OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Anecdotes of Great Musicians/Anecdote 35

35.—MENDELSSOHN'S DISLIKE OF MEYERBEER.
Mendelssohn had a great aversion for the music of Meyerbeer. Mendelssohn's music was polished, elegant, scholarly, devoid of clap-trap or effects attempted for mere show. Meyerbeer's music, on the contrary, while containing much that was good and being especially effective in instrumentation, had much that was blatant, and that savored largely of the sensational. Both men had several points of personal resemblance. Both were of Jewish descent and inherited a Hebrew cast of ​countenance; both were of slender build, and they were accustomed to dress the hair in the same fashion.
The aversion held by Mendelssohn for Meyerbeer's music extended somewhat to Meyerbeer himself; and great was Mendelssohn's disgust if some one of his friends teased him on his resemblance to the detested composer. On one occasion, in Paris, after having been subject to some good-natured jokes about the similarity of his personal appearance to that of Meyerbeer, the composer of "St. Paul" and "Elijah" rushed off to the barber and had his hair clipped short to dispel the likeness. This, of course, only made him subject to a fresh lot of jokes on the hated resemblance.
# Anecdotes of Great Musicians/Anecdote 32

32.—TUNING UP.
An audience which listens to an amateur orchestra, and, unfortunately, the same is true of some which are professional, frequently has to go through the aural agony of hearing the instruments "tune up." This process, when conducted in a haphazard way, is most excruciating, and the effect is to give sensitive nerves an unpleasant shock at the very beginning of a concert, which it takes some very good playing to counteract.
This is also true of some solo players. I have in mind quite a good Teutonic violinist, of Boston, who arouses his hearers' musical wrath in this way for several minutes before he succeeds in satisfying his exacting ear. Perhaps the process is prolonged to show the delicate adjustment of that organ. Who knows?
But there is, ordinarily, no necessity for such a scratching and blowing prelude. The tuning might and should be done before the audience assembles, and if there is any "touching up" to be done afterward, it should be in the most pianissimo manner possible.
The Boston Symphony Orchestra sets a good example in this matter, as in many others musical. In the days of the old Music Hall there was set in continual vibration by electricity a large tuning fork, which, when desired, sounded an uninterrupted "A." Each man as he entered tuned his instrument to this fork, and the result was that when the orchestra gathered on the stage every man was ready to go to work without an agonizing process of pitch adjustment to inflict on his hearers.
Händel realized the necessity of a preliminary "tuning ​up" period, and used to have all things ready before the concert. But on one occasion some practical joker did not neglect the opportunity offered to him, and the result was an opening chord not as harmonious as the music of the spheres.
Each instrument had been tuned at the close of the rehearsal. The orchestra returned for the performance, had taken their seats, and pompous Mr. Händel had stepped to the conductor's desk and lifted his baton; at the proper instant the opening fortissimo chord was played. But such a chord! It was discord itself! Every instrument had been thrown out of tune by some person intent more on provoking mirth than music. Handel raved. He jumped from his stand, and, after upsetting the drums and a double-bass, rushed across the stage, losing his wig on the way, and snorting with rage and vowing vengeance on the one "vat take such vicked liberty!"
# Anecdotes of Great Musicians/Anecdote 33

33.—VOICE AGAINST TRUMPET.
It seems strange to read of the human voice exceeding wind instruments in length and loudness of tone; but there are some remarkable instances on record of great endurance on the part of singers. Lablache, the great basso, was noted for his power of tone, his voice being so strong as to dominate over the whole orchestra and chorus combined.
Farinelli, a famous tenor, in a contest with a trumpet player at Rome, not only excelled him in brilliant passages, in force and ornamentations, but when the trumpeter was out of breath and exhausted, Farinelli went on with increased brilliancy and power, apparently with the same breath, until he was silenced by the plaudits of the crowd.
On one occasion when Mrs. Billington, a favorite English singer, was holding forth in London, she was accompanied by a trumpet obligato in part of her solo. ​As the trumpeter did not play his part with sufficient tone, the leader called to him to play louder. But even then the quantity of tone was not great enough to suit his conductor or to balance Mrs. Billington's voice; so he called out again: "Louder! louder! confound you, play louder!" The enraged foreigner, at what he considered an insult to his instrument, threw down his trumpet, exclaiming: "Loudere, loudere be ver easy do say; but, by gar! I say ver is de vint?"
# Anecdotes of Great Musicians/Anecdote 37

