is a genius in town, and he lodges +close by here," pointing to Ole Bull's apartment. "Take your net," +she added, "and catch your bird before he has flown away." The marquis +knocked at Ole Bull's door, and the delighted young artist soon +concluded an engagement which insured him an appearance under the best +auspices, for Mme. Malibran would sing at the same concert. +</p> +<p> +In a few hours Ole Bull was performing before a distinguished audience +in the concert-hall of the Philharmonic Society. Among the pieces he +played, all of his own composition, was his "Quartet for One Violin," +in which his great skill in double and triple harmonics was admirably +shown. Enthusiastic applause greeted the young virtuoso, and he was +escorted home by a torchlight procession of eager and noisy admirers. +This was Ole Bull's first really great success, though he had played +in France and Germany. The Italians, with their quick, generous +appreciation, and their demonstrative manner of showing admiration, had +given him a reception of such unreserved approval as warmed his +artistic ambition to the very core. Mme. Malibran, though annoyed at the +mischance which glorified another at the expense of De Bériot, was too +just and amiable not to express her hearty congratulations to the young +artist, and De Bériot himself, when he was shortly afterward introduced +to Ole Bull, treated him with most brotherly kindness and cordiality. +Prince and Princess Poniatowsky also sent their cards to the now +successful artist, and gave him letters of introduction to distinguished +people which wore of great use in his concert tour. His career had now +become assured, and the world received him with open arms. +</p> +<p> +The following year, 1835, contributed a catalogue of similar successes +in various cities of Italy and France, culminating in a grand concert at +Paris in the Opera-house, where the most distinguished musicians of the +city gave their warmest applause in recognition of the growing fame and +skill of Ole Bull, for he had already begun to illustrate a new field in +music by setting the quaint poetic legends and folk-songs of his native +land. His specialty as a composer was in the domain of descriptive +music, his genius was for the picturesque. His vivid imagination, +full of poetic phantasy, and saturated with the heroic traditions and +fairy-lore of a race singularly rich in this inheritance from an earlier +age, instinctively flowered into art-forms designed to embody this +legendary wealth. Ole Bull's violin compositions, though dry and +rigorous musicians object to them as lacking in depth of science, +as shallow and sensational, are distinctly tone-pictures full of +suggestiveness for the imagination. It was this peculiarity which early +began to impress his audiences, and gave Ole Bull a separate place by +himself in an age of eminent players. +</p> +<center> +IV. +</center> +<p> +In 1836 and 1837 Ole Bull gave one hundred and eighty concerts in +England during the space of sixteen months. By this time he had become +famous, and a mere announcement sufficed to attract large audiences. +Subsequently he visited successively every town of importance in Europe, +earning large amounts of money and golden opinions everywhere. For +a long time our artist used a fine Guarnerius violin and afterward a +Nicholas Amati, which was said to be the finest instrument of this make +in the world. But the violin which Ole Bull prized in latter years +above all others was the famous Gaspar di Salo with the scroll carved +by Benvenuto Cellini. Mr. Barnett Phillips, an American <i>littérateur</i>, +tells the story of this noble old instrument, as related in Ole Bull's +words: +</p> +<p> +"Well, in 1839 I gave sixteen concerts at Vienna, and then Rhehazek was +the great violin collector. I saw at his house this violin for the first +time. I just went wild over it. 'Will you sell it?' I asked. 'Yes,' was +the reply—'for one quarter of all Vienna.' Now Ehehazek was really as +poor as a church mouse. Though he had no end of money put out in the +most valuable instruments, he never sold any of them unless when forced +by hunger. I invited Rhehazek to my concerts. I wanted to buy the violin +so much that I made him some tempting offers. One day he said to +me, 'See here, Ole Bull, if I do sell the violin, you shall have the +preference at four thousand ducats.' 'Agreed,' I cried, though I knew it +was a big sum. +</p> +<p> +"That violin came strolling, or playing rather, through my brain for +some years. It was in 1841. I was in Leipsic giving concerts. Liszt was +there, and so also was Mendelssohn. One day we were all dining together. +We were having a splendid time. During the dinner came an immense letter +with a seal—an official document. Said Mendelssohn, 'Use no ceremony; +open your letter.' 'What an awful seal!' cried Liszt. 'With your +permission,' said I, and I opened the letter. It was from Bhehazek's +son, for the collector was dead. His father had said that the violin +should be offered to me at the price he had mentioned. I told Liszt and +Mendelssohn about the price. 'You man from Norway, you are crazy,' said +Liszt. 'Unheard of extravagance, which only a fiddler is capable of,' +exclaimed Mendelssohn. 'Have you ever played on it? Have you ever tried +it?' they both inquired. 'Never,' I answered, 'for it can not be played +on at all just now.' +</p> +<p> +"I never was happier than when I felt sure that the prize was mine. +Originally the bridge was of boxwood, with two fishes carved on it—that +was the zodiacal sign of my birthday, February—which was a good sign. +Oh, the good times that violin and I have had! As to its history, +Ehehazek told me that in 1809, when Innspruck was taken by the French, +the soldiers sacked the town. This violin had been placed in the +Innspruck Museum by Cardinal Aldobrandi at the close of the sixteenth +century. A French soldier looted it, and sold it to Ehehazek for a +trifle. This is the same violin that I played on, when I first came +to the United States, in the Park Theatre. That was on Evacuation day, +1843. I went to the Astor House, and made a joke—I am quite capable of +doing such things. It was the day when John Bull went out and Ole Bull +came in. I remember that at the very first concert one of my strings +broke, and I had to work out my piece on the three strings, and it was +supposed I did it on purpose." Ole Bull valued this instrument as beyond +all price, and justly, for there have been few more famous violins than +the Treasury violin of Innspruck, under which name it was known to all +the amateurs and collectors of the world. +</p> +<p> +During his various art wanderings through Europe, Ole Bull made many +friends among the distinguished men of the world. A dominant pride +of person and race, however, always preserved him from the slightest +approach to servility. In 1838 he was presented to Carl Johann, king +of Sweden, at Stockholm. The king had at that time a great feeling of +bitterness against Norway, on account of the obstinate refusal of the +people of that country to be united with Sweden under his rule. At the +interview with Ole Bull the irate king let fall some sharp expressions +relative to his chagrin in the matter. +</p> +<p> +"Sire," said the artist, drawing himself up to the fullness of his +magnificent height, and looking sternly at the monarch, "you forget that +I have the honor to be a Norwegian." +</p> +<p> +The king was startled by this curt rebuke, and was about to make an +angry reply, but smoothed his face and answered, with a laugh: +</p> +<p> +"Well! well! I know you d—d sturdy fellows." Carl Johann afterward +bestowed on Ole Bull the order of Gustavus Vasa. +</p> +<center> +V. +</center> +<p> +Ole Bull's first visit to America was in 1843, and the impression +produced by his playing was, for manifest causes, even greater than that +created in Europe. He was the first really great violinist who had ever +come to this country for concert purposes, and there was none other +to measure him by. There were no great traditions of players who had +preceded him; there were no rivals like Spohr, Paganini, and De Bériot +to provoke comparisons. In later years artists discovered that this +country was a veritable El Dorado, and regarded an American tour as +indispensable to the fulfillment of a well-rounded career. But, when Ole +Bull began to play in America, his performances were revelations, to the +masses of those that heard him, of the possibilities of the violin. The +greatest enthusiasm was manifested everywhere, and, during the three +years of this early visit, he gave repeated performances in every city +of any note in America. The writer of this little work met Ole Bull a +few years ago in Chicago, and heard the artist laughingly say that, +when he first entered what was destined to be such a great city, it was +little more than a vast mudhole, a good-sized village scattered over +a wide space of ground, and with no building of pretension except Fort +Dearborn, a stockade fortification. +</p> +<p> +Our artist returned to Europe in 1846, and for five years led a +wandering life of concert-giving in England, France, Holland, Germany, +Italy, and Spain, adding to his laurels by the recognition everywhere +conceded of the increased soundness and musicianly excellence of his +playing. It was indeed at this period that Ole Bull attained his best as +a virtuoso. He had been previously seduced by the example of Paganini, +and in the attempt to master the more strange and remote difficulties of +the instrument had often laid himself open to serious criticism. But Ole +Bull gradually formed a style of his own which was the outcome of his +passion for descriptive and poetic playing, and the correlative of the +mode of composition which he adopted. In still later years Ole Bull +seems to have returned again to what might be termed claptrap and +trickery in his art, and to have desired rather to excite wonder and +curiosity than to charm the sensibilities or to satisfy the requirements +of sound musical taste. +</p> +<p> +In 1851 Ole Bull returned home with the patriotic purpose of +establishing a strictly national theatre. This had been for a long time +one of the many dreams which his active imagination had conjured up as +a part of his mission. He was one of the earliest of that school of +reformers, of whom we have heard so much of late years, that urge the +readoption of the old Norse language—or, what is nearest to it now, +the Icelandic—as the vehicle of art and literature. In the attempt to +dethrone Dansk from its preeminence as the language of the drama, Ole +Bull signally failed, and his Norwegian theatre, established at Bergen, +proved only an insatiable tax on money-resources earned in other +directions. +</p> +<p> +The year succeeding this, Ole Bull again visited the United States, +and spent five years here. The return to America did not altogether +contemplate the pursuit of music, for there had been for a good while +boiling in his brain, among other schemes, the project of a great +Scandinavian colony, to be established in Pennsylvania under his +auspices. He purchased one hundred and twenty-five thousand acres of +land on the Susquehanna, and hundreds of sturdy Norwegians flocked over +to the land of milk and honey thus auspiciously opened to them. Timber +was felled, ground cleared, churches, cottages, school-houses built, +and everything was progressing desirably, when the ambitious colonizer +discovered that the parties who sold him the land were swindlers without +any rightful claim to it. With the unbusiness-like carelessness of the +man of genius, our artist had not investigated the claims of others +on the property, and he thus became involved in a most perplexing and +expensive suit at law. He attempted to punish the rascals who so nearly +ruined him, but they were shielded behind the quips and quirks of the +law, and got away scot free. Ole Bull's previously ample means were so +heavily drained by this misfortune that he was compelled to take up +his violin again and resume concert-giving, for he had incurred heavy +pecuniary obligations that must be met. Driven by the most feverish +anxiety, he passed from town to town, playing almost every night, till +he was stricken down by yellow fever in New Orleans. His powerful frame +and sound constitution, fortified by the abstemious habits which had +marked his whole life of queer vicissitudes, carried him through this +danger safely, and he finally succeeded in honorably fulfilling the +responsibility which he had assumed toward his countrymen. +</p> +<p> +For many recent years Ole Bull, when not engaged in concert-giving in +Europe or America, has resided at a charming country estate on one +of the little islands off the coast of Norway. His numerous farewell +concert tours are very well known to the public, and would have won +him ridicule, had not the genial presence and brilliant talents of the +Norwegian artist been always good for a renewed and no less cordial +welcome. He frequently referred to the United States in latter years as +the beloved land of his adoption. One striking proof of his preference +was, at all events, displayed in his marriage to an American lady, Miss +Thorpe, of Wisconsin, in 1870. One son was the fruit of this second +marriage, and Mr. and Mrs. Ole Bull divided their time between Norway +and the United States. +</p> +<p> +The magnificent presence of Ole Bull, as if of some grand old viking +stepped out of his armor and dressed in modern garb, made a most +picturesque personality. Those who have seen him can never forget him. +The great stature, the massive, stalwart form, as upright as a pine, the +white floating locks framing the ruddy face, full of strength and genial +humor, lit up by keen blue eyes—all these things made Ole Bull the most +striking man in <i>personnel</i> among all the artists who have been familiar +to our public. +</p> +<p> +While Ole Bull will not be known in the history of art as a great +scientific musician, there can be no doubt that his place as a brilliant +and gifted solo player will stand among the very foremost. As a composer +he will probably be forgotten, for his compositions, which made up the +most of his concert programmes, were so radically interwoven with his +executive art as a virtuoso that the two can not be dissevered. No one, +unless he should be inspired by the same feelings which animated the +breast of Ole Bull, could ever evolve from his musical tone-pictures +of Scandinavian myth and folk-lore the weird fascination which his +bow struck from the strings. Ole Bull, like Paganini, laid no claim to +greatness in interpreting the violin classics. His peculiar title to +fame is that of being, aside from brilliancy as a violin virtuoso, the +musical exponent of his people and their traditions. He died at Bergen, +Norway, on August 18, 1880, in the seventy-first year of his age, +and his funeral services made one of the most august and imposing +ceremonials held for many a long year in Norway. +</p> +<a name="h2H_4_0011" id="h2H_4_0011"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + MUZIO CLEMENTI +</h2> +<p> +The Genealogy of the Piano-forte.—The Harpsichord its Immediate +Predecessor.—Supposed Invention of the Piano-forte.—Silbermann the +First Maker.—Anecdote of Frederick the Great.—The Piano-forte only +slowly makes its Way as against the Clavichord and Harpsichord.—Emanuel +Bach, the First Composer of Sonatas for the Piano-forte.—His Views +of playing on the New Instrument.—Haydn and Mozart as Players.—Muzio +Clementi, the Earliest Virtuoso, strictly speaking, as a Pianist.—Born +in Rome in 1752.—Scion of an Artistic Family.—First Musical +Training.—Rapid Development of his Talents.—Composes Contrapuntal +Works at the Age of Fourteen.—Early Studies of the Organ and +Harpsichord.—Goes to England to complete his Studies.—Creates +an Unequaled Furore in London.—John Christian Bach's Opinion of +Clementi.—Clementi's Musical Tour.—His Duel with Mozart before the +Emperor.—Tenor of Clementi's Life in England.—Clementi's Pupils.—Trip +to St. Petersburg.—Sphor's Anecdote of Him.—Mercantile and +Manufacturing Interest in the Piano as Partner of Collard.—The Players +and Composers trained under Clementi.—His Composition.—Status as +a Player.—Character and Influence as an Artist.—Development of the +Technique of the Piano, culminating in Clementi. +</p> +<center> +I. +</center> +<p> +Before touching the life of Clementi, the first of the great virtuosos +who may be considered distinctively composers for and players on the +pianoforte, it is indispensable to a clear understanding of the theme +involved that the reader should turn back for a brief glance at the +history of the piano and piano-playing prior to his time. Before the +piano-forte came the harpsichord, prior to the latter the spinet, +then the virginal, the clavichord, and monochord; before these, the +clavieytherium. Before these instruments, which bring us down to modern +civilized times, and constitute the genealogy of the piano-forte, we +have the dulcimer and psaltery, and all the Egyptian, Grecian, and Roman +harps and lyres which were struck with a quill or plectrum. No product +of human ingenuity has been the outcome of a steady and systematic +growth from age to age by more demonstrable stages than this most +remarkable of musical instruments. As it is not the intention to offer +an essay on the piano, but only to make clearer the conditions under +which a great school of players began to appear, the antiquities of the +topic are not necessary to be touched. +</p> +<p> +The modern piano-forte had as its immediate predecessor the harpsichord, +the instrument on which the heroines of the novels of Fielding, +Smollett, Richardson, and their contemporaries were wont to discourse +sweet music, and for which Haydn and Mozart composed some delightful +minor works. In the harpsichord the strings were set in vibration by +points of quill or hard leather. One of these instruments looked like +a piano, only it was provided with two keyboards, one above the other, +related to each other as the swell and main keyboards of an organ. +At last it occurred to lovers of music that all refinement of musical +expression depended on touch, and that whereas a string could be plucked +or pulled by machinery in but one way, it could be hit in a hundred +ways. It was then that the notion of striking the strings with a hammer +found practical use, and by the addition of this element the piano-forte +emerged into existence. The idea appears to have occurred to three men +early in the eighteenth century, almost simultaneously—Cristofori, an +Italian, Marins, a Frenchman, and Schrôter, a German. For years attempts +to carry out the new mechanism were so clumsy that good harpsichords +on the wrong principle were preferred to poor piano-fortes on the right +principle. But the keynote of progress had been struck, and the day +of the quill and leather jack was swiftly drawing to a close. A small +hammer was made to strike the string, producing a marvelously clear, +precise, delicate tone, and the "scratch" with a sound at the end of it +was about to be consigned to oblivion for ever and a day. +</p> +<p> +Gottfried Silbermann, an ingenious musical instrument maker, of +Freyhurg, Saxony, was the first to give the new principle adequate +expression, about the year 1740, and his pianos excited a great deal of +curiosity among musicians and scientific men. He followed the mechanism +of Cristofori, the Italian, rather than of his own countrymen. Schrôter +and his instruments appear to have been ingenious, though Sebastian +Bach, who loved his "well-tempered clavichord" (the most powerful +instrument of the harpsichord class) too well to be seduced from his +allegiance, pronounced them too feeble in tone, a criticism which he +retracted in after years. Silbermann experimented and labored with +incessant energy for many years, and he had the satisfaction before +dying of seeing the piano firmly established in the affection and +admiration of the musical world. One of the most authentic of musical +anecdotes is that of the visit of John Sebastian Bach and his son to +Frederick the Great, at Potsdam, in 1747. The Prussian king was an +enthusiast in music, and himself an excellent performer on the flute, +of which, as well as of other instruments, he had a large collection. He +had for a long time been anxious for a visit from Bach, but that great +man was too much enamored of his own quiet musical solitude to +run hither and thither at the beck of kings. At last, after much +solicitation, he consented, and arrived at Potsdam late in the evening, +all dusty and travel-stained. The king was just taking up his flute +to play a concerto, when a lackey informed him of the coming of Bach. +Frederick was more agitated than he ever had been in the tumult of +battle. Crying aloud, "Gentlemen, old Bach is here!" he rushed out to +meet the king in a loftier domain than his own, and ushered him into the +lordly company of powdered wigs and doublets, of fair dames shining with +jewels, satins, and velvets, of courtiers glittering in all the colors +of the rainbow. "Old Bach" presented a shabby figure amid all this +splendor, but the king cared nothing for that. He was most anxious to +hear the grand old musician play on the new Silbermann piano, which was +the latest hobby of the Prussian monarch. +</p> +<p> +It is not a matter of wonder that the lovers of the harpsichord and +clavichord did not take kindly to the piano-forte at first. The keys +needed a greater delicacy of treatment, and the very fact that the +instrument required a new style of playing was of course sufficient to +relegate the piano to another generation. The art of playing had at the +time of the invention of the piano attained a high degree of efficiency. +Such musicians as Do-menico Scarlatti in Italy and John Sebastian Bach +in Germany had developed a wonderful degree of skill in treating the +<i>clavecin</i>, or spinet, and the clavichord, and, if we may trust the old +accounts, they called out ecstasies of admiration similar to those which +the great modern players have excited. With the piano-forte, however, an +entirely new style of expression came into existence. The power to play +soft or loud at will developed the individual or personal feeling of the +player, and new effects were speedily invented and put in practice. The +art of playing ceased to be considered from the merely objective point +of view, for the richer resources of the piano suggested the indulgence +of individuality of expression. It was left to Emanuel Bach to make +the first step toward the proper treatment of the piano, and to adapt +a style of composition expressly to its requirements, though even he +continued to prefer the clavichord. The rigorous, polyphonic style of +his illustrious father was succeeded by the lyrical and singing +element, which, if fantastic and daring, had a sweet, bright charm very +fascinating. He writes in one of his treatises: "Methinks music +ought appeal directly to the heart, and in this no performer on +the piano-forte will succeed by merely thumping and drumming, or by +continual arpeggio playing. During the last few years my chief endeavor +has been to play the piano-forte, in spite of its deficiency in +sustaining the sound, so much as possible, in a singing manner, and +to compose for it accordingly. This is by no means an easy task, if we +desire not to leave the ear empty or to disturb the noble simplicity of +the cantabile by too much noise." +</p> +<p> +Haydn and Mozart, who composed somewhat for the harpsichord (for until +the closing years of the eighteenth century this instrument had +not entirely yielded to the growing popularity of the piano-forte), +distinguished themselves still more by their treatment of the latter +instrument. They closely followed the maxims of Emanuel Bach. They +aimed to please the public by sweet melody and agreeable harmony, by +spontaneous elegance and cheerfulness, by suave and smooth simplicity. +Their practice in writing for the orchestra and for voices modified +their piano-forte style both as composers and players, but they never +sacrificed that intelligible and simple charm which appeals to the +universal heart to the taste for grand, complex, and eccentric effects, +which has so dominated the efforts of their successors. Mozart's most +distinguished contemporaries bear witness to his excellence as a player, +and his great command over the piano-forte, and his own remarks on +piano-playing are full of point and suggestion. He asserts "that the +performer should possess a quiet and steady hand, with its natural +lightness, smoothness, and gliding rapidity so well developed that the +passages should flow like oil.... All notes, graces, accents, etc., +should be brought out with fitting taste and expression.... In passages +[technical figures], some notes may be left to their fate without +notice, but is that right? Three things are necessary to a good +performer"; and he pointed significantly to his head, his heart, and +the tips of his fingers, as symbolical of understanding, sympathy, and +technical skill. But it was fated that Clementi should be the Columbus +in the domain of piano-forte playing and composition. He was the father +of the school of modern piano technique, and by far surpassed all his +contemporaries in the boldness, vigor, brilliancy, and variety of his +execution, and he is entitled to be called first (in respect of date) +of the great piano-forte virtuosos, Clementi wrote solely for this +instrument (for his few orchestral works are now dead). The piano, as +his sole medium of expression, became a vehicle of great eloquence and +power, and his sonatas, as pure types of piano-forte compositions, are +unsurpassed, even in this age of exuberant musical fertility. +</p> +<center> +II. +</center> +<p> +Muzio Clementi was born at Rome in the year 1752, and was the son of +a silver worker of great skill, who was principally engaged on the +execution of the embossed figures and vases employed in the Catholic +worship. The boy at a very early age evinced a most decided taste +for music, a predilection which delighted his father, himself an +enthusiastic amateur, and caused him to bestow the utmost pains on the +cultivation of the child's talents. The boy's first master was Buroni, +choir-master a tone of the churches, and a relation of the family. +Later, young Clementi took lessons in thorough bass from an eminent +organist, Condicelli, and after a couple of years' application he was +thought sufficiently advanced to apply for the position of organist, +which he obtained, his age then being barely nine. He prosecuted his +studies with great zeal under the ablest masters, and his genius for +composition as well as for playing displayed a rapid development. By the +time Clementi had attained the age of fourteen he had composed several +contrapuntal works of considerable merit, one of which, a mass for four +voices and chorus, gained great applause from the musicians and public +of Rome. +</p> +<p> +During his studies of counterpoint and the organ Clementi never +neglected his harpsichord, on which he achieved remarkable proficiency, +for the piano-forte at this time, though gradually coming into use, was +looked on rather as a curiosity than an instrument of practical value. +The turning-point of Clementi's life occurred in 1767, through his +acquaintance with an English gentleman of wealth, Mr. Peter Beckford, +who evinced a deep interest in the young musician's career. After much +opposition Mr. Beckford persuaded the elder Clementi to intrust his +son's further musical education to his care. The country seat of Mr. +Beckford was in Dorsetshire, England, and here, by the aid of a fine +library, social surroundings of the most favorable kind, and indomitable +energy on his own part, he speedily made himself an adept in the English +language and literature. The talents of Clementi made him almost an +Admirable Crichton, for it is asserted that, in addition to the most +severe musical studies, he made himself in a few years a proficient in +the principal modern languages, in Greek and Latin, and in the +whole circle of the belles-lettres. His studies in his own art were +principally based on the works of Corelli, Alexander Scarlatti, +Handel's harpsichord and organ music, and on the sonatas of Paradies, a +Neapolitan composer and teacher, who enjoyed high repute in London for +many years. Until 1770 Clementi spent his time secluded at his patron's +country seat, and then fully equipped with musical knowledge, and with +an unequaled command of the instrument, he burst on the town as pianist +and composer. He had already written at this time his "Opus No. 2," +which established a new era for sonata compositions, and is recognized +to-day as the basis for all modern works of this class. +</p> +<p> +Clementi's attainments were so phenomenal that he carried everything +before him in London, and met with a success so brilliant as to be +almost without precedent. Socially and musically he was one of the +idols of the hour, and the great Handel himself had not met with as much +adulation. Apropos of the great sonata above mentioned, with which the +Clementi furore began in London, it is said that John Christian Bach, +son of Sebastian, one of the greatest executants of the time, confessed +his inability to do it justice, and Schrôter, one of those sharing the +honor of the invention of the piano-forte, and a leading musician of his +age, said, "Only the devil and Clementi could play it." For seven years +the subject of our sketch poured forth a succession of brilliant works, +continually gave concerts, and in addition acted as conductor of the +Italian opera, a life sufficiently busy for the most ambitious man. In +1780 Clementi began his musical travels, and gave the first concerts +of his tour at Paris, whither he was accompanied by the great singer +Pacchierotti. He was received with the greatest favor by the queen, +Marie Antoinette, and the court, and made the acquaintance of Gluck, who +warmly admired the brilliant player who had so completely revolutionized +the style of execution on instruments with a keyboard. Here he also met +Viotti, the great violinist, and played a <i>duo concertante</i> with the +latter, expressly composed for the occasion. Clementi was delighted with +the almost frantic enthusiasm of the French, so different from the more +temperate approbation of the English. He was wont to say jocosely that +he hardly knew himself to be the same man. From Paris Clementi passed, +via Strasburg and Munich, where he was most cordially welcomed, +to Vienna, the then musical Mecca of Europe, for it contained two +world-famed men—"Papa" Haydn and the young prodigy Mozart. The Emperor +Joseph II, a great lover of music, could not let the opportunity slip, +for he now had a chance to determine which was the greater player, his +own pet Mozart or the Anglo-Italian stranger whose fame as an executant +had risen to such dimensions. So the two musicians fought a musical +duel, in which they played at sight the most difficult works, and +improvised on themes selected by the imperial arbiter. The victory +was left undecided, though Mozart, who disliked the Italians, spoke +afterward of Clementi, in a tone at variance with his usual gentleness, +as "a mere mechanician, without a pennyworth of feeling or taste." +Clementi was more generous, for he couldn't say too much of Mozart's +"singing touch and exquisite taste," and dated from this meeting a +considerable difference in his own style of play. +</p> +<p> +With the exception of occasional concert tours to Paris, Clementi +devoted all his time up to 1802 in England, busy as conductor, composer, +virtuoso, and teacher. In the latter capacity he was unrivaled, and +pupils came to him from all parts of Europe. Among these pupils were +John B. Cramer and John Field, names celebrated in music. In 1802 +Clementi took the brilliant young Irishman, John Field, to St. +Petersburg on a musical tour, where both master and pupil were received +with unbounded enthusiasm, and where the latter remained in affluent +circumstances, having married a Russian lady of rank and wealth. +Field was idolized by the Russians, and they claim his compositions +as belonging to their music. He is now distinctively remembered as the +inventor of that beautiful form of musical writing, the nocturne. Spohr, +the violinist, met Clementi and Field at the Russian capital, and gives +the following amusing account in his "Autobiography": "Clementi, a man +in his best years, of an extremely lively disposition and very engaging +manners, liked much to converse with me, and often invited me after +dinner to play at billiards. In the evening I sometimes accompanied him +to his large piano-forte warehouse, where Field was often obliged +to play for hours to display instruments to the best advantage to +purchasers. I have still in recollection the figure of the pale +overgrown youth, whom I have never since seen. When Field, who had +outgrown his clothes, placed himself at the piano, stretching out his +arms over the keyboard, so that the sleeves shrank up nearly to the +elbow, his whole figure appeared awkward and stiff in the highest +degree. But, as soon as his touching instrumentation began, everything +else was forgotten, and one became all ear. Unfortunately I could not +express my emotion and thankfulness to the young man otherwise than +by the pressure of the hand, for he spoke no language but his mother +tongue. Even at that time many anecdotes of the remarkable avarice of +the rich Clementi were related, which had greatly increased in later +years when I again met him in London. It was generally reported that +Field was kept on very short allowance by his master, and was obliged to +pay for the good fortune of having his instruction by many privations. +I myself experienced a little sample of Clementi's truly Italian +parsimony, for one day I found teacher and pupil with upturned sleeves, +engaged at the wash-tub, washing their stockings and other linen. They +did not suffer themselves to be disturbed, and Clementi advised me to do +the same, as washing in St. Petersburg was not only very expensive, but +the linen suffered much from the method used in washing it." +</p> +<p> +From the above it may be suspected that Clementi was not only player +and composer, but man of business. He had been very successful in +money-making in England from the start, and it was not many years before +he accumulated a sufficient amount to buy an interest in the firm of +Longman & Broderip, "manufacturers of musical instruments, and music +sellers to their majesties." The failure of the house, by which he +sustained heavy losses, induced him to try his hand alone at music +publishing and piano-forte manufacturing; and his great success (the +firm is still extant in the person of his partner's son, Mr. Col-lard) +proves he was an exception to the majority of artists, who rarely +possess business talents. Clementi met many reverses in his commercial +career. In March, 1807, the warehouses occupied by Clementi's new firm +were destroyed by fire, entailing a loss of about forty thousand pounds. +But the man's courage was indomitable, and he retrieved his misfortunes +with characteristic pluck and cheerfulness. After 1810 he gave up +playing in public, and devoted himself to composing and the conduct of +his piano-forte business, which became very large and valuable. Himself +an inventor and mechanician, he made many important improvements in the +construction of the piano, some of which have never been superseded. +</p> +<center> +III. +</center> +<p> +Clementi numbers among his pupils more great names in the art of +piano-forte playing than any other great master. This is partly owing +to the fact, it may be, that he began his career in the infancy of the +piano-forte as an instrument, and was the first to establish a solid +basis for the technique of the instrument. In addition to John Field and +J. B. Cramer, previously mentioned, were Zeuner, Dussek, Alex. Kleugel, +Ludwig Berger, Kalkbrenner, Charles Mayer, and Meyerbeer. These +musicians not only added richly to the literature of the piano-forte, +but were splendid exponents of its powers as virtuosos. But mere +artistic fame is transitory, and it is in Clementi's contributions to +the permanent history of piano-forte playing that we must find his chief +claim on the admiration of posterity. He composed not a few works for +the orchestra, and transcriptions of opera, but these have now receded +to the lumber closet. The works which live are his piano concertos, of +which about sixty were written for the piano alone, and the remainder +as duets or trios; and, <i>par excellence</i>, his "Gradus ad Parnassum," a +superb series of one hundred studies, upon which even to-day the solid +art of piano-forte playing rests. Clementi's works must always remain +indispensable to the pianist, and, in spite of the fact that piano +technique has made such advances during the last half century, there are +several of Clementi's sonatas which tax the utmost skill of such players +as Liszt and Von Billow, to whom all ordinary difficulty is merely a +plaything. As Viotti was the father of modern violin-playing, Clementi +may be considered the father of virtuosoism on the piano-forte, and he +has left an indelible mark, both mechanically and spiritually, on +all that pertains to piano-playing. Compared with Clementi's style in +piano-forte composition, that of Haydn and Mozart appears poor and thin. +Haydn and Mozart regarded execution as merely the vehicle of ideas, and +valued technical brilliancy less than musical substance. Clementi, on +the other hand, led the way for that class of compositions which pay +large attention to manual skill. His works can not be said to burn with +that sacred fire which inspires men of the highest genius, but they are +magnificently modeled for the display of technical execution, brilliancy +of effect, and virile force of expression. The great Beethoven, who +composed the greatest works for the piano-forte, as also for the +orchestra, had a most exalted estimate of Clementi, and never wearied +of playing his music and sounding his praises. No musician has probably +exerted more far-reaching effects in this department of his art than +Clementi, though he can not be called a man of the highest genius, +for this lofty attribute supposes great creative imagination and rich +resources of thought, as well as knowledge, experience, skill, and +transcendent aptitude for a single instrument. +</p> +<p> +As far as a musician of such unique and colossal genius as Beethoven +could be influenced by preceding or contemporary artists, his style as +a piano-forte player and composer was more modified by Clementi than +by any other. He was wont to say that no one could play till he +knew Clementi by heart. He adopted many of the peculiar figures and +combinations original with Clementi, though his musical mentality, +incomparably richer and greater than that of the other, transfigured +them into a new life. That Beethoven found novel means of expression +to satisfy the importunate demands of his musical conceptions; that his +piano works display a greater polyphony, stronger contrasts, bolder +and richer rhythm, broader design and execution, by no means impair +the value of his obligations to Clementi, obligations which the most +arrogant and self-centered of men freely allowed. Beethoven's fancy was +penetrated by all the qualities of tone which distinguish the string, +reed, and brass instruments; his imagination shot through and through +with orchestral color; and he succeeded in saturating his sonatas with +these rich effects without sacrificing the specialty of the piano-forte. +But in general style and technique he is distinctly a follower of +Clementi. The most unique and splendid personality in music has thus +been singled out as furnishing a vivid illustration of the influence +exerted by Clementi in the department of the piano-forte. +</p> +<p> +Clementi lived to the age of eighty, and spent the last twelve years of +his life in London uninterruptedly, his growing feebleness preventing +him from taking his usual musical trips to the Continent. He retained +his characteristic energy and freshness of mind to the last, and +was held in the highest honor by the great circle of artists who had +centered in London, for he was the musical patriarch in England, as +Cherubini was in France at a little later date. He was married three +times, had children in his old age, and only a few months before +his death, Moscheles records in his diary, he was able to arouse the +greatest enthusiasm by the vigor and brilliancy of his playing, in spite +of his enfeebled physical powers. He died March 9, 1832, at Eversham, +and his funeral gathered a great convocation of musical celebrities. His +life covered an immense arch in the history of music. +</p> +<p> +At his birth Handel was alive; at his death Beethoven, Schubert, +and Weber had found refuge in the grave from the ingratitude of a +contemporary public. He began his career by practicing Scarlatti's +harpsichord sonatas; he lived to be acquainted with the finest +piano-forte works of all time. When he first used the piano, he +practiced on the imperfect and feeble Silbermann instrument. When he +died, the magnificent instruments of Erard, Broadwood, and Collard, +to the latter of which his own mechanical and musical knowledge had +contributed much, were in common vogue. Such was the career of Muzio +Clementi, the father of piano-forte virtuosos. Had he lived later, he +might have been far eclipsed by the great players who have since adorned +the art of music. As Goethe says, through the mouthpiece of Wil-helm. +Meister: "The narrowest man may be complete while he moves within the +bounds of his own capacity and acquirements, but even fine qualities +become clouded and destroyed if this indispensable proportion is +exceeded. This unwholesome excess, however, will begin to appear +frequently, for who can suffice to the swift progress and increasing +requirements of the ever-soaring present time?" But, measured by his own +day and age, Clementi deserves the pedestal on which musical criticism +has placed him. +</p> +<a name="h2H_4_0012" id="h2H_4_0012"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + MOSCHELES. +</h2> +<p> +Clementi and Mozart as Points of Departure in Piano-forte +Playing.—Moscheles the most Brilliant Climax reached by the Viennese +School.—His Child-Life at Prague.—Extraordinary Precocity.—Goes to +Vienna as the Pupil of Salieri and Albrechts-burger.—Acquaintance +with Beethoven.—Moscheles is honored with a Commission to make a Piano +Transcription of Beethoven's "Fidelio."—His Intercourse with the Great +Man.—Concert Tour.—Arrival in Paris.—The Artistic Circle into which +he is received.—Pictures of Art-Life in Paris.—London and its Musical +Celebrities.—Career as a Wandering Virtuoso.—Felix Mendelssohn becomes +his Pupil.—The Mendelssohn Family.—Moscheles's Marriage to a +Hamburg Lady.—Settles in London.—His Life as Teacher, Player, and +Composer.—Eminent Place taken by Moscheles among the Musicians of +his Age.—His Efforts soothe the Sufferings of Beethoven's +Deathbed.—Friendship for Mendelssohn.—Moscheles becomes connected with +the Leipzig Conservatorium.—Death in 1870.—Moscheles as Pianist +and Composer.—Sympathy with the Old as against the New School of the +Piano.—His Powerful Influence on the Musical Culture and Tendencies of +his Age. +</p> +<center> +I. +</center> +<p> +The rivalry of Clementi and Mozart as exponents of piano-forte playing +in their day was continued in their schools of performance. The original +cause of this difference was largely based on the character of the +instruments on which they played. Clementi used the English piano-forte, +and Mozart the Viennese, and the style of execution was no less the +outcome of the mechanical difference between the two vehicles of +expression than the result of personal idiosyncrasies. The English +instrument was speedily developed into the production of a richer, +fuller, and more sonorous tone, while the Viennese piano-forte continued +for a long time to be distinguished by its light, thin, sweet quality of +sound, and an action so sensitive that the slightest pressure produced +a sound from the key, so that the term "breathing on the keys" became +a current expression, Clementi's piano favored a bold, masculine, +brilliant style of playing, while the Viennese piano led to a rapid, +fluent, delicate treatment. The former player founded the school which +has culminated, through a series of great players, in the magnificent +virtuosoism of Franz Liszt, while the Vienna school has no nearer +representative than Tgnaz Moscheles, one of the greatest players in the +history of the pianoforte, who, whether judged by his gifts as a +concert performer, a composer for the instrument which he so brilliantly +adorned, or from his social and intellectual prominence, must be set +apart as peculiarly a representative man. There were other eminent +players, such as Hummel, Czerny, and Herz, contemporary with Moscheles +and belonging to the same <i>genre</i> as a pianist, but these names do not +stand forth with the same clear and permanent luster in their relation +to the musical art. +</p> +<p> +Ignaz Moscheles was born at Prague, May 30, 1794, his parents being +well-to-do people of Hebrew stock. His father, a cloth merchant, was +passionately fond of music, and was accustomed to say, "One of my +children must become a thoroughbred musician." Ignaz was soon selected +as the one on whom the experiment should be made, and the rapid +progress he made justified the accident of choice, for all of the family +possessed some musical talent. The boy progressed too fast, for he +attempted at the age of seven to play Beethoven's "Sonata Pathétique." +He was traveling on the wrong road, attempting what he could in no +way attain, when his father took him to Dionys Weber, one of the best +teachers of the time. "I come," said the parent, "to you as our first +musician, for sincere truth instead of empty flattery. I want to find +out from you if my boy has such genuine talent that you can make a +really good musician of him." "Naturally, I was called on to play," says +Moscheles, in his "Autobiography," "and I was bungler enough to do it +with some conceit. My mother having decked me out in my Sunday best, I +played my best piece, Beethoven's 'Sonata Pathétique.' But what was my +astonishment on finding that I was neither interrupted by bravos nor +overwhelmed by praise! and what were my feelings when Dionys Weber +finally delivered himself thus: +</p> +<p> +"'Candidly speaking, the boy has talent, but is on the wrong road, for +he makes bosh of great works which he does not understand, and to which +he is utterly unequal. I could make something of him if you could hand +him over to me for three years, and follow out my plan to the letter. +The first year he must play nothing but Mozart, the second Clementi, and +the third Bach; but only that: not a note as yet of Beethoven; and if +he persists in using the circulating libraries, I have done with him for +ever.'" +</p> +<p> +This scheme was followed out strictly, and Moscheles at the age of +fourteen had acquired a sufficient mastery of the piano to give a +concert at Prague with brilliant success. The young musician continued +to pursue his studies assiduously under Weber's direction until +his father's death, and his mother then determined to yield to his +oft-repeated wish to try his musical fortunes in a larger field, and win +his own way in life. So young Ignaz, little more than a child, went to +Vienna, where he was warmly received in the hospitable musical circles +of that capital. He took lessons in counterpoint from Albrechts-burger, +and in composition from Salieri, and in all ways indicated that serene, +tireless industry which marked his whole after-career. Moscheles spent +eight years at Vienna, continually growing in estimation as artist and +beginning to make his mark as a composer. His own reminiscences of the +brilliant and gifted men who clustered in Vienna are very pleasant, but +it is to Beethoven that his admiration specially went forth. The great +master liked his young disciple much, and proposed to him that he should +set the numbers of "Fidelio" for the piano, a task which, it is needless +to say, was gladly accepted. Moscheles tells us one morning, when he +went to see Beethoven, he found him lying in bed. "He happened to be in +remarkably good spirits, jumped up immediately, and placed himself, just +as he was, at the window looking out on the Schotten-bastei, with the +view of examining the 'Fidelio' numbers which I had arranged. Naturally, +a crowd of street-boys collected under the window, when he roared out, +'Now, what do these confounded boys want?' I laughed and pointed to his +own figure. 'Yes, yes! You are quite right,' he said, and hastily put on +a dressing-gown." +</p> +<p> +Moscheles's associations were even at this early period with all the +foremost people of the age, and he was cordially welcome in every +circle. He composed a good deal, besides giving concerts and playing in +private select circles, and was recognized as being the equal of Hummel, +who had hitherto been accepted as the great piano virtuoso of Vienna. +The two were very good friends in spite of their rivalry. They, as well +as all the Viennese musicians, were bound together by a common tie, very +well expressed in the saying of Moscheles: "We musicians, whatever we +be, are mere satellites of the great Beethoven, the dazzling luminary." +</p> +<center> +II. +</center> +<p> +In the autumn of 1816 Moscheles bade a sorrowful adieu to the imperial +city, where he had spent so many happy years, to undertake an extended +concert tour, armed with letters of introduction to all the courts of +Europe from Prince Lichtenstein, Countess Hardigg, and other influential +admirers. He proceeded directly to Leipzig, where he was warmly received +by the musical fraternity of that city, especially by the Wiecks, of +whose daughter Clara he speaks in highly eulogistic words. He played his +own compositions, which already began to show that serene and finished +beauty so characteristic of his after-writings. Ŕ similar success +greeted him at Dresden, where, among other concerts, he gave one before +the court. Of this entertainment Moscheles writes: "The court actually +dined (this barbarous custom still prevails), and the royal household +listened in the galleries, while I and the court band made music to +them, and barbarous it really was; but, in regard to truth, I must add +that royalty and also the lackeys kept as quiet as possible, and the +former congratulated me, and actually condescended to admit me to +friendly conversation." He continued his concerts in Munich, Augsburg, +Amsterdam, Brussels, and other cities, creating the most genuine +admiration wherever he went, and finally reached Paris in December, +1817. +</p> +<p> +Here our young artist was promptly received in the extraordinary world +of musicians, artists, authors, wits, and social celebrities which then, +as now, made Paris so delightful for those possessing the countersign of +admission. Baillot, the violinist, gave a private concert in his honor, +in which he in company with Spohr played before an audience made up of +such artists and celebrities as Cherubini, Auber, Herold, Adam, Lesueur, +Pacini, Paer, Habeneck, Plantade, Blangini, La-font, Pleyel, Ivan +Muller, Viotti, Pellegrini, Boďeldieu, Schlesinger, Manuel Garcia, and +others. These areopagites of music set the mighty seal of their approval +on Moscheles's genius. He was invited everywhere, to dinners, balls, and +<i>fętes</i>, and there was no <i>salon</i> in Paris so high and exclusive which +did not feel itself honored by his presence. His public concerts were +thronged with the best and most critical audiences, and he by no means +shone the less that he appeared in conjunction with other distinguished +artists. He often entertained parties of jovial artists at his lodgings, +and music, punch, and supper enlivened the night till 3 A.M. Whoever +could play or sing was present, and good music alternated with amusing +tricks played on the respective instruments. "Altogether," he writes, +"it is a happy, merry time! Certainly, at the last state dinner of +the Rothschilds, in the presence of such notabilities as Canning +or Narischkin, I was obliged to keep rather in the background. The +invitation to a large, brilliant, but ceremonious ball appears a very +questionable way of showing me attention. The drive up, the endless +queue of carriages, wearied me, and at last I got out and walked. +There, too, I found little pleasure." On the other hand, he praises the +performance of Gluck's opera at the house of the Erards. The "concerts +spirituels" delight him. "Who would not," he says, "envy me this +enjoyment? These concerts justly enjoy a world-wide celebrity. There I +listen with the most solemn earnestness." On the other hand, there are +cheerful episodes, and jovial dinners with Carl Blum and Schlesinger, at +the Restaurant Lemelle. "Yesterday," he writes, "Schlesinger quizzed me +about my slowness in eating, and went so far as to make the stupid bet +with me, that he would demolish three dozen oysters while I ate one +dozen, and he was quite right. On perceiving, however, that he was on +the point of winning, I took to making faces, made him laugh so heartily +that he couldn't go on eating; thus I won my bet." We find the +following notice on the 20th of March: "I spent the evening at Ciceri's, +son-in-law of Isabey, the famous painter, where I was introduced to +one of the most interesting circles of artists. In the first room were +assembled the most famous painters, engaged in drawing several things +for their own amusement. In the midst of these was Cherubini, also +drawing. I had the honor, like every one newly introduced, of having +my portrait taken in caricature. Bégasse took me in hand, and succeeded +well. In an adjoining room were musicians and actors, among them +Ponchard, Le-vasseur, Dugazon, Panseron, Mlle, de Munck, and Mme. +Livčre, of the Théâtre Français. The most interesting of their +performances, which I attended merely as a listener, was a vocal quartet +by Cherubini, performed under his direction. Later in the evening, the +whole party armed itself with larger or smaller 'mirlitons' (reed-pipe +whistles), and on these small monotonous instruments, sometimes made +of sugar, they played, after the fashion of Russian horn music, the +overture to 'Demophon,' two frying-pans representing the drums." On the +27th of March this "mirliton" concert was repeated at Ciceri's, and on +this occasion Cherubini took an active part. Moscheles relates: "Horace +Vernet entertained us with his ventriloquizing powers, M. Salmon with +his imitation of a horn, and Dugazon actually with a 'mirliton' solo. +Lafont and I represented the classical music, which, after all, held, +its own." It was hard to tear himself from these gayeties; but he +had not visited London, and he was anxious to make himself known at a +musical capital inferior to none in Europe. He little thought that in +London he was destined to find his second home. He plunged into the +gayeties and enjoyments of the English capital with no less zest than he +had already experienced in Paris. He found such great players as J. B. +Cramer, Ferdinand Ries, Kalkbrenner, and Clementi in the field; but +our young artist did not altogether lose by comparison. Among other +distinguished musicians, Moscheles also met Kiesewetter, the violinist, +the great singers Mara and Catalani, and Dragonetti, the greatest of +double-bass players. Dragonetti was a most eccentric man, and of him +Moscheles says: "In his <i>salon</i> in Liecester Square he has collected +a large number of various kinds of dolls, among them a negress. When +visitors are announced, he politely receives them, and says that this +or that young lady will make room for them; he also asks his intimate +acquaintances whether his favorite dolls look better or worse since +their last visit, and similar absurdities. He is a terrible snuff-taker, +helping himself out of a gigantic snuff-box, and he has an immense and +varied collection of snuff-boxes. The most curious part of him is his +language, a regular jargon, in which there is a mixture of his native +Bergamese, bad French, and still worse English." +</p> +<p> +During the several months of this first English visit Moscheles made +many acquaintances which were destined to ripen into solid friendships, +and gave many concerts in which the most distinguished artists, vocal +and instrumental, participated. Altogether, he appears to have been +delighted with the London art and social world little less than he had +been with that of Paris. He returned, however, to the latter city in +August, and again became a prominent figure in the most fashionable and +admired concerts. During this visit to Paris he writes in his diary: +"Young Erard took me to-day to his piano-forte factory to try the new +invention of his uncle Sebastian. This quicker action of the hammer +seems to me so important that I prophesy a new era in the manufacture +of piano-fortes. I still complain of some heaviness in the touch, and, +therefore, prefer to play on Pape's and Petzold's instruments (Viennese +pianos). I admired the Erards, but am not thoroughly satisfied, and +urged him to make new improvements." +</p> +<p> +From 1815, when Moscheles began his career as a virtuoso in the +production of his "Variationen fiber den Alexandermarsch," to 1826, +he established a great reputation as a virtuoso and composer for the +piano-forte. Though he played his own works at concerts with marked +approbation, he also became distinguished as an interpreter of Mozart +and Beethoven, for whom he had a reverential admiration. Moscheles often +records his own sense of insignificance by the side of these Titans +of music. A delightful characteristic of the man was his modesty about +himself, and his genial appreciation of other musicians. Nowhere do +those performers who, for example, came in active rivalry with himself, +receive more cordial and unalloyed praise. Moscheles was entirely devoid +of that littleness which finds vent in envy and jealousy, and was as +frank and sympathetic in his estimate of others as he was ambitious and +industrious in the development of his own great talents. In 1824 he gave +piano-forte lessons to Felix Mendelssohn, then a youth of fifteen, at +Berlin. He wrote of the Mendelssohn family: "This is a family the like +of which I have never known. Felix, a boy of fifteen, is a phenomenon. +What are all prodigies as compared with him? Gifted children, but +nothing else. This Felix Mendelssohn is already a mature artist, and +yet but fifteen years old! We at once settled down together for several +hours, for I was obliged to play a great deal, when really I wanted to +hear him and see his compositions, for Felix had to show me a concerto +in C minor, a double concerto, and several motets; and all so full of +genius, and at the same time so correct and thorough! His elder sister +Fanny, also extraordinarily gifted, played by heart, and with admirable +precision, fugues and passacailles by Bach. I think one may well call +her a thorough 'Mus. Doc' (guter Musiker). Both parents give one the +impression of being people of the highest refinement. They are far from +overrating their children's talents; in fact, they are anxious about +Felix's future, and to know whether his gift will prove sufficient to +lead to a noble and truly great career. Will he not, like so many other +brilliant children, suddenly collapse? I asserted my conscientious +conviction that Felix would ultimately become a great master, that I +had not the slightest doubt of his genius; but again and again I had +to insist on my opinion before they believed me. These two are not +specimens of the genus prodigy-parents (Wunderkinds Eltern), such as I +most frequently endure." Moscheles soon came to the conclusion that to +give Felix regular lessons was useless. Only a little hint from time +to time was necessary for the marvelous youth, who had already begun to +compose works which excited Moscheles's deepest admiration. +</p> +<center> +III. +</center> +<p> +In January, 1825, Moscheles, in the course of his musical wanderings, +gave several concerts at Hamburg. Among the crowd of listeners who +came to hear the great pianist was Charlotte Embden, the daughter of an +excellent Hamburg family. She was enchanted by the playing of Moscheles, +and, when she accidentally made the acquaintance of the performer at the +house of a mutual acquaintance, the couple quickly became enamored of +each other. A brief engagement of less than a month was followed by +marriage, and so Moscheles entered into a relation singularly felicitous +in all the elements which make domestic life most blessed. After a brief +tour in the Rhenish cities, and a visit to Paris, Moscheles proceeded to +London, where he had determined to make his home, for in no country had +such genuine and unaffected cordiality boon shown him, and nowhere +were the rewards of musical talent, whether as teacher, virtuoso, or +composer, more satisfying to the man of high ambition. He made London +his home for twenty years, and during this time became one of the most +prominent figures in the art circles of that great city. Moscheles's +mental accomplishments and singular geniality of nature contributed, +with his very great abilities as a musician, to give him a position +attained by but few artists. He gave lessons to none but the most +talented pupils, and his services were sought by the most wealthy +families of the English capital, though the ability to pay great prices +was by no means a passport to the good graces of Moscheles. Among +the pupils who early came under the charge of this great master was +Thalberg, who even then was a brilliant player, but found in the exact +knowledge and great experience of Moscheles that which gave the +crowning finish to his style. Busy in teaching, composing, and public +performance; busy in responding to the almost incessant demands made by +social necessity on one who was not only intimate in the best circles +of London society, but the center to whom all foreign artists of merit +gravitated instantly they arrived in London; busy in confidential +correspondence with all the great musicians of Europe, who discussed +with the genial and sympathetic Moscheles all their plans and +aspirations, and to whom they turned in their moments of trouble, he +was indeed a busy man; and had it not been for the loving labors of his +wife, who was his secretary, his musical copyist, and his assistant in +a myriad of ways, he would have been unequal to his burden. Moscheles's +diary tells the story of a man whose life, though one of tireless +industry, was singularly serene and happy, and without those salient +accidents and vicissitudes which make up the material of a picturesque +life. +</p> +<p> +He made almost yearly tours to the Continent for concert-giving +purposes, and kept his friendship with the great composers of the +Continent green by personal contact. Beethoven was the god of his +musical idolatry, and his pilgrimage to Vienna was always delightful +to him. When Beethoven, in the early part of 1827, was in dire distress +from poverty, just before his death, it was to Moscheles that he applied +for assistance; and it was this generous friend who promptly arranged +the concert with the Philharmonic Society by which one hundred pounds +sterling was raised to alleviate the dying moments of the great man +whom his own countrymen would have let starve, even as they had allowed +Schubert and Mozart to suffer the direst want on their deathbeds. +</p> +<p> +An adequate record of Moscheles's life during the twenty years of his +London career would be a pretty full record of all matters of musical +interest occurring during this time. In 1832 he was made one of the +directors of the Philharmonic Society, and in 1837-'38 he conducted +with signal success Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony." When Sir Henry Bishop +resigned, in 1845, Moscheles was made the conductor, and thereafter +wielded the baton over this orchestra, the noblest in England. Among the +yearly pleasures to which our pianist looked forward with the greatest +interest were the visits of Mendelssohn, between whom and Moscheles +there was the most tender friendship. Whole pages of his diary are given +up to an account of Mendelssohn's doings, and to the most enthusiastic +expression of his love and admiration for one of the greatest musical +geniuses of modern times. +</p> +<p> +We can not attempt to follow up the placid and gentle current of +Moscheles's life, flowing on to ever-increasing honor and usefulness, +but hasten to the period when he left England in 1846, to +become associated with Mendelssohn in the conduct of the Leipzig +Conservatorium, then recently organized. Mendelssohn lived but a few +months after achieving this great monument of musical education, but +Moscheles remained connected with it for nearly twenty years, and to his +great zeal, knowledge, and executive skill is due in large measure the +solid success of the institution. Mendelssohn's early death, while yet +in the very prime of creative genius, was a stunning blow to Moscheles; +more so, perhaps, than would have occurred from the loss of any one +except his beloved wife, the mother of his five children. Our musician +died himself, in Leipzig, March 10, 1870, and his passage from this +world was as serene and quiet as his passage through had been. He lived +to see his daughters married to men of high worth and position, and his +sons substantially placed in life. Perhaps few distinguished musicians +have lived a life of such monotonous happiness, unmarked by those events +which, while they give romantic interest to a career, make the gift at +the expense of so much personal misery. +</p> +<center> +IV. +</center> +<p> +As a pianist Moscheles was distinguished by an incisive, brilliant +touch, wonderfully clear, precise phrasing, and close attention to the +careful accentuation of every phase of the composer's meaning. Of the +younger composers for the piano, Mendelssohn and Schumann were the only +ones with whose works he had any sympathy, though he often complains of +the latter on account of his mysticism. His intelligence had as much +if not more part in his art work than his emotions, and to this we may +attribute that fine symmetry and balance in his own compositions, which +make them equal in this respect to the productions of Mendelssohn. +Chopin he regarded with a sense of admiration mingled with dread, for +he could by no means enter into the peculiar conditions which make the +works of the Polish composer so unique. He wrote of Chopin's "Études," +in 1838: "My thoughts and consequently my fingers ever stumble and +sprawl at certain crude modulations, and I find Chopin's productions +on the whole too sugared, too little worthy of a man and an educated +musician, though there is much charm and originality in the national +color of his motive." When he heard Chopin play in after-years, however, +he confessed the fascination of the performance, and bewailed his own +incapacity to produce such effects in execution, though himself one of +the greatest pianists in the world. So, too, Moscheles, though dazzled +by Liszt's brilliant virtuosoism and power of transforming a single +instrument into an orchestra, shook his head in doubt over such +performances, and looked on them as charlatanism, which, however +magnificent as an exhibition of talent, would ultimately help to degrade +the piano by carrying it out of its true sphere. Moscheles himself was +a more bold and versatile player than any other performer of his school, +but he aimed assiduously to confine his efforts within the perfectly +legitimate and well-established channels of pianism. +</p> +<p> +As an extemporaneous player, perhaps no pianist has ever lived who could +surpass Moscheles. His improvisation on themes suggested by the audience +always made one of the most attractive features of his concerts. His +profound musical knowledge, his strong sense of form, the clearness and +precision with which he instinctively clothed his ideas, as well as the +fertility of the ideas themselves, gave his improvised pieces something +of the same air of completeness as if they were the outcome of hours of +laborious solitude. His very lack of passion and fire were favorable +to this clear-cut and symmetrical expression. His last improvisation +in public, on themes furnished by the audience, formed part of the +programme of a concert at London, in 1865, given by Mme. Jenny Lind +Goldschmidt, in aid of the sufferers by the war between Austria and +Prussia, where he extemporized for half an hour on "See the Conquering +Hero Comes," and on a theme from the andante of Beethoven's C Minor +Symphony, in a most brilliant and astonishing style. +</p> +<p> +Aside from his greatness as a virtuoso and composer for the piano-forte, +whose works will always remain classics in spite of vicissitudes +of public opinion, even as those of Spohr will for the violin, the +influence of Moscheles in furtherance of a solid and true musical taste +was very great, and worthy of special notice. Perhaps no one did more +to educate the English mind up to a full appreciation of the greatest +musical works. As teacher, conductor, player, and composer, the life +of Ignaz Moscheles was one of signal and permanent worth, and its +influences fertilized in no inconsiderable streams the public thought, +not only of his own times, but indirectly of the generation which has +followed. It is not necessary to attribute to him transcendent genius, +but lie possessed, what was perhaps of equal value to the world, an +intellect and temperament splendidly balanced to the artistic needs of +his epoch. The list of Moscheles's numbered compositions reaches Op. +142, besides a large number of ephemeral productions which he did not +care to preserve. +</p> +<a name="h2H_4_0013" id="h2H_4_0013"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + THE SCHUMANNS AND CHOPIN. +</h2> +<p> +Robert Schumann's Place as a National Composer.—Peculiar Greatness as +a Piano-forte Composer.—Born at Zwickau in 1810.—His Father's +Aversion to his Musical Studies.—Becomes a Student of Jurisprudence +in Leipzig.—Makes the Acquaintance of Clara Wieck.—Tedium of his Law +Studies.—Vacation Tour to Italy.—Death of his Father, and Consent +of his Mother to Schumann adopting the Profession of Music.—Becomes +Wieck's Pupil.—Injury to his Hand which prevents all Possibilities of +his becoming a Great Performer.—Devotes himself to Composition.—The +Child, Clara Wieck—Remarkable Genius as a Player.—Her Early +Training.—Paganini's Delight in her Genius.—Clara Wieck's +Concert Tours.—Schumann falls deeply in Love with her, and Wieck's +Opposition.—His Allusions to Clara in the "Neue Zeitschrift."—Schumann +at Vienna.—His Compositions at first Unpopular, though played by Clara +Wieck and Liszt.—Schumann's Labors as a Critic.—He Marries Clara +in 1840.—His Song Period inspired by his Wife.—Tour to Russia, and +Brilliant Reception given to the Artist Pair.—The "Neue Zeitschrift" +and its Mission.—The Davidsbund.—Peculiar Style of Schumann's +Writing.—He moves to Dresden.—Active Production in Orchestral +Composition.—Artistic Tour in Holland.—He is seized with +Brain Disease.—Characteristics as a Man, as an Artist, and as a +Philosopher.—Mme. Schumann as her Husband's Interpreter.—Chopin +a Colaborer with Schumann.—Schumann on Chopin again.—Chopin's +Nativity.—Exclusively a Piano-forte Composer.—His <i>Genre</i> as Pianist +and Composer.—Aversion to Concert-giving.—Parisian Associations.—New +Style of Technique demanded by his Works.—Unique Treatment of the +Instrument.—Characteristics of Chopin's Compositions. +</p> +<center> +I. +</center> +<p> +Robert Schumann shares with Weber the honor of giving the earliest +impulse to what may be called the romantic school of music, which has +culminated in the operatic creations of Richard Wagner. Greatly to the +gain of the world, his early aspirations as a mere player were crushed +by the too intense zeal through which he attempted to perfect his +manipulation, the mechanical contrivance he used having had the +effect of paralyzing the muscular power of one of his hands. But this +department of art work was nobly borne by his gifted wife, <i>nee</i> Clara +Wieck, and Schumann concentrated his musical ambition in the higher +field of composition, leaving behind him works not only remarkable for +beauty of form, but for poetic richness of thought and imagination. +Schumann composed songs, cantatas, operas, and symphonies, but it is in +his works for the piano-forte that his idiosyncrasy was most strikingly +embodied, and in which he has bequeathed the most precious inheritance +to the world of art. All his powers were swept impetuously into one +current, the poetic side of art, and alike as critic and composer he +stands in a relation to the music of the pianoforte which places him on +a pinnacle only less lofty than that of Beethoven. +</p> +<p> +Robert Schumann was born in the small Saxon town of Zwickau in the +year 1810, and was designed by his father, a publisher and author +of considerable reputation, for the profession of the law. The elder +Schumann, though a man of talent and culture, had a deep distaste for +his son's clearly displayed tendencies to music, and though he permitted +him to study something of the science in the usual school-boy way (for +music has always been a part of the educational course in Germany), he +discouraged in every way Robert's passion. The boy had quickly become a +clever player, and even at the age of eight had begun to put his ideas +on paper. We are told by his biographers that he was accustomed +to extemporize at school, and had such a knack in portraying the +characteristics of his school-fellows in music as to make his purpose +instantly recognizable. His father died when Schumann was only +seventeen, and his mother, who was also bent on her son becoming a +jurist, became his guardian. It was a severe battle between taste +and duty, but love for his widowed mother conquered, and young Robert +Schumann entered the University of Leipzig as a law student. It was with +a feeling almost of despair that he wrote at this time, "I have decided +upon law as my profession, and will work at it industriously, however +cold and dry the beginning may be." Previously, however, he had spent a +year in the household of Frederick Wieck, the distinguished teacher of +music. So much he had exacted before succumbing to maternal pleading. +At this time he first made the acquaintance of a charming and precocious +child, Clara Wieck, who played such an important part in his future +life. +</p> +<p> +Robert Schumann's law studies were inexpressibly tedious to him, and so +he told his sympathetic professor, the learned Thibaut, author of the +treatise "On the Purity of Music," in a characteristic manner. He went +to the piano and played Weber's "Invitation to the Waltz," commenting on +the different passages: "Now she speaks—that's the love prattle; now +he speaks—that's the man's earnest voice; now both the lovers speak +together "; concluding with the remark, "Isn't all that better far than +anything that jurisprudence can utter?" The young student became quite +popular in society as a pianist, heard Ernst and Paganini for the first +time, and composed several works, among them the Toccata in D major. +The genius for music would come to the fore in spite of jurisprudence. +A vacation trip to Italy which the young man made gave fresh fuel to +the flame, and he began to write the most passionate pleas to his +mother that she should con sent to his adoption of a musical career. The +distressed woman wrote to Wieck to know what he thought, and the answer +was favorable to Robert's aspirations. Robert was intoxicated with his +mother's concession, and he poured out his enthusiasm to Wieck: "Take +me as I am, and, above all, bear with me. No blame shall depress me, no +praise make me idle. Pails upon pails of very cold theory can not hurt +me, and I will work at it without the least murmur." +</p> +<p> +Taking lodgings at the house of Wieck, Schumann devoted himself to +piano-forte playing with intense ardor; but his zeal outran prudence. +To hasten his proficiency and acquire an independent action for each +finger, he contrived a mechanical apparatus which held the third +finger of the right hand immovable, while the others went through their +evolutions. The result was such a lameness of the hand that it was +incurable, and young Schumann's career as a virtuoso was for ever +checked. His deep sorrow, however, did not unman him long, for he turned +his attention to the study of composition and counterpoint under Kupsch, +and, afterward, Heinrich Dorn. He remained for three years under Wieck's +roof, and the companionship of the child Clara, whose marvelous musical +powers were the talk of Leipzig, was a sweet consolation to him in his +troubles and his toil, though ten years his junior. The love, which +became a part of his life, had already begun to flutter into unconscious +being in his feeling for a shy and reserved little girl. +</p> +<p> +Schumann tells us that the year 1834 was the most important one of his +life, for it witnessed the birth of the "N'eue Zeitschrift fur Musik," +a journal which was to embody his notions of ideal music, and to be the +organ of a clique of enthusiasts in lifting the art out of Philistinism +and commonplace. The war-cry was "Reform in art," and never-ending +battle against the little and conventional ideas which were believed +then to be the curse of German music. Among the earlier contributors +were Wieck, Schumke, Knorr, Banck, and Schumann himself, who wrote +under the pseudonyms Florestan and Eusebius. Between his new journal and +composing, Schumann was kept busy, but he found time to persuade himself +that he was in love with Frâulein Ernestine von Fricken, a beautiful but +somewhat frivolous damsel, who became engaged to the young composer and +editor. Two years cooled off this passion, and a separation was mutually +agreed on. Perhaps Schumann recognized something, in the lovely child +who was swiftly blooming into maidenhood, which made his own inner soul +protest against any other attachment. +</p> +<center> +II. +</center> +<p> +It would have been very strange indeed if two such natures as Clara +Wieck and Robert Schumann had not gravitated toward each other during +the almost constant intercourse between them which took place between +1835 and 1838. Clara, born in 1820, had been her father's pupil from her +tenderest childhood, but the development of her musical gifts was not +forced in such a way as to interfere with her health and the exuberance +of her spirits. The exacting teacher was also a tender father and a +man of ripe judgment, and he knew the bitter price which mere mental +precocity so frequently has to pay for its existence. +</p> +<p> +But the young girl's gifts were so extraordinary, and withal her +character so full of childish simplicity and gayety, that it was +difficult to think of her as of the average child phenomenon. At the age +of nine she could play Mozart's concertos, and Hummel's A minor Concerto +for the orchestra, one of the most difficult of compositions. A year +later she began to compose, and improvised without difficulty, for her +lessons in counterpoint and harmony had kept pace with her studies of +pianoforte technique. Paganini visited Leipzig at this period, and was +so astonished at the little Clara's precocious genius that he insisted +on her presence at all his concerts, and addressed her with the deepest +respect as a fellow-artist. She first appeared in public concert at +the age of eleven, in Leipzig, Weimar, and other places, playing Pixis, +Moscheles, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, and Chopin. The latter of these +composers was then almost unknown in Germany, and Clara Wieck, young +as she was, contributed largely to making him popular. A year later she +visited Paris in company with her father, and heard Chopin, Liszt, and +Kalkbrenner, who on their part were delighted with the little artist, +who, beneath the delicacy and timidity of the child, indicated +extraordinary powers. Society received her with the most flattering +approbation, and when her father allowed her to appear in concert her +playing excited the greatest delight and surprise. Her improvisation +specially displayed a vigor of imagination, a fine artistic taste, and +a well-defined knowledge which justly called out the most enthusiastic +recognition. +</p> +<p> +When Clara Wieck returned home, she gave herself up to work with fresh +ardor, studying composition under Heinrich Dorn, singing under the +celebrated Mieksch, and even violin-playing, so great was her ambition +for musical accomplishments. From 1836 to 1838 she made an extended +musical tour through Germany, and was welcomed as a musico-poetic ideal +by the enthusiasts who gathered around her. The poet Grillparzer spoke +of her as "the innocent child who first unlocked the casket in which +Beethoven buried his mighty heart," and it must be confessed that Clara +Wieck, even as a young girl, did more than any other pianist to develop +a love of and appreciation for the music of the Titan of composers. +</p> +<p> +Long before Schumann distinctly contemplated the image of Clara as +the beloved one, the half of his soul, he had divined her genius, and +expressed his opinion of her in no stinted terms of praise. When she was +as yet only thirteen, he had written of her in his journal: "As I +know people who, having but just heard Clara, yet rejoice in their +anticipation of their next occasion of hearing her, I ask, What sustains +this continual interest in her? Is it the 'wonder child' herself, at +whose stretches of tenths people shake their heads while they are amazed +at them, or the most difficult difficulties which she sportively flings +toward the public like flower garlands? Is it the special pride of +the city with which a people regards its own natives? Is it that she +presents to us the most interesting productions of recent art in as +short a time as possible? Is it that the masses understand that art +should not depend on the caprices of a few enthusiasts, who would direct +us back to a century over whose corpse the wheels of time are hastening? +I know not; I only feel that here we are subdued by genius, which men +still hold in respect. In short, we here divine the presence of a power +of which much is spoken, while few indeed possess it.... Early she +drew the veil of Isis aside. Serenely the child looks up; older eyes, +perhaps, would have been blinded by that radiant light.... To Clara +we dare no longer apply the measuring scale of age, but only that of +fulfillment.... Clara Wieck is the first German artist.... Pearls do not +float on the surface; they must be sought for in the deep, often with +danger. But Clara is an intrepid diver." +</p> +<p> +The child whose genius he admired ripened into a lovely young woman, and +Schumann became conscious that there had been growing in his heart for +years a deep, ardent love. He had fancied himself in love more +than once, but now he felt that he could make no mistake as to the +genuineness of his feelings. In 1836 he confessed his feelings to the +object of his affections, and discovered that he not only loved but +was loved, for two such gifted and sympathetic natures could hardly be +thrown together for years without the growth of a mutual tenderness. +The marriage project was not favored by Papa Wieck, much as he liked the +young composer who had so long been his pupil and a member of his family +circle. The father of Clara looked forward to a brilliant artistic +career for his daughter, perhaps hoped to marry her to some serene +highness, and Schumann's prospects were as yet very uncertain. So he +took Clara on a long artistic journey through Germany, with a view of +quenching this passion by absence and those public adulations which he +knew Clara's genius would command. But nothing shook the devotion of +her heart, and she insisted on playing the compositions of the young +composer at her concerts, as well as those of Beethoven, Liszt, and +Chopin, the latter two of whom were just beginning to be known and +admired. +</p> +<p> +Hoping to overcome Papa Wieck's opposition by success, Schumann took +his new journal to Vienna, and published it in that city, carrying on +simultaneously with his editorial duties active labors in composition. +The attempt to better his fortunes in Vienna, however, did not prove +very successful, and after six months he returned again to Leipzig. +Schumann's generous sympathy with other great musicians was signally +shown in his very first Vienna experiences, for he immediately made +a pious pilgrimage to the Währing cemetery to offer his pious gift of +flowers on the graves of Beethoven and Schubert. On Beethoven's grave +he found a steel pen, which he preserved as a sacred treasure, and used +afterward in writing his own finest musical fancies. He remembered, too, +that the brother of Schubert, Ferdinand, was still living in a suburb +of Vienna. "He knew me," Schumann says, "from my admiration for his +brother, as I had publicly expressed it, and showed me many things. At +last he let me look at the treasures of Franz Schubert's compositions, +which he still possesses. The wealth that lay heaped up made me shudder +with joy, what to take first, where to cease. Among other things, he +also showed me the scores of several symphonies, of which many had never +been heard, while others had been tried, but put back, on the score of +their being too difficult and bombastic." One of these symphonies, that +in C major, the largest and grandest in conception, Schumann chose +and sent to Leipzig, where it was soon afterward produced under +Mendelssohn's direction at one of the Ge-wandhaus concerts, and produced +an immediate and profound sensation. For the first time the world +witnessed, in a more expanded sphere, the powers of a composer the very +beauties of whose songs had hitherto been fatal to his general success. +During this period of Schumann's life the most important works he +composed were the "Études Symphoniques," the famous "Carnival" dedicated +to Liszt, the "Scenes of Childhood," the "Fantasia" dedicated to Liszt, +the "Novellettes," and "Kreisleriana." As he writes to Heinrich Dorn: +"Much music is the result of the contest I am passing through for +Clara's sake." Schumann's compositions had been introduced to the public +by the gifted interpretation of Clara Wieck, with whom it was a labor of +love, and also by Franz Liszt, then rising almost on the top wave of his +dazzling fame as a virtuoso. Liszt was a profound admirer of the less +fortunate Schumann, and did everything possible to make him a favorite +with the public, but for a long time in vain. Liszt writes of this as +follows: "Since my first knowledge of his compositions I had played many +of them in private circles at Milan and Vienna, without having succeeded +in winning the approbation of my hearers. These works were, fortunately +for them, too far above the then trivial level of taste to find a home +in the superficial atmosphere of popular applause. The public did not +fancy them, and few players understood them. Even in Leipzig, where I +played the 'Carnival' at my second Gewandhaus concert, I did not +obtain my customary applause. Musicians, even those who claimed to be +connoisseurs also, carried too thick a mask over their ears to be able +to comprehend that charming 'Carnival,' harmoniously framed as it is, +and ornamented with such rich variety of artistic fancy. I did not +doubt, however, but that this work would eventually win its place in +general appreciation beside Beethoven's thirty-three variations on a +theme by Diabelli (which work it surpasses, according to my opinion, in +melody, richness, and inventiveness)." Both as a composer and writer on +music, Schumann embodied his deep detestation of the Philistinism and +commonplace which stupefied the current opinions of the time, and he +represented in Germany the same battle of the romantic in art against +what was known as the classical which had been carried on so fiercely in +France by Berlioz, Liszt, and Chopin. +</p> +<center> +III. +</center> +<p> +The year 1840 was one of the most important in Schumann's life. In +February he was created Doctor of Philosophy in the University of Jena, +and, still more precious boon to the man's heart, Wieck's objections to +the marriage with Clara had been so far melted away that he consented, +though with reluctance, to their union. The marriage took place quietly +at a little church in Schônfeld, near Leipzig. This year was one of the +most fruitful of Schumann's life. His happiness burst forth in lyric +forms. He wrote the amazing number of one hundred and thirty-eight +songs, among which the more famous are the set entitled "Myrtles," the +cycles of song from Heine, dedicated to Pauline Viardot, Chamisso's +"Woman's Love and Life," and Heine's "Poet Love." Schumann as a +song-writer must be called indeed the musical reflex of Heine, for his +immortal works have the same passionate play of pathos and melancholy, +the sharp-cut epigrammatic form, the grand swell of imagination, +impatient of the limits set by artistic taste, which characterize the +poet themes. Schumann says that nearly all the works composed at this +time were written under Clara's inspiration solely. Blest with the +continual companionship of a woman of genius, as amiable as she was +gifted, who placed herself as a gentle mediator between Schumann's +intellectual life and the outer world, he composed many of his finest +vocal and instrumental compositions during the years immediately +succeeding his marriage; among them the cantata "Paradise and the +Peri," and the "Faust" music. His own connection with public life +was restricted to his position as teacher of piano-forte playing, +composition, and score playing at the Leipzig Conservatory, while the +gifted wife was the interpreter of his beautiful piano-forte works as an +executant. A more perfect fitness and companionship in union could not +have existed, and one is reminded of the married life of the poet pair, +the Brownings. After four years of happy and quiet life, in which mental +activity was inspired by the most delightful of domestic surroundings, +an artistic tour to St. Petersburg was undertaken by Robert and Clara +Schumann. Our composer did not go without reluctance. "Forgive me," he +writes to a friend, "if I forbear telling you of my unwillingness to +leave my quiet home." He seems to have had a melancholy premonition that +his days of untroubled happiness were over. A genial reception awaited +them at the Russian capital. They were frequently invited to the Winter +Palace by the emperor and empress, and the artistic circles of the city +were very enthusiastic over Mme. Schumann's piano-forte playing. Since +the days of John Field, Clementi's great pupil, no one had raised such +a furore among the music-loving Russians. Schumann's music, which it was +his wife's dearest privilege to interpret, found a much warmer welcome +than among his own countrymen at that date. In the Sclavonic nature +there is a deep current of romance and mysticism, which met with +instinctive sympathy the dreamy and fantastic thoughts which ran riot in +Schumann's works. +</p> +<p> +On returning from the St. Petersburg tour, Schumann gave up the "Neue +Zeitschrift," the journal which he had made such a powerful organ of +musical revolution, and transferred it to Oswald Lorenz. Schumann's +literary work is so deeply intertwined with his artistic life and +mission that it is difficult, perhaps impossible, to separate the two. +He had achieved a great work—he had planted in the German mind the +thought that there was such a thing as progress and growth; that +stagnation was death; and that genius was for ever shaping for itself +new forms and developments. He had taught that no art is an end to +itself, and that, unless it embodies the deep-seated longings and +aspirations of men ever striving toward a loftier ideal, it becomes +barren and fruitless—the mere survival of a truth whose need had +ceased. He was the apostle of the musico-poetical art in Germany, and, +both as author and composer, strove with might and main to educate his +countrymen up to a clear understanding of the ultimate outcome of the +work begun by Beethoven, Schubert, and Weber. +</p> +<p> +Schumann as a critic was eminently catholic and comprehensive. Deeply +appreciative of the old lights of music, he received with enthusiasm all +the fresh additions contributed by musical genius to the progress of +his age. Eschewing the cold, objective, technical form of criticism, +his method of approaching the work of others was eminently subjective, +casting on them the illumination which one man of genius gives +to another. The cast of his articles was somewhat dramatic and +conversational, and the characters represented as contributing +their opinions to the symposium of discussion were modeled on actual +personages. He himself was personified under the dual form of Florestan +and Eusebius, the "two souls in his breast"—the former, the fiery +iconoclast, impulsive in his judgments and reckless in attacking +prejudices; the latter, the mild, genial, receptive dreamer. Master +Raro, who stood for Wieck, also typified the calm, speculative side of +Schumann's nature. Chiara represented Clara Wieck, and personified the +feminine side of art. So the various personages were all modeled after +associates of Schumann, and, aside from the freshness and fascination +which this method gave his style, it enabled him to approach his +subjects from many sides. The name of the imaginary society was the +Davids-bund, probably from King David and his celebrated harp, or +perhaps in virtue of David's victories over the Philistines of his day. +</p> +<p> +As an illustration of Schumann's style and method of treating musical +subjects, we can not do better than give his article on Chopin's "Don +Juan Fantasia": "Eusebius entered not long ago. You know his pale face +and the ironical smile with which he awakens expectation. I sat with +Florestan at the piano-forte. Florestan is, as you know, one of +those rare musical minds that foresee, as it were, coming novel or +extraordinary things. But he encountered a surprise today. With the +words 'Off with your hats, gentlemen! a genius,' Eusebius laid down a +piece of music. We were not allowed to see the title-page. I turned over +the music vacantly; the veiled enjoyment of music which one does not +hear has something magical in it. And besides this, it seems that every +composer has something different in the note forms. Beethoven looks +differently from Mozart on paper; the difference resembles that between +Jean Paul's and Goethe's prose. But here it seemed as if eyes, strange, +were glancing up to me—flower eyes, basilisk eyes, peacock's eyes, +maiden's eyes; in many places it looked yet brighter. I thought I +saw Mozart's 'La ci darem la mano' wound through a hundred chords. +<i>Leporello</i> seemed to wink at me, and <i>Don Juan</i> hurried past in his +white mantle. 