Anonymous

“ There was a musician, formerly in Denmark, that so excelled in the art of music, that he used to boast, that he could, with his performance, set his hearers beside themselves, or make them merry, pensive, or furious, as he pleased. ”

“ One of the assistants bethought himself, that music, perhaps, might compose so disordered an imagination. Accordingly, he proposed it to his physician, who did not disapprove the thought, but feared the ridicule that might take place, should the patient happen to die during the performance of such a remedy. A friend of the dancing-master being present, who seemed regardless of the physician’s measures, and who knew how to play on the violin, seeing the patient’s hang up in the chamber, laid hold of it, and played directly to him, the airs that were most familiar to him. ”

“ Timotheus was so excellently skilled in music, that, one day, when he play [Pg 23] ed and sung a song, composed in honour of Pallas, in the presence of Alexander the Great, the prince, as one transported with gallantry and the martial humour of the air, started up, and being stirred in every part, called for his armour, and was going to attack his guests; when the musician immediately changed into more sedate and calmer notes, sounding, as it were, a retreat; the impetuous prince was calmed, and sat quiet and still. ”

“ This person being at Rome, upon his arrival, made it his business to see Corelli: upon their first interview, Strunck gave him to understand that he was a musician. “What is your instrument?” asked Corelli. “I can play,” answered Strunck, “upon the harpsichord, and a little on the violin; and should esteem myself extremely happy, might I hear your performance on this latter instrument, on which, I am informed, you excel,” Corelli very politely condescended to this request of a stranger. ”

“ I have been assured by a credible eye-witness, that two wild antelopes used often to come from their woods to the place where a more savage beast, Sirajuddaulah, entertained himself with concerts, and that they listened to the strains with an appearance of pleasure, till the monster, in whose soul there was no music, shot one of them, to display his archery. A learned native told me, that he had frequently seen the most venomous and malignant snakes leave their holes upon hearing tunes on a [Pg 165] flute, which, as he supposed, gave them peculiar delight. ”

“ This creature has, however, by keeping his master company, obtained so perfect an ear and taste for music, [Pg 29] that no one, who sees his behaviour, can doubt for a moment of the pleasure he takes in hearing Mr. Bertoni play and sing: for, as soon as he sits down to the instrument, Columbo begins shaking his wings, perches on the piano forte, and expresses the most indubitable motions of delight. If, however, he, or any one else, strikes a note false, or makes any kind of discord upon the keys, the pigeon never fails to show evident tokens of anger and distress ”

“ Modern music has had its Timotheus, who could excite or calm, at his pleasure, the most impetuous emotions.— [Pg 22] Henry III. King of France, having given a concert, on occasion of the marriage of the Duke de Joyeuse, Claudin le Jeune, a celebrated musician of that period, executed certain airs, which had such an effect on a young nobleman, then present, that he drew his sword, and challenged every one near him to combat; but Claudin, equally prudent as Timotheus, instantly changed to an air, apparently sub-Phrygian, which appeased the furious youth. ”

“ A modern traveller assures us, that [Pg 166] he has repeatedly observed, in the island of Madeira, that the lizards are attracted by the notes of music, and that he has assembled a number of them by the powers of his instrument. He tells us also, that when the negroes catch them, for food, they accompany the chase, by whistling some tune, which has always the effect of drawing great numbers towards them. ”

“ We forgot to observe, that if any person plays a tune he never heard, with the right hand on his organ, he will put a bass to it with his left hand. He will also name every note that is struck on an organ, or any other instrument, and always knows if any person plays out of tune. ”

“ It is a well attested fact, that when a house is infested with these snakes, and some others of the coluber genus, which destroy poultry and small domestic animals, as also by the larger serpents of the boa tribe, the musicians are sent for; who, by playing on a flageolet, find out their hiding places, and charm them to destruction: for no sooner do the snakes hear the music, than they come softly from their retreat, and are easily taken. ”

“ At seven years old, she began to listen with great attention to the music she had heard in the church, which suggested to her parents, the idea of having her taught to play on the piano-forte, and soon after to sing. In three or four years time, she was able to accompany herself on the organ, in the [Pg 124] Stabat Mater of Pergolesi, of which she sung the first soprano, or upper part, in the church of St. Augustin, at Vienna, in the presence of the Empress Queen; who was so touched with her performance and misfortune, that she settled a pension on her for life. ”

