> V i;i- il .. a ±jh ; ~- ^^ J •S /J 2 <*%. JTHE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK COMPILED BY MARGARET REINTZEL NEW YORK E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY 31 West Twenty-third Street 1907 Copyright, by E. P. Dutton & Co, 1895. IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF MY TEACHERS. JANUARY. I can always leave off talking tuhen I hear a master play. Browning. THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. January First. Every day that we spend without learning something is a day lost. Beethoven. William Beale was born January i, 1784. Lef6bvre Wely died January 1, 1870. January Second. In January, 1822, Maelzel came before the public with his metronome. " One must not only learn to count while playing, but make the playing fit the count- ing." 7 8 THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. January Third. He who would do a great thing well must first have done the simplest thing perfectly. Cady. Henriette Sontag was born January 3, 1806. Thomas Ludford Bellamy died January 3> l8 43- January Fourth. The study of the history of music, and the hearing of masterworks of different epochs, will cure one of vanity and self-adulation. Robert Schumann. Ludwig Ehlert died January 4, 1884. January Fifth. A rule drawn up in 1653 in Germany, signed by Emperor Ferdinand III. : THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. 9 "No man shall dare to perform on dis- honorable instruments, such as hurdy-gur- dies, bagpipes, and triangles, which beggars use for collecting alms, so that the noble art of music is brought into contempt by them." January Sixth. Music is a stimulant to mental exertion. D'Israeli. Max Bruck was born January 6, 1838. Taubert died January 6, 1891. Heinrich Hertz was born January 6, 1806. Rudolph Kreutzer died January 6, 1831. January Seventh. When Thalberg played a melody it stood out in bold dynamic relief ; not because he pounded, but because he kept the accom- paniment duly subdued. Christiani. IO THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. Sigismund Thalberg was born January 7, 1812. Robert Nicolas Bochsa died January 7, 1856. January Eighth. Without enthusiasm one will never accom- plish anything in art. Robert Schumann. Handel's first opera, " Almeria," was pro- duced January 8, 1705. Hans Guido von Bulow was born January 8, 1830. January Ninth. Of all the fine arts music is that which has most influence on the passions, and which the legislator ought the most to encourage. Napoleon Bonaparte. THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. II January Tenth. If all were determined to play the first violin we should never have a complete orchestra. Therefore respect every musi- cian in his proper place. Robert Schumann. January Eleventh. You should no more play without phras- ing than speak without inflection and gram- matical pauses. Charles Landon. John Field died January n, 1837. Domenico Cimarosa died January 11, 1801. January Twelfth. I am what I am because I was industri- ous ; whoever is equally sedulous will be equally successful. J. Sebastian Bach. 12 THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. Arabella Goddard was born January 12, 1836. January Thirteenth. Genius at first is little more than a great capacity for receiving discipline. George Eliot. Heinrich Hoffmann was born January 13, 1842. Ferdinand Ries died January 13, 1838. Lud wig Ehlert was born January 13, 1825. January Fourteenth. Music is a discipline, and a mistress of order and good manners. Martin Luther. Luigi Boccherini was born January 14, 1740. Francois Joseph Dizi was born January 14, 1780. THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. 1 3 January Fifteenth. Music resembles chess: the queen (mel- ody) has the most power, but the king (har- mony) turns the scale. Robert Schumann. January Sixteenth. The principal requisites for a musician, a fine ear and a swift power of comprehension, come, like all things, from above. Robert Schumann. January Seventeenth. When an artist has been able to say, " I came, I saw, I conquered," it has been at the end of patient practice. George Eliot. 14 THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. January Eighteenth. To accompany well you must not only be a good musician, but you must be mesmeric, sympathetic, intuitive. Haweis. Arcangelo Corelli died January 18, 1713. Stephen Foster died January 18, 1864. January Nineteenth. Sacrifice all the trivialities of social life to thy art. The Odyssey. Ferdinand David was born January 19, 1810. Louis Joseph Ferdinand Harold died January 19, 1833. THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. I 5 January Twentieth. The art of true accompanying lies in a willing self-immolation. Haweis. January Twenty-first. The hallowed melody of magic song Does to creation as a link belong ; Blending its music with God's harmony, As rivers melt into the mighty sea. Schiller. Parepa Rosa died January 21, 1874. January Twenty-second. " Music is allied to the highest sentiments of man's moral nature — love of God, love of country, love of friends." 