'Now play it,' said Florestan. Eusebius consented, and we, +in the recess of a window, listened. Eusebius played as though he were +inspired, and led forward countless forms filled with the liveliest, +warmest life; it seemed that the inspiration of the moment gave to his +fingers a power beyond the ordinary measure of their cunning. It is true +that Florestan's whole applause was expressed in nothing but a happy +smile, and the remark that the variations might have been written by +Beethoven or Franz Schubert, had either of these been a piano virtuoso; +but how surprised he was when, turning to the title-page, he read 'La ci +darem la mano, varié pour le piano-forte, par Frederic Chopin, Ouvre 2,' +and with what astonishment we both cried out, 'An Opus 2!' How our faces +glowed as we wondered, exclaiming, 'That is something reasonable once +more! Chopin? I never heard of the name—who can he be? In any case, a +genius. Is not that <i>Zerlina's</i> smile, And <i>Leporello</i>, etc' I could not +describe the scene. Heated with wine, Chopin, and our own enthusiasm, +we went to Master Raro, who with a smile, and displaying but little +curiosity for Chopin, said, 'Bring me the Chopin! I know you and your +enthusiasm.' We promised to bring it the next day. Eusebius soon bade us +good-night. I remained a short time with Master Raro. Florestan, who had +been for some time without a habitation, hurried to my house through the +moonlit streets. 'Chopin's variations,' he began, as if in a dream, +'are constantly running through my head; the whole is so dramatic +and Chopin-like; the introduction is so concentrated. Do you remember +<i>Leporello's</i> springs in thirds? That seems to me somewhat unfitted +to the theme; but the theme—why did he write that in A flat? The +variations, the finale, the adagio, these are indeed something; genius +burns through every measure. Naturally, dear Julius, <i>Don Juan, Zerlina, +Leporello, Massetto</i>, are the <i>dramatis persona; Zerlina's</i> answer in +the theme has a sufficiently enamored character; the first variation +expresses, a kind of coquettish coveteousness: the Spanish Grandee +flirts amiably with the peasant girl in it. This leads of itself to the +second, which is at once confidential, disputative, and comic, as though +two lovers were chasing each other and laughing more than usual about +it. How all this is changed in the third! It is filled with fairy music +and moonshine; <i>Masetto</i> keeps at a distance, swearing audibly, but +without any effect on <i>Don Juan</i>. And now the fourth—what do you +think of it? Eusebius played it altogether correctly. How boldly, how +wantonly, it springs forward to meet the man! though the adagio (it +seems quite natural to me that Chopin repeats the first part) is in +B flat minor, as it should be, for in its commencement it presents a +beautiful moral warning to <i>Don Juan</i>. It is at once so mischievous +and beautiful that <i>Leporello</i> listens behind the hedge, laughing and +jesting that oboes and clarionettes enchantingly allure, and that the +B flat major in full bloom correctly designates the first kiss of love. +But all this is nothing compared to the last (have you any more wine, +Julius?). That is the whole of Mozart's finale, popping champagne corks, +ringing glasses, <i>Leporello's</i> voice between, the grasping, torturing +demons, the fleeing <i>Don Juan</i>—and then the end, that beautifully +soothes and closes all.' Florestan concluded by saying that he had never +experienced feelings similar to those awakened by the finale. When the +evening sunlight of a beautiful day creeps up toward the highest peaks, +and when the last beam vanishes, there comes a moment when the white +Alpine giants close their eyes. We feel that we have witnessed a +heavenly apparition. 'And now awake to new dreams, Julius, and sleep.' +'Dear Flores-tan,' I answered, 'these confidential feelings, are perhaps +praiseworthy, although somewhat subjective; but as deeply as yourself I +bend before Chopin's spontaneous genius, his lofty aim, his mastership; +and after that we fell asleep.'" This article was the first journalistic +record of Chopin's genius. +</p> +<center> +IV. +</center> +<p> +When Schumann gave up his journal in 1845 he moved to Dresden, and he +began to suffer severely from the dreadful disorder to which he fell a +victim twelve years later. This disease—an abnormal formation of +bone in the brain—afflicted him with excruciating pains in the head, +sleeplessness, fear of death, and strange auricular delusions. A sojourn +at Parma, where he had complete repose and a course of sea-bathing, +partially restored his health, and he gave himself up to musical +composition again. During the next three years, up to 1849, Schumann +wrote some of his finest works, among which may be mentioned his opera +"Genoviva," his Second symphony, the cantata "The Rose's Pilgrimage," +more beautiful songs, much piano-forte and concerted music, and the +musical illustrations of Byron's "Manfred," which latter is one of his +greatest orchestral works. +</p> +<p> +During the years 1850 to 1854 Schumann composed his "Rhenish Symphony," +the overtures to the "Bride of Messina" and "Hermann and Dorothea," +and many vocal and piano-forte works. He accepted the post of musical +director at Dűsseldorf in 1850, removed to that city with his wife and +children, and, on arriving, the artistic pair were received with a +civic banquet. The position was in many respects agreeable, but the +responsibilities were too great for Schumann's declining health, and +probably hastened his death. In 1853 Robert and Clara Schumann made +a grand artistic tour through Holland, which resembled a triumphal +procession, so great was the musical enthusiasm called out. When they +returned Schumann's malady returned with double force, and on February +27, 1854, he attempted to end his misery by jumping into the Rhine. +Madness had seized him with a clutch which was never to be released, +except at short intervals. Every possible care was lavished on him by +his heartbroken and devoted wife, and the assiduous attention of the +friends who reverenced the genius now for ever quenched. The last two +years of his life were spent in the private insane asylum at Endenich, +near Bonn, where he died July 20, 1856. Schumann possessed a wealth of +musical imagination which, if possibly equaled in a few instances, is +nowhere surpassed in the records of his art. For him music possessed +all the attributes inherent in the other arts—absolute color and +flexibility of form. That he attempted to express these phases of art +expression, with an almost boundless trust in their applicability to +tone and sound, not unfrequently makes them obscure to the last degree, +but it also gave much of his composition a richness, depth, and subtilty +of suggestive power which place them in a unique niche, and will +always preserve them as objects of the greatest interest to the musical +student. There is no doubt that his increasing mental malady is evident +in the chaotic character of some of his later orchestral compositions, +but, in those works composed during his best period, splendor of +imagination goes hand in hand with genuine art treatment. This is +specially noticeable in the songs and the piano-forte works. Schumann +was essentially lyrical and subjective, though his intellectual breadth +and culture (almost unrivaled among his musical compeers) always kept +him from narrowness as a composer. He led the van in the formation of +that pictorial and descriptive style of music which has asserted itself +in German music, but his essentially lyric personality in his attitude +to the outer world presented the external thoroughly saturated and +modified by his own moods and feelings. +</p> +<p> +In his piano-forte works we find his most complete and satisfactory +development as the artist composer. Here the world, with its myriad +impressions, its facts, its purposes, its tendencies, met the man and +commingled in a series of exquisite creations, which are true tone +pictures. In this domain Beethoven alone was worthy to be compared with +him, though the animus and scheme of the Beethoven piano-forte works +grew out of a totally different method. +</p> +<p> +In personal appearance Schumann bore the marks of the man of genius. As +he reached middle age we are told of him that his figure was of middle +height, inclined to stoutness, that his bearing was dignified, his +movements slow. His features, though irregular, produced an agreeable +impression; his forehead was broad and high, the nose heavy, the eyes +excessively bright, though generally veiled and downcast, the mouth +delicately cut, the hair thick and brown, his cheeks full and ruddy. His +head was squarely formed, of an intensely powerful character, and the +whole expression of his face sweet and genial. Even when young he was +distinguished by a kind of absent-mindedness that prevented him from +taking much part in conversation. Once, it is said, he entered a lady's +drawing-room to call, played a few chords on the piano, and smilingly +left without speaking a word. But, among intimate friends, he could be +extraordinarily fluent and eloquent in discussing an interesting topic. +He was conscious of his own shyness, and once wrote to a friend: "I +shall be very glad to see you here. In me, however, you must not expect +to find much. I scarcely ever speak except in the evening, and most in +playing the piano." His wife was the crowning blessing of his life. She +was not only his consoler, but his other intellectual life, for she, +with her great powers as a virtuoso, interpreted his music to the world, +both before and after his death. It has rarely been the lot of an artist +to see his most intimate feelings and aspirations embodied to the world +by the genius of the mother of his children. Well did Ferdinand Hiller +write of this artist couple: "What love beautified his life! A woman +stood beside him, crowned with the starry circlet of genius, to whom he +seemed at once the father to his daughter, the master to the scholar, +the bridegroom to the bride, the saint to the disciple." +</p> +<p> +Clara Schumann still lives, though becoming fast an old woman in years, +if still young in heart, and still able to win the admiration of the +musical world by her splendid playing. Berlioz, who heard her in her +youth, pronounced her the greatest virtuoso in Germany, in one of his +letters to Heine; and while she was little more than a child she had +gained the heartiest admiration in England, France, and Germany. Henry +Chorley heard her at Leipzig in 1839, and speaks of "the organ-playing +on the piano of Mme. Schumann (better known in England under the name of +Clara Wieck), who commands her instrument with the enthusiasm of a sibyl +and the grasp of a man." Since Schumann's death, Mme. Schumann has been +known as the exponent of her husband's works, which she has performed in +Germany and England with an insight, a power of conception, and a beauty +of treatment which have contributed much to the recognition of his +remarkable genius. +</p> +<center> +V. +</center> +<p> +The name of Frederic Francis Chopin is so closely linked in the minds +of musical students with that of Schumann in that art renaissance which +took place almost simultaneously in France and Germany, when so many +daring and original minds broke loose from the petrifactions of custom +and tradition, that we shall not venture to separate them here. Chopin +was too timid and gentle to be a bold aggressor, like Berlioz, Liszt, +and Schumann, but his whole nature responded to the movement, and his +charming and most original compositions, which glow with the fire of a +genius perhaps narrow in its limits, have never been surpassed for their +individuality and poetic beauty. The present brief sketch of Chopin +does not propose to consider his life biographically, full of pathos and +romance as that life may be.* +</p> +<pre> + * See article Chopin, in "Great German Composers." +</pre> +<p> +Schumann, in his "N'eue Zeitschrift," sums up the characteristics of the +Polish composer admirably; "Genius creates kingdoms, the smaller states +of which are again divided by a higher hand among talents, that these +may organize details which the former, in its thousand-fold activity, +would be unable to perfect. As Hummel, for example, followed the call +of Mozart, clothing the thoughts of that master in a flowing, sparkling +robe, so Chopin followed Beethoven. Or, to speak more simply, as Hummel +imitated the style of Mozart in detail, rendering it enjoyable to the +virtuoso on one particular instrument, so Chopin led the spirit of +Beethoven into the concert-room. +</p> +<p> +"Chopin did not make his appearance accompanied by an orchestral army, +as great genius is accustomed to do; he only possessed a small cohort, +but every soul belongs to him to the last hero. +</p> +<p> +"He is the pupil of the first masters—Beethoven, Schubert, Field. The +first formed his mind in boldness, the second his heart in tenderness, +the third his hand to its flexibility. Thus he stood well provided with +deep knowledge in his art, armed with courage in the full consciousness +of his power, when in the year 1830 the great voice of the people arose +in the West. Hundreds of youths had waited for the moment; but Chopin +was the first on the summit of the wall, behind which lay a cowardly +renaissance, a dwarfish Philistinism, asleep. Blows were dealt right +and left, and the Philistines awoke angrily, crying out, 'Look at the +impudent one!' while others behind the besieger cried, 'The one of noble +courage.' +</p> +<p> +"Besides this, and the favorable influence of period and condition, fate +rendered Chopin still more individual and interesting in endowing him +with an original pronounced nationality; Polish, too, and because this +nationality wanders in mourning robes in the thoughtful artist, it +deeply attracts us. It was well for him that neutral Germany did not +receive him too warmly at first, and that his genius led him straight +to one of the great capitals of the world, where he could freely poetize +and grow angry. If the powerful autocrat of the North knew what a +dangerous enemy threatens him in Chopin's works in the simple melodies +of his mazurkas, he would forbid music. Chopin's works are cannons +buried in flowers.... He is the boldest, proudest poet soul of to-day." +</p> +<p> +But Schumann could have said something more than this, and added that +Chopin was a musician of exceptional attainments, a virtuoso of the very +highest order, a writer for the piano pure and simple preeminent beyond +example, and a master of a unique and perfect style. +</p> +<p> +Chopin was born of mixed French and Polish parentage, February 8, +1810, at Zelazowa-Wola, near Warsaw. He was educated at the Warsaw +Conservatory, and his eminent genius for the piano shone at this time +most unmistakably. He found in the piano-forte an exclusive organ for +the expression of his thoughts. In the presence of this confidential +companion he forgot his shyness and poured forth his whole soul. +A passionate lover of his native country, and burning with those +aspirations for freedom which have made Poland since its first partition +a volcano ever ready to break forth, the folk-themes of Poland are +at the root of all of Chopin's compositions, and in the waltzes and +mazurkas bearing his name we find a passionate glow and richness of +color which make them musical poems of the highest order. +</p> +<p> +Chopin's art position, both as a pianist and composer, was a unique one. +He was accustomed to say that the breath of the concert-room stifled +him, whereas Liszt, his intimate friend and fellow-artist, delighted in +it as a war-horse delights in the tumult of battle. Chopin always shrank +from the display of his powers as a mere executant. To exhibit his +talents to the public was an offense to him, and he only cared for his +remarkable technical skill as a means of placing his fanciful original +poems in tone rightly before the public. It was with the greatest +difficulty that his intimate friends, Liszt, Meyerbeer, Nourrit, +Delacroix, Heine, Mme. George Sand, Countess D'Agoult, and others, could +persuade him to appear before large mixed audiences. His genius only +shone unconstrained as a player in the society of a few chosen intimate +friends, with whom he felt a perfect sympathy, artistic, social, and +intellectual. Exquisite, fastidious, and refined, Chopin was loss an +aristocrat from political causes, or even by virtue of social caste, +than from the fact that his art nature, which was delicate, feminine, +and sensitive, shrank from all companions except those molded of the +finest clay. We find this sense of exclusiveness and isolation in all +of the Chopin music, as in some quaint, fantastic, ideal world, whose +master would draw us up to his sphere, but never descend to ours. +</p> +<p> +In the treatment of the technical means of the piano-forte, he entirely +wanders from the old methods. Moscheles, a great pianist in an age of +great players, gave it up in despair, and confessed that he could not +play Chopin's music. The latter teaches the fingers to serve his own +artistic uses, without regard to the notions of the schools. It is said +that M. Kalkbrenner advised Chopin to attend his classes at the Paris +Conservatoire, that the latter might learn the proper fingering. Chopin +answered his officious adviser by placing one of his own "Études" before +him, and asking him to play it. The failure of the pompous professor +was ludicrous, for the old-established technique utterly failed to do it +justice. Chopin's end as a player was to faithfully interpret the poetry +of his own composition. His genius as a composer taught him to make +innovations in piano-forte effects. He was thus not only a great +inventor as a composer, but as regards the technique of the piano-forte. +He not only told new things well worth hearing which the world would not +forget, but devised new ways of saying them, and it mattered but little +to him whether his more forcible and passionate dialectic offended what +Schumann calls musical Philistinism or no. Chopin formed a school of his +own which was purely the outcome of his genius, though as Schumann, in +the extract previously quoted, justly says: "He was molded by the +deep poetic spirit of Beethoven, with whom form only had value as it +expressed truthfully and beautifully symmetry of conception." +</p> +<p> +The forms of Chopin's compositions grew out of the keyboard of the +piano, and their <i>genre</i> is so peculiar that it is nearly impracticable +to transpose them for any other instrument. Some of the noted +contemporary violinists have attempted to transpose a few of the +Nocturnes and Études, but without success. Both Schumann and Liszt +succeeded in adapting Paganini's most complex and difficult violin works +for the piano-forte, but the compositions of Chopin are so essentially +born to and of the one instrument that they can not be well suited to +any other. The cast of the melody, the matchless beauty and swing of the +rhythm, his ingenious treatment of harmony, and the chromatic changes +and climaxes through which the motives are developed, make up a new +chapter in the history of the piano-forte. +</p> +<p> +Liszt, in his life of Chopin, says of him: "His character was indeed +not easily understood. A thousand subtile shades, mingling, crossing, +contradicting, and disguising each other, rendered it almost +undecipherable at first view; kind, courteous, affable, and almost +of joyous manners, he would not suffer the secret convulsions which +agitated him to be ever suspected. His works, concertos, waltzes, +sonatas, ballades, polonaises, mazurkas, nocturnes, scherzi, all reflect +a similar enigma in a most poetical and romantic form." +</p> +<p> +Chopin's moral nature was not cast in an heroic mold, and he lacked the +robust intellectual marrow which is essential to the highest forms of +genius in art as well as in literature and affairs, though it is not +safe to believe that he was, as painted by George Sand and Liszt, a +feeble youth, continually living at death's door in an atmosphere of +moonshine and sentimentality. But there can be no question that the +whole bent of Chopin's temperament and genius was melancholy, romantic, +and poetic, and that frequently he gives us mere musical moods and +reveries, instead of well-defined and well-developed ideas. His music +perhaps loses nothing, for, if it misses something of the clear, +inspiring, vigorous quality of other great composers, it has a subtile, +dreamy, suggestive beauty all its own. +</p> +<p> +The personal life of Chopin was singularly interesting. His long and +intimate connection with George Sand; the circumstances under which it +was formed; the blissful idyl of the lovers in the isle of Majorca; the +awakening from the dream, and the separation—these and other striking +circumstances growing out of a close association with what was best in +Parisian art and life, invest the career of the man, aside from his art, +with more than common charm to the mind of the reader. Having touched +on these phases of Chopin's life at some length in a previous volume of +this series, we must reluctantly pass them by. +</p> +<p> +In closing this imperfect review of the Polish composer, it is enough to +say that the present generation has more than sustained the judgment +of his own as to the unique and wonderful beauty of his compositions. +Hardly any concert programme is considered complete without one or more +numbers selected from his works; and though there are but few pianists, +even in a day when Chopin as a stylist has been a study, who can do +his subtile and wonderful fancies justice, there is no composer for the +piano-forte who so fascinates the musical mind. +</p> +<a name="h2H_4_0014" id="h2H_4_0014"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + THALBERG AND GOTTSCHALK. +</h2> +<p> +Thalberg one of the Greatest of Executants.—Bather a Man of Remarkable +Talents than of Genius.—Moscheles's Description of him.—The +Illegitimate Son of an Austrian Prince.—Early Introduction to +Musical Society in London and Vienna.—Beginning of his Career as a +Virtuoso.—The Brilliancy of his Career.—Is appointed Court Pianist to +the Emperor of Austria.—His Marriage.—Visits to America.—Thalborg's +Artistic Idiosyncrasy.—Robert Schumann on his Playing.—His Appearance +and Manner.—Characterization by George William Curtis.—Thalberg's +Style and Worth as an Artist.—His Pianoforte Method, and Place as a +Composer for the Piano.—Gott-schalk's Birth and Early Years.—He is +sent to Paris for Instruction.—Successful <i>Début</i> and Public +Concerts in Paris and Tour through the French Cities.—Friendship with +Berlioz.—Concert Tour to Spain.—Romantic Experiences.—Berlioz on +Gottschalk.—Reception of Gottschalk in America.—Criticism of his +Style.—Remarkable Success of his Concerts.—His Visit to the West +Indies, Mexico, and Central America.—Protracted Absence.—Gottschalk +on Life in the Tropics.—Return to the United States.—Three Brilliant +Musical Years.—Departure for South America.—Triumphant Procession +through the Spanish-American Cities.—Death at Rio Janeiro.—Notes on +Gottschalk as Man and Artist. +</p> +<center> +I. +</center> +<p> +One of the most remarkable of the great piano-forte virtuosos was +unquestionably Sigismond Thalberg, an artist who made a profound +sensation in two hemispheres, and filled a large space in the musical +world for more than forty-five years. Originally a disciple of the +Viennese school of piano-forte playing, a pupil of Mosche-les, and a +rigid believer in making the instrument which was the medium of his +talent sufficient unto itself, wholly indifferent to the daring and +boundless ambition which made his great rival, Franz Liszt, pile Pelion +on Ossa in his grasp after new effects, Thalberg developed virtuoso-ism +to its extreme degree by a mechanical dexterity which was perhaps +unrivaled. But the fingers can not express more than rests in the heart +and brain to give to their skill, and Thalberg, with all his immense +talent, seems to have lacked the divine spark of genius. It goes without +saying, to those who are familiar with the current cant of criticism, +that the word genius is often applied in a very loose and misleading +manner. But, in all estimates of art and artists, where there are two +clearly defined factors, imagination or formative power and technical +dexterity, it would seem that there should not be any error in deciding +on the propriety of such a word as a measure of the quality of an +artist's gifts. The lack of the creative impulse could not be mistaken +in Thalberg's work, whether as player or composer. But the ability to +execute all that came within the scope of his sympathies or intelligence +was so prodigious that the world was easily dazzled into forgetting +his deficiencies in the loftier regions of art. Trifles are often very +significant. What, for example, could more vividly portray an artist's +tendencies than the description of Thalberg by Moscheles, who knew him +more thoroughly than any other contemporary, and felt a keener sympathy +with his <i>genre</i> as an artist than with the more striking originality of +Chopin and Liszt. Moscheles writes: +</p> +<p> +"I find his introduction of harp effects on the piano quite original. +His theme, which lies in the middle part, is brought out clearly in +relief with an accompaniment of complicated arpeggios which reminds me +of a harp. The audience is amazed. He himself sits immovably calm; +his whole bearing as he sits at the piano is soldierlike; his lips are +tightly compressed and his coat buttoned closely. He told me he acquired +this attitude of self-control by smoking a Turkish pipe while practicing +his piano-forte exercises: the length of the tube was so calculated as +to keep him erect and motionless." This exact discipline and mechanism +were not merely matters of technical culture; they were the logical +outcome of the man and surely a part of himself. But within his limits, +fixed as these were, Thalberg was so great that he must be conceded to +be one of the most striking and brilliant figures of an age fecund in +fine artists. +</p> +<p> +Thalberg was born at Geneva, January 7,1812, and was the natural son of +Prince Dietrichstein, an Austrian nobleman, temporarily resident in that +city. His talent for music, inherited from both sides, for his mother +was an artist and his father an amateur of no inconsiderable skill, +became obvious at a very tender age, following the law which so +generally holds in music that superior gifts display themselves at an +early period. These indications of nature were not ignored, for the boy +was placed under instruction before he had completed his sixth year. It +is a little singular that his first teacher was not a pianist, though a +very superior musician. Mittag was one of the first bassoonists of +his times, and, in addition to his technical skill, a thoroughly +accomplished man in the science of his profession. Thalberg was +accustomed to attribute the wonderfully rich and mellow tone which +characterized his playing to the influence and training of Mittag. From +this instructor the future great pianist passed to the charge of the +distinguished Hummel, who was not only one of the greatest virtuosos of +the age, but ranked by his admirers as only a little less than Beethoven +himself in his genius for pianoforte compositions, though succeeding +generations have discredited his former fame by estimating him merely +a "dull classic." Contemporaneously with his pupilage under Hummel, +he studied the theory of music with Simon Sechter, an eminent +contrapuntist. Even at this early age, for Thalberg must have been +less than ten years old, he impressed all by the great precision of +his fingering and the instinctive ease with which he mastered the most +difficult mechanism of the art of playing. At the age of fourteen young +Thalberg went to London in the household of his father, who had been +appointed imperial ambassador to England, and the youth was then placed +under the instruction of the great pianist Moscheles. The latter speaks +of Thalberg as the most distinguished of his pupils, and as being, even +at that age, already an artist of distinction and mark. It was a source +of much pleasure to Moscheles that his brilliant scholar, who played +much at private soirées, was not only recognized by the <i>dilletante</i> +public generally, but by such veteran artists as Clementi and Cramer. +Moscheles, in his diary, speaks of the wonderful brilliancy of a grand +fancy dress ball given by Thalberg's princely father at Covent Garden +Theatre. Pit, stalls, and proscenium were formed into one grand room, +in which the crowd promenaded. The costumes were of every conceivable +variety, and many of the most gorgeous description. The spectators, in +full dress, sat in the boxes; on the stage was a court box, occupied by +the royal family; and bands played in rooms adjoining for small parties +of dancers. "You will have some idea," wrote Mme. Moscheles, in a +letter, "of the crowd at this ball, when I tell you that we left the +ballroom at two o'clock and did not get to the prince's carriage till +four." One of the interesting features of this ball was that the +boy Thalberg played in one of the smaller rooms before the most +distinguished people present, including the royal family, all crowding +in to hear the youthful virtuoso, whose tacit recognition by his father +had already opened to him the most brilliant drawing-rooms in London. +</p> +<p> +Thalberg did not immediately begin to perform in public, but, on +returning to Vienna in 1827, played continually at private soirées, +where he had the advantage of being heard and criticised by the foremost +amateurs and musicians of the Austrian capital. It had some time since +become obvious to the initiated that another great player was about to +be launched on his career. The following year the young artist tried his +hand at composition, for he published variations on themes from Weber's +"Euryanthe," which were well received. Thalberg in after-years spoke of +all his youthful productions with disdain, but his early works displayed +not a little of the brilliant style of treatment which subsequently gave +his fantasias a special place among compositions for the piano-forte. +</p> +<p> +It was not till 1830 that young Thalberg fairly began his career as +a traveling player. The cities of Germany received him with the most +<i>éclatant</i> admiration, and his feats of skill as a performer were +trumpeted by the newspapers and musical journals as something +unprecedented in the art of pianism. From Germany Thalberg proceeded to +France and England, and his audiences were no less pronounced in their +recognition. Liszt had already been before him in Paris, and Chopin +arrived about the same time. Kalkbrenner, Ferdinand Hiller, and +Field were playing, but the splendid, calm beauty of Thalberg's style +instantly captivated the public, and elicited the most extravagant +and delighted applause not only from the public, but from enlightened +connoisseurs. +</p> +<p> +To follow the course of Thalberg's pianoforte achievements in his +musical travels through Europe would be merely to repeat a record of +uninterrupted successes. He disarmed envy and criticism everywhere, and +even those disposed to withhold a frank and generous acknowledgment of +his greatness did not dare to question powers of execution which +seemed without a technical flaw. During his travels Thalberg composed +a concerto for piano and orchestra, to play at his concerts. But this +species of composition was so obviously unsuited to his abilities that +he quickly forsook it, and thenceforward devoted his efforts exclusively +to the instrument of which he was such an eminent master. A more +extensive ambition had been rebuked in more ways than one. He composed +two operas, "Fiorinda" and "Christine," and of course easily yielded to +the entreaties of his admirers to have them produced. But it was clearly +evident that his musical idiosyncrasy, though magnificent of its kind, +was limited in range, and after the failure of his operas and attempts +at orchestral writing Thalberg calmly accepted the situation. +</p> +<p> +In the year 1834 Thalberg was appointed pianist of the Imperial Chamber +to the court of Austria, and accompanied the Emperor Ferdinand to +Toplitz, where a convocation of the European sovereigns took place. His +performances were warmly received by the assembled monarchs, and he was +overwhelmed with presents and congratulations. Thalberg's way throughout +the whole of his life was strewn with roses, and, though his career did +not present the same romantic incidents which make the life of Franz +Liszt so picturesque, it was attended by the same lavish favors of +fortune. From one patron he received the gift of a fine estate, from +another a magnificent city mansion in Vienna, and testimonials, like +snuff-boxes set with diamonds, jeweled court-swords, superbly set +portraits of his royal and imperial patrons, and costly jewelry, poured +in on him continually. Imperial orders from Austria and Russia were +bestowed on him, and hardly any mark of favor was denied him by that +good fortune which had been auspicious to him from his very birth. In +1845, while still in the service of the Austrian emperor, though he did +not intermit his musical tours through the principal European cities, +Thalberg married the charming widow, whom he had known and admired +before her marriage, the daughter of the great singer Lablache, Mme. +Bouchot, whose first husband had been the distinguished French painter +of that name. The marriage was a happy one, though scandal, which loves +to busy itself about the affairs of musical celebrities, did not fail +to associate Thalberg's name with several of the most beautiful women of +his time. Mile. Thalberg, a daughter of this marriage, made her <i>début</i> +with considerable success in London, in 1874. +</p> +<p> +Thalberg's first visit to America was in 1853, and he came again in +1857, to more than repeat the enthusiastic reception with which he was +greeted by music-loving Americans. Musical culture at that time had not +attained the refinement and knowledge which now make an audience in +one of our greater cities as fastidious and intelligent as can be found +anywhere in the world. But Thalberg's wonderful playing, though lacking +in the fire, glow, and impetuosity which would naturally most arouse the +less cultivated musical sense, created a <i>furore</i>, which has never been +matched since, among those who specially prided themselves on being good +judges. He extended both tours to Cuba, Mexico, and South America, and +it is said took away with him larger gains than he had ever made during +the same period in Europe. +</p> +<p> +During the latter years of Thalberg's life he spent much of his time +in elegant ease at his fine country estate near Naples, only giving +concerts at some few of the largest European capitals, like London and +Paris. He became an enthusiastic wine-grower, and wine from his estate +gained a medal at the Exposition Universelle of 1867. Many of his best +piano-forte compositions date from the period when he had given up the +active pursuit of virtuosoism. His works comprise a concerto, three +sonatas, many nocturnes, rondos, and études, about thirty fantasias, two +operas, and an instruction series, which latter has been adopted by many +of the best teachers, and has been the means of forming a number of able +pupils. This fine artist died at his Neapolitan estate, April 27, 1871. +</p> +<center> +II. +</center> +<p> +Thalberg had but little sympathy with the dreamy romanticism which +found such splendid exponents, while he was yet in his early youth, +in Schumann, Chopin, and Liszt. Imagination in its higher functions he +seemed to lack. A certain opulence and picturesqueness of fancy united +in his artistic being with an intelligence both lucid and penetrating, +and a sense of form and symmetry almost Greek in its fastidiousness. The +sweet, vague, passionate aspiration^, the sensibility that quivers +with every breath of movement from the external world, he could not +understand. Placidity, grace, and repose he had in perfection. Yet he +was very highly appreciated by those who had little in common with his +artistic nature. As, for example, Robert Schumann writes of Thalberg and +his playing, on the occasion of a charity concert, given in Leipzig in +1841: "In his passing flight the master's pinions rested here awhile, +and, as from the angel's pinions in one of Rucker's poems, rubies and +other precious stones fell from them and into indigent hands, as the +master ordained it. It is difficult to say anything new of one who has +been so praise beshow-ered as he has. But every earnest virtuoso is glad +to hear one thing said at any time—that he has progressed in his +art since he last delighted us. This best of all praise we are +conscientiously able to bestow on Thalberg; for, during the last two +years that we have not heard him, he has made astonishing additions to +his acquirements, and, if possible, moves with greater boldness, grace, +and freedom than ever. His playing seemed to have the same effect on +every one, and the delight that he probably feels in it himself was +shared by all. True virtuosity gives us something more than mere +flexibility and execution: aman may mirror his own nature in it, and in +Thalberg's playing it becomes clear to all that he is one of the favored +ones of fortune, one accustomed to wealth and elegance. Accompanied +by happiness, bestowing pleasure, he commenced his career; under such +circumstances he has so far pursued it, and so he will probably continue +it. The whole of yesterday evening and every number that he played gave +us a proof of this. The public did not seem to be there to judge, but +only to enjoy; they were as certain of enjoyment as the master was of +his art." +</p> +<p> +Thalberg in his appearance had none of the traditional wild +picturesqueness of style and manner which so many distinguished artists, +even Liszt himself, have thought it worth while to carry perhaps to +the degree of affectation. Smoothly shaven, quiet, eminently +respectable-looking, his handsome, somewhat Jewish-looking face composed +in an expression of unostentatious good breeding, he was wont to +seat himself at the piano with all the simplicity of one doing any +commonplace thing. He had the air of one who respected himself, his art, +and the public. His performance was in an exquisitely artistic sense +that of the gentleman, perfect, polished, and elaborately wrought. The +distinguished American litterateur, Mr. George William Curtis, who heard +him in New York in 1857, thus wrote of him: "He is a proper artist in +this, that he comprehends the character of his instrument. He neither +treats it as a violoncello nor a full orchestra. Those who in private +have enjoyed the pleasure of hearing—or, to use a more accurate +epithet, of seeing—Strepitoso, that friend of mankind, play the piano, +will understand what we mean when we speak of treating the piano as if +it were an orchestra. Strepitoso storms and slams along the keyboard +until the tortured instrument gives up its musical soul in despair +and breaks its heart of melody by cracking all its strings.... Every +instrument has its limitations, but Strepitoso will tolerate no such +theory. He extracts music from his piano, not as if he were sifting the +sands for gold, but as if he were raking oysters.... Now, Thalberg's +manner is different from Strepitoso's. He plays the piano; that is the +phrase which describes his performance. He plays it quietly and suavely. +You could sit upon the lawn on a June night and hear with delight +the sounds that trickled through the moonlight from the piano of this +master. They would not melt your soul in you; they would not touch those +longings that, like rays of starry light, respond to the rays of the +stars; they would not storm your heart with the yearning passion +of their strains, but you would confess it was a good world as you +listened, and be glad you lived in it—you would be glad of your home +and all that made it homelike; the moonlight as you listened would melt +and change, and your smiling eyes would seem to glitter in cheerful +sunlight as Thalberg ended." +</p> +<p> +Thalberg's style was, perhaps, the best possible illustration of the +legitimate effects of the pianoforte carried to the highest by as +perfect a technique as could possibly be attained by human skill. +</p> +<p> +That he lacked poetic fire and passion, that the sense of artistic +restraint and a refined fastidiousness chilled and fettered him, is +doubtlessly true. Whether the absence of the imaginative warmth and +vigor which suffuse a work of art with the glow of something that can +not be fully expressed, and kindle the thoughts of the hearer to take +hitherto unknown flights, is fully compensated for by that repose and +symmetry of style which know exactly what it wishes to express, and, +being perfect master of the means of expression, puts forth an exact +measure of effort and then stops as if shut down by an iron wall—this +is an open question, and must be answered according to one's art +theories. The exquisite modeling of a Benvenuto Cellini vase, wrought +with patient elaboration into a thing of unsurpassable beauty, does not +invoke as high a sense of pleasure as an heroic statue or noble painting +by some great master, but of its kind the pleasure is just as complete. +Apart from Thalberg's power as a player, however, there was something +captivating in the quality of his talent, which, though not creative, +was gifted with the power of seizing the very essence of the music to +be interpreted. A striking example of this is shown in the fantasias he +composed on the different operas, a form of writing which reached its +perfection in him. His own contribution is simply a most delightful +setting of the melodies of his subject, and the whole is steeped in the +very atmosphere and feeling of the original, as if the master himself +had done the work. +</p> +<p> +A good example is the fantasia on Mozart's "Don Giovanni." The little, +wild, unformed melodies rustle in quick gusts along the keys as if +wavering shadows, yet with all the familiar rhythm and family likeness, +filling the mind of the hearer with the atmosphere and necessity of what +is to follow, while gradually the full harmonies unfold themselves. The +introduction of the minuet is one of the most striking portions. The +scene of the minuet in the opera is a vision of rural loveliness and +repose, whispering of flowers, fields, and happy flying hours. All this +becomes poetized, and the music seems to imply rich reaches of odorous +garden and moonlight, whispering foliage, and nightingales mad with the +delight of their own singing, and a palace on the lawn sounding with +riotous mirth. The player-composer weaves the glamour of such a dream, +and the hearer finds himself strolling in imagination through the +moonlit garden, listening to the birds, the waters, and the rustling +leaves, while the stately beat of the minuet comes throbbing through +it all, calling up the vision of gayly dressed cavaliers and beautiful +ladies fantastically moving to the tune. Such poetic sentiment as +this of the purely picturesque sort was in large measure Thalberg's +possession, but he could never understand that turbulent ground-swell of +passion which music can also powerfully express, and by which the +soul is lifted up to the heights of ecstasy or plunged in depths of +melancholy. Music as a vehicle for such meanings was mere Egyptian +hieroglyphic, utterly beyond his limitation, absolute bathos and +absurdity. +</p> +<p> +It is doubtful whether any player ever possessed a more wonderfully +trained mechanism; the smallest details were polished and finished with +the utmost care, the scales marvels of evenness, the shakes rivaling the +trill of a canary bird. His arpeggios at times rolled like the waves +of the sea, and at others resembled folds of transparent lace floating +airily with the movements of the wearer. The octaves were wonderfully +accurate, and the chords appeared to be struck by steel mallets instead +of fingers. He was called the Bayard of pianists, "le Chevalier sans +peur et sans reproche." His tone was noble, yet mellow and delicate, and +the gradations between his forte and piano were traced most exquisitely. +In a word, technical execution could go no further. It is said that +he never played a piece in public till he had absolutely made it the +property of his fingers. He was the first to divide the melody between +the two hands, making the right hand perform a brilliant figure in the +higher register, while the left hand exhibited a full and rich bass +part, supplementing it with an accompaniment in chords. It was this +characteristic which made his fantasias so unique and interesting, in +spite of their lack of originality of motive, as compositions. Almost +all writers for the piano have since adopted this device, even the great +Mendelssohn using it in some of his concertos and "Songs without Words"; +and in many cases it has been transformed into a mere trick of arrant +musical charlatanism, designed to cover up with a sham glitter the utter +absence of thought and motive. No better suggestion of the dominant +characteristic of Thal-berg as a pianist can be found than a critical +word of his friend Moscheles: "The proper ground for finger gymnastics +is to be found in Thalberg's latest compositions; for mind [Geist], give +me Schumann." +</p> +<center> +III. +</center> +<p> +During Thalberg's first visit to America he had an active and dangerous +rival in the young and brilliant pianist, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, +who was as fresh to New York audiences as Thalberg himself, though the +latter had the advantage over his young competitor in a fame which +was almost world-wide. Of American pianists Louis Gottschalk stands +confessedly at the head by virtue of remarkable native gifts, which, had +they been assisted by greater industry and ambition, might easily have +won him a very eminent rank in Europe as well as in his own country. An +easy, pleasure-loving, tropical nature, flexible, facile, and disposed +to sacrifice the future to the present, was the only obstacle to the +attainment to a place level with the foremost artists of his age. +</p> +<p> +Edward Gottschalk, who came to America in his young manhood and settled +in New Orleans, and his wife, a French Creole lady, had five children, +of whom the future pianist was the eldest, born in 1829. His feeling for +music manifested itself when he was three years old by his ability to +play a melody on the piano which he had heard. Instantly he was strong +enough, he was placed under the instruction of a good teacher, and no +pains were spared to develop his precocious talent. At the age of six he +had made such progress on the piano that he was also instructed on +the violin, and soon was able to play pieces of more than ordinary +difficulty with taste and expression. We are told that the lad gave +a benefit concert at the age of eight to assist an unfortunate +violin-player, with considerable success, and was soon in great request +at evening parties as a child phenomenon. The propriety of sending +the little Louis to Paris had long been discussed, and it was finally +accomplished in 1842. +</p> +<p> +On reaching Paris he was first put under the teaching of Charles Halle, +but, as the latter master was a little careless, he was replaced by M. +Camille Stamaty, who had the reputation of being the ablest professor +in the city. The following year he began the study of harmony and +counterpoint with M. Malidan, and the rapid progress he evinced in his +studies was of a kind to justify his parents in their wish to devote him +to the career of a pianist. +</p> +<p> +Young Louis Gottschalk was much petted in the aristocratic salons of +Paris, to which he had admission through his aunts, the Comtesse de +Lagrange and the Comtesse de Bourjally. His remarkable musical gifts, +and more especially his talent for improvisation, excited curiosity and +admiration, even in a city where the love of musical novelty had been +sated by a continual supply of art prodigies. Young as he was, he wrote +at this time not a few charming compositions, which were in after-years +occasional features of his concerts. His delicate constitution succumbed +under hard work, and for a while a severe attack of typhoid fever +interrupted his studies. On his recovery, our young artist spent a few +months in the Ardennes. On returning to Paris, he became the pupil of +Hector Berlioz, who felt a deep interest in the young American, as an +art prodigy from a land of savages in harmony, and devoted himself so +assiduously to the study that he declined an invitation from the Spanish +queen to become a guest of the court at Madrid. +</p> +<p> +An amusing incident occurred in a pedestrian trip which he made to the +Vosges in 1846. He had forgotten his passport, and, on arriving at a +small town, was arrested by a gendarme and taken before the maire. The +latter official was reading a newspaper containing a notice of his last +concert, and through this means he assured the worthy functionary of his +identity, and was cordially welcomed to the hospitality of the official +residence. +</p> +<p> +His friend Berlioz, who was ever on the alert to help the American pupil +who promised to do him so much credit, arranged a series of concerts +for him at the Italian Opéra in the winter of 1846-'47, and these proved +brilliantly successful, not merely in filling the young artist's purse, +but in augmenting his fast-growing reputation. Steady labor in study and +concert-giving, many of his public performances being for charity, made +two years pass swiftly by. A musical tour through France in 1849 was +highly successful, and the young American returned to Paris, loaded +down with gifts, and rich in the sense of having justly earned the +congratulations which showered on him from all his friends. A second +invitation now came from Spain, and Louis Gottschalk on arriving at +Madrid was made a guest at the royal palace. From the king he received +two orders, the diamond cross of Isabella la Catholique and that of +Leon d'Holstein, and from the Duke de Montpensier he received a sword of +honor. We are told that at one of the private court concerts Gottschalk +played a duet with Don Carlos, the father of the recent pretender to the +Spanish throne. +</p> +<p> +Among the romantic incidents narrated of this visit of Gottschalk to +Madrid, one is too characteristic to be overlooked, as showing the +tender, generous nature of the artist. An imaginative Spanish girl, +whose fancy had been excited by the public enthusiasm about Gottschalk, +but was too ill to attend his concerts, had a passionate desire to hear +him play, and pined away in the fret-fulness of ungratified desire. Her +family were not able to pay Gottschalk for the trouble of giving such an +exclusive concert, but, to satisfy the sick girl, made the circumstances +known to the artist. Gottschalk did not hesitate a moment, but ordered +his piano to be conveyed to the humble abode of the patient. Here by her +bedside he played for hours to the enraptured girl, and the strain of +emotion was so great that her life ebbed away before he had finished the +final chords. Gottschalk remained in Spain for two years, and it was not +till the autumn of 1852 that he returned to Paris, to give a series of +farewell concerts before returning again to America, where his father +and brothers were anxiously awaiting him. +</p> +<center> +IV. +</center> +<p> +Before Gottschalk's departure from Paris, Hector Berlioz thus wrote of +his <i>protégé</i>, for whom we may fancy he had a strong bias of liking; and +no judge is so generous in estimation as one artist of another, unless +the critic has personal cause of dislike, and then no judge is so +sweepingly unjust: "Gottschalk is one of the very small number who +possess all the different elements of a consummate pianist, all the +faculties which surround him with an irresistible prestige, and give him +a sovereign power. He is an accomplished musician; he knows just how far +fancy may be indulged in expression. He knows the limits beyond which +any freedom taken with the rhythm produces only confusion and disorder, +and upon these limits he never encroaches. There is an exquisite grace +in his manner of phrasing sweet melodies and throwing off light touches +from the higher keys. The boldness, brilliancy, and originality of his +play at once dazzle and astonish, and the infantile <i>naivete</i> of his +smiling caprices, the charming simplicity with which he renders simple +things, seem to belong to another individuality, distinct from that +which marks his thundering energy. Thus the success of M. Gottschalk +before an audience of musical cultivation is immense." +</p> +<p> +But even this enthusiastic praise was pale in comparison with the +eulogiums of some of the New York journals, after the first concert of +Gottschalk at Niblo's Garden Theatre. One newspaper, which arrogated +special strength and good judgment in its critical departments, +intimated that after such a revelation it was useless any longer to +speak of Beethoven! Whether Beethoven as a player or Beethoven as a +composer was meant was left unknown. Gottschalk at his earlier concerts +played many of his own compositions, made to order for the display +of his virtuosoism, and their brilliant, showy style was very well +calculated to arouse the enthusiasm of the general public. Perhaps the +most sound and thoughtful opinion of Gottschalk expressed during the +first enthusiasm created by his playing was that of a well-known musical +journal published in Boston: +</p> +<p> +"Well, at the concert, which, by the way, did not half fill the Boston +Music Hall, owing partly, we believe, to the one-dollar price, and +partly, we <i>hope</i>, to distrust of an artist who plays wholly his own +compositions, our expectation was confirmed. There was, indeed, most +brilliant execution; we have heard none more brilliant, but are not yet +prepared to say that Jaell's was less so. Gottschalk's touch is the most +clear and crisp and beautiful that we have ever known. His play is +free and bold and sure, and graceful in the extreme; his runs pure and +liquid; his figures always clean and perfectly denned; his command of +rapid octave passages prodigious; and so we might go through with all +the technical points of masterly execution. It <i>was</i> great execution. +But what is execution, without some thought and meaning in the +combinations to be executed?... Skillful, graceful, brilliant, +wonderful, we own his playing was. But players less wonderful have given +us far deeper satisfaction. We have seen a criticism upon that concert, +in which it was regretted that his music was too fine for common +apprehension, 'too much addressed to the <i>reasoning</i> faculties,' etc. +To us the want was, that it did <i>not</i> address the reason; that it seemed +empty of ideas, of inspiration; that it spake little to the mind or +heart, excited neither meditation nor emotion, but simply dazzled by the +display of difficult feats gracefully and easily achieved. But of +what use were all these difficulties? ('Difficult! I wish it was +<i>impossible</i>,' said Dr. Johnson.) Why all that rapid tossing of handfuls +of chords from the middle to the highest octaves, lifting the hand with +such conscious appeal to our eyes? To what end all those rapid octave +passages? since in the intervals of easy execution, in the seemingly +quiet impromptu passages, the music grew so monotonous and commonplace: +the same little figure repeated and repeated, after listless pauses, in +a way which conveyed no meaning, no sense of musical progress, but only +the appearance of fastidiously critical scale-practicing." +</p> +<p> +In the series of concerts given by Gottschalk throughout the United +States, the public generally showed great enthusiasm and admiration, +and the young pianist sustained himself very successfully against the +memories of Jaell, Henri Herz, and Leopold de Meyer, as well as the +immediate rivalry of Thalberg, who appealed more potently to a select +few. The hold the American pianist had secured on his public did not +lessen during the five years of concert-giving which succeeded. No +player ever displayed his skill before American audiences who had in so +large degree that peculiar quality of geniality in his style which so +endears him to the public. This characteristic is something apart from +genius or technical skill, and is peculiarly an emanation from the +personality of the man. +</p> +<p> +In the spring of 1837 Gottschalk found himself in Havana, whither he had +gone to make the beginning of a musical tour through the West Indies. +His first concert was given at the Tacon Theatre, which Mr. Maretzek, +who was giving operatic representations then in Havana, yielded to +him for the occasion. The Cubans gave the pianist a tropical warmth of +welcome, and Gott-schalk's letters from the old Spanish city are full +of admiration for the climate, the life, and the people, with whom there +was something strongly sympathetic in his own nature. The artist had not +designed to protract his musical wanderings in the beautiful island of +the Antilles for any considerable period, but his success was great, +and the new experiences admirably suited his dreaming, sensuous, +pleasure-loving temperament. Everywhere the advent of Gottschalk at +a town was made the occasion of a festival, and life seemed to be one +continued gala-day with him. +</p> +<center> +V. +</center> +<p> +In the early months of 1860 the young pianist, Arthur Napoleon, joined +Gottschalk at Havana, and the two gave concerts throughout the West +Indies, which were highly successful. The early summer had been designed +for a tour through Central America and Venezuela, but a severe attack of +illness prostrated Gottschalk, and he was not able to sail before August +for his new field of musical conquest. Our artist did not return to New +York till 1862, after an absence of five years, though his original plan +had only contemplated a tour of two years. It must not be supposed that +Gottschalk devoted his time continually to concert performances and +composition, though he by no means neglected the requirements of +musical labor. As he himself confesses, the balmy climate, the glorious +landscapes, the languid <i>dolce far niente</i>, which tended to enervate +all that came under their magic spell, wrought on his susceptible +temperament with peculiar effect. A quotation from an article written by +Gottschalk, and published in the "Atlantic Monthly," entitled "Notes of +a Pianist," will furnish the reader a graphic idea of the influence +of tropical life on such an imaginative and voluptuous character, +passionately fond of nature and outdoor life: "Thus, in succession, I +have visited all the Antilles—Spanish, French, English, Dutch, Swedish, +and Danish; the Guianas, and the coasts of Para. At times, having become +the idol of some obscure <i>pueblo</i>, whose untutored ears I had charmed +with its own simple ballads, I would pitch my tent for five, six, eight +months, deferring my departure from day to day, until finally I began +seriously to entertain the idea of remaining there for evermore. +Abandoning myself to such influences, I lived without care, as the bird +sings, as the flower expands, as the brook flows, oblivious of the past, +reckless of the future, and sowed both my heart and my purse with the +ardor of a husbandman who hopes to reap a hundred ears for every grain +he confides to the earth. But, alas! the fields where is garnered the +harvest of expended doubloons, and where vernal loves bloom anew, are +yet to be discovered; and the result of my prodigality was that, one +fine morning, I found myself a bankrupt in heart, with my purse +at ebb-tide. Suddenly disgusted with the world and myself, weary, +discouraged, mistrusting men (ay, and women too), I fled to a desert on +the extinct volcano of M———, where, for several months, I lived the +life of a cenobite, with no companion but a poor lunatic whom I had met +on a small island, and who had attached himself to me. He followed me +everywhere, and loved me with that absurd and touching constancy of +which dogs and madmen alone are capable. My friend, whose insanity was +of a mild and harmless character, fancied himself the greatest genius in +the world. He was, moreover, under the impression that he suffered from +a gigantic, monstrous tooth. Of the two idiosyncrasies, the latter alone +made his lunacy discernible, too many individuals being affected with +the other symptom to render it an anomalous feature of the human mind. +My friend was in the habit of protesting that this enormous tooth +increased periodically, and threatened to encroach upon his entire jaw. +Tormented, at the same time, with the desire of regenerating humanity, +he divided his leisure between the study of dentistry, to which he +applied himself in order to impede the progress of his hypothetical +tyrant, and a voluminous correspondence which he kept up with the Pope, +his brother, and the Emperor of the French, his cousin. In the latter +occupation he pleaded the interests of humanity, styled himself 'the +Prince of Thought,' and exalted me to the dignity of his illustrious +friend and benefactor. In the midst of the wreck of his intellect, one +thing still survived—his love of music. He played the violin; and, +strange as it may appear, although insane, he could not understand the +so-called <i>music of the future</i>. +</p> +<p> +"My hut, perched on the verge of the crater, at the very summit of the +mountain, commanded a view of all the surrounding country. The rock +upon which it was built projected over a precipice whose abysses were +concealed by creeping plants, cactus, and bamboos. The species +of table-rock thus formed had been encircled with a railing, and +transformed into a terrace on a level with the sleeping-room, by my +predecessor in this hermitage. His last wish had been to be buried +there; and from my bed I could see his white tombstone gleaming in the +moonlight a few steps from my window. Every evening I rolled my piano +out upon the terrace; and there, facing the most incomparably beautiful +landscape, all bathed in the soft and limpid atmosphere of the tropics, +I poured forth on the instrument, and for myself alone, the thoughts +with which the scene inspired me. And what a scene! Picture to yourself +a gigantic amphitheatre hewn out of the mountains by an army of Titans; +right and left, immense virgin forests full of those subdued and distant +harmonies which are, as it were, the voices of Silence; before me, +a prospect of twenty leagues marvelously enhanced by the extreme +transparency of the air; above, the azure of the sky: beneath, the +creviced sides of the mountain sweeping down to the plain; afar, the +waving savannas; beyond them, a grayish speck (the distant city); and, +encompassing them all, the immensity of the ocean closing the horizon +with its deep-blue line. Behind me was a rock on which a torrent of +melted snow dashed its white foam, and there, diverted from its course, +rushed with a mad leap and plunged headlong into the gulf that yawned +beneath my window. +</p> +<p> +"Amid such scenes I composed 'Réponds-moi la Marche des Gibaros,' +'Polonia,' 'Columbia,' 'Pastorella e Cavaličre,' 'Jeunesse,' and many +other unpublished works. I allowed my fingers to run over the keys, +wrapped up in the contemplation of these wonders; while my poor friend, +whom I heeded but little, revealed to me with a childish loquacity the +lofty destiny he held in reserve for humanity. Can you conceive the +contrast produced by this shattered intellect expressing at random its +disjointed thoughts, as a disordered clock strikes by chance any +hour, and the majestic serenity of the scene around me? I felt it +instinctively. My misanthropy gave way. I became indulgent toward myself +and mankind, and the wounds of my heart closed once more. My despair was +soothed; and soon the sun of the tropics, which tinges all things with +gold—dreams as well as fruits—restored me with new confidence and +vigor to my wanderings. +</p> +<p> +"I relapsed into the manners and life of these primitive countries: +if not strictly virtuous, they are at all events terribly attractive. +Existence in a tropical wilderness, in the midst of a voluptuous and +half-civilized race, bears no resemblance to that of a London cockney, a +Parisian lounger, or an American Quaker. Times there were, indeed, when +a voice was heard within me that spoke of nobler aims. It reminded me +of what I once was, of what I yet might be; and commanded imperatively a +return to a healthier and more active life. But I had allowed myself to +be enervated by this baneful languor, this insidious <i>far niente</i>; and +my moral torpor was such that the mere thought of reappearing before +a polished audience struck me as superlatively absurd. 'Where was the +object?' I would ask myself. Moreover, it was too late; and I went on +dreaming with open eyes, careering on horseback through the savannas, +listening at break of day to the prattle of the parrots in the +guava-trees, at nightfall to the chirp of the <i>grillos</i> in the +cane-fields, or else smoking my cigar, taking my coffee, rocking myself +in a hammock—in short, enjoying all the delights that are the very +heart-blood of a <i>guajiro</i>, and out of the sphere of which he can see +but death, or, what is worse to him, the feverish agitation of our +Northern society. Go and talk of the funds, of the landed interest, of +stock-jobbing, to this Sybarite lord of the wilderness, who can live all +the year round on luscious bananas and delicious cocoa-nuts which he +is not even at the trouble of planting; who has the best tobacco in +the world to smoke; who replaces today the horse he had yesterday by a +better one, chosen from the first <i>calallada</i> he meets; who requires no +further protection from the cold than a pair of linen trousers, in that +favored clime where the seasons roll on in one perennial summer; who, +more than all this, finds at eve, under the rustling palm-trees, pensive +beauties, eager to reward with their smiles the one who murmurs in their +ears those three words, ever new, ever beautiful, 'Yo te quiero.'" +</p> +<center> +VI. +</center> +<p> +Mr. Gottschalk's return to America in February, 1862, was celebrated by +a concert in Irving Hall, on the anniversary of his <i>début</i> in New York. +This was the beginning of another brilliant musical series, in pursuance +of which he appeared in every prominent city of the country. While +many found fault with Gottschalk for descending to pure "claptrap" and +bravura playing, for using his great powers to merely superficial and +unworthy ends, he seemed to retain as great a hold as ever over the +masses of concert-goers. Gottschalk himself, with his epicurean, +easy-going nature, laughed at the lectures read him by the critics and +connoisseurs, who would have him follow out ideals for which he had no +taste. It was like asking the butterfly to live the life of the bee. +Great as were the gifts of the artist, it was not to be expected that +these would be pursued in lines not consistent with the limitations +of his temperament. Gottschalk appears to have had no desire except to +amuse and delight the world, and to have been foreign to any loftier +musical aspiration, if we may judge by his own recorded words. He passed +through life as would a splendid wild singing-bird, making music +because it was the law of his being, but never directing that talent +with conscious energy to some purpose beyond itself. +</p> +<p> +In 1863 family misfortunes and severe illness of himself cooperated to +make the year vacant of musical doings, but instantly he recovered he +was engaged by M. Strakosch to give another series of concerts in the +leading Eastern cities. Without attempting to linger over his career for +the next two years, let us pass to his second expedition to the tropics +in 1865. Four years were spent in South America, each country that he +visited vieing with the other in doing him honor. Magnificent gifts were +heaped on him by his enthusiastic Spanish-American admirers, and life +was one continual ovation. In Peru he gave sixty concerts, and was +presented with a costly decoration of gold, diamond, and pearl. In Chili +the Government voted him a grand gold medal, which the board of public +schools, the board of visitors of the hospitals, and the municipal +government of Valparaiso supplemented by gold medals, in recognition +of Gottschalk's munificence in the benefit concerts he gave for various +public and humane institutions. The American pianist, through the whole +of his career, had shown the traditional benevolence of his class in +offering his services to the advancement of worthy objects. A similar +reception awaited Gottschalk in Montevideo, where the artist became +doubly the object of admiration by the substantial additions he made +to the popular educational fund. While in this city he organized and +conducted a great musical festival in which three hundred musicians +engaged, exclusive of the Italian Opera company then at Montevideo. +</p> +<p> +The spring of 1869 brought Gottschalk to the last scene of his musical +triumphs, for the span of his career was about to close over him. Rio +Janeiro, the capital of Brazil, gave Gottschalk an ardent reception, +which made this city properly the culmination of his toils and triumphs. +Gottschalk wrote that his performances created such a <i>furore</i> that +boxes commanded a premium of seventy-five dollars, and single seats +fetched twenty-five. He was frequently entertained by Dom Pedro at the +palace; in every way the Brazilians testified their lavish admiration of +his artistic talents. In the midst of his success Gottschalk was seized +with yellow fever, and brought very low. Indeed, the report came back +to New York that he was dead, a report, however, which his own letters, +written from the bed of convalescence, soon contradicted. +</p> +<p> +In October of 1869 Gottschalk was appointed by the emperor to take the +leadership of a great festival, in which eight hundred performers in +orchestra and chorus would take part. Indefatigable labor, in rehearsing +his musicians and organizing the almost innumerable details of such an +affair, acted on a frame which had not yet recovered its strength from a +severe attack of illness. With difficulty he dragged himself through the +tedious preparation, and when he stood up to conduct the first concert +of the festival, on the evening of November 26, he was so weak that he +could scarcely stand. The next day he was too ill to rise, and, though +he forced himself to go to the opera-house in the evening, he was so +weak as to be unable to conduct the music, and he had to be driven back +to his hotel. The best medical skill watched over him, but his hour had +come, and after three weeks of severe suffering he died, December 18, +1869. The funeral solemnities at the Cathedral of Rio were of the most +imposing character, and all the indications of really heart-felt sorrow +were shown among the vast crowd of spectators, for Gottschalk had +quickly endeared himself to the public both as man and artist. At the +time of Gott-schalk's death, it was his purpose to set sail for Europe +at the earliest practicable moment, to secure the publication of some of +his more important works, and the production of his operas, of which he +had the finished scores of not less than six. +</p> +<p> +Louis Moreau Gottschalk was an artist and composer whose gifts were +never more than half developed; for his native genius as a musician was +of the highest order. Shortly before he died, at the age of forty, he +seemed to have ripened into more earnest views and purposes, and, had +he lived to fulfill his prime, it is reasonable to hazard the conjecture +that he would have richly earned a far loftier niche in the pantheon +of music than can now be given him. A rich, pleasure-loving, Oriental +temperament, which tended to pour itself forth in dreams instead of +action; vivid emotional sensibilities, which enabled him to exhaust +all the resources of pleasure where imagination stimulates sense; and +a thorough optimism in his theories, which saw everything at its best, +tended to blunt the keen ambition which would otherwise inevitably have +stirred the possessor of such artistic gifts. Gottschalk fell far short +of his possibilities, though he was the greatest piano executant ever +produced by our own country. He might have dazzled the world even as he +dazzled his own partial countrymen. +</p> +<p> +His style as a pianist was sparkling, dashing, showy, but, in the +judgment of the most judicious, he did not appear to good advantage in +comparison with Thalberg, in whom a perfect technique was dominated by +a conscious intellectualism, and a high ideal, passionless but severely +beautiful. +</p> +<p> +Gottschalk's idiosyncrasy as a composer ran in parallel lines with +that of the player. Most of the works of this musician are brilliant, +charming, tender, melodious, full of captivating excellence, but +bright with the flash of fancy, rather than strong with the power +of imagination. We do not find in his piano-forte pieces any of that +subtile soul-searching force which penetrates to the deepest roots +of thought and feeling. Sundry musical cynics were wont to crush +Gottschalk's individuality into the coffin of a single epigram. "A +musical bonbon to tickle the palates of sentimental women." But this +falls as far short of justice as the enthusiasm of many of his admirers +overreaches it. The easy and genial temperament of the man, his ability +to seize the things of life on their bright side, and a naive indolence +which indisposed the artist to grapple with the severest obligations of +an art life, prevented Gottschalk from attaining the greatness possible +to him, but they contributed to make him singularly lovable, and to +justify the passionate attachment which he inspired in most of those +who knew him well. But, with all of Gottschalk's limitations, he must +be considered the most noticeable and able of pianists and composers for +the piano yet produced by the United States. +</p> +<a name="h2H_4_0015" id="h2H_4_0015"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<div style="height: 4em;"><br><br><br><br></div> + +<h2> + FRANZ LISZT. +</h2> +<p> +The Spoiled Favorite of Fortune.—His Inherited Genius.—Birth and +Early Training.—First Appearance in Concert.—Adam Liszt and his Son +in Paris.—Sensation made by the Boy's Playing.—His Morbid Religious +Sufferings.—Franz Liszt thrown on his own Resources.—The Artistic +Circle in Paris.—Liszt in the Banks of Romanticism.—His Friends and +Associates.—Mme. D'Agoult and her Connection with Franz +Liszt.—He retires to Geneva.—Is recalled to Paris by the Thalberg +<i>Furore</i>.—Rivalry between the Artists, and their Factions.—He +commences his Career as Traveling Virtuoso.—The Blaze of Enthusiasm +throughout Europe.