Stories of Great Musicians

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Stories of Great Musicians, by

Kathrine Lois Scobey and Olive Brown Horne

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Title: Stories of Great Musicians

Author: Kathrine Lois Scobey

Olive Brown Horne

Release Date: September 8, 2011 [EBook #37353]

Language: English

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Transcriber's Notes

The Anglicized names of the various composers retained as in the original.

This book uses special characters with accents to indicate pronunciations in the vocabulary: ā ē ī ū ō o͞o (macron); ă ĕ ĭ ŭ ŏ o͝o (breve); ä (dieresis above), a̤ (dieresis below), ȧ (dot), ẽ (tilde). If some characters do not display properly, you may have an incompatible browser or unavailable fonts. Please make sure that the browser's character set or file encoding is set to Unicode (UTF-8). You may also need to change your browser's default font.

a̤ and ŭ used in the vocabulary had no examples of pronunciation. These have been retained as in the original.

For accessibility, the music snippets contain lyrics in the alt-text if available, and are linked to music midi files.

List of illustrations not in the original has been provided for your convenience; for accessibility, brief descriptions of the images are provided in the alt-text.

On page 141, Wolgang has been corrected to Wolfgang.

STORIES OF

GREAT MUSICIANS

BY

KATHRINE LOIS SCOBEY

AND

OLIVE BROWN HORNE

AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY

NEW YORKCINCINNATICHICAGO

Entered at Stationers' Hall, London.

GREAT MUSICIANS.

W. P. 22

PREFACE

That the purpose of the public schools is the training of children for a higher citizenship, a more extensive helpfulness in affairs pertaining to the common good, no one questions; but we need expect no manifestation of a greater integrity, unless lofty ideals are kept constantly before them. Neither painter nor sculptor can produce a greater expression of beauty than that which has been built up in his own consciousness; no individual can produce a greater expression of manhood or womanhood than that which he holds in his own mind. It is important, therefore, that a high standard be set for the children in our schools to-day.

The question then arises as to how this result may be attained. Educators agree that the study of biography is a potent factor in the achievement of this end. A new field for biographical study is found in the lives of the great musicians, who furnish many examples of untiring effort and persistent endeavor, for almost without exception their lives repeat the oft-stated but none too often emphasized verity that success comes only to him who earns success.

We trust that this little volume may aid the many who are striving to enrich the thought concepts of the children under their care.

K. L. S.

O. B. H.

CONTENTS

John Sebastian Bach7

George Frederick Handel17

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart33

Francis Joseph Haydn57

Ludwig van Beethoven71

Felix Mendelssohn93

Frederick Chopin115

Robert Schumann133

Franz Peter Schubert149

Richard Wagner159

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

JOHN SEBASTIAN BACH6

THE CHILD HANDEL21

GEORGE FREDERICK HANDEL24

WOLFGANG AND MARIAN BEFORE THE EMPRESS38

MOZART AS A CHILD40

MOZART AT THE ORGAN44

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART51

FRANCIS JOSEPH HAYDN58

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN72

BEETHOVEN AT THE HOUSE OF MOZART78

BEETHOVEN IN HIS STUDY82

FELIX MENDELSSOHN92

SONGS WITHOUT WORDS94

QUEEN VICTORIA, PRINCE ALBERT, AND MENDELSSOHN110

FREDERICK CHOPIN116

ROBERT SCHUMANN134

FRANZ PETER SCHUBERT148

RICHARD WAGNER160

SIEGFRIED AND THE DRAGON165

RICHARD WAGNER AT BAYREUTH169

ARRIVAL OF LOHENGRIN177

ORTRUD AND ELSA181

LOHENGRIN'S FAREWELL184

JOHN SEBASTIAN BACH

JOHN SEBASTIAN BACH

(1685-1750)

THE CHILD MUSICIAN

Long ago, in a little German town, lived a jolly old miller. From morning till night he sang about his work, for he loved music dearly. He had learned to play upon the lute, which is an instrument with strings. The miller used to take his lute with him to his work. He was fond of playing while the merry clacking of the mill beat time for him.

This miller was the great-great-grandfather of John Sebastian Bach, who said of the miller, The grinding of the corn and the music of the lute must have sounded merrily together.

John Sebastian Bach was born in Germany, as were most of our great composers. His father was a musician. All his uncles and cousins were musicians. His grandfather, too, was a musician. So it is not strange that the child wished to become one also, for he grew up among people who cared for little else besides music.

In his native village little John worked and played, went to school, and studied music much