“ TWO INSTANCES OF THE SURPRISING EFFECTS OF MUSIC, AS RELATED IN THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, AT PARIS.
A famous musician, and great composer, was taken ill of a fever, which gradually increased, till the 7th day, when he was seized with a violent delirium, almost constantly accompanied by cries, tears, terrors, and a perpetual watchfulness. The third day of his delirium, one of those natural instincts, which makes, as it is said, sick animals seek out for the herbs that are proper for their case, set him upon desiring [Pg 39] earnestly to hear a little concert in his chamber. ”

“ Long experience demonstrated their inutility; and repeated trials having proved the exclusive efficacy of music, her father, being obliged to return into the country, where he resided, engaged a musician to accompany and live with him. The soft melody of the violin or the piano forte, skilfully adapted to the taste and state of the patient, and often repeated, frequently prevents the convulsive fits, or abates their violence. ”

“ The amateur returned at the appointed time, and received with joyful gratitude the precious gift. Shortly after, the sound of instruments struck Haydn’s ear.—He listened, and thought he recollected his new minuet. He went to his window, from whence he saw a superb Ox, with gilded horns, adorned with festoons and garlands, and surrounded by an ambulating orchestra, stopping under his balcony. ”

“ His father gave him lessons only on the harpsichord; but he privately taught himself the violin; and his command of the instrument afforded the elder Mozart the utmost surprise, when he one day, at a concert, took a second violin, and acquitted himself with more than passable address. True genius [Pg 49] sees no obstacles. It will not, therefore, excite our wonder, if his constant success, in whatever he attempted, begot an unbounded confidence in his own powers ”

“ The affrighted tailor, finding his fierce and formidable enemy so much appeased, began to think of making his escape, left off playing, and was moving forward. This, however, [Pg 34] the bull would not suffer, for, no sooner had the tailor ceased his fascinating strain, than the bull’s anger appeared to return with as much rage as before: he, therefore, was glad to have recourse a second time to his fiddle, which instantly operated again, as a magic charm upon the bull, who became as composed and attentive as before. ”

“ After food, when the operations of digestion and absorption give so much employment to the vessels, that a temporary state of mental repose must be found, especially in hot climates, essential to health, it seems reasonable to [Pg 164] believe that a few agreeable airs, either heard or played without effort, must have all the good effects of sleep, and none of its disadvantages: putting the soul in tune, as Milton says, for any subsequent exertion; an experiment often made by myself. ”

“ He had an ear so correct, that he felt the most minute discordancy; and such a fondness for study, that it was frequently necessary to take him by force from the instrument. This love of application never diminished. He every day passed a considerable time at his harpsichord, and generally practised till a late hour at night. Another characteristical trait of real genius, always full of its object, and lost as it were in itself.
[Pg 50]
“It is lamentable that premature genius too rarely enjoys a long career. ”

“ Burney, “was frequently told, and believed at Madrid, during the first years of Farinelli’s residence in Spain. This singer, having ordered a superb suit of clothes for a gala at court, when the taylor brought it home, he asked him for his bill. “I have made no bill, Sir,” says the taylor, “nor ever shall make one. Instead of money,” continues he, “I have a favour to beg. I know that what I want is inestimable, and only fit for monarchs; but, since I have had the honour to work for a person, of whom every one speaks with rapture, all the payment I shall ever require, will be a song.” ”

“ THE POWER OF MUSIC ON ANIMALS, IN THE WEST OF ENGLAND.
The style of driving an ox-team in Devonshire is remarkable, indeed, cannot pass unnoticed by a stranger. The language, though in a great degree peculiar to the country, does not arrest the attention, but the tone, or rather tune, in which it is delivered. ”

“ She has been at Windsor, to present her letters to the Queen, and has had the honour of playing there to their Majesties, who were extremely satisfied with her performance; and treated her with that condescension and kindness, which all those who are so happy as to be admitted into the presence of our gracious sovereigns, in moments of [Pg 128] domestic privacy experience, even when less entitled to it, by merit and misfortunes, than Madame Paradis. ”

“ He often raises his voice as loud as he can, which extends itself to a vast distance over the tranquil mirror, and, as all is still around, he is, as it were, in a solitude, in the midst of a large and populous town. ”

“ Purcell was all the while sitting at the harpsichord unemployed, and not a little nettled at the queen’s preference of a vulgar ballad to his music; but, seeing her majesty delighted with this tune, he determined that she should hear it upon another occasion, and accordingly, in the next birth-day song, viz. that for the year 1692, he composed an air [Pg 162] to the words, “May her bright example chace vice in troops out of the land,” the bass whereof is the tune to Cold and Raw. It is printed in the Orpheus Britannicus, and is note for note the same with the Scotch tune. ”