—Schumann on Liszt as Man and Artist.—He ranks the +Hungarian Virtuoso as the Superior of Thalberg.—Liszt's Generosity to +his own Countrymen.—The Honors paid to him in Pesth.—Incidents of +his Musical Wanderings.—He loses the Proceeds of Three Hundred +Concerts.—Contributes to the Completion of the Cologne Cathedral.—His +Connection with the Beethoven Statue at Bonn, and the Celebration of +the Unveiling.—Chorley on Liszt.—Berlioz and Liszt.—Character of the +Enthusiasm called out by Liszt as an Artist.—Remarkable Personality +as a Man.—Berlioz characterizes the Great Virtuoso in a Letter.—Liszt +erases his Life as a Virtuoso, and becomes Chapel-Master and Court +Conductor at Weimar.—Avowed Belief in the New School of Music, and +Production of Works of this School.—Wagner's Testimony to Liszt's +Assistance.—Liszt's Resignation of his Weimar Post after Ten +Years.—His Subsequent Life.—He takes Holy Orders.—Liszt as a Virtuoso +and Composer.—Entitled to be placed among tire most Remarkable Men of +his Age. +</p> +<center> +I. +</center> +<p> +There are but few names in music more interesting than that of Franz +Liszt, the spoiled favorite of Europe for more than half a century, and +without question the greatest piano-forte virtuoso that ever lived. His +life has passed through the sunniest regions of fortune and success, +and from his cradle upward the gods have showered on him their richest +gifts. His career as an artist and musician has been most remarkable, +his personal life full of romance, and his connection with some of +the most vital changes in music which have occurred during the century +interesting and significant. From his first appearance in public, at the +age of twelve, his genius was acknowledged with enthusiasm throughout +the whole republic of art, from Beethoven down to the obscurest +<i>dilletante</i>, and it may be asserted that the history of music knows +no instance of success approaching that achieved by the performances +of this great player in every capital of Europe, from Madrid to St. +Petersburg. When he wearied of the fame of the virtuoso, and became +a composer, not only for the piano-forte, but for the orchestra, his +invincible energy soon overcame all difficulties in his path, and he has +lived to see himself accepted as one of the greatest of living musical +thinkers and writers. +</p> +<p> +The life of Liszt is so crowded with important incidents that it is +difficult to condense into the brief limits of a sketch any fairly +adequate statement of his career. He was born October 22, 1811, in the +village of Raiding, in Hungary, and it is said that his father Adam +Liszt, who was in the service of the Prince Esterhazy, was firmly +convinced that the child would become distinguished on account of the +appearance of a remarkable comet during the year. Adam Liszt himself was +a fine pianist, gifted indeed with a talent which might have made him +eminent had he pursued it. All his ambition and hope, however, centered +in his son, in whom musical genius quickly declared itself; and the +father found teaching this gifted child not only a labor of love, but +a task smoothed by the extraordinary aptness of the pupil. He was +accustomed to say to the young Franz: "My son, you are destined to +realize the glorious ideal that has shone in vain before my youth. In +you that is to reach its fulfillment which I have myself but faintly +conceived. In you shall my genius grow up and bear fruit; I shall renew +my youth in you even after I am laid in the grave." Such prophetic words +recall the vision of the Genoese woman, who foresaw the future greatness +of the little Nicolo Paganini, a genius who resembled in many ways the +phenomenal musical force embodied in Franz Liszt. When the lad was very +young, perhaps not more than six, he read the "Kené" of Chateaubriand, +and it made such an indelible impression on his mind that he in after +years spoke of it as having been one of the most potent influences of +his life, since it stimulated the natural melancholy of his character +when his nature was most flexible and impressible. +</p> +<p> +At the age of nine he made his first appearance in public at Odenburg, +playing Bies's concerto in three flats, and improvising a fantasia so +full of melodic ideas, striking rhythms, and well-arranged harmony as to +strike the audience with surprise and admiration. Among the hearers was +Prince Esterhazy, who was so pleased with the precocious talent shown +that he put a purse of fifty ducats in the young musician's hand. Soon +after this Adam Liszt went to Pres-burg to live, and several noblemen, +among whom were Prince Esterhazy, and the Counts Amadée and Szapary, all +of them enthusiastic patrons of music, determined to bear the burden of +the boy's musical education. To this end they agreed to allow him six +hundred florins a year for six years. Young Liszt was placed at Vienna +under the tutelage of the celebrated pianist and teacher Czerny, and +soon made such progress that he was able to play such works as those +even of Beethoven and Hummel at first sight. When Liszt did this for +one of Hummel's most difficult concertos, at the rooms of the music +publisher one day, it created a great sensation in Vienna, and he +quickly became one of the lions of the drawing-rooms of the capital. +Czerny himself was so much delighted with the genius of his charge +that he refused to accept the three hundred florins stipulated for his +lessons, saying he was but too well repaid by the success of the pupil. +</p> +<p> +Though toiling with incessant industry in musical study and practice, +for the boy was working at composition with Salieri and Randhartinger, +as well as the piano-forte with Czerny, he found time to indulge in +those strange, mystical, and fantastic dreams which have molded his +whole life, oscillating between pietistic delirium, wherein he saw +celestial visions and felt the call to a holy life, and the most +voluptuous images and aspirations for earthly pleasures. Franz Liszt +at this early age had a sensibility so delicate, and an imagination so +quickly kindled, that he himself tells us no one can guess the extremes +of ecstasy and despair through which he alternately passed. These +spiritual experiences were perhaps fed by the mysticism of Jacob Boehme, +whose works came into his possession, and furnished a most delusive and +dangerous guide for the young enthusiast's fancy. But, dream and suffer +as he might, nothing was allowed to quench the ardor of his musical +studies. +</p> +<p> +Eighteen months were passed in diligent labor under the guidance of the +masters, who found teaching almost unnecessary, as the wonderful lad +needed but a hint to work out for himself the most difficult problems, +and he toiled so incessantly that he often became conscious of the +change of day into night only by the failure of the light and the coming +of the candles. Finally, by advice of Salieri, after eighteen months of +labor, he determined to appear in concert in Vienna. On this occasion +the audience was composed of the most distinguished people of Vienna, +drawn thither to hear the young musical wonder of whom every one talked. +Among the hearers was Beethoven, who after the concert gave the proud +boy the most cordial praise, and prophesied a great career for him. +</p> +<p> +The elder Liszt was already in Paris, and it was determined that +Franz should go to that city, to avail himself of the instructions of +Cherubini, at the Conservatoire, who as a teacher of counterpoint had +no equal in Europe. The Prince Metternich sent letters of the warmest +recommendation, but they were of no avail, for Cherubini, who was +singularly whimsical and obstinate in his notions, refused to accept +the new candidate, on account of the rule of the Conservatoire excluding +pupils of foreign birth, a plea which the famous director did not +hesitate to break when he chose. Franz, however, continued his studies +under Reicha and Paer, and, while the gates of the Conservatoire were +closed, all the salons of Paris opened to receive him. Everywhere he was +feted, courted, caressed. This fair-haired, blue-eyed lad, with the seal +of genius burning on his face, had made the social world mad over him. +The young adventurer was sailing in a treacherous channel, full of +dangerous reefs. Would he, in the homage paid to him, an unmatured +youth, by scholars, artists, wealth, beauty, and rank, forgot in mere +self-love and vanity his high obligations to his art and the sincere +devotion which alone could wrest from art its richest guerdon? This +problem seems to have troubled his father, for he determined to take his +young Franz away from the palace of Circe. The boy had already made an +attempt at composition in the shape of an operetta, in one act, "Don +Sanche," which was very well received at the Académie Royale. Adolph +Nourrit, the great singer, had led the young composer on the stage, +where he was received with thunders of applause by the audience, and +was embraced with transport by Rudolph Kreutzer, the director of the +orchestra. +</p> +<p> +Adam Liszt and his son went to England, and spent about six months in +giving concerts in London and other cities. Franz was less than +fourteen years old, but the pale, fragile, slender boy had, in the deep +melancholy which stamped the noble outline of his face, an appearance +of maturity that belied his years. English audiences everywhere received +him with admiration, but he seemed to have lost all zest for the +intoxicating wine of public favor. A profound gloom stole over him, +and we even hear of hints at an attempt to commit suicide. Adam Liszt +attributed it to the sad English climate, which Hein-rich Heine cursed +with such unlimited bitterness, and took his boy back again to sunnier +France. But the dejection darkened and deepened, threatening even +to pass into epilepsy. It assumed the form of religious enthusiasm, +alternating with fits of remorse as of one who had committed the +unpardonable sin, and sometimes expressed itself in a species of frenzy +for the monastic life. These strange experiences alarmed the father, +and, in obedience to medical advice, he took the ailing, half-hysterical +lad to Boulogne-sur-Mer, for sea-bathing. +</p> +<center> +II. +</center> +<p> +While by the seaside Franz Liszt lost the father who had loved him +with the devotion of father and mother combined. This fresh stroke of +affliction deepened his dejection, and finally resulted in a fit of +severe illness. When he was convalescent new views of life seemed +to inspire him. He was now entirely thrown on his own resources for +support, for Adam Liszt had left his affairs so deeply involved that +there was but little left for his son and widow. A powerful nature, +turned awry by unhealthy broodings, is often rescued from its own mental +perversities by the sense of some new responsibility suddenly imposed on +it. Boy as Liszt was, the Titan in him had already shown itself in +the agonies and struggles which he had undergone, and, now that the +necessity of hard work suddenly came, the atmosphere of turmoil and +gloom began to clear under the imminent practical burden of life. He set +resolutely to work composing and giving concerts. The religious mania +under which he had rested for a while turned his thoughts to sacred +music, and most of his compositions were masses. But the very effort of +responsible toil set, as it were, a background against which he could +appoint the true place and dimensions of his art work. There was another +disturbance, however, which now stirred up his excitable mind. He fell +madly in love with a lady of high rank, and surrendered his young heart +entirely to this new passion. The unfortunate issue of this attachment, +for the lady was much older than himself, and laughed with a gentle +mockery at the infatuation of her young adorer, made Liszt intensely +unhappy and misanthropical, but it did not prevent him from steady +labor. Indeed, work became all the more welcome, as it served to +distract his mind from its amorous pains, and his fantastic musings, +instead of feeding on themselves, expressed themselves in his art. +Certainly no healthier sign of one beginning to clothe himself in his +right mind again can easily be imagined. +</p> +<p> +Liszt was now twenty years of age, and had regularly settled in Paris. +He became acquainted intimately with the leaders of French literature, +and was an habitué of the brilliant circles which gathered these great +minds night after night. Lamartine and Chateaubriand were yielding +place to a young and fiery school of writers and thinkers, but cordially +clasped hands with the successors whom they themselves had made +possible. Mme. George Sand, Balzac, Dumas, Victor Hugo, and others were +just then beginning to stir in the mental revolution which they made +famous. Liszt felt a deep interest in the literary and scientific +interests of the day, and he threw himself into the new movement with +great enthusiasm, for its strong wave moved art as well as letters with +convulsive throes. The musician found in this fresh impulse something +congenial to his own fiery, restless, aspiring nature. He entered +eagerly into all the intellectual movements of the day. He became a +St. Simonian and such a hot-headed politician that, had he not been an +artist, and as such considered a harmless fanatic, he would perhaps have +incurred some penalties. Liszt has left us, in his "Life of Chopin," and +his letters, some very vivid portraitures of the people and the events, +the fascinating literary and artistic reunions, and the personal +experiences which made this part of his life so interesting; but, +tempting as it is, we can not linger. There can be no question that this +section of his career profoundly colored his whole life, and that +the influence of Victor Hugo, Balzac, and Mme. George Sand is very +perceptible in his compositions not merely in their superficial tone +and character, but in the very theory on which they are built. Liszt +thenceforward cut loose from all classic restraints, and dared to fling +rules and canons to the winds, except so far as his artistic taste +approved them. The brilliant and daring coterie, defying conventionality +and the dull decorum of social law, in which our artist lived, wrought +also another change in his character. Liszt had hitherto been almost +austere in his self-denial, in restraint of passion and license, in +a religious purity of life, as if he dwelt in the cold shadow of the +monastery, not knowing what moment he should disappear within its gates. +There was now to be a radical change. +</p> +<p> +One of the brilliant members of the coterie in which he lived a life of +such keen mental activity was Countess D'Agoult, who afterward became +famous in the literary world as "Daniel Stern." Beautiful, witty, +accomplished, imaginative, thoroughly in sympathy with her friend +George Sand in her views of love and matrimony, and not less daring +in testifying to her opinion by actions, the name of Mme. D'Agoult had +already been widely bruited abroad in connection with more than one +romantic escapade. In the powerful personality of young Franz Liszt, +instinct with an artistic genius which aspired like an eagle, vital with +a resolute, reckless will, and full of a magnetic energy that overflowed +in everything—looks, movements, talk, playing—the somewhat fickle +nature of Mme. D'Agoult was drawn to the artist like steel to a magnet. +Liszt, on the other hand, easily yielded to the refined and delicious +sensuousness of one of the most accomplished women of her time, who to +every womanly fascination added the rarest mental gifts and high social +place. +</p> +<p> +The mutual passion soon culminated in a tie which lasted for many years, +and was perhaps as faithfully observed by both parties as could be +expected of such an irregular connection. Three children were the +offspring of this attachment, a son who died, and two daughters, one of +whom became the wife of M. Ollivier, the last imperial prime minister of +France, and the other successively Mme. Von Bűlow and Mme. Wagner, under +which latter title she is still known. The <i>chroniques scandaleuses</i> +of Paris and other great cities of Europe are full of racy scandals +purporting to connect the name of Liszt with well-known charming and +beautiful women, but, aside from the uncertainty which goes with such +rumors, this is not a feature of Liszt's life on which it is our purpose +to dilate. The errors of such a man, exposed by his temperament and +surroundings to the fiercest breath of temptation, should be rather +veiled than opened to the garish day. Of the connection with Mme. +D'Agoult something has been briefly told, because it had an important +influence on his art career. Though the Church had never sanctioned the +tie, there is every reason to believe that the lady's power over Liszt +was consistently used to restrain his naturally eccentric bias, and to +keep his thoughts fixed on the loftiest art ideals. +</p> +<center> +III. +</center> +<p> +Soon after Liszt's connection with Mme. D'Agoult began, he retired with +his devoted companion to Geneva, Switzerland, a city always celebrated +in the annals of European literature and art. In the quiet and charming +atmosphere of this city our artist spent two years, busy for the most +part in composing. He had already attained a superb rank as a pianist, +and of those virtuosos who had then exhibited their talents in Paris +no one was considered at all worthy to be compared with Liszt except +Chopin. Aside from the great mental grasp, the opulent imagination, the +fire and passion, the dazzling technical skill of the player, there was +a vivid personality in Liszt as a man which captivated audiences. This +element dominated his slightest action. He strode over the concert +stage with the haughty step of a despot who ruled with a sway not to be +contested. Tearing his gloves from his fingers and hurling them on +the piano, he would seat himself with a proud gesture, run his fingers +through his waving blonde locks, and then attack the piano with the +vehemence of a conqueror taking his army into action. Much of this +manner was probably the outcome of natural temperament, something the +result of affectation; but it helped to add to the glamour with which +Liszt always held his audiences captive. When he left Paris for a +studious retirement at Geneva, the throne became vacant. By and by there +came a contestant for the seat, a player no less remarkable in many +respects than Liszt himself, Sigismond Thalberg, whose performances +aroused Paris, alert for a new sensation, into an enthusiasm which +quickly mounted to boiling heat. Humors of the danger threatened to his +hitherto acknowledged ascendancy reached Liszt in his Swiss retreat. The +artist's ambition was stirred to the quick; he could not sleep at night +with the thought of this victorious rival who was snatching his laurels, +and he hastened back to Paris to meet Thalberg on his own ground. +The latter, however, had already left Paris, and Liszt only felt the +ground-swell of the storm he had raised. There was a hot division of +opinion among the Parisians, as there had been in the days of Gluck and +Piccini. Society was divided into Lisztians and Thalbergians, and to +indulge in this strife was the favorite amusement of the fashionable +world. Liszt proceeded to reestablish his place by a series of +remarkable concerts, in which he introduced to the public some of the +works wrought out during his retirement, among them transcriptions from +the songs of Schubert and the symphonies of Beethoven, in which the most +free and passionate poetic spirit was expressed through the medium of +technical difficulties in the scoring before unknown to the art of the +piano-forte. There can be no doubt that the influence of Thalberg's +rivalry on Liszt's mind was a strong force, and suggested new +combinations. Without having heard Thalberg, our artist had already +divined the secret of his effects, and borrowed from them enough to give +a new impulse to an inventive faculty which was fertile in expedients +and quick to assimilate all things of value to the uses of its own +insatiable ambition. +</p> +<p> +Franz Liszt's career as a traveling virtuoso commenced in 1837, and +lasted for twelve years. Hitherto he had resisted the impulsion to +such a course, all his desires rushing toward composition, but the +extraordinary rewards promised cooperated with the spur of rivalry to +overcome all scruples. The first year of these art travels was made +memorable by the great inundation of the Danube, which caused so much +suffering at Pesth. Thousands of people were rendered homeless, and +the scene was one that appealed piteously to the humanitarian mind. The +heart of Franz Liszt burned with sympathy, and he devoted the proceeds +of his concerts for nearly two months to the alleviation of the woes of +his countrymen. A princely sum was contributed by the artist, which went +far to assist the sufferers. The number of occasions on which Liszt +gave his services to charity was legion. It is credibly stated that the +amount of benefactions contributed by his benefit concerts, added to the +immense sums which he directly disbursed, would have made him several +times a millionaire. +</p> +<p> +The blaze of enthusiasm which Liszt kindled made his track luminous +throughout the musical centers of Europe. Cćsar-like, his very arrival +was a victory, for it aroused an indescribable ferment of agitation, +which rose at his concerts to wild excesses. Ladies of the highest rank +tore their gloves to strips in the ardor of their applause, flung +their jewels on the stage instead of bouquets, shrieked in ecstasy and +sometimes fainted, and made a wild rush for the stage at the close of +the music to see Liszt, and obtain some of the broken strings of the +piano, which the artist had ruined in the heat of his play, as precious +relics of the occasion. The stories told of the Liszt craze among the +ladies of Germany and Russia are highly amusing, and have a value as +registering the degree of the effect he produced on impressible minds. +Even sober and judicious critics who knew well whereof they spoke +yielded to the contagion. Schumann writes of him, <i>apropos</i> of his +Dresden and Leipzig concerts in 1840: "The whole audience greeted his +appearance with an enthusiastic storm of applause, and then he began to +play. I had heard him before, but an artist is a different thing in the +presence of the public compared with what he appears in the presence of +a few. The fine open space, the glitter of light, the elegantly dressed +audience—all this elevates the frame of mind in the giver and receiver. +And now the demon's power began to awake; he first played with the +public as if to try it, then gave it something more profound, until +every single member was enveloped in his art; and then the whole mass +began to rise and fall precisely as he willed it. I never found any +artist except Paga-nini to possess in so high a degree this power of +subjecting, elevating, and leading the public. It is an instantaneous +variety of wildness, tenderness, boldness, and airy grace; the +instrument glows under the hand of its master.... It is most easy to +speak of his outward appearance. People have often tried to picture +this by comparing Liszt's head to Schiller's or Napoleon's; and the +comparison so far holds good, in that extraordinary men possess certain +traits in common, such as an expression of energy and strength of will +in the eyes and mouth. He has some resemblance to the portraits of +Napoleon as a young general, pale, thin, with a remarkable profile, +the whole significance of his appearance culminating in his head. While +listening to Liszt's playing, I have often almost imagined myself as +listening to one I heard long before. But this art is scarcely to be +described. It is not this or that style of piano-forte playing; it is +rather the outward expression of a daring character, to whom Fate has +given as instruments of victory and command, not the dangerous weapon of +war, but the peaceful ones of art. No matter how many and great artists +we possess or have seen pass before us of recent years, though some of +them equal him in single points, all must yield to him in energy and +boldness. People have been very fond of placing Thalberg in the lists +beside him, and then drawing comparisons. But it is only necessary to +look at both heads to come to a conclusion. I remember the remark of +a Viennese designer who said, not inaptly, that his countryman's head +resembled that of a handsome countess with a man's nose, while of Liszt +he observed that he might sit to every painter for a Grecian god. There +is a similar difference in their art. Chopin stands nearer to Liszt as a +player, for at least he loses nothing beside him in fairy-like grace and +tenderness; next to him Paganini, and, among women, Mme. Malibran; from +these Liszt himself says he has learned the most.... Liszt's most genial +performance was yet to come, Weber's 'Concert-stuck,' which he played +at the second performance. Virtuoso and public seemed to be in the +freshest mood possible on that evening, and the enthusiasm during and +after his playing almost exceeded anything hitherto known here. Although +Liszt grasped the piece from the begin-ing with such force and grandeur +that an attack on the battle-field seemed to be in question, yet he +carried this on with continually increasing power, until the passage +where the player seems to stand at the summit of the orchestra, leading +it forward in triumph. Here, indeed, he resembled that great commander +to whom he has been compared, and the tempestuous applause that greeted +him was not unlike an adoring 'Vive l'Empereur.'" +</p> +<p> +Flattering to his pride, however, as were the universal honors bestowed +on the artist, none were so grateful as those from his own countrymen. +The philanthropy of his conduct had made a deep impression on the +Hungarians. Two cities, Pesth and Odenburg, created him an honorary +citizen; a patent of nobility was solicited for him by the <i>comitat</i> of +Odenburg; and the "sword of honor," according to Hungarian custom, was +presented to him with due solemnities. A brief account from an Hungarian +journal of the time is of interest. +</p> +<p> +"The national feeling of the Magyars is well known; and proud are they +of that star of the first magnitude which arose out of their nation. +Over the countries of Europe the fame of the Hungarian Liszt came to +them before they had as yet an opportunity of admiring him. The Danube +was swollen by rains, Pesth was inundated, thousands were mourning +the loss of friends and relations or of all their property. During +his absence in Milan Liszt learned that many of his countrymen were +suffering from absolute want. His resolution was taken. The smiling +heaven of Italy, the <i>dolce far niente</i> of Southern life, could not +detain him. The following morning he had quitted Milan and was on his +way to Vienna. He performed for the benefit of those who had suffered +by the inundation at Pesth. His art was the horn of plenty from which +streamed forth blessings for the afflicted. Eighteen months afterward he +came to Pesth, not as the artist in search of pecuniary advantage, +but as a Magyar. He played for the Hungarian national theatre, for the +musical society, for the poor of Pesth and of Odenburg, always before +crowded houses, and the proceeds, fully one hundred thousand francs, +were appropriated for these purposes. Who can wonder that admiration +and pride should arise to enthusiasm in the breasts of his grateful +countrymen? He was complimented by serenades, garlands were thrown +to him; in short, the whole population of Pesth neglected nothing to +manifest their respect, gratitude, and affection. But these honors, +which might have been paid to any other artist of high distinction, did +not satisfy them. They resolved to bind him for ever to the Hungarian +nation from which he sprang. The token of manly honor in Hungary is +a sword, for every Magyar has the right to wear a sword, and avails +himself of that right. It was determined that their celebrated +countryman should be presented with the Hungarian sword of honor. The +noblemen appeared at the theatre, in the rich costume they usually wear +before the emperor, and presented Liszt, midst thunders of applause from +the whole assembled people, with a costly sword of honor." It was also +proposed to erect a bronze statue of him in Pesth, but Liszt persuaded +his countrymen to give the money to a struggling young artist instead. +</p> +<center> +IV. +</center> +<p> +In the autumn of 1840 Liszt went from Paris, at which city he had been +playing for some time, to the north of Germany, where he at first found +the people colder than he had been wont to experience. But this soon +disappeared before the magic of his playing, and even the Hamburgers, +notorious for a callous, bovine temperament, gave wild demonstrations +of pleasure at his concerts. He specially pleased the worthy citizens +by his willingness to play off-hand, without notes, any work which they +called for, a feat justly regarded as a stupendous exercise of memory. +From Hamburg he went to London, where he gave nine concerts in a +fortnight, and stormed the affections and admiration of the English +public as he had already conquered the heart of Continental Europe. +While in London a calamity befell him. A rascally agent in whom he +implicitly trusted disappeared with the proceeds of three hundred +concerts, an enormous sum, amounting to nearly fifty thousand pounds +sterling. Liszt bore this reverse with cheerful spirits and scorned +the condolences with which his friends sought to comfort him, saying he +could easily make the money again, that his wealth was not in money, but +in the power of making money. +</p> +<p> +The artist's musical wanderings were nearly without ceasing. His +restless journeying carried him from Italy to Denmark, and from the +British Islands to Russia, and everywhere the art and social world bowed +at his feet in recognition of a genius which in its way could only be +designated by the term "colossal." It seems cumbersome and monotonous to +repeat the details of successive triumphs; but some of them are attended +by features of peculiar interest. He offered, in the summer of 1841, +to give the proceeds of a concert to the completion of the Cathedral +of Cologne (who that loves music does not remember Liszt's setting of +Heine's song "Im Rhein," where he translates the glory of the Cathedral +into music?). Liszt was then staying at the island of Nonneworth, near +Bonn, and a musical society, the Liedertafel, resolved to escort him +up to Cologne with due pomp, and so made a grand excursion with a great +company of invited guests on a steamboat hired for the purpose. A fine +band of music greeted Liszt on landing, and an extensive banquet was +then served, at which Liszt made an eloquent speech, full of wit and +feeling. The artist acceded to the desire of the great congregation of +people who had gathered to hear him play; and his piano was brought +into the ruined old chapel of the ancient nunnery, about which so many +romantic Rhenish legends cluster. Liszt gave a display of his wonderful +powers to the delighted multitude, and the long-deserted hall of +Nonneworth chapel, which for many years had only heard the melancholy +call of the owl, resounded with the most magnificent music. Finally +the procession with Liszt at the head marched to the steamboat, and the +vessel glided over the bosom of the Rhine amid the dazzling glare of +fireworks and to the music of singing and instruments. All Cologne was +assembled to meet them, and Liszt was carried on the shoulders of his +frantic admirers to his hotel. +</p> +<p> +In common with all other great musicians, Liszt has throughout life been +a reverential admirer of the genius of Beethoven, an isolated force +in music without peer or parallel. In his later years Liszt bitterly +reproached himself because, in the vanity and impetuosity of his youth, +he had dared to take liberties with the text of the Beethoven sonatas. +Many interesting facts in Liszt's life connect themselves, directly +or indirectly, with Beethoven. Among these is worthy of mention our +artist's part in the Beethoven festival at Bonn in 1845, organized to +celebrate the erection of a colossal bronze statue. The enterprise had +been languishing for a long time, when Liszt promptly declared he +would make up the deficiency single-handed, and this he did with great +celerity. In an incredibly short time the money was raised, and the +commission put in the hands of the sculptor Hilbnel, of Dresden, one of +the foremost artists of Germany. +</p> +<p> +The programme for the celebration was drawn up by Liszt and Dr. Spohr, +who were to be the joint conductors of the festival music. A thousand +difficulties intervened to embarrass the organization of the affair, +the jealousies of prominent singers, who revolted against the +self-effacement they would needs undergo, a certain truly German +parsimony in raising the money for the expenses, and the envious +littleness of certain great composers and musicians, who feared that +Liszt would reap too much glory from the prominence of the part he +had taken in the affair, But Liszt's energy had surmounted all these +obstacles, when finally, only a month before the festival, which was +to take place in August, it was discovered that there was no suitable +Pesthalle in Bonn. The committee said, "What if the affair should not +pay expenses? would they not be personally saddled with the debt?" Liszt +promptly answered that, if the proceeds were not sufficient, he himself +would pay the cost of the building. The architect of the Cologne +Cathedral was placed at the head of the work, a waste plot of ground +selected, the trees grubbed up, timber fished up from one of the great +Rhine rafts, and the Festhalle rose with the swiftness of Aladdin's +palace. The erection of the statue of Beethoven at his birthplace, +and the musical celebration thereof in August, 1845, one of the most +interesting events of its kind that ever occurred, must be, for the most +part, attributed to the energy and munificence of Franz Liszt. Great +personages were present from all parts of Europe, among them King +William of Prussia and Queen Victoria of England. Henry Chorley, who +has given a pretty full description of the festival, says that Liszt's +performance of Beethoven's concerto in E flat was the crowning glory +of the festival, in spite of the richness and beauty of the rest of the +programme. "I must lastly commemorate, as the most magnificent piece of +piano-forte playing I ever heard, Dr. Liszt's delivery of the concerto +in E flat.... Whereas its deliverer restrained himself within all the +limits that the most sober classicist could have prescribed, he still +rose to a loftiness, in part ascribable to the enthusiasm of time and +place, in part referable to a nature chivalresque, proud, and poetic in +no common degree, which I have heard no other instrumentalist attain.... +The triumph in the mind of the executant sustained the triumph in the +idea of the compositions without strain, without spasm, but with a +breadth and depth and height such as made the genius of the executant +approach the genius of the inventor.... There are players, there are +poets; and as a poet Liszt was possibly never so sublimely or genuinely +inspired as in that performance, which remains a bright and precious +thing in the midst of all the curiously parti-colored recollections of +the Beethoven festival at Bonn." +</p> +<p> +In 1846, among Liszt's other musical experiences, he played in concerts +with Berlioz throughout Austria and Southern Germany. The impetuous +Osechs and Magyars showed their hot Tartar blood in the passion of +enthusiasm they displayed. Berlioz relates that, at his first concert at +Pesth, he performed his celebrated version of the "Rákóczy March," and +there was such a furious explosion of excitement that it wellnigh put an +end to the concert. At the end of the performance Berlioz was wiping the +perspiration from his face in the little room off the stage, when the +door burst open, and a shabbily dressed man, his face glowing with a +strange fire, rushed in, throwing himself at Berlioz's feet, his eyes +brimming with tears. He kissed the composer over and over again, and +sobbed out brokenly: "Ah, sir! Me Hungarian... poor devil... not +speak French... <i>un, poco l'taliano</i>.... Pardon... my ecstasy... Ah! +understand your cannon... Yes! yes! the great battle... Germans, dogs!" +Then, striking great blows with his fists on his chest, "In my heart I +carry you... A Frenchman, revolutionist... know how to write music for +revolutions." At a supper given after the performance, Berlioz tells +us Liszt made an inimitable speech, and got so gloriously be-champagned +that it was with great difficulty that he could be restrained from +pistolling a Bohemian nobleman, at two o'clock in the morning, who +insisted that he could carry off more bottles under his belt than Liszt. +But the latter played at a concert next day at noon "assuredly as he had +never played before," says Berlioz. +</p> +<p> +Before passing from that period of Liszt's career which was distinctly +that of the virtuoso, it is proper to refer to the unique character of +the enthusiasm which everywhere followed his track like the turmoil of +a stormy sea. Europe had been familiar with other great players, many of +them consummate artists, like Hummel, Henri Herz, Czerny, Kalkbrenner, +Field, Moscheles, and Thalberg, the most brilliant name of them all. But +the feeling which these performers aroused was pale and passionless +in comparison with that evoked by Franz Liszt. This was not merely the +outcome of Liszt as a player and musician, but of Liszt as a man. The +man always impressed people as immeasurably bigger than what he did, +great as that was. His nature had a lavishness that knew no bounds. He +lived for every distinguished man and beautiful woman, and with every +joyous thing. He had wit and sympathy to spare for gentle and simple, +and his kindliness was lavished with royal profusion on the scum as well +as the salt of the earth. This atmosphere of personal grandeur radiated +from him, and invested his doings, musical and otherwise, with something +peculiarly fine and fascinating. And then as a player Liszt rose above +his mates as something of a different genius, a different race, a +different world, to every one else who has ever handled a piano. He is +not to be considered among the great composers, also pianists, who have +merely treated their instrument as an interpreting medium, but as a +poet, who executively employed the piano as his means of utterance and +material for creation. In mere mechanical skill, after every one else +has ended, Liszt had still something to add, carrying every man's +discovery further. If he was surpassed by Thalberg in richness of sound, +he surpassed Thalberg by a variety of tone of which the redoubtable +Viennese player had no dream. He had his delicate, light, freakish +moods in which he might stand for another Chopin in qualities of fancy, +sentiment, and faëry brilliancy. In sweep of hand and rapidity of +finger, in fire and fineness of execution, in that interweaving of +exquisite momentary fancies where the work admits, in a memory so vast +as to seem almost superhuman; in that lightning quickness of view, +enabling him to penetrate instantaneously the meaning of a new +composition, and to light it up properly with its own inner spirit (some +touch of his own brilliancy added); briefly, in a mastery, complete, +spontaneous, enjoying and giving enjoyment, over every style and school +of music, all those who have heard Liszt assert that he is unapproached +among players and the traditions of players. +</p> +<p> +In a letter from Berlioz to Liszt, the writer gives us a vivid idea of +the great virtuoso's playing and its effects. Berlioz is complaining of +the difficulties which hamper the giving of orchestral concerts. +After rehearsing his mishaps, he says: "After all, of what use is such +information to you? You can say with confidence, changing the mot of +Louis XIV, '<i>L'orchestre, c'est moi; le chour, c'est moi; le chef +c'est encore moi</i>.' My piano-forte sings, dreams, explodes, resounds; +it defies the flight of the most skillful forms; it has, like the +orchestra, its brazen harmonies; like it, and without the least +preparation, it can give to the evening breeze its cloud of fairy chords +and vague melodies. I need neither theatre, nor box scene, nor much +staging. I have not to tire myself out at long rehearsals. I want +neither a hundred, fifty, nor twenty players. I do not even need any +music. A grand hall, a grand pianoforte, and I am master of a grand +audience. I show myself and am applauded; my memory awakens, dazzling +fantasies grow beneath my fingers. Enthusiastic acclamations answer +them. I sing Schubert's "Ave Maria," or Beethoven's "Adelaida" on the +piano, and all hearts tend toward me, all breasts hold their breath.... +Then come luminous bombs, the banquet of this grand firework, and the +cries of the public, and the flowers and the crowns that rain around +the priest of harmony, shuddering on his tripod; and the young beauties, +who, all in tears, in their divine confusion kiss the hem of his +cloak; and the sincere homage drawn from serious minds and the feverish +applause torn from many; the lofty brows that bow down, and the narrow +hearts, marveling to find themselves expanding '.... It is a dream, one +of those golden dreams one has when one is called Liszt or Paganini." +</p> +<p> +That such a man as this, brilliant in wit, extravagant in habit and +opinion, courted for his personal fascination by every one greatest in +rank and choicest in intellect from his prodigious youth to his ripe +manhood, should suddenly cease from display at the moment when his +popularity was at its highest, when no rival was in being, is a +remarkable trait in Dr. Franz Liszt's remarkable life. But this he did +in 1849, by settling in Weimar as conductor of the court theatre, his +age then being thirty-eight years. +</p> +<center> +V. +</center> +<p> +Liszt closed his career as a virtuoso, and accepted a permanent +engagement at Weimar, with the distinct purpose of becoming identified +with the new school of music which was beginning to express itself so +remarkably through Richard Wagner. His new position enabled him to bring +works before the world which would otherwise have had but little chance +of seeing the light of day, and he rapidly produced at brief intervals +eleven works, either for the first time, or else revived from what had +seemed a dead failure. Among these works were "Lohengrin," "Rienzi," and +"Tannhâuser" by Wagner, "Benvenuto Cellini" by Berlioz, and Schumann's +"Genoveva," and music to Byron's "Manfred." Liszt's new departure +and the extraordinary band of artists he drew around him attracted +the attention of the world of music, and Weimar became a great musical +center, even as in the days of Goethe it had been a visiting shrine for +the literary pilgrims of Europe. Thus a nucleus of bold and enthusiastic +musicians was formed whose mission it was to preach the gospel of the +new musical faith. +</p> +<p> +Richard Wagner says that, after the revolution of 1849, when he was +compelled to fly for his life, he was thoroughly disheartened as an +artist, and that all thought of musical creativeness was dead within +him. From this stagnation he was rescued by a friend, and that friend +was Franz Liszt. Let us tell the story in Wagner's own words: +</p> +<p> +"I met Liszt for the first time during my earliest stay in Paris, at +a period when I had renounced the hope, nay, even a wish of a Paris +reputation, and, indeed, was in a state of internal revolt against the +artistic life which I found there. At our meeting he struck me as the +most perfect contrast to my own being and situation. In this world into +which it had been my desire to fly from my narrow circumstances, Liszt +had grown up from his earliest age so as to be the object of general +love and admiration at a time when I was repulsed by general coldness +and want of sympathy. In consequence, I looked upon him with suspicion. +I had no opportunity of disclosing my being and working to him, and +therefore the reception I met with on his part was of a superficial +kind, as was indeed natural in a man to whom every day the most +divergent impressions claimed access. But I was not in a mood to look +with unprejudiced eyes for the natural cause of this behavior, which, +though friendly and obliging in itself, could not but wound me in the +then state of my mind. I never repeated my first call on Liszt, and, +without knowing or even wishing to know him, I was prone to look on +him as strange and adverse to my nature. My repeated expression of this +feeling was afterward told to him, just at the time when my "Rienzi" +at Dresden was attracting general attention. He was surprised to find +himself misunderstood with such violence by a man whom he had scarcely +known, and whose acquaintance now seemed not without value to him. I am +still moved when I think of the repeated and eager attempts he made to +change my opinion of him, even before he knew any of my works. He acted +not from any artistic sympathy, but led by the purely human wish of +discontinuing a casual disharmony between himself and another being; +perhaps he also felt an infinitely tender misgiving of having really +hurt me unconsciously. He who knows the selfishness and terrible +insensibility of our social life, and especially of the relations +of modern artists to each other, can not be struck with wonder, nay, +delight, with the treatment I received from this remarkable man.... At +Weimar I saw him for the last time, when I was resting for a few days in +Thuringia, uncertain whether the threatening persecution would compel me +to continue my flight from Germany. The very day when my personal +danger became a certainty, I saw Liszt conducting a rehearsal of my +'Tannhouser,' and was astonished at recognizing my second self in +his achievement. What I had felt in inventing this music, he felt in +performing it; what I had wanted to express in writing it down, he +expressed in making it sound. Strange to say, through the love of this +rarest friend, I gained, at the very moment of becoming homeless, a real +home for my art which I had hitherto longed for and sought for in +the wrong place.... At the end of my last stay in Paris, when, ill, +miserable, and despairing, I sat brooding over my fate, my eye fell on +the score of my 'Lohengrin,' which I had totally forgotten. Suddenly I +felt something like compassion that this music should never sound from +off the death-pale paper. Two words I wrote to Liszt; the answer was +that preparation was being made for the performance on the grandest +scale which the limited means of Weimar permitted. Everything that +man or circumstances could do was done to make the work understood.... +Errors and misconceptions impeded the desired success. What was to be +done to supply what was wanted, so as to further the true understanding +on all sides and, with it, the ultimate success of the work? Liszt saw +it at once, and did it. He gave to the public his own impression of the +work in a manner the convincing eloquence and overpowering efficacy of +which remain unequaled. Success was his reward, and with this success he +now approaches me, saying, 'Behold, we have come so far! Now create us a +new work, that we may go still farther.'" +</p> +<p> +Liszt remained at Weimar for ten years, when he resigned his place +on account of certain narrow jealousies and opposition offered to his +plans. Since 1859 he has lived at Weimar, Pesth, and Rome, always +the center of a circle of pupils and admirers, and, though no longer +occupying an active place in the world, full of unselfish devotion to +the true interests of music and musicians. In 1868 he took minor orders +in the Roman priesthood. Since his early youth Liszt had been the +subject of strong paroxysms of religious feeling, which more than once +had nearly carried him into monastic life, and thus his brilliant career +would have been lost to the world and to art. After he had gained every +reward that can be lavished on genius, and tasted to the very dregs +the wine of human happiness, so far as that can come of a splendid +prosperity and the adoration of the musical world for nearly half a +century, a sudden revulsion seems to have recalled again to the surface +that profound religious passion which the glory and pleasure of his busy +life had never entirely suppressed. It was by no means astonishing to +those who knew Liszt's life best that he should have taken holy orders. +</p> +<p> +Abbé Liszt lives a portion of each year with the Prince-Cardinal +Hohenlohe, in the well-known Villa d'Esté, near Rome, a château with +whose history much romance is interwoven. He is said to be very zealous +in his religious devotions, and to spend much time in reading and +composing. He rarely touches the piano, unless inspired by the presence +of visitors whom he thoroughly likes, and even in such cases less for +his own pleasure than for the gratification of his friends. Even his +intimate friends would hardly venture to ask Liszt to play. His summer +months are divided between Pesth and Weimar, where his advent always +makes a glad commotion among the artistic circles of these respective +cities. Of the various pupils who have been formed by Liszt, Hans von +Bulow, who married his daughter Cosima, is the most distinguished, +and shares with Rubenstein the honor of being the first of European +pianists, now that Liszt has for so long a time withdrawn himself from +the field of competition. +</p> +<center> +VI. +</center> +<p> +Liszt has been a very industrious and prolific writer, his works +numbering thirty-one compositions for the orchestra; seven for the +piano-forte and orchestra; two for piano and violin; nine for the organ; +thirteen masses, psalms, and other sacred music; two oratorios; +fifteen cantatas and chorals; sixty-three songs; and one hundred +and seventy-nine works for the piano-forte proper. The bulk of these +compositions, the most important of them at least, were produced in +the first forty years of his life, and testify to enormous energy and +capacity for work, as they came into being during his active period as +a virtuoso. In addition to his musical works, Liszt has shown +distinguished talent in letters, and his articles and pamphlets, notably +the monographs on Robert Franz, Chopin, and the Music of the Gypsies, +indicate that, had he not chosen to devote himself to music, he might +have made himself an enviable name in literature. +</p> +<p> +Perhaps no better characterization of Liszt could be made than to call +him the musical Victor Hugo of his age. In both these great men we find +the same restless and burning imagination, a quickness of sensibility +easily aroused to vehemence, a continual reaching forward toward the new +and untried and impatience of the old, the same great versatility, the +same unequaled command of all the resources of their respective crafts, +and, until within the last twenty years, the same ceaseless fecundity. +Of Liszt as a player it is not necessary to speak further. Suffice it +that he is acknowledged to have been, while pursuing the path of the +virtuoso, not only great, but the greatest in the records of art, with +the possible exception of Paganini. To the possession of a technique +which united all the best qualities of other players, carrying each +a step further, he added a powerful and passionate imagination which +illuminated the work before him. Wagner wrote of him: "He who has had +frequent opportunities, particularly in a friendly circle, of hearing +Liszt play, for instance, Beethoven, must have understood that this +was not mere reproduction, but production. The actual point of division +between these two things is not so easily determined as most people +believe, but so much I have ascertained without a doubt, that, in order +to reproduce Beethoven, one must produce with him." It was this quality +which made Liszt such a vital interpreter of other composers, as well as +such a brilliant performer of his own works. As a composer for the piano +Franz Liszt has been accused of sacrificing substantial charm of motive +for the creation of the most gigantic technical difficulties, designed +for the display of his own skill. This charge is best answered by a +study of his transcriptions of songs and symphonies, which, difficult in +an extreme degree, are yet rich in no less excess with musical thought +and fullness of musical color. He transcribed the "Etudes" of Pa-ganini, +it is true, as a sort of "tour deforce", and no one has dared to attempt +them in the concert room but himself; but for the most part Liszt's +piano-forte writings are full of substance in their being as well as +splendid elaboration in their form. This holds good no less of the +purely original compositions, like the concertos and "Rhapsodies +Hongroises," than of the transcriptions and paraphrases of the <i>Lied</i>, +the opera, and symphony. +</p> +<p> +As a composer for the orchestra Liszt has spent the ripest period of his +life, and attained a deservedly high rank. His symphonies belong to what +has been called, for want of a better name, "programme music," or music +which needs the key of the story or legend to explain and justify the +composition. This classification may yet be very misleading. Liszt does +not, like Berlioz, refer every feature of the music to a distinct event, +emotion, or dramatic situation, but concerns himself chiefly with +the pictorial and symbolic bearings of his subject. For example, the +"Mazeppa" symphony, based on Victor Hugo's poem, gets its significance, +not in view of its description of Mazeppa's peril and rescue, but +because this famous ride becomes the symbol of man: "<i>Lie vivant sur +la croupe fatale, Genie, ardent Coursier</i>." The spiritual life of this +thought burns with subtile suggestions throughout the whole symphony. +</p> +<p> +Liszt has not been merely a devoted adherent of the "Music of the +Future" as expressed in operatic form, but he has embodied his belief +in the close alliance of poetry and music in his symphonies and +transcriptions of songs. Anything more pictorial, vivid, descriptive, +and passionate can not easily be fancied. It is proper also to say in +passing that the composer shows a command over the resources of the +orchestra similar to his mastery of the piano, though at times a +tendency to violent and strident effects offends the ear. Franz Liszt, +take him for all in all, must be regarded as one of the most remarkable +men of the last half century, a personality so stalwart, picturesque, +and massive as to be not only a landmark in music, but an imposing +figure to those not specially characterized by their musical sympathies. +His influence on his art has been deep and widespread; his connection +with some of the most important movements of the last two generations +well marked; and his individuality a fact of commanding force in the +art circles of nearly every country of Europe, where art bears any vital +connection with social and public life. +</p> +<center> +THE END. +</center> + + +<br /> +<br /> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Great Violinists And Pianists, by George T. 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Ferris + +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: Great Violinists And Pianists + +Author: George T. Ferris + +Release Date: January 4, 2006 [EBook #17463] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GREAT VIOLINISTS AND PIANISTS *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +GREAT VIOLINISTS AND PIANISTS + +By George T. Ferris + + +Copyright, 1881, By D. Appleton and Company. + + + +NOTE + +The title of this little book may be misleading to some of its readers, +in its failure to include sketches of many eminent artists well worthy +to be classed under such a head. There has been no attempt to cover +the immense field of executive music, but only to call attention to the +lives of those musical celebrities who are universally recognized as +occupying the most exalted places in the arts of violin and pianoforte +playing; who stand forth as landmarks in the history of music. To do +more than this, except in a merely encyclopedic fashion, within the +allotted space, would have been impossible. The same necessity of limits +has also compelled the writer to exclude consideration of the careers +of noted living performers; as it was thought best that discrimination +should be in favor of those great artists whose careers have been +completely rounded and finished. + +An exception to the above will be noted in the case of Franz Liszt; but, +aside from the fact that this greatest of piano-forte virtuosos, though +living, has practically retired from the held of art, to omit him from +such a volume as this would be an unpardonable omission. In connection +with the personal lives of the artists sketched in this volume, the +attempt has been made, in a general, though necessarily imperfect, +manner, to trace the gradual development of the art of playing from its +cruder beginnings to the splendid virtuosoism of the present time. +The sources from which facts have been drawn are various, and, it +is believed, trustworthy, including French, German, and English +authorities, in some cases the personal reminiscences of the artists +themselves. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +THE VIOLINISTS AND PIANISTS. + +The Ancestry of the Violin.--The Origin of the Cremona School of +Violin-Making.--The Amatis and Stradiuarii.--Extraordinary Art +Activity of Italy at this Period.--Antonius Stradiuarius and Joseph +Guarnerius.--Something about the Lives of the Two Greatest Violin-Makers +of the World.--Corelli, the First Great Violinist.--His Contemporaries +and Associates.--Anecdotes of his Career.--Corelli's +Pupil, Geminiani.--Philidor, the Composer, Violinist, and +Chess-Player.--Giuseppe Tartini.--Becomes an Outcast from his Family +on Account of his Love of Music.--Anecdote of the Violinist +Vera-cini.--Tartini's Scientific Discoveries in Music.--His Account of +the Origin of the "Devil's Trill."--Tartini's Pupils. + + +VIOTTI. + +Viotti, the Connecting Link between the Early and Modern Violin +Schools.--His Immense Superiority over his Contemporaries and +Predecessors.--Other Violinists of his Time, Giornowick and +Boccherini.--Viotti's Early Years.--His Arrival in Paris, and the +Sensation he made.--His Reception by the Court.--Viotti's Personal Pride +and Dignity.--His Rebuke to Princely Impertinence.--The Musical Circles +of Paris.--Viotti's Last Public Concert in Paris.--He suddenly departs +for London.--Becomes Director of the King's Theatre.--Is compelled to +leave the Country as a Suspected Revolutionist.--His Return to England, +and Metamorphosis into a Vintner.--The French Singer, Garat, finds him +out in his London Obscurity.--Anecdote of Viotti's Dinner Party.--He +quits the Wine Trade for his own Profession.--Is made Director of the +Paris Grand Opera.--Letter from Rossini.--Viotti's Account of the "Ranz +des Vaches."--Anecdotes of the Great Violinist.--Dies in London in +1824.--Viotti's Place as a Violinist, and Style of Playing.--The Tourte +Bow first invented during his Time.--An Indispensable Factor in Great +Playing on the Violin.--Viotti's Pupils, and his Influence on the +Musical Art. + + +LUDWIG SPOHR. + +Birth and Early Life of the Violinist Spohr.--He is presented with his +First Violin at six.--The French _Emigre_ Dufour uses his Influence with +Dr. Spohr, Sr., to have the Boy devoted to a Musical Career.--Goes +to Brunswick for fuller Musical Instruction.--Spohr is appointed +_Kammer-musicus_ at the Ducal Court.--He enters under the Tuition of +and makes a Tour with the Violin Virtuoso Eck.--Incidents of the Russian +Journey and his Return.--Concert Tour in Germany.--Loses his Fine +Guarnerius Violin.--Is appointed Director of the Orchestra at Gotha.--He +marries Dorette Schiedler, the Brilliant Harpist.--Spohr's Stratagem to +be present at the Erfurt Musical Celebration given by Napoleon in +Honor of the Allied Sovereigns.--Becomes Director of Opera in +Vienna.--Incidents of his Life and Production of Various Works.--First +Visit to England.--He is made Director of the Cassel Court +Oratorios.--He is retired with a Pension.--Closing Years of his +Life.--His Place as Composer and Executant. + + +NICOLO PAGANINI. + +The Birth of the Greatest of Violinists.--His Mother's +Dream.--Extraordinary Character and Genius.--Heine's Description of his +Playing.--Leigh Hunt on Paganini.--Superstitious Rumors current +during his Life.--He is believed to be a Demoniac.--His Strange +Appearance.--Early Training and Surroundings.--Anecdotes of +his Youth.--Paga-nini's Youthful Dissipations.--His Passion for +Gambling.--He acquires his Wonderful Guarnerius Violin.--His Reform +from the Gaming-table.--Indefatigable Practice and Work as a Young +Artist.--Paganini as a _Preux Chevalier_.--His Powerful Attraction for +Women.--Episode with a Lady of Rank.--Anecdotes of his Early Italian +Concertizing.--The Imbroglio at Ferrara.--The Frail Health of +Paganini.--Wonderful Success at Milan where he first plays One of +the Greatest of his Compositions, "Le Streghe."--Duel with +Lafont.--Incidents and Anecdotes.--His First Visit to Germany.--Great +Enthusiasm of his Audiences.--Experiences at Vienna, Berlin, and other +German Cities.--Description of Paganini, in Paris, by Castil-Blaze and +Fetis.--His English Reception and the Impression made.--Opinions of the +Critics.--Paganini not pleased with England.--Settles in Paris for Two +Years, and becomes the Great Musical Lion.--Simplicity and Amiability +of Nature.--Magnificent Generosity to Hector Berlioz.--The Great +Fortune made by Paganini.--His Beautiful Country Seat near Parma.--An +Unfortunate Speculation in Paris.--The Utter Failure of his +Health.--His Death at Nice.--Characteristics and Anecdotes.--Interesting +Circumstances of his Last Moments.--The Peculiar Genius of Paganini, and +his Influence on Art. + + +DE BERIOT. + +De Beriot's High Place in the Art of the Violin and Violin Music.--The +Scion of an Impoverished Noble Family.--Early Education and Musical +Training.--He seeks the Advice of Viotti in Paris.--Becomes a Pupil of +Robrechts and Baillot successively.--De Beriot finishes and perfects his +Style on his Own Model.--Great Success in England.--Artistic Travels +in Europe.--Becomes Soloist to the King of the Netherlands.--He meets +Malibran, the Great Cantatrice, in Paris.--Peculiar Circumstances which +drew the Couple toward Each Other.--They form a Connection which only +ends with Malibran's Life.--Sketch of Malibran and her Family.--The +Various Artistic Journeys of Malibran and De Beriot.--Their Marriage +and Mme. de Beriot's Death.--De Beriot becomes Professor in the Brussels +Conservatoire.--His Later Life in Brussels.--His Son Charles Malibran de +Beriot.--The Character of De Beriot as Composer and Player. + + +OLE BULL. + +The Birth and Early Life of Ole Bull at Bergen, Norway.--His Family and +Connections.--Surroundings of his Boyhood.--Early Display of his Musical +Passion.--Learns the Violin without Aid.--Takes Lessons from an Old +Musical Professor, and soon surpasses his Master.--Anecdotes of his +Boyhood.--His Father's Opposition to Music as a Profession.--Competes +for Admittance to the University at Christiania.--Is consoled +for Failure by a Learned Professor.--"Better be a Fiddler than +a Preacher."--Becomes Conductor of the Philharmonic Society at +Bergen.--His first Musical Journey.--Sees Spohr.--Fights a Duel.--Visit +to Paris.--He is reduced to Great Pecuniary Straits.--Strange Adventure +with Vidocq, the Great Detective.--First Appearance in Concert in +Paris.--Romantic Adventure leading to Acquaintance.--First Appearance +in Italy.--Takes the Place of De Beriot by Great Good Luck.--Ole Bull +is most enthusiastically received.--Extended Concert Tour in Italy and +France.--His _Debut_ and Success in England.--One Hundred and Eighty +Concerts in Six Months.--Ole Bull's Gaspar di Salo Violin, and the +Circumstances under which he acquired it.--His Answer to the King of +Sweden.--First Visit and Great Success in America in 1848.--Attempt +to establish a National Theatre.--The Norwegian Colony in +Pennsylvania.--Latter Years of Ole Bull.--His Personal Appearance.--Art +Characteristics. + + +MUZIO CLEMENTI. + +The Genealogy of the Piano-forte.--The Harpsichord its Immediate +Predecessor.--Supposed Invention of the Piano-forte.--Silbermann the +First Maker.--Anecdote of Frederick the Great.--The Piano-forte only +slowly makes its Way as against the Clavichord and Harpsichord.--Emanuel +Bach, the First Composer of Sonatas for the Piano-forte.--His Views +of playing on the New Instrument.--Haydn and Mozart as Players.--Muzio +Clementi, the Earliest Virtuoso, strictly speaking, as a Pianist.--Born +in Rome in 1752.--Scion of an Artistic Family.--First Musical +Training.--Rapid Development of his Talents.--Composes Contrapuntal +Works at the Age of Fourteen.--Early Studies of the Organ and +Harpsichord.--Goes to England to complete his Studies.--Creates +an Unequaled Furore in London.--John Christian Bach's Opinion of +Clementi.--Clementi's Musical Tour.--His Duel with Mozart before the +Emperor.--Tenor of Clementi's Life in England.--Clementi's Pupils.--Trip +to St. Petersburg.--Sphor's Anecdote of Him.--Mercantile and +Manufacturing Interest in the Piano as Partner of Collard.--The Players +and Composers trained under Clementi.--His Composition.--Status as +a Player.--Character and Influence as an Artist.--Development of the +Technique of the Piano, culminating in Clementi. + + +MOSCHELES. + +Clementi and Mozart as Points of Departure in Piano-forte +Playing.--Moscheles the most Brilliant Climax reached by the Viennese +School.--His Child-Life at Prague.--Extraordinary Precocity.--Goes to +Vienna as the Pupil of Salieri and Albrechtsburger.--Acquaintance with +Beethoven.--Moscheles is honored with a Commission to make a Piano +Transcription of Beethoven's "Fidelio."--His Intercourse with the Great +Man.--Concert Tour.--Arrival in Paris.--The Artistic Circle into which +he is received.--Pictures of Art-Life in Paris.--London and its Musical +Celebrities.--Career as a Wandering Virtuoso.--Felix Mendelssohn becomes +his Pupil.--The Mendelssohn Family.--Moseheles's Marriage to a +Hamburg Lady.--Settles in London.--His Life as Teacher, Player, and +Composer.--Eminent Place taken by Moscheles among the Musicians of +his Age.--His Efforts soothe the Sufferings of Beethoven's +Death-bed.--Friendship for Mendelssohn.--Moscheles becomes connected +with the Leipzig Conservatorium.--Death in 1870.--Moscheles as Pianist +and Composer.--Sympathy with the Old as against the New School of the +Piano.--His Powerful Influence on the Musical Culture and Tendencies of +his Age. + + +THE SCHUMANNS AND CHOPIN. + +Robert Schumann's Place as a National Composer.--Peculiar Greatness as +a Piano-forte Composer.--Born at Zwickau in 1810.--His Father's +Aversion to his Musical Studies.--Becomes a Student of Jurisprudence +in Leipzig.--Makes the Acquaintance of Clara Wieck.--Tedium of his Law +Studies.--Vacation Tour to Italy.--Death of his Father, and Consent +of his Mother to Schumann adopting the Profession of Music.--Becomes +Wieck's Pupil.--Injury to his Hand which prevents all Possibilities of +his becoming a Great Performer.--Devotes himself to Composition.--The +Child, Clara Wieck--Remarkable Genius as a Player.--Her Early +Training.--Paganini's Delight in her Genius.--Clara Wieck's +Concert Tours.--Schumann falls deeply in Love with her, and +Wieck's Opposition.--His Allusions to Clara in the "Neue +Zeit-schrift."--Schumann at Vienna.--His Compositions at first +Unpopular, though played by Clara Wieck and Liszt.--Schumann's Labors +as a Critic.--He marries Clara in 1840.--His Song Period inspired by +his Wife.--Tour to Russia, and Brilliant Reception given to the +Artist Pair.--The "Neue Zeitschrift" and its Mission.--The +Davidsbund.--Peculiar Style of Schumann's Writing.--He moves to +Dresden.--Active Production in Orchestral Composition.--Artistic Tour in +Holland.--He is seized with Brain Disease.--Characteristics as a Man, +as an Artist, and as a Philosopher.--Mme. Schumann as her Husband's +Interpreter.--Chopin a Colaborer with Schumann.--Schumann on Chopin +again.--Chopin's Nativity.--Exclusively a Piano-forte Composer.--His +Genre as Pianist and Composer.--Aversion to Concert-giving.--Parisian +Associations.--New Style of Technique demanded by his Works.--Unique +Treatment of the Instrument.--Characteristics of Chopin's Compositions. + + +THALBERG AND GOTTSCHALK. + +Thalberg one of the Greatest of Executants.--Rather a Man of Remarkable +Talents than of Genius.--Moseheles's Description of him.--The +Illegitimate Son of an Austrian Prince.--Early Introduction to +Musical Society in London and Vienna.--Beginning of his Career as a +Virtuoso.--The Brilliancy of his Career.--Is appointed Court Pianist to +the Emperor of Austria.--His Marriage.--Visits to America.--Thalberg's +Artistic Idiosyncrasy.--Robert Schumann on his Playing.--His Appearance +and Manner.--Characterization by George William Curtis.--Thalberg's +Style and Worth as an Artist.--His Piano-forte Method, and Place as a +Composer for the Piano.--Gottschalk's Birth and Early Years.--He is sent +to Paris for Instruction.--Successful _Debut_ and Publie Concerts +in Paris and Tour through the French Cities.--Friendship with +Berlioz.--Concert Tour to Spain.--Romantic Experiences.--Berlioz on +Gottschalk.--Reception of Gottschalk in America.--Criticism of his +Style.--Remarkable Success of his Concerts.--His Visit to the West +Indies, Mexico, and Central America.--Protracted Absence.--Gottschalk +on Life in the Tropics.--Return to the United States.--Three Brilliant +Musical Years.--Departure for South America.--Triumphant Procession +through the Spanish-American Cities.--Death at Rio Janeiro.--Notes on +Gottschalk as Man and Artist. + + +FRANZ LISZT. + +The Spoiled Favorite of Fortune.--His Inherited Genius.--Birth and +Early Training.--First Appearance in Concert.--Adam Liszt and his Son +in Paris.--Sensation made by the Boy's Playing.--His Morbid Religious +Sufferings.--Franz Liszt thrown on his own Resources.--The Artistic +Circle in Paris.--Liszt in the Ranks of Romanticism.--His Friends and +Associates.--Mme. D'Agoult and her Connection with Franz +Liszt.--He retires to Geneva.--Is recalled to Paris by the Thalberg +_Furore_.--Rivalry between the Artists and their Factions.--He commences +his Career as Traveling Virtuoso.--The Blaze of Enthusiasm throughout +Europe.--Schumann on Liszt as Man and Artist.--He ranks the Hungarian +Virtuoso as the Superior of Thalberg.--Liszt's Generosity to his own +Countrymen.--The Honors paid to him in Pesth.--Incidents of his +Musical Wanderings.--He loses the Proceeds of Three Hundred +Concerts.--Contributes to the Completion of the Cologne Cathedral.--His +Connection with the Beethoven Statue at Bonn, and the Celebration of +the Unveiling.--Chorley on Liszt.--Berlioz and Liszt.--Character of the +Enthusiasm called out by Liszt as an Artist.--Remarkable Personality +as a Man.--Berlioz characterizes the Great Virtuoso in a Letter.--Liszt +ceases his Life as a Virtuoso, and becomes Chapel-Master and Court +Conductor at Weimar.--Avowed Belief in the New School of Music, and +Production of Works of this School.--Wagner's Testimony to Liszt's +Assistance.--Liszt's Resignation of his Weimar Post after Ten +Years.--His Subsequent Life.--He takes Holy Orders.--Liszt as a Virtuoso +and Composer.--Entitled to be placed among the most Remarkable Men of +his Age. + + + + +THE GREAT VIOLINISTS AND PIANISTS. + + + + +THE VIOLIN AND EARLY VIOLINISTS. + +The Ancestry of the Violin.--The Origin of the Cremona School of +Violin-Making.--The Amatis and Stradiuarii.--Extraordinary Art +Activity of Italy at this Period.--Antonius Stradiuarius and Joseph +Guarnerius.--Something about the Lives of the Two Greatest Violin-Makers +of the World.--Corelli, the First Great Violinist.--His Contemporaries +and Associates.--Anecdotes of his Career.--Corelli's +Pupil, Geminiani.--Philidor, the Composer, Violinist, and +Chess-Player.--Giuseppe Tartini.--Becomes an Outcast from his Family +on Account of his Love of Music.--Anecdote of the Violinist +Veracini.--Tartini's Scientific Discoveries in Music.--His Account of +the Origin of the "Devil's Trill."--Tartini's Pupils. + + +I. + +The ancestry of the violin, considering this as the type of stringed +instruments played with a bow, goes back to the earliest antiquity; and +innumerable passages might be quoted from the Oriental and classical +writers illustrating the important part taken by the forefathers of the +modern violin in feast, festival, and religious ceremonial, in the fiery +delights of battle, and the more dulcet enjoyments of peace. But it +was not till the fifteenth century, in Italy, that the art of making +instruments of the viol class began to reach toward that high perfection +which it speedily attained. The long list of honored names connected +with the development of art in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth +centuries is a mighty roll-call, and among these the names of the great +violin-makers, beginning with Gaspard de Salo, of Brescia, who first +raised a rude craft to an art, are worthy of being included. From +Brescia came the masters who established the Cremona school, a name not +only immortal in the history of music, but full of vital significance; +for it was not till the violin was perfected, and a distinct school of +violin-playing founded, that the creation of the symphony, the highest +form of music, became possible. + +The violin-makers of Cremona came, as we have said, from Brescia, +beginning with the Ama-tis. Though it does not lie within the province +of this work to discuss in any special or technical sense the history of +violin-making, something concerning the greatest of the Cremona masters +will be found both interesting and valuable as preliminary to the +sketches of the great players which make up the substance of the +volume. The Amatis, who established the violin-making art at Cremona, +successively improved, each member of the class stealing a march on +his predecessor, until the peerless masters of the art, Antonius +Stradiuarius and Joseph Guarnerius del Jesu, advanced far beyond the +rivalry of their contemporaries and successors. The pupils of the +Amatis, Stradiuarius, and Guarnerius settled in Milan, Florence, and +other cities, which also became centers of violin-making, but never to +an extent which lessened the preeminence of the great Cremona makers. +There was one significant peculiarity of all the leading artists of this +violin-making epoch: each one as a pupil never contented himself with +making copies of his master's work, but strove incessantly to strike +out something in his work which should be an outcome of his own genius, +knowledge, and investigation. It was essentially a creative age. + +Let us glance briefly at the artistic activity of the times when the +violin-making craft leaped so swiftly and surely to perfection. If we +turn to the days of Gaspard di Salo, Morelli, Magini, and the Amatis, we +find that when they were sending forth their fiddles, Raphael, Leonardo +da Vinci, Titian, and Tintoretto were busily painting their great +canvases. While Antonius Stradiuarius and Joseph Guarnerius were +occupied with the noble instruments which have immortalized their names, +Canaletto was painting his Venetian squares and canals, Giorgio was +superintending the manufacture of his inimitable maiolica, and the +Venetians were blowing glass of marvelous beauty and form. In the +musical world, Corelli was writing his gigues and sarabandes, Geminiani +composing his first instruction book for the violin, and Tartini +dreaming out his "Devil's Trill"; and while Guadognini (a pupil of +Antonius Stradiuarius), with the stars of lesser magnitude, were +exercising their calling, Viotti, the originator of the school of modern +violin-playing, was beginning to write his concertos, and Boccherini +laying the foundation of chamber music. + +Such was the flourishing state of Italian art during the great Cremona +period, which opened up a mine of artistic wealth for succeeding +generations. It is a curious fact that not only the violin but violin +music was the creature of the most luxurious period of art; for, in that +golden age of the creative imagination, musicians contemporary with the +great violin-makers were writing music destined to be better understood +and appreciated when the violins then made should have reached their +maturity. + +There can be no doubt that the conditions were all highly favorable +to the manufacture of great instruments. There were many composers +of genius and numerous orchestras scattered over Italy, Germany, and +France, and there must have been a demand for bow instruments of a high +order. In the sixteenth century, Palestrina and Zarlino were writing +grand church music, in which violins bore an important part. In the +seventeenth, lived Stradella, Lotti, Buononcini, Lulli, and Corelli. In +the eighteenth, when violin-making Avas at its zenith, there were such +names among the Italians as Scarlatti, Geminiani, Vivaldi, Locatelli, +Boccherini, Tartini, Piccini, Viotti, and Nardini; while in France it +was the epoch of Lecler and Gravinies, composers of violin music of +the highest class. Under the stimulus of such a general art culture the +makers of the violin must have enjoyed large patronage, and the more +eminent artists have received highly remunerative prices for their +labors, and, correlative to this practical success, a powerful stimulus +toward perfecting the design and workmanship of their instruments. These +plain artisans lived quiet and simple lives, but they bent their whole +souls to the work, and belonged to the class of minds of which Carlyle +speaks: "In a word, they willed one thing to which all other things were +made subordinate and subservient, and therefore they accomplished it. +The wedge will rend rocks, but its edge must be sharp and single; if it +be double, the wedge is bruised in pieces and will rend nothing." + + +II. + +So much said concerning the general conditions under which the craft +of violin-making reached such splendid excellence, the attention of the +reader is invited to the greatest masters of the Cremona school. + + + "The instrument on which he played + Was in Cremona's workshops made, + By a great master of the past, + Ere yet was lost the art divine; + Fashioned of maple and of pine, + That in Tyrolean forests vast + Had rooked and wrestled with the blast. + + "Exquisite was it in design, + A marvel of the lutist's art, + Perfect in each minutest part; + And in its hollow chamber thus + The maker from whose hand it came + Had written his unrivaled name, + 'Antonius Stradivarius.'" + + +The great artist whose work is thus made the subject of Longfellow's +verse was born at Cremona in 1644. His renown is beyond that of all +others, and his praise has been sounded by poet, artist, and musician. +He has received the homage of two centuries, and his name is as little +likely to be dethroned from its special place as that of Shakespeare +or Homer. Though many interesting particulars are known concerning +his life, all attempt has failed to obtain any connected record of the +principal events of his career. Perhaps there is no need, for there +is ample reason to believe that Antonius Stradiuarius lived a quiet, +uncheckered, monotonous existence, absorbed in his labor of making +violins, and caring for nothing in the outside world which did not touch +his all-beloved art. Without haste and without rest, he labored for +the perfection of the violin. To him the world was a mere workshop. The +fierce Italian sun beat down and made Cremona like an oven, but it was +good to dry the wood for violins. On the slopes of the hills grew grand +forests of maple, pine, and willow, but he cared nothing for forest +or hillside except as they grew good wood for violins. The vineyards +yielded rich wine, but, after all, the main use of the grape was that it +furnished the spirit wherewith to compound varnish. The sheep, ox, and +horse were good for food, but still more important because from them +came the hair of the bow, the violin strings, and the glue which held +the pieces together. It was through this single-eyed devotion to +his life-work that one great maker was enabled to gather up all the +perfections of his predecessors, and stand out for all time as the +flower of the Cremonese school and the master of the world. George +Eliot, in her poem, "The Stradivari," probably pictures his life +accurately: + + + "That plain white-aproned man, who stood at work, + Patient and accurate full fourscore years, + Cherished his sight and touch by temperance; + And since keen sense is love of perfectness, + Made perfect violins, the needed paths + For inspiration and high mastery." + + +M. Fetis, in his notice of the greatest of violin-makers, summarizes his +life very briefly. He tells us the life of Antonius Stradiuarius was +as tranquil as his calling was peaceful. The year 1702 alone must have +caused him some disquiet, when during the war the city of Cremona was +taken by Marshal Villeroy, on the Imperialist side, retaken by Prince +Eugene, and finally taken a third time by the French. That must have +been a parlous time for the master of that wonderful workshop whence +proceeded the world's masterpieces, though we may almost fancy the +absorbed master, like Archimedes when the Romans took Syracuse, so +intent on his labor that he hardly heard the din and roar of battle, +till some rude soldier disturbed the serene atmosphere of the room +littered with shavings and strewn with the tools of a peaceful craft. + +Polledro, not many years ago first violin at the Chapel Royal of Turin, +who died at a very advanced age, declared that his master had known +Stradiuarius, and that he was fond of talking about him. He was, he +said, tall and thin, with a bald head fringed with silvery hair, covered +with a cap of white wool in the winter and of cotton in the summer. He +wore over his clothes an apron of white leather when he worked, and, as +he was always working, his costume never varied. He had acquired what +was regarded as wealth in those days, for the people of Cremona were +accustomed to say "As rich as Stradiuarius." The house he occupied is +still standing in the Piazza Roma, and is probably the principal place +of interest in the old city to the tourists who drift thitherward. +The simple-minded Cremonese have scarcely a conception to-day of the +veneration with which their ancient townsman is regarded by the musical +connoisseurs of the world. It was with the greatest difficulty that they +were persuaded a few years ago, by the efforts of Italian and French +musicians, to name one street Stradiuarius, and another Amati. Nicholas +Amati, the greatest maker of his family, was the instructor of Antonius +Stradiuarius, and during the early period of the latter artist the +instruments could hardly be distinguished from those of Amati. But, in +after-years, he struck out boldly in an original line of his own, and +made violins which, without losing the exquisite sweetness of the Amati +instruments, possessed far more robustness and volume of tone, reaching, +indeed, a combination of excellences which have placed his name high +above all others. It may be remarked of all the Cremona violins of the +best period, whether Amati, Stradiuarius, Guarnerius, or Steiner, +that they are marked no less by their perfect beauty and delicacy of +workmanship than by their charm of tone. These zealous artisans were not +content to imprison the soul of Ariel in other form than the lines +and curves of ideal grace, exquisitely marked woods, and varnish as of +liquid gold. This external beauty is uniformly characteristic of the +Cremona violins, though shape varies in some degree with each maker. +Of the Stradiuarius violins it may be said, before quitting the +consideration of this maker, that they have fetched in latter years +from one thousand to five thousand dollars. The sons and grandsons of +Antonius were also violin-makers of high repute, though inferior to the +chief of the family. + +The name of Joseph Guarnerius del Jesu is only less in estimation than +that of Antonius Stradiuarius, of whom it is believed by many he was a +pupil or apprentice, though of this there is no proof. Both his uncle +Andreas and his cousin Joseph were distinguished violin-makers, but the +Guarnerius patronymic has now its chiefest glory from that member known +as "del Jesu." This great artist in fiddle-making was born at Cremona in +the year 1683, and died in 1745. He worked in his native place till +the day of his death, but in his latter years Joseph del Jesu became +dissipated, and his instruments fell off somewhat in excellence of +quality and workmanship. But his _chef d'oeuvres_ yield only to those +of the great Stradiuarius in the estimation of connoisseurs. Many of the +Guarnerius violins, it is said, were made in prison, where the artist +was confined for debt, with inferior tools and material surreptitiously +obtained for him by the jailer's daughter, who was in love with the +handsome captive. These fruits of his skill were less beautiful in +workmanship, though marked by wonderful sweetness and power of tone. +Mr. Charles Reade, a great violin amateur as well as a novelist, says of +these "prison" fiddles, referring to the comical grotesqueness of their +form: "Such is the force of genius, that I believe in our secret hearts +we love these impudent fiddles best, they are so full of _chic_." +Paganini's favorite was a Guarnerius del Jesu, though he had no less +than seven instruments of the greatest Cremona masters. Spohr, the +celebrated violinist and composer, offered to exchange his Strad, one +of the finest in the world, for a Guarnerius, in the possession of Mr. +Mawkes, an English musician. + +Carlo Bergonzi, the pupil of Antonius Stradiuarius, was another of the +great Cremona makers, and his best violins have commanded extraordinary +prices. He followed the model of his master closely, and some of his +instruments can hardly be distinguished in workmanship and tone from +genuine Strads. Something might be said, too, of Jacob Steiner, +who, though a German (born about 1620), got the inspiration for his +instruments of the best period so directly from Cremona that he ought +perhaps to be classified with the violin-makers of this school. His +famous violins, known as the Elector Steiners, were made under peculiar +circumstances. Almost heartbroken by the death of his wife, he retired +to a Benedictine monastery with the purpose of taking holy orders. +But the art-passion of his life was too strong, and he made in his +cloister-prison twelve instruments, on which he lavished the most +jealous care and attention. These were presented to the twelve Electors +of Germany, and their extraordinary merit has caused them to rank high +among the great violins of the world. A volume might be easily compiled +of anecdotes concerning violins and violin-makers. The vicissitudes +and changes of ownership through which many celebrated instruments have +passed are full of romantic interest. Each instrument of the greatest +makers has a pedigree, as well authenticated as those of the great +masterpieces of painting, though there have been instances where a Strad +or a Guarnerius has been picked up by some strange accident for a mere +trifle at an auction. There have been many imitations of the genuine +Cremonas palmed off, too, on the unwary at a high price, but the +connoisseur rarely fails to identify the great violins almost instantly. +For, aside from their magical beauty of tone, they are made with the +greatest beauty of form, color, and general detail. So much has been +said concerning the greatest violin-makers, in view of the fact that +coincident with the growth of a great school of art-manufacture in +violins there also sprang up a grand school of violin-playing; for, +indeed, the one could hardly have existed without the other. + + +III. + +The first great performer on the violin whose career had any special +significance, in its connection with the modern world of musical art, +was Archangelo Corelli, who was born at Fusignano, in the territory of +Bologna, in the year 1653. Corelli's compositions are recognized to-day +as types of musical purity and freshness, and the great number of +distinguished pupils who graduated from his teaching relate him closely +with all the distinguished violinists even down to the present day. In +Corelli's younger days the church had a stronger claim on musicians +than the theatre or concert-room. So we find him getting his earliest +instruction from the Capuchin Simonelli, who devoted himself to the +ecclesiastical style. The pupil, however, yielded to an irresistible +instinct, and soon put himself under the care of a clever and skillful +teacher, the well-known Bassani. Under this tuition the young musician +made rapid advancement, for he labored incessantly in the practice of +his instrument. At the age of twenty Corelli followed that natural bent +which carried him to Paris, then, as now, a great art capital; and we +are told, on the authority of Fetis, that the composer Lulli became +so jealous of his extraordinary skill that he obtained a royal mandate +ordering Corelli to quit Paris, on pain of the Bastille. + +In 1680 he paid a visit to Germany, and was specially well received, +and was so universally admired, that he with difficulty escaped the +importunate invitations to settle at various courts as chief musician. +After a three years' absence from his native land he returned and +published his first sonatas. The result of his assiduous labor was that +his fame as a violinist had spread all over Europe, and pupils came from +distant lands to profit by his instruction. We are told of his style as +a solo player that it was learned and elegant, the tone firm and even, +that his playing was frequently impressed with feeling, but that during +performance "his countenance was distorted, his eyes red as fire, and +his eyeballs rolled as if he were in agony." For about eighteen years +Corelli was domiciled at Rome, under the patronage of Cardinal Ottoboni. +As leader of the orchestra at the opera, he introduced many reforms, +among them that of perfect uniformity of bowing. By the violin sonatas +composed during this period, it is claimed that Corelli laid the +foundation for the art of violin-playing, though it is probable that he +profited largely by those that went before him. It was at the house of +Cardinal Ottoboni that Corelli met Handel, when the violent temper +of the latter did not hesitate to show itself. Corelli was playing a +sonata, when the imperious young German snatched the violin from his +hand, to show the greatest virtuoso of the age how to play the music. +Corelli, though very amiable in temper, knew how to make himself +respected. At one of the private concerts at Cardinal Ottoboni's, he +observed his host and others talking during his playing. He laid his +violin down and joined the audience, saying he feared his music might +interrupt the conversation. + +In 1708, according to Dubourg, Corelli accepted a royal invitation +from Naples, and took with him his second violin, Matteo, and a +violoncellist, in case he should not be well accompanied by the +Neapolitan orchestra. He had no sooner arrived than he was asked to play +some of his concertos before the king. This he refused, as the whole of +his orchestra was not with him, and there was no time for a rehearsal. +However, he soon found that the Neapolitan musicians played the +orchestral parts of his concertos as well as his own accompanists did +after some practice; for, having at length consented to play the first +of his concertos before the court, the accompaniment was so good +that Corelli is said to have exclaimed to Matteo: "_Si suona a +Napoli!