1 6 THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. January Twenty -third. In order to please everybody at once it is necessary to compromise, and in questions of art he who compromises is sure to disap- pear in a short time. Richard Wagner. January Twenty-fourth. Let not a day pass, if possible, without having heard some fine music, read a noble poem, or seen a beautiful picture. Goethe. Carlo Farinelli was born January 24, 1722. Baron von Flotow died January 24, 1883. January Twenty-fifth. Sing aloud old songs — the precious music of the heart. Wordsworth. THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. 17 Robert Burns was born January 25, 1759. Parish Alvars died January 25, 1849. January Twenty-sixth. Music in the best sense does not require novelty. Goethe. Frederick Corder was born January 26, 1852. January Twenty -seventh. From whatever side and with whatever feeling we may glance at Mozart, we always meet with the genuine and pure nature of the artist, a nature filled with perennial love, which finds only joy and satisfaction in pro- ducing the beautiful, animated with the spirit of truth. Otto Jahn. Johann Wolfgang Mozart was born Janu- ary 27, 1756. 1 8 THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. January Twenty-eighth. He is a good musician who understands the music without the score, and the score without the music. Robert Schumann. Louis Joseph Ferdinand Herold was born January 28, 1791. January Twenty-ninth. Music washes away from the soul the dust of every-day life. Auerbach. Franz Auber was born January 29, 1784. Frederick Cowen was born January 29, 1852. January Thirtieth. As the true poem is the poet's mind, so true expression is the artist's soul. Tapper. THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. \q January Thirty-first. There was a time when I talked unwill- ingly of Schubert, whose name, I thought, should only be whispered at night to the trees and stars. Robert Schumann. Franz Peter Schubert was born January 3 1 , 1797- FEBRUARY. There is music in all things if men had ears. THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. 23 February First. Save Mendelssohn, I know no other living artist but Bennett who has so much to say at so little expense. There may be bolder and more gifted ones, but none more neat and tender. Robert Schumann. Sterndale Bennett died February i, 1875. February Seeond. Palestrina's music has all its separate parts so beautiful that one would like to sing them all one's self. Hauptmann. Giovanni Palestrina died February 2, 1 594. 24 THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. February Third. It is not his [Mendelssohn's] genius that surprises me and compels my admiration, for that he has from God. No, it is his inces- sant toil, his bee-like industry, his stern conscientiousness, his inflexibility toward himself, his actual adoration of art. Zelter. Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy was born February 3, 1809. Emile Prudent was born February 3, 181 7. February Fourth. Music should strike fire from the heart of man, and bring tears from the eyes of woman. Beethoven. THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. 25 Michael Costa was born February 4, 1 8 1 o. Joseph Artot was born February 4, 181 5. February Fifth. What shall I say of Jenny Lind ? This wonderful astiste stands far too high in my estimation to be dragged down by common- place phrases such as newspaper writers so copiously indulge in. Moscheles. Jenny Lind and Otto Goldschmidt were married February 5, 1852. Ole Bull was born February 5, 1810. February Sixth. The barriers are not erected that can say to aspiring talents and industry, " Thus far and no farther." Beethoven. 26 THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. February Seventh. True art endures forever, and the true ar- tist delights in the works of great minds. Beethoven. William Boyce died February 7, 1779. February Eighth. Make a habit to go into music, not over it. Tapper. February Ninth. Great is song used to great ends. Tennyson. Schroeder-Devrient died February 9, i860. Johann Ludwig Dussek was born Febru- ary 9, 1 761. THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. 