37.—A MUSICAL PRIEST.
All priests are not musical, and, queer as it may seem, all musicians are not religious! The writer once interviewed a priest as to the musical characters in the antiphonal and breviary and found him entirely ignorant as to the note values, pitch indications, and musical characters generally. On showing him a breviary dated 1692 we found the notation virtually the same as in the service book of to-day. The C clef appeared somewhat like a double square note or two notes joined together. But the good father, oblivious to the mission or use of a clef sign, said it did bother him to see how they could expect a man to sing two notes at once!
Another kind of priest was Antonio Vivaldi. He was a good violinist and, in his way, quite a composer. Once, when officiating at Mass, a musical idea occurred to him, and not wishing to lose it, he left the altar and, going to the vestry, jotted it down for future use, and then returned to his place in the church and resumed the service.
This was so out of the usual order of things that his superiors forbade his continuance in the priestly service. However, the bishop in charge of the diocese, evidently having a weak spot in his heart for the musical art and its followers, although put to it to find an excuse for the breach of duty, restored Vivaldi to his post, on the ground that, "being a musician, he could not have been in his right mind," a conclusion more flattering to the good bishop's kindness of heart than to musicians generally. But of such one-sided material are the clergy occasionally made.
# Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book VI/Hymn 78

78. For matrimonial happiness.
[Atharvan.—1, 2. cāndramasyāu; 3. tvāṣṭrī. 1-3. anuṣṭubh.]
Found also in Pāipp. xix. ⌊and at MP. i. 8. 6, 7, 10⌋. Employed by Kāuç. twice (78. 10, 14) in the marriage ceremonies, with other passages, with anointing the heads of the married pair, making them eat together, etc.
Translated: Weber, Ind. Stud. v. 238; Ludwig, p. 371; Grill, 57, 166; Griffith, i. 287; Bloomfield, 96, 498; also, as part of the MP. hymn, by Winternitz, Hochzeitsrituell, p. 73.
1. By this actual (? bhūtá) oblation let this man be filled up again; the wife that they have brought to him, let him grow superior (abhi-vṛdh) to her by essence (rása).
Ppp. has bhūtasya for bhūtena in a, and inverts the order of words in b. Grill acutely suggests bhūtyena in a, 'for prosperity (bhūti),' and the comm. paraphrases it with samṛddhikareṇa 'prosperity-malting.' Abhi in d, and in 2 a, b, seems to have a meaning like that which it has in abhi-bhū. The comm. makes no difficulty of rendering the neuter vardhatām as if it were causative. Ppp. takes away the difficulty of the expression in this verse by the very different reading jāyāṁ yām asmā ’vidaṁ sā rasenā ’bhi vardhatām.
2. Let him grow superior to [her] by fatness (páyas), let him grow superior to [her] by royalty; by wealth of thousand-fold splendor let these two be unexhausted.
Ppp. has, in a, prajayā instead of payasā. The accent stā́m is read by all but one (O.) of our mss. and by all but one ⌊or two⌋ of SPP's.
3. Tvashṭar generated the wife, Tvashṭar [generated] thee as husband for her; let Tvashṭar make for you two a thousand life-times (ā́yus), a long life-time.
⌊Ppp. adds dadhāu after patim in b, which is better; has, in c, sahasra āy-; and, in d, mām for vām.⌋
# Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book VI/Hymn 80

