At twelve, the boy was apprenticed, or “hired out,” as pupil and salesman to Clementi, the composer and piano manufacturer in London. He showed off the pianos so well to the customers, that Clementi soon realized he had made a good bargain. The boy played in London as the “ten-year-old pupil of Clementi,” on whom he no doubt tried out his _Gradus ad Parnassum_. (Page 320.) Five years later he played his own “Concerto for the grand _fortepiano_, composed for the occasion.” Clementi was shrewd, and started a branch of his piano business in St. Petersburg, taking Field with him. One of the ear-marks of Romantic music is the title of the piano piece or song. Until the romantic period music was designated usually by the number of the work or by its form such as _gavotte_, _minuet_, _rondo_, _sonata_, etc., but the Romantics wrote what they felt, and with the exception of Chopin, gave descriptive names to their pieces. In 1817 John Field wrote a concerto named _L’incendie par l’orage_ (_The Fire from the Storm_), a musical picture. His influence was more important than his music. We see his hand in the playing and composing of the poet-pianist, Frederick Chopin. Although Weber appeared in a different musical field he, too, had a strong influence. He was four years younger than Field but had greater opportunities and was one of the first of the Romantic School. Charles Mayer (1799–1862) was a direct follower and pupil of Field. His _études_ (studies) ranked with those of Henselt, who wrote the delightful _If I Were a Bird_, and he had an influence upon Chopin, too. SCHUBERT—MAKER OF SONGS And now we come to Franz Peter Schubert (1797–1828), born in Vienna of a schoolmaster father, and a mother, who, like Beethoven’s, was a cook. The musical comedy, _Blossom Time_, was built upon some of Schubert’s most beautiful melodies and episodes from his life. We must never trust too far stories told this way, which often contain unreliable details, however this charming operetta gives an interesting glimpse of Schubert’s devotion to composition. It is true that he wrote wherever he was, covering his cuffs as well as the menus and programs in the taverns with the endless flow of themes which eventually became world-famous songs. Schubert was not a mere writer of songs; he created the form known as _Lieder_ and through all his works, torrents of melody seemed to spring from him eternally. He was the thirteenth of nineteen children, five of which were of a second marriage, and there was no wealth or luxury for Franz, so his father worked hard to pay for his music lessons. His teacher said that no matter what he tried to teach him in violin, piano, singing, the organ or thorough-bass, Franz knew it already, for he learned everything almost at a glance.