Beethoven considered the Mass in D his greatest achievement, but it
gains ground very slowly. It is rarely mentioned, and seldom performed.
Similarly Bach's greatest works slumbered nearly a century until brought
to light by Mendelssohn.
It is significant that Wagner was as world-weary from middle-age on as
was Beethoven. Like him he took refuge in creative work. Both were
pioneers, always in advance of their time, cheerfully making the
sacrifices which this position entails, diverging ever more and more
with advancing years from beaten paths and the ideas of others on the
subject of their art. Resignation and asceticism, the goal of mankind,
was Wagner's solution of the problem of existence, a conclusion arrived
at after reading Schopenhauer. Beethoven had also come to it long before
reaching middle-age. Wagner was, in his later years, a mystic, as was
Beethoven; and like Beethoven his most congenial work in those years was
of a religious character.
INDEX
Adagio, the, 62.
Adversity, school of, 6.
Altruism, 43, 164.
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