" Such a society naturally contributed a
great deal to the spread of classical chamber-music in Paris. M. Lemoine
writes:
"Classical music was so little known to the musical public that
even the audiences of _La Trompette_, cultured as they were, did
not at all understand Beethoven's last quartettes; and my friends
jeered at my taste for enigmas. This only made me the more
determined that they should hear one of these great works at each
concert. And sometimes I would give the same work at two or three
concerts running if I thought it had not been properly appreciated.
In that case I used to say before the performance: 'It seems to me
that such-and-such a work has not been quite understood at the last
hearing; and as it is a really marvellous work, I am sure that your
feeling is that you do not know it sufficiently. So I have included
it in to-day's programme.'"[237]
[Footnote 237: The name, _La Trompette_, was also the pretext for
embellishing chamber-music, by introducing the trumpet among the other
instruments. To this end M. Saint-Saens wrote his fine septette for
piano, trumpet, two violins, viola, violoncello, and double bass; and M.
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