The girlhood of Clara Schumann (Clara Wieck and her time)

Front matter

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Contents

PAGES Friedrich Wieck—School and university career—Life as a private tutor— He settles in Leipzig as a pianoforte teacher—His marriage with Marianne Tromlitz—Begins to do business as a pianoforte dealer—The development of the pianoforte—Dawn of musical romanticism—The great composer-pianists—-Frau Marianne Wieck—Birth of Clara (September 13, 1819) Hs che “ps ae seg aye ie 1-14

CHAPTER II 1819-1828. Aivat up To 9 YEars*

Clara—Wieck and his wife separate—Wieck’s success in Leipzig—His relations with Vienna—Clara becomes her father’s pupil—The ‘“‘ Logier ” system—Wieck as a pianoforte teacher—Clara’s musical progress—Her first appearance in public—Wieck’s second marriage... sis ww. 15-27

CHAPTER III 1828-1829. Arar 9-10 Years

Robert Alexander Schumann—Harly manifestation of musical and literary talent—Schooldays—A student of law at the University of Leipzig— His pianoforte lessons from Wieck—First meeting with Clara—He leaves Leipzig—Paganini ... sia oe iv au is ... 28-40

CHAPTER IV 1830-1831. Aitvar 10-11 Years

Clara’s performances before the court and private musical circles of Dresden —Schumann in Heidelberg—Law or music?—Decision referred to Wieck—Schumann returns to Leipzig—Clara’s first appearances as a concert-giver in Leipzig and Dresden ... say 17 be . 41-54

* All the age indications appearing in this table refer to Clara, ix x CONTENTS

CHAPTER V 1831-1832. Aivar 11-12 Years PAGES Clara’s youthful compositions—Schumann and Musikdirektor Dorn— Schumann’s ‘‘ Abegg’”’ variations—The ‘‘ Papillons ’’—An ‘‘ Opus 2” —Clara’s first concert tour—Goethe—Spohr—Mendelssohn—Chopin— Wieck and Clara in Paris—Kalkbrenner—Clara’s Paris concert ... 55-72

CHAPTER VI 1832-1833. Airar 12-14 Yrars The Wiecks return to Leipzig—Schumann: his studies and compositions —His injured finger—Clara’s first appearance at the Gewandhaus subscription concerts—Her private performances of new works by Chopin and Schumann—A happy summer—Autumn shadows .. 73-88

CHAPTER VII 1834. Aivrat 14 Years

The Neue Zeitschrift fiir Mustk—Progress of musical romanticism—The ‘¢ Davidsbund ’—Florestan and Eusebius—Schumann as editor and reviewer heh See “ee AY af ry he ae ... 89-100

CHAPTER VIII 1834. Arar 14-15 Years

Ernestine von Fricken-——Clara in Dresden—Schumann and Ernestine— Carl Banck—Schumann’s ‘“‘ Carnaval ’’—‘‘ Etudes Symphoniques”’ 101-123

CHAPTER IX 1834-1835. Airar 15 Years

Schumann’s ‘‘ Toccata” performed by Clara at her concert in Leipzig— Clara’s concert tour in North Germany—Mendelssohn comes to reside in Leipzig—Summary of the musical development of Leipzig from 1439—Progress of music in Vienna, London, and Paris... ... ..- 124-147

CHAPTER X 1835-1836. Airat 16 Years

Mendelssohn and Schumann—Chopin in Leipzig—Moscheles—Mendelssohn as conductor of the Gewandhaus concerts—Konzertmeister Matthai— Ferdinand David—Music at Wieck’s house—First performance in the Gewandhaus of a work by Sebastian Bach—Robert and Clara—Clara’s concert in Zwickau—Blissful meetings—Clara in Dresden—A farewell —Clara in Breslau ... eee ah ate ve jh ues »» 148-167

CONTENTS xi CHAPTER XI

1836. Aivar 16 YEARS PAGES Schumann’s publications—Sonata in F sharp minor—Reviews by Liszt and Moscheles—Suspense and conflict—C major Fantasia—F minor Sonata —Carl Banck’s intimacy in Wieck’s house—Clara’s troubles—Chopin’s second visit to Leipzig... bs9 oe see “Ss ats ... 168-185