“ The lovers of music, residing in this metropolis, had a solemn annual meeting, at Stationers’ Hall, on the 22d day of November, being the anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Cecilia, from the rebuilding of that edifice after the fire of London. These performances, being intended to celebrate the memory of the tutelar saint and patroness of music, had every possible advantage that the times afforded, to recommend them. Not only the most eminent masters in the science contributed their performance, but the gentlemen of the King’s Chapel, and of the choirs of St. ”

“ The composer began it in his carriage, during his route to Prague, and finished it in eighteen days.
“Some circumstances attending his last composition, the Requiem, the last effort of his genius, are too interesting to be omitted. A short time before his death, a stranger came to him, with the request, that he would compose, as speedily as possible, a Requiem for a Catholic prince, who, perceiving himself on the verge of the grave, wished, by the execution of such a piece, to sooth his mind, and familiarize it to the idea of his approaching dissolution. Mozart undertook the work ”

“ He appears to be fondest of solemn tunes, and church music, particularly the 104th Psalm. As soon as he has finished a regular tune, or part of a tune, or played some little fancy notes of his own, he stops, and has the pranks of a wanton boy: some of the company then generally give him a cake, an apple, or an orange, to induce him to play again ”

“ At Paris, some curious experiments have been lately made on the power of music, over the sensibility of the elephant. A band of music went to play in a gallery, extending round the upper part of the stalls, in which were kept two elephants, distinguished by the names Margaret and Hans. ”

“ Burney’s History of Music.
ANECDOTE OF STRADELLA.
Stradella, the celebrated composer, having carried off the mistress of a Venetian musician, and retired with her to Rome, the Venetian hired three desperadoes to assassinate him; but, fortunately for Stradella, they had an ear sensible to harmony. These assassins, while waiting for a favourable opportunity to execute their purpose, entered the church of St. John de Latran, [Pg 21] during the performance of an oratorio, composed by the person whom they intended to destroy ”

“ The king admired his singing, and was desirous of sending him, with the subdean of [Pg 63] his chapel, Mr. Gostling, to the Carnival of Venice, to show the Italians what good voices were produced in England: but the latter expressing an unwillingness to go, the king desisted from his purpose. Mr. Abell continued in the chapel till the time of the Revolution, when he was discharged in consequence of being a Roman Catholic. He then went abroad, travelled through Holland, and acquired considerable sums of money, by singing in public, at Hamburgh and other places. ”

“ Burney’s Life of Handel.
LULLI.
This fortunate musician, the son of a peasant in the neighbourhood of Florence, was born in 1633. He had [Pg 79] a few instructions in music from a cordelier. His first instrument was the guitar, to which he was always fond of singing. The Chevalier de Guise brought him into France, in 1646, as a present to his sister, Mademoiselle de Guise, who placed him among the assistants of her kitchen, where he was assigned the honourable office of sous marmiton [1] . ”

“ He then sung another simple air, “Charley o’er the water,” which her ear caught, and she played it instantly. Mr. Randles then put her left hand upon the corresponding bass note, and, as well as he could make her understand, told her that she should strike that note, while she played the melody with her right hand; [Pg 110] she found this grateful to her ear, and, in a short time, played a great many little tunes; and, at the age of two years, could tell the name of any note on the instrument, when it was struck, though she was in another room. ”

“ This very extraordinary child, who now (in June 1779,) daily attracts the notice and attention not only of persons of the first distinction, but of all lovers of natural genius, is the son of Michael and Isabella Crotch: he was born at Norwich, on the 5th of July 1775. His father being an ingenious carpenter, built an organ for his own amusement; and it was owing to this incidental circumstance that the musical talents of his little son William were discovered so early: they might have lain dormant for years, if Mrs. ”

“ The sacred writers speak of the charming of adders and serpents; and nothing, says [Pg 167] he, is more notorious than that the eastern Indians will rid the houses of the most venomous snakes, by charming them with the sound of a flute, which calls them out of their holes.
MUSICAL ANECDOTE FROM MARVILLE.
Marville has given us the following anecdote. He says, “that doubting the truth of those who say it is natural for us to love music, especially the sound of instruments, and that beasts themselves are touched with it, being one day in the country, I enquired into the truth ”