Along with the journal, and all the activities and work that I have related up until this point, I had not, as is self-evident, stopped working on the completion of my artistic education. For, in spite of my experience in Halle, I was repeatedly driven to the conviction that no one, no matter how talented he might be, and who is able to be so certain and sure about the level of his own talent?-can have sufficient performance in music, without training his gift.

Driven by this conviction, I had turned to Zelter not long after my move; I had been recommended to him from Halle, and met a friendly reception. I did not find his compositions (lieder and ballades) to be very weighty; and even less, what he had produced as a writer: the biography of Fasch, well-written but lacking in content. Now, however, Zelter's fame and reputation in Berlin, where he led Fasch's Singakademie, the oldest and largest that there was, was so important, that it gave me the idea that the reason for this had to be found in his teaching ability. I thus informed him of my concerns, told him what I had learned in Halle, and how much I had already composed, but also expressed my conviction that neither inclination nor talent for creative activity could be enough were it not assisted by thorough training.

“That is true, that is excellent!” was more or less his answer. “Yes, the young men come and think that with their little bit of natural ability… yes, it can even be with considerable natural ability … that they can do everything! But prosit…”

That pleased me, and happily I took a piece of music paper; I was to work through it and then come back.

Then I sat at home, for it was a sheet with figured basses, of which I had already prepared quite a number in Halle. I quickly worked through the one I had just received and brought it to my teacher. He looked through it, and gave me a second page to work on, without expressing anything substantive.

Now I thought that in such a way nothing decisive could be expected. Thus, I intentionally let some mistakes get into the second sheet, as well as couple of spots, which might raise questions, undone.