Dietz, Kindermann, Ludwig, Schnorr von Carolsfeld, to whom Wagner pays such a tribute of praise in the eighth volume of his collected writings; Winkelmann, Vogl, Gura, Niemann, Scheidemantel, Van Dyck, Alvary, Betz, Scaria and Emil Fischer. [Illustration: RICHARD STRAUSS. From a photograph from life by Hanfstaengl, of Munich. (See page 601.) ] One of the results of Germany’s high development in music, and consequent “division of labor” in the executive part of the art, has been to give great importance to the conductors of orchestras and of large musical societies. Until recently there have been but few cases of really great conductors who were not at the same time prominent composers. Weber, Wagner, Spohr, Mendelssohn, Marschner, Lindpaintner, Rietz and Hiller were all Kapellmeister-composers. The remarkable advance in orchestral technique and the increased work demanded of conductors have given rise to the necessity of training men exclusively for this exacting profession. There are at present in Germany a half-dozen specialists in this branch who are particularly distinguished. Foremost among them is the gifted Hans von Bülow (born 1830). Great as are this master’s merits as a piano virtuoso, it is chiefly as a conductor that he has had important influence upon the musical activity of his time. His long connection with the Meiningen orchestra, at a period when it made frequent concert tours through Germany, was of great service in raising the standard of orchestral interpretation throughout the country. Hans Richter (born 1843) also enjoys an international reputation as a conductor. He is chief conductor of the Imperial opera and Philharmonic concerts of Vienna. He has also frequently conducted the concerts of the London Philharmonic Society. Richter was intimately associated with Wagner, and directed the first Bayreuth performance in 1876. A conductor of perhaps even greater ability, but of less extended reputation, is Hermann Levi (born 1839), the chief conductor of the Munich theatre. He also was intimately associated with Wagner, and conducted the first performance of “Parsifal” at Bayreuth in 1882. He is at present the conductor-in-chief at Bayreuth. His principal claim to superiority lies in the fact that he conducts equally well the daintiest Haydn symphony and the most complex Wagner music-drama. He is as a conductor what Liszt was as a pianist, universally sympathetic in his interpretations. Felix Mottl (born 1856) of Carlsruhe, and Ernst Schuch (born 1848) of Dresden, are worthy to be grouped with Germany’s great conductors. The former is one of the Bayreuth conductors. The young composers, Strauss and Weingartner, are also able Kapellmeister.