Musical afternoons became gradually more and more important, and it was there that, timidly at first, I tried to win acceptance for some of Beethoven's pianoforte works ; for, with the exception of two trios, the Kreutzer and the so-called ' Moonlight' sonata, none were known to other than a few earnest students. A great attraction was the exquisite singing, or rather declaiming, of Delsarte, a most extraordinary artist whose dramatic power I have never heard equalled. His voice was far from fine, being rather disagreeable, but it was immediately forgotten after the first few notes, and he held his hearers spellbound. I shall never forget the impression he created when singing Gluck's beautiful air : 'Cruelle, non, jamais ton cceur ne fut touche par mes alarmes.' It was indescribable. Every syllable told, and the accents of despair were irresistible and inimitable. He sang at nearly every one of my matinees, for which I owe him a debt of gratitude. Lamartine, Odillon Barrot, Ledru Rollin, and Salvandy, who heard him at my house, each one complimented him in the same words : ' Monsieur, vous etes un grand orateur,' of which he complained to me with perhaps pardonable pride by saying, ' These gentlemen think there is nothing above an orator.' << less