The Unfinished Symphony in B minor is perhaps the most noteworthy in these respects; it is the epitome of his genius, and well typifies his own unfinished but perfect life." In similar wise, in his smaller works for piano--his impromptus, "moments musicals," dances, marches, variations, etc.--we see the marked influence of the Lied. The impromptu in G major, Op. 90, for example, is a "song without words." In piano music not only Mendelssohn and Schumann, but also Chopin, drew copious inspiration from Schubert, who thus stands as one of the principal founders of the modern imaginative and romantic schools. We have seen that the Erl King was at first coldly received. It marked a new departure in the dramatic treatment of musical themes; the ears of the listeners were not taught to expect such treatment; they were disturbed by the intensity of passion and bewildered by the boldness of the harmonies. In particular at the superb discord where the child cries that the Erl King is seizing him--where the G flat of the voice comes against the rushing triplets on F natural in octaves resting upon E flat in the bass--much doubt was expressed, and the worthy Ruzicka's ingenuity was somewhat taxed to explain and justify such a combination. But indeed since the beginning of this century the modern ear has received a remarkable education in appreciating the use and beauty of dissonances. Schubert's treatment of the Erl King ballad was at first disapproved by Goethe himself; as he said, "it did not agree with his view of the subject." But Goethe's opinions on musical matters were of small value; the range of his appreciativeness was in this direction narrowly limited. He was fond of the worthy old Zelter, who set to music more than a hundred of his songs. Of these Goethe said "he could scarcely have believed music capable of producing such delicious tones." Zelter's music was certainly not without merit, and his setting of the "König im Thule" is still sung and deservedly admired; but to go from Zelter to Schubert required a sorcery more potent than that which brought Helen of Troy to become the bride of mediæval Faust. At any rate Goethe found it so. Toward the end of his life, when he heard the Erl King sung with its full dramatic effect by Madame Schröder-Devrient, he acknowledged its power, but it was probably the superb woman and her style of singing that moved him rather than the music. At one time the modest Schubert, at the instigation of some friend, ventured to send to the great poet some of the settings of his songs accompanied by a letter tremulous with awe. But Goethe never answered the letter, and apparently took no notice of the music. "Neither in Goethe's works," says Kreissle, "nor in his correspondence with Zelter, nor in his conversations with Eckermann, do we find a syllable in connection with Schubert's name." Little did either the poet or the musician realize that throughout all future time their names were to be inseparably associated.