Musical Myths and Facts, Volume 1 (of 2)

NOVELLO, EWER AND CO., TYPOGRAPHICAL MUSIC AND GENERAL PRINTERS, 1, BERNERS STREET, LONDON.

An idealized portrait of Beethoven, representing him as, in the opinion of many of his admirers, he must have looked in his moments of inspiration, would undoubtedly have made a handsomer frontispiece to this little work, than his figure roughly sketched by an artist who happened to see the composer rambling through the fields in the vicinity of Vienna.
The faithful sketch from life, however, indicates precisely the chief object of the present contribution to musical literature, which is simply to set forth the truth.
Whatever may be the short-comings of the essays, they will be of some use should they impress upon musical pedants the truth of Göthe's dictum:
Grau, theurer Freund, ist alle Theorie, Und grün des Lebens goldner Baum.
For the sake of correctness, one or two statements occurring in this volume require a word of explanation.

Should the reader disapprove of the easy tone in which the Myths are told, he will perhaps derive some satisfaction from the carefulness with which I have endeavoured to state the Facts.