2 "J February Tenth. Love your instrument, but do not vainly suppose it the highest and only one. Schumann. February Eleventh. Although instrumental music cannot be sung, yet the player may render by adequate modulation its meaning, and the sad or joy- ous thoughts it is intended to express. Praetorius. February Twelfth. Every one who thinks genius can be with- out understanding, thinks without under- standing himself. Jean Paul. 28 THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. February Thirteenth. The understanding is not a vessel which must be filled, but firewood, which needs to be kindled ; and love of learning and love of truth are what should kindle it. Plutarch. Richard Wagner died February 13, 1883. Von Biilow died February 13, 1894. Johann Burgmuller died February 13, 1874. February Fourteenth. Have you real talent for art ? Then study music, do something worthy of the art, and dedicate your whole soul to the beloved saint. Longfellow. THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. 29 February Fifteenth. When any master holds 'Twixt chin and hand a violin of mine, He will be glad that Stradivari lived, Made violins, and made them of the best. George Eliot's " Stradivarius" Frederick Ernst was born February 15, 1789. February Sixteenth. Perfection should be the aim of every true artist. Beethoven. Leopold Damrosch died January 15, 1885. February Seventeenth. We must hear Italian music among the Italians. German music can be enjoyed under every heaven. Schumann. 3 i»37- THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. 151 October Eighteenth. All that is mortal and perishable will gradually weary us ; truth alone will endure. Merz. Etienne Henri Mehul died October 18, 1817. October Nineteenth. If the composer can only move the imag- inative power of his hearers, and call forth some one image, some one thought — it mat- ters not what — he has attained his object. Mendelssohn. October Twentieth. Many critics mistake the rules of the the- ory of music for the rules by which to criti- cize the beautiful in it. Merz. 152 THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. October Twenty-first. The sole aim of the composer should be the progress of his art. Gluck. Abb6 Giuseppe Baini was born October «> I 775- Alexander Choron was born October 21, 1772. Michael William Balfe died October 21, 1870. October Twenty -second. No amount of adverse criticism can de- tract in any way from the intrinsic value of a composition. Lndwig Spohr. Ludwig Spohr died October 22, 1859. Jean Ancot was born October 22, 1779. Franz Liszt was born October 22, 181 1. THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. I 53 Leopold Damrosch was born October 22, 1832. October Tiventy-third. Just as a writer who speaks to the heart is sure to please, so is a composer who gives the player something which he cannot only play and enjoy himself, but make others en- joy too. Zelter. October Twenty -fourth. In many respects Wagner resembles Na- poleon III. Like him he always had faith in his work, notwithstanding the most ad- verse circumstances. All the means which could help him toward the goal of his as- pirations he has employed with an energy which no musician has possessed before him to the same degree. Ferdinand Hitler. 154 THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. Ferdinand Hiller was born October 24, 1811. Alfred James Eyre was born October 24, October Twenty -fifth. Every artist of genius breathes into his work an unexpressed idea which speaks to our feelings even before it can be defined. Liszt. Ernest Sivori was born October 25, 18 15. Alexandre Georges Bizet was born Octo- ber 25, 1838. October Twenty-sixth. If our art is not to sink entirely to the level of trade, commerce, and fashion, the training for it must be complete, intelligent, and really artistic. Merz. THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. 155 Karl Ferdinand Becker died October 26, 1877. Henry Smart was born October 26, 181 3. October Twenty-seventh. Literature is the highest of the arts, be- cause its power of expression is the greatest. The effect of music is more intense at a given moment, but its range is not so wide, nor its effect so enduring. Sill. Niccold Paganini was born October 27, 1785- October Twenty -eighth. The fundamental evil in music is the necessity of reproduction of its artistic crea- tions by performance. Were it as easy to learn to read music as words, the sonatas of 156 THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. Beethoven would have the popularity of the poems of Schiller. Ferdinand Hiller. Henri Bertini was born October 28, 1798. October Twenty-ninth. Work alone praises or condemns its mas- ters, and I therefore measure every one by that standard. Johann Sebastian Bach. October Thirtieth. The pleasure which the work of a musi- cian affords you is his very life-blood; the trouble it has cost him you do not know. He gives you his very best : the essence of his life, the outflow of his genius, and yet you grudge him a simple wreath of flowers. Schumann. THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. I 57 October Thirty-first. The happiest genius will hardly succeed by nature and instinct alone in rising to the sublime. Art is art ; he who has not thought it out has no right to call himself an artist. Goethe. Richard Edwards died October 31, 1566. Rudolph Willmers was born October 31, 1821. NOVEMBER. Under heaven there is but one thing we ought to bow to — genius ; and only one thing before which we ought to kneel — goodness. Victor Hugo. THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. 