Next to Beethoven, Bach bears closest affinity to "infinite music."[C] His Organ Fantasias (but not the Fugues) have indubitably a strong dash of what might be overwritten "Man and Nature."[D] In him it appears most ingenuous because he had no reverence for his predecessors (although he esteemed and made use of them), and because the still novel acquisition of equal temperament opened a vista of--for the time being--endless new possibilities. [C] "Die Ur-Musik," is the author's happy phrase. But as this music _never has been_, our English terms like "primitive," "original," etc., would involve a _non sequitur_ which is avoided, at least, by "infinite." [Translator's Note.] [D] In the recitatives of his Passions we hear "human speech"; _not_ "correct declamation." Therefore, Bach and Beethoven[E] are to be conceived as a _beginning_, and not as unsurpassable finalities. In spirit and emotion they will probably remain unexcelled; and this, again, confirms the remark at the beginning of these lines: That spirit and emotion remain unchanged in value through changing years, and that he who mounts to their uttermost heights will always tower above the crowd. [E] As characteristic traits of Beethoven's individuality I would mention the poetic fire, the strong human feeling (whence springs his revolutionary temper), and a portent of modern nervousness. These traits are certainly opposed to those of a "classic." Moreover, Beethoven is no "master," as the term applies to Mozart or the later Wagner, just because his art foreshadows a greater, as yet incomplete. (Compare the section next-following.) * * * What still remains to be surpassed, is their form of expression and their freedom. Wagner, a Germanic Titan, who touched our earthly horizon in orchestral tone-effect, who intensified the form of expression, but fashioned it into a _system_ (music-drama, declamation, leading-motive), is on this account incapable of further intensification. His category begins and ends with himself; first, because he carried it to the highest perfection and finish; secondly, because his self-imposed task was of such a nature, that it could be achieved by one man alone.[F] The paths opened by Beethoven can be followed to their end only through generations. They--like all things in creation--may form only a circle; but a circle of such dimensions, that the portion visible to us seems like a straight line. Wagner's circle we can view in its entirety--a circle within the great circle. [F] "Together with the problem, it gives us the solution," as I once said of Mozart. * * *