CHAPTER XII 1836-1837. Airat 17 Years

The Gewandhaus concerts—Mendelssohn and David—Clara in Berlin— Her concert programmes—Beethoven’s sonata, Op. 57—Thalberg— Henselt—Clara’s concerto and the Neue Zeitschrift—Return of Clara and her father—Carl Banck’s departure from Leipzig—Clara’s visit to Frau Majorin Serre in Dresden—Ernst Adolf Becker—Clara’s concert in the Leipzig Bérsenhalle—The Day of Aurora ore As .-- 186-207

CHAPTER XIII 1837. rat 17-18 Years

Suspense—Clara’s eighteenth birthday anniversary—Schumann’s letter of petition to her father for Clara’s hand—Wieck’s anger—Clara’s ‘*Soirées musicales pour le pianoforte ’’—Stolen interviews—Schumann’s ‘‘ Phantasiestiicke,’’ Op. 12—The ‘‘ Davidsbiindler ’’—Publication of the ‘‘ Carnaval’’?—Moscheles’ appreciation ... a ... 208-221

CHAPTER XIV

The ‘‘ Carnaval’? in Dresden—Clara’s Austrian journey—Her concerts in Prague and Vienna—Schubert’s Grand Duet for pianoforte—First public performance in Vienna of Beethoven’s sonata, Op. 57—Clara honoured by the Emperor—Expected arrival of Liszt ne +». 222-230

CHAPTER XV

1838. AiTaT 18 Years

Franz Liszt—Résumé of his personal and artistic career—His rivalry with Thalberg—His arrival in Vienna—Intimacy with Clara and her father —His Vienna concerts—Clara elected an honorary member of the ‘* Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde’”—The Wiecks leave Austria ... 240-254

Xil CONTENTS

CHAPTER XVI 1838-1839. Arar 18-19 Yrars

PAGES Schumann’s activity as a composer—‘‘ Noveletten ’’—‘‘ Kreisleriana ’’—

‘‘ Kinderscenen ’’—Clara’s homecoming— Schumann in Vienna—

Clara starts for Paris—Difficulties and disappointments _... ... 255-274

CHAPTER XVII 1839. Arar 19 Yrars

Works composed by Schumann during his residence in Vienna—His brother Edward’s death—His return to Leipzig —Clara in Paris—A stormcloud and its dispersal—The final turning-point of Clara’s girlhood—Publication of Schumann’s Fantasia, Op. 17—Clara leaves Paris ... As he oy oe A ay A oie ... 275-291

CHAPTER XYIII 1839-1840. Arar 19-21 Yrars

Clara’s return to Leipzig—The lawsuit—Frau Marianne Bargiel—Clara with her mother in Berlin—Schumann’s G minor Sonata—‘ Three Romances,’”’ Op. 28—‘‘Faschingsschwank aus Wien”—The sonata Op. 11 performed by Clara in Berlin—An outburst of song—Liszt in Leipzig—Clara, Schumann, and Mendelssohn meet in Berlin— Termination of the lawsuit Marriage of Robert and Clara (September 12, 1840) she ee ss BA ve . 292-315

CHAPTER XIX

1840-1907 Afterwards ee ads ae die bys ane : re ... 316-330 APPENDIX: List of the published works of (a) Clara Wieck, ®) Clara Schumann ore 331 List of Robert Schumann’: S published borks hes - Keyed Instruments ... x33 ¥e ie A nA ti 332 INDEX OF NAMES He Be WA ae A on AN ... 385-340

PORTRAIT OF CLARA WIECK ... oo x, Ke 4A .. Frontisviece

Friedrich Wieck—School and university career—Life as a private tutor— He settles in Leipzig as a pianoforte teacher—Marriage with Marianne Tromlitz—Begins to do business as a pianoforte dealer—The development of the pianoforfe—Dawn of musical romanticism—The great composer-pianists— Frau Marianne Wieck—Birth of Clara (September 13 1819).