161 November First. All the arts flow from the same source. It is the idea embodied in a work of art, and not the mode of enunciating it, that de- termines its rank in the scale of beauty. Franz Liszt. Gioacchimo Rossini died November i, 1868. November Second. Jenny Lind's true spell consisted, in my opinion, in three things : in the perfection of her technical culture — perfection to an extent that caused the most finished art to appear the most finished nature. Elise Polko. Jenny Lind died November 2, 1887. [62 THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. November Third. November 3, 1836: Mendelssohn played Beethoven's " G Major Concerto " to-day with a perfection and power that carried everything before it. — From Henrietta Voighfs Diary. Vincenzo Bellini was born November 3, 1802. November Fourth. It is a charming test of Mendelssohn's heart that all the friendships he ever formed endured to the end of his life. Elise Polko. Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy died Novem- ber 4, 1847. THE. MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. 163 November Fifth. The soul that becomes discouraged in the presence of real greatness will never become thoroughly artistic. Mendelssohn. November Sixth. Paderewski is an artist by the grace of God, a phenomenal and inspired player. William Mason. Ignaz Paderewski was born November 6, i860. Bartolommeo Campagnoli died November 6, 1827. November Seventh. I now feel more vividly than ever what a heavenly calling art is, and for this also I 164 THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. have to thank my parents. Just when all else which ought to interest the mind appears so repugnant and empty, the smallest real service to art lays hold of your inmost thoughts, leading you so far away from town and country, and from earth itself, that it is, indeed, a blessing sent by God. Mendelssohn. November Eighth. Freedom of spirit and expression are not possible but with nimbleness and sureness of the fingers. Von Weber. November Ninth. Among the various things which are suit- able for man's recreation and pleasure, music is the first, and leads us to the belief that it is a gift of God set apart for this purpose. Calvin. THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. 165 November Tenth. And ever against eating cares Lap me in soft Lydian airs, Married to immortal verse Such as the melting soul may pierce. Untwisting all the chains that tie The hidden soul of harmony. Milton. November Eleventh. In the works of Beethoven are to be found gigantic and sublime formula; ; those of Haydn contain a melodic sweetness mixed with artifices which are always agreeable ; while Mozart showed his unequaled genius in everything. I can only compare them to Michael Angelo, Guido, and Raphael. Pacini. 1 66 THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. November Twelfth. Musical criticism, and criticism generally, is, with rare exceptions, no more than the ex- pression of a liking or disliking which has its origin in temperament, habit, and educa- tion. Niecks. November Thirteenth. The style of a writer is almost always the faithful representative of his mind. There- fore, if any man wishes to write a clear style let him begin by making his thoughts clear, and if any would write a noble style let him first possess a noble soul. Goethe. Louis Jacques Lefebvre W61y was born November 13, 181 7. THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. 167 November Fourteenth. Always play as if a master heard you. Schumann. Fanny Cecile Mendelssohn was born November 14, 1805. Ignaz Pleyel died November 14, 1831. Johann Nepomuk Hummel was born November 14, 1776. Gasparo Luigi Spontini was born Novem- ber 14, 1774. Albert Jungmann was born November 14, 1814. Johann Georg Leopold Mozart was born November 14, 17 19. November Fifteenth. The works of all beginners teem with rem- iniscences : every composition reveals the 1 68 THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. model form from which it is derived ; and it is only much later that they learn to act in- dependently, and to strive for the ideal. Von Weber. William Horsley was born November 15, 1774. November Sixteenth. If we look around in modern music we will find that we have a terrible deal of mind and astonishingly few ideas. Ambros. Rudolph Kreutzer was born November 16, 1766. Friedrich Wilhelm Kucken was born November 16, 181 o. November Seventeenth. A critic is justified in seeking and pro- nouncing the truth without reserve. It is THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. 