The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1911-03-31
FEATS OF ARTISTS
Some Notable Achievements In
Eleventh Hour Work.
ONE OF LANDSEER'S SPURTS.
The Masterpiece tho Great Paint

Produced In a Few Sours-Remark-
able Records Made by Some Of the
Famous Masters Of Music.
Some astounding feats in eleventh
hour work, especially in the musical
and artistic branches, have been
achieved by the great artists of the
world
Sir Edwin Landsecr had promised
picture for the spring exhibition of
the British institution in 1915, but on
the day before the exhibition was to
be opened all the hanging committee
had received was an empty frame,
which was duly hung in the position
of honor.
AS the prospect of receiving pic
ture for the frame seemed to the com.
mittee to be slight. Il member thereof
went to see the artist. He found
Landseer standing in front of bare
canvas
That's the picture | promised" said
the great man, pointing to the canvas.
Il have not touched it yet, but will
StIu IL W llit liiClllullpli loIAShAs
And he was as good as his word A
few hours later the completed picture
was delivered and may be seen today
In the National gallery. This wonder
full work of half dozen hours was
none other than the universally nd.
mired Cavaliers Pets"
Leander, the famous painter. is ca.
nuI AIn Of Via rap t1 xrnplr TTnnn
seeing him leave his rooms early in
the morning with canvas on his
back the neighbors of the great artist
used to eXclaim, There goes Leander
Off to paint his daily picture" Al
though this may have been an eXag-
geration, il is n we'll known fact that
on several occasions the academlcian
produced large picture within n few
hours
Ieander has formidable rival In
the matter of hasty work In Solomon
Solomon. This artist painted an ad-
mirabc life size portrait of Israel
Zangwill within the period OF five
hours.
In the realm of music there may be
cited many instances of extraordinarily
quick work. Oscar IIammerstein's
record of II comic opera in one act,
words and music, composed in one
night, is an example.
One of the most remarkable bits of
orchestration ever written, the over
ture to "Otello" was scored ny Rosslni
In only twenty four hours.
Sir Arthur Sullivan composed the
brilliant cpit0gue of the Golden Leg
end in the same space of time. He
sat down ut . o'clock one evening to
compose the overture to "Iolanthe"
and did not rise from his desk until
the last note was written Mt on the
following morning, while the overture
to "Thc Woman of the Guard occu-
pied him 10 more than twelve hours
both to compose and score.
1t Is told of Donizetu that he wrote
the Instrumentation of an entire opera
within thirty hours. ON the morning
in which Rossini's "Gazza Ladra" was
to be produced not II single note of the
overture had been written, and the
manager was in despair lie sought
out the indolent composer. locked hin
in one of the rooms of Ia Scala and
declared he should have neither food
nor freedom until the overture was
completed R0ssini set to work with Il
will and To such purpose that the
music was written and rchearsed be
fore the evening performance.
Mozart was another genius who fire.
quently needed the spur of eleventh
hour work. Though AT | in the morn
ing not II note q: the overture to "Don
Giovanni had been set down. yet Mo
Fart finished II before he went TO the
breakfast table at his usual hour Dur
ing the long hours consumed by this
task II Is said that the musicians wife
kept him awake 10y rcndHg fairy
stories 10 him
One of tie fastest composers that
ever lived was Troterc. the writer of
songs Some of the composers fcats
verge on the marvellous II is said, for
example. that he actually wrote the
score of In Old Madrid" and had
dropped it into the letter box within
eight minutes of Ire time he had taken
up his pen This would he remarkable
merely as showing his dcXtcrty and
agility, 90 say nothing of the labor of
the composition itself
One Of Schubert's friends tells
story indicating that composers ra
pidity of workmanship. He had left
Schubert absorbed in Gocthe's ballad
THE Err King ON his return in few
minutes he found the musician swift
ly putting on paper the notes inspired
by the poem. and. within an hour there
had been composed that great song the
world has admired ever since Edwin
Tarrisse in Chicago Tribune