Memories of a musical life

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MBMOEIBS OF A
MUSICAL LIFE

WILLIAM MASON IN 1899

NEW YOEK

THE CENTUEY CO.

MCMI

5 n

CO

Copyright, 1900, 1901, by
THE CENTURY Co.

Published October, 1901.

THE DE VINNE PRESS.

TO

MY DAUGHTER

MINA MASON VAN SINDEREN

AT WHOSE REQUEST

THESE MEMORIES
HAYE BEEN WRITTEN

CONTENTS

PAGE

EARLY DAYS IN NEW ENGLAND ... 3

Lowell Mason's Career 7

First Beethoven Symphony in America ... 8

Musical Conventions 9

Early Musical Training 10

Webster and Clay 11

First Public Appearance 13

Leopold de Meyer 19

" Father Heinrich" 22

An Embarrassing Experience 25

STUDENT LIFE ABROAD 27

Meeting with Meyerbeer 28

Liszt's Feat of Memory 31

First Meeting with Liszt 33

Arrival at Leipsic 34

Moscheles, Beethoven, and Chopin . . . .36

The Intimacy of Moscheles and Mendelssohn . . 37

Schumann 38

Schumann's " Symphony No. 1, B Flat " . . .39

Schumann's Absent-mindedness 42

Moritz Hauptmann 44

A Visit to Wagner 48

Wagner on Mendelssohn and Beethoven . .51

A Wagner Autograph 55

Moscheles 57

Joseph Joachim . .62

Schumann's "Concerto in A Minor ". ... 63

Carl Mayer 65

Dreyschock 66

Prince de Rohan's Dinner 71

Chopin, Henselt, and Thalberg 75

vii

viii CONTENTS

PAGE

Anton Schindler, " Ami de Beethoven " . .79
Schindler and Schnyder von Wartensee . . 82
First London Concert 84

WITH LISZT IN WEIMAR 86

Accepted by Liszt 88

The Altenburg . 93

How Liszt Taught . " ". 97

"Play It Like This" 99

Liszt in 1854 . 101

His Fascination 102

Liszt's Indignation 103

Objects to my Eye-glasses 106

A Musical Breakfast 108

Liszt's Playing . . .110

Liszt and Pixis 117

Liszt Conducting 119

Liszt's Symphonic Poems — Rehearsing '/ Tasso " . 121

Extracts from a Diary 122

Opportunities 126

Brahms in 1853 127

Nervous before Liszt 128

Dozing while Liszt Played 129

" Lohengrin " for the First Time in Leipsic . . 132

In Stuttgart — Hotel Marquand 135

The Schumann " Feier " in Bonn, 1880 . . .136

Brahms's Pianoforte-playing 137

A Historical Error Corrected 141

More about Liszt's Wonderful Sight-reading . . 142

Liszt's Moments of Contrition 144

Peter Cornelius 145

Some Famous Violinists 147

Remenyi 151

Some Distinguished Opera-singers . . . .153

Henriette Sontag 154

Johanna Wagner 156

Mme. de la Grange 157

"DerVereinderMurls" 158

The Wagner Cause in Weimar 159

CONTENTS ix

PAGE

Raff in Weimar 161

Dr. Adolf Bernhard Marx 165

Berlioz in Weimar 168

Entertaining Liszt's " Young Beethoven " . .171
Rubinstein's Opposition to Wagner . . . .174

AT WORK IN AMERICA IBS

Touring the Country 184

" Yankee Doodle " and " Old Hundred " . . .187

Settling down to Teach 191

Theodore Thomas at Twenty 195

Thomas as Conductor 197

Karl Klauser, Musical Director at Miss Porter's

School 202

Louis Moreau Gottschalk 205

Propaganda for Schumann's Music . . . .209

Sigismond Thalberg 210

Pedal and Pedal Signs— Why not Dispense with the

Latter? 215

Pedal Study for the Pianoforte 219

Rubinstein and the Autograph-hunter . . . 221
Evolution in Musical Ideas — Beethoven Pianoforte

Recitals 226

Rubinstein's Favorite Seat at a Pianoforte Recital . 227
Bach's " Triple Concerto " and " Les Agrgments " . 229
A Significant Autograph from Rubinstein . . 234
Rubinstein, Paderewski, and " Yankee Doodle " .236

Meetings with Von Biilow 238

Edvard Grieg 241

Rates of Tempo — The Present Time Compared with

Fifty Years Ago 243

Electrocuting Chopin 244

Tempo Rubato 246

Unusual Pupils — Transposing — Positive and Rela-
tive Pitch 247

Appledore, Isles of Shoals 251

Music IN AMERICA TO-DAY .... 259

APPENDIX 273

INDEX 297

The author acknowledges the efficient collabora-
tion of Mr. Gustav Kobbfi in preparing these
Memories for publication, and also the valu-
able assistance of his son-in-law, Mr. Howard
van Sinderen.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

William Mason in 1899 . . Frontispiece
From a photograph by Gessford & Van Brunt.

FACING PAGE

William Mason as a Boy . . . .12
From a daguerreotype.

William Mason at the Age of Eighteen 20
From a daguerreotype.

Autograph of I. Moscheles . . . .32

Autograph of Robert Schumann . . 38

Autograph of Mme. Schumann . . 44

Autograph of Moritz Hauptniann . . 48

Autograph of Richard Wagner . . .56

Autograph of Joseph Joachim . . 64

Autograph of Anton Schindler . . 80

Liszt in Middle Life 88

Drawn by George T. Tobin from a photograph
of uncertain date.

The Altenburg, Liszt's House at Weimar 96

Autograph of Vieuxtemps . . .144
xi

xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FACING PAGE

Autograph of Ole Bull . . . .150

Autograph of Henriette Sontag . . . 154

Autograph of Hector Berlioz . . . 168

Autograph of Ferdinand Laub . . .180

The Mason-Thomas Quartet . . .196

Theodore Thomas about Twenty-four

Years Old 200

From a photograph by Duchochois & Klauser.

Autograph of Moreau Gottschalk . . 208

Autograph of Sigismond Thalberg . . 212

Autograph of Anton Rubinstein . . 232

Autograph of I. J. Paderewski . . . 236

Autograph of Hans von Billow . . 240

Autograph of Edvard Grieg . . .244

Interior of Studio in Steinway Building,

New York 248

Autographs of the Kneisel Quartet . . 262

Lowell Mason 277

From a daguerreotype.

MEMOEIES
OF A MUSICAL LIFE

MEMORIES
OF A MUSICAL LIFE

EAELY DAYS IN NEW ENGLAND

I AM the third son of Lowell Mason of
Medfi eld, Massachusetts, and of Abigail
Gregory of Westborough, Massachusetts,
his wife, and I was born in Boston on
January 24, 1829. My father was in the
seventh generation from Eobert Mason,
who was born in England about the year
1590. In 1630 Eobert came to America,
and was probably one of John Winthrop's
company, landing at Salem on the twelfth
day of June of that year. Thomas Mason,
the elder son of Eobert, went to Medfield
to live in the second year of the settle-
ment of the town. His marriage with
Margery Partridge, on April 23, 1653,
was the first marriage to be entered upon
3

4 MEMOEIES OF

the town records ; and the homestead
lands, which he acquired by grant from
the town, have ever since remained in
possession of some member of the Mason
family. Thomas and two of his sons
were killed by the Indians under Monaco
on February 21, 1676, when Medfield was
burned. The line was continued through
Ebenezer, a third son, born at Medfield,
September 12, 1669 ; Thomas, a son of
Ebenezer, born at Medfield, April 23,
1699 ; Barachias, son of Thomas, born at
Medfield, June 10, 1723, who was musical
and who taught singing ; and Johnson, son
of Barachias, born at Medfield, August 7,
1767. Johnson was the father of Lowell
Mason, who was born at Medfield, January
8, 1792. On January 8, 1892, the one
hundredth anniversary of my father's
birth was celebrated at Medfield, under
the auspices of the Historical Society of
that place. In the address delivered by
the president of the society, a period of
his life was touched upon concerning
which but little had heretofore been pub-
lished. The address will be interesting to

A MUSICAL LIFE 5

those who are interested in him and in
the work which he accomplished, and is
printed, by permission, in an appendix to
these memories.

The difference between Boston and New
York as musical centers is largely due to
my father. He made Boston a self-de-
veloping musical city. New York has
received its musical culture from abroad.

My father manifested a remarkable
fondness for music at an early age. His
parents did not intend that he should
take up music as a profession, but his
talent was not neglected. In 1812, be-
fore he was twenty, he heard of an open-
ing in a bank in Savannah, Georgia, and
having secured the position, he went
there. After business hours he continued
his studies in music with an instructor
named F. L. Abel, under whom he made
rapid progress. He soon attempted com-
position, his first efforts being hymn-tunes
and anthems. He arranged a collection
consisting of a group of selections from
William Gardiner's "Sacred Melodies,"
to which he added some of his own com-

6 MEMOEIES OF

positions. For this collection he vainly
endeavored to find a publisher in Phila-
delphia and Boston, until chance brought
to Savannah a Boston organ-builder,
W. M. Goodrich, who had come to set up
an organ. He induced my father to go to
Boston in person, with the result that the
work was submitted to Dr. G. K. Jackson,
the organist of the Handel and Haydn
Society, and received his approval., It
was published in 1822, with the title, "The
Boston Handel and Haydn Society's Col-
lection of Music," and was an instant suc-
cess, finding its way into singing-schools
and church choirs throughout New Eng-
land. Some of my father's hymn-tunes
have become famous. It has been said
that his missionary hymn, "From Green-
land's Icy Mountains," has been sung in
more languages than any other sacred
tune. Among the many popular tunes
which he composed are "Boylston,"
"Hebron," "Olivet," and "Bethany " ; and
one of his collections of sacred melodies
brought him in over a hundred thousand
dollars in royalties.

A MUSICAL LIFE 7

LOWELL MASON'S CAREER

THE success of my father's first venture
led him to leave Savannah and settle in
Boston. Then, as now, the Handel and
Haydn Society was largely recruited from
church choirs, but in those days its con-
certs were few, and these were almost en-
tirely devoted to church music. Rarely
was a ' ' work " offered to the public. Out-
side the realm of church music, the so-
ciety's repertory consisted of "The
Messiah," "The Creation" (and more
frequently fragments from these), the
"Dettingen Te Deum" by Handel, and
the "Intercession" by M. P. King, who
has long since been forgotten. For five
years my father was president of the so-
ciety, and served as musical director, the
special employment of a conductor not
having been authorized until 1847.

Meanwhile he was constantly aiming at
the introduction of popular education in
music. It was through his efforts— and
strenuous efforts they were— that music
was introduced into the Boston public

8 MEMOEIES OF

schools. To bring this about he first
taught classes of children free of charge,
and gave concerts to illustrate the prac-
ticability of his plans. When finally mu-
sical education was made a part of the
Boston public-school system, the city
council refused to make any appropriation
for it, and he served as instructor for a
year gratuitously, beginning work in 1837
in the Hawes Grammar School, South
Boston. The experiment was a complete
success. Music was generally introduced
into the public schools, and my father was
made superintendent of the department.
The seeds he sowed then are still bearing
fruit. This was part of his labor which
created in Boston a self -developing musi-
cal activity. While Dr. Samuel G. Howe
was engaged in organizing the Perkins
Institution for the Blind in 1832, at his
request my father devised a system of
musical instruction for the blind.

FIEST BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY
IN AMERICA

ABOUT 1830 an English musician, Mr.
George James Webb, settled in Boston.

A MUSICAL LIFE 9

He was a gentleman of high culture,
thoroughly educated in music, played the
organ well, and was a good vocal teacher.
His talents and his personal charm were
promptly recognized. My father became
intimate with him, and in 1833, with the
cooperation of certain influential gentle-
men of Boston, they founded the Boston
Academy of Music, my father taking
charge of the special department of
church music, while Mr. Webb devoted
himself chiefly to secular music and voice-
culture. Instrumental concerts were also
given at the academy, and there, on Feb-
ruary 10, 1841, occurred the first perform-
ance in America of a Beethoven sym-
phony, the Fifth, which was played by an
orchestra of twenty-three, under the di-
rection of Henry Schmidt.

MUSICAL CONTENTIONS

MY father originated the idea of assem-
bling music-teachers in classes. In 1838,
when the experiment was not more than
three years old, one hundred and thirty-
four teachers, representing ten States,
assembled at the academy. From these

10 MEMOEIES OF

assemblages grew the musical conventions
which my father held throughout New
England and in some of the other States.
Choir-singers and other musically inclined
people from the towns lying within the
surrounding district would gather at a
central point, and he would hold a musi-
cal convention lasting for several days,
drilling the singers in church music, but
also, where he found sufficient advance-
ment, in music of a higher order. The
Worcester festivals may be traced to these
conventions.

EARLY MUSICAL TRAINING

I HAD shown my fondness for music at a
very early age. When I was a child, my
father was the organist of the Bowdoin
Street Congregational Church in Boston,
of which Lyman Beecher had been the
pastor. When I was seven years old, he
placed me unexpectedly on the organ-
bench at a public service, and while the
choir sang the tune of "Boylston," I
played the accompaniment. Up to this

A MUSICAL LIFE 11

time I had had but little instruction in
pianoforte-playing. My mother used to
sit by me and guide me in the way of
careful practising, and thus I had acquired
considerable facility for those days,
though now I have a feeling of compas-
sion for any one who had to listen to
me.

I became useful to my father as an ac-
companist, and when he went to musical
conventions he took me along with him,
and I would play the piano accompani-
ments while he conducted.

WEBSTER AND CLAY

IT was at about this time that my father
took me with him on a trip to Providence.
In those days the entrance to the cars was
from the side, and we took seats nearly
opposite the door. My father called my
attention to a very dignified and impres-
sive-looking man in the front corner of
the car, saying : "William, the gentleman
in the corner is Daniel Webster. Go over
and wish him good morning." I promptly

12 MEMORIES OF

obeyed, and marching over to him, said,
"Good morning, Daniel Webster." He
asked my name, and I replied, saying my
father was "over there," and then he
exchanged greetings with my father. I
was somewhat awed by his great dignity,
and remember very well his piercing
eyes.

About the year 1842 I went to Mays-
ville, Kentucky, to stay with the family
of my uncle, Mr. E. F. Tucker. My
health had not been good, and the change
of residence was thought to be judicious.
My uncle was at the head of some factory
in Maysville, and one day, after I had
been there for some time, a gentleman
called at the house to see him about busi-
ness connected with the factory. My
aunt called me, and, presenting me to the
gentleman, requested me to show him the
way to the factory. This gentleman was
Henry Clay. I remember his urbanity,
and his friendly conversation attracted
me. This time it was not the eye which
was noticeable, but the mouth, which was
unusually large.

WILLIAM MASON AS A BOY

FROM A DAGUERREOTYPE

A MUSICAL LIFE 13

FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE

RETURNING to Boston after a year, I was
sent to Newport, Rhode Island, to study
under the Rev. T. T. Thayer, who was a
Congregational clergyman in that place.
In a short time after my arrival I
began playing the organ at the services
in his church, and continued this with
regularity until my return to Boston a
few years later. At Boston I became the
organist at the Congregational church in
Winter street, at which my father was
music-conductor.

I played in public about the year 1846,
in one of the concerts of the Boston
Academy of Music, given in the Odeon,
which was then the principal concert-hall
in Boston. On this occasion I had the
accompaniment of a string quartet. This
was my first regular appearance in public.
About this time, too, I began taking
pianoforte lessons of Mr. Henry Schmidt,
to whom reference has been made as the
conductor of Beethoven's "Fifth Sym-
phony" on the occasion of the first per-

14 MEMORIES OF

formance of this work in Boston. Mr.
Schmidt's instrument was the violin, but
he was also an excellent pianoforte
teacher, and to his careful and skilful
instruction I owe very much. I remem-
ber that in those days I was more fond of
playing— if my habit of improvising in a
loose or inaccurate way can be so called
—than of careful practising and close at-
tention to detail. When my lesson-hour
arrived I used to trust much to luck, and
thus occasioned poor Mr. Schmidt a deal
of trouble and vexation. He begged and
entreated me to be careful, and after a
while a spirit of contrition overcame me,
and so, on a certain occasion, I really did
practise carefully and to my best ability
during the interval between my lessons.
When Mr. Schmidt made his appearance,
however, I became so nervous and appre-
hensive lest my work should not show to
advantage that the very thing I dreaded
took place, and I stumbled through my
piece in a distressing manner. I do not
wonder that my teacher's patience was
tried, and he rebuked me with severity,

A MUSICAL LIFE 15

saying that lie believed I had not prac-
tised at all since the previous lesson. I
received this all very meekly, but when
he took his departure I pitched the music
into a corner, and did not practise until
he made his appearance for the following
lesson. At this lesson, however, I played
with great accuracy and spirit, much to
my gratification and somewhat to my
surprise. Mr. Schmidt warmly com-
mended my work, and attributed it to
the fact that I had now practised indus-
triously and carefully. I had enough
sense to know that the successful result
was owing to the practice I had previ-
ously done, and which needed time to
produce its results. This bit of experi-
ence I commend to pianoforte students for
careful consideration, to show that acts
are not always immediately followed by
desirable results.

Mr. Schmidt taught me much concern-
ing the production of tone in pianoforte
playing, and in particular led me to ac-
quire a certain habit of touch which I
have never lost, and which has been the

16 MEMORIES OF

means of greatly lessening the fatigue
which would otherwise have been atten-
dant on the performance of pieces which
require much strength and long-continued
endurance. I write somewhat at length
concerning this matter, feeling that a
knowledge of my experience may be of
substantial use to pianoforte students.

The habit referred to has especial rela-
tion to the playing of the various rapid
scale and arpeggio passages, involving
closed or open hand position which are so
common in pianoforte compositions and
which grow out of the nature of the in-
strument. The touch is accomplished by
quickly but quietly drawing the finger-
tips inward toward the palm of the hand,
or, in other words, slightly and partly
closing the finger-points as they touch
the keys while playing. This action of
the fingers secures the cooperation of
many more muscles of the finger, wrist,
hand, and forearm than could be accom-
plished by the merely "up-and-down "
finger-touch. It is difficult to describe
in detail without an instrument at hand

A MUSICAL LIFE 17

for illustration. If correctly performed,
however, the tones produced are very
clear and well defined, and of a beauti-
fully musical quality. The simile of "a
string of pearls " of precisely similar size
and shape has often been used in describ-
ing their fluency and clearness of outline.
A too rapid withdrawal of the finger-tips
would result in a short and crisp staccato.
While this extreme staccato is also desir-
able and frequently used, it is not the
kind of effect here desired, namely, a
clear, clean delivery of the tones which in
no wise disturb the legato effect.

Of course it requires cultivation and
skill to secure j ust the right degree of finger-
motion to preserve the legato and at the
same time the slight separation of each
tone. Therefore the fingers must not be
drawn so quickly as to produce a separa-
tion or staccato effect, but in just the
right degree to avoid impairing the legato
or binding effect. For the sake of con-
venience in description I have named this
touch the "elastic finger- touch," and
through its influence a clear and crisp

18 MEMORIES OF

effect is attained. It is interesting to
observe in this connection, a fact which I
learned only many years later, that Se-
bastian Bach's touch, described in detail
by J. N". Forkel in his work entitled
"tiber Johann Sebastian Bachs Leben,
Kunst und Kunstwerke," both as used by
Bach himself and as he taught it to his
pupils, seems to be identical with the
touch I am here attempting to describe.
Forkel expressly emphasizes the "pulling-
in " motion of the finger-tips. While it
has relation solely to finger-action as dis-
tinguished from the action of the wrist
and arm, it cannot be accomplished
properly without bringing into action the
flexor and extensor muscles, principally
of the forearm from wrist to elbow.

Through the medium of this touch
pianissimo effects are possible which no
other mechanism can reach, for passages
of the most extreme delicacy and softness
still retain the quality of vitality and
clearness of outline.

During the season of 1846 I played the
pianoforte part throughout the series of

A MUSICAL LIFE 19

six concerts of chamber-music given by
the Harvard Musical Association. I re-
member that Mr. Blessner played the
violin and Mr. Groenvelt the violoncello,
but cannot recall the names of the players
of the second violin and viola. These
concerts were given at the pianoforte
warerooms of Mr. Jonas Chickering, 334
Washington street, Boston. I still have
the programs. String quartets by Haydn,
Mozart, and Beethoven were played, also
piano trios by Beethoven, Keissiger, and
Mayseder.

LEOPOLD DE MEYER

THE knowledge I gained from Mr.
Schmidt was largely advanced and sup-
plemented by what I learned a year or
two later, in 1847-48, from the playing of
the pianoforte virtuoso Leopold de Meyer,
who came to the United States about that
time.

It was from a careful study of the man-
ner of his playing that I first acquired the
habit of fully devitalized upper-arm mus-
cles in pianoforte-playing. The loveli-

20 MEMORIES OF

ness and charming musical beauty of his
tones, the product of these conditions,
greatly excited my admiration and fas-
cinated me. I never missed an oppor-
tunity of hearing him play, and closely
watched his movements, and particularly
the motions of hand, arm, and shoulder.
I was incessantly at the pianoforte trying
to produce the same delightful tone qual-
ity by imitating his manner and style.

My continued perseverance was re-
warded with success, for the result was a
habit of devitalized muscular action in
such degree that I could practically play
all day without a feeling of fatigue. The
constant alternation between devitaliza-
tion and reconstruction keeps the muscles
always fresh for their work and enables
the player to rest while playing. The
force is so distributed that each and every
muscle has ample opportunity to rest
while yet in a state of activity. Further-
more the tones resulting from this touch
are sonorous and full of energy and life.
An idea of my own which was persistently
carried into act aided materially in bring-

WILLIAM MASON AT THE AGE OF EIGHTEEN

FKOM A DAGUERREOTYPE

A MUSICAL LIFE 21

ing about the desired result. This was to
allow the arms to hang limp by my side,
either in a sitting or standing posture,
and then to shake them vigorously with
the utmost possible looseness and devitali-
zation. This device was in after years
recommended to my pupils, and those
who persistently followed it up and per-
severed for a while gained great advan-
tage from it, and eventually acquired a
state of habitual muscular elasticity and
flexibility.

I might easily have learned from any
book of anatomy the names of the mus-
cles which are here referred to, but for
the practical instruction of pianoforte
pupils this seemed to be of little conse-
quence. However, there are three muscles
of the upper arm which may here be
named : the triceps, the brachialis anticus,
and the biceps. Of these the first-named
is of the most importance to the pianist.

Leopold de Meyer's New York concerts
were given in the old Broadway Taber-
nacle, some distance below Canal street,
as I now remember. The piano-lovers

22 MEMOEIES OF

were not so numerous then as they are
now, and it was difficult to fill the hall,
even with the help of deadheads. De
Meyer's agent, acting on the principle
that "a crowd draws a crowd," hired a
lot of carriages to make their appearance
a little before the concert-hour, and to
stand in front of the doors and then ad-
vance in turn, so that passers-by might
receive the impression of activity on the
part of the concert-goers.

"FATHER HEINRICH"

SOMEWHERE about this time there lived
in New York an elderly German musician
and composer who had somehow gained
the cognomen of "Father Heinrich." He
composed quite a number of large works,
both vocal and instrumental, and also a
number of pianoforte pieces. During a
visit which he made to Boston, his head-
quarters were at Chickering's pianoforte
warerooms, and on one occasion I was
presented to him as a youth of some musi-
cal promise. He immediately showed me

A MUSICAL LIFE 23

one of his pianoforte pieces in manuscript,
and said : "Young man, I am going to test
your musical talent and intelligence and
see if you appreciate in any degree the im-
portance of a proper observance of dynam-
ics in musical interpretation.77 He had
placed the open pages of the manuscript
on the pianoforte desk, and I was glancing
over them in close scrutiny. i i I wish to tell
you before you begin to play that I have
submitted this piece to two or three of
the best musicians in New York and they
have failed to bring out the intended
effect in an important phrase." This re-
mark put me at once on my guard, and
while he was talking I was closely scruti-
nizing the manuscript to see if there was
some dynamic or other mark which would
reveal his intention. About half-way
down the second page I discovered a series
of sforzando marks, thus : > > > > >
over several notes in one of the inner
parts, and immediately determined to
bring out these tones with all possible
force. Further than this there seemed
to be no peculiarity 5 but as he had by

24 MEMOEIES OF

this time finished his remarks I began to
play with special care. The piece was
easy to read, and so I made good progress,
and on coming to the passage referred to
I put a tremendous emphasis on the tones
marked sforzando, playing all of the other
voices by contrast quite softly. To my
boyish satisfaction I found I had hit the
mark. The excitement and pleasure of
Father Heinrich was excessive and amus-
ing. "Bravo ! bravo ! " he cried. "You
have great talent, and you have done
what none of our musicians in New York
have accomplished ! "

I did not at the time understand how
he could lay so much stress on the affair,
but in the light of a long experience as
teacher of the pianoforte I no longer
wonder at his excitement. All music is
full of nuances and accents of greater or
less intensity, to which pupils hardly ever
give any attention, although they are
necessary in order to give due expression
to rhythm. They correspond to vocal
accents in reading aloud, or in declama-
tion.

A MUSICAL LIFE 25

AN EMBARRASSING EXPERIENCE

IT is difficult to realize the crudity of
musical taste in the early days. I re-
member that in 1840 my father conducted
a convention in Vermont— I think in
Woodstock. We went by rail as far as
we could, and then traveled a number of
hours by coach. We were received by
the dignitaries of the town, and conducted
to the house in which we were to stay.
While we were shaking off the dust of
travel, we heard the sounds of drum and
fife. Looking out of the window, we
found that these instruments headed a
small procession which had come to escort
us to the church. The drum and the fife
were the instrumental outfit of the town ;
so, led by these, my father and I marched
with the magnates of the place to the
church. I still remember how foolish I
felt.

In 1846 my father was preparing to hold
a convention in Augusta, Maine. Mr.
Webb was to go with him, and I was sent
to his house the evening before they were

26 A MUSICAL LIFE

to start to let him know about the ar-
rangements. Though I knew Mr. Webb
very well, I had never had occasion to go
to his house. At this time I was seventeen
years old. When I was shown into the
drawing-room, I saw Mr. and Mrs. Webb
and their daughter, a girl then not four-
teen. I had not been in the house half
an hour before I was deeply in love with
her. I found that she was going to Au-
gusta, and I decided at once that I would
go, too. So the next day we all started
together. She and I grew to be good
friends, but the idea of an engagement
between us was not to be thought of at
that time, and while I lived in Germany
we were not permitted to correspond.
For five years I did not see her j but when
I came back I hastened to her father's
house. The sequel I shall tell later.

STUDENT LIFE ABROAD

IT having been decided that I should
continue my musical studies in Europe,
I sailed from New York for Bremen on
the side-wheel steamer Herrmann in May,
1849, accompanied by Mr. Frank Hill of
Boston, who had already attained some
distinction as a pianist. My intention
was to go directly to Leipsic to study
with Moscheles. One of our fellow-pas-
sengers was Julius Schuberth, the music-
publisher of Hamburg, who had been in
America on business. Arriving at Bre-
men, we learned that the insurrection
had not yet been suppressed, and that
within two or three days there had been
bloodshed in the streets of Leipsic. For
this and other reasons I gladly accepted
Mr. Schuberth's invitation to visit him,
first making a short trip to Paris with Hill.
27

28 MEMORIES OF

MEETING WITH MEYERBEER

I ARRIVED in Paris shortly after six
o'clock in the morning, and went to the
Hotel de Paris, in the Hue de Kichelieu.
In those days, at that early hour, Paris
was as quiet as an American town at mid-
night. There were three of us in the
party. We secured two rooms, and my
friends remained up-stairs, while I re-
turned to the porter's lodge below to have
my passport sent to the Bureau of Police
to be vise'd. The porter went out to at-
tend to this, and I was left alone in the
lodge.

Shortly afterward a man entered, of
medium height, well dressed, and with a
good deal of manner. He addressed me
in French, but when I asked him if he
could speak English he began conversing
fluently in that language. He asked if I
was from England and a stranger in Paris.
When I told him I was from America, he
exclaimed, "Ah, that is farther off."
Then, noticing the passport, which was
uncommonly large and was bound like a

A MUSICAL LIFE 29

book, lie asked, "Is that an American
passport ? Please let me have a look at it.
I 'm curious to see it." Bound in with
the passport were a number of blank
leaves to be used for the vises of various
consuls. "Young man/' said my chance
acquaintance, "you have leaves enough
there to travel about Europe for twenty
years." Then he inquired if I was travel-
ing for pleasure or on business.

"I have come over to study music."

"Ah, composition?"

"No ; mainly piano, but also theory and
composition."

"And where?"

"I expect to go to Leipsic to study with
Moscheles, Hauptmann, and RLchter.
Eventually I hope to go to Liszt."

"Well, well, you >ve chosen good men.
Moscheles knew Beethoven."

Then, with a few friendly words, he left
the lodge and entered the hotel. Just as
he was leaving the porter returned.

"Who is the gentleman?" I asked,
pointing after the disappearing form.

"Meyerbeer, the composer."

30 MEMORIES OF

The porter then took me into the court-
yard and pointed out the room which
Meyerbeer occupied, calling my attention
to the fact that his window and mine
almost faced each other.

"If you look out of your window about
eleven o'clock," said the porter, "you will
see Mme. Garcia and Eoger, the tenor,
coming here to rehearse their roles in the
new opera with the composer."

Meyerbeer was so affable at our chance
meeting that I think I could easily have
followed it up and have seen more of him ;
but when a boy is in Paris for the first
time, he has many things to think of.
Moreover, I did not realize that at the
end of the century, "Le Prophete," the
work which Meyerbeer was then rehears-
ing, would still be in the repertory of
every first-class opera-house. I knew that
he was a distinguished composer, but I did
not for a moment imagine that his work
would live so long. As I now look back
through the perspective of time, I realize
the opportunity I missed ; but I thank
the freak of fortune which threw in his

A MUSICAL LIFE 31

way, if only for a few moments, a young
man who was too careless to improve the
chance acquaintance.

From Paris I returned to Schuberth's
in Hamburg. He was an active, enter-
prising, pushing business man, with a
large acquaintance in the musical world,
and the knowledge of how to put it to
the best use. I remained in Hamburg
for some time. Boy -like, I had spent all
my money in Paris, and was now obliged
to wait for a remittance from home. In
Hamburg I met Carl Mayer of Dresden,
a fine pianist of the Hummel school, and
Mortier de Fontaine, who was very well
known in his day as a Beethoven-player
—had, in fact, won considerable fame as
the first pianist to perform Beethoven's
"Sonata, Op. 106 " in public. That was
his label.

LISZT'S FEAT OF MEMORY

FROM Hamburg I went to Leipsic, but
Schuberth did not lose sight of me.
Whenever he came there he looked me

32 MEMORIES OF

up, and was very kind in introducing me
to people whom it was well for me to
meet. He knew Liszt very well, and
having taken a fancy to a composition
of mine, "Les Perles de Rosee," which
was still in manuscript, he said : "Let me
have it for publication. Dedicate it to
Liszt. I can easily get Liszt to accept the
dedication. I am going directly from
here to Weimar, and will see him about
it. At the same time, I will prepare the
way for your reception later as a pupil."
Not long afterward I received a letter
from Schuberth in which he told me that
when he handed the music to Liszt, the
latter looked at the manuscript, hummed
it over, then sat down and played it from
memory. Then, going to his desk, he
took a pen, and accepted the dedication
by writing his name at the top of the title-
page. Encouraged by this, I wrote a let-
ter to Liszt, expressing my desire to
become one of his pupils, and asking
what my chances were. Unfortunately,
I misinterpreted his reply, and received
the impression that it amounted to a re-

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A MUSICAL LIFE 33

fusal ; but at the same time he gave me a
cordial invitation to attend the festival
about to take place in Weimar in com-
memoration of the hundredth anniversary
of Goethe's birth. I still have this letter,
which is dated August 18, 1849. Had I
understood then that Liszt was ready to
accept me as a pupil, I should have taken
up my residence at Weimar at once, in-
stead of waiting until I learned my mis-
take, as I did during a call which I made
upon Liszt nearly four years later.

FIRST MEETING WITH LISZT

HOWEVER, I went to Weimar with Mr.
Hill to attend the Goethe festival, arriv-
ing there early in the afternoon of the
day before it began.

The third day of the festival we called
on Liszt, who was then living in the Hotel
zum Erbprinzen, and were received most
cordially. Schlesinger, the Paris pub-
lisher, was there with his little daughter,
who was precocious as a pianist and
played several Chopin waltzes. Liszt

34 MEMORIES OF

was very busy with his guests, so that
our visit was limited, and nothing was
said about my coming to Weimar to study
except that Liszt said he never received
pupils for regular lessons, but that those
who lived in Weimar (and there were
only three or four in those days) had
frequent opportunities of hearing and
meeting artists who visited him. Having
misinterpreted his letter, I accepted these
remarks as a further politely worded re-
fusal to receive me. So I returned to
Leipsic to continue my studies there.

ARRIVAL AT LEIPSIC

I WELL remember the feeling of awe min-
gled with interest with which I looked
upon every German whom I met in the
streets of Leipsic on my first arrival in
that famously musical city. I looked on
even the laboring-men, the peasants as
well as those in higher positions, as being
Mozarts and Beethovens, and the idea
gained such ascendancy that I felt my
own inferiority and metaphorically held

A MUSICAL LIFE 35

down my head. This feeling, however,
was not of long duration, and changed in
the course of a month or two on account
of what happened at a concert of the
Euterpe Society which I attended. The
concerts of this musical society were sec-
ond only to those of the famous Gewand-
haus, and their audiences were made up
largely of those who attended the concerts
of the latter. At this concert the pro-
gram was classical and unimpeachable as
to the orchestral concerted pieces, but one
of the numbers was a solo for clarinet.
At my age I was disposed to look down
on this as an inferior kind of music, and
as decidedly unsuitable to an educated
and musically cultivated taste. There-
fore, when, to my surprise, this turned out
to be the most popular piece of the even-
ing and received the most vociferous ap-
plause of the entire audience, I found my
high opinion of the select musical taste of
the Germans sensibly decreased.

Since then I have learned that there is
a place for everything good in its way ;
but the clarinet solo seemed out of place

36 MEMORIES OF

in the classical atmosphere of a symphony
concert.