1 69 not his duty to consider whom he pleases or offends by his candor. Ambros. August Wilhelm Ambros was born Novem- ber 17, 1816. November Eighteenth. The noisiest and most complicated music has melody, but it may be so laden with ex- ternal flourishes, or so obscured by internal changes, that few only can detect and follow the golden thread. Christiani. Sir Henry Rowley Bishop was born No- vember 18, 1786. November Nineteenth, Schubert's songs : Beautiful as are his sym- phonies, and great as was the treasure he 170 THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. bequeathed to the world in his instrumental works, his most important contribution to musical progress is to be found in his songs, of which he wrote some six hundred. Fillmore. Franz Peter Schubert died November 19, 1828. November Twentieth. Beethoven rose so far above his fellow- men that he saw seas and countries, yes, suns and stars, which we cannot yet behold. Merz. Beethoven's " Fidelio " was given first No- vember 20, 1805. John Wall Calcott was born November 20, 1766. Anton Rubinstein died November 20, 1894. THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. I 7 I November Twenty-first. Christianity is the only soil in which music could grow and develop herself with a splen- dor never conceived by the ancients. Ernst Pauer. Henry Purcell died November 21, 1695. November Twenty -second. St. Cecilia's Day : At last divine Cecilia came, Inventress of the vocal frame. The sweet enthusiast from her sacred store Enlarged the former narrow bounds, And added length to solemn sounds, With Nature's mother- wit and arts unknown before. Dry den. 172 THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. November Twenty -third. Unfortunately the majority of people are more influenced by external appearances than by internal worth. And so it is that we have a crowd of piano-players for whom technique is the chief ambition, and a large number of amateurs who consider it more desirable to play runs and passages very fast and loudly than to play them clearly and in a moderate tempo. Christiani. November Twenty -fourth. In Chopin's compositions boldness is al- ways justified ; richness, often exuberance, never interferes with clearness ; singularity never degenerates into the uncouth and fan- tastic ; the sculpturing is never disordered ; the luxury of ornament never overloads the chaste eloquence of the principal lines. Franz Liszt. THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. 173 November Twenty-fifth. The operas of Gluck can only be studied as they deserve by being heard and seen, and, moreover, under conditions of careful and magnificent presentation. Charley. Christoph W. Gluck died November 25, 1787. Grisi's voice Is deliciously pure and young, and she sings as if she loves her art and has its resources at her feet. Charley. Giulia Grisi died November 25, 1869. November Twenty-sixth. When I sat at my old worm-eaten piano I envied no king in his happiness. Haydn. Franz Joseph Haydn was married to Anna Kellar November 26, 1760. 174 THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK'. November Twenty -seventh. Whoever knows me knows that I owe much to Sebastian Bach, that I have studied him thoroughly and well, and that I acknow- ledge him only as my model. Haydn. Adolph Marx was born November 27, 1799. November Twenty -eighth. With Ferdinand Ries I pass very musical hours. Kindred sympathies are fostered and a lasting friendship promoted by a pro- found veneration for Beethoven, the master of Ries. Moscheles' 's Diary. Ferdinand Ries was born November 28, 1784. THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. I 75 November Twenty-ninth. He [Donizetti] is remarkable as an in- stance of freshness of fancy brought on by incessant manufacture. Such a change is almost exclusively confined to Italian genius in its workings. It learns and grows while creating. Chorley. Gaetano Donizetti was born November 29, 1779. November Thirtieth. Rubinstein occupies a unique position among all his contemporaries. As a pianist he holds perhaps the first place since Liszt's death. At the same time, as a composer, not alone for the piano, but in a more marked 176 THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. degree as a writer of large works for the orchestra and the operatic stage, he has made an extraordinary success. Upton. Anton Gregor Rubinstein was born No vember 30, 1830. DECEMBER. Till at the last she set herself to man, Like perfect music unto noble words. Tennyson. THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. I 79 December First. A distinguished philosopher spoke of archi- tecture as frozen music, and his assertion caused many to shake their heads. We be- lieve this really beautiful idea could not be better reintroduced than by calling architec- ture silent music. Goethe. December Second. If in spite of all the abuse and