2 E has devoted too much time to music,’’ Rector Benedict had written in the otherwise laudatory certificate that

_-was handed to Carl Friedrich Gotthelf Wieck on the termination of his school career at the gymnasium of Torgau in 1808, and from the point of view not only of the Rector, but of the young man’s parents, the qualification was undoubtedly justified. That Friedrich possessed great musical aptitude had been an admitted fact since his early boyhood; but it was a fact in which neither his father, a respectable tradesman of Pretzsch, in Saxony, nor his mother, a simple pastor’s daughter, had seen particular reason to rejoice.. Things were not as they had been with the good merchant. His affairs, once flourishing, had begun to decline before Friedrich, who was born August 18, 1785, had counted many summers, whilst one child quickly succeeded another, to confront the parents with life problems of a more elementary character than that of the cultivation of their eldest son’s special gift. It happened, however, that Friedrich gave early promise of capacity in more than one direction, and that his clear intelligence, tenacity of will, and confidence in his own youthful purposes secured for

2 1 him the help of a patron who sent him in due time to be educated in the neighbouring town of Torgau. The assistance which this friend was able to afford was not extensive. It provided the lad with a lodging, but not with the wherewithal to keep body and soul together. For some little while he subsisted almost entirely on the bread and butter which his mother sent him by the driver of a wagon that had regular business on the road between Pretzsch and Torgau, the meagre fare being supplemented on Saturdays by a basin of hot soup spared from his landlord’s table ; but gradually Friedrich made a few friends, and the time came when he was invited once a week to dine with Advocate Schulze. ‘‘This cheered me, weakly and sensitive as I was, and the good food which I enjoyed—generally roast mutton with beans or peas—revived and strengthened me during the best part of asummer.”’ Later on the extreme hardship of this struggling student hfe was more appreciably mitigated. Friedrich obtained a place at a free dinner-table that was provided by a few kind-hearted citizens of Torgau for some of the poor scholars of the gymnasium; he was able to earn a few pence every week by teaching Meister Petzhold’s little daughter to read, and Herr Oberforster von Lében was even moved to give him a monthly allowance of a gulden (about one shilling and eightpence), a sum which Friedrich, taught by necessity, knew how to lay out to the best possible advantage.

The young student was debarred by circumstances outside his control from the enjoyment of such moderate cultivation of his musical talent as might have been afforded it had he been a member of the school choir. Even if his voice had been stronger than it was, delicate health would have prevented him from joining in the processional street singing that was a generally recognised function of the German choristers of the period, its punctual performance at whatever season being subject to no considerations of weather. But if Friedrich found himself shut out from an advantage that was within easy reach of some of his less gifted companions, his unconquerable will recognised such an obstacle only as a further incentive to the creation of his own opportunities. He made acquaintance with Town-musician Nitzsche, who allowed

1785-1819] THe GiruHoop oF CLARA SCHUMANN 3 him to scrape on a fiddle or ’cello in company with the musicians of a dancing class that was held at Nitzsche’s house. He attracted the notice of Organist Klint, who, finding that he desired to become not only a player, but a composer of dance-tunes, encouraged and set him further on his way by giving him some hints on musical theory. Chance made him the possessor of an old table clavier, on which he practised diligently, and the height of his ambition seemed within measurable distance of realisation when his kind friend the Oberforster engaged the celebrated pianoforte teacher Milchmayer, court musician to his Highness the Elector of Bavaria, to give lessons at his house, and invited his favourite to come and listen to them. Friedrich eagerly availed himself of this privilege, and exercised his power of improving opportunity to such good advantage that Milchmayer was impressed by his earnestness and good-naturedly devoted a few hours to his special instruction. The half-dozen lessons he thus obtained gave Wieck an insight into some of the elementary principles of the art of pianoforte playing, and, assisting his keen intelligence with an impulse in the right direction, were remembered by him in after-lfe as having been amongst the factors that enabled him gradually to work out the method of instruction which placed him amongst the foremost pianoforte teachers of Germany.

