Co n fessi o n s o f a

Vi o i n ist

Realities a nd Roma nce

By

Dr T Lamb Phi son . . p Formerly Pres ident a nd Vi oluf Solo to the Boh emian Orchestra l Society

“ " Author of Voice a nd Violin, etc.

London

Cha tto Windus

. B Li inc Com an Philadelphia J . pp ott p y 1 9 0 2

IN FOND REMEMBRANCE OF

EMMA EL L EN EL I Z ABETH PHI PSON

’

Onl elnld tlce la te Cm mu Sa xon . LAMB o the y gf , f

’ Her orddure Re iment ret Cowiu WI LLIAMLAMB f g , f gf ,

LORD Mm ounnn or n a tt ea r: P rin t Ma h l er , f y y

n 2nd J une 1 8 1 . D13 0 th Ma rch 1 8 Bo n 1 , 3 3 99

' ’ ’ ca r i uttna Ma dr e Mi a L ia a ne tun ca r e 0 ddie A g p ,

belle 2 er t en re inta li a l a a l l n i o m ore. , p p g

P R E F A C E

THE present little work, as indicated in the title, R R consists of two parts, ealities and omance .

It contains biographical sketches, reminiscences, studies, and episodes, with some short romantic stories interspersed, which are all drawn from real life . It may be considered as a continuation of my V V " oice and iolin, which has been so indulgently received by all classes of readers that I have been induced to give here a number of notes and s ketches which have not yet appeared in any of

s I e my other book . hop they will be found instructive and amusing, and so help to foster

s the love of music, from which mo t people derive so much pleasure and profit .

ASA M Por “ DON C m , n , LON ,

C O N T E N T S

CHA R. K I . LOOKING BAC

II . FIRST IMPRESSIONS

A A A MORTE BE K III . T THE CH TE U DE C

I v. LI FE IN BRUSSELS A v. SOME INCIDENTS T MY CONCERTS THE TARANTELLA A STORY OF STORIONI

VIII. RAMEAU

A GUARNE RI VIOLIN AT ROME

- x. THE HISTORY OF THE HURDY GURDY

THE SON OF A VIOLINIST

AN EPISODE IN THE LIFE OF LOLLI

I I I ] . A REMINISCENCE OF VUI LLAUME

xI v A . THE YOUTH OF UBER

THE DANCING FROG

v F . THE MUSIC O DE BERI OT

’ CELLo-P SWARTZF D xvu . THE LAYER OF EL

X OF VI I I . THE THEORY TONE ix CONTENTS

CRA P. WI X I X . HENRI ENI AWSKI

A DUE T WITH A THIRD PART

xxx R S S D A E RS . A TI T AN AM T U

W xxn . THE AITS or NEUSATz xx G R BB R m . IRARD AND O E ECHTS

T P- xxxv . HE STE MOTHER VIOLINIST

xv P RT x . JOSE H A OT

X V A X I . LESSON IN MODESTY Confessions of a V iolinist

I

LOO KING BACK

ON looking calmly over the events of the last e century, I feel fortunate in having be n born

E th e an ng lishman , and having lived throug hout V whole g lorious reign of Queen ictoria, the con temporary of my dear mother . I came into this wonderful world at the dawn of the railway and R the eform Bill, and when music was exerting its most powerful influence upon society in the P form of Italian opera and the violin of aganini .

My mother had left school in Kensington , and

e be n married five years, when our late beloved

e Sov reign succeeded to the throne in 1 8 3 7 . The Queen was the only child of the Duke of Kent ; my mother was the only child of C L L aptain amb, first cousin of ord Melbourne,

S IV. Home ecretary under William , and for many P n years rime Mi ister under Victoria . He was

' the young Queen s favourite Minister ; he g ave A 2 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

her the first lessons in diplomacy and government, with what excellent res ults every year Of her long s and spotless life bears te timony . The Queen was eighteen when she succeeded was to the throne, and my mother barely nineteen

Sh when e married my father . They were two of the most beautiful and most lovable women in the whole world . My mother retained the delicate outlines Of her lovely features to the last . I possess her Teis s erenc B r miniature, painted by de o t (late Of F a Of Minister Ag riculture in r nce), a friend my is father, and a most accomplished amateur a rt t , h La d wood who spent some time wit us at y , near

Birmingham, when he was deputed by his govern E ment to visit ngland . L V William amb, iscount Melbourne , died F without children, and his brother rederick suc ceeded to the title ; he, also, left no heirs, but C S L my g randfather, aptain amuel amb, had

e L already died b fore his cousin, ord Melbourne, E the Prime Minister, leaving an only child, mma

e E t . E ll n lizabe h , my mother Once I thought of petitioning Queen Victoria to allow me to take up the title of Viscount Melbourne— her generosity and keen sense Of justice would have granted it— but I never did so I reflected that a man will always be judged by his works rather than by his titles or social position . LOOKING BACK 3

I have devoted much of my life to my violin ; and I have found that music is one of the anti dotes to the virulent poisons of our period . Music and moral philosophy must go hand in hand to extirpate the morbid microbes of vice in all its forms and manifestations .

S At the time of his marriage my father, amuel

R Ph i s on - yland p , was twenty eig ht years of age,

e and my moth r had just left school . He must have been considered a handsome man ; for, tradesmen and others who did not know him, s invariably addre sed him, both at home and

C Ph i s on . B abroad, as olonel p etween them , my parents were possessed of a considerable for w . La d ood E tune y , near dg baston, where my younger days were passed, was a delightful resi

— ! entirel destro ed dence now, alas y; y the ancient e elms and beeches have disappeared, and stre ts full of houses take the place of the flowery meadows and beautiful gardens ! As a young boy my father was educated at a

- well known school in Hereford , and at sixteen years of age he entered the University of Jena, in Germany, where he remained till he was

- 1 twenty one . It was in the year 8 1 9 that he sailed from Harwich to Rotterdam for that pur a n pose, a voyage of three d ys ; and, accordi g

h is e e to diary, which I possess, he must hav sp nt 4 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

h a very delightful time abroad . He ad one inter

a t a n view, Weimar, with the poet Goethe, then E 1 8 2 old man , and returned to ng land in 4 with a violin and a little book of student songs —a most beautiful collection of all the bes t part songs sung by the students of the German uni

vers ities . Shortly after his return to England he pur a S d v chased tra i ari violin , valued in those days r at one hund ed guineas, which he afterwards gave to me . This is the violin upon which I have

s oirées mus ica les played in all my concerts and , and

e which has accompanied me on all my journ ys .

He never played much himself, but was a pleasing

S inger and a most excellent judge of style .

Those who can look back into the past without reg ret live double lives .

My mother, also, made me numerous presents on every possible occasion ; on my birthday, at C hristmas, and at other times ; and whenever my eyes rest upon one of these objects, I live over i wa s aga n the happy moments in which it given .

Indeed, the sight of these gifts is not really h needful, for the thoughts of t ose days of happi

. O ness and indulgence recur without it ften, of

late years, this remembrance of past events has a proved a good guide to present ctions, and a

th e faithful warning for future . LOOKING BACK 5 All who knew him acknowledge that my ex cellent father was not only one of th e most e but nlightened men of the nineteenth century, one of the most generous and benevolent . At

La d wood e y he kept open hous , and his stables were always at th e disposal of any friends who might wish to ride over and put up their horses whilst they stayed a fortnight or more with us .

In early life he kept hunters, but after meeting with a bad accident on riding through a wood, my mother persuaded him to give up following the hounds . He had a very large number of friends , fi and if he had one fault, it was that of con ding in them too thoroughly . His liberality knew no bounds and one consequence of this was that his ff estate su ered, so that his ample income was after a while considerably reduced . In order to econo mise, and to give his children a good education , a he abandoned his beautiful residence, which I h ve described in the first pages of my Famous Violin ” is B ts . , and went to live in russels The distressing state of mind in which I was forced to make this journey from E ngland on St.

’ Da S Valentine s y, I 49 , may be imagined when I

e e state that I l ft a sweetheart, a b autiful girl of

e s ee fifteen , whom I never exp cted to again . It f was my first great grief, and tears lowed freely

h e during t whole journey . I carried my violin

m e with , though I had my left arm in a sling, on 6 CONFESSIONS OF A VI OLINI ST

un- c account of a g shot wound in the hand, whi h th e only got well many months a fterwards . On steamer this precious ins trument wa s stowed away ’ ai va c sa in the capt n s pri te abin for fety . Th e arrival in Brussels was like going back 3 00 Th e e es s years in history . blu blous of the chool the eas the o oe Of th e boys and p ants, wo den sh s ca n o s ees latter, the little rts draw by d g , the tr in th e th e a r r ave streets, and co rse po phy y p ment

r a nd ca r r e fi ne ove which carts r iages attl d, the houses with their luxurious balconies a nd th e spy s m s th e wi ows e th e gla s irror outside nd , nabling inmates to see who was coming along the street th e e e Of an f es v ry common appearanc m y O the ladi , e men th e and roug h asp ct of the , dirty habits of th e e the children, big, ch ap cigars and curious

F em h e nes e v n th e n l is pip s, the disho t s r a ts, ancie t R C O a ce th e oman atholic bserv n s, Ca rnival folk s r e s th e s e a dre sed up in the st e t , pl ndid rchitecture th e e th e u rades - eo e of cath drals, untruthf l t p pl , the o th e s th e peculiar dour of atmo phere, splendid

Ga lleries de St. Hubert th e es , caf and es taminets

a - s with their billi rd table , the stoves in place Of

th e - open fires, and fine marble chimney pieces , the curious signs over the shops, the queer tools a r i of the c rpenters and a t sans, the steep and nar t a row stree s, the P rk and the fine monuments in th e e of ld te c ntral parts the city, the O Ho l de Ville, the garbs of the priests and soldiers, and a thou LOOKING BACK 7

sand odd, antiquated customs, all caused me the e gr atest amazement . In many respects it was like going back to the days of Charles Quint !

h e 1 8 I entered as a student at t University in 49 ,

’ 1 8 a e and took my doctor s degree in 55, at the g

- of twenty two years . I I

FIRST I MPRESSION S

To give some slight idea of the generous dis i of e a posit on my worthy father, I will relat little e s en anecdote of what occurr d one nig ht at O t d, where we used to pass a month or two every

Mr - summer . He and . Saint Amour, the Ostend manager of the London Steam Navig ation Com a nd th e pany, were strolling up down pier, chatting

P M. and smoking their cigars, as the 9 . boat for L al - ondon was about to leave, when a t l, fair haired D a e utchman , about forty years of g , rushed up in

' i - g reat tr bula tion to Mr . Saint Amour . He said he C had had just arrived from ologne, and left his s or pur e behind at the hotel , lost it in the train, so a nd et et he had not any money at all, y he must g L as s to ondon by that boat, he had important bu i ness to transact there which would occupy him

for two or three days . He did not know a soul O C ’ in stend, and the ompany s manager did not e appear inclin d to trust him . “ What would be the sum you require ? asked my

a ll father, who , of course, had heard he had s aid . 8

10 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

fi ne This is a very cigar of yours, said the new-comer may I ask where you get them ? “ E l u They are Golden ag es, bought in Br ssels, replied my father . Ah ! you must have paid a high price for them a good Havana cigar is very expensive in

B . a russels I ought to know, for I am a cig r ” dealer myself, he added, smiling . “ u I was j st thinking how good your cigar is, rejoined my father . O ! E h but they are not Golden ag les, said

- the cigar merchant . N e e H evertheless, they are xcell nt . ow could I get a box or two x t a re o Well , I cannot tell you e actly hey nly a av to be had at cert in places, and I h e not my

- B t en trade list in my pocket . u I could s d you a e u couple of box s on my return home, if you wo ld e a m wait till then . I shall be away some tim ; I going my annual rounds to all the principal towns,

C e s o to lear up accounts and tak new orders, I shall not be back at Dusseldorf before a whole

month from this time . t He then handed his card to my fa her, who gave him his addres s and four gold pieces for the

’ two boxes of cigars to be forwarded in a month s time . When the stranger got out at one of the

e next stations, I was rather vexed at what my fath r had done . FI RST IMPRESSIONS l l You will never receive those cigars ! I ex la in c imed, a bitter, sarcastic tone and I repeated that remark on various subsequent occa sions . ” wa s We shall see, the calm retort every time that I made the observation . In exactly one month and two days th e two boxes of cigars arrived safely at our house !

' I was agreeably surprised , and congratulated

- my excellent father on his good luck, as I smoked one of the first of them . M “ y dear boy, he said, it did not require much knowledge Of the world to feel certain I was dealing with a thoroughly honourable man there

- is no good luck at all in the matter . “ ! h a ve Ah but he might, accidentally, lost r your add ess, I remarked, backing out as well d as I coul .

B E S R Phi s on efore he left ngland, amuel yland p had been instrumental in introducing the asphalte pavement (in now so popular with us ; he also subscribed to the funds required for experi menting with the first Archimedean screw for

e C R steam vess ls . With his friend, aptain ichard C laridge , he succeeded in establishing hydropathy E two la r e in ngland, and in founding g hydropathic . S R establishments, one at udbrook Park near ich mond, and another at Malvern . By means of an expensive lawsuit be destroyed a monopoly in the 12 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

l art of gi ding, which was detrimental to a poor

C a h e friend of his . He lent Thomas arlyle ll t s book he required to write his first work, and e v G e advis d him to isit ermany . He patronis d many artists and musicians, and gave excellent Me advice on several occasions to his friend acr ady , already a great actor . We h a d not been long in Brussels before my father called the attention of the E nglish people (in a letter to the Times ) to th e absolute necessity of forming corps Of Volunteer Riflemen : it was in e e e the first h t ev r g iv n on this s ubject, Sinc become so important, and ta ken up later by his his friend Lord Ranelagh and others . Among

e . M MP friends at this period w re P H . untz, . . ,

. Sch olefield . o W (afterwards T Attwo d ,

M . P . E s . Dr . ., and his son, T A Attwood, q , . C e ni Kennedy, Professor of Greek at ambridg U T C M Dr a c versity, . Percy, F homas arlyle,

R e Sir e Dr . ready, Baron os nberg, Henry Bulw r,

Lee o e Prince (afterwards Bish p of Manch ster),

Va n I Irving Wart (nephew of Washington rving, R S e the author), Georg e and obert teph nson , C t engineers, harles Henfrey, railway contrac or, o V who lent his h use in Italy to Queen ictoria, on the occasion of her first spring visit to that — country Mrs . Henfrey ( Miss Gibbs) was one of ’ — s Dr . my mother s most esteemed friend Hodgson,

Dr C L C . hevasse, the loyds, hances, Pem FIRST IMPRESSIONS 13

bertons, and many others , far too numerous to mention here .

E xcept that the change of climate, at first, caused severe illness to several of us, our life in

Brussels was, on the whole, very happy . Many E of our nglish friends came, at various times, on a visit to us, and we enjoyed very good society, both Belgian and E nglish . After I had gone through my first course of philosophy , my father took me a walking tour R along the hine, and into Westphalia, where he purchased the coal concessions at Bochum , the

Hibernia site of the celebrated , and other mines . (The outbreak of the Crimean War obliged him to e sell thes valuable concessions, which were pur chased by some wealthy Irishmen ; hence the name Hibernia, given to the first mine in that rich locality . ) S E In eptember 1 8 5 1 , he took me to ngland to s ee G E the first reat International xhibition . We O crossed from stend, in company with our friend, C aptain Algernon Greville, in a fearful gale . We were all that night, and all the next day, at sea in

‘ a perfect hurricane, with thunder and lightning ; but the roar of the waves was so great that we

th e wa s could not hear thunder of the skies . It a frightful experience .

L e L eaving my fath r in ondon, I returned alone 14 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

to Brussels in October . It was as memorable but diflerent a voyage as the last, of quite a R a character . I crossed with a number of om n d t Catholic students from Irelan , on heir first trip t in abroad . They cour ed my society to obtain on C formation ontinental matters, and invited me

h . St to dine with t em on the boat We left the . D L 1 0 Katherine ocks, ondon, at in the morning, and at about 9 at night I was asked by the captain of the ship whether I knew the Ostend o light ( I had made his acquaintance previ usly, when I asked him to be so kind as to take charge of my violin during the voyage). “ ” “ fi Yes, I replied ; it is a xed light, and you

- a will see the two lig hts at the pier he d, just below it . “ O ! e a h they are still under wat r, he s id, h 03 e meaning t at we were too far to see th m . “ e D We hav sighted the unkirk light, he con “ n tin ed it is a revolving light, but I cannot make O out whether that is the stend lig ht, pointing to a speck of light on the horizon it is a fixed light . O t h I exclaimed, but here is another fixed light between Dunkirk and Ostend— there is the N ” ieuport light, which is also a fixed light . “ ! “ What he cried, there is another fixed light ! Are you quite sure ” Yes, certainly, I replied ; there is the FIRST IMPRESSIONS 1 5

N - O ieuport light, about half way between stend " and Dunkirk . h Without saying another word, e immediately H altered the course of the ship . e had been N O making for ieuport instead of stend, and at the former place there is not enough water to hold a steamer . We should have been wrecked on the sandbanks in the course of another hour ! It transpired later that the captain of our ship L having been taken suddenly ill in ondon, his place was occupied that day by Lieutenant ffi Parker, an o cer on one of the boats that ran L from ondon to Boulogne . That is why he N was not aware of the ieuport light . h In consequence of t is, we did not enter the ’ port of Ostend till after 1 2 o clock at night . My violin, as already stated, had travelled safely in

’ the captain s cabin . I took it, and my Irish

La Ma on is friends, eight in all, to the little hotel,

Bla nche . , close to the port The old landlady was very g lad to see such a numerous company, and served us well . After supper, my new friends would not go to bed until I had played them ’ De Bériot s S C o the first solo of eventh oncert . It ' was then 2 o clock in the morning

P “ V In the reface to my Famous iolinists, I have described under what circumstances my father fi gave me my rst violin, and taught me my first 1 6 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

a piece of music, when I was six ye rs of age, Of a and in bed, recovering from an attack sc rlet w s e fever . The very first success I ever itnes d “ in a concert-room was that of the Infant

S L V . appho ( ouisa inning, afterwards Mrs Sh e b Hayward) . was a remarka ly beautiful and gifted child of eight summers, and all the boys in Birmingham were madly in love with her . The applause which followed her songs simple, plaintive ditties with beautiful words wa s loud and prolonged . The manner in which she echoed passages played imfirompm on the

was . piano by her father, really wonderful Her

- jet black hair, large, dark, melancholy eyes, and lovely features, together with a most luscious wh er quality of voice, created a great impression e ever she appear d . Sh e S a i La pent day w th us, one summer, at dy th e wood, and danced with some of us on lawn to th e wretched music of a street-organ which happened to be pas sing along th e road at the time, and was brought in by one of our friends .

- five About twenty years afterwards, I met her L again, accidentally, in ondon, and renewed our

acquaintance . The next musical event that created a las ting impression upon me was the beautiful singing of

R T s t Miss ainforth in The empe , at the Theatre R B S oyal , irmingham . ince then, I have often

I I I

AT THE CHATEAU DE MORTEBECK

ON returning from one of his many visits to E C a ngland, my father heard that the little h teau

Mrt b k o e ec . de , near Brussels, was for sale We

all went to see it, and liked it so much that he

r ag eed to take it for a year or two on trial , with

the option of purchase . It was in a lovely rustic

r spot, sur ounded by great trees, with a little

- coppice wood behind, where the nightingales sang

every spring.

The house, built in the old French style, was

only one storey high , and had a wide, handsomely

carved oak staircase, one of the finest I ever saw .

There was a pretty lawn, with a small fountain

in the centre, and lovely trumpet honeysuckles

among the shrubs . This lawn, with its little

fl wer- o beds and shrubs, was surrounded on three sides by a large pond full of gold -fis h and frogs . The chateau was situated just off the D main road to ilbeck, about three miles from

Brussels ; and at night, in summer, travellers along this eha uss e'e could hear our frogs croaking AT THE CHATEAU DE MORTEBECK 19

for about a mile, when the wind was in the right

direction . D uring summer, also, a small black mosquito

and swarms of gnats were very troublesome . We had mosquito -curtains to every bedroom window — without which there would be no hope of sleep

. L at night The unexpected death, in ondon, of a

gentleman who had recently paid us a visit, was attributed partly to the Swellings and dis com fiture caused by the bites of these dreadful mosquitoes

Here, I had to rise every morning before six, in order to walk to town and be at the University by ' eight o clock, when the lectures began . Here, also, we had several delightful musical afternoons but ff my dear mother soon su ered from severe illness .

’ Sh e was attended, at first, by the King s doctor

Dr Ch a ntrin . ( . ), but he could not cure her Finally,

Dr . S our old and esteemed friend, de aive, the V S L e founder of the eterinary chool at i ge, and “D author of a valuable work on omestic Animals, told us that the place was too damp for my

’ Sh e mother s constitution, and that would never So be well unless we returned to town . we s Sch a erbeck moved to a new house on the sand of , Sh e a suburb of Brussels, where recovered after a

few months of careful attention .

It was during our residence at this little Chateau de Mortebeck that my father took me a rapid tour 20 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

h : throug several Belgian toMwns Antwerp, Bruges, a ffl es N Malines, Mons, Tournay, , and Ath . ear the latter we visited the chateau of the Prince de C himay, where the celebrated singer, Madame

a - a De Béri t Malibr n G rcia, first met o , the violinist , whom she afterwards married . I was at school C e for about a year with her only child, harl s V Bériot incent de , who afterwards became a dis ting uis h ed pianist . At Ma ffles we visited the splendid quarries of ” mountain limestone, then managed by our R e friend, M . ivi re, whose wife was a niece of s an old Waterloo veteran, a Pru sian sergeant De major named Kayser, who lived in the little

Mrtebeck o village of , a short distance from our

chateau . The old soldier was at that time in great tribula tion : he wore the Waterloo ribbon ” upon his coat, but this decoration, of which was he was extremely proud, old and soiled, and he could not procure any such ribbon in

Brussels .

When my good mother heard of this, she

Sh e determined to give the old man a surprise . wrote to one of her friends in E ngland to procure

forth i h t some ribbon of that kind, and, within a g , she had the pleasure of presenting to the veteran sergeant major about three y a rds of Waterloo — ribbon enough to last him all his life, even if he h t s ould live to the age of Me huselah . He was so AT THE CHATEAU DE MORTEBECK 21 delighted that he found out the date of my dear ’ 2 nd a nd mother s birthday ( June), early on the morning of that day she was awakened by an a uba de of brass instruments playing upon our lawn beneath her bedroom windows It was old

De a K yser, who had got together a few military friends of his, musicians in a Belgian regiment , and made them perform in honour of my mother’s birthday . This occurrence also emptied all our m wine decanters, for, after the usic , they must, of ’ course, drink my mother s health .

Another curious incident occurred that summer .

’ O c ne morning about five o clo k, as the early sun light streamed through the mosquito- curtains into

e the bedrooms, my parents were awak ned by a

zz singular bu ing sound, and found a swarm of

ins ide bees clinging to a corner of the window, the

room . The window had been left open all night,

as usual, and there was a slight aperture at the

top, between the wooden frame of the mosquito

blind and the sash . Through this narrow opening

- the queen bee had crawled, and all the others,

hundreds in number, had followed .

The whole household was aroused, and came

into the bedroom to witness this curious sight . Pa a ts At last, a neighbour, a farmer named van G der roten, came with some of his servants to our d assistance, and, after a while, succeede in getting 22 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST the whole swarm of bees into an empty hive, and carried them away .

O e ne July afternoon, after an exc ptionally heavy thunderstorm, and rain which lasted upwards of

overflowed four hours, our pond into an adjacent l field, the water carrying with it hundreds of smal

- fi sh . gold As soon as the rain ceased, these fish were descried flapping about in the inundated field as the water sank into the soil ; and the — peasants from the neig hbouring village men , women, and children in blue blouses and wooden

s bots— shoes, or a rushed down the lane, carrying basins, tureens, and buckets to collect the fish ,

- which they sold, next day, in the market place at D C ilbeck, a small town about a ouple of miles farther on . I V

LI FE I N BRUSSELS

THE lectures at the University occupied all the

’ ' morning, from eight o clock to one o clock on four days a week, and from ten to one on other days sometimes, again , from three to four in the afternoon . But three times a week I had violin lessons at home, of two hours each , for several

years .

’ ’ s S re etiteu My ma ter was Henri tandish , first p r

’ D Béri R of e ot s class at the oyal Conservatoire . De Bériot gave no private lessons, and to attend his classes was impossible for me . We began by

’ S S its exer pohr s chool, with numerous excellent

’ e R S C cises ; th n ode s eventh oncerto, and exercises H M N e . by icholas W ry , violin solo to . the King of the Netherlands (before and Professor of the Conservatoire of Brussels (after under ’ L s De Bé riot s A irs eopold I . Finally, we tudied

’ ’ ’ Va ries Concertos E Ca rna va l Artot s and , rnst s , and

Souvenirs de Bellini, &0. As Standish had no objection to a family dinner E or a piece of nglish plumcake at tea, he some 9 3 24 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST O times stayed the evening with us . n these occa sions several of my fellow-students at the University would join us, and, with my mother at the piano, i we had many delightful musical even ngs, especially in the autumn . O O ften, also, we went to the pera, both the French and the Italian— the latter was excellent at that time . The violins at both were among the very best in Europe . In two or three years’ time I began to play some solo pieces, with piano accompaniment, by De Bé riot ; his Italian melodies, his fantasia on ’ La Muette de P ortici S Auber s , his chubert arrange ments, and, afterwards, his splendid duets on

uilla ume Tell a zza a ra R G and La G L d of ossini .