ill treat- ment to which it is subjected the noble art of music never ceases to charm and edify us, it only attests its unfathomable and ever- lasting grandeur. Ferdinand Hitler. December Third. Genius is the most beautiful gift with which nature favors mankind from time to time. 180 THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. Through it we are allowed to enjoy what is most sublime — self-oblivion in a loftier life. Hiller. December Fourth. To describe a scene is the province of the painter. The poet, too, has the advantage over me, for his range is less limited than mine. On the other hand, my sphere ex- tends to regions which to them are not easily accessible. Beethoven. Deceinber Fifth. O Mozart ! If I could instil into the soul of every lover of music the admiration I have for his matchless works, all countries would seek to be possessed of so great a treasure. Haydn. THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. l8l Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died Decem- ber 5, 1791. Karl Friedrich Ludwig Nohl was born December 5, 1831. December Sixth. The person who is unacquainted with the best things among modern literary produc- tions is looked upon as uncultivated. We should be at least as advanced as this in music. Schumann. Luigi Lablache was born December 6, 1794. Giovanni Pacini died December 6, 1867. December Seventh. There are many things in music which must be imagined without being heard. It is the intelligent hearers who are endowed 1 82 THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. with that imagination whom we should en- deavor to please especially. J. Emanuel Back. Stephen Glover died December 7, 1870. Ludwig Schunke died December 7, 1834. ■ Karl Anton Florian Eckert was born De- cember 7, 1820. December Eighth. No kind of pianoforte music contains so much that is so excellent as the study, the etude. The reasons are simple : its form is one of the easiest and most attractive, and its aim is so clear and firmly fixed that it is impossible to fail in it. Schumann. December Ninth. The elements of orchestration are those of painting. The composition per se represents THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. 1 83 the design ; the melody the outline ; harmony the light and shade j and instrumentation the coloring. J. Raff. December Tenth. Harmony in music does not consist merely in the construction of concordant sounds, but in their mutual relations, their proper succession in what I should call their audi- ble reflex. Delacroix. Wilhelm Kuhe was born December 10, 1823. December Eleventh. Music is at once a sentiment and a sci- ence ; it demands of him who cultivates it, be he executant or composer, natural inspira- 184 THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. tion and a knowledge which is only to be acquired by protracted studies and profound meditations. Berlioz. Hector Berlioz was born December 11, 1803. Karl Friedrich Zelter was born December 11, 1758. December Twelfth. Chopin spoke the language of the piano. His pieces are so idiomatic that they cannot be translated into orchestral language any more than Heine's lyrics can be translated into English. Chopin exhausted the possi- bilities of the pianoforte, and the piano ex- hausts the possibilities of Chopin's composi- tions. Finck. THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. 1 85 December Thirteenth. I hope you will like my " Lobesang " or " Song of Praise." It is a kind of universal thanksgiving on the words of the last psalm : " Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord." The instruments begin with a sym- phony of three movements, and the voices take it up and continue it with different words, solos and choruses, till all unite again in the same words. Mendelssohn. December Fourteenth. Study only the best, for life is too short to study everything. J. Emanuel Bach. J. Emanuel Bach died December 14, 1788. 1 86 THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. December Fifteenth. Every person has a lead with which he attempts to measure the depth of art. The string of some is long, that of others is very short ; yet each thinks he has reached the bottom, while in reality art is as a bottom- less deep that none have as yet fully ex- plored, and probably none ever will. Art is endless. Schopen h auer. S. Mercadante died December 15, 1870. December Sixteenth. Uninterrupted harmony would soon be- come as fatiguing as constant sunshine. THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. 