ABSTRACT
Those who are fond of moralising on the secrets of human success and failure can find a subject ready to their hand in the careers of Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann. The history of music has few more striking instances to show of a reversal of contemporary verdicts than in the case of these two composers. Mendelssohn's career was one prolonged blaze of triumph from start to finish. From his successes as a childish prodigy to the production of "Elijah" he scarcely knew what the word failure meant. In the case of Mendelssohn and Schumann the revenge of time has been singularly complete. Schumann's career as a musician, in spite of the enormous influence he has exerted upon the subsequent developments of his art, is to a certain extent unsatisfactory. He attempted a great deal, but save in the smaller kinds of music, such as his songs, pianoforte pieces and chamber music.
