sly the music in such an abstract form can never
have quite as much effect upon him as when the sounds really strike
upon his ear. [See Studies of Great Composers, by C. Hubert H. Parry, p.
109.]

No Pedant

Like all the really great composers, Haydn was no pedant in the matter
of theoretical formulae, though he admitted that the rigid rules of
harmony should rarely be violated, and "never without the compensation
of some inspired effect." When he was asked according to what rule he
had introduced a certain progression, he replied "The rules are all
my very obedient humble servants." With the quint-hunters and other
faddists who would place their shackles on the wrists of genius, he had
as little patience as Beethoven, who, when told that all the authorities
forbade the consecutive fifths in his C Minor Quartet, thundered out:
"Well, I allow them." Somebody once questioned him about an apparently
unwarranted passage in the introduction to Mozart's Quartet in C Major.
"If Mozart has written it, be sure he had good reasons for doing
so," was the conclusive reply. That fine old smoke-dried pedant,
Albrechtsberger, declared against consecutive fourths in strict
composition, and said so to Haydn. "What is the good of such rules?"
demanded Haydn. "Art is free and must not be fettered by mechanical
regulations. The cultivated ear must decide, and I believe myself as
capable as anyone of making laws in this respect. Such trifling is
absurd; I wish instead that someone would try to compose a really new
minuet." To Dies he remarked further: "Supposing an idea struck me as
good and thoroughly satisfactory both to the ear and the heart, I would
far rather pass over some slight grammatical error than sacrifice
what seemed to me beautiful to any mere pedantic trifling." These were
sensible views. Practice must always precede theory. When we find a
great composer infringing some rule of the old text-books, there is, to
say the least, a strong presumption, not that the composer is wrong, but
that the rule needs modifying. The great composer goes first and invents
new effects: it is the business of the theorist not to cavil at every
novelty, but to follow modestly behind and make his rules conform to the
practice of the master. [Compare Professor Prout's Treatise on Harmony.]

Thus much about Haydn the man. Let us now turn to Haydn the composer and
his position in the history of music.

CHAPTER X. HAYDN: THE COMPOSER

The Fath