the principal idea is repeated too much, monotony ensues; if there are
too many accessory ideas, in place of variety we have looseness and
want of unity. And in carrying out these principles in compositions of
different lengths and in different styles, the composer has practically
unlimited freedom.

PART II.

MODERN MASTERS

AND

AMERICAN COMPOSERS

AUTHOR'S NOTE.

According to the original design, this work was completed with the ten
chapters in which the great masterworks of the leading composers of the
period from 1750 to 1850 were compared and their peculiarities and
individualities emphasized.

In response to a wide-spread demand, however, it is deemed advisable to
add a few programs of later masters, and a few of the leading American
composers, who, although not yet to be mentioned in the same connection
as those forming the subject of the original ten chapters, are,
nevertheless, of more immediate interest to a large circle of students,
and in demand for the use of musical clubs, lecture recitals, and the
like. The selection of these later composers has been a matter of no
small difficulty, but the names decided upon for the present are Grieg,
Brahms, Rubinstein, Tschaikowsky, and a miscellaneous list of the later
romantic German composers. The American names included are those of
Dr. William Mason, L. Moreau Gottschalk, E. A. MacDowell, Mrs. H. H. A.
Beach, Arthur Foote, Ethelbert Nevin, and Wilson G. Smith, with
scattering compositions from a few others of the more notable composers
of the present time.

Concerning these supplementary programs, it is also to be said that
only one name belongs to the high category of great immortals embraced
in the first ten chapters--namely, that of Johannes Brahms. Grieg,
however, is certainly a composer of rare poetry and originality; and
the same is to be said of Rubinstein and Tschaikowsky--even with
greater emphasis of the last mentioned. Still, the student will be
wise to remember that in the works of these latest composers there is
much which, as yet, is imperfectly understood, and its ultimate place
in the pantheon of art unascertained. That all these have shown great
originality is unmistakable; yet no one of them has written pianoforte
music uniting elegance and pianoforte tact with complete originality
and success. If any exception is to be made at this point, it should
be in the case of Brahms, who has shown, in orchestral and vocal