o the rhythms of the seventeenth
century. Vestris, whom the people of his time called "The god of the
dance," once complained to Gluck that his "Iphigenie en Aulide" did
not end with a chaconne, as was the rule. "A chaconne!" cried Gluck;
"when did the Greeks ever dance a chaconne?" "Didn't they? Didn't
they?" answered Vestris; "so much the worse for the Greeks." There
ensued a quarrel. Gluck became incensed, withdrew the opera which was
about to be produced, and would have left Paris had not Marie
Antoinette come to the rescue. But Vestris got his chaconne.

VI

_At a Pianoforte Recital_

[Sidenote: _Mr. Paderewski's concerts._]

No clearer illustration of the magical power which lies in music, no
more convincing proof of the puissant fascination which a musical
artist can exert, no greater demonstration of the capabilities of an
instrument of music can be imagined than was afforded by the
pianoforte recitals which Mr. Paderewski gave in the United States
during the season of 1895-96. More than threescore times in the course
of five months, in the principal cities of this country, did this
wonderful man seat himself in the presence of audiences, whose numbers
ran into the thousands, and were limited only by the seating capacity
of the rooms in which they gathered, and hold them spellbound from two
to three hours by the eloquence of his playing. Each time the people
came in a gladsome frame of mind, stimulated by the recollection of
previous delights or eager expectation. Each time they sat listening
to the music as if it were an evangel on which hung everlasting
things. Each time there was the same growth in enthusiasm which began
in decorous applause and ended in cheers and shouts as the artist came
back after the performance of a herculean task, and added piece after
piece to a programme which had been laid down on generous lines from
the beginning. The careless saw the spectacle with simple amazement,
but for the judicious it had a wondrous interest.

[Sidenote: _Pianoforte recitals._]

[Sidenote: _The pianoforte's underlying principles._]

I am not now concerned with Mr. Paderewski beyond invoking his aid in
bringing into court a form of entertainment which, in his hands, has
proved to be more attractive to the multitude than symphony, oratorio,
and even opera. What a world of speculation and curious inquiry does
such a recital invite one into, beginning with the instrument which
was the medium of