y characteristic Andante, which Dr. Rust, the editor, in a
preface to the published sonata, likens to the "mighty procession" in
Lenau's _Faust_. The Finale consists of an animated Allegro, with a
clever fugato by way of episode; there is still an Allegro maestoso,
which, except for its length and the fact that it contains a middle
section, Cantabile e religioso, we should call a long coda. The whole,
evidently programme-music, is a sonata worked out somewhat on Kuhnau
lines.

Now, was Beethoven acquainted with Rust's music? Dr. Prieger, in the
pamphlet mentioned above, remarks as follows:--"During the years
1807-27 Wilhelm Karl Rust (_b._ 1787, _d._ 1855), the youngest son of
our master, was in Vienna, and had the good fortune to make the
acquaintance of Beethoven, who was pleased with his playing, and
recommended him as teacher. Among Rust's lady pupils were Baroness
Dorothea Ertmann and Maximiliane Brentano, both of whom belonged to
Beethoven's most intimate circle of friends, and had been honoured by
having works dedicated to them. The younger Rust was gifted with an
extraordinary memory, and therefore it seems more than probable that
he occasionally performed some of his father's works in that circle.
On the other hand, we have Beethoven's energetic nature holding aloof
from anything which might influence his own individuality."

There, in a few words, is the answer to our question. And it is about
the only one we can ever hope to obtain. Rust was altogether a
remarkable phenomenon, a musician born, as it were, out of due time.
If Beethoven, as seems quite possible, was acquainted with his music,
then Rust exerted an influence over the master quite equal to that of
Clementi. It almost seems as if we ought to say, greater.

CHAPTER VII

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

Bach's forty-eight Preludes and Fugues and Beethoven's thirty-two
Sonatas tower above all other works written for the pianoforte; they
were aptly described by the late Dr. Hans v. Buelow, the one as the
Old, the other as the New Testament of musical literature. Each fresh
study of them reveals new points of interest, new beauties; they are
rich mines which it is impossible to exhaust. Bach seemed to have
revealed all the possibilities of fugue-form; and the history of the
last seventy years almost leads one to imagine that Beethoven was the
last of the great sonata writers. To this matter, however, we will
presently return. In speaking of the vario