72 
BEETHOVEN. 
(With Musical Illustrations.) 
By HERR PERETZ. November 17th, 1891. 
The lecturer divided his subject into three parts—Beethoven 
the youth, Beethoven the man, and Beethoven the musician— 
under the first heading he spoke of young Beethoven’s parentage, 
of his school days, of the fact that early in life he had no musical 
tendencies, and of the love for music he acquired under the 
tutorship of Neefe and Zamboua, and then went on to treat of 
his early successes as conductor of the opera, second violinist 
and court organist, of his final settlement in Vienna and of his 
first compositions. The second part of his lecture was extremely 
interesting and anecdotal. Herr Peretz touched on Beethoven's 
character and habits, his forgetfulness of surrounding cireum- 
stances, his deafness, ungovernable outburst of passion, fondness 
of practical jokes and puns, enormous pride and conceit, his 
exciting dinners and his troubles with cook and housekeeper, his 
relations to ladies, his religious feelings, generosity, radical 
proclivities and so on, concluding with a quotation from 
Mr. Haweis on Beethoven. In the third portion his capacity as 
a@ musician was considered. Herr Peretz spoke of him as a 
pianist, of his poems, as an extemporiser, of his choral fantasia 
and staccato playing, of his rare abilities as a tutor, conductor, 
and composer, of the great care he always exercised in his work, 
of his songs, of the matchless greatness and purity of his com- 
positions, and finally of his illness, death and burial. 
The musical illustrations were furnished by Herr Peretz 
(violin), Mrs. Seed (piano), Mr. Hargreaves (viola), and 
Mr. Seed (violoncello). Their selections included—From the 
string trio (Hi flat op. 3), Romanze (F sharp op. 40) violin and 
piano, and a piano quartette (EK flat op. 16). 
COMMERCIAL GEOGRAPHY. 
By E. SOWERBUTTS, F.R.G.S. November 24th, 1891. 
Synopsis not available or procurable. 