80. The heavenly dog and the kālakāñjás.
[Atharvan.—cāndramasam. ānuṣṭubham: 1. bhurij; 3. prastārapan̄kti.]
Found also in Pāipp. xix. (with the verse-order 1, 3, 2). The use of the hymn in Kāuç. and Vāit. is obscure and indefinite: the former applies it only (31. 18) in a healing rite for one who is pakṣahata ('wounded in the side'? ⌊Bl. suggests hemiplagia ​or paralysis.⌋ The comm. reads in the Kāuç. text an̄gam maniroktamṛttikayā for mantroktaṁ can̄kramayā of BI's ed.); the latter has vs. 3 in the agniṣṭoma sacrifice, accompanying (23. 20) the avabhṛha iṣṭi etc.
1. He flies through the atmosphere, looking down upon all existences; what the greatness is of the heavenly dog, with that oblation would we pay worship to thee.
The first half-verse is RV. x. 136. 4 a, b, which differs only by reading rūpā́ instead of bhūtā́ in b; it is part of the hymn that extols the powers of the muni. Ppp. has a very different version of b, c, d: svar bhūtā vyacācalat: sa no divyasyāi ’daṁ mahas tasmā etena haviṣā juhomi.
2. The three kālakāñjás that are set (çritá) in the sky like gods—all them I called on for aid, for this man's unharmedness.
In explaining this verse, the comm. quotes from TB. (i. 1. 2$^{4-6}$) the legend of the Asuras named kālakāñjá, whose efforts to reach heaven Indra thwarted by a trick, except in the case of two of them, who became the heavenly dogs; a corresponding legend is found in MS. i. 6. 9 (p. 101, l. 1 ff.). The different numbers in our hymn, as regards both dog and kālakāñjas, are important, and suggest naturally the dog of our sky (Canis major or Sirius: so Zimmer, p. 353) and the three stars of Orion's belt, pointing directly toward it. The Anukr. does not notice the deficiency of a syllable in a.
3. In the waters [is] thy birth, in heaven thy station, within the ocean thy greatness, on the earth; what the greatness is of the heavenly dog, with that oblation would we pay worship to thee.
Ppp. substitutes ⌊for c, d⌋ again its own refrain, sa no divy- etc., as in vs. 1. The comm. regards the verse as addressed to Agni.
# Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book VI/Hymn 81

81. For successful pregnancy: with an amulet.
[Tvaṣṭar.—mantroktadevatyam utā ”dityam. ānuṣṭubham.]
Found also in Pāipp. xix. Applied by Kāuç. (35. 11) in a rite for conception of a male, with the direction iti mantroktam badhnāti; and the schol. (note to 35. 26) quotes it also in a women's rite.
Translated: Weber, Ind. Stud. v. 239; Ludwig, p. 477; Griffith, i. 289; Bloomfield, 96, 501.—Cf. Bergaigne-Henry, Manuel, p. 153.
1. Thou art a holder, thou boldest (yam) the two hands, thou drivest away the demons. Seizing (grah) progeny and riches, this hath become a hand-clasp (parihastá).
In Ppp., the a of abhūt in d is elided. The comm. reads kṛṇvānas in c; he understands Agni to be addressed in a, b.
​2. O hand-clasp, hold apart the womb, in order to placing of the embryo; O thou sign (? maryā́dā), put in a son; him do thou make to come, thou comer (? ā́gamā).
The obscure words maryādā and āgamā are apparently epithets of the parihasta; the comm. understands the ⌊first⌋ of the woman: maryādā = marya + ā-dā 'taken possession of by men'; ⌊and he takes āgame as = āgamane sati 'when sexual approach takes place,' which would be acceptable if it did not wholly disregard the accent⌋. One might conjecture maryadās 'giver of a male.' Ppp. has at end -gamaḥ.
3. The hand-clasp that Aditi wore [when] desiring a son—may Tvashṭar bind that on for her, saying "that she may give birth to a son."
Ppp. reads suvāt in d. For Aditi desiring a son, compare xi. 1. 1.
# Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book VI/Hymn 8

