f sentiment, and delicate fancy. They are more feminine than
masculine, although at times he has a great deal of strength. His
pianoforte writing is not so well suited to the instrument as that of
some other composers, such as Chopin and Liszt, and his concertos,
although very popular, are not ranked among the master works of this
form of composition. Of all the pianoforte music which he produced,
the "Rondo Capriccioso" is the one which most completely represents the
characteristic range of his imagination.

The two composers for the present chapter have distinguished themselves
in almost every walk of composition. Schubert left a large quantity of
manuscript, most of it unheard until after his death, consisting of
about 700 songs, nine symphonies, various pieces of chamber music,
pianoforte sonatas, dances, marches, overtures, one opera, and many
miscellaneous compositions. In every department of this vast activity
there are a few works which stand out as masterpieces. To begin at the
top, his "Unfinished Symphony" and the great Symphony in C are in the
very first line of orchestral masterpieces, standing well up alongside
the greatest of Beethoven, and with an originality of style and beauty
wholly independent of the overshadowing Beethoven, who was, just at the
moment of their composition, engaged in his last works, including the
immortal Ninth Symphony.

Nevertheless, while Schubert was great in all musical directions, he
marked an epoch in one direction, and therefore has a fame peculiarly
his own. As a songwriter he was one of the greatest the world has ever
known. His fame in this department rests upon two wholly different
considerations, the union of which in the same composer forms the
epoch-marking peculiarity already mentioned. As a melodist he stands
in a rank by himself. His melodies move easily, now within the
diatonic mode, and now in the chromatic, but generally, within the
limits of each period, in the diatonic mode. The melodies are
flexible, well balanced, very singable, and natural. Each comes up,
lives its day, and dies away into silence, like a lovely flower
unfolding from its own germ in the moment of the year when the sunshine
and the showers have brought the time for its appearing. In this case
the predisposing external cause leading to the appearance of one of
these melodies is found in the poem chosen for text. Whatever Schubert
read, if it interested him, immediately called up