young woman whose playing is criticized is the little miss of
eight years, Nanette Stein.)

60. "When I told Herr Stein that I would like to play on his
organ and that I was passionately fond of the instrument, he
marveled greatly and said: 'What, a man like you, so great a
clavier player, want to play on an instrument which has no
douceur, no expression, neither piano nor forte, but goes on
always the same?' 'But all that signifies nothing; to me the
organ is nevertheless the king of instruments.' "

(Augsburg, October 17, 1777, to his father.)

61. "I had the pleasure to hear Herr Franzl (whose wife is a
sister of Madame Cannabich) play a concerto on the violin. He
pleases me greatly. You know that I am no great lover of
difficulties. He plays difficult things, but one does not
recognize that they are difficult, but imagines that one could do
the same thing at once; that is true art. He also has a
beautiful, round tone,--not a note is missing, one hears
everything; everything is well marked. He has a fine staccato
bow, up as well as down; and I have never heard so good a double
shake as his. In a word, though he is no wizard he is a solid
violinist."

(Mannheim, November 22, 1777, to his father.)

62. "Wherein consists the art of playing prima vista? In this: To
play in the proper tempo; give expression to every note,
appoggiatura, etc., tastefully and as they are written, so as to