Page:Anecdotes of Great Musicians.djvu/259

Rh and the "festhalle" rose as if by magic. The exercises incident to the unveiling of this monument were attended by many royalties of Europe, among them being King William, of Prussia, and Queen Victoria, of England. The whole affair was a great triumph for Liszt as well as a memorial for Beethoven, and was a fine exemplification of this great pianist's energy and versatile abilities as business manager, conductor and pianist.  

At a recent auction sale of autographs and original manuscripts in Berlin, the sixteen-page score of a cantata by J. S. Bach sold for £80, and two others by the same composer for £70 and £65, respectively. For the three manuscripts £215! During his lifetime Bach hardly received so much for all the compositions he disposed of. In fact many were never printed at all.

So slight was the recognition given him that the publishers would issue but few of his works. In order to save some of them from oblivion, Bach engraved them with his own hands, and the extra strain this made on his eyes caused him to lose his sight. His "Art of Fugue," which appeared two years after his death, i.e., in 1752, though having a flattering preface from Marpurg, then the foremost critic of Germany, did not meet with sufficient sale to cover the cost of the plates on which the music was engraved; and as there seemed to be no chance of more income from the work, the plates were sold by his heirs for old copper.

Posterity is atoning for this neglect of genius. The Bach Society is issuing in large handsome volumes all of his works. He is now regarded as the fountain head of instrumental music. To have the firmest foundation, a musical education must be based on the study of his compositions.

This revival of interest, or, rather, creation of interest in Bach, must be largely accredited to Mendelssohn,