Many laborious years were to intervene, however, before Friedrich found himself in a position to concentrate his best energies on the calling in which he was destined to achieve eminence. His first choice of a vocation was guided by circumstances which, combining with the generally favourable result of his studies at Torgau, enabled him to follow his mother’s cherished wish. He matriculated in November, 1804, as stwdiosus theologie at the University of Wittenberg, his anticipations of the future being, perhaps, cheered by remembrance of the traditional recognition xccorded by the Lutheran Church to music as the handmaid of religion and by hope that the profession of divinity might bring him facilities of its own for the study of his beloved art. Three years of conscientious work at Wittenberg enabled him to pass his final examinations honourably, if not brilliantly; but the expectation formed by his friends of his immediate appointment to a preachership remained unfulfilled, and it was not long before he was induced by the pressure of daily need to adopt the only alternative open to him. His trial sermon, delivered at St. Sophia’s Church, Dresden, was the last he preached. He abandoned theology and accepted employment as a teacher.

It is significant of the sterling worth and stubborn force of character innate in Wieck that he should have found it possible, as a youth of twenty-two, fresh from three years’ enjoyment of the freedom of German university life, not only to submit patiently to the limitations inseparable from the position of tutor in a private family, but to dedicate himself with enthusiasm to the performance of his new duties. He was enabled to do so, not because he underestimated his own value, but from the very fact that an unfailing respect for himself and the dignity of his office gave him a certain equanimity under petty trials that might have upset the nerve of a man of less arrogant nature. Hvidence of the earnest view he took of his obligations is to be found in a short essay on education, entitled, ‘‘ Weekly Notes on his pupil Emil von Metzradt,” written by him in the early part of his tutor’s career, in which he set forth, for the information of the boy’s parents and his own satisfaction, the principles that guided his activity as a teacher. It is certain that his conscientious thoroughness gained him the affectionate respect of his pupils, though his vein of sarcastic humour and his occasional intolerance of defects, from which his own boyhood had been immune, may have prevented his winning their entire confidence.

‘“‘T am far from pretending that I have found the philosopher’s stone,” he says, ‘‘or that I am capable of giving ideal training and instruction, but I may claim that I have carefully studied the business of teaching, to which I must devote a short part of my life, without blindly attaching myself to any so-called system, whether of ancient or modern time ; the best means, as I believe, of approaching the wise middle path, which is not always easily discovered. I venture, therefore, to put down some of my thoughts on this subject. Should they prove too crude, or even erroneous, may they remain buried in these pages!’ Wieck sets forth his ideas under the three headings: physical, intellectual, and moral training. Strongly insisting, under the first, on the necessity for the young of frequent and enjoyable open-air exercise, he declares himself, under the second, equally opposed to the systems of forcing and of unduly delaying the work of actual education. ‘“‘Herr Campe,’’ he writes, ‘‘ maintains in one of his treatises —and with much plausibility—that school lessons and reading, of whatever kind, are injurious to children of Emil’s age; that cultivation of the child’s mind by means of books should not be begun before the age of ten. I do not presume to contradict Councillor Campe, yet I find myself convinced of the contrary in Emil’s case. He, as a lively child, is forgetful, careless, volatile, and impatient, and his power of attention can be developed only if he is distracted as little as possible, when at work, by his surroundings. How can this be better accomplished than by keeping his eyes fixed on his book or multiplication table? Or is nature, the child’s temperament, to be allowed entirely its own way? ...

‘‘It is true one must have method; one must not merely be able to drill the pupil, but must take pleasure in one’s calling, cultivate an animated manner, and have the power of interesting the pupil in his work. My principle is: teach a talented child anything he can understand and that attracts him, if it is likely to be useful in contributing to his development, without being over-anxious about his age... .”

