a thought
as it came to him. When he got home he would elaborate it and work it
into shape. He would walk for hours in all sorts of weather. Like
Thoreau, he generally preferred to be alone in his walks, the presence
of a companion preventing him from working out his thoughts.

Very properly, he occupied himself but little with the music of other
composers. To a man of his individuality, inspiration from the outer
world was not to be had or desired. His own inner wealth was sufficient.
Curiously, he set a high value on Cherubini during the period of writing
Fidelio and the Third Symphony. His own creations however, were of
paramount interest to him. He was a slow worker, continually polishing
and improving his work up to the moment that it reached the engraver's
hands.

"The Andante" said Wagner "is the typical German style." It was not
Beethoven's best style. Essentially a man of extremes, he delighted in
swinging the pendulum to its furthest limit either way. He early in life
acquired the irrepressible joyousness in his compositions, which was
Haydn's distinguishing trait. It is the key-note to much of Beethoven's
work up to the time of composing the Grand Mass. It figures to some
extent in his subsequent work. It is a feature which Wagner never tires
of exploiting in Beethoven's work. Whenever he mentions Beethoven's name
the word _Heiterkeit_ (joyousness) is sure to follow. The two are almost
synonymous with him. Where Beethoven is unapproachable, however, is in
his slow movements, the Adagios, solemn and portentous, in which all of
world-sorrow finds expression. It is in these scenes of terror that his
powers stand out with supernatural clearness.

His infinitude impresses one. It is as if he had penetrated other
spheres and could speak in new tongues. He delighted in startling
contrasts. The Kyrie of the Mass in D has always presented itself to my
consciousness as a series of gigantic tone-pictures, in which the
omnipotence of God, and the impotence of humanity is brought into
juxtaposition. The Coriolanus overture is another instance among the
many at hand illustrating this point. Here we see how the forceful,
aggressive, bold, masterful genius, is subdued by the power of conjugal
and filial love, a power in this case as irresistible as that of a
glacier, which will make its way against any odds. Each side in striving
for the mastery, displays its own peculiar characteristics and mode. It
is the everlasting st