one of the loveliest of
the six new quartets of Beethoven, with which I had often charmed my
hearers in Brunswick. But after a few bars I already noticed that my
accompanists knew not the music and were quite incapable of playing it.
This disturbed me, and my dismay increased when I observed that the
assembled company paid little attention to my playing. Conversation
became general, and ultimately so loud as almost to drown the music. I
rose in the midst of the music, hurried to my violin case without saying
a word, and was on the point of putting my instrument away. This made
quite a sensation in the company, and the host approached me
questioningly. I met him with the remark,--which could be heard
everywhere,--'I have always been accustomed to be listened to with
attention. As it has been otherwise here, I thought the company would
prefer that I should stop.' The host did not know at first how to reply,
and retired somewhat discomfited. As I made preparations for leaving,
after having excused myself to the other musicians, the host came up and
said, quite amicably: 'If you could but play something else, something
more suitable to the taste and capacity of the company, you would find
them an attentive and grateful audience.' It was clear to me before that
I had chosen the wrong music in the first instance for such a company,
and I was glad enough now to have an opportunity to change it. So I took
up my violin again and played Rode's E flat quartet, which the musicians
already knew and accompanied well enough. This time there was perfect
silence, and the enthusiasm for my playing increased with each movement.
At the end of the quartet so much flattery was heaped upon me that I
trotted out my hobby-horse,--the G variations of Rode. With this piece I
made quite a sensation, and for the remainder of the evening I was the
object of the most flattering attention."

This little episode shows that Beethoven was not fully appreciated, and
it also shows that quartet playing was regarded at that time in an
entirely different light from that in which we are accustomed to think
of it to-day. We do not consider the first violinist a soloist and the
rest merely his accompaniment, but each member of the quartet is
practically of equal importance.

Lambert Joseph Massart, the eminent teacher of Paris, is said to have
been an excellent quartet player, and often, with his wife, an
admirable pianist, he gave delightful chamber concerts.