On Christmas day, 1900, a friend presented me with a calendar for the year 1901. It has a leaf for each day of the year. The calendar evidently required much labor in preparation, and necessitated correspondence with many friends at home as well as abroad, and many are the cordial responses that were received. The result is a daily pleasure and surprise. The leaf for February 11, 1901, the day of my present writing, has reference to the third concert of chamber-music, eighth season of Mason and Thomas, which took place on Tuesday evening, February 10, 1862:
The third soirée of Mason and Thomas had the following program:
Quartet, C Major, No. 2 _Cherubini_ Piano Trio, D Major, Op. 70, No. 1 _Beethoven_ Quartet, A Major, Op. 41, No. 3 _Schumann_
A program as interesting and fresh to-day as thirty-eight years ago. The weather was very cold,--below zero,--and during the largo of the trio the gas gave out. We continued playing for some time, but finally had to stop. The "Geister" [the composition here referred to is called by the Germans the "Geister Trio"] did not assist us! Do you remember the fact?
KARL KLAUSER, MUSICAL DIRECTOR AT MISS PORTER'S SCHOOL
Through Mosenthal our quartet became acquainted with Mr. Karl Klauser, who was an active and enthusiastic musician of thorough education, and who has accomplished a great deal of useful work both as a compiler and teacher of classic and modern compositions. Mr. Klauser is a native of St. Petersburg, born of German parents; he came to New York in 1850, and was engaged as musical director in Miss Porter's famous school for young ladies in 1855, a post which he filled with credit and ability for many years. He was enthusiastically fond of chamber-music, and frequently attended the rehearsals of our quartet; and it was through him that we were induced to give recitals in Farmington six months after our beginning in New York. On Thursday, June 26, 1856, our program was as follows:
String Quartet in E flat, No. 4 _Mozart_ Trio, Piano, Violin, and Violoncello, G Minor, Op. 15, No. 2 _Rubinstein_ Variations from Quartet No. 5 _Beethoven_ Also solos for pianoforte and for violoncello.
On the following day another recital was given, with an entire change of program.