A singular musical incident occurred about this °

ur M. T rl t o s u o time . A neighbour and friend of , , who was engaged for many years at the Mini stere

Fina nces was e des , and th n about to retire with a

’ i ree mus ca so i le. pension, gave a This was a most unusual thing for him ; but he was anxious to

. L introduce his friend M emmens , the celebrated organist, and a new instrument he had adopted, ” called a Harmonium . My master and I were

s . Turlot a ked to assist was an old widower, with was one son, and one daughter who a good pianist . S ome time previously, my mother had insisted

26 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST and I had to blurt out some apologies for having

played the piece he had chosen for himself . He

- took it all in a most good natured way, and a little

Muette La later in the evening he played my piece, ,

which went very well . L The great M . emmens complimented me that

- . ta ll m an evening He was a rather , fair haired ,

with very quiet, retiring manners . His playing

upon the new instrument, the harmonium , aston ish ed every one present ; but he played rather

too often , and I fancy this gave the violin music an advantage which otherwise it might not have

. e . S had He afterwards married Mll herrington , who was then studying at the Cons erva toi re de

Mus ique at Brussels . From that time forward I was invited to a

number of musical evenings at the houses of M .

- S . C Mtass, a well known lawyer, M orr van der a eren P C C , resident of the hamber of ommerce,

E e k - M . c hout, a celebrated portrait painter, and

many others .

l D At this period, A exandre umas, the author of

s The Three Mu keteers, was residing in Brussels .

I met him one evening at the house of M . Kindt,

the Professor of Mathematics at the University, D who had a very pretty daughter . umas , like

every one else, admired this young lady, and when LIFE IN BRUSSELS 27 she told him that she was anxiously waiting for the “A ” second volume of his nge Pitou , he most MS kindly sent her the ., that she might read it before it was printed .

He was then a stout, powerfully built man, with a round face, dark, sparkling eyes, thick lips, and

C . L e a thick crop of short, dark urly hair ik his celebrated namesake, Alexandre von Humboldt, he was extremely conceited, and very fond of jokes . On one occasion he purchased a ca ndle at a ’ - Rue N tallow chandler s shop in the de amur, at

Brussels, putting down about twopence to pay for

bou — a it, and inquired if it were a g i e stearine — candle then somewhat of a novelty . The man replied that it was . if Then, you cut it in two , it will form two “ candles, will it not asked the author of Monte ” Cristo .

Oui, Monsieur .

D . Then, please, be so good, said umas And, after the shopkeeper had cut it into two pieces, he begged him to repeat the operation on each half . When the four short pieces of candle were thus obtained, he induced the man to point each of them with his knife, and to light them, in order to see that they would burn properly . As soon as D this was done, umas raised his hat politely, saluted the shopkeeper, and walked out, leaving u the four little candles burning on the co nter . 28 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST Before entering the place he had told a friend who accompanied him that he was going to cause the shopkeeper “to illuminate in honour of his birth ” day .

After I had become somewhat of a mathe m a ticia n— though not eno ugh to go to Heaven ” in a right perpendicular line, as a certain geo metrician once sa id of himself— I made the calculation that I must have played Rode ’s Seventh Concerto (with accompaniment of a 62 second violin) at least 4 times, before I was

eighteen years of age . If I were now to calculate how many times I have performed pieces of other celebrated com

th e - posers in public, and in drawing room, during

my long career, the sum would amount to a good t P v many thousands . Yet, with all his music, ro i dence has permitted me to do a very considerable

amount of scientific and literary work, to which I no need t here refer .

It is sad to feel, at present, that day by day my

strength is failing as regards my violin . It is no longer possible to play exercises for more than a short half-hour ; and for the first time in my life I have experienced the effects of advancing years upon a naturally strong constitution .

But I must not complain . In this world joy and sorrow are bound to go hand in hand : I have LIFE I N BRUSSELS 29

had my full share of both . My violin can say — much , when I am able to make it talk much that

I could not confide to these pages for Music, like N ature, has a language of its own, which mere

e words have no power of xpressing . V

SOME INCI DENTS AT MY CONCERTS

ON referring to my voluminous collection of concert programmes from 1 8 65 (the year of my

1 8 8 marriage), to the end of 9 , when I retired from

the public platform , I find that my wife and I 00 0 have realised about £4 for charities, poor

- &c. artists, church funds, cricket clubs, orphanages, , and this does not include various sums she has

obtained by balls given for the same purposes . My first public appearances were at the O Kursaal, at stend, with my mother, and at a

cathedral service there, in presence of the Belgian Royal Family ; after which I played at Brussels

P s é s and aris at various private concerts, or oir e

mus ica les . , but at no public concerts The first public concert at which my violin was

’ E 1 8 61 62 heard in ngland was in or . It was a S small concert given at Putney by Miss ewell,

a niece of Horn, the composer, at which his “ ” a nta ta C c , The hristmas Bells, was performed Ph i s on R by my sister Miss p ( Mrs . Henry utter),

C . L r . Miss ooper ( Mrs ongden), my brothe , W W . 30 SOME INCIDENTS AT MY CONCERTS 3 1

Phi s on . R LL. B p , and Mr H . utter, . O n this occasion I played a solo, with my

’ Ga zz a La dra mother s accompaniment, and the De Bériot duet, for violin and piano , by and

O Va n Abeelen - sborn , with den , a well known

Flemish pianist and composer, who was for some

L . w years professor at eamington . He after ards “ played a Fa nta s ia for left ha nd a lone on The S Blue Bells of cotland . It was a wonderful

e performance, and many of the audi nce stood up to see that he was really playin g with one hand only .

’ De Bériot s Shortly after this, I played Concerto D C ’ R L in at ollard s ooms, in ondon, at a concert

e given by some for ign artists, and with Francesco s Berger as accompani t . Then in 1 8 65 whilst on my wedding tour, my wife and I played at a concert at Halesowen, for the band fund of the th R C 6 Worcestershire ifle orps, and, as years rolled R P on , at Barnes, ichmond, utney, Kensington,

C e P Wandsworth, Fulham, hels a, Brixton, adding a mm ers m ith S S ton, H , outhsea, Bournemouth , outh

e R L E ampton, B ethoven ooms ( ondon), psom Town C Hall, Twickenham, arlisle, Glasgow, Birmingham,

P rbrook &C — u ( Hampshire), Marylebone, . thirty three years of constant success .

Lehfeldt E The late Madame , an ng lish lady, an P excellent teacher of the piano in utney, and 3 2 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

S latterly professor at the Guildhall chool of Music,

Dr Leh feldt whose youngest son, . , is now a S distinguished Professor of Physical cience, gave R many concerts at our Assembly ooms, at which ’ ’ e Sonata s Sa la m a n s her playing of B ethoven s , ’ Sa lta rello C Nocturnes , and hopin s , were particularly

admired . At almost all these concerts my wife

sang, and I played . I only disappointed her once, w when confined to bed ith illness, and my place

was taken, at very short notice, by that charming R L violinist, Miss ose ynton, a pupil of the late P S rofessor chneider . I also played several times D for Mr . Harry ancey, Mus . Bac . , and

e L many oth r artists, in ondon and elsewhere . Before the “New ” Town Hall at Wandsworth Lehfeldt was built, Madame gave one or two

the S E concerts at pread agle Hotel there, with

- m Miss Ferrari, music mistress to some embers of

our Royal Family . On one of these occasions ’ Miss Ferrari sang Moz art s Voi cite s apete che cos a ” e a mor more beautifully than I ever heard it sung was before or since . I noticed , also, that there

a vile hole in the platform, quite large enough ’ u for a lady s foot to pass thro gh, and it was fortunate that no serious accident occurred that

evening .

My wife gave the first concert, and the first R P dance, ever given at the Assembly ooms, utney,

N . and the ew Town Hall , Wandsworth

34 CONFE SSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

S V Va n e idonia and irginia der B ck, of the Italian O P peras, aris, Madrid, and Milan, then on a

L C a visit to ondon . Franceschi, the h rming tenor,

R - and ossi, the well known pianist, assisted ; and Dém é i L bla h e Madame r c a c sang . In playing my n s l accompaniment, Mr . Fra ce co Berger near y got one of the legs of the music-stool over th e edge of the little platform, and it is a marvel that he was not precipitated into the laps of the ladies sitting

along the side of the room . This catastrophe was only prevented by one of thes e ladies calling his

attention to the very dangerous position he was in . O n this occasion, the audience was chiefly com Of posed ladies very few men were present . And, S R m to charm these said ladies, ignor ossi thu ped away upon one of Collard ’s best instruments as if

- he had been a blacksmith using a sledge hammer .

e . C I glanc d at one of the Messrs ollard, who hap pened to be standing near the door of the artists ’ room ; I saw a dismal expression come over his

placid features, and I distinctly heard him remark to a friend This fellow is taking twenty years ’ work out of that instrument !

In the early sixties my wife sang and I played,

for the second time , at a charity concert at Hales

owen, and at the conclusion of one of her songs she was presented by some young ladies with a

s - magnificent bouquet of mo s roses . At this con SOME INCIDENTS AT MY CONCERTS 3 5

f e cert I heard, for the first time, a di ficult t nor song by Handel . It was a dmira bly sung by a young man named Walters, an amateur .

The introduction of a good comic reciter, or

f r a bu fo artist, generally forms a ve y pleasing

z feature in a concert . An amateur, named Ha ard, was the most amusing buffo artist I ever met I

’ liked his performance better than Corney Grain s whimsicalities . Hazard had not much voice, but his cock- crow was the most perfect ever heard r n outside a fa myard In a so g of his, entitled

O e ne more polka, he creat d roars of laughter by dancing a few comic polka steps whilst the piano played the ritournelle between the vers es of

h e e t e song . Another very cl ver amateur recit r

. E s was Mr Macphail, who, though an ngli hman , had the mos t complete command of the Scotch

e brogue, and told the most funny stori s imaginable .

e e The late Thomas Moore, whos wif and one of his daughters were admirable singers, the n latter having su g on more than one occasion, by V command, before her late Majesty Queen ictoria, x f was another e cellent amateur bu fo . Corney Grain began as an amateur at Putney and elsewhere ; he was a barrister, but adopted the comic branch of the musical profession . His piano accompaniments to his own compositions

e were very clever . No one would ev r forg et hearing his song called “The Roast Beef of Old 3 6 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

E ngland, in which you could imagine a father

and his children all singing together . The brothers Montague and Herbert Watts were also very clever amateurs it was a great treat to hear and see them perform, in character , Ofl enba h t The Blind Begg ars of c , as hey did O at several of our concert halls . ccasionally they sang sentimental songs also .

Two of the best singers who assisted at Madame

’ Lehfeldt s concerts were Miss Ferrari, already B mentioned, and Mr . j ohn Williams, of arnes, C formerly tenor of the Foundling hapel, and an E exquisite singer of nglish ballads . Mr . Harry D ancey, as pianist and conductor, was always very kind in aiding his fellow- artists on such B occasions, and so was Mr . Thomas eles, pupil

Sir and friend of the late Sterndale Bennett . I have passed many pleasant evenings in their society , and remember the great success which greeted young Dancey a s a pianist at his first R P concert, at the Assembly ooms, utney, when he was about eighteen years of age . It was a long time ago ; but a triumph , such as this was, is never forgotten . Two medical men in this district have distin

uish ed — Dr S g themselves as clever musicians . tanley D P r . Murray, of utney, and Marshall, of Barnes, for s both of whom I have played on several occa ions . SOME INCIDENTS AT MY CONCERTS 3 7

s P A former re ident in utney, Mr . j ohn Franklin

Adams, once devoted much time to organising P C opular oncerts in this locality . He thus C helped to bring out orney Grain , Fanny Holland,

Ar C . D fla utis t thur ecil (Blunt), Mr rake , a , and u many others, then quite nknown to fame . I

played for him very often ; until, one year, I fancied that I would like a rest It was when his Monday Popular Concerts were about to

P utne P a rm i oci t be merged into the y hilh on c S ey , to which I acted as violin solo for about seven

teen years . To a pressing letter from Adams,

asking me to play as usual, I sent the following — I reply wrote it in Italian , so that I might be g one before he could get it translated

“CARO ED ILLUSTRISS IMO SIGNOR — Vi E, ring razio infi nita mente della vostra lettera ; e mi duole

’ ’ ’ fino all anima Ch e non m e possible ques t iverno

’ ' de venire ai Concerti della Soa eta F zla rmonica di

P Son ua lch i utney . obbligato per q giorni andare

s o alla campagna del mio fratello, dove ar proba O I ! bilm ente tre o quattro settimane . C S i vostro

’ gentile invito non mi sia dato d a cceta rlo questa

a l S volta, e vi prego, c ro ed i lustrissimo ignore, di non aspettarmi .

Credete sempre alli sensi della mia stima .

il . L . P HI PSON . vostro, T 38 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

That letter ga ve me a respite of about three

months, which was quite requisite to enable me

to work up some new pieces .

One of the largest audiences I ever had num bered over 1 2 0 0 it was the evening conce rt on

rd S 1 8 2 S I the 3 eptember 9 , at outhsea, of which

have given an account in my Voice and Violin . w I had another concert at the To n Hall, Ken

sington, when there were almost as many present, and at which th e programme was so intolerably long that I was obliged to request permission to

durin the i nter va l play my second piece g , in order

to catch a train to return home . Once I wa s placed in a rather awkward position C at a large concert in the helsea Town Hall, la L where the celebrated c rionet player, azarus,

also performed, and I was the victim of punctuality .

00 The audience numbered over 5 , and by eight o’clock no musicians had arrived but my wife

and myself . At a quarter past eight the audience

became very impatient and noisy, and the givers

of the concert begged me to go on, though my n solo was o ly fourth or fifth on the programme . The concert was to have Opened with a trio ; as it

was, it opened with a violin solo, without any Speech having been made to explain the reas on

of this singular proceeding . The others came in

- about three quarters of an hour late . SOME INCIDENTS AT MY CONCERTS 39

’ At this concert my wife sang Roba udi s Non ti

eorda r di me e s , with immense succ ss, and gave, as her ’ en o e Serena ta viol no obbli a to. c r , Braga s , also with i g

At a concert given in the Greyhound Hotel,

R . ichmond, by an able pianist, Mr Frank Figg,

I only played in the second part , and so did not

’ arrive till about nine o clock, during the interval . The room was then so crammed that it was with th e g reatest difficulty my wife and I could enter it and find our way to the platform . O R n another occasion , at the Assembly ooms,

P th e . G L utney, late Mr Holland, of ayton odge, C S Wimbledon ommon, an admirable hakespearean reader, and myself, were the only entertainers . S ’ He read a scene from one of hakespeare s plays, and then I played a solo on the violin to my

’ wife s accompaniment . The room was also crammed to such an extent tha t some thirty or s a forty persons could get no e ts, and stood at the

entrance doors . I have also played at recitals given by the late

. S B ra ndra m . celebrated Mr amuel , M A ., which

were usually very crowded .

C The eminent professor of the piano, arlo

Albanesi, much patronised by royalty and the E L N nobility of ngland, came to ondon, from aples,

t . wi h a letter of introduction to my sister, Mrs

Henry Rutter . We gave him his first concert in 4-0 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST E ngland at the Putney Assembly Rooms on the

8 D 1 8 8 2 th ecember , at very short notice, and thus enabled him to earn the first £ I O - n0te he

ever made in this country . His playing was most effective by its delicacy

ca nta bile and expressive it was, and probably is still, unsurpassable . Besides this, he was a young man of most prepossessing appearance

. N and manners He told me that , in aples, his father had so many pupils that he could only C attend to him ( arlo) in the morning, whilst he h was being shaved . At this concert h e a d a little

’ mute piano in the artists room , on which he

exercised his fingers . He also used it when a n travelling in a railway c rriage . At prese t he is

professor at the London Royal Academy . After “ P I I s oa ve e bel my first solo (on an air of acini,

n ento h e co t ) was kind enough to say, in French , Comme vous cha ntez bien This concert brought

a round him good number of admirers .

I should like to give a complete list of the principal artists who have appeared with me in

public concerts, but I have only space for the

following few names . Those of some very distin g uis h ed amateurs are given in brackets C O rrid e Miss Hilda oward, soprano ; Miss g ,

La rkcom z - soprano Madame Agnes , mez o soprano, S Professor at the Guildhall chool of Music ; Mr .

4-2 CONFESSI ONS OF A VIOLI NIST

De e o La bla ch e S Madame m ri , contralto ; ignor

e : S R Franceschi, t nor ignor ossi, pianist ; Miss

e R S . C . S . is Alic osselli, oprano Mr Jekyll, organ t

H . M C R C . . hapels oyal ; Miss heyne, pianist ; Mr

- t Mr . R. z f Garrat , tenor ; [ Ha ard, bu fo] ; Miss E C Kearton mily hristie, pianist ; Mr . Harper ; L P C tenor ; Miss ouisa yne, pianist ; Miss arrie

L L . ewis, (Mrs . lewellyn), pianist ; Mr L Fewlass lewellyn , reciter ; Mr . W . T . Barker ,

Hirwin harpist Mr . Flavell, pianist Mr .

S Bra ndra m . . Jones, baritone ; Mr . amuel , M A ,

s E S reciter ; Mi s Meredith lliott, contralto ; ignor

M. C r arlo Albanesi, pianist [ Walter Allen, tenor] ;

z -S N Miss Harker, me zo oprano Miss ina Quatre D maine, pianist [Mrs . Bramwell avis, contralto] s L Fus selle Mi s ilian Greville, soprano ; Miss ,

z - R me zo soprano ; [Mrs . H . utter, soprano] ; Miss

zz - S Barnard, me o soprano Miss Hooper, oprano E [Miss Bowra, reciter] Miss therington, soprano

M. . r C Miss Aylward, soprano [ h Haigh, baritone]

w ] . . La P Mr , baritone Mrs . ercival , pianist Mr ” e— D d Kensington, basso, real nam undas Gar iner ,

. L Rev . . barrister] ; Mr iebich , pianist ; W Mann , Mr G wll nd e C . o a baritone, Winchest r athedral ; [ , C S reciter] ; Miss Maude ooke, oprano ;

- zz M. C e S r Miss Minnie ullis, m o oprano [ Hubert ” e — de Winter, t nor, real name Baron May, a young, handsome, and charming singer, holding a

D e utch title, who died at a very early age, d eply SOME INCIDENTS AT MY CONCERTS 43

m e . . . reg rett d] Mrs W Tid arsh, pianist Mr John P M S r C . robert, tenor ; [ . h mith , tenor] ; Miss S Colna h i z inclair, contralto Miss Bertha g , me zo

e . . soprano ; [M ssrs . M and H Watts, singers and

e M‘La r n r e e M. R recit rs] ; [Miss , reciter] ; [ ob rt

e . S Broadl y, cornet solo] ; Mr ydney Adams, s s ba so Miss Jes ie Hudson, violinist [Miss A . F .

V D. V ernet, violoncellist] [Miss ernet , violinist] ; [Miss Blanche Lee ( Lady Swinfen E ady), violinist] [Mrs . George Adams, soprano]

w r f . S . E B a t ee Mr rnest , bu fo ; Mrs trickland,

- ez Mr . soprano ; Miss Watson , m zo soprano ; [ P R B .A. . . C . Frank utter, , banjoist] Mr W epper,

. s banjoist ; [Mrs Mackintosh (Mi s Williams), con

tra lto . D ; Mrs Williams (Miss aisy Williams), zz O me o soprano] ; Miss rtner, pianist ; Miss C Theodora ruttenden, mandolinist ; [Miss Amy M P f Ra r . . y, violinist] ; [ Macphail, buf o] ; Miss

R zz S . S osalie Watkins, me o oprano ; Mr elwyn

S u : . C ummers, pianist and cond ctor Mr arsten

D . . R . amian , baritone Mr H oberts, baritone Mr

C Ch ille e s . zz harles y , t nor ; Mi s F Hipwell, me o S soprano ; Mr . idney Perks , organist ; Miss

D s Mr . Marian avi , pianist ; [ John Adams, cornet

solo] ; Mr . Jabez West (blind), baritone ; Mrs . e West; soprano ; Mr . Frank Adams, t nor ; Mrs .

- S z z s . C cott Gatty, me o oprano ; Mr John ourt,

. . . Mu s pianist Mr H M Weston, . Bac ., m organist ; Miss Whit an, soprano ; Mr . Martin 44 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLI NI ST

’ S . St. Frost, baritone, of Andrew s, Well treet Mr

f -so Harry Grace, buf o Miss Hart, mezzo prano ;

. i Mr. e [Mrs K nnard Bl ss, pianist] Tom Powley, C t s basso ; Mrs . harles Marshall, pianis ; Mis

N w . . P ellie Mathe s, Soprano ; Mr W almer,

- L S . . banjoist Miss euchars , mezzo oprano Mr F

N z -S Burgiss, pianist ; Madame ora, mez o oprano ; ’ R St. P C Mr . . Grice , baritone, of aul s athedral ;

- S zz Dr . R Miss Berrie tephens, me o soprano ooke, E is baritone ; [Miss dith Pink, pianist] ; M s

C . . C. u Florence ooper, soprano ; Mr A H nter,

Mr . . Ra ndul h C tenor Mr . p oward, baritone [ H

C . Ar B urkin oun s cher, violinist] Mrs . y g , oprano

Mr . Frank May, baritone Mr . Jules Bel li n h a m f Rev C Sch olefi eld g , buf o ; [ . . , pianist] ;

E S . Miss dith Blair, oprano ; Miss K Barnett, R M soprano ; Miss Jean ichards, pianist ; adame

C . B . ux . s B ton, soprano Mr . B arr, bas o Mr and C a Mrs . Arthur hapman , b ritone and soprano ;

M . P ss m r . [Mi Hick an, violinist] ; H renton,

r C u h . ba itone, of Holy Trinity h rc Miss K

V Mr . . aughan, pianist ; W . G Alcock, organist ;

C C -S s Miss onstance . Todd , mezzo oprano ; Mis Scoones S S Alice , oprano ; [Miss arah 1 R D Braham, contralto] ; Miss . unne,

1 M am a i a Bra h nd Mrs ra mw l r of Norman ss Sa r h . B el Davis (siste Sa lmon) were two of the finest contra lto voices ever hea rd in Eng la nd ; ur a nd ha d fr n a both were a mate s, equent offers of lucra tive e g g ements . a ha d a voice of a simila r ch a ined P a uline Luoc qual ity, whi g her SOME INCIDENTS AT MY CONCERTS 45

' S &c I pianist ; [Mrs . Tom Moore, oprano], . have some hundreds of other names on my programmes ; but the above list must suffice to show that my wi fe and I have been in good company, and have had plenty of talent wherewith to compete for the favour of the public . It comprises only the principal artists with whom we have appeared on frequent oc casions .

Rev At a concert in Fulham, organised by the . E Mr . arly, a good many years ago, whilst a charming young lady was singing a very expres

r th e sive ballad in the fi st part, one of audience, who was standing near the end of the room , fell h‘ down , wit a loud shriek, in a fit, and was even tua ll o im l d cu t . y carried out, but nly with great y It was a very trying moment for the young lady S ff who was inging, and, of course, spoilt the e ect of her first song .

This was a charity concert , and the back seats e were crowded with noisy schoolboys, who join d so uproariously in the applause after my violin

cene dc Ba llet De Bér iot . E solo (S , ) that Mr arly, perfectly terrified, sprang on to the platform and raised both his hands to stop the noise , which was distinctly heard in the street . The policeman at n wa s the door came in, thi king there a free fight going on inside . 46 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINI ST

N l I went one morning to the ew Town Hal , e Wandsworth , where I had to play that vening, and was horrified to find upon th e platform of the concert- room an immense trap-door wide open . It occupied the place where the grand piano usually stands, and, looking through the opening, I saw a chasm some forty feet deep, having for its foundation the stone pavement of

r a cou tyard. In an instant I realised what a frightful catas troph e would occur if this trap-door were by any oversight or accident not properly secured . Fancy a grand piano, an accompanist, and two or three singers suddenly precipitated forty feet on to the hard pavement below ! It is too horrible to con it template . Whether still exists I know not ; but, ever after I made that discovery, I warned many musicians of it, and I always took care that the piano and my wife should be well in front of this

- h death trap whenever we happened to play t ere .

l con rt And I recollect one chora ce , conducted by Dr S a . tanley Murray, when there was a very l rge number of ladies and gentlemen on this platform at the same time .

&c. Besides our usual concerts for orphanages, , my wife organised latterly several very successful ca e-concerts ff f , at which tea, co ee, and cakes were distributed, and a small bell was rung before each SOME INCIDENTS AT MY CONCERTS 47

performance to ensure silence . At one of these ,

‘ Seri ora Isidora Martinez electrified the audience by singing the laughing song from the opera of

Ma non va ls e Ven z a no . , and the celebrated song of Sh e b also sang a very pretty allad, called “C ” ome in and shut the door . The words of th e title of this song are almost spoken ; and a

young man, who had arrived late, and did not

n e e k ow it , thought th y w re addressed to him as

he entered . The public, noticing his astonish

ment at being addressed from the platform, burst

into loud laughter .

: “ A short time ago, my sister said to me I saw B Mr . (who was at your musical evening) in

R e S h e eg nt treet, and told me something that may

interest you . A few minutes previously he had m E B et Mrs . (Miss who now lives in

e Wales , and who had b en to a concert ; she said

I ha ve us t hea rd Kubelik the new violini st to him, j , , a nd I ha ve often hea rd j oa chim but ma ny y ea rs ag o

h d a a u . t ere us e to be a n m te r , a Dr P hipson who lived

a t P utne who wa s better tha n either o y , f them He

Dr . Phi s on P told her that p still lived at utney, ” and that he had heard you play a week ago .

e At various times I have receiv d, directly and

S indirectly, many imilarly indulg ent appreciations

of my music, but I need not refer to them . If I

mention this case, it is simply to show that no 48 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

amateur who has thoroughly mastered his instru ment need ever despair of holding his own with

the greatest of artists, provided he does as Paganini

i e. invariably did, . choose for his public perform anecs only such music as suits his own style and

his own powers . I was never more surprised in my life than

when I saw the first press notices on my playing .

