ging--in the
theatre one hears more applause than music. It is very merry, but it
annoys me occasionally." "But I assure you confidentially that long
and alone I should not care to live here; serious men and affairs are
here in little demand and little appreciated. A compensation for this
is found in the beautiful surroundings. Yesterday I was in the
cemetery where Beethoven and Schubert are buried. Just think what I
found on Beethoven's grave: _a pen_, and, what is more, a steel pen.
It was a happy omen for me and I shall preserve it religiously." On
Schubert's grave he found nothing, but in the city he found Schubert's
brother, a poor man with eight children and no possessions but a
number of his brother's manuscripts, including "a few operas, four
great masses, four or five symphonies, and many other things." He
immediately wrote to Breitkopf & Haertel to make arrangements for their
publication.

It is anything but complimentary to the discernment of Viennese
publishers and musicians of that period that, eleven years after
Schubert's death, another composer had to come from Leipsic and give
to the world the works of a colleague who not only had genius of the
purest water, but the gift of giving utterance to his musical ideas in
a clear style, intelligible to the public. Schubert died in 1828, and
in 1842 Schumann could still write to one of his contributors: "It is
time, it seems to me, that some one should write something weighty in
behalf of Schubert; doesn't this tempt you? True, his larger works are
not yet in print. But his vocal and pianoforte compositions suffice
for an approximate portrait. Consider the matter. Do you know his
symphony in C? A delightful composition, somewhat long, but
extraordinarily animated, in character entirely new." To a Belgian
friend who intended to write an article on the new tendencies in
pianoforte music, he wrote: "Of older composers who have influenced
modern music I must name above all Franz Schubert.... Schubert's songs
are well known, but his pianoforte compositions (especially those for
four hands) I rate at least equally high."

Of the numerous criticisms of well-known composers contained in this
correspondence, a few more may be cited. They are mostly favorable in
tone, but concerning the "Prophete" he writes: "The music appears to me
very poor; I cannot find words to express my aversion to it."
"Lortzing's operas meet with success--to me almost incomprehensible."
To Car