Chapter X: Book II: On Shopping (7)

Stage, society for improvement of, 86;
difficulty of writing verses for, 150.

Staudigl sings the part of Elijah at Birmingham, 272.

Stone, Fanny, piece dedicated to her, 98;
will compose something easy for, 98;
a trump card, 186.

“Strains of the Scottish Bards,” a Fantasia, 11.

“Stumme Liebe,” by Probald, 219.

Subscription Concerts, 203;
plan to supplement the directorship of, 234.

Swiss landscape, its meadows, houses, etc., 124.

Switzerland, visits to, 19, 287;
things lovely and bright there, 229.

Symphony, can play parts by heart, 18;
can reckon on a brilliant success, 18.

Symphony in A major, 66.

Taubert has not much talent, 152.

Taylors’, remarks about the soirée at, 99.

Templower Berg, camp at, 39.

Thalberg, musical merit, 151;
his style interesting and genuine, 153;
perfect in his way, 204;
visits Mendelssohn and goes to Mecklenburg, 206;
visits London for Festival, 206.

“The Harmonized Scales,” for juvenile performers, 237.

“The Last Rose of Summer,” variations on, 20.

“The Old English Gentleman,” song of, 126.

“The Smith,” a song, with words by Uhland, 130, 131, 132.

Time, its judgments of critics and those criticised, ix.

“Travels of an Irish Gentleman in Search of Religion,”
goes through seventy editions, 100;
praised by Orthodox and Catholics, 100.

Uechtritz, immersed in æsthetics, 128.

Urban writes “Lettres à Elle,” 130.

Use, Miss, her beauty, 102.

Valentins, the, at Berlin for the winter, 54.

Vanity, its prominence among Parisian artists, 193.

Variations, by Herz, for the thirtieth time, 30;
not more pleasant than rope-dancers or acrobats, 30;
endanger not necks, but ears, 30.

Varnhagen, going to be married, 110.

Vernet, Louise, marries Delaroche, the artist, 129.

Victoria, Queen, visit to, 290.

“Viennese in Berlin,” 94.

Vrught, his natural and unnatural voice, 114.

“Walpurgisnacht,” 53.

Walther, Dr., in attendance at the death of Mendelssohn, 292.

“Wasserträger,” rehearsal of, 86.

Water colors, taking lessons in, 100.

Weber’s Sonata, 93.

Weimar, referred to, 175;
court circle, 176;
its good points as a residence, 176;
Grand Duchess of, 177;
accommodations at, 282.

Westminster Abbey Festival, unable to attend, 104.

Wieck, Clara, her execution as an artist, 141.

“William Tell,” performance of, 230.

Woods, walks in, and their solace, 287.

Work, pressure of, 66;
deeply buried in, 82.

Wunderhornlied, Mendelssohn alters beginning of, 113.

“Zauberflöte,” best performance nowadays, 63.

Zelter, Professor, Mendelssohn’s attachment for, 20;
death of, 20.

Zoölogical Gardens, visit to, 70.

Zschokke, volumes of, 74.

University Press: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] F. Rosen, Professor of Sanscrit at the London University. He, like Klingemann, was attached to the Hanoverian Embassy, and became an intimate friend of Mendelssohn and Moscheles. His brother, Georg Rosen, himself a distinguished Orientalist, and for many years Consul-General for Prussia in Jerusalem, married Serena, the second daughter of Moscheles.

[2] The Mendelssohn Family, by Hensel, vol. i. p. 190.

[3] The _work_ alluded to was the Operetta, “The Son and Stranger,” in which every member of the family wished to take part. The painter Hensel, who had married Mendelssohn’s eldest sister, being totally unmusical, had the part of _one and the same note_ composed for him, which even then he was not able to catch.

[4] Mendelssohn’s Letters (Reisebriefe), vol. i. p. 357.

[5] Accompanying this translation by Robert Browning was the following tribute to the memory of Moscheles:--

Were my version but as true to the original as your father’s life
was to his noble ideal, it would be good indeed. As it is, accept
the best of

Yours truly ever,

ROBERT BROWNING.

[6] Chester Place, No. 3, in the Regent’s Park, was the Moscheleses’ residence.

[7] The Mendelssohns’ house and garden, No. 3 Leipzigerstrasse, Berlin, now form part of the building in which the Reichstag is held.