Though I often played in concerts, given for

themselves by artists, as well as in charity con

a certs, I never expected that the critics would t ke ” any notice of a mere amateur . But when these kind and indulgent gentlemen began to “ ” “ speak of the lion of the evening, the cream ” “ a cile ri nce s &c. &c. of the concert, the f p p , , I — began to be interested and, perhaps, conceited

and I collected , henceforth , all my programmes

and all the notices in the papers . But I never too realised, until it was late, that if one half of

what was said were true, I had only to make a promenade through E urope with my violin to

ensure for myself a very large fortune .

Happily, I have not required it fortunately, I ” l e am naturally imbued with i s oa v e bel contento.

50 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

s consisting of simple scale in triplets , without any

attempt at all at melody, interspersed with a few

bars of crotchets, simple or dotted, as some excuse

tem o . for a song . The p is also variously indicated Sometimes a composer writes simply th e word ” ” - presto, or quasi presto, or allegro giocoso, ” or, again, allegro vivace ; others indicate the

tem o di ta ra ntel beat by the words, p Sch z My talented friend, ora Isidora Martine , R O late of the oyal Italian pera, who is almost as

great a pianist as she is a singer and a linguist, once told me that you cannot play a tarantella too

fast but Guido Papini, who is a great authority, O is not precisely of that pinion, and I lean rather

towa rds his view. I h r n violin playing, especially, t ere is a g eat ” ff - di erence between presto and quasi presto,

ff - and, to produce the best e ect, the quasi presto

should be adopted in the tarantella otherwise,

there is a loss of tone and power, and a hurried

expression which is not at all agreeable , except as t applied to the las few bars of the piece . I am the referring to tarantella as a concert piece, not

as a dance .

ca nta bile The , which is introduced once, and

wi h r often t ce , between the ot er two po tions of

a the piece, should be of a luscious melodic qu lity, ff and taken slightly slower, to be made as e ective as

the p ossible . I need scarcely add that for dance THE TARANTELLA 51 itself the tempo and rhythm must be as rigorously kept as if the violin were a piece of machinery . In no other class of music is there so great a tendency to hurry the beat and though it may, ff for the sake of e ect, be slightly accelerated be towards the end, it should extremely regular throughout . The ancient legend upon which this dance and its music are claimed to have originated

e may be characterised by the old saying, S ” e vero e ben trova to. It appears to have orig inated in Taranto and its neighbourhood, and derived its name from that place .

There is in all the southern parts of Italy, more especially in Apulia and near Taranto , a rather

- o e ta ra ntula large reddish br wn spider, call d a .

It is, like many other spiders, rather unpleasant to look upon as it crawls quickly over the hot sand in summer and autumn ; but, as far as n human bei gs are concerned, it appears to be quite harmless . This was first proved by a pro N fess or of natural history at aples, about the year

1 6 - 9 3 , who , wishing to test the streng th of its venom, bared his arm and placed it in a linen bag containing a number of these tarantula spiders .

His arm was not bitten at all, only slightly tickled

by the said spiders running over it . The legend which is current among the lower classes in Italy— a land abounding in all kinds of 52 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST — superstitions is, that a person bitten by the spider in question can only be saved by music and dancing— by dancing until profuse perspiration e breaks out, and the dancer falls exhaust d by the ff e ort . Then sleep ensues, from which he, or

r she , a ises refreshed and cured . Hence the Spirited nature of the music to which this dance

is performed . This legend has been kept alive

by all the southern Italians, especially by the

women who dance in the street for money, as a means of inducing the public to throw coin

into their aprons . The errors regarding the tarantula spider which were propagated by the scientific men of

s the seventeenth and eighteenth centurie , although es they survive to some extent to the pr ent day, were strenuously denied by many of their con

temporaries . They were promulgated more es p ecia lly by Father Kircher and Sir Thomas

Brown, two celebrities of their day, and also by

Dr . Baglivi, a young physician, who died pre 1 0 6 maturely in 7 , a native of Apulia, the province

h id da Sir of Italy w ere this sp er is most abun nt . Thomas Brown goes so far as to say that the spider itself dances to the music ! E ven now, there are thousands of people who

believe, or profess to believe, that the bite of the tarantula spider produces sickness which music

alone can c ure . For people affected with this THE TARANTELLA 53

kind of hysteria, an old writer informs us that a

musician is brought who tries a variety of airs, until at last he hits upon one that induces the

patient to dance, the violence of which exercise pro

duces a proportionate agitation of the vital spirits , attendant with a corresponding degree of p ers pira ” tion, the certain consequence of which is a cure .

. R Ro a l The Hon obert Boyle, founder of the y

Societ L y of ondon, although he, at first , doubted the truth of the legend about the tarantula spider

and its bite, ends by saying that he had convinced t ! himself hat, in the main, the facts were true But another old writer cleverly traces back the tarantella dance to the times of the Bacchanalian

routs of ancient Greece . The ta ra ntella is not confined to Naples and S outhern Italy, where (at least, as we now know it) it appears to have originated ; a very similar

orla na V kind of dance , calledf , may be seen at enice,

where it is indulged in by the gondoliers . The

ta rello la va nda na R s a l and ri , danced in the oman states, are much the same . Let us examine this cur ious question a little ff more closely . It is well known that spiders di er considerably in colour at various times and in ec various places the same sp ies in my cellar, for instance, is greyer or blacker than in that of a friend two miles distant . The tarantula also

e n varies, more or less, in appearanc , accordi g to 54 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

the season, the age, and the sex . Hence the descriptions of this interesting spider do not “ always tally . An old writer says Its body

- and legs are ash coloured, with blackish rings on the under part ; the fangs are red on the inner

S ide, the rest being blackish . Two of its eight

t . eyes are red, and larger than the o hers It lives e a in the bar fields, and has an antipathy to d mp and shade ; its dwelling is a hole about four inches deep in the loose soil, and half an inch

h ole . wide, with a net at the mouth of the The

0 0 in female lays about 7 eggs , which are hatched ” the spring .

These spiders, like many others, frequently

devour one another . Its Linnean name is Ly cos a

Ta ra ntula , and modern naturalists describe it as having the upper part of the body red, with a black band across It belongs to the class of

vagabond spiders, which spin no web it runs

very fast, and is remarkably voracious and

courageous . The old authors of the seventeenth century say “ that the bite of the ta rantula causes a local in

fla mm a tion S n dimcult , followed by ick ess and a y

of breathing, which, in its turn, is followed by n e delirium, or deep mela choly and th se symptoms

return annually, in some cases, for several years . ” Music is supposed to be the only cure . The most voluminous writer of that period, THE TA A T A 55 MR N ELL us ur ia Kircher, in his g , gives a particular ff account of these e ects of the tarantula . He mentions a girl who, after being bitten by the spider, could be cured only by the music of a drum ! S “ He also relates that a paniard who, trusting to the efficacy of music in the cure of the frenzy occasioned by the bite of the tarantula, submitted to be bitten on the hand by two of these spiders,

fe of dif rent colours and of different qualities . The venom was no sooner diffused about his body than the symptoms of th e disorder began to appear, upon which harpists, pipers, and other i i musicians were sent for, who , by var ous k nds of music, endeavoured to rouse him from the stupor into which he had fallen ; but here it wa s observed that the bites of the two spiders had f h e produced contrary ef ects, for by the one

e was incit d to dance, and by the other restrained therefrom ; and in this conflict of nature the patient expired . This quotation is a good specimen of the absurd state of medical science in the seven teenth century . The same story is given in this author ’s ” Ph onur ia N g ova, with a drawing representing the spider in two positions, the patient in the act of dancing, and the musical notes of the air by

one f . which , in case, a cure was ef ected Kircher 56 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

1 60 1 . was a Jesuit, born in He taught philosophy

and mathematics in Germany, and afterwards at R d 1 68 0 ome, and ied in , leaving an immense

number of works , full of curiosities .

Dr . h a s Baglivi, whom I mentioned above, left us a L little treatise in the atin of the seventeenth century,

De A na tomia mors u et e ectibus ta ra ntula , , f , in which he describes the regions of Apulia where the

tarantula abounds, with an account of the anatomy,

and a figure of the spider and its eggs . He also

e d scribes the symptoms which follow its bite, and e t their cur by music, wi h some instances of cases

thus cured . L V udovicus aletta, a monk of Apulia, published

N 1 06 at aples, in 7 , a treatise on the tarantula spider in which he endeavours to refute those ff and who deny its e ects, gives, apparently from

r his own knowledge, several instances of pe sons E who have suffered in this way . An nglish Dr physician , . Mead, has reproduced these ” accounts in his treatise on Poisons, and appears — to believe in them which is more than others do .

After looking carefully into this subject, I have

h s eri a come to the conclusion that y t , in various S forms, was probably as common in outhern Italy two hundred years ago as it now is in r E e many pa ts of urop , and that music and

dancing are an excellent cure for it .

58 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

° It will be noticed that this writer admits the

He S bite . also says that in icily, where the N summer is still warmer than at aples, the

tarantula is never dangerous, and music is never employed there for the cure of the pretended

ta ra nti sm . The persons who dance the tarantella are known in Italy as ta ra nta ti ; I must say a few words about

them . At the end of the eighteenth century an E S nglishman, named winburn , made an excursion S into outhern Italy, being desirous of investigating

minutely every particular relating to this subj ect . But on his arrival there the season was not far

ta ra nta ti — enough advanced and no that is, persons — bitten , or pretending to have been bitten were

then to be met with . He prevailed, however,

upon a woman who had, he says, formerly been “ ” bitten , to act the part, and dance the tarantella

before him . A great many musicians were

summoned, and she performed the dance, as a ll present assured him, to perfection .

At first, she lolled stupidly on a chair, whilst

the instruments were playing some dull music . “ They touched, at length, the chord supposed to

vibrate to her heart, and she sprang up with a most

hideous yell, staggered about the room like a

drunken person, holding a handkerchief in both

hands, raising them alternately, and moving in

very true time . As the music grew brisker, her THE TARANTELLA 59

i motion quickened, and she skipped about w th great vigour and variety of steps, every now ” and then shrieking very loud .

e The scen , he tells us, was far from pleasant, and at his desire an end was put to it before the woman was tired . The sa me author says that wherever the ta ra nta ti are to dance, a place is prepared for them , hung

e round with bunch s of grapes and ribbons . The

e patients are dr ssed in white, with red, green , or yellow ribbons, for those, he says, are their O favourite colours . ver their shoulders they cast a white scarf, let their hair fall loose about t their ears, and throw heir heads back as far as ” they can bear it . I must quote one more paragraph ” ta ra nta ti e These , he says, are exact copi s of

e o the ancient priest sses of Bacchus . The rgies of that god, whose worship , under various symbols, was more widely spread over the globe than that

e of any other divinity, were no doubt perform d with energy and enthusiasm by th e lively inh a bi S tants of outhern Italy . The introduction of Christianity abolished all public exhibitions of

e e these heathenish rit s, and the wom n durst no longer act a frantic part in the character of w b ch ntes . a c a But, un illing to give up so darling h e an amusement, t ey devis d other pretences . Accident may have led them to the discovery 60 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

of the tarantula, and, upon the strength of its

Pu lia n i poison, the g dames still enjoy the r old ff dance, though time has e aced the memory of its ancient name and institution . The tarantella dance is thus traced back to ancient Grecian times . If at any time the dancers l a a fl ected e are rea ly and involunt rily , it is suggest d, it can be nothing more than an attack upon the “ ’ ” St. V D nerves, a species of itus s ance, and it is remarkable that there are numerous churches and

places throughout these provinces, dedicated to

that saint . I should not omit to state that ma ny sensible Italian people differ in opinion from those who have ridiculed the pretended disorder termed

Brindis ia ns e ta ra ntis m. The say that the spid rs sent to Naples for experiment were not of the th e a nd right sort, or that the length of journey want of food had weakened their powers so much as to allow persons to place their arm in a bag

where they were kept, without experiencing any of disagreeable effects . They quote many cas es

persons, bitten whilst they slept out in the fields u during the hot months, who grew lang id and

morose, till the sound of some favourite tune s rou ed them to dance, and caused them thus ” “ off But to throw the poison . the old writer I have just quoted thinks these arguments of little

weight . THE TAR ANTELLA 61

A friend of mine, who stayed recently for a few days at a little place near Brindisi, which is e “ d scribed in her letter as a wild little place, in which the fields and commons abound with scorpions, vipers, and tarantula spiders, which are daily killed by scores, but still multiply to — the terror of the inhabitants because, whatever the sceptics may say, the bite of the tarantula does s cau e that terrible dance, or series of jumps, m screa s, and contortions, which has given rise to the lovely and graceful da nce called the ” tarantella .

s ta ra nt t Thi lady met with a a a , or dancing P woman, some few years ago in the uglie province . Her eyes were staring wildly, as if she E saw the dreadful spider still before her . very second she would stretch forth her hands and clasp them hurriedly together, as if in the act of Sh e crushing the horrible tarantula . was a hand

m a nifi some peasant girl her hair, which was g Sh e cent, fell over her shoulders like a tippet . was sitting on a chair in front of a house, sur rounded by a crowd of relatives and neig hbours . When inquiry was made as to what was the Sh e matter, the reply received was, is a

ta ra nta tu.

’ The g irl s head was moving from side to side,

s i e as if li ten ng to something . In fact, th re was

- a street org a n playing in th e distance . When it 62 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

came near, she rose from her seat and began to dance wildly . When her strength was exhausted, fell she gave a long , loud cry, and , as if dead, into ’ her mother s arms . The following day she danced aga in for twelve

r . hours without ceasing, except for short inte vals The musicians engaged to keep the girl company were paid for the day ten lire each ; and when the father of the girl was asked how he possibly ff it could a ord this, he replied that must be done , otherwise his child would die of the tarantula poison— h e and the others might starve after

s ward , but the girl must have music to help her to dance . This account makes one inclined to believe E that my nglish friend was being imposed upon , with the hope of extorting money from her ; but my readers will see by this, which happened only

t ta ra ntis m a very short time ago, hat, as regards , things are just the same now in Southern Italy as a o they were more than two hundred years g .

Tarantism is only another word for hysteria .

V e e iol nt xercise may, in many cases, have proved a perfect cure and a natural passion for dancing, coupled with the desire of raising contributions from the spectators, are the real motives that

ta ra nta ti inspire the . About thirty- six miles from Brindisi there is a

e St P sacred well, dedicat d to . aul, the protector THE TARANTELLA 63

of victims of the tarantula, and every year these poor creatures make a pilg rimage there on that ’ saint s day, which occurs at the end of June . The water of the well is supposed to cure the D bite of the spider . uring the journey these hysterical patients are a prey to violent convul sions . Those who cannot undertake the journey perform the ceremony at home, in a room hung w ith coloured handkerchiefs, or bits of coloured rags, and they dance , jump, and scream, as long S as their streng th lasts . ometimes it takes several 1 days to cure them .

1 I t is not surprisi ng tha t a subj ect so much di scussed for upwa rds of two centuri es should ha ve a ttra cted ma ny composers of musi c for the vi olin a nd iven rise to a rea t number of iec of th ta ra ntella , g g p es e a ta r I a m o l a ua int d t a nd s l ello cla s s . n y cq e with a few of hem by ivori Pa ini Da ncl ansa Bottesini ori inall w t n f r u l S , p , a, J , ( g y ri t e o do b e b Wieni a wski Vieuxtem erma n T a ass s G &c. ha t b i v ), , p , , y J nsa s ery ’ b u d eff cti v u Da n la s i s of a r r ea tiful a n e e, b t c la g e style, a nd ha s a ' v efl tive a ssa e of harmonics a nd doubl no m ery ec p g e tes co bined , twice ’ r ea ted. Sivori s has ra th er a n ela bora te i com ni ep p ano a c pa ment, ’ ’ a dra wba k i u s a n Wi nia which is c . V e xtem d e ski s a r brilli p w e a nt, mew f P i but lack so ha t o the rea l I ta lia n cha ra cter. a p ni ha s wri tten severa l which a re bea utiful a nd of va rious ra des of diffi cult , g y. Besides these we ha ve s imilar com ositions b Basil Altha ns Ha rold , p y , ' r R n rtm us Buzi a u Fowl r Henkel Hen é O ans G . A Pro t R fl y, e , . , , e , , a , Pozna nski com itions n which coura eous a ttem ts a t ori , pos i g p g i a But in cha ra cteris tic musi na lity are occ siona lly a ppa rent. c such a s this a ttem ts i n tha t dir ction a re a t to deceive both the m , p e p co poser n orm r A ood tarantella alwa s be i ns in th a d the perf e . g y g e minor k a nera ll ends in tha t ke with a luscious ma or ey, nd g e y y, j ca nta bil e in w n but some of the best termi na te in the ma or ke bet ee ; j y. The ’ n r o tem d r ntella i rondo of De Bériot s Tenth Co ce t , po i ta a , s one of the iti on of this kind ever written for the violin but it i fines t compos s , s no violinis t tha t ca n la it t every p y . V I I

A STORY OF STORIONI

LO RENZO STORIONI is considered to be one of the s th e r a a late t, if not very last, of the g eat It li n and

Tyrolean schools of violin makers, which began C with Andrea Amati of remona, and his con S o B temporary Gasparo da al of rescia, and was N continued by the celebrated icolo Amati, Antonio S S S Kloz a tradivari, tainer , ebastian , Gu dagnini,

Ru eri g , Guarneri, Geronimo Amati the younger,

z S and Bergon i, down to the days of torioni, who died at the extreme end of the eighteenth century

1 8 . at least, he is not heard of after 79 L one I have seen two of his violins in ondon, of which belonged to a violinist of the Bohemia n S 1 8 8 2 th Orche stral ociety in , which e owner held

in great esteem , and I can vouch for its having a

firm, round tone of considerable sweetness and brilliancy . The other, which is of a rather smaller pattern, belongs to a lady . S C torioni, we are told, was born in remona in

1 1 off 1 8 7 5 , and left working , or died, in 79 but absolutely accurate dates are rarely to be obtained 64

66 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

be attributed, perhaps, more to the excitement and ff energy of the player, or to an indi erent quality s C of string, than to any fault in thi fine remona — instrument for it really was a fine violin . But I am forgetting that I have to relate a

story of Storioni . S 1 8 It was one bright evening in eptember 7 9 , when th e eyes and thoughts of a ll Europe were beginning to be concentrated on the horrors of R C the French evolution, that a lutia ro of remona, one of those German artisans of whom a con s idera ble number were then employed in the s th e work hops of violin makers, but who was now h is n working on own accou t, had just finished a violin . — His name was Pfretzs ch ner Joha nn Pfretz s ch ner but his Italian friends called him C Giovanni, from his hristian name, as the other was rath er too much for them . He sat in his little workshop with the newly t made instrument before him, contempla ing his

handiwork, thinking how he could sell it, and what he would get for it . Against the wall leaned the S a nd table of a tradivari bass, upon a little shelf

near was a reduced copy of it, which had served him as a model in cutting out the pattern of his

own instrument .

Below the little shelf stood a trestle, upon ” which was the sacred vess el of the violin maker A STORY OF STORIONI 67

— the glue- pot — just cooling after its last use ; wa s for, since the violin finished, Giovanni had done some slight repairs to other instrume nts . In another corner of the room stood two bas es and ’ viola d a more a , just shaded from the setting sun as its rays streamed through the little window and lighted up myriads of motes which floated in the

- calm air . At the end of the workshop table were

few scattered a tools, now about to lie idle throug h out the night here and there upon the walls were

a i i C hung parts of violins, several p , or screws, of various sizes, and near the entrance was a little w cupboard ith some drawers, in which were a few boxes of strings, pegs, rosin, bridges, and tail

— in a a pieces a word, all the ordinary cos e di la li r which one usually meets with in such places .

O - n the window sill was a vase, an old varnish t vessel, full of water, in which was a beau iful a nd bunch of roses reseda, tied with a piece of blue

e ribbon , and evidently awaiting an exp cted visitor for, between that vase of flowers and a real varnish

z jar, was a little box of chocolate lo enges with an elegant gilt lid . The association of flowers and sugar-plums g enerally tells the same old tale . Giovanni must then have been about twenty- fi ve

a wa s e ye rs of age he rather tall, fair, and delicat his fl a xen hair and greyish blue eyes denoted his

S z axon origin, but his bron ed features were thin 68 CONFESSIONS OF A VI OLINIST

d k h e a n drawn , and his sunken chee s showed that h was either consumptive or underfed, whilst t ere was an anxious expression [of countenance which mi ti n indicated some trouble or mental a c o . The Pfretzs ch ner family had lived many years in C b remona, but he was the only mem er of it now

remaining . His face brightened as a handsome girl suddenly entered the workshop and excla imed " Ca r o mio it is then finished I ” “ L luthis t It is finished, uigia, replied the “See n calmly . , what do you thi k of it

“ llo Ah I e be ! it is really very beautiful, said

the girl, and her dark eyes flashed with joy at the sight of as splendid a violin as any artist need

wish for . th e And tone is wonderfully good, added the

young man , taking up a bow and playing a few

’ ia conna bars of Bach s C , for he was somewhat of a

virtuoso also . “ i I th nk it is the best you ever made, Giovanni

mio a s , and it will cert inly pay the expense of our L i wedding ! cried uig a, laying down the violin

and coming up to kiss him .

ca ra Lui in I h O e Ah g , p it may, said Giovanni

’ but Storioni s violins alone find a ready sale at ” present . I cannot place mine at all .

Yes, I hear that he parted with no less than ” s four la t week, said the pretty brunette with a A STORY OF STORIONI 69

deep sigh . But, she added, after a slig ht pause , “ ” I think I can sell it for you .

You L e dearest uigia, how can you imagin such a thing— you who know nothing but mul

- berry trees and silk worms, and perhaps a little cooking ! ”

Give me another kiss, Giovanni, and I will tell ” L . you something, said uigia The young workman did not require to be asked twice, and , after a fond embrace, the two lovers sat down and conversed in a se rious e mann r . “ C P It appears that the old Jew, arlo olli, is buying up the violins of Storioni as fast as he ”

L . can make them, said uigia My idea is to one take this to him, and let him think it is made ” by Storioni . “ But how can you make him think such a L thing, uigia “ Oh ! that is easy enough ; we will p ut inside

’ Storioni s one of labels, and I who know — I nothing at all about violins, you see will ta ke this one to Carlo Polli and ask him if he will ” buy it . There was a good deal more conversation on this subject that history has not preserved, after which the roses and bon - bons were admired s almost a much as the new violin . It wa s rather late when the two young people 70 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINI ST

r sepa ated ; finally, the little workshop was locked

up for the night .

The new violin wa s bought by the old Jew dealer whose name we have just mentioned, and realised a good price— about fifty shillings of our English money— which was more than s ufli cient

th e le nozz e to defray expenses incident to , or L wedding festivities of Giovanni and uigia . But e , not very long aft r the marriage , they had a terrible fright . It was a warm day in the follow ing month of May that Pfretzs ch ner and his young wife perceived Lorenz o Storioni coming along the street in the direction of their workshop . In less than two minutes he had passed the threshold and entered the room .

B iorno a mici . uon g , I have come about a

m e little matter that concerns you and , he said , turning to Giovanni . “ I n uIred What may that be q the latter, putting on as good a n expression of surprise and innocence as was possible under the cir

cum s ta nces . “ C P The old dealer, arlo olli , has bought a violin with my label in it, and this instrument S has been traced to you, said torioni .

e W ll, exclaimed Giovanni, turning very pale, “ I will admit everything . You come, doubtless, Do to claim damages . not be too hard upon us ; A STORY OF STORIONI 71

it was done under great pressure ; we were obliged — it ” to sell the violin enabled us to get married . “ S S ” L Ah ! ignor torioni, said uigia with her — sweetest smile, you will take pity on us you will not molest us ! ”

Cor o di B o ! e p a cc ! no indeed xclaimed Storioni . “ That was not my intention in coming here . I have come to thank you for what you have done !

a m e S I extremely oblig d to ignor Giovanni . I never ma de a violi n ha lf s o g ood ; and th e consequence of this little trick of yours is that I have more orders for violins than I alone can possibly attend

to, so I come to ask whether you will help me to execute all these new orders Sa nta Ma ria Ca ri ss ima exclaimed the young

couple in one voice . “ Well, come and take a bottle of wine with me

th e a fe at c yonder, and we will have a talk about

th e C it, said the last of great remona makers .

e This little episod , which has lain so many years

in oblivion, is probably the very first instance on record of the label of one maker being placed in th e violin of another . It must be confessed that the — consequences were very surprising as th ey have

e often been since, in mor modern times and other

places . RAMEAU is generally recognised in France and elsewhere as the g reatest musician that country

e has ever produced, with the sole xception of

L . L ulli But ulli , thoug h he lived the greater

e P part of his lif in aris and its neighbourhood,

was of Italian origin , and, when he arrived in

France as a youth of about eighteen years of age, he was already an accomplished violinist for that

s . epoch ( eventeenth century) Indeed, his violin playing ultimately led to his becoming one of the

historical features of his time, ranking on a par

r e . with his illustrious contempora y , Moli re

R a The immortal ameau , who came forw rd some

e e y ars later, also b gan life as a violinist, a fact of few which writers seem to be aware . I have shown in former works that the same thing occurred for two other celebrated composers of

’

e B e . mor modern times, Auber and alf Rameau was two years older than his great S B German contemporary . Johann ebastian ach , w and lived fourteen years longer . He as als o 7 2

74 CONFESSIONS OF A VI OLINIST

S . econd Tarantella, more especially It would be difli cult to surpass these works in beauty and w brilliancy, even if a hole octave more were added to the extent of the scale . n In France, duri g the performance of the Mons i e n operas by g y, a very favourite Fr nch composer of the eighteenth century, the first i v olin played in unison with the voice, in order to keep the singer in time and in tune ! We ’ have reasons for believing that many of Ra mea u s original melodies were composed on his violin ; and the fingering of the violin pas sages in his f t operas is noted as being easy and ef ec ive, such as could only be written by a good violinist . Jean Philippe Rameau was born at Dijon in

1 68 3 , just one year before the great violin maker

C N . of remona, icolo Amati, died His father was a professor of music, and taught him the first At elements of his art . seven years of age he could read music at sight— a very ra re thing in those days— and could improvise with remarka ble C facility on the clavecin . His brother laude, who

his became a talented organist, was intended by P e parents to be made a musician, but Jean hilipp was intended for the legal profession .

e When at school, how ver, it was found that his Copy-books and text- books were all covered with scrawls of music and one of his biographers says C w that he soon left the ollege of Jesuits, kno ing RAMEAU 75

L s very little atin, still le s Greek, and no French

a ll ! l at He learnt the vio in, studied harmony instead of the discords of history, and went about among his friends, the organists , begging for a few lessons in musical composition . P R At seventeen years of age, Jean hilippe ameau

- e was a tall, good looking young f llow, and thought

v proper to fall in lo e with a young widow, a neighbour, who was one of the beauties of the D little old town of ijon . For a whole year he la id aside all his studies in order to pay his a d h e dresses to this charming young person . S

a nd seems to have liked him, kindly undertook to correct the dreadful spelling and grammatical errors which found their way into his love letters . S eeing how things were going, his worthy father then allowed him to take up music as a profession , off k and sent him to Italy, thin ing thus to cure P him of his dangerous passion . But Jean hilippe t never got far her than Milan , where, in order to work his way back to France, he took an engage ment as first violin in an orchestral company that was going on a long tour through Marseilles,

Ni e mes , Montp llier, and other towns, which tour extended over a considerable number of years . With the violin Rameau found that he could n only make a precarious livelihood, whilst his tale t as an organist promised to raise him much higher

' in the social scale . He played the organ so 76 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

D 1 1 divinely that on his return to ijon in 7 7 ,

e without any mon y in his pocket, he was at once offered the post of organist to a church in his ff native town . But he refused this o er, and

decided to make himself heard in Paris, where he

arrived that same year .

