g clasped hands on the same lofty
summits of genius. Liszt has given to our composer the title of _le
musicien le plus poetique_, which very well expresses his place in art.

In the song as created by Schubert and transmitted to his successors,
there are three forms, the first of which is that of the simple _Lied_,
with one unchanged melody. A good example of this is the setting of
Goethe's "Haideroslein," which is full of quaint grace and simplicity.
A second and more elaborate method is what the Germans call
"through-composed," in which all the different feelings are successively
embodied in the changes of the melody, the sense of unity being
preserved by the treatment of the accompaniment, or the recurrence of
the principal motive at the close of the song. Two admirable models of
this are found in the "Lindenbaum" and "Serenade."

The third and finest art-method, as applied by Schubert to lyric music,
is the "declamatory." In this form we detect the consummate flower of
the musical lyric. The vocal part is lifted into a species of passionate
chant, full of dramatic fire and color, while the accompaniment, which
is extremely elaborate, furnishes a most picturesque setting. The genius
of the composer displays itself here fully as much as in the vocal
treatment. When the lyric feeling rises to its climax it expresses
itself in the crowning melody, this high tide of the music and poetry
being always in unison. As masterpieces of this form may be cited "Die
Stadt" and "Der Erlkoenig," which stand far beyond any other works of the
same nature in the literature of music.

IV.

Robert Schumann, the loving critic, admirer, and disciple of Schubert in
the province of song, was in most respects a man of far different
type. The son of a man of wealth and position, his mind and tastes were
cultivated from early youth with the utmost care. Schumann is known
in Germany no less as a philosophical thinker and critic than as
a composer. As the editor of the _Neue Zeitschrift fuer Musik_, he
exercised a powerful influence over contemporary thought in art-matters,
and established himself both as a keen and incisive thinker and as a
master of literary style. Schumann was at first intended for the law,
but his unconquerable taste for music asserted itself in spite of family
opposition. His acquaintance with the celebrated teacher Wieck, whose
gifted daughter Clara afterward became his wife, finally established
his career; for it was