musicians, according to individual judgment, arrogated to itself the
right, here and there, of expunging hardnesses, smoothing down
peculiarities, and softening even sharp points with which, from time
to time, we come into unpleasant contact? Works of art must be
accepted as they are."

The first part of Bitter's argument is sound; but, unfortunately for
the last, the writer in his life of Emanuel Bach and his brothers
insists on the necessity of _not_ accepting Emanuel's clavier works
_as they are_.

He quotes a passage from the Andante of the 4th Sonata of the second
set of the "Reprisen Sonaten," and comes to the natural conclusion
that it was only an outline requiring filling up.

With all his faults, one cannot but admire the spirit in which Buelow
worked. He felt the greatness of the old masters, regretted the
limited means which they had at their command, also the stenographic
system in which they were accustomed to express their thoughts; and he
sought, therefore, to make use of modern means, and thereby was
naturally tempted to introduce modern effects. The restoration of the
old masters is a difficult and delicate task, and in most cases, one
may add, a thankless one. In the matter of transcription, however, it
is important to distinguish between a Buelow and a Tausig: the one
displayed the intelligence of an artist; the other, the
thoughtlessness of a _virtuoso_.

But what, it may be asked, is the character of the changes made by
Bach? The matter is of interest; by examining these sonatas, we get
some idea of the difference between letter and spirit. However, from
what we have said above, a mere imitation of these changes, in playing
Bach's music, would, in its turn, be letter rather than spirit.

As a rule the bass remains the same, though plain crotchets may become
quavers, as in extract from Sonata 1 given below, or notes turned into
broken octaves--

[Music illustration]

or, at times, some very slight alteration may occur, such as--

[Music illustration]

In the upper parts the changes are similar to those found in the
variations of Haydn and Mozart. An illustration will be better than
any explanation, and we accordingly give a brief extract from the 1st
Sonata: first the five bars of the Allegretto, as at the opening, then
as they are changed--

[Music illustration]

The publication of the set of six Leipzig collections of sonatas,
etc., commenced in 1779; but thirteen years previously, t