_"--"They _do_ play at Naples!" This performance being quite +successful, he was presented to the king, who afterward requested him +to perform one of his sonatas; but his Majesty found the adagio "so +long and so dry that he got up and _left the room_ (!), to the great +mortification of the eminent virtuoso." As the king had commanded the +piece, the least he could have done would have been to have waited +till it was finished. "If they play at Naples, they are not very polite +there," poor Corelli must have thought! Another unfortunate mishap also +occurred to him there, if we are to believe the dictum of Geminiani, +one of Corelli's pupils, who had preceded him at Naples. It would appear +that he was appointed to lead a composition of Scarlatti's, and on +arriving at an air in C minor he led off in C major, which mistake he +twice repeated, till Scarlatti came on the stage and showed him the +difference. This anecdote, however, is so intrinsically improbable +that it must be taken with several "grains of salt." In 1712 Corelli's +concertos were beautifully engraved at Amsterdam, but the composer only +survived the publication a few weeks. A beautiful statue, bearing the +inscription "_Corelli princeps musicorum_," was erected to his memory, +adjacent that honoring the memory of Raffaelle in the Pantheon. He +accumulated a considerable fortune, and left a valuable collection of +pictures. The solos of Corelli have been adopted as valuable studies by +the most eminent modern players and teachers. + +Francesco Geminiani was the most remarkable of Corelli's pupils. Born at +Lucca in 1680, he finished his studies under Corelli at Rome, and spent +several years with great musical _eclat_ at Naples. In 1714 he went +to England, in which country he spent many years. His execution was of +great excellence, but his compositions only achieved temporary favor. +His life is said to have been full of romance and incident. Geminiani's +connection with Handel has a special musical interest. The king, who +arrived in England in September, 1714, and was crowned at Westminster a +month later, was irritated with Handel for having left Germany, where he +held the position of chapel-master to George, when Elector of Brunswick, +and still more so by his having composed a _Te Deum_ on the Peace of +Utrecht, which was not favorably regarded by the Protestant princes of +Germany. Baron Kilmanseck, a Hanoverian, and a great admirer of Handel, +undertook to bring them together again. Being informed that the king +intended to picnic on the Thames, he requested the composer to write +something for the occasion. Thereupon Handel wrote the twenty-five +little concerted pieces known under the title of "Water Music." They +were executed in a barge which followed the royal boat. The orchestra +consisted of four violins, one tenor, one violoncello, one double-bass, +two hautboys, two bassoons, two French horns, two flageolets, one flute, +and one trumpet. The king soon recognized the author of the music, +and his resentment against Handel began to soften. Shortly after this +Geminiani was requested to play some sonatas of his own composition in +the king's private cabinet; but, fearing that they would lose much +of their effect if they were accompanied in an inferior manner, he +expressed the desire that Handel should play the accompaniments. Baron +Kilmanseck carried the request to the king, and supported it strongly. +The result was that peace was made, and an extra pension of two hundred +pounds per annum settled upon Handel. Geminiani, after thirty-five +years spent in England, went to Paris for five years, where he was most +heartily welcomed by the musical world, but returned across the Channel +again to spend his latter years in Dublin. It was here that Matthew +Dubourg, whose book on "The Violin and Violinists" is a perfect +treasure-trove of anecdote, became his pupil. + +Another remarkable violinist was an intimate friend of Geminiani, a +name distinguished alike in the annals of chess-playing and music, Andre +Danican Philidor. This musician was born near Paris in 1726, and was the +grandson of the hautboy-player to the court of Louis XIII. His father +and several of his relations were also eminent players in the royal +orchestras of Louis XIV and Louis XV. Young Philidor was received into +the Chapel Royal at Versailles in 1732, being then six years old, and +when eleven he composed a motette which extorted much admiration. In +the Chapel Royal there were about eighty musicians daily in attendance, +violins, hautboys, violas, double-basses, choristers, etc.; and, +cards not being allowed, they had a long table inlaid with a number of +chess-boards, with which they amused their leisure time. When fourteen +years old Philidor was the best chess-player in the band. Four years +later he played at Paris two games of chess at the same time, without +seeing the boards, and afterward extended this feat to playing five +games simultaneously, which, though far inferior to the wonderful +feats of Morphy, Paulsen, and others in more recent years, very much +astonished his own generation. Philidor was an admirable violinist, and +the composer of numerous operas which delighted the French public for +many years. He died in London in 1759. + +There were several other pupils of Corelli who achieved rank in their +art and exerted a recognizable influence on music. Locatelli displayed +originality and genius in his compositions, and his studies, "Arte di +Nuova Modulazione," was studied by Paganini. Another pupil, Lorenzo +Somis, became noted as the teacher of Lecler, Pugnani (the professor of +Viotti), and Giardini. Visconti, of Cremona, who was taught by Corelli, +is said to have greatly assisted by his counsels the constructive genius +of Antonius Stradiuarius in making his magnificent instruments. + + +IV. + +The name of Giuseppe Tartini will recur to the musical reader more +familiarly than those previously mentioned. He was the scion of a noble +stock, and was born in Istria in 1692. Originally intended for the law, +he was entered at the University of Padua at the age of eighteen for +this profession, but his time was mostly given to the study of music and +fencing, in both of which he soon became remarkably proficient, so +that he surpassed the masters who taught him. It may be that accident +determined the future career of Tartini, for, had he remained at the +university, the whole bent of his life might have been different. Eros +exerted his potent sway over the young student, and he entered into a +secret marriage, that being the lowest price at which he could win his +_bourgeois_ sweetheart. Tartini became an outcast from his family, and +was compelled to fly and labor for his own living. After many hardships, +he found shelter in a convent at Assisi, the prior of which was a family +connection, who took compassion on the friendless youth. Here Tartini +set to work vigorously on his violin, and prosecuted a series of +studies which resulted in the "Sonata del Diavolo" and other remarkable +compositions. At last he was reconciled to his family through the +intercession of his monastic friend, and took his abode in Venice that +he might have the benefit of hearing the playing of Veracini, a great +but eccentric musician, then at the head of the Conservatario of that +city. Veracini was nicknamed "Capo Pazzo," or "mad-head," on account of +his eccentricity. Dubourg tells a curious story of this musician: Being +at Lucca at the time of the annual festival called "Festa della Croce," +on which occasion it was customary for the leading artists of Italy to +meet, Veracini put his name down for a solo. When he entered the choir, +he found the principal place occupied by a musician of some rank named +Laurenti. In reply to the latter's question, "Where are you going?" +Veracini haughtily answered, "To the place of the first violinist." It +was explained by Laurenti that he himself had been engaged to fill that +post, but, if his interlocutor wished to play a solo, he could have +the privilege either at high mass or at vespers. Evidently he did not +recognize Veracini, who turned away in a rage, and took his position +in the lowest place in the orchestra. When his turn came to play his +concerto, he begged that instead of it he might play a solo where he +was, accompanied on the violoncello by Lanzetti. This he did in so +brilliant and unexpected a manner that the applause was loud and +continued, in spite of the sacred nature of the place; and whenever he +was about to make a close, he turned toward Laurenti and called out: +"Cost se suona per fare il primo violino"--"This is the way to play +first violin." + +Veracini played upon a fine Steiner violin. The only master he ever had +was his uncle Antonio, of Florence; and it was by traveling all over +Europe, and by numerous performances in public, that he formed a +style of playing peculiar to himself, very similar to what occurred +to Pa-ganini and the celebrated De Beriot in later years. It does not +appear certain that Tartini ever took lessons from Veracini; but hearing +the latter play in public had no doubt a very great effect upon him, and +caused him to devote many years to the careful study of his instrument. +Some say that Veracini's performance awakened a vivid emulation in +Tartini, who was already acknowledged to be a very masterly player. Up +to the time, however, that Tartini first heard Veracini, he had +never attempted any of the more intricate and difficult feats of +violin-playing, as effected by the management of the bow. An intimate +friendship sprang up between the two artists and another clever +musician named Marcello, and they devoted much time to the study of the +principles of violin-playing, particularly to style and the varied kinds +of bowing. Veracini's mind afterward gave way, and Tartini withdrew +himself to Ancona, where in utter solitude he applied himself to working +out the fundamental principles of the bow in the technique of the +violin--principles which no succeeding violinist has improved or +altered. Tartini, even while absorbed in music, did not neglect the +study of science and mathematics, of which he was passionately fond, +and in the pursuit of which he might have made a name not less than his +reputation as a musician. It was at this time that Tartini made a very +curious discovery, known as the _phenomenon of the third sound_, which +created some sensation at the time, and has since given rise to numerous +learned discourses, but does not appear to have led to any great +practical result. Various memoirs or treatises were written by him, and +that in which he develops the nature of the _third sound_ is his "Tratto +di Musica se-condo la vera scienza de l'Armonia." In this and others of +his works, he appears much devoted to _theory_, and endeavors to place +all his practical facts upon a thoroughly scientific basis. The effect +known as the _third sound_ consists in the sympathetic resonance of a +third note when the two upper notes of a chord are played in perfect +tune. "If you do not hear the bass," Tartini would say to his pupils, +"the thirds or sixths which you are playing are not perfect in +intonation." + +At Ancona, Tartini attained such reputation as a player and musician +that he was appointed, in 1721, to the directorship of the orchestra of +the church of St. Anthony at Padua. Here, according to Fetis, he spent +the remaining forty-nine years of his life in peace and comfort, solely +occupied with the labors connected with the art he loved. + +His great fame brought him repeated offers from the principal cities of +Europe, even London and Paris, hat nothing could induce him to leave his +beloved Italy. Though Tartini could not have been heard out of Italy, +his violin school at Padua graduated many excellent players, who were +widely known throughout the musical world. Tartini's compositions +reached no less than one hundred and fifty works, distinguished not only +by beauty of melody and knowledge of the violin, but by soundness +of musical science. Some of his sonatas are still favorites in the +concert-room. Among these, the most celebrated is the "Trille +del Dia-volo," or "Devil's Sonata," composed under the following +circumstances, as related by Tartini himself to his pupil Lalande: + +"One night in 1713," he says, "I dreamed that I had made a compact with +the devil, who promised to be at my service on all occasions. Everything +succeeded according to my mind; my wishes were anticipated and desires +always surpassed by the assistance of my new servant. At last I thought +I would offer my violin to the devil, in order to discover what kind of +a musician he was, when, to my great astonishment, I heard him play +a solo, so singularly beautiful and with such superior taste and +precision, that it surpassed all the music I had ever heard or conceived +in the whole course of my life. I was so overcome with surprise and +delight that I lost my power of breathing, and the violence of this +sensation awoke me. Instantly I seized my violin in the hopes of +remembering some portion of what I had just heard, but in vain! The work +which this dream suggested, and which I wrote at the time, is doubtless +the best of all my compositions, and I still call it the 'Sonata del +Diavolo'; but it sinks so much into insignificance compared with what +I heard, that I would have broken my instrument and abandoned music +altogether, had I possessed any other means of subsistence." + +Tartini died at Padua in 1770, and so much was he revered and admired +in the city where he had spent nearly fifty years of his life, that his +death was regarded as a public calamity. He used to say of himself that +he never made any real progress in music till he was more than thirty +years old; and it is curious that he should have made a great change +in the nature of his performance at the age of fifty-two. Instead of +displaying his skill in difficulties of execution, he learned to prefer +grace and expression. His method of playing an adagio was regarded as +inimitable by his contemporaries; and he transmitted this gift to his +pupil Nardini, who was afterward called the greatest adagio player in +the world. Another of Tartini's great _eleves_ was Pugnani, who before +coming to him had been instructed by Lorenzo Somis, the pupil of +Corelli. So it may be said that Pugnani united in himself the schools of +Corelli and Tartini, and was thus admirably fitted to be the instructor +of that grand player, who was the first in date of the violin virtuosos +of modern times, Viotti. + +Both as composer and performer, Pugnani was held in great esteem +throughout Europe. His first meeting with Tartini was an incident of +considerable interest. He made the journey from Paris to Padua expressly +to see Tartini, and on reaching his destination he proceeded to the +house of the great violinist. + +Tartini received him kindly, and evinced some curiosity to hear him +play. Pugnani took up his instrument and commenced a well-known solo, +but he had not played many bars before Tartini suddenly seized his arm, +saying, "Too loud, my friend, too loud!" The Piedmontese began again, +but at the same passage Tartini stopped him again, exclaiming this time, +"Too soft, my good friend, too soft!" Pugnani therefore laid down the +violin, and begged of Tartini to give him some lessons. He was at +once received among Tartini's pupils, and, though already an excellent +artist, began his musical education almost entirely anew. Many anecdotes +have been foisted upon Pugnani, some evidently the creation of rivals, +and not worth repeating. Others, on the contrary, tend to enlighten us +upon the character of the man. Thus, when playing, he was so completely +absorbed in the music, that he has been known, at a public concert, to +walk about the platform during the performance of a favorite cadenza, +imagining himself alone in the room. Again, at the house of Madame +Denis, when requested to play before Voltaire, who had little or no +music in his soul, Pugnani stopped short, when the latter had the bad +taste to continue his conversation, remarking in a loud, clear voice, +"M. de Voltaire is very clever in making verses, but as regards music +he is devilishly ignorant." Pugnani's style of play is said to have been +very broad and noble, "characterized by that commanding sweep of the +bow, which afterward formed so grand a feature in the performance of +Viotti." He was distinguished as a composer as well as a player, and +among his numerous works are some seven or eight operas, which were very +successful for the time being on the Italian stage. + + + + +VIOTTI. + + +Viotti, the Connecting Link between the Early and Modern Violin +Schools.--His Immense Superiority over his Contemporaries and +Predecessors.--Other Violinists of his Time, Giornowick and +Boccherini.--Viotti's Early Years--His Arrival in Paris, and the +Sensation he made--His Reception by the Court.--Viotti's Personal Pride +and Dignity.--His Rebuke to Princely Impertinence.--The Musical Circles +of Paris.--Viotti's Last Publie Concert in Paris.--He suddenly departs +for London.--Becomes Director of the King's Theatre.--Is compelled to +leave the Country as a Suspected Revolutionist.--His Return to England, +and Metamorphosis into a Vintner.--The French Singer, Garat, finds him +out in his London Obscurity.--Anecdote of Viotti's Dinner Party.--He +quits the Wine Trade for his own Profession.--Is made Director of the +Paris Grand Opera.--Letter from Rossini.--Viotti's Account of the +"Ranz des Vaches."--Anecdotes of the Great Violinist.--Dies in London in +1824.--Viotti's Place as a Violinist, and Style of Playing.--The Tourte +Bow first invented during his Time.--An Indispensable Factor in Great +Playing on the Violin.--Viotti's Pupils, and his Influence on the +Musical Art. + + +I. + +In the person of the celebrated Viotti we recognize the link connecting +the modern school of violin-playing with the schools of the past. He +was generally hailed as the leading violinist of his time, and his +influence, not merely on violin music but music in general, was of a +very palpable order. In him were united the accomplishments of the great +virtuoso and the gifts of the composer. At the time that Viotti's star +shot into such splendor in the musical horizon, there were not a few +clever violinists, and only a genius of the finest type could have +attained and perpetuated such a regal sway among his contemporaries. At +the time when Viotti appeared in Paris the popular heart was completely +captivated by Giornowick, whose eccentric and quarrelsome character as +a man cooperated with his artistic excellence to keep him constantly +in the public eye. Giornowick was a Palermitan, born in 1745, and his +career was thoroughly artistic and full of romantic vicissitudes. His +style was very graceful and elegant, his tone singularly pure. One of +the most popular and seductive tricks in his art was the treating of +well-known airs as rondos, returning ever and anon to his theme after +a variety of brilliant excursions in a way that used to fascinate his +hearers, thus anticipating some of his brilliant successors. + +Michael Kelly heard him at Vienna. "He was a man of a certain age," he +tells us, "but in the full vigor of talent. His tone was very powerful, +his execution most rapid, and his taste, above all, alluring. No +performer in my remembrance played such pleasing music." Dubourg relates +that on one occasion, when Giornowick had announced a concert at Lyons, +he found the people rather retentive of their money, so he postponed the +concert to the following evening, reducing the price of the tickets to +one half. A crowded company was the result. But the bird had flown! The +artist had left Lyons without ceremony, together with the receipts from +sales of tickets. + +In London, where he was frequently heard between 1792 and 1796, he once +gave a concert which was fully attended, but annoying to the player +on account of the indifference of the audience and the clatter of +the tea-cups; for it was then the custom to serve tea during the +performance, as well as during the intervals. Giornowick turned to the +orchestra and ordered them to cease playing. "These people," said he, +"know nothing about music; anything is good enough for drinkers of warm +water. I will give them something suited to their taste." Whereupon he +played a very trivial and commonplace French air, which he disguised +with all manner of meretricious flourishes, and achieved a great +success. When Viotti arrived in Paris in 1779, Giornowick started on +his travels after having heard this new rival once. + +A distinguished virtuoso and composer, with whom Viotti had already been +thrown into contact, though in a friendly rather than a competitive way, +was Boccherini, who was one of the most successful early composers of +trios, quartets, and quintets for string instruments. During the latter +part of Boccherini's life he basked in the sunlight of Spanish royalty, +and composed nine works annually for the Royal Academy of Madrid, in +which town he died in 1806, aged sixty-six. A very clever saying is +attributed to him. The King of Spain, Charles IV, was fond of playing +with the great composer, and was very ambitious of shining as a great +violinist; his cousin, the Emperor of Austria, was also fond of the +violin, and played tolerably well. One day the latter asked Boccherini, +in a rather straightforward manner, what difference there was between +his playing and that of his cousin Charles IV. "Sire," replied +Boccherini, without hesitating for a moment, "Charles IV plays like a +king, and your Majesty plays like an emperor." + +Giovanni Battista Viotti was born in a little Piedmontese village called +Fontaneto, in the year 1755. The accounts of his early life are +too confused and fragmentary to be trustworthy. It is pretty well +established, however, that he studied under Pugnani at Turin, and that +at the age of twenty he was made first violin at the Chapel Royal of +that capital. After remaining three years, he began his career as a +solo player, and, after meeting with the greatest success at Berlin and +Vienna, directed his course to Paris, where he made his _debut_ at the +"Concerts Spirituels." + + +II. + +Fetis tells us that the arrival of Viotti in Paris produced a sensation +difficult to describe. No performer had yet been heard who had attained +so high a degree of perfection, no artist had possessed so fine a tone, +such sustained elegance, such fire, and so varied a style. The fancy +which was developed in his concertos increased the delight he produced +in the minds of his auditory. His compositions for the violin were +as superior to those which had previously been heard as his execution +surpassed that of all his predecessors and contemporaries. Giornowick's +style was full of grace and suave elegance; Viotti was characterized +by a remarkable beauty, breadth, and dignity. Lavish attentions were +bestowed on him from the court circle. Marie Antoinette, who was an +ardent lover and most judicious patron of music, sent him her commands +to play at Versailles. The haughty artistic pride of Viotti was signally +displayed at one of these concerts before royalty. A large number of +eminent musicians had been engaged for the occasion, and the audience +was a most brilliant one. Viotti had just begun a concerto of his own +composition, when the arrogant Comte d'Artois made a great bustle in +the room, and interrupted the music by his loud whispers and utter +indifference to the comfort of any one but himself. Viotti's dark eyes +flashed fire as he stared sternly at this rude scion of the blood royal. +At last, unable to restrain his indignation, he deliberately placed his +violin in the case, gathered up his music from the stand, and withdrew +from the concert-room without ceremony, leaving the concert, her +Majesty, and his Royal Highness to the reproaches of the audience. +This scene is an exact parallel of one which occurred at the house +of Cardinal Ottoboni, when Corelli resented in similar fashion the +impertinence of some of his auditors. + +Everywhere in artistic and aristocratic circles at the French capital +Viotti's presence was eagerly sought. Private concerts were so much the +vogue in Paris that musicians of high rank found more profit in these +than in such as were given to the miscellaneous public. A delightful +artistic rendezvous was the hotel of the Comte de Balck, an enthusiastic +patron and friend of musicians. Here Viotti's friend, Garat, whose voice +had so great a range as to cover both the tenor and barytone registers, +was wont to sing; and here young Orfila, the brilliant chemist, +displayed his magnificent tenor voice in such a manner as to attract the +most tempting offers from managers that he should desert the laboratory +for the stage. But the young Portuguese was fascinated with science, +and was already far advanced in the career which made him in his day +the greatest of all authorities on toxicological chemistry. The most +brilliant and gifted men and women of Paris haunted these reunions, +and Viotti always appeared at his best amid such surroundings. +Another favorite resort of his was the house of Mme. Montegerault at +Montmorency, a lady who was a brilliant pianist. Sometimes she would +seat herself at her instrument and begin an improvisation, and Viotti, +seizing his violin, would join in the performance, and in a series of +extemporaneous passages display his great powers to the delight of all +present. + +He evinced the greatest distaste for solo playing at public concerts, +and, aside from charity performances, only consented once to such an +exhibition of his talents. A singular concert was arranged to take place +on the fifth story of a house in Paris, the apartment being occupied +by a friend of Viotti, who was also a member of the Government. "I will +play," he said, on being urged, "but only on one condition, and that +is, that the audience shall come up here to us--we have long enough +descended to them; but times are changed, and now we may compel them to +rise to our level"; or something to that effect. It took place in due +course, and was a very brilliant concert indeed. The only ornament was a +bust of Jean Jacques Rousseau. A large number of distinguished artists, +both instrumental and vocal, were present, and a most aristocratic +audience. A good deal of Boccherini's music was performed that evening, +and though many of the titled personages had mounted to the fifth floor +for the first time in their lives, so complete was the success of the +concert that not one descended without regret, and all were warm in +their praise of the performances of the distinguished violinist. + +What the cause of Viotti's sudden departure from Paris in 1790 was, +it is difficult to tell. Perhaps he had offended the court by the +independence of his bearing; perhaps he had expressed his political +opinions too bluntly, for he was strongly democratic in his views; +perhaps he foresaw the terrible storm which was gathering and was soon +to break in a wrack of ruin, chaos, and blood. Whatever the cause, our +violinist vanished from Paris with hardly a word of farewell to his most +intimate friends, and appeared in London at Salomon's concerts with the +same success which had signalized his Parisian _debut_. Every one +was delighted with the originality and power of his playing, and the +exquisite taste that modified the robustness and passion which entered +into the substance of his musical conceptions. + +Viotti was one of the artistic celebrities of London for several years, +but his eccentric and resolute nature did not fail to involve him in +several difficulties with powerful personages. He became connected with +the management of the King's Theatre, and led the music for two years +with signal ability. But he suddenly received an order from the +British Government to leave England without delay. His sharp tongue and +outspoken language were never consistent with courtly subserviency. We +can fancy our musician shrugging his shoulders with disdain on receiving +his order of banishment, for he was too much of a cosmopolite to be +disturbed by change of country. He took up his residence at Schoenfeld, +Holland, in a beautiful and splendid villa, and produced there several +of his most celebrated compositions, as well as a series of studies of +the violin school. + + +III. + +The edict which had sent Viotti from England was revoked in 1801, and +he returned with commercial aspirations, for he entered into the wine +trade. It could not be said of him, as of another well-known composer, +who attempted to conduct a business in the vending of sweet sounds and +the juice of the grape simultaneously, that he composed his wines and +imported his music; for Viotti seems to have laid music entirely aside +for the nonce, and we have no reason to suspect that his port and sherry +were not of the best. Attention to business did not keep him from losing +a large share of his fortune, however, in this mercantile venture, and +for a while he was so completely lost in the London Babel as to have +passed out of sight and mind of his old admirers. The French singer, +Garat, tells an amusing story of his discovery of Viotti in London, when +none of his Continental friends knew what had become of him. + +In the very zenith of his powers and height of his reputation, the +founder of a violin school which remains celebrated to this day, Viotti +had quitted Paris suddenly, and since his departure no one had received, +either directly or indirectly, any news of him. According to Garat, some +vague indications led him to believe that the celebrated violinist +had taken up his residence in London, but, for a long time after his +(Garat's) arrival in the metropolis, all his attempts to find him were +fruitless. At last, one morning he went to a large export house for +wine. It had a spacious courtyard, filled with numbers of large barrels, +among which it was not easy to move toward the office or counting-house. +On entering the latter, the first person who met his gaze was Viotti +himself. Viotti was surrounded by a legion of employees, and so absorbed +in business that he did not notice Garat. At last he raised his head, +and, recognizing his old friend, seized him by the hand, and led him +into an adjoining room, where he gave him a hearty welcome. Garat could +not believe his senses, and stood motionless with surprise. + +"I see you are astonished at the metamorphosis," said Viotti; "it is +certainly _drole_--unexpected; but what _could_ you expect? At Paris +I was looked upon as a ruined man, lost to all my friends; it was +necessary to do something to get a living, and here I am, making my +fortune!" + +"But," interrupted Garat, "have you taken into consideration all the +drawbacks and annoyances of a profession to which you were not brought +up, and which must be opposed to your tastes?" + +"I perceive," continued Viotti, "that you share the error which so many +indulge in. Commercial enterprise is generally considered a most prosaic +undertaking, but it has, nevertheless, its seductions, its prestige, its +poetical side. I assure you no musician, no poet, ever had an existence +more full of interesting and exciting incidents than those which cause +the heart of the merchant to throb. His imagination, stimulated by +success, carries him forward to new conquests; his clients increase, his +fortune augments, the finest dreams of ambition are ever before him." + +"But art!" again interrupted his friend; "the art of which you are one +of the finest representatives--you can not have entirely abandoned it?" + +"Art will lose nothing," rejoined Viotti, "and you will find that I +can conciliate two things without interfering with either, though you +doubtless consider them irreconcilable. We will continue this subject +another time; at present I must leave you; I have some pressing business +to transact this afternoon. But come and dine with me at six o'clock, +and be sure you do not disappoint me." + +Garat, who relates this conversation, tells us that at the appointed +time he returned to the house. All the barrels and wagons that had +encumbered the courtyard were cleared away, and in their place were +coroneted carriages, with footmen and servants. A lackey in brilliant +livery conducted the visitor to the drawing-room on the first floor. +The apartments were magnificently furnished, and glittered with +mirrors, candelabra, gilt ornaments, and the most quaint and costly +_bric-a-brac_. Viotti received his guests at the head of the staircase, +no longer the plodding man of business, but the courtly, high-bred +gentleman. Garat's amazement was still further increased when he heard +the names of the other guests, all distinguished men. After an admirably +cooked dinner, there was still more admirable music, and Viotti proved +to the satisfaction of his French friend that he was still the same +great artist who had formerly delighted his listeners in Paris. + +The wine business turned out so badly for our violinist that he was fain +to return to his old and legitimate profession. Through the intervention +of powerful friends in Paris, he was appointed director of the Grand +Opera, but he became discontented in a very onerous and irritating +position, and was retired at his own request with a pension. An +interesting letter from the great Italian composer Rossini, who was then +first trying his fortune in the French metropolis, written to Viotti +in 1821, is pleasant proof of the estimate placed on his talents and +influence: + +"Most esteemed Sir: You will be surprised at receiving a letter from an +individual who has not the honor of your personal acquaintance, but I +profit by the liberality of feeling existing among artists to address +these lines to you through my friend Herold, from whom I have learned +with the greatest satisfaction the high, and, I fear, somewhat +undeserved opinion you have of me. The oratorio of 'Moise,' composed by +me three years ago, appears to our mutual friend susceptible of dramatic +adaptation to French words; and I, who have the greatest reliance on +Herold's taste and on his friendship for me, desire nothing more than to +render the entire work as perfect as possible, by composing new airs in +a more religious style than those which it at present contains, and +by endeavoring to the best of my power that the result shall neither +disgrace the composer of the partition, nor you, its patron and +protector. If M. Viotti, with his great celebrity, will consent to +be the Mecaenas of my name, he may be assured of the gratitude of his +devoted servant, + +"Gioacchino Rossini. + +"P.S.--In a month's time I will forward you the alterations of the drama +'Moise,' in order that you may judge if they are conformable to the +operatic style. Should they not be so, you will have the kindness to +suggest any others better adapted to the purpose." + + +IV. + +Viotti, though in many respects proud, resolute, and haughty in +temperament, was simple-hearted and enthusiastic, and a passionate lover +of nature. M. Eymar, one of his intimate friends, said of him, "Never +did a man attach so much value to the simplest gifts of nature, and +never did a child enjoy them more passionately." A modest flower growing +in the grass of the meadow, a charming bit of landscape, a rustic +_fete_, in short, all the sights and sounds of the country, filled him +with delight. All nature spoke to his heart, and his finest compositions +were suggested and inspired by this sympathy. He has left the world a +charming musical picture of the feelings experienced in the mountains +of Switzerland. It was there he heard, under peculiar circumstances, +and probably for the first time, the plaintive sound of a mountain-horn, +breathing forth the few notes of a kind of "Ranz des Vaches." + +"The 'Ranz des Vaches' which I send you," he says in one of his letters, +"is neither that with which our friend Jean Jacques has presented us, +nor that of which M. De la Bord speaks in his work on music. I can +not say whether it is known or not; all I know is, that I heard it +in Switzerland, and, once heard, I have never forgotten it. I was +sauntering along, toward the decline of day, in one of those sequestered +spots.... Flowers, verdure, streamlets, all united to form a picture +of perfect harmony. There, without being fatigued, I seated myself +mechanically on a fragment of rock, and fell into so profound a reverie +that I seemed to forget that I was upon earth. While sitting thus, +sounds broke on my ear which were sometimes of a hurried, sometimes of +a prolonged and sustained character, and were repeated in softened tones +by the echoes around. I found they proceeded from a mountain-horn; and +their effect was heightened by a plaintive female voice. Struck as if +by enchantment, I started from my dreams, listened with breathless +attention, and learned, or rather engraved upon my memory, the 'Ranz des +Vaches' which I send you. In order to understand all its beauties, you +ought to be transplanted to the scene in which I heard it, and to +feel all the enthusiasm that such a moment inspired." It was a similar +delightful experience which, according to Rossini's statement, first +suggested to that great composer his immortal opera, "Guillaume Tell." + +Among many interesting anecdotes current of Viotti, and one which +admirably shows his goodness of heart and quickness of resource, is one +narrated by Ferdinand Langle to Adolph Adam, the French composer. The +father of the former, Marie Langle, a professor of harmony in the French +Conservatoire, was an intimate friend of Viotti, and one charming summer +evening the twain were strolling on the Champs Elysees. They sat down on +a retired bench to enjoy the calmness of the night, and became buried +in reverie. But they were brought back to prosaic matters harshly by a +babel of discordant noises that grated on the sensitive ears of the two +musicians. They started from their seats, and Viotti said: + +"It can't be a violin, and yet there is some resemblance to one." + +"Nor a clarionet," suggested Langle, "though it is something like it." + +The easiest manner of solving the problem was to go and see what it was. +They approached the spot whence the extraordinary tones issued, and saw +a poor blind man standing near a miserable-looking candle and playing +upon a violin--but the latter was an instrument made of tin-plate. + +"Fancy!" exclaimed Viotti, "it is a violin, but a violin of tin-plate! +Did you ever dream of such a curiosity?" and, after listening a while, +he added, "I say, Langle, I must possess that instrument. Go and ask the +old blind man what he will sell it for." + +Langle approached and asked the question, but the old man was +disinclined to part with it. + +"But we will give you enough for it to enable you to purchase a better," +he added; "and why is not your violin like others?" + +The aged fiddler explained that, when he got old and found himself +poor, not being able to work, but still able to scrape a few airs upon a +violin, he had endeavored to procure one, but in vain. At last his good, +kind nephew Eustache, who was apprenticed to a tinker, had made him one +out of a tin-plate. "And an excellent one, too," he added; "and my poor +boy Eustache brings me here in the morning when he goes to work, and +fetches me away in the evening when he returns, and the receipts are +not so bad sometimes--as, when he was out of work, it was I who kept the +house going." + +"Well," said Viotti, "I will give you twenty francs for your violin. You +can buy a much better one for that price; but let me try it a little." + +He took the violin in his hands, and produced some extraordinary +effects from it. A considerable crowd gathered around, and listened +with curiosity and astonishment to the performance. Langle seized on +the opportunity, and passed around the hat, gathering a goodly amount of +chink from the bystanders, which, with the twenty francs, was handed to +the astonished old beggar. + +"Stay a moment," said the blind man, recovering a little from his +surprise; "just now I said I would sell the violin for twenty francs, +but I did not know it was so good. I ought to have at least double for +it." + +Viotti had never received a more genuine compliment, and he did not +hesitate to give the old man two pieces of gold instead of one, and then +immediately retired from the spot, passing through the crowd with the +tin-plate instrument under his arm. He had scarcely gone forty yards +when he felt some one pulling at his sleeve; it was a workman, who +politely took off his cap, and said: + +"Sir, you have paid too dear for that violin; and if you are an amateur, +as it was I who made it, I can supply you with as many as you like at +six francs each." + +This was Eustache; he had just come in time to hear the conclusion of +the bargain, and, little dreaming that he was so clever a violin-maker, +wished to continue a trade that had begun so successfully. However, +Viotti was quite satisfied with the one sample he had bought. He never +parted with that instrument; and, when the effects of Viotti were sold +in London after his death, though the tin fiddle only brought a few +shillings, an amateur of curiosities sought out the purchaser, and +offered him a large sum if he could explain how the strange instrument +came into the possession of the great violinist. + +After resigning his position as director of the Grand Opera, Viotti +returned to London, which had become a second home to him, and spent his +remaining days there. He died on the 24th of March, 1824. + + +V. + +Viotti established and settled for ever the fundamental principles of +violin-playing. He did not attain the marvelous skill of technique, the +varied subtile and dazzling effects, with which his successor, Paganini, +was to amaze the world, but, from the accounts transmitted to us, his +performance must have been characterized by great nobility, breadth, and +beauty of tone, united with a fire and agility unknown before his time. +Viotti was one of the first to use the Tourte bow, that indispensable +adjunct to the perfect manipulation of the violin. The value of this +advantage over his predecessors cannot be too highly estimated. + +The bows used before the time of Francois Tourte, who lived in the +latter years of the last century in Paris, were of imperfect shape and +make. The Tourte model leaves nothing to be desired in all the qualities +required to enable the player to follow out every conceivable manner of +tone and movement--lightness, firmness, and elasticity. Tartini had made +the stick of his bow elastic, an innovation from the time of Corelli, +and had thus attained a certain flexibility and brilliancy in his bowing +superior to his predecessors. But the full development of all the powers +of the violin, or the practice of what we now call virtuosoism on this +instrument, was only possible with the modern bow as designed by Tourte, +of Paris. The thin, bent, elastic stick of the bow, with its greater +length of sweep, gives the modern player incalculable advantages over +those of an earlier age, enabling him to follow out the slightest +gradations of tone from the fullest _forte_ to the softest _piano_, +to mark all kinds of strong and gentle accents, to execute staccato, +legato, saltato, and arpeggio passages with the greatest ease and +certainty. The French school of violin-playing did not at first avail +itself of these advantages, and even Viotti and Spohr did not fully +grasp the new resources of execution. It was left for Paganini to open +a new era in the art. His daring and subtile genius perceived and seized +the wonderful resources of the modern bow at one bound. He used freely +every imaginable movement of the bow, and developed the movement of the +wrist to that high perfection which enabled him to practice all kinds +of bowing with celerity. Without the Tourte bow, Paganini and the modern +school of virtuosos, which has followed so splendidly from his example, +would have been impossible. To many of our readers an amplification of +this topic may be of interest. While the left hand of the violin-player +fixes the tone, and thereby does that which for the pianist is already +done by the mechanism of the instrument, and while the correctness of +his intonation depends on the proficiency of the left hand, it is the +action of the right hand, the bowing, which, analogous to the pianist's +touch, makes the sound spring into life. It is through the medium of +the bow that the player embodies his ideas and feelings. It is therefore +evident that herein rests one of the most important and difficult +elements of the art of violin-playing, and that the excellence of a +player, or even of a whole school of playing, depends to a great extent +on its method of bowing. It would have been even better for the art +of violin-playing as practiced to-day that the perfect instruments of +Stradiuarius and Guarnerius should not have been, than that the Tourte +bow should have been uninvented. + +The long, effective sweep of the bow was one of the characteristics +of Viotti's playing, and was alike the admiration and despair of his +rivals. His compositions for the violin are classics, and Spohr was +wont to say that there could be no better test of a fine player than +his execution of one of the Viotti sonatas or concertos. Spohr regretted +deeply that he could not finish his violin training under this +great master, and was wont to speak of him in terms of the greatest +admiration. Viotti had but few pupils, but among them were a number of +highly gifted artists. Rode, Robrechts, Cartier, Mdlle. Gerbini, Alday, +La-barre, Pixis, Mari, Mme. Paravicini, and Vacher are well-known names +to all those interested in the literature of the violin. The influence +of Viotti on violin music was a very deep one, not only in virtue of his +compositions, but in the fact that he molded the style not only of many +of the best violinists of his own day, but of those that came after him. + + + + +LUDWIG SPOHR. + +Birth and Early Life of the Violinist Spohr.--He is presented with his +First Violin at six.--The French _Emigre_ Dufour uses his Influence with +Dr. Spohr, Sr., to have the Boy devoted to a Musical Career.--Goes +to Brunswick for fuller Musical Instruction.--Spohr is appointed +_Kammer-musicus_ at the Ducal Court.--He enters under the Tuition of +and makes a Tour with the Violin Virtuoso Eck.--Incidents of the Russian +Journey and his Return.--Concert Tour in Germany.--Loses his Fine +Guarnerius Violin.--Is appointed Director of the Orchestra at Gotha.--He +marries Dorette Schiedler, the Brilliant Harpist.--Spohr's Stratagem to +be present at the Erfurt Musical Celebration given by Napoleon in +Honor of the Allied Sovereigns.--Becomes Director of Opera in +Vienna.--Incidents of his Life and Production of Various Works.--First +Visit to England.--He is made Director of the Cassel Court +Oratorios.--He is retired with a Pension.--Closing Years of his +Life.--His Place as Composer and Executant. + + +I. + +"The first singer on the violin that ever appeared!" Such was the +verdict of the enthusiastic Italians when they heard one of the greatest +of the world's violinists, who was also a great composer. The modern +world thinks of Spohr rather as the composer of symphony, opera, and +oratorio than as a wonderful executant on the violin; but it was in +the latter capacity that he enjoyed the greatest reputation during the +earlier part of his lifetime, which was a long one, extending from the +year 1784 to 1859. The latter half of Spohr's life was mostly devoted +to the higher musical ambition of creating, but not until he had +established himself as one of the greatest of virtuosos, and founded +a school of violin-playing which is, beyond all others, the most +scientific, exhaustive, and satisfactory. All of the great contemporary +violinists are disciples of the Spohr school of execution. Great as a +composer, still greater as a player, and widely beloved as a man--there +are only a few names in musical art held in greater esteem than his, +though many have evoked a deeper enthusiasm. + +Ludwig Spohr was born at Brunswick, April 5, 1784, of parents both of +whom possessed no little musical talent. His father, a physician +of considerable eminence, was an excellent flutist, and his mother +possessed remarkable talent both as a pianist and singer. To the family +concerts which he heard at home was the rapid development of the boy's +talents largely due. Nature had given him a very sensitive ear and a +fine clear voice, and at the age of four or five he joined his mother +in duets at the evening gatherings. From the very first he manifested +a taste for the instrument for which he was destined to become +distinguished. He so teased his father that, at the age of six, he was +presented with his first violin, and his joy on receiving his treasure +was overpowering. The violin was never out of his hand, and he +continually wandered about the house trying to play his favorite +melodies. Spohr tells us in his "Autobiography": "I still recollect +that, after my first lesson, in which I had learned to play the G-sharp +chord upon all four strings, in my rapture at the harmony, I hurried to +my mother, who was in the kitchen, and played the chord so incessantly +that she was obliged to order me out." + +Young Spohr was placed under the tuition of Dufour, a French _emigre_ of +the days of '91, who was an excellent player, though not a professional, +then living at the town of Seesen, the home of the Spohr family; and +under him the boy made very rapid progress. It was Dufour who, by +his enthusiastic representations, overcame the opposition of Ludwig's +parents to the boy's devoting himself to a life of music, for the notion +of the senior Spohr was that the name musician was synonymous with that +of a tavern fiddler, who played for dancers. In Germany, the land _par +excellence_ of music, there was a general contempt among the educated +classes, during the latter years of the eighteenth century, for the +musical profession. Spohr remained under the care of Dufour until he was +twelve years old, and devoted himself to his work with great sedulity. +Though he as yet knew but little of counterpoint and composition, his +creative talent already began to assert itself, and he produced several +duos and trios, as well as solo compositions, which evinced great +promise, though crude and faulty in the extreme. He was then sent +to Brunswick, that he might have the advantage of more scientific +instruction, and to this end was placed under the care of Kunisch, +an excellent violin teacher, and under Hartung for harmony and +counterpoint. The latter was a sort of Dr. Dryasdust, learned, barren, +acrid, but an efficient instructor. When young Spohr showed him one of +his compositions, he growled out, "There's time enough for that; you +must learn something first." It may be said of Spohr, however, that his +studies in theory were for the most part self-taught, for he was a most +diligent student of the great masters, and was gifted with a keenly +analytic mind. + +At the age of fourteen young Spohr was an effective soloist, and, as his +father began to complain of the heavy expense of his musical education, +the boy determined to make an effort for self-support. After revolving +many schemes, he conceived the notion of applying to the duke, who was +known as an ardent patron of music. He managed to place himself in the +way of his Serene Highness, while the latter was walking in his garden, +and boldly preferred his request for an appointment in the court +orchestra. The duke was pleased to favor the application, and young +Spohr was permitted to display his skill at a court concert, in which he +acquitted himself so admirably as to secure the cordial patronage of the +sovereign. Said the duke: "Be industrious and well behaved, and, if you +make good progress, I will put you under the tuition of a great master." +So Louis Spohr was installed as a _Kammer-musicus_, and his patron +fulfilled his promise in 1802 by placing his _protege_ under the charge +of Francis Eck, one of the finest violinists then living. Under the +tuition of this accomplished instructor, the young virtuoso made such +rapid advance in the excellence of his technique, that he was soon +regarded as worthy of accompanying his master on a grand concert tour +through the principal cities of Germany and Russia. + + +II. + +This concert expedition of the two violinists, as narrated in Spohr's +"Autobiography," was full of interesting and romantic episodes. Both +master and pupil were of amorous and susceptible temperaments, and +their affairs were rarely regulated by a common sense of prudence. Spohr +relates with delightful _naivete_ the circumstances under which he fell +successively in love, and the rapidity with which he recovered from +these fitful spasms of the tender passion. Herr Eck, in addition to his +tendency to intrigues with the fairer half of creation, was also of +a quarrelsome and exacting disposition, and the general result was +ceaseless squabbling with authorities and musical societies in nearly +every city they visited. In spite of these drawbacks, however, the +two violinists gained both in fame and purse, and were everywhere well +received. If Herr Eck carried off the palm over the boyish Spohr as a +mere executant, the impression everywhere gained ground that the latter +was by far the superior in real depth of musical science, and many of +his own violin concertos were received with the heartiest applause. The +concert tour came to an end at St. Petersburg in a singular way. Eck +fell in love with a daughter of a member of the imperial orchestra, but +the idea of marriage did not enter into his project. As the young lady +soon felt the unfortunate results of her indiscretion, her parents +complained to the Empress, at whose instance Eck was given the choice of +marrying the girl or taking an enforced journey to Siberia. He chose the +former, and determined to remain in St. Petersburg, where he was offered +the first violin of the imperial orchestra. Poor Eck found he had +married a shrew, and, between matrimonial discords and ill health +brought on by years of excess, he became the victim of a nervous fever, +which resulted in lunacy and confinement in a mad-house. + +Spohr returned to his native town in July, 1803, and his first meeting +with his family was a curious one. "I arrived," he says, "at two o'clock +in the morning. I landed at the Petri gate, crossed the Ocker in a boat, +and hastened to my grandmother's garden, but found that the house +and garden doors were locked. As my knocking didn't arouse any one, I +climbed over the garden wall and laid myself down in a summer-house at +the end of the garden. Wearied by the long journey, I soon fell asleep, +and, notwithstanding my hard couch, would probably have slept for a +long while had not my aunts in their morning walk discovered me. Much +alarmed, they ran and told my grandmother that a man was asleep in the +summer-house. Returning together, the three approached nearer, and, +recognizing me, I was awakened amid joyous expressions, embraces, and +kisses. At first, I did not recollect where I was, but soon recognized +my dear relations, and rejoiced at being once again in the home and +scenes of my childhood." + +Spohr was most graciously received by the duke, who was satisfied +with the proofs of industry and ambition shown by his _protege_. The +celebrated Rode, Viotti's most brilliant pupil, was at that time in +Brunswick, and Spohr, who conceived the most enthusiastic admiration +of his style, set himself assiduously to the study and imitation of +the effects peculiar to Rode. On Rode's departure, Spohr appeared in a +concert arranged for him, in which he played a new concerto dedicated to +his ducal patron, and created an enthusiasm hardly less than that made +by Rode himself. He was warmly congratulated by the duke and the court, +and appointed first court-violinist, with a salary more than sufficient +for the musician's moderate wants. Shortly after this he undertook +another concert tour in conjunction with the violoncellist, Benike, +through the principal German cities, which added materially to +his reputation. But no amount of world's talk or money could fully +compensate him for the loss of his magnificent violin, one of the +_chefs-d'ouvre_ of Guarnerius del Gesu when that great maker was at his +best. This instrument he had brought from Russia, and it was an imperial +gift. A concert was announced for Gottingen, and Spohr, with his +companion, was about to enter the town by coach, when he asked one of +the soldiers at the guard-house if the trunk, which had been strapped to +the back of the carriage, and which contained his precious instrument, +was in its place. "There is no trunk there," was the reply. + +"With one bound," says Spohr, "I was out of the carriage, and rushed +out through the gate with a drawn hunting-knife. Had I, with more +reflection, listened a while, I might have heard the thieves running out +through a side path. But in my blind rage I had far overshot the place +where I had last seen the trunk, and only discovered my overhaste when I +found myself in the open field. Inconsolable for my loss, I turned +back. While my fellow-traveler looked for the inn, I hastened to the +post-office, and requested that an immediate search might be made in the +garden houses outside the gate. With astonishment and vexation, I was +informed that the jurisdiction outside the gate belonged to Weende, and +that I must prefer my request there. As Weende was half a league from +Gottingen, I was compelled to abandon for that evening all further steps +for the recovery of my things. That these would prove fruitless on the +following morning I was well assured, and I passed a sleepless night in +a state of mind such as in my hitherto fortunate career had been unknown +to me. Had I not lost my splendid Guarneri violin, the exponent of all +the artistic success I had so far attained, I could have lightly borne +the loss of clothes and money." The police recovered an empty trunk +and the violin-case despoiled of its treasure, but still containing a +magnificent Tourte bow, which the thieves had left behind. Spohr managed +to borrow a Steiner violin, with which he gave his concert, but he did +not for years cease to lament the loss of his grand Guarneri fiddle. + +In 1805 Spohr was quietly settled in his avocation at Brunswick as +composer and chief _Kam-mer-musicus_ of the ducal court, when he +received an offer to compete for the direction of the orchestra at +Gotha, then one of the most magnificent organizations in Europe, to be +at the head of which would give him an international fame. The offer +was too tempting to be refused, and Spohr was easily victorious. His +new duties were not onerous, consisting of a concert once a week, and +in practicing and rehearsing the orchestra. The annual salary was five +hundred thalers. + +One of the most interesting incidents of Spohr's life now occurred. The +susceptible heart, which had often been touched, was firmly enslaved +by the charms of Dorette Schiedler, the daughter of the principal court +singer, and herself a fine virtuoso on the harp. Dorette was a woman +whose personal loveliness was an harmonious expression of her beauty +of character and artistic talent, and Spohr accepted his fate with +joy. This girl of eighteen was irresistible, for she was accomplished, +beautiful, tender, as good as an angel, and with the finest talent for +music, for she played admirably, not only on the harp, but on the piano +and violin. Spohr had reason to hope that the attachment was mutual, and +was eager to declare his love. One night they were playing together at a +court concert, and Spohr after the performance noticed the duchess, with +an arch look at him, whispering some words to Dorette which covered her +cheeks with blushes. That night, as the lovers were returning home in +the carriage, Spohr said to her, "Shall we thus play together for life?" +Dorette burst into tears, and sank into her lover's arms. The compact +was sealed by the joyous assent of the mother, and the young couple were +united in the ducal chapel, in the presence of the duchess and a large +assemblage of friends, on the 2d of February, 1806. + + +III. + +In the following year Spohr and his young wife set out on a musical +tour, "by which," he says, "we not only reaped a rich harvest of +applause, but saved a considerable sum of money." On his return to Gotha +he was met by a band of pupils, who unharnessed the horses from the +coach and drew him through the streets in triumph. He now devoted +himself to composition largely, and produced his first opera, "Alruna," +which is said to have been very warmly received, both at Gotha and +Weimar, in which latter city it was produced under the superintendence +of the poet Goethe, who was intendant of the theatre. Spohr, however, +allowed it to disappear, as his riper judgment condemned its faults more +than it favored its excellences. Among his amusing adventures, one which +he relates in his "Autobiography" as having occurred in 1808 is worth +repeating. He tells us: "In the year 1808 took place the celebrated +Congress of Sovereigns at Erfurt, on which occasion Napoleon entertained +his friend Alexander of Russia and the various kings and princes of +Germany. The lovers of sights and the curious of the whole country round +poured in to see the magnificence displayed. In the company of some +of my pupils, I made a pedestrian excursion to Erfurt, less to see the +great ones of the earth than to see and admire the great ones of the +French stage, Talma and Mars. The Emperor had sent to Paris for his +tragic performers, who played every evening in the classic works of +Corneille and Racine. I and my companions had hoped to have seen one +such representation, but unfortunately I was informed that they took +place for the sovereigns and their suites alone, and that everybody +else was excluded from them." In this dilemma Spohr had recourse to +stratagem. He persuaded four musicians of the orchestra to vacate their +places for a handsome consideration, and he and his pupils engaged to +fill the duties. But one of the substitutes must needs be a horn-player, +and the four new players could only perform on violin and 'cello. So +there was nothing to be done but for Spohr to master the French horn at +a day's notice. At the expense of swollen and painful lips, he managed +this sufficiently to play the music required with ease and precision. +"Thus prepared," he writes, "I and my pupils joined the other musicians, +and, as each carried his instrument under his arm, we reached our place +without opposition. We found the saloon in which the theatre had been +erected already brilliantly lit up and filled with the numerous suites +of the sovereigns. The seats for Napoleon and his guests were right +behind the orchestra. Shortly after, the most able of my pupils, to whom +I had assigned the direction of the music, and under whose leadership I +had placed myself as a new-fledged hornist, had tuned up the orchestra, +the high personages made their appearance, and the overture began. The +orchestra, with their faces turned to the stage, stood in a long row, +and each was strictly forbidden to turn around and look with curiosity +at the sovereigns. As I had received notice of this beforehand, I had +provided myself secretly with a small looking-glass, by the help of +which, as soon as the music was ended, I was enabled to obtain in +succession a good view of those who directed the destinies of Europe. +Nevertheless, I was soon so engrossed with the magnificent acting of the +tragic artists that I abandoned my mirror to my pupils, and directed my +whole attention to the stage. But at every succeeding _entr'acte_ the +pain of my lips increased, and at the close of the performance they +had become so much swollen and blistered that in the evening I could +scarcely eat any supper. Even the next day, on my return to Gotha, +my lips had a very negro-like appearance, and my young wife was not a +little alarmed when she saw me. But she was yet more nettled when I told +her that it was from kissing to such excess the pretty Erfurt women. +When I had related, however, the history of my lessons on the horn, she +laughed heartily at my expense." + +In October, 1809, Spohr and his wife started on an art journey to +Russia, but they were recalled by the court chamberlain, who said that +the duchess could not spare them from the court concerts, but would +liberally indemnify them for the loss. Spohr returned and remained at +home for nearly three years, during which time he composed a number of +important works for orchestra and for the violin. In 1812 a visit to +Vienna, during which he gave a series of concerts, so delighted the +Viennese that Spohr was offered the direction of the Ander Wien theatre +at a salary three times that received at Gotha, besides valuable +emoluments. This, and the assurance of Count Palffy, the imperial +intendant, that he meant to make the orchestra the finest in Europe, +induced Spohr to accept the offer. + +When it became necessary for our musician to search for a domicile +in Vienna, he met with another piece of good fortune. One morning +a gentleman waited on him, introducing himself as a wealthy clock +manufacturer and a passionate lover of music. The stranger made an +eccentric proposition. Spohr should hand over to him all that he should +compose or had composed for Vienna during the term of three years, the +original scores to be his sole property during that time, and Spohr not +even to retain a copy. "But are they not to be performed during that +time?" "Oh, yes! as often as possible; but each time on my lending them +for that purpose, and when I can be present myself." The bargain was +struck, and the ardent connoisseur agreed to pay thirty ducats for a +string quartet, five and thirty for a quintet, forty for a sextet, etc., +according to the style of composition. Two works were sold on the spot, +and Spohr said he should devote the money to house-furnishing. Herr Von +Tost undertook to provide the furniture complete, and the two made a +tour among the most fashionable shops. When Spohr protested against +purchasing articles of extreme beauty and luxury, Von Tost said, "Make +yourself easy, I shall require no cash settlement. You will soon +square all accounts with your manuscripts." So the Spohr domicile +was magnificently furnished from kitchen to attic, more fitly, as the +musician said, for a royal dignitary or a rich merchant than for a poor +artist. Von Tost claimed he would gain two results: "First, I wish to be +invited to all the concerts and musical circles in which you will +play your compositions, and to do this I must have your scores in my +possession; secondly, in possessing such treasures of art, I hope upon +my business journeys to make a large acquaintance among the lovers of +music, which I may turn to account in my manufacturing interests." Let +us hope that this commercial enthusiast found his calculations verified +by results. + +Spohr soon gave two important new works to the musical world, the opera +of "Faust," and the cantata, "The Liberation of Germany," neither of +which, however, was immediately produced. Weber brought out "Faust" at +Prague in 1816, and the cantata was first performed at Franken-hausen in +1815, at a musical festival on the anniversary of the battle of Leipsic, +a battle which turned the scale of Napoleon's career. The same year +(1815) also witnessed the quarrel between Spohr and Count Palffy, which +resulted in the rupture of the former's engagement. Spohr determined to +make a long tour through Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. Before shaking +the dust of Vienna from his feet, he sold the Von Tost household at +auction, and the sum realized was even larger than what had been paid +for it, so vivid were the public curiosity and interest in view of the +strange bargain under which the furniture had been bought. On the 18th +of March, 1815, Louis Spohr, with his beloved Dorette and young family, +which had increased with truly German fecundity, bade farewell to +Vienna. + +Two years of concert-giving and sight-seeing swiftly passed, to the +great augmentation of the German violinist's fame. On Spohr's return +home he was invited to become the opera and music director of the +Frankfort Theatre, and for two years more he labored arduously at this +post. He produced the opera of "Zemire and Azar" (founded on the fairy +fable of "Beauty and the Beast" ) during this period among other works, +and it was very enthusiastically received by the public. This opera was +afterward given in London, in English, with great success, though the +opinion of the critics was that it was too scientific for the English +taste. + + +IV. + +Louis Spohr's first visit to England was in 1820, whither he went on +invitation of the Philharmonic Society. He gives an amusing account of +his first day in London, on the streets of which city he appeared in +a most brilliantly colored shawl waistcoat, and narrowly escaped being +pelted by the enraged mob, for the English people were then in mourning +for the death of George III, which had recently occurred, and Spohr's +gay attire was construed as a public insult. He played several of his +own works at the opening Philharmonic concert, and the brilliant veteran +of the violin, Viotti, to become whose pupil had once been Spohr's +darling but ungratified dream, expressed the greatest admiration of the +German virtuoso's magnificent playing. The "Autobiography" relates an +amusing interview of Spohr with the head of the Rothschild's banking +establishment, to whom he had brought a letter of introduction from the +Frankfort Rothschild, as well as a letter of credit. "After Rothschild +had taken both letters from me and glanced hastily over them, he said +to me, in a subdued tone of voice, 'I have just read (pointing to +the "Times") that you manage your business very efficiently; but I +understand nothing of music. This is my music (slapping his purse); they +understand that on the exchange.' Upon which with a nod of the head he +terminated the audience. But just as I had reached the door he called +after me, 'You can come out and dine with me at my country house.' A few +days afterward Mme. Rothschild also invited me to dinner, but I did not +go, though she repeated the invitation." + +While in London on this visit Spohr composed his B flat Symphony, +which was given by the Philharmonic Society under the direction of the +composer himself, and, as he tells us in his "Autobiography," it was +played better than he ever heard it afterward. His English reception, on +the whole, was a very cordial one, and he secured a very high place +in public estimation, both as a violinist and orchestral composer. On +returning to Germany, Spohr gave a series of concerts, during which time +he produced his great D minor violin concerto, making a great sensation +with it. He had not yet visited Paris in a professional way, and in the +winter of 1821 he turned his steps thitherward, in answer to a pressing +invitation from the musicians of that great capital. On January 20th he +made his _debut_ before a French audience, and gave a programme mostly +of his own compositions. Spohr asserts that the satisfaction of the +audience was enthusiastically expressed, but the fact that he did not +repeat the entertainment would suggest a suspicion that the impression +he made was not fully to his liking. It may be he did not dare take +the risk in a city so full of musical attractions of every description. +Certainly he did not like the French, though his reception from the +artists and literati was of the most friendly sort. He was disgusted +"with the ridiculous vanity of the Parisians." He writes: "When one or +other of their musicians plays anything, they say, 'Well! can you +boast of that in Germany?' Or when they introduce to you one of their +distinguished artists, they do not call him the first in Paris, but at +once the first in the world, although no nation knows less what other +countries possess than they do, in their--for their vanity's sake most +fortunate--ignorance." + +Spohr's appointment to the directorship of the court theatre at Cassel +occurred in the winter of 1822, and he confesses his pleasure in the +post, as he believed he could make its fine orchestra one of the most +celebrated in Germany. He remained in this position for about thirty +years, and during that time Cassel became one of the greatest musical +centers of the country. His labors were assiduous, for he had the +true tireless German industry, and he soon gave the world his opera +of "Jessonda," which was first produced on July 28, 1823, with marked +success. "Jessonda" has always kept its hold on the German stage, though +it was not received with much favor elsewhere. Another opera, "Der Berg +Geist" ("The Mountain Spirit"), quickly followed, the work having been +written to celebrate the marriage of the Princess of Hesse with the Duke +of Saxe-Meiningen. One of his most celebrated compositions, the oratorio +"Die Letzten Dinge" ("The Last Judgment"), which is more familiar +to English-speaking peoples than any other work of Spohr, was first +performed on Good Friday, 1826, and was recognized from the first as +a production of masterly excellence. Spohr's ability as a composer of +sacred music would have been more distinctly accepted, had it not been +that Handel, Haydn, and, in more recent years, Mendelssohn, raised the +ideal of the oratorio so high that only the very loftiest musical genius +is considered fit to reign in this sphere. The director of the Cassel +theatre continued indefatigable in producing works of greater or less +excellence, chamber-music, symphonies, and operas. Among the latter, +attention may be called to "Pietro Albano" and the "Alchemist," clever +but in no sense brilliant works, though, as it became the fashion in +Germany to indulge in enthusiasm over Spohr, they were warmly praised +at home. The best known of his orchestral works, "Die Weihe der Tone +" ("The Power of Sound"), a symphony of unquestionable greatness, was +produced in 1832. We are told that Spohr had been reading a volume of +poems which his deceased friend Pfeiffer had left behind him, when he +alighted on "Die Weihe der Tone," and the words delighted him so much +that he thought of using them as the basis of a cantata. But he changed +his purpose, and finally decided to delineate the subject of the poem +in orchestral composition. The finest of all Spohr's symphonies was the +outcome, a work which ranks high among compositions of this class. His +toil on the new oratorio of "Calvary" was sadly interrupted by the death +of his beloved wife Dorette, who had borne him a large family, and had +been his most sympathetic and devoted companion. Spohr was so broken +down by this calamity that it was several months before he could resume +his labors, and it was because Dorette during her illness had felt such +a deep interest in the progress of the work that the desolate husband +so soon plucked heart to begin again. When the oratorio was produced on +Good Friday, 1835, Spohr records in his diary: "The thought that my wife +did not live to listen to its first performance sensibly lessened the +satisfaction I felt at this my most successful work." This oratorio was +not given in England till 1839, at the Norwich festival, Spohr being +present to conduct it. The zealous and narrow-minded clergy of the day +preached bitterly against it as a desecration, and one fierce bigot +hurled his diatribes against the composer, when the latter was present +in the cathedral. A journal of the day describes the scene: "We now see +the fanatical zealot in the pulpit, and sitting right opposite to him +the great composer, with ears happily deaf to the English tongue, but +with a demeanor so becoming, with a look so full of pure good-will, and +with so much humility and mildness in the features, that his countenance +alone spoke to the heart like a good sermon. Without intending it, we +make a comparison, and can not for a moment doubt in which of the two +dwelt the spirit of religion which denoted the true Christian." + +Spohr had been two years a widower when he became enamored of one of +the daughters of Court Councilor Pfeiffer. He tells us he had long been +acquainted "with the high and varied intellectual culture of the two +sisters, and so I became fully resolved to sue for the hand of the +elder, Marianne, whose knowledge of music and skill in pianoforte +playing I had already observed when she sometimes gave her assistance +at the concerts of the St. Cecilia Society. As I had not the courage +to propose to her by word of mouth, there being more than twenty years +difference in our ages, I put the question to her in writing, and added, +in excuse for my courtship, the assurance that I was as yet perfectly +free from the infirmities of age." The proposition was accepted, and +they were married without delay on January 3, 1836. The bridal couple +made a long journey through the principal German cities, and were +universally received with great rejoicings. Musical parties and banquets +were everywhere arranged for them, at which Spohr and his young +wife delighted every one by their splendid playing. The "Historical" +symphony, descriptive of the music and characteristics of different +periods, was finished in 1839, and made a very favorable impression both +in Germany and England. Spohr had now become quite at home in England, +where his music was much liked, and during different years went to the +country, where oratorio music is more appreciated than anywhere else +in the musical world, to conduct the Norwich festival. One of his most +successful compositions of this description, "The Fall of Babylon," was +written expressly for the festival of 1842. When it was given the next +year in London under Spohr's own direction, the president of the Sacred +Harmonic Society presented the composer at the close of the performance +with a superb silver testimonial in the name of the society. + + +V. + +Louis Spohr had now become one of the patriarchs of music, for his life +spanned a longer arch in the history of the art than any contemporary +except Cherubini. He was seven years old when Mozart died, and before +Haydn had departed from this life Spohr had already begun to acquire +a name as a violinist and composer. He lived to be the friend of +Mendelssohn, Meyerbeer, Liszt, and Wagner. Everywhere he was held in +veneration, even by those who did not fully sympathize with his musical +works, for his career had been one of great fecundity in art. In +addition to his rank as one of the few very great violin virtuosos, he +had been indefatigable in the production of compositions in nearly all +styles, and every country of Europe recognized his place as a musician +of supereminent talent, if not of genius, one who had profoundly +influenced contemporary music, even if he should not mold the art of +succeeding ages. Testimonials of admiration and respect poured in on him +from every quarter. + +He composed the opera of "The Crusaders" in 1845, and he was invited +to conduct the first performance in Berlin. He relates two pleasing +incidents in his "Autobiography." He had been invited to a select dinner +party given at the royal palace, and between the king and Spohr, who +was seated opposite, there intervened an ornamental centerpiece +of considerable height in the shape of a flower vase. This greatly +interfered with the enjoyment by the king of Spohr's conversation. At +last his Majesty, growing impatient, removed the impediment with his own +hands, so that he had a full view of Spohr. + +The other incident was a pleasing surprise from his colleagues in art. +He was a guest of the Wickmann family, and they were all gathered in the +illuminated garden saloon, when there entered through the gloom of the +garden a number of dark figures swiftly following each other, who proved +to be the members of the royal orchestra, with Meyerbeer and Taubert at +their head. The senior member then presented Spohr with a beautifully +executed gold laurel-wreath, while Meyerbeer made a speech full of +feeling, in which he thanked him for his enthusiastic love of German +art, and for all the grand and beautiful works which he had created, +specially "The Crusaders." The twenty-fifth anniversary of Spohr's +connection with the court theatre of Cassel occurred in 1847, and was +to have been celebrated with a great festival. The death of Felix +Bartholdy Mendelssohn cast a great gloom over musical Germany that +year, so the festival was held not in honor of Spohr, but as a solemn +memorial of the departed genius whose name is a household word among all +those who love the art he so splendidly illustrated. + +Spohr's next production was the fine symphony known as "The Seasons," +one of the most picturesque and expressive of his orchestral works, in +which he depicts with rich musical color the vicissitudes of the year +and the associations clustering around them. This symphony was followed +by his seventh quintet, in G minor, another string quartet, the +thirty-second, and a series of pieces for the violin and piano, and in +1852 we find the indefatigable composer busy in remodeling his opera of +"Faust" for production by Mr. Gye, in London. It was produced with great +splendor in the English capital, and conducted by Spohr himself; but +it did not prove a great success, a deep disappointment to Spohr, who +fondly believed this work to be his masterpiece. "On this occasion," +writes a very competent critic, _a propos_ of the first performance, +"there was a certain amount of heaviness about the performance which +told very much against the probability of that opera ever becoming +a favorite with the Royal Italian Opera subscribers. Nothing could +possibly exceed the poetical grace of Eonconi in the title role, or +surpass the propriety and expression of his singing. Mme. Castellan's +_Cunegonda_ was also exceedingly well sung, and Tamberlik outdid himself +by his thorough comprehension of the music, the splendor of his voice, +and the refinement of his vocalization in the character of _Ugo_.... +The _Mephistopheles_ of Herr Formes was a remarkable personation, being +truly demoniacal in the play of his countenance, and as characteristic +as any one of Retsch's drawings of Goethe's fiend-tempter. His singing +being specially German was in every way well suited to the occasion." In +spite of the excellence of the interpretation, Spohr's "Faust" did not +take any hold on the lovers of music in England, and even in Germany, +where Spohr is held in great reverence, it presents but little +attraction. The closing years of Spohr's active life as a musician were +devoted to that species of composition where he showed indubitable +title to be considered a man of genius, works for the violin and chamber +music. He himself did not recognize his decadence of energy and musical +vigor; but the veteran was more than seventy years old, and his royal +master resolved to put his baton in younger and fresher hands. So he was +retired from service with an annual pension of fifteen hundred thalers. +Spohr felt this deeply, but he had scarcely reconciled himself to the +change when a more serious casualty befell him. He fell and broke his +left arm, which never gained enough strength for him to hold the beloved +instrument again. It had been the great joy and solace of his life to +play, and, now that in his old age he was deprived of this comfort, he +was ready to die. Only once more did he make a public appearance. In the +spring of 1859 he journeyed to Meiningen to direct a concert on behalf +of a charitable fund. An ovation was given to the aged master. A +colossal bust of himself was placed on the stage, arched with festoons +of palm and laurel, and the conductor's stand was almost buried in +flowers. He was received with thunders of welcome, which were again and +again reiterated, and at the close of the performance he could hardly +escape for the eager throng who wished to press his hand. Spohr died on +October 22, 1859, after a few days' illness, and in his death Germany at +least recognized the loss of one of its most accomplished and versatile +if not greatest composers. + + +VI. + +Dr. Ludwig Spohr's fame as a composer has far overshadowed his +reputation as a violin virtuoso, but the most capable musical critics +unite in the opinion that that rare quality, which we denominate genius, +was principally shown in his wonderful power as a player, and his works +written for the violin. Spohr was a man of immense self-assertion, and +believed in the greatness of his own musical genius as a composer in the +higher domain of his art. His "Autobiography," one of the most fresh, +racy, and interesting works of the kind ever written, is full of varied +illustrations of what Chorley stigmatizes his "bovine self-conceit." His +fecund production of symphony, oratorio, and opera, as well as of the +more elaborate forms of chamber music, for a period of forty years or +more, proves how deep was his conviction of his own powers. Indeed, he +half confesses himself that he is only willing to be rated a little +less than Beethoven. Spohr was singularly meager, for the most part, in +musical ideas and freshness of melody, but he was a profound master of +the orchestra; and in that variety and richness of resources which +give to tone-creations the splendor of color, which is one of the great +charms of instrumental music, Spohr is inferior only to Wagner among +modern symphonists. Spohr's more pretentious works are a singular union +of meagerness of idea with the most polished richness of manner; but, in +imagination and thought, he is far the inferior of those whose knowledge +of treating the orchestra and contrapuntal skill could not compare with +his. There are more vigor and originality in one of Schubert's greater +symphonies than in all the multitudinous works of the same class ever +written by Spohr. In Spohr's compositions for the violin as a solo +instrument, however, he stands unrivaled, for here his true _genre_ as a +man of creative genius stamps itself unmistakably. + +Before the coming of Spohr violin music had been illustrated by a +succession of virtuosos, French and Italian, who, though melodiously +charming, planned in their works and execution to exhibit the effects +and graces of the players themselves instead of the instrument. Paganini +carried this tendency to its most remarkable and fascinating extreme, +but Spohr founded a new style of violin playing, on which the greatest +modern performers who have grown up since his prime have assiduously +modeled themselves. Mozart had written solid and simple concertos in +which the performer was expected to embroider and finish the composer's +sketch. This required genius and skill under instant command, instead +of merely phenomenal execution. Again, Beethoven's concertos were so +written as to make the solo player merely one of the orchestra, chaining +him in bonds only to set him free to deliver the cadenza. This species +of self-effacement does not consort with the purpose of solo playing, +which is display, though under that display there should be power, +mastery, and resource of thought, and not the trickery of the +accomplished juggler. Spohr in his violin music most felicitously +accomplished this, and he is simply incomparable in his compromise +between what is severe and classical, and what is suave and delightful, +or passionately exciting. In these works the musician finds nerve, +sparkle, _elan_, and brightness combined with technical charm and +richness of thought. Spohr's unconscious and spontaneous force in this +direction was the direct outcome of his remarkable power as a solo +player, or, more properly, gathered its life-like play and strength from +the latter fact. It may be said of Spohr that, as Mozart raised opera to +a higher standard, as Beethoven uplifted the ideal of the orchestra, as +Clementi laid a solid foundation for piano-playing, so Spohr's creative +force as a violinist and writer for the violin has established +the grandest school for this instrument, to which all the foremost +contemporary artists acknowledge their obligations. + +Dr. Spohr's style as a player, while remarkable for its display of +technique and command of resource, always subordinated mere display to +the purpose of the music. The Italians called him "the first singer on +the violin," and his profound musical knowledge enabled him to produce +effects in a perfectly legitimate manner, where other players had +recourse to meretricious and dazzling exhibition of skill. His title to +recollection in the history of music will not be so much that of a great +general composer, but that of the greatest of composers for the violin, +and the one who taught violinists that height of excellence as an +excutant should go hand in hand with good taste and self-restraint, to +produce its most permanent effects and exert its most vital influence. + + + + +NICOLO PAGANINI. + + +The Birth of the Greatest of Violinists.