MOSCHELES, BEETHOVEN, AND CHOPIN

MOSCHELES, with whom I studied in Leip-
sic, had been a pupil of Dionysius Weber
in Prague. At that time Beethoven was
still a newcomer, and was regarded with
skepticism by the older men, whose ideas
were formed and who could not get over
their first unfavorable impressions of him.
Beethoven was a profound man and had
strong individuality. He was eagerly ac-
cepted by the younger men, Moscheles
among them ; but Dionysius Weber re-
garded him as a monstrosity, and would
never allow Moscheles to learn any of his
music. Consequently, Moscheles prac-
tised Beethoven in secret, and when he
grew up he prided himself on being a
Beethoven-player, and wrote a life of
Beethoven, which, however, is largely
based on Schindler's.

At about the time I went to Leipsic
the attitude of Moscheles toward Chopin
was very like what Dionysius Weber's had

A MUSICAL LIFE 37

been toward Beethoven. One of the
daughters of Moscheles was very fond of
playing Chopin, but her father forbade it.
Afterward she married and went to Lon-
don, where she played Chopin to her
heart's content. It is curious how men
who in their younger days are pioneers
become so conservative as they grow older
that they are like stone walls in the paths
of progress. They forget that in their
youth they laughed at or criticized their
elders for the same pedantry of which
they themselves afterward become guilty.

THE INTIMACY OF MOSCHELES
AND MENDELSSOHN

MOSCHELES and Mendelssohn had been
warm friends. Moscheles, in particular,
prided himself on the composer's friend-
ship. No one to-day can understand the
influence which Mendelssohn had upon
his contemporaries, by whom his music
and his personality were fairly worshiped.
Comparisons were made between him and
Beethoven to the latter's disadvantage.
I remember an excellent musician saying

38 MEMORIES OF

to me, "Beethoven does have consecutive
fifths now and then, Mendelssohn never."
He did not realize that these apparent
violations of technical rules were part of
Beethoven's rugged strength, while Men-
delssohn's scrupulous adherence to them
was evidence of weakness.

Mendelssohn's death was a great shock
to Moscheles. Mendelssohn had often
visited him, and there was such profound
musical sympathy between them that they
were able to improvise together on two
pianos. They understood each other so
well that one of them would improvise a
theme, which the other would follow.
After a while they would interchange
their roles, the second piano taking up the
theme, the first piano subordinating itself.
This is not in itself an extraordinary feat,
but it illustrates the musical sympathy
which existed between Mendelssohn and
Moscheles.

SCHUMANN

FOR some years prior to 1844 Schumann
lived in Leipsic. It was his habit to

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A MUSICAL LIFE 39

compose intensely all day, and then to
walk to a beer-cellar at the upper end
of the Grimmaische Strasse. There he
would sit at a table with one of his most
trusted friends, an odd-looking but able
musician and piano-teacher named Wen-
zel. There were two or three other
musicians who frequented the place and
were generally at the same table. Schu-
mann enjoyed being among friends, but
disliked nothing more than the restraint
of social functions. No doubt there was
a large consumption of beer, after the
fashion of the Germans on such occasions,
but to a musical student who could sit
within hearing there was afforded a
golden opportunity of absorbing musical
ideas.

SCHUMANN'S "SYMPHONY
NO. l, B FLAT"

WHEN I went to Germany, Schumann
was living in Dresden, but he made fre-
quent visits to Leipsic. I knew little or
nothing of Schumann's music, for Men-
delssohn then dominated the musical

40 MEMOEIES OF

world ; but the first orchestral composi-
tion of Schumann's that I ever heard
placed him far above Mendelssohn in my
estimation. It was at the second concert
I attended at the Gewandhaus in Leipsic,
and the work was the "First Symphony."
I was so wrought up by it that I hummed
passages from it as I walked home, and sat
down at the piano when I got there, and
played as much of it as I could remember.
I hardly slept that night for the excite-
ment of it. The first thing I did in the
morning was to go to Breitkopf & Hartel's
and buy the score, the orchestral parts
and piano arrangements for four and two
hands, and in these I fairly reveled.

I grew so enthusiastic over the sym-
phony that I sent the score and parts to
the Musical Fund Society of Boston, the
only concert orchestra then in that city,
and conducted by Mr. Webb. They could
make nothing of the symphony, and it lay
on the shelf for one or two years. Then
they tried it again, saw something in it,
but somehow could not get the swing of
it, possibly on account of the syncopations.

A MUSICAL LIFE 41

Before my return from Europe in 1854, 1
think they finally played it. In speaking
of it, Mr. Webb said to my father : "Yes,
it is interesting ; but in our next concert
we play Haydn's 'Surprise Symphony,'
and that will live long after this sym-
phony of Schumann's is forgotten." Many
years afterward I reminded Mr. Webb of
this remark, whereupon he said, "Wil-
liam, is it possible that I was so foolish? "

Only a few years before I arrived at
Leipsic, Schumann's genius was so little
appreciated that when he entered the
store of Breitkopf & Hartel with a new
manuscript under his arm, the clerks
would nudge one another and laugh. One
of them told me that they regarded him
as a crank and a failure because his pieces
remained on the shelf and were in the
way.

I often saw Schumann in Leipsic, and
I heard him conduct his cantata, "The
Pilgrimage of the Rose." His conducting
was awkward, as he was neither active nor
of commanding presence. However, I
liked his looks, as he seemed good-na-

42 MEMOBIES OF

tured, though perhaps not like a man
with whom one might easily become ac-
quainted. This impression, however, may
be due to anecdotes which I had heard
regarding his lack of sociability.

SCHUMANN'S ABSENT-MINDEDNESS

UP to the time of Mendelssohn's death his
followers and the small body of musicians
who appreciated Schumann had rubbed
pretty hard together. Naturally, Mo-
scheles and Schumann had not been inti-
mate. But Moscheles felt Mendelssohn's
loss so keenly that he cast about for some
one to take his place, and finally decided
to make overtures to Schumann by in-
viting him to his house to supper. What
occurred there was told to me by a fellow-
pupil. He said that while the company
was gathering in the drawing-room, Schu-
mann sat in a corner apparently absorbed
in thought, without looking at any one or
uttering a word. He did not impress my
friend as morose, but rather as a man
whose thoughts were at the moment in an
entirely different sphere. Supper was

A MUSICAL LIFE 43

announced, and the guests being seated,
it was discovered that there was a vacant
place at the table. Moscheles looked
about for Schumann, but he was not there.
The host and several guests went back to
the salon to look for him, and found him
sitting in his corner, still deep in thought.
When aroused, he said, "Oh, I had n't
noticed that you had gone out." Then
he went in to supper, but hardly said
a word. What a contrast there was
between his personality and that of
the ever-affable, polished Mendelssohn !
There is the same contrast between their
music : Schumann's profound, and appeal-
ing to us most when we wish to withdraw
entirely within the very sanctuary of our
own emotions ; Mendelssohn's smooth,
finished, and easily understood.

Early in 1844 Schumann had moved to
Dresden, and I called upon him in that
city and received a pleasant welcome,
contrary to my expectation, for I had
heard much of his reticence. Judging by
the brief entry in my diary, nothing of
importance was said. I could not see
Mme. Schumann, because she was giving

44 MEMORIES OF

a lesson. This was on April 13, 1850. I
called again later in the month, and Schu-
mann gave me his musical autograph, a
canon for male voices ; and the next day
I received an autograph from Clara Schu-
mann. In 1880 I learned from Mme.
Schumann that the canon referred to had
already been published at the time when
I received it from Schumann. (See Op.
65, No. 6.)

Afterward, when I met Wagner I could
not help contrasting his lively manner
and glowing enthusiasm with Schumann's
reserve, which, however, was by no means
repellent. Indeed, if I had been the
greatest living musician, instead of a
mere boy student, "Wagner could not
have received me with more kindness,
or have talked to me more delightfully
during the three memorable hours of my
life which were spent with him.

MORITZ HAUPTMANN

MY teacher in harmony and counterpoint
was Moritz Hauptmann, a pupil of Spohr,

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A MUSICAL LIFE 45

and an excellent composer of church
music, his motets being especially beau-
tiful. He was the cantor and music di-
rector of the Thomas-schule at Leipsic, a
position which years before had been
held by Sebastian Bach. He was alto-
gether a genial and attractive man, of
gentle manner and disposition, and I at
once became much attached to him. He
was in delicate health and suffered con-
stantly from dyspepsia, yet bore all of his
ills with patience and equanimity. I re-
member that he had a passion for baked
apples, one of the few things he could eat
without ill results, and on his stove, a
regular old-fashioned German structure
of porcelain, nearly as high as the ceiling,
there was always a row of apples in pro-
cess of slow baking.

His autograph is one of the most curi-
ous in my book, and is an excellent ex-
ample of his technical knowledge. It is
a Spiegel-Canon ("looking-glass canon").
When held up to the mirror the reflec-
tion shows the answer to the canon in the
related key.

46 MEMORIES OF

Not long after beginning my studies
under Hauptmann, I received from my
father a copy of his latest publication,
being a collection of tunes, mostly of his
own composition, for choir and congrega-
tional use in the church. He requested
me to show this to Hauptmann and get his
opinion, if practicable. I felt a decided
reluctance to do this, because I thought
my father's work was not worthy of the
notice of such a profound musician, so I
delayed the carrying out of his request.
After a few weeks, however, I began re-
ceiving letters from my father upon the
subject, and realized that I could not post-
pone action any longer. So one day, going
to my lesson, I took the book with me.
I kept it as well out of sight as I could
during the lesson, and then at the last
moment, when about to leave the room,
I placed it on Hauptmann's table, telling
him in an apologetic way of my father's
request and seeking to excuse myself for
troubling him. I said I was afraid he
would find nothing in the book to interest
him.

A MUSICAL LIFE 47

When the regular time for my lesson
recurred I hesitated to present myself
again ; but there was no way of avoiding
the difficulty, so with a tremendous exer-
cise of will I faced the situation. What
was my surprise and relief when he
greeted me with "Mr. Mason, I have ex-
amined your father's book with much
interest and pleasure, and his admirable
treatment of the voices is most musicianly
and satisfactory. Please give him my sin-
cere regards, and thank him for his at-
tention in sending me the book."

At the moment I could not understand
how such a big contrapuntist could ex-
press himself in such strong terms of ap-
proval ; but I knew him to be genuine,
and so I straightened myself up and really
began to be proud of my father. Another
and more important result was the recog-
nition of my own ignorance in imagining
that a thing in order to be great must
necessarily be intricate and complicated.
It dawned upon me that the simplest
things are sometimes the grandest and the
most difficult of attainment.

48 MEMORIES OF

I also took lessons in instrumentation
from Ernst Friedrich Richter, a pupil of
Hauptmann.

A VISIT TO WAGNER.

MY parents joined me in Leipsic in Janu-
ary, 1852, and in the spring of that year
we planned a tour which was to take us
to Switzerland in June.

In Leipsic I made the acquaintance of
a man named Albert Wagner, meeting
him quite frequently at the restaurant
where I took my meals. While I was
planning the tour, I chanced to mention
it to him, and when he heard that I was
going to Zurich, he said : "My brother,
Richard Wagner, lives there. I will give
you a letter of introduction to him." This
was the first intimation I had that Albert
was a brother of the composer. I sup-
pose he had not thought it worth while
to tell me. Richard was still under a
political cloud in Saxony, and was com-
pelled to live in exile on account of the
part he had taken in the revolution

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A MUSICAL LIFE 49

of 1848 ; nor was his reputation as a
composer then so general that Albert
would have thought his kinship much to
boast of.

We reached Zurich on June 5, 1852,
and, the next morning, armed with the
letter, I made my way to Wagner's chalet,
which was situated on a hill in the sub-
urbs. It was then about ten o> clock in the
morning.

When I asked the maid who opened
the door if Herr Wagner was at home and
to be seen, she answered, as I had feared
she would, that he was busily at work in
his study, and could not be disturbed. I
handed her my letter of introduction, and
asked her to give it to Herr Wagner, and
to say to him that I was expecting to
remain in Zurich three or four days, and
would call again, hoping to be fortunate
enough to find him disengaged.

Just as I was turning to leave, I heard
a voice at the head of the stairs call out,
" Wer ist da f " I told the maid to deliver
my letter immediately. As soon as Wag-
ner had glanced through it, he exclaimed,

50 MEMORIES OF

"Kommen Sie herauf! Kommen Sie
herauf ! "

At that time Wagner was known, and
that not widely, only as the composer of
"Rienzi," "The Flying Dutchman/'
"Tannhauser," and "Lohengrin." I had
heard only "The Flying Dutchman/' but
considered it a most beautiful work, and
was eager to meet the composer.

Wagner's first words, as I met him on
the landing at the head of the stairs, were :
"You 've come just at the right time.
I 've been working away at something,
and I 'm stuck. I 'm in a state of nervous
irritation, and it is absolutely impossible
for me to go on. So I 'm glad you 've
come."

I remember perfectly my first impres-
sion of him. He looked to me much
more like an American than a German.
After asking about his brother, he be-
gan questioning me in a lively way
about his friends in Leipsic, about the
concerts and opera there, and the works
that had been given. He also asked most
kindly after my own affairs— what I was
doing, with whom I had studied, how long

A MUSICAL LIFE 51

I intended to remain, what my plans were
for the future, and most particularly about
musical matters in America. In some way
Beethoven was mentioned. After that the
conversation became a monologue with me
as a listener, for Wagner began to talk so
fluently and enthusiastically about Bee-
thoven that I was quite content to keep si-
lent and to avoid interrupting his eloquent
oration.

WAGNER ON MENDELSSOHN
AND BEETHOVEN

As he warmed up to the subject, he began
to draw comparisons between Beethoven
and Mendelssohn. " Mendelssohn,'7 he
said, "was a gentleman of refinement and
high degree ; a man of culture and polished
manner ; a courtier who was always at
home in evening dress. As was the man,
so is his music, full of elegance, grace,
finish, and refinement, but carried with-
out variance to such a degree that at times
one longs for brawn and muscle. Yet it
is music that is always exquisite, fairy-
like, and fine in character. In Beethoven
we get the man of brawn and muscle. He

52 MEMORIES OF

was too inspired to pay much attention to
conventionalities. He went right to the
pith of what he had to say, and said it in
a robust, decisive, manly, yet tender way,
brushing aside the methods and amenities
of conventionalism, and striking at once
at the substance of what he wished to ex-
press. Notwithstanding its robustness,
his music is at times inexpressibly tender ;
but it is a manly tenderness, and carries
with it an idea of underlying and sustain-
ing strength. Some years ago, when I was
kapellmeister in Dresden, I had a remark-
able experience, which illustrates the
invigorating and refreshing power of
Beethoven's music. It was at one of the
series of afternoon concerts of classic
music given at the theater. The day was
hot and muggy, and everybody seemed to
be in a state of lassitude and incapacity
for mental or physical effort. On glan-
cing at the program, I noticed that by
some chance all of the pieces I had se-
lected were in the minor mode— first,
Mendelssohn's exquisite 'A Minor Sym-
phony,' music in dress-suit and white kid

A MUSICAL LIFE 53

gloves, spotless and comme ilfaut; then an
overture by Cherubim $ and finally Bee-
thoven's * Symphony No. 5, in C Minor.' "
At this point Wagner rose from his chair,
and began walking about the room.
"Everybody," he continued, "was listless
and languid, and the atmosphere seemed
damp and spiritless. The orchestra la-
bored wearily through the symphony and
overture, while the audience became more
and more apathetic. It seemed impos-
sible to arouse either players or listeners,
and I thought seriously of dismissing both
after the overture. I was very reluctant
to subject Beethoven's wonderfully beau-
tiful music to such a crucial test, but after
a moment's reflection I appreciated the
fact that here was an opportunity for
proving the strength and virility of it,
and I said to myself, ' I will have courage,
and stick to my program/ "

Wagner stopped walking a moment, and
looked about the room as if searching for
something. Then he rushed to a corner,
and seizing a walking-stick, raised it as if
it were a baton.

54 MEMORIES OF

"Here is Beethoven," he exclaimed,
"the working-man in his shirt-sleeves,
with his great herculean breast bared to
the elements."

He straightened himself up, and, giving
the stick a swing, brought it down with
an abrupt "Ta-ta-ta-tum ! "—the opening
measure of Beethoven's "C Minor Sym-
phony " :

f\ ff ^

The whole scene was graphically por-
trayed. Then throwing himself into a
chair, he said : "The effect was electrical
on orchestra and audience. There was no
more apathy. The air was cleared as by
a passing thunder-shower. There was the
test."

When Wagner spoke of Mendelssohn,
his tone of voice indicated the gentle
refinement of the courtier and his music.
When he mentioned Beethoven, his man-
ner was animated and full of enthusiasm.

Wagner's enthusiasm, his openness in
taking me at once into his musical conn-

A MUSICAL LIFE 55

dence, fascinated me, and gave me an
insight into the wonderful vitality and
energy of the man. He was planning a
tramp through the Tyrol, about a week
later, with a professor from the Zurich
University. "Come along with us," he
said. " Alle guten Dinge sind drei " ("All
good things are three " ) . However, I did
not feel at liberty to leave my parents to
continue their trip alone, as I was acting
as interpreter for them. Of course Wag-
ner was not then what he afterward be-
came in the eyes of the world. I now
know what I missed.

A WAGNER AUTOGRAPH

BUT I did not leave Wagner's house with-
out what many musicians, to whom I have
shown it, consider one of the most inter-
esting musical autographs ever penned.
It is autographic from beginning to end,
even to the lines of the staff ; for when I
asked Wagner for his autograph, he drew
them himself on a sheet of blank paper,
and then wrote what is evidently the germ

56 MEMOEIES OF

' %

of the dragon motive in "The King of the
Mbelung." It is dated June 5, 1852, and
it is particularly interesting that he should
have written this motive at that time.
From his correspondence with Liszt, it is
clear that he had not yet finished the poem
of the "Walkiire," and had not yet begun
the score of the cycle. He wrote the
books of the "Ring " backward, but in the
composition of the cycle he began with
the "Kheingold," in the autumn of the
year in which I met him. The dragon
motive occurs in the "Rheingold," but in
quite a different form. He began the
" Walkiire " in June, 1854, two years later,
completing it in 1856. In the meantime,
in the autumn of 1854, he also began the
music of "Siegfried," and it is in the first
act of this music drama, written more
than two years after I had met him, that
we find the dragon motive exactly as it is
written in my autograph, except that it
is transposed a tone lower, and that the
length of the notes is changed, though
their relative value is the same, dotted
halves being substituted for quarters.

r

m

A MUSICAL LIFE 57

The passage will be found on page 7 of
Klindworth's piano-score of "Siegfried."
This, I believe, is the only place in the
four divisions of the "Ring'7 where the
motive appears in this form.

Added significance and value are given
to the autograph by the lines which Wag-
ner wrote under it, and which are signed
and dated : " Wenn Sie so etwas ahnliches
einmal von mir horen sollten, so denken
Sie an mich ! " ("If you ever hear any-
thing of mine like this, then think of
me.") Even this was characteristic of
the man. "Siegfried" was not heard
until nearly a quarter of a century after
he had written a passage from it in my
autograph-book— but it was heard.

MOSCHELES

THE playing of Moscheles was in a direct
line of descent from dementi and Hum-
mel, and just preceded the Thalberg
school. Moscheles was fond of quoting
these authorities and of holding them up
;is excellent examples for his pupils. He

58 MEMORIES OF

advocated a very quiet hand position,
confining, as far as possible, whatever
motion was necessary to finger and hand
muscles; and by way of illustration he
said that dementi's hands were so level
in position and quiet in motion that he
could easily keep a crown-piece on the
back of his hand while playing the most
rapid scale passages.

I was not much surprised at this,
for I knew it had been said of Henry
C. Timm of New York, an admirable
pianist of the Hummel school, that he
could play a scale with a glass of wine on
the back of his hand without spilling a
drop. I, boy-like, could not resist the
temptation to repeat what I had heard.
There was a curious expression upon the
face of our good teacher, which gave the
impression that he thought it a pretty tall
story, and my fellow-pupils put it down
as a yarn prompted by desire on my part
to get ahead of Moscheles. Among these
was Charles Wehle of Prague, of whom I
saw a good deal. Some years later, after
I had left Weimar for America, Wehle

A MUSICAL LIFE 59

happened to visit Liszt. My name was
mentioned, and Wehle asked, "Did you
ever hear his wonderful tale about Timm,
the New York player?" Then he re-
peated the anecdote, but changed the
glass of wine to a glass of water. Liszt
shook his head incredulously, and said,
"Mason never said anything about a
glass of water all the time he was in
Weimar."

Moscheles was an excellent pianist and
teacher, but he was already growing old,
and his playing of sforzando and strongly
accented tones was apt to be accompanied
by an audible snort, which was far from
musical. However, as a Bach-player he
was especially great, and it was a delight
to hear him. One evening, after my les-
son, he began playing the preludes and
fugues from the "Well-tempered Cla-
vier," and I was enchanted with the finish,
repose, and musicianship of his perform-
ance, which was without fuss or show.
I have never heard any one surpass him
in Bach.

Paderewski's Bach-playing is much like

60 MEMOKIES OF

that of my old teacher. Several years
ago, in company with Adolf Brodsky, the
violinist, I attended one of Paderewski's
recitals given in this city. After listening
to compositions of Bach and Beethoven,
Brodsky said : "He lays everything from
A to Z before you in the most conscien-
tious way, and through delicacy and sensi-
tiveness of perception he attains a very
close and artistic adjustment of values."
Thoroughly in accord with Brodsky, I
vividly recall the similarity of Paderew-
ski's interpretation to that of Moscheles,
both being characterized by perfect re-
pose in action, while at the same time not
lacking in intensity of expression. The
modern adaptations and alterations from
Bach are not here referred to, but the
music as originally written by the com-
poser. In Paderewski's conception and
performance, like that of Moscheles, each
and all of the voices received careful and
reverent attention, and were brought out
with due regard to their relative, as well
as to their individual, importance. Nu-
ances were never neglected, neither were

A MUSICAL LIFE 61

they in excess. Thus the musical require-
ments of polyphonic interpretation were
artistically fulfilled. Head and heart
were united in skilful combination and
loving response.

While I was in Leipsic, Moscheles cele-
brated his silver wedding, and one of the
features of the occasion was odd and in-
teresting. I forget whether I had the
story direct from him or from one of my
fellow-students. It is as follows : At the
time Moscheles was paying attention to
the lady who afterward became his wife
he had a rival who was a farmer. What
became of the farmer after Moscheles car-
ried off the prize history does not make
clear. A friend of Moscheles, an artist of
ability, conceived the unique idea of com-
memorating the joyous anniversary, and,
putting it into act, he painted two por-
traits of Mrs. Moscheles, one representing
her as she appeared on that interesting
occasion, and the other giving his idea of
how she would have looked after twenty-
five years of wedded life had she married
the farmer.

62 MEMORIES OF

JOSEPH JOACHIM

"LEIPSIC, Wednesday, September 19,
1849." Under this date I find in my
diary a note to the effect that Joachim
the violinist made me a friendly call at
half-past ten o'clock. I had previously
called on him to present a letter of intro-
duction which I had received in Ham-
burg from Mortier de Fontaine.

Joachim made a marked impression
upon me as being genial and unassuming
in manner. He very cordially invited me
to come to his room, saying, "We will
play sonatas for violin and pianoforte to-
gether." This afforded a fine opportunity
to a young piano -student, and, coming as
it did without solicitation or expectation,
was all the more appreciated. Less than
two weeks later, on September 30, 1 heard
him play the Mendelssohn violin concerto
at the first Gewandhaus concert of the
season, and was enchanted with his musi-
cal interpretation of the beautiful com-
position. A little further on in the diary
it is written that the second Gewandhaus

A MUSICAL LIFE 63

concert was given on October 7. The
Schumann "Symphony in B Flat Major,
No. 1," was played, and "I never before
experienced such a thrill of enthusiasm.'7
On Thursday, October 18, the third Ge-
wandhaus concert took place, the sym-
phony being by Spohr, "No. 3, C Minor."
An item of special interest regarding this
concert is that I heard here for the first
time the fine violoncellist Bernhard Coss-
mann, with whom, in later years, I became
intimately acquainted. He was then in
the Weimar orchestra and the Ferdinand
Laub String Quartet, and was one of our
"Weimarische Dutzbruder."

SCHUMANN'S "CONCERTO IN A MINOR"

THIS concerto I heard for the first time
in Leipsic, on Saturday, January 19, 1850.
It was in one of the Euterpe Society's con-
certs, exceedingly well played by Adolph
Blassman of Dresden, and I vividly re-
member the stunning effect it produced
upon some of the best pupils of the Con-
servatory who were present. I was nearly

64 MEMOEIES OF

as much excited over the composition as
I had previously been at the performance
of the " Symphony in B Flat Major."

A few weeks later the same concerto
was played in a Gewandhaus concert by
Fraulein Wilhelmine Clauss, a pupil of
Mme. Schumann, who had studied it under
her supervision. The result was another
good rendering, although at the previous
rehearsal there had been trouble with the
so-called syncopated passage where the
f and | rhythms alternate, and it was
not until after many repeated attempts
that success was attained.

On account of the long, uninterrupted
continuance of this f rhythm its character
as a syncopation is entirely lost and it be-
comes simply an augmentation of the pre-
ceding and following f rhythm, and all of
the best orchestral conductors I have seen
always give out the beat accordingly— that
is, in a manner equivalent to simply dou-
bling the rate of speed in the f from that
of the I movement. I do not see how the
performers, both in orchestra and piano,
can be kept together in any other way.

/ t

JT^**

^^Ur^tx^n^r

A MUSICAL LIFE 65

CARL MAYER

FROM Leipsic I went to Dresden in March,
1850, and stayed there a few months with
some American friends who were studying
the pianoforte under Carl Mayer, whose
very beautiful and finished playing was
more adapted for the salon than for the
concert-hall. Although I took no lessons
of him, I constantly enjoyed his society,
frequently heard him play, and in this
way profited much from the association.

I wished, however, to get to work in
the more advanced and modern methods,
and so decided to go to Alexander Drey-
schock in Prague. My departure from
Dresden was somewhat delayed because,
upon going to the Austrian consul's to get
his vise, he refused to give it to me. This
was owing to the political disturbances
which had taken place in Europe a year
or two before. Thereupon I wrote to
Dreyschock for his assistance, and being
on friendly terms with the Austrian min-
ister at Dresden, he easily accomplished
the desired result.

66 MEMORIES OF

DREYSCHOCK

ALEXANDER DREYSCHOCK was one of the
most distinguished pianoforte-virtuosos of
his time, and his specialty was his wonder-
ful octave-playing. Indeed, he acquired
such fame in this particular that the men-
tion of "octave-playing" at once suggested
the name of Dreyschock to his contem-
poraries. He was also celebrated on ac-
count of his highly trained left hand, so
much so that Saphir, the famous Vienna
critic, paid tribute to the fact by writing
a stanza which obtained wide circulation,
and which runs as follows :

Welchen Titel der nicht hinke
Man dem Meister geben mochte,

Der zur Rechten macht die Linke? —
Nennt ihn, " Doctor beider Rechte."

An anecdote, related to me by one of
his most intimate friends not long after
my arrival in Prague, is interesting in this
connection, as well as instructive to piano-
students. Tomaschek, his teacher, was in
the habit of receiving a few friends on

A MUSICAL LIFE 67

stated occasions for the purpose of musical
entertainment and conversation. One
evening the rapid progress in piano-tech-
nic was being discussed, and Tomaschek
remarked that more and more in this di-
rection was demanded each day. A copy of
Chopin's "Etudes, Op. 10," open at "Etude
No. 12, C Minor," happened to be lying
on the piano-desk. It will be remem-
bered that the left-hand part of this etude
consists throughout of rapid passages in
single notes, difficult enough in the origi-
nal to satisfy the ambition of most pianists.
Tomaschek, looking at this, remarked, "I
should not wonder if, one of these days, a
pianist should appear who would play all
of these single-note left-hand passages in
octaves." Dreyschock, overhearing the
remark, at once conceived an idea which
he proceeded next day to carry into exe-
cution. For a period of six successive
weeks, at the rate of twelve hours a day,
he practised the etude in accordance with
the suggestion of Tomaschek. How he
ever survived the effort is a mystery, but,
at any rate, when the next musical even-

68 MEMORIES OF

ing at Tomaschek's occurred he was pres-
ent, and, watching his opportunity for a
favorable moment, sat down to the piano-
forte and played the e'tude in a brilliant
and triumphant manner, with the left-
hand octaves, thus fulfilling the prediction
of Tomaschek. Upon a subsequent occa-
sion he repeated this feat at one of the
Leipsic Gewandhaus concerts. Mendels-
sohn, as I am told, was present, and was
very demonstrative in the expression of
his delight and astonishment. I will add,
for the benefit of those of my readers,
should there be any, who are inclined to
try the experiment, that certain adapta-
tions are necessary in various parts of the
etude in order to get the required scope
for the left-hand octaves. Thus, the open-
ing octave passage in the beginning must
be played an octave higher than it was
originally written.

At the time of which I write (1849-50)
very little seems to have been known of
the important influence of the upper-arm
muscles and their very efficient agency,
when properly employed, in the produc-

A MUSICAL LIFE 69

tion of tone -quality and volume by means
of increased relaxation, elasticity, and
springiness in their movements.

I received considerably over one hun-
dred lessons from Dreyschock, and with
slow and rapid scale and arpeggio prac-
tice his instruction had special reference
to limber and flexible wrists, his distin-
guishing feature being his wonderful
octave-playing. Beyond the wrists, how-
ever, the other arm muscles received prac-
tically little or no attention, and the fact
is that during my whole stay abroad none
of my teachers or their pupils, with many
of whom I was intimately associated,
seemed to know anything about the im-
portance of the upper-arm muscles, the
practical knowledge of which I had ac-
quired through the playing of Leopold de
Meyer as described in the earlier part of
this book. In the Tomaschek method,
as taught and practised by Dreyschock,
the direction to the pupil was simply to
keep the wrists loose. To be sure, this
could not be altogether accomplished
without some degree of arm-limberness,

70 MEMOEIES.OF

but no specific directions were given for
cultivating the latter. So far as wrist-
motion is concerned, Leschetitsky's man-
ner of playing octaves has much in
common with the Tomaschek-Dreyschock
method, if the former may be judged from
the playing of most of his pupils, who seem
to pay but little attention to the upper-
arm muscles. This is quite natural when
it is remembered that Leschetitsky was
in some sense an assistant of Dreyschock
when the latter was at the head of the
piano department in the Conservatory of
Music at St. Petersburg. The Leschetit-
sky pupils, however, have a manner of
sinking the wrists below the keyboard
which was not in accordance with Drey-
schock's manner of playing. It seems to
me that the latter's method of level wrists
is more productive of a full, sonorous,
musical tone.

I remained with Dreyschock for over a
year, taking three lessons a week and
practising about five hours a day. I
played also in private musicales at the
houses of the nobility and at the homes of

A MUSICAL LIFE 71

some of the wealthy Jews, two classes of
society which were entirely distinct from
each other, never mingling in private life.
I met and became well acquainted with
Jules Schulhoff, whose compositions for
the pianoforte were very effective, but
more appropriate to the drawing-room
than to the concert-hall.

PRINCE DE ROHAN'S DINNER

IT was customary in Prague to give once
a year an orchestral concert of high order,
the pecuniary proceeds of which were for
the benefit of the poor, and on one of
these occasions I played with orchestra a
brilliant composition of Dreyschock's en-
titled "Salut a Vienne." It was also the
custom, in concerts of this order, to use
the name of some nobleman— the higher
the better— as patron. On this occasion
the name used was that of the Prince de
Eohan, a French nobleman who, expatri-
ated, had lived for some time in Prague
in a palace of the old Austrian Emperor
Ferdinand, who, shortly before the time

72 MEMOEIES OF

of which I write, had. abdicated in favor
of his nephew, the present emperor. A
few days after the concert, while I was
practising in my modestly appointed
room, there was a loud knock at the
door, and immediately there entered a
servant of the prince in gorgeous livery,
who, advancing to the middle of the room
and straightening himself up, announced
in stentorian tones, "His Highness Prince
Eohan invites you to dinner," at the same
time handing me a large envelop with a
big seal on the back. Without waiting
for a reply, he made a low obeisance and
left the room.

It turned out that all the principal ar-
tists who had taken part in the concert
had been invited to the dinner, and on the
appointed day one of these, an opera-
singer of distinction, came to my room
and asked if he might go with me. Never
having been to a prince's house, and not
knowing what ceremony might be con-
sidered appropriate to such an occasion,
he conceived the idea of securing a chap-
eron. The incongruity of his selecting

A MUSICAL LIFE 73

a green American youth for this purpose
greatly amused me, but I said, "Come
along ; they won't hang us for anything
we are likely to do." Arriving at the
palace five or ten minutes before the hour,
the porter at the outer gate refused us
admission, saying we were too early.
This untoward reception somewhat un-
settled us for the moment, but there was
nothing for us to do but to walk about
until the appointed time. On presenting
ourselves again at the gate at precisely
the right moment, we were promptly
admitted. After passing through the
hands of several servants, we were finally
ushered into the presence of the prince.
He was not an imposing man in appear-
ance, neither was he as well dressed as
several of the four or five guests who ar-
rived later, my companion and I being
the first-comers. The prince offered me
his arm, and led me through the picture-
gallery adjoining the reception-room,
pointing out the portraits of his ancestors,
whose names were mostly familiar to me
from French history. As all formality in

74 MEMORIES OF

his manner had passed away, I found the
occasion intensely interesting.

Dinner being announced, we proceeded
to the dining-room, and, when we were
seated, the prince said that he would greet
us first with a glass of Schloss Johannis-
berger Cabinet wine, which he had just
received from his friend Prince Metter-
nich, the owner of that world-renowned
vineyard. As is well known, this Cabinet
wine is never on the market, and can be
bought only at an administrator's sale, and
then commands the highest price. It is
not unusual for tourists to pay a large
price for this wine on the spot, even then
not getting the genuine thing, for the
space where the Cabinet wine grows is
very small compared with the quantity of
wine which is credited to it. Several
kinds of red and white wines were served,
and various kinds of German beer, as well
as English and Scotch ale. Finally, after
seven or eight courses, a single glass of
champagne— no more— was poured out
for each guest. Liquid refreshments,
however, did not end there, for we after-

A MUSICAL LIFE 75

ward adjourned to the library, where we
found a roaring wood fire in a vast stone
chimney-place, where cigars, liqueurs of
many kinds, and finally coffee and tea
with rum were served. There was no
music.

