Joseph Joachim. By J. A. Fuller Maitland. (John Lane. 2s.
6d.)—The difficult task of writing a biography of a living man, even though it be a short one, has been accomplished by Mr. Fuller Maitland with perfect tact and taste. The most interesting part of the book is the attempt to set out on paper the peculiar qualities of Joachim's playing. Not only is the true intention of the composer made manifest in performance, but the imagination and dignity of mind of the player are felt too. "It is recorded that on one occasion when he played at first sight Schumann's fantasia for the violin, the composer, instead of bursting into ecstasies over the player's immediate grasp of the inner meaning of the Muth% or the cleverness of his execution, whispered to his neighbour, One can never love him enough." How many people after hearing those matchless renderings of quartets which London has enjoyed for some years past have not felt what Schumann said ? There are several portraits reproduced in • the present work, including those by Watts and Sargent. The bravura style of the latter is less in keeping with the subject than the deeply poetical rendering by Watts of the incom- parable artist of the violin.
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