talian singers of that period, as to-day, used
this kind of _rubato_ merely to display the beauty of their voice on a
loud high note, and not, like Chopin, for the sake of emphasizing a
pathetic or otherwise expressive note or chord.

Of the Germans it may be said that, as a rule, they had, until
recently, no special liking for the _tempo rubato_. Dr. Hanslick, the
eminent Viennese critic, referred to it thirty years ago, as "a morbid
unsteadiness of _tempo_." Mendelssohn, who always liked a "nice, swift
_tempo_," repeatedly expressed his aversion to Chopin's _rubato_.
Nevertheless, traces of it may be found in the rhythms of the
classical school. Although Mozart's _tempo_ in general was as strict
and uniform as that of a waltz in the ball-room, in playing an adagio
he appears to have allowed his left hand some freedom of movement for
the sake of expression (see Jahn I., 134). Beethoven, according to
Seyfried, "was very particular at rehearsals about the frequent
passages in _tempo rubato_;" and there are other remarks by
contemporaries of Beethoven which indicate that although he wrote in
the classical style, in his playing and conducting he often introduced
a romantic _rubato_. Still, in the majority of his compositions, there
is no room for the _rubato_, which cannot be said to have found a home
in German music till it was assimilated by the Schumann school, under
the influence of Chopin. Since then, it has leavened the spirit of
modern music in a manner which has never been sufficiently emphasized.
I am convinced that even Richard Wagner was, unconsciously, influenced
by it through Liszt; for one of the chief peculiarities of his style
is a sort of dramatic _rubato_ which emancipates his music from the
tyranny of the strict dance measure. In his essay on the proper
interpretation of Tannhaeuser, Wagner declares that the division of
music into regular measures, or bars, is merely a mechanical means for
enabling the composer to convey his ideas to the singer. As soon as
the singer has grasped the idea, he says, the bar should be thrown
aside as a useless incumbrance, and the singer, ignoring strict time,
should be guided by his feelings alone, while the conductor should
follow and preserve harmony between him and the orchestra.

It might be said that this dramatic _rubato_ is something different
from Chopin's _rubato_. _Rubato_ literally means "robbed," and it is
generally supposed that the peculiarity of Chopin's st