Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 3.djvu/717

STEIBELT. Modulation he used with a freedom unknown before him. The following passage, for instance, from the Andante of the first Sonata, in op. 37,

was an unheard-of thing in 1799. Of course, nothing is easier than to carry such innovations to excess, and he may be fairly said to have overstepped the line when in the 'working-out' of his Sonata for pianoforte and violin in E minor, op. 32, he introduces the second subject in E♭ major, changing the signature for 56 bars. Another instance is supplied by the two Sonatas for pianoforte that form op. 56. In the first, which is in E♭ major, he opens the development with an excursion into G♭ major for 13 bars and into F♯ minor for 31 bars, in each case changing the signature. In the second he leaves E major for G minor in the same part of the composition, employing a new signature for 33 bars. Greater licence still is to be found in works of less definite outline than a sonata. In the Fantasia dedicated to Madame Moreau, which is nominally in B♭ major, he passes after 56 bars through B major and B minor to C, and with the exception of the last 33 bars, which return to B♭ major, all the rest of a long work is in this key. But though he never grasped the plan that groups a number of subsidiary keys round the central key [, vol. i. p. 550b, and 552a], and seems rather to be quite aimless in his wanderings, the fact remains that in his use of keys he shows the workings of an original mind. Other cases that show his readiness to strike out in fresh directions are to be found in his discovery of the tremolo on the pianoforte and in his free use of the pizzicato in chamber music. He employs the latter, for example, most effectively in the Rondos of the Sonatas for Pianoforte and Violin, op. 32, no. 2, and op. 35, no. 3, in the second of which he uses this expedient in giving out the subject. The device of introducing a pantomime into an overture has found no imitators, unless the overture to 'Euryanthe' is to be reckoned as an imitation [, vol. ii. p. 521b], but some of his other novelties have had a better fate. The manner in which he suggests the 'Lieder ohne Worte' in his 'Etude,' and his use of the trombones, alto, tenor, and especially bass, in 'Roméo et Juliette' have been already noticed. A similar boldness in orchestral writing is to be found in the first movement of his Sixth Concerto for Pianoforte, where a passage occurs in which the violoncellos are divided into three parts. Neither Haydn, nor Mozart, nor Beethoven divide their strings, except the violas, to any extent, and Steibelt's Concerto is at least thirteen years anterior to the Overture to 'Guillaume Tell,' which is usually quoted as the early instance of division of the violoncellos into more than two parts. More important still is the finale of the Eighth Concerto for Pianoforte, in which—probably following the lead of Beethoven—he adds voices to the instruments to form a climax, with an effect described as thrilling. We may fairly say that a composer who did these things deserves to be distinguished from the crowd of merely clever musicians. Had he but steadily lived and written up to his abilities it is probable that he might have taken one of the chief places in the roll of musical worthies; as it is, he only adds one more to the many instances which prove that conspicuous talent unaccompanied by moral earnestness will never succeed in making a man great.

The list of his works which follows has been compiled with considerable trouble. Not only had Steibelt a careless and, it is to be feared, dishonest habit, of publishing different works under the same opus number, and the same or a slightly altered work under different numbers, but, according to his own protest already mentioned, works were published under his name with which he had nothing to do. Under such circumstances the task of drawing up a complete and accurate list is wellnigh hopeless, and this catalogue, though compiled with all the care possible, does not profess to be more than a contribution towards a complete and exact list. An asterisk attached to a work means that it certainly contains one sonata (or the number given) and may contain more. A date has been added in some cases, where it seemed likely to be of any value.

Op. 1. 3 Sonatas. PF. and Violin (1788). | Sonata, PF. | 2 Sonatas. PF. | 3 Sonatas, PF. | 3 Sonatas, Harp with Violin and Cello ad lib. | 6 Sonatas, PF., with Flute or Violin and Cello.

Op. 2. *Sonata, PF. and Violin (1788). | Sonata, PF. | Sonata, PF. and Violin (1791). | 3 Sonatas, PF., the first with Violin. | 2 Sonatas, PF. | 3 Sonatas. PF., Violin, and Cello.

Op. 3. Sonata. PF., Violin, and Cello (1791). | Turkish Overture, PF., Violin, and Cello.

Op. 4. 3 Sonatas. PF. and Violin. | *Sonata, PF., Violin, and Cello (1791). | 3 Sonatas, PF., the first with Violin obbllgato.

Op. 5. Premier Caprice, PF. (1792). | Preludes and three pieces, PF. (1792). | 3 Preludes, PF.

Op. 6. Second Caprice, PF. | Grand Sonata, PF. and Violin; A (1792). | 3 Sonatas, PF. | 2 Sonatas and 'La Coquette,' PF., the first with Violin. | *Sonata, PF. | Rondo from 3rd PF. Concerto.

Op. 7. 3 Grand Sonatas, PF. (1793). | Turkish Overture, PF., Violin, and Cello. | 3 Sonatas.

Op. 8. Grand Sonata, PF. and Violin; D (1793). | 6 Grand Preludes or Exercises, PF. (1794). | 3 Quartets for Strings (1799). | 'Enfant cheri des Dames' with var. PF. (1799). | 3 Sonatas, PF., the third with Violin.

Op. 9. 6 Divertissements, PF. (1793). | 2 Grand Sonatas, PF. | 'La Coquette,' PF.; A.

Op. 10. Mélange d'airs et chansons en Forme de Scéne. PF. (1794).

Op. 11. 3 Sonatas, PF. and Flute, or Violin; B♭, A, D (1793). | 6 Sonatas, PF. and Violin. | 6 Sonatas, PF. | 6 Sonatas, PF., nos. 1, 4, 5, and 6, with Violin obbligato, nos. 2 and 3 with Flute obbligato. | 3 Sonatas, PF., Violin, and Cello. | 3 Sonatas, PF. with Violin acc. (ded. to Mme. Eugenia da Beaumarchois).

Op. 12.

Op. 13. 6 Airs with var., PF. | Duo, PF. and Harp.

Op. 14. 2 Grand Sonatas, PF. (1795). | Duo, Harp and PF.

Op. 15. Grand Sonata, PF.

Op. 16. Grand Sonata, PF. | Mélange d'Airs.

Op. 17. 3 Quartets for Strings; E♭, C, F min. (1797).

Op. 18. 3 Sonatas, PF., nos. 2 and 3 with Violin (1797). | 3 Sonatas, PF., with acc. for Flute, or Violin; G, C, B♭ (1799).