it
closely at times, and produces a beautiful effect.

Of the Mozart fantasia there is not room to speak in
detail. Note, however, the very clever modulatory
treatment of the leading idea in the first two pages, and
the entrance of the lovely slow melody in D major near
the end of the second page. The latter is Mozart-like
in the extreme.

CHAPTER VI.

SCHUBERT AND MENDELSSOHN.

FRANZ PETER SCHUBERT.

Born January 31, 1797, at Lichtenthal, near Vienna.
Died November 19, 1828, at Vienna.

Franz Peter Schubert, the great song-writer, was born, the son of a
parish schoolmaster, at Lichtenthal, near Vienna. The family was
musical, and the father and a few of his friends used to hold quartet
parties every Sunday afternoon, at which the works for string quartet
then current were played, also compositions by Haydn and other good
composers. The boy very early showed such talent that his father
taught him the violin, and occasionally allowed him to take part with
the rest. He had a beautiful soprano voice, which, attracting the
attention of the director of the music at St. Stephen's Cathedral,
secured him admission to the choir and to the Imperial Convict, or
school for educating the choristers for the Court-chapel, where,
besides the usual branches of education, he was taught music
thoroughly. This continued until his voice broke, whereupon he was
turned out to shift for himself. For the three years next following he
assisted his father in the school, teaching the lowest class in it, and
proved himself, it is pretty certain, a very indifferent teacher.
Later he resigned this position, and struggled on during his short life
mainly by the assistance of friends, one of whom saw to it that the
indefatigable composer was supplied with music paper; another shared
his room with him, etc. Between 1818 and 1824 he spent his summers at
the Hungarian estate of the great Prince Esterhazy, teaching the
daughters music and arranging music for the household. Here many of
his works were written. In Vienna he had an orchestra of school-boys
for quite a long time, which probably played his works occasionally, as
well as those of composers of less complicated works.

[Illustration: Franz Schubert, Felix Mendelssohn]

Schubert began to compose in earnest very early, and by the time he was
twenty years of age he had written about 400 of his songs. His works
comprise a volume of pianoforte sonatas, several volum