ranches of the study are invited by
the typical recital programme. The essentially romantic trend of Mr.
Paderewski's nature makes his excursions into the classical field few
and short; and it is only when a pianist undertakes to emulate
Rubinstein in his historical recitals that the entire pre-Beethoven
vista is opened up. It will suffice for the purposes of this
discussion to imagine a programme containing pieces by Bach, D.
Scarlatti, Handel, and Mozart in one group; a sonata by Beethoven;
some of the shorter pieces of Schumann and Chopin, and one of the
transcriptions or rhapsodies of Liszt.

[Sidenote: _Periods in pianoforte music._]

Such a scheme falls naturally into four divisions, plainly
differentiated from each other in respect of the style of composition
and the manner of performance, both determined by the nature of the
instrument employed and the status of the musical idea. Simply for the
sake of convenience let the period represented by the first group be
called the classic; the second the classic-romantic; the third the
romantic, and the last the bravura. I beg the reader, however, not to
extend these designations beyond the boundaries of the present study;
they have been chosen arbitrarily, and confusion might result if the
attempt were made to apply them to any particular concert scheme. I
have chosen the composers because of their broadly representative
capacity. And they must stand for a numerous _epigonoi_ whose names
make up our concert lists: say, Couperin, Rameau, and Haydn in the
first group; Schubert in the second; Mendelssohn and Rubinstein in the
third. It would not be respectful to the memory of Liszt were I to
give him the associates with whom in my opinion he stands; that matter
may be held in abeyance.

[Sidenote: _Predecessors of the pianoforte._]

[Sidenote: _The Clavichord._]

[Sidenote: _"Bebung."_]

The instruments for which the first group of writers down to Haydn and
Mozart wrote, were the immediate precursors of the pianoforte--the
clavichord, spinet, or virginal, and harpsichord. The last was the
concert instrument, and stood in the same relationship to the others
that the grand pianoforte of to-day stands to the upright and square.
The clavichord was generally the medium for the composer's private
communings with his muse, because of its superiority over its fellows
in expressive power; but it gave forth only a tiny tinkle and was
incapable of stirring effects beyond tho