Eduard Lassen (1830-1904) was even less pretentious than Jensen in his songs, but rather more genuine and satisfactory. Possibly we cannot call him a true interpreter of emotion, but we must credit him with the composition of many a lovely melody. Lassen was Liszt’s successor in the directorship at Weimar and thus lived in a stimulating atmosphere. His songs, which were probably the outcome of moments of play, rather than serious efforts, show both more buoyancy and more elasticity than do those of Jensen. With them we are again breathing the fresh air, albeit a peaceful air. Many of his songs content themselves with being simple strophic melodies, interpretive only in general mood and not in detail. The best loved of his songs, ‘Thine Eyes So Blue and Tender,’ is fairly typical of the simpler ones. Lassen’s setting of Heine’s ‘It Was a Dream’ is more truly an art-song, though its appeal is gained by the simplest of means. ‘Whither’ has an arpeggio accompaniment which adds admirably to the simple freshness of the song. ‘Spring’ is furnished forth with interesting modulations, managed with unfailing taste. In ‘Thou Fairest Vision’ Lassen becomes vigorous and passionate; in ‘The Sun’s Bright Beams’ he attains dignity and breadth within brief space. In considering Lassen’s lyrical and melodic style it should be interesting for the reader to compare his settings of Heine with Schumann’s--as, for instance, in ‘It was a Dream,’ _Ein Fichtenbaum steht einsam_, and _Ich hab’ im Traum geweinet_. On the whole, though Lassen struck out no new path in song writing, though he enlarged no boundaries and tapped no new fields of expression, he kept his songs on a high plane of artistic genuineness. Among the song composers of the last half of the century who expressed themselves chiefly by means of melody, Lassen is one of the most notable.