- He was then thirty four years of a g e . The first thing he did was to seek the protection of

- h eld the well known organist, Marchand, who a high and very lucrative position in the capital .

s o But, when the latter heard him play, he was utterly astonished that he was seized with a

r morbid fit of jealousy, and did eve ything he

’ R n in could to hinder amea s advancement , and m duce, or rather, co pel him to seek an engage So R ment in the provinces . poor ameau (with

. S . the exception of J Bach , perhaps , the greatest organist the world has ever known) was thus absolutely obliged to accept the little place of

’

St. S C L . S organist at tephen s hurch , at ille hortly

e e C afterwards, how v r, he took that at lermont, C which had been given up by his brother laude . C e Here, at lermont, where he remain d for four R years, ameau wrote his celebrated Treatise on ” Harmony, and a great deal of music for clavecin and for the organ, all of which was remarkable for its richness and originality . At the end of these four years he was able to return to Paris, “ a ” where he published his pieces and his Tre tise, RAMEAU 77 which works drew attention to him a nd procured

e him many admir rs . He now sought to secure a footing for his compositions on the operatic stage, in doing which he was much aided by M . de la

PO liniere p , a rich financier and great amateur of

music . L f ate in life, when considerably over fi ty R years of age, ameau was at the zenith of his celebrity . He is described as being at this time r e very tall and ve y thin, with an honest, b nevolent,

d z as but wrinkle and wi ened c t of countenance . I cannot here follow his career as a composer of

h e a d operas, but I may state that was a great

’ L fi e mirer of ulli s ne recitatives . He was ev n accused of copying them to which he replied

that he endeavoured to imitate them, but without ” becoming a servile copyist .

’ The fact is th a t Ramean s works a re particularly noticeable for their originality and their wonderful e modulations . In this respect he has never b en

surpassed . His opera Castor and Pollux is perhaps the best known of his theatrical works ; but he

composed a considerable number of operas, many

t e of which met with much success . He died at h

- l age of eighty one, after a ife of musical adventure and romance that is second in interest to that of

no other great artist . Those who may wish to judg e of Rameau as a 78 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST violinist must consult the scores of his operas, where it will be seen, by reading the violin parts, that he was a great master in th e art of fingering many players have praised his compositions in

th e this respect . Where fingering of his great

o . S . difli cult contemp rary, J Bach, is , and some e Ra what unsuit d to the instrument, that of meau is easy and natural .

th e R A solo for violin by ameau is, of course, r O a rarity not to be hea d every day . ne edited

P i wa s by apini, with p ano accompaniment, pub

lis h ed C N . 6 some years ago by F . W . hanot ( o 5 ff of his catalog ue) . This most e ective little piece is well within the reach of a good amateur ; but introduc in the hands of an artist it will, with the

zzica t tion of a few double notes, pi i , and harmonics, which readily suggest themselves, produce an ex tra ordina r ff y e ect . I played it thus, for the first n time, one eveni g about twenty years ago in a

- e E nd L crowded concert room in the W st of ondon , “ having announced it on the programme as a

1 2 dance that was composed in 7 4 , and still played

- S at vintage time in the outh of France . The n success of the piece was astonishi g . There is C b R also a haconne and Musette y ameau, pub i A l s h ed u ener Co . by g , for violin and piano . ff Though not quite so e ective as the other, it is

l e highly origina . The c lebrated Gavotte from ’ O Le Tem le de la Gloire this composer s pera, p , RAMEAU 79

r a ranged for violin and piano by Borowski, has recently been published in London by Messrs . La ud o y 81 C . One of the most distinguished composers of C that period, ampra, on speaking to some critics ’ ” R n of amea s opera Hippolyte, is reported to have : Do said not deceive yourselves, my dear friends there is more music in that opera than in all our ' ” works put together . A G UARNERI VIOLI N AT ROME

IN the late autumn of 1 8 56 my excellent friend

S a mbatoldi R . g , of Milan, was at ome The weather

l . was dul and damp, but still rather warm In front of an old house in one of the poores t quarters t of the city, his at ention was called by a public

ba nditore crier, or , to a pile of old clothes and dusty furniture spread out on the pavement for sale . It was the house of a poor artist— a painter who had just died of consumption , leaving a young

. e widow and three small children The latter wer , e at that moment, seat d at one side of the doorway ; the youngest child, a little boy, in the lap of his mother ; the two others, girls of six and eight n years respectively, were tressi g their hair and t ’ smiling at the mistakes they made . The mo her s face was calm, and sadness gleamed from her large dark eyes . By the side of the ba nditore was a little man

e in a blue coat and sp ctacles, who walked to and fro, flourishing a cane, and was, apparently, in a bad humour .

82 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

e e C Sa bloneux as himself . They w r ount and

M Mortier, a deputy . What is going on here inquired the first of

his companion .

Oh ! perhaps some artisan beating his wife,

replied the other . ’ But when the crier s voice shouted Attention to th e ba nditore ! buy ! buy ! good gentlemen they approached nearer and looked at the things . By Heaven ! what a fine collection for your drawing-room said the deputy facetiously to C the ount, when he got a glimpse of the poor fur

n itur e . , and proceeded to pass on

Stop ! stop a moment ! cried Sa bloneux. There is a violin ; it might be good for my cabinet— this is just the place to find a valuable ” e old instrument fit for a collector lik me .

Then turning to the little man in the blue coat, ffl who was still shu ing about, and flourishing his cane to the danger of all around him, he inquired “What do you think is the value of ' all this stuff “ I cannot say, replied the other ; but I hope it may fetch more than three hundred francs, as that is what the deceased artist owed me at the time of his death . And he explained that the goods belonged to the poor widow, and that he was distraining upon them . ’ The Frenchman s heart was not at all moved A GUARNERI VIOLIN AT ROME 83

a by this decl ration he merely smiled . His sole n attentio was centred, at present, on the violin , which some one in the crowd had called a Guarneri . It was then being looked at alternately by the stout Jew and by a connoisseur of musical ins tru

P a ucci ments, named p , who had accidentally found his way into the small group of curious persons standing around . P a pucci had overheard the conversation between the Frenchmen , for he understood and spoke

French fluently . In the course of a little time the Jew offered ten lire (francs) for the violin . ” lire ! P a ucci Fifty cried p , immediately . r The Jew sta ed at his competitor ; he fancied, no doubt, that he must be a clever connoisseur,

was e and that, as he had bid so high , it r ally a very valuable violin . ” S lire a ixty ! s id the first bidder, with a sin gular twinkle in his small eyes .

O h d e ne un r d roared forth another voice, l eux which was that of Count Sa b on .

Pa ucci . Two hundred, said p calmly

e lire ! C Five hundr d said the ount, and let ” e us be don with it . ix ! Pa ucci im S hundred shouted p , almost mediately, whilst the first bidder , the stout Jew, looked on in amazement, and uttered not a syllable . A wrathful expression flashed across the ruddy 84 CONFESSI ONS OF A VI OLINI ST features of th e French count but he seemed et t en his determined to g the ins rum t, in spite of

Italian opponent .

One thousa nd lire I he shouted, after a pause of a few moments . This was equal to about forty pounds in E nglish money . E very one appeared to be struck dumb by so magnificent a bid . m ld Sg a ba to i watched the crowd with interes t . N o one stirred, no one spoke . At last the salesman inquired “if no one would bid higher than one thousand lire

There was no response . e S n Th n it is yours, ignor, he said, tur ing to Sa bloneux ed Count , who at once proceed to pay

i h - a nd for his purchase w t a few bank notes, , turn : ing to his companion, said That is wonderfully cheap for a Guarneri violin . s e Monsieur is, then, a connoi seur ask d Pa ucci a e o e a p , in r spectful t ne of voic , and spe king in French , with a very good accent . Yes , I know something about violins, replied C “ the ount . I have spent some thousands of ducats upon them in my time, and I have a rather ” fine collection .

When the poor widow sa w the money paid, and an w e the violin h ded over to its new o ner, her yes Sh glistened with joy . e would thus save the sale A GUARNERI VIOLIN AT ROME 85

d of all her other things, and have abun ance of money for the winter— perhaps for a whole year

e besid s .

You are a dealer, are you not asked the

C Pa uc i . ount, addressing himself to p c ” “ Yes, replied the latter at Milan, but not here . a I thought so, from your active bidding, dded the Frenchman and I have no doubt you con ” sider this a very fine Guarneri . “ O P a ucci h dear no replied p , smiling it is not a Guarneri at all ; it is a very common — it violin indeed, and considerably cracked also f may have cost, originally, about thirty rancs .

Then why, in the name of Heaven, did you bid so warmly for it For the sake of th e poor widow and her three ” P a ucci young children , replied p , with great calm “ ness ; for her sa ke I would have bought it at any of the bids I made , and, if you like, I will now give you my highest bid for that violin— but I could not g o beyond your bid of a thousand francs . You may think I was forcing your hand but, you see, you were forcing mine . Count Sa bloneux was exceeding ly surprised at the dealer’s generosity but he would not hear of par ting with his violin at a loss of four hundred l francs so he wa ked away with it under his arm,

S a mba toldi still believing, according to g , that it 8 6 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

a re lly was a genuine Guarneri . But my friend says that Pietro Pa pucci is too well known at Milan for anybody not to pla ce implicit confidence

in his opinion and he has, moreover, the reputa n tion of being a thoroughly good ma . X

THE HISTORY O F THE HURDY -GURDY

I N the course of a tolerably long life I have only

h urd - - z e seen a y gurdy some half do n times, as far as I can remember . I have a distinct recollection

a o of meeting, more than sixty years g , a little S avoyard in the woody lanes of Warwickshire, with his viol and marmot, who found his way ’ - e e into the stable yard of my father s r sidenc , and amused my nursemaid and the other ser E vants by his antics . ven as a child I was surprised by the curious sound of the instrument, th e and its jerky character, as much as by aspect — th e of the queer little animal the marmot, not boy . On rare occasions a similar sight h a s been seen by me in Paris and in Germany ; and I onc e asked myself : Who was the Stradivarius of the b - e urdy gurdy For, aft r all, it is a kind of violin— a stringed instrument played with a ” (circular) bow . Did Amati, or Gasparo da ever make a burdy -gurdy ? I once put that question to my 87 88 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

i - mus c master in Brussels, and he replied that he did not know .

Alas ! no professor knows everything . No book in my library gives much infor L P mation on the subject ; and avignac, rofessor

P C v of Harmony in the aris onservatoire, ne er once mentions the burdy-gurdy in his recent

e work on Music, where he describ s so many instruments . Our old English word fiddle is evidently a ” corruption of the French word vielle (burdy u gurdy), and a few words on this latter instr ment in connection with the violin (the name of whi ch “ is derived from the Italian viola may not

prove uninteresting .

vielle b - old E The or urdy gurdy, which nglish ” w a d riters term viol, is dmitted to have derive its L origin from the lyre or lute . utes were of

difl erent h s es a nd s ape and siz , date back no less than 70 0 yea rs before the commencement of C the hristian era . Yet a print I possess shows that the lute was still used in the drawing - room

a in place of the harpsichord, as n accompaniment

m e R to the voice , at the ti e of the Fr nch evolution,

1 78 9 to 1 7 9 8 . Th e Greeks called the h urdy-gurdy s a mbuhe

L sa mbucus s b the atins called it , or a m uca ; old

sa mbu u French writers term it q e, whilst more modern writers ha ve adopted the word vielle ; and

90 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

As the lute was the favourite instrument used

ha r to accompany Grecian poetry , so the p was held in the same esteem by the poets of mediaeval times The instrument which frequently a ccom

a nied re- p , and, indeed, disputed the p eminence ” e with the harp, says the writ r above quoted,

th e Th e was viol . viol was played with a bow,

ffe vielle e and di red entirely from the , the ton s

e of which w re produced by the friction of a wheel, ” the wheel performed the part of a bow .

It appears, therefore, quite evident that both

th e b - e urdy gurdy, or viol play d with a wheel

(or circular bow), and the viol played with a

h ow trouba dours straight , were in use by the in the

e e e troveres l v nth and twelfth centuries, and by the ,

or northern poets, in the thirteenth century . A n eng raving in my possession, in which the costumes of the men and the forms of their in s trum ents are taken by the artist from specimens

troveres preserved in the museums, represents some of the thirteenth century singing or reciting before — a larg e audience in a chateau a scene corre

s - p onding to our modern concert room . Of the

- viols depicted, some are wide, flat, pear shaped E fiddles instruments ( like our ancient nglish ), played with a bow whilst the instrument is held to the neck . They have a very wide bridge, for

- five or more string s , a quadrangular sound hole

- - on each side of the tail piece , no centre bouts , THE HISTORY OF THE HURDY - GURDY 91

- and a short neck . Others have four oval shaped

- sound holes, two in the upper and two in the

th e e lower parts of table, with ornaments on ach

- side of the tail piece, and, in place of the centre

e t r bouts of the mod rn violin, here is a slight cu ve in the model . The bow used is straight and w s arched out ards, like that used in the time of Corelli and Tartini ( 1 7 00 to

R e eferring again to the thirt enth century, in the L X S L reign of the French king, ouis I . ( aint ouis), the j ong leurs and buffoons attached to th e Court used the burdy-gurdy for singing and for dance music and persons of quality did not disdain to l cu tivate it as a fashionable accomplishment . But

e towards the fourteenth century , poor p ople and blind beggars, finding out how much the sound of this instrument was appreciated by the higher classes, adopted it as a means of earning their

e livelihood in the streets . It then becam a very popular in strument but as it was constantly to be

e - heard on the pav ment, like the piano organ of

Our day, it soon lost vogue in the houses of the a ristocracy .

After falling into discredit in this manner, the burdy-gurdy came again into favour towards the Of x end the si teenth century, when it was heard even in the palaces of the French kings .

1 6 1 O In 7 , when peras were first introduced into

e th e b Franc , two notable performers on urdy 92 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

u La R a g rdy, named ose and J not, made themselves a great reputation, and , by the applause they C L X IV re gained at the ourt of ouis ., they a established taste for this particular instrument . But the violin (s uppos ed to have been invented in the fifteenth century) soon displaced the vielle or ’ b - u as V v la d a more urdy g rdy, it did the small iol ( io ), i played w th a straight bow instead of a wheel .

N b - u evertheless, the urdy gurdy once more fig res in French history : it came prominently forward a 1 0 St a in P ris about 7 9 , at a time when radiv ri of C remona was making some of his finest violins .

At that period, when the violin was rising to a degree of perfection which has never been sur u S s passed, a yo ng girl from avoy, fifteen year of

a e a e . g , c m to the French capital to earn her living “ Sh e had nothing to rely upon but her youth , t V her beau y, and her iol . Sh e F a nch onette was called Fanchon , or , and she so intoxicated the Parisian people by her

amiable manners, her good looks , her playing and s h e e sing ing in the streets , that made a consid rable fortune . So celebrated a character did this Savoyard maiden become by her moral life, and the generosity with which she bestowed her ea rnings

e 1 8 0 a upon the poor, that, in the wint r of 4 , lyrical drama in three acts appeared at the Vaudeville

s e Theatre, giving a sketch of her life and p cimens

94 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINI ST

—i Titiens — it R n the days of Mlle . was as osina

e in l l Ba rbiere. Sh e was so chang d I could scarcely

F a nch onette recognise her . Her was sublime , and her singing like the warbling of a bird ; she

had a very high soprano voice at that time ,

C D a s executing a shake on the high or , clear as

that of a violin .

b - e The urdy gurdy may, as we hav already seen , have been known to the ancient Greeks and there is some evidence that the small viol played with

th e a straight bow , or even violin itself, equalled

the and , perhaps , surpassed it in times of the

Crusades . This is established by inspecting the miniatures MS which ornament the old . poems and songs

N v — C of the King of a arre Thibault, omte de — Champagne a trovere whose talents rivalled those

R Caeur de Lion of our own troubadour king, ichard ,

e S or Jam s I . of cotland, and whose impassioned verses were mostly written in praise of Blanche of

C e L s III V . astill (the Queen of oui of France), of

th e whom he was successively vassal, lover, and

rebel . i C de C Th bault, omte hampagne, succeeded his uncle as King of Navarre in 1 2 3 4— a date very

e easy to rem mber . His poetry was admired by Dante and Petrarch in Italy but he had severa l

m e h is ad ir rs among contemporaries, for instance, THE HISTORY OF THE HUBB Y- GURDY 95

De L th e Roma n orris, who wrote the first part of

de la Ros e 1 2 , in 3 5, and others whom I might A w cons i mention . nyho , Thibault is generally dered to have been one of the most famous

‘ tmveres e troubadours, or, rather, of the thirt enth

. II L VI . d century When ouis ied, at the sieg e of

Avignon, where an epidemic had broken out

among the troops, Thibault was suspected of having poisoned him This French

L X . S L monarch left a son, ouis I ( aint ouis), ’ eleven years of age at the time of his father s

death , who was placed under the tutelage of

Blanche . But, afterwards , Thibault seems to

have repented of his licentious life, for he pro

ceeded S L 1 2 8 on a crusade with aint ouis in 4 , and,

on his return, wrote nothing but religious poems . C 1 2 0 Blanche of astille died in 5 , partly from ’ infidels grief at her son s capture by the , and just as he h ad regained his liberty .

Now the miniature drawings on the MSS. N re re songs left by Thibault, King of avarre, p sent the violin in the thirteenth century pretty much as we know it nowadays, in general shape and manner of playing .

Previous to the sixteenth century, we are told, the violin had five or more strings ; afterwards the number of strings was reduced to three .

Thus Fetis mentions a violin with three strings, e made by Andrea Amati, the most ancient mak r 96 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

C e 1 6 of that family in remona, which is dat d 54 L V and it is said that eonardo da inci, the great 1 2 was painter and philosopher, who died in 5 3 , a very clever performer on the violin with three strings . His instrument had a silver neck, with a ’ S scroll representing a horse s head . ome say he made it himself . Most of the ancient violins with five strings th e C X bear arms of harles I . of France upon a them . Brantome relates th t a man called

a z Ba lth a z arini Le B B tha ar (or ), surnamed eau ” un Joyeux, who came from Piedmont (the co try b - u th e 1 of the urdy g rdy) in year 57 7 , with several ” t other viola s, to play ballet music at the court of the young King Charles IX . a nd his wicked oth C t was m er, a herine de Medicis, a very promi n ne t character, much admired by the ladies of 1 the French Court . The performances of these instrumenta lists made the violin quite fashionable ; it enjoyed

a g re t vogue, becoming the popular instrument of

1 under the im ression tha t Ba l the l l I a m p tzar, ear y vio inist who a nd who ha d come from u k o ad di ed in 1 663 , L bec t le the twenty i w vi li ns of our ha rles I I . n four o C , hich ca pa city h e wa s succeeded oh n Ba nnister a do ted the name of his fa mous r d s r by J , p p e ece s o , v Ba thaaa r, a lluded to a bo e. The la tter is said to ha ve been more

buffoon tha n a musi cia n a nd th h k m of a , e Lu ec a n wa s given to

nk . ohn Bannister on the contra r ta n fo dri J , y, s ds rth in history as n ntl res ecta ble ma n and a ver ca a ble m o a n emi e y p y p usi cian. I t is t tha t we owe the ori i n of ublic concerts in En him g p g la nd, as I ha ve ” n in m Fa mous Violinis ts . 2 to . explai ed y , pp 3 37

98 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

e N u e th e who w re the poets of orthern France, s d ’ la n ue d oil th e f g , but dif erence between these two idioms is not very great.

Though mostly refined and honourable men, some of these old poets were licentious and brutal .

The very first troubadour of note, Guillaume ,

C P D Ac uita i ne was omte de oitiers and uke of q , a one of the greatest r scals that ever lived, and ’ R d Ora n e 8 0 ambaud g was even worse . also some of the poems of those early days are full on of grossness and obscenity, but others, the contrary, are very beautiful . P ersons who are acquainted with modern

S a s ca n Italian and panish , as well French, read the old Provencal poetry without much diffi F culty, which a modern renchman , who is not a linguist, cannot do . X I

THE SON O F A VIOLINIST

IN n G a ti y erman town , which is rarely or never

e visit d by tourists, there was born, in the year

1 1 7 9 , a child whose parents destined him for the law, but whose poetical nature and romantic ideas u led him into the profession of m sic . It was the violin which he adopted as his in strument, just at the period when the names of S S Amati, tradivari, and tainer had become famous “ i ” as makers of that k ng of instruments . vi Of course, our olinist was not rich ; so he was glad to accept the kind patronag e of a wealthy

Count residing in his district, who gave him some sort of a musical appointment in his family, until a more suitable position could be obtained for him this happened when the young violinist was

- twenty four years of age, by a vacancy occurring in the Chapel Orchestra of a noted Bishop— or B Prince ishop , as such dignitaries were then — styled where he took the post of first violin . By this time he would probably have been acquainted with some of the music of H aydn, 99 100 CONFESSIONS OF ‘ A VIOLINIST

th e l his contemporary, and of o der music of S B Johann ebastian ach , that surprising man who had eleven sons and nine daughters (so that among his ancestors and descendants we find no 1 2 0 B less than musicians of the name ach, who have all filled more or less honourable posts as

- organists, choir masters, singers, and composers) . was u And so our violinist possibly infl enced, like of wise, by the works another contemporary of P E B his, hilip mmanuel ach (who is credited with

na ta having originated the So , soon after perfected by his successors), and also by the works of C Handel, and perhaps Johann hristian Bach ( 1 7 3 5 both of whom wrote numerous

O peras for the lyric stage . Then our violinist began to publish some com positions of his own , which did him much credit

1 6 - and in 7 5 , when he was thirty seven years of “V age, he broug ht out a iolin Method, which was at that time considered the best work of its kind, and is equal to, if not better than several such works which have since made their appear ance . wa s But by this time he married, and his family So was increasing rapidly . were also increas ing

n . his cares and a xieties After a while , he found himself the father of seven children but all died

exce t a son early, very early in life, p , and a daughter, upon whom he lavished his musical instruction

1 02 CONFESSIONS OF A VI OLINIST amused himself by performing trios in his own house with two of his friends, one of whom played second violin . The little boy violinist enjoyed ex these trios immensely, and more than once th e pressed ardent desire to join in them ; but, of course, that could not be allowed . “G ood morning, the child once said to this second violin ; how goes it with your butterg eig e

- - in to day allusion to the soft, g reasy tone of ” D n “t u . o the instr ment you k ow, he added, hat it is tuned nearly a quarter of a tone below mine i This was found to be p erfectly true ! He was very proud of the little violin his father had given him .

One day, on which the worthy violinist happened tr to be at liberty, he was ying over a new trio with these same friends, when the lad pla ced

a nd himself by the side of the second violin, begged hard to be allowed to play the part also .

When refused, he burst into tears ; at which his “ l father relented, and said, We l, sit down, then, and scrape your strings, since you are so set upon it ; but, mind, you must do it so softly that no ” one can hear you . A t the conclusion of the piece, the gentleman who was playing second violin expressed his O pinion that the boy was quite capable of playing e the part alon . This was found to be perfectly THE SON OF A VIOLINIST 103 correct a few minutes later ; and when they all gave utterance to their intense surprise the little I boy coolly remarked, For that matter, could play the first part just as well l ” When from six to ten years old the lad went on G tour with his clever father into Austria, ermany,

N e E . H wa s the etherlands, Franc , and ngland e everywhere received with admiration . But this admiration of the boy musician mani t ested itself, unfortunately, in kisses from the ladies (for he was a very pretty boy, with a remarkably intelligent countenance), little nick na cks and pretty toys from the gentlemen , instead of the hard cash so needed by his poor parent .

