Beethoven developed his own pianoforte technique to respond to his own great need of self-expression. He not so much consulted the qualities of the piano as demanded that it conform to his ideas. These ideas were, in many cases, as grand as those which have later called upon the full resources of the orchestra; and, therefore, as we have said, he called upon the piano to do the full service of the orchestra. As a result the instrument was taxed to its uttermost limits; but within those limits lay many effects which were of no service to Beethoven. Out of these effects a new race of musicians was to build a new style of music. There grew up a technique, slave to the instrument, which with well-nigh countless composers was an end in itself. With most of these composers there was a dearth of ideas, but they rendered a service to the art which must be acknowledged. I Among the most meritorious and the most influential of these musicians was Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837). Hummel attracted the attention of Mozart as a boy, and the latter took him as a pupil into his house for two years. By the time he was eleven he was winning fame as a virtuoso. The course of concert tours brought him to London, where he settled for several years, to absorb what he could from the greatly renowned Clementi. From then on he enjoyed a brilliant fame, not only as a player, but as a composer as well. And for what was his playing admired? For the remarkable clearness and evenness of his touch, for one thing. So was the playing of Dussek, of Cramer, of Field, of Moscheles, of Kalkbrenner, of Ferdinand Hiller, of any number of others. Clearness and evenness of touch did not distinguish one great player from another then, more than it does now. Yet they are qualities endlessly bespoken by all biographers for their favorite pianists. Hummel seems to have had in addition a grace of style not so common. This may well have become part of him through the influence of Mozart. And a certain grace characterizes his compositions. These comprise caprices, dances, rondos, sets of variations, all manner of show pieces, brilliant and graceful in their day, sonatas and concertos. These pieces were popular, they were famous, they were in a way more influential in shaping the growth of pianoforte technique than were the sonatas of Beethoven. As a matter of fact, they present little in the way of brilliance but scales and arpeggios. Yet even now they make the piano sound with a captivating fluency.