of the 18th century, while the latter was equally expressive of that of the 19th. But it may also be said that the 'classical' attention to form and method was a necessary stage in artistic development, a stage that was indispensable before the 'romantic' exaltation of personal mood and fancy could proceed with freedom. The earlier emphasis was not so much the result of an age of formalism and externality as an instinctive attempt to master the mechanism of artistic embodiment, without which free creation cannot be confident and sure.
Broadly judged, the period seems most notable for its fruitfulness in instrumental writing, being in this respect the direct consequent of the Haydn-Mozart age. For both the piano and the orchestral ensemble, large and small, Beethoven stands out as altogether the most powerful and prophetic genius, his greatness being so impressive that it dominates the picture of the whole period. The vocal productions of the time have proved less enduring save only in the case of Schubert's songs and Lowe's earlier ballades, but these represented an artistic movement as yet not widespread. There were, of course, several lines of operatic enterprise in vigorous operation, but none of these, not even the brilliant innovations of Weber, can be said to have acquired definite directive influence before 1830. The various types of opera, however, were plainly struggling toward new ideals, so that the way was being prepared for fresh constructive advance. Sacred music was probably less important than in any previous age, even the limited revival of German organ music lacking in creative vigor.
The musical world at this juncture was somewhat full of startling contrasts. At precisely the same time, and sometimes side by side in the same place, diverse types of art and artists competed for attention and applause. It is hard to conceive, for example, of a more glaring antithesis than that between the gigantic and passionately serious spirit of Beethoven and the heartless sensationalism of Rossini. Various other pairs of contemporaries are almost equally impossible to classify together—such as Rinck and Paganini, to take a somewhat bizarre instance. The coincident vogue of styles so divergent as the French opéra comique, the new German romantic opera and the more flamboyant of Italian works commands a degree of wonder. The local juxtaposition of Beethoven and Schubert at Vienna,