8. To win a woman's love.
[Jamadagni.—kāmātmadāivatam. pathyāpan̄kti.]
Not found in Pāipp. Used by Kāuç. (35. 21), in the rites concerning women, with vi. 9 and 102 and ii. 30, for bringing a woman under one's control.
Translated: Weber, Ind. Stud. (1862) v. 261; Florenz, 257 or 9; Grill, 54, 158; Griffith, i. 248; Bloomfield, 100, 459.
1. As the creeper (líbujā) has completely embraced the tree, so do thou embrace me—that thou mayest be one loving me, that thou mayest be one not going away from me.
The refrain of the hymn is found twice above, at the end of i. 34. 5; ii. 30. 1. SPP. here again, in opposition to his mss., gives the pada-reading ápa॰gāḥ in e. The Anukr. takes no notice of the metrical deficiency of a ⌊but see note to 7. 1⌋.
2. As the eagle, flying forth, beats down his wings upon the earth, so do I beat down thy mind—that thou etc. etc.
The comparison here is a strikingly ineffective one, and the attempts of the translators to give it aptness are to no purpose.
3. As the sun goeth at once about heaven-and-earth here, so do I go about thy mind—that thou etc. etc.
Part of SPP's mss. read paryāíti in b. The comm. gives çīghram 'swiftly' as the meaning of sadyas.
# Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book VI/Hymn 83

83. To remove apacíts.
[An̄giras.—caturṛcam. mantroktadevatyam. ānuṣṭubham: 4. 1-av. 2-p. nicṛd ārcy anuṣṭubh.]
⌊Part (vs. 4) prose.⌋ Found also in Pāipp. i. (but without the added vs. 4). Kāuç. (31. 16) employs it in a healing rite, with vii. 76 (against gaṇḍamālā, schol., comm.); vss. 3 c, d and 4 are specified in the sequel of the rite (31. 20, 21); the comm. treats vs. 4 as beginning of hymn 84; it is applied by Kāuç. in the treatment of a sore of unknown origin (ajñātārus: catuṣpād gaṇḍa, comm.).
Translated: Ludwig, p. 500; Bloomfield, JAOS. xiii., p. ccxviii (= PAOS., Oct. 1887), or AJP. xi. 324; Griffith, i. 290; Bloomfield, again, SBE. xlii. 17, 503.
1. O apacíts, fly forth, like a bird (suparṇá) from its nest; let the sun make remedy; let the moon shine you away.
It was Bloomfield (in the article referred to above) who first maintained that the apacít is a pustule or sore. The comm. directly identifies the apacits with the gaṇḍamālās, "scrofulous swellings of the glands of the neck" (BR.), and explains all the processes implied in the hymn as referring to such. His etymology of the word under this verse is 'gathered offward by reason of defect' (doṣavaçād apāk cīyamānāḥ), and he describes them as 'beginning from the throat [and] proceeding downward' (galād ārabhya adhastāt prasṛtāḥ). The accent of kṛṇótu in c is the usual antithetical one; SPP. makes a wholly unnecessary and very venturesome suggestion to explain it.
2. One [is] spotted, one whitish (çyénī), one black, two red; of all have I taken the name; go ye away, not slaying [our] men.
The comm. explains enī as īṣadraktamiçraçveta.
3. Barren shall the apacít, daughter of the black one, fly forth; the boil (glāú) shall fly forth from here; it shall disappear from the neck (? galuntás).
The translation here given of 'galuntás is the purest conjecture, as if the word were a corruption of some form of gala (our W.O.D. read galantás), with ablative-suffix tas. It might contain gaḍu 'excrescence on the throat'; indeed, the comm. etymologizes it as gaḍūn + √tas! He uderstands na çiṣyati as two independent words. Ppp. has sakalaṁ tena çudhyati (or çuṣyati), perhaps 'thereby it dries wholly up.' For rāmāyaṇī, compare vii. 74. 1.
4. Partake (vī) of [thine] own oblation, enjoying with the mind; hail! as now I make oblation with the mind.
This verse, which breaks the uniformity of the book, is evidently an intrusion, and has no apparent connection with the rest of the hymn, although it is acknowledged by both Anukr. and comm. The latter curiously mixes it up with vs. 1 of the next hymn, reckoning it with 84. 1 a, b as one verse, and reckoning 84. 1 c, d and 2 as the following verse, thus ⌊making 83 a tṛca and 84 a caturṛca.⌋ ⌊An āṛcy amiṣṭubh would seem to be 24 syllables.⌋
# Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book VI/Hymn 75

