It is really ludicrous.

If the music the musician offers to the public be really great, it will live by itself and defy praise or blame.

Because Schubert died of want and sorrow, that does not interfere with the life of his creations.

Because Wagner is voted impossible and absurd by many who think themselves good judges of musical art, that does not offer any obstacle to the steady spread of his fame, which is destined to become as universal as that of Shakespeare.

Poor Joachim, the violinist, has got a picture in his private house, in which Wagner is painted as suffering the tortures of hell; can anything be more absurd, when we consider how soon the learned fiddler, who has occupied his life in playing other people's compositions, will be a handful of forgotten dust, while multitudes yet to come will shout their admiration of 'Tristran' and 'Parsifal.' Yes, as I said, I never cared for musical people much, till I met a friend of my brother's--a man whose inner life was an exquisite harmony." "I know!" I interrupted her.