which the expressive powers of music are most eloquently em-
ployed.[178] Note the poetic touches of character-drawing and
of description in theYoung Nun (see Supplement No. 50).
Schubert’s pianoforte compositions are miniature tone-poems,
mood-pictures—their titles: ImpromptusandMoments Musi-
caux, speak for themselves—making no pretense to the scope
and elaborate structure of movements in Sonata-form,[179] yet
of great import not only for their intrinsic beauty but as the
prototypes of the numerous lyric and descriptive pieces of Schu-
mann, Brahms, Grieg, Debussy and others. Their charm lies
in the heart-felt melodies and surprising modulations. While
neither sublime nor deeply introspective, they make the simple,
direct appeal of a lovely flower. In the development of music
they are as important as the modern short story in the field of
literature; which, in distinction to the old “three-decker” novel,
often reallysays moreand says it so concisely that our interest
never flags. This tendency to the short, independent piece had
been begun by Beethoven in hisBagatelles(French “trifles");
but these, as has been aptly said, were “mere chips from the
work-shop” whereas in a short piece of Schubert we find the
quintessence of his genius. He was a prolific composer in the
field of chamber music, and the Trios for Violin, ’Cello and Pi-
anoforte, the A minor Quartet, the C major Quintet and, above
all, the posthumous Quartet in D minor, which contains the
entrancing Variations on the songDeath and the Maiden, are
still as fresh as when they were composed. In these works we
do not look for architectonic power—we must admit, in fact,
at the risk of seeming ungracious, that Schubert is diffuse at
times—but our senses are so enthralled by the imaginative free-
dom and by the splendor of color, that all purely intellectual
judgment is suspended. The magician works his wonders; it is
for us to enjoy. We have from Schubert seven complete Sym-
phonies and the so-calledUnfinished in B minor,i.e., the first
two movements and the fragment of a Scherzo. Of these the
Fourth(Tragic), composed in 1816, foreshadows the real Schu-
bert and is occasionally heard to-day. But the immortal ones
are the B minor and the C major, the latter composed in 1828
(the last year of his life) and never heard by its author.[180] Of
this work Schumann said that “a tenth Muse had been added
to the nine of Beethoven.” This symphony is specially char-
acterized by the incorporation of Hungarian types of melody,
particularly in the first and in the last movement. It is indeed a
ann
(Ann)
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