Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-12-10
COMPOSERS AS WITS.
Peculiarities of the Great Masters of
Music

Never surely was composer more
| witty than the master who gave us an
immortal setting of William Tell
RoSsinis whimsicality extended even
to his birthday Having been born in
leap year, on Feb. %. he had birth
day only once in four years, and when
he was seventy-two he facetiously in
vited his friends to celebrate his eight
zenith birthday. Some of the best spec
linens of his wit were shown in con-
nection with brother composers. You
| know" he said one day, speaking to a
! friend, you know what pretty dance
| tunes Auber has always written"
/ Auber being as likely to write dance
| tunes as Rossini was to write a SER
mon. The maestro seldom went to the
| opera or to any place of amusement
| but he could not resist the temptation
| of hearing one of Wagner's works. 1t
| was ''TannhauSer." Afterward when
| asked to give his opinion of the opera,
| he said, 1T is too important and too
| elaborate a work to be judged after n
single hearing: but so far as l am con-
cerned. | shall not give it a second"
Rossini's witticisms indeed bubbled
forth at all times and under all cir
| cumstances. On one occasion gen
tleman called upon him to enlist his
aid in procuring for him an engage
ment at the opera. He was a drum
mer and had taken the precaution to
bring his instrument. ROssni said he
would hear him "play," and it was de-
cided that he should show off in the
overture to "Semiramide." The very
first bar of the overture contains
tremolo for the drum, and when this
had been performed the player remark
ed: "Now 1 have a rest of seventy
eight bars. These. of course. / will
skip" This was too good a chance to
be lost. "Oh, no." said the composer
by all means count the seventy eight
bars. l particularly wish to hear
those"
Some of these anecdotes of Rossini
remind us that composers, as a rule,
have not figured amiably as critics of
each other. Handel swore that Gluck
knew no more about counterpart than
his cook. Weber pronounced Beetho-
ven mailman, and Haydn said of a
brother musician that ''he played the
fiddle like a hog Liszt was particu-
one was once playing to him a compo- |
sition he evidently did not care for. |
What is that?" he asked. at is Ben
nett's Maid of Orleans sonata" was |
the reply. "Ah," said the virtuoso,
''what a pity that the original manu- |
script did not meet with the same fate |
as Joan!" But perhaps better than this |
was the opinion Of Wagner expressed /
by Offenbach. Wagner had just pub |
lished his "Rienzi," and off went (
copy to Offenbach, with a-fequest that |
he would say what he thought of II. |
Now, Offenbach had previously read |
some of Wagner's poems and had made
fun of them, a circumstance well
known to Wagner. After three weeks /
the score of "Rienzi'' was returned to |
its composer with a slip ON which was
written: Dear Wagner. your music Is
trash. Stick to poetry" This OF course
enraged Wagner greatly. and some
months later he was out with one of
his celebrated brochures denouncing
the Jews. 1t was fine opportunity
for revenge, Offenbach being an Israel
lite, and the brochure was In the hands
Of Offenbach in no time Two days
elapsed. and Wagner had the pamphlet
back. When he opened 1t this Is what |
he found written on the front page: L
Dear Wagner. your brochure is rot.
Stick to music
Haydn was. a great admirer Of the