The title of this little book may be misleading to some of its readers,
in its failure to include sketches of many eminent artists well worthy
to be classed under such a head. There has been no attempt to cover
the immense field of executive music, but only to call attention to the
lives of those musical celebrities who are universally recognized as
occupying the most exalted places in the arts of violin and pianoforte
playing; who stand forth as landmarks in the history of music. To do
more than this, except in a merely encyclopedic fashion, within the
allotted space, would have been impossible. The same necessity of limits
has also compelled the writer to exclude consideration of the careers
of noted living performers; as it was thought best that discrimination
should be in favor of those great artists whose careers have been
completely rounded and finished.
An exception to the above will be noted in the case of Franz Liszt; but,
aside from the fact that this greatest of piano-forte virtuosos, though
living, has practically retired from the held of art, to omit him from
such a volume as this would be an unpardonable omission. In connection
with the personal lives of the artists sketched in this volume, the
attempt has been made, in a general, though necessarily imperfect,
manner, to trace the gradual development of the art of playing from its
cruder beginnings to the splendid virtuosoism of the present time.
The sources from which facts have been drawn are various, and, it
is believed, trustworthy, including French, German, and English
authorities, in some cases the personal reminiscences of the artists
themselves.