LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE BEETHOVEN AT TWENTY-TWO From a miniature on ivory by Hornemann Engraved by J. G. Mansfeld, le jeune, after a Engraved by Höfel, after a crayon by Louis Le- . 251 THE PERIODS OF MUSICAL HISTORY T HE modern view of history is vivified by a principle scarcely dreamed of before the middle of the last century; the conception which permeates all our interpretations of the story of the world, which illuminates our study of all its phases, was by our grandfathers apprehended either vaguely or not at all. For them, history dealt with a more or less random series of happenings, succeeding each other accidentally, unaccountably, and at haphazard; each single event, determined by causes peculiar to itself, was without relation to all the others. Political and social history, for example, was an account of battles, sieges, revolutions, governments; of kings, warriors, and statesmen. Its salient features were special occasions and indi |