better understood and appreciated, he poured forth work after work which were eagerly seized by the musical public. His oratorios, "The Redemption," and "Mors et Vita" are among the best specimens of modern composition in this extended form. Applauded, flattered, appreciated, and lacking nothing in a financial way, Gounod's latter years may be compared in some slight degree with those, of Wagner.
Side by side with Liszt, in the estimation of the public, stood Anton Rubinstein, and after his death, Rubinstein was the foremost figure in the pianistic world. Great as a composer, but greater as an interpreter of the works of others, Rubinstein was almost the last of the musical giants of the nineteenth century. He died in 1894, just as he was finishing his sixty-fifth year. His concert tours had brought immense sums into his coffers; but upon his discontinuance of concert giving, save for charitable purposes, his income had largely diminished, and his fortune was further decreased by the lavish expenditures at his Peterhof Villa and by his general carelessness in financial matters.
We might go on and mention the names of lesser lights. The circumstances of some of them would tend to show that even this century does not always repay genius with honor and riches. Still, the contrast between the last half century and the time that preceded it is certainly in our favor. Perhaps the twentieth century will repay all its debts to genius.
But, be that as it may, the greatest success genius achieves is in the conscious fulfilment of its high mission and not in the accumulation of riches. The possession of genius is the rarest fortune, and "Whoever fortune gives a touch, everywhere succeeds."
