Memories of a Musical Life

by William Mason

INDEX

Allen, Thomas, [95]
Altenburg, the, Liszt's studio in, [93];
Fürstin Sayn-Wittgenstein at, [94];
picture of, [94];
Liszt pupils at, [98], [122]
Appledore, Isles of Shoals, Mason at, [251-258]
Bach, "Triple Concerto," [107];
"les agréments" in, [229];
Rubinstein and, [290];
Essipoff and, [232]
Bauer, [270]
Beethoven, first symphonic performance in America, [8], [13], [31];
Remenyi and "Kreutzer Sonata," [93];
Op. 106, [103], and Liszt plays, [104], [105];
"Eroica Symphony," Liszt's contretemps in, [120];
Liszt's "Young Beethoven" (Rubinstein), [171]
Bellman, [137]
Benedict, Sir Julius, [84]
"Bénédiction de Dieu dans la Solitude" by Liszt, Mason's copy of, [118]
Bergmann, Carl, [193]
Berlioz, autograph, [168], [169]
Blessner, Mr., violinist, [19]
Bloomfield-Zeisler, [270]
Boston Academy of Music, [9]
Bowman, E. M., [261]
Brahms, [127-142];
in 1853, [127];
first meeting with Liszt, [127-131];
MSS. illegible, [127];
won't play for Liszt, [128];
Liszt plays Op. 4 and part of Op. 1 at sight, [128];
Raff on Op. 4 and B.'s reply, [129];
dozing while Liszt plays, [129];
Liszt annoyed, [130];
wrong accounts of first meeting with Liszt, [130] and [141];
feat in transposing, [131];
and Schumann, [132];
Mason's meeting with in Bonn in 1880, [136];
pianoforte-playing, Mason's opinion of, [137], and of compositions, [139];
Liszt's coolness toward, [142], [194], [267], [268], [270]
Brockway, Howard, [261]
Brodsky, [151]
Buck, Dudley, [261]
Bull, Ole, [148], [149];
autograph, [150]
Büllow, Hans von, [91]
Bülow, Von, [182], [238-241];
letter to Mason, [239];
statement about Cosima and Wagner, [240];
autograph, [240]
Burmeister, Richard, [270]
Carreño, Teresa, [270]
Chadwick, George W., [261]
Chamber-music concerts, Mason's, [1][93-197]
Chickering, Jonas, [19]
Chopin, style of playing, [75], [171], [244]
Clauss, Wilhelmine, [64]
Cornelius, Peter, [145-147]
Cossmann, Bernhard, [63], [92], [150]
David, Ferdinand, [134]
Devitalized muscular action, its importance in piano-playing discussed, [20]
Diary, Mason's, at Weimar, [122-126]
Dodworth's Hall, [194]
Dohnányi, Ernst von, [263];
new symphony, [264]
Dreyschock, [65-79];
octave-playing, [66];
on Chopin's pianoforte-playing, [75], and Henselt, [77]
Dyer, Oliver, [184]
Eichberg, Isidor, [252]
Eichberg, Julius, [253]
Erard pianoforte, Liszt's, [88], [92]
Ernst, [149]
Fontaine, Mortier de, Beethoven-player, [31]
Foote, Arthur, [261]
Franck, César, [122]
Friedheim, Arthur, [270]
Gabrilowitsch, [269]
Geilfuss, Louis, [182]
Godowsky, [265]
"Goldene Zeit" at Weimar, [97], [122]
Gottschalk, [183], [205-209];
"The Latest Hops," [208];
Characteristic letter and autograph, [208]
Grange, De la, [154], [157]
Grieg, [241];
autograph, [244]
Groenvelt, Mr., violoncellist, [19]
Handel and Haydn Society, Boston, early repertoire of, [7]
Handel's "E Minor Fugue," Mason's copy of, [119], [123]
Harvard Musical Association, repertoire of, 1846, [19]
Hauptmann, Moritz, [44];
passion for baked apples, [45];
Spiegel-Canon autograph, [45] and [48];
opinion of Lowell Mason's work, [46]
Heckmann, [137]
"Heinrich, Father," anecdote of, [22]
Henselt, [75], and Dreyschock, [77]
Herrmann, steamer, [27]
Hill, Frank, [27]
Hoffman, Carl, [95]
Hoffman, Richard, [207]
Hofmann, Josef, [271]
Hummel, [172]
Huss, Henry Holden, [271]
Joachim, [62];
autograph, [64], [109], [124], [126], [137];
coolness between Liszt and, [142], [147]
Kelley, Edgar Stillman, [261]
Klauser, Karl, [202]
Klindworth, Karl, [89], [91], [97], [100], [107], [109], [114], [127], [141]
Kneisel Quartet, autograph, [262]
Kobbé, Gustav, [X]
Laub, Ferdinand, [63], [92], [126], [150];
autograph, [180]
Leschetitsky, [70]