With regard to moral education, ‘‘ the most important, my maxim is: make it your central aim to train the child to become a good man, for this is the highest goal of humanity. The manifest power of the Christian faith to this end will be denied only by those who seem to have no religion at all. If it be said that children should be taught no religion before the age of ten because they cannot understand it earlier, I would say: religion, and especially in the case of children, should be a matter not merely of the understanding, but also of the heart. And again: the ideas of God, religion, and virtue are, as it were, innate in the young, innocent mind, and so much a part of it that these things will vibrate in answer to the slightest touch. Is it not better to bend the tree while it is young? to guide the heart and teach it right while it is still tender and pure? True, one must be circumspect. An over-anxious religious training, and especially frequent tedious moralising, or premature instruction in the positive doctrines of Christianity, may easily lead to irreligion. .. .

“This little essay,” he concludes, probably in allusion to some candid remarks on Emil contained in the paper, ‘‘ may be taken as evidence of my love for my honourable calling, for my pupil, and for truth, whose service has ever been my chief endeavour. I only desire that my words may be received in a spirit as frank as that in which they have been written, and that my heart, which is incapable of flattery and hypocrisy, may not be misjudged, even as it does not misjudge others. This would be my sufficient reward.”

Although Wieck made a valuable musical acquaintance at the house of his first employer, Baron von Seckendorf, in the person of the pianoforte teacher Adolf Bargiel, with whom he formed an intimacy that was not without influence on his future career, further opportunities for the pursuit of his artistic studies did not readily present themselves in the years during which he occupied successive posts as a tutor, and at the age of twenty-five he had never heard an important public concert. All things come, however, to him who waits. He was able to attend two ‘“ academies,” as concerts were then frequently called, given at Erfurt under Spohr’s direction in August, 1811, and from this time was not entirely debarred from the enjoyment of listening to good music. That his first experience of this new delight was remembered by him as marking an epoch in his life may be inferred from the circumstance that a copy of the programme of August 15th, which included a Beethoven symphony and one of Spohr’s duets for two violins, played by the composer with Konzertmeister Matthadi of Leipzig, was found, after his death, preserved amongst other mementos.

Friedrich’s thoroughgoing devotion to his duties by no means rendered him insensible to the attraction of feminine society, and the monotony of his tutor’s existence was broken by several transient romantic episodes before he made the acquaintance of the lady who was to become his wife. He met his destiny in the year 1814, in the person of the youthful Marianne Tromlitz, who belonged to a musical family of the town of Plauen, where her father occupied a position as cantor. Her grandfather, Johann Georg Tromlitz, called to Leipzig a few years later than our present date to fill the part of first flutist in the Gewandhaus orchestra, was not only a distinguished performer, but a well-known composer for his instrument, and Marianne herself had inherited an artistic temperament and musical talent which had been developed to some account. Wieck’s interest was soon attracted to her, and his quickly-formed admiration strengthened his growing impatience of the restrictions incidental to life in another man’s house and his desire to establish himself in an independent position. He found his opportunity on the occasion of an illness that threatened his eyesight and caused him to visit Leipzig for medical treatment. His ‘“‘cure”’ turned out to be a somewhat lengthy business, and it chanced that the renewal of a former intimacy with Police-President Streubel, an enthusiastic music-lover who had been his fellow-student at Wittenberg, was the means of procuring him a kind reception in some of the musical circles of the town. An introduction to the famous critic Rochlitz, editor of the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, was followed by results that offered particular encouragement to his artistic dreams. Rochlitz had known struggle in his youth, and had been obliged, like Wieck, to renounce theology for tutorship. Interested to find that the younger man had passed through difficulties similar to those of his own early career, and attracted by his earnestness, he offered, after listening indulgently to some of Wieck’s little songs, to publish one of them in the supplement to a forthcoming number of his periodical, and even promised to mention his name to the great Carl Maria von Weber, then resident at Prague as conductor of the opera and the object of Wieck’s unbounded veneration.

“It will give me pleasure to accept Herr Wieck’s songs,” writes Weber to Rochlitz in the course of a letter dated March 14, 1815; ‘‘I regard it as a privilege that I, by my work and endeavour, should have power to influence an upwavrdstriving mind and help it in its progress towards the good and the beautiful. Pray convey to him in anticipation my best thanks for this proof of his esteem.”

