, 134). Beethoven, according to
Seyfried, "was very particular at rehearsals about the frequent
passages in _tempo rubato_;" and there are other remarks by
contemporaries of Beethoven which indicate that although he wrote in
the classical style, in his playing and conducting he often introduced
a romantic _rubato_. Still, in the majority of his compositions, there
is no room for the _rubato_, which cannot be said to have found a home
in German music till it was assimilated by the Schumann school, under
the influence of Chopin. Since then, it has leavened the spirit of
modern music in a manner which has never been sufficiently emphasized.
I am convinced that even Richard Wagner was, unconsciously, influenced
by it through Liszt; for one of the chief peculiarities of his style
is a sort of dramatic _rubato_ which emancipates his music from the
tyranny of the strict dance measure. In his essay on the proper
interpretation of Tannhaeuser, Wagner declares that the division of
music into regular measures, or bars, is merely a mechanical means for
enabling the composer to convey his ideas to the singer.
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