expend upon it no critical powder. Weber was a great colorist
but not a great architect. These qualities are united only too sel-
dom. In the Recapitulation, which is shortened by the omission
of the second theme—rather overworked in the Development—
he is once more on his own ground of rhythmic life and dazzling
orchestral color. At the close we are convinced that the overture
has accomplished its purpose of graphically depicting the revels
of Fairy-land.
Although they are seldom[188] played to-day, no account of We-
ber would be complete which entirely passed over his composi-
tions for the Pianoforte,i.e., the four Sonatas, the concert piece
in F minor and the originally conceivedInvitation to the Dance,
often played in the orchestral version of Berlioz which is so much
better than the inflated, bombastic one by Weingartner. We-
ber is classed as one of the founders of the “brilliant school” of
pianoforte playing which, chiefly through the genius of Franz
Liszt, has done so much to enlarge the sonorous and coloristic
possibilities of the instrument. Here again Weber’s fame rests
more upon his influence than upon lasting achievement; as to
the importance of this influence, however, there can be no doubt.
[Footnote 188: Perhaps the whirligig of time may restore them;
who can say?]
The student will be repaid for informing[189] himself as fully
as possible concerning Weber’s career and artistic ideals, for he
was a genuine though early exponent of Romantic tendencies.
Of marked versatility, of no mean literary skill and of such social
magnetism and charm that he might properly be considered a
man of the world, as well as an artist, Weber was thus enabled
to do pioneer work in raising the standard of musicianship and
in bringing the art of music and ordinary, daily life into closer
touch.
[Footnote 189: The life in Grove’s Dictionary is well worth while;
there are essays by Krehbiel and others and, above all, the bi-
ographical and critical accounts in the two French series: Les
Musiciens Célèbres, andLes Maîtres de la Musique.]