A glance at the song of eight bars entitled ‘‘ Romance,’ which duly appeared in the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung of April 19, 1815, does not suggest that the tutor’s talent for composition was of a pronounced order, whilst perusal of the detailed criticism written by Weber a few months later for Wieck’s benefit and at his request, of a set of songs numbered as Op. 7, and of a review of the same works published in the Zeitung of October 4, leads to the conclusion that his self-guided theoretical studies had furnished him up to this period with but a modicum of exact technical knowledge. As a matter of fact his further attempts as a composer do not—with exception of some books of technical exercises—call for serious consideration, but must be regarded merely as a further indication of the energetic spirit that delighted to try its powers in various branches of art. Wieck was, however, well satisfied with his immediate success, which convinced him that he would be able gradually to make a place for himself in the musical world, and he had not been long in Leipzig before he decided to settle there permanently, hoping to become known in time as a pianoforte teacher, a musical essay writer, a composer of songs and dances—in such capacity, in short, as would give him the status of a professional musician. He soon felt that he would be justified in bringing home a wife to share his opening prospects, and his marriage with Marianne Tromlitz, which was one of ardent affection on both sides, took place May 23, 1816, a few days after the bride had completed her nineteenth year. ‘Thus, at the mature age of nearly thirty-one, Wieck had succeeded by sheer force of character in reaching the threshold of a career the indirect influence of which is still felt in some of the high places of art.

Evidence of the ready acceptance accorded to the Wiecks by the leading musical circle of Leipzig is afforded by the records of the Gewandhaus subscription concerts, which show that during the winter immediately following their marriage— 1816-17—Marianne frequently appeared on the famous platform as a solo singer of small parts. In a general review of the earlier half of the season contained in the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung of February 26, 1817, we read : ‘‘ Madame Wieck, the young wife of a resident pianoforte teacher, was heard on several occasions as second, and in Mozart’s Requiem as first, soprano, and showed that she possesses, together with a resonant and agreeable voice, considerable skill, certainty,-— — and industry.’ Similar favourable mention is made of later performances in March and April, and it is probable that Frau Marianne’s performances, whilst contributing something towards the payment of housekeeping expenses, were of still greater indirect value to her husband by making his name more widely familiar and thus confirming the footing he had gained in Leipzig. Friedrich was no mere visionary, and the struggles of his youth, victorious as they had been in the best sense of the word, had served to strengthen his natural force of character. Side by side with his long-cherished dream of achieving some kind of artistic distinction, there dwelt within him a clear sense of his practical duties, which was accentuated in the second year of his marriage by the prospect that Marianne would shortly become a mother. Keenly desirous of placing the future of his family life upon a substantial basis, he resolved to seize a favourable opportunity «,.d to accept from his friend Streubel the loan of a sufficient sum of money to enable him to establish himself in a double business that was attractive to him. He moved, early in 1818, to a house known as the “‘ Hohe Lilie,”’ situated in the new Neumarkt, where he opened a musical lending library, and, as soon as his arrangements were sufficiently complete, began to trade cautiously as a pianoforte dealer.

- Many a man facing the responsibilities of family life and conscientiously bent on achieving a modest pecuniary success, who found himself obliged to enter on an apprenticeship to business under the burden of a considerable debt and at a period when his first youth was already behind him, might have been tempted to forget early dreams of personal distinction in the pursuit of fortune. Wieck, however, was not so constituted. Though not gifted with the imperious imagination which dominates the life of the genuinely creative artist, compelling him to surrender himself at all costs to its supreme need of expression, he had within him the enthusiasm for ideal aims which is of the essence of poetry, and he could never have sacrificed these for the attainment of mere worldly ease. If, perceiving that he could not keep the wolf from his door by the exercise of his musicianship only, he was able to turn his attention with characteristic energy to business, this was because he regarded his lending library as a valuable assistance to his private pursuit of art, and because he studied the pianofortes which passed through his hands, carefully noting their merits and defects, with the special object of perfecting his mechanical knowledge of the instrument around which his ambition was gradually concentrating itself into definite shape.