Liszt, feat of memory, [31-34], [59];
Mason a pupil, and reminiscences of, [86-182];
in middle life, portrait, [88];
method of teaching, [90], [97-101], [114];
quartet at the Altenburg, [91], and Remenyi, [93], [152];
Liszt pupils, [89], [96];
personal appearance, [101];
and Beethoven's Op. 106, [103];
and the eye-glasses, [106];
carefulness in dress, [107];
pianoforte-playing, [110-114];
touch and own opinion of, [114];
warns pupils against, id.;
on technic, [116];
and Pixis, [117];
as a conductor, [119];
rehearsing "Tasso," [121];
and Brahms's first meeting, [127-132], [141];
and Wagner, [132], [158], [164];
Joachim and, [142];
sight-reading, [142];
contrition, [144];
musical intuition, [167];
opinion of Tausig, [175];
letters to Mason, [179], [181], and [291-296];
last message to Mason, [182], [184], [198], [224], [229], [243], [270];
"Sainte Elisabeth," [292];
"Poèmes Symphoniques," [293];
opinion of Mason's compositions, [294]
Liszt, Cosima, [240]
Lohengrin, [133], [134], [139], [146]
MacDowell, [255];
"Sonata Tragica," [255];
"Sonata Eroica," 256, [261]
Marx, Dr., [165]
Mason Brothers, [184]
Mason, Lowell, [4];
career of, [5-10] and 275 et seq.;
Handel and Haydn Society, [7];
introduces music in Boston public schools, [8], [289];
musical instruction for the blind, [8];
Boston Academy of Music, [9];
originates musical conventions, [9];
fife and drum serenade to, [25];
work praised by Moritz Hauptmann, [46];
address on, by William S. Tilden, [275];
ancestry of, [276];
at Medfield, Mass., [277];
portrait, [277];
nearly drowned, [279];
commences teaching, [282];
religious views, [285];
tact and shrewdness, [285];
magnetism as a teacher, [286]
Mason, William, portrait, 1899, frontispiece;
ancestry of, [3];
born at Boston, [3];
early musical training, [10];
meets Webster and Clay, [11], [12];
portrait as a boy, [12];
début as pianist, [13];
piano lesson, [14], [15];
hints on touch, [16-18];
plays with Harvard Musical Association, [18];
hears Leopold de Meyer, [19];
portrait at eighteen, [20];
and "Father Heinrich," [22];
meets Miss Webb, [26];
sails for Bremen, [27];
in Paris, [27];
meets Meyerbeer, [28];
in Hamburg, [31];
goes to Leipsic, [31];
first meeting with Liszt, [33];
arrives at Leipsic, [34];
concert of the Euterpe Society changes his high opinion of German musical taste, [34], [35];
begins studies with Moscheles, [36];
contrasts Schumann and Mendelssohn, [43];
calls on Schumann and secures his autograph, [43], [44];
contrasts personalities of Wagner and Schumann, [44];
pupil of Moritz Hauptmann, [44];
of Ernst Friedrich Richter, [48];
acquaintance with Albert Wagner, [48];
call on Richard Wagner in Zürich and interview, [48];
impressions of Wagner, [50];
Wagner writes the dragon motive for him as an autograph, [55];
compares Moscheles and Paderewski, [59];
first meeting with Joachim and opinion of, [62];
hears Schumann's "First Symphony," 63, and pianoforte concerto, [63], [64];
comment on, [64];
decides to study with Dreyschock in Prague, [65];
passport difficulties, [65];
opinion of Dreyschock, [66];
remarkable pianistic feat of Dreyschock, [67];
upper-arm muscles in pianoforte-playing, [69];
comment on Leschetitsky's method, [70];
acquaintance with Jules Schulhoff, [71];
amusing experiences at Prince de Rohan's dinner, [71];
goes to Frankfort, [79];
meets Beethoven's friend Schindler, [79];
London début, [84];
Mendelssohn's influence in England, [84];
again calls on Liszt at Weimar, [86];
mistaken for wine agent, [87];
plays for Liszt, [88];
becomes a pupil of Liszt, [89];
dines with the Wittgensteins, [95];
acquaintance with Raff and Klindworth, [96];
first lesson with Liszt, [98];
fatigue after, [100];
breakfast to Joachim and Wieniawski, [109];
