There is also a Quintett for horn and strings, and one in C minor for the curious combination flute, oboe, viola, ’cello, and glass harmonica.[16] The Quintett in E♭, a special favourite of its author, for piano, oboe, clarionet, horn, and bassoon, is a fine work, as are the two piano and string Quartetts in G minor and in E♭. [Footnote 16: A mechanical arrangement producing the effect of so-called “musical glasses,” that is, thin tumbler glasses whose edges were rubbed with the moistened finger.] Of Trios, the Divertimento in E♭ for violin, viola, and ’cello is remarkable; also that for clarinet, viola, and piano, in the same key, an unusual but effective combination. The seven Trios for piano, violin, and ’cello do not, as a whole, rank among Mozart’s most exalted efforts, but some of them, and especially certain movements, are excellent; that, for example, in E major, and the slow movement of No. 496 Köchel, in G major. For the piano and violin Mozart wrote forty-two Sonatas, an Allegro in B♭, and two sets of variations, which are said to have been generally written for his lady pupils. “They are neither deep nor learned, but interesting from their abundant melody and modulation.”[17] [Footnote 17: _Dictionary of Music and Musicians_ (Grove), vol. ii. p. 398.] This concludes the list of the more important of the chamber music works of this great master. [Sidenote: =Wagner on Mozart=] In the words of Richard Wagner: “The life of Mozart was one of continuous struggle for a peacefully-assured existence against the most unequal odds. Caressed as a child by the half of Europe, as youth he finds all satisfaction of his sharpened longings made doubly difficult, and from manhood onwards he miserably sickens towards an early grave.... His loveliest works were sketched between the elation of one hour and the anguish of the next.”[18] [Footnote 18: Prose Works, vol. v. p. 88.] [Sidenote: =Mozart’s Letter to his Father=] But while this was so, it is pathetically interesting to read what he writes to his father when he first heard of his illness, for it shows clearly that amid the hardships and trials which beset him, Mozart never, at heart, repined, but sustained himself with a deep and far-reaching philosophy of human life. “As death,” he says, “strictly speaking, is the true end and aim of our lives, I have for the last two years made myself so well acquainted with this true, best friend of mankind that his image no longer terrifies, but calms and consoles me. And I thank God for giving me the opportunity of learning to look upon death as the key which unlocks the gate of true bliss. I never lie down to rest without thinking that, young as I am, before the dawn of another day I may be no more; and yet nobody who knows me would call me morose or discontented. For this blessing I thank my Creator every day, and wish from my heart that I could share it with all my fellow-men.” [Illustration: BEETHOVEN.] CHAPTER V. BEETHOVEN.