hand part, which, taken with the treatment of the variation
in the right-hand part, gives this piece a wholly new content and
effect. The fourth, again, is equally novel and equally significant
for the pianoforte. The remaining variations are of little importance,
although, as a matter of course, all are to be played.

Mendelssohn as pianoforte composer represents two very important and
characteristic moods--the scherzo and the song without words. It is
probable that by the good fortune of the latter name for his
collections of little piano pieces Mendelssohn rendered the musical
world a greater service than he did even by the elegant quality of his
compositions themselves. It was the happy thought of the title which
at once puts the listener upon the right track, and disposes him to try
to discover what the words of the unworded songs ought to be. It was a
fortunate guess rather than a something thought out by reason, and if
he had been pressed to assign a reason for including some of these
pieces under the name, he would probably have been driven to confess
that they were so included because he did not know what else they were.

The "Songs Without Words" embody many types, the most important being
the true cantabile--pieces in which there is a flowing lyric melody
with a soft accompaniment. These pieces are in effect nothing else
than "nocturnes," quite after the manner of Chopin, only less elaborate
in treatment and less extended. Among the best types of this class are
to be mentioned the first, the two folk-songs in the program following,
and the duetto. In all these the connected legato of the melody is of
the first importance; and, second, the proper sinking and swelling of
the melody in the true manner of impassioned singing. The
accompaniment follows closely and shares in the fluctuations of
intensity and mood.

Another type of these pieces is illustrated by the eighth, in B-flat
minor. This piece, which has the speed and restless movement of a
scherzo, has also the true Mendelssohnian flavor of sweet melancholy.
It goes at great speed, and often the melody is suggested by an accent
rather than fully expressed. Such cases are found in measures 3 and 4,
and elsewhere. In these instances there is a fragment of melody in the
middle voice.

Somewhat between the cantabile type and the scherzo is to be mentioned
the "Table Song," No. 28, in G. This is like a part-song of light and
pleasant yet somewha