opinion of Liszt's playing, [111];
M.'s copy of Liszt's "Bénédiction de Dieu dans la Solitude" and Handel's "E Minor Fugue," 118, [119];
attends with Liszt rehearsal of "Tasso," [121];
extracts from Weimar diary, [122-125];
present at Brahms's first meeting with Liszt and description of, [127];
attends Leipsic première of "Lohengrin," [133];
supper at Ferdinand David's, [134];
"Kapellmeister of New York," [135];
meets Brahms at Bonn, [136];
opinion of Brahms as pianist and composer, [137-141];
acquaintance with Cornelius, [145];
reminiscences and opinion of Joachim, Vieuxtemps, Ole Bull, Sivori, Ernst, Wilhelmj, Henri Wieniawski, Laub, Cossmann, and Brodsky, [147-151];
acquaintance with Remenyi, [93], [151];
reminiscences and opinion of Tedesco, Perelli, Sontag, Johanna Wagner, and De la Grange, [153-158];
becomes a "Murl";
opinion of Wagner, [159];
reminiscences of Raff, [161-164];
sees Berlioz conduct, [168];
opinion of, [169];
opinion of Beethoven, Chopin, and Schumann, [170], [171];
entertains Rubinstein at Weimar, [171];
compares him with Hambourg, [174];
letters from Liszt to, [176], also Appendix, Part II, p. [291] et seq.;
messages from Liszt to, [181], [182];
return to America, [183];
marriage, [183];
concert tour, [183-190];
combines "Yankee Doodle" and "Old Hundred," [187];
teaching in New York, [191];
inaugurates chamber-music concerts, [193];
first program, [194];
"Mason and Thomas Quartet," [196];
concert at Farmington, Conn., [202];
reminiscences of Gottschalk, [205], and Schumann's music, [209];
describes Thalberg's playing, [210];
reminiscences of Rubinstein and opinion of, [221-236];
and Von Bülow, [238];
letter from Von Bülow to, [239];
meeting with Grieg, [241];
discusses piano technic, tempo, pitch, etc., [243-251];
studio, [248];
at Isles of Shoals, [251-258];
opinion of Von Dohnányi, [263];
Godowsky, [265];
Gabrilowitsch, [269];
Bauer, [270];
Friedheim, [270]
Mason-Thomas Quartet, portrait group, [196]
Matthews, W. S. B., [261]
Matzka, George, [194]
Mayer, Carl, [31], [65]
Mendelssohn, exaggerated worship of, [37];
friendship with Moscheles, [37];
thought greater than Beethoven, [37];
influence in England, [85]
Meyer, Leopold de, Mason's recollections of, [19];
beauty of tone, [20];
New York concerts and anecdote, [21], [69], [211-215]
Meyerbeer, meeting of with William Mason, [28];
rehearsing "Le Prophète", [30]
Mills, S. B., [292]
Moscheles, [27];
autograph, [32];
practises Beethoven in secret, [36];
opposes his daughter's playing Chopin, [37];
intimacy with Mendelssohn, [37];
entertains Schumann, anecdote, [42];
pianoforte-playing, [57];
silver wedding, [61]
Mosenthal, Joseph, [194]
Mozart, [250]
"Murls," the, [158]
Musical conventions, origin of, [9]
Musical pedigree, [180]
Music in America to-day, [259-272]
Ohe, Adele aus der, [270]
Paderewski, [60];
fantasy on "Yankee Doodle," [236];
autograph, [236]
Paine, John K., [252], [261]
Parker, Horatio W., [261]
Parker, J. C. D., [135]
"Parsifal," Liszt's tribute to, [133]
Pedal, hints on use of, [215-221];
study, [219]
Perelli, [154]
Perkins, Charles C., [135]
Philharmonic Society, New York, [262]
Pitch, positive, [247];
Thomas's ear for, [251]
Pixis, [117]
Pruckner, Dionys, [89], [91], [100], [107], [114], [125], [135]
Pupils, unusual, [246]
Raff, [89], [91], [96];
friendship for Mason, [97], [124], [129], [133];
in Weimar, [161-164];
Mason's first impression of, [161];
poverty, [162];
arrested for debt, [162];
prison
comforts, [162];
pianoforte-playing, [162];
as a composer, [163];
and Wagner propaganda, [134], [142], [144], [164]
Remenyi and the "Kreutzer Sonata," [93];
Liszt rebukes, [94];
on Liszt's playing, [112];
visits Liszt with Brahms, [127], [130], [151-153]