Then they visited the large cities of Italy, and 1 8 returned to Paris in 7 7 , where the lad was applauded for his violin playing and for his skill

n e on the clavecin, and even on the orga , and wher h e composed some sonatas, some religious pieces,

and even entire operas, at the request of certain

- high born persons, to whom he dedicated them,

and who paid him mighty little money for them . So 1 that, in 7 7 9 , this son of the old German

- violinist, when he was twenty three years of age, found himself obliged to return to his native

country , and, in order to gain his daily bread, compelled to accept the modest appointment of

organist in the little town where he was born . 104 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

1 8 0 However, by 7 , just seven years before his d good and talented father die , he had composed an opera, which was produced at Munich with enormous success, and at once made his name popular .

Then followed in due course, and with remark able rapidity, six other operas, some of which were applauded to the skies, and remain popular to the present day— what am I writing f— which have become immortal ! And from the same talented pen flowed about a dozen symphonies, some twenty concertos for the piano and orchestra, several concertos for violin, sonatas , variations, and fantasies for piano , some religious pieces, “ V notably an Ave erum for four voices, and a R equiem which have become celebrated . “ In all these styles, says a modern author, “ alluding to this son of a violinist, he has risen above everything that had been composed before ” his time . I find from a recent catalogue that he has left in all 62 6works and a modern French professor

C P He wa s at the onservatoire of aris says of him, the mos t perfect a nd mos t comprehens ive of all the g r ea t ” iuses o the u a l g en f m s ic a rt.

Well, this gifted son of our worthy violinist, sad

- to relate, died at the early age of thirty six, and

’ e V e was interred in a pauper s grav at i nna . It was a stormy day in December the few admirers

X I I

AN EP ISODE IN THE LI FE OF ANTON IO LOLLI

VIOLIN IS A T of some eminence, named Antonio lli l Lo , was born in the ancient little city of

- - Bergamo , about twenty eight miles north east of

1 2 8— Milan, in the year 7 nearly sixty years before

a nI nI the birth of Pa g . R Bergamo, which dates back to ancient oman times, was also the birthplace of the celebrated

Donizetti (a man said to be of Scotch extraction): ’ ’ L Eli sire d Amore Lucia di La mmer the composer of , moor La Fi lia del Re imento , g g g , and a hundred other beautiful works . The great cantatrice, Brigitta

Banti, a sketch of whose wonderful career I have m “V V ” given in my little volu e, oice and iolin , 1 8 8 published in 9 , was also born in the same neighbourhood .

So little is known of Antoni o Lolli, a n eminent violi nist of th e

ntur tha t some wri ters ha v u i eighteenth ce y , e conf sed him with Giova nn l i a more dis ti n uis h Ba ttis ta Lu l , g ed musicia n of the seventeenth

n r a ls o a n a ccom lish ed violinist Mi d e tu he fri end of ol ére an c y ( p ), t V a nd foun r of I ta l — w i Loui s XI . de ia n O era in Fra nce a lso ith Lott p , _ , ’ is t a nd ha l -Mas t i a n wh i r er a t t. Ma rk i n e n O g C p S s Ve ce. o d ed i n 1 740, a nd who wrote th e well -known son P eer dicesti a nd ma n other not g , , y ed

1 06 AN EPISODE OF ANTONIO LOLLI 107

I L n the person of Antonio olli, we may credit the old city of Bergamo with having produced a violinist of no small note, more particularly as a virtuos o I , but not much of a composer . t is not — known under whom he studied perhaps, under ’ S Corelli s omis, one of best pupils ; in fact, little appears to be known of his early life ; but when he was thirty- four years of age (in 1 7 62 ) he obtained the appointment of Concert Director to D W rtember the uke of u g , which post he held for ten or eleven years and in the prime of manhood,

1 R . about 77 3 , he went to ussia In that country he obtained a signal token of admiration from the

E mpress Ca therine I I . , in the shape of a violin l bow, made especia ly for him by her order, and bearing th e inscription : Bow made by order of

C I I . L atherine for the incomparable olli . Whether Lolli was one of the numerous par amours of this unprincipled princess, who is supposed to have connived at the murder of her Cz P I I I . poor, silly husband, the ar eter , who, besides being too fond of Burgundy wine and

- card playing, was a good amateur violinist , history has not yet recorded ; so that it is impossible to say whether it was the man or his music that this wilful and licentious woman most admired . The episode of the bow, however , makes us inclined

v to accept the latter alternati e, but perhaps both are true . 108 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

It has been placed on record that, in playing, Antonio Lolli excelled more in rapid movements ff and e ects than in the slow, telling adagio, which distinguished his contemporary Nardini the f favourite pupil o Tartini . When he entered S 1 62 N on his duties at tuttgart, in 7 , ardini was L there, and olli soon recognised his superiority . He therefore requested permission of the Duke of

emb r D W urt e g to travel for one year . uring that time, it is said, instead of travelling, he retired to a secluded village not far distant, and worked assiduously at his instrument ; so that when the h ad time of his absence elapsed, he returned a much greater musician than before . L R olli was about ten years in ussia, where he appears to have enjoyed the title of Concert E ” Master to the mpress . It is impossible here to enter into the private life of that despotic S German princess, whose real name was ophia C Augusta, the name of atherine being assumed when she entered the Greek Church and married D III the Grand uke, afterwards Peter . In R spite of her vices, ussia owes much to her, for she was a singular mixture of brutality t and kindness . Bu Lolli would certainly not have remained all those ten years in the land of the Muscovites unless he had enjoyed great favour and patronage from the Empress

Catherine I I .

1 10 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

That , also, might be got over, replied the other ; with your talent on the violin you might live a nywhere in the world where civilisa ” tion and liberty exist . Surely I am not to be s ent to Siberia ejaculated the artist . N ! o, alas It is possible to return, even S ofli r hle from iberia, replied the police ce p g m a tica ll y . “ Then, am I to be thrown into prison L timidly inquired olli, becoming more and more d “ alarme , and, pray, for what crime ” “ eliew If it were only that, coolly rejoined R “ — men sky, it would not be so very dreadful ” s mostly come out of pri on after a time .

Gracious Heaven exclaimed the violinist, you do not mean that I am to be submitted to the indignity of the knout S n uch an i dignity is frightful, no doubt,

th e omcer s k said , but it doe not ill ” “ ? vir What screamed the tuoso, it is my life that is in jeopardy — It is impossible ! I do not believe it— there must be some frightful mistake— the E mpress has always been so good to me— only two days ago she gave me the n a flecti most striki g proof of her on, of her love for my music, of her passionate admiration . Tell me the worst— this suspense will kill me — what are your orders AN EPISODE OF ANTONIO LOLLI 1 11

” Well, my talented friend, said the cool C headed hief of Police, in a lachrymose tone of “ voice, it almost brings the tears to my eyes when I think that we shall be charmed no more

by your brilliant violin playing but, much as I c am grieved to say it, the irrefragable ommands from my gracious sovereign are th at you must ff be stu ed and put into a glass case . S ff ! tu ed, and put into a glass case cried the violinist, echoing the last words of the

' “ E m ofli cer . Are you demented ? or has the press suddenly lost her reasoning powers —you cannot have received such an order without remonstrating upon its extravagance and bar ” ba r ity l “ ! Reliewsk Alas my poor friend, replied y, “I did what scarcely any of us dare to do— I did make an humble remonstrance ; but my w august sovereign only fro ned upon me, com n m a ded me to quit her presence forthwith, and to execute her orders with out the slightest ’ m : delay ; her words still echo in y ears Go, h she said, and do not forget t at your duty is to execute without the least murmuring what ever commissions I may think proper to charge you with l H “ -a n- e then added, I will give you half hour

e to prepare for d ath , and to arrange your worldly ff ” a airs . 1 12 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST The scene which followed this declaration f would be very di ficult to describe . The poor virtuoso violinist was at his wits’ end to imagine some means of extricating himself from the effects

th e of frantic order he had just heard, and which , he felt convinced, must be due to some serious misunderstanding that placed his life in immediate

jeopardy .

At last, after many supplications, entreaties,

and bribes (especially the latter), it was agreed between them that Lolli should be permitted to

write a note to the E mpress imploring her pity . The Chief of Police so far gave way to the suppli t cations of the despairing ar ist, whose talent

he really admired, and he consented to forward the note to the palace before ta king any further

steps . But not daring to present himself before the E Reliewsk mpress, y hurried to her private secre C Brus k tary, ount y , and explained the whole

matter to him . The Count thought tha t the Chief of Police

must have gone out of his mind nevertheless, he

took the note, and shortly afterwards found his

way to the private apartments of her Majesty . E When the mpress learnt what had happened, “ she threw up her hands and exclaimed, Great powers of Heaven ! what a horrid business ! G0 C i s at once, ount, and relieve the poor v olini t from

1 14 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

Norte C I . is taken , but from that of atherine , wife

of Peter I . ( Peter the Great) . The career of the

. C latter was far the more romantic atherine I .

was of peasant extraction, a girl whose remark able beauty and amiable manners raised her from the lowest ranks to be crowned E mpress of P Russia ; but Catherine I I . was born a rincess

( Sophia Augusta of Anhalt, Germany), and of these two women she was the most despotic and licentious . A writer in an English encyclopaedia ( 1 79 0) says : The celebrated performer on the violin,

Lo s E 1 8 . S lle ( ic), came to ngland in 7 5 uch was his caprice that he was seldom heard , and so eccentric were his style and composition that by many he was regarded as a madman . He was, however, during his lucid intervals, a very great and expressive performer in the serious style .

The words, during his lucid intervals, would, nowadays, render the writer liable to an action for libel .

With regard to his compositions, it has been said that Lolli never wrote more than the violin b part, obtaining the bass parts from other ands

. H which is, perhaps, another libel e has left, besides several solos and some duets for two “ V P violins, a Treatise on the Art of iolin laying .

And it is curious to note that this artist, who AN EPISODE OF ANTONIO LOLLI 115

P was born nearly sixty years before aganini, has written some of his solo passages of considerable

e s t n lo compass to be play ed upon th fourth ri g a ne. “ So t there is nothin new exce t wha t rue it is that g , p ” s or otte m i f g n, as the illiner of Marie Antoinette s once observed to her royal mistre s . A REMIN ISCENCE OF VUI LLAUME

IN 1 8 6 the month of April 5 , my good father had agreed to meet the Russian Count Gerebsoff in Paris on a matter of business concerning some railway concess ions in which one of our friends was deeply interested, and, fortunately for me, he decided to ta ke me with him . I was then ’ ma n quite a young , with a doctor s diploma about one year old, not knowing exactly what to do ! with myself, and already engaged to be married

We left Brussels by an early train, and drove through Paris rather late in the evening of the i same day . The fine streets and w de boulevards were brilliantly lighted, and I shall never forget the vivid impression made upon me by this dazzling sight on the occasion of my first visit to a city in which I was destined to reside so HOt l long . We found the famous e Maurice in the Rue de Rivoli rath er too full ; no comforta ble ha d th e rooms were to be , so we drove to more r HOtel modest but more comfo table de Tours, far R in the Place de la Bourse, not from the ue 1 1 6

1 18 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

N . . Vuilla um th e St. F e of Gallérie Hubert, Brussels

uthier Da rch e (where the clever l , , also had his “ ” shop), said to have been a brother of Jean

Vuilla um e Baptiste , though , I fancy, he once told ” me he was his cousin . But I do not intend to inquire more minutely here into the pedigree or family tree of Jean uill ume P Baptiste V a of aris . I am only going to say a few words of this remarkable man as I knew him . I need scarcely inform my readers how he n became celebrated . Every o e knows how his industry and perseverance raised him from next to nothing to the very highest rank Of violin-makers and experts ; how he was one of the cleverest imita tors of the old Italian instruments ; how he v became acquainted with that mar ellous dealer, the L Ta risio i pedlar violinist, uigi , whose stock of n ’ s trum ents t he purchased after the lat er s decease, including, we are told, some of the finest violins the world has ever known .

Vuilla ume When I first saw , he and George Chanot were the two greatest makers and experts otli er that France, or, indeed, any country, knew t t t t m a ha i e. As my father and I strolled into the Rue Croix

C Vuilla um e des Petits hamps, we found Monsieur standing at his shop door it was about ten o ’clock

- . s in the morning He was a tall, well dre sed, dark

- man, with black whiskers, and clean shaved upper A REMINISCENCE OF VU I LLAUME 1 19

E n t lip and chin, rather more like an nglishma han a Frenchman , except as regarded his exceedingly

. H a fla bl polished manners e was very e. From his dark eyes there ca me a bright gleam that lit up an open, honest countenance ; but, at the same h time, I remarked a s rewd expression that denoted n a clever man of busi es s .

I asked him if he would sell me a violin bow, one of his own make— one that would not

h s ta cca to . whistle, and t at would do the easily In those days I fondly imagined that the stiff ” ta to s cca , which is so great an ornament in solo playing, depended almost entirely on the bow . In n after years I found that, like everythi g else in art, it came only by long and steady practice . Vuilla um e gave wa y to my weakness and i n experience with that courteous diplomacy which r oi H was cha acteristic him . e gravely informed me, in slow and distinct terms, that to perform the “ s t a to l a cc we l, I should choose a bow that is not ff h too light, and rather sti (I never t ought of asking him whether he played the violin himself). I replied that I should rely entirely upon his judg ment to choose for me a bow for th at particular purpose and it was agreed that I should give him

-five twenty francs for it, which was five francs more than I had given for a very good bow in

Brussels seven years previously . In the course of a few minutes Vuilla ume was 120 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST kind enoug h to choose for me a very excellent

bow, which I still possess, and use almost daily,

and which has served me in many a concert . Meanwhile my father entered into conversation e with him , and we passed a very agre able half hour together . Vuilla um e was evidently pleas ed at my father insisting that he should stamp his well -known

name on the bow, which he did at once . Then I handed him my card, and told him where we were h staying, intimating that I had no violin wit me, and asking if he would let me hire one for the fortnight N “ o, he said, I will send one round to your hotel ; you can bring it back to me when you leavel ’ Then how much shall I deposit as a security ?

asked my father, thrusting his hand into his

pocket . N Vuilla ume othing, said , smiling .

As we were perfect strangers to him, this

generous conduct surprised me not a little . But as his manners, as well his appearance, were those

of a thorough gentleman .

The shop was rather small, but excessively neat,

and it was crammed with violins, violin bows,

&c . &c. cases, boxes of strings, pegs, , My good n atured father paid for the purchase, and we a took our dep rture . But , on leaving rather too

122 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

in - hour the morning, and another half hour in the

evening, to my music . There had been some humorous conversation

in the little shop about this violin . I told “ Vuilla ume playfully that it need not be a S a G tradiv ri nor a uarneri, but one that I could ” “ . H play upon e replied, I will send one with

which you will be well satisfied .

- It was a violin of a yellowish brown colour, and

somewhat raised pattern, of an old appearance,

a was in perfect condition, e sy to play, and had a

very fair quality of tone . B a efore leaving P ris I returned him the violin , n t with ma y cordial thanks for his kind at entions,

and purchased a supply of strings and some rosin,

with which to return home . In our second conversation I learnt from him “ that to avoid th e production of whistling how “ sounds from the the strings must be good, ” and that it is well to use always the same rosin . ” But some bows will whis tle in spite of every thing— especially if there is much scent flying a ir about in the of the concert room . Those of E D our great nglish makers, Tubbs and odd,

never do .

sta cca to n C Then, as to the bowi g, of ourse it was did not come all at once . It conquered, not ’ use Vuilla ume s di s by the sole of bow, but by

z carding delusions and la iness . I will do him this A REMINISCENCE OF VUI LLAUME 123

e a strok of justice, however, with reg rd to the ’ excellent bow he sold me ; after many years

- practice, and when sixteen to twenty four notes

’ ff s ta cca to of sti had become child s play to me, I ’ Vuilla ume s found, and still find, that is really the best bow in this respect of all that I have tried . I have now related what I saw of this remark m n ia 1 8 6 able a April 5 . In the following June I P went to live in aris, and occasionally purchased strings at the little shop in the Rue Croix des P C etits hamps , but I never saw him again ; he wa s always away on business or at his villa in the suburbs . ’ Forty years ago Vuilla um e s violins were selling

L 1 wt ow a nd c e R i h a b a s . in ondon for £ 4 , ecently a friend of mine, a professional violinist, gave £9 4 — a Sivori for one without a bow a nd ca s e. C millo played upon a Vuilla ume violin during the whole of his brilliant career, and a finer tone was never heard . X I V

THE YO UTH O F AUBE R

HEARING recently (for the first time for many

- Mas a niello years) the brilliant ballet music of , as arranged for the military band o f the Royal S Marine Artillery at outhsea, set me thinking of one of the greatest of all French composers, and of the visit I paid him when he was at the head of the Paris Conser vatoire de

Musique . L C ike herubini, to whom he succeeded in n that position, Auber in early life was a violi ist ; h and, as occurred with our own c arming com th e poser, Balfe, it seemed, at first, that violin wa a s to claim him s a devotee for life . The delicious melodies dispersed throughout th e operas of these two last-named celebrities are certainly due in great measure to the violin training of the musicians . The elegant open ing passage of the overture to the Crown

Dia monds in F ra Dia volo , some of the songs , the charming tenor air in La Sirene (of which De B riot a the great violinist, é , has actu lly 8 24

126 CONFE SSIONS OF A VI OLINI ST

e 1 00 0 E l nt to about £ a year, nglish money, which was truly marvellous at that period . But the great Revolution which broke out in 1 7 8 9

th e t th e ruined him ; and his son , fa her of

1 composer, seeing, about 7 9 5, that he would never inherit much money, started in business

- Rue St. L z as a print seller in the a are , and thus laid the foundation of a new fortune . The house next door was the residence of a friend of mine, where, during four consecutive

e I y ars, passed many pleasant hours collecting material for my “Scenes from the Reign of L XVI I ouis . , on a new edition of which am now occupied in my leisure moments . The child born at Caen was christen ed Daniel

Francois E sprit . His father was an amiable and clever man, very fond of music and painting his business was successful, and he had many artistic friends who often spent pleasant musical

. But evenings at his house , like all persons C connected, however distantly , with the ourt, the revolutionists did all they could to harm

- him . The honest and successful print seller and picture-d ealer was obliged to hide himself from the vile madmen who argued with the aid of

the the axe of guillotine, and governed their

e country with th ir feet in pools of blood . It was only when the Revolution wa s on the ’ e D d cline, during the irectory, that Auber s father THE YOUTH OF AUBER 127 could return to his business ; he then called his artistic friends again around him , and began to look seriously into the education of his son . From early childhood young Auber had manifested a very decided taste for music . His father provided him with several masters, but his principal early instructor was the violinist Lamare of Caen ; and the lad soon became a as capital player upon the violin, Mozart had been before him ; at the same time, however, he studied the Violoncello and the piano under

La durner . At eleven years of age the future author of

' Ma s a mello and F ra Dia volo composed several little songs, some of which were sung, between the dances, by the young beauties who frequented the evening parties of that period . One of these

Bon our songs, called j , had a wonderful amount of success, and became quite the rage . But Auber was a youth of so timid a nature that thes e early successes appeared rather to alarm him than to incite him to advance . He was afraid of becoming a successful artist : he shunned notoriety, and actually begged his father to put him into some commercial house or business .

- In a very short time, however, book keeping proved distasteful to him . 128 CONFESSI ONS OF A VI OLINI ST Not daring to displease his father by suddenly throwing up his employment, he consented to P L a leave aris for ondon with young friend, ’ a banker s clerk, nominally to study commerce and perfect himself as a man of business, but in reality to accept invitations to musical parties, a where his songs were much appreci ted . L Here, in ondon, he composed some quartets

V Th i wa s for harp, violin , ioloncello, and piano . s during the peace which had been signed at Amiens ( a 8th March 1 8 02 ) and was not destined to last long .

Auber was then eighteen years of age, not

- a nd bad looking, of very amiable manners, a S soft heart as regarded the ladies . oon, however, the rupture of the Treaty of Amiens put a st0p

c - a to all this musi and love making, and, fter having resided here sixteen months, the youth P ri returned to a s, more unfit than ever for commercial occupations . ” “ I c r ! Well, de la e exclaimed his father, on his

’ - 0 son s return to the print sh p, you will make ! a splendid man of business Why, you know P ” no more now than when you left aris .

ue wax-ta re — I Q , fi only care for music, replied the other . Ah ! villainous vagabond that you are !

- continued the good natured father . Well, play d away, compose music, and become a distinguishe

130 CONFESSI ONS OF A VI OLI NIST

’ Whilst this little opera fulze was being r e

a e d he rs d, Auber, who conducted, notice one of a the violinists, whose bow seemed rather uncert in, and whose eyes were fixed upon the beautiful

‘

n ma donna . p , instead of upon his music This ” musician not only forgot his repeats, but played ” right through his silences, and actually lost his place ! As this man was playing the part of first violin, Auber was obliged to stop the orchestra and demand a repetition . At the same time he approached the violinist who was in fault, and timidly remarked

e My dear sir, be so kind as to pay the gr atest attention to your part— everything depends upon it He would probably have said more ; but he ‘ was interrupted by the violinist, who rapidly ex claimed “Very likely l— I do not deny it l— but please look at ‘ Julie Did you ever see such an exquisite figure or a more lovely face What do you think of it ? Have you noticed the delicious contour of her arms and shoulders ? the won derful expression of her eyes ? the sublime arching P s ir u ermit me, , interr pted Auber, in his turn . N ” o l pardon me , continued the stout little m a n , letting his violin fall into his lap pardon

me, I am more of a painter than a violinist, so THE YOUTH OF AUBER 13 1 that when such a lovely model is placed before me I am quite lost in admiration, and the music must take its chance That is how Auber first made the acquaintance of Ingres (in who afterwards became one of the most celebrated of French painters ; and the intimacy lasted more than half a century . Paul Delaroche was another very celebrated painter with whom Auber was intimate . To return to the little opera : the orchestral w music was ritten for first and second violins,

and Vi cohtra ba s s first second altos, oloncello , and in all, six pa rts . We are assured by those who “ f heard it that the ef ect was delicious, and that some of the pieces would have done credit to the greatest composers .

Among the distinguished men who were to be met with occasionally at the musical gatherings Rue St L C in the . azare was herubini . To give some idea of the great popularity he enjoyed in the minds of the musical public in Paris at this

e time, I may r late a little anecdote which was told of him whilst he was at the head of the C onservatoire de Musique . th e O The son of a bass singer at pera, a young student who had had th e good fortune to be s C admitted to the classe , happened to meet heru in bini the great corridor, and said to him 13 2 CONFESSI ONS OF A VI OLINI ST

e Monsieur, I am xtremely obliged to you for having granted me permission to enter the classes

C e of the onservatoir as a pupil and, now, please permit me to ask of you another great favour

e pleas , Monsieur, be so good as to let me have a bass voice like my papa . What Cherubini answered to this I do not know . It was then arranged that young Auber should C v become the pupil of the great herubini, pro ided he would pass a sponge over all his little successes and commence his musical studies again from the very beginning . This was consented to on the advice of his father . Cherubini may have had some partiality for

Auber, seeing that both of them had laboured to a certain extent at the violin . Anyhow, he took

N 1 8 0 8 him to the etherlands in , and introduced P C him to the rince de himay, a great patron of a art, at his ch teau, near Ath , to which I have before referred . There Cherubini went for a holiday, devoting himself to the study of botany,

. N and to playing billiards evertheless , he wrote “ h is celebrated Mass in F for the little chapel

a e e St. of the ch teau , wher it was perform d on ’

1 8 0 . Cecilia s day 8 , for the first time

O e S e 1 8 1 2 n a second visit ther in ept mber , Auber made his second attempt at Operatic com

s t n r e e e th e po i io , p oducing a littl pi c of which all

13 4 CONFESSI ONS OF A VIOLINIST

' ' our Mllta e the author of the Sq z zm, to writ another

e po m for him . This was a little opera called

' Le Testa ment et les Bzllets Doux . It was brought

1 2 0 out in 8 , but with no greater success than s the first ; evidently, the poem did not in pire the

e musician . His old prof ssor came once more

‘ P n to the rescue, and la ard, under considerable

ma es tro La Ber ére pressure from the Italian , wrote g

Cha tela ine , an opera in three acts . This obtained

a marvellous success, and for the first time

’ Auber s name became thoroughly popular .

Three months after the production of La ’

Ber ere a . g Ch tela ine, Auber s good father died

He died, thanking Heaven that he had been allowed to live long enough to feel certain of the future eminence of his talented son .

Fortunately for the musical world, Auber did not inherit much wealth otherwise, his natural e timidity would, probably, hav prevented him

wa s producing any more works . As it , he was not a good enough violinist to travel as a soloist, neither was his knowledge of the piano and the

’ o o So Violoncello that of a mrtu s . he had to rely chiefly upon his very decided talent as a com poser . 1 8 2 1 E In came out mma or, the Imprudent P ” romise, which is said to have been as successful as the above-named opera ; and better was still THE YOUTH OF AUBER 135

to come when he had the adva ntage of meeting Sc with ribe, whose name in the world of lyric a rt h as long been linked with his . Their acquaint w a in u ance as m de in the follow g sing lar ma nner . One morning a letter from a writer of va ude i E e e S e v lles, ug n cribe, was handed to Aub r . In th is letter Scribe requested permission to borrow

‘ La Ber ere Cha tela ine one of the songs in g , for the w t . s a s Gymnase Thea re The permis ion g ranted . Then followed a visit from Scribe to Auber to n s n s tha k him personally for thi kind e s, and from that moment thes e two celebrated men were inseparable it was the cas e of Bellini and Romani— the mus ician had found a poet whose subjects and words inspired him to write some of th e most elegant a nd brillia nt music of our

. s the l bretti L s oe C time Beside i of e t q, The rown ” La re Ma s a niello F ra D Si ne Dia volo iamonds, , , , there flowed from the pens of Scribe and Auber

’ ’ ’ cret Le Ma a n L Amba ssa d Haydee on le Se , y , n ee, Le

' B nze Ma non Les ca ut Le La c des Fees La ro , , , P a rt

’ Fia n Ma o a rta Gus da Dia ble La cee rc S ta vus I I I . , , p , , th e and some other works, names of which escape me at this moment, all more or less t successful operas, and some hat created a s ensation throughout the world .