--His Mother's +Dream--Extraordinary Character and Genius.--Heine's Description of his +Playing.--Leigh Hunt on Paganini.--Superstitious Rumors current +during his Life.--He is believed to be a Demoniac.--His Strange +Appearance.--Early Training and Surroundings.--Anecdotes of his +Youth.--Paganini's Youthful Dissipations.--His Passion for Gambling.--He +acquires his Wonderful Guarnerius Violin.--His Reform from +the Gaming-table.--Indefatigable Practice and Work as a Young +Artist.--Paganini as a _Preux Chevalier_.--His Powerful Attraction for +Women.--Episode with a Lady of Rank.--Anecdotes of his Early Italian +Concertizing.--The Imbroglio at Ferrant.--The Frail Health of +Paganini.--Wonderful Success at Milan, where he first plays One of +the Greatest of his Compositions, "Le Streghe."--Duel with +Lafont.--Incidents and Anecdotes.--His First Visit to Germany.--Great +Enthusiasm of his Audiences.--Experiences at Vienna, Berlin, and other +German Cities.--Description of Paganini, in Paris, by Castil-Blaze and +Fetis.--His English Reception and the Impression made.--Opinions of the +Critics.--Paganini not pleased with England.--Settles in Paris for Two +Years, and becomes the Great Musical Lion.--Simplicity and Amiability +of Nature.--Magnificent Generosity to Hector Berlioz.--The Great +Fortune made by Paganini.--His Beautiful Country Seat near Parma.--An +Unfortunate Speculation in Paris.--The Utter Failure of his +Health.--His Death at Nice.--Characteristics and Anecdotes.--Interesting +Circumstances of his Last Moments.--The Peculiar Genius of Paganini, and +his Influence on Art. + + +I. + +In the latter part of the last century an Italian woman of Genoa had a +dream which she thus related to her little son: "My son, you will be a +great musician. An angel radiant with beauty appeared to me during the +night and promised to accomplish any wish that I might make. I asked +that you should become the greatest of all violinists, and the angel +granted that my desire should be fulfilled." The child who was thus +addressed became that incomparable artist, Paganini, whose name now, +a glorious tradition, is used as a standard by which to estimate the +excellence of those who have succeeded him. + +No artist ever lived who so piqued public curiosity, and invested +himself with a species of weird romance, which compassed him as with a +cloud. The personality of the individual so unique and extraordinary, +the genius of the artist so transcendant in its way, the mystery which +surrounded all the movements of the man, conspired to make him an +object of such interest that the announcement of a concert by him in +any European city made as much stir as some great public event. Crowds +followed his strange figure in the streets wherever he went, and, had +the time been the mediaeval ages, he himself a celebrated magician or +sorcerer, credited with power over the spirits of earth and air, his +appearance could not have aroused a thrill of attention more absorbing. +Over men of genius, as well as the commonplace herd, he cast the same +spell, stamping himself as a personage who could be compared with no +other. + +The German poet Heine thus describes his first acquaintance with this +paragon of violinists: + +"It was in the theatre at Hamburg that I first heard Paganini's violin. +Although it was fast-day, all the commercial magnates of the town were +present in the front boxes, the goddesses Juno of Wandrahm, and the +goddesses Aphrodite of Dreckwall. A religious hush pervaded the whole +assembly; every eye was directed toward the stage, every ear was +strained for hearing. At last a dark figure, which seemed to ascend from +the under world, appeared on the stage. It was Paganini in full evening +dress, black coat and waistcoat cut after a most villainous pattern, +such as is perhaps in accordance with the infernal etiquette of the +court of Proserpine, and black trousers fitting awkwardly to his thin +legs. His long arms appeared still longer as he advanced, holding in one +hand his violin, and in the other the bow, hanging down so as almost +to touch the ground--all the while making a series of extraordinary +reverences. In the angular contortions of his body there was something +so painfully wooden, and also something so like the movements of a droll +animal, that a strange disposition to laughter overcame the audience; +but his face, which the glaring footlights caused to assume an even +more corpse-like aspect than was natural to it, had in it something so +appealing, something so imbecile and meek, that a strange feeling +of compassion removed all tendency to laughter. Had he learned these +reverences from an automaton or a performing dog? Is this beseeching +look the look of one who is sick unto death, or does there lurk behind +it the mocking cunning of a miser? Is that a mortal who in the agony +of death stands before the public in the art arena, and, like a dying +gladiator, bids for their applause in his last convulsions? or is it +some phantom arisen from the grave, a vampire with a violin, who comes +to suck, if not the blood from our hearts, at least the money from our +pockets? Questions such as these kept chasing each other through the +brain while Paganini continued his apparently interminable series of +complimentary bows; but all such questionings instantly take flight the +moment the great master puts his violin to his chin and began to play. + +"Then were heard melodies such as the nightingale pours forth in the +gloaming when the perfume of the rose intoxicates her heart with sweet +forebodings of spring! What melting, sensuously languishing notes of +bliss! Tones that kissed, then poutingly fled from another, and at last +embraced and became one, and died away in the ecstasy of union! Again, +there were heard sounds like the song of the fallen angels, who, +banished from the realms of bliss, sink with shame-red countenance to +the lower world. These were sounds out of whose bottomless depth gleamed +no ray of hope or comfort; when the blessed in heaven hear them, the +praises of God die away upon their pallid lips, and, sighing, they veil +their holy faces." Leigh Hunt, in one of his essays, thus describes the +playing of this greatest of all virtuosos: "Paganini, the first time +I saw and heard him, and the first moment he struck a note, seemed +literally to strike it, to _give_ it a blow. The house was so crammed +that, being among the squeezers in the standing room at the side of the +pit, I happened to catch the first glance of his face through the arms +akimbo of a man who was perched up before me, which made a kind of +frame for it; and there on the stage through that frame, as through a +perspective glass, were the face, the bust, and the raised hand of +the wonderful musician, with the instrument at his chin, just going to +begin, and looking exactly as I describe him in the following lines: + + "His hand, Loading the air with dumb expectancy, + Suspended, ere it fell, a nation's breath. + He _smote_; and clinging to the serious chords + With Godlike ravishment drew forth a breath, + So deep, so strong, so fervid, thick with love-- + Blissful, yet laden as with twenty prayers-- + That Juno yearned with no diviner soul + To the first burthen of the lips of Jove. + The exceeding mystery of the loveliness + Sadden'd delight; and, with his mournful look, + Dreary and gaunt, hanging his pallid face + Twixt his dark flowing locks, he almost seemed + Too feeble, or to melancholy eyes + One that has parted from his soul for pride, + And in the sable secret lived forlorn. + +"To show the depth and identicalness of the impression which he made +on everybody, foreign or native, an Italian who stood near me said to +himself, with a long sigh, 'O Dio!' and this had not been said long, +when another person in the same tone uttered 'Oh Christ!' Musicians +pressed forward from behind the scenes to get as close to him as +possible, and they could not sleep at night for thinking of him." + +The impression made by Paganini was something more than that of a great, +even the greatest, violinist. It was as if some demoniac power lay +behind the human, prisoned and dumb except through the agencies of +music, but able to fill expression with faint, far-away cries of +passion, anguish, love, and aspiration--echoes from the supernatural +and invisible. His hearers forgot the admiration due to the wonderful +virtuoso, and seemed to listen to voices from another world. The strange +rumors that were current about him, Paganini seems to have been not +disinclined to encourage, for, mingled with his extraordinary genius, +there was an element of charlatanism. It was commonly reported that +his wonderful execution on the G-string was due to a long imprisonment, +inflicted on him for the assassination of a rival in love, during which +he had a violin with one string only. Paganini himself writes that, "At +Vienna one of the audience affirmed publicly that my performance was +not surprising, for he had distinctly seen, while I was playing my +variations, the devil at my elbow, directing my arm and guiding my bow. +My resemblance to the devil was a proof of my origin." Even sensible +people believed that Paganini had some uncanny and unlawful secret which +enabled him to do what was impossible for other players. At Prague he +actually printed a letter from his mother to prove that he was not the +son of the devil. It was not only the perfectly novel and astonishing +character of his playing, but to a large extent his ghostlike +appearance, which caused such absurd rumors. The tall, skeleton-like +figure, the pale, narrow, wax-colored face, the long, dark, disheveled +hair, the mysterious expression of the heavy eye, made a weirdly strange +_ensemble_. Heine tells us in "The Florentine Nights" that only one +artist had succeeded in delineating the real physiognomy of Paganini: "A +deaf and crazy painter, called Lyser, has in a sort of spiritual frenzy +so admirably portrayed by a few touches of his pencil the head of +Paganini that one is dismayed and moved to laughter at the faithfulness +of the sketch! 'The devil guided my hand,' said the deaf painter to me, +with mysterious gesticulations and a satirical yet good-natured wag of +the head, such as he was wont to indulge in when in the midst of his +genial tomfoolery." + + +II. + +Nicolo Paganini was born at Genoa on the night of February 18, 1784, +of parents in humbly prosperous circumstances, his father being a +ship-broker, and, though illiterate in a general way, a passionate lover +of music and an amateur of some skill. The father soon perceived the +child's talent, and caused him to study so severely that it not only +affected his constitution, but actually made him a tolerable player at +the age of six years. The elder Paganini's knowledge of music was not +sufficient to carry the lad far in mastering the instrument, but the +extraordinary precocity shown so interested Signor Corvetto, the leader +at the Genoese theatre, that he undertook to instruct the gifted child. +Two years later the young Paganini was transferred to the charge of +Signor Giacomo Costa, an excellent violinist, and director of church +music at one of the cathedrals, under whom he made rapid progress in +executive skill, while he studied harmony and counterpoint under the +composer Gnecco. It was at this time, Paganini not yet being nine years +of age, that he composed his first piece, a sonata now lost. In 1793 he +made his first appearance in public at Genoa, and played variations +on the air "La Carmagnole," then so popular, with immense effect. This +_debut_ was followed by several subsequent appearances, in which he +created much enthusiasm. He also played a violin concerto every Sunday +in church, an attraction which drew great throngs. This practice was +of great use to Paganini, as it forced him continually to study fresh +music. About the year 1795 it was deemed best to place the boy under +the charge of an eminent professor, and Alessandro Rolla, of Parma, was +pitched on. When the Paganinis arrived, they found the learned professor +ill, and rather surly at the disturbance. Young Paganini, however, +speedily silenced the complaints of the querulous invalid. The great +player himself relates the anecdote: "His wife showed us into a room +adjoining the bedroom, till she had spoken to the sick man. Finding on +the table a violin and the music of Rolla's latest concerto, I took +up the instrument and played the piece at sight. Astonished at what +he heard, the composer asked for the name of the player, and could not +believe it was only a young boy till he had seen for himself. He then +told me that he had nothing to teach me, and advised me to go to Paer +for study in composition." But, as Paer was at this time in Germany, +Paganini studied under Ghiretti and Rolla himself while he remained in +Parma, according to the monograph of Fetis. + +The youthful player had already begun to search out new effects on the +violin, and to create for himself characteristics of tone and treatment +hitherto unknown to players. After his return to Genoa he composed his +first "Etudes," which were of such unheard-of difficulty that he was +sometimes obliged to practice a single passage ten hours running. His +intense study resulted not only in his acquirement of an unlimited +execution, but in breaking down his health. His father was a harsh and +inexorable taskmaster, and up to this time Paganini (now being fourteen) +had remained quiescent under this tyrant's control. But the desire of +liberty was breeding projects in his breast, which opportunity soon +favored. He managed to get permission to travel alone for the first +time to Lucca, where he had engaged to play at the musical festival +in November, 1798. He was received with so much enthusiasm that he +determined not to return to the paternal roof, and at once set off +to fulfill engagements at Pisa and other towns. In vain the angry and +mortified father sought to reclaim the young rebel who had slipped +through his fingers. Nicolo found the sweets of freedom too precious +to go back again to bondage, though he continued to send his father a +portion of the proceeds of his playing. + +The youth, intoxicated with the license of his life, plunged into all +kinds of dissipation, specially into gambling, at this time a universal +vice in Italy, as indeed it was throughout Europe. Alternate fits of +study and gaming, both of which he pursued with equal zeal, and the +exhaustion of the life he led, operated dangerously on his enfeebled +frame, and fits of illness frequently prevented his fulfillment of +concert engagements. More than once he wasted in one evening the +proceeds of several concerts, and was obliged to borrow money on his +violin, the source of his livelihood, in order to obtain funds wherewith +to pay his gambling debts. Anything more wild, debilitating, and ruinous +than the life led by this boy, who had barely emerged from childhood, +can hardly be imagined. On one occasion he was announced for a concert +at Leghorn, but he had gambled away his money and pawned his violin, so +that he was compelled to get the loan of an instrument in order to play +in the evening. In this emergency he applied to M. Livron, a French +gentleman, a merchant of Leghorn, and an excellent amateur performer, +who possessed a Guarneri del Gesu violin, reputed among connoisseurs one +of the finest instruments in the world. The generous Frenchman instantly +acceded to the boy's wish, and the precious violin was put in his hands. +After the concert, when Paganini returned the instrument to M. Livron, +the latter, who had been to hear him, exclaimed, "Never will I profane +the strings which your fingers have touched! That instrument is yours." +The astonishment and delight of the young artist may be more easily +imagined than described. It was upon this violin that Paganini afterward +performed in all his concerts, and the great virtuoso left it to the +town of Genoa, where it is now preserved in a glass case in the Museum. +An excellent engraving of it, from a photograph, was published in 1875 +in George Hart's book on "The Violin." + +At this period of his life, between the ages of seventeen and twenty, +Nicolo Paganini was surrounded by numerous admirers, and led into +all kinds of dissipation. He was naturally amiable and witty in +conversation, though he has been reproached with selfishness. There can +be no doubt that he was, at this period, constantly under the combined +influences of flattery and unbounded ambition; nevertheless, in spite +of all his successful performances at concerts, the style of life he was +leading kept him so poor that he frequently took in hand all kinds +of musical work to supply the wants of the moment. It is a curious +coincidence that the fine violin which was presented to him by M. +Livron, as we have just seen, was the cause of his abandoning, after a +while, the allurements of the gaming-tables. Paganini tells us himself +that a certain nobleman was anxious to possess this instrument, and had +offered for it a sum equivalent to about four hundred dollars; but the +artist would not sell it even if one thousand had been offered for it, +although he was, at this juncture, in great need of funds to pay off a +debt of honor, and sorely tempted to accept the proffered amount. Just +at this point Paganini received an invitation to a friend's house where +gambling was the order of the day. "All my capital," he says, "consisted +of thirty francs, as I had disposed of my jewels, watch, rings, etc.; +I nevertheless resolved on risking this last resource, and, if fortune +proved fickle, to sell my violin and proceed to St. Petersburg, without +instrument or baggage, with the view of reestablishing my affairs. My +thirty francs were soon reduced to three, and I already fancied myself +on the road to Russia, when luck took a sudden turn, and I won one +hundred and sixty francs. This saved my violin and completely set me up. +From that day forward I gradually gave up gaming, becoming more and more +convinced that a gambler is an object of contempt to all well-regulated +minds." + + +III. + +Love-making was also among the diversions which Paganini began early +to practice. Like nearly all great musicians, he was an object of great +fascination to the fair sex, and his life had its full share of amorous +romances. A strange episode was his retirement in the country chateau of +a beautiful Bolognese lady for three years, between the years 1801 +and 1804. Here, in the society of a lovely woman, who was passionately +devoted to him, and amid beautiful scenery, he devoted himself to +practicing and composition, also giving much study to the guitar (the +favorite instrument of his inamorata), on which he became a wonderful +proficient. This charming idyl in Paganini's life reminds one of the +retirement of the pianist Chopin to the island of Majorca in the company +of Mme. George Sand. It was during this period of his life that Paganini +composed twelve of his finest sonatas for violin and guitar. + +When our musician returned again to Genoa and active life in 1804, he +devoted much time also to composition. He was twenty years of age, +and wrote here four grand quartets for violin, tenor, violoncello, +and guitar, and also some bravura variations for violin with guitar +accompaniment. At this period he gave lessons to a young girl of Genoa, +Catherine Calcagno, about seven years of age; eight years later, when +only fifteen years old, this young lady astonished Italian audiences by +the boldness of her style. She continued her artistic career till the +year 1816, when she had attained the age of twenty-one, and all traces +of her in the musical world appear to be lost; doubtless, at this period +she found a husband, and retired completely from public life. + +In 1805 Paganini accepted the position of director of music and +conductor of the opera orchestra at Lucca, under the immediate patronage +of the Princess Eliza, sister of Napoleon and wife of Bacciochi. The +prince took lessons from him on the violin, and gave him whole charge of +the court music. It was at the numerous concerts given at Lucca during +this period of Paganini's early career that he first elaborated many of +those curious effects, such as performances on one string, harmonic +and pizzicato passages, which afterward became so characteristic of his +style. + +But the demon of unrest would not permit Paganini to remain very long +in one place. In 1808 he began his wandering career of concert-giving +afresh, performing throughout northern Italy, and amassing considerable +money, for his fame had now become so widespread that engagements poured +on him thick and fast. The lessons of his inconsiderate past had already +made a deep impression on his mind, and Paganini became very economical, +a tendency which afterward developed into an almost miserly passion for +money-getting and -saving, though, through his whole life, he performed +many acts of magnificent generosity. He had numerous curious adventures, +some of which are worth recording. At a concert in Leghorn he came on +the stage, limping, from the effects of a nail which had run into his +foot. This made a great laugh. Just as he began to play, the candles +fell out of his music desk, and again there was an uproar. Suddenly the +first string broke, and there was more hilarity; but, says Paganini, +naively, "I played the piece on three strings, and the sneers quickly +changed into boisterous applause." At Ferrara he narrowly escaped an +enraged audience with his life. It had been arranged that a certain +Signora Marcolini should take part in his concert, but illness prevented +her singing, and at the last moment Paganini secured the services of +Signora Pallerini, who, though a danseuse, possessed an agreeable voice. +The lady was very nervous and diffident, but sang exceedingly well, +though there were a few in the audience who were inconsiderate enough to +hiss. Paganini was furious at this insult, and vowed to be avenged. At +the end of the concert he proposed to amuse the audience by imitating +the noises of various animals on his violin. After he had reproduced the +mewing of a cat, the barking of a dog, the crowing of a cock, etc., he +advanced to the footlights and called out, "Questo e per quelli che +han fischiato" ("This is for those who hissed"), and imitated in an +unmistakable way the braying of the jackass. At this the pit rose to +a man, and charged through the orchestra, climbed the stage, and would +have killed Paganini, had he not fled incontinently, "standing not on +the order of his going, but going at once." The explanation of this +sensitiveness of the audience is found in the fact that the people of +Ferrara had a general reputation for stupidity, and the appearance of +a Ferrarese outside of the town walls was the signal for a significant +hee-haw. Paganini never gave any more concerts in that town. + +As he approached his thirtieth year his delicate and highly strung +organization, already undermined by the excesses of his early +youth, began to give way. He was frequently troubled with internal +inflammation, and he was obliged to regulate his habits in the strictest +fashion as to diet and hours of sleep. Even while comparatively well, +his health always continued to be very frail. + +Paganini composed his remarkable variations called "Le Streghe" ("The +Witches") at Milan in 1813. In this composition, the air of which was +taken from a ballet by Sussmayer, called "Il Noce de Benevento," at the +part where the witches appear in the piece as performed on the stage, +the violinist introduced many of his most remarkable effects. He played +this piece for the first time at La Scala theatre, and he was honored +with the most tumultuous enthusiasm, which for a long time prevented the +progress of the programme. Paganini always had a predilection for Milan +afterward, and said he enjoyed giving concerts there more than at any +other city in Europe. He gave no less than thirty-seven concerts here +in 1813. In this city, three years afterward, occurred his interesting +musical duel with Lafont, the well-known French violinist. Paganini +was then at Genoa, and, hearing of Lafont's presence at Milan, at +once hastened to that city to hear him play. "His performance," said +Pagani-ni, "pleased me exceedingly." When the Italian violinist, a week +later, gave a concert at La Scala, Lafont was in the audience, and the +very next day he proposed that Paganini and himself should play together +at the same concert. "I excused myself," said Paganini, "alleging that +such experiments were impolitic, as the public invariably looked upon +these matters as duels, in which there must be a victim, and that it +would be so in this case; for, as he was acknowledged to be the best of +the French violinists, so the public indulgently considered me to be +the best player in Italy. Lafont not looking at it in this light, I was +obliged to accept the challenge. I allowed him to arrange the programme. +We each played a concerto of our own composition, after which we played +together a duo concertante by Kreutzer. In this I did not deviate in the +least from the composer's text while we played together, but in the solo +parts I yielded freely to my own imagination, and introduced several +novelties, which seemed to annoy my adversary. Then followed a 'Russian +Air,' with variations, by Lafont, and I finished the concert with my +variations called 'Le Streghe.' Lafont probably surpassed me in tone; +but the applause which followed my efforts convinced me that I did not +suffer by comparison." There seems to be no question that the victory +remained with Paganini. A few years later Paganini played in a similar +contest with the Polish violinist Lipinski, at Placentia. The two +artists, however, were intimate friends, and there was not a spark +of rivalry or jealousy in their generous emulation. In fact, +Paganini appears to have been utterly without that conceit in his own +extraordinary powers which is so common in musical artists. Heine gives +an amusing illustration of this. He writes: "Once, after listening to a +concert by Paganini, as I was addressing him with the most impassioned +eulogies on his violin-playing, he interrupted me with the words, 'But +how were you pleased to-day with my compliments and reverences?'" The +musician thought more of his genuflexions than of his musical talent. + + +IV. + +In the year 1817 Rossini, Meyerbeer, and Paganini were at Rome during +Carnival time, and the trio determined on a grand frolic. Rossini had +composed a very clever part-song, "Carnavale, Carnavale," known in +English as "We are Poor Beggars," and the three great musicians, having +disguised themselves as beggars, sang it with great effect through the +streets. Rossini during this Carnival produced his "Cenerentola," and +Paganini gave a series of concerts which excited great enthusiasm. +Shortly after this, Paganini's health gave way completely at Naples, and +the landlord of the hotel where he was stopping got the impression that +his sickness was infectious. In the most brutal manner he turned the +sick musician into the street. Fortunately, at this moment a violoncello +player, Ciandelli, who knew Paga-nini well, was passing by, and came to +the rescue, and his anger was so great, when he saw what had happened +to the great violinist, that he belabored the barbarous landlord +unmercifully with a stick, and conveyed the invalid to a comfortable +lodging where he was carefully attended to. Some time subsequently +Paganini had an opportunity of repaying this kindness, for he gave +Ciandelli some valuable instruction, which enabled him in the course of +a few years to become transformed from a very indifferent performer into +an artist of considerable eminence. + +At the age of thirty-six Paganini again found himself at Milan, and +there organized a society of musical amateurs, called "Gli Orfei." He +conducted several of their concerts. But either the love of a roving +life or the necessity of wandering in order to fill his exchequer kept +him constantly on the move; and, though during these travels he is said +to have met with many extraordinary adventures, very little reliance can +be placed upon the accounts that have come down to us, the more so +when we consider that Paga-nini's mode of life was, as we shall see +presently, become by this time extremely sober. It was not until he +was forty-four years old that he finally quitted Italy to make himself +better known in foreign countries. He had been encouraged to visit +Vienna by Prince Metternich, who had heard and admired his playing at +Rome in 1817, and had repeatedly made plans to visit Germany, but his +health had been so wretched as to prevent his departure from his native +country. But a sojourn in the balmy climate of Sicily for a few months +had done him so much good that in 1828 he put his long-deferred +plans into execution. The first concert in March of that year made an +unparalleled sensation. He gave a great number of concerts in Vienna, +among them several for the poor. A fever seized all classes of society. +The shop windows were crowded with goods _a la Paganini_; a good stroke +at billiards was called _un coup a la Paganini_; dishes Avere named +after him; his portrait was enameled on snuff-boxes, and the Viennese +dandies carried his bust on the head of their walking-sticks. A cabman +wheedled out of the reluctant violinist permission to print on his cab, +_Cabriolet de Paganini_. By this cunning device, Jehu so augmented his +profits that he was able to rent a large house and establish a hotel, in +which capacity Paganini found him when he returned again to Vienna. + +Among the pleasant stories told of him is one similar to an incident +previously related of Viotti. One day, as he was walking in Vienna, +Paganini saw poor little Italian boy scraping some Neapolitan songs +before the windows of a large house. A celebrated composer who +accompanied the artist remarked to him, "There is one of your +compatriots." Upon which Paganini evinced a desire to speak to the lad, +and went across the street to him for that purpose. After ascertaining +that he was a poor beggar-boy from the other side of the Alps, and that +he supported his sick mother, his only relative, by his playing, the +great violinist appeared touched. He literally emptied his pockets into +the boy's hand, and, taking the violin and bow from him, began the +most grotesque and extraordinary performance possible. A crowd soon +collected, the great virtuoso was at once recognized by the bystanders, +and when he brought the performance to an end, amid the cheers and +shouts of all assembled, he handed round the boy's hat, and made a +considerable collection of coin, in which silver pieces were very +conspicuous. He then handed the sum to the young Italian, saying, "Take +that to your mother," and, rejoining his companion, walked off with him, +saying, "I hope I've done a good turn to that little animal." At +Berlin, where he soon afterward astonished his crowded audiences by his +marvelous playing, the same fanatical enthusiasm ensued; and, with +the exception of Palermo, Naples (where he seems to have had many +detractors), and Prague, his visits to the various cities of Europe were +one continued triumph. People tried in vain to explain his method of +playing, professors criticised him, and pamphlets were published which +endeavored to make him out a quack or a charlatan. It was all to no +purpose. Nothing could arrest his onward course; triumph succeeded +triumph wherever he appeared; and, though no one could understand him, +every one admired him, and he had only to touch his violin to enchant +thousands. A curious scene occurred at Berlin, at a musical evening +party to which Paganini was invited. A young and presumptuous professor +of the violin performed there several pieces with very little effect; he +was not aware of the presence of the Genoese giant, whom he did not know +even by sight. Others, however, quickly recognized him, and he was asked +to play, which he at first declined, but finally consented to do after +urgent solicitation. Purposely he played a few variations in wretchedly +bad style, which caused a suppressed laugh from those ignorant of his +identity. The young professor came forward again and played another +selection in a most pretentious and pointed way, as if to crush the +daring wretch who had ventured to compete with him. Paganini again took +up the instrument, and played a short piece with such touching pathos +and astonishing execution, that the audience sat breathless till the +last dying cadence wakened them into thunders of applause, and hearts +thrilled as the name "Paganini" crept from mouth to mouth. The young +professor had already vanished from the room, and was never again seen +in the house where he had received so severe a lesson. + +Paganini repeated his triumphs again the following year, performing +in Vienna and the principal cities of Germany, and everywhere arousing +similar feelings of admiration. Orders and medals were bestowed on him, +and his progress was almost one of royalty. His first concert in Paris +was given on March 9, 1831, at the opera-house. He was then forty-seven +years old, and Castil-Blaze described him as being nearly six feet +in height, with a long, pallid face, brilliant eyes, like those of an +eagle, long curling black hair, which fell down over the collar of his +coat, a thin and cadaverous figure--altogether a personality so gaunt +and delicate as to be more like a shadow than a man. The eyes sparkled +with a strange phosphorescent gleam, and the long bony fingers were so +flexible as to be likened only to "a handkerchief tied to the end of a +stick." Petis describes the impression he created at his first concert +as amounting to a "positive and universal frenzy." Being questioned as +to why he always performed his own compositions, he replied "that, if he +played other compositions than his own, he was obliged to arrange them +to suit his own peculiar style, and it was less trouble to write a piece +of his own." Indeed, whenever he attempted to interpret the works of +other composers, he failed to produce the effects which might have been +expected of him. This was especially the case in the works of Beethoven. + + +V. + +When Paganini appeared in England, of course there was a prodigious +curiosity to see and hear the great player. All kinds of rumors were +in the public mouth about him, and many of the lower classes really +believed that he had sold himself to the evil one. The capacious area +of the opera-house was densely packed, and the prices of admission were +doubled on the opening night. The enthusiasm awakened by the performance +can best be indicated by quoting from some of the contemporary accounts. +The concert opened with Beethoven's Second Symphony, performed by +the Philharmonic Society, and it was followed by Lablache, who sang +Rossini's "Largo al factotum." "A breathless silence then ensued," +writes Mr. Gardiner, an amateur of Leicester, who at the peril of his +ribs had been struggling in the crowd for two hours to get admission, +"and every eye watched the action of this extraordinary violinist as he +glided from the side scenes to the front of the stage. An involuntary +cheering burst from every part of the house, many persons rising from +their seats to view the specter during the thunder of this unprecedented +applause, his gaunt and extraordinary appearance being more like that +of a devotee about to suffer martyrdom than one to delight you with +his art. With the tip of his bow he set off the orchestra in a grand +military movement with a force and vivacity as surprising as it was +new. At the termination of this introduction, he commenced with a soft, +streamy note of celestial quality, and with three or four whips of his +bow elicited points of sound that mounted to the third heaven, and as +bright as stars.... Immediately an execution followed which was equally +indescribable. A scream of astonishment and delight burst from the +audience at the novelty of this effect.... etc." This _naive_ account +may serve to show the impression created on the minds of those not +trained to guard their words with moderation. + +"Nothing can be more intense in feeling," said a contemporary critic, +"than his conception and delivery of an adagio passage. His tone is, +perhaps, not quite so full and round as that of a De Beriot or Baillot, +for example; it is delicate rather than strong, but this delicacy was +probably never possessed equally by another player." "There is no trick +in his playing," writes another critic; "it is all fair scientific +execution, opening to us a new order of sounds.... All his passages +seem free and unpremeditated, as if conceived on the instant. One has no +impression of their having cost him either forethought or labor.... +The word difficulty has no place in his vocabulary.... etc." Paganini's +lengthened tour through London and the provinces was everywhere attended +with the same success, and brought him in a golden harvest, for his +reputation had now grown so portentous that he could exact the greatest +terms from managers. + +Paganini avowed himself as not altogether pleased with England, but, +under the surface of such complaints as the following, one detects the +ring of gratified vanity. He writes in a MS. letter, dated from London +in 1831, of the excessive and noisy admiration to which he was subjected +in the London streets, which left him no peace, and actually blocked his +passage to and from the theatre. "Although the public curiosity to see +me," says he, "is long since satisfied; though I have played in public +at least thirty times, and my likeness has been reproduced in all +possible styles and forms, yet I can never leave my home without being +mobbed by people who are not content with following and jostling me, but +actually get in front of me, and prevent my going either way, address me +in English of which I don't know a word, and even feel me as if to find +out if I am made of flesh and blood. And this is not only among the +common people, but among the upper classes." Paganini repeated his visit +to England during the next season, playing his final farewell concert at +the Victoria Theatre, London, June 17, 1832. The two following years +our artist lived in Paris, and was the great lion of musical and +social circles. People professed to be as much charmed with his lack of +pretension, his _naive_ and simple manners, as with his musical genius. +Yet no man was more exacting of his rights as an artist. One day a court +concert was announced at the Tuilleries, at which Paganini was asked +to play. He consented, and went to examine the room the day before. He +objected to the numerous curtains, so hung as to deaden the sound, +and requested the superintendent to see that they were changed. The +supercilious official ignored the artist's wish, and the offended +Paganini determined not to play. When the hour of the concert arrived, +there was no violinist. The royalties and their attendants were all +seated; murmurs arose, but still no Paganini. At last an official was +sent to the hotel of the artist, only to be informed that _the great +violinist had not gone out, but that he went to bed very early_. It was +during his residence in Paris in the winter of 1834 that he proposed +to Berlioz, for whom he had the most cordial esteem and admiration, +to write a concerto for his Stradiuarius violin, which resulted in the +famous symphony "Harold en Italie." Four years after this he bestowed +the sum of twenty thousand francs on Berlioz, who was then in pressing +need, delicately disguising the donation as a testimonial of his +admiration for the "Symphonie Fantastique." Though the eagerness of +Paganini to make money urged him to labor for years while his health was +exceedingly frail, and though he was justly stigmatized as penurious +in many ways, he was capable of princely generosity on occasions which +appealed strongly to the ardent sympathies which lay at the bottom of +his nature. + +Paganini made a great fortune by the exercise of his art, and in 1834 +purchased, among other property in his native country, a charming +country seat called Villa Gajona, near Parma. Here he spent two years +in comparative quiet, though still continuing to give concerts. At this +period and for some time previous many music-sellers had striven to buy +the copyright of his works. But Paganini put a price on it which +was prescriptive, the probability being that he did not wish his +compositions to pass out of his hands till he had given up his career on +the concert stage. He was willing that they should be arranged for the +piano, but not published as violin music. + +After his return to Italy Paganini gave several most successful +concerts, among others, one for the poor at Placentia, on the 14th of +November, 1834, and another at the court of the Duchess of Parma, in the +December following. But his health was already giving way most visibly. +Phthisis of the larynx, which rendered him a mere shadow of his former +self, and sometimes almost deprived him of speech, had been gaining +ground since his return to his native climate. In 1836, however, he was +better, and some unscrupulous Parisian speculators induced him to lend +his name to a joint-stock undertaking, a sort of gambling-room and +concert-hall, which they called the Casino Paganini. This was duly +opened in a fashionable part of Paris in 1837; but, as the Government +would not allow the establishment to be used as a gambling-house, and +the concerts did not pay the expenses, it became a great failure, and +the illustrious artist actually suffered loss by it to the extent of +forty thousand francs. + +One of his last, if not his very last, concert was given with the +guitar-player, Signor Legnani, at Turin, on the 9th of June, 1837, +for the benefit of the poor. He was then on his way to fulfill his +engagements at the fatal Parisian casino, which opened with much +splendor in the November following. But his health had again broken +down, and the fatigue of the journey had told upon him so much that he +was unable to appear at the casino. When the enterprise was found to +be a failure, a pettifogging lawsuit was carried on against him, and, +according to Fetis, who is very explicit on this subject, the French +judges condemned him to pay the aforesaid forty thousand francs, and to +be deprived of his liberty until that amount was paid--all this without +hearing his defense! + +The career of Paganini was at this critical period fast drawing to a +close. His medical advisers recommended him to return at once to the +South, fearing that the winter would kill him in Paris. He died at Nice +on May 27, 1840, aged fifty-six years. He left to his legitimized son +Achille, the offspring of his _liaison_ with the singer Antonia Bianchi, +a fortune of eighty thousand pounds, and the title of baron, of which he +had received the patent in Germany. His beautiful Guarnerius violin, the +vehicle of so many splendid artistic triumphs, he bequeathed to the town +of Genoa, where he was born. Though Paganini was superstitious, and died +a son of Holy Church, he did not leave any money in religious bequests, +nor did he even receive the last sacraments. The authorities of Rome +raised many difficulties about the funeral, and it was only after an +enormous amount of trouble and expense that Achille was able to have a +solemn service to the memory of his father performed at Parma. It was +five years after Paganini's death that this occurred, and permission +was obtained to have the body removed to holy ground in the village +churchyard near the Villa Gajona. During this long period the dishonored +remains of the illustrious musician were at the hospital of Nice, where +the body had been embalmed, and afterward at a country place near Genoa, +belonging to the family. The superstitious peasantry believed that +strange noises were heard about the grave at night--the wailings of +the unsatisfied spirit of Paganini over the unsanctified burial of its +earthly shell. It was to end these painful stories that the young +baron made a final determined effort to placate the ecclesiastical +authorities. + + +VI. + +The singular personality of Paganini displayed itself in his private no +less than in his artistic life, and a few out of the many anecdotes told +of him will be of interest, as throwing fresh light on the man. Paganini +was accused of being selfish and miserly, of caring little even for his +art, except as a means of accumulating money. While there is much in his +life to justify such an indictment, it is no less true that he on many +occasions displayed great generosity. He was always willing to give +concerts for the benefit of his fellow-artists and for other charitable +purposes, and on more than one occasion bestowed large sums of money for +the relief of distress. We may assume that he was niggardly by habit +and generous by impulse. Utterly ignorant of everything except the art +of music, bred under the most unfortunate and demoralizing conditions, +the fact that his character was, on the whole, so _naive_ and upright, +speaks eloquently for the native qualities of his disposition. His +eccentricities, perhaps, justified the unreasoning vulgar in believing +that he was slightly crazed. His appearance and manner on the platform +were fantastic in the extreme, and rarely failed to provoke ridicule, +till his magic bow turned all other emotions into one of breathless +admiration. He talked to himself continually when alone, a habit +which was partly responsible for the popular belief that he was always +attended by a familiar demon. When a stranger was introduced to him, his +corpse-like face became galvanized into a ghastly smile, which produced +a singular impression, half fascinating, half repulsive. He was taciturn +in society, except among his intimates, when his buoyant spirits bubbled +out in the most amusing jokes and anecdotes expressed in a polyglot +tongue, for he never knew any language well except his own. Naturally +irritable, his quick temper was inflamed by intestinal disease, which +racked him with a suffering that was aggravated by a nostrum, in the use +of which he indulged freely. Indeed, it was said by his friends that his +death was accelerated by his devotion to medical quackery, from a belief +in which no arguments could wean him. + +To his fellow-artists he was always polite and attentive, though they +annoyed him by their persistent curiosity as to the means by which he +produced his unrivaled effects--effects which the established technique +of violin-playing could not explain. An Englishman named George Harris, +who was an _attache_ of the Hanoverian court, attended Paganini for a +year as his private secretary, and he asserts that Paganini was never +seen to practice a single note of music in private. His astonishing +dexterity was kept up to its pitch by the numerous concerts which he +gave, and by his exquisitely delicate organization. He was accustomed to +say that his whole early life had been one of prodigious and continual +study, and that he could afford to repose in after years. Paganini's +knowledge of music was profound and exact, and the most difficult music +was mere child's play to him. Pasini, a well-known painter, living at +Parma, did not believe the stories told of Paganini's ability to play +the most difficult music at sight. Being the possessor of a valuable +Stradiuarius violin, he challenged our artist to play, at first hand, a +manuscript concerto which he placed before him. "This instrument +shall be yours," he said, "if you can play, in a masterly manner, that +concerto at first sight." The Genoese took the violin in his hand, +saying, "In that case, my friend, you may bid adieu to it at once," and +he immediately threw Pasini into ecstatic admiration by his performance +of the piece. There is little doubt that this is the Stradiuarius +instrument left by Paganini to his son, and valued at about six hundred +pounds sterling. + +Of Antonia Bianchi, the mother of his son Achille, Paganini tells us +that, after many years of a most devoted life, the lady's temper became +so violent that a separation was necessary. "Antonia was constantly +tormented," he says, "by the most fearful jealousy. One day she happened +to be behind my chair when I was writing some lines in the album of a +great pianiste, and, when she read the few amiable words I had composed +in honor of the artist to whom the book belonged, she tore it from my +hands, demolished it on the spot, and, so fearful was her rage, would +have assassinated me." + +He was very fond of his little son Achille. A French gentleman tells +us that he called once to take Paganini to dine with him. He found the +artist's room in great disorder. A violin on the table with manuscript +music, another upon a chair, a snuff-box on the bed along with his +child's toys, music, money, letters, articles of dress--all _pele-mele_; +nor were the tables and chairs in their proper places. Everything was in +the most conspicuous confusion. The child was out of temper; something +had vexed him; he had been told to wash his hands; and, while the little +one gave vent to the most violent bursts of temper, the father stood +as calm and quiet as the most accomplished of nurses. He merely turned +quietly to his visitor, and said, in melancholy accents: "The poor child +is cross; I do not know what to do to amuse him; I have played with him +ever since morning, and I can not stand it any longer." + +"It was rather amusing," says the same writer, "to see Paganini in his +slippers doing battle with his child, who came about up to his knees. +The little one advanced boldly with his wooden sword, while the father +retired, crying out, 'Enough, enough! I am already wounded.' But it was +not enough; the young Achilles was never satisfied until his father, +completely vanquished, fell heavily on the bed." + +In the early part of the present century the facilities for travel +were far less convenient than at the present time, and it was always an +arduous undertaking to one in Paganini's frail condition of health. He +was, however, generally cheerful while jolting along in the post-chaise, +and chatted incessantly as long as his voice held out. Harris tells us +that the artist was in the habit of getting out when the horses +were changed, to stretch his long limbs after the confinement of the +carriage. Often he extended his promenades when he became interested in +the town through which he was passing, and would not return till +long after the fresh horses had been harnessed, thereby causing much +annoyance to the driver. On one occasion Jehu swore, if it occurred +again, he would drive on, and leave his passenger behind, to get along +as best he could. The secretary, Harris, was enjoying a nap, and the +driver was true to his resolution at the next stopping-place, leaving +Paganini behind. This made much trouble, and a special coach had to be +sent for the enraged artist, who was found sputtering oaths in half a +dozen languages. Paganini refused to pay for the carriage, and it was +only by force of law that he reluctantly settled the bill. + +His baggage was always of the plainest description; in fact, ludicrously +simple. A shabby box contained his precious Guarnerius fiddle, and +served also as a portmanteau wherein to pack his jewelry, his linen, and +sundry trifles. In addition to this he carried a small traveling-bag and +a hat-box. Mr. Harris tolls us that Paganini was in eating and drinking +exceedingly frugal. Table indulgence was forbidden him by the condition +of his health, as any deviation from the strictest diet resulted in +great suffering. He was a thorough Italian in all his habits and ideas. +Among other traits was a great disdain for the lower classes, though +he was by no means subservient to people of rank and wealth. It was +his habit, when an inferior addressed him, to inquire of his companion, +"What does this animal want with me?" If he was pleased with his +coachman, he would say, "That animal drives well." This seemed not so +much the vulgar arrogance of a small nature, elevated above the class in +life from which it sprang, as that pride of great gifts which made the +freemasonry of genius the measure by which he judged all others, noble +and simple. Like all men of highly nervous constitution, he was keenly +susceptible to both enjoyment and suffering. He was so sensitive +to atmospheric changes that his irritability was excessive during a +thunderstorm. He would then remain silent for hours together, while his +eyes rolled and his limbs twitched convulsively. Such fragile, nervous, +highly sensitive organizations are not unfrequently characteristic of +men of great genius, and in the great Italian violinist it was developed +in an abnormal degree. + +The circumstances accompanying the last scenes of Paganini's life are +very interesting. He had been intimate with most of the great people +of Europe, among them Lord Byron, Sir Clifford Constable, Lord Holland, +Rossini, Ugo Fascolo, Monti, Prince Jerome, the Princess Eliza, and most +of the great painters, poets, and musicians of his age. For Lord Byron +he had a most ardent and exaggerated admiration. Paganini had stopped at +Nice on his way from Paris, detained by extreme debility, for his +last hours were drawing near. Under the blue sky and balmy air of +this Mediterranean paradise the great musician somewhat recovered his +strength at first. One night he sat by his bedroom window, surrounded by +a circle of intimate friends, watching the glories of the Italian sunset +that emblazoned earth, air, and sky, with the richest dyes of nature's +palette. A soft breeze swept into the room, heavy with the perfumes of +flowers, and the twittering of the birds in the green foliage mingled +with the hum of talk from the throngs of gay promenaders sauntering on +the beach. For a while Paganini sat silently absorbed in watching the +joyous scene, when suddenly his eyes turned on the picture of Lord Byron +that hung on the wall. A flash of enthusiasm lightened his face, as if +a great thought were struggling to the surface, and he seized his violin +to improvise. The listeners declared that this "swan song" was the +most remarkable production of his life. He illustrated the stormy and +romantic career of the English poet in music. The accents of doubt, +irony, and despair mingled with the cry of liberty and the tumult of +triumph. Paganini had scarcely finished this wonderful musical picture +when the bow fell from the icy fingers that refused any longer to +perform their function, and the player sank into a dead swoon. + +The shock had been too great, and Paganini never quitted his bed +afterward. The day before his death he seemed a little better, and +directed his servant to buy a pigeon for him, as he had a slight return +of appetite. On the last evening of his life he seemed very tranquil, +and ordered the curtains to be drawn that he might look out of the +window at the beautiful night. The full moon was sailing through the +skies, flooding everything with splendor. Paganini gazed eagerly, gave a +long sigh of pleasure, and fell back on his pillow dead. + + +VII. + +Paganini was the first to develop the full resources of the violin as +a solo instrument. He departed entirely from the traditions of +violin-playing as practiced by earlier masters, as he believed that +great fame could never be acquired in pursuing their methods. A work of +Locatelli, one of the cleverest pupils of Corelli, and a great master +of technique, first seems to have inspired him with a conception of +the more brilliant possibilities of the violin. What further favored +Paganini's new departure was that he lived in an age when the artistic +mind, as well as thought in other directions, felt the desire of +innovation. The French Revolution stirred Europe to its deepest roots, +intellectually as well as politically. At a very early date in his +career Paganini seems to have begun experimenting with the new effects +for which he became famous, though these did not reach their full +fruitage until just before he left Italy on his first general tour. +Fetis says: "In adopting the ideas of his predecessors, in resuscitating +forgotten effects, in superadding what his genius and perseverance gave +birth to, he arrived at that distinctive character of performance which +contributed to his ultimate greatness. The diversity of sounds, the +different methods of tuning his instrument, the frequent employment +of harmonics, single and double, the simultaneous pizzicato and bow +passages, the various staccato effects, the use of double and even +triple notes, a prodigious facility in executing wide intervals with +unerring precision, together with an extraordinary knowledge of all +styles of bowing--such were the principal features of Paganini's talent, +rendered all the more perfect by his great execution, exquisitely +nervous sensibility, and his deep musical feeling." In a word, Paganini +possessed the most remarkable creative power in the technical treatment +of an instrument ever given to a player. Franz Liszt as a pianist +approaches him more nearly in this respect than any other virtuoso, +but the field open to the violinist was far greater and wider than +that offered to the great Hungarian pianist. It was not, however, mere +perfection of technical power that threw Europe into such paroxysms of +admiration; it was the irresistible power of a genius which has never +been matched, and which almost justified the vulgar conclusion that none +but one possessed with a demon could do such things. Paganini possessed +the oft-quoted attribute of genius, "the power of taking infinite +pains," but behind this there lay superlative gifts of mind, physique, +and temperament. He completely dazzled the greatest musical artists as +well as the masses. "His constant and daring flights," writes +Moscheles, "his newly discovered flageolet tones, his gift of fusing +and beautifying objects of the most diverse kinds--all these phases +of genius so completely bewilder my musical perceptions that for days +afterward my head is on fire and my brain reels." His tone lacked +roundness and volume. His use of very thin strings, made necessary by +his double harmonics and other specialties, necessarily prevented a +broad, rich tone. But he more than compensated for this defect by the +intense expression, "soft and melting as that of an Italian singer," to +use the language of Moscheles again, which characterized the quality of +sound he drew from his instrument. Spohr, a very great player, but, +with all his polish, precision, and classical beauty of style, somewhat +phlegmatic and conventional withal, critcised Paganini as lacking +in good taste. He could never get in sympathy with the bent of +individuality, the Southern passion and fire, and the exceptional gifts +of temperament which made Paganini's idiosyncrasies of style as a player +consummate beauties, where imitations of these effects on the part of +others would be gross exaggeration. Spohr developed the school of Viotti +and Rode, and in his attachment to that school could see no artistic +beauty in any deviation. Paganini's peculiar method of treating the +violin has never been regarded as a safe school for any other violinist +to follow. Without Paganini's genius to give it vitality, his technique +would justly be charged with exaggeration and charlatanism. Some of the +modern French players, who have been strongly influenced by the great +Italian, have failed to satisfy serious musical taste from this cause. +On the German violinists he has had but little influence, owing to the +powerful example of Spohr and the musical spirit of the great composers, +which have tended to keep players within the strictly legitimate lines +of art. Some of the principal compositions of Paganini are marked by +great originality and beauty, and are violin classics. Schumann and +Liszt have transcribed several of them for the piano, and Brahms for the +orchestra. But the great glory of Paganini was as a virtuoso, not as a +composer, and it has been generally agreed to place him on the highest +pedestal which has yet been reached in the executive art of the violin. + + + + +DE BERIOT + + +De Beriot's High Place in the Art of the Violin and Violin Music.--The +Scion of an Impoverished Noble Family.--Early Education and Musical +Training.--He seeks the Advice of Viotti in Paris.--Becomes a Pupil of +Kobrechts and Baillot successively.--De Beriot finishes and perfects his +Style on his Own Model.--Great Success in England.--Artistic Travels +in Europe.--Becomes Soloist to the King of the Netherlands.--He meets +Malibran, the Great Cantatrice, in Paris.--Peculiar Circumstances which +drew the Couple toward Each Other.--They form a Connection which only +ends with Malibran's Life.--Sketch of Malibran and her Family.--The +Various Artistic Journeys of Malibran and De Beriot.--Their Marriage +and Mme. de Beriot's Death.--De Beriot becomes Professor in the Brussels +Conservatoire.--His Later Life in Brussels.--His Son Charles Malibran de +Beriot.--The Character of De Beriot as Composer and Player. + + +I. + +Among the great players contemporary with Paganini, the name of Charles +Auguste de Beriot shines in the musical horizon with the luster of a +star of the first magnitude. His influence on music has been one of +unmistakable import, for he has perpetuated his great talents through +the number of gifted pupils who graduated from his teachings and +gathered an inspiration from an artist-master, in whom were united +splendid gifts as a player, an earnest musical spirit, depth and +precision of science, the chivalry of high birth and breeding, and +a width of intellectual culture which would have dignified the +_litterateur_ or scholar. De Beriot was for many years the chief of the +violin department at the Brussels Conservatoire, where, even before the +revolution of 1830, there was one of the finest schools of instruction +for stringed instruments to be found in Europe. When in the full +ripeness of his fame as a virtuoso and composer, De Beriot was called on +to take charge of the violin section of this great institution, and his +influence has thus been transmitted in the world of art in a degree by +no means limited to his direct greatness as an executant. + +De Beriot was born at Louvain, in 1802, of a noble family, which +had been impoverished through the crash and turmoil of the French +Revolution. Left an orphan at the age of nine years, without inheritance +except that of a high spirit and family pride, he would have fared badly +in these early years, had it not been for the kindness of M. Tiby, a +professor of music, who perceived the child's latent talent, and he +acquired skill in playing so rapidly that he was able to play one of +Viotti's concertos at the age of nine. His hearers, many of whom were +connoisseurs, were delighted, and prophesied for him the great career +which made the name of De Beriot famous. Naturally of a contemplative +and thoughtful mind, he lost no time in studying not only the art of +violin-playing but also acquiring proficiency in general branches of +knowledge. His theories of an art ideal even at that early age were far +more lofty and earnest than that which generally guides the aspirations +of musicians. De Beriot, in after years, attributed many of the elevated +ideas which from this time guided his life to the influence of the +well-known scholar and philosopher Jacotot, who, though a poor musician +himself, had very clear ideas as to the aesthetic and moral foundations +on which art success must be built. The text-book, Jacotot's "Method," +fell early into the young musician's hand, and imbued him with the +principles of self-reliance, earnestness, and patience which helped to +model his life, and contributed to the remarkable proficiency in his +art on which his fame rests. Two golden principles were impressed on De +Beriot's mind from these teachings: "All obstacles yield to unwearied +pursuit," and "We are not ordinarily willing to do all that we are +really able to accomplish." In after years De Beriot met Jacotot, and +had the pleasure of acknowledging the deep obligation under which he +felt himself bound. + +In 1821 young Charles de Beriot had attained the age of nineteen, and +it was determined that he should leave his native town and go to Paris, +where he could receive the teachings of the great masters of the violin. +At this time he was a handsome youth with a strongly knit figure, +somewhat above the middle height, with fine, dark eyes and hair, a +florid complexion, and very gentlemanly appearance. Good blood and +breeding displayed themselves in every movement, and ardent hope shone +in his face. He resided for several months in Brussels, which was +afterward to be his home, and associated with the scenes of his greatest +usefulness, and then pursued his eager way to Paris with a letter of +introduction to Viotti, then director of music at the Grand Opera. De +Beriot's ambition was to play before the veteran violinist of +Europe, and to feed his own hopes on the great master's praise and +encouragement. + +"You have a fine style," said Viotti; "give yourself up to the business +of perfecting it; hear all men of talent; profit by everything, but +imitate nothing." There was at this time in Brussels a violinist named +Robrechts, a former pupil of Viotti, and one of the last artists who +derived instruction directly from the celebrated Italian. Andreas +Robrechts was born at Brussels on the 18th of December, 1797, and made +rapid progress as a musician under Planken, a professor, who, like the +late M. Wery, who succeeded him, formed many excellent pupils. He then +entered himself at the Conservatoire of Paris in 1814, where he received +some private lessons from Baillot, while the institution itself was +closed during the occupation by the allied armies. + +Viotti, hearing the young Robrechts play, was so struck with his +magnificent tone and broad style that he undertook to give him finishing +lessons, with the approbation of Baillot. This was soon arranged, and +for many years the two violinists were inseparable. He even accompanied +Viotti in his journey to London, where they were heard more than once in +duets. The illustrious Italian had recognized in Robrechts the pupil +who most closely adhered to his style of playing, and one of the few who +were likely to diffuse it in after years. + +In 1820 Robrechts returned to Brussels, where he was elected first +violin solo to the king, Wil-helm I. It was shortly after this that De +Beriot took lessons from him, and he it was who gave him the letter +of introduction to Viotti. The same excellent professor also gave +instructions to the young Artot. He died in 1860, the last direct +representative of the great Viotti school. + +It will now be seen where De Beriot acquired the first principles of +that large, bold, and exquisitely charming style that in after life +characterized both his performances and his compositions. + + +II. + +Arriving at Paris, and believing probably that the classical style of +Robrechts, from whom he had had instruction in Brussels, did not lead +him swiftly forward enough in the path he would travel, he sought +Viotti, as we have related above, and by his advice entered himself in +the violin class of the Conservatoire, which was directed by Baillot, an +eminent player of the Viotti school, though never a direct pupil of the +latter master. De Beriot, however, did not remain long in the class, but +applied himself most assiduously to the study of the violin in his own +way. This is what Paganini had done, and through this course had been +able to form a style so peculiarly his own. It is not probable that De +Beriot at this time knew much about Paganini; certainly he had +never heard him. Paganini was at first looked on as a mere comet of +extraordinary brilliancy, without much soundness or true genius, and +many who afterward became his most ardent admirers began with sneering +at his pretensions. De Beriot was in later years undoubtedly powerfully +influenced by Paganini, but at the time of which we speak the young +violinist appears to have been determined to evolve a style and +character in art out of his own resources purely. He was carrying out +Viot-ti's advice. + +At this time our young artist was the possessor of a very fine +instrument by Giovanni Magini, a celebrated maker of the Brescian +school, and a pupil of Gaspar de Salo. Many of the violins of this make +are of an excellence hardly inferior to the Strads of the best period, +and De Beriot seems to have preferred this violin during the whole of +his career, though he afterward owned instruments of the most celebrated +makers. + +Very soon De Beriot made his public appearance in concerts, and was +brilliantly successful from the outset. The range of his ambition may be +seen from the fact that he had enough confidence in his own genius from +the very first to play his own music, and it was conceded to possess +great freshness and originality. These early "Airs Varie" consisted of +an introduction, a theme, followed by three or four variations, and a +brilliant finale. + +The young artist preceded Paganini in London several years, as he +made his first appearance before an English audience in 1826. It was +fortunate, perhaps, for De Beriot that such was the case, as it is more +than probable that, after the dazzling and electric displays of +the Geneose player, the more sedate and simple style which then +characterized De Beriot would have failed to please. As it was, he +was most cordially admired, and was generally recognized by English +connoisseurs, as well as by the general public, as one of the most +accomplished players who had ever visited England. The pecuniary results +of these concerts were large, and sufficient to relieve De Beriot, who +had formerly been rather straitened in his means, from the friction and +embarrassment which poverty so often imposes on struggling talent. +There was a peculiar charm in De Beriot's style which was permanently +characteristic of him, though his technical method did not always remain +the same. In addition to very facile execution and a rich, mellow tone, +he possessed the most refined taste. His playing impressed people less +as that of a great professional violinist than that of the marvelously +accomplished amateur, the gentleman of leisure and culture, who +performed with the easy, sparkling grace of one who took no thought of +whether he played well or not, but did great feats on his instrument +because he could not help it. Such was also the characteristic of Mario +as a singer, and there seems to have been many features of resemblance +between these two fine artists, though moving in different fields of +art. + +After traveling through Europe for several years, giving concerts with +great success, he was presented to King Wilhelm of the then united +kingdom of the Netherlands. This monarch, though quite ignorant of +music, was an enthusiastic patron of art, and, believing that De Beriot +was destined to be a great ornament of his native country (for he was +born in Belgium, though his parents were from France), bestowed on the +artist a pension of two thousand florins a year, and the title of first +violin solo to his majesty. But this honor was soon rudely snatched +from De Beriot's grasp. The revolution of 1830, which began with +the excitement inflamed in Brussels by the performance of Auber's +revolutionary opera, "La Muette di Portici," better known as +"Masaniello," dissolved the kingdom, and Belgium parted permanently +from Holland. It was, perhaps, owing to this apparent misfortune that +De Beriot made an acquaintance which culminated in the most interesting +episode of his life. He lost his official position at Brussels, but he +met Mme. Malibran. + + +III. + +De Beriot returned to Paris, where Sontag and Malibran were engaged in +ardent artistic rivalry, about equally dividing the suffrages of the +French public. Mlle. Sontag was a beautiful, fair-haired, blue-eyed +woman, in the very flush of her youth, with an expression of exquisite +sweetness and mildness. De Beriot became madly enamored of her at once, +and pressed his suit with vehemence, but without success. Henrietta +Sontag was already the betrothed of Count Rossi, whom she soon afterward +married, though the engagement was then a secret. The lady's firm +refusal of the young Belgian artist's overtures filled him with a deep +melancholy, which he showed so unmistakably that he became an object of +solicitude to all his friends. Among those was Mme. Malibran, whose warm +sympathies went out to an artist whose talents she admired. Malibran, +living apart from her husband, was obliged to be careful in her conduct, +to avoid giving food for the scandal of a censorious world, but this +did not prevent her from exhibiting the utmost pity and kindness in her +demeanor toward De Beriot. The violinist was soothed by this gentle and +delightful companion, and it was not long before a fresh affection, even +stronger than the other, sprang up in his susceptible nature for the +woman whose ardent Spanish frankness found it difficult to conceal the +fact that she cherished sentiments different from mere friendship. + +The splendid career of Mme. Malibran shines almost without a rival in +the records of the lyric stage, and her influence on De Beriot, first +her lover and afterward her husband, was most marked. Maria Garcia, +afterward Mme. Malibran, was one of a family of very eminent musicians. +She was trained by her father, Manuel Garcia, who, in addition to being +a tenor singer of world-wide reputation, was a composer of some repute, +and the greatest teacher of his time. Her sister, Pauline Garcia, in +after years became one of the greatest dramatic singers who ever lived, +and her brother Manuel also attained considerable eminence as singer, +song-composer, and teacher. The whole family were richly dowered with +musical gifts, and Maria was probably one of the most versatile and +accomplished musical artists of any age. At the age of thirteen she was +a professed musician, and at fifteen, when she came with her parents to +London, she obtained a complete triumph by accidentally performing in +Rossini's "Il Barbiere," to supply the place of a prima donna who was +unable to appear. + +We can not tarry here to enter into the details of her interesting life. +Her father having taken her to America, where she fulfilled a number +of engagements with an increasing success, she finally espoused there +a rich merchant named Malibran, much older than herself. It was a most +ill-advised marriage, and, to make matters worse, the merchant failed +very soon afterward. Some go so far as to say that he foresaw this +catastrophe before he contracted his marriage, in the hope of regaining +his fortune by the proceeds of the singer's career. However that may be, +a separation took place, and Mme. Malibran returned to Paris in 1827. +Her singing in Italian opera was everywhere a source of the most +enthusiastic ovation, and, as she rose like a star of the first +magnitude in the world of song, so the young De Beriot was fast earning +his laurels as one of the greatest violinists of the day. In 1830 an +indissoluble friendship united these two kindred spirits, and in 1832 De +Beriot, Lablache, the great basso, and Mme. Malibran set out for a tour +in Italy, where the latter had operatic engagements at Milan, Rome, +and Naples, and where they all three appeared in concerts with the most +_eclatant_ success--as may well be imagined. + +At Bologna, in 1834, it is difficult to say whether the cantatrice, +or the violinist, or the inestimable basso, produced the greatest +sensation; but her bust in marble was there and then placed under the +peristyle of the Opera-house. + +Henceforward De Beriot never quitted her, and their affection seems to +have increased as time wore on. In the year following she appeared in +London, where she gave forty representations at Drury Lane, performing +in "La Sonnambula," "The Maid of Artois," etc., for which she received +the sum of three thousand two hundred pounds. De Beriot would not have +made this amount probably with his violin in a year. + +After a second journey to Italy, in which Mme. Malibran renewed the +enthusiasm which she had first created in the public mind, and a series +of brilliant concerts which also added to De Beriot's prestige, they +returned to Paris to wait for the divorce of Mme. Malibran from her +husband, which had been dragging its way through the courts. The much +longed for release came in 1836, and the union of hearts and +lives, whose sincerity and devotion had more than half condoned its +irregularity, was sanctified by the Church. The happiness of the +artistic pair was not destined to be long. Only a month afterward Mme. +de Beriot, who was then singing in London, had a dangerous fall from +her horse. Always passionately fond of activity and exercise, she was an +excellent horsewoman, and was somewhat reckless in pursuing her favorite +pursuit. The great singer was thrown by an unruly and badly trained +animal, and received serious internal injuries. Her indomitable spirit +would not, however, permit her to rest. She returned to the Continent +after the close of the London season, to give concerts, in spite of her +weak health, and gave herself but little chance of recovery, before +she returned again to England in September to sing at the Manchester +festival, her last triumph, and the brilliant close of a short and very +remarkable life. She was seized with sudden and severe illness, and died +after nine days of suffering. During this period of trial to De Beriot, +he never left the bedside of his dying wife, but devoted himself +to ministering to her comfort, except once when she insisted on his +fulfilling an important concert engagement. Racked with pain as she was, +her greatest anxiety was as to his artistic success, fearing that his +mental anguish would prevent his doing full justice to his talents. It +is said that her friends informed her of the vociferous applause which +greeted his playing, and a happy smile brightened her dying face. She +died September 22, 1836, at the age of twenty-eight, but not too soon to +have attained one of the most dazzling reputations in the history of +the operatic stage. M. de Beriot was almost frantic with grief, for a +profound love had joined this sympathetic and well-matched pair, and +their private happiness had not been less than their public fame.