Rhythmus exercises, [191]
Moscheles on, [193]
Richter, Ernst Friedrich, [48]
Rohan, Prince de, [71-75]
Rubinstein and Princess Marie Sayn-Wittgenstein, [95];
on Liszt's playing, [111];
Liszt's contrition, [144];
Mason entertains at Weimar in 1854, [171];
plays, [173];
opposition to Wagner, [174];
Liszt's opinion of, [175], [180], [221-236];
and the autograph-hunter, [221];
opinion of Americans, [222];
style of playing, [224];
favorite seat, [227];
Bach's "Triple Concerto," [230];
significant autograph, [232], [234];
"Yankee Doodle" variations, [236], [268]
Sanford, S. S., [261]
Sayn-Wittgenstein, Fürstin, [94];
Princess Marie, [95]
Schindler, Anton, [79];
"Ami de Beethoven," [80];
autograph, [80];
and "Fifth Symphony," [81];
persuaded to meet Von Wartensee, [82], and dénouement, [83]
Schlesinger, [33];
daughter plays Chopin, [33]
Schmidt, Henry, conducts first Beethoven symphony in America, [9], [13-15], [19]
Schubert, [125], [169]
Schuberth, Julius, [27], [31], [32]
Schulhoff, [112]
Schumann, his life at Leipsic, [38];
autograph, [38];
not appreciated, [39];
Mason's enthusiasm on hearing S.'s "First Symphony," [40];
Mason sends score to Boston, [40];
attempts there to play it, [40];
Webb's opinion of it, [41];
S. laughed at by his publisher's clerks, [41];
as a conductor, [41];
absent-mindedness, [42];
compared with Mendelssohn by Mason, [43];
Mason calls on him, [43];
second call and autograph, [44];
Mason contrasts the personalities of S. and Wagner, [44];
a minor concerto, [63]; [132], [136], [137], [171], [209]
Schumann, Clara, [43];
autograph, [44]
Shelley, H. R., [261]
Sherwood, William H., [261]
Sontag, Henriette, and autograph, [154]
Stange, Adolph, Weimar reminiscences of, [165-168]
Stavenhagen, [112]
Störr, [92]
"Tasso," Liszt at rehearsal of, [121]
Tausig, [175], [176]
Tedesco, [154]
Tempo, hints on, [243-247];
Chopin, electrocuting, [244];
rubato, [246]
Thalberg, [75];
and Chopin, [76], [210];
autograph, [212]
Thaxter, Celia, [252-258]
Theimer, [117]
Thomas, Theodore, [111], [194];
at twenty, [195];
genius of conductorship, [196];
Mason and Thomas Quartet, [196];
as a violinist, [197];
a great conductor, [198];
confidence in himself, [200];
portrait at twenty-four, [200];
contribution to Mason calendar, [202];
ear for positive pitch, [251], [292]
Timm, Henry C., [58]
Tomaschek, [66-70]
Tracy, James M., [95]
Vieuxtemps, autograph, [144], [148]
Wagner, Albert, [48], [49]
Wagner, Johanna, [154], [156]
Wagner, Richard, [48];
"Wer ist da?" [49];
receives William Mason, [49];
appearance in 1852, [50];
compares Beethoven and Mendelssohn, [51];
tribute to Beethoven, [52];
lively manner, [54];
gives Mason his autograph, [55], [56], [132], [133];
Wagner cause in Weimar, [159];
Mason on, [159], [179]
Walbrühl, [92]
Webb, George James, [8];
and Boston Academy of Music, [9];
opinion of Schumann, [41]
Webb, Miss, [26];
engaged and married to William Mason, [183]
Weber, Dionysius, [36]
Weimar, [86];
Mason's reminiscences of Liszt at [86-182]
Whiting, Arthur, [261], [271]
Wieniawski, Henri, [109], [123], [124];
at Weimar, [126], [150], [223]
Wilhelmj, [150]
"Yankee Doodle" and "Old Hundred," Mason asked to combine, [187], [189]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] In a letter written twenty-four years later, in 1878, Liszt says of "Parsifal": "The composition of the first act is finished; in it are revealed the most wondrous depths and the most celestial heights of art."

[2] As I have elsewhere stated, I was the first to meet Rubinstein in Weimar, while Liszt was away.

[3] He was at Moscow, being first professor of pianoforte-playing at the Conservatory there.

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