' O th e La Muette de P orkei f latter, perhaps,

Mas a niello a nd th e ( ) is the most noteworthy, 13 6 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLI NIST circumstances in which it originated are certainly u c rious . in e De a A s ger, named Madam sbrosses, had fi C S e bene t night at the Opera omique . crib and Auber went in together to see what was going

e D ots da ns on . It was a tiny opera call d enx M D s la Fortt. For some reason Madame esbro ses S Bi otini had induced a friend of hers, ignora g , l an Ita ian mimic and dancer of great talent, to i n play a pa rt this little work . At the conclusion S e of the piece crib touched Auber on the shoulder, and sa id ’ My dear fellow, I ve got an idea ! R I xc e m i eally e laim d Auber, s iling s a rca st cally .

! L . W Yes, really isten to me e have no r O e g eat singer at the p ra just at present, and if we could ma ke our prima donna a dancer— a — I o ff mimic think we should pr duce a great e ect . What do you think ” s e e Perhap so, repli d Aub r .

La Muette de P ortici That is how originated, based on the story of the revolution at Naples led by the fisherman, Masaniello, and a greater e success was never achi ved on any stage . In the libretto of this Dumb Girl of Portici Scribe

had the assistance of his clever friend, Germaine D elavig ne . The music was rehea rsed during the D 1 8 2 month of ecember 7, and the opera was

13 8 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINI ST du e R D c d upon me by the works of ossini, onizetti,

B V [ I Trova tore ellini, and the new opera by erdi, , Frezzoli ni which I had just heard at Paris, with , Alboni , Mario, and Graziani, for whom it was k written , that I decided upon ma ing this visit to Auber . t I found him , in spite of the warm wea her, seated in his armchair before an immense log of

a . elm blazing upon the he rth He was alone,

e la looking over some scor s, several of which y

upon the table in the centre of his large, dingy C room at the onservatoire . He received me most r cou teously, and we spent some time chatting together .

Auber was then a man of medium height, “ neatly dressed, wearing the ribbon of grand om er L t c of the egion of Honour, still s raight in lli in stature, and active . His features were te gent and agreeable rather than handsome, and x had a marked benevolent e pression . Having hea rd what I had to say on musical subjects, he expressed his opinion that it would not be impossible for a person accustomed to study as I was to conquer the secrets of harmony, unguided by a professor ; but if I could secure the services of a competent master it would save a great deal of time and shorten the road con

s idera bl . y If, however, I should adopt the former

z plan, he advised me to use the work of Ba in THE YOUTH OF AUBER 139

Ma delon (the composer of the beautiful little opera ,

a - and many other works), which was the cl ss book

th e C a n ff w of onservatoire, d he o ered to sho it to me . f his To this ef ect, he rang bell, and a man a servant entered, by whom he sent a mess ge to one of the masters, requesting the loan, for a ' ” e . few minutes, of Bazin s Tr atise on Harmony In a short time the reply came that it was then being used in the class, but that Monsieur Auber

l -a - could have it in the course of ha f n hour . t I hanked him, and intimated that it would be quite s ufli cient for me to take down the name of the book . Auber most kindly wrote w be it upon a slip of paper hich handed to me, and which is yet among my collection of curiosi ties, though I have a still more valuable auto e graph of his . Aft r some further conversation he shook me heartily by the hand and I took my departure . In after years I often thought of this interview and it came most vividly to my mind when the distinguished composer of La Muette and F ra Dia volo succumbed to the effects of the siege of

- Paris at eighty six years of age . Throughout his youth Auber had to compete with the beautiful and brilliant music of the

Italian school, beside which most other composi tions seemed pale and vapid . When Guilla ume 140 CONFESSI ONS OF A VI OLI NI ST

Tel 1 8 2 l came out in Paris, in 9 , nothing could

e Muette live beside it on the op ratic stage . The de P ortici (Mas a niello) of Auber a nd the Robert le Dia ble of Meyerbeer could alone attempt to vie D with it . uring the greater part of his long a s Hérold career Auber had as French riv l , , l Meyerbeer, Halevy, Ado ph Adam, Bazin, and a large number of other eminent musicians never th eless , by the aid of his natural talent and great

perseverance, he succeeded in carving for himself on the tablets of the marvellous nineteenth century

an immortal name .

142 CONFESSI ONS OF A VI OLI NI ST

Let us remember that the earth turns quicker

on its axis than it used to do in former times, E as uler, the great German philosopher, once

pointed out very clearly . The earth is gradually

e g tting nearer to the sun, he said, hence its rotation must be more and more accelerated as time advances . The days and nights are shorter,

e the months and y ars are shorter, and life is

quicker, to make up for it all . We perceive

a re nothing of this, as our clocks and dates

’ regulated on the earth s movements ; but as

a consequence, men and women now live to

about one hundred years, whilst they merely

lived to forty or fifty some few centuries ago .

But to return to my friend, the violinist . He writes

ba l You may remember old Perrot, the lerino , with whom I used to have some trouble

at times, when he could not manage to get

’ his entrecha ts exactly with the leader s beat ;

but you will not remember Marie Taglioni, that exquisite dancer who brought him out ;

you must have been a mere . schoolboy when d D she retire after a glorious career . ear me ! how it ta kes one back to the good

- old times, to the days of Malibran Garcia,

De Bériot La bla ch e , Paganini, and the g reat , with the voice of a bass nightingale ! P D But I am forgetting old errot, the ancing THE “DANCING FROG ” 143

’ b e a Frog, as we always called him since p p ea red in that extraordinary character in one ’ of Taglioni s most successful ballets . Well, my ! good friend, he is just dead We all mourn his loss intensely, and it makes me think of those happy days when I , who had never got more than a second prize at that vile old Con s erva toire , managed, somehow, to get to the O desks of the first violins at the pera, and the Dancing Frog ’ used to come and learn his

11 ea r music 0 by at my rooms, and scold me ‘ ’ ‘ ’ about the accent or rhythm, which is every in thing, you know, ballet music, and my old landlady often threatened to expel me because

I played in the morning to oblige him . But I should never cease if I went on talking about D ’ the ancing Frog . Yes he is dead ! but he has left a fortune t 2 0 000 which some say amoun s to about J£ , of E your nglish money, but I think it must be

i C r less . His w fe was a lotta Grisi, the celebrated dancer, no relation whatever to Giulia Grisi, the no less celebrated singer, and wife of Mario de Candia . And to whom do you think he has left his fortune ? To Marie Taglioni Desvois ins (the grand-daughter of our divine Marie Tag

e lioni), that tall, fair girl, with larg , blue eyes, who has figured here in the ballet since I ” retired . 144i CONFESSI ONS OF A VI OLINI ST

Th e writer goes on to inform me th at the

T i e Des vois ins great dancer aglioni marr d , a be handsome fop, who haved very ill to her, and she took her son, her only child, to E be ngland, where she resided to away from her husba nd . But the lad would not become a naturalised E nglishman , and so, in time, he was drawn F H z in into the rench army . e was at Met , B the army of Marshal azaine , where he was mortally wounded . Marie Taglioni and Madame Leboeuf (a cousin a L oe by marri ge of Marshal eb uf), who had also

a wounded son at Metz, found their way there f with the greatest di ficulty, and just in time

to see the poor young man before he died . On his death- bed he confided to his mother P that he had left a young infant in aris, a

few months old, whose mother was dying of

consumption . Taglioni took this orphan grandchild in hand ; she educated her with great care as a dancer ; for she knew that she would have little fortune

to leave her .

Perrot owed everything to Taglioni, and when he came out as the “Dancing Frog he estab lis h ed his reputation and the basis of his for

tune . Being a prudent man, who had seen

great hardships, he amassed money, and took

146 CONFESSI ONS OF A VI OLINI ST

C He appeared with his wife, arlotta Grisi , in

E 1 8 ngland about 44 , at a time when she was at the zenith of her fame ; that is when I saw her dance, as mentioned in Chapter II . of the present volume . Her performance was exceedingly graceful and powerful ; and I do not remember having seen any premiere da ns eus e to P equal her, with the exception of Mlle . lunkett ; f but the latter had quite a dif erent style, excelling

e more in slow movements and graceful attitud s . Carlotta Grisi excelled especially in the valse movement, and there is a little piece for violin o L and pian , by Herz and afont, called after her, which gives some idea of her beautiful style of

dancing . XV I

THE MUSIC OF DE BERIOT

B UT 1 8 0 A O the year 5 , my violin master in

' ’ e re etiteur in Brussels, who, b ing the p the class of

De Bériot th e Cons erv a toi re R a l de Mus i u at oy q e, d and a personal frien of his, was well acquainted

' with all the peculiarities of this great violinist’s

compositions, once said to me : If you play the music of De Bériot you will never care to ” play any other . There was an immense amount of truth in that remark and it held true with me for many long But now years . though I cannot say that I have ’ played more of De Bériot s than of any other ’ s e i compo r s music, st ll I consider him the greatest

writer for the violin that ever lived . The rea s ons why many have done less with his mus ic than might otherwise have been the s f case is, firstly, becau e much of it is di ficult ;

and secondly, beca use it is not easy to find pianists capable of playing the a ccompaniments s be to his concertos as they hould played. Ma ny ’ of our E nglish violinists can play Tartini s old 1 47 148 CONFESSI ONS OF A VI OLINIST

’ llo del Dia oolo Wieniawski s fas hioned Tri , Airs ’ ’ s B o Russ e , or eethoven s and Mendelssohn s Concert s (compositions written more or less in the orches v tral style by pianists), and se eral have per M P tuo ata ee e formed the p of Paganini, and even

u eni rs de Bellini Artot Ron the So v of , and the de des a zzini Lutins of B with tolerable success . But it requires a much greater artiste to play a concerto r by De Bé iot. Few violinists of any country i n our day have either the necessary style, nor can they produce s ufli cient tone and expression

nta bile in the ca passages of these fine compositions .

When, some years later, I went to live in Paris ,

s accompanists formed a distinct profession . The e men were scholars of the Conserva toi re who had no fixed appointments and few pupils ; they

2 0 0 managed to make an income of about 35 a year by accompanying instrumental soloists and singers

- at receptions and in the concert rooms, and by rehearsing in the morning the songs and scenes of the various operas with the great tenors and Of prime donne the hour . This was between 1 8 60 1 8 50 and , and two hundred pounds a year was a very comfortable income i n those days s for gentlemen of that de cription . E We have in ngland in the persons of Mr .

e Be . C o Franc sco rger, Mr laude Trev r, and Mr . t Bird, to men ion only a few, some of the very fines t accompanists ever known ; and I have

150 CONFESSI ONS OF A VI OLINI ST

f e character, but also very beautiful and ef ectiv ,

La Muette de P ortici L notably (with abarre), his

S duct r s a ns P a roles chubert s , and the Ope a by De Bé ot n ri and his so . There is a fantastic or comic duet, also with his son, which is more curious than beautiful . Then there are certain

D Fa nta i sies sur des showy fantasias, namely, eux

Airs Russ es Anda nte Va rie Nocturne Reveus e , an , a , a ,

e F a is ie L ri ue Leo a S rena de, a a nt y q (dedicated to ’ nd a nard, a in imit tion of the latter s style), to

- which I must add s ome difli cult Etudes Ca ra tti ns ti ues Tou bil n An lus Sa uterelle q r lo g e , , and his

’

S l hide Le Ba s ue Tms tess e &c . y p , q , , , all short pieces, s s but extremely original . Beside the e we have his

N 1 NO . 2 two Scenes de Ba llet ( O . and ) and his

- Etudes Melod ues r Thirty six iq , full of o iginality and

E le' ie us of excellent style . His g , a posthumo work ’ De Bériot s E cole Tra ns eenda nte taken from , is B an exceedingly fine composition in minor, and his Violin Method is known to most s profes ors .

V ls e de Concert His a is very clever, brilliant , and ff e ective ; but the theme is poor, and as a com

Va ls e Duo position is not equal to his little , written

’ De Béri t for amateurs . The va lse movement is o s weak point ; it is always in the old Tyrolean

t . style, very pret y and elegant, but tame His — Souvenir de Weber is also rather a failure what we should term a pot-boiler b ut such a THE MUSI C OF DE BEBIOT 1 51

’ remark applies to very few of. De Béri ot s com positions .

’ O Airs Va n e’s th e 2 nd th f his p and 9 are, per f C haps, the most e fective ; but, like the oncertos, d fi they are if cult, and we seldom see them on concert programmes . They require perfect mastery of the fourth string, double stopping in 3 rds,

6 1 0 s e ths , ths, and octave , besid s a fine tone and

a much expression . The f vourite Concertos are

I s t th t the and 7 , which are, perhaps, ra her easier th is than the others, except the 9 (which taken ” C from his Violin Method . The Sixth oncerto is exceedingly brilliant, and was written expressly for the competition of the pupils of the Brussels S Conservatoire in 1 8 49 . The econd Concerto is the most beautiful of all , but is rather too long ; it

as A nda nte et Rondo is generally played in part, the De Bériot Rus s e. This is the piece which once e C played at the house of the Princ de himay, a s C and which , we are told by the ountess Merlan,

ff c gained him the a e tion of the young, beautiful, -G and talented Madame Malibran arcia, already a celebrity, whom he afterwards married . ’ De Bériot s Tremolo n , on an air of Beethove , f when well played is highly ef ective . The late

Ca rro us s Mr . d was among the few violinist capable

De Bériot of performing it . is considered the inventor of the tremolo bowing ; but it is a kind of performance which requires much practice to 152 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINI ST

o bring it to perfecti n, and also the possession of a v iolin of brilliant quality. Many other

s Artot Leonard &c. composers, e pecially , , Papini, , have since introduced this kind of bowing occa s iona lly into their compositions ; but it seldom succeeds as it did with De Bériot himself and some of his favourite pupils . .

Les Trois For Ca nta bile with fine tone, we have

Bou uets q , three small concert pieces, which require a great power of bow and much express ion they have s ome rich double stopping also . For young players he h a s written his Mel odies

I ta liennes e a nd , in thre books, a great number of elementary duets for violin and piano, on some of O the finest peratic airs of his day . ’ In these multifarious compositions De Bé riot s knowledge of all the resources of the violin is

ha rmonic constantly manifest . His treatment of s s pa ages, chords, and double notes, is finer than in s the work of any other composer . In his melodies we can sometimes trace reminiscences e of the finest operatic works of Bellini, Aub r, V Mercadante, erdi, and others ; and when it is not so, they are essentially Tyrolean in character,

Air Monta na rd th e for instance, his poetical g , and ’ ’ ' ’ delicious theme of his Neuvi eme Air Va n e. Although De Bériot never wrote a tarantella h is C as a solo piece, the rondo of Tenth oncerto (tempo di ta ra ntella ) is one of the most beautiful

XV I I

’ THE OELLO PLAY ER O F SW ARTZFELD

DURING my travels in the Rhenish provinces and

Waldeck I heard many a curious story, but few ’ better than that of th e cello player of Swartz feld . It wa s about the middle of June 1 8 65 that k we had just arrived from Fran fort, my father and I and whilst h e went to make some inquiries at the railway office with regard to the tariff for carrying ironstone and copper ore from some of the mines on the twenty- eight miles of concessions which he had recently purchased in Waldeck from

e n the German Governm nt, I sat chatti g with Herr

e v Kratz, the notary, in a comfortabl little ta ern Z i at immersrode , smok ng one of the best cigars

z I could procure at Frankfort, while Krat caused large curls of blue smoke to issue from his long off pipe, and from time to time tossed a glass of

-fl v r d full a ou e Moselle . After various topics had been discussed with my new acquaintance, he suddenly turned to me and said ’CELLO PLAYER OF SW ARTZFE LD 155 “ Your father tells me you are a violinist ; I thought you were a mining engineer “ ” I am a little of both , I replied, smiling . ” H Well, I also am a musician, said err Kratz, “ V Did but my instrument is the ioloncello . you ever hear the story of ‘ the ’cello player of

Swa rtzfeld ? O n my replying that I never did, he pro

eeded n t c to relate the followi g curious his ory, which I give as nearly as possible in his own words Ludwig Holbein was a man of forty-five

D 1 60 years of age, who was born in ecember 7 , the greater part of whose life was spent in

V n playing the ioloncello, givi g lessons in music, and in endeavouring to find out whether his S o Kloz instrument was made by Gasparo da al , ,

— e Matteo Bente, or Matteo Albani all four c le b a ted . r makers, highly appreciated in their day “ ’ Anyhow, it was a splendid cello, with a tone like a human voice ; full, sweet, and powerful, which he knew well how to manage . His broad shoulders were bent rather for ward from long habit of playing ; and his small grey eyes peered from beneath his bushy eye

a a brows with direct, se rching glance , that had been acquired by reading the faint a nd small characters of the manuscript music he generally used . 1 56 CONFE SSIONS OF A VIOLINIST Holbein well remembered the day that he

c e purchased that Violon ello . He had gon to Botz en whilst the great Tyrolean fair wa s in full

h e swing, and where played at all the balls upon

e e a wr tched, cracked instrum nt that he had hired on this occasion for the small sum of fifteen

z t e kreut ers a week . When h festivities termi na ted , and he had received his pay, he proceeded with some fellow -musicians to the Pfeiffer tavern S P at the foot of the High treet, near the latz, where they all indulged in a bowl of punch . It wa s under the influence of that potent beverage that he was induced to purchase his fine old

e instrument for the enormous sum of fifty thal rs,

1 03 . E . about £7 , nglish money He knew it was far more than he could afford ; and when he returned home Frau Holbein and her moth er flung some very harsh and disagreeable words at him— some say the elder lady flung a pewter mug a t him ! Swa rtzfeld is beautifully situated among the hills of th e Tyrol ; it lies in a little valley amidst i slopes covered w th beech and pine . The scent

of the beechwood is perceived everywhere, except in the pine forests, where the odour of turpentine

. r e prevails Fields of y , flax , or barley, and some rich pastures have been formed in the valley on th e lower slopes of the hills where the woods have been cut and cleared away .

158 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINI ST

many of them, indeed, would go into ecstasies L of delight on hearing udwig play a solo, and would offer to pay glasses of beer all round to induce him to play it once again . “At home there was scolding from morning to night— and sometimes also from night to morn ing ! The two women had made a perfect slave ’ oo - r of the poor, g d natu ed cellist ever since he s H was married, twenty year before . e was t — obliged to do every hing milk the cow, feed the fowls, chop the wood for burning , light the

fire in the morning, sweep out the parlour, heat

’ th e oven to bake the bread, go to the butcher s fl every week, carry home the our, the meat, the lard, the grocery, the oil for the lamp, the vinegar for the salad, dig up the potatoes n for dinner, help in washi g the plates, the pots, and the linen, besides a lot of other ’ things which I have forgotten, said Kratz, and a ll this had been going on for no les s than ’ twenty years ! “ In order that there should be no mis take W about it, his tyrannical and peevish ife had made out a list of all these things which she con s i red L de it his duty to perform, and if udwig happened to forget any of them a torrent of abuse and vituperation poured forth from the two women which almost drove him out of his sober senses . He would be chased up and down ’CE LLO PLAYER OF SW ARTZFELD 159

stairs, or out on to the road, pursued by these dames, armed with a thick stick and a hatchet . Once the poor man locked himself up for n early three hours in a kind of closet, fearing that his wife or his mother-in -law would chop OE his head ! “At last things had come to such a pass that he solemnly declared that he would do nothing that was not down on the list, and that all the rest of his time should be devoted exclusively to music . This, after a good deal of arg ument, was finally agreed to by the two ladies . “It was not very likely he had much time to practise his Violoncello ; and how he managed to go through his musical duties it is impossible

. N to conceive evertheless, Holbein had a pupil ,

a sweet girl of eighteen, who was a naturally

gifted songstress, and of whom he was already Sh very proud . e was the daughter of the

Swa rtzfeld burgomas ter of , an honest farm i bail ff ; but, whilst quite young, she had lost i both father and mother, and now lived w th

two maiden aunts . “ C was lara Halse, for that was her name, a

- o high spirited young w man with large, blue

eyes, a bewitching smile, splendid fair hair,

which , tied with blue ribbon, hung down in H r two thick plaits far beyond her waist . e features were regular and expressive— she was 160 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

H ’ almost a beauty, and under olbein s tuition

e she had become a r ally fine singer . “One day Ludwig Holbein was in the act of transposing a song to suit the rich contralto h voice of his fair pupil, w en the angry tones of his mother-in- law called him to help her in wringing out the linen and hanging it up to H dry . is wife had gone to the other end of the village to buy some cheese . H o e was b und to obey. It was down on the list. Some of the linen lay in a heap on the

Th e - meadow . washing tub, made of planks of beech nearly three feet wide, was very large and

- - . Ho h eimer in deep Frau pp , the mother law, was

e a little woman , and as she bent over the edg of the great tub to seize some linen that was beyond her reach , she fell, head foremost, into

difli cult e the water . With much y she manag d r to raise her head, and sh ieked to Holbein to pull her out .

O ! ‘ not h dear no he exclaimed, that is down On my list Ho h eimer You brute screamed Frau pp , pull me out at once ! ’ ’ L ‘ Wait a little, said udwig, I may be mis taken— but I do not think it is on my list— I a will go and see . If not, I will pl y you a solo H ’ on th e Violoncello till Frau olbein returns.

162 CONFESSI ONS OF A VI OLI NIST

master being engaged as first Violoncello in the w orchestra of that establishment . It as a great

success, and it was shortly afterwards followed by

another, at a concert in the same town, on which occas ion Holbein brought out a new piece of his

Die Wa s c w nne own composition, called h a (The

- Wash tub) , which was written in remembrance of

the singular accident above related .

At first this piece, like all descriptive music, was not quite understood ; but when the story n w which inspired it got k o n, it became very

popular, and was called for wherever he played .

The first part was quiet and melancholy, depicting w his former retched condition ; the second part, r on the cont ary, was exceedingly sprightly, and

ff double a r e io the wonderfully e ective p g g chord,

with which it concludes, was understood to represent the tipping over Of the old lady into the monstrous wash -tub ! ” “ is There a report, said Kratz, as he concluded, “that the manuscript of this remarkable work is s still preserved, with some unpubli hed pieces by S in Johann ebastian Bach, the old library at Botzen but I have sought for it without success ‘ ’ in the Catalogue of Manuscripts contained in ” that venerable institution . XV I I I

THE THEORY O F TONE

A G REAT deal has been said and written about the tone of musical instruments in general, and of the u violin in partic lar . Yet it is evident that a great deal of obscurity still surrounds this important question which affects makers of instruments as well as players .

I may, perhaps, be able to write a few words here which will explain to some extent what is , at present, so little understood by the greater number n a of musicia s and musical instrument m kers . S In my article on The Third ound of Tartini,

The Stra d 1 8 8 which appeared in for August 9 , I have endeavoured to explain the theories of R Tartini and ameau, on the production of a “ third sound when two notes are produced V together on the violin or the ioloncello . It is now known that when a s ing le note is sounded by any instrument, or sung by the voice, other vibrations of the air are produced which “ reach the ea r simultaneously as harmonics to the primitive sound . 164 CONFESSI ONS OF A VIOLINIST

N ow, it depends upon the production of these “ ( harmonics their number, and their intensity, whether the note in question is what we term rich or poor . s s If this were not the ca e, all human voice e l would poss ss equa charm and power, and the c same would o cur with all other instruments . With the violin it may happen— in fact, it does happen far too frequently— that certain notes are full and fine in quality whilst others are thin and

. Th e G D weak in the medium, or the (second

fi ne - string) are often , full toned notes, whilst the C (second string) and F (first string) are wretchedly

thin, dull, and poor in quality . The reason of this is that when the bow produces the two first

the r ea ter ortion notes mentioned, g p , or, maybe, the whole of the ha rmonics of thos e notes are produced at th e same moment, and with more or less intensity according to the sonorous quality of the wood whereas in the second series of notes mentioned “ most of those harmonics are wanting . In the same way the tone of the human voice passing through the telephone or phonograph loses to a great extent the harmonics of the note uttered ; so that a tenor or soprano voice 1 0 worth , let us say, £5 or £ a night, thus becomes by the loss of its harmonics worth perhaps a shilling or eighteen -pence— if anything

at all .

