fellow virtuosos. Beethoven's string quartets were simply too difficult for most amateur musicians, as were Schubert's songs. Both musicians, however, were acclaimed experts as geniuses. Their works were widely performed by professional musicians.
The myths of the rejection of Wolfgang Mozart (1756-91) may be the most persistent, says Lenneberg. Despite mountains of contrary evi- dence, scholars still view the prolific Austrian prodigy as poor and unappreciated by Viennese society. His poverty,...