* + + * For a full sketch of Mme. Malibran de Beriot's artistic and + personal career, the reader is referred to "Great Singers, + Malibran to Tietjens," Appletons' "Handy-Volume Series." + +The news of this calamity to the world of music spread swiftly through +the country, and was known in Paris the next day, where M. Mali-bran, +the divorced husband of the dead singer, was then living. As the fortune +which Mme. de Beriot had made by her art was principally invested in +France, and there were certain irregularities in the French law which +opened the way for claims of M. Malibran on her estate, De Beriot was +obliged to hasten to Paris before his wife's funeral to take out letters +of administration, and thus protect the future of the only child left by +his wife, young Charles de Beriot, who afterward became a distinguished +pianist, though never a professional musician. As the motives of this +sudden disappearance were not known, De Beriot was charged with the +most callous indifference to his wife. But it is now well known that +his action was guided by a most imperative necessity, the welfare of +his infant son, all that was left him of the woman he had loved so +passionately. The remains of Mme. de Beriot were temporarily interred +in the Collegiate Church in Manchester, but they were shortly afterward +removed to Laeken, near Brussels. Over her tomb in the Laeken churchyard +the magnificent mausoleum surmounted with her statue was erected by +De Beriot. The celebrated sculptor Geefs modeled it, and the work is +regarded as one of the _chefs-d'ouvre_ of the artist. + + +IV. + +M. de Beriot did not recover from this shock for more than a year, but +remained secluded at his country place near Brussels. It was not till +Pauline Garcia (subsequently Mme. Viardot) made her _debut_ in concert +in 1837, that De Beriot again appeared in public before one of the most +brilliant audiences which had ever assembled in Brussels. In honor of +this occasion the Philharmonic Society of that city caused two medals +to be struck for M. de Beriot and Mlle. Garcia, the molds of which were +instantly destroyed. The violinist gave a series of concerts assisted +by the young singer in Belgium, Germany, and France, and returned to +Brussels again on the anniversary of their first concert, where they +appeared in the Theatre de la Renaissance before a most crowded and +enthusiastic audience. Among the features of the performance which +called out the warmest applause was Panseron's grand duo for voice and +violin, "Le Songe de Tartini," Mlle. Garcia both singing and playing +the piano-forte accompaniment with remarkable skill. Two years afterward +Mile. Garcia married M. Viardot, director of the Italian Opera at Paris, +and De Beriot espoused Mlle. Huber, daughter of a Viennese magistrate, +and ward of Prince Dietrischten Preskau, who had adopted her at an early +age. + +De Beriot became identified with the Royal Conservatory of Music at +Brussels in the year 1840, and thenceforward his life was devoted to +composition and the direction of the violin school. He gave much time +and care to the education of his son Charles, who, in addition to a +wonderful resemblance to his mother, appears to have inherited much of +the musical endowment of both parents. Had not an ample fortune rendered +professional labor unnecessary, it is probable that the son of Malibran +and De Beriot would have attained a musical eminence worthy of his +lineage; but he is even now celebrated for his admirable performances +in private, and his musical evenings are said to be among the most +delightful entertainments in Parisian society, gathering the most +celebrated artists and _litterateurs_ of the great capital. + +De Beriot ceased giving public concerts after taking charge of the +violin classes of the Brussels Conservatoire, though he continued to +charm select audiences in private concerts. Many of his pupils became +distinguished players, among whom may be named Monasterio, Standish, +Lauterbach, and, chief of all, Henri Vieuxtemps, with whose precocious +talents he was so much pleased that he gave him lessons gratuitously. +During his life at Brussels, and indeed during the whole of his +career, De Beriot enjoyed the friendship and esteem of many of the +most distinguished men of the day, among his most intimate friends and +admirers having been Prince de Chimay, the Russian Prince Youssoupoff, +and King Leopold I, of Belgium. The latter part of his life was not +un-laborious in composition, but otherwise of affluent and elegant ease. +During the last two years his eyesight failed him, and he gradually +became totally blind. He died, April 13, 1870, at the age of +sixty-eight, while visiting his friend Prince Youssoupoff at St. +Petersburg, of the brain malady which had long been making fatal inroads +on his health. + +In originality as a composer for the violin, probably no one can surpass +De Beriot except Paganini, who exerted a remarkable modifying influence +on him after he had formed his own first style. His works are full +of grace and poetic feeling, and worked out with an intellectual +completeness of form which gives him an honorable distinction even among +those musicians marked by affluence of ideas. These compositions are +likely to be among the violin classics, though some of the violinists +of the Spohr school have criticised them for want of depth. He produced +seven concertos, eleven _airs varies_, several books of studies, +four trios for piano, violin, and 'cello, and, together with Osborne, +Thalberg, and other pianists, a number of brilliant duos for piano and +violin. His book of instruction for the violin is among the best ever +written, though somewhat diffuse in detail. He may be considered the +founder of the Franco-Belgian school of violinists, as distinguished +from the classical French school founded by Viotti, and illustrated by +Rode and Baillot. His early playing was molded entirely in this style, +but the dazzling example of Paganini, in course of time, had its +effect on him, as he soon adopted the captivating effects of harmonics, +arpeggios, pizzicatos, etc., which the Genoese had introduced, though +he stopped short of sacrificing his breadth and richness of tone. He +combined the Paganini school with that of Viotti, and gave status to +a peculiar _genre_ of players, in which may be numbered such great +virtuosos as Vieuxtemps and Wieniawski, who successively occupied the +same professional place formerly illustrated by De Beriot, and the +latter of whom recently died. De Beriot's playing was noted for accuracy +of intonation, remarkable deftness and facility in bowing, grace, +elegance, and piquancy, though he never succeeded in creating the +unbounded enthusiasm which everywhere greeted Paganini. + + + + +OLE BULL. + + +The Birth and Early Life of Ole Bull at Bergen, Norway.--His Family and +Connections.--Surroundings of his Boyhood.--Early Display of his Musical +Passion.--Learns the Violin without Aid.--Takes Lessons from an Old +Musical Professor, and soon surpasses his Master.--Anecdotes of his +Boyhood.--His Father's Opposition to Music as a Profession.--Competes +for Admittance to the University at Christiania.--Is consoled +for Failure by a Learned Professor.--"Better be a Fiddler than +a Preacher."--Becomes Conductor of the Philharmonic Society at +Bergen.--His first Musical Journey.--Sees Spohr.--Fights a Duel.--Visit +to Paris.--He is reduced to Great Pecuniary Straits.--Strange Adventure +with Vidocq, the Great Detective.--First Appearance in Concert in +Paris.--Romantic Adventure leading to Acquaintance.--First Appearance +in Italy.--Takes the Place of Do Beriot by Great Good Luck.--Ole Bull +is most enthusiastically received.--Extended Concert Tour in Italy and +France.--His _Debut_ and Success in England.--One Hundred and Eighty +Concerts in Six Months.--Ole Bull's Gaspar di Salo Violin, and the +Circumstances under which he acquired it.--His Answer to the King of +Sweden.--First Visit and Great Success in America in 1843.--Attempt +to establish a National Theatre.--The Norwegian Colony in +Pennsylvania.--Latter Years of Ole Bull.--His Personal Appearance.--Art +Characteristics. + + +I. + +The life of Olaus Bull, or Ole Bull, as he is generally known to the +world, was not only of much interest in its relation to music, but +singularly full of vicissitude and adventure. He was born at Bergen, +Norway, February 5, 1810, of one of the leading families of that resort +of shippers, timber-dealers, and fishermen. His father, John Storm Bull, +was a pharmaceutist, and among his ancestors he numbered the Norwegian +poet Edward Storm, author of the "Sinclair Lay," an epic on the fate of +Colonel Sinclair, who with a thousand Hebridean and Scotch pirates, made +a descent on the Norwegian coast, thus emulating the Vikingr forefathers +of the Norwegians themselves. The peasants slew them to a man by rolling +rocks down on them from the fearful pass of the Gulbrands Dahl, and +the event has been celebrated both by the poet's lay and the painter's +brush. By the mother's side Ole Bull came of excellent Dutch stock, +three of his uncles being captains in the army and navy, and another a +journalist of repute. A passion for music was inherent in the family, +and the editor had occasional quartet parties at his house, where the +works of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven were given, much to the delight of +young Ole, who was often present at these festive occasions. + +The romantic and ardent imagination of the boy was fed by the weird +legends familiar to every Norwegian nursery. The Scheherezade of this +occasion was the boy's own grandmother, who told him with hushed breath +the fairy folk-lore of the mysterious Huldra and the Fossikal, or Spirit +of the Waterfall, and Ole Bull, with his passion for music, was wont +to fancy that the music of the rushing waters was the singing of the +violins played by fairy artists. From an early age this Greek passion +for personifying all the sights and sounds of nature manifested itself +noticeably, but always in some way connected with music. He would fancy +even that he could hear the bluebells and violets singing, and perfume +and color translated themselves into analogies of sound. This poetic +imagination grew with his years and widened with his experience, +becoming the cardinal motive of Ole Bull's art life. For a long time the +young boy had longed for a violin of his own, and finally his uncle who +gave the musical parties presented him with a violin. Ole worked so hard +in practicing on his new treasure that he was soon able to take part in +the little concerts. + +There happened to be at this time in Bergen a professor of music named +Paulsen, who also played skillfully on the violin. Originally from +Denmark, he had come to Bergen on business, but, finding the brandy so +good and cheap, and his musical talent so much appreciated, he postponed +his departure so long that he became a resident. Paulsen, it was said, +would show his perseverance in playing as long as there remained a drop +in the brandy bottle before him, when his musical ambition came to a +sudden close. When the old man, for he was more than sixty when young +Ole Bull first knew him, had worn his clothes into a threadbare state, +his friends would supply him with a fresh suit, and at intervals he gave +concerts, which every one thought it a religious duty to attend. It +was to this Dominie Sampson that Ole Bull was indebted for his earliest +musical training; but it seems that the lad made such swift progress +that his master soon had nothing further to teach him. Poor old Paulsen +was in despair, for in his bright pupil he saw a successful rival, and, +fearing that his occupation was gone, he left Bergen for ever. + +In spite of the boy's most manifest genius for music, his father was +bent on making him a clergyman, going almost to the length of forbidding +him to practice any longer on the dearly loved fiddle, which had now +become a part of himself; but Ole persevered, and played at night +softly, in constant fear that the sounds would be heard. But his mother +and grandmother sympathized with him, and encouraged his labors of love +in spite of the paternal frowns. The author of a recent article in an +American magazine relates an interview with Ole Bull, in which the aged +artist gave some interesting facts of that early period in his life. +His father's assistant, who was musical, occasionally received musical +catalogues from Copenhagen, and in one of these the boy first saw the +name of Paganini, and reference to his famous "Caprices." One evening +his father brought home some Italian musicians, and Ole Bull heard from +them all they knew of the great player, who was then turning the musical +world topsy-turvy with a fever of excitement. "I went to my grandmother. +'Dear grandmother,' I said, 'can't I get some of Paganini's music?' +'Don't tell any one,' said that dear old woman, 'but I will try and buy +a piece of his for you if you are a good child.' And she did try, and +I was wild when I got the Paganini music. How difficult it was, but oh, +how beautiful! That garden-house was my refuge. Maybe--I am not so sure +of it--the cats did not go quite so wild as some four years before. One +day--a memorable one--I went to a quartet party. The new leader of our +philharmonic was there, a very fine violinist, and he played for us a +concerto of Spohr's. I knew it, and was delighted with his reading of +it. We had porter to drink in another room, and we all drank it, but +before they had finished I went back to the music-room, and commenced +trying the Spohr. I was, I suppose, carried away with the music, forgot +myself, and they heard me. + +"'This is impudence,' said the leader. 'And do you think, boy, that you +can play it?' 'Yes,' I said, quite honestly. I don't to this day see why +I should have told a story about it--do you? 'Now you shall play it,' +said somebody. 'Hear him! hear him!' cried my uncle and the rest of +them. I did try it, and played the allegro. All of them applauded save +the leader, who looked mad. + +"'You think you can play anything, then?' asked the leader. He took a +caprice of Paganini's from a music stand. 'Now you try this,' he said, +in a rage. 'I will try it,' I said. 'All right; go ahead.' + +"Now it just happened that this caprice was my favorite, as the cats +well knew. I could play it by memory, and I polished it off. When I did +that, they all shouted. The leader before had been so cross and savage, +I thought he would just rave now. But he did not say a word. He looked +very quiet and composed like. He took the other musicians aside, and I +saw that he was talking to them. Not long afterward this violinist left +Bergen. I never thought I would see him again. It was in 1840, when I +was traveling through Sweden on a concert tour, of a snowy day, that I +met a man in a sleigh. It was quite a picture: just near sunset, and +the northern lights were shooting in the sky; a man wrapped up in a +bear-skin a-tracking along the snow. As he drew up abreast of me and +unmuffled himself, he called out to my driver to stop. It was the +leader, and he said to me, 'Well, now that you are a celebrated +violinist, remember that, when I heard you play Paganini, I predicted +that your career would be a remarkable one.' 'You were mistaken,' I +cried, jumping up; 'I did not read that Paganini at sight; I had played +it before.' 'It makes no difference; good-by,' and he urged on his +horse, and in a minute the leader was gone." + + +II. + +To please his father, Ole Bull studied assiduously to fit himself for +the preliminary examination of the university, but he found time also to +pursue his beloved music. At the age of eighteen he was entered at the +University of Christiania as a candidate for admission, and went to that +city somewhat in advance of the day of ordeal to finish his studies. +He had hardly entered Christiania before he was seduced to play at a +concert, which beginning gave full play to the music-madness beyond all +self-restraint. As a result Ole Bull was "plucked," and at first he +did not dare write to his father of this downfall of the hopes of the +paternal Bull. + +We are told that he found consolation from one of the very professors +who had plucked him. "It's the best thing could have happened to you," +said the latter, by way of encouragement. + +"How so?" inquired Ole. + +"My dear fellow," was the reply, "do you believe you are a fit man for +a curacy in Finmarken or a mission among the Laps? Nature has made you a +musician; stick to your violin, and you will never regret it." + +"But my father, think of his disappointed hopes," said Ole Bull. + +"Your father will never regret it either," answered the professor. + +As good fortune ordered for the forlorn youth, his musical friends did +not desert him, but secured for him the temporary position of director +of the Philharmonic Society of Christiania, the regular incumbent being +ill. On the death of the latter shortly afterward, Ole Bull was tendered +the place. As the new duties were very well paid, and relieved the youth +from dependence on his father's purse, further opposition to his musical +career was withdrawn. + +In the summer of 1829 Ole Bull made a holiday trip into Germany, and +heard Dr. Spohr, then director of the opera at Cassel. "From this +excursion," said one of Ole Bull's friends, "he returned completely +disappointed. He had fancied that a violin-player like Spohr must be +a man who, by his personal appearance, by the poetic character of his +performance, or by the flash of genius, would enchant and overwhelm his +hearers. Instead of this, he found in Spohr a correct teacher, exacting +from the young Norwegian the same cool precision which characterized +his own performance, and quite unable to appreciate the wild, strange +melodies he brought from the land of the North." Spohr was a man of +clock-work mechanism in all his methods and theories--young Ole Bull was +all poetry, romance, and enthusiasm. + +At Minden our young violinist met with an adventure not of the +pleasantest sort. He had joined a party of students about to give +a concert at that place, and was persuaded to take the place of the +violinist of the party, who had been rather free in his libations, and +became "a victim of the rosy god." Ole Bull was very warmly applauded at +the concert, and so much nettled was the student whose failure had made +the vacancy for Ole Bull's talent, that the latter received a challenge +to fight a duel, which was promptly accepted. Ole Bull proved that he +could handle a sword as well as a fiddle-bow, for in a few passes he +wounded and disabled his antagonist. He was advised, however, to leave +that locality as soon as possible, and so he returned straight to +Christiania, "feeling as if the very soil of Europe repelled him" (to +use an expression from one of his letters). + +Ole Bull remained in Norway for two years, but he felt that he must +bestir himself, and go to the great centers of musical culture if +he would find a proper development and field for the genius which he +believed he possessed. His friends at Christiania idolized him, and were +loath to let him go, but nothing could stay him, so with pilgrim's staff +and violin-case he started on his journey. Scarcely twenty-one years +of age, nearly penniless, with no letters of introduction to people who +could help him, but with boundless hope and resolution, he first +set foot in Paris in 1831. The town was agog over Paganini and Mme. +Malibran, and of course the first impulse of the young artist was to +hear these great people. One night he returned from hearing Malibran, +and went to bed so late that he slept till nearly noon the next day. To +his infinite consternation, he discovered that his landlord had decamped +during the early morning, taking away the household furniture of any +value, and even abstracting the modest trunk which contained Ole Bull's +clothes and his violin. After such an overwhelming calamity as this, the +Seine seemed the only resource, and the young Norwegian, it is said, +had nearly concluded to find relief from his troubles in its turbid +and sin-weighted waters. But it happened that the young man had still a +little money left, enough to support him for a week, and he concluded to +delay the fatal plunge till the last sou was gone. It was while he was +slowly enjoying the last dinner which he was able to pay for, that he +made the acquaintance of a remarkable character, to whom he confided his +misery and his determination to find a tomb in the Seine. + + +III. + +Said the stranger, after pondering a few moments over the simple but sad +story of the young violinist, in whom he had taken a sudden interest: + +"Well, I will do something for you, if you have courage and five +francs." + +"I have both." + +"Then go to Frascate's at ten; pass through the first room, enter the +second, where they play 'rouge-et-noir,' and when a new _taille_ begins +put your five francs on _rouge_, and leave it there." + +This promise of an adventure revived Ole Bull's drooping spirits, and he +was faithful in carrying out his unknown friend's instructions. At the +precise hour the tall stalwart figure of the young Norwegian bent over +the table at Frascate's, while the game of "rouge-et-noir" was being +played. He threw his five francs on red; the card was drawn--red wins, +and the five francs were ten. Again Ole Bull bet his ten francs on +_rouge_, and again he won; and so he continued, leaving his money on the +same color till a considerable amount of money lay before him. By this +time the spirit of gaming was thoroughly aroused. Should he leave the +money and trust to red turning up again, or withdraw the pile of gold +and notes, satisfied with the kindness of Fortune, without further +tempting the fickle goddess? He said to a friend afterward, in relating +his feelings on this occasion: + +"I was in a fear--I acted as if possessed by a spirit not my own; no one +can understand my feelings who has not been so tried--left alone in the +world, as if on the extreme verge of an abyss yawning beneath, and at +the same time feeling something within that might merit a saving hand at +the last moment." + +Ole Bull stretched forth to grasp the money, when a white hand covered +it before his. He seized the wrist with a fierce grasp, while the +owner of it uttered a loud shriek, and loud threats came from the other +players, who took sides in the matter, when a dark figure suddenly +appeared on the scene, and spoke in a voice whose tones carried with +them a magic authority which stilled all tumult at once. "Madame, +leave this gold alone!"--and to Ole Bull: "Sir, take your money, if +you please." The winner of an amount which had become very considerable +lingered a few moments to see the further results of the play, and, much +to his disgust, discovered that he would have possessed quite a little +fortune had he left his pile undisturbed for one more turn of the cards. +He was consoled, however, on arriving at his miserable lodgings, for he +could scarcely believe that this stroke of good luck was true, and yet +there was something repulsive in it to the fresh, unsophisticated nature +of the man. He said in a letter to one of his friends, "What a hideous +joy I felt--what a horrible pleasure it was to have saved one's own soul +by the spoil of others!" The mysterious stranger who had thus befriended +Ole Bull was the great detective Vidocq, whose adventures and exploits +had given him a world-wide reputation. Ole Bull never saw him again. + +In exploring Paris for the purchase of a new violin, he accidentally +made the acquaintance of an individual named Labout, who fancied that he +had found the secret of the old Cremona varnish, and that, by using it +on modern-made violins, the instruments would acquire all the tone +and quality of the best old fiddles of the days of the Stradiuarii and +Amati. The inventor persuaded Ole Bull to appear at a private concert +where he proposed to test his invention, and where the Duke and Duchesse +de Montebello were to be present. The Norwegian's playing produced +a genuine sensation, and the duke took the young artist under his +patronage. The result was that Ole Bull was soon able to give a concert +on his own account, which brought him a profit of about twelve hundred +francs, and made him talked about among the musical _cognoscenti_ of +Paris. Of course every one at the time was Paganini mad, but Ole Bull +secured more than a respectful hearing, and opened the way toward +getting a solid footing for himself. + +Among the incidents which occurred to him in Paris about this time was +one which had a curiously interesting bearing on his life. Obliged to +move from his lodgings on account of the death of the landlord and his +wife of cholera, a disease then raging in Paris, Ole Bull was told of +a noble but impoverished family who had a room to let on account of the +recent death of the only son. The Norwegian violinist presented himself +at the somewhat dilapidated mansion of the Comtesse de Faye, and was +shown into the presence of three ladies dressed in deepest mourning. +The eldest of them, on hearing his errand, haughtily declined the +proposition, when the more beautiful of the two girls said, "Look at +him, mother!" with such eagerness as to startle the ancient dame. + +Ole Bull was surprised at this. The old lady put on her spectacles, and, +as she riveted her eyes upon him, her countenance changed suddenly. She +had found in him such a resemblance to the son she had lost that she +at once consented to his residing in her house. Some time afterward Ole +Bull became her son indeed, having married the fascinating girl who had +exclaimed, "Look at him, mother!" + +With the little money he had now earned he determined to go to Italy, +provided with some letters of introduction; and he gave his first +Italian concert at Milan in 1834. Applause was not wanting, but his +performance was rather severely criticised in the papers. The following +paragraph, reproduced from an Italian musical periodical, published +shortly after this concert, probably represents very truly the state of +his talent at that period: + +"M. Ole Bull plays the music of Spohr, May-seder, Pugnani, and others, +without knowing the true character of the music he plays, and partly +spoils it by adding a color of his own. It is manifest that this +color of his own proceeds from an original, poetical, and musical +individuality; but of this originality he is himself unconscious. He +has not formed himself; in fact, he has no style; he is an uneducated +musician. _Whether he is a diamond or not is uncertain; but certain it +is that the diamond is not polished_." + +In a short time Ole Bull discovered that it was necessary to cultivate, +more than he had done, his cantabile--this was his weakest point, and a +most important one. In Italy he found masters who enabled him to develop +this great quality of the violin, and from that moment his career as an +artist was established. The next concert of any consequence in which he +played was at Bologna under peculiar circumstances; and his reputation +as a great violinist appears to date from that concert. De Beriot and +Malibran were then idolized at Bologna, and just as Ole Bull arrived in +that ancient town, De Beriot was about to fulfill an engagement to play +at a concert given by the celebrated Philharmonic Society there. The +engagement had been made by the Marquis di Zampieri, between whom and +the Belgian artist there was some feeling of mutual aversion, growing +out of a misunderstanding and a remark of the marquis which had wounded +the susceptibilities of the other. The consequence was that on the day +of the concert De Beriot sent a note, saying that he had a sore finger +and could not play. + +Marquis Zampieri was in a quandary, for the time was short. In his +embarrassment he took council with Mme. Colbran Rossini, who was then at +Bologna with her husband, the illustrious composer. It happened that Ole +Bull's lodging was in the same palazzo, and Mme. Rossini had often heard +the tones of the young artist's violin in his daily practicing; her +curiosity had been greatly aroused about this unknown player, and now +was the chance to gratify it. She told the noble _entrepreneur_ that she +had discovered a violinist quite worthy of taking De Beriot's place. + +"Who is it?" inquired the marquis. + +"I don't know," answered the wife of Rossini. + +"You are joking, then?" + +"Not at all, but I am sure there is a genius in town, and he lodges +close by here," pointing to Ole Bull's apartment. "Take your net," +she added, "and catch your bird before he has flown away." The marquis +knocked at Ole Bull's door, and the delighted young artist soon +concluded an engagement which insured him an appearance under the best +auspices, for Mme. Malibran would sing at the same concert. + +In a few hours Ole Bull was performing before a distinguished audience +in the concert-hall of the Philharmonic Society. Among the pieces he +played, all of his own composition, was his "Quartet for One Violin," +in which his great skill in double and triple harmonics was admirably +shown. Enthusiastic applause greeted the young virtuoso, and he was +escorted home by a torchlight procession of eager and noisy admirers. +This was Ole Bull's first really great success, though he had played +in France and Germany. The Italians, with their quick, generous +appreciation, and their demonstrative manner of showing admiration, had +given him a reception of such unreserved approval as warmed his +artistic ambition to the very core. Mme. Malibran, though annoyed at the +mischance which glorified another at the expense of De Beriot, was too +just and amiable not to express her hearty congratulations to the young +artist, and De Beriot himself, when he was shortly afterward introduced +to Ole Bull, treated him with most brotherly kindness and cordiality. +Prince and Princess Poniatowsky also sent their cards to the now +successful artist, and gave him letters of introduction to distinguished +people which wore of great use in his concert tour. His career had now +become assured, and the world received him with open arms. + +The following year, 1835, contributed a catalogue of similar successes +in various cities of Italy and France, culminating in a grand concert at +Paris in the Opera-house, where the most distinguished musicians of the +city gave their warmest applause in recognition of the growing fame and +skill of Ole Bull, for he had already begun to illustrate a new field in +music by setting the quaint poetic legends and folk-songs of his native +land. His specialty as a composer was in the domain of descriptive +music, his genius was for the picturesque. His vivid imagination, +full of poetic phantasy, and saturated with the heroic traditions and +fairy-lore of a race singularly rich in this inheritance from an earlier +age, instinctively flowered into art-forms designed to embody this +legendary wealth. Ole Bull's violin compositions, though dry and +rigorous musicians object to them as lacking in depth of science, +as shallow and sensational, are distinctly tone-pictures full of +suggestiveness for the imagination. It was this peculiarity which early +began to impress his audiences, and gave Ole Bull a separate place by +himself in an age of eminent players. + + +IV. + +In 1836 and 1837 Ole Bull gave one hundred and eighty concerts in +England during the space of sixteen months. By this time he had become +famous, and a mere announcement sufficed to attract large audiences. +Subsequently he visited successively every town of importance in Europe, +earning large amounts of money and golden opinions everywhere. For +a long time our artist used a fine Guarnerius violin and afterward a +Nicholas Amati, which was said to be the finest instrument of this make +in the world. But the violin which Ole Bull prized in latter years +above all others was the famous Gaspar di Salo with the scroll carved +by Benvenuto Cellini. Mr. Barnett Phillips, an American _litterateur_, +tells the story of this noble old instrument, as related in Ole Bull's +words: + +"Well, in 1839 I gave sixteen concerts at Vienna, and then Rhehazek was +the great violin collector. I saw at his house this violin for the first +time. I just went wild over it. 'Will you sell it?' I asked. 'Yes,' was +the reply--'for one quarter of all Vienna.' Now Ehehazek was really as +poor as a church mouse. Though he had no end of money put out in the +most valuable instruments, he never sold any of them unless when forced +by hunger. I invited Rhehazek to my concerts. I wanted to buy the violin +so much that I made him some tempting offers. One day he said to +me, 'See here, Ole Bull, if I do sell the violin, you shall have the +preference at four thousand ducats.' 'Agreed,' I cried, though I knew it +was a big sum. + +"That violin came strolling, or playing rather, through my brain for +some years. It was in 1841. I was in Leipsic giving concerts. Liszt was +there, and so also was Mendelssohn. One day we were all dining together. +We were having a splendid time. During the dinner came an immense letter +with a seal--an official document. Said Mendelssohn, 'Use no ceremony; +open your letter.' 'What an awful seal!' cried Liszt. 'With your +permission,' said I, and I opened the letter. It was from Bhehazek's +son, for the collector was dead. His father had said that the violin +should be offered to me at the price he had mentioned. I told Liszt and +Mendelssohn about the price. 'You man from Norway, you are crazy,' said +Liszt. 'Unheard of extravagance, which only a fiddler is capable of,' +exclaimed Mendelssohn. 'Have you ever played on it? Have you ever tried +it?' they both inquired. 'Never,' I answered, 'for it can not be played +on at all just now.' + +"I never was happier than when I felt sure that the prize was mine. +Originally the bridge was of boxwood, with two fishes carved on it--that +was the zodiacal sign of my birthday, February--which was a good sign. +Oh, the good times that violin and I have had! As to its history, +Ehehazek told me that in 1809, when Innspruck was taken by the French, +the soldiers sacked the town. This violin had been placed in the +Innspruck Museum by Cardinal Aldobrandi at the close of the sixteenth +century. A French soldier looted it, and sold it to Ehehazek for a +trifle. This is the same violin that I played on, when I first came +to the United States, in the Park Theatre. That was on Evacuation day, +1843. I went to the Astor House, and made a joke--I am quite capable of +doing such things. It was the day when John Bull went out and Ole Bull +came in. I remember that at the very first concert one of my strings +broke, and I had to work out my piece on the three strings, and it was +supposed I did it on purpose." Ole Bull valued this instrument as beyond +all price, and justly, for there have been few more famous violins than +the Treasury violin of Innspruck, under which name it was known to all +the amateurs and collectors of the world. + +During his various art wanderings through Europe, Ole Bull made many +friends among the distinguished men of the world. A dominant pride +of person and race, however, always preserved him from the slightest +approach to servility. In 1838 he was presented to Carl Johann, king +of Sweden, at Stockholm. The king had at that time a great feeling of +bitterness against Norway, on account of the obstinate refusal of the +people of that country to be united with Sweden under his rule. At the +interview with Ole Bull the irate king let fall some sharp expressions +relative to his chagrin in the matter. + +"Sire," said the artist, drawing himself up to the fullness of his +magnificent height, and looking sternly at the monarch, "you forget that +I have the honor to be a Norwegian." + +The king was startled by this curt rebuke, and was about to make an +angry reply, but smoothed his face and answered, with a laugh: + +"Well! well! I know you d--d sturdy fellows." Carl Johann afterward +bestowed on Ole Bull the order of Gustavus Vasa. + + +V. + +Ole Bull's first visit to America was in 1843, and the impression +produced by his playing was, for manifest causes, even greater than that +created in Europe. He was the first really great violinist who had ever +come to this country for concert purposes, and there was none other +to measure him by. There were no great traditions of players who had +preceded him; there were no rivals like Spohr, Paganini, and De Beriot +to provoke comparisons. In later years artists discovered that this +country was a veritable El Dorado, and regarded an American tour as +indispensable to the fulfillment of a well-rounded career. But, when Ole +Bull began to play in America, his performances were revelations, to the +masses of those that heard him, of the possibilities of the violin. The +greatest enthusiasm was manifested everywhere, and, during the three +years of this early visit, he gave repeated performances in every city +of any note in America. The writer of this little work met Ole Bull a +few years ago in Chicago, and heard the artist laughingly say that, +when he first entered what was destined to be such a great city, it was +little more than a vast mudhole, a good-sized village scattered over +a wide space of ground, and with no building of pretension except Fort +Dearborn, a stockade fortification. + +Our artist returned to Europe in 1846, and for five years led a +wandering life of concert-giving in England, France, Holland, Germany, +Italy, and Spain, adding to his laurels by the recognition everywhere +conceded of the increased soundness and musicianly excellence of his +playing. It was indeed at this period that Ole Bull attained his best as +a virtuoso. He had been previously seduced by the example of Paganini, +and in the attempt to master the more strange and remote difficulties of +the instrument had often laid himself open to serious criticism. But Ole +Bull gradually formed a style of his own which was the outcome of his +passion for descriptive and poetic playing, and the correlative of the +mode of composition which he adopted. In still later years Ole Bull +seems to have returned again to what might be termed claptrap and +trickery in his art, and to have desired rather to excite wonder and +curiosity than to charm the sensibilities or to satisfy the requirements +of sound musical taste. + +In 1851 Ole Bull returned home with the patriotic purpose of +establishing a strictly national theatre. This had been for a long time +one of the many dreams which his active imagination had conjured up as +a part of his mission. He was one of the earliest of that school of +reformers, of whom we have heard so much of late years, that urge the +readoption of the old Norse language--or, what is nearest to it now, +the Icelandic--as the vehicle of art and literature. In the attempt to +dethrone Dansk from its preeminence as the language of the drama, Ole +Bull signally failed, and his Norwegian theatre, established at Bergen, +proved only an insatiable tax on money-resources earned in other +directions. + +The year succeeding this, Ole Bull again visited the United States, +and spent five years here. The return to America did not altogether +contemplate the pursuit of music, for there had been for a good while +boiling in his brain, among other schemes, the project of a great +Scandinavian colony, to be established in Pennsylvania under his +auspices. He purchased one hundred and twenty-five thousand acres of +land on the Susquehanna, and hundreds of sturdy Norwegians flocked over +to the land of milk and honey thus auspiciously opened to them. Timber +was felled, ground cleared, churches, cottages, school-houses built, +and everything was progressing desirably, when the ambitious colonizer +discovered that the parties who sold him the land were swindlers without +any rightful claim to it. With the unbusiness-like carelessness of the +man of genius, our artist had not investigated the claims of others +on the property, and he thus became involved in a most perplexing and +expensive suit at law. He attempted to punish the rascals who so nearly +ruined him, but they were shielded behind the quips and quirks of the +law, and got away scot free. Ole Bull's previously ample means were so +heavily drained by this misfortune that he was compelled to take up +his violin again and resume concert-giving, for he had incurred heavy +pecuniary obligations that must be met. Driven by the most feverish +anxiety, he passed from town to town, playing almost every night, till +he was stricken down by yellow fever in New Orleans. His powerful frame +and sound constitution, fortified by the abstemious habits which had +marked his whole life of queer vicissitudes, carried him through this +danger safely, and he finally succeeded in honorably fulfilling the +responsibility which he had assumed toward his countrymen. + +For many recent years Ole Bull, when not engaged in concert-giving in +Europe or America, has resided at a charming country estate on one +of the little islands off the coast of Norway. His numerous farewell +concert tours are very well known to the public, and would have won +him ridicule, had not the genial presence and brilliant talents of the +Norwegian artist been always good for a renewed and no less cordial +welcome. He frequently referred to the United States in latter years as +the beloved land of his adoption. One striking proof of his preference +was, at all events, displayed in his marriage to an American lady, Miss +Thorpe, of Wisconsin, in 1870. One son was the fruit of this second +marriage, and Mr. and Mrs. Ole Bull divided their time between Norway +and the United States. + +The magnificent presence of Ole Bull, as if of some grand old viking +stepped out of his armor and dressed in modern garb, made a most +picturesque personality. Those who have seen him can never forget him. +The great stature, the massive, stalwart form, as upright as a pine, the +white floating locks framing the ruddy face, full of strength and genial +humor, lit up by keen blue eyes--all these things made Ole Bull the most +striking man in _personnel_ among all the artists who have been familiar +to our public. + +While Ole Bull will not be known in the history of art as a great +scientific musician, there can be no doubt that his place as a brilliant +and gifted solo player will stand among the very foremost. As a composer +he will probably be forgotten, for his compositions, which made up the +most of his concert programmes, were so radically interwoven with his +executive art as a virtuoso that the two can not be dissevered. No one, +unless he should be inspired by the same feelings which animated the +breast of Ole Bull, could ever evolve from his musical tone-pictures +of Scandinavian myth and folk-lore the weird fascination which his +bow struck from the strings. Ole Bull, like Paganini, laid no claim to +greatness in interpreting the violin classics. His peculiar title to +fame is that of being, aside from brilliancy as a violin virtuoso, the +musical exponent of his people and their traditions. He died at Bergen, +Norway, on August 18, 1880, in the seventy-first year of his age, +and his funeral services made one of the most august and imposing +ceremonials held for many a long year in Norway. + + + + +MUZIO CLEMENTI + + +The Genealogy of the Piano-forte.--The Harpsichord its Immediate +Predecessor.--Supposed Invention of the Piano-forte.--Silbermann the +First Maker.--Anecdote of Frederick the Great.--The Piano-forte only +slowly makes its Way as against the Clavichord and Harpsichord.--Emanuel +Bach, the First Composer of Sonatas for the Piano-forte.--His Views +of playing on the New Instrument.--Haydn and Mozart as Players.--Muzio +Clementi, the Earliest Virtuoso, strictly speaking, as a Pianist.--Born +in Rome in 1752.--Scion of an Artistic Family.--First Musical +Training.--Rapid Development of his Talents.--Composes Contrapuntal +Works at the Age of Fourteen.--Early Studies of the Organ and +Harpsichord.--Goes to England to complete his Studies.--Creates +an Unequaled Furore in London.--John Christian Bach's Opinion of +Clementi.--Clementi's Musical Tour.--His Duel with Mozart before the +Emperor.--Tenor of Clementi's Life in England.--Clementi's Pupils.--Trip +to St. Petersburg.--Sphor's Anecdote of Him.--Mercantile and +Manufacturing Interest in the Piano as Partner of Collard.--The Players +and Composers trained under Clementi.--His Composition.--Status as +a Player.--Character and Influence as an Artist.--Development of the +Technique of the Piano, culminating in Clementi. + + +I. + +Before touching the life of Clementi, the first of the great virtuosos +who may be considered distinctively composers for and players on the +pianoforte, it is indispensable to a clear understanding of the theme +involved that the reader should turn back for a brief glance at the +history of the piano and piano-playing prior to his time. Before the +piano-forte came the harpsichord, prior to the latter the spinet, +then the virginal, the clavichord, and monochord; before these, the +clavieytherium. Before these instruments, which bring us down to modern +civilized times, and constitute the genealogy of the piano-forte, we +have the dulcimer and psaltery, and all the Egyptian, Grecian, and Roman +harps and lyres which were struck with a quill or plectrum. No product +of human ingenuity has been the outcome of a steady and systematic +growth from age to age by more demonstrable stages than this most +remarkable of musical instruments. As it is not the intention to offer +an essay on the piano, but only to make clearer the conditions under +which a great school of players began to appear, the antiquities of the +topic are not necessary to be touched. + +The modern piano-forte had as its immediate predecessor the harpsichord, +the instrument on which the heroines of the novels of Fielding, +Smollett, Richardson, and their contemporaries were wont to discourse +sweet music, and for which Haydn and Mozart composed some delightful +minor works. In the harpsichord the strings were set in vibration by +points of quill or hard leather. One of these instruments looked like +a piano, only it was provided with two keyboards, one above the other, +related to each other as the swell and main keyboards of an organ. +At last it occurred to lovers of music that all refinement of musical +expression depended on touch, and that whereas a string could be plucked +or pulled by machinery in but one way, it could be hit in a hundred +ways. It was then that the notion of striking the strings with a hammer +found practical use, and by the addition of this element the piano-forte +emerged into existence. The idea appears to have occurred to three men +early in the eighteenth century, almost simultaneously--Cristofori, an +Italian, Marins, a Frenchman, and Schroter, a German. For years attempts +to carry out the new mechanism were so clumsy that good harpsichords +on the wrong principle were preferred to poor piano-fortes on the right +principle. But the keynote of progress had been struck, and the day +of the quill and leather jack was swiftly drawing to a close. A small +hammer was made to strike the string, producing a marvelously clear, +precise, delicate tone, and the "scratch" with a sound at the end of it +was about to be consigned to oblivion for ever and a day. + +Gottfried Silbermann, an ingenious musical instrument maker, of +Freyhurg, Saxony, was the first to give the new principle adequate +expression, about the year 1740, and his pianos excited a great deal of +curiosity among musicians and scientific men. He followed the mechanism +of Cristofori, the Italian, rather than of his own countrymen. Schroter +and his instruments appear to have been ingenious, though Sebastian +Bach, who loved his "well-tempered clavichord" (the most powerful +instrument of the harpsichord class) too well to be seduced from his +allegiance, pronounced them too feeble in tone, a criticism which he +retracted in after years. Silbermann experimented and labored with +incessant energy for many years, and he had the satisfaction before +dying of seeing the piano firmly established in the affection and +admiration of the musical world. One of the most authentic of musical +anecdotes is that of the visit of John Sebastian Bach and his son to +Frederick the Great, at Potsdam, in 1747. The Prussian king was an +enthusiast in music, and himself an excellent performer on the flute, +of which, as well as of other instruments, he had a large collection. He +had for a long time been anxious for a visit from Bach, but that great +man was too much enamored of his own quiet musical solitude to +run hither and thither at the beck of kings. At last, after much +solicitation, he consented, and arrived at Potsdam late in the evening, +all dusty and travel-stained. The king was just taking up his flute +to play a concerto, when a lackey informed him of the coming of Bach. +Frederick was more agitated than he ever had been in the tumult of +battle. Crying aloud, "Gentlemen, old Bach is here!" he rushed out to +meet the king in a loftier domain than his own, and ushered him into the +lordly company of powdered wigs and doublets, of fair dames shining with +jewels, satins, and velvets, of courtiers glittering in all the colors +of the rainbow. "Old Bach" presented a shabby figure amid all this +splendor, but the king cared nothing for that. He was most anxious to +hear the grand old musician play on the new Silbermann piano, which was +the latest hobby of the Prussian monarch. + +It is not a matter of wonder that the lovers of the harpsichord and +clavichord did not take kindly to the piano-forte at first. The keys +needed a greater delicacy of treatment, and the very fact that the +instrument required a new style of playing was of course sufficient to +relegate the piano to another generation. The art of playing had at the +time of the invention of the piano attained a high degree of efficiency. +Such musicians as Do-menico Scarlatti in Italy and John Sebastian Bach +in Germany had developed a wonderful degree of skill in treating the +_clavecin_, or spinet, and the clavichord, and, if we may trust the old +accounts, they called out ecstasies of admiration similar to those which +the great modern players have excited. With the piano-forte, however, an +entirely new style of expression came into existence. The power to play +soft or loud at will developed the individual or personal feeling of the +player, and new effects were speedily invented and put in practice. The +art of playing ceased to be considered from the merely objective point +of view, for the richer resources of the piano suggested the indulgence +of individuality of expression. It was left to Emanuel Bach to make +the first step toward the proper treatment of the piano, and to adapt +a style of composition expressly to its requirements, though even he +continued to prefer the clavichord. The rigorous, polyphonic style of +his illustrious father was succeeded by the lyrical and singing +element, which, if fantastic and daring, had a sweet, bright charm very +fascinating. He writes in one of his treatises: "Methinks music +ought appeal directly to the heart, and in this no performer on +the piano-forte will succeed by merely thumping and drumming, or by +continual arpeggio playing. During the last few years my chief endeavor +has been to play the piano-forte, in spite of its deficiency in +sustaining the sound, so much as possible, in a singing manner, and +to compose for it accordingly. This is by no means an easy task, if we +desire not to leave the ear empty or to disturb the noble simplicity of +the cantabile by too much noise." + +Haydn and Mozart, who composed somewhat for the harpsichord (for until +the closing years of the eighteenth century this instrument had +not entirely yielded to the growing popularity of the piano-forte), +distinguished themselves still more by their treatment of the latter +instrument. They closely followed the maxims of Emanuel Bach. They +aimed to please the public by sweet melody and agreeable harmony, by +spontaneous elegance and cheerfulness, by suave and smooth simplicity. +Their practice in writing for the orchestra and for voices modified +their piano-forte style both as composers and players, but they never +sacrificed that intelligible and simple charm which appeals to the +universal heart to the taste for grand, complex, and eccentric effects, +which has so dominated the efforts of their successors. Mozart's most +distinguished contemporaries bear witness to his excellence as a player, +and his great command over the piano-forte, and his own remarks on +piano-playing are full of point and suggestion. He asserts "that the +performer should possess a quiet and steady hand, with its natural +lightness, smoothness, and gliding rapidity so well developed that the +passages should flow like oil.... All notes, graces, accents, etc., +should be brought out with fitting taste and expression.... In passages +[technical figures], some notes may be left to their fate without +notice, but is that right? Three things are necessary to a good +performer"; and he pointed significantly to his head, his heart, and +the tips of his fingers, as symbolical of understanding, sympathy, and +technical skill. But it was fated that Clementi should be the Columbus +in the domain of piano-forte playing and composition. He was the father +of the school of modern piano technique, and by far surpassed all his +contemporaries in the boldness, vigor, brilliancy, and variety of his +execution, and he is entitled to be called first (in respect of date) +of the great piano-forte virtuosos, Clementi wrote solely for this +instrument (for his few orchestral works are now dead). The piano, as +his sole medium of expression, became a vehicle of great eloquence and +power, and his sonatas, as pure types of piano-forte compositions, are +unsurpassed, even in this age of exuberant musical fertility. + + +II. + +Muzio Clementi was born at Rome in the year 1752, and was the son of +a silver worker of great skill, who was principally engaged on the +execution of the embossed figures and vases employed in the Catholic +worship. The boy at a very early age evinced a most decided taste +for music, a predilection which delighted his father, himself an +enthusiastic amateur, and caused him to bestow the utmost pains on the +cultivation of the child's talents. The boy's first master was Buroni, +choir-master a tone of the churches, and a relation of the family. +Later, young Clementi took lessons in thorough bass from an eminent +organist, Condicelli, and after a couple of years' application he was +thought sufficiently advanced to apply for the position of organist, +which he obtained, his age then being barely nine. He prosecuted his +studies with great zeal under the ablest masters, and his genius for +composition as well as for playing displayed a rapid development. By the +time Clementi had attained the age of fourteen he had composed several +contrapuntal works of considerable merit, one of which, a mass for four +voices and chorus, gained great applause from the musicians and public +of Rome. + +During his studies of counterpoint and the organ Clementi never +neglected his harpsichord, on which he achieved remarkable proficiency, +for the piano-forte at this time, though gradually coming into use, was +looked on rather as a curiosity than an instrument of practical value. +The turning-point of Clementi's life occurred in 1767, through his +acquaintance with an English gentleman of wealth, Mr. Peter Beckford, +who evinced a deep interest in the young musician's career. After much +opposition Mr. Beckford persuaded the elder Clementi to intrust his +son's further musical education to his care. The country seat of Mr. +Beckford was in Dorsetshire, England, and here, by the aid of a fine +library, social surroundings of the most favorable kind, and indomitable +energy on his own part, he speedily made himself an adept in the English +language and literature. The talents of Clementi made him almost an +Admirable Crichton, for it is asserted that, in addition to the most +severe musical studies, he made himself in a few years a proficient in +the principal modern languages, in Greek and Latin, and in the +whole circle of the belles-lettres. His studies in his own art were +principally based on the works of Corelli, Alexander Scarlatti, +Handel's harpsichord and organ music, and on the sonatas of Paradies, a +Neapolitan composer and teacher, who enjoyed high repute in London for +many years. Until 1770 Clementi spent his time secluded at his patron's +country seat, and then fully equipped with musical knowledge, and with +an unequaled command of the instrument, he burst on the town as pianist +and composer. He had already written at this time his "Opus No. 2," +which established a new era for sonata compositions, and is recognized +to-day as the basis for all modern works of this class. + +Clementi's attainments were so phenomenal that he carried everything +before him in London, and met with a success so brilliant as to be +almost without precedent. Socially and musically he was one of the +idols of the hour, and the great Handel himself had not met with as much +adulation. Apropos of the great sonata above mentioned, with which the +Clementi furore began in London, it is said that John Christian Bach, +son of Sebastian, one of the greatest executants of the time, confessed +his inability to do it justice, and Schroter, one of those sharing the +honor of the invention of the piano-forte, and a leading musician of his +age, said, "Only the devil and Clementi could play it." For seven years +the subject of our sketch poured forth a succession of brilliant works, +continually gave concerts, and in addition acted as conductor of the +Italian opera, a life sufficiently busy for the most ambitious man. In +1780 Clementi began his musical travels, and gave the first concerts +of his tour at Paris, whither he was accompanied by the great singer +Pacchierotti. He was received with the greatest favor by the queen, +Marie Antoinette, and the court, and made the acquaintance of Gluck, who +warmly admired the brilliant player who had so completely revolutionized +the style of execution on instruments with a keyboard. Here he also met +Viotti, the great violinist, and played a _duo concertante_ with the +latter, expressly composed for the occasion. Clementi was delighted with +the almost frantic enthusiasm of the French, so different from the more +temperate approbation of the English. He was wont to say jocosely that +he hardly knew himself to be the same man. From Paris Clementi passed, +via Strasburg and Munich, where he was most cordially welcomed, +to Vienna, the then musical Mecca of Europe, for it contained two +world-famed men--"Papa" Haydn and the young prodigy Mozart. The Emperor +Joseph II, a great lover of music, could not let the opportunity slip, +for he now had a chance to determine which was the greater player, his +own pet Mozart or the Anglo-Italian stranger whose fame as an executant +had risen to such dimensions. So the two musicians fought a musical +duel, in which they played at sight the most difficult works, and +improvised on themes selected by the imperial arbiter. The victory +was left undecided, though Mozart, who disliked the Italians, spoke +afterward of Clementi, in a tone at variance with his usual gentleness, +as "a mere mechanician, without a pennyworth of feeling or taste." +Clementi was more generous, for he couldn't say too much of Mozart's +"singing touch and exquisite taste," and dated from this meeting a +considerable difference in his own style of play. + +With the exception of occasional concert tours to Paris, Clementi +devoted all his time up to 1802 in England, busy as conductor, composer, +virtuoso, and teacher. In the latter capacity he was unrivaled, and +pupils came to him from all parts of Europe. Among these pupils were +John B. Cramer and John Field, names celebrated in music. In 1802 +Clementi took the brilliant young Irishman, John Field, to St. +Petersburg on a musical tour, where both master and pupil were received +with unbounded enthusiasm, and where the latter remained in affluent +circumstances, having married a Russian lady of rank and wealth. +Field was idolized by the Russians, and they claim his compositions +as belonging to their music. He is now distinctively remembered as the +inventor of that beautiful form of musical writing, the nocturne. Spohr, +the violinist, met Clementi and Field at the Russian capital, and gives +the following amusing account in his "Autobiography": "Clementi, a man +in his best years, of an extremely lively disposition and very engaging +manners, liked much to converse with me, and often invited me after +dinner to play at billiards. In the evening I sometimes accompanied him +to his large piano-forte warehouse, where Field was often obliged +to play for hours to display instruments to the best advantage to +purchasers. I have still in recollection the figure of the pale +overgrown youth, whom I have never since seen. When Field, who had +outgrown his clothes, placed himself at the piano, stretching out his +arms over the keyboard, so that the sleeves shrank up nearly to the +elbow, his whole figure appeared awkward and stiff in the highest +degree. But, as soon as his touching instrumentation began, everything +else was forgotten, and one became all ear. Unfortunately I could not +express my emotion and thankfulness to the young man otherwise than +by the pressure of the hand, for he spoke no language but his mother +tongue. Even at that time many anecdotes of the remarkable avarice of +the rich Clementi were related, which had greatly increased in later +years when I again met him in London. It was generally reported that +Field was kept on very short allowance by his master, and was obliged to +pay for the good fortune of having his instruction by many privations. +I myself experienced a little sample of Clementi's truly Italian +parsimony, for one day I found teacher and pupil with upturned sleeves, +engaged at the wash-tub, washing their stockings and other linen. They +did not suffer themselves to be disturbed, and Clementi advised me to do +the same, as washing in St. Petersburg was not only very expensive, but +the linen suffered much from the method used in washing it." + +From the above it may be suspected that Clementi was not only player +and composer, but man of business. He had been very successful in +money-making in England from the start, and it was not many years before +he accumulated a sufficient amount to buy an interest in the firm of +Longman & Broderip, "manufacturers of musical instruments, and music +sellers to their majesties." The failure of the house, by which he +sustained heavy losses, induced him to try his hand alone at music +publishing and piano-forte manufacturing; and his great success (the +firm is still extant in the person of his partner's son, Mr. Col-lard) +proves he was an exception to the majority of artists, who rarely +possess business talents. Clementi met many reverses in his commercial +career. In March, 1807, the warehouses occupied by Clementi's new firm +were destroyed by fire, entailing a loss of about forty thousand pounds. +But the man's courage was indomitable, and he retrieved his misfortunes +with characteristic pluck and cheerfulness. After 1810 he gave up +playing in public, and devoted himself to composing and the conduct of +his piano-forte business, which became very large and valuable. Himself +an inventor and mechanician, he made many important improvements in the +construction of the piano, some of which have never been superseded. + + +III. + +Clementi numbers among his pupils more great names in the art of +piano-forte playing than any other great master. This is partly owing +to the fact, it may be, that he began his career in the infancy of the +piano-forte as an instrument, and was the first to establish a solid +basis for the technique of the instrument. In addition to John Field and +J. B. Cramer, previously mentioned, were Zeuner, Dussek, Alex. Kleugel, +Ludwig Berger, Kalkbrenner, Charles Mayer, and Meyerbeer. These +musicians not only added richly to the literature of the piano-forte, +but were splendid exponents of its powers as virtuosos. But mere +artistic fame is transitory, and it is in Clementi's contributions to +the permanent history of piano-forte playing that we must find his chief +claim on the admiration of posterity. He composed not a few works for +the orchestra, and transcriptions of opera, but these have now receded +to the lumber closet. The works which live are his piano concertos, of +which about sixty were written for the piano alone, and the remainder +as duets or trios; and, _par excellence_, his "Gradus ad Parnassum," a +superb series of one hundred studies, upon which even to-day the solid +art of piano-forte playing rests. Clementi's works must always remain +indispensable to the pianist, and, in spite of the fact that piano +technique has made such advances during the last half century, there are +several of Clementi's sonatas which tax the utmost skill of such players +as Liszt and Von Billow, to whom all ordinary difficulty is merely a +plaything. As Viotti was the father of modern violin-playing, Clementi +may be considered the father of virtuosoism on the piano-forte, and he +has left an indelible mark, both mechanically and spiritually, on +all that pertains to piano-playing. Compared with Clementi's style in +piano-forte composition, that of Haydn and Mozart appears poor and thin. +Haydn and Mozart regarded execution as merely the vehicle of ideas, and +valued technical brilliancy less than musical substance. Clementi, on +the other hand, led the way for that class of compositions which pay +large attention to manual skill. His works can not be said to burn with +that sacred fire which inspires men of the highest genius, but they are +magnificently modeled for the display of technical execution, brilliancy +of effect, and virile force of expression. The great Beethoven, who +composed the greatest works for the piano-forte, as also for the +orchestra, had a most exalted estimate of Clementi, and never wearied +of playing his music and sounding his praises. No musician has probably +exerted more far-reaching effects in this department of his art than +Clementi, though he can not be called a man of the highest genius, +for this lofty attribute supposes great creative imagination and rich +resources of thought, as well as knowledge, experience, skill, and +transcendent aptitude for a single instrument. + +As far as a musician of such unique and colossal genius as Beethoven +could be influenced by preceding or contemporary artists, his style as +a piano-forte player and composer was more modified by Clementi than +by any other. He was wont to say that no one could play till he +knew Clementi by heart. He adopted many of the peculiar figures and +combinations original with Clementi, though his musical mentality, +incomparably richer and greater than that of the other, transfigured +them into a new life. That Beethoven found novel means of expression +to satisfy the importunate demands of his musical conceptions; that his +piano works display a greater polyphony, stronger contrasts, bolder +and richer rhythm, broader design and execution, by no means impair +the value of his obligations to Clementi, obligations which the most +arrogant and self-centered of men freely allowed. Beethoven's fancy was +penetrated by all the qualities of tone which distinguish the string, +reed, and brass instruments; his imagination shot through and through +with orchestral color; and he succeeded in saturating his sonatas with +these rich effects without sacrificing the specialty of the piano-forte. +But in general style and technique he is distinctly a follower of +Clementi. The most unique and splendid personality in music has thus +been singled out as furnishing a vivid illustration of the influence +exerted by Clementi in the department of the piano-forte. + +Clementi lived to the age of eighty, and spent the last twelve years of +his life in London uninterruptedly, his growing feebleness preventing +him from taking his usual musical trips to the Continent. He retained +his characteristic energy and freshness of mind to the last, and +was held in the highest honor by the great circle of artists who had +centered in London, for he was the musical patriarch in England, as +Cherubini was in France at a little later date. He was married three +times, had children in his old age, and only a few months before +his death, Moscheles records in his diary, he was able to arouse the +greatest enthusiasm by the vigor and brilliancy of his playing, in spite +of his enfeebled physical powers. He died March 9, 1832, at Eversham, +and his funeral gathered a great convocation of musical celebrities. His +life covered an immense arch in the history of music. + +At his birth Handel was alive; at his death Beethoven, Schubert, +and Weber had found refuge in the grave from the ingratitude of a +contemporary public. He began his career by practicing Scarlatti's +harpsichord sonatas; he lived to be acquainted with the finest +piano-forte works of all time. When he first used the piano, he +practiced on the imperfect and feeble Silbermann instrument. When he +died, the magnificent instruments of Erard, Broadwood, and Collard, +to the latter of which his own mechanical and musical knowledge had +contributed much, were in common vogue. Such was the career of Muzio +Clementi, the father of piano-forte virtuosos. Had he lived later, he +might have been far eclipsed by the great players who have since adorned +the art of music. As Goethe says, through the mouthpiece of Wil-helm. +Meister: "The narrowest man may be complete while he moves within the +bounds of his own capacity and acquirements, but even fine qualities +become clouded and destroyed if this indispensable proportion is +exceeded. This unwholesome excess, however, will begin to appear +frequently, for who can suffice to the swift progress and increasing +requirements of the ever-soaring present time?" But, measured by his own +day and age, Clementi deserves the pedestal on which musical criticism +has placed him. + + + + +MOSCHELES. + + +Clementi and Mozart as Points of Departure in Piano-forte +Playing.--Moscheles the most Brilliant Climax reached by the Viennese +School.--His Child-Life at Prague.--Extraordinary Precocity.--Goes to +Vienna as the Pupil of Salieri and Albrechts-burger.--Acquaintance +with Beethoven.--Moscheles is honored with a Commission to make a Piano +Transcription of Beethoven's "Fidelio."--His Intercourse with the Great +Man.--Concert Tour.--Arrival in Paris.--The Artistic Circle into which +he is received.--Pictures of Art-Life in Paris.--London and its Musical +Celebrities.--Career as a Wandering Virtuoso.--Felix Mendelssohn becomes +his Pupil.--The Mendelssohn Family.--Moscheles's Marriage to a +Hamburg Lady.--Settles in London.--His Life as Teacher, Player, and +Composer.--Eminent Place taken by Moscheles among the Musicians of +his Age.--His Efforts soothe the Sufferings of Beethoven's +Deathbed.--Friendship for Mendelssohn.--Moscheles becomes connected with +the Leipzig Conservatorium.--Death in 1870.--Moscheles as Pianist +and Composer.--Sympathy with the Old as against the New School of the +Piano.--His Powerful Influence on the Musical Culture and Tendencies of +his Age. + + +I. + +The rivalry of Clementi and Mozart as exponents of piano-forte playing +in their day was continued in their schools of performance. The original +cause of this difference was largely based on the character of the +instruments on which they played. Clementi used the English piano-forte, +and Mozart the Viennese, and the style of execution was no less the +outcome of the mechanical difference between the two vehicles of +expression than the result of personal idiosyncrasies. The English +instrument was speedily developed into the production of a richer, +fuller, and more sonorous tone, while the Viennese piano-forte continued +for a long time to be distinguished by its light, thin, sweet quality of +sound, and an action so sensitive that the slightest pressure produced +a sound from the key, so that the term "breathing on the keys" became +a current expression, Clementi's piano favored a bold, masculine, +brilliant style of playing, while the Viennese piano led to a rapid, +fluent, delicate treatment. The former player founded the school which +has culminated, through a series of great players, in the magnificent +virtuosoism of Franz Liszt, while the Vienna school has no nearer +representative than Tgnaz Moscheles, one of the greatest players in the +history of the pianoforte, who, whether judged by his gifts as a +concert performer, a composer for the instrument which he so brilliantly +adorned, or from his social and intellectual prominence, must be set +apart as peculiarly a representative man. There were other eminent +players, such as Hummel, Czerny, and Herz, contemporary with Moscheles +and belonging to the same _genre_ as a pianist, but these names do not +stand forth with the same clear and permanent luster in their relation +to the musical art. + +Ignaz Moscheles was born at Prague, May 30, 1794, his parents being +well-to-do people of Hebrew stock. His father, a cloth merchant, was +passionately fond of music, and was accustomed to say, "One of my +children must become a thoroughbred musician." Ignaz was soon selected +as the one on whom the experiment should be made, and the rapid +progress he made justified the accident of choice, for all of the family +possessed some musical talent. The boy progressed too fast, for he +attempted at the age of seven to play Beethoven's "Sonata Pathetique." +He was traveling on the wrong road, attempting what he could in no +way attain, when his father took him to Dionys Weber, one of the best +teachers of the time. "I come," said the parent, "to you as our first +musician, for sincere truth instead of empty flattery. I want to find +out from you if my boy has such genuine talent that you can make a +really good musician of him." "Naturally, I was called on to play," says +Moscheles, in his "Autobiography," "and I was bungler enough to do it +with some conceit. My mother having decked me out in my Sunday best, I +played my best piece, Beethoven's 'Sonata Pathetique.' But what was my +astonishment on finding that I was neither interrupted by bravos nor +overwhelmed by praise! and what were my feelings when Dionys Weber +finally delivered himself thus: + +"'Candidly speaking, the boy has talent, but is on the wrong road, for +he makes bosh of great works which he does not understand, and to which +he is utterly unequal. I could make something of him if you could hand +him over to me for three years, and follow out my plan to the letter. +The first year he must play nothing but Mozart, the second Clementi, and +the third Bach; but only that: not a note as yet of Beethoven; and if +he persists in using the circulating libraries, I have done with him for +ever.'" + +This scheme was followed out strictly, and Moscheles at the age of +fourteen had acquired a sufficient mastery of the piano to give a +concert at Prague with brilliant success. The young musician continued +to pursue his studies assiduously under Weber's direction until +his father's death, and his mother then determined to yield to his +oft-repeated wish to try his musical fortunes in a larger field, and win +his own way in life. So young Ignaz, little more than a child, went to +Vienna, where he was warmly received in the hospitable musical circles +of that capital. He took lessons in counterpoint from Albrechts-burger, +and in composition from Salieri, and in all ways indicated that serene, +tireless industry which marked his whole after-career. Moscheles spent +eight years at Vienna, continually growing in estimation as artist and +beginning to make his mark as a composer. His own reminiscences of the +brilliant and gifted men who clustered in Vienna are very pleasant, but +it is to Beethoven that his admiration specially went forth. The great +master liked his young disciple much, and proposed to him that he should +set the numbers of "Fidelio" for the piano, a task which, it is needless +to say, was gladly accepted. Moscheles tells us one morning, when he +went to see Beethoven, he found him lying in bed. "He happened to be in +remarkably good spirits, jumped up immediately, and placed himself, just +as he was, at the window looking out on the Schotten-bastei, with the +view of examining the 'Fidelio' numbers which I had arranged. Naturally, +a crowd of street-boys collected under the window, when he roared out, +'Now, what do these confounded boys want?' I laughed and pointed to his +own figure. 