ata, composed
for Eugene and Theophile Ysaye, the D minor Symphony, the String
Quartet, the two remarkable piano pieces, Prelude, Chorale and Fugue,
Prelude, Aria and Finale, and finally the Three Chorales for organ,
his swan song. His health gradually declined, due to overwork and an
accident, and he passed quietly away, November 8, 1890.

Chabrier, who only survived Franck a few years, ended his touching
remarks at the grave with these words:

"Farewell, master, and take our thanks, for you have done well. In you
we salute one of the greatest artists of the century, the incomparable
teacher, whose wonderful work has produced a whole generation of
forceful musicians and thinkers, armed at all points for hard-fought
and prolonged conflicts. We salute, also, the upright and just man,
so humane, so distinguished, whose counsel was sure, as his words were
kind. Farewell!"

XVIII

JOHANNES BRAHMS

It has been truly said that great composers cannot be compared one
with another. Each is a solitary star, revolving in his own orbit.
For instance it is impossible to compare Wagner and Brahms; the former
could not have written the German Requiem or the four Symphonies any
more than Brahms could have composed "Tristan." In the combination of
arts which Wagner fused into a stupendous whole, he stands without a
rival. But Brahms is also a mighty composer in his line of effort,
for he created music that continually grows in beauty as it is better
known.

Johannes Brahms was born in Hamburg, May 7, 1833. The house at 60
Speckstrasse still stands, and doubtless looks much as it did seventy
years ago. A locality of dark, narrow streets with houses tall and
gabled and holding as many families as possible. Number 60 stands in
a dismal court, entered by a close narrow passage. A steep wooden
staircase in the center, used to have gates, closed at night.
Jakob and Johanna lived in the first floor dwelling to the left. It
consisted of a sort of lobby or half kitchen, a small living room
and a tiny sleeping closet--nothing else. In this and other small
tenements like it, the boy's early years were spent. It certainly was
an ideal case of low living and high thinking.

The Brahms family were musical but very poor in this world's goods.
The father was a contra bass player in the theater; he often had to
play in dance halls and beer gardens, indeed where he could. Later he
became a member of the band that gave nightly concerts a