Modern music and musicians : [Encyclopedic] . new andoriginal spirit! What wealth, what depth, what poetry, in these compo-sitions ! The fantasia in C major, with its daring flight, and its hiddenundertone for him who listens secretly (fiir den der lieimlicli lauscht), asthe motto declares; the F sharp minor sonata, with its romantic enthusi-asm and its burlesque abandon; Kreisleriana, the Carnaval, Davidsbiind-lertanze, Novellettes,— only to name a few of his principal works,— whata world of beauty, what intensity of emotional life, are hidden in these!And what bewitching harmony — out of the
Modern music and musicians : [Encyclopedic] . new andoriginal spirit! What wealth, what depth, what poetry, in these compo-sitions ! The fantasia in C major, with its daring flight, and its hiddenundertone for him who listens secretly (fiir den der lieimlicli lauscht), asthe motto declares; the F sharp minor sonata, with its romantic enthusi-asm and its burlesque abandon; Kreisleriana, the Carnaval, Davidsbiind-lertanze, Novellettes,— only to name a few of his principal works,— whata world of beauty, what intensity of emotional life, are hidden in these!And what bewitching harmony — out of the very soul of the piano — forhim who is able to interpret, for him who can and will hear! But theabove-mentioned Bayreuth hireling has not taunts enough for Schumanns ROBERT SCHUMANN 201 piano music, which he finds to be written in a certain virtuoso style thatis absolutely false and on the surface. The difficult passages in Schu-mann, he says, are effective only when, as is mostly the case, they arebrought out obscurely and blurred. ZWICKAU, SCHUMANNS BIRTHPLACE. A poor witticism ! And then this talk about virtuoso style, falseness,and objectiveness in Schumanns piano-phrasing! Can anything moreunjust be imagined ? For one ought, rather, to emphasize his moderationin his use of virtuoso methods, as compared, for instance, with Liszt orChopin. To accuse him of unadaptability for the piano amounts ofcourse to a denial of familiarity with the piano; but it is a fact well knownto every genuine piano-player that Schumann could not have written asingle one of his many piano compositions without the most intimatefamiliarity with the subtilest secrets of that instrument. Nor need any 202 ROBERT SCHUMANN one be told that he was a most admirable player. One of the best friendsof Schumanns youth, the late Ernst Ferdinand Wenzel, teacher at theLeipsic Conservatory, with whom I often talked about the master, usedto recall with a sad pleasure the many evenings, in the olden time, wh
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidmode, booksubjectmusicians