'Yes, yes! You are quite right,' he said, and hastily put on +a dressing-gown." + +Moscheles's associations were even at this early period with all the +foremost people of the age, and he was cordially welcome in every +circle. He composed a good deal, besides giving concerts and playing in +private select circles, and was recognized as being the equal of Hummel, +who had hitherto been accepted as the great piano virtuoso of Vienna. +The two were very good friends in spite of their rivalry. They, as well +as all the Viennese musicians, were bound together by a common tie, very +well expressed in the saying of Moscheles: "We musicians, whatever we +be, are mere satellites of the great Beethoven, the dazzling luminary." + + +II. + +In the autumn of 1816 Moscheles bade a sorrowful adieu to the imperial +city, where he had spent so many happy years, to undertake an extended +concert tour, armed with letters of introduction to all the courts of +Europe from Prince Lichtenstein, Countess Hardigg, and other influential +admirers. He proceeded directly to Leipzig, where he was warmly received +by the musical fraternity of that city, especially by the Wiecks, of +whose daughter Clara he speaks in highly eulogistic words. He played his +own compositions, which already began to show that serene and finished +beauty so characteristic of his after-writings. A similar success +greeted him at Dresden, where, among other concerts, he gave one before +the court. Of this entertainment Moscheles writes: "The court actually +dined (this barbarous custom still prevails), and the royal household +listened in the galleries, while I and the court band made music to +them, and barbarous it really was; but, in regard to truth, I must add +that royalty and also the lackeys kept as quiet as possible, and the +former congratulated me, and actually condescended to admit me to +friendly conversation." He continued his concerts in Munich, Augsburg, +Amsterdam, Brussels, and other cities, creating the most genuine +admiration wherever he went, and finally reached Paris in December, +1817. + +Here our young artist was promptly received in the extraordinary world +of musicians, artists, authors, wits, and social celebrities which then, +as now, made Paris so delightful for those possessing the countersign of +admission. Baillot, the violinist, gave a private concert in his honor, +in which he in company with Spohr played before an audience made up of +such artists and celebrities as Cherubini, Auber, Herold, Adam, Lesueur, +Pacini, Paer, Habeneck, Plantade, Blangini, La-font, Pleyel, Ivan +Muller, Viotti, Pellegrini, Boieldieu, Schlesinger, Manuel Garcia, and +others. These areopagites of music set the mighty seal of their approval +on Moscheles's genius. He was invited everywhere, to dinners, balls, and +_fetes_, and there was no _salon_ in Paris so high and exclusive which +did not feel itself honored by his presence. His public concerts were +thronged with the best and most critical audiences, and he by no means +shone the less that he appeared in conjunction with other distinguished +artists. He often entertained parties of jovial artists at his lodgings, +and music, punch, and supper enlivened the night till 3 A.M. Whoever +could play or sing was present, and good music alternated with amusing +tricks played on the respective instruments. "Altogether," he writes, +"it is a happy, merry time! Certainly, at the last state dinner of +the Rothschilds, in the presence of such notabilities as Canning +or Narischkin, I was obliged to keep rather in the background. The +invitation to a large, brilliant, but ceremonious ball appears a very +questionable way of showing me attention. The drive up, the endless +queue of carriages, wearied me, and at last I got out and walked. +There, too, I found little pleasure." On the other hand, he praises the +performance of Gluck's opera at the house of the Erards. The "concerts +spirituels" delight him. "Who would not," he says, "envy me this +enjoyment? These concerts justly enjoy a world-wide celebrity. There I +listen with the most solemn earnestness." On the other hand, there are +cheerful episodes, and jovial dinners with Carl Blum and Schlesinger, at +the Restaurant Lemelle. "Yesterday," he writes, "Schlesinger quizzed me +about my slowness in eating, and went so far as to make the stupid bet +with me, that he would demolish three dozen oysters while I ate one +dozen, and he was quite right. On perceiving, however, that he was on +the point of winning, I took to making faces, made him laugh so heartily +that he couldn't go on eating; thus I won my bet." We find the +following notice on the 20th of March: "I spent the evening at Ciceri's, +son-in-law of Isabey, the famous painter, where I was introduced to +one of the most interesting circles of artists. In the first room were +assembled the most famous painters, engaged in drawing several things +for their own amusement. In the midst of these was Cherubini, also +drawing. I had the honor, like every one newly introduced, of having +my portrait taken in caricature. Begasse took me in hand, and succeeded +well. In an adjoining room were musicians and actors, among them +Ponchard, Le-vasseur, Dugazon, Panseron, Mlle, de Munck, and Mme. +Livere, of the Theatre Francais. The most interesting of their +performances, which I attended merely as a listener, was a vocal quartet +by Cherubini, performed under his direction. Later in the evening, the +whole party armed itself with larger or smaller 'mirlitons' (reed-pipe +whistles), and on these small monotonous instruments, sometimes made +of sugar, they played, after the fashion of Russian horn music, the +overture to 'Demophon,' two frying-pans representing the drums." On the +27th of March this "mirliton" concert was repeated at Ciceri's, and on +this occasion Cherubini took an active part. Moscheles relates: "Horace +Vernet entertained us with his ventriloquizing powers, M. Salmon with +his imitation of a horn, and Dugazon actually with a 'mirliton' solo. +Lafont and I represented the classical music, which, after all, held, +its own." It was hard to tear himself from these gayeties; but he +had not visited London, and he was anxious to make himself known at a +musical capital inferior to none in Europe. He little thought that in +London he was destined to find his second home. He plunged into the +gayeties and enjoyments of the English capital with no less zest than he +had already experienced in Paris. He found such great players as J. B. +Cramer, Ferdinand Ries, Kalkbrenner, and Clementi in the field; but +our young artist did not altogether lose by comparison. Among other +distinguished musicians, Moscheles also met Kiesewetter, the violinist, +the great singers Mara and Catalani, and Dragonetti, the greatest of +double-bass players. Dragonetti was a most eccentric man, and of him +Moscheles says: "In his _salon_ in Liecester Square he has collected +a large number of various kinds of dolls, among them a negress. When +visitors are announced, he politely receives them, and says that this +or that young lady will make room for them; he also asks his intimate +acquaintances whether his favorite dolls look better or worse since +their last visit, and similar absurdities. He is a terrible snuff-taker, +helping himself out of a gigantic snuff-box, and he has an immense and +varied collection of snuff-boxes. The most curious part of him is his +language, a regular jargon, in which there is a mixture of his native +Bergamese, bad French, and still worse English." + +During the several months of this first English visit Moscheles made +many acquaintances which were destined to ripen into solid friendships, +and gave many concerts in which the most distinguished artists, vocal +and instrumental, participated. Altogether, he appears to have been +delighted with the London art and social world little less than he had +been with that of Paris. He returned, however, to the latter city in +August, and again became a prominent figure in the most fashionable and +admired concerts. During this visit to Paris he writes in his diary: +"Young Erard took me to-day to his piano-forte factory to try the new +invention of his uncle Sebastian. This quicker action of the hammer +seems to me so important that I prophesy a new era in the manufacture +of piano-fortes. I still complain of some heaviness in the touch, and, +therefore, prefer to play on Pape's and Petzold's instruments (Viennese +pianos). I admired the Erards, but am not thoroughly satisfied, and +urged him to make new improvements." + +From 1815, when Moscheles began his career as a virtuoso in the +production of his "Variationen fiber den Alexandermarsch," to 1826, +he established a great reputation as a virtuoso and composer for the +piano-forte. Though he played his own works at concerts with marked +approbation, he also became distinguished as an interpreter of Mozart +and Beethoven, for whom he had a reverential admiration. Moscheles often +records his own sense of insignificance by the side of these Titans +of music. A delightful characteristic of the man was his modesty about +himself, and his genial appreciation of other musicians. Nowhere do +those performers who, for example, came in active rivalry with himself, +receive more cordial and unalloyed praise. Moscheles was entirely devoid +of that littleness which finds vent in envy and jealousy, and was as +frank and sympathetic in his estimate of others as he was ambitious and +industrious in the development of his own great talents. In 1824 he gave +piano-forte lessons to Felix Mendelssohn, then a youth of fifteen, at +Berlin. He wrote of the Mendelssohn family: "This is a family the like +of which I have never known. Felix, a boy of fifteen, is a phenomenon. +What are all prodigies as compared with him? Gifted children, but +nothing else. This Felix Mendelssohn is already a mature artist, and +yet but fifteen years old! We at once settled down together for several +hours, for I was obliged to play a great deal, when really I wanted to +hear him and see his compositions, for Felix had to show me a concerto +in C minor, a double concerto, and several motets; and all so full of +genius, and at the same time so correct and thorough! His elder sister +Fanny, also extraordinarily gifted, played by heart, and with admirable +precision, fugues and passacailles by Bach. I think one may well call +her a thorough 'Mus. Doc' (guter Musiker). Both parents give one the +impression of being people of the highest refinement. They are far from +overrating their children's talents; in fact, they are anxious about +Felix's future, and to know whether his gift will prove sufficient to +lead to a noble and truly great career. Will he not, like so many other +brilliant children, suddenly collapse? I asserted my conscientious +conviction that Felix would ultimately become a great master, that I +had not the slightest doubt of his genius; but again and again I had +to insist on my opinion before they believed me. These two are not +specimens of the genus prodigy-parents (Wunderkinds Eltern), such as I +most frequently endure." Moscheles soon came to the conclusion that to +give Felix regular lessons was useless. Only a little hint from time +to time was necessary for the marvelous youth, who had already begun to +compose works which excited Moscheles's deepest admiration. + + +III. + +In January, 1825, Moscheles, in the course of his musical wanderings, +gave several concerts at Hamburg. Among the crowd of listeners who +came to hear the great pianist was Charlotte Embden, the daughter of an +excellent Hamburg family. She was enchanted by the playing of Moscheles, +and, when she accidentally made the acquaintance of the performer at the +house of a mutual acquaintance, the couple quickly became enamored of +each other. A brief engagement of less than a month was followed by +marriage, and so Moscheles entered into a relation singularly felicitous +in all the elements which make domestic life most blessed. After a brief +tour in the Rhenish cities, and a visit to Paris, Moscheles proceeded to +London, where he had determined to make his home, for in no country had +such genuine and unaffected cordiality boon shown him, and nowhere +were the rewards of musical talent, whether as teacher, virtuoso, or +composer, more satisfying to the man of high ambition. He made London +his home for twenty years, and during this time became one of the most +prominent figures in the art circles of that great city. Moscheles's +mental accomplishments and singular geniality of nature contributed, +with his very great abilities as a musician, to give him a position +attained by but few artists. He gave lessons to none but the most +talented pupils, and his services were sought by the most wealthy +families of the English capital, though the ability to pay great prices +was by no means a passport to the good graces of Moscheles. Among +the pupils who early came under the charge of this great master was +Thalberg, who even then was a brilliant player, but found in the exact +knowledge and great experience of Moscheles that which gave the +crowning finish to his style. Busy in teaching, composing, and public +performance; busy in responding to the almost incessant demands made by +social necessity on one who was not only intimate in the best circles +of London society, but the center to whom all foreign artists of merit +gravitated instantly they arrived in London; busy in confidential +correspondence with all the great musicians of Europe, who discussed +with the genial and sympathetic Moscheles all their plans and +aspirations, and to whom they turned in their moments of trouble, he +was indeed a busy man; and had it not been for the loving labors of his +wife, who was his secretary, his musical copyist, and his assistant in +a myriad of ways, he would have been unequal to his burden. Moscheles's +diary tells the story of a man whose life, though one of tireless +industry, was singularly serene and happy, and without those salient +accidents and vicissitudes which make up the material of a picturesque +life. + +He made almost yearly tours to the Continent for concert-giving +purposes, and kept his friendship with the great composers of the +Continent green by personal contact. Beethoven was the god of his +musical idolatry, and his pilgrimage to Vienna was always delightful +to him. When Beethoven, in the early part of 1827, was in dire distress +from poverty, just before his death, it was to Moscheles that he applied +for assistance; and it was this generous friend who promptly arranged +the concert with the Philharmonic Society by which one hundred pounds +sterling was raised to alleviate the dying moments of the great man +whom his own countrymen would have let starve, even as they had allowed +Schubert and Mozart to suffer the direst want on their deathbeds. + +An adequate record of Moscheles's life during the twenty years of his +London career would be a pretty full record of all matters of musical +interest occurring during this time. In 1832 he was made one of the +directors of the Philharmonic Society, and in 1837-'38 he conducted +with signal success Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony." When Sir Henry Bishop +resigned, in 1845, Moscheles was made the conductor, and thereafter +wielded the baton over this orchestra, the noblest in England. Among the +yearly pleasures to which our pianist looked forward with the greatest +interest were the visits of Mendelssohn, between whom and Moscheles +there was the most tender friendship. Whole pages of his diary are given +up to an account of Mendelssohn's doings, and to the most enthusiastic +expression of his love and admiration for one of the greatest musical +geniuses of modern times. + +We can not attempt to follow up the placid and gentle current of +Moscheles's life, flowing on to ever-increasing honor and usefulness, +but hasten to the period when he left England in 1846, to +become associated with Mendelssohn in the conduct of the Leipzig +Conservatorium, then recently organized. Mendelssohn lived but a few +months after achieving this great monument of musical education, but +Moscheles remained connected with it for nearly twenty years, and to his +great zeal, knowledge, and executive skill is due in large measure the +solid success of the institution. Mendelssohn's early death, while yet +in the very prime of creative genius, was a stunning blow to Moscheles; +more so, perhaps, than would have occurred from the loss of any one +except his beloved wife, the mother of his five children. Our musician +died himself, in Leipzig, March 10, 1870, and his passage from this +world was as serene and quiet as his passage through had been. He lived +to see his daughters married to men of high worth and position, and his +sons substantially placed in life. Perhaps few distinguished musicians +have lived a life of such monotonous happiness, unmarked by those events +which, while they give romantic interest to a career, make the gift at +the expense of so much personal misery. + + +IV. + +As a pianist Moscheles was distinguished by an incisive, brilliant +touch, wonderfully clear, precise phrasing, and close attention to the +careful accentuation of every phase of the composer's meaning. Of the +younger composers for the piano, Mendelssohn and Schumann were the only +ones with whose works he had any sympathy, though he often complains of +the latter on account of his mysticism. His intelligence had as much +if not more part in his art work than his emotions, and to this we may +attribute that fine symmetry and balance in his own compositions, which +make them equal in this respect to the productions of Mendelssohn. +Chopin he regarded with a sense of admiration mingled with dread, for +he could by no means enter into the peculiar conditions which make the +works of the Polish composer so unique. He wrote of Chopin's "Etudes," +in 1838: "My thoughts and consequently my fingers ever stumble and +sprawl at certain crude modulations, and I find Chopin's productions +on the whole too sugared, too little worthy of a man and an educated +musician, though there is much charm and originality in the national +color of his motive." When he heard Chopin play in after-years, however, +he confessed the fascination of the performance, and bewailed his own +incapacity to produce such effects in execution, though himself one of +the greatest pianists in the world. So, too, Moscheles, though dazzled +by Liszt's brilliant virtuosoism and power of transforming a single +instrument into an orchestra, shook his head in doubt over such +performances, and looked on them as charlatanism, which, however +magnificent as an exhibition of talent, would ultimately help to degrade +the piano by carrying it out of its true sphere. Moscheles himself was +a more bold and versatile player than any other performer of his school, +but he aimed assiduously to confine his efforts within the perfectly +legitimate and well-established channels of pianism. + +As an extemporaneous player, perhaps no pianist has ever lived who could +surpass Moscheles. His improvisation on themes suggested by the audience +always made one of the most attractive features of his concerts. His +profound musical knowledge, his strong sense of form, the clearness and +precision with which he instinctively clothed his ideas, as well as the +fertility of the ideas themselves, gave his improvised pieces something +of the same air of completeness as if they were the outcome of hours of +laborious solitude. His very lack of passion and fire were favorable +to this clear-cut and symmetrical expression. His last improvisation +in public, on themes furnished by the audience, formed part of the +programme of a concert at London, in 1865, given by Mme. Jenny Lind +Goldschmidt, in aid of the sufferers by the war between Austria and +Prussia, where he extemporized for half an hour on "See the Conquering +Hero Comes," and on a theme from the andante of Beethoven's C Minor +Symphony, in a most brilliant and astonishing style. + +Aside from his greatness as a virtuoso and composer for the piano-forte, +whose works will always remain classics in spite of vicissitudes +of public opinion, even as those of Spohr will for the violin, the +influence of Moscheles in furtherance of a solid and true musical taste +was very great, and worthy of special notice. Perhaps no one did more +to educate the English mind up to a full appreciation of the greatest +musical works. As teacher, conductor, player, and composer, the life +of Ignaz Moscheles was one of signal and permanent worth, and its +influences fertilized in no inconsiderable streams the public thought, +not only of his own times, but indirectly of the generation which has +followed. It is not necessary to attribute to him transcendent genius, +but lie possessed, what was perhaps of equal value to the world, an +intellect and temperament splendidly balanced to the artistic needs of +his epoch. The list of Moscheles's numbered compositions reaches Op. +142, besides a large number of ephemeral productions which he did not +care to preserve. + + + + +THE SCHUMANNS AND CHOPIN. + +Robert Schumann's Place as a National Composer.--Peculiar Greatness as +a Piano-forte Composer.--Born at Zwickau in 1810.--His Father's +Aversion to his Musical Studies.--Becomes a Student of Jurisprudence +in Leipzig.--Makes the Acquaintance of Clara Wieck.--Tedium of his Law +Studies.--Vacation Tour to Italy.--Death of his Father, and Consent +of his Mother to Schumann adopting the Profession of Music.--Becomes +Wieck's Pupil.--Injury to his Hand which prevents all Possibilities of +his becoming a Great Performer.--Devotes himself to Composition.--The +Child, Clara Wieck--Remarkable Genius as a Player.--Her Early +Training.--Paganini's Delight in her Genius.--Clara Wieck's +Concert Tours.--Schumann falls deeply in Love with her, and Wieck's +Opposition.--His Allusions to Clara in the "Neue Zeitschrift."--Schumann +at Vienna.--His Compositions at first Unpopular, though played by Clara +Wieck and Liszt.--Schumann's Labors as a Critic.--He Marries Clara +in 1840.--His Song Period inspired by his Wife.--Tour to Russia, and +Brilliant Reception given to the Artist Pair.--The "Neue Zeitschrift" +and its Mission.--The Davidsbund.--Peculiar Style of Schumann's +Writing.--He moves to Dresden.--Active Production in Orchestral +Composition.--Artistic Tour in Holland.--He is seized with +Brain Disease.--Characteristics as a Man, as an Artist, and as a +Philosopher.--Mme. Schumann as her Husband's Interpreter.--Chopin +a Colaborer with Schumann.--Schumann on Chopin again.--Chopin's +Nativity.--Exclusively a Piano-forte Composer.--His _Genre_ as Pianist +and Composer.--Aversion to Concert-giving.--Parisian Associations.--New +Style of Technique demanded by his Works.--Unique Treatment of the +Instrument.--Characteristics of Chopin's Compositions. + + +I. + +Robert Schumann shares with Weber the honor of giving the earliest +impulse to what may be called the romantic school of music, which has +culminated in the operatic creations of Richard Wagner. Greatly to the +gain of the world, his early aspirations as a mere player were crushed +by the too intense zeal through which he attempted to perfect his +manipulation, the mechanical contrivance he used having had the +effect of paralyzing the muscular power of one of his hands. But this +department of art work was nobly borne by his gifted wife, _nee_ Clara +Wieck, and Schumann concentrated his musical ambition in the higher +field of composition, leaving behind him works not only remarkable for +beauty of form, but for poetic richness of thought and imagination. +Schumann composed songs, cantatas, operas, and symphonies, but it is in +his works for the piano-forte that his idiosyncrasy was most strikingly +embodied, and in which he has bequeathed the most precious inheritance +to the world of art. All his powers were swept impetuously into one +current, the poetic side of art, and alike as critic and composer he +stands in a relation to the music of the pianoforte which places him on +a pinnacle only less lofty than that of Beethoven. + +Robert Schumann was born in the small Saxon town of Zwickau in the +year 1810, and was designed by his father, a publisher and author +of considerable reputation, for the profession of the law. The elder +Schumann, though a man of talent and culture, had a deep distaste for +his son's clearly displayed tendencies to music, and though he permitted +him to study something of the science in the usual school-boy way (for +music has always been a part of the educational course in Germany), he +discouraged in every way Robert's passion. The boy had quickly become a +clever player, and even at the age of eight had begun to put his ideas +on paper. We are told by his biographers that he was accustomed +to extemporize at school, and had such a knack in portraying the +characteristics of his school-fellows in music as to make his purpose +instantly recognizable. His father died when Schumann was only +seventeen, and his mother, who was also bent on her son becoming a +jurist, became his guardian. It was a severe battle between taste +and duty, but love for his widowed mother conquered, and young Robert +Schumann entered the University of Leipzig as a law student. It was with +a feeling almost of despair that he wrote at this time, "I have decided +upon law as my profession, and will work at it industriously, however +cold and dry the beginning may be." Previously, however, he had spent a +year in the household of Frederick Wieck, the distinguished teacher of +music. So much he had exacted before succumbing to maternal pleading. +At this time he first made the acquaintance of a charming and precocious +child, Clara Wieck, who played such an important part in his future +life. + +Robert Schumann's law studies were inexpressibly tedious to him, and so +he told his sympathetic professor, the learned Thibaut, author of the +treatise "On the Purity of Music," in a characteristic manner. He went +to the piano and played Weber's "Invitation to the Waltz," commenting on +the different passages: "Now she speaks--that's the love prattle; now +he speaks--that's the man's earnest voice; now both the lovers speak +together "; concluding with the remark, "Isn't all that better far than +anything that jurisprudence can utter?" The young student became quite +popular in society as a pianist, heard Ernst and Paganini for the first +time, and composed several works, among them the Toccata in D major. +The genius for music would come to the fore in spite of jurisprudence. +A vacation trip to Italy which the young man made gave fresh fuel to +the flame, and he began to write the most passionate pleas to his +mother that she should con sent to his adoption of a musical career. The +distressed woman wrote to Wieck to know what he thought, and the answer +was favorable to Robert's aspirations. Robert was intoxicated with his +mother's concession, and he poured out his enthusiasm to Wieck: "Take +me as I am, and, above all, bear with me. No blame shall depress me, no +praise make me idle. Pails upon pails of very cold theory can not hurt +me, and I will work at it without the least murmur." + +Taking lodgings at the house of Wieck, Schumann devoted himself to +piano-forte playing with intense ardor; but his zeal outran prudence. +To hasten his proficiency and acquire an independent action for each +finger, he contrived a mechanical apparatus which held the third +finger of the right hand immovable, while the others went through their +evolutions. The result was such a lameness of the hand that it was +incurable, and young Schumann's career as a virtuoso was for ever +checked. His deep sorrow, however, did not unman him long, for he turned +his attention to the study of composition and counterpoint under Kupsch, +and, afterward, Heinrich Dorn. He remained for three years under Wieck's +roof, and the companionship of the child Clara, whose marvelous musical +powers were the talk of Leipzig, was a sweet consolation to him in his +troubles and his toil, though ten years his junior. The love, which +became a part of his life, had already begun to flutter into unconscious +being in his feeling for a shy and reserved little girl. + +Schumann tells us that the year 1834 was the most important one of his +life, for it witnessed the birth of the "N'eue Zeitschrift fur Musik," +a journal which was to embody his notions of ideal music, and to be the +organ of a clique of enthusiasts in lifting the art out of Philistinism +and commonplace. The war-cry was "Reform in art," and never-ending +battle against the little and conventional ideas which were believed +then to be the curse of German music. Among the earlier contributors +were Wieck, Schumke, Knorr, Banck, and Schumann himself, who wrote +under the pseudonyms Florestan and Eusebius. Between his new journal and +composing, Schumann was kept busy, but he found time to persuade himself +that he was in love with Fraulein Ernestine von Fricken, a beautiful but +somewhat frivolous damsel, who became engaged to the young composer and +editor. Two years cooled off this passion, and a separation was mutually +agreed on. Perhaps Schumann recognized something, in the lovely child +who was swiftly blooming into maidenhood, which made his own inner soul +protest against any other attachment. + + +II. + +It would have been very strange indeed if two such natures as Clara +Wieck and Robert Schumann had not gravitated toward each other during +the almost constant intercourse between them which took place between +1835 and 1838. Clara, born in 1820, had been her father's pupil from her +tenderest childhood, but the development of her musical gifts was not +forced in such a way as to interfere with her health and the exuberance +of her spirits. The exacting teacher was also a tender father and a +man of ripe judgment, and he knew the bitter price which mere mental +precocity so frequently has to pay for its existence. + +But the young girl's gifts were so extraordinary, and withal her +character so full of childish simplicity and gayety, that it was +difficult to think of her as of the average child phenomenon. At the age +of nine she could play Mozart's concertos, and Hummel's A minor Concerto +for the orchestra, one of the most difficult of compositions. A year +later she began to compose, and improvised without difficulty, for her +lessons in counterpoint and harmony had kept pace with her studies of +pianoforte technique. Paganini visited Leipzig at this period, and was +so astonished at the little Clara's precocious genius that he insisted +on her presence at all his concerts, and addressed her with the deepest +respect as a fellow-artist. She first appeared in public concert at +the age of eleven, in Leipzig, Weimar, and other places, playing Pixis, +Moscheles, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, and Chopin. The latter of these +composers was then almost unknown in Germany, and Clara Wieck, young +as she was, contributed largely to making him popular. A year later she +visited Paris in company with her father, and heard Chopin, Liszt, and +Kalkbrenner, who on their part were delighted with the little artist, +who, beneath the delicacy and timidity of the child, indicated +extraordinary powers. Society received her with the most flattering +approbation, and when her father allowed her to appear in concert her +playing excited the greatest delight and surprise. Her improvisation +specially displayed a vigor of imagination, a fine artistic taste, and +a well-defined knowledge which justly called out the most enthusiastic +recognition. + +When Clara Wieck returned home, she gave herself up to work with fresh +ardor, studying composition under Heinrich Dorn, singing under the +celebrated Mieksch, and even violin-playing, so great was her ambition +for musical accomplishments. From 1836 to 1838 she made an extended +musical tour through Germany, and was welcomed as a musico-poetic ideal +by the enthusiasts who gathered around her. The poet Grillparzer spoke +of her as "the innocent child who first unlocked the casket in which +Beethoven buried his mighty heart," and it must be confessed that Clara +Wieck, even as a young girl, did more than any other pianist to develop +a love of and appreciation for the music of the Titan of composers. + +Long before Schumann distinctly contemplated the image of Clara as +the beloved one, the half of his soul, he had divined her genius, and +expressed his opinion of her in no stinted terms of praise. When she was +as yet only thirteen, he had written of her in his journal: "As I +know people who, having but just heard Clara, yet rejoice in their +anticipation of their next occasion of hearing her, I ask, What sustains +this continual interest in her? Is it the 'wonder child' herself, at +whose stretches of tenths people shake their heads while they are amazed +at them, or the most difficult difficulties which she sportively flings +toward the public like flower garlands? Is it the special pride of +the city with which a people regards its own natives? Is it that she +presents to us the most interesting productions of recent art in as +short a time as possible? Is it that the masses understand that art +should not depend on the caprices of a few enthusiasts, who would direct +us back to a century over whose corpse the wheels of time are hastening? +I know not; I only feel that here we are subdued by genius, which men +still hold in respect. In short, we here divine the presence of a power +of which much is spoken, while few indeed possess it.... Early she +drew the veil of Isis aside. Serenely the child looks up; older eyes, +perhaps, would have been blinded by that radiant light.... To Clara +we dare no longer apply the measuring scale of age, but only that of +fulfillment.... Clara Wieck is the first German artist.... Pearls do not +float on the surface; they must be sought for in the deep, often with +danger. But Clara is an intrepid diver." + +The child whose genius he admired ripened into a lovely young woman, and +Schumann became conscious that there had been growing in his heart for +years a deep, ardent love. He had fancied himself in love more +than once, but now he felt that he could make no mistake as to the +genuineness of his feelings. In 1836 he confessed his feelings to the +object of his affections, and discovered that he not only loved but +was loved, for two such gifted and sympathetic natures could hardly be +thrown together for years without the growth of a mutual tenderness. +The marriage project was not favored by Papa Wieck, much as he liked the +young composer who had so long been his pupil and a member of his family +circle. The father of Clara looked forward to a brilliant artistic +career for his daughter, perhaps hoped to marry her to some serene +highness, and Schumann's prospects were as yet very uncertain. So he +took Clara on a long artistic journey through Germany, with a view of +quenching this passion by absence and those public adulations which he +knew Clara's genius would command. But nothing shook the devotion of +her heart, and she insisted on playing the compositions of the young +composer at her concerts, as well as those of Beethoven, Liszt, and +Chopin, the latter two of whom were just beginning to be known and +admired. + +Hoping to overcome Papa Wieck's opposition by success, Schumann took +his new journal to Vienna, and published it in that city, carrying on +simultaneously with his editorial duties active labors in composition. +The attempt to better his fortunes in Vienna, however, did not prove +very successful, and after six months he returned again to Leipzig. +Schumann's generous sympathy with other great musicians was signally +shown in his very first Vienna experiences, for he immediately made +a pious pilgrimage to the Waehring cemetery to offer his pious gift of +flowers on the graves of Beethoven and Schubert. On Beethoven's grave +he found a steel pen, which he preserved as a sacred treasure, and used +afterward in writing his own finest musical fancies. He remembered, too, +that the brother of Schubert, Ferdinand, was still living in a suburb +of Vienna. "He knew me," Schumann says, "from my admiration for his +brother, as I had publicly expressed it, and showed me many things. At +last he let me look at the treasures of Franz Schubert's compositions, +which he still possesses. The wealth that lay heaped up made me shudder +with joy, what to take first, where to cease. Among other things, he +also showed me the scores of several symphonies, of which many had never +been heard, while others had been tried, but put back, on the score of +their being too difficult and bombastic." One of these symphonies, that +in C major, the largest and grandest in conception, Schumann chose +and sent to Leipzig, where it was soon afterward produced under +Mendelssohn's direction at one of the Ge-wandhaus concerts, and produced +an immediate and profound sensation. For the first time the world +witnessed, in a more expanded sphere, the powers of a composer the very +beauties of whose songs had hitherto been fatal to his general success. +During this period of Schumann's life the most important works he +composed were the "Etudes Symphoniques," the famous "Carnival" dedicated +to Liszt, the "Scenes of Childhood," the "Fantasia" dedicated to Liszt, +the "Novellettes," and "Kreisleriana." As he writes to Heinrich Dorn: +"Much music is the result of the contest I am passing through for +Clara's sake." Schumann's compositions had been introduced to the public +by the gifted interpretation of Clara Wieck, with whom it was a labor of +love, and also by Franz Liszt, then rising almost on the top wave of his +dazzling fame as a virtuoso. Liszt was a profound admirer of the less +fortunate Schumann, and did everything possible to make him a favorite +with the public, but for a long time in vain. Liszt writes of this as +follows: "Since my first knowledge of his compositions I had played many +of them in private circles at Milan and Vienna, without having succeeded +in winning the approbation of my hearers. These works were, fortunately +for them, too far above the then trivial level of taste to find a home +in the superficial atmosphere of popular applause. The public did not +fancy them, and few players understood them. Even in Leipzig, where I +played the 'Carnival' at my second Gewandhaus concert, I did not +obtain my customary applause. Musicians, even those who claimed to be +connoisseurs also, carried too thick a mask over their ears to be able +to comprehend that charming 'Carnival,' harmoniously framed as it is, +and ornamented with such rich variety of artistic fancy. I did not +doubt, however, but that this work would eventually win its place in +general appreciation beside Beethoven's thirty-three variations on a +theme by Diabelli (which work it surpasses, according to my opinion, in +melody, richness, and inventiveness)." Both as a composer and writer on +music, Schumann embodied his deep detestation of the Philistinism and +commonplace which stupefied the current opinions of the time, and he +represented in Germany the same battle of the romantic in art against +what was known as the classical which had been carried on so fiercely in +France by Berlioz, Liszt, and Chopin. + + +III. + +The year 1840 was one of the most important in Schumann's life. In +February he was created Doctor of Philosophy in the University of Jena, +and, still more precious boon to the man's heart, Wieck's objections to +the marriage with Clara had been so far melted away that he consented, +though with reluctance, to their union. The marriage took place quietly +at a little church in Schonfeld, near Leipzig. This year was one of the +most fruitful of Schumann's life. His happiness burst forth in lyric +forms. He wrote the amazing number of one hundred and thirty-eight +songs, among which the more famous are the set entitled "Myrtles," the +cycles of song from Heine, dedicated to Pauline Viardot, Chamisso's +"Woman's Love and Life," and Heine's "Poet Love." Schumann as a +song-writer must be called indeed the musical reflex of Heine, for his +immortal works have the same passionate play of pathos and melancholy, +the sharp-cut epigrammatic form, the grand swell of imagination, +impatient of the limits set by artistic taste, which characterize the +poet themes. Schumann says that nearly all the works composed at this +time were written under Clara's inspiration solely. Blest with the +continual companionship of a woman of genius, as amiable as she was +gifted, who placed herself as a gentle mediator between Schumann's +intellectual life and the outer world, he composed many of his finest +vocal and instrumental compositions during the years immediately +succeeding his marriage; among them the cantata "Paradise and the +Peri," and the "Faust" music. His own connection with public life +was restricted to his position as teacher of piano-forte playing, +composition, and score playing at the Leipzig Conservatory, while the +gifted wife was the interpreter of his beautiful piano-forte works as an +executant. A more perfect fitness and companionship in union could not +have existed, and one is reminded of the married life of the poet pair, +the Brownings. After four years of happy and quiet life, in which mental +activity was inspired by the most delightful of domestic surroundings, +an artistic tour to St. Petersburg was undertaken by Robert and Clara +Schumann. Our composer did not go without reluctance. "Forgive me," he +writes to a friend, "if I forbear telling you of my unwillingness to +leave my quiet home." He seems to have had a melancholy premonition that +his days of untroubled happiness were over. A genial reception awaited +them at the Russian capital. They were frequently invited to the Winter +Palace by the emperor and empress, and the artistic circles of the city +were very enthusiastic over Mme. Schumann's piano-forte playing. Since +the days of John Field, Clementi's great pupil, no one had raised such +a furore among the music-loving Russians. Schumann's music, which it was +his wife's dearest privilege to interpret, found a much warmer welcome +than among his own countrymen at that date. In the Sclavonic nature +there is a deep current of romance and mysticism, which met with +instinctive sympathy the dreamy and fantastic thoughts which ran riot in +Schumann's works. + +On returning from the St. Petersburg tour, Schumann gave up the "Neue +Zeitschrift," the journal which he had made such a powerful organ of +musical revolution, and transferred it to Oswald Lorenz. Schumann's +literary work is so deeply intertwined with his artistic life and +mission that it is difficult, perhaps impossible, to separate the two. +He had achieved a great work--he had planted in the German mind the +thought that there was such a thing as progress and growth; that +stagnation was death; and that genius was for ever shaping for itself +new forms and developments. He had taught that no art is an end to +itself, and that, unless it embodies the deep-seated longings and +aspirations of men ever striving toward a loftier ideal, it becomes +barren and fruitless--the mere survival of a truth whose need had +ceased. He was the apostle of the musico-poetical art in Germany, and, +both as author and composer, strove with might and main to educate his +countrymen up to a clear understanding of the ultimate outcome of the +work begun by Beethoven, Schubert, and Weber. + +Schumann as a critic was eminently catholic and comprehensive. Deeply +appreciative of the old lights of music, he received with enthusiasm all +the fresh additions contributed by musical genius to the progress of +his age. Eschewing the cold, objective, technical form of criticism, +his method of approaching the work of others was eminently subjective, +casting on them the illumination which one man of genius gives +to another. The cast of his articles was somewhat dramatic and +conversational, and the characters represented as contributing +their opinions to the symposium of discussion were modeled on actual +personages. He himself was personified under the dual form of Florestan +and Eusebius, the "two souls in his breast"--the former, the fiery +iconoclast, impulsive in his judgments and reckless in attacking +prejudices; the latter, the mild, genial, receptive dreamer. Master +Raro, who stood for Wieck, also typified the calm, speculative side of +Schumann's nature. Chiara represented Clara Wieck, and personified the +feminine side of art. So the various personages were all modeled after +associates of Schumann, and, aside from the freshness and fascination +which this method gave his style, it enabled him to approach his +subjects from many sides. The name of the imaginary society was the +Davids-bund, probably from King David and his celebrated harp, or +perhaps in virtue of David's victories over the Philistines of his day. + +As an illustration of Schumann's style and method of treating musical +subjects, we can not do better than give his article on Chopin's "Don +Juan Fantasia": "Eusebius entered not long ago. You know his pale face +and the ironical smile with which he awakens expectation. I sat with +Florestan at the piano-forte. Florestan is, as you know, one of +those rare musical minds that foresee, as it were, coming novel or +extraordinary things. But he encountered a surprise today. With the +words 'Off with your hats, gentlemen! a genius,' Eusebius laid down a +piece of music. We were not allowed to see the title-page. I turned over +the music vacantly; the veiled enjoyment of music which one does not +hear has something magical in it. And besides this, it seems that every +composer has something different in the note forms. Beethoven looks +differently from Mozart on paper; the difference resembles that between +Jean Paul's and Goethe's prose. But here it seemed as if eyes, strange, +were glancing up to me--flower eyes, basilisk eyes, peacock's eyes, +maiden's eyes; in many places it looked yet brighter. I thought I +saw Mozart's 'La ci darem la mano' wound through a hundred chords. +_Leporello_ seemed to wink at me, and _Don Juan_ hurried past in his +white mantle. 'Now play it,' said Florestan. Eusebius consented, and we, +in the recess of a window, listened. Eusebius played as though he were +inspired, and led forward countless forms filled with the liveliest, +warmest life; it seemed that the inspiration of the moment gave to his +fingers a power beyond the ordinary measure of their cunning. It is true +that Florestan's whole applause was expressed in nothing but a happy +smile, and the remark that the variations might have been written by +Beethoven or Franz Schubert, had either of these been a piano virtuoso; +but how surprised he was when, turning to the title-page, he read 'La ci +darem la mano, varie pour le piano-forte, par Frederic Chopin, Ouvre 2,' +and with what astonishment we both cried out, 'An Opus 2!' How our faces +glowed as we wondered, exclaiming, 'That is something reasonable once +more! Chopin? I never heard of the name--who can he be? In any case, a +genius. Is not that _Zerlina's_ smile, And _Leporello_, etc' I could not +describe the scene. Heated with wine, Chopin, and our own enthusiasm, +we went to Master Raro, who with a smile, and displaying but little +curiosity for Chopin, said, 'Bring me the Chopin! I know you and your +enthusiasm.' We promised to bring it the next day. Eusebius soon bade us +good-night. I remained a short time with Master Raro. Florestan, who had +been for some time without a habitation, hurried to my house through the +moonlit streets. 'Chopin's variations,' he began, as if in a dream, +'are constantly running through my head; the whole is so dramatic +and Chopin-like; the introduction is so concentrated. Do you remember +_Leporello's_ springs in thirds? That seems to me somewhat unfitted +to the theme; but the theme--why did he write that in A flat? The +variations, the finale, the adagio, these are indeed something; genius +burns through every measure. Naturally, dear Julius, _Don Juan, Zerlina, +Leporello, Massetto_, are the _dramatis persona; Zerlina's_ answer in +the theme has a sufficiently enamored character; the first variation +expresses, a kind of coquettish coveteousness: the Spanish Grandee +flirts amiably with the peasant girl in it. This leads of itself to the +second, which is at once confidential, disputative, and comic, as though +two lovers were chasing each other and laughing more than usual about +it. How all this is changed in the third! It is filled with fairy music +and moonshine; _Masetto_ keeps at a distance, swearing audibly, but +without any effect on _Don Juan_. And now the fourth--what do you +think of it? Eusebius played it altogether correctly. How boldly, how +wantonly, it springs forward to meet the man! though the adagio (it +seems quite natural to me that Chopin repeats the first part) is in +B flat minor, as it should be, for in its commencement it presents a +beautiful moral warning to _Don Juan_. It is at once so mischievous +and beautiful that _Leporello_ listens behind the hedge, laughing and +jesting that oboes and clarionettes enchantingly allure, and that the +B flat major in full bloom correctly designates the first kiss of love. +But all this is nothing compared to the last (have you any more wine, +Julius?). That is the whole of Mozart's finale, popping champagne corks, +ringing glasses, _Leporello's_ voice between, the grasping, torturing +demons, the fleeing _Don Juan_--and then the end, that beautifully +soothes and closes all.' Florestan concluded by saying that he had never +experienced feelings similar to those awakened by the finale. When the +evening sunlight of a beautiful day creeps up toward the highest peaks, +and when the last beam vanishes, there comes a moment when the white +Alpine giants close their eyes. We feel that we have witnessed a +heavenly apparition. 'And now awake to new dreams, Julius, and sleep.' +'Dear Flores-tan,' I answered, 'these confidential feelings, are perhaps +praiseworthy, although somewhat subjective; but as deeply as yourself I +bend before Chopin's spontaneous genius, his lofty aim, his mastership; +and after that we fell asleep.'" This article was the first journalistic +record of Chopin's genius. + + +IV. + +When Schumann gave up his journal in 1845 he moved to Dresden, and he +began to suffer severely from the dreadful disorder to which he fell a +victim twelve years later. This disease--an abnormal formation of +bone in the brain--afflicted him with excruciating pains in the head, +sleeplessness, fear of death, and strange auricular delusions. A sojourn +at Parma, where he had complete repose and a course of sea-bathing, +partially restored his health, and he gave himself up to musical +composition again. During the next three years, up to 1849, Schumann +wrote some of his finest works, among which may be mentioned his opera +"Genoviva," his Second symphony, the cantata "The Rose's Pilgrimage," +more beautiful songs, much piano-forte and concerted music, and the +musical illustrations of Byron's "Manfred," which latter is one of his +greatest orchestral works. + +During the years 1850 to 1854 Schumann composed his "Rhenish Symphony," +the overtures to the "Bride of Messina" and "Hermann and Dorothea," +and many vocal and piano-forte works. He accepted the post of musical +director at Dusseldorf in 1850, removed to that city with his wife and +children, and, on arriving, the artistic pair were received with a +civic banquet. The position was in many respects agreeable, but the +responsibilities were too great for Schumann's declining health, and +probably hastened his death. In 1853 Robert and Clara Schumann made +a grand artistic tour through Holland, which resembled a triumphal +procession, so great was the musical enthusiasm called out. When they +returned Schumann's malady returned with double force, and on February +27, 1854, he attempted to end his misery by jumping into the Rhine. +Madness had seized him with a clutch which was never to be released, +except at short intervals. Every possible care was lavished on him by +his heartbroken and devoted wife, and the assiduous attention of the +friends who reverenced the genius now for ever quenched. The last two +years of his life were spent in the private insane asylum at Endenich, +near Bonn, where he died July 20, 1856. Schumann possessed a wealth of +musical imagination which, if possibly equaled in a few instances, is +nowhere surpassed in the records of his art. For him music possessed +all the attributes inherent in the other arts--absolute color and +flexibility of form. That he attempted to express these phases of art +expression, with an almost boundless trust in their applicability to +tone and sound, not unfrequently makes them obscure to the last degree, +but it also gave much of his composition a richness, depth, and subtilty +of suggestive power which place them in a unique niche, and will +always preserve them as objects of the greatest interest to the musical +student. There is no doubt that his increasing mental malady is evident +in the chaotic character of some of his later orchestral compositions, +but, in those works composed during his best period, splendor of +imagination goes hand in hand with genuine art treatment. This is +specially noticeable in the songs and the piano-forte works. Schumann +was essentially lyrical and subjective, though his intellectual breadth +and culture (almost unrivaled among his musical compeers) always kept +him from narrowness as a composer. He led the van in the formation of +that pictorial and descriptive style of music which has asserted itself +in German music, but his essentially lyric personality in his attitude +to the outer world presented the external thoroughly saturated and +modified by his own moods and feelings. + +In his piano-forte works we find his most complete and satisfactory +development as the artist composer. Here the world, with its myriad +impressions, its facts, its purposes, its tendencies, met the man and +commingled in a series of exquisite creations, which are true tone +pictures. In this domain Beethoven alone was worthy to be compared with +him, though the animus and scheme of the Beethoven piano-forte works +grew out of a totally different method. + +In personal appearance Schumann bore the marks of the man of genius. As +he reached middle age we are told of him that his figure was of middle +height, inclined to stoutness, that his bearing was dignified, his +movements slow. His features, though irregular, produced an agreeable +impression; his forehead was broad and high, the nose heavy, the eyes +excessively bright, though generally veiled and downcast, the mouth +delicately cut, the hair thick and brown, his cheeks full and ruddy. His +head was squarely formed, of an intensely powerful character, and the +whole expression of his face sweet and genial. Even when young he was +distinguished by a kind of absent-mindedness that prevented him from +taking much part in conversation. Once, it is said, he entered a lady's +drawing-room to call, played a few chords on the piano, and smilingly +left without speaking a word. But, among intimate friends, he could be +extraordinarily fluent and eloquent in discussing an interesting topic. +He was conscious of his own shyness, and once wrote to a friend: "I +shall be very glad to see you here. In me, however, you must not expect +to find much. I scarcely ever speak except in the evening, and most in +playing the piano." His wife was the crowning blessing of his life. She +was not only his consoler, but his other intellectual life, for she, +with her great powers as a virtuoso, interpreted his music to the world, +both before and after his death. It has rarely been the lot of an artist +to see his most intimate feelings and aspirations embodied to the world +by the genius of the mother of his children. Well did Ferdinand Hiller +write of this artist couple: "What love beautified his life! A woman +stood beside him, crowned with the starry circlet of genius, to whom he +seemed at once the father to his daughter, the master to the scholar, +the bridegroom to the bride, the saint to the disciple." + +Clara Schumann still lives, though becoming fast an old woman in years, +if still young in heart, and still able to win the admiration of the +musical world by her splendid playing. Berlioz, who heard her in her +youth, pronounced her the greatest virtuoso in Germany, in one of his +letters to Heine; and while she was little more than a child she had +gained the heartiest admiration in England, France, and Germany. Henry +Chorley heard her at Leipzig in 1839, and speaks of "the organ-playing +on the piano of Mme. Schumann (better known in England under the name of +Clara Wieck), who commands her instrument with the enthusiasm of a sibyl +and the grasp of a man." Since Schumann's death, Mme. Schumann has been +known as the exponent of her husband's works, which she has performed in +Germany and England with an insight, a power of conception, and a beauty +of treatment which have contributed much to the recognition of his +remarkable genius. + + +V. + +The name of Frederic Francis Chopin is so closely linked in the minds +of musical students with that of Schumann in that art renaissance which +took place almost simultaneously in France and Germany, when so many +daring and original minds broke loose from the petrifactions of custom +and tradition, that we shall not venture to separate them here. Chopin +was too timid and gentle to be a bold aggressor, like Berlioz, Liszt, +and Schumann, but his whole nature responded to the movement, and his +charming and most original compositions, which glow with the fire of a +genius perhaps narrow in its limits, have never been surpassed for their +individuality and poetic beauty. The present brief sketch of Chopin +does not propose to consider his life biographically, full of pathos and +romance as that life may be.* + + * See article Chopin, in "Great German Composers." + +Schumann, in his "N'eue Zeitschrift," sums up the characteristics of the +Polish composer admirably; "Genius creates kingdoms, the smaller states +of which are again divided by a higher hand among talents, that these +may organize details which the former, in its thousand-fold activity, +would be unable to perfect. As Hummel, for example, followed the call +of Mozart, clothing the thoughts of that master in a flowing, sparkling +robe, so Chopin followed Beethoven. Or, to speak more simply, as Hummel +imitated the style of Mozart in detail, rendering it enjoyable to the +virtuoso on one particular instrument, so Chopin led the spirit of +Beethoven into the concert-room. + +"Chopin did not make his appearance accompanied by an orchestral army, +as great genius is accustomed to do; he only possessed a small cohort, +but every soul belongs to him to the last hero. + +"He is the pupil of the first masters--Beethoven, Schubert, Field. The +first formed his mind in boldness, the second his heart in tenderness, +the third his hand to its flexibility. Thus he stood well provided with +deep knowledge in his art, armed with courage in the full consciousness +of his power, when in the year 1830 the great voice of the people arose +in the West. Hundreds of youths had waited for the moment; but Chopin +was the first on the summit of the wall, behind which lay a cowardly +renaissance, a dwarfish Philistinism, asleep. Blows were dealt right +and left, and the Philistines awoke angrily, crying out, 'Look at the +impudent one!' while others behind the besieger cried, 'The one of noble +courage.' + +"Besides this, and the favorable influence of period and condition, fate +rendered Chopin still more individual and interesting in endowing him +with an original pronounced nationality; Polish, too, and because this +nationality wanders in mourning robes in the thoughtful artist, it +deeply attracts us. It was well for him that neutral Germany did not +receive him too warmly at first, and that his genius led him straight +to one of the great capitals of the world, where he could freely poetize +and grow angry. If the powerful autocrat of the North knew what a +dangerous enemy threatens him in Chopin's works in the simple melodies +of his mazurkas, he would forbid music. Chopin's works are cannons +buried in flowers.... He is the boldest, proudest poet soul of to-day." + +But Schumann could have said something more than this, and added that +Chopin was a musician of exceptional attainments, a virtuoso of the very +highest order, a writer for the piano pure and simple preeminent beyond +example, and a master of a unique and perfect style. + +Chopin was born of mixed French and Polish parentage, February 8, +1810, at Zelazowa-Wola, near Warsaw. He was educated at the Warsaw +Conservatory, and his eminent genius for the piano shone at this time +most unmistakably. He found in the piano-forte an exclusive organ for +the expression of his thoughts. In the presence of this confidential +companion he forgot his shyness and poured forth his whole soul. +A passionate lover of his native country, and burning with those +aspirations for freedom which have made Poland since its first partition +a volcano ever ready to break forth, the folk-themes of Poland are +at the root of all of Chopin's compositions, and in the waltzes and +mazurkas bearing his name we find a passionate glow and richness of +color which make them musical poems of the highest order. + +Chopin's art position, both as a pianist and composer, was a unique one. +He was accustomed to say that the breath of the concert-room stifled +him, whereas Liszt, his intimate friend and fellow-artist, delighted in +it as a war-horse delights in the tumult of battle. Chopin always shrank +from the display of his powers as a mere executant. To exhibit his +talents to the public was an offense to him, and he only cared for his +remarkable technical skill as a means of placing his fanciful original +poems in tone rightly before the public. It was with the greatest +difficulty that his intimate friends, Liszt, Meyerbeer, Nourrit, +Delacroix, Heine, Mme. George Sand, Countess D'Agoult, and others, could +persuade him to appear before large mixed audiences. His genius only +shone unconstrained as a player in the society of a few chosen intimate +friends, with whom he felt a perfect sympathy, artistic, social, and +intellectual. Exquisite, fastidious, and refined, Chopin was loss an +aristocrat from political causes, or even by virtue of social caste, +than from the fact that his art nature, which was delicate, feminine, +and sensitive, shrank from all companions except those molded of the +finest clay. We find this sense of exclusiveness and isolation in all +of the Chopin music, as in some quaint, fantastic, ideal world, whose +master would draw us up to his sphere, but never descend to ours. + +In the treatment of the technical means of the piano-forte, he entirely +wanders from the old methods. Moscheles, a great pianist in an age of +great players, gave it up in despair, and confessed that he could not +play Chopin's music. The latter teaches the fingers to serve his own +artistic uses, without regard to the notions of the schools. It is said +that M. Kalkbrenner advised Chopin to attend his classes at the Paris +Conservatoire, that the latter might learn the proper fingering. Chopin +answered his officious adviser by placing one of his own "Etudes" before +him, and asking him to play it. The failure of the pompous professor +was ludicrous, for the old-established technique utterly failed to do it +justice. Chopin's end as a player was to faithfully interpret the poetry +of his own composition. His genius as a composer taught him to make +innovations in piano-forte effects. He was thus not only a great +inventor as a composer, but as regards the technique of the piano-forte. +He not only told new things well worth hearing which the world would not +forget, but devised new ways of saying them, and it mattered but little +to him whether his more forcible and passionate dialectic offended what +Schumann calls musical Philistinism or no. Chopin formed a school of his +own which was purely the outcome of his genius, though as Schumann, in +the extract previously quoted, justly says: "He was molded by the +deep poetic spirit of Beethoven, with whom form only had value as it +expressed truthfully and beautifully symmetry of conception." + +The forms of Chopin's compositions grew out of the keyboard of the +piano, and their _genre_ is so peculiar that it is nearly impracticable +to transpose them for any other instrument. Some of the noted +contemporary violinists have attempted to transpose a few of the +Nocturnes and Etudes, but without success. Both Schumann and Liszt +succeeded in adapting Paganini's most complex and difficult violin works +for the piano-forte, but the compositions of Chopin are so essentially +born to and of the one instrument that they can not be well suited to +any other. The cast of the melody, the matchless beauty and swing of the +rhythm, his ingenious treatment of harmony, and the chromatic changes +and climaxes through which the motives are developed, make up a new +chapter in the history of the piano-forte. + +Liszt, in his life of Chopin, says of him: "His character was indeed +not easily understood. A thousand subtile shades, mingling, crossing, +contradicting, and disguising each other, rendered it almost +undecipherable at first view; kind, courteous, affable, and almost +of joyous manners, he would not suffer the secret convulsions which +agitated him to be ever suspected. His works, concertos, waltzes, +sonatas, ballades, polonaises, mazurkas, nocturnes, scherzi, all reflect +a similar enigma in a most poetical and romantic form." + +Chopin's moral nature was not cast in an heroic mold, and he lacked the +robust intellectual marrow which is essential to the highest forms of +genius in art as well as in literature and affairs, though it is not +safe to believe that he was, as painted by George Sand and Liszt, a +feeble youth, continually living at death's door in an atmosphere of +moonshine and sentimentality. But there can be no question that the +whole bent of Chopin's temperament and genius was melancholy, romantic, +and poetic, and that frequently he gives us mere musical moods and +reveries, instead of well-defined and well-developed ideas. His music +perhaps loses nothing, for, if it misses something of the clear, +inspiring, vigorous quality of other great composers, it has a subtile, +dreamy, suggestive beauty all its own. + +The personal life of Chopin was singularly interesting. His long and +intimate connection with George Sand; the circumstances under which it +was formed; the blissful idyl of the lovers in the isle of Majorca; the +awakening from the dream, and the separation--these and other striking +circumstances growing out of a close association with what was best in +Parisian art and life, invest the career of the man, aside from his art, +with more than common charm to the mind of the reader. Having touched +on these phases of Chopin's life at some length in a previous volume of +this series, we must reluctantly pass them by. + +In closing this imperfect review of the Polish composer, it is enough to +say that the present generation has more than sustained the judgment +of his own as to the unique and wonderful beauty of his compositions. +Hardly any concert programme is considered complete without one or more +numbers selected from his works; and though there are but few pianists, +even in a day when Chopin as a stylist has been a study, who can do +his subtile and wonderful fancies justice, there is no composer for the +piano-forte who so fascinates the musical mind. + + + + +THALBERG AND GOTTSCHALK. + + +Thalberg one of the Greatest of Executants.--Bather a Man of Remarkable +Talents than of Genius.--Moscheles's Description of him.--The +Illegitimate Son of an Austrian Prince.--Early Introduction to +Musical Society in London and Vienna.--Beginning of his Career as a +Virtuoso.--The Brilliancy of his Career.--Is appointed Court Pianist to +the Emperor of Austria.--His Marriage.--Visits to America.--Thalborg's +Artistic Idiosyncrasy.--Robert Schumann on his Playing.--His Appearance +and Manner.--Characterization by George William Curtis.--Thalberg's +Style and Worth as an Artist.--His Pianoforte Method, and Place as a +Composer for the Piano.--Gott-schalk's Birth and Early Years.--He is +sent to Paris for Instruction.--Successful _Debut_ and Public +Concerts in Paris and Tour through the French Cities.--Friendship with +Berlioz.--Concert Tour to Spain.--Romantic Experiences.--Berlioz on +Gottschalk.--Reception of Gottschalk in America.--Criticism of his +Style.--Remarkable Success of his Concerts.--His Visit to the West +Indies, Mexico, and Central America.--Protracted Absence.--Gottschalk +on Life in the Tropics.--Return to the United States.--Three Brilliant +Musical Years.--Departure for South America.--Triumphant Procession +through the Spanish-American Cities.--Death at Rio Janeiro.--Notes on +Gottschalk as Man and Artist. + + +I. + +One of the most remarkable of the great piano-forte virtuosos was +unquestionably Sigismond Thalberg, an artist who made a profound +sensation in two hemispheres, and filled a large space in the musical +world for more than forty-five years. Originally a disciple of the +Viennese school of piano-forte playing, a pupil of Mosche-les, and a +rigid believer in making the instrument which was the medium of his +talent sufficient unto itself, wholly indifferent to the daring and +boundless ambition which made his great rival, Franz Liszt, pile Pelion +on Ossa in his grasp after new effects, Thalberg developed virtuoso-ism +to its extreme degree by a mechanical dexterity which was perhaps +unrivaled. But the fingers can not express more than rests in the heart +and brain to give to their skill, and Thalberg, with all his immense +talent, seems to have lacked the divine spark of genius. It goes without +saying, to those who are familiar with the current cant of criticism, +that the word genius is often applied in a very loose and misleading +manner. But, in all estimates of art and artists, where there are two +clearly defined factors, imagination or formative power and technical +dexterity, it would seem that there should not be any error in deciding +on the propriety of such a word as a measure of the quality of an +artist's gifts. The lack of the creative impulse could not be mistaken +in Thalberg's work, whether as player or composer. But the ability to +execute all that came within the scope of his sympathies or intelligence +was so prodigious that the world was easily dazzled into forgetting +his deficiencies in the loftier regions of art. Trifles are often very +significant. What, for example, could more vividly portray an artist's +tendencies than the description of Thalberg by Moscheles, who knew him +more thoroughly than any other contemporary, and felt a keener sympathy +with his _genre_ as an artist than with the more striking originality of +Chopin and Liszt. Moscheles writes: + +"I find his introduction of harp effects on the piano quite original. +His theme, which lies in the middle part, is brought out clearly in +relief with an accompaniment of complicated arpeggios which reminds me +of a harp. The audience is amazed. He himself sits immovably calm; +his whole bearing as he sits at the piano is soldierlike; his lips are +tightly compressed and his coat buttoned closely. He told me he acquired +this attitude of self-control by smoking a Turkish pipe while practicing +his piano-forte exercises: the length of the tube was so calculated as +to keep him erect and motionless." This exact discipline and mechanism +were not merely matters of technical culture; they were the logical +outcome of the man and surely a part of himself. But within his limits, +fixed as these were, Thalberg was so great that he must be conceded to +be one of the most striking and brilliant figures of an age fecund in +fine artists. + +Thalberg was born at Geneva, January 7,1812, and was the natural son of +Prince Dietrichstein, an Austrian nobleman, temporarily resident in that +city. His talent for music, inherited from both sides, for his mother +was an artist and his father an amateur of no inconsiderable skill, +became obvious at a very tender age, following the law which so +generally holds in music that superior gifts display themselves at an +early period. These indications of nature were not ignored, for the boy +was placed under instruction before he had completed his sixth year. It +is a little singular that his first teacher was not a pianist, though a +very superior musician. Mittag was one of the first bassoonists of +his times, and, in addition to his technical skill, a thoroughly +accomplished man in the science of his profession. Thalberg was +accustomed to attribute the wonderfully rich and mellow tone which +characterized his playing to the influence and training of Mittag. From +this instructor the future great pianist passed to the charge of the +distinguished Hummel, who was not only one of the greatest virtuosos of +the age, but ranked by his admirers as only a little less than Beethoven +himself in his genius for pianoforte compositions, though succeeding +generations have discredited his former fame by estimating him merely +a "dull classic." Contemporaneously with his pupilage under Hummel, +he studied the theory of music with Simon Sechter, an eminent +contrapuntist. Even at this early age, for Thalberg must have been +less than ten years old, he impressed all by the great precision of +his fingering and the instinctive ease with which he mastered the most +difficult mechanism of the art of playing. At the age of fourteen young +Thalberg went to London in the household of his father, who had been +appointed imperial ambassador to England, and the youth was then placed +under the instruction of the great pianist Moscheles. The latter speaks +of Thalberg as the most distinguished of his pupils, and as being, even +at that age, already an artist of distinction and mark. It was a source +of much pleasure to Moscheles that his brilliant scholar, who played +much at private soirees, was not only recognized by the _dilletante_ +public generally, but by such veteran artists as Clementi and Cramer. +Moscheles, in his diary, speaks of the wonderful brilliancy of a grand +fancy dress ball given by Thalberg's princely father at Covent Garden +Theatre. Pit, stalls, and proscenium were formed into one grand room, +in which the crowd promenaded. The costumes were of every conceivable +variety, and many of the most gorgeous description. The spectators, in +full dress, sat in the boxes; on the stage was a court box, occupied by +the royal family; and bands played in rooms adjoining for small parties +of dancers. "You will have some idea," wrote Mme. Moscheles, in a +letter, "of the crowd at this ball, when I tell you that we left the +ballroom at two o'clock and did not get to the prince's carriage till +four." One of the interesting features of this ball was that the +boy Thalberg played in one of the smaller rooms before the most +distinguished people present, including the royal family, all crowding +in to hear the youthful virtuoso, whose tacit recognition by his father +had already opened to him the most brilliant drawing-rooms in London. + +Thalberg did not immediately begin to perform in public, but, on +returning to Vienna in 1827, played continually at private soirees, +where he had the advantage of being heard and criticised by the foremost +amateurs and musicians of the Austrian capital. It had some time since +become obvious to the initiated that another great player was about to +be launched on his career. The following year the young artist tried his +hand at composition, for he published variations on themes from Weber's +"Euryanthe," which were well received. Thalberg in after-years spoke of +all his youthful productions with disdain, but his early works displayed +not a little of the brilliant style of treatment which subsequently gave +his fantasias a special place among compositions for the piano-forte. + +It was not till 1830 that young Thalberg fairly began his career as +a traveling player. The cities of Germany received him with the most +_eclatant_ admiration, and his feats of skill as a performer were +trumpeted by the newspapers and musical journals as something +unprecedented in the art of pianism. From Germany Thalberg proceeded to +France and England, and his audiences were no less pronounced in their +recognition. Liszt had already been before him in Paris, and Chopin +arrived about the same time. Kalkbrenner, Ferdinand Hiller, and +Field were playing, but the splendid, calm beauty of Thalberg's style +instantly captivated the public, and elicited the most extravagant +and delighted applause not only from the public, but from enlightened +connoisseurs. + +To follow the course of Thalberg's pianoforte achievements in his +musical travels through Europe would be merely to repeat a record of +uninterrupted successes. He disarmed envy and criticism everywhere, and +even those disposed to withhold a frank and generous acknowledgment of +his greatness did not dare to question powers of execution which +seemed without a technical flaw. During his travels Thalberg composed +a concerto for piano and orchestra, to play at his concerts. But this +species of composition was so obviously unsuited to his abilities that +he quickly forsook it, and thenceforward devoted his efforts exclusively +to the instrument of which he was such an eminent master. A more +extensive ambition had been rebuked in more ways than one. He composed +two operas, "Fiorinda" and "Christine," and of course easily yielded to +the entreaties of his admirers to have them produced. But it was clearly +evident that his musical idiosyncrasy, though magnificent of its kind, +was limited in range, and after the failure of his operas and attempts +at orchestral writing Thalberg calmly accepted the situation. + +In the year 1834 Thalberg was appointed pianist of the Imperial Chamber +to the court of Austria, and accompanied the Emperor Ferdinand to +Toplitz, where a convocation of the European sovereigns took place. His +performances were warmly received by the assembled monarchs, and he was +overwhelmed with presents and congratulations. Thalberg's way throughout +the whole of his life was strewn with roses, and, though his career did +not present the same romantic incidents which make the life of Franz +Liszt so picturesque, it was attended by the same lavish favors of +fortune. From one patron he received the gift of a fine estate, from +another a magnificent city mansion in Vienna, and testimonials, like +snuff-boxes set with diamonds, jeweled court-swords, superbly set +portraits of his royal and imperial patrons, and costly jewelry, poured +in on him continually. Imperial orders from Austria and Russia were +bestowed on him, and hardly any mark of favor was denied him by that +good fortune which had been auspicious to him from his very birth. In +1845, while still in the service of the Austrian emperor, though he did +not intermit his musical tours through the principal European cities, +Thalberg married the charming widow, whom he had known and admired +before her marriage, the daughter of the great singer Lablache, Mme. +Bouchot, whose first husband had been the distinguished French painter +of that name. The marriage was a happy one, though scandal, which loves +to busy itself about the affairs of musical celebrities, did not fail +to associate Thalberg's name with several of the most beautiful women of +his time. Mile. Thalberg, a daughter of this marriage, made her _debut_ +with considerable success in London, in 1874. + +Thalberg's first visit to America was in 1853, and he came again in +1857, to more than repeat the enthusiastic reception with which he was +greeted by music-loving Americans. Musical culture at that time had not +attained the refinement and knowledge which now make an audience in +one of our greater cities as fastidious and intelligent as can be found +anywhere in the world. But Thalberg's wonderful playing, though lacking +in the fire, glow, and impetuosity which would naturally most arouse the +less cultivated musical sense, created a _furore_, which has never been +matched since, among those who specially prided themselves on being good +judges. He extended both tours to Cuba, Mexico, and South America, and +it is said took away with him larger gains than he had ever made during +the same period in Europe. + +During the latter years of Thalberg's life he spent much of his time +in elegant ease at his fine country estate near Naples, only giving +concerts at some few of the largest European capitals, like London and +Paris. He became an enthusiastic wine-grower, and wine from his estate +gained a medal at the Exposition Universelle of 1867. Many of his best +piano-forte compositions date from the period when he had given up the +active pursuit of virtuosoism. His works comprise a concerto, three +sonatas, many nocturnes, rondos, and etudes, about thirty fantasias, two +operas, and an instruction series, which latter has been adopted by many +of the best teachers, and has been the means of forming a number of able +pupils. This fine artist died at his Neapolitan estate, April 27, 1871. + + +II. + +Thalberg had but little sympathy with the dreamy romanticism which +found such splendid exponents, while he was yet in his early youth, +in Schumann, Chopin, and Liszt. Imagination in its higher functions he +seemed to lack. A certain opulence and picturesqueness of fancy united +in his artistic being with an intelligence both lucid and penetrating, +and a sense of form and symmetry almost Greek in its fastidiousness. The +sweet, vague, passionate aspiration^, the sensibility that quivers +with every breath of movement from the external world, he could not +understand. Placidity, grace, and repose he had in perfection. Yet he +was very highly appreciated by those who had little in common with his +artistic nature. As, for example, Robert Schumann writes of Thalberg and +his playing, on the occasion of a charity concert, given in Leipzig in +1841: "In his passing flight the master's pinions rested here awhile, +and, as from the angel's pinions in one of Rucker's poems, rubies and +other precious stones fell from them and into indigent hands, as the +master ordained it. It is difficult to say anything new of one who has +been so praise beshow-ered as he has. But every earnest virtuoso is glad +to hear one thing said at any time--that he has progressed in his +art since he last delighted us. This best of all praise we are +conscientiously able to bestow on Thalberg; for, during the last two +years that we have not heard him, he has made astonishing additions to +his acquirements, and, if possible, moves with greater boldness, grace, +and freedom than ever. His playing seemed to have the same effect on +every one, and the delight that he probably feels in it himself was +shared by all. True virtuosity gives us something more than mere +flexibility and execution: aman may mirror his own nature in it, and in +Thalberg's playing it becomes clear to all that he is one of the favored +ones of fortune, one accustomed to wealth and elegance. Accompanied +by happiness, bestowing pleasure, he commenced his career; under such +circumstances he has so far pursued it, and so he will probably continue +it. The whole of yesterday evening and every number that he played gave +us a proof of this. The public did not seem to be there to judge, but +only to enjoy; they were as certain of enjoyment as the master was of +his art." + +Thalberg in his appearance had none of the traditional wild +picturesqueness of style and manner which so many distinguished artists, +even Liszt himself, have thought it worth while to carry perhaps to +the degree of affectation. Smoothly shaven, quiet, eminently +respectable-looking, his handsome, somewhat Jewish-looking face composed +in an expression of unostentatious good breeding, he was wont to +seat himself at the piano with all the simplicity of one doing any +commonplace thing. He had the air of one who respected himself, his art, +and the public. His performance was in an exquisitely artistic sense +that of the gentleman, perfect, polished, and elaborately wrought. The +distinguished American litterateur, Mr. George William Curtis, who heard +him in New York in 1857, thus wrote of him: "He is a proper artist in +this, that he comprehends the character of his instrument. He neither +treats it as a violoncello nor a full orchestra. Those who in private +have enjoyed the pleasure of hearing--or, to use a more accurate +epithet, of seeing--Strepitoso, that friend of mankind, play the piano, +will understand what we mean when we speak of treating the piano as if +it were an orchestra. Strepitoso storms and slams along the keyboard +until the tortured instrument gives up its musical soul in despair +and breaks its heart of melody by cracking all its strings.... Every +instrument has its limitations, but Strepitoso will tolerate no such +theory. He extracts music from his piano, not as if he were sifting the +sands for gold, but as if he were raking oysters.... Now, Thalberg's +manner is different from Strepitoso's. He plays the piano; that is the +phrase which describes his performance. He plays it quietly and suavely. +You could sit upon the lawn on a June night and hear with delight +the sounds that trickled through the moonlight from the piano of this +master. They would not melt your soul in you; they would not touch those +longings that, like rays of starry light, respond to the rays of the +stars; they would not storm your heart with the yearning passion +of their strains, but you would confess it was a good world as you +listened, and be glad you lived in it--you would be glad of your home +and all that made it homelike; the moonlight as you listened would melt +and change, and your smiling eyes would seem to glitter in cheerful +sunlight as Thalberg ended." + +Thalberg's style was, perhaps, the best possible illustration of the +legitimate effects of the pianoforte carried to the highest by as +perfect a technique as could possibly be attained by human skill. + +That he lacked poetic fire and passion, that the sense of artistic +restraint and a refined fastidiousness chilled and fettered him, is +doubtlessly true. Whether the absence of the imaginative warmth and +vigor which suffuse a work of art with the glow of something that can +not be fully expressed, and kindle the thoughts of the hearer to take +hitherto unknown flights, is fully compensated for by that repose and +symmetry of style which know exactly what it wishes to express, and, +being perfect master of the means of expression, puts forth an exact +measure of effort and then stops as if shut down by an iron wall--this +is an open question, and must be answered according to one's art +theories. The exquisite modeling of a Benvenuto Cellini vase, wrought +with patient elaboration into a thing of unsurpassable beauty, does not +invoke as high a sense of pleasure as an heroic statue or noble painting +by some great master, but of its kind the pleasure is just as complete. +Apart from Thalberg's power as a player, however, there was something +captivating in the quality of his talent, which, though not creative, +was gifted with the power of seizing the very essence of the music to +be interpreted. A striking example of this is shown in the fantasias he +composed on the different operas, a form of writing which reached its +perfection in him. His own contribution is simply a most delightful +setting of the melodies of his subject, and the whole is steeped in the +very atmosphere and feeling of the original, as if the master himself +had done the work. + +A good example is the fantasia on Mozart's "Don Giovanni." The little, +wild, unformed melodies rustle in quick gusts along the keys as if +wavering shadows, yet with all the familiar rhythm and family likeness, +filling the mind of the hearer with the atmosphere and necessity of what +is to follow, while gradually the full harmonies unfold themselves. The +introduction of the minuet is one of the most striking portions. The +scene of the minuet in the opera is a vision of rural loveliness and +repose, whispering of flowers, fields, and happy flying hours. All this +becomes poetized, and the music seems to imply rich reaches of odorous +garden and moonlight, whispering foliage, and nightingales mad with the +delight of their own singing, and a palace on the lawn sounding with +riotous mirth. The player-composer weaves the glamour of such a dream, +and the hearer finds himself strolling in imagination through the +moonlit garden, listening to the birds, the waters, and the rustling +leaves, while the stately beat of the minuet comes throbbing through +it all, calling up the vision of gayly dressed cavaliers and beautiful +ladies fantastically moving to the tune. Such poetic sentiment as +this of the purely picturesque sort was in large measure Thalberg's +possession, but he could never understand that turbulent ground-swell of +passion which music can also powerfully express, and by which the +soul is lifted up to the heights of ecstasy or plunged in depths of +melancholy. Music as a vehicle for such meanings was mere Egyptian +hieroglyphic, utterly beyond his limitation, absolute bathos and +absurdity. + +It is doubtful whether any player ever possessed a more wonderfully +trained mechanism; the smallest details were polished and finished with +the utmost care, the scales marvels of evenness, the shakes rivaling the +trill of a canary bird. His arpeggios at times rolled like the waves +of the sea, and at others resembled folds of transparent lace floating +airily with the movements of the wearer. The octaves were wonderfully +accurate, and the chords appeared to be struck by steel mallets instead +of fingers. He was called the Bayard of pianists, "le Chevalier sans +peur et sans reproche." His tone was noble, yet mellow and delicate, and +the gradations between his forte and piano were traced most exquisitely. +In a word, technical