[8] A certain beadle in a country church, being reprimanded by the clergyman for appearing at a funeral in a scarlet waistcoat instead of a black one, retorted, “What matters it, your Reverence, provided the heart is black?”

[9] The compass of Mrs. Moscheles’s voice.

[10] Mendelssohn used to delight in attending meetings at the Guildhall to hear Liberal speakers.

[11] “Klavierlieder,” meaning the “Songs without Words.” On the copy sent to Moscheles he had called them “Melodies.”

[12] Moscheles lived at No. 3 Chester Place, Regent’s Park.

[13] Mendelssohn became engaged in 1836, and Klingemann in 1845.

[14] Emily, Moscheles’s eldest daughter, then six years old. She married Mr. A. Roche, of London.

[15] The Septet was written for the Philharmonic Society.

[16] The German word “Becken” has the double meaning of “cymbals” and “basin.”

[17] The Italian Symphony.

[18] See Illustration, No. 10.

[19] See Illustration, No. 9.

[20] See Illustrations, Nos. 15, 16, and 8, respectively.

[21] See Illustration, No. 12.

[22] See Illustration, No. 13.

[23] See Illustration, No. 14.

[24] The Dirichlets were his younger sister and her husband, a professor of mathematics.

[25] “Infelice.”

[26] Meaning himself.

[27] Alluding to Beethoven’s habit, in conducting, of crouching down at a _pianissimo_ and flying up at a _forte_.

[28] Travels of an Irish Gentleman in Search of a Religion.

[29] Immermann the poet and dramatist. Amongst his best-known works are “Münchhausen,” and the epic poem of “Tristan and Isolde.”

[30] Schleinitz was a well-known figure in the musical world of Leipzig. He was an intimate friend of Mendelssohn’s, and for many years indefatigable in his work as Director of the Leipzig Conservatorio.

[31] See “Life of Moscheles,” vol. i. pp. 318 and following.

[32] The first movement of the G minor Concerto is styled “Malinconico.”

[33] Court Chamberlain.

[34] See Illustration, No. 23.

[35] This Symphony, so often referred to in Mendelssohn’s letters of this time, has either entirely disappeared or was converted into the initial movement of the “Lobgesang.”

[36] Rondo in B minor.

[37] See Illustration, No. 24.

[38] Overture to “Ruy Blas.”

[39] The letter alluded to is not amongst the copies of Moscheles’s letters in the possession of the editor.

[40] Op. 81.

[41] After all, Mrs. Mendelssohn was prevented from going to England.

[42] St. Pancras was the church at which Mendelssohn stood godfather to Felix Moscheles.

[43] See Illustration, No. 21.

[44] See Illustration, No. 22.

[45] See Illustration, No. 23.

[46] Little Carl was Mendelssohn’s eldest child. Moscheles used to amuse him by playing a tune on the piano with his fists.

[47] See Illustration, No. 20.

[48] Bunsen was then the Prussian Ambassador accredited to the Court of Saint James.

[49] He had lost his mother on the 12th of December of the preceding year.

[50] The work alluded to, “The Harmonized Scales,” Op. 97, is a series of fifty-nine pieces for a juvenile performer and his teacher; the former playing the scales in various time and rhythm, the teacher supporting him by a full accompaniment.

[51] For the translation of these lines I am again indebted to Robert Browning.--EDITOR.

[52] See Illustration, No. 28.

[53] The Sonate Symphonique for two performers (Op. 112), which Moscheles, with his daughter Emily, had played at the Court of King Louis Philippe, to whom the work was dedicated.

[54] The thaler equals three shillings, or seventy-five cents.

[55] This has reference to an incident which occurred when Moscheles, then twenty years of age, was residing in Vienna. In 1824 Beethoven’s “Fidelio” was produced, and Moscheles was commissioned to make the pianoforte arrangement of that work. In his diaries of those days we find various entries recording his visits to Beethoven. The alterations suggested by the master were made with due care and deference, and the completed arrangement was finally left at Beethoven’s rooms. On the last page of the manuscript Moscheles had written, “End, with the help of God.” When the manuscript was returned four characteristic words had been added, in Beethoven’s bold and all but illegible handwriting: “Mensch, hilf dir selber!” (Man, help thyself!)

[56] Translated in “Life of Moscheles.”