Beethoven was always interested in
feats of virtuosity, but he cared little for the compositions of
others. He occupied himself with his own work to the exclusion of that
of his contemporaries. His musical library was scant, consisting of a
small collection of the works of the early Italian masters, bound in one
volume, some of Mozart's sonatas--which must have seemed to him
curiously stunted and commonplace in comparison with his own--and a
portion of Don Giovanni. In addition, he possessed all of Clementi's
sonatas, which he greatly admired and which formed the basis of the
musical studies of his nephew for several years. Lastly there were a few
works of Bach, consisting of the Well-tempered Clavichord, some motets,
three volumes of exercises, some inventions, symphonies and a toccato.
In speaking of Weber he said that he began to learn too late, and makes
the curious criticism that Weber's only apparent effort was to attain
the reputation of geniality. In reading Freischutz, he said he could
hardly help smiling at certain parts, but afterward qualified this by
saying that he could judge it better if he could hear it.
Pages:
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213