execution could go no further. It is said that +he never played a piece in public till he had absolutely made it the +property of his fingers. He was the first to divide the melody between +the two hands, making the right hand perform a brilliant figure in the +higher register, while the left hand exhibited a full and rich bass +part, supplementing it with an accompaniment in chords. It was this +characteristic which made his fantasias so unique and interesting, in +spite of their lack of originality of motive, as compositions. Almost +all writers for the piano have since adopted this device, even the great +Mendelssohn using it in some of his concertos and "Songs without Words"; +and in many cases it has been transformed into a mere trick of arrant +musical charlatanism, designed to cover up with a sham glitter the utter +absence of thought and motive. No better suggestion of the dominant +characteristic of Thal-berg as a pianist can be found than a critical +word of his friend Moscheles: "The proper ground for finger gymnastics +is to be found in Thalberg's latest compositions; for mind [Geist], give +me Schumann." + + +III. + +During Thalberg's first visit to America he had an active and dangerous +rival in the young and brilliant pianist, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, +who was as fresh to New York audiences as Thalberg himself, though the +latter had the advantage over his young competitor in a fame which +was almost world-wide. Of American pianists Louis Gottschalk stands +confessedly at the head by virtue of remarkable native gifts, which, had +they been assisted by greater industry and ambition, might easily have +won him a very eminent rank in Europe as well as in his own country. An +easy, pleasure-loving, tropical nature, flexible, facile, and disposed +to sacrifice the future to the present, was the only obstacle to the +attainment to a place level with the foremost artists of his age. + +Edward Gottschalk, who came to America in his young manhood and settled +in New Orleans, and his wife, a French Creole lady, had five children, +of whom the future pianist was the eldest, born in 1829. His feeling for +music manifested itself when he was three years old by his ability to +play a melody on the piano which he had heard. Instantly he was strong +enough, he was placed under the instruction of a good teacher, and no +pains were spared to develop his precocious talent. At the age of six he +had made such progress on the piano that he was also instructed on +the violin, and soon was able to play pieces of more than ordinary +difficulty with taste and expression. We are told that the lad gave +a benefit concert at the age of eight to assist an unfortunate +violin-player, with considerable success, and was soon in great request +at evening parties as a child phenomenon. The propriety of sending +the little Louis to Paris had long been discussed, and it was finally +accomplished in 1842. + +On reaching Paris he was first put under the teaching of Charles Halle, +but, as the latter master was a little careless, he was replaced by M. +Camille Stamaty, who had the reputation of being the ablest professor +in the city. The following year he began the study of harmony and +counterpoint with M. Malidan, and the rapid progress he evinced in his +studies was of a kind to justify his parents in their wish to devote him +to the career of a pianist. + +Young Louis Gottschalk was much petted in the aristocratic salons of +Paris, to which he had admission through his aunts, the Comtesse de +Lagrange and the Comtesse de Bourjally. His remarkable musical gifts, +and more especially his talent for improvisation, excited curiosity and +admiration, even in a city where the love of musical novelty had been +sated by a continual supply of art prodigies. Young as he was, he wrote +at this time not a few charming compositions, which were in after-years +occasional features of his concerts. His delicate constitution succumbed +under hard work, and for a while a severe attack of typhoid fever +interrupted his studies. On his recovery, our young artist spent a few +months in the Ardennes. On returning to Paris, he became the pupil of +Hector Berlioz, who felt a deep interest in the young American, as an +art prodigy from a land of savages in harmony, and devoted himself so +assiduously to the study that he declined an invitation from the Spanish +queen to become a guest of the court at Madrid. + +An amusing incident occurred in a pedestrian trip which he made to the +Vosges in 1846. He had forgotten his passport, and, on arriving at a +small town, was arrested by a gendarme and taken before the maire. The +latter official was reading a newspaper containing a notice of his last +concert, and through this means he assured the worthy functionary of his +identity, and was cordially welcomed to the hospitality of the official +residence. + +His friend Berlioz, who was ever on the alert to help the American pupil +who promised to do him so much credit, arranged a series of concerts +for him at the Italian Opera in the winter of 1846-'47, and these proved +brilliantly successful, not merely in filling the young artist's purse, +but in augmenting his fast-growing reputation. Steady labor in study and +concert-giving, many of his public performances being for charity, made +two years pass swiftly by. A musical tour through France in 1849 was +highly successful, and the young American returned to Paris, loaded +down with gifts, and rich in the sense of having justly earned the +congratulations which showered on him from all his friends. A second +invitation now came from Spain, and Louis Gottschalk on arriving at +Madrid was made a guest at the royal palace. From the king he received +two orders, the diamond cross of Isabella la Catholique and that of +Leon d'Holstein, and from the Duke de Montpensier he received a sword of +honor. We are told that at one of the private court concerts Gottschalk +played a duet with Don Carlos, the father of the recent pretender to the +Spanish throne. + +Among the romantic incidents narrated of this visit of Gottschalk to +Madrid, one is too characteristic to be overlooked, as showing the +tender, generous nature of the artist. An imaginative Spanish girl, +whose fancy had been excited by the public enthusiasm about Gottschalk, +but was too ill to attend his concerts, had a passionate desire to hear +him play, and pined away in the fret-fulness of ungratified desire. Her +family were not able to pay Gottschalk for the trouble of giving such an +exclusive concert, but, to satisfy the sick girl, made the circumstances +known to the artist. Gottschalk did not hesitate a moment, but ordered +his piano to be conveyed to the humble abode of the patient. Here by her +bedside he played for hours to the enraptured girl, and the strain of +emotion was so great that her life ebbed away before he had finished the +final chords. Gottschalk remained in Spain for two years, and it was not +till the autumn of 1852 that he returned to Paris, to give a series of +farewell concerts before returning again to America, where his father +and brothers were anxiously awaiting him. + + +IV. + +Before Gottschalk's departure from Paris, Hector Berlioz thus wrote of +his _protege_, for whom we may fancy he had a strong bias of liking; and +no judge is so generous in estimation as one artist of another, unless +the critic has personal cause of dislike, and then no judge is so +sweepingly unjust: "Gottschalk is one of the very small number who +possess all the different elements of a consummate pianist, all the +faculties which surround him with an irresistible prestige, and give him +a sovereign power. He is an accomplished musician; he knows just how far +fancy may be indulged in expression. He knows the limits beyond which +any freedom taken with the rhythm produces only confusion and disorder, +and upon these limits he never encroaches. There is an exquisite grace +in his manner of phrasing sweet melodies and throwing off light touches +from the higher keys. The boldness, brilliancy, and originality of his +play at once dazzle and astonish, and the infantile _naivete_ of his +smiling caprices, the charming simplicity with which he renders simple +things, seem to belong to another individuality, distinct from that +which marks his thundering energy. Thus the success of M. Gottschalk +before an audience of musical cultivation is immense." + +But even this enthusiastic praise was pale in comparison with the +eulogiums of some of the New York journals, after the first concert of +Gottschalk at Niblo's Garden Theatre. One newspaper, which arrogated +special strength and good judgment in its critical departments, +intimated that after such a revelation it was useless any longer to +speak of Beethoven! Whether Beethoven as a player or Beethoven as a +composer was meant was left unknown. Gottschalk at his earlier concerts +played many of his own compositions, made to order for the display +of his virtuosoism, and their brilliant, showy style was very well +calculated to arouse the enthusiasm of the general public. Perhaps the +most sound and thoughtful opinion of Gottschalk expressed during the +first enthusiasm created by his playing was that of a well-known musical +journal published in Boston: + +"Well, at the concert, which, by the way, did not half fill the Boston +Music Hall, owing partly, we believe, to the one-dollar price, and +partly, we _hope_, to distrust of an artist who plays wholly his own +compositions, our expectation was confirmed. There was, indeed, most +brilliant execution; we have heard none more brilliant, but are not yet +prepared to say that Jaell's was less so. Gottschalk's touch is the most +clear and crisp and beautiful that we have ever known. His play is +free and bold and sure, and graceful in the extreme; his runs pure and +liquid; his figures always clean and perfectly denned; his command of +rapid octave passages prodigious; and so we might go through with all +the technical points of masterly execution. It _was_ great execution. +But what is execution, without some thought and meaning in the +combinations to be executed?... Skillful, graceful, brilliant, +wonderful, we own his playing was. But players less wonderful have given +us far deeper satisfaction. We have seen a criticism upon that concert, +in which it was regretted that his music was too fine for common +apprehension, 'too much addressed to the _reasoning_ faculties,' etc. +To us the want was, that it did _not_ address the reason; that it seemed +empty of ideas, of inspiration; that it spake little to the mind or +heart, excited neither meditation nor emotion, but simply dazzled by the +display of difficult feats gracefully and easily achieved. But of +what use were all these difficulties? ('Difficult! I wish it was +_impossible_,' said Dr. Johnson.) Why all that rapid tossing of handfuls +of chords from the middle to the highest octaves, lifting the hand with +such conscious appeal to our eyes? To what end all those rapid octave +passages? since in the intervals of easy execution, in the seemingly +quiet impromptu passages, the music grew so monotonous and commonplace: +the same little figure repeated and repeated, after listless pauses, in +a way which conveyed no meaning, no sense of musical progress, but only +the appearance of fastidiously critical scale-practicing." + +In the series of concerts given by Gottschalk throughout the United +States, the public generally showed great enthusiasm and admiration, +and the young pianist sustained himself very successfully against the +memories of Jaell, Henri Herz, and Leopold de Meyer, as well as the +immediate rivalry of Thalberg, who appealed more potently to a select +few. The hold the American pianist had secured on his public did not +lessen during the five years of concert-giving which succeeded. No +player ever displayed his skill before American audiences who had in so +large degree that peculiar quality of geniality in his style which so +endears him to the public. This characteristic is something apart from +genius or technical skill, and is peculiarly an emanation from the +personality of the man. + +In the spring of 1837 Gottschalk found himself in Havana, whither he had +gone to make the beginning of a musical tour through the West Indies. +His first concert was given at the Tacon Theatre, which Mr. Maretzek, +who was giving operatic representations then in Havana, yielded to +him for the occasion. The Cubans gave the pianist a tropical warmth of +welcome, and Gott-schalk's letters from the old Spanish city are full +of admiration for the climate, the life, and the people, with whom there +was something strongly sympathetic in his own nature. The artist had not +designed to protract his musical wanderings in the beautiful island of +the Antilles for any considerable period, but his success was great, +and the new experiences admirably suited his dreaming, sensuous, +pleasure-loving temperament. Everywhere the advent of Gottschalk at +a town was made the occasion of a festival, and life seemed to be one +continued gala-day with him. + + +V. + +In the early months of 1860 the young pianist, Arthur Napoleon, joined +Gottschalk at Havana, and the two gave concerts throughout the West +Indies, which were highly successful. The early summer had been designed +for a tour through Central America and Venezuela, but a severe attack of +illness prostrated Gottschalk, and he was not able to sail before August +for his new field of musical conquest. Our artist did not return to New +York till 1862, after an absence of five years, though his original plan +had only contemplated a tour of two years. It must not be supposed that +Gottschalk devoted his time continually to concert performances and +composition, though he by no means neglected the requirements of +musical labor. As he himself confesses, the balmy climate, the glorious +landscapes, the languid _dolce far niente_, which tended to enervate +all that came under their magic spell, wrought on his susceptible +temperament with peculiar effect. A quotation from an article written by +Gottschalk, and published in the "Atlantic Monthly," entitled "Notes of +a Pianist," will furnish the reader a graphic idea of the influence +of tropical life on such an imaginative and voluptuous character, +passionately fond of nature and outdoor life: "Thus, in succession, I +have visited all the Antilles--Spanish, French, English, Dutch, Swedish, +and Danish; the Guianas, and the coasts of Para. At times, having become +the idol of some obscure _pueblo_, whose untutored ears I had charmed +with its own simple ballads, I would pitch my tent for five, six, eight +months, deferring my departure from day to day, until finally I began +seriously to entertain the idea of remaining there for evermore. +Abandoning myself to such influences, I lived without care, as the bird +sings, as the flower expands, as the brook flows, oblivious of the past, +reckless of the future, and sowed both my heart and my purse with the +ardor of a husbandman who hopes to reap a hundred ears for every grain +he confides to the earth. But, alas! the fields where is garnered the +harvest of expended doubloons, and where vernal loves bloom anew, are +yet to be discovered; and the result of my prodigality was that, one +fine morning, I found myself a bankrupt in heart, with my purse +at ebb-tide. Suddenly disgusted with the world and myself, weary, +discouraged, mistrusting men (ay, and women too), I fled to a desert on +the extinct volcano of M------, where, for several months, I lived the +life of a cenobite, with no companion but a poor lunatic whom I had met +on a small island, and who had attached himself to me. He followed me +everywhere, and loved me with that absurd and touching constancy of +which dogs and madmen alone are capable. My friend, whose insanity was +of a mild and harmless character, fancied himself the greatest genius in +the world. He was, moreover, under the impression that he suffered from +a gigantic, monstrous tooth. Of the two idiosyncrasies, the latter alone +made his lunacy discernible, too many individuals being affected with +the other symptom to render it an anomalous feature of the human mind. +My friend was in the habit of protesting that this enormous tooth +increased periodically, and threatened to encroach upon his entire jaw. +Tormented, at the same time, with the desire of regenerating humanity, +he divided his leisure between the study of dentistry, to which he +applied himself in order to impede the progress of his hypothetical +tyrant, and a voluminous correspondence which he kept up with the Pope, +his brother, and the Emperor of the French, his cousin. In the latter +occupation he pleaded the interests of humanity, styled himself 'the +Prince of Thought,' and exalted me to the dignity of his illustrious +friend and benefactor. In the midst of the wreck of his intellect, one +thing still survived--his love of music. He played the violin; and, +strange as it may appear, although insane, he could not understand the +so-called _music of the future_. + +"My hut, perched on the verge of the crater, at the very summit of the +mountain, commanded a view of all the surrounding country. The rock +upon which it was built projected over a precipice whose abysses were +concealed by creeping plants, cactus, and bamboos. The species +of table-rock thus formed had been encircled with a railing, and +transformed into a terrace on a level with the sleeping-room, by my +predecessor in this hermitage. His last wish had been to be buried +there; and from my bed I could see his white tombstone gleaming in the +moonlight a few steps from my window. Every evening I rolled my piano +out upon the terrace; and there, facing the most incomparably beautiful +landscape, all bathed in the soft and limpid atmosphere of the tropics, +I poured forth on the instrument, and for myself alone, the thoughts +with which the scene inspired me. And what a scene! Picture to yourself +a gigantic amphitheatre hewn out of the mountains by an army of Titans; +right and left, immense virgin forests full of those subdued and distant +harmonies which are, as it were, the voices of Silence; before me, +a prospect of twenty leagues marvelously enhanced by the extreme +transparency of the air; above, the azure of the sky: beneath, the +creviced sides of the mountain sweeping down to the plain; afar, the +waving savannas; beyond them, a grayish speck (the distant city); and, +encompassing them all, the immensity of the ocean closing the horizon +with its deep-blue line. Behind me was a rock on which a torrent of +melted snow dashed its white foam, and there, diverted from its course, +rushed with a mad leap and plunged headlong into the gulf that yawned +beneath my window. + +"Amid such scenes I composed 'Reponds-moi la Marche des Gibaros,' +'Polonia,' 'Columbia,' 'Pastorella e Cavaliere,' 'Jeunesse,' and many +other unpublished works. I allowed my fingers to run over the keys, +wrapped up in the contemplation of these wonders; while my poor friend, +whom I heeded but little, revealed to me with a childish loquacity the +lofty destiny he held in reserve for humanity. Can you conceive the +contrast produced by this shattered intellect expressing at random its +disjointed thoughts, as a disordered clock strikes by chance any +hour, and the majestic serenity of the scene around me? I felt it +instinctively. My misanthropy gave way. I became indulgent toward myself +and mankind, and the wounds of my heart closed once more. My despair was +soothed; and soon the sun of the tropics, which tinges all things with +gold--dreams as well as fruits--restored me with new confidence and +vigor to my wanderings. + +"I relapsed into the manners and life of these primitive countries: +if not strictly virtuous, they are at all events terribly attractive. +Existence in a tropical wilderness, in the midst of a voluptuous and +half-civilized race, bears no resemblance to that of a London cockney, a +Parisian lounger, or an American Quaker. Times there were, indeed, when +a voice was heard within me that spoke of nobler aims. It reminded me +of what I once was, of what I yet might be; and commanded imperatively a +return to a healthier and more active life. But I had allowed myself to +be enervated by this baneful languor, this insidious _far niente_; and +my moral torpor was such that the mere thought of reappearing before +a polished audience struck me as superlatively absurd. 'Where was the +object?' I would ask myself. Moreover, it was too late; and I went on +dreaming with open eyes, careering on horseback through the savannas, +listening at break of day to the prattle of the parrots in the +guava-trees, at nightfall to the chirp of the _grillos_ in the +cane-fields, or else smoking my cigar, taking my coffee, rocking myself +in a hammock--in short, enjoying all the delights that are the very +heart-blood of a _guajiro_, and out of the sphere of which he can see +but death, or, what is worse to him, the feverish agitation of our +Northern society. Go and talk of the funds, of the landed interest, of +stock-jobbing, to this Sybarite lord of the wilderness, who can live all +the year round on luscious bananas and delicious cocoa-nuts which he +is not even at the trouble of planting; who has the best tobacco in +the world to smoke; who replaces today the horse he had yesterday by a +better one, chosen from the first _calallada_ he meets; who requires no +further protection from the cold than a pair of linen trousers, in that +favored clime where the seasons roll on in one perennial summer; who, +more than all this, finds at eve, under the rustling palm-trees, pensive +beauties, eager to reward with their smiles the one who murmurs in their +ears those three words, ever new, ever beautiful, 'Yo te quiero.'" + + +VI. + +Mr. Gottschalk's return to America in February, 1862, was celebrated by +a concert in Irving Hall, on the anniversary of his _debut_ in New York. +This was the beginning of another brilliant musical series, in pursuance +of which he appeared in every prominent city of the country. While +many found fault with Gottschalk for descending to pure "claptrap" and +bravura playing, for using his great powers to merely superficial and +unworthy ends, he seemed to retain as great a hold as ever over the +masses of concert-goers. Gottschalk himself, with his epicurean, +easy-going nature, laughed at the lectures read him by the critics and +connoisseurs, who would have him follow out ideals for which he had no +taste. It was like asking the butterfly to live the life of the bee. +Great as were the gifts of the artist, it was not to be expected that +these would be pursued in lines not consistent with the limitations +of his temperament. Gottschalk appears to have had no desire except to +amuse and delight the world, and to have been foreign to any loftier +musical aspiration, if we may judge by his own recorded words. He passed +through life as would a splendid wild singing-bird, making music +because it was the law of his being, but never directing that talent +with conscious energy to some purpose beyond itself. + +In 1863 family misfortunes and severe illness of himself cooperated to +make the year vacant of musical doings, but instantly he recovered he +was engaged by M. Strakosch to give another series of concerts in the +leading Eastern cities. Without attempting to linger over his career for +the next two years, let us pass to his second expedition to the tropics +in 1865. Four years were spent in South America, each country that he +visited vieing with the other in doing him honor. Magnificent gifts were +heaped on him by his enthusiastic Spanish-American admirers, and life +was one continual ovation. In Peru he gave sixty concerts, and was +presented with a costly decoration of gold, diamond, and pearl. In Chili +the Government voted him a grand gold medal, which the board of public +schools, the board of visitors of the hospitals, and the municipal +government of Valparaiso supplemented by gold medals, in recognition +of Gottschalk's munificence in the benefit concerts he gave for various +public and humane institutions. The American pianist, through the whole +of his career, had shown the traditional benevolence of his class in +offering his services to the advancement of worthy objects. A similar +reception awaited Gottschalk in Montevideo, where the artist became +doubly the object of admiration by the substantial additions he made +to the popular educational fund. While in this city he organized and +conducted a great musical festival in which three hundred musicians +engaged, exclusive of the Italian Opera company then at Montevideo. + +The spring of 1869 brought Gottschalk to the last scene of his musical +triumphs, for the span of his career was about to close over him. Rio +Janeiro, the capital of Brazil, gave Gottschalk an ardent reception, +which made this city properly the culmination of his toils and triumphs. +Gottschalk wrote that his performances created such a _furore_ that +boxes commanded a premium of seventy-five dollars, and single seats +fetched twenty-five. He was frequently entertained by Dom Pedro at the +palace; in every way the Brazilians testified their lavish admiration of +his artistic talents. In the midst of his success Gottschalk was seized +with yellow fever, and brought very low. Indeed, the report came back +to New York that he was dead, a report, however, which his own letters, +written from the bed of convalescence, soon contradicted. + +In October of 1869 Gottschalk was appointed by the emperor to take the +leadership of a great festival, in which eight hundred performers in +orchestra and chorus would take part. Indefatigable labor, in rehearsing +his musicians and organizing the almost innumerable details of such an +affair, acted on a frame which had not yet recovered its strength from a +severe attack of illness. With difficulty he dragged himself through the +tedious preparation, and when he stood up to conduct the first concert +of the festival, on the evening of November 26, he was so weak that he +could scarcely stand. The next day he was too ill to rise, and, though +he forced himself to go to the opera-house in the evening, he was so +weak as to be unable to conduct the music, and he had to be driven back +to his hotel. The best medical skill watched over him, but his hour had +come, and after three weeks of severe suffering he died, December 18, +1869. The funeral solemnities at the Cathedral of Rio were of the most +imposing character, and all the indications of really heart-felt sorrow +were shown among the vast crowd of spectators, for Gottschalk had +quickly endeared himself to the public both as man and artist. At the +time of Gott-schalk's death, it was his purpose to set sail for Europe +at the earliest practicable moment, to secure the publication of some of +his more important works, and the production of his operas, of which he +had the finished scores of not less than six. + +Louis Moreau Gottschalk was an artist and composer whose gifts were +never more than half developed; for his native genius as a musician was +of the highest order. Shortly before he died, at the age of forty, he +seemed to have ripened into more earnest views and purposes, and, had +he lived to fulfill his prime, it is reasonable to hazard the conjecture +that he would have richly earned a far loftier niche in the pantheon +of music than can now be given him. A rich, pleasure-loving, Oriental +temperament, which tended to pour itself forth in dreams instead of +action; vivid emotional sensibilities, which enabled him to exhaust +all the resources of pleasure where imagination stimulates sense; and +a thorough optimism in his theories, which saw everything at its best, +tended to blunt the keen ambition which would otherwise inevitably have +stirred the possessor of such artistic gifts. Gottschalk fell far short +of his possibilities, though he was the greatest piano executant ever +produced by our own country. He might have dazzled the world even as he +dazzled his own partial countrymen. + +His style as a pianist was sparkling, dashing, showy, but, in the +judgment of the most judicious, he did not appear to good advantage in +comparison with Thalberg, in whom a perfect technique was dominated by +a conscious intellectualism, and a high ideal, passionless but severely +beautiful. + +Gottschalk's idiosyncrasy as a composer ran in parallel lines with +that of the player. Most of the works of this musician are brilliant, +charming, tender, melodious, full of captivating excellence, but +bright with the flash of fancy, rather than strong with the power +of imagination. We do not find in his piano-forte pieces any of that +subtile soul-searching force which penetrates to the deepest roots +of thought and feeling. Sundry musical cynics were wont to crush +Gottschalk's individuality into the coffin of a single epigram. "A +musical bonbon to tickle the palates of sentimental women." But this +falls as far short of justice as the enthusiasm of many of his admirers +overreaches it. The easy and genial temperament of the man, his ability +to seize the things of life on their bright side, and a naive indolence +which indisposed the artist to grapple with the severest obligations of +an art life, prevented Gottschalk from attaining the greatness possible +to him, but they contributed to make him singularly lovable, and to +justify the passionate attachment which he inspired in most of those +who knew him well. But, with all of Gottschalk's limitations, he must +be considered the most noticeable and able of pianists and composers for +the piano yet produced by the United States. + + + + +FRANZ LISZT. + + +The Spoiled Favorite of Fortune.--His Inherited Genius.--Birth and +Early Training.--First Appearance in Concert.--Adam Liszt and his Son +in Paris.--Sensation made by the Boy's Playing.--His Morbid Religious +Sufferings.--Franz Liszt thrown on his own Resources.--The Artistic +Circle in Paris.--Liszt in the Banks of Romanticism.--His Friends and +Associates.--Mme. D'Agoult and her Connection with Franz +Liszt.--He retires to Geneva.--Is recalled to Paris by the Thalberg +_Furore_.--Rivalry between the Artists, and their Factions.--He +commences his Career as Traveling Virtuoso.--The Blaze of Enthusiasm +throughout Europe.--Schumann on Liszt as Man and Artist.--He ranks the +Hungarian Virtuoso as the Superior of Thalberg.--Liszt's Generosity to +his own Countrymen.--The Honors paid to him in Pesth.--Incidents of +his Musical Wanderings.--He loses the Proceeds of Three Hundred +Concerts.--Contributes to the Completion of the Cologne Cathedral.--His +Connection with the Beethoven Statue at Bonn, and the Celebration of +the Unveiling.--Chorley on Liszt.--Berlioz and Liszt.--Character of the +Enthusiasm called out by Liszt as an Artist.--Remarkable Personality +as a Man.--Berlioz characterizes the Great Virtuoso in a Letter.--Liszt +erases his Life as a Virtuoso, and becomes Chapel-Master and Court +Conductor at Weimar.--Avowed Belief in the New School of Music, and +Production of Works of this School.--Wagner's Testimony to Liszt's +Assistance.--Liszt's Resignation of his Weimar Post after Ten +Years.--His Subsequent Life.--He takes Holy Orders.--Liszt as a Virtuoso +and Composer.--Entitled to be placed among tire most Remarkable Men of +his Age. + + +I. + +There are but few names in music more interesting than that of Franz +Liszt, the spoiled favorite of Europe for more than half a century, and +without question the greatest piano-forte virtuoso that ever lived. His +life has passed through the sunniest regions of fortune and success, +and from his cradle upward the gods have showered on him their richest +gifts. His career as an artist and musician has been most remarkable, +his personal life full of romance, and his connection with some of +the most vital changes in music which have occurred during the century +interesting and significant. From his first appearance in public, at the +age of twelve, his genius was acknowledged with enthusiasm throughout +the whole republic of art, from Beethoven down to the obscurest +_dilletante_, and it may be asserted that the history of music knows +no instance of success approaching that achieved by the performances +of this great player in every capital of Europe, from Madrid to St. +Petersburg. When he wearied of the fame of the virtuoso, and became +a composer, not only for the piano-forte, but for the orchestra, his +invincible energy soon overcame all difficulties in his path, and he has +lived to see himself accepted as one of the greatest of living musical +thinkers and writers. + +The life of Liszt is so crowded with important incidents that it is +difficult to condense into the brief limits of a sketch any fairly +adequate statement of his career. He was born October 22, 1811, in the +village of Raiding, in Hungary, and it is said that his father Adam +Liszt, who was in the service of the Prince Esterhazy, was firmly +convinced that the child would become distinguished on account of the +appearance of a remarkable comet during the year. Adam Liszt himself was +a fine pianist, gifted indeed with a talent which might have made him +eminent had he pursued it. All his ambition and hope, however, centered +in his son, in whom musical genius quickly declared itself; and the +father found teaching this gifted child not only a labor of love, but +a task smoothed by the extraordinary aptness of the pupil. He was +accustomed to say to the young Franz: "My son, you are destined to +realize the glorious ideal that has shone in vain before my youth. In +you that is to reach its fulfillment which I have myself but faintly +conceived. In you shall my genius grow up and bear fruit; I shall renew +my youth in you even after I am laid in the grave." Such prophetic words +recall the vision of the Genoese woman, who foresaw the future greatness +of the little Nicolo Paganini, a genius who resembled in many ways the +phenomenal musical force embodied in Franz Liszt. When the lad was very +young, perhaps not more than six, he read the "Kene" of Chateaubriand, +and it made such an indelible impression on his mind that he in after +years spoke of it as having been one of the most potent influences of +his life, since it stimulated the natural melancholy of his character +when his nature was most flexible and impressible. + +At the age of nine he made his first appearance in public at Odenburg, +playing Bies's concerto in three flats, and improvising a fantasia so +full of melodic ideas, striking rhythms, and well-arranged harmony as to +strike the audience with surprise and admiration. Among the hearers was +Prince Esterhazy, who was so pleased with the precocious talent shown +that he put a purse of fifty ducats in the young musician's hand. Soon +after this Adam Liszt went to Pres-burg to live, and several noblemen, +among whom were Prince Esterhazy, and the Counts Amadee and Szapary, all +of them enthusiastic patrons of music, determined to bear the burden of +the boy's musical education. To this end they agreed to allow him six +hundred florins a year for six years. Young Liszt was placed at Vienna +under the tutelage of the celebrated pianist and teacher Czerny, and +soon made such progress that he was able to play such works as those +even of Beethoven and Hummel at first sight. When Liszt did this for +one of Hummel's most difficult concertos, at the rooms of the music +publisher one day, it created a great sensation in Vienna, and he +quickly became one of the lions of the drawing-rooms of the capital. +Czerny himself was so much delighted with the genius of his charge +that he refused to accept the three hundred florins stipulated for his +lessons, saying he was but too well repaid by the success of the pupil. + +Though toiling with incessant industry in musical study and practice, +for the boy was working at composition with Salieri and Randhartinger, +as well as the piano-forte with Czerny, he found time to indulge in +those strange, mystical, and fantastic dreams which have molded his +whole life, oscillating between pietistic delirium, wherein he saw +celestial visions and felt the call to a holy life, and the most +voluptuous images and aspirations for earthly pleasures. Franz Liszt +at this early age had a sensibility so delicate, and an imagination so +quickly kindled, that he himself tells us no one can guess the extremes +of ecstasy and despair through which he alternately passed. These +spiritual experiences were perhaps fed by the mysticism of Jacob Boehme, +whose works came into his possession, and furnished a most delusive and +dangerous guide for the young enthusiast's fancy. But, dream and suffer +as he might, nothing was allowed to quench the ardor of his musical +studies. + +Eighteen months were passed in diligent labor under the guidance of the +masters, who found teaching almost unnecessary, as the wonderful lad +needed but a hint to work out for himself the most difficult problems, +and he toiled so incessantly that he often became conscious of the +change of day into night only by the failure of the light and the coming +of the candles. Finally, by advice of Salieri, after eighteen months of +labor, he determined to appear in concert in Vienna. On this occasion +the audience was composed of the most distinguished people of Vienna, +drawn thither to hear the young musical wonder of whom every one talked. +Among the hearers was Beethoven, who after the concert gave the proud +boy the most cordial praise, and prophesied a great career for him. + +The elder Liszt was already in Paris, and it was determined that +Franz should go to that city, to avail himself of the instructions of +Cherubini, at the Conservatoire, who as a teacher of counterpoint had +no equal in Europe. The Prince Metternich sent letters of the warmest +recommendation, but they were of no avail, for Cherubini, who was +singularly whimsical and obstinate in his notions, refused to accept +the new candidate, on account of the rule of the Conservatoire excluding +pupils of foreign birth, a plea which the famous director did not +hesitate to break when he chose. Franz, however, continued his studies +under Reicha and Paer, and, while the gates of the Conservatoire were +closed, all the salons of Paris opened to receive him. Everywhere he was +feted, courted, caressed. This fair-haired, blue-eyed lad, with the seal +of genius burning on his face, had made the social world mad over him. +The young adventurer was sailing in a treacherous channel, full of +dangerous reefs. Would he, in the homage paid to him, an unmatured +youth, by scholars, artists, wealth, beauty, and rank, forgot in mere +self-love and vanity his high obligations to his art and the sincere +devotion which alone could wrest from art its richest guerdon? This +problem seems to have troubled his father, for he determined to take his +young Franz away from the palace of Circe. The boy had already made an +attempt at composition in the shape of an operetta, in one act, "Don +Sanche," which was very well received at the Academie Royale. Adolph +Nourrit, the great singer, had led the young composer on the stage, +where he was received with thunders of applause by the audience, and +was embraced with transport by Rudolph Kreutzer, the director of the +orchestra. + +Adam Liszt and his son went to England, and spent about six months in +giving concerts in London and other cities. Franz was less than +fourteen years old, but the pale, fragile, slender boy had, in the deep +melancholy which stamped the noble outline of his face, an appearance +of maturity that belied his years. English audiences everywhere received +him with admiration, but he seemed to have lost all zest for the +intoxicating wine of public favor. A profound gloom stole over him, +and we even hear of hints at an attempt to commit suicide. Adam Liszt +attributed it to the sad English climate, which Hein-rich Heine cursed +with such unlimited bitterness, and took his boy back again to sunnier +France. But the dejection darkened and deepened, threatening even +to pass into epilepsy. It assumed the form of religious enthusiasm, +alternating with fits of remorse as of one who had committed the +unpardonable sin, and sometimes expressed itself in a species of frenzy +for the monastic life. These strange experiences alarmed the father, +and, in obedience to medical advice, he took the ailing, half-hysterical +lad to Boulogne-sur-Mer, for sea-bathing. + + +II. + +While by the seaside Franz Liszt lost the father who had loved him +with the devotion of father and mother combined. This fresh stroke of +affliction deepened his dejection, and finally resulted in a fit of +severe illness. When he was convalescent new views of life seemed +to inspire him. He was now entirely thrown on his own resources for +support, for Adam Liszt had left his affairs so deeply involved that +there was but little left for his son and widow. A powerful nature, +turned awry by unhealthy broodings, is often rescued from its own mental +perversities by the sense of some new responsibility suddenly imposed on +it. Boy as Liszt was, the Titan in him had already shown itself in +the agonies and struggles which he had undergone, and, now that the +necessity of hard work suddenly came, the atmosphere of turmoil and +gloom began to clear under the imminent practical burden of life. He set +resolutely to work composing and giving concerts. The religious mania +under which he had rested for a while turned his thoughts to sacred +music, and most of his compositions were masses. But the very effort of +responsible toil set, as it were, a background against which he could +appoint the true place and dimensions of his art work. There was another +disturbance, however, which now stirred up his excitable mind. He fell +madly in love with a lady of high rank, and surrendered his young heart +entirely to this new passion. The unfortunate issue of this attachment, +for the lady was much older than himself, and laughed with a gentle +mockery at the infatuation of her young adorer, made Liszt intensely +unhappy and misanthropical, but it did not prevent him from steady +labor. Indeed, work became all the more welcome, as it served to +distract his mind from its amorous pains, and his fantastic musings, +instead of feeding on themselves, expressed themselves in his art. +Certainly no healthier sign of one beginning to clothe himself in his +right mind again can easily be imagined. + +Liszt was now twenty years of age, and had regularly settled in Paris. +He became acquainted intimately with the leaders of French literature, +and was an habitue of the brilliant circles which gathered these great +minds night after night. Lamartine and Chateaubriand were yielding +place to a young and fiery school of writers and thinkers, but cordially +clasped hands with the successors whom they themselves had made +possible. Mme. George Sand, Balzac, Dumas, Victor Hugo, and others were +just then beginning to stir in the mental revolution which they made +famous. Liszt felt a deep interest in the literary and scientific +interests of the day, and he threw himself into the new movement with +great enthusiasm, for its strong wave moved art as well as letters with +convulsive throes. The musician found in this fresh impulse something +congenial to his own fiery, restless, aspiring nature. He entered +eagerly into all the intellectual movements of the day. He became a +St. Simonian and such a hot-headed politician that, had he not been an +artist, and as such considered a harmless fanatic, he would perhaps have +incurred some penalties. Liszt has left us, in his "Life of Chopin," and +his letters, some very vivid portraitures of the people and the events, +the fascinating literary and artistic reunions, and the personal +experiences which made this part of his life so interesting; but, +tempting as it is, we can not linger. There can be no question that this +section of his career profoundly colored his whole life, and that +the influence of Victor Hugo, Balzac, and Mme. George Sand is very +perceptible in his compositions not merely in their superficial tone +and character, but in the very theory on which they are built. Liszt +thenceforward cut loose from all classic restraints, and dared to fling +rules and canons to the winds, except so far as his artistic taste +approved them. The brilliant and daring coterie, defying conventionality +and the dull decorum of social law, in which our artist lived, wrought +also another change in his character. Liszt had hitherto been almost +austere in his self-denial, in restraint of passion and license, in +a religious purity of life, as if he dwelt in the cold shadow of the +monastery, not knowing what moment he should disappear within its gates. +There was now to be a radical change. + +One of the brilliant members of the coterie in which he lived a life of +such keen mental activity was Countess D'Agoult, who afterward became +famous in the literary world as "Daniel Stern." Beautiful, witty, +accomplished, imaginative, thoroughly in sympathy with her friend +George Sand in her views of love and matrimony, and not less daring +in testifying to her opinion by actions, the name of Mme. D'Agoult had +already been widely bruited abroad in connection with more than one +romantic escapade. In the powerful personality of young Franz Liszt, +instinct with an artistic genius which aspired like an eagle, vital with +a resolute, reckless will, and full of a magnetic energy that overflowed +in everything--looks, movements, talk, playing--the somewhat fickle +nature of Mme. D'Agoult was drawn to the artist like steel to a magnet. +Liszt, on the other hand, easily yielded to the refined and delicious +sensuousness of one of the most accomplished women of her time, who to +every womanly fascination added the rarest mental gifts and high social +place. + +The mutual passion soon culminated in a tie which lasted for many years, +and was perhaps as faithfully observed by both parties as could be +expected of such an irregular connection. Three children were the +offspring of this attachment, a son who died, and two daughters, one of +whom became the wife of M. Ollivier, the last imperial prime minister of +France, and the other successively Mme. Von Bulow and Mme. Wagner, under +which latter title she is still known. The _chroniques scandaleuses_ +of Paris and other great cities of Europe are full of racy scandals +purporting to connect the name of Liszt with well-known charming and +beautiful women, but, aside from the uncertainty which goes with such +rumors, this is not a feature of Liszt's life on which it is our purpose +to dilate. The errors of such a man, exposed by his temperament and +surroundings to the fiercest breath of temptation, should be rather +veiled than opened to the garish day. Of the connection with Mme. +D'Agoult something has been briefly told, because it had an important +influence on his art career. Though the Church had never sanctioned the +tie, there is every reason to believe that the lady's power over Liszt +was consistently used to restrain his naturally eccentric bias, and to +keep his thoughts fixed on the loftiest art ideals. + + +III. + +Soon after Liszt's connection with Mme. D'Agoult began, he retired with +his devoted companion to Geneva, Switzerland, a city always celebrated +in the annals of European literature and art. In the quiet and charming +atmosphere of this city our artist spent two years, busy for the most +part in composing. He had already attained a superb rank as a pianist, +and of those virtuosos who had then exhibited their talents in Paris +no one was considered at all worthy to be compared with Liszt except +Chopin. Aside from the great mental grasp, the opulent imagination, the +fire and passion, the dazzling technical skill of the player, there was +a vivid personality in Liszt as a man which captivated audiences. This +element dominated his slightest action. He strode over the concert +stage with the haughty step of a despot who ruled with a sway not to be +contested. Tearing his gloves from his fingers and hurling them on +the piano, he would seat himself with a proud gesture, run his fingers +through his waving blonde locks, and then attack the piano with the +vehemence of a conqueror taking his army into action. Much of this +manner was probably the outcome of natural temperament, something the +result of affectation; but it helped to add to the glamour with which +Liszt always held his audiences captive. When he left Paris for a +studious retirement at Geneva, the throne became vacant. By and by there +came a contestant for the seat, a player no less remarkable in many +respects than Liszt himself, Sigismond Thalberg, whose performances +aroused Paris, alert for a new sensation, into an enthusiasm which +quickly mounted to boiling heat. Humors of the danger threatened to his +hitherto acknowledged ascendancy reached Liszt in his Swiss retreat. The +artist's ambition was stirred to the quick; he could not sleep at night +with the thought of this victorious rival who was snatching his laurels, +and he hastened back to Paris to meet Thalberg on his own ground. +The latter, however, had already left Paris, and Liszt only felt the +ground-swell of the storm he had raised. There was a hot division of +opinion among the Parisians, as there had been in the days of Gluck and +Piccini. Society was divided into Lisztians and Thalbergians, and to +indulge in this strife was the favorite amusement of the fashionable +world. Liszt proceeded to reestablish his place by a series of +remarkable concerts, in which he introduced to the public some of the +works wrought out during his retirement, among them transcriptions from +the songs of Schubert and the symphonies of Beethoven, in which the most +free and passionate poetic spirit was expressed through the medium of +technical difficulties in the scoring before unknown to the art of the +piano-forte. There can be no doubt that the influence of Thalberg's +rivalry on Liszt's mind was a strong force, and suggested new +combinations. Without having heard Thalberg, our artist had already +divined the secret of his effects, and borrowed from them enough to give +a new impulse to an inventive faculty which was fertile in expedients +and quick to assimilate all things of value to the uses of its own +insatiable ambition. + +Franz Liszt's career as a traveling virtuoso commenced in 1837, and +lasted for twelve years. Hitherto he had resisted the impulsion to +such a course, all his desires rushing toward composition, but the +extraordinary rewards promised cooperated with the spur of rivalry to +overcome all scruples. The first year of these art travels was made +memorable by the great inundation of the Danube, which caused so much +suffering at Pesth. Thousands of people were rendered homeless, and +the scene was one that appealed piteously to the humanitarian mind. The +heart of Franz Liszt burned with sympathy, and he devoted the proceeds +of his concerts for nearly two months to the alleviation of the woes of +his countrymen. A princely sum was contributed by the artist, which went +far to assist the sufferers. The number of occasions on which Liszt +gave his services to charity was legion. It is credibly stated that the +amount of benefactions contributed by his benefit concerts, added to the +immense sums which he directly disbursed, would have made him several +times a millionaire. + +The blaze of enthusiasm which Liszt kindled made his track luminous +throughout the musical centers of Europe. Caesar-like, his very arrival +was a victory, for it aroused an indescribable ferment of agitation, +which rose at his concerts to wild excesses. Ladies of the highest rank +tore their gloves to strips in the ardor of their applause, flung +their jewels on the stage instead of bouquets, shrieked in ecstasy and +sometimes fainted, and made a wild rush for the stage at the close of +the music to see Liszt, and obtain some of the broken strings of the +piano, which the artist had ruined in the heat of his play, as precious +relics of the occasion. The stories told of the Liszt craze among the +ladies of Germany and Russia are highly amusing, and have a value as +registering the degree of the effect he produced on impressible minds. +Even sober and judicious critics who knew well whereof they spoke +yielded to the contagion. Schumann writes of him, _apropos_ of his +Dresden and Leipzig concerts in 1840: "The whole audience greeted his +appearance with an enthusiastic storm of applause, and then he began to +play. I had heard him before, but an artist is a different thing in the +presence of the public compared with what he appears in the presence of +a few. The fine open space, the glitter of light, the elegantly dressed +audience--all this elevates the frame of mind in the giver and receiver. +And now the demon's power began to awake; he first played with the +public as if to try it, then gave it something more profound, until +every single member was enveloped in his art; and then the whole mass +began to rise and fall precisely as he willed it. I never found any +artist except Paga-nini to possess in so high a degree this power of +subjecting, elevating, and leading the public. It is an instantaneous +variety of wildness, tenderness, boldness, and airy grace; the +instrument glows under the hand of its master.... It is most easy to +speak of his outward appearance. People have often tried to picture +this by comparing Liszt's head to Schiller's or Napoleon's; and the +comparison so far holds good, in that extraordinary men possess certain +traits in common, such as an expression of energy and strength of will +in the eyes and mouth. He has some resemblance to the portraits of +Napoleon as a young general, pale, thin, with a remarkable profile, +the whole significance of his appearance culminating in his head. While +listening to Liszt's playing, I have often almost imagined myself as +listening to one I heard long before. But this art is scarcely to be +described. It is not this or that style of piano-forte playing; it is +rather the outward expression of a daring character, to whom Fate has +given as instruments of victory and command, not the dangerous weapon of +war, but the peaceful ones of art. No matter how many and great artists +we possess or have seen pass before us of recent years, though some of +them equal him in single points, all must yield to him in energy and +boldness. People have been very fond of placing Thalberg in the lists +beside him, and then drawing comparisons. But it is only necessary to +look at both heads to come to a conclusion. I remember the remark of +a Viennese designer who said, not inaptly, that his countryman's head +resembled that of a handsome countess with a man's nose, while of Liszt +he observed that he might sit to every painter for a Grecian god. There +is a similar difference in their art. Chopin stands nearer to Liszt as a +player, for at least he loses nothing beside him in fairy-like grace and +tenderness; next to him Paganini, and, among women, Mme. Malibran; from +these Liszt himself says he has learned the most.... Liszt's most genial +performance was yet to come, Weber's 'Concert-stuck,' which he played +at the second performance. Virtuoso and public seemed to be in the +freshest mood possible on that evening, and the enthusiasm during and +after his playing almost exceeded anything hitherto known here. Although +Liszt grasped the piece from the begin-ing with such force and grandeur +that an attack on the battle-field seemed to be in question, yet he +carried this on with continually increasing power, until the passage +where the player seems to stand at the summit of the orchestra, leading +it forward in triumph. Here, indeed, he resembled that great commander +to whom he has been compared, and the tempestuous applause that greeted +him was not unlike an adoring 'Vive l'Empereur.'" + +Flattering to his pride, however, as were the universal honors bestowed +on the artist, none were so grateful as those from his own countrymen. +The philanthropy of his conduct had made a deep impression on the +Hungarians. Two cities, Pesth and Odenburg, created him an honorary +citizen; a patent of nobility was solicited for him by the _comitat_ of +Odenburg; and the "sword of honor," according to Hungarian custom, was +presented to him with due solemnities. A brief account from an Hungarian +journal of the time is of interest. + +"The national feeling of the Magyars is well known; and proud are they +of that star of the first magnitude which arose out of their nation. +Over the countries of Europe the fame of the Hungarian Liszt came to +them before they had as yet an opportunity of admiring him. The Danube +was swollen by rains, Pesth was inundated, thousands were mourning +the loss of friends and relations or of all their property. During +his absence in Milan Liszt learned that many of his countrymen were +suffering from absolute want. His resolution was taken. The smiling +heaven of Italy, the _dolce far niente_ of Southern life, could not +detain him. The following morning he had quitted Milan and was on his +way to Vienna. He performed for the benefit of those who had suffered +by the inundation at Pesth. His art was the horn of plenty from which +streamed forth blessings for the afflicted. Eighteen months afterward he +came to Pesth, not as the artist in search of pecuniary advantage, +but as a Magyar. He played for the Hungarian national theatre, for the +musical society, for the poor of Pesth and of Odenburg, always before +crowded houses, and the proceeds, fully one hundred thousand francs, +were appropriated for these purposes. Who can wonder that admiration +and pride should arise to enthusiasm in the breasts of his grateful +countrymen? He was complimented by serenades, garlands were thrown +to him; in short, the whole population of Pesth neglected nothing to +manifest their respect, gratitude, and affection. But these honors, +which might have been paid to any other artist of high distinction, did +not satisfy them. They resolved to bind him for ever to the Hungarian +nation from which he sprang. The token of manly honor in Hungary is +a sword, for every Magyar has the right to wear a sword, and avails +himself of that right. It was determined that their celebrated +countryman should be presented with the Hungarian sword of honor. The +noblemen appeared at the theatre, in the rich costume they usually wear +before the emperor, and presented Liszt, midst thunders of applause from +the whole assembled people, with a costly sword of honor." It was also +proposed to erect a bronze statue of him in Pesth, but Liszt persuaded +his countrymen to give the money to a struggling young artist instead. + + +IV. + +In the autumn of 1840 Liszt went from Paris, at which city he had been +playing for some time, to the north of Germany, where he at first found +the people colder than he had been wont to experience. But this soon +disappeared before the magic of his playing, and even the Hamburgers, +notorious for a callous, bovine temperament, gave wild demonstrations +of pleasure at his concerts. He specially pleased the worthy citizens +by his willingness to play off-hand, without notes, any work which they +called for, a feat justly regarded as a stupendous exercise of memory. +From Hamburg he went to London, where he gave nine concerts in a +fortnight, and stormed the affections and admiration of the English +public as he had already conquered the heart of Continental Europe. +While in London a calamity befell him. A rascally agent in whom he +implicitly trusted disappeared with the proceeds of three hundred +concerts, an enormous sum, amounting to nearly fifty thousand pounds +sterling. Liszt bore this reverse with cheerful spirits and scorned +the condolences with which his friends sought to comfort him, saying he +could easily make the money again, that his wealth was not in money, but +in the power of making money. + +The artist's musical wanderings were nearly without ceasing. His +restless journeying carried him from Italy to Denmark, and from the +British Islands to Russia, and everywhere the art and social world bowed +at his feet in recognition of a genius which in its way could only be +designated by the term "colossal." It seems cumbersome and monotonous to +repeat the details of successive triumphs; but some of them are attended +by features of peculiar interest. He offered, in the summer of 1841, +to give the proceeds of a concert to the completion of the Cathedral +of Cologne (who that loves music does not remember Liszt's setting of +Heine's song "Im Rhein," where he translates the glory of the Cathedral +into music?). Liszt was then staying at the island of Nonneworth, near +Bonn, and a musical society, the Liedertafel, resolved to escort him +up to Cologne with due pomp, and so made a grand excursion with a great +company of invited guests on a steamboat hired for the purpose. A fine +band of music greeted Liszt on landing, and an extensive banquet was +then served, at which Liszt made an eloquent speech, full of wit and +feeling. The artist acceded to the desire of the great congregation of +people who had gathered to hear him play; and his piano was brought +into the ruined old chapel of the ancient nunnery, about which so many +romantic Rhenish legends cluster. Liszt gave a display of his wonderful +powers to the delighted multitude, and the long-deserted hall of +Nonneworth chapel, which for many years had only heard the melancholy +call of the owl, resounded with the most magnificent music. Finally +the procession with Liszt at the head marched to the steamboat, and the +vessel glided over the bosom of the Rhine amid the dazzling glare of +fireworks and to the music of singing and instruments. All Cologne was +assembled to meet them, and Liszt was carried on the shoulders of his +frantic admirers to his hotel. + +In common with all other great musicians, Liszt has throughout life been +a reverential admirer of the genius of Beethoven, an isolated force +in music without peer or parallel. In his later years Liszt bitterly +reproached himself because, in the vanity and impetuosity of his youth, +he had dared to take liberties with the text of the Beethoven sonatas. +Many interesting facts in Liszt's life connect themselves, directly +or indirectly, with Beethoven. Among these is worthy of mention our +artist's part in the Beethoven festival at Bonn in 1845, organized to +celebrate the erection of a colossal bronze statue. The enterprise had +been languishing for a long time, when Liszt promptly declared he +would make up the deficiency single-handed, and this he did with great +celerity. In an incredibly short time the money was raised, and the +commission put in the hands of the sculptor Hilbnel, of Dresden, one of +the foremost artists of Germany. + +The programme for the celebration was drawn up by Liszt and Dr. Spohr, +who were to be the joint conductors of the festival music. A thousand +difficulties intervened to embarrass the organization of the affair, +the jealousies of prominent singers, who revolted against the +self-effacement they would needs undergo, a certain truly German +parsimony in raising the money for the expenses, and the envious +littleness of certain great composers and musicians, who feared that +Liszt would reap too much glory from the prominence of the part he +had taken in the affair, But Liszt's energy had surmounted all these +obstacles, when finally, only a month before the festival, which was +to take place in August, it was discovered that there was no suitable +Pesthalle in Bonn. The committee said, "What if the affair should not +pay expenses? would they not be personally saddled with the debt?" Liszt +promptly answered that, if the proceeds were not sufficient, he himself +would pay the cost of the building. The architect of the Cologne +Cathedral was placed at the head of the work, a waste plot of ground +selected, the trees grubbed up, timber fished up from one of the great +Rhine rafts, and the Festhalle rose with the swiftness of Aladdin's +palace. The erection of the statue of Beethoven at his birthplace, +and the musical celebration thereof in August, 1845, one of the most +interesting events of its kind that ever occurred, must be, for the most +part, attributed to the energy and munificence of Franz Liszt. Great +personages were present from all parts of Europe, among them King +William of Prussia and Queen Victoria of England. Henry Chorley, who +has given a pretty full description of the festival, says that Liszt's +performance of Beethoven's concerto in E flat was the crowning glory +of the festival, in spite of the richness and beauty of the rest of the +programme. "I must lastly commemorate, as the most magnificent piece of +piano-forte playing I ever heard, Dr. Liszt's delivery of the concerto +in E flat.... Whereas its deliverer restrained himself within all the +limits that the most sober classicist could have prescribed, he still +rose to a loftiness, in part ascribable to the enthusiasm of time and +place, in part referable to a nature chivalresque, proud, and poetic in +no common degree, which I have heard no other instrumentalist attain.... +The triumph in the mind of the executant sustained the triumph in the +idea of the compositions without strain, without spasm, but with a +breadth and depth and height such as made the genius of the executant +approach the genius of the inventor.... There are players, there are +poets; and as a poet Liszt was possibly never so sublimely or genuinely +inspired as in that performance, which remains a bright and precious +thing in the midst of all the curiously parti-colored recollections of +the Beethoven festival at Bonn." + +In 1846, among Liszt's other musical experiences, he played in concerts +with Berlioz throughout Austria and Southern Germany. The impetuous +Osechs and Magyars showed their hot Tartar blood in the passion of +enthusiasm they displayed. Berlioz relates that, at his first concert at +Pesth, he performed his celebrated version of the "Rakoczy March," and +there was such a furious explosion of excitement that it wellnigh put an +end to the concert. At the end of the performance Berlioz was wiping the +perspiration from his face in the little room off the stage, when the +door burst open, and a shabbily dressed man, his face glowing with a +strange fire, rushed in, throwing himself at Berlioz's feet, his eyes +brimming with tears. He kissed the composer over and over again, and +sobbed out brokenly: "Ah, sir! Me Hungarian... poor devil... not +speak French... _un, poco l'taliano_.... Pardon... my ecstasy... Ah! +understand your cannon... Yes! yes! the great battle... Germans, dogs!" +Then, striking great blows with his fists on his chest, "In my heart I +carry you... A Frenchman, revolutionist... know how to write music for +revolutions." At a supper given after the performance, Berlioz tells +us Liszt made an inimitable speech, and got so gloriously be-champagned +that it was with great difficulty that he could be restrained from +pistolling a Bohemian nobleman, at two o'clock in the morning, who +insisted that he could carry off more bottles under his belt than Liszt. +But the latter played at a concert next day at noon "assuredly as he had +never played before," says Berlioz. + +Before passing from that period of Liszt's career which was distinctly +that of the virtuoso, it is proper to refer to the unique character of +the enthusiasm which everywhere followed his track like the turmoil of +a stormy sea. Europe had been familiar with other great players, many of +them consummate artists, like Hummel, Henri Herz, Czerny, Kalkbrenner, +Field, Moscheles, and Thalberg, the most brilliant name of them all. But +the feeling which these performers aroused was pale and passionless +in comparison with that evoked by Franz Liszt. This was not merely the +outcome of Liszt as a player and musician, but of Liszt as a man. The +man always impressed people as immeasurably bigger than what he did, +great as that was. His nature had a lavishness that knew no bounds. He +lived for every distinguished man and beautiful woman, and with every +joyous thing. He had wit and sympathy to spare for gentle and simple, +and his kindliness was lavished with royal profusion on the scum as well +as the salt of the earth. This atmosphere of personal grandeur radiated +from him, and invested his doings, musical and otherwise, with something +peculiarly fine and fascinating. And then as a player Liszt rose above +his mates as something of a different genius, a different race, a +different world, to every one else who has ever handled a piano. He is +not to be considered among the great composers, also pianists, who have +merely treated their instrument as an interpreting medium, but as a +poet, who executively employed the piano as his means of utterance and +material for creation. In mere mechanical skill, after every one else +has ended, Liszt had still something to add, carrying every man's +discovery further. If he was surpassed by Thalberg in richness of sound, +he surpassed Thalberg by a variety of tone of which the redoubtable +Viennese player had no dream. He had his delicate, light, freakish +moods in which he might stand for another Chopin in qualities of fancy, +sentiment, and faery brilliancy. In sweep of hand and rapidity of +finger, in fire and fineness of execution, in that interweaving of +exquisite momentary fancies where the work admits, in a memory so vast +as to seem almost superhuman; in that lightning quickness of view, +enabling him to penetrate instantaneously the meaning of a new +composition, and to light it up properly with its own inner spirit (some +touch of his own brilliancy added); briefly, in a mastery, complete, +spontaneous, enjoying and giving enjoyment, over every style and school +of music, all those who have heard Liszt assert that he is unapproached +among players and the traditions of players. + +In a letter from Berlioz to Liszt, the writer gives us a vivid idea of +the great virtuoso's playing and its effects. Berlioz is complaining of +the difficulties which hamper the giving of orchestral concerts. +After rehearsing his mishaps, he says: "After all, of what use is such +information to you? You can say with confidence, changing the mot of +Louis XIV, '_L'orchestre, c'est moi; le chour, c'est moi; le chef +c'est encore moi_.' My piano-forte sings, dreams, explodes, resounds; +it defies the flight of the most skillful forms; it has, like the +orchestra, its brazen harmonies; like it, and without the least +preparation, it can give to the evening breeze its cloud of fairy chords +and vague melodies. I need neither theatre, nor box scene, nor much +staging. I have not to tire myself out at long rehearsals. I want +neither a hundred, fifty, nor twenty players. I do not even need any +music. A grand hall, a grand pianoforte, and I am master of a grand +audience. I show myself and am applauded; my memory awakens, dazzling +fantasies grow beneath my fingers. Enthusiastic acclamations answer +them. I sing Schubert's "Ave Maria," or Beethoven's "Adelaida" on the +piano, and all hearts tend toward me, all breasts hold their breath.... +Then come luminous bombs, the banquet of this grand firework, and the +cries of the public, and the flowers and the crowns that rain around +the priest of harmony, shuddering on his tripod; and the young beauties, +who, all in tears, in their divine confusion kiss the hem of his +cloak; and the sincere homage drawn from serious minds and the feverish +applause torn from many; the lofty brows that bow down, and the narrow +hearts, marveling to find themselves expanding '.... It is a dream, one +of those golden dreams one has when one is called Liszt or Paganini." + +That such a man as this, brilliant in wit, extravagant in habit and +opinion, courted for his personal fascination by every one greatest in +rank and choicest in intellect from his prodigious youth to his ripe +manhood, should suddenly cease from display at the moment when his +popularity was at its highest, when no rival was in being, is a +remarkable trait in Dr. Franz Liszt's remarkable life. But this he did +in 1849, by settling in Weimar as conductor of the court theatre, his +age then being thirty-eight years. + + +V. + +Liszt closed his career as a virtuoso, and accepted a permanent +engagement at Weimar, with the distinct purpose of becoming identified +with the new school of music which was beginning to express itself so +remarkably through Richard Wagner. His new position enabled him to bring +works before the world which would otherwise have had but little chance +of seeing the light of day, and he rapidly produced at brief intervals +eleven works, either for the first time, or else revived from what had +seemed a dead failure. Among these works were "Lohengrin," "Rienzi," and +"Tannhauser" by Wagner, "Benvenuto Cellini" by Berlioz, and Schumann's +"Genoveva," and music to Byron's "Manfred." Liszt's new departure +and the extraordinary band of artists he drew around him attracted +the attention of the world of music, and Weimar became a great musical +center, even as in the days of Goethe it had been a visiting shrine for +the literary pilgrims of Europe. Thus a nucleus of bold and enthusiastic +musicians was formed whose mission it was to preach the gospel of the +new musical faith. + +Richard Wagner says that, after the revolution of 1849, when he was +compelled to fly for his life, he was thoroughly disheartened as an +artist, and that all thought of musical creativeness was dead within +him. From this stagnation he was rescued by a friend, and that friend +was Franz Liszt. Let us tell the story in Wagner's own words: + +"I met Liszt for the first time during my earliest stay in Paris, at +a period when I had renounced the hope, nay, even a wish of a Paris +reputation, and, indeed, was in a state of internal revolt against the +artistic life which I found there. At our meeting he struck me as the +most perfect contrast to my own being and situation. In this world into +which it had been my desire to fly from my narrow circumstances, Liszt +had grown up from his earliest age so as to be the object of general +love and admiration at a time when I was repulsed by general coldness +and want of sympathy. In consequence, I looked upon him with suspicion. +I had no opportunity of disclosing my being and working to him, and +therefore the reception I met with on his part was of a superficial +kind, as was indeed natural in a man to whom every day the most +divergent impressions claimed access. But I was not in a mood to look +with unprejudiced eyes for the natural cause of this behavior, which, +though friendly and obliging in itself, could not but wound me in the +then state of my mind. I never repeated my first call on Liszt, and, +without knowing or even wishing to know him, I was prone to look on +him as strange and adverse to my nature. My repeated expression of this +feeling was afterward told to him, just at the time when my "Rienzi" +at Dresden was attracting general attention. He was surprised to find +himself misunderstood with such violence by a man whom he had scarcely +known, and whose acquaintance now seemed not without value to him. I am +still moved when I think of the repeated and eager attempts he made to +change my opinion of him, even before he knew any of my works. He acted +not from any artistic sympathy, but led by the purely human wish of +discontinuing a casual disharmony between himself and another being; +perhaps he also felt an infinitely tender misgiving of having really +hurt me unconsciously. He who knows the selfishness and terrible +insensibility of our social life, and especially of the relations +of modern artists to each other, can not be struck with wonder, nay, +delight, with the treatment I received from this remarkable man.... At +Weimar I saw him for the last time, when I was resting for a few days in +Thuringia, uncertain whether the threatening persecution would compel me +to continue my flight from Germany. The very day when my personal +danger became a certainty, I saw Liszt conducting a rehearsal of my +'Tannhouser,' and was astonished at recognizing my second self in +his achievement. What I had felt in inventing this music, he felt in +performing it; what I had wanted to express in writing it down, he +expressed in making it sound. Strange to say, through the love of this +rarest friend, I gained, at the very moment of becoming homeless, a real +home for my art which I had hitherto longed for and sought for in +the wrong place.... At the end of my last stay in Paris, when, ill, +miserable, and despairing, I sat brooding over my fate, my eye fell on +the score of my 'Lohengrin,' which I had totally forgotten. Suddenly I +felt something like compassion that this music should never sound from +off the death-pale paper. Two words I wrote to Liszt; the answer was +that preparation was being made for the performance on the grandest +scale which the limited means of Weimar permitted. Everything that +man or circumstances could do was done to make the work understood.... +Errors and misconceptions impeded the desired success. What was to be +done to supply what was wanted, so as to further the true understanding +on all sides and, with it, the ultimate success of the work? Liszt saw +it at once, and did it. He gave to the public his own impression of the +work in a manner the convincing eloquence and overpowering efficacy of +which remain unequaled. Success was his reward, and with this success he +now approaches me, saying, 'Behold, we have come so far! Now create us a +new work, that we may go still farther.'" + +Liszt remained at Weimar for ten years, when he resigned his place +on account of certain narrow jealousies and opposition offered to his +plans. Since 1859 he has lived at Weimar, Pesth, and Rome, always +the center of a circle of pupils and admirers, and, though no longer +occupying an active place in the world, full of unselfish devotion to +the true interests of music and musicians. In 1868 he took minor orders +in the Roman priesthood. Since his early youth Liszt had been the +subject of strong paroxysms of religious feeling, which more than once +had nearly carried him into monastic life, and thus his brilliant career +would have been lost to the world and to art. After he had gained every +reward that can be lavished on genius, and tasted to the very dregs +the wine of human happiness, so far as that can come of a splendid +prosperity and the adoration of the musical world for nearly half a +century, a sudden revulsion seems to have recalled again to the surface +that profound religious passion which the glory and pleasure of his busy +life had never entirely suppressed. It was by no means astonishing to +those who knew Liszt's life best that he should have taken holy orders. + +Abbe Liszt lives a portion of each year with the Prince-Cardinal +Hohenlohe, in the well-known Villa d'Este, near Rome, a chateau with +whose history much romance is interwoven. He is said to be very zealous +in his religious devotions, and to spend much time in reading and +composing. He rarely touches the piano, unless inspired by the presence +of visitors whom he thoroughly likes, and even in such cases less for +his own pleasure than for the gratification of his friends. Even his +intimate friends would hardly venture to ask Liszt to play. His summer +months are divided between Pesth and Weimar, where his advent always +makes a glad commotion among the artistic circles of these respective +cities. Of the various pupils who have been formed by Liszt, Hans von +Bulow, who married his daughter Cosima, is the most distinguished, +and shares with Rubenstein the honor of being the first of European +pianists, now that Liszt has for so long a time withdrawn himself from +the field of competition. + + +VI. + +Liszt has been a very industrious and prolific writer, his works +numbering thirty-one compositions for the orchestra; seven for the +piano-forte and orchestra; two for piano and violin; nine for the organ; +thirteen masses, psalms, and other sacred music; two oratorios; +fifteen cantatas and chorals; sixty-three songs; and one hundred +and seventy-nine works for the piano-forte proper. The bulk of these +compositions, the most important of them at least, were produced in +the first forty years of his life, and testify to enormous energy and +capacity for work, as they came into being during his active period as +a virtuoso. In addition to his musical works, Liszt has shown +distinguished talent in letters, and his articles and pamphlets, notably +the monographs on Robert Franz, Chopin, and the Music of the Gypsies, +indicate that, had he not chosen to devote himself to music, he might +have made himself an enviable name in literature. + +Perhaps no better characterization of Liszt could be made than to call +him the musical Victor Hugo of his age. In both these great men we find +the same restless and burning imagination, a quickness of sensibility +easily aroused to vehemence, a continual reaching forward toward the new +and untried and impatience of the old, the same great versatility, the +same unequaled command of all the resources of their respective crafts, +and, until within the last twenty years, the same ceaseless fecundity. +Of Liszt as a player it is not necessary to speak further. Suffice it +that he is acknowledged to have been, while pursuing the path of the +virtuoso, not only great, but the greatest in the records of art, with +the possible exception of Paganini. To the possession of a technique +which united all the best qualities of other players, carrying each +a step further, he added a powerful and passionate imagination which +illuminated the work before him. Wagner wrote of him: "He who has had +frequent opportunities, particularly in a friendly circle, of hearing +Liszt play, for instance, Beethoven, must have understood that this +was not mere reproduction, but production. The actual point of division +between these two things is not so easily determined as most people +believe, but so much I have ascertained without a doubt, that, in order +to reproduce Beethoven, one must produce with him." It was this quality +which made Liszt such a vital interpreter of other composers, as well as +such a brilliant performer of his own works. As a composer for the piano +Franz Liszt has been accused of sacrificing substantial charm of motive +for the creation of the most gigantic technical difficulties, designed +for the display of his own skill. This charge is best answered by a +study of his transcriptions of songs and symphonies, which, difficult in +an extreme degree, are yet rich in no less excess with musical thought +and fullness of musical color. He transcribed the "Etudes" of Pa-ganini, +it is true, as a sort of "tour deforce", and no one has dared to attempt +them in the concert room but himself; but for the most part Liszt's +piano-forte writings are full of substance in their being as well as +splendid elaboration in their form. This holds good no less of the +purely original compositions, like the concertos and "Rhapsodies +Hongroises," than of the transcriptions and paraphrases of the _Lied_, +the opera, and symphony. + +As a composer for the orchestra Liszt has spent the ripest period of his +life, and attained a deservedly high rank. His symphonies belong to what +has been called, for want of a better name, "programme music," or music +which needs the key of the story or legend to explain and justify the +composition. This classification may yet be very misleading. Liszt does +not, like Berlioz, refer every feature of the music to a distinct event, +emotion, or dramatic situation, but concerns himself chiefly with +the pictorial and symbolic bearings of his subject. For example, the +"Mazeppa" symphony, based on Victor Hugo's poem, gets its significance, +not in view of its description of Mazeppa's peril and rescue, but +because this famous ride becomes the symbol of man: "_Lie vivant sur +la croupe fatale, Genie, ardent Coursier_." The spiritual life of this +thought burns with subtile suggestions throughout the whole symphony. + +Liszt has not been merely a devoted adherent of the "Music of the +Future" as expressed in operatic form, but he has embodied his belief +in the close alliance of poetry and music in his symphonies and +transcriptions of songs. Anything more pictorial, vivid, descriptive, +and passionate can not easily be fancied. It is proper also to say in +passing that the composer shows a command over the resources of the +orchestra similar to his mastery of the piano, though at times a +tendency to violent and strident effects offends the ear. Franz Liszt, +take him for all in all, must be regarded as one of the most remarkable +men of the last half century, a personality so stalwart, picturesque, +and massive as to be not only a landmark in music, but an imposing +figure to those not specially characterized by their musical sympathies. +His influence on his art has been deep and widespread; his connection +with some of the most important movements of the last two generations +well marked; and his individuality a fact of commanding force in the +art circles of nearly every country of Europe, where art bears any vital +connection with social and public life. + + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Great Violinists And Pianists, by George T. 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