CHOPIN, HENSELT, AND THALBERG

I HAD always looked forward to taking
lessons of Chopin at some period during
my sojourn in Europe, but this was not
accomplished, on account of his death,
which took place in Paris on October 17,
1849. Neither did I ever hear him play.
One of Dreyschock's anecdotes about him
is interesting as well as instructive, for it
conveys an idea of one of the principal
characteristics of his style. Dreyschock
told me that, a few years before, Chopin
gave a recital of his own compositions in
Paris, which he, Dreyschock, attended in
company with Thalberg. They listened
with delight throughout the performance,
but on reaching the street Thalberg began
shouting at the top of his voice.

76 MEMOEIES OF

"What 's the matter?" asked Drey-
schock, in astonishment.

"Oh," said Thalberg, "I 've been listen-
ing to piano all the evening, and now, for
the sake of contrast, I want a little/orte."

Dreyschock spoke of Chopin's ex-
tremely delicate and exquisite playing,
but said that he lacked the physical
strength to produce forte effects by con-
trast in accordance with his own ideas.
This is illustrated by another anecdote
which I heard many years afterward from
Korbay. A young and robust pianist had
been playing Chopin's "Polonaise Mili-
taire" to the composer, and had broken
a string. When, in confusion, he began
to apologize, Chopin said to him, "Young
man, if I had your strength and played
that polonaise as it should be played,
there would n't be a sound string left in
the instrument by the time I got through."

The distinguishing characteristic of
Chopin's piano-playing was his lovely
musical and poetic tone, his warm and
emotional coloring, and his impassioned
utterance. In those days one was not afraid

A MUSICAL LIFE 77

to play with a great deal of sentiment,
although pianists who were capable of
doing this poetically were rare. In modern
times it has become the fashion to ridicule
any tendency toward emotional playing
and to extol the intellectual side beyond
its just proportion. It seems to me that
there should be a happy combination and
a delicate and well-proportioned adjust-
ment between the temperamental and in-
tellectual, with a slight preponderance of
the former.

An anecdote of Adolf Henselt, also re-
lated to me by Dreyschock, is entertaining
as well as suggestive, especially to piano-
forte-players, who are constantly troubled
with nervousness when playing before an
audience. Henselt, whose home was in
St. Petersburg, was in the habit of spend-
ing a few weeks every summer with a
relative who lived in Dresden. Drey-
schock, passing through that city, called
on him one morning, and upon going up
the staircase to his room, heard the most
lovely tones of the pianoforte imaginable.

He was so fascinated that he sat down

78 MEMOEIES OF

at the top of the landing and listened for
a long time. Henselt was playing re-
peatedly the same composition, and his
playing was also specially characterized
by a warm emotional touch and a deli-
cious legato, causing the tones to melt, as
it were, one into the other, and this, too,
without any confusion or lack of clearness.
Henselt was full of sentiment, but de-
tested "sentimentality." Finally, for lack
of time, Dreyschock was obliged to an-
nounce himself, although, as he said, he
could have listened for hours. He entered
the room, and after the usual friendly
greeting said, "What were you playing
just now as I came up the stairs? " Hen-
selt replied that he was composing a piece
and was playing it over to himself. Drey-
schock expressed his admiration of the
composition, and begged Henselt to play
it again. Henselt, after prolonged urging,
sat down to the pianoforte and began play-
ing again, but, alas ! his performance was
stiff, inaccurate, and even clumsy, and all
of the exquisite poetry and unconscious-
ness of his style completely disappeared.

A MUSICAL LIFE 79

Dreyschock said that it was quite impos-
sible to describe the difference ; and this
was simply the result of diffidence and
nervousness, which, as it appeared, were
entirely out of the player's power to con-
trol. Pianoforte -players frequently ex-
perience this state of things. The only
remedy is freedom from self-consciousness,
which can best be achieved by earnest and
persistent mental concentration.

ANTON SCHINDLER, "AMI DE
BEETHOVEN "

AFTEE finishing my studies with Drey-
schock, I went to Frankfort, not to study
under any particular master, but in order
to enjoy the opera and the musical life
there. Moreover, two or three of my old
Boston friends were temporarily settled
there, pursuing their musical studies.

Anton Schindler, one of the well-known
musical characters of the day, and who
had been Beethoven's most intimate
friend during the latter years of the great
composer's life, lived at Frankfort, and,

80 MEMOEIES OF

being members of the same club, the Bur-
ger Verein, I often enjoyed the pleasure
of his society, and heard much concerning
Beethoven. Schindler had written a life
of Beethoven, and was naturally very
proud of his close association with the
great master. During his residence in
Paris, some years previous to the time of
which I am writing, he caused to be
printed on his visiting-cards, "Anton
Schindler, Ami de Beethoven."

He worshiped his idol's memory, and
was so familiar with his music that the
slightest mistake in interpretation or de-
parture from Beethoven's invention or
design jarred upon his nerves— or possibly
he made a pretense of this. He held all
four-hand pianoforte arrangements of
works designed and composed for orches-
tra as abominations. Extreme sensitive-
ness is a role sometimes assumed by men
in no wise remarkable, in order to enhance
their own importance in the eyes of others.
Schindler's attitude as to the undesira-
bility of orchestral pianoforte arrange-
ments will meet with the approval of

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A MUSICAL LIFE 81

many, but he certainly carried his sensi-
tiveness in regard to the interpretation
of Beethoven's works to amusing ex-
tremes.

Every winter a subscription series of
orchestral concerts was given in Frank-
fort, each program of which included at
least one symphony. The concerts took
place in a very old stone building called
the "Museum," and on the occasion here
referred to the symphony was Beethoven's
"No. 5, C Minor." It so happened that,
owing to long- continued rains and ex-
treme humidity, the stone walls of the
old hall were saturated with dampness, in
fact, were actually wet. This excess of
moisture affected the pitch of the wood
wind-instruments to such a degree that
the other instruments had to be adjusted
to accommodate them. Schindler, it was
noticed, left the hall at the close of the
first movement. This seemed a strange
proceeding on the part of the "Ami de
Beethoven," and when later in the even-
ing he was seen at the Burger Yerein and
asked why he had gone away so suddenly,

82 MEMOEIES OF

he replied gruffly, "I don't care to hear
Beethoven's <C Minor Symphony ' played
in the key of B minor."

SCHINDLER AND SCHNYDER
VON WARTENSEE

ANOTHER story current in Frankfort at
this time further illustrates Schindler's
peculiarity. Among the noted musicians
living in Frankfort was a theoretician,
Swiss by birth, named Schnyder von
Wartensee, who was of considerable im-
portance in his day. Schindler and Von
Wartensee had lived in Frankfort, but
had never met each other, although com-
mon friends had at various times made
ineffectual efforts to bring them together.
They were both advanced in years, and,
as it seemed, ought to have been genial
companions. Possibly the failure to ar-
range a meeting had been due to War-
tensee's being older than Schindler, and
thus in a position to expect the latter to
call first, while Schindler, being "Ami de
Beethoven," felt it beneath his dignity to

A MUSICAL LIFE 83

make the first move. However, some time
previous to my arrival another plan for
an interview was contrived, and as so
many previous ones had failed the out-
come of this was watched with interest.

By the exercise of considerable diplo-
matic tact Schindler was persuaded to
agree to call upon Wartensee and to fix
a time for the visit. The friends of the
gentlemen had all been looking forward
with much interest to the result of this
meeting, hoping thereby to hear a great
many musical reminiscences, and a com-
mittee was appointed to watch Schindler
and make sure that he kept the appoint-
ment. After a while the committee re-
turned to the Burger Yerein and reported
that they had seen him almost reach War-
tensee's house, then pause for a moment,
and suddenly turn and hurry away.
Later Schindler himself came in, and
being questioned concerning the inter-
view, exclaimed, "Bah ! as I got near the
house I heard them [Wartensee and his
wife] playing a four-handed piano ar-
rangement of the i Eroica.' "

84 MEMORIES OF

FIRST LONDON CONCERT

IN January, 1853, my stay in Frankfort
was brought to an end by a letter from
Sir Julius Benedict, asking me to come to
London to play at one of the concerts of
the Harmonic Union at Exeter Hall. I
accepted the engagement, and made my
first appearance in London under Bene-
dict's conductorship, playing Weber's
"Concertstiick." An account having been
published in a London paper of the very
delightful celebration, in 1899, of my
seventieth birthday by my pupils, past
and present, and by many of my friends,
I received an inquiry from a lady living in
London, asking whether I was the same
William Mason whom she had heard in
Exeter Hall nearly half a century ago !

I accepted only one other engagement
to play in public, though I remained near
London for more than two months, just
to look about.

I was much impressed with the extent
to which Mendelssohn's influence pre-
vailed in English matters musical. I met

A MUSICAL LIFE 85

a great many excellent musicians there,
especially several fine organists ; but a
large majority, both in their ideas and in
their style of playing and composition,
were nothing but Mendelssohns in " half-
tone," and to some extent this is still true
of England.

WITH LISZT IK WEIMAK

AFTEK my London visit I was obliged
-£JL to return to Leipsic to transact some
business, and I decided to call on Liszt in
Weimar en route. My intention was to
make another effort to be received by him
as a pupil, my idea being, if he declined,
to go to Paris and study under some
French master.

I reached Weimar on the 14th of April,
1853, and put up at the Hotel zum Erb-
prinzen. At that time Liszt occupied a
house on the Altenburg belonging to the
grand duke. The old grand duke, under
whose patronage Goethe had made Wei-
mar famous, was still living. I think his
idea was to make Weimar as famous mu-
sically through Liszt as it had been in
literature in Goethe's time.

Having secured my room at the Erb-
86

A MUSICAL LIFE 87

prinzen, I set out for the Altenburg. The
butler who opened the door mistook me
for a wine -merchant whom he had been
expecting. I explained that I was not
that person. "This is my card/' I said.
"I have come here from London to see
Liszt." He took the card, and returned
almost immediately with the request for
me to enter the dining-room.

I found Liszt at the table with another
man. They were drinking their after-
dinner coffee and cognac. The moment
Liszt saw me he exclaimed, "Nun, Mason,
Sie lassen lange auf sich warten ! " ("Well,
Mason, you let people wait for you a long
time ! ") I suppose he saw my surprised
look, for he added, "Ich habe Sie schon
vor vier Jahren erwartet" ("I have been
expecting you for four years "). Then it
struck me that I had probably wholly
misinterpreted his first letter to me and
what he said when I called on him during
the Goethe festival. But nothing was
said about my remaining, and though he
was most affable, I began to doubt whether
I would accomplish the object of my visit.

88 MEMOEIES OF

ACCEPTED BY LISZT

WHEN we rose from the table and went
into the drawing-room, Liszt said : "I
have a new piano from Erard of Paris.
Try it, and see how you like it." He
asked me to pardon him if he moved
about the room, for he had to get together
some papers which it was necessary to take
with him, as he was going to the palace of
the grand duke. "As the palace is on the
way to the hotel, we can walk as far as
that together," he added.

I felt intuitively that my opportunity
had come. I sat down at the piano with
the idea that I would not endeavor to
show Liszt how to play, but would play
as simply as if I were alone. I played
"Amitae* pour Amitie," a little piece of
my own which had just been published by
Hofmeister of Leipsic.

"That 's one of your own? " asked Liszt
when I had finished. "Well, it 's a charm-
ing little piece." Still nothing was said
about my being accepted as a pupil. But
when we left the Altenburg, he said casu-

LISZT IN MIDDLE LIFE

A MUSICAL LIFE 89

ally, "You say you are going to Leipsic
for a few days on business ? While there
you had better select your piano and have
it sent here. Meanwhile I will tell Klind-
worth to look up rooms for you. Indeed,
there is a vacant room in the house in
which he lives, which is pleasantly situated
just outside the limits of the ducal park."

I can still recall the thrill of joy which
passed through me when Liszt spoke these
words. They left no doubt in my mind.
I was accepted as his pupil. We walked
down the hill toward the town, Liszt
leaving me when we arrived at the palace,
telling me, however, that he would call
later at the hotel and introduce me to
my fellow-pupils. About eight o'clock
that evening he came.

After smoking a cigar and chatting
with me for half an hour, Liszt proposed
going down to the cafe, saying, "The
gentlemen are probably there, as this is
about their regular hour for supper."
Proceeding to the dining-room, we found
Messrs. Raff, Pruckner, and Klindworth,
to whom I was presented in due form,

90 MEMOEIES OF

and who received me in a very friendly
manner.

I had no idea then, neither have I now,
what Liszt's means were, but I learned soon
after my arrival at Weimar that he never
took pay from his pupils, neither would
he bind himself to give regular lessons at
stated periods. He wished to avoid obli-
gations as far as possible, and to feel free
to leave Weimar for short periods when
so inclined— in other words, to go and
come as he liked. His idea was that the
pupils whom he accepted should all be
far enough advanced to practise and pre-
pare themselves without routine instruc-
tion, and he expected them to be ready
whenever he gave them an opportunity to
play. The musical opportunities of Wei-
mar were such as to afford ample encour-
agement to any serious-minded young
student. Many distinguished musicians,
poets, and literary men were constantly
coming to visit Liszt. He was fond of
entertaining, and liked to have his pupils
at hand so that they might join him in
entertaining and paying attention to his

A MUSICAL LIFE 91

guests. He had only three pupils at the
time of which I write, namely, Karl Klind-
worth from Hanover, Dionys Pruckner
from Munich, and the American whose
musical memories are here presented.
Joachim Raff, however, we regarded as
one of us, for although not at the time a
pupil of Liszt, he had been in former years,
and was now constantly in association with
the master, acting frequently in the ca-
pacity of private secretary. Hans von
Billow had left Weimar not long before my
arrival, and was then on his first regular
concert-tour. Later he returned occa-
sionally for short visits, and I became well
acquainted with him. We constituted, as
it were, a family, for while we had our
own apartments in the city, we all en-
joyed the freedom of the two lower rooms
in Liszt's home, and were at liberty to
come and go as we liked. Regularly on
every Sunday at eleven o'clock, with rare
exceptions, the famous Weimar String
Quartet played for an hour and a half or
so in these rooms, and Liszt frequently
joined them in concerted music, old and

92 MEMORIES OF

new. Occasionally one of the boys would
take the pianoforte part. The quartet-
players were Laub, first violin ; Storr, sec-
ond violin j Walbriihl, viola ; and Coss-
mann, violoncello. Before Laub's time
Joachim had been concertmeister, but he
left Weimar in 1853 and went to Hanover,
where he occupied a similar position. He
occasionally visited Weimar, however,
and would then at times play with the
quartet. Henri Wieniawski, who spent
some months in Weimar, would occasion-
ally take the first violin. My favorite as
a quartet-player was Ferdinand Laub,
with whom I was intimately acquainted,
and I find that the greatest violinists of
the present time hold him in high esti-
mation, many of them regarding him as
the greatest of all quartet-players. We
were always quite at our ease in those
lower rooms, but on ceremonial occasions
we were invited up -stairs to the drawing-
room, where Liszt had his favorite Erard.
We were thus enjoying the best music,
played by the best artists. In addition
to this there were the symphony concerts

A MUSICAL LIFE 93

and the opera, with occasional attendance
at rehearsal. Liszt took it for granted
that his pupils would appreciate these
remarkable advantages and opportunities
and their usefulness, and I think we did.

THE ALTENBUEG

LISZT'S private studio, where he wrote
and composed, was at the back of the
main building in a lower wing, and may
easily be distinguished in the picture by
the awnings over the windows. I was not
in this room more than half a dozen times
during my stay in Weimar, and one of
these I remember as the occasion of Liszt's
playing the Beethoven "Kreutzer So-
nata" with Kemenyi, the Hungarian
violinist, and giving him a lesson in con-
ception and style of performance. Re-
menyi was a violinist of fine musical
talent, but not a classicist, his style being
after the fashion of the class represented
by Ole Bull. He was, as is well known, a
genuine Hungarian, thoroughly at home
in the musical characteristics of his native

94 MEMOEIES OF

country. He was unconsciously disposed
to color and mark the music of all com-
posers with Hungarian peculiarities, and
this habit gave rise to a story about his
treatment of the concluding strain of the
first theme in the slow movement of the
"Kreutzer Sonata," namely, that, forget-
ting himself, he added to Beethoven's
music the peculiar Hungarian termina-
tion,

as a final ornament. Whether this story
is true or not, it was widely circulated
and caused a great deal of merriment all
over Germany.

The picture gives a very good view of
the house as it appeared in 1853-54. In
the nearest corner of the building were
the two large rooms on the ground floor
to which reference has already been made,
of which we boys had the freedom at all
times, and where strangers were uncere-
moniously received. The Furstin Sayn-
Wictgenstein had apartments, I think, on

A MUSICAL LIFE 95

the lei etage with her daughter, the Prin-
zessin Marie. Any one who was to be
honored with an introduction to them was
taken to a reception-room up -stairs ; ad-
joining this was the dining-room. This
print is from a water- color painted for me
by my friend Mr. Thomas Allen of Boston.
It is copied from a photograph of the
original,— a water-color by Carl Hoffman,
—which Mr. Hoffman painted expressly
for his friend Mr. James M. Tracy, a
former pupil of Liszt, who is now a pro-
fessional pianist and teacher in Denver,
Colorado, and to whom I am indebted for
permission to publish it here. Mr. Tracy
writes me that it has been published be-
fore, but without his permission.

We boys saw little of the Wittgensteins,
and I remember dining with them only
once. I sat next to the Princess Marie,
who spoke English very well, and it may
have been due to her desire to exercise in
the languag'e that I was honored with a
seat next to her. Rubinstein met her
when he was at Weimar (I shall have
more to tell of his visit later), and com-

96 MEMORIES OF

posed a nocturne which he dedicated to
her. When he came to this country in
1873 he told me that he had met her
again some years later at the palace in
Vienna, but that she had become haughty,
and had not been inclined to pay much
attention to him. There are many Witt-
gensteins in Russia. When I was in
Wiesbaden in 1879-80 I saw half a dozen
Russian princes of that name. There was
but one Rubinstein.

Liszt had the pick of all the young
musicians in Europe for his pupils, and I
attribute his acceptance of me somewhat
to the fact that I came all the way from
America, something more of an undertak-
ing in those days than it is now. I be-
came very well acquainted with those
whom I have mentioned, especially with
Klindworth and Raff, and before many
days we were all "Dutzbruder."

The first evening Raff, whom I had
previously never heard of, struck me as
being rather conceited ; but when I grew
to know him better, and realized how
talented he was, I was quite ready to

A MUSICAL LIFE 97

make allowance for his little touch of self-
esteem. We became warm friends, dining
together every day at the table d'hote,
and after dinner walking for an hour or
so in the park. Nineteen years later I
went abroad again and visited Kaff at the
Conservatory in Frankfort. He inter-
rupted his lessons the moment that he
heard I was there, came running down-
stairs, threw his arms around my neck,
and was so overjoyed at seeing me that I
felt as if we were boys once more at Wei-
mar. Of the pupils and of the many mu-
sicians who came to Weimar to visit Liszt
at that time,— "die goldene Zeit" (the
Golden Age), as it is still called at Wei-
mar,—I think Klindworth and I are the
only survivors. Klindworth is one of the
most distinguished teachers in Europe,
and taught for many years at the Conser-
vatory in Moscow. He is now in Berlin.

HOW LISZT TAUGHT

WHAT I had heard in regard to Liszt's
method of teaching proved to be abso-

98 MEMOKIES OF

lutely correct. He never taught in the
ordinary sense of the word. During the
entire time that I was with him I did not
see him give a regular lesson in the peda-
gogical sense. He would notify us to
come up to the Altenburg. For instance,
he would say to me, "Tell the boys to
come up to-night at half-past six or seven."
We would go there, and he would call on
us to play. I remember very well the
first time I played to him after I had
been accepted as a pupil. I began with
the "Ballade " of Chopin in A flat major ;
then I played a fugue by Handel in E
minor.

After I was well started he began to
get excited. He made audible sugges-
tions, inciting me to put more enthusiasm
into my playing, and occasionally he
would push me gently off the chair and
sit down at the piano and play a phrase
or two himself by way of illustration.
He gradually got me worked up to such
a pitch of enthusiasm that I put all the
grit that was in me into my playing.

I found at this first lesson that he was

A MUSICAL LIFE 99

very fond of strong accents in order to
mark off periods and phrases, and lie
talked so much about strong accentuation
that one might have supposed that he
would abuse it, but he never did. When
he wrote to me later about my own piano
method, he expressed the strongest ap-
proval of the exercises on accentuation.

"PLAY IT LIKE THIS"

WHILE I was playing to him for the first
time, he said on one of the occasions when
he pushed me from the chair : "Don't play
it that way. Play it like this." Evi-
dently I had been playing ahead in a
steady, uniform way. He sat down, and
gave the same phrases with an accentu-
ated, elastic movement, which let in a
flood of light upon me. From that one
experience I learned to bring out the
same effect, where' it was appropriate, in
almost every piece that I played. It
eradicated much that was mechanical,
stilted, and unmusical in my playing,
and developed an elasticity of touch

100 MEMORIES OF

which has lasted all my life, and which
I have always tried to impart to my
pupils.

At this first lesson I must have played
for two or three hours. For some reason
or other Raff was not present, but Klind-
worth and Pruckner were there. They
lounged on a sofa and smoked, and I re-
member wondering if they appreciated
the nice time they were having at my
ordeal. However, not many days after-
ward came my opportunity to light a
cigar and lounge about the room while
Liszt put them through their paces.

Two or three hours is not a long time
for a professional musician to practise,
and I had often spent many more hours
at the piano, but never under such strong
incitement. I was exceedingly tired
afterward, and actually felt stiff the next
day, as if I had performed some very
arduous physical work. Liszt heard of
this, and turned it into a joke, telling
people that at the time set for the next
lesson I appeared at the Altenburg with
my hand in a sling, and said that I had

A MUSICAL LIFE 101

strained my wrist while hunting, and
would be unable to play. I think this
is non e ver e ben trovato, as I have no
recollection of it.

LISZT IN 1854

THE best impression of Liszt's appearance
at that time is conveyed by the picture
which shows him approaching the Alten-
burg. His back is turned ; nevertheless,
there is a certain something which shows
the man as he was better even than those
portraits in which his features are clearly
reproduced. The picture gives his gait,
his figure, and his general appearance.
There is his tall, lank form, his high hat
set a little to one side, and his arm a trifle
akimbo. He had piercing eyes. His hair
was very dark, but not black. He wore
it long, just as he did in his older days.
It came almost down to his shoulders, and
was cut off square at the bottom. He had
it cut frequently, so as to keep it at about
the same length. That was a point about
which he was very particular.

102 MEMOEIES OF

HIS FASCINATION

As I remember his hands, his fingers were
lean and thin, but they did not impress
me as being very long, and he did not
have such a remarkable stretch on the
keyboard as one might imagine. He was
always neatly dressed, generally appear-
ing in a long frock-coat, until he became
the Abbe Liszt, after which he wore the
distinctive black gown. His general
manner and his face were most expressive
of his feelings, and his features lighted up
when he spoke. His smile was simply
charming. His face was peculiar. One
could hardly call it handsome, yet there
was in it a subtle something that was most
attractive, and his whole manner had a
fascination which it is impossible to de-
scribe.

I remember little incidents which are
in themselves trivial, but which illustrate
some character-trait. One day Liszt was
reading a letter in which a musician was
referred to as a certain Mr. So-and-so.
He read that phrase over two or three

A MUSICAL LIFE 103

times, and then substituted his own name
for that of the musician mentioned, and
repeated several times, "A certain Mr.
Liszt, a certain Mr. Liszt, a certain Mr.
Liszt," adding : "I don't know that that
would offend me. I don't know that I
should object to being called <a certain
Mr. Liszt.' " As he said this his face had
an expression of curiosity, as though he
were wondering whether he really would
be offended or not. But at the same time
there was in his face that look of kindness
I saw there so often, and I really believe
he would not have felt injured by such a
reference to himself. There was nothing
petty in his feelings.

LISZT'S INDIGNATION

ON one occasion, however, I saw Liszt
grow very much excited over what he
considered an imposition. One evening
he said to us : "Boys, there is a young man
coming here to-morrow who says he can
play Beethoven's 'Sonata in B Flat, Op.
106.' I want you all three to be here."

104 MEMOEIES OF

We were there at the appointed hour.
The pianist proved to be a Hungarian,
whose name I have forgotten.

He sat down and began to play in a
conveniently slow tempo the bold chords
with which the sonata opens. He had
not progressed more than half a page
when Liszt stopped him, and seating him-
self at the piano, played in the correct
tempo, which was much faster, to show
him how the work should be interpreted.
"It ?s nonsense for you to go through
this sonata in that fashion," said Liszt, as
he rose from the piano and left the room.

The pianist, of course, was very much
disconcerted. Finally he said, as if to
console himself: "Well, he can't play it
through like that, and that >s why he
stopped after half a page."

This sonata is the only one which the
composer himself metronomized, and his
direction is M.M. f = 138. A less rapid
tempo, f — 100 or thereabouts, would
seem to be more nearly correct, but the
pianist took it at a much slower rate than
even this.

A MUSICAL LIFE 105

When the young man left I went out
with him, partly because I felt sorry for
him, he had made such a fiasco, and partly
because I wished to impress upon him the
fact that Liszt could play the whole move-
ment in the tempo in which he began it.
As I was walking along with him, he said,
"I 'm out of money ; won't you lend me
three louis d'or f "

A day or two later I told Liszt by the
merest chance that the hero of the Op.
106 fiasco had tried to borrow money of
me. "B-r-r-r ! What I " exclaimed Liszt.
Then he jumped up, walked across the
room, seized a long pipe that hung from
a nail on the wall, and brandishing it as
if it were a stick, stamped up and down
the room in almost childish indignation,
exclaiming, "Drei louis d'or ! Drei louis
d'or ! " The point is, however, that Liszt
regarded the man as an artistic impostor.
He had sent word to Liszt that he could
play the great Beethoven sonata, not an
inconsiderable feat in those days. He had
been received on that basis. He had
failed miserably. To this artistic imposi-

106 MEMORIES OF

tion he had added the effrontery of en-
deavoring to borrow money from some one
whom he had met under Liszt's roof.

OBJECTS TO MY EYE-GLASSES

I HAVE mentioned that Liszt was careful
in his dress. He was also particular about
the appearance of his pupils. I remember
two instances which show how particular
he was in little matters. I have been
near-sighted all my life, and when I went
to Weimar I wore eye-glasses, much pre-
ferring them to spectacles. Eye-glasses
were not much worn in Germany at that
time, and were considered about as af-
fected as the mode of wearing a monocle.
The Germans wore spectacles. I had not
been in Weimar long when Liszt said
to me : "Mason, I don't like to see you
wearing those glasses. I shall send my
optician to fit your eyes with spectacles."
I hardly thought that he was serious,
and so paid no attention to him. But,
sure enough, about a week later there
was a knock at my door, and the optician

A MUSICAL LIFE 107

presented himself, saying he had come at
the command of Dr. Liszt to examine my
eyes and fit a pair of spectacles to them.
As I was evidently to have no say in the
matte'r, I submitted, and a few days later
I received two pairs, one in a green and
one in a red case. I thought them ex-
tremely unbecoming, but I was very par-
ticular to put them on whenever I went
to see Liszt.

Not long afterward Liszt went to Paris,
and when we called to see him after his
return, and he was talking about his ex-
periences there, he said casually : "By the
way, Mason, I find that gentlemen in Paris
are wearing eye-glasses now. In fact,
they are considered quite comme il faut,
so I have no objection to your wearing
yours." As he did not ask me to send him
the spectacles, I kept them, and have them
to this day.

Klindworth, Pruckner, and I had
played the Bach triple concerto in a
concert at the town hall, and had been
requested to repeat it at an evening con-
cert at the ducal palace. An hour before

108 MEMOEIES OF

the ducal carriage arrived to take me to
the concert, a servant came from the Al-
tenburg with a package which he said
Liszt had requested him to be sure to
deliver to me. On opening it, I found
two or three white ties. It was a hint to
me from Liszt that I must dress suitably
to play at court.

This incident shows the care that Liszt
bestowed on little things relating to the
customs and amenities of social life. He
evidently sent the ties as a precautionary
measure. Possibly he was not sure whe-
ther Americans were civilized enough to
wear white ties with evening dress, and
was afraid I might appear in a red-white-
and-blue one. Seriously, however, it was
very kind of him to think of a little thing
like this.

A MUSICAL BREAKFAST

BEFORE I went to Weimar I had not been
of a very sociable disposition. At Wei-
mar I had to be. Liszt liked to have us
about him. He wished us to meet great

A MUSICAL LIFE 109

men. He would send us word when he
expected visitors, and sometimes he would
bring them down to our lodgings to see
us. In every way he tried to make our
surroundings as pleasant as possible. It
would have been strange if, under such
circumstances, we had not derived some
benefit from our intercourse with our
great master and his visitors.

I shall always recall with amusement a
breakfast which, at Liszt's request, Klind-
worth and I gave to Joachim and Wieni-
awski, the violinists, then, of course, very
young men, and to several other distin-
guished visitors. Liszt had been enter-
taining them for several days. We knew
that it was about time for him to bring
them down to see one of us. So I was not
surprised when he turned to me one even-
ing and said, "Mason, I want you and
Klindworth to give us a breakfast to-mor-
row." I asked him what we should have.
"Oh," he replied, "some Semmel [rolls],
caviar, herring," etc.

The next morning Liszt and his visitors
came. I remember looking out of my

110 MEMORIES OF

window and watching them cross the
ducal park, over the long foot-path which
ended directly opposite the house where
Klindworth and I lived. It had been
raining, and the path was slippery, so
that their footsteps were somewhat un-
certain.

The breakfast passed off all right.
When he had finished, Liszt said, "Now
let us take a stroll in the garden." This
garden was about four times as large as
the back yard of a New York house, and
it was unflagged and, of course, muddy
from the rain of the previous night.
Never shall I forget the sight of Liszt,
Joachim, Wieniawski, and our other dis-
tinguished guests "strolling" through
this garden, wading in mud two inches
deep.

LISZT'S PLAYING

TIME and again at Weimar I heard Liszt
play. There is absolutely no doubt in my
mind that he was the greatest pianist of
the nineteenth century. Liszt was what
the Germans call an Erscheinung — an

A MUSICAL LIFE 111

epoch-making genius. Taussig is reported
to have said of him : "Liszt dwells alone
upon a solitary mountain-top, and none
of us can approach him." Rubinstein
said to Mr. William Steinway in the year
1873 : "Put all the rest of us together and
we would not make one Liszt." This was
doubtless hyperbole, but nevertheless
significant as expressing the enthusiasm
of pianists universally conceded to be of
the highest rank. There have been other
great pianists, some of whom are now liv-
ing, but I must dissent from those writers
who affirm that any of these can be placed
upon a level with Liszt. Those who make
this assertion are too young to have heard
Liszt other than in his declining years,
and it is unjust to compare the playing of
one who has long since passed his prime
with that of one who is still in it. In
the year 1873 Rubinstein told Theodore
Thomas that it was fully worth while to
make a trip to Europe to hear Liszt play j
but he added : "Make haste and go at
once ; he is already beginning to break
up, and his playing is not up to the stan-

112 MEMORIES OF

dard of former years, although his per-
sonality is as attractive as ever."

In March, 1895, Stavenhagen and Ee-
menyi were dining at my house one even-
ing, and the former began to speak in
enthusiastic terms of Liszt's playing. Ee-
menyi interrupted with emphasis : "You
have never heard Liszt play— that is, as
Liszt used to play in his prime " ; and he
appealed to me for corroboration, but,
unhappily, I never met Liszt again after
leaving Weimar in July, 1854.

The difference between Liszt's playing
and that of others was the difference be-
tween creative genius and interpretation.
His genius flashed through every pianistic
phrase, it illuminated a composition to its
innermost recesses, and yet his wonderful
effects, strange as it must seem, were pro-
duced without the advantage of a genu-
inely musical touch.

I remember on one occasion Schulhoff
came to Weimar and played in the draw-
ing-room of the Altenburg house. His
playing and Liszt's were in marked con-
trast. He has been mentioned in an

A MUSICAL LIFE 113

earlier chapter as a parlor pianist of high
excellence. His compositions, exclusively
in the smaller forms, were in great favor
and universally played by the ladies.

Liszt played his own "Benediction de
Dieu dans la Solitude," as pathetic a piece,
perhaps, as he ever composed, and of which
he was very fond. Afterward Schulhoff,
with his exquisitely beautiful touch, pro-
duced a quality of tone more beautiful
than Liszt's ; but about the latter's per-
formance there was intellectuality and the
indescribable impressiveness of genius,
which made SchulhofFs playing, with all
its beauty, seem tame by contrast.

I was not surprised to hear from Theo-
dore Thomas what Rubinstein had told
him concerning Liszt's "breaking up,"
for as far back as the days of "die gol-
dene Zeit " it had seemed to me that there
were certain indications in his playing
which warranted the belief that his me-
chanical powers would begin to wane at
a comparatively early period in his career.
There was too little pliancy, flexion, and
relaxation in his muscles j hence a lack

114 MEMORIES OF

of economy in the expenditure of his
energies.

He was aware of this, and said in effect
on one occasion, as I learned indirectly
through either Klindworth or Pruckner :
"You are to learn all you can from my
playing, relating to conception, style,
phrasing, etc., but do not imitate my
touch, which, I am well aware, is not a
good model to follow. In early years I
was not patient enough to 'make haste
slowly'— thoroughly to develop in an
orderly, logical, and progressive way. I
was impatient for immediate results, and
took short cuts, so to speak, and jumped
through sheer force of will to the goal of
my ambition. I wish now that I had
progressed by logical steps instead of by
leaps. It is true that I have been suc-
cessful, but I do not advise you to follow
my way, for you lack my personality."

In saying this Liszt had no idea of mag-
nifying himself; but it was nevertheless
genius which enabled him to accomplish
certain results which were out of the or-
dinary course, and in a way which others,

A MUSICAL LIFE 115

being differently constituted, could not
follow. His advice to his pupils was to
be deliberate, and through care and close
attention to important, although seem-
ingly insignificant, details to progress in
an orderly way toward a perfect style.

Notwithstanding this caution, and fall-
ing into the usual tendency of pupils to
imitate the idiosyncrasies and manner-
isms, even faults or weak points, of the
teacher, some of the boys, in their effort
to attain Lisztian effects, acquired a hard
and unsympathetic touch, and thus pro-
duced mere noise in the place of full and
resonant tones.

Before going to Weimar I had heard in
various places in Germany that Liszt
spoiled all of those pupils who went to
him without a previously acquired know-
ledge of method and a habit of the correct
use of the muscles in producing musical
effects. It was necessary for the pupil to
have an absolutely sure foundation to
benefit by Liszt's instruction. If he had
that preparation Liszt could develop the
best there was in him.