The period of Wieck’s early residence in Leipzig is an interesting one in the history of the pianoforte. Less than fifty years had elapsed since Clementi (1752-1832), crowning the efforts and successes of famous makers of the eighteenth century, had published three sonatas (1773) composed with special view to its capabilities, thus advancing to a distinctive existence an instrument that had hitherto been regarded merely as one amongst other claviers. The remaining quarter of the century had witnessed the gradual displacement of the harpsichord from its traditional position as the concert clavier par excellence. A brilliant group of musicians rose to eminence—Clementi himself, Dussek, Cramer, Woelfl, Hummel, and others—who associated their art in a special manner with the instrument upon which the rivalry of the most eminent makers of Europe had become centred, and to it Beethoven dedicated many early fruits of the genius that was to secure for it a yet more glorious future. At the dawn of the nineteenth century the triumph of the pianoforte as the universally accepted instrument of the concert-room and the chamber was complete; and the next _ two anda half decades, which produced the sonatas of Beet- _ hoven’s second and third periods, gave it immortality. Nor was this all. The first quarter of the nineteenth century saw the rise of a coming phase of musical art. Whilst Beethoven was engaged upon the transcendent works of his later years, amongst which the five pianoforte sonatas, from Op. 101 onwards,

1785-1819] THe GriRLHOOD oF CLARA SCHUMANN 11 occupy a prominent position; whilst he was quickening the forms of Haydn and Mozart with the tremendous energy of a new inspiration—an inspiration that can never grow old because it gives expression to the upward-striving instincts of mankind at large—the earliest personal notes were sounded of a new romanticism, in the development-of which the pianoforte was to play an important part: the romanticism that was to fascinate music-lovers of succeeding generations in the works of Chopin, Mendelssohn, and Schumann. Weber’s (1786-1826) ‘‘ Concertstiick’’ and ‘‘ Invitation to the Waltz’”’ mark the definite beginning of this new era in the literature of the pianoforte, for which the way had been prepared by much of the same master’s previous activity; while the best nocturnes of his Irish contemporary, John Field (1782-1837), the inventor of a form to which Chopin was to give permanence, are hardly surpassed in their quality of delicate poetry, fragile though they be, by the Polish master’s more developed pieces in the same style.

The great pianists of the day, the majority of them being musicians in the full meaning of the word—trained musicians, that is to say, of more or less genuine creative power—were divided into two groups which respectively represented the ‘‘Vienna”’ and ‘‘ Clementi” schools of pianistic art. Hach cultivated beauty and variety of tone; with varying method, indeed, but with like enthusiasm. The ‘‘ Vienna” school— founded on the light action of the celebrated instruments by Stein and Streicher of which in 1818 Hummel, Steibelt, and Czerny, and, a little later, Moscheles, were the leading representatives—was especially admirable for purity and equality of tone, with power of minute tone-shading ; for clearness, lightness, and rapidity of execution, and for elegance of style; but was deficient in poetic capacity, and therefore in the first principle of enduring artistic life. Its innate tendency towards the superficial became more pronounced as, with the growth of the century, the public benefit-concerts of merely performing virtuosi increased in number, and it was largely responsible for the extraordinary favour accorded for many years to the productions of Herz, Dohler, and other writers of glittering commonplace or vapid sentimentality. The popularity of the

“Vienna’”’ or “ bravura’’ school declined with the advance of public interest in genuine art, to which, from the early thirties, Mendelssohn’s influence greatly contributed.

The ‘Clementi’ school was based upon the so-called “English” action of the pianofortes made by Broadwood, by Clementi himself, who founded the firm known later on as Collard and Collard, and by Erard of Paris, who gradually introduced into its mechanism individualities of his own. The particular features of this school, connected with the deep fall of the keys of the English instruments, were fullness and roundness, as well as variety of tone, and sustained singing power: the power, in short, of expression. Its inherent poetic capacity attracted to its principles the support of those amongst the great player-composers of the day who were essentially tone poets, and around the name of its founder, Clementi, pianist, composer, and teacher, and the originator of much that is best in the pianist’s art of the twentieth century, must be associated those of Dussek, Field, Cramer, Ferdinand Ries, Ludwig Berger, and of Beethoven.