t which is
merely beautiful and pleasing.

Bach had, indeed, great originality, but he came by it
honestly. His mental activity in musical directions was
of such a spontaneous character that immediately a
theme presented itself all sorts of possible treatment
occurred to him. If the theme pleased him he
immediately began to develop it, and in the course of this one
happy thought after another presented itself, without
having been sought for or worked out in the slightest.
Thus his highest and largest works have a good deal the
character of play, so easily were they composed. True,
they do not present to the player of the present day
nearly so much of this quality, for the technic required
to play them well is not quite that of the ordinary
pianist. Bach expects the hands to play melodiously and
very fluently, and the player to think in fugue; _i.e._, be
able to follow the answering voices in a fugue without
becoming confused when there are three, four, or five,
and without losing any one of the threads. This habit of
thought--for this is what it amounts to--is not natural
to the present generation, since nearly all our music is
more or less monodic (having one leading melody and
an accompaniment.) Therefore the art of playing Bach
has to be diligently mastered by much playing and
a great deal of hard study.

PROGRAM.

Bach, Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp major. Clavier, No. 3.
Beethoven, Sonata in C-sharp minor ("Moonlight"), opus 27, No. 2.
Bach, Fantasia in C minor.
Mozart, Fantasia in C minor (from Sonata and Fantasia).
Bach, Allegro from Italian Concerto.
Beethoven, Sonata in E minor, opus 90.
Bach, Prelude and Fugue in G major. Clavier, No. 15.
Beethoven, Sonata in D minor (Shakspere's "Tempest"), opus 31, No. 2.

Every art-work, in whatever line, has to satisfy three
prime conditions: unity, symmetry, and variety. There
can not be an impression of beauty into which these
three qualities do not at the same time enter, but the
beauty will differ in quality according as one or the other
element preponderates. In the successful music of Johann
Sebastian Bach (and he wrote unsuccessful music as well
as other men) we find all these qualities represented,
but not in the modern way. A prelude or a fugue of
Bach is essentially a "monody," a composition of one
idea, which preponderates so decidedly as to enforce its
character and individuality upon the work; nay, it is the
work.