1 66 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLI NI ST n ess of quality which when once heard is scarcely

ever forgotten and is always appreciated, even by

ca rs the most uncultivated . 1 8 2 In 7 , a celebrated maker of violins at P B a rt adua, Antonio agatella, made known the of constructing a firs t-rate in strument without

having recourse to any model, but simply by

means of the compass and the ruler . An extract of this Italian work is given (with illus trations) by Mangin and Maigne in their Ma nuel du Luthier P a : Roret 1 2 0 s ( ris ), page ; and one of the e G writers says that he saw, in ermany, two a nd V B violins a ioloncello , by agatella, which , “ to use his own expression, left nothing to be desired either as regarded tone or beauty of

‘ . S appearance ome others, however, have as s orted that this mathematical work has not pro duced the results expected from it ; but perhaps fi it has not been suf ciently studied . Certa in modern makers of violins have pro fessed to have discovered all the secrets of con o v structi n of the iolin , with mathematical

precision, instruments having all the wished for

quality even when quite new . I cannot yet say from personal experience how far this has been realised but judging from a number of very excellent violins which have Vuilla u come under my notice of late years by me,

C P E Pa normo hanot, Withers, erry, Trapani, berle, , THE EOR O ONE 167 M TH Y F T a ucotel Tononi few , , and a others, it has rarely

been completely attained . However well the above theory may satisfy

the mind as regards the nature of a perfect tone, it is difli cult to apply it practically in the con

struction of a violin . The actual work, probably, will be like medical practice— mostly empirical

for many years to come . It is evident, however, that a ttention to the minutes t deta ils is a most potent factor in this respect ; and it was by giving that

attention to the sonorous quality of the wood,

its form or model, and its precise thickness at various points, which has been found, by long experience, to answer best , that the greater makers of th e eighteenth and nineteenth cen turies have outdone their rivals . The construction of a violin of perfect tone is one of the most arduous and difficult under e takings, and one which, r quiring as it does g reat practical knowledge combined with skilful handi craft and patience, is very rarely attained . It is, therefore, not at all surprising to those whose

. l ives are devoted to the musical art, that when a violin perfect in this respect happens to be met a with , its value is expressed in l rge sums of money, whoever may have been the maker . X I X

HENRI W I ENIAW SKI

I W AS a very young man when I met Wienia ws ki

O 1 8 at stend in 55, and he must have then been

it be only twenty years of age, if true that he was born at Lublin in Poland on roth July 1 8 3 5 but he looked at least ten years older than that .

He had a younger brother, Joseph , who was a very clever pianist .

’ My attention was called to W ienia wski s violin V E h playing by my friend ictor eck out, son of in a celebrated Flemish pa ter, and a very promising

. th e artist himself He, like all young men Of

’ W ienia wski s that day, raved about playing, speak “ ” nu dia ble s ur le violon ing of him as , or as a “ ” second Paganini . We have had a good many second Paganini ’s since then !

C Siv ri I had recently heard amillo o , Vieux ki Mi Konts S la nollo e e temps, , and ignorina , b sid s th e b t others less known to general public, u scarcely less eminent violinists ; therefore I doubted the value of my friend’s enthusiastic N e praise . everthel ss, time has proved that he 1 68

17 0 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST contact with Henri Wieniawski ; he was not a Vieuxtem s personal friend of mine as p was, but

I have heard much of his music . I have studied many of his pieces, and, like every one else, I admire his talent . At that time he was a man of barely medium height, rather stout, dark, and with a pale oval face and regular features ; he looked at least eight and twenty years of age . W ienia ws ki Like many other great artistes, owed his success to his natural musical gifts, P the excellent instruction he received in aris, and his indefatigable perseverance . When only eight years of age he took lessons there from C a clever professor named lavel, and in the course of about a year he was able to enter th e C th e - onservatoire, in the class of well known

Flemish professor, the late M . Massart . Under this a ble instructor he remained for two years, w after hich , as a young boy, he set out on a

e concert tour in Russia . Though aft r his two

’ years training with M a ssart he had gained the first prize of the Conservatoire under Alard

S ra s a te (as a did ten years later), this premature ’ concert tour taught W ienia wski s friends that he had yet much to learn ; and he returned to Paris to complete his musical education . He C then took lessons in Harmony from olet . It has been stated that at this early age HENRI W I E NI AW SKI 1 71

W ienia ws ki could play the twenty-four Capricci

P tour de of aganini, which was considered a force on the part of Ole Bull when in his

. But prime , after all, music does not con sist in tours de force ; and if any one asked

’ me which of Wienia wski s compositions best

indicate his musical talent and his poetic feeling,

Cha ns on P olona is e O . 1 2 I should say his , p , and his ' W Le ende O . 1 . g , p 7 ith regard to his celebrated

P olona i se in D , which first broug ht him into notice, f it is, undoubtedly, a very clever and ef ective work which can only be performed by the greatest O artistes ; but the pening melody, which runs t th e R hrough piece, reminds me of a edova which

S - was played by acré, the dancing master, who came to Ostend every season to give dancing

’

s . o les ons and children s balls He played the vi lin ,

not the piano, and at the balls led a string quartette which played such excellent dance music that

d . many, who did not ance, went to hear it This ’ Redova so often heard at the children s balls after ’ wards found its way into Wienia wski s P olona is e

in D ’ .

e At about sixte n years of age, the young violinist

E os o began to travel through urope as a vi rtu ,

meeting with great success wherever he played . 8 60 St P In 1 he settled in . etersburg for twelve

years, during which time he made several concert 8 2 tours through E urope . In 1 7 he sailed for 172 CONFESSI ONS OF A VI OLINI ST

S the United tates, where he accomplished a very

Ru . O successful tour with binstein, the pianist n his return to E urope in 1 8 7 5 be replaced Vieux temps for two years as th e head of the Con

rv t ir r e s e a o e at B ussels , the latter being oblig d to relinquish this high position on account of rheumatic paralysis of the arm .

Vieuxtem s e W ienia ws ki When p return d, set out again on his travels but, unfortunately, his health gave way, and his medical adviser found that he was s nflering from disease of the heart . He played at Paris for the last time in being unable then to stand during the performance he

e . Sa d e played s ated to relat , whilst his health broke down his fortune was also being undermined by his insatiable love of gambling and his dis s i a ted h p , irregular abits . He finally succumbed o 1 8 8 0 to heart disease at Mosc w, in , where he had been living for some time, teaching, but not playing in public . It has been stated that he gambled away all his money as fast as he made it by his concerts, and died a pauper . But he had insured his life for

0 00 about £4 , and it is to be hoped his poor d th e wi ow had advantage of that . He had E married an nglish lady, Isabella Hampton, to

’ whom he has dedicated his Leg ende ; and I am told that she still resides in Brussels . W ienia ws ki has left a good deal of violin music

1 74 CONFESSI ONS OF A VI OLINIST

’ Wienia wski s the possessor of violin , a beautiful

Amati, which I have been informed Hubay pur f W ienia ws ki chased o Madame , after the death of her husband, for the sum of francs, or

£640 in E nglish money . And I see it stated in

tra d 1 0 1 Z The S for April 9 , that Herr ajic, another

e 8 00 Hungarian violinist, gav £ for his instrument . E vidently Hungary is the country in which to sell

- a violin at a tip top price . XX

A DUET W ITH A THI RD PART

THERE are some grand duets for violin and

- l u el piano ; for instance, the well known Guil a me T l duet by De Bériot and Osborn ; and I even prefer to this the Ga zz a La dra duet by the same

Ba i l e composers . Their rb er de Sevi l is also very

fine indeed . But these all require artists, both for violin and piano ; they are as much beyond the reach of ordinary amateurs as are the concertos of De Bériot beyond that of ordinary artists . But that great violinist has written many very beautiful compositions on operatic subjects in which both violin and piano parts are intended for students and amateurs . They form a pro

ress ive g series, the earliest numbers being quite elementary, and they can be recommended as very charming compositions for young persons and excellent studies for accompaniment .

It was one of these, if I remember rightly,

’ ’ ‘ based on a lovely theme from Donizetti s L Ehs ire ’ d more A , that was being performed by young 175 176 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINIST

E o Va lledori S nric and his aunt, ignora Bertoldi,

s oinfe mus ica le at a in Florence, one fine autumn evening of the year 1 8 The boy -violinist had received some lessons from the renowned Guido P apini, and was already beginning to give proof

. H a of decided talent is aunt, being good pianist, wa s anxious to show off his budding accomplish

ments to her numerous friends . So S 1 8 , in eptember just before the schools

were about to reopen after the holidays, she invited her young nephew to pay a visit to the

’ V Vista ri illa , and, after a week s practice, when ’ ’ he could play his L E lzsire d Amore in a tasteful and

expressive manner, she intimated to her husband

that she would like to give a musical evening .

This was soon arranged . About a hundred persons belonging to the best families in the neighbourhood were duly invited ; and almost every one of them accepted the

invitation . Bertoldis The were rich and influential people . Signora Bertoldi and her husband had resided V l V t for many years at the i la ista i, a charming

residence on the banks of the Arno , and they were blessed with everything this world can

ofl s rin bestow, except p g . Hence they had taken considerable interest in their young musical

E Va lledori nephew, nrico , son and only child of

a brother who had failed in business, and was

178 CONFESSI ONS OF A VIOLI NIST

Shortly after all the guests had arrived , a young i servant g rl, about twenty years of age, remarkably

- good looking and very neatly dressed, entered the hall of the villa, carrying a brown paper parcel .

Addressing herself to one of the servants, she told C him that Count and ountess Alari, who were

- among the guests in the drawing room, had for gotten to have the overcoat of the Count and certain wraps of the Countess put into their r ca riage, and that, as the old Count was very s ubject to take rheumatism if exposed to the night

and air, she had hastened to bring these things, would be glad if he would put them in the ante ’ room with the Count s name upon them . The manservant said it would be all right . “ ” “ And be sure, added the girl, that you do

’ a a s not place nything on the parcel, Madame s w cloak is trimmed ith very delicate feathers, ” which must not be crushed . ” All right, again replied the footman, and the girl withdrew . After awhile the loud buzz of conversation in

- the drawing room was hushed, and the music began . It is impossible here to give a detailed account of the programme, which had been carefully con structed and written out on gilt- edged cardboar d S B by ignora ertoldi herself. After a brilliant per forma nce on the piano came a song by an amateur A DUE T W ITH A THIRD PART 179

th e basso, who g ave the audience benefit of M ’ u Non i a n ra his interpretation of ozart s p d i . ff This produced a rather extraordinary e ect, but

was nothing to what about to follow . The young violinist and his aunt then began their duet for violin and piano on Donizetti’s ’ ’ L El s r i i e d Amore. The opening bars were very well played, and everything gave promise of an exceedingly pretty performance, when , in the

i l a nta b ll m dd e of the exquisite C ile that fo owed, a “ most extraordinary third sound was heard, and heard very distinctly . At first it appeared as if the boy-violinist was h is playing part in double notes, some of which were decidedly out of tune . It was certainly not “ the mysterious a nd luscious third sound of i Tart ni, about which so much has been said and h ff written . Altoget er, the e ect was so surprising that the guests looked at one another in astonish ff ment . And, as this e ect increased rather than diminished , the astonishment became more and more intense, bordering, in fact, upon alar m . It was not believed that such an extraordinary effect could be naturally produced upon a violin — unless th e evil spirit had something to do with “ it— e P ven in the hands of a youthful aganini, n h as Aunt Bertoldi fo dly called her young nep ew .

A duet with a third part in it, such as this, had 180 CONFESSI ONS OF A VI OLINIST

ear never been h d before, even by the fastest and th e F most fashionable of lorentines . At las t Signora Bertoldi and some of her more intimate friends thought it necessary to inquire s ff Sh e what was the cause of thi singular e ect .

’ u stopped playing, and looked p into her nephew s face . It was an inquisitive glance, as much as to “ ” say, What on earth are you doing ? But his “ blank countenance merely replied, I am not — doing anything at all, dear Aunt and this was s perfectly true , for he had then al o ceased playing . And yet this extra ordinary third pa rt in the duct continued to be heard all by itself ! It could only be compared to the squealing of an infant, and evidently it did not come from the violin after all ! It proceeded from the adjoining ante-room where the cloaks and hats of the guests F was had been deposited . inally it traced to the brown paper parcel left by the pretty servant girl for the Count and Countess Alari and upon its being carefully opened it was found to contain a charm ing little cherub of a child about five months old . C C As the ount and ountess Alari, when appealed to, most decidedly declined to own it, and solemnly declared before all present that they knew nothing

- whatever about it, the good natured Signora

Bertoldi, having no children of her own, at e once d cided to adopt it herself, and handed

18 2 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLINI ST violin studies under a distinguished pupil of Giova cch ini Giovacchino ; and some day, per haps, she may play a rea l third part with her adopted mother and the young gentleman who

now passes as her cousin . XX I

ARTI STS AND AMATEURS

HAVE I met with a small pamphlet, printed in “ E 1 6 ngland in 7 5 , which treats of some Ancient Writings dug out of the Ruins of the old City of ” Herculaneum , from which I extract the following curious particulars as given in the language of that day, and remembering that Herculaneum was

A D. destroyed 79 . “In the chamber of an ancient villa in the middle of a garden has been found a number of rolls about a palm long, and round, which appeared like roots of wood, all black, and seem ing to be only of one piece . One of them falling to the ground, it broke in the middle, and many h letters were observed , which proved t at the rolls 1 0 were of papyrus . There were about 5 of them

f z . of dif erent si es They were in wooden cases, t much burnt, and the rolls so hard hat they appeared one solid piece . It was sought to split them asunder, but that was found impossible . A V t length a writer at the atican , Padre Antonio, was mentioned to the King of Naples as th e 1 83 1 8 4 CONFESSIONS OF A VI OLI NI ST only man in the world who could undertake this ffi B di cult matter . y great patience the good Padre succeeded in unrolling a pretty large piece wa s of the papyrus . It found to be the work of a Greek writer , and is a small philosophical

’ USIC tract, in Plutarch s manner, on M , blaming it as pernicious to society, and productive of f softness and ef eminacy . It does not discourse ” on the Art of Music . No ! not very likely and little did this ancient scribe imagine what wonders the Art of Music was to perform in the world during the next eighteen th e hundred years or so, until at last, towards end of the nineteenth century, a prime minister of Great Britain declared that the violin had done as much for civilisation as th e steam-engine ! C V Bé riot When harles incent de , only son of

M - Bér iot dc the celebrated alibran Garcia , was at

wa s school with me in Brussels, he allowed two hours every afternoon to practise the piano by himself in a small apartment which looked on oun la roun to p yg d . One of these hours was taken from his attendance at classes, and the other from the time allowed for recreation . So , when we looked up at his window as we l issued into the p ayground, he must have felt his imprisonment rather keenly ; for, as he caught sight of us, he would make g rimaces and grin at us as we passed by .

186 CONFESSI ONS OF A VI OLINI ST

Paris at the time he came and settled there ; and one day I received from him a very kind t invitation to at end his musical evenings, which took place once a week ; but unfortunately I

was never able to go, having other engagements of the same kind which occupied all my spare

moments . L ong before the time just alluded to, there

P P Orfila was in aris a young ortuguese , by name , who was one of the finest tenor singers ever heard b ut he could never be induced to adopt music

as a profession, and he has left a name as the

author of a great work on Poisons . His life wa s

about equally divided between music and science,

and that has been exactly my own case, with the

addition of a little literature . B O Thalberg, Hans von ulow, le Bull , Mario De C ( andia), Hauman (the Belgian violinist), N S n orman almon (our oted baritone), and many

other eminent musicians, have all drifted from the ranks of the amateur into those of the pro fess ion by force of accidental circumstances ; so that there is really no hard and sharp line between

diletta nte the and the artist, as so many persons

appear to think . It all depends upon the time that can be devoted to th e study of music and the gifts which nature has bestowed upon those

who undertake such study . The violin is often spoken of as the most diffi cult ARTI STS AND AMATEURS 18 7

s of instruments ; but, when ma tered, it is that which gives the greatest pleasure and when an amateur can hold his own in public with a favourite prima donna (especially when he appears where he is a stranger and s uppos ed to belong to th e musical profession) he may be entitled to rank as an artist .

That has also been my case on several occasions, and I heartily thank Providence for the many en m en us j oy ts thus ca ed me .

The . chief obstacle to the success of the a mateur as a soloi st is that he or she is too often tempted to come forward with pieces that are fa r beyond ’ the performer s powers ; many artists make the same mistake . The simplest compositions, if good, f will prove most ef ective, if they are played in a thoroughly artistic style . I remember one evening in a crowded concert hall obtaining a very great success with that ex ” uis ite P S q little piece by apini, entitled olitude . It wa s composed while his wife was absent for a wa s “ time from home, and he left to deplore u e his solit d , as he expressed it in a letter to

me . When I played it I imagined my dear wife was also absent, though she was really at the piano ! Many solo pieces are too long they fatigue not

only the player, but the audience also, unless they

are very beautifully played . This is especially the

- case with the old fashioned Air with Variations . 188 CONFESSIONS OF A VI OLI NI ST

’ Ba zzini a rillon In playing in public s fine solo, Le C ’ d Arr as , I give the introduction, the air, the two

first variations, and the last (which forms the finale to the piece), omitting the two others which are

fi efi ective dif cult and not very . I heard not very long ago some variations on c a the l rionet by the celebrated Mr . Egerton (the L worthy successor of my old acquaintance, azarus). After the second and third the a udience was in an

ecstasy of enthusiasm , but when he gave two more his hearers began to look upon him as a

machine, and cooled down accordingly, although h at the finale t ere was, of course, quite an

ovation . ! ! Ah you artists you never know when to stop, ’ and you take each other s pieces, just to show that ca n you play them, until the public is sick of hear ing the same compositions over and over again, when a little striking novelty would be so much more welcome ! Imitation is the bane of the a rtist and the m a ateur .

I must confess that from early youth to quite late in life one of my greatest ambitions has been to appear in public concerts with pieces that none but an artist could possibly perform . It was a weakness— very inherent to human nature— but a wea kness which has caused me to work till I be

190 CONFESSI ONS OF A VI OLINI ST which I overheard as it issued from the rosy lips of a beautiful girl of twelve summers, at R " whose request I once played a omance, by P my friend Guido apini . At the conclusion of the piece she turned to her father and said, “ ” The violin talks, papa l

To charm requires a large style, a fine tone , t g reat leng h of bow and perfect finish , excessive neatness in ornaments, and complete absence of bad taste or vulgarity . With regard to bad a n tas te in performance d in the choice of music, it is a frequent pitfall for young players . It can only be corrected by being strictly pointed out by the professor, and by hearing great singers or g reat violinists as often as possible . In many cases it is exceedingly difli cult to o t c rrect, and a studen should be very grateful to th e master who pays particular attention to this subject . “When an artist has succeeded in raising a hifl ” little w of jealousy, says a friend of mine, he may claim to have really achieved an enviable position ! But I never knew a really g reat artist who ever displayed anything approach ing to jealousy .

Besides my numerous concerts I have all my life had much music at home . My mother gave many brilliant musical evenings during ARTISTS AND AMATEURS 191

l C Putne her residence at The edars, y , in the sixties and seventies ; and for the last ten years of my excellent father ’s life I used to play to him very frequently in the afternoon, whilst he

s smoked his cigarettes and sipped h i coffee . As my house was not far distant I generally managed to be with him from about four to six every O a ccom a ni afternoon . n these occasions my p ments were played either by my wife or by t my mo her, who was still as good a pianist as ever . I kept one of my violins at The Cedars for that purpose . The pieces he most delighted in were the Second Concerto and E ighth ” é Of De Bé riot a a l Ven e Air Vari , the C rna v de is

Of Souvenirs de Bellini Of Artot Paganini, the ,

R o enir de some omances of Papini, the S uv a n la M ts D c uette de P or Ca utere of , the tici by B rio L &c De é t and abarre, . ; and if my wife happened to be present she would sing some

violino obbli a to Italian songs with g . So we had a little private concert almost u e every afternoon, and a considerable n mb r of

pieces in our repertoi re.

1 fin ro rt on the river ba nk nea r Putn Brid e with Thi s e p pe y ey g , a nd its ma nificent old trees on the o osite ba nk Ra nelag h House g pp , wa s utterly des troyed by the railway coming a cros s the river and he London nd outh -W throug h th e g arden. T a S estern Ra ilway Com ’ u ht m father s h ouse soon a fter his dea th a nd afterwa rds pa ny bo g y , o n with all the ad a cent houses i rder to i m pulled it d w , j , n o bu ld s a ller

ones tha t would let more eas ily. 192 CONFESSIONS OF A VI OLI NI ST

La his - nd ter, when dining room on the g rou floo th e e and was r, looking over gard n river, t a sf in o o eca was r n ormed t his bedro m, b use he

e t w th c too w a k o go up and do n stairs, e musi a nd w ceased, the piano in the larg e dra ing o a s r om bove lay ilent . There he slept wa on th e rst O t be 1 8 8 a y 3 c o r 7 , in his eighty ou h ear ed e ec e m e f rt y , lov , r sp t d, and ad ir d by ll a who knew him .

194 CONFESSI ONS OF A VI OLINI ST not lost his spirits after a course of seven long miles, and two more left to be done . “ Every flake of snow will be a florin in our “ pockets, Hans he exclaimed ; this weather w ill drive everybody into the taverns, and the S Golden wan will be crammed . “ th e I hope so, indeed, I rejoined, but snow w gets deeper, and I doubt hether my boots will hold good to the end of the journey . “ I s F f the wor t comes to the worst, said ritz, there is the old cobbler at the corner of the Alts tra sse ou e , who would let y hav a new pair n very cheap . He says he k ows no lad of eighteen ” who plays the violin like you . C G ei erein You mean arl g , who wants to buy my old violin ” F z Cre Yes, said rit , did he not call it a ’ mona, or an Amati I don t know which . How ” ever, he would do anything to please you . N a ow, I never could conceive what induced th t

z e cra y old man, who played a littl , to imagine that he could do anything he liked with my F violin ; and I s aid as much to ritz . “ You see, my dear Hans, replied the latter , pe ople think it all depends upon th e instru ment ! Out in the world one gets no credit for r L all the ha d work at the music school . ook what you had to go through before you could play leading violin in our Society and look at THE W AI TS OF NEUSATZ 195

’ the exercis es I have done on my cello since I ” was nine years of age .

ol Gei erein Well, I added, d g will have to get on without my violin ; for I made a vow to Gretchen that I would never part with it it was that day, you know, that she danced ’ with the burgomaster s son, who is in that Hussar e Sh e o h r giment . als fancies t at it is the violin that does all the business As the truth must be told I would never h ave made this long journey through the snow had n it not been for the pleasure of seei g Gretchen .

I adored that girl , and I fancied she cared for

’ me more than she did for the burgomaster s son . To see her attending to the numerous customers G S at the olden wan, with her brilliant red skirt

k v falling just to her an les, and black vel et bodice, her long, fair hair in a thick plait reaching to her comely waist, her rosy cheeks, and laughing blue eyes, her pretty embroidered apron, and neatly- laced shoes— any one in his sober senses would have fallen in love with her in five — a t di . minutes least, I d, in less time than that

Sh e w came from my village, and we had al ays treated each other at Neusatz as brother and v sister, which I imagined was a ery good beginning . S The whole of our ociety was to be there, but th e others had gone by another road the 196 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLI NI ST

. Dreich en day before There was old , the

a - a R C contr b ss, and his two sons, upert and arl, e excellent s cond violins, Pratten, the clarionet, e and two other violins b sides myself as leader . The money gained was to be equally divided among us, and for Fritz and myself a little room in the attic at the Golden Swan had for been secured four kreutzers a night . N t We reached eusa z after dark, and found that the good-natured little Gretchen had lit a

e fire of beech logs in the stov of our room, at which we hastened to dry our clothes, and roasted some chestnuts . In a short time Gretchen herself came run ning upstairs and knocked at our door . We let her in . ! ” “ Hans, my dear Hans she cried, I am so glad to see you ag a in ! Mother says you are both to come down and have some supper with us . Fritz said he would like nothing better ; and I m ust confess that the cold wind and long walk had given me a keen appetite . S o we really enjoyed our plate of ham, with some brown brea d and cheese and a delightful sensation flowed through my veins when Gretchen laid h er soft hand upon my shoulder as she placed a jug of beer upon the table by my a nd side, whispered in my ear that she had

198 CONFESSIONS OF A VI OLINI ST a s ked me to lend him my violin till next mom a t ing . He pressed very h rd, and, hinking it w u G e e se . o ld please r tch n, I at last con nted Go Sw G When I returned to the lden an, ret chen s eemed very much pleased at what I had a nd done, as Fritz and I retired for the night sh e allowed me to steal a ‘ kiss from h er behind r the cella door . N ext day, immediately after breakfast, the whole of our Society went to play before th e ’ s e be burgoma ter, in honour of his daught r s

r th a l W e s t o . hastened to the Open pace before C e e the ourt Hous , wh re we placed our music

G i r i stands . e g e e n had brought back my violin early in the morning . Just as we were about to begin I opened my cas e and took out the instrument upon which my livelihood depended but I started back with s u e ! n but s rpris It was not my violi , a mo t u s r i h e r s perb in t ument, nlaid wit p arl and ivo y, w c s r es i ith long handsome orner , g een d g ns, and e o o on a gold n coat of arms, with a m tt the ba ck . For the moment there was nothing to be done — but to play ; and we did play better, perhaps, than we had ever played before. G th e a re Herr ustav Kleinich, burgom ster, warded us with a little linen bag filled with a nd e e s ilbergroschen, his lov ly daughter s mil d THE W AITS OF NEUSATZ 199

t graciously upon us as we received it . We hen

s e ha tened away to other parts of the littl town , where we again played for smaller rewards ; and finally we got back to the Golden Swan at dusk to consult about a ball that was to be given

’ on the following day, at three o clock in the after noon .

' ' Whilst I was enjoying a sweet tete- a-tete with e Gretchen, and felt exce dingly happy, three police f as o ficers entered the tavern, and, quick lightning, ordered all the doors to be closed and no one to move . w s We ere much frightened, and my thought naturally centred on the costly violin upon which w o I had been playing all day , but hich n ne of my companions had noticed, as I had not drawn their attention to it . Fra en ffi we Frau pp , cried the first o cer, have come to examine the papers of the mus icians staying at your house . The worthy landlady trembled from head to foot . E r e c i The Graf von lbe f ld, he ont nued, “ e has been robbed of a very valuabl old violin, stolen from Schloss E lberfeld on the evening

2 0 h e of the t instant, and we have trac d the steps of the thief in the sn ow from the said castle all N z a d Alts ra ss e to the way to eusat , n along the t ” this tavern . 200 CONFESSI ONS OF A VIOLI NI ST

All th e members of our Society were struck m el dumb with a stonishment and fright . I ys f m v ust have turned ery pale , for I could not help believing that must be the violin then in i my poss ess on . Our papers were found to be all in order and whilst old Dreich en and his two sons wer e e e having theirs examin d, Gretchen pull d me by th e arm a nd thrust me quickly behind the cellar o s o t s d or, hat I was out of ight, but could hear a was all th t going on . s i The paper , so far, are certainly all r ght, fi “ said one of the police of cers, let us now examine the instruments — there are five violins ” e N e her . ow, you fellows, open all the cas s . E r ve y one opened his box . Mine lay under a bench nea r the stove I hoped it might escape notice . No such luck ! W ui f hose box is this inq red the o ficer .

