Story-Lives of Great Musicians

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Francis Jameson Rowbotham. Story-Lives of Great Musicians

Story-Lives of Great Musicians

Table of Contents

PREFACE

BACH

STORY-LIVES OF GREAT MUSICIANS

BACHToC

BACH'S PRINCIPAL COMPOSITIONS

FOOTNOTES:

HANDEL

HANDELToC

HANDEL'S PRINCIPAL COMPOSITIONS

FOOTNOTES:

HAYDN

HAYDNToC

HAYDEN'S PRINCIPAL COMPOSITIONS

FOOTNOTES:

MOZART

MOZARTToC

MOZART'S PRINCIPAL COMPOSITIONS

FOOTNOTES:

BEETHOVEN

BEETHOVENToC

BEETHOVEN'S PRINCIPAL COMPOSITIONS

FOOTNOTES:

SCHUBERT

SCHUBERTToC

MUSIC HAS HERE ENTOMBED A RICH TREASURE, BUT MUCH FAIRER HOPES. FRANZ SCHUBERT LIES HERE

BORN JAN. 31, 1797; DIED NOV. 19, 1828, 31 YEARS OLD

SCHUBERT'S PRINCIPAL COMPOSITIONS

FOOTNOTES:

MENDELSSOHN

MENDELSSOHNToC

MENDELSSOHN'S PRINCIPAL COMPOSITIONS

FOOTNOTES:

Отрывок из книги

Francis Jameson Rowbotham

Published by Good Press, 2019

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The requirements of the post left him plenty of leisure in which to pursue his studies and improve his playing. Up to this point he had done very little in the shape of actual composition, his aim having been to perfect himself in a knowledge of the requirements of the instrument on which he had fixed his heart's choice, to which end he had spared no diligence in studying the works of the greatest masters. Now, however, he set about teaching himself the art of composition, for which purpose he took a number of concertos written for the violin by Vivaldi, and set them for the pianoforte. By this means he learnt to grasp the connection of musical ideas and the manner in which they should be worked out, and as this exercise implied the rewriting of many passages in order to adapt them for the piano, he gradually attained facility in expressing his own musical thoughts on paper without first playing them on an instrument. Thus, without assistance from anybody, he worked on alone, very often till far into the night, to perfect himself in this important branch of his art.

From the outset, however, his playing at the new church excited attention and admiration, and that it should, nevertheless, have failed to entirely satisfy the authorities was due, not to any lack of power, but simply to the extraordinary manner in which the services were accompanied. The fact is that Bach had no sooner seated himself at the organ than he straightway forgot that choir and congregation were depending upon him, and began to indulge his fancy to such lengths that the singing soon ceased altogether, and the people remained mute with astonishment and admiration. Naturally, these flights of genius were not exactly in accordance with the wishes of the consistory, who, moreover, saw little prospect of their choir becoming efficiently trained under the circumstances. Yet, notwithstanding there were frequent disputes between Bach and the elders of the church with regard to his vagaries, so marvellously were the authorities influenced by the power and beauty of his playing that they overlooked his faults for the sake of his genius.

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