75. To eject a rival.
[Kabandha (sapatnakṣayakāmaḥ).—mantroktadevatyam; āindram. ānuṣṭubham: 3. 6-p. jagatī.]
Found also in Pāipp. xix. (with the verse-order 1, 3, 2); and in TB. (iii. 3. 11$^{3-4}$) and Āp. (iii. 14. 2). ⌊TB. and Āp. agree with Pāipp. in the verse-order and several other points.⌋ Used by Kāuç. (47. 10) in a rite of sorcery; and again similarly (48. 29-31), with strewing of darbha grass.
Translated: Ludwig, p. 373; Grill, 22, 165; Griffith, i. 285; Bloomfield, 92, 495.
1. I thrust yon man out of home, the rival who fights [us], with the oblation of ejectment; Indra hath demolished him.
One of our mss. (O.) reads at the end also here (cf. 66. 2, above ⌊and note to 32. 2⌋) -çarāit. Ppp., also TB.Āp., have nirb- at the beginning of c; and TB.Āp. have eṇam in d (the two agree in every point through the hymn). ⌊Ppp. parāçarī, as at 66. 2.⌋
2. Let Indra, Vritra-slayer, thrust him to the most distant distance, whence he shall not come back, through constant years (sámā).
Ppp.TB.Āp. read tvā for tám in a, and TB.Āp. nayatu for nudatu in b, while Ppp. has, for b, indro devo acīkḷpat; all three have -yasi at end of c.
3. Let him go [beyond] three distances; let him go beyond the five peoples; let him go beyond the three shining spaces, whence he shall not come back, through constant years, so long as the sun shall be in the sky.
# Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book VI/Hymn 77

77. For recovery and retention of what is lost.
[Kabandha.—jātavedasam. ānuṣṭubham.]
Found also in Pāipp. xix. The comm. regards this hymn, and not vi. 44 (which has the same pratīka), as intended in Kāuç. 36. 5, in a rite concerning women (the prevention of a woman's escape, etc., comm.).
Translated: Ludwig, p. 468; Griffith, i.286; Bloomfield, 106, 496.
​1. The heaven hath stood; the earth hath stood; all this living world hath stood; on their base (āsthána) the mountains have stood; I have made the horses stand in their station.
The first half-verse is 44. 1 a, b, above; the second is nearly vii. 96. 1 c, d, below. But Ppp. is different in c, d, and partly illegible; tiṣṭha...ime sthāmann açvā ’raṅsata can be read. The comm. inserts 'thee, O woman' in d, and regards açvān as an incomplete comparison: 'as they bind vicious horses with ropes'! Prāt. iv. 96 prescribes the unchanged pada-reading atiṣṭhipam. ⌊Most of SPP's authorities have asthuḥ in saṁhitā.⌋
2. He who hath attained the going away, he who hath attained the coming in, the turning hither, the turning in—he who is herdsman, on him I call.
The first half-verse is nearly RV. x. 19. 5 a, b, and the second exactly ib. 4 c, d. RV. reads vyáyanam for parā́yaṇam in a, and parā́yaṇam for nyā́yanam in b. The comm. appears to read nyayanam.
3. O Jātavedas, cause to turn in; be thy turners hither a hundred, thy turners this way a thousand; with them get for us again.
Ppp. has, for d, tābhir enaṁ ni vartaya, thus defining the object of all this recovering action to be some male person or thing. The comm. interprets it all through as a woman who has escaped or wants to escape. RV. x. 19 is aimed at kine. Pādas b and c are found in VS. xii. 8, which also ends with púnar no naṣṭám ā́ kṛdhi púnar no rayím ā́ kṛdhi. Santi would be a better reading in b.
# Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book VI/Hymn 76

