BERNHARD ROMBERG was the son of the bassoon player, Anton Romberg, of some note in his time, and was born on November 11, 1767, in the village of Dinklage, near the little Prussian town of Quakenbrück. It is unknown whom he had as teacher for the violoncello. It was probably an orchestra musician in Münster, to which place his parents had removed their home. In any case, Romberg’s talent caused him to make the most of it, for before he had passed his youth he was able to undertake with his cousin, Andreas Romberg,[101] who was about the same age, a concert tour which led them through Holland, and was extended to Paris, where they were both heard with such success in the house of Baron Bagge[102] that they were engaged in 1787 for the “Concert Spirituel.” After his return from Paris Romberg devoted himself eagerly to progressive studies, and at the same time worked in the orchestra at Münster. Münster belonged then, as is known, to the Electorate of Cologne. The Elector Maximilian Franz, who on his accession to his dominions (April 27, 1784) resided often in the Westphalian town, had his attention drawn to the two Romberg artists, and engaged them for his Royal band at Bonn. The announcement of the appointment bears the date of December 19, 1790. When the Elector, in the autumn of the following year, went to reside at Mergentheim, then the seat of the German order--whose Grand Master he was--he caused about twenty members of his band to follow him from Bonn. Amongst them, besides Beethoven, who in addition to his office as organist was also tenor player at the Court, were also the two Rombergs. In one of the musical entertainments which took place in the apartments of the Elector, Bernhard Romberg was heard in a Concerto. Boszler’s Musical Correspondence of the year 1791 contains a notice of it in which is said[103]: “Romberg, the younger, combines in his violoncello playing extraordinary rapidity with charming rendering; this rendering is the more marked and decided when he is heard in connection with the greater number of violoncellists. The tone which he produces from his instrument is, moreover--especially in the expressive parts--extremely clear, firm, and penetrating. Taking into consideration the difficulty of the instrument, a thoroughly marked purity of tone, in the extraordinarily quick rendering of the _Allegro_, must be attributed to him in the highest degree. Yet this after all is mere mechanical readiness; the connoisseur has another standard by which he measures the greatness of artists; and this is, the manner of playing, the perfection of expression or the spiritual interpretation. Once on this point, the connoisseur will pronounce in favour of the expressive _Adagio_. It is impossible more deeply to penetrate into the more delicate hues of feeling--impossible to colour them with more variety--to enhance them, moreover, by greater light and shade--impossible to hit more exactly