The times., 1897-05-09
STORIES OF FAMOUS CoMposERs
The Caustjc Wit of Rossini and the
Grim Humor of Beethoyeu.

| Never, surely. was composer more witty
than the master who gave Us an immortal
setting of William TeI.'' Rossnis whim-
sicality extended even to his birthday.
Having been born In leap year, on February
90, he had of course birthday only once
In four years; and when he was seventy-two
he facetiously invited his friends to cele-
brate his eighteenth birthday. Some OF
the best specimens of his wit were shown
| 1nconnection with brother composers, You
| KNOW, he said one day, speaking 20 a.
| friend, you know what pretty dance tunes
Auher has always written "-Auoer being
/ as likely to write dance tunes as Rossini
| was 30 write sermon. The maestro sell
dom went to the opera or to any place
of amusement, but he could not resist the
temptation OF hearing one of wagner's
works. TWAS Tannhauser Afterward,
when asked 10 give his opinion of the opera,
lie said: 1T is too important and roo elab-
oraie work to be judged after a single
hearing, but so far as 1 am concerned,
l shall not give it second"
Upon amateurs he was especially severe.
| few days after MeyerDeer's death O.
| young admirer OF his called upon the COM
| poser of William Tell with an eIegy
| which he had written in honor OF his idol
| well" said RoSsini, after hearing the
/ composition playedover, IF you really want
| my honest opinion. think il would have
! been better you had died and Meyerbeer
| had written an elegy." Sometimes tile
| amatuers would endeavor To bribe him
into a compliment by sending him little
present. Theruse, however, was bot seldom
| effectual. budding composer once ac-
compaBied bis new composition with q
praising the work. The letter came, but
all it said was: Thanks; like the cheese
very mucb-''
Rossini's witticisIns indeed bUbbled forth
at all times and under all circumstances
On one occasion gentleman called upon
him % enlist has aid in procuring fo- nirn
an engagement at the opera He was
drummer, and had taken the precaution to
bring his instrument R0ssni said he
would hear him play and it was decided
that he should show off in the overture to
''serniramide'' The very first bar OF ths
overture contains temoIo for the drum,
and when this had been performed, tia
player remarked Now 1 have a rest Of
seventy-eight bars; these OF course j viii
skip This was too good chance to
be lost ''oh, no. said the composer; by
all means count the seventy-eight bars
particularly wish co hear those"
Some OF these anecdotes of Rossini re-
mind us that composers, as rule, have
not figured amiably a critics OF each
otteT. Handel swore that Gluck knew no
more about counterpoint than his cook;
Weber pronounced beethoven a mailman.
and Haydn said OF brother musician that
',he played the fiddle like a hog Liszt
was particularly severe upon fellow-artistes
Someone was once playing to him 8 COM
position he evidently did not care for
What is that he asked. 1T is Bannett'f
Maid OF Orleans sonata" was the reply.
An said the virtuoso, what pity that
the original manuscript did not meet with
the same fate as Joan In this eOnnec-
ton good story is told of the late Victor
Massc- He was informed one day that a
rival composer took every opportunity oI
declaring that his, Masses, music wss
exeerable. He maintains haveno alent,"
said Masse; u alYEa Us declare he has plenty.
We both know we lie But perhaps better
than this was tie opinion of Wagner ex-
pressed by Offenbach. Wagner had Just
published his ''Renzi, and Off went Il copy
TO Offeubach, with a request that he would
say what he thought OF it,
Now Offenbac had previously read some
OF WaGners poems, and had made fun of
them, circumstance well known 20 wag-
ner. After some three weeks the scors
OF "Rienz was returned to its composer,
with slip on which was written: Dear
wagner, your music is trash; stick ta
poetry This, OF course, enra ged wag-
ner greatly and some months later ne went
out with one Of his ceIebra ted brochures,Ie-
nouncing the Jews. 1t was a fine Oh
portuDity for revenge-Offenbach being
an israelite-and the brochure was IN the
hands of orfenbaCh in no time Two DAYS
elapsed and Wagner has the pamphletback
When he opened il, this is what he found
written on the front page: Dear Wag.
ner, your brochure is rot: stick 10 music
Haydn was great admirer OF the fair
sex, and some OF the prettiest things were
said about women One specimen must
suffice The celebrated Mrs. Rillinston
was a great friend OF his and Sir. Joshua
Reynolds mad painted her portrait Haydu
went to see the picture when it was fln-
ished. Yes he said TO the artist,
1t is very good. But you have made one
mistake; you have painted Mrs Billing.
ton listening 10 the angels, whereas, tho
angels should be listening TO her.
Berlioz, the eminent French composer
Bach, and he used to call Handel "a bis
hog, musician OF the stomach" For
this he was paid out by Mendelssohn, who
declared that after touching score Uf
Berlioz, soap p and hot water were necessary.
Berlioz, however, had his musical hero,
and that hero was Beethoven. Touch
Beethoven irreverentiy, and his ire was
kinded There is a certain passage for
the double basSos in one of the masters
scores which was at one time believed td
be almost impossible OF execution Now
Habeneck conducted a performance of this
work in Paris, and gave the passage in
question to the 'celIos. Berlioz, who was
present, met Habeneck soon after, and
asked him when he meant To give the
passage as Beethoven intended it TO Il
given. Never, as long as 1 live said
Habeneck- "weIl, Wen W wait," replied
Berlioz: don't let it be long
Speaking OF Beethoven, that masters
humor was rather of the grim kind, re-
sembling more the satire of Carlyle thar
anything else Swift himself never made
worse puns with more pleasure. or de
vised Qucerer spellintss, or more miserable
rhymes, or bestowed more nicknames on
his friends. In one letter he remarks 10
his publisher that he can write nothing
that is not obligato, having come into the
paniment; and he can even ascend TO the
joke of asking his friend Zmeskall not To
discard him because he had called with