76. For a kṣatríya's security from death.
[Kabandha.—caturṛcam. sāṁtapanāgneyam. ānuṣṭubham: 3. kakummatī.]
Found also in Pāipp. xix. Used by Kāuç. (50. 4), with i. 26, 27 and vi. 3, by one desirous of success in conquest, and for other like purposes.
Translated: Ludwig, p. 459; Griffith, i. 286.
1. They who sit about him, who pile on [fuel] in order to beholding [him]—let Agni, fully kindled, with his tongues arise out of [their] heart.
The sense is somewhat obscure. In b, cákṣase probably 'that he may become conspicuous'; the comm. very strangely renders it 'for injury' (hiṅsāyāi) and regards the "they" as demons and the like. Ppp. begins yene ’daṁ par-, and elides the a of agnir in c.
2. Of the heating (? sāṁtapaná) Agni I take hold of the track (? padá), in order to length of life (ā́yus)—out of whose mouth the soothsayer (addhātí) sees the smoke arising.
Ppp. reads, for c, d, dhātur yasya paçyata mama dyantaç çritaḥ, corrupt. The comm. explains pada as either 'place' (sthāna) or 'sound' (çabda).
3. He who knoweth the fuel of him, piled on by the kṣatríya—he setteth not the foot (padá) in detriment unto death.
Ppp. elides the initial a of asya in a, and begins c mā vihvare. To the comm., abhihvāra is 'a roundabout crooked cause of meeting death.'
4. They that go about (paryāyín) do not slay him, he goes not down to the dead (? sanná)—the kṣatríya who, knowing, takes the name of Agni unto length of life.
Ppp. has, in b, evam for ava; and, in c, viçvā for vidvān. The comm. understands sannān as '(the enemies) even when in his neighborhood'; Ludwig, 'die [im Hinterhalt?] gelagerten': cf. TB. ii. 4. 7$^{11}$ sannā́n mā́ ’va gāta.
⌊A supplementary note from Roth says that Ppp. has, inserted just before iv. 9. 7 of the Vulgate, the following: nāi ’naṁ ghnantu paryāyaṇo na manvāṁ iva gacchati: jane mana pramīyate yas tvāṁ bibharty āñjana (cf. iv. 9. 5 d).⌋
# Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book VI/Hymn 79

79. For abundance at home.
[Atharvan.—saṁsphānadevatyam. gāyatram: 3. 3-p. prājāpatyā jagatī.]
⌊"Verse" 3 is prose.⌋ Found also in Pāipp. xix.; and in TS. iii. 3.8$^{2-3}$. Kāuç. uses the hymn in a rite ⌊21. 7⌋ for prosperity (for fatness in grain, comm.), and it is reckoned (note to 19. 1) to the puṣṭika mantras. Vāit. (31. 4) has it in the sattra, on the ekāṣṭakā day, with offerings to the two deities mentioned.
Translated: Griffith, i. 288; Bloomfield, 141, 499.
1. Let the lord of the cloud (nábhas) here, the fattener, protect us, [grant] unequalledness (?) in our houses.
For the obscure ásamāti in c, the minor Pet. Lex. conjectures ásamarti 'unharmedness,' which TS. has in the corresponding pāda, making an anuṣṭubh of the verse, with gṛhā́ṇām ásamartyāi bahávo no gṛhā́ asan for second half; the comm. explains it as 'absence of division (pariccheda)* of the grain lying in our storehouses'; Ppp. is defaced, but appears to have read something different. TS. further has nábhasā purás for -saspátis in a. Most of our saṁhitā mss. (except E.H.s.m.O.) read ṇaḥ after gṛhéṣu; SPP. reports nothing of the kind from his authorities. The comm. regards Agni as intended by the "fattener." *⌊I think the comm. intends rather 'absence of determination or measure': i.e. "may the grain be abundant beyond measure."⌋
2. Do thou, O lord of the cloud, maintain for us sustenance (ū́rj) in our houses; let prosperity, let good (vásu) come.
TS. prefixes sá at the beginning, and has, for b, ū́rjaṁ no dhehi bhadráyā, then running off into an entirely different close. The comm. regards Vāyu as addressed.
3. O divine fattener, thou art master of thousand-fold prosperity; bestow upon us of that; assign to us of that; of that from thee may we be sharers.
In the first clause, Ppp. corrupts to sahasrapoçiṣe; it omits tasya no rāsva, and has bhakṣīmahi for bhaktivāṅsaḥ syāma. TS. has sahasrap-, and, after the division-mark, sā́ no rāsvā́ ’jyānim etc. (an entirely different close). The last part of the verse is found in K. v. 4, which reads at the end bhaktivāno bhūyāsma; and TB. iii. 7. 5$^7$ has the last phrase with ⌊tásyās te⌋ bhakṣivā́ṇaḥ syāma: a curious set of variants, all irregular or anomalous. The verse, according to the comm., is addressed to the sun.