’ ” Klo T s s en s e . hat is Hans , said several voic s Where is he

He was here just now, said some one . Thinking it would be safest to come out of my hiding-place and explain everything to the police, I stepped forward and whilst I opened

- my violin box I tried, with all the experience of

e fi my eig hte n years, to convince the of cers of my complete innocence .

It was to no purpose. I was not believed

202 CONFESSIONS OF A VI OLINI ST

’ straight back to my father s house in the Black

Forest .

As for the cobbler, he narrowly escaped being confined for life in the Asylum for Idiots at

Stra ss furt a E , but the Gr f von lberfeld was so v rejoiced at recovering his valuable Amati iolin, that he would not prosecute the crazy old man, and actually ordered him to make another pair of Hessian boots ! Ne e However, the Waits of usatz were brok n up by this unfortunate occurrence, and the members of our Society found employment e se e e l where . I have not seen Gretch n sinc , but I have heard it said that she hopes to

’ r mar y the burgomaster s son, who is in that s — e Hu sar regiment a young man who, I f el

e . convinc d, will be the ruin of his family XX I I I

G I RARD AND RO BBEREOHTS

THE Rob two eminent violinists, Girard and berechts th e , were born same year and died the same year ; they were both born in 1 7 9 7 1 8 60 and both died in , in Paris, at the age

i - of s xty three years . But there was a slight difference in age Girard saw th e light in February and Rob berechts D in ecember, so that the latter was e nearly a y ar younger than the other ; Considering the great reputations these two s distinguished men have left behind them, thi is a curious and interesting circumstance ; th e e ve more so, that their resp ctive careers were ry E different . ach had his own path in life difl erent e marked out by a route, yet both b came famous . The exact bir thday of Narcisse Girard is not 1 known, but it occurred in February 79 7 , at

Mantes in France . His parents were not rich in ' du é they kept a café the Place March , or i O Market Place, of that old prov ncial town . n 203 204 CONFESSIONS OF A VI OLI NI ST

th e the death of his mother, who probably had wa s chief management of the establishment, it obliged to be sold . Death almost always makes r a nd es g eat often unexpected changes in famili , and in this case, as a consequence of the sad ff occurrence, one of the e ects of the breaking up of the ca fé was the sending of young Girard to P aris, where an elder brother had some employ ment . His brother received him very kindly, and after awhile was able to procure for him some P appointment in the establishment of rince Murat . Of what nature that appointment was I am not aware ; but it is evident that the youth must have made himself remarkable for his love of music, and his budding talent as a player upon th e P violin . It is also evident that rince Murat th e must have liked lad, for when he proceeded N G to aples he took him there, and irard was entered as a student in the celebrated Cons erva torio i n Z r of that city, which institution inga elli , Mer cada nte Sir C , Bellini, the late Michael osta, and many other eminent musicians derived their education . 1 8 1 In that most memorable year 5, young

e Girard, then ighteen years of age, returned to s P C France, and entered him elf at the aris on s erv oir a t e, where he studied for three years longer, at the end of which time he took the

z first pri e in the violin class .

206 CONFESSI ONS OF A VI OLINI ST which appeared rude to those who did not know him . He left a widow, for whom a splendid e wa s b nefit concert given by the Conservatoire, and which brought in a good round sum of money . André Robberechts was born in Brussels on

1 D 1 the 3 th ecember 79 7 , and made rapid progress on the violin under Planken, a Flemish

es . 1 8 1 G prof sor In 4, one year before irard, he entered as a student at the Paris Conserv atoire ; but when the E nglish and their allies entered the capital , that school of music was closed for a Robberechts time, and went for lessons to the renowned Baillot . It was then that Viotti happened to hear him play, and was utterly surprised at the magnificent tone which the young musician drew r from his inst ument . Indeed, he was so much oflered struck by this, that he immediately to give him some instruction . The young Fleming f accepted this kind o fer with g ratitude, after v ha ing obtained the consent of Baillot . The l latter not only gave his consent most wi lingly, but cordially th anked Viotti for his great generosity in this respect . So it happened that Robberechts spent several V years under the eminent iotti, and travelled to L ondon with him, where these two great players V were occasionally heard together . iotti always GIRARD AND ROBBERECHTS 207

Robberechts considered the finest of all his pupils, R though some give that honour to ode .

1 8 20 R bber ht In o ec s returned to Brussels, where he obtained th e appointment of first violin N solo to the King of the etherlands, William I . Then it was that he had as a pupil the afterwards

C e Bériot celebrated harl s Aug ust de , to whom he transmitted the immortal principles of Viotti . R S 1 8 0 After the Belgian evolution of eptember 3 , Robberechts P went and settled in aris, and was often heard in concerts in that city and in the P provincial towns . He died suddenly, at aris,

1 8 60 in May , being taken in less than an hour

- from a widowed mother eighty four years of age, whom he adored and for whom alone he lived. The modest funeral service took place on the 2 th 1 8 60 C N D 4 of May , at the hurch of otre ame L de orette, in presence of a small number of devoted friends ; and immediately afterwards , his C D aristocratic friend, ount oria, published a i notice of the great violin st . XX I V

THE STEP-MOTHER VIOLINIST

IT is not every day that we hear of a step mother violinist ; a nd many will declare that e they never heard of such a p rson . Well, “ ” such things have happened, to use a phrase employed by Plutarch . vi The art of playing the olin, so prominent

E C . in ngland since the days of harles II , is va now culti ted, more or less enthusiastically, in all parts of the world, if we except a few islands in the Pacific Ocean and the frozen N h as u Polar regions, where ature a pec liar music of her own, which some of our modern composers have endeavoured to imitate . w It is, therefore, not surprising to meet ith romantic episodes which have occurred in un a t expected places various times, and have had the violin as the orig in of very remarkable re

' Y es ! - s ults . there was a step mother violinist

L vski in the amateur orchestra of Prince o , at

Warsaw . It is barely seven years ago since Prince ” 3

210 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLI NIST

Boromiwa ts chsk Ba ka loa fsk ex y and y , proved c ll t e en second violins . R S iona llsk Another ussian, named p y, who was

e not much liked by the Poles, was nev rtheless a s tolerated a first violin, and there were a few

e ladies, besides the Princess, the most cl ver of whom , perhaps, was a gay little woman , the

C Chemisoff O rlofl ountess , a cousin of Madame , both of whom played among the first violins . But I cannot stay here to des cribe this motley

nor w group of amateurs, the music with hich they appeared to delight one another, except to mention that, on the occasions of these meetings, some duets for two violins with orchestral a o comp a niments attracted a certain amount of attention, and drew many visitors to the little concerts at the Chateau . The performers of thes e duets were Princess Stefa netta and her

- S . step son, Prince tanislas This state of things had continued for about two years, when it was noticed that the young

e Prince, who had been in delicate h alth for

e some time past, b came very seriously ill . There was an expression of pain upon his handsome

e s features, a dark circl around his larg e, expre sive

e ey s, an unnatural pallor upon his sunken cheeks, ' which betokened nothing good . His appetite and his strength were rapidly declining, and his w ff . N violin playing su ered like ise evertheless, THE STEP - MOTHER VIOLINI ST 21 1 music seemed the only thing in the whole world that he cared for . Lovski Prince , the fond father, who doted

upon his only child , was much alarmed , and decided to obtain the opinions of all the best n k own physicians in Warsaw . But the state of the young man puzzled every one of them ;

and, what was worse, they all gave the father the most contradictory Opinions— not one agreed with the other . N Lovski ow, Prince , in his student days, had V known, at the university of ienna, a clever t young fellow who, later in life, had set led down M n uda dert as a medical practitioner at , a kind f O suburb of Warsaw . This man had the repu ta tion of having made some very remarka ble

r cu es . He had a wife , a pretty woman, who was i a good pian st, and he himself played very

beautifully upon the flute . The Prince talked seriously to him about th e S i n malady of the young tanislas, and finally duced him to join the amateur orchestra, that he might keep the young man under his careful

Observation .

It should be stated that this doctor, whose

Seeli s ki name was p , owed everything to the Prince ; the latter it was who helped him to V n complete his studies at ienna, and who eve tu ll i a y establ shed at Warsaw, as a physician, this 212 CONFESSI ONS OF A VI OLI NI ST

s s wh o wa s ma n of poor trugg ling tudent , a very humble parentage . But Seelipski was one of the very few p ra cti — tioners wh o posses s the real ocfielus medi ci the “ eye of the physician - a man wh o s a w at a wa s glance all that going on in the head, the

a th e &c. he rt, the lungs, kidneys, the liver, , w ithout even feeling the pulse, or taking the a temperature of his patient . In less th n half a n-hour he h a d found out the nature of the ailment from which the young Prince Stanislas wa s s f and uf ering, that had puzzled all the — grea t doctors of the capital h e was in love . But there remained another important part of the problem to be solved— who wa s the young person who had captivated his imagina his t tion, and upon whom whole houghts were centred) S Prince tanislas, said the doctor one day “ to the young man, you have told me that the object of your a ffections is beyond your reach — - let me see what can be done who is she ? " “ ! Pr S Alas said ince tanislas, with a long a “ dr wn sigh, I cannot tell you that ; it is a secret that will die with me, like the double harmonics of Paganini ! ” and a sickly smile stole over the delicate features of the heir to s i the estate of Lov k . “ d Then I must find it out, for I am determine

214 CONFESSI ONS OF A VI OLI NIST

! P My dear doctor exclaimed the rince, “what woman in the whole kingdom can be beyond the reach of my son ! It is ridi culous “ It is my wife, said the doctor, interrupting a him sh rply .

There was a long pause, after which the Prince raised his eyes from the ground and said “ Dr . Seeli ski Well, surely, p , when you consider

calmly what you owe to me, would you hesitate to save the life of my only son Put yourself for a moment in my place, e Prince, answered the doctor . Suppos it was

P Stefa netta the rincess , is it very likely you would s give up your beautiful wife, even to ave your dear son’s life 7 ” “ s I would not hesitate one ingle minute,

exclaimed the Prince energetically.

is s Stefa netta Well, it Prince s , retorted the

doctor, fixing his eyes firmly upon those of his

former patron .

Shortly after this interview there was a great a stir in the Ch teau . Learned lawyers and learned divines were engaged and set to work for the benefit of the

father, as the learned physicians had been en

gaged for the son . Couriers were despatched all over the country ; all the relatives of Prince THE STE P- MOTHER VI OLI NI ST 21 5

Lovs ki and those of the Princess were summoned

’ e Th e P im to a special family me ting. rince s mense influence was exerted to its fullest extent a with priests and justices . There were no actu l “ e divorce proceedings, but legal s paration of ” la w body and goods, according to the civil of

P e oland, and various other m asures too long to

e e notic here were duly nacted, which , taken all “ ” e e nis i tog th r, are equivalent to a decree in Great Britain ; the motives set forth being the strong attachment of the two young people, and certain flirta tions which had taken place between fl Prince Lov ski and the Countess Ch emiso . But these pleadings and counter-pleadings were so cleverly managed that the outside world g ot very little real information, and understood very little of what it did get .

Th e wa s final result of all this , that in about six weeks from th e remarkable interview above

e P Lovs ki m ntioned, the elder rince had married

C Ch emis off again (this time the ountess ), so that P w two the young rince had, as it ere, step mothers , both violinists, one of whom was his wife !

e The amat ur orchestra is now broken up, but the health of Prince Stanislas is no longer broken r down . The docto , besides his honorarium, received from Prince Lovs ki a most magnificent

flute, upon which he plays almost as well as my 216 CONFESSI ONS OF A VI OLI NI ST

talented friend John Ra dcliff and a t some of the cafes in Warsaw you may occas ionally hear one “ person a s k another if he ever hea rd the step

m t i a s obr u t s o her violin st, iq e which is till applied

o P s Stefa etta t the beautiful rinces n .

218 CONFESSI ONS OF A VIOLINI ST

th e e was able to play, at th atre, in a concerto V of iotti . t t w 1 8 1 Joseph Ar o as born in Brussels in 5, th e year that the great battle of Waterloo was

fought, and he would have been, of course, too young to notice the red coats of the British

troops quartered in and around that city, or to a ppreciate the stirring times in which he first C saw the light of day . The fall of the orsican ” N B robber, apoleon uonaparte, and the birth of one of the most accomplished of modern violinists

a . were, in fact, almost simult neous events

’ Artot s father wa s fi rs t horn at one of the

theatres in Brussels, and began to teach his son music when the latter was quite a young

child . Like most children born of musical Artot parents, the little Joseph showed a marked

disposition, a real gift for the art ; and when

no more than five and a half years of age, he would sing his solfeg g io lessons with considerable

ability .

This facility, derived from nature, drew some

. Snel attention to the child, and Mr , who was at that time first violin solo at the theatre in ’ which Artot s father was a member of the

t e o orchestra, under ook to giv him some instru N ’ tion on the violin . o doubt the child s father thought that the violin mig ht prove a

more lucrative instrument than the horn . J OSEPH A RTOT 219

e The boy did not long remain und r Mr . Snel wa s a , however, but sent to P ris, where a position was obtained for him as choir- boy in the Chapel Royal ; and when he had at: ta ined his ninth year, he was placed under the direction of Rudolph Kreutzer (the favourite

e violinist of Marie Antoinett , and author of the celebrated Forty Studies for the study of the violin . This distinguished musician became fond of the lad, and often gave him lessons out of C the class at the onservatoire . On the retirement of Rudolph Kreutzer in 1 8 2 6 , his brother Augustus, who succeeded him as a teacher, evinced also great kindness

a Artot tow rds young , and when the latter had completed his twelfth year, he was awarded the second prize of the Conservatoire . The year e following he obtained th first prize . He then quitted Paris to return to his native city ; and at Brussels, he had some finishing lessons from Robberechts— the last direct repro s enta tive Of V the immortal iotti . He played in public several times at Brussels, and with marked success, after which he paid a visit to L ondon , where he was also well received .

Artot Shortly after this, accepted the posi tion Of violinist in the orchestra of one of the P aris theatres, and subsequently played in other theatres . But he was ambitious to make a name 220 CONFESSI ONS OF A VIOLINI ST

as a soloist . So h e gave up his orchestral appointments and travelled in th e South of

r R &c . F ance, Germany, ussia, Wherever he r was appea ed he was successful, and invariably e r ceived with rapturous applause . i s Meanwh le he made progres in composition . H s n e wrote ome quartets for stri gs, and a u q intet for piano and strings ; and finally, he brought out those brillia nt solos on airs from O the Italian peras, by which he is best known in this country . Before mentioning these works more p a rticu la rl 1 8 0 y, I may state that about 5 , when

-fi ve Artot thirty years of age, resided in a small or cottage situated in the fields market gardens,

Rue P l Of S a near the de a ais, in the suburb ch r beck, at Brussels, only a pistol shot from the

first house my father inhabited there . As a youth of seventeen years, who had already made acquaintance with the music of De Bériot E was and rnst, that little cottage a s O pot of great interest to me . ften, as some of us strolled along under the poplar trees of the Rue de Palais on a bright summer morn s be ing, musical sound might heard emanating from it . But they were not those of a violin never but once did I hear the splendid tone of

’ Artot s violin they were the notes of a fine soprano voice, accompanied by the piano , and

222 CONFESSIONS OF A VI OLI NI ST

w . solo, ith piano accompaniment It forms a most charming piece, with which I have reaped many a success in my younger days . His

- Nocturne F arrangement of a well known of ield,

' ' erena Conce t n A his S de, and his r o i minor are known to many artists, and I should not Omit his grand duo for voice and violin, with piano

Va ria tions Concerta ntes accompaniment, entitled on a theme of Pacini, a magnificent composition, fi an more dif cult, perhaps , for the vocalist th for the violinist . The influence of the grand old Italian school

’ Artot s re is manifest everywhere in music . It a quires, in general, fine tone, and a con s idera ble knowledge of chords, staccato bowing, double stopping and harmonics, whilst it abounds ff in e ective phrasing . It will be seen by this that Joseph Artot was a musician to whom neither his contemporaries sufli cient nor his successors have done justice, though he is well entitled to rank among the greatest , both as a violinist and a composer . He forms a remarkable link in that brilliant s chain of Flemish mu icians, several of whom distinguished themselves in France and I taly as r ea ly as the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and which numbers among the moderns such

Robberechts De Bériot Art t fine violinists as , , o , L S Vieuxtem s e M éonard, tandish , p , W ry, eerts , J OSEPH ARTOT 223

e m Sin elée Col ns Steveniers B u er, Monasterio, g , y , ,

Snel Prume Cae L , , Massart, sar Thomson , alo,

Ysaye, and many others . Artot was the possessor of a magnificent red

S . tradivari violin , one of the finest ever heard I am told that it is now the property of an

i n E amateur dinburgh . XXV I

A LESSON I N MODESTY

I NEED not tell you who Monsieur Jacquinot

is, probably you all know him as well as I

do . Maybe you have met him on the Boule va rds s in the sun hine of an April morning, when the flowers are beginning to bloom on

the balconies, looking as fresh as a newly l p ucked primrose, in spite of some hard work O e in the p ra orchestra the previous night, or the fatigues of a symphonic concert at the

Salle Pleyel . Probably you may know in Paris many violinists of the same category leading the same kind of life tolerably contented with them selves and their surroundings enjoying the possession of a first or second priz e of th e C onservatoire, a fixed orchestral appointment, l Oo a few lessons, a litt e pying of music, an

occasional concert, and at the end of the quarter five or six francs to spare at the

bottom of their pockets .

But none of these, you will find, were ever 29 4

226 CONFESSIONS OF A VI OLINI ST a few fra ncs occa siona lly to treat a poor frien d Ca e — en at the f , he was perfectly happy cont t e with his dreams of popularity, which w re bou to be a e he n nd re lis d, thought, in the ear u fut re . One da y, not many months ago, Jacquinot wa s induced to accept an engagement to play e at a littl concert at Melun, a short distance

t - wa s by rail to the sou h east of Paris . There not much pay atta ched ; but it wa s a little

a et o . v ri y, and mig ht help to bring him f rward He e a start d in high spirits, t king his best violin a nd s ome of his newest pieces . Th e concert was successful— the busy people of the little town do not g et too much in that way —a nd the audience was warm and enthusiastic , so that when Monsieur Jacquinot played the

Bolero Sa n z Notte of Fioren o and the Barcarola, ’ Me i d Amor nard of , he was awarded a perfect ovation ; everything short of bouquets of flowers was showered upon him in the way of applaus e ” br vo bis and enthusiastic shouts of a , and , ” bis . S urely now, thought he, popularity cannot

‘ be far distant what is this if not popularity 1’ N e ext morning at an arly hour, feeling very proud and contented, he strolled to the out k i s irts O the little park at Melun and, at the ' his -k o recommendation of hotel eeper, t ok a seat A LESSON I N MODESTY 227

e upon a bench in the sunshine, whenc he could scrutinize at his ca s e the busy townspeople pro ceedin g to their daily occupations . Many groups of well - dressed persons passed him, and a good number of them respectfully raised their hats as they did so . Jacquinot raised his hat in return, saluting each passer

e a s wa s d corously and politely, he himself saluted . Some of the young women merely

e e smiled or slightly curts y d, whilst most of the men saluted as if he had been a prince or a e presid nt . Fancy all this after only one concert ! he inwardly exclaimed . What would it be after

-a - But ! h e m to half dozen , alas ust return Paris tha t evening to take his place at the desk of co o e a the se nd violins in the p r orches tra . At last an old woman came along wh o not o o nly curtseyed before him, but actually dr pped n o down upon her k ees, muttering s me words i n t d that Jacquinot d d o quite un ersta nd . “ O cle ! is too c h , ar this much ex laimed the o o proud violinist , please rise, my g od w man — — you are mistaken perhaps you take me for somebody else— I am not a very great violinist - only one of the second violins at the opera I m a only just beginning to appear, now and

e s — e m e th n, as a soloi t beli ve , you do me too ” u— e be c . mu h hono r ris , I g of you 228 CONFESSIONS OF A VIOLI NIST

But the old woman steadfastly remained on

s v h er h her knee , and continued to mo e t in , a e p rch d lips, uttering words which Jacquinot could not exactly ma ke out. H his e bent down his head, as he held out n ln hand to assist her in rising, and, liste ing tentl i y, he found that she was mutter ng a prayer ” — a in Latin n Ave Maria . O n looking up, he discovered that upon the bra nch of a tree behind the bench on which he had seated himself was a little gla ss cha pel w V a d ith an image of the irgin Mary, n , as every one knows who has lived more than a mohth s abroad, it is cu tomary for persons to s e raise their hat , or to mutter a pray r as they

a re approach these tiny shrines, which often seen at th e entrances of small towns and e villag s . The effect of this discovery upon Jacquinot a was little short of m rvellous . ” A e m h l he mutter d to hi self, with a deep th e sigh , as old woman took her departure and th e “ proceeded along road, that is enough to take the conceit out of the greates t violinist that ever lived ! We imagine that all the people in the world are thinking of us, when they are thinking of something quite difl erent ! It was that rascally hotel-keeper at th e Cheva l de Bronz e who recommended me to take a seat

I N D E X

nn ar Va n den his fa nta s ia Ba ch Phili A u l , , , p Ema nuel , 1 00 l ft nd al on 1 Ba a tella his f for e ha e, 3 g , method o ma king m i ts dis tin u shed 1 8 a violi n 1 66 Acco pa n s , g i , 4 , , Ba livi Dr hi resea rches on the 1 49 g , . s ita in the Duke of 8 ta rantula s ider 2 6 Acqu e, , 9 p , 5 , 5

Adventure on boa rd the Ostend Balfe, 72

Ba lle m Ma n 1 2 boa t, 1 4 t usic in a s iello, 4, l th ia t 1 2 Alba nesi , Ca r o, e p nis , 39 5 Ma the rea n er B l si Alboni , ari , g t g , a tha za r a nd Ba ltza r, 96 and 1 7 note

Artists and Amateurs 1 8 Bannis ter ohn vi lin t a t the , 3 , J , o is rtists who ha ve a ea red with ourt of l te A pp C Cha r es I L , 96, no the a uthor in ublic concerts Ba nti Bri itta th r t n p , , g , e g ea so g - s 40 45 tress, 1 06 Artot ose h his career 2 1 Bs zin the com oser 1 1 0 , J p , , 7 ; , p , 39 , 4 music 22 1 his , Bees, a swa rm of, 2 1 mbl Rooms Putne the Bellini his Norma 1 6 Asse y , y, , , , 7, 5 2 ° Bennett t rn 3 » 4 , S e da le , 36 ’ Auba de on m mother s birthda Ber a mo the old of 106 y y, g . city , s o 2 1 Ber er Fra n , g , cesco, 3 1 r 2 t e out f 1 Aube , 7 ; h y h o , 24 ; Béri ot, Cha rles Vincent de, l 84 is ca reer a nd his o ra s 1 2 Bériot D 2 2 mus i h pe , 4 , e, 2 , 3, 73 ; his c, 1 0 1 his Ten 4 47 th Concerto, 63 Avi non the si e e of Blanch e of Ca s tille g , g , 95 , 94, 95 Bow violin m b Vuill m , , a de y a u e, - U the worshi of he od 1 1 BACCII S, p t g , 9

Bo le the Hon. R 59 y , obert, 53 Bach oha nn Chris tia n 1 00 Bi o ni i nor 1 6 , J , g ti , S g a , 3 Ba ch oha nn Sebas tia n 2 6 Bra ndra m a mu l t d , J , 7 , 7 , , S e , celebra e te

1 00 ci ter , 39 I NDE X 23 1

Brindis i the nei hbourhood of DANCE th e ta ra ntella d its , g , , , an 61 62 musi , c, 49 , 63 Brown Sir Thoma s 2 Da nce Prof. H , , 5 y, a rry, 32, 361 ” Brus sels in 1 8 Da ncin Fro 49 , 5 g g , the , 14 1 B a h ela l vio , Cha r es , linist, 2 1 7 CAFE-CONCE RTS ive M D n b rs g y . e Lorris , a uthor of Roma n de la T La mb Phi so 6 ose . p n, 4 R , 95 Ca m ra the com Desb M oser his ro m p , p , es ti sses, ada e, 1 36 ma te of Ra m Dod eau, 79 d, bowma ker, 1 22

Carl le Th oma s hi s firs r Donizetti his birth lace and y , , t wo k , 1 2 , p tell n M o r 1 Cas a a d me 1 e a s 06 , a , 7 p , th Drake Mr fi ri 1 u Ca e ne . of Russia , 1 1 4 , . , a ti st, 37

- Ca therin 11 . R Dre M e f 1 fuss ad me 6 o ussia , 07 1 14 y , a , 1 9 Cecil Blunt Ar hur Duet with a thi rd a rt a 1 ( ), t , 37 p , , 75 Ceda rs The Putne 1 1 Duma s Alexa ndre anecdote of , , y, 9 , , , ’ Cello la er of wa rtz feld th 26 p y S , e, 1 54 Cha ronne a nd Musette b Du rez the celebra ted sin r , y Ra p , g e , 9 3

mea u, 78

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