ich Beethoven has accustomed us.

Throughout the four sonatas we detect the hand of a great pianist. In
the first, the element of virtuosity predominates; the first and,
especially, the last movement (the so-called Perpetuum mobile) are
show pieces, though of a high order. In the other sonatas the same
element exists, and yet it seldom obtrudes itself; the composer is
merely using, to the full, the rich means at his command to express
his luxuriant and poetical thoughts. In his writing for the instrument
Weber recalls Dussek,--the Dussek of the "Retour a Paris" and
"Invocation" sonatas. The earlier master was also a great pianist, and
filled with the spirit of romance; still he lacked the force and fire
of Weber. Then, again, Dussek, in early manhood, passed through the
classical crucible, whereas Weber was born and bred very much _a la
Bohemienne_; he developed from within rather than from without. It is
easier to criticise than to create. If we cannot place the sonatas of
Weber on the same high level as those of Beethoven, we may at least
say that they take very high rank; also, that in the hands of a great
pianist they are certain to produce a powerful impression.

II. Schubert

The other great contemporary of Beethoven was Franz Schubert, born in
1797, the year in which the former published his Sonata in E flat (Op.
7). Then, again, Schubert's earliest pianoforte sonata was composed in
February 1815, while Beethoven's Sonata in A (Op. 101) was produced at
a concert only one year later (16th February 1816). It is well to
remember these dates, by which we perceive that Beethoven had written
twenty-seven of his thirty-two sonatas before Schubert commenced
composing works of this kind. But though here and there the influence
of the Bonn master may be felt in Schubert, the individuality of the
latter was so strong, that we regard him as an independent
contemporary. The influence of Haydn and Mozart, _plus_ his own mighty
genius, seem almost sufficient to account for Schubert's music. The
new edition of the composer's works published by Messrs. Breitkopf &
Haertel contains fifteen sonatas for pianoforte solo. The first four--

No. 1, in E (1815),
No. 2, in C (1815),
No. 3, in A flat (1817), and
No. 4, in E minor (1817),

had hitherto only been known by name.

In following the career of a great composer, his first efforts,
however humble, however incomplete, are of interest; but from a purely
musical point of vi