The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1906-11-12


1 tIe ana requent1yt sHyagsely seyert.
Neva surely was composer more
witty than the master who gave Us an
/ immortal setting Of William Tel
/ RossInlis vhimsicality extended ever
to his birthday. Having been born n
/ leap year, on Feb. -, he had birth
| day only once IN four years, and whel
] he yyas seventy-tNvo he fHcetiously IN
vited his friends to ceiebrRte his eight
eenth birthday. Some Of the best spec;
linens OF his wit were she's in CON
| nection with brother cOmpo.s'rsS, HOn
know" he said one dry, speaking 70 e
friend, won know what pretty dance
| tunes Auber has always written
A1ber being us likely TO write dance
| tunes as Rossini was to write a ser
mon. The maestro seldom went 20 the
opera or to any place of amusement
hut he. could NOT resist the Temptation
OF hearing. orc of WaEncr's works. Il
was '.Tannhauser." Afterward. when
| asked to give his opinion of the epef'i-
he said, 1T IS too important and TOO
elaborate IA work to be judged after
single hearing; but, so far as am con
cernecl j shall not give il q seeond-
Rossinis witticisms indeed bubhied
forth Mt an times and under all cir
Z
tlenan called upon him TO enlist his
aid In procuring for him an engage,
ment at the opera He was a drum
rner and had taken the precaution To
bring his instrument. Rossiui said pc
would hear him play" and it was de-
cided that he should show or in the
overture to s'Semiramide." The very
first bar of the overture confirms
tremolo for the drum. and when this
had been performed the player remark
ed; '.Now / have q 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-eiEht
bars particularly wish to hear
those"
some of these anecdotes of Rossini
remind us that composers. rs rule,
have not figured anliably rs critics o.
each other Handel swo"e that Gluck
knew no more about comterpoint than
his cook. Weber pronounced Beetho-
ven maduan. and Haydn said Of :
brother musician tllat he played the
rGIIe Ike hog" List was particll-
iariv severe upon fellow artists Some
one was once playing 10 him n co-npo-
sftioa he evidently did not care Tor.
-.Vhnt is that: = I've asked 1t is Ben
nett-s .AIaid Of orleans sonata. WIS
tie reply. An" said tic virtuoso,
what Il pity that fie original mann
ecriut dId not meet with the same fate
as Joan.' BuJ perhaps better than this
was the opinion OF Wagner Expressed
by Odcubach Wagner had Just pub
lishcd his "LlieHzI" and of went
cory to Oaeubach, with request that
he would say what he Thought OF It,
Now. Oncnbach had previously read
some of Wagner's poems and had made
INN of them. circumstance well
known tn Wagner. After three weeks
the score OF "Rienzi'' was returned TO
it,; composer with slip on which WIS
written: Dear Wagner. your music IS
trash. Stick to poctry.' This of course
te.l..:rged Wagner greatly, ana some
months later he was out with one OF
his ,.,iehrated brochures dcuouncinG
I'll, Jews. II was fine opportunity
TO-. r,.vc:itn. Uncubach being an Israel
tie, 7l4d the brochure was In the hands
of nr'r,lliacl in NJ time. Two days
rlaoscti. and Wagner had the pamphlet
b.rcS When he opened il this Is what
he foard written on the front page:
pear Wagner. your brochure IS rot
Sti,,s u music
Haydn was q great admirer OF the
fair sex. and some of his prettieSt
things were said about women. One
specimen must suffice. The celebrated
Mrs. BnllnEton was great friend of
his, and Sir Joshua Reynolds had
painted her portrait. Haydn went TO
see the picture when 1t was fiEished-
Yes" lie said TO the artist, lit is very
GOOD. But you painted Mrs. Billing
ton listening to the angels. whereas
the angels should be listening to her.
BerIioz, the eminent French compos
l,r-. had a cnustic wit. He could not en-
tIllre Bach. and lie used to call Handel
"a big hog" '.musician OF the ston1-
nch." For this he was paid out by
n endeIssohn. who declared TINT after
touching a score of Berlio2 soap and
water were necessary. BerlioZ. how
ever had his musical hero, and that.
hero was Beethoven. Touch Bee
thoven irreverently and his ire was
kindIcd There Is 4 certain pnssage for
the double basses i'll one Of the mas
tcr's scores which was ut one time he
lieved to'be almost impossible of eNecu
ton. Now. Habeueck conducted Il per-
formaucc OF this work in Paris and
gave the passage In question TO the
ceIlos Berlloz, who was present. met
Hnbeneck soon after aud asked him
when he meant to give the passage as
Beethoven Intended it to be given
Never rs long as live" said Habe-
neck. We'll, we'll watt replied Der
loz. Don't let it he long
Speaking of Beethoven, that masters
hunor was rather of the grim kind, re-
GembIing more the satire of Carlyle
than anything else. The composers
brother had little property OF his
own and was very proud of It. One
day he called on Beethoven and left u
card inscribed Johann Van Beethoven.