1 87 Harmony after discord is a new pleasure ; sunshine after rain gives new enjoyment. Christiani. Francois Adrien Boildieu was born De- cember 16, 1775. Johann Adolf Hasse died December 16, 1783. December Seventeenth. Music is the mediator between the spiri- tual and sensual life. Although the spirit be not master of that which it creates through music, yet it is blessed in this recreation, which, like every creation of art, is mightier than the artist. Beethoven. Ludwig van Beethoven was born Decem- ber 17, 1770. Domenico Cimarosa was born December 17, 1749. l88 THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. December Eighteenth. How very differently does he create whose inner ear is judge of the ideas which he sim- ultaneously conceives and criticizes ! This mental ear grasps and holds fast the musical vision, and is a divine secret belonging to music alone, incomprehensible to the lay- man. Von Weber. Karl Maria von Weber was born Decem- ber 1 8, 1786. Louis Moreau Gottschalk died December 18, 1869. December Nineteenth. I require no undercurrent of thought when I hear music, which is not to me "a mere THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. 189 medium to elevate the mind to piety," as they say here, but a distinct language speak- ing plainly to me ; for though the sense is expressed by the words, it is equally con- tained in the music. This is the case with the " Passion " of Sebastian Bach. Mendelssohn, extract of a letter to Zelter/rom Rome in 1831. John Ella was bora December 19, 1802. December Twentieth. Exercise without consciousness is not ar- tistic skill ; it is only the working of the in- stinct, which will always make the want of a complete education sensible. The spiritual thought cannot do without the form, and it is this which must be recognized and learned. Richter. 190 THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. December Twenty-first. There is no sweeter consolation in misfor- tune than the pursuit of art, for the mind employed in acquiring it sails secretly past its mishaps. Amp his. Ernst Pauer was born December 21, 1826. Franz Abt was born December 21, 18 19. Theodore Hagen died December 21, 1871. December Twenty-second. Although woman has never made an epoch in musical art, it must be said that she has done a very important work in its develop- ment. Though she has never been a great composer, she has surely been great in the interpretation of art-works. Anon. Theresa Carreno was born December 22, i853- THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. 191 December Twenty -third. The value of the sketches made by Chopin's extremely delicate pencil has not yet been acknowledged and emphasized sufficiently. It has become customary in our days to re- gard as great composers only those who have written at least half a dozen operas, as many oratorios, and several symphonies. Franz Liszt. December Twenty -fourth. A player may be very glib with finger-pas- sages. They all in time grow commonplace, and must be changed. Only where such facility serves higher ends is it of any worth. Schumann. Giovanni Bottisini was born December 24, 1823. Jules Benedict was born December 24, 1804. I92 THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. December Twenty-fifth. Christmas Day: Then let us sing the anthem The angels once did sing ; Until the music of love and praise O'er the whole wide world will ring Gloria in excelsis ! Sing it, sinful earth, In excelsis Deo ! For the Saviour's birth. Father Ryan. John Christmas Beckwith was born De cember 25, 1759. December Twenty-sixth. I am sure if anything on earth can give an idea of the angelic choir, it must be the music of Palestrina. Baroness Bunsen. THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. 1 93 Franz Hunten was born December 26, !793- December Twenty -seventh. Schubert was like a gardener bewildered with the luxuriant growth springing up around him. As fast as his ideas arose they were poured forth on paper. He was too rich for himself — his fancy outgrew his powers of arrangement. Haweis. December Twenty-eighth. Passions, however violent, should never be portrayed in all their ugliness ; and even when describing the most horrible situations music should never offend, but always please the ear — in short, always remain music. Mozart. 194 THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. December Twenty -ninth. However so-called sober-minded musi- cians may disparage consummate brilliancy, it is none the less true that every genuine artist has an instinctive desire for it. Liszt. William Crotch died December 29, 1847. Dece?nber Thirtieth. In Mendelssohn we admire most his great talent for form, his power of appropriating all that is most piquant, his charmingly beautiful workmanship, his delicate sensitive- ness, and his earnest, I might almost say his impassioned, equanimity. Heinrich Heine. THE MUSICIAN'S YEAR BOOK. 1 95 December Thirty -first. The world is full of musical treasures, but we are not being enriched by these to half the extent we ought to be. Booth. THE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara HIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW. aHflBJ*"* 1 ' uuuiiilhh nLUlui^HL LIDnHn T THUILI I T AA 000 242 677 3