116 MEMORIES OF

There is danger of unduly magnifying
the importance of a mere mechanical
technic. In Liszt's earlier days he inclined
in this direction, and wrote the "Etudes
d'Execution Transcendante." I remem-
ber his saying to his pupils one day, when
these were the subject of our conversa-
tion, that having completed them, his
interest in that direction had ceased and
he wrote no more. Moreover, he added,
"I expected that some day a pianist would
appear who would make this subject his
specialty, and would accomplish difficul-
ties that were seemingly impossible to
perform." It has been said of Liszt that
he worshiped this kind of technic. I
think the assertion does him injustice. A
friend of mine who visited him in Weimar
about the year 1858 wrote that Liszt,
speaking of one of his pupils, said : "What
I like about So-and-so is that he is not a
mere ' finger virtuoso ' : he does not wor-
ship the keyboard of the pianoforte $ it is
not his patron saint, but simply the altar
before which he pays homage to the idea
of the tone-composer." A perfect technic

A MUSICAL LIFE 117

is more than a wonderful power of pres-
tidigitation, or facility in the manipula-
tion of an instrument. It implies quali-
ties of mind and heart which are essential
to an all-round musical development and
the ability to give them adequate ex-
pression.

LISZT AND PIXIS

IN his concertizing days Liszt always
played without the music before him,
although this was not the usual custom
of his time ; and in this connection I
remember an anecdote told to me by
Theimer, one of Dreyschock's assistant
teachers. Pixis was an old-fashioned
player of considerable reputation in his
day, and was the composer of chamber-
music, besides pianoforte pieces. Among
other works of his was a duo for two piano-
fortes. While this composition was yet
in manuscript it was played in one of the
concerts of Pixis with the assistance of
Liszt. Pixis, knowing Liszt's habit of
playing from memory, requested him on
this occasion at least to have the music

118 MEMOEIES OF

open before him on the piano -desk, as he
himself did not like to risk playing his
part without notes, and he felt it would
produce an unfavorable impression on the
public if Liszt should play from memory
while he, the composer, had to rely on his
copy. Liszt, as the story goes, made no
promise one way or the other. So when
the time came the pianists walked on the
stage, each carrying his roll of music.
Pixis carefully unrolled his and placed it
on the piano-desk. Liszt, however, sat
down at the piano, and, just before begin-
ning to play, tossed his roll over behind
the instrument and proceeded to play his
part by heart. Liszt was young at that
time, and— well— somewhat inconsider-
ate. Later on he very rarely played even
his own compositions without having the
music before him, and during most of the
time I was there copies of his later publi-
cations were always lying on the piano,
and among them a copy of the "Benedic-
tion de Dieu dans la Solitude," which
Liszt had used so many times when play-
ing to his guests that it became associated

A MUSICAL LIFE 119

with memories of Berlioz, Rubinstein,
Vieuxtemps, Wieniawski, Joachim, and
our immediate circle, Raff, Bulow, Cor-
nelius, Klindworth, Pruckner, and others.
When I left Weimar I took this copy with
me as a souvenir, and still have it ; and I
treasure it all the more for the marks of
usage which it bears. I also have a very
old copy of the Handel "E Minor Fugue,"
which was given to me by Dreyschock and
which I studied with him and afterward
with Liszt. Dreyschock had evidently
used this same copy when he studied the
fugue under Tomaschek. It has penciled
figures indicating the fingering, made by
both Dreyschock and Liszt. A few years
ago I missed this valuable relic for a
while, and was much grieved by my loss.
Fortunately it was discovered in the ash-
barrel at the back of the house. Shades
of Tomaschek, Dreyschock, and Liszt !

LISZT CONDUCTING

IN his conducting Liszt was not unerring.
I do not know how far he may have pro-

120 MEMORIES OF

gressed in later years, but when I was in
Weimar he had very little practice as a
conductor, and was not one of the highest
class. He conducted, however, and with
good results on certain important occa-
sions, such as, for instance, when "Lohen-
grin " was produced.

On account of his strong advocacy of
Wagner and modern music generally, he
had many enemies, as was to be expected
of a man of his prominence. If perchance
a mishap occurred during his conducting
there were always petty critics on hand
to take advantage of the opportunity and
to magnify the fault.

One of these occasions happened at the
musical festival at Karlsruhe in October,
1853, while he was conducting Beethoven's
"Eroica Symphony." In a passage where
the trombone enters on an off beat the
player made a mistake and came in on the
even beat. This error, not the conduc-
tor's fault, occasioned such confusion that
Liszt was obliged to stop the orchestra
and begin over again, and the little fel-
lows made the most of this royal oppor-
tunity to pitch into him.

A MUSICAL LIFE 121

LISZT'S SYMPHONIC POEMS—
REHEARSING "TASSO"

WHEN Liszt first began his career as an
orchestral composer two parties were
formed, one of which predicted success,
the other disaster.' The latter asserted
that he was too much of a pianist and
began too late in life for success in this
direction. Even in Weimar, in his own
household, so to speak, opinions were di-
vided. I remember one of my fellow-
pupils saying that he did not think it was
his forte. Raff had pretty much the same
opinion, and I inclined to agree with
them. Liszt was in earnest, however, and
availed himself of every means of prepa-
ration for the work. Frequently upon his
request the best orchestral players came
to the Altenburg, and he asked them
about their instruments, their nature, and
whether certain passages were idiomatic
to them. About the time I came to Wei-
mar to study with him he had nearly
finished "Tasso," and before giving it the
last touches he had a rehearsal of it, which
we attended. We went to the theater,

122 MEMOEIES OF

and he took the orchestra into a room
which would just about hold it. Imagine
the din in that room ! The effect was far
from musical, but to Liszt it was the key
to the polyphonic effects which he wished
to produce.

EXTRACTS FROM A DIARY

As an illustration of some of the advan-
tages of a residence at Weimar almost en
famille with Liszt during "die goldene
Zeit," a few extracts from my diary are
presented, showing how closely events
followed one upon another :

"Sunday, April 24, 1853. At the Al-
tenburg this forenoon at eleven o'clock.
Liszt played with Laub and Cossmann two
trios by Cesar Franck."

This is peculiarly interesting in view of
the fact that the composer, who died about
ten years ago, is just beginning to receive
due appreciation. In Paris at the present
time there is almost a Cesar Franck cult,
but it is quite natural that Liszt, with his
quick and far-seeing appreciation, should

A MUSICAL LIFE 123

have taken especial delight in playing his
music forty-seven years ago. Liszt was
very fond of it.

"May 1. Quartet at the Altenburg at
eleven o'clock, after which Wieniawski
played with Liszt the violin and piano-
forte ( Sonata in A ' by Beethoven."

"May 3. Liszt called at my rooms last
evening in company with Laub and Wie-
niawski. Liszt played several pieces,
among them my ( Amitie pour Amitie.' "

"May 6. The boys were all at the
Hotel Erbprinz this evening. Liszt came
in and added to the liveliness of the occa-
sion."

"May 7. At Liszt's, this evening,
Klindworth, Laub, and Cossmann played
a piano trio by Spohr, after which Liszt
played his recently composed sonata and
one of his concertos. In the afternoon I
had played during my lesson with Liszt
the t C Sharp Minor Sonata ' of Beethoven
and the <E Minor Fugue' by Handel."

"May 17. Lesson from Liszt this even-
ing. Played Scherzo and Finale from
Beethoven's *C Sharp Minor Sonata.' "

124 MEMOEIES OF

"May 20, Friday. Attended a court
concert this evening which Liszt con-
ducted. Joachim played a violin solo by
Ernst."

"May 22. Went to the Altenburg at
eleven o'clock this forenoon. There were
about fifteen persons present— quite an
unusual thing. Among other things, a
string quartet of Beethoven was played,
Joachim taking the first violin."

"May 23. Attended an orchestral re-
hearsal at which an overture and a violin
concerto by Joachim were performed, the
latter played by Joachim."

"May 27. Joachim Raff's birthday.
Klindworth and I presented ourselves to
him early in the day and stopped his com-
posing, insisting on having a holiday.
Our celebration of this event included a
ride to Tiefurt and attendance at a gar-
den concert."

"May 29, Sunday. At Liszt's this fore-
noon as usual. No quartet to-day. Wie-
niawski played first a violin solo by Ernst,
and afterward with Liszt the latter's duo
on Hungarian airs."

A MUSICAL LIFE 125

"May 30. Attended a ball of the Er-
holung Gesellschaft this evening. At our
supper-table were Liszt, Kaff, Wieniawski,
Pruckner, and Klindworth. Got home at
four o'clock in the morning."

"June 4. Dined with Liszt at the Erb-
prinz. Liszt called at my rooms later in
the afternoon, bringing with him Dr.
Marx and lady from Berlin, also Raff and
Winterberger. Liszt played three Chopin
nocturnes and a scherzo of his own. In
the evening we were all invited to the
Altenburg. He played ( Harmonies du
Soir, No. 2,' and his own sonata. He was
at his best and played divinely."

"June 9. Had a lesson from Liszt this
evening. I played Chopin's <E Minor
Concerto.' "

"June 10. Went to Liszt's this evening
to a bock-beer soiree. The beer was a
present to Liszt from Pruckner's father,
who has a large brewery in Munich."

"Sunday, June 12. Usual quartet fore-
noon at the Altenburg. i Quartet, Op.
161,' of Schubert's was played, also one of
Beethoven's quartets."

126 MEMOEIES OF

The last entry may not seem to be par-
ticularly important, but it may be as well
not to end the quotations from a musical
diary with a reference to a bock -beer
soiree.

OPPORTUNITIES

THE period covered by these extracts was
chosen at random, and they give a fair
idea of the many musical opportunities
which were constantly recurring through-
out the entire year.

Ferdinand Laub, the leader of the
quartet, was about twenty -one years of
age, and already a violinist of the first
rank.

Wieniawski and Joachim, young men
of the age of twenty-two and nineteen
years respectively, were among the most
welcome visitors to Weimar. Joachim,
already celebrated as a quartet-player,
was regarded by some as the greatest liv-
ing violinist. The playing of Wieniawski
appealed to me more than that of any
other violinist of the time, and I remem-
ber it now with intense pleasure.

A MUSICAL LIFE 127

BRAHMS IN 1853

ON one evening early in June, 1853, Liszt
sent us word to come up to the Altenburg
next morning, as he expected a visit from
a young man who was said to have great
talent as a pianist and composer, and whose
name was Johannes Brahms. He was to
come accompanied by Eduard Remenyi.
The next morning, on going to the
Altenburg with Klindworth, we found
Brahms and Remenyi already in the re-
ception-room with Raff and Pruckner.
After greeting the newcomers, of whom
Kemenyi was known to us by reputation,
I strolled over to a table on which were
lying some manuscripts of music. They
were several of Brahms's yet unpublished
compositions, and I began turning over
the leaves of the uppermost in the pile.
It was the piano solo "Op. 4, Scherzo, E
Flat Minor," and, as I remember, the
writing was so illegible that I thought to
myself that if I had occasion to study it I
should be obliged first to make a copy of it-
Finally Liszt came down, and after some

128 MEMORIES OF

general conversation lie turned to Brahms
and said : "We are interested to hear
some of your compositions whenever you
are ready and feel inclined to play them."

NERVOUS BEFORE LISZT

BRAHMS, who was evidently very nervous,
protested that it was quite impossible for
him to play while in such a disconcerted
state, and, notwithstanding the earnest
solicitations of both Liszt and Kemenyi,
could not be persuaded to approach the
piano. Liszt, seeing that no progress was
being made, went over to the table, and
taking up the first piece at hand, the il-
legible scherzo, and saying, "Well, I shall
have to play," placed the manuscript on
the piano-desk.

We had often witnessed his wonderful
feats in sight-reading, and regarded him
as infallible in that particular, but, not-
withstanding our confidence in his ability,
both Raff and I had a lurking dread of
the possibility that something might hap-
pen which would be disastrous to our un-

A MUSICAL LIFE 129

questioning faith. So, when he put the
scherzo on the piano-desk, I trembled for
the result. But he read it off in such a
marvelous way— at the same time carry-
ing on a running accompaniment of audi-
ble criticism of the music— that Brahms
was amazed and delighted. Kaff thought,
and so expressed himself, that certain
parts of this scherzo suggested the Chopin
"Scherzo in B Flat Minor/7 but it seemed
to me that the likeness was too slight to
deserve serious consideration. Brahms
said that he had never seen or heard any
of Chopin's compositions. Liszt also
played a part of Brahms's "C Major So-
nata, Op. 1."

DOZING WHILE LISZT PLAYED

A LITTLE later some one asked Liszt to
play his own sonata, a work which was
quite recent at that time, and of which he
was very fond. Without hesitation, he
sat down and began playing. As he pro-
gressed he came to a very expressive part
of the sonata, which he always imbued

130 MEMORIES OF

with extreme pathos, and in which he
looked for the especial interest and sym-
pathy of his listeners. Casting a glance
at Brahms, he found that the latter was
dozing in his chair. Liszt continued play-
ing to the end of the sonata, then rose and
left the room. I was in such a position
that Brahms was hidden from my view,
but I was aware that something unusual
had taken place, and I think it was Ee-
menyi who afterward told me what it
was. It is very strange that among the
various accounts of this Liszt-Brahms
first interview— and there are several-
there is not one which gives an accurate
description of what took place on that
occasion 5 indeed, they are all far out of
the way. The events as here related are
perfectly clear in my own mind, but not
wishing to trust implicitly to my memory
alone, I wrote to my friend Klindworth,
—the only living witness of the incident
except myself, as I suppose,— and re-
quested him to give an account of it as
he remembered it. He corroborated my
description in every particular, except

A MUSICAL LIFE 131

that he made no specific reference to the
drowsiness of Brahms, and except, also,
that, according to my recollection, Brahms
left Weimar on the afternoon of the day
on which the meeting took place ; Klind-
worth writes that it was on the morning
of the following day— a discrepancy of
very little moment.

Brahms and Remenyi were on a concert
tour at the time of which I write, and
were dependent on such pianos as they
could find in the different towns in which
they appeared. This was unfortunate,
and sometimes brought them into extreme
dilemma. On one occasion the only piano
at their disposal was just a half-tone at
variance with the violin. There was no
pianoforte-tuner at hand, and although
the violin might have been adapted to the
piano temporarily, Eemenyi would have
had serious objections to such a proceed-
ing. Brahms therefore adapted himself
to the situation, transposed the piano part
to the pitch of the violin, and played the
whole composition, Beethoven's "Kreut-
zer Sonata," from memory. Joachim, at-

132 MEMOEIES OF

tracted by this feat, gave Brahms a letter
of introduction to Schumann. Shortly
after the untoward Weimar incident
Brahms paid a visit to Schumann, then
living in Diisseldorf. The acquaintance-
ship resulting therefrom led to the fa-
mous article of Schumann entitled "Neue
Bahnen," published shortly afterward
(October 23, 1853) in the Leipsic "Neue
Zeitschrift fur Musik," which started
Brahms on his musical career. It is
doubtful if up to that time any article
had made such a sensation throughout
musical Germany. I remember how ut-
terly the Liszt circle in Weimar were
astounded. This letter was at first, doubt-
less, an obstacle in the way of Brahms, but
as it resulted in stirring up great rivalry
between two opposing parties it eventu-
ally contributed much to his final success.

"LOHENGRIN" FOE THE FIRST
TIME IN LEIPSIC

LISZT never questioned Wagner's sin-
cerity. He considered "Lohengrin"

A MUSICAL LIFE 133

Wagner's greatest work up to the time
at which it was composed. It was dedi-
cated to Liszt, and, as Kaff told me, the
good man could not conceive that Wagner
would dedicate anything but his best and
greatest to his friend and champion, such
was Liszt's faith in the struggling com-
poser whose cause he had made his own.1

On the occasion of the first performance
of a Wagner opera in any neighboring
town, a delegation from Weimar was apt
to be on hand for the purpose of making
propaganda j and this was the case on
Saturday, January 7, 1854, when the
opera of " Lohengrin " was given in Leip-
sic for the first time.

We boys were demonstrative claqueurs,
and almost always succeeded in making a
sensation, especially in a town like Leip-
sic, where we had acquaintances among
the Conservatory students and could get
them to help us.

The general public and a large majority

1 In a letter written twenty-four years later, in 1878,
Liszt says of "Parsifal": " The^composition of the first
act is finished ; in it are revealed the most wondrous depths
and the most celestial heights of art."

134 MEMORIES OF

of the musicians were not at all favorably
disposed toward Wagner's music in those
days, and in this connection a remark of
Joachim Raff made to me in 1879-80, on
the occasion of my second visit to Ger-
many, was significant. Raff had been in
earlier years, perhaps, the most ardent of
all pioneers in the Wagner cause. A
quarter of a century had elapsed since I
had seen Raff, and naturally one of my
first questions was, "Raff, how is the Wag-
ner cause?" "Oh," said he, "the public
have gone 'way over to the other extreme.
You know how hard it was to force Wag-
ner upon them twenty-five years ago, and
now they go just as much too far the other
way and are unreasonable in their exces-
sive homage." "Well," I replied, "I sup-
pose the matter will find its level and be
adjusted as time passes on."

After the performance of "Lohengrin,"
which, by the way, was successful, the
whole Liszt party, by invitation, went to
supper at the house of the concertmeister,
Ferdinand David. Quite a number of
other guests were present. Among them

A MUSICAL LIFE 135

I remember with pleasure my Boston
friends and fellow-townsmen Charles C.
Perkins and J. C. D. Parker, who were
temporarily located in Leipsic, pursuing
their musical studies.

Brahms also was present, and during
the evening he played the Andante from
his "F Minor Sonata, Op. 5."

IN STUTTGART— HOTEL MARQUAND

NOT long after my visit to Raff in 1879-80
I went on a pleasure trip to Stuttgart, and
on account of old associations stopped at
the Hotel Mar quand. One of the obj ects of
my visit was to meet again my old Wei-
mar fellow-pupil Dionys Pruckner, at that
time eminent among the staff of piano-
forte teachers in the famous Stuttgart
Conservatory of Music. Alighting at the
hotel, I was impressed with the marks of
consideration shown to me by the hotel
porter. He was so very attentive that I
was somewhat puzzled. The explanation
was apparent the next day when he re-
spectfully inquired if I was the kapell-

136 MEMOEIES OF

meister of New York ! He had read the
name and address on one of my trunks
and jumped at conclusions. I told him
that I was not that individual, and ex-
plained that in New York no such office
existed, although the title might be with
propriety applied to the conductor of the
Philharmonic Society. However, the
idea found a lodgment in his head, quite
to my advantage, as evidenced by the
many attentions he paid to me through-
out my stay.

THE SCHUMANN "FEIER" IN BONN, 1880

OVER a quarter of a century elapsed after
my first meeting with Brahms before I
saw him again, and then the meeting oc-
curred at Bonn on the Rhine, on May 3,
1880. He was there, in company with
Joachim and other artists, to take part in
the ceremonies attendant on the unveil-
ing of the Schumann DerikmcH.

There were also musical performances,
and at a morning recital of chamber-music
the program consisted solely of Schu-

A MUSICAL LIFE

137

mann's works, vocal and instrumental,
with the addition of the Brahms "Violin
Concerto/' played by Joachim. The con-
cluding number was Schumann's "Piano
Quartet in E Flat Major, Op. 47," Brahms
playing the piano part, and Joachim,
Heckmann, and Bellman playing respec-
tively violin, viola, and violoncello.

BRAHMS'S PIANOFORTE-PLAYING

THE pianoforte-playing of Brahms was
far from being finished or even musical.
His tone was dry and devoid of senti-
ment his interpretation inadequate, lack-
ing style and contour. It was the playing
of a composer, and not that of a virtuoso.
He paid little if any attention to the
marks of expression as indicated by Schu-
mann in the copy. This was especially
and painfully apparent in the opening
measures of the first movement. This in-
troductory passage is marked, "Sostenuto
assai," followed by the main movement
marked, "Allegro ma non troppo." In-
stead of accommodating himself to the

138 MEMORIES OF

quiet and subdued nature of the introduc-
tion, the pianist quite ignored Schumann's
esthetic directions, and began with a
vigorous attack, which was sustained
throughout the movement. The con-
tinued force and harshness of his tone
quite overpowered the stringed instru-
ments. As an ensemble the performance
was not a success.

On going home to dinner, and learning
that Brahms was stopping at the hotel, I
gave my card to the porter, with instruc-
tions to deliver it to Brahms as soon as he
came in. When about half-way through
the table d'hote the porter entered and
said that Brahms was in the outer hall,
waiting to see me. He was very cor-
dial. At the moment I had quite for-
gotten that I had met him at David's
house in Leipsic, so I said : "The last
time I met you was in Weimar on that
very hot day in June, 1853 ; do you re-
member it?"

"Very well indeed, and I am glad to
see you again. Just now my time is very
much engaged, but we are going up the

A MUSICAL LIFE

139

river on a picnic this afternoon— Joachim
and others ; will you come along I We
are going to a summer restaurant on the
Khine, where they have excellent beer,
and it will be ganz gemutlich."

I regretted extremely that I had to
forego the pleasure of this excursion, and
fully realized the opportunity I was los-
ing $ but my party— there were four of us,
my wife and I and two children— had
previously arranged our plans, and in
order to make connections we were
obliged to go on to Cologne that day.

Here was a companion-piece to the
disappointment occasioned by my hav-
ing to forego the pleasure and profit of
a foot-tramp through the Tyrol with
Richard Wagner, as already related in
these " Memories." But so the Fates
ordained.

Partly on account of the untoward Wei-
mar incident, and partly for the sake of
his own individuality, I took a peculiar
interest in Brahms. His work is wonder-
fully condensed, his constructive power
masterly. By his scholarly development

140 MEMOEIES OF

of themes through augmentation, diminu-
tion, inversion, imitation, and other de-
vices, he seems to be introducing new
thematic material, while the fact is, as
will be seen on close investigation, that
he is presenting the original theme in
varied form and shape, and gradually un-
folding and expanding its possibilities to
the uttermost. In other words, his treat-
ment is exhaustive and complete. In his
later piano compositions this is readily
apparent, and as these pieces are short,
and at the same time complete in form,
they furnish excellent opportunities to
the student for analytical studies. In all
that relates to the intellectual faculty
Brahms is indisputably a master. I find
this to be the consensus of opinion among
intelligent musicians. But there are dif-
ferences of opinion as regards his emo-
tional susceptibilities, and it is just this
fact that prevents many from fully ac-
cepting him. The emotional and intel-
lectual should be in equipoise in order to
attain the highest results, but in the music
of Brahms the latter seems to predomi-

A MUSICAL LIFE 141

nate. In sympathetic and affectionate
treatment, so far as relates to his piano
composition, he does not compare with
Chopin.

A HISTORICAL ERROR CORRECTED

I HAVE read in a recent number of a mu-
sical magazine the following sentence :
"We have seen with what ardor the first
compositions of this serious young man
[Brahms] were greeted by Schumann and
Liszt.'7

I have already mentioned the fact that
all of the published accounts of the first
meeting of Liszt and Brahms were far
from accurate, and in fact convey an im-
pression directly opposite to the truth j
and the foregoing statement, according to
my belief, is just as far from being in ac-
cordance with the facts. I am quite sure
that Liszt was not enthusiastic about
Brahms at the time of the first interview
in Weimar heretofore described, and the
letter received from my friend Karl
Klindworth, in Berlin, sustains me in this

142 MEMORIES OF

belief. Liszt was of too kindly a disposi-
tion to treasure up animosity against
Brahms on account of the mishap on that
occasion j but the fact that Brahms was
put forward by the anti-Wagnerites as
their champion may possibly have influ-
enced him somewhat. A coolness also
sprang up between Joachim and Liszt,
although during my stay in Weimar the
violinist had been welcomed so frequently
at the Altenburg. During the entire
career of Brahms he and Joachim were
close friends.

MORE ABOUT LISZT'S WONDERFUL
SIGHT-READING

LISZT'S playing of the Brahms scherzo
was a remarkable feat, but he was con-
stantly doing almost incredible things in
the way of reading at sight. Another
instance of his skill in this direction oc-
curs to me and is well worthy of mention.
Kaff had composed a sonata for violin
and pianoforte in which there were ever-
varying changes in measure and rhythm j

A MUSICAL LIFE 143

measures of f , f, f , alternated with com-
mon and triple time, and seemed to mix
together promiscuously and without re-
gard to order. Notwithstanding this ap-
parent disorder, there was an under-
current, so to speak, of the ordinary f or
| time, and to the player who could pene-
trate the rhythmic mask the difficulty of
performance quickly vanished. Raff had
arranged with Laub and Pruckner that
they should practise the sonata together,
and then, on a favorable occasion, play it
in Liszt's presence. So on one of the
musical mornings at the Altenburg these
gentlemen began to play the sonata.
Pruckner, of sensitive and nervous or-
ganization, found the changes of measure
too confusing, especially when played be-
fore company, and broke down at the first
page. Another and yet a third attempt
was made, but with the like result. Liszt,
whose interest was aroused, exclaimed :
"I wonder if I can play that!" Then,
taking his place at the instrument, he
played it through at sight in rapid tempo
and without the slightest hesitation. He

144 MEMORIES OF

had intuitively divined the regularity of
movement which lay beneath the surface.

LISZT'S MOMENTS OF CONTRITION

DEEP beneath the surface there was in
Liszt's organization a religious trend
which manifested itself openly now and
then, and there were occasions upon which
his contrition displayed itself to an inor-
dinate degree. Joachim Kaff, long his
intimate friend and associate, told me
that these periods were sometimes of con-
siderable duration, and while they lasted
he would seek solitude, and going fre-
quently to church, would throw himself
upon the flagstones before a Muttergottes-
bild, and remain for hours, as Kaff ex-
pressed it, so deeply absorbed as to be
utterly unconscious of events occurring
in his presence.

Rubinstein also told me that on one
occasion he had been a witness of such an
act on the part of Liszt. One afternoon
at dusk they were walking together in
the cathedral at Cologne, and quite sud-

$

A MUSICAL LIFE

145

denly Bubinstein missed Liszt, who had
disappeared in a mysterious way. He
searched for quite a while through the
many secluded nooks and corners of the
immense building, and finally found Liszt
kneeling before a prie-dieu, so deeply
engrossed that Bubinstein had not the
heart to disturb him, and so left the
building alone.

PETER CORNELIUS

SOMETIME, I think late, in 1853 Peter
Cornelius, nephew of the celebrated
painter of that name, and composer of
the comic opera "The Barber of Bagdad,"
came to Weimar and was added to the
Altenburg circle. He was well known
and highly esteemed by musicians, and as
he was always cheery and bubbling over
with musical enthusiasm, I at once be-
came very fond of him as a friend, and
later on paid due homage to his decided
talent as a composer. As an illustration
of how easy it is to underrate the abilities

of a new acquaintance the following in-
10

146 MEMORIES OF

cident is both interesting and instructive.
In October, 1853, or thereabouts, quite a
large musical festival took place in Karls-
ruhe, which was under the general direc-
tion of Liszt, who also conducted the
orchestra. It goes without saying that
under the management of Liszt a number
of selections from the Wagner operas were
played, and one of these happened to
be the bridal chorus from "Lohengrin."
"Wagner at that time was an entirely
new experience to Cornelius, and after
the concert, while speaking to Liszt of
the beauty of Wagner's music, he in-
stanced this bright and pretty melody,
emphasizing its beauty as though it were
the special object of his admiration. We
boys, while we recognized the beauty of
the bridal march and its fitness for the
place in which it occurs, were apt to
coddle ourselves upon our superior know-
ledge of Wagner, and would have saved
our enthusiasm for the more completed
and distinctly Wagnerian characteristics.
The enthusiasm of Cornelius for the
purely melodic phrases of Wagner, which

A MUSICAL LIFE 147

were in no wise characteristic of his ge-
nius, rather led us to look down upon the
musical perceptions of Cornelius— or per-
haps I should speak only for myself and
give these as my personal impressions ;
but it was not long before his great talent
was duly recognized and acknowledged,
at least by musicians. Cornelius was a
charming fellow, and I enjoyed his society
because he was so enthusiastically and in-
tensely musical.

SOME FAMOUS VIOLINISTS

I HAVE already mentioned in these papers
my meeting with Joachim in Leipsic in
the year 1849. He was then about eigh-
teen years of age and already famous as a
violinist. He was of medium height, had
broad, open features, and a heavy shock
of dark hair somewhat like that of Eubin-
stein. I had a letter of introduction to
him, which I presented a short time after
my arrival in Leipsic, and received im-
mediately a return call from him. He
was kind and affable, and easy to become

148 MEMOEIES OF

acquainted with, but owing to diffidence
on my part I did not improve the oppor-
tunity as I should have done, a circum-
stance which I now much regret. He
played the Mendelssohn concerto in one
of the Gewandhaus concerts within a
month of my arrival at Leipsic, and I
heard him then for the first time, and was
much impressed by his beautiful perform-
ance. Subsequently, when in Weimar,
I had the pleasure of meeting him on
many occasions, for he was in the habit of
going there not infrequently, and would
sometimes take part in the Altenburg
private musicales, as well as in the public
concerts at the theater.

During the year 1845-46 I heard and
became well acquainted with three famous
violinists, Yieuxtemps, Ole Bull, and Si-
vori, who came to Boston and played
many times both in public and in private.
They were all great players, each having
his special individuality. Vieuxtemps
and Ole Bull I met several times in later
years, and became familiar with their
playing. Vieuxtemps came to Weimar

A MUSICAL LIFE 149

and played both in private and in public.
His playing was wonderfully precise and
accurate, every tone receiving due atten-
tion, and his phrasing was delightful.
Scale and arpeggio passages were abso-
lutely clean and without a flaw. He was
certainly a player of exquisite taste, and
he still preserved his characteristics when
I heard him years later, in 1853 at Wei-
mar, and in 1873 at New York. Ole Bull
came to Boston a year or so after Vieux-
temps. He was a born violinist, and de-
veloped after his own fashion and nature,
in the manner of a genius. Vieuxtemps
was the result of scientific training and
close adherence to well-founded princi-
ples. Ole Bull, on the other hand, was a
law unto himself, and burst out into full
blossom without showing the various de-
grees of growth. He did not realize the
importance of close attention to detail
while in the course of development.

Sivori was of the gentle, poetic, and
graceful class of players. Beauty and
grace rather than self-assertion charac-
terized his style. Ernst, whom I heard in

150 MEMORIES OF

Homburg in the year 1852, was a player
of great intensity of feeling, and was re-
garded as the most fervent violinist of his
time. Joachim's style impressed me as
classical and rather reserved, and while I
enjoyed and admired it, there was present
no feeling of enthusiasm. Wilhelmj , with
his broad and noble style, was certainly
most impressive. Henri Wieniawski had
a musical organization of great intensity,
and this, combined with his perfect tech-
nic, made his playing irresistible. Ferdi-
nand Laub, for some reason not so well
known to the general public as he should
be, is generally conceded by the most dis-
tinguished violinists to have been the
greatest of all quartet-players. Laub was
concertmeister during the whole period
of my stay in Weimar, and was an inti-
mate friend of mine. It will be re-
membered that at that time Bernhard
Cossmann was the violoncellist of the
Weimar string quartet. I owe many de-
lightful moments of musical enjoyment
to his exquisitely poetical and refined
playing. The last time I met him was

A MUSICAL LIFE 151

at his own house in Frankfort. His wife
and children were present, and being thus
quite en famiUe, we played together, for
the sake of old times, the piano and vio-
loncello sonata of Beethoven in A major.
There are many others whom I am
prevented by lack of space from mention-
ing ; but I must not omit the name of my
friend Adolf Brodsky, a violinist of the
first rank, and a man of great nobility of
character. His playing is broad, intelli-
gent, and thoroughly musical, whether as
soloist or as first violin in chamber quartet
music. Sometimes I have heard him in
the privacy of my own home, where, feel-
ing entire freedom from restraint, he has
thrown himself intensely into his music,
to my thorough and complete musical
satisfaction.

KEMENYI

I HAVE already had something to say of
Eduard Eemenyi, the Hungarian violinist
who accompanied Brahms to Weimar in
1853. He was a talented man, and was

152 MEMORIES OF

esteemed by Liszt as being, in his way, a
good violinist. He remained at Weimar
after Brahms left there, and I became in-
timately acquainted with him. He was
very entertaining, and so full of fun that
he would have made a tiptop Irishman.
He was at home in the Gipsy music of his
own country, and this was the main char-
acteristic of his playing. He had also a
fad for playing Schubert melodies on the
violin with the most attenuated pianis-
simo effects, and occasionally his hearers
would listen intently after the tone had
ceased, imagining that they still heard a
trace of it.

Not long before leaving Weimar I had
some fun with him by asking if he had
ever heard "any bona-fide American
spoken." He replied that he did not
know there was such a language. "Well,"
said I, "listen to this for a specimen:
1 Ching-a-ling-a-dardee, Chebung cum
Susan.' " I did not meet him again until
1878, twenty-four years after leaving
Weimar. I was going up-stairs to my
studio in the Steinway building when

A MUSICAL LIFE 153

some one told me that Eemenyi had ar-
rived and was rehearsing for his concerts
in one of the rooms above. So, going up,
I followed the sounds of the violin, gave
a quick knock, opened the door, and went
in. Eemenyi looked at me for a moment,
rushed forward and seized my hand, and
as he wrung it cried out : "Ching-a-ling-a-
dardee, Chebung cum Susan ! " He had
remembered it all those years.

SOME DISTINGUISHED OPERA -SINGERS

MY concert-playing and teaching have
naturally made me more interested in
instrumental than in vocal music. More-
over, the principal celebrities who came
to visit Liszt during my sojourn at Wei-
mar were composers and instrumentalists.
For that reason I met but few distin-
guished opera-singers during my stay
abroad. However, I heard the best of
them in opera or concert.

In Boston, about the year 1846-47, the
Havana Italian Opera gave a season at
the Howard Athenaeum of that city, and

154 MEMORIES OF

created considerable interest. They
gave, I think for the first time in this
country, Verdi's "Ernani," which was re-
ceived with great favor. The principal
soprano was Mme. Fortunata Tedesco,
who was afterward at the Grand Opera in
Paris from 1851 to 1857. The tenor was
Signore Perelli, who had an exceptionally
fine voice. Both of these singers had
well-trained voices and were well sup-
ported by chorus and orchestra. As this
was my first experience in opera, it pro-
duced a deep and lasting impression.

The opera season in Leipsic in the year
1852, beginning about the 1st of February
and continuing up to the 1st of May, was
notable, for it afforded the opportunity
of hearing in quick succession three sing-
ers of world- wide reputation : Henriette
Sontag, Johanna Wagner, and De la
Grange.

HENRIETTE SONTAG

THE singer of whom I have the liveliest
impression is Henriette Sontag, whom I
heard in Leipsic on her first appearance

A MUSICAL LIFE 155

after she had been twenty years in retire-
ment. The interest I took in the occa-
sion was much increased by the fact that
I had a seat next to Moseheles, who was
very communicative, and gave me an in-
teresting history of his long acquaintance
with Sontag, whom he had heard at her
last appearance, I think, before her retire-
ment. He was naturally on the gui vive,
and impatiently waited for the opera to
begin. Like many of her other old ad-
mirers who were in the theater, he was
full of expectancy mingled with dread of
possible failure. She appeared as Maria
in Donizetti's "Fille du Regiment." In
this part the voice of the singer is heard
before she appears on the stage, and as
soon as Moscheles heard Sontag's voice
trilling behind the scenes, he exclaimed
with delight, "It is Sontag ! Nobody I
have heard since she left the stage could
do that ! She is the same Henriette ! "

Some of the roles in which I heard her
were Amina in "Sonnambula," Martha in
the opera of that name, Susan in "The
Marriage of Figaro," and Eosina in "The

156 MEMORIES OF

Barber of Seville." I enjoyed the lovely
feminine quality of her voice and manner.
There was something peculiarly charming
and womanly about her. She sang with
unfailing ease and grace, her voice being
so flexible that it sounded like the trilling
of birds. The most difficult roulades and
cadences were given with absolute accu-
racy and rhythm. It was simply fasci-
nating.

JOHANNA WAGNER

DURING the month of March of the same
year, Johanna Wagner, niece of Richard
Wagner, sang in several operas. Among
those in which I heard her were Bellini's
"Romeo and Juliet," as Romeo ; "Fidelio,"
as Leonora or Fidelio ; and "Iphigenia in
Aulis," by Gluck, as Iphigenia. Here in-
deed she was a contrast to Sontag, and in
these parts she seemed to me quite unap-
proachable. Her voice was large and
full, and her acting most dramatic. Like
all the German singers whom I heard, she
lacked the nicety of detail, the clear and
beautiful phrasing, characteristic of the

A MUSICAL LIFE 157

Italians I had heard in Boston. But when
I grew to know the German method, I
began to admire it, not so much for the
actual singing itself as for the combination
of qualities that entered into it— the
artistic earnestness, the acting, and the
musicianship.

MME. DE LA GRANGE

IT was my experience that the Germans
themselves greatly admired singing of the
Italian school, for when, following Sontag
and Wagner, Mine, de la Grange came
the next month and sang an engagement
in Leipsic (April and May, 1852), the
management doubled the prices, and, not-
withstanding this, the house was crowded
every time she sang. She was in her
prime, and one of the finest singers I ever
heard. Her style was brilliant and daz-
zling, but never lacking in repose. Her
high tones were clear and musical, with-
out any trace of shrillness, and in the
most rapid passages the tones were never
slurred or confused, but distinct and in

158 MEMORIES OF

perfect rhythmic order. The roles in
which she most appealed to me were as
Queen of the Night in "The Magic Flute,"
by Mozart, and Eosina in "The Barber of
Seville," by Rossini. But she also sang
both parts of Isabella and Alice in Meyer-
beer's "Robert the Devil" in the most
admirable manner.

"DER VEREIN DER MURLS"

LISZT was the head and front of the Wag-
ner movement ; but except when visitors
came to Weimar and were inveigled into
an argument by Raff, who was an ardent
disciple of the new school, there was but
little discussion of the Wagner question.
Pruckner started a little society, the ob-
ject being to oppose the Philistines, or old
fogies, and uphold modern ideas. Liszt
was the head and was called the Padishah
(chief), and the pupils and others, Raff,
Billow, Klindworth, Pruckner, Cornelius,
Laub, Cossmann, etc., were "Murls." In
a letter to Klindworth, then in London,
Liszt writes of Rubinstein: "That is a

A MUSICAL LIFE 159

clever fellow, the most notable musician,
pianist, and composer who has appeared
to me among the modern lights— with the
exception of the Murls. Murlship alone
is lacking to him still." On the manu-
script of Liszt's "Sonate" he himself
wrote, "Fur die Murlbibliothek."

THE WAGNER CAUSE IN WEIMAR

MY admiration for Wagner did not go to
the extreme of Liszt's and of my fellow-
pupils' . Liszt rarely expressed his opinion
of Wagner, because he took it for granted
that everybody knew it, and he was not
a controversialist. I know that he con-
sidered those people who refused to follow
Wagner as old fogies, and my colleagues
used to twit me for not being as enthusi-
astic as they were. Certain passages in
his operas have always given me great
musical enjoyment and delight, but here
and there are crudities which, as it seemed
to me, were unpardonable in a great com-
poser. Under these circumstances I could
not pose as a genuine Murl, although this

160 MEMORIES OF

fact did not disturb the genial and fra-
ternal relations which existed between my
colleagues and me ; and on occasion also
I was equal to the best of them in exer-
cising the specialty of a genuine Murl
claqueur.

I think that Wagner will always rank
among the greatest composers, but will
not always remain as preeminent as he is
now in the popular estimation. Some of
his compositions are wonderfully intri-
cate, although musical, but at times his
faults appear and disturb the balance of
things in such a way that the music loses the
effect of spontaneity and becomes forced.

In the Weimar days the general objec-
tion of the "old fogies " was that his music
lacked melody. Doubtless by melody
they meant the little tunes of the anti-
Wagner period ; but the fact is that Wag-
ner has contributed his share to increasing
the scope of melody and enlarging its
boundaries. It may be that he has gone
too far in this direction and has com-
pletely obliterated all limitations, thus
approaching dangerously near confusion.

A MUSICAL LIFE 161

It was said that he had no melody, but
his scores are full of it. There are some-
times so many melodies in combination,
each exercising its individuality and pro-
ceeding independently, that the "tune
effect " is obscured and lost in the crowd
of accompanying tunes. But to me Wag-
ner's melody seems restless. It comes on
suddenly and progresses without periods
of repose. There is almost constant mo-
tion, which produces a feeling of unrest.
A sentence must have its commas, semi-
colons, and periods, and punctuation is as
necessary in music as it is in letters.

I have never quite understood just what
it is in Wagner's music that so fascinates
many people whom I know to be un-
musical.

RAFF IN WEIMAR

OF my Weimar comrades, Joachim Raff,
it is hardly necessary to say, became the
most distinguished. My first impression
of him was not wholly favorable. He was
hard to become acquainted with and not

disposed to meet one half-way. He was
11

162 MEMORIES OF

fond of argument, and if one side was
taken he was very apt to take the other.
He liked nothing better than to get one
to commit himself to a proposition and
then to attack him with all his resources,
which were many. Upon better acquain-
tance, however, one found a kind heart
and faithful friend whose constancy was
to be relied on. He was very poor, and
there were times when he seemed hardly
able to keep body and soul together.
Once he was arrested for debt. The room
in which he was confined, however, was
more comfortable, if anything, than his
own. He had a piano, a table, music-
paper, and pen and ink sent there. How
this was accomplished I do not know, but
I think Liszt must have had a hand in it.
Raff enjoyed himself composing and play-
ing, and we saw to it that he had good
fare. The episode made little impression
on him : so long as he could compose he
was happy. However, the matter was
compromised, and in a short time he re-
turned to his own lodgings. He was a
hard worker and composed incessantly,

A MUSICAL LIFE 163

with only a brief interval for dinner and
a little exercise. We habitually sat to-
gether, and afterward usually took a short
walk. I enj oy ed his conversation exceed-
ingly and derived much profit from it.

At about five o'clock in the afternoon,
looking out of my window, I would fre-
quently see Kaff coming over the path
leading through the park, with a bundle
of manuscript under his arm. He liked to
come and play to me what he had composed.
His playing was not artistic, because he
paid little attention to it, and he did not
attempt to elaborate or finish his style.

He composed very rapidly, and many
of his compositions do not amount to
much. He could not get decent remu-
neration for good music, and he had to
live ; therefore he wrote many pieces that
were of the jingling sort, because his
publishers paid well for them. Some-
times, however, he turned out a composi-
tion which was really worthy, and among
his works are symphonies, sonatas, trios,
and chamber-music which gained him
reputation. His symphony "Im Walde "

164 MEMORIES OF

is well known in the musical world, and
his "Cavatina" for violin, although not a
piece of importance, is one of the most
popular and effective violin solos and
exists in various arrangements. At times
he was much dejected, and there was a
dash of bitterness in his disposition. I
think he felt that, being obliged to turnout
music for a living, he would never attain
the rank to which his talents entitled him.
In promoting the cause of Wagner, Eaff
did considerable work for which Liszt got
the credit. I think that at one time Raff
acted as Liszt's private secretary ; but he
had decided ideas of his own, and knew
how to express them. Being generally in
close accord with Liszt, and having a
ready pen, he rendered great assistance
in promulgating the doctrines of the new
school by means of essays, brochures, and
newspaper articles. Of course much that
he wrote was based upon suggestions made
by Liszt. Raff was a tower of strength in
himself, while at the same time acting as
Liszt's mouthpiece in the Wagner propa-
ganda.

A MUSICAL LIFE 165

DR. ADOLF BERNHARD MARX

WHEN Dr. Adolf B. Marx of Berlin was
in Weimar in June, 1853, it was by in-
vitation of Liszt for the purpose of bring-
ing out a new oratorio which he had just
composed. As usual on such occasions,
we gave him a warm reception, and Liszt
arranged a midday dinner at the Hotel
zum Erbprinzen, at which some eight or
ten guests were present. In the afternoon
we all attended a rehearsal of the oratorio,
which lasted from four o'clock until eleven
o'clock P.M. According to my present
recollections, the work did not have a bril-
liant success. I was reminded of this event
by the receipt of the following letter in
March, 1901, from an old friend, Mr.
Adolph Stange, who happened to be
present on the occasion :

SUWALKI, POLAND, RUSSIA,

24 January, 1901.

DEAR DR. MASON: When you wrote your
"Memories of a Musical Life," July-October,
1900, of Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine,
you probably did not have any presentiment

166 MEMOEIES OF

that there is in a distant country, far from you,
somebody who only by one day younger than
yourself ( born January 25, 1829 ) will be reading
with the greatest interest your excellent and
truthful description of different musical celeb-
rities and authorities. Being myself for many
years a pupil of Gerke and of Henselt in St. Pe-
tersburg, I had been with many of the eminent
men you name personally acquainted; with
Moscheles and Rubinstein I had more often
and more intimate relations, and my delight
was naturally great in reading your true and
graphic account of some of my former musi-
cal friends. It is indeed with a feeling of
admiration and gratitude that I am now ad-
dressing these lines to its author. Your inter-
esting description of your stay at Weimar in
1853 gave me special pleasure, as in that same
year, in May, June, and July, I had also been
with Liszt in Weimar, and I remember you,
dear Dr. Mason, perfectly, as well as Klind-
worth, Pruckner, the two Wieniawskis, Win-
terberger, Raff, and others ; they are all living
in my memory. That period of my youth is full
of the most beautiful and noble impressions.
Your account of that incomparable meister
we both, I dare say, equally admire, awakened
in me Liszt's greatness as artist, and still more,
if I may say so, the greatness of his nature
and character, so richly endowed with so many
generous and noble instincts ; and I recall with

A MUSICAL LIFE 167

delight to my mind our pleasant walks in the
Schlossgarten, where we visited Klindworth
in his modest apartments ; the supper at the
Hotel zum Erbprinzen, where Liszt wished to
get acquainted with the card-game "prefer-
ence," which I had to show him; our visits to
the Schloss, in the ground floor of which we
listened to Liszt's divine playing and after-
ward got invited to dine up-stairs with the Prin-
cess Wittgenstein and her charming daughter.
I believe you had already left Weimar when
Professor Adolf Marx came from Berlin to
visit Liszt and brought with him the score of
his new oratorio. Marx wished to say a few
words about its performance to Liszt before
the first rehearsal, but was much disappointed,
as he told me, not to find an appropriate mo-
ment to speak with the meister, whose atten-
tion was constantly taken up by his pupils.
On the day of the rehearsal, Marx, who was
sitting next to me, again expressed his regret
at not having found an opportunity to talk
the matter over with Liszt. Shortly after the
rehearsal had commenced I felt several times
Marx's elbows, which, giving way to his en-
thusiasm, came in close and sensible contact
with mine. At last he exclaimed: " Liszt
guesses my most secret thoughts and inten-
tions in my own composition!" . . .

Let me, dear Dr. Mason, assure you what
real and intense enjoyment I experienced by

168 MEMORIES OF

the perusal of your "Musical Memories," and
beg to thank you from all my heart for giving
me the possibility of recalling once over again
those dear and ever-present reminiscences of
a bygone but ever-delightful time in my life.
It is seldom one can read in a biography a
description like yours, which expresses in a
few words, with so much reality, truthfulness,
and impartiality, the characteristics of a whole
series of well-known artists. Finally, you
will ask : "Stranger, who art thou?" I will
not, like Lohengrin, make a mystery of it, but
answer your question: I wanted to become
what you are now ! After my return from
Weimar, however, where I had been for a
tune Liszt's pupil, I entered into Russian state
service, remaining, nevertheless, during my
whole life, though a dilettante, a great and
fervent admirer of that art, and a real artist
in my heart. I sign, with veneration to your
person, Dr. Mason, and have the honor to
remain,

Yours very truly,

ADOLPH STANGE.

BERLIOZ IN WEIMAR

HECTOR BERLIOZ came to Weimar occa-
sionally, and I remember particularly one
of his visits, which took place in May,

J.

A MUSICAL LIFE 169

1854. He was famous as an orchestral
conductor, and I saw him in this capacity
in a concert the program of which con-
sisted exclusively of his own compositions.
These were especially attractive on ac-
count of their magnificent orchestral col-
oring. In this regard he was certainly
wonderful, and produced many gorgeous
effects. His masterly skill and intelli-
gence in the treatment and development
of his themes were also everywhere ap-
parent. Every detail received careful
attention, and the result was admirable.

Not long afterward he gave a similar
concert in the Leipsic Gewandhaus Hall,
on which occasion the Weimar contingent
was of course present. There was no need
of our services as claqueurs, however, for
the hall was crowded and the audience
demonstrative.

Schubert was spontaneous and inspired,
and thus stands in contrast to Berlioz.
Melody gushed from Schubert at such a
rate, and musical ideas crowded upon each
other so rapidly, that he did not take
time to work up his compositions. There

170 MEMOEIES OF

are a few which he elaborated with care,
but they are the exceptions, and empha-
size the general spontaneity of his work.
If he had constructive power, —and certain
passages in his work show that he had,—
he nevertheless failed to make adequate
use of it. His music is charming and de-
lightful on account of its melodious fresh-
ness and naivete. It appeals directly to
the heart. The only drawback is his ser-
vile adherence to conventionalities, such,
for instance, as the old method of invariably
repeating every section of a movement.

Beethoven stands as the model of con-
structive power and emotional expression
in happy equipoise. Both the head and
the heart are satisfactorily employed, and
in his orchestral treatment they find full
expression. This is true of all of his con-
certed works ; but his weak point is mani-
fested in his pianoforte compositions, es-
pecially in the sonatas, which are not
idiomatic of the instrument for which
they were written. It is not intended to
find fault with the music^er se. It is sim-
ply to say that his ideas are all orchestrally

A MUSICAL LIFE 171

conceived, and as they are not in the na-
ture of the pianoforte, that instrument is
inadequate to their true expression. The
sonatas are not pianistic, idiomatic—
Maviermdssig. Had he written them for
orchestra, we would have had thirty-two
symphonies.

Chopin's compositions are the very es-
sence and consummation of the piano, and
he is, therefore, the pianoforte composer
par excellence. On the other hand, his
orchestral work is weak and incompetent,
as, for example, the accompaniment to his
concertos and some other pieces.

Schumann is at home in both directions.
He is polyphonic in orchestral treatment,
and at the same time thoroughly pianis-
tic. Without suggesting comparisons,
his music is musical and complete. Bee-
thoven's is heroic.

ENTERTAINING LISZT'S "YOUNG
BEETHOVEN "

LISZT sometimes left Weimar for a few
day sin order to be present at or to conduct

172 MEMORIES OF

music festivals. On one of these occasions,
early in June, 1854, I remained alone at
home on account of slight illness. As
Klindworth had gone to London for con-
cert-playing and pianoforte-teaching, I
had moved into a suite of rooms in the
Hotel zum Erbprinzen. As a matter of
interest to pianists I here note the fact
that these identical rooms had been occu-
pied by Hummel several years previously.
On the afternoon of the day on which
Liszt left with his cortege the head waiter
came to me, saying that a young man who
had just arrived was in the cafe inquiring
for Liszt and seemed disappointed on
learning of his absence. "I told him,"
said the waiter, "that you were the only
one of the family here. Will you see
him?" I assented, and in a few mo-
ments he ushered in a young man about
twenty-four years of age, of strong fea-
tures and with a great shock of dark hair,
who introduced himself as Anton Rubin-
stein. I explained to him that Liszt had
gone away for three or four days to con-
duct a festival, that I could not say pre-

A MUSICAL LIFE 173

cisely when he would return ; but in the
meantime, if I could make him feel at
home, I should be very glad.

After some conversation he asked me
to play. I remember very well how he
looked sitting on the sofa, and the posi-
tion of the piano in the room. I played,
but he did not. I had a suspicion that he
was inveigling me into playing without
any intention of allowing me to take his
measure. He sat there like a gruff Rus-
sian bear; or perhaps my imagination
helped to produce this impression.

Rubinstein was already quite well
known as a child prodigy, but of course
not nearly so famous as he afterward be-
came. I do not recollect paying him very
much attention during Liszt's absence,
but, then, he did not allow me— he was
rambling about all the time ; nor did I
hear him play before Liszt came back.
When Liszt returned, Rubinstein was im-
mediately invited to take up his residence
on the Altenburg. I remember that
there, one afternoon, he played many of
his own compositions. His playing was

174 MEMOEIES OF

full of rush and fire, and characterized by
strong emotional temperament. He had
a big technic and reveled in dash and fire.
Those who heard Mark Hambourg here
during the winter of 1899-1900 can form
a very good idea of Eubinstein's personal
appearance at the time of which I write,
and also his very pronounced style of
playing. His early touch lacked the
mellow and tender beauty of tone which
distinguished it in later years.

RUBINSTEIN'S OPPOSITION TO WAGNER

RUBINSTEIN'S well-known dislike of Wag-
ner, it seems to me, was temperamental in
a large degree, and it was quite natural
that he was not in agreement with him.
Doubtless Chopin would not have ap-
proved of Wagner's music, whatever he
might have thought of his method. The
melodies of Chopin and Rubinstein are
full of sentiment and well defined, and
their compositions run in entirely oppo-
site channels from those of Wagner, whose
music is a vast sensuous upheaval, which

A MUSICAL LIFE 175

proceeds uninterruptedly from the be-
ginning of an act to the end.

All musicians have a good deal of self-
esteem. Kubinstein had his own way of
composing, which corresponded to his
musical temperament. He had to write
everything just as it suited his musical
ear, and he could not conceive of any one
else having as fine a musical ear as he.
At all events, he never stopped long
enough to find out if any one else had.
Few musicians do. Liszt was fond of
Rubinstein, and used to call him the
"young Beethoven," on account of a cer-
tain fancied resemblance he bore to the
great composer. He also recognized
Rubinstein's great ability as a pianist,
although I think that as a player he rated
Tausig much higher. Many years after I
left Weimar a relative of mine met Liszt
in Rome. She had a short time previous
to this heard Rubinstein in concert, and
was in a state of great enthusiasm about
his playing, and so expressed herself to
Liszt. His sole comment was, "Have you
ever heard Tausig? " The inference was

176 MEMORIES OF

that those who had heard Rubinstein and
not Tausig had missed hearing the greater
of the two. I think Liszt regarded Tausig
as the best of all his pupils.

As I have said once before in these
pages, I never saw Liszt after leaving
Weimar in July, 1854, I occasionally
received letters from him — several of
them quite long and exceedingly enter-
taining. One of these (the original in
French) is reproduced here because it
is characteristic of his pleasantry and
good humor :

MY DEAR MASON : Although I do not know
at what stage of your brilliant artistic pere-
grinations these lines will reach you, I feel
assured that you are not ignorant that I am
very, very sincerely and affectionately obliged
to you for keeping me in kind remembrance,
a fact to which the musical journals which
you have sent me bear good witness. The
"Musical Gazette" of New York has in par-
ticular given me genuine satisfaction, not
alone on account of the agreeable and natter-
ing things concerning me personally which it
contains, but furthermore because this journal
seems to me to inculcate an excellent and

A MUSICAL LIFE 177

superior direction of opinion in your country.
As you know, my dear Mason, I have no other
self-interest than to serve the good cause of
art so far as is possible, and wherever I find
men who are making conscientious efforts in
the same direction, I rejoice and am strength-
ened by the good example which they give
me. Be so good as to present to your brother,
the head editor of the " Musical Review," as
I suppose, my very sincere thanks and compli-
ments. If he would like to receive some
communication from Weimar upon matters of
interest which occur in the musical world of
Germany, I will willingly have them sent to
him through the medium of Mr. Pohl, who, by
the way, does not live any longer at Dresden,
where the numbers of the "Musical Gazette7'
were addressed by mistake, but at Weimar in
the Kaufstrasse. His wife, one of the best
harpists that I know, stands among the vir-
tuosos of our " Chapelle," and is an important
factor in the representation of the opera, as
also in concerts.

Apropos of concerts, in a few days I will
send you the program of a series of sym-
phonic performances, which ought to have
been established here several years ago, and to
which I consider it an honor and a duty to give
definite encouragement from the year 1855.

I expect Berlioz toward the end of January.
We shall then hear his trilogy " L'Enfance du

23

178 MEMOEIES OF

Christ," of which you already know " La Fuite
en Egypte." To this he has added two other
short oratorios, "Le Songe d'Herode" and
"L'ArriveeaSais."

The dramatic symphony " Faust" (in four
parts, with solos and choruses) will also be
given in full during his stay here.

In regard to visits from artists who have
been personally agreeable to me during the
last month, I would name Clara Schumann
and Litolff.

In Brendel's journal, "Neue Zeitschrift,"
you will find an article signed with my name,
on Mme. Schumann, whom I have again heard
with that sympathy and absolute admiration
which her talent compels.

As for Litolff, I confess that he has made
a very vivid impression on me. His fourth
concerto symphony (manuscript) is a very
remarkable composition, and he played it in
so masterly a manner, with such verve, with
such boldness and certainty, that I derived
intense pleasure from it.

If there was a little of the quadruped in the
amazing execution of Dreyschock (and this
comparison should not vex him; is not the
lion classed among quadrupeds as well as the
poodle?), in that of Litolff, there is certainly
something winged; moreover, he has all the
superiority over Dreyschock that a biped
having ideas, imagination, and sensibility has
over another biped which imagines itself

A MUSICAL LIFE 179

possessed of all this wealth — often very
embarrassing !

Do you continue your familiar intercourse
with the Old Cognac in the New World, my
dear Mason ? Let me again commend measure
to you, an essential quality for musicians. In
truth, I am not too well qualified to extol the
quantity of this quality, for, if I remember
rightly, I have often employed tempo rubato
when I was giving my concerts (work which
I would not begin again for anything in the
world), and even quite recently I have writ-
ten a long symphony in three parts, called
"Faust" (without text or vocal parts), in
which the horrible measures f, |, £ alternate
with common time and f- . By virtue of which
I conclude that you should be satisfied with I
of a little bottle of old cognac in the evening,
and never exceed five quarts !

Raff, in his first volume of " Wagner Frage,"
has thoroughly realized something like five
quarts of doctrinal sufficiency, but that is an
unadvisable example to copy in a critical mat-
ter, and above all in the matter of cognac and
other spirits !

My dear Mason, excuse these bad jokes,
justified only by my good intentions ; that you
may bear yourself valiantly, physically and
morally, is the most cordial wish of

Your very friendly affectionate

F. LISZT.

WEIMAR, December 14, 1854.

180 MEMORIES OF

You did not know Rubinstein in Weimar? 1
He spent some time here, and was conspicu-
ously different from the opaque mass of self-
styled composer-pianists who do not even know
what it is to play the piano, still less with what
fuel it is necessary to heat one's self in order to
compose, so that with what they lack in talent
for composition they fancy themselves pian-
ists, and vice versa.

Rubinstein will publish forthwith about fifty
compositions — concertos, trios, symphonies,
songs, light pieces, etc., which deserve notice.

Laub has left Weimar. Ed. Singer takes his
place in our orchestra. The latter gives much
pleasure here, and is pleased himself also.

Cornelius, Pohl, Raflf, Pruckner, Schreiber,
and all the new school of the new Weimar
send you their friendliest greetings, to which
I add a hearty shake-hand. F. L.

Other letters received from Liszt are
perhaps not very important, but with one
exception never having been published
before, they are printed in the Appendix.

Pupils of Liszt and Thalberg and their
pupils in search of an entertaining diver-
sion may amuse themselves by tracing

*As I have elsewhere stated,1 1 was the first to meet
Rubinstein in Weimar, while Liszt was away.

A MUSICAL LIFE 181

their musical pedigree back to Bach,
Mozart, and Beethoven, and thus lay claim
to very distinguished ancestry, as shown
in the following table :

Liszt, Franz, born Oct. 22, 1811.
Czerny, Carl, born Feb. 21, 1791.
Beethoven, Ludwig van, born Dec. 16, 1770.
Neefe, Christian G., born Feb. 5, 1748.
Hiller, Johann A., born Dec. 25, 1728.
Homilius, G. A., born Feb. 2, 1714.
Bach, Johann Sebastian, born March 21, 1685.
Thalberg, Sigismond, born Jan. 7, 1812.
Hummel, J. K, born Nov. 14, 1778.
Mozart, Wolfgang A., born Jan. 27, 1756.

If there be any whose pride is not
sufficiently nourished by this display, they
may go still further and show, by authen-
tic records, a descent through Bach from
Josquin Desprez, the most eminent con-
trapuntist of the Netherlands school, who
lived about 1450-1521.

During the winter of 1879-80, which I
spent at Wiesbaden on account of ill
health, I received a very cordial invita-
tion to visit Liszt at Weimar some time
in July, and made plans to do so, which

182 A MUSICAL LIFE

were frustrated, however, through unfore-
seen circumstances. Billow, when on his
first visit here, in 1875, told me that the
old charm had entirely passed away. The
" Golden Time" was among the things
that were.

The last message I had from Liszt was
brought to me by Mr. Louis Geilfuss of
Steinway & Sons, who met Liszt in one of
the streets of Bayreuth only a few days
before his death, which occurred some-
what unexpectedly on July 31, 1886.

AT WORK IN AMERICA

WHEN I returned from Europe in
1854 my parents had moved from
Boston, and were living at Orange, New
Jersey.

On landing in New York, I hurried
to Boston, and went immediately to the
house of Mr. Webb. This had been my
constant purpose ever since the time I left
America in 1849. In due course Miss
Webb and I became engaged, and were
married on March 12, 1857.

My first enterprise after returning from
Germany was a concert tour. This I be-
lieve to have been the first exclusively
pianoforte recital tour ever undertaken in
this country. Gottschalk, who was here
at that time, had traveled about giving
concerts, but he was never without a
singer or associate of some kind.
183

184 MEMOEIES OF

In 1853 I had attended a recital given
in Frankfort, Germany, by Ferdinand
Hiller, the program of which consisted
exclusively of his own compositions, con-
cluding with a free improvisation on
themes suggested by the audience. My
recitals were fashioned after this, only I
played very few of my own pieces. The
programs were somewhat similar to those
of the present time, ranging from Bee-
thoven and Chopin to Liszt. At that
time Bach's name, according to my recol-
lection, was never seen on a pianoforte-
recital program. A large number of these
compositions, such as Liszt's "Twelfth
Bhapsody" and Chopin's "Fantasie Im-
promptu," were played for the first time
in this country at these concerts.

TOURING THE COUNTRY

MY friend Oliver Dyer managed the tour.
My brothers Daniel and Lowell were at
this time booksellers and publishers in
New York, under the firm-name of Mason
Brothers, and Mr. Dyer was connected

A MUSICAL LIFE 185

with them in business. He was a man of
action, and possessed good literary ability.
He had lived for a time in Washington as
reporter of speeches made in Congress,
and later on he was connected with Kobert
Bonner on the "Ledger."

He arranged a pamphlet in which he
set forth and doubtless embellished the
facts connected with my sojourn in Ger-
many and the favor with which my play-
ing had been received. When, in the
course of our tour, we arrived at a town
where a lecture was to be given,— not an
uncommon occurrence,— he would take
down the lecture stenographically and
write notices of it for the local papers.
The editors appreciated this favor, and
were so kindly disposed toward us that
they would print any advance notices he
chose to write about me. In what he
wrote of me, however, I was not willing to
have him go to extremes, though he would
frequently slip something into the paper
without my knowledge, leaving me to
find fault with him the next day.

All along the route it was difficult to

186 MEMOEIES OF

persuade people that an entertainment of
pianoforte -playing exclusively could be
made interesting. They had never heard
of such a thing, and insisted that there
ought to be some singing for the sake of
variety. We stopped in Albany, Troy7
Utica, and many other places on the way
to Chicago, where I gave two concerts,
one of which took place on New Year's
eve. After the concert I attended a large
reception given in a private residence.
I remember being struck by the fact, as
it seemed to me, that there were so many
young ladies at this reception, and I
asked the hostess if there were no married
ladies in Chicago. "Why, Mr. Mason,"
she replied, "there are only two or three
unmarried ladies in the room." At that
period Chicago was full of young men
who had come from the Eastern States,
principally New England. After staying
in Chicago for two or three years and get-
ting well started in business they would
get married, many of them going to their
native places for their brides. This ac-
counted for the youthful appearance of

A MUSICAL LIFE 187

the assemblage, and illustrates in part the
very rapid growth of Chicago.

Up to the time we arrived in Chicago we
had rainy weather constantly, and partly
on this account we were out of pocket.
Dyer was for going back to New York by
the quickest route. I said : "No ; I am
going back through the same towns, and
shall give concerts in every one of them.
If the people liked my playing well enough
they will come again and bring their
neighbors. If they did not like it, I shall
soon find it out." As it turned out, I had
much larger audiences all the way home.

"YANKEE DOODLE" AND "OLD

HUNDRED "

COPYING the custom of Ferdinand Hiller,
I used to close my concerts by an im-
provisation upon themes suggested by the
audience. All sorts of themes were put
into the hat— from Mozart, Beethoven,
"Jordan is a hard road to travel," "We
won't go home till morning," and many
negro melodies. I had a faculty of de-

188 MEMORIES OF

veloping a subject in such a way as to
hold my audience.

One night somebody sent up the request
that I should play simultaneously "Old
Hundred" with one hand and "Yankee
Doodle" with the other. This I did,
merely to show that even two such dis-
similar melodies could be played to-
gether in a musical way. There was a
good deal of applause, but also consider-
able hissing from the religious element, so
I made a speech explaining that I meant
no disrespect to "Old Hundred" by pla-
cing it in such close connection with "Yan-
kee Doodle," and that the melody which
had to a certain extent been adopted as a
national air was on that account worthy
of being played with any hymn.

Fifteen years later, in 1870, George F.
Boot, who had assisted my father in his
musical convention work in the East, but
who had settled in Chicago and was doing
the same kind of pioneer work in the
West, was holding a summer musical con-
vention in South Bend, Indiana. He
wished to introduce piano as well as vocal

A MUSICAL LIFE 189

teaching, and invited me to take charge
of the piano classes. It was a fearfully
hot summer, and during the month I was
in South Bend the temperature was con-
tinuously close to 100°. Toward the close
of the season concerts were given, and it
was so hot that in lieu of a dress- coat I
wore a linen duster, cut off at the waist.

At the last concert I received a request
from two or three people to play "Yankee
Doodle'7 with one hand and "Old Hun-
dred " with the other. Possibly they had
heard me do so in 1855. Kemembering
my experience then, I made a few re-
marks, in which I told them that some
little feeling had been created fifteen
years before by my doing the same thing,
but that— and here I got a little mixed—
in playing "Yankee Doodle" with "Old
Hundred " I did not intend any disrespect
to "Yankee Doodle." At this the audi-
ence began to laugh. Schuyler Colfax,
who was then Yice-President of the United
States, was on the stage behind me, and
I could hear him chuckling. I thought
to myself, "Well, I have made some funny

190 MEMORIES OF

mistake, though I don't know what it is,
so I won't go back and try to correct it."

Afterward Mr. Colfax, who was a noted
speaker, told me that whenever he made
a lapsus linguae, if it amused the audience
he never attempted to correct it.

On my return from this concert tour to
New York, I established the series of
chamber-music concerts which, begun as
an experiment, continued thirteen years.
I also settled down as a teacher. While
I had returned from Weimar with the full
intention of continuing my career as a
piano-virtuoso, and while my concert tour
had been promising enough, I found that
the public demanded a constant repetition
of pieces to which it happened to take a
liking, and I knew that I should soon
weary of playing the same things over and
over again. Moreover, I felt that from my
father I had inherited a certain capacity
for giving instruction, and that the cham-
ber-music concerts and engagements with
the Philharmonic and at other concerts
in New York and elsewhere would serve
to keep up my practice as a virtuoso.

A MUSICAL LIFE 191

SETTLING DOWN TO TEACH

IN 1855 I accepted as pupils some four or
five young ladies who were being edu-
cated at a fashionable boarding-school in
New York. One of these girls was very
bright and intelligent but without special
musical talent. She was extremely averse
to application in study, and the problem
for me was to invent some way by which
mental concentration could be compelled,
for from the moment she sat down to the
piano to practise she was constantly look-
ing at the clock to see if her practice-hour
was up. After a little study I found that
in playing a scale up one octave and back,
without intermission, in f time, there are
necessarily nine repetitions of the scale
before the initial tone falls again on the
first part of the measure. Thus,

and so on until another accent falls upon
the initial C. Such an exercise is called

192 MEMORIES OF

a rhythmus, and the repetitions compel
mental concentration just as surely as
the addition of a column of figures does.
I found that if the compass was extended
four octaves, thus, from

the nine repetitions of the scale would
require from three to four minutes if
played at a moderate rate of speed. I
saw at once that a state of mental con-
centration could not be avoided by the
pupil, and that in this exercise lay a basic
principle. I gave the exercise to my
pupil. The result was that when the
next lesson-hour came around and I asked
her how she found the new exercise, she
exclaimed: "How do I like it? Why,
you have played a pretty trick on me !
It took me nearly an hour to accomplish
it ; but I like it. Why did you not give
it to me before?" "Because," I said, "I
invented it simply in order to compel
your attention to your work." Following
up the principle of grouping the tones, I

A MUSICAL LIFE 193

found there was apparently no end to the
possible varieties. Two or three years
after I had published a system of instruc-
tion based upon this principle I came
across a statement in the writings of
Moscheles to the effect that some one
would eventually apply rhythmic forms to
all sorts of finger-exercises, and that this
was a very desirable thing to bring about.
It was precisely the means by which I
had first taught my boarding-school pupil
how to concentrate her mind upon her
practice.

The idea of starting a series of matinees
of chamber-music occurred to me. I
wished especially to introduce to the pub-
lic the "Grand Trio in B Major, Op. 8,"
by Johannes Brahms, and to play other
concerted works, both classical and mod-
ern, for this kind of work interested me
more than mere piano-playing. So I
asked Carl Bergmann, who was the most
noted orchestral conductor of those days,
and thus well acquainted with musicians,
to get together a good string quartet.
This he accomplished in a day or two, and

13

194 MEMOKIES OF

made me acquainted with Theodore
Thomas, first violin; Joseph Mosenthal,
second violin ; and George Matzka, viola,
Bergmann himself being the violoncellist.
We very soon began rehearsing, and our
first concert, or rather matinee, took
place in Dodworth's Hall, opposite Elev-
enth street, and one door above Grace
Church in Broadway. The program was
as follows :

Tuesday, November 27, 1855

1. Quartet in D Minor, Strings . Schubert

2. Romance from Tannhauser,

"Abendstern" Wagner

3. Pianoforte Solo, Fantasie Im-

promptu, Op. 66 (first time) Chopin

[Deux Preludes, D flat and G,
Op. 24 Heller

4. Variations Concertante for

Violoncello and Piano, Op. 17. Mendelssohn

5. " Feldwarts flog ein Voglein » Nicolai

6. Grand Trio in B Major, Op. 8,

Piano, Violin, and Cello (first

time) Brahms

It will be observed that we started out
with a novelty, Brahms's Trio, which was
played then for the first time in America.

A MUSICAL LIFE 195

I repeated it in Boston a few weeks later
with the assistance of some members of
the Mendelssohn Quintet Club. It re-
ceived appreciation on both occasions and
was listened to attentively, but without
enthusiasm. The newspapers spoke well
of it in general, but there were some who
regarded it as constrained and unnatural.
The vocal pieces were inserted in defer-
ence to the prevailing idea of the period
that no musical entertainment could be
enjoyed by the public without some sing-
ing. We quickly got over that notion,
and thenceforth, with rare exceptions, our
programs were confined to instrumental
music.

It was my purpose in organizing these
concerts to make a point of producing
chamber- work, which had never before
been heard here, especially those of Schu-
mann and other modern writers.

THEODORE THOMAS AT TWENTY

THE organization as originally formed
would probably have remained intact dur-

196 MEMORIES OF

ing all the years the concerts lasted had it
not become apparent almost from the
start that Theodore Thomas had in him
the genius of conductorship. He pos-
sessed by nature a thoroughly musical
organization and was a born conductor
and leader.

Before we had been long together it
became apparent that there was more or
less friction between Thomas and Berg-
mann, who, being the conductor of the
Germania and afterward of the Philhar-
monic orchestras, also a player of long
experience and the organizer of the quar-
tet, naturally assumed the leadership in
the beginning. The result was that Berg-
mann withdrew after the first year, and
Bergner, a fine violoncellist and active
member of the Philharmonic Society, took
his place. The organization was then
called the Mason and Thomas Quartet,
and so styled it won a wide reputation
throughout the country. I should say in
passing that Bergmann was an excellent
though not a great conductor.

From the time that Thomas took the

A MUSICAL LIFE 197

leadership free and untrammeled, the
quartet improved rapidly. His dominat-
ing influence was felt and acknowledged
by us all. Moreover, he rapidly devel-
oped a talent for making programs by
putting pieces into the right order of
sequence, thus avoiding incongruities.
He brought this art to perfection in the
arrangement of his symphony concert
programs.

Our viola, Matzka, was also an excellent
musician, and for many years the first
viola of the Philharmonic orchestra.
Mosenthal, who played second violin,
achieved a wide reputation as composer
and conductor, in which latter capacity
he did splendid work for the Mendelssohn
Glee Club. He was also one of the best
teachers of piano and violin in New York.

THOMAS AS CONDUCTOR

THOMAS'S fame as a conductor has entirely
overshadowed his earlier reputation as a
violinist. He had a large tone, the tone
of a player of the highest rank. He

198 MEMOEIES OF

lacked the perfect finish of a great vio-
linist, but he played in a large, quiet, and
reposeful manner. This seemed to pass
from his violin- play ing into his conduct-
ing, in which there is the same sense of
largeness and dignity, coupled, however,
with the artistic finish which he lacked as a
violinist. He is a very great conductor,
the greatest we have ever had here, not
only in the Beethoven symphonies and
other classical music, but in Liszt, Wag-
ner, and the extreme moderns. Why
should he not conduct Wagner as well as
anybody else, or better? Everything is
large about Wagner, and everything is
large about Thomas. His rates of tempo
are in accord with those of the most cele-
brated conductors whom I heard fifty
years ago. In modern times the tendency
has been toward an increased rate of
speed, and this detracts in large measure
from the impressiveness of the works,
especially those of Mozart, Beethoven,
Von Weber, and others.

That the skilful orchestral conductor
does not rely solely upon the ear but

A MUSICAL LIFE 199

sometimes receives assistance from the eye
in his work is illustrated by an experience
of Theodore Thomas which he related
while dining at my house some two years
since. On one occasion, when a benefit
concert was tendered to him, the orchestra
was increased to jubilee dimensions, and
I think there were sixteen violoncello-
players, with other instruments in due
proportion. During the final rehearsal
Mr. Thomas became aware of some imper-
fections, probably of phrasing, and traced
the error to the violoncellists, but could
not at first detect the individual whose
fault it was. On closer scrutiny he ob-
served that one of them was bowing in
the wrong way, and thus obscuring the
phrasing.

The newspapers, in reviewing the con-
cert, mentioned this incident as illus-
trating the wonderfully sensitive ear
of the conductor, whereas on this occa-
sion, at least, the eye was the detective
agent.

It is possible, however, for a trained
ear to detect errors in mere manipulation,

200 MEMORIES OF

and I am reminded by one of my former
pupils that, having taken advantage, dur-
ing one of his lessons, of my momentary
absence in an adjoining room, to play a
passage according to his own ideas of
proper technic, he was astonished to hear
me call out to him that he had used
the wrong finger in striking one of the
keys.

That Thomas had entire confidence in
himself was shown in the outset of his
career. One evening, as he came home
tired out from his work, and after dinner
had settled himself in a comfortable place
for a good rest, a message came to him
from the Academy of Music, about two
blocks away from his house in East
Twelfth street. An opera season was in
progress there, and, what was not unusual,
the management was in financial diffi-
culties. Anschutz, who was conductor of
the orchestra, had refused to take the
desk unless paid what was due him. The
orchestra was in its place, the audience
was seated, but there was no conductor.
Would Thomas come to the rescue t He

THEODORE THOMAS

liBOUT TWENTY-FOUR YEARS OLD

A MUSICAL LIFE 201

had never conducted opera, and the work
for the evening's performance was an
opera with which he was unfamiliar.
Here was a life's opportunity, and Thomas
was equal to the occasion. He thought
for a moment, then said, "I will." He
rose quickly, got himself into his dress-
suit, hurried to the Academy of Music,
and conducted the opera as if it were a
common experience. He was not a man
to say, "Give me time until next week."
He was always ready for every oppor-
tunity.

On Christmas day, 1900, a friend pre-
sented me with a calendar for the year
1901. It has a leaf for each day of the
year. The calendar evidently required
much labor in preparation, and necessi-
tated correspondence with many friends
at home as well as abroad, and many are
the cordial responses that were received.
The result is a daily pleasure and surprise.
The leaf for February 11, 1901, the day of
my present writing, has reference to the
third concert of chamber-music, eighth
season of Mason and Thomas, which took

202 MEMORIES OF

place on Tuesday evening, February 10,
1862 :

Tuesday, February 10, 1862

The third soiree of Mason and Thomas had
the following program :

Quartet, C Major, No. 2 .... Cherubini
Piano Trio, D Major, Op. 70, No. I Beethoven
Quartet, A Major, Op. 41, No. 3 . Schumann

A program as interesting and fresh to-day
as thirty-eight years ago. The weather was
very cold, — below zero, — and during the largo
of the trio the gas gave out. We continued
playing for some time, but finally had to stop.
The " Geister " [the composition here referred
to is called by the Germans the "Geister
Trio"] did not assist us! Do you remember
the fact?

Es ist schon lange her.

THEODORE THOMAS.

KARL KLAUSER, MUSICAL DIRECTOR
AT MISS PORTER'S SCHOOL

THROUGH Mosenthal our quartet became
acquainted with Mr. Karl Klauser, who
was an active and enthusiastic musician
of thorough education, and who has ac-

A MUSICAL LIFE 203

complished a great deal of useful work
both as a compiler and teacher of classic
and modern compositions. Mr. Klauser
is a native of St. Petersburg, born of Ger-
man parents ; he came to New York in
1850, and was engaged as musical director
in Miss Porter's famous school for young
ladies in 1855, a post which he filled with
credit and ability for many years. He
was enthusiastically fond of chamber-
music, and frequently attended the re-
hearsals of our quartet ; and it was
through him that we were induced to give
recitals in Farmington six months after
our beginning in New York. On Thurs-
day, June 26, 1856, our program was as
follows :

String Quartet in E flat, No. 4 . . Mozart
Trio, Piano, Violin, and Violoncello,

G Minor, Op. 15, No. 2 .... Rubinstein
Variations from Quartet No. 5 . . Beethoven
Also solos for pianoforte and for violoncello.

On the following day another recital
was given, with an entire change of
program.

At that time one of the undergraduates

204 MEMORIES OF

of the school was a young girl who is now
the wife of a distinguished lawyer of New
York, and is herself prominent in good
works. Not long ago I received from her
the following very agreeable letter about
the early Farmington days :

MY DEAR DR. MASON : I am glad to hear
that you are to share your pleasant " Memo-
ries" with your friends. I hope, in looking
back to the happy times when you were
young, you will not forget your annual visits
to dear old Farmington ; for if you do not
remember them in words, many old admirers
will wonder how you could fail to make much
of occasions so precious to them.

As one of Miss Porter's girls, who can now
live over again the coming to town of William
Mason, Theodore Thomas, J. Mosenthal, G.
Matzka, F. Bergner, and the long-looked-for
chamber-concerts, I feel sure that in all of
your generous giving of a God-given genius,
you never gave more real pleasure than you
gave those school-girls and teachers hungry
for a taste of life outside the school, and for
good music, the best of all company. You
were then to them what you only hoped to be
after years of hard work, — great men in your
profession, — and they could not have dressed
with more care or been more excited if they

A MUSICAL LIFE 205

had been going to listen with royalty to the
greatest of the old masters.

Among the choicest of my pictures of Farm-
ington days is that of the girls in white and
dainty pinks and greens and blues, with flow-
ers to wear and flowers to throw to you, almost
dancing down that beautiful street on a sum-
mer day to "the concert," and in the fore-
ground a quaint dark figure whom all the
girls remember on festive occasions as bearing
the burden of her choice with a New England
sense of propriety at war with her keen
sympathy with all that is natural in young
people, and with the pride in her good-look-
ing family which made her blind to their
youthful follies. That was long ago when we
were giddy girls, but the verdict of our heads
and hearts was a true one.

Sure that your memories, dear Dr. Mason,
must be bright in the sunlight of so many
warm friendships, I am listening to the music
of long ago.

March 31, 1901.

LOUIS MOREAU GOTTBCHALK

I KNEW Gottschalk well, and was fasci-
nated by his playing, which was full of
brilliancy and bravura. His strong, rhyth-
mic accent, his vigor and dash, were excit-

206 MEMORIES OF

ing and always aroused enthusiasm. He
was the perfection of his school, and his
effects had the sparkle and effervescence
of champagne. He was as far as possible
from being an interpreter of chamber or
classical music, but, notwithstanding this,
some of the best musicians of the strict
style were frequently to be seen among
his audience, among others Carl Berg-
mann, who told me that he always heard
Gottschalk with intense enjoyment. He
first made his mark through his arrange-
ment of Creole melodies. They were well
denned rhythmically, and he played them
with absolute rhythmic accuracy. This
clear definition in his interpretation con-
tributed more than anything else to the
fascination which he always exerted over
his audience. He did not care for the
German school, and on one occasion, after
hearing me play Schumann at one of the
Mason-Thomas matinees, he said : "Mason,
I do not understand why you spend so
much of your time over music like that ;
it is stiff and labored, lacks melody, spon-
taneity, and naivete. It will eventually

A MUSICAL LIFE 207

vitiate your musical taste and bring you
into an abnormal state."

Although an enthusiastic admirer of
Beethoven symphonies and other orches-
tral works, he did not care for the piano-
forte sonatas, which he said were not
written in accordance with the nature of
the instrument. It has been said that he
could play all of the sonatas by heart ;
but I am quite sure that Mr. Eichard
Hoffman, who was his intimate friend,
will sustain me in the assertion that such
was not the fact.

I have known Mr. Hoffman for more
than fifty years, having met him for the
first time in the year 1847 or thereabout.
His playing is still characterized by
precision, accuracy, and clearness in
phrasing, with an excellent technic, com-
bined with repose. I have many times
enjoyed his artistic interpretations, and
I heard him with great pleasure not a
long while ago, on the occasion of his
fiftieth anniversary as a teacher in this
country.

Returning to Gottschalk, a funny thing

208 MEMORIES OF

happened one day. At the time of which
I write, forty-five years ago, William
Hall & Sons' music-store was in Broad-
way, corner of Park Place, and was a
place of rendezvous for musicians. Going
there one day, I met Gottschalk, who,
holding up the proof-sheet of a title-page
which he had just received from the
printer, said: "Kead that!" What I
read was, "The Latest Hops," in big block
letters after the fashion of an outside
music title-page. "What does this
mean?" I asked. "Well," he replied,
"it ought to be 'The Last Hope/ but the
printer, either by way of joke or from
stupidity, has expressed it in this way.
There is to be a new edition of my ( Last
Hope,' and I am revising it for that pur-
pose."

I have in my autograph-book a letter
of his, undated, but written in the late
fifties :

MY DEAR M. : If you have nothing to do,
come and spend the evening with me on Sun-
day next. No formality. Smoking required,
impropriety allowed, and complete liberty,

A MUSICAL LIFE 209

with as little music as possible. I was going
to mention that we will have a glass of wine
and chicken salad.

Your friend,

GOTTSCHALK.

149 East Ninth Street.

PROPAGANDA FOR SCHUMANN'S MUSIC

GOTTSCHALK'S remark about my liking
for Schumann's music was at that time
echoed by others, for when I returned
from Germany and found Schumann vir-
tually unknown here, I made it my mis-
sion to introduce his music into this
country— a labor of love in which I was
afterward greatly aided by the quartet
concerts and by my teaching. Shortly
after my return from Germany I went
to Breusing's, then one of the principal
music-stores in the city,— the Schirmers
are his successors,— and asking for cer-
tain compositions by Schumann, I was in-
formed that they had his music in stock,
but as there was no demand for it, it was
packed away in a bundle and kept in the
basement. Pretty soon, however, my pu-

14

210 MEMORIES OF

pils began calling for Schumann's pieces,
and Schumann moved up from the cellar
to the main floor. His music was expen-
sive, because it was published in sets, and
if a pupil wanted to buy one of the
"Novellettes" or "Kinderscenen," it was
necessary to purchase the whole collection.
After a while, however, some of the
music-dealers began to publish a number
of the pieces separately. This had the
effect in some measure of opening up the
sale of his music to pupils and amateurs.

SIGISMOND THALBERG

THALBERG'S playing was characterized by
grace, elegance, and perfection of finish in
detail. His style was suave, courteous,
and aristocratic. Being a pupil of Hum-
mel, who had in turn taken lessons of
Mozart for two years, it was quite within
the line of descent that he should have
acquired the extremely smooth legato
touch of those masters. As distinguished
from any pianist-composer up to his time,
his specialty was the surrounding of a

A MUSICAL LIFE 211

melody with arabesques and ornamental
passages of scales and arpeggios played
with rapidity, clearness, and brilliancy.
Parish Alvars, the harpist, had originated
this device, and Thalberg adapted it to
the pianoforte, for which instrument it
was better suited and more effective than
on the harp.

The important influence of the upper-
arm muscles in the production of power-
ful and resonant tones seems to have been
but little known in those days. Leopold
de Meyer's constant use of these, as noted
elsewhere, was apparently unconscious
and instinctive.

Thalberg's octave -play ing was not alto-
gether elastic and free from rigidity, for
in long-continued and rapid octave pas-
sages a close observer would have noticed
a contraction of his facial muscles and a
compression of the lips, which would have
been avoided under the conditions of
properly devitalized upper-arm muscles
and loose wrists.

Shortly after his arrival in our country
he went by invitation to my brother's

212 MEMORIES OF

house in West Orange, New Jersey, on a
visit of some weeks. This afforded an
opportunity which was not neglected, and
as a result I became well acquainted with
him and his method of practice. In this
way he was virtually one of my best teach-
ers, although no regular lessons were re-
ceived from him. Moreover, in several
of his concerts I played with him his
duo for two pianofortes on themes from
"Norma," and these were occasions of
great artistic profit. One learned much,
also, from hearing him practise. His
daily exercises included scale and arpeggio
passages played at various rates of speed
and with different degrees of dynamic
force. These were always put into
rhythmic form, and the measures, some-
times in triple and sometimes in quadruple
time in many varieties, were invariably
indicated by means of accentuation.
Dynamic effects, such as crescendos and
diminuendos, also received due atten-
tion. In short, as it seems to me, he
made it a point— as well in the cultiva-
tion and development of physical technic

A MUSICAL LIFE 213

as in his public performances— to play
musically at all times.

Thalberg's technic seemed to be con-
fined mainly to the finger, hand, wrist,
and lower-arm muscles, but these he used
in such a deft manner as to draw from his
instrument the loveliest tones. He was
altogether opposed to the high-raised
finger of some of the modern schools, and
in his work entitled "L'Art du Chant
applique au Piano " he cautions students
against this habit. The same advice had
been previously given by Carl Czerny in
his "Letters on the Art of Playing the
Pianoforte," namely : "Do not strike the
keys from too great a height, as in this
case a thud will accompany the tone."

Thalberg adds : "Gewohnlich arbeitet
man zu viel mit den Fingern und zu
wenig mit dem Geiste" ("Generally one
works too much with the fingers and too
little with the intelligence").

This is reasonable advice, for a touch
which starts off simply for strength and me-
chanical development, separate from other
traits, becomes eventually so obstinately

214 MEMORIES OF

fixed and determined that its influence
will dominate and stand constantly in the
way of poetic and musical development.
In this connection it is well to remember
and apply the proverb : "An ounce of
prevention is worth a pound of cure."

He was very fond of his grand piano-
fortes, both of which were made by Erard
of Paris. One of these instruments was
drawn upon a much larger scale than had
previously been made by this or, so far
as I know, by any other manufacturer.
The tone was powerful and of a lovely
musical character. Thalberg's idea was
that the better the instrument the greater
the advantage afforded the virtuoso, not
only for public playing, but as well for the
purpose of practice and musical develop-
ment. I remember his telling me that a
fine instrument even suggested ideas to
the composer and furthered his work. An
experience of many years has proved to
me the soundness of his theory and the
importance of its practical application.

The not uncommon assertion that "any
piano will do for a beginner " is wrong in

A MUSICAL LIFE 215

principle. How absurd to assert that any
associates will do for children in the begin-
ning ! It is just at this tender age when
impressions are so easily received that the
best musical advantages should be afforded.
What can be better adapted to the culti-
vation of a musical ear than the constant
presence of musical tones of the highest
quality and purity? The ear requires
close musical companionship' in order to
promote corresponding development.

The cultivation of a physical technic is
important, indeed indispensable, but it
should not precede or be separated from
musical companionship. Its development
should at all stages be surrounded by a
musical atmosphere in which its adapta-
bility to the expression of poetical ideas
may be developed. The heart and head
should be closely united.

PEDAL AND PEDAL SIGNS— WHY NOT
DISPENSE WITH THE LATTER?

PROLONGED or organ tones are not pos-
sible on the pianoforte. From the moment

216 MEMOEIES OF

the hammer strikes the string the tone
begins to diminish in volume and soon
fades away. One of the chief arts of the
pianist is to sustain a tone throughout the
full value of the note which represents it,
and this is accomplished either by steady
pressure on the key or by the use of the
open pedal, frequently misnamed the loud
pedal. The use of the word "loud" in
this connection is illogical and misleading.
The word "open " is much better, because
this pedal, when pressed, causes the
dampers to be raised from the strings,
thus leaving them open, and so prolong-
ing the tones. Furthermore, the open
pedal is constantly used in the softest and
most delicate passages. Its mission is
simply to prolong the tones, whether loud
or soft. In either case the tone dies
rapidly away, and the pianist, sensitively
aware of this, and feeling the necessity of
keeping up the volume of sound, is led
unconsciously to anticipate or take the
next tone a little before its due time. The
effect of this process in continuation is to
produce a feeling of unrest on the part of
the hearer, and is fatal to repose. On this

A MUSICAL LIFE 217

account Thalberg earnestly recommends
to piano-students that "the tones inva-
riably be held throughout their absolute
or exact value" (see "L'Art du Chant").
Tones can be sustained, so far as this is
possible on the pianoforte, in two ways,
namely, by means of the open pedal or
by holding down the keys firmly during
the exact value represented by the notes.
How can this value be determined?
Solely through the medium of the ear.
"The proof of the pudding is in the
eating." The proof of musical sounds, as
to quality and duration, is in the listening.
This being granted, it seems to follow
that all signs, such as "Fed.," *, or y/ ^/,
etc., should be discarded as being even
worse than useless, for when pupils pay
careful attention to them they are apt to
be guided solely by the eye. They press
down the pedal at the sign "Fed.," and
release it at the following asterisk (*),
doing this in a merely perfunctory way,
and hence they either fail to produce a
true legato effect or err in the opposite
direction of an over-legato, which results
in a confusion of sounds. This may be

218 MEMORIES OF

best avoided by practising on an instru-
ment of fine musical quality and beauti-
ful singing tone, which promotes the habit
of listening attentively, and thus con-
tributes in the highest degree to the de-
velopment and training of the ear.

It is true that musical temperament is
inborn, and those who possess it have
native insight, and hence develop with
rapidity. There are, however, very many
who are not "to the manner born." Such
are obliged to acquire habits through per-
sistent and persevering effort. All travel
the same road, but the genius flies while
the less gifted plods along. However, for
the benefit and consolation of the latter,
I remind them that the tortoise left the
hare asleep and won the race. The ear
should be cultivated for music, the eye
for painting, the mind in both j and the
heart especially in music, because the
latter is the " language of the emotions."

A little pedal study from my work en-
titled "Touch and Technic" (Part IV,
page 18), will serve to illustrate what I
mean. It is on an elementary plane and

PEDAL STUDY FOR THE PIANOFORTE

(To be played throughout with one finger)
Moderate.

f

•31

p

dim.

r-

220 MEMOEIES OF

can easily be accomplished by a begin-
ner with a little care and ordinary perse-
verance.

It is to be played with only one finger,
and the tones of the melody must receive
special emphasis so as to stand out clearly,
and they must be sustained by means of
the open pedal throughout the exact
length of time represented by the notes.
The crescendo and diminuendo must be
observed according to direction, and as a
help to this effect the soft pedal may be
used simultaneously, either all of the
time or occasionally, in an experimental
way and according to fancy. This pro-
motes the faculty of judgment and leads
to individuality, a very desirable result.

The melody is on the middle line and
the accompaniment on the outer lines.
The melody must predominate in power,
and must be sustained throughout the
exact value of its representative notes,
which are mostly dotted halves, viz. : f '.
This is accomplished by firmly pressing
the open pedal, the finger in the mean-
while playing the accompaniment. Thus

A MUSICAL LIFE 221

the tone is sustained solely by means of
the pedal. Carefully observe the effects
of crescendo -==n and diminuendo zr=>.
Play strictly in time.

In the final measure still continue the
pedal pressure after the C in the treble
has been played. There are now four
tones sounding together. Now replace
the finger silently and without striking on
the melody key E. While still pressing
this key raise the foot from the pedal.
This leaves the E sounding alone. Hold
down the key until the tone has quite died
away.

RUBINSTEIN AND THE AUTOGRAPH-
HUNTER

ONE afternoon I accompanied Eubinstein
from his hotel to Steinway Hall, where he
was to give a recital. Just outside of the
stage-entrance were two young ladies, one
of whom stepped forward and, handing
me a sheet of paper and a pencil, begged
me to ask Eubinstein for his autograph,
and to leave it for her in the dressing-

222 MEMORIES OF

room, so that she could get it after the
recital. I told her that Rubinstein did
not like writing autographs ; that he was
a man of kindly disposition, but some-
times acted from impulse ; nevertheless,
I would see what could be done. So,
following Rubinstein up -stairs to the
retiring-room, I handed him the writing-
materials, stating the young lady's re-
quest.

He took them, saying nothing, but
walked with an air of determination to
the window, opened it, and threw them
into the street. "Mason," he said, "I
don't like your country. People pry too
much into private affairs." He then went
on to speak of newspaper writers who had
interviewed him and ingeniously beguiled
him into speaking of many things which
concerned solely his own personality, and
the next day published all of these things
in detail. He said : "There is absolutely
no privacy in this country." "Rubin-
stein," I said, "I can quite appreciate
your position, and understand why you
should have come to such conclusions, but

A MUSICAL LIFE 223

I am sure that upon due reflection you
will realize that you are doing us an in-
j ustice. You have been incessantly occu-
pied during your sojourn here, have hur-
ried from place to place, given concerts
with hardly any intermission, and natu-
rally have had no time to see people in
their homes. You have not been able to
judge of our domestic life or to mingle in
society and study our habits." He ad-
mitted this at once and made due acknow-
ledgment. Wieniawski, who was once
with us when a similar conversation oc-
curred just before the close of their stay
here, said : "Mason, I regret extremely
that I have not been able to go out to
Orange to visit you. We have traveled
constantly and rushed from place to place
in order to fulfil concert engagements, so
that there has been no time for social
intercourse. I don't wish you to gather
from my apparent neglect an idea that
Poles are unsociable ; on the contrary, I
assure you we are very fond of social life."
Kubinstein came here with a great rep-
utation, and achieved a good success. He

224 MEMORIES OF

had transcendent ability, accompanied,
however, by certain limitations. By na-
ture impulsive and excitable, he often lost
self-control, and in consequence he fre-
quently anticipated his climax. He was
like a general who excelled in a brilliant
sortie, but who had not the dogged per-
sistence necessary to a long-sustained
battle, and at the critical points he was
constantly losing his self-poise. When,
however, he did effect a climax, it was
apt to be a great one, a jubilee. Liszt, on
the other hand, was remarkable for his
reserve force and for the discretion with
which he made use of it ; for if, perchance,
he missed a climax he immediately made
preparation for a new one, and was al-
ways sure to reach the zenith at precisely
the right moment.

There were occasions on which Kubin-
stein played with the most wonderful re-
pose, and at such times his playing was
musical and poetic in the highest degree.
This was particularly the case in slow or
moderate movements characterized by
tenderness, affection, and fervor. But in

A MUSICAL LIFE 225

the rapid and spirited movements Ms
tendency was to run away and finally to
lose self-possession— an affliction to which
the large majority of concert-pianists are
subject. Violinists and singers are not
nearly so much so, because they can pro-
long their tones with steady force, or
diminish and increase the tone at will.
As I have already pointed out, the case is
different with the pianist, for after the
piano-key has been struck the tone im-
mediately begins to decrease in power, and
this incites the player to produce another
tone ; so he proceeds a little too quickly,
constantly gaining a little in speed and
crowding one tone upon the other. The
effect is exasperating to the listener, who
becomes more and more restless, until
finally all quiet and repose is utterly lost.
The unevenness in Rubinstein's play-
ing I believe to have been wholly due to
the temperamental moods of a man of
extreme artistic sensitiveness. He was
a thoroughly conscientious artist and
worked at the piano incessantly many
hours a day. I remember his once saying

15

226 MEMORIES OF

to me : "I dislike nothing more than to
have people say to me, as they frequently
do, ( But you do not have to practise, for
you are a born genius and get everything
by nature.7 It is provoking to listen to
such stuff after having worked so hard."

EVOLUTION IN MUSICAL IDEAS
BEETHOVEN PIANOFORTE RECITALS

No pianist ever dreamed of playing Bee-
thoven's sonatas in public in those days.
They were reserved for the parlor ; and
one, or two at most, were enough for an
evening. The mental absorption of this
amount was sufficient. Lighter pieces
filled out the program. I am quite sure
that it was Biilow who first played sev-
eral of Beethoven's sonatas consecutively
at a recital. I learned of this through
Anton Rubinstein when he was here in
1873. He spoke of it as being an extraor-
dinary thing, and added that, as a musi-
cian, he could not give it his approval.
It might be a scientific thing to do, but
was certainly not congenial to a true

A MUSICAL LIFE 227

musical nature, which required variety.
A dinner consisting of heavy dishes
throughout, without the interspersion
of condiments, vegetables, and tarts to stir
and incite the appetite, would be both
distasteful and fatal to good digestion.
The pieces selected for the musical feast
should be homogeneously arranged ; and
so should the various courses of the dinner.
However, notwithstanding what Rubin-
stein said in 1873, I noticed that, but a
comparatively short time afterward, he
also began the practice of giving recitals
at which he played several sonatas in se-
quence. It is possible that he did this less
to gratify his own personal artistic tastes
than in deference to those of the public
who had not his musical organization, and
so could stand the intensity of the thing
while he profited by the physical practice.

RUBINSTEIN'S FAVORITE SEAT AT A
PIANOFORTE RECITAL

RUBINSTEIN, as a listener, was particular
as to the location of his seat at a concert

228 MEMOKIES OF

or recital of pianoforte music, and always
sought a place in one of the galleries on
the left hand, facing the stage. Thus he
sat in the corner diagonal to the piano-
forte, looking over the right shoulder of
the player.

It is true that even on the ground floor
or parterre of a hall this position affords
a great advantage, and the tones of the
pianoforte are essentially more full of
resonance and musical tone than in any
other location. This may be accounted
for on the theory that the raised lid of
the instrument deflects the sound in that
direction. There is a corresponding dis-
advantage in a position on the opposite
side of the house, especially if seated on
the ground floor near the stage. I have
frequently tried both of these positions,
and always with the same result j hence
I have learned to make due allowance in
judging of the pianist. A listener una-
ware of this difference may seriously err
in estimating the tone quality of the in-
strument.

A MUSICAL LIFE 229

BACH'S "TRIPLE CONCERTO" AND
"LES AGREMENTS"

IN Bach's time many embellishments were
used in playing the clavichord. They
were all included under the general title
Les Agrements, or, in German, Manieren.
Of these the mordent, almost identical
with the modern Pralltriller, was in most
frequent use. It is quite a little thing
and simple enough, but there are few
players who succeed in giving it the right
snap or rattle, without which its true
significance is wholly lost. I have already
mentioned playing this concerto with
Klindworth and Pruckner at a court con-
cert in Weimar. While previously re-
hearsing it, Liszt was very particular in
his directions, especially regarding the
mordents, and we did our best to follow
them. Moreover, Liszt was an authority.
He always made thorough investigation
of a subject before expressing an opinion
upon it, and he was very careful to give a
historically accurate and truthful render-
ing of these old-fashioned ornaments. I

230 MEMORIES OF

afterward found that when three pianists
came together for the purpose of playing
this concerto a good deal of time was
wasted in discussing the proper way of
playing the mordent. It was on the pro-
gram of the Mason-Thomas matinees in
New York more than once, and on one
occasion we had the assistance of the well-
known pianists Messrs. Timm and Scharf-
enberg. There was no friction at that
time, as the three performers were of one
mind.

In May, 1873, Theodore Thomas ar-
ranged a grand musical festival in New
York, of which Kubinstein was the prin-
cipal attraction. The "Triple Concerto "
was one of the features of the festival.
Rubinstein played the first piano, and
Mills and I the other two.

The concerto has the accompaniment
of a string quartet, which may be doubled
or increased to the size of a small orches-
tra if desired. It was thought best to
have a preliminary rehearsal for the three
pianos alone, and a time was appointed
for our meeting together at my studio in

A MUSICAL LIFE 231

Steinway Hall. Mr. Thomas, not being
familiar with the concerto, wished to be
present in order to become acquainted
with it, and at the appointed time was the
first to make his appearance. I told him
that Rubinstein, not precise in historical
methods, would play the mordents in ac-
cordance with the mood in which he
happened to be. "However," I con-
tinued, "I have an old book by Friedrich
Wilhelm Marpurg, published in Berlin in
1765, in which he gives written examples
of all of the Manieren. We will show
this to Rubinstein and have some fun.
But I do not propose to waste time in
discussions. He can play as he likes, and
Mills and I will follow suit."

Rubinstein shortly made his appear-
ance, and Mills came a little later. I told
Rubinstein about my ancient authority,
adding that we should be spared the tedi-
ousness of a discussion as to the manner
of playing. "Let me see the old book,"
said Rubinstein. Running over the
leaves, he came to the illustrations of the
mordent. The moment his eyes fell upon

232 MEMORIES OF

them he exclaimed : "All wrong ; here is
the way I play it," and going to the
piano, he played as follows :

This is what Marpurg calls a kind of
double mordent, or Doppelschlag. The
three keys are struck almost simultane-
ously, but the middle one only is held
down, while the upper and lower ones are
immediately released. The true way of
playing the mordent is thus :

However, we adopted Rubinstein's way
without comment.

What I have written about Rubinstein
and Bach's "Triple Concerto in D Minor "
recalls to my mind an occasion when I
played it with Mr. Boscovitz and Mme.
Essipoff at the latter's last recital here,
I think in the year 1876. When, at the
rehearsal, we came to discuss the mor-

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A MUSICAL LIFE 233

dents, Essipoff exclaimed : "I cannot play
those things ; show me how they are done."
After repeated trials, however, she failed
to get the knack of playing them, as, in-
deed, so many pianists do, so at the re-
cital she omitted them and left their
performance to Boscovitz and me. I
think the effect of the concerto was not
marred by the omission. The incident
just related must not be construed as in
any degree a disparagement of Mme.
EssipoiFs playing ; as an artist she belongs
easily in the first rank of women players,
and her style is charming.

In taking leave of my old book by
Marpurg I present a specimen of advice
which he addresses to pianoforte-students,
namely : aln regard to deportment and
manners [at the pianoforte], one should
take care to avoid making faces, bobbing
the head, snorting, twisting the mouth,
gritting the teeth, and all such ridiculous
things. In the absence of the teacher, a
pupil who has fallen into such ungainly
habits can correct them by means of a
mirror placed in front on the music-rack."

234 MEMOKIES OF

The foregoing is as honest a translation
from the German as I am able to make.
During a half-century's experience in
pianoforte-teaching I do not remember a
single case among my pupils of one who
stood in need of this advice.

A SIGNIFICANT AUTOGRAPH FROM
RUBINSTEIN

JUST before leaving Weimar I had
asked Eubinstein to write in my auto-
graph-book, and he immediately com-
plied.

The theme, which he wrote in the key
of E flat major, is characteristic of him.
It is strong and has a vigorous upward
movement. It suggests the young man
just starting out in life, with the vitality
and courage of early manhood. It is
dated "Weymar, le 5. Juin, 1854."

I did not see Rubinstein again until
1873, the year of his visit to this country.
Happening in his room one day with my
book, the idea occurred to me of asking
him to write in it again, under his former

A MUSICAL LIFE 235

signature. For some reason he was averse
to doing so, but finally consented. At a
glance the second theme seems like the
first, but on examination the difference
will appear. He has transposed the
theme to E flat minor, and its character
is entirely changed. The young man has
reached the summit of the hill and real-
izes that he is now upon the descent. The
allegro maestoso of former years has
changed to an adagio, and, as Rubinstein
aptly writes, it is "not the same."

An autograph written for me by Joa-
chim Raff is also interesting. On the
night before I left Weimar, June 25, 1854,
Kaff and I had supper at the Erbprinz
together, and as the evening wore on we
somehow got into a heated discussion
about Zukunftsmusikj taking opposite sides.
However, as a matter of course, we made
up before parting. He had previously
written his musical autograph in the
book, but now he added a kind thought to
speed me on my way, namely : "That he
may live well, work well, and soon return
to Weimar music. Mitternachtscheide."

236 MEMOEIES OF

RUBINSTEIN, PADEREWSKI, AND
"YANKEE DOODLE"

long before Rubinstein's departure
for Europe he wrote a large number of
variations on "Yankee Doodle/7 and
meeting me shortly afterward, he in-
formed me of the fact, and added : "I have
inscribed your name at the head of the
title-page, and they are now in the hands
of the publisher." He said further, and in
a seemingly apologetic tone : "They are
good, I assure you, and I have taken much
pleasure in writing them." He played
this composition at his farewell concert
in New York, and in point of fact the
variations were very well made ; but I
think that much of his playing at the con-
cert referred to was improvised.

The second season Paderewski was here
I sat next to him at a dinner given just
after his arrival. During conversation he
said somewhat suddenly : "Mr. Mason, I
have just composed a fantasy on ' Yankee
Doodle,' and have dedicated it to you."

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A MUSICAL LIFE 237

He looked at me, and thought he saw
a curious expression in my face,— al-
though I was quite unaware of such a
thing,— and continued, "You don't like
it ! " "Oh, I do," I protested, "and es-
teem the dedication as a great honor."
"I see you don't," he said. "Well," I
replied, "I already have one ' Yankee
Doodle ' from Rubinstein, and was think-
ing that the coincidence of your dedicat-
ing me another was very curious, that is
all. Let me explain to you that ' Yankee
Doodle ' does not stand in the same rela-
tion to the United States as ' God Save the
Queen' to England, 'Gott erhalte Franz
den Kaiser' to Austria, or the 'Marseil-
laise' to France. l Yankee Doodle' was
written by an Englishman in derision of
us." I am afraid that my remarks dis-
couraged him, for he never finished the
composition. He played it to me as far
as he had progressed with it, and it is
certainly the best treatment of the theme
I have ever heard. He had given it re-
spectability, and, indeed, he told me that
he really liked the tune.

238 MEMOEIES OF

MEETINGS WITH VON BULOW

YON BULOW, who had been a pupil of
Liszt a year or two before my time, would
occasionally return to Weimar from his
concert tours, and during these visits I
became well acquainted with him. In
certain ways he was a wonderful man.
He had an extraordinary memory and
remarkable technic. He was invariably
accurate and precise in his careful obser-
vance of rhythm and meter by means of
proper accentuation, and the clear phras-
ing resulting therefrom made up a good
deal for the absence of other desirable
features, for his playing was far from be-
ing impassioned or temperamental. His
Chopin-playing always impressed me as
dry, and his Beethoven interpretations
lacked warmth and fervency.

I remember he once said to me : "Ku-
binstein can make any quantity of errors
during his performance, and nobody is
disturbed by it ; but if I make a single
mistake it will be noticed immediately by

A MUSICAL LIFE 239

every one in the audience, and the effect
will be spoiled."

Personally, Von Billow and I got along-
very well together. He always made
kind inquiry for me when he met common
friends in Europe, and he once presented
me with an autograph of Brahms which
he valued highly. The following letter
he wrote me shortly after his arrival in
this country, in response to an invitation
to make me a few days' visit in Orange,
New Jersey, where I was then residing.

BOSTON, October 21, 1875.

MY DEAR COLLEAGUE : I have just now re-
ceived your kind note, and although I have
not a single moment of leisure, I want to
thank you and to tell you how happy I should
be to meet you again after nearly a quarter of
a century out of sight.

Alas ! it is quite impossible for me to make
you a visit before my arrival in New York. I
must work very hard in spite of a bad health
and a not at all Rubinstein-like constitution.

As this specimen of cablegrammatical
shows, I am unable to express myself in your
language without a heap of wrong notes in
every line. It was but two years ago, when I
made my first appearance in old England

240 MEMORIES OF

(much less sympathetic to me than New Eng-
land), that I began to stammer the Anglo-
Saxon idiom. Please kindly excuse the short-
ness and weakness of my reply.

Many thousand most friendly compliments
from our common co-pupil Carl Klind worth,1
whom I saw last summer in Tyrol ; we often
spoke of you.

Yours most truly,

HANS VON BiiLOW.

I know from what Von Billow himself
told me that he accepted philosophically
the trouble between himself and his wife
Cosima Liszt, and her subsequent mar-
riage to Wagner. Soon after he arrived
in New York, in 1876, I called on him,
and during our conversation I broached
the subject in a tentative way. I was not
sure that his feelings toward Wagner
were not so hostile that mention of the
Bayreuth master would have to be
avoided, and I thought it just as well to
arrive immediately at a clear understand-
ing of the matter.

"Bulow," I said, "you will excuse me if

1 He was at Moscow, being first professor of pianoforte-
playing at the Conservatory there.

r.

*•-*,„

A MUSICAL LIFE 241

I touch on a rather delicate subject. Of
course your friends abroad know just what
your present attitude is toward Wagner ;
but over here we know little or nothing
about it. Perhaps you would like to en-
lighten me. I hope, however, I have not
touched on a painful subject."

"Not at all," he exclaimed. "What
happened was the most natural thing in
the world. You know what a wonderful
woman Cosima is— such intellect, such
energy, such ambition, which she natu-
rally inherits from her father. I was en-
tirely too small a personality for her.
She required a colossal genius like Wag-
ner's, and he needed the sympathy and
inspiration of an intellectual and artistic
woman like Cosima. That they should
have come together eventually was in-
evitable."

EDVAKD GRIEG

ON July 1, 1890, my daughter, sister-in-
law, and I were in Bergen, Norway, hav-
ing just returned from a very pleasant
trip to the North Cape.

16

242 MEMOKIES OF

Being so near Grieg's home, an hour
and a half s drive from Bergen, and hav-
ing received an invitation to visit him,
we presented ourselves at his "Villa
Troldhangen " in the afternoon. The day
was bright and lovely, and thus we saw
Grieg's place under the most favorable
aspect. Our reception by Mr. and Mrs.
Grieg was most hospitable, and we felt
immediately at home. After half an hour's
conversation, we all strolled through the
beautiful grounds, which in many places
are thick with trees and shrubs, while
here and there are clearings through
which the waters of the fiord shine bright
and clear. The wild flowers, with their
rich, brilliant colors, were especially at-
tractive ; indeed, this is everywhere in
Norway an attractive feature.

Mr. Grieg is a man of high intelligence
and culture, and is thoroughly natural
and genial. I have very pleasant mem-
ories of our cordial reception and de-
lightful visit.

A MUSICAL LIFE 243

KATES OF TEMPO — THE PRESENT TIME
COMPARED WITH FIFTY YEARS AGO

IN recalling Liszt's playing I cannot help
noticing the marked difference in modern
rates of tempo as compared with those
which were considered authentic fifty
years ago. This is noticeable in many
of Chopin's compositions, especially the
larger ones, such as the sonatas, ballades,
fantasies, etc., with all of which I am very
familiar, having heard them played not
only by Liszt in Weimar, but in other
German cities, and by artists of the
highest rank, many of whom were contem-
poraries and personal friends of Chopin.
They all seemed to adopt a certain rate
of speed, as if in conformity with the
composer's intention, and it was in agree-
ment with my own intuitions. Drey-
schock and Liszt had often heard the com-
poser play his own pieces and must cer-
tainly have been familiar at least with
his rates of tempo. I was very close to
the Chopin day, having been in Germany
only a few months when he died. Two

244 MEMOKIES OF

of my teachers and nearly all of the
musicians I had met were his contem-
poraries and had heard him play his own
compositions. I certainly ought to have
the Chopin traditions.

ELECTROCUTING CHOPIN

THE question is, Should Chopin be played
in accordance with the spirit of the time
in which he lived, should his works be
played in the tempo in which he played
them, or, because electricity has brought
about so many changes and has enabled
us to do so many things much more
rapidly than formerly, should Chopin's
music be electrified, or, as it seems to me,
electrocuted I I think there is a general
tendency to play the rapid movements in
Chopin, and, in fact, in all composers not
of the extreme modern type, too fast. To
play these movements rapidly and give
the phrases with absolute clearness, one
must have such breadth, command of
rhythm, and repose in action that he can
put the tones together like a string of

l-.l^^Z

A MUSICAL LIFE 245

pearls, so that each is rounded into shape,
and the phrase is a complete and definite
series of tones, and not like a lot of over-
boiled peas, so soft that they all mash
together. In too rapid playing the effect
of speed is lost. The Chopin "Waltz in
I) Flat Major" is often played much too
fast. The theme is said to have been sug-
gested to the composer by a lap-dog in
his room suddenly beginning to chase his
tail. Whether true or not, the story is
suggestive. Destroy the contour of that
waltz by playing it at too high a rate of
speed, and the dog is no longer chasing
his tail, but dashing aimlessly about the
room.

Nor should the tempo be too slow.
Hlow movements are effective, but suffi-
cient animation must prevail to impart
life and fervency to the music. A stream
3 nay flow so sluggishly that the water
loses its clearness. This is not repose, but
stagnation. During the musical season of
1899-1900 in New York I heard modern
pianists play some of Chopin's composi-
tions so slowly that the effect produced

246 MEMOEIES OF

upon me was like that of a music-box
running down. One endures it for a
while, but finally is wrought up to such a
feeling of impatience as to induce the ex-
clamation, "Either stop that thing alto-
gether or wind it up."

TEMPO EUBATO

IN modern times there is also a tendency
to excessive use of tempo rubato.

I have recently heard the second part
of Chopin's "C Sharp Minor Scherzo"—
the choral with arpeggio passages— played
by a celebrated pianist in such a way
that, mathematically adjusted, about one
measure was added to every section of
four.

The player was afterward highly ex-
tolled on account of his wonderful rubato
effects. The truth is that he was all the
while simply playing mathematically out
of time. Kubato ("robbed") is a slight
modification of rhythmic flow in alterna-
tion with a corresponding compensation ;
it is like excitement in verbal narrative j

A MUSICAL LIFE 247

it is alternately losing and making up,
but within judicious bounds, so that in
the end the balance is preserved. The
nature of music is essentially "tune and
time"— in other words, emotion and in-
telligence, or heart and head, in loving
and well-balanced combination. These
conditions are absolute and can never be
violated without disaster. Hence a true
rubato must be played in time, but ac-
commodatingly.

UNUSUAL PUPILS— TRANSPOSING—
POSITIVE AND RELATIVE PITCH

I ONCE gave to an intelligent pupil the
task of transposing one of Bach's inven-
tions into various keys. My directions
were that at her next lesson she should
be prepared to play it successively in
three or four different keys. As she came
to my studio for her lesson but once a
month, there was ample time for prepara-
tion, and she succeeded in accomplishing
the feat with ease and without error. But,
more than this, she continued her trans-

248 MEMORIES OF

posing until she had completed the round
of all the twelve keys without a mistake
—a rare and creditable performance, de-
serving the emulation of all young ladies
and gentlemen engaged in the study of
musical development and the cultivation
of pianoforte technic.

Another case is that of a young lady
pupil not remarkably musical, but who
has an ear for positive pitch. By this is
meant that she could immediately name
the pitch of any tone on hearing it sung
or played. All competent musicians pos-
sess the power of relative pitch. I mean
by this that if a definite pitch is given to
one who has a musical ear, the pitch of
any other tone immediately following or
sounding in connection will be instantly
perceived, and the interval between the
two tones— in other words, their pitch
relationship— at once understood.

The power of positive pitch has been
regarded by many as a very desirable
gift, but judging from the experience of
the pupil of whom I am writing, it would
appear to be just the other way. This

A MUSICAL LIFE 249

young lady, to whom I had also given the
task of transposition into various keys,
complained, on coming for her next les-
son, that the effect upon her was very
disagreeable, in fact, extremely painful.
She explained that she was obliged to
look at the music on the pianoforte-desk
while transposing, and that on account of
her quick perception of positive pitch she
heard in companionship both the tones of
the original key and those of the key
to which she was transposing, thus pro-
ducing a jargon and discord which was
distressing. This at first seemed very
strange to me, indeed almost incredible,
but not having an ear for positive pitch
myself, either by nature or through cul-
tivation, I could not judge from personal
experience, so, having confidence in her
sincerity, simply gave her assertion cre-
dence.

Later on, however, her statement re-
ceived confirmation through the authen-
tic testimony of a German musician and
conductor of high eminence. At the time
this gentleman came to our country,

250 MEMORIES OF

somewhat over fifteen years ago, the
standard of concert pitch was slightly
lower in Europe than with us. Since then
it has been adjusted and is now uniform
the world over. This discrepancy caused
our German friend extreme annoyance,
for having an acute and delicate percep-
tion of positive pitch, it pained and con-
fused him to hear the familiar symphonies
and other works of the great masters
played in a higher pitch than that to
which he had become accustomed. This
is, therefore, the penalty for an ear for
positive pitch.

Some of the greatest musicians have
possessed this faculty, notably Mozart, but
others of equal rank were without it. Of
course a musical ear of the most delicate
sensibility as to relative pitch is common
to all of them, and this by the grace of
God, as the Germans happily express it.

Another case is that of a lady having by
nature an ear for positive pitch, who
occasionally attends church with me.
She is constantly disturbed by the differ-
ence of pitch between the tones of the

A MUSICAL LIFE 251

organ and the pitch indicated by the
notes of the tunes in the hymn-book.
She reasons that either the tones of the
organ are above standard pitch or else
the organist transposes the music. At
any rate, the two vary by the interval of
a semitone.

Theodore Thomas is not only able to
detect the disagreement, but at the same
time perceives whether it is by reason of
transposition from the original key or on
account of the tones of the organ differing
from standard pitch.

APPLEDORE, ISLES OF SHOALS

MY first visit to Appledore was in August,
1863, two of my brothers having discov-
ered the island, so to speak, the year be-
fore. We were enthusiastic fishermen,
and during our summer vacation almost
lived on the ocean. Furthermore, during
almost the entire year I was engaged in
teaching or in public appearances as a
concert-player, so that in my vacation I
detested the very sight or even thought

252 MEMOEIES OF

of a pianoforte. Appledore afforded an
ideal retreat where retirement verging
almost on oblivion was possible, and thus
it happened that I had spent many sum-
mers there before my musical vocation
was brought to light.

A few years later my friend Professor
John K. Paine of Harvard University also
discovered the Shoals, and from that time
came year after year without intermis-
sion. After a year or two he had a piano
sent down from Boston for the summer
and placed in the reception-room in Celia
Thaxter's cottage. I had the pleasure of
Mrs. Thaxter's acquaintance, but up to
that time simply in a formal way, and
beyond a call on my arrival and one on
taking leave, I had little association with
her; Professor Paine, however, quickly
formed a habit of playing Beethoven's
sonatas to her, and she very shortly
showed a delight in music, and especially
in Beethoven's sonatas, with which she
became quite familiar. In the year 1864
Isidor Eichberg accompanied my brothers
and myself to the island, and that led,

A MUSICAL LIFE 253

still later on, to Mr. Julius Eichberg's
becoming an habitue of the island. He
brought his violin with him, and with Mr.
Paine frequently played compositions of
Bach for piano and violin. Finally I was
drawn into the current, and played, with
Eichberg, Schumann's and other sonatas.
As I grew older I gave less time to fishing.
Moreover, whereas I had formerly spent
only a couple of weeks or so at the
island, I now began to go early in July
and stay until September, so that in the
nature of things I could not fish all the
time, and gradually formed a habit of
playing in Mrs. Thaxter's cottage every
day from eleven o'clock in the morning
until the arrival of the boat, about an
hour and a half later.

Hers was an interesting and enthusias-
tic nature, which attracted to her many
literary and artistic people. She held, in
a most charming and informal way, what
may really be called a salon. The walls
of her parlor were covered with paintings
and pictures of all kinds, many of them
the work and gifts of personal friends.

254 MEMORIES OF

As she herself expressed it, "a beautiful
thought was always suggested whenever
and wherever she looked."

Her love of flowers amounted almost to
a passion, and no expenditure of time
or strength given to garden work was
grudged, even when the effort of very
early rising was involved. And when
did garden ever better repay the personal
love and care of the gardener? Where
were ever seen such radiant, waving pop-
pies, such hundred-hued pansies, such
stately and brilliant hollyhocks, and such
fragrant sweet peas I And upon entering
the parlor, it seemed as if one had hardly
left the garden, so many and so beautiful
were the masses of flowers.

As I have said, Mrs. Thaxter was very
fond of music, and every morning wel-
comed those of her friends who shared
this taste to hear any artist who might
be on the island.

It was my pleasure, being so much at
Appledore, to play a great deal in these
informal ways. The doors wide open to
the sun and salt breezes, the people sit-

A MUSICAL LIFE 255

ting in the room and grouped on the
piazza, shaded by its lovely vines, the
beautiful vistas of gaily colored flowers,
sea and sky beyond, made a charming and
ever-to-be-remembered scene.

Chopin and Schumann were the favor-
ite composers, their compositions being
constantly requested. After a while I
enlarged the repertoire by introducing
several of Edward MacDowelFs smaller
works. These found immediate favor.
Some half-dozen years ago, having be-
come acquainted with and thoroughly
enthusiastic over the "Sonata Tragica"
of this composer, I began to play it
early in the summer on arriving at the
Shoals. At first the audience was some-
what reserved in the expression of an
opinion, but after a few hearings the com-
position found friends who really appre-
ciated and enjoyed it. Being curious to
ascertain what result a closer acquain-
tanceship with the work would bring
about, and wishing to do some missionary
work, I formed the resolution of playing
it once a day during the season, and an-

256 MEMORIES OF

nounced my intention to the audience.
With but the exception of a few days, the
scheme was carried out, and with gratify-
ing success, for the "Sonata Tragica"
became eventually the favorite of the
majority, and it was constantly called
for.

One or two ladies who found it tedious
at the outset became thorough converts,
and finally experienced genuine musical
enjoyment from it. On the publication
of the "Sonata Eroica" a few years later
a similar result was reached, but not in
the same degree as in the case of the
"Tragica."

This incident is related to illustrate
the remarkable effect of musical sur-
roundings and the great advantage of
living in a musical atmosphere. Here
were people of intelligence and culture
who, under adverse circumstances, would
not have appreciated the beauty of these
intellectual works, but who after closer
association were led to perceive their
beauty and who learned to love them.

Sundays were celebrated by the play-

A MUSICAL LIFE 257

ing of Beethoven's sonatas. Every one
seemed to look forward to and enjoy
these pleasant mornings. Mrs. Thaxter
was a delightful hostess, and possessed the
rare quality of bringing out the best in
those about her.

During the summer of 1894 Mrs. Thax-
ter seemed as well and active as usual,
still working in her garden, still the lively
center of her group of friends and ad-
mirers. One day she did not appear,
nor the next, and then we heard she had
peacefully passed away.

None who were at Appledore then
will easily forget that 26th of August,
nor the day she was buried on her island
home.

The funeral service was held in the
well-known sitting-room ; the address
was made by her old friend the Kev.
Dr. James De Normandie, and, by re-
quest of her sons, I played Schumann's
"Komance in F Sharp,'7 and Dvorak's
"Holy Mount,"

The tides of Music's golden sea
Setting toward Eternity.

17

258 A MUSICAL LIFE

When the simple service was over the
coffin was followed by her old and faith-
ful friends and the island fishermen to
the grave by that of her father and mo-
ther. The long procession of people,
through the gray mist, winding in and
out along the rocky way, the leaden sky
and sea, the hushed voices of the children,
usually ringing out so merrily from rocks
and hotel piazzas, accentuated the sense
of our loss.

At the grave, all lined with bayberry
and flowers, the coffin was lowered, and
each of those present came forward and
laid upon it a few of the flowers she loved
so dearly.

MUSIC IN AMERICA TO-DAY

A YEAR or two ago a young lady came
to my studio and asked for a single
lesson. She told me that she had been
studying in Germany for some years, and
named the city, which is one of the well-
known musical centers. She was then
going to the West on her way home, and
stopped a day over in New York expressly
for a lesson from me. I heard her play
several pieces, and was surprised and
pleased with her manner and style. She
phrased with intelligence and gave due
attention to rhythmic requirements. Her
tone was large, full, and musically resonant^
and could not have been produced other-
wise than through the agency of the
upper-arm muscles, which were con-
stantly in active use. The flexibility and
259

260 MEMOEIES OF

elasticity of hands and wrists were also
apparent, and finally the evident repose
in action of all of these qualities capped
the climax. I said to her : "My dear
young lady, I cannot add to your playing,
for it is already finished and artistic. I
might possibly suggest a different render-
ing in certain parts, but, after all, this
would amount only to a matter of taste.
If you had studied exclusively under my
guidance for a course of years, and I had
succeeded in doing my best, aided by your
own intelligence and careful practice, I
should have sought to bring about just
the result which you have reached. I
think your teacher must be a young
man." "He is," she replied ; "but why ? "
"Because," I answered, "his method is
free from the stiffness and rigidity of the
old German school. Has he, perhaps, a
method of his own?" Her immediate
reply was, "He uses your method." She
also told me her teacher's name, which I
have now unfortunately forgotten. I
think this teacher deserves to have more
pupils !

A MUSICAL LIFE 261

But the time has gone by when it was
necessary for students of the piano to go
abroad to complete a musical education.
There are now teachers of the piano of
the first rank in all of our principal cities,
who secure better results with American
pupils than foreign teachers do, because
they have a better understanding of our
national character and temperament.
Such men among my own former pupils
are E. M. Bowman in New York, S. S.
Sanford in New Haven, W. S. B. Mat-
thews and "William H. Sherwood in
Chicago, and many others who are dis-
tinguished in their profession as teachers,
and who have done and are doing much
in furtherance of sound musical educa-
tion and in the cultivation of a refined
musical taste in America. Our country
has also produced composers of the first
rank, and the names MacDowell, Parker,
Kelley, Whiting, Paine, Buck, Shelley,
Chadwick, Brockway, and Foote occur at
once to the mind. Enormous progress in
the art and science of music has been made
in America since I began my studies in

262 MEMOEIES OF

Germany in the year 1849. Our teachers
meet in great numbers in convention dur-
ing the summer months and in summer
schools and classes, and it is difficult to
overestimate the beneficent results which
flow from these assemblies. They create
a musical atmosphere, in which teachers
and pupils live and move and have their
being. They afford opportunities for the
intelligent discussion of mooted questions
and for the interchange of ideas, and lead
to a wider dissemination of the best edu-
cational methods.

Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Prince-
ton all have their chairs of music, and
doubtless this is true of others of our uni-
versities and colleges. The city of New
York has become one of the great musical
centers of the world. The Philharmonic
Society, the opera season, the Kneisel
Quartet, and many others of high artistic
merit, afford opportunities for the gratifi-
cation of musical taste which are hardly to
be excelled elsewhere ; and the popularity
of these and of the countless pianoforte
recitals and chamber-music concerts bears

r

A MUSICAL LIFE 263

eloquent testimony to the growth of an
intelligent musical taste among us. Bos-
ton and Chicago have their world-re-
nowned orchestras, led by Gericke and
Thomas, who are passed masters of their
art. The cities of Pittsburg, Cincinnati,
and St. Louis have their orchestras, each
under competent leadership. The most
celebrated artists at home and from
abroad are heard in our principal cities.
The season just closed (1900-01) is in
striking contrast to those of my early man-
hood. Among the many prominent pian-
ists who have played to us there are some
of extraordinary talent, who give abun-
dant promise of brilliant future achieve-
ment.

Ernst von Dohnanyi, born at Press-
burg, July 27, 1877, is a wonderfully tal-
ented musical composer and at the same
time a pianist whose technic is complete,
combining as it does the emotional, in-
telligent, and mechanical elements in
happy union and adjustment. Yon Doh-
nanyi has by nature as intense, thorough,
and complete a musical organization as

264 MEMORIES OF

ever came within my experience. He
composes with marvelous spontaneity and
rapidity. His ideas are fresh and original,
and their expression and elaboration are
effected with the freedom of an improvisa-
tion, thus in no way emphasizing their
mechanical setting forth.

He is just completing, in the twenty-
fourth year of his age, an elaborate sym-
phony in D minor for grand orchestra,
the scheme of which is as follows : I.
Allegro ; II. Adagio j III. Scherzo ; IV.
Intermezzo ; V. Finale : Introduction,
Tema con Yariazioni ; Fuga.

This is a massive production, appa-
rently the result of inherent qualities car-
ried into act by impulse, in other words,
of spontaneous achievement. It is so in-
stinctive and impulsive that the art of
its construction hardly occurs to the
hearer at first, but as an afterthought
excites wonder and admiration.

Early in March of the present year
(1901), Yon Dohnanyi, his wife, and a few
other friends, among them Emil Pauer,
dined at my house, and during the even-

A MUSICAL, LIFE 265

ing Yon Dohnanyi played his symphony
on the pianoforte. This instrument is
naturally quite inadequate to the inter-
pretation of such a work, but Von Doh-
nanyi's technic is so complete, his tone so
massive while intensely musical, and his
enthusiasm so contagious that we became
conscious of an ever-increasing interest,
steadily growing in intensity. The occa-
sion and its experience will not be for-
gotten by any of those present.

A week later the Yon Dohnanyis spent
the evening with us just before their de-
parture on the following day for Europe,
and he played again a portion of the
work, deepening and confirming the im-
pression made at the first hearing. The
future of this young man is full of prom-
ise. His teacher in composition was Hans
Koessler in Pesth ; his pianoforte teacher
was Stephen Thoman of the same city.
Later on he had eight lessons of Eugen
d' Albert in Berlin, after which the latter
said to him : "You can go on by yourself
now ; I have taught you all I can."

Leopold Godowsky is a pianist of the

266 MEMORIES OF

first class, but above all lie is a specialist,
and altogether unapproachable in his
specialty. His left hand is in every re-
spect the equal of his right, and passages
of extreme intricacy and rapidity come
out with an astonishing clearness of de-
tail. Nothing in his work, however mi-
nute, is slighted, but musical expression
and finish of execution are above criti-
cism. His specialty is his rearrangement
and working up of many of Chopin's
Etudes in such manner that several of the
various themes of these are, so to speak,
intertwined. In some instances three
different melodies can be heard progress-
ing simultaneously in loving union, with
a smoothness, delicacy, and accuracy in
counterpoint which is simply marvelous.
There is never a suspicion of haste in his
playing, no matter how rapid the rate of
speed. His manner is full of repose—
respectful, earnest, and sympathetic ; thus
there is no suggestion of violence to the
composer's original production.

I know that among my best friends,
whose judgment I esteem, there are some

A MUSICAL LIFE 267

who do not hold the same opinion, and
who think that the composer's work
should be left intact. It seems to me,
however, that much depends upon the
manner of treatment. The French prov-
erb runs : "II y a fagots et fagots" j or,
in the more homely phrase of dear old
Boston, " There are beans, and then there
are beans." Moreover, the fact that these
compositions are etudes (studies), and
therefore avowedly for the purpose of
developing physical technic as well as
poetic style, should be duly considered
in judging of their raison d'etre. Similar
treatment of the sonatas, ballades, and
nocturnes would surely be a different
thing. Furthermore, the solid and digni-
fied Brahms— one of the three B's of
Billow's trinity— set an example, by re-
arranging a rondo by Von Weber, which
he turns upside down, so to speak, making
a bass of what in the original is the right-
hand part. Brahms has also utterly de-
stroyed the charm of Chopin's "Etude in
F Minor, Op. 25, No. 2," which lies in the
very rapid and delicately pianissimo play-

268 MEMORIES OF

ing of passages of triplets in the right
hand as against duals in the left. In the
original these passages are throughout of
single tones in both hands, and hence can
be performed in the most dainty and fas-
cinating manner ; but Brahms has changed
the right hand part to double thirds and
sixths, thus completely altering the char-
acter of the music, and doing violence to
the exquisitely light, delicate, and grace-
ful effect of the original version. In pass-
ing judgment upon the work of Brahms,
however, it must not be forgotten that he
publishes this in company with several
other arrangements, under the general
title, "Studien fur das Pianoforte," thus
indicating that his object is the develop-
ment of physical technic.

In this connection, I remember Kubin-
stein's telling me as long ago as 1873,
in the artists' retiring-room during one
of his recitals at Steinway Hall, that he
used in his boyhood's days "to do all
sorts of things with Chopin's etudes," as
he expressed it, "in order to exercise and
strengthen the fingers." By way of illus-

A MUSICAL LIFE 269

tration, he went to an upright piano which
happened to be in the room, and began
playing with his left hand alone the right-
hand part of the chromatic-scale etude,
"Op. 10, No. 2," and this he did with
fluency.

Godowsky has played his arrangements
to me on several occasions at my studio
and at home enfamille, and has invariably
produced a state of happy good humor
which was of long duration and which in
large measure returns to me as I write.

April 20, 1901. Yesterday evening I
attended the farewell concert of Ossip
Gabrilowitsch, the talented young Rus-
sian pianist. He was at his best, and
proved his right to stand in the front
rank of modern pianists. His playing
throughout of a program of compositions
of Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, and Liszt
was masterly, combining as it did genuine
musical quality, intelligence in phrasing,
and great brilliancy, as well as poetry in
interpretation. He is yet a young man
and has not reached the full climax of his
power, and will doubtless show still fur-

270 MEMOEIES OF

ther development in the next few years.
Other pianists who have played in New
York during the season of 1900-01, and
who deserve to be classed with the high-
est, are Harold Bauer, who has deservedly
won a very high reputation through his
splendid ability in all styles of piano mu-
sic, and Arthur Friedheim, whose recent
concert was brilliant in high degree, and
who on that occasion gave an interpreta-
tion of Liszt's great "Sonata in B Minor"
which it seems to me was not surpassed
by the master himself— and I have heard
Liszt play this work many times. Kichard
Burmeister also gave a masterly inter-
pretation of this same sonata earlier in
the season. This is the sonata, by the
way, of which mention has been made, in
the earlier part of these "Memories," as
having been played by Liszt on the occa-
sion of the first visit of Brahms to Liszt,
in the year 1853.

We have also had Teresa Carreno, Adele
aus der Ohe, and Fannie Bloomfield-Zeis-
ler, all of them of the first rank and estab-
lished reputation. Of these the first-

A MUSICAL LIFE 271

named is a friend of long standing, for my
first acquaintance with her dates back to
the early sixties, when she first came to
New York as a child prodigy. I well
remember the impression she made upon
me at that time, both from her artistic
playing and her charming appearance in
short dresses and "pantalets," the fashion
for children of that day. A friendship was
immediately begun and established, which
still continues.

Josef Hofmann, with his tremendous
technic and executive skill, has given
pleasure to many ; and Arthur Whiting,
Howard Brockway, and Henry Holden
Huss have ably upheld the reputation of
American virtuosos and composers.

In bringing these papers to a close, I
desire to make my grateful acknowledg-
ment to the friends and pupils of many
years who united in celebrating the seven-
tieth anniversary of my birth by present-
ing me with a beautiful silver loving-
cup, which I fondly cherish as an evi-
dence of affectionate regard, and which
will be ever filled and overflowing with

272 A MUSICAL LIFE

loving memories, not alone of those who
united in the gift, but of the many others
whom I have known in the course of an
unusually long professional career. To
one and all I offer my heartfelt thanks.

APPENDIX

18

PART I
EARLY LIFE OF LOWELL MASON

ADDRESS OF WILLIAM S. TILDEN, PRESI-
DENT OF THE MEDFIELD HISTORICAL
SOCIETY, AT CHENERY HALL, MED-
FIELD, FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 1892,
THE CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF
THE BIRTH OF DR. LOWELL MASON

FELLOW- CITIZENS : Most that has been
hitherto said and written has been rather
concerning the public and professional
career of Dr. Mason ; and we shall doubt-
less have presented many interesting
mementos to-day, in letter and address,
relating to those things in which he is
most generally known. What I have to
present in this paper will refer particu-
larly to his birth, parentage, and early
surroundings, of which comparatively lit-
tle has been said.

275

276 APPENDIX

Lowell Mason was of English descent,
being in the sixth generation from
Thomas Mason and Margery Partridge.
Thomas, born in England, was the son of
Robert, who settled in Dedham, from
whence he, with his brother Robert,
came to Medfield in the second year of
its settlement. The marriage of Thomas
Mason and Margery Partridge, April 23,
1653, is the first recorded marriage in this
old town. He received his house-lot by
original grant from the town. It was
upon North street, where Amos E. Mason
now lives, the homestead having never
been out of the possession of the Mason
family. Thomas Mason and two of his
sons were killed by the Indians on that
fateful morning in February, 1676, when
the town was burned. His eldest son was
killed the following year, while fighting
the Indians at the "Eastward" (now
Maine), leaving one boy, Ebenezer, who
was seven years of age only when his
father was killed, and who, therefore,
became the progenitor of the line from
which Lowell Mason sprang. The son of

LOWELL MASON

FROM A DAGUERREOTYPE

APPENDIX 277

this Ebenezer, Thomas Mason, left the
homestead on North street, and settled in
the extreme northeast corner of the town,
at what is now known as the Charles
Newell place. He married the daughter-
in-law of Samuel Sady, who kept a tavern
on North street, where the Pfaff mansion
now stands ; and his son Barachias,
grandfather of Lowell, inherited, through
his mother, that place, and settled upon
it, where he lived with his son Johnson,
father of Lowell. There the man whose
nativity we celebrate to-day was born.
The building has been preserved, and is,
no doubt, the "farm-house," so called, on
Adams Avenue.

The first twenty years of his life were
spent in his native town of Medfield ; and
very little has ever been written about
this portion of his life, and much of that
somewhat incorrectly. His biographers
seem to have endeavored to add to his
fame by magnifying his want of oppor-
tunities for education and culture in his
youth. In a discourse upon Mr. Mason's
life and labors, the Eev. George B. Bacon,

278 APPENDIX

his pastor, says : "Mr. Mason had no ad-
vantages of education. He was the son of
a mechanic in a small New England town.
He began almost in his cradle that fight
for a living which left small opportunity
for study or culture." Another writer
says : "He spent twenty years of his life
doing nothing but playing upon all sorts
of musical instruments, and there was no
one to teach him their use." "We feel
inclined to believe that these statements
were half-truths only, and are not a com-
plete statement, by any means, of the
conditions and pursuits of his youth.

We think it can be shown that while
Medfield is proud of having such a son,
he was fortunate in having such a birth-
place. We believe in the influence of
heredity in genius, but also in the influ-
ence of environments. He was especially
favored in both these respects, descending
for generations from an honored ancestry
and surrounded in his youth by educated
people of high moral and religious char-
acter. His parents were in fairly com-
fortable circumstances, and he was, as is

APPENDIX 279

usual in such cases, permitted consider-
able freedom in following the promptings
of his natural genius, which, springing
as he did from a musical family, early
showed tendency toward that branch of
art.

Dr. Holmes says : "If we wish to edu-
cate a boy properly, we must begin with
his grandfather." Barachias Mason was a
graduate of Harvard University in 1742,
but one hundred and fifty years ago. He
was a schoolmaster, a teacher of singing-
schools, and a selectman of the town for
several years. This certainly is a fair
start, on Dr. Holmes's principle. His son,
Colonel Johnson Mason, Lowell's father,
lived with him, and inherited the home-
stead, where he kept a public school for
many years. He was a merchant. In
this pursuit, it seems, young Lowell as-
sisted him in his boyhood, as we learn
that, on the occasion of his narrow escape
from drowning in 1806, he was out with
a team on business for his father, near
what is now poor-farm bridge, where he
was rescued from a watery grave by two

280 APPENDIX

boys about his own age after having sunk
for the third time. Colonel Mason man-
ufactured straw goods to some extent.
He was also an ingenious mechanic, in-
venting some useful machines used in the
straw business of those days. He was
town clerk for nineteen years, town trea-
surer, and a member of the legislature ;
he was a musician, a player on musical
instruments, particularly the violoncello,
and, together with his wife, sang in the
parish choir for more than twenty years.
When the musical talent of the town
united, on a Fourth-of-July occasion in
1840, to supply the music, Colonel Mason
stood at the head of the basses, although
then over seventy years of age. He was
also a prominent military man, commis-
sioned captain in 1800, and lieutenant-
colonel in 1803. It will thus be seen that
he was one of the most intelligent and
influential men in the town.

So much for the parentage ; now for the
neighborhood influences about the Mason
family. The nearest neighbor was the
Eev. Thomas Prentiss, minister of the old

APPENDIX 281

parish church from 1770 to 1814, and who
sent four boys to Harvard College, one
of whom was of Lowell Mason's own age,
a schoolmate and playmate. His seatmate
in the North School, which he attended,
and a lifelong friend, was the late Joseph
Allen, D.D., of Northboro, Massachusetts,
who ever said that Lowell Mason was one
of the best scholars in the school ; and
the schools of the town being then under
the supervision of Dr. Prentiss, they were
doubtless fairly good schools. Ellis Allen,
another friend and schoolmate, said that
Lowell Mason was the most popular and
talented, as well as the handsomest, young
man in town. The next neighbor on the
other side was George Whitefield Adams
(brother of the celebrated historian, Han-
nah Adams), who built organs at his
homestead, where Dr. Bent now lives ;
and, without doubt, Lowell was familiar
with that instrument, as he was with
many others— the violin, violoncello, flute,
and clarinet particularly. He led the Med-
field Band in his day, playing the clarinet.
Mr. Adams went to Savannah in 1812,

282 APPENDIX

accompanied by Nathaniel Bosworth of
this town, and young Mason went with
them, journeying the entire distance with
horse and wagon. Another near neigh-
bor was Amos Albee, a schoolmaster and
musician of some note in those days,
author of "Norfolk Collection of Church
Music." He assisted Mason in his musi-
cal studies, as reliable accounts inform us.
Libbeus Smith, a relative of the Mason
family, was also a singing-master here
during the early years of this century.
James Clark, a fine player on the violin,
lived in Medfield in those days. From
these facts it is easy to determine that,
though the musical advantages of the
times would not perhaps satisfy the de-
mands of modern culture, yet the place
was by no means devoid of influences cal-
culated to encourage the special develop-
ment of a young man musically inclined.
Lowell Mason commenced teaching
singing-schools when only a boy. He led
the parish choir when about sixteen years
of age, and conducted the music at the
ordination of Dr. Eanger of Dover in

APPENDIX 283

1812, writing an anthem for the occasion,
aided, it is said, by his neighbor Amos
Albee. The Medfield Choir assisted at
these ceremonies, Mr. Ellis Allen and his
wife, from whom this account is obtained,
being among them on that day. Lowell's
two brothers, Johnson and Timothy, were
also good musicians, and remained prom-
inent in the church choir, both socially
and instrumentally, for many years after
he left Savannah. They became musical
leaders in Cincinnati and Louisville. The
old choir in those days was large, and it
was made up from the most influential
people in the town, which is an excellent
thing for a church choir. The following
are some of those who were members of
it while young Mason took charge of the
music : his father and mother, with his
two brothers above named ; Major Fiske,
father of the late Captain Isaac Fiske ;
Captain William Peters, grandfather of
Mr. William P. Hewins ; Captain Wales
Plimpton, father of Deacon G. L. Plimp-
ton ; Oliver Wheelock, a merchant of
the town ; Amos Mason, father of A. E.

284 APPENDIX

Mason ; Ellis Allen, father of the Allen
brothers, from whose reminiscences we
gather many of these facts. The old
choir, it will be seen, was highly favored,
in a military point of view, having a colo-
nel, a maj or, and two captains. Mr. Mason
often said, in after years, that there was
more musical talent in Medfield than in
any other town of its size in the State.
This we can with confidence believe.

It is not, therefore, strange, with his
inherited tastes and capacities, and sur-
rounded as he was by musical people,
that he should devote much of his time
to music. It was his common practice,
tradition tells us, to play from the meet-
ing-house steps, summer evenings, upon
the flute or clarinet, to the young people
who would congregate around the local-
ity—in this way, doubtless, doing much
to contribute to the growth of a musical
taste among the companions of his youth.
The atmosphere of liberal culture which
characterized his neighborhood aided him
in taking a more intelligent view of musi-
cal matters, without which natural abili-

APPENDIX 285

ties, and even special training, produce
comparatively meager results ; and the
young person who knows nothing but
music cannot expect a very high place in
public estimation.

That he had much ability as a practical
musician is shown by the fact that when
he went to the South he was able to give
entertainments with his voice and vio-
loncello alone, which brought him at once
to the front with the musical public in
Savannah ; and his tact, executive abil-
ity, and intelligence gave him a position
as teller in a bank. About this time
the conscious purposes of his life were
changed, and the mode of life character-
istic of his early years gave place to one
of deep-seated religious convictions. He
became a member of the Presbyterian
Church in Savannah, where he held the
position as director of music for many
years. He was also superintendent of
the first Sunday-school ever formed in
that city.

As an instance of his natural tact and
shrewdness, it is related of him that

286 APPENDIX

while a resident of Savannah he under-
took the instruction of a new band that
was being formed somewhere in that re-
gion. On the first evening a considerable
number of instruments were brought in
with which he was unacquainted, and
some of them, even, he had never heard
of. He got over this difficulty by telling
the owners of them that it would be
necessary for him to take them all home,
that they might be "fixed and toned up."
When he brought them back, at the next
meeting, he had mastered them all, and
proceeded to give his instructions accord-
ingly.

He had a remarkable degree of per-
sonal magnetism, which gave him that
wonderful control which he possessed
over classes and conventions. When he
taught or lectured, all eyes were upon
him, all ears were attentive, all wills were
moved by his. This, with his natural
aptitude for teaching, gave him the
prominence which he so readily won in
the chief cities where his mature life was
spent. Soon after his return to Boston,

APPENDIX 287

about 1827, after fifteen years' sojourn in
Savannah, lie attained great popularity
as a singing- teacher. He organized a
class for the well-to-do ladies and gen-
tlemen of Boston who wished to perfect
themselves in music, the instruction to be
by the new method, and gratuitous. Five
hundred singers attended, and at the
close voted him a bonus of five dollars
each, or twenty-five hundred dollars for
the term. He was in constant demand as
a teacher and director, and it would be
strange if those who had occupied the
field before him, and who were now com-
pelled to take a back seat or migrate to
"fresh fields and pastures new," should
not manifest some feeling of opposition.
This he had to meet, in one form or an-
other, during his twenty-five years7 resi-
dence in Boston. The writers on musi-
cal matters during that period show
very plainly that such was the case, often
giving expression to personal feeling.

But as a teacher he had no superior,
and but few equals, in this country ; and
this not only musically speaking, but

288 APPENDIX

pedagogically as well. Horace Mann said
lie would walk fifty miles to see him
teach if he could not otherwise have that
privilege. Secretary Dickinson, of our
State Board of Education, says : "My first
notions of what good teaching is were de-
rived from seeing Lowell Mason give a
singing-lesson " ; and this although our
honored secretary has no knowledge of
musical tones. George J. Webb, one of
the best musicians in Boston, and himself
associated with Mr. Mason for many years
as a teacher in the Boston Academy of
Music, said that he had seen him teach
hundreds of times, but never without
astonishment at his wonderful power be-
fore a class. Dr. George F. Koot says that
he always became intensely interested in
listening to Mr. Mason teaching even so
simple a thing as the property of long and
short musical sounds. The writer of this
sketch was himself a member of the Bos-
ton Academy of Music at its latest session
in 1851 ; and it is not too much to say that
he has never seen any one, from that day
to this, manifest such ability to hold a

APPENDIX 289

large class of teachers and musicians to
the consideration of the topic under dis-
cussion.

He was employed by the State Board
of Education to teach music in the normal
schools and in the teachers' institutes for
many years. Through his influence sing-
ing was introduced into the Boston public
schools as a regular branch of study, which
occurred in 1838. He introduced into
this country the inductive method of
teaching singing, formulating a system
from the study of Pestalozzi and other
eminent European teachers. His system
to this day molds the instruction, to a
great extent, throughout the United
States. Modifications have been made,
but the principles which underlie all good
elementary instruction in music were un-
deniably first inculcated and placed be-
fore the people by him. He had, and
still has, a wide reputation ; but it is not
greater than his genius.

While we acknowledge with pride the
honor bestowed upon the town of his na-
tivity, on the other hand, we think that

19

290 APPENDIX

this "obscure New England village" is
entitled to some credit for the formative
influences which sent forth such a son.
Some one has said : "The first great req-
uisite to a man's amounting to anything
is to be well born." He was born of the
sturdy yeomanry of Medfield. We can-
not but think that the influence emanat-
ing from the men, his neighbors and early
counselors, who made the old town what
it was a hundred years ago, and what it
is even down to the present, contributes
no little to the successful career of him
whose centennial we celebrate to-day.

PART II
LISZT'S LETTEES

MY DEAR SIR: It will certainly give
me great pleasure to see and hear you
again at Weimar, but I trust that you
will excuse me if I do not accept the
proposition you make, that of giving
you regular lessons, from which, more-
over, I fancy you would have little to
gain.

As for your idea of settling for some
time at Weimar, it would be well for me
to discuss it a little with you before you
carry it out. The distance from Leipsic
being so short, it would cause you but
little inconvenience to pay me a short
visit here, in the course of which it will
be easy for me to say exactly what I be-
lieve will be best for you.
291

292 APPENDIX

Accept, my dear sir, the expression of
my feelings of esteem and consideration
for you.

F. LISZT.

WEIMAR, August 3, 1851.

DEAR MB. MASON : Your welcome let-
ter gives me very hearty pleasure, and
I beg you to rest assured of the continu-
ance of my most affectionate feelings for
you.

I often hear of your triumphs in Amer-
ica, and I rejoice to know that your tal-
ent is rightly appreciated and praised.
Your compositions have not reached me
yet, but I am all ready to make them very
welcome.

In a fortnight I start for Weimar. The
Tonkiinstler Yersammlung is to take
place this year at Meiningen, from the
22d to the 25th of August. I shall attend
it, as also the Wartburg Jubilee Festival,
at which my oratorio "Sainte Elisabeth"
will be given on the 28th of August.
Perhaps I may meet there Mr. Theodore
Thomas and Mr. S. B. Mills, of whom you

APPENDIX 293

have spoken to me. The ability of Mr.
Thomas I have heard highly praised j I
have to thank him particularly for the
interest which he takes in my "Poemes
Symphoniques." Those artists who de-
sire to give themselves the trouble of un-
derstanding and interpreting my works
are separated, by that alone, from the
ranks of the commonplace. I, more than
any one, owe them gratitude, and I shall
not fail to show it to Messrs. Thomas and
Mills when I have the pleasure of making
their acquaintance.

The news which reaches me from time
to time of musical things in America is
usually favorable to the cause of the prog-
ress of contemporary art which I am
proud to serve and uphold.

It seems that with you chicanery, blun-
ders, and stupidity of a criticism perverted
by ignorance, envy, and venality, exercise
less influence than in the Old World. I
congratulate you on it. May you success-
fully follow the noble career of an artist
with industry, perseverance, resignation,
modesty, and an unshaken faith in the

20

294 APPENDIX

Ideal— such as you showed in Weimar,
dear Mr. Mason.

Your truly affectionate and devoted

FR. LISZT.

ROME, July 8, 1867.

DEAR MR. MASON: Mr. Seward has
brought me your welcome letter and
several of your compositions. These give
me double pleasure, for they show that
your time at Weimar has not been lost
and that you continue to make good use
of it elsewhere.

"L'^tude de Concert, Op. 9," and
"Valse Caprice, Op. 17," are distin-
guished in style and of good effect. I can
also sincerely praise the three preludes
(Op. 8) and the two ballades, but with
some reservation. The first ballade ap-
pears to me a trifle curtailed.

There is a certain something lacking at
the beginning and toward the middle
(page 7) which is necessary to make the
motif stand out again, and the pastorale of
the second ballade (page 7) figures there
rather as padding— embarras de richesse!

APPENDIX 295

And, since I am criticizing, let me ask
why you entitle your "Ah, vous dirai-je
Maman," "Caprice Grotesque " ! Beyond
the fact that the grotesque style should
not intrude in music, this title does injus-
tice to the ingenious imitations and har-
monies of the piece which is otherwise so
charming 5 it would be more fitting to
call it " Divertissement" or "Variazione
Scherzose."

As to the "Method," you do not, of
course, expect me to make an exhaustive
study of it. I am much too old for that,
and it is only in self-defense that I occa-
sionally try the piano— considering the
incessant fatigue caused me by the indis-
cretion of a crowd of people who imagine
that nothing can be more flattering to me
than to amuse them !

Nevertheless, in going through your
"Method," I find highly commendable
exercises, notably the interlocking pas-
sages (pages 136-142) and all the accentu-
ated treatment > > > > of exercises.
May your pupils and editors derive thence
all the benefit they should.

296 APPENDIX

A thousand thanks, dear Mr. Mason,
and rely on my very affectionate and de-
voted feelings as of old.

F. LISZT.

ROME, May 26, 1869.

It will give me genuine pleasure to see
you again, dear Mr. Mason. Next week
I return to Weimar and shall remain
there as usual till the middle of July.

Therefore, suit the time of your visit to
your own convenience. I beg you to stay
for several days at least.

A thousand affectionate and cordial
greetings.

F. LISZT.

VIENNA, May 23, 1880.

INDEX

INDEX

PAGE

Allen, Thomas 95

Altenburg, the, Liszt's studio in, 93 ; Furstin Sayn-
Wittgenstein at, 94; picture of, 94; Liszt pupils

at, 98 122

Appledore, Isles of Shoals, Mason at . . 251-258
Bach, " Triple Concerto," 107 ; " les agr&nents " in,
229; Rubinstein and, 230; Essipoffand. . . .232

Bauer 270

Beethoven, first symphonic performance in Amer-
ica, 8, 13, 31 ; Remenyi and " Kreutzer Sonata," 93 ;
Op. 106, 103, and Liszt plays, 104, 105; "Eroica
Symphony," Liszt's contretemps in, 120; Liszt's
" Young Beethoven " (Rubinstein) . . . .171

Bellman 137

Benedict, Sir Julius 84

" Benediction de Dieu dans la Solitude " by Liszt,

Mason's copy of 118

Bergmann, Carl . . \ . . . .193

Berlioz, autograph, 168 169

Blessner, Mr., violinist 19

Bloomfield-Zeisler . ... . . . .270

Boston Academy of Music 9

Bowman, E. M 261

Brahms, 127-142 ; in 1853, 127 ; first meeting with
Liszt, 127-131 ; MSS. illegible, 127 ; won't play for
Liszt, 128; Liszt plays Op. 4 and part of Op. 1 at
sight, 128 ; Raff on Op. 4 and B.'s reply, 129 ; doz-
ing while Liszt plays, 129; Liszt annoyed, 130;
wrong accounts of first meeting with Liszt, 130
and 141; feat in transposing, 131; and Schumann,
132 ; Mason's meeting with in Bonn in 1880, 136 ;
pianoforte-playing, Mason's opinion of, 137, and
of compositions, 139 ; Liszt's coolness toward, 142,
194,267,268 270

299

300 INDEX

PAGE

Brockway, Howard . . . . , • . . . .261

Brodsky . . . 151

Buck, Dudley . 261

BuU, Ole, 148, 149 ; autograph 150

Billow, Hans von 91

Billow, Von, 182, 238-241 ; letter to Mason, 239 ; state-
ment about Cosima and Wagner, 240; autograph 240

Burmeister, Richard 270

Carreno, Teresa . « • . 270

Chadwick, George W 261

Chamber-music concerts, Mason's . . . 193-197

Chickering, Jonas 19

Chopin, style of playing, 75, 171 244

Claues, Wilhelmine ........ 64

Cornelius, Peter 145-147

Cossmann, Bernhard, 63, 92 150

David, Ferdinand 134

Devitalized muscular action, its importance in

piano-playing discussed 20

Diary, Mason's, at Weimar 122-126

Dodworth's Hall 194

Dohnanyi, Ernst von, 263 ; new symphony . . 264
Dreyschock, 65-79 ; octave-playing, 66 ; on Chopin's

pianoforte-playing, 75, and Henselt ... 77

Dyer, Oliver 184

Eichberg, Isidor 252

Eichberg, Julius 253

Erard pianoforte, Liszt's, 88 .92

Ernst 149

Fontaine, Mortier de, Beethoven-player ... 31

Foote, Arthur 261

Franck, Ce"sar 122

Friedheim, Arthur 270

Gabrilowitsch 269

Geilfuss, Louis 182

Godowsky 265

"GoldeneZeit" at Weimar, 97 122

Gottschalk, 183, 205-209 ; " The Latest Hops," 208 ;

Characteristic letter and autograph . . .208

Grange, De la, 154 157

INDEX 301

PAOK

Grieg, 241 ; autograph ; 244

Groenvelt, Mr., violoncellist 19

Handel and Haydn Society, Boston, early reper-
toire of 7

Handel's " E Minor Fugue," Mason's copy of, 119 . 123
Harvard Musical Association, repertoire of, 1846 . 19
Hauptmann, Moritz, 44 ; passion for baked apples,
45; Spiegel-Canon autograph, 46 and 48 ; opinion

of Lowell Mason's work 46

Heckmann 137

" Heinrich, Father," anecdote of .... 22

Henselt, 75, and Dreyschock 77

Herrmann, steamer 27

Hill, Frank 27

Hoffman, Carl 95

Hoffman, Richard 207

Hofmann, Josef 271

Hummel 172

Huss, Henry Holden 271

Joachim, 62 ; autograph, 64, 109, 124, 126, 137 ; cool-
ness between Liszt and, 142 147

Kelley, Edgar Stillman 261

Klauser, Karl 202

Klindworth, Karl, 89, 91, 97, 100, 107, 109, 114, 127 . 141

Kneisel Quartet, autograph 262

Kobbe, Gustav x

Laub, Ferdinand, 63, 92, 126, 150; autograph . . 180

Leschetitsky 70

Liszt, feat of memory, 31-34, 59 ; Mason a pupil, and
reminiscences of, 86-182 ; in middle life, portrait,
88; method of teaching, 90, 97-101, 114; quartet
at the Altenburg, 91, and Remenyi, 93, 152 ; Liszt
pupils, 89, 96; personal appearance, 101; and
Beethoven's Op. 106, 103; and the eye-glasses,
106 ; carefulness in dress, 107 ; pianoforte-playing,
110-114 ; touch and own opinion of, 114 ; warns
pupils against, id. ; on technic, 116 ; and Pixis,
117; as a conductor, 119; rehearsing "Tasso,"
121 ; and Brahms's first meeting, 127-132, 141 ; and
Wagner, 132, 158, 164; Joachim and, 142; sight-
reading, 142; contrition, 144; musical intuition,
167 ; opinion of Tausig, 175 ; letters to Mason, 179,
181, and 291-296; last message to Mason, 182,

302 INDEX

PAGE

184, 198, 224, 229, 243, 270; " Sainte Elisabeth," 292;
"Poemes Symphoniques," 293; opinion of Mason's

compositions 294

Liszt, Cosima 240

Lohengrin, 133, 134, 139 146

MacDowell, 255 ; " Sonata Tragica," 255 ; " Sonata

Eroica," 256 261

Marx,Dr 165

Mason Brothers 184

Mason, Lowell, 4; career of, 5-10 and 275 et seq.;
Handel and Haydn Society, 7 ; introduces music
in Boston public schools, 8, 289 ; musical instruc-
tion for the blind, 8 ; Boston Academy of Music, 9 ;
originates musical conventions, 9; fife and drum
serenade to, 25 ; work praised by Moritz Haupt-
mann, 46 ; address on, by William S. Tilden, 275 ;
ancestry of, 276 ; at Medfleld, Mass., 277 ; portrait,
277; nearly drowned, 279; commences teaching,
282 ; religious views, 285 ; tact and shrewdness,

285 ; magnetism as a teacher 286

Mason, William, portrait, 1899, frontispiece ; ances-
try of, 3 ; born at Boston, 3 ; early musical train-
ing, 10 ; meets Webster and Clay, 11, 12 ; portrait
as a boy, 12 ; de"but as pianist, 13 ; piano lesson,
14, 15 ; hints on touch, 16-18 ; plays with Harvard
Musical Association, 18 ; hears Leopold de Meyer,
19 ; portrait at eighteen, 20 ; and " Father Hein-
rich," 22 ; meets Miss Webb, 26 ; sails for Brem-
en, 27 ; in Paris, 27 ; meets Meyerbeer, 28 ; in
Hamburg, 31 ; goes to Leipsic, 31 ; first meeting
with Liszt, 33; arrives at Leipsic, 34; concert of
the Euterpe Society changes his high opinion of
German musical taste, 34, 35 ; begins studies with
Moscheles, 36; contrasts Schumann and Men-
delssohn, 43 ; calls on Schumann and secures his
autograph, 43, 44 ; contrasts personalities of Wag-
ner and Schumann, 44 ; pupil of Moritz Haupt-
mann, 44 ; of Ernst Friedrich Richter, 48 ; ac-
quaintance with Albert Wagner, 48; call on
Richard Wagner in Zurich and interview, 48;
impressions of Wagner, 50 ; Wagner writes the
dragon motive for him as an autograph, 55;
compares Moscheles and Paderewski, 59; first
meeting with Joachim and opinion of, 62 ; hears
Schumann's " First Symphony," 63, and piano-
forte concerto, 63, 64; comment on, 64 ; decides to
study with Dreyschock in Prague, 65 ; passport
difficulties, 65; opinion of Dreyschock, 66; re-
markable pianistic feat of Dreyschock, 67 ; upper-

INDEX 303

PAOB

arm muscles in pianoforte-playing, 69; com-
ment on Leschetitsky's method, 70; acquain-
tance with Jules Schulhoff, 71; amusing experi-
ences at Prince de Rohan's dinner, 71 ; goes to
Frankfort, 79 ; meets Beethoven's friend Schin-
dler, 79; London de"but, 84; Mendelssohn's influ-
ence in England, 84; again calls on Liszt at '
Weimar, 86 ; mistaken for wine agent, 87 ; plays for
Liszt, 88 ; becomes a pupil of Liszt, 89 ; dines with
the Wittgensteins, 95 ; acquaintance with Raff
and Klindworth, 96 ; first lesson with Liszt, 98 ;
fatigue after, 100 ; breakfast to Joachim and
Wieniawski, 109 ; opinion of Liszt's playing, 111 ;
M.'s copy of Liszt's " Benediction de Dieu dans la
Solitude" and Handel's " E Minor Fugue," 118, 119;
attends with Liszt rehearsal of " Tasso," 121 ; ex-
tracts from Weimar diary, 122-125; present at
Brahms's first meeting with Liszt and description
of, 127 ; attends Leipsic premiere of '« Lohengrin,"
133; supper at Ferdinand David's, 134; "Kapell-
meister of New York," 135; meets Brahms at
Bonn, 136; opinion of Brahms as pianist and
composer, 137-141 ; acquaintance with Cornelius,
145; reminiscences and opinion of Joachim,
Vieuxtemps, Ole Bull, Sivori, Ernst, Wilhelmj,
Henri Wieniawski, Laub, Cpssmann, and Brod-
sky, 147-151 ; acquaintance with Remenyi, 93, 151;
reminiscences and opinion of Tedesco, Perelli,
Sontag, Johanna Wagner, and De la Grange,
153-158 ; becomes a " Murl " ; opinion of Wagner,
159; reminiscences of Raff, 161-164; sees Berlioz
conduct, 168; opinion of, 169; opinion of Bee-
thoven, Chopin, and Schumann, 170, 171 ; enter-
tains Rubinstein at Weimar, 171 ; compares him
with Hambourg, 174 ; letters from Liszt to, 176,
also Appendix, Part II, p. 291 et seq. ; messages
from Liszt to, 181, 182; return to America, 183;
marriage, 183; concert tour, 183-190; combines
"Yankee Doodle" and "Old Hundred," 187;
teaching in New York, 191 ; inaugurates chamber-
music concerts, 193; first program, 194; "Mason
and Thomas Quartet," 196 ; concert at Farming-
ton, Conn., 202 ; reminiscences of Gottschalk, 205,
and Schumann's music, 209 ; describes Thalberg's
playing, 210; reminiscences of Rubinstein and
opinion of, 221-236 ; and Von Billow, 238 ; letter
from Von Bulow to, 239 ; meeting with Grieg, 241 ;
discusses piano technic, tempo, pitch, etc., 243-
251 ; studio, 248 ; at Isles of Shoals, 251-258 ; opin-
ion of Von Dohnanyi, 263 ; Godowsky, 265 ; Ga-
brilowitsch, 269; Bauer, 270; Frieriheim . . 270

304 INDEX

PAGE

Mason-Thomas Quartet, portrait group . . .196

Matthews, W. S. B 261

Matzka, George _, • 194

Mayer, Carl, 31 . ~. • 65

Mendelssohn, exaggerated worship of, 37 ; friend-
ship with Moscheles, 37 ; thought greater than
Beethoven, 37 ; influence in England ... 85
Meyer, Leopold de, Mason's recollections of, 19;
beauty of tone, 20; New York concerts and

anecdote, 21, 69 211-215

Meyerbeer, meeting of with William Mason, 28;

rehearsing " Le Prophete " 30

Mills, 8. B 292

Moscheles, 27 ; autograph, 32 ; practises Beethoven
in secret, 36; opposes his daughter's playing
Chopin, 37 ; intimacy with Mendelssohn, 37 ; en-
tertains Schumann, anecdote, 42; pianoforte-
playing, 57; silver wedding 61

Mosenthal, Joseph 194

Mozart 250

"Murls,"the 158

Musical conventions, origin of 9

Musical pedigree 180

Music in America to-day 259-272

Ohe, Adele aus der 270

Paderewski, 60 ; fantasy on "Yankee Doodle," 236;

autograph 236

Paine, John K., 252 .261

Parker, Horatio W 261

Parker, J. C. D. 135

" Parsifal," Liszt's tribute to 133

Pedal, hints on use of, 215-221 ; study . . . .219

Perelli 154

Perkins, Charles C 135

Philharmonic Society, New York . . . .262
Pitch, positive, 247 ; Thomas's ear for . . .251

Pixis 117

Pruckner, Dionys, 89, 91, 100, 107, 114, 125 . . . 135

Pupils, unusual 246

Raff, 89, 91, 96 ; friendship for Mason, 97, 124, 129, 133 ;
in Weimar, 161-164 ; Mason's first impression of,
161 ; poverty, 162 ; arrested for debt, 162 ; prison

INDEX 305

PAGE

comforts, 162 ; pianoforte-playing, 162 ; as a com-
poser, 163 ; and Wagner propaganda, 134, 142, 144 164
Rernenyi and the " Kreutzer Sonata," 93 ; Liszt re-
bukes, 94 ; on Liszt's playing, 112 ; visits Liszt with
Brahms, 127, 130 ....... 151-153

Rhythinus exercises, 191 ; Moscheles on ... 193

Richter, Ernst Friedrich 48

Rohan, Prince de 71-75

Rubinstein and Princess Marie Sayn-Wittgenstein,
95 ; on Liszt's playing, 111 ; Liszt's contrition, 144 ;
Mason entertains at Weimar in 1854, 171 ; plays,
173; opposition to Wagner, 174; Liszt's opinion
of, 175, 180, 221-236; and the autograph-hunter,
221 ; opinion of Americans, 222 ; style of playing,
224 ; favorite seat, 227 ; Bach's " Triple Concerto,"
230; significant autograph, 232, 234; "Yankee

Doodle " variations, 236 268

Sanford, S. S 261

Sayn-Wittgenstein, Furstin, 94; Princess Marie . 95
Schindler, Anton, 79; "Ami de Beethoven," 80;
autograph, 80 ; and " Fifth Symphony," 81 ; per-
suaded to meet Von Wartensee, 82, and denoue-
ment 83

Schlesinger, 33 ; daughter plays Chopin ... 33
Schmidt, Henry, conducts first Beethoven sym-
phony in America, 9, 13-15 19

Schubert, 125 .169

Schuberth, Julius, 27, 31 32

Schulhoff 112

Schumann, his life at Leipsic, 38 ; autograph, 38 ;
not appreciated, 39 ; Mason's enthusiasm on hear-
ing S.'s " First Symphony," 40 ; Mason sends score
to Boston, 40 ; attempts there to play it, 40; Webb's
opinion of it, 41 ; S. laughed at by his publisher's
clerks, 41; as a conductor, 41 ; absent-mindedness,
42; compared with Mendelssohn by Mason, 43;
Mason calls on him, 43 ; second call and auto-
graph, 44 ; Mason contrasts the personalities of
S. and Wagner, 44 ; a minor concerto, 63 ; 132, 136,

137,171 209

Schumann, Clara, 43 ; autograph .... 44

Shelley, H. R 261

Sherwood, William H 261

Sontag, Henriette, and autograph . . . .154
Stange, Adolph, Weimar reminiscences of . 165-168

306 INDEX

PAGE

Stavenhagen 112

Storr 92

" Tasso," Liszt at rehearsal of 121

Tausig, 175 176

Tedesco 154

Tempo, hints on, 243-247; Chopin, electrocuting,

244; rubato .246

Thalberg, 75 ; and Chopin, 76, 210 ; autograph . . 212

Thaxter, Celia 252-258

Theimer 117

Thomas, Theodore, 111, 194; at twenty, 195 ; genius
of conductorshio, 196 ; Mason and Thomas Quar-
tet, 196 ; as a violinist, 197 ; a great conductor,
198; confidence in himself, 200; portrait at
twenty-four, 200 ; contribution to Mason calen-
dar, 202 ; ear for positive pitch, 251 . . . . 292

Timm, Henry C 58

Tomascheb 66-70

Tracy, James M 95

Vieuxtemps, autograph, 144 148

Wagner, Albert, 48 .49

Wagner, Johanna, 154 156

Wagner, Richard, 48 ; " Wer ist da ? " 49 ; receives
William Mason, 49; appearance in 1852, 50; com-
pares Beethoven and Mendelssohn, 51 ; tribute to
Beethoven, 52 ; lively manner, 54 ; gives Mason
his autograph, 55, 56, 132, 133; Wagner cause in

Weimar, 159 ; Mason on, 159 179

Walbriihl .92

Webb, George James, 8 ; and Boston Academy of

Music, 9 ; opinion of Schumann .... 41
Webb, Miss, 26 ; engaged and married to William

Mason 183

Weber, Dionysius 36

Weimar, 86 ; Mason's reminiscences of Liszt at 86-182

Whiting, Arthur, 261 271

WieniawsM, Henri, 109, 123, 124; at Weimar, 126,

150 223

Wilhelmj 150

"Yankee Doodle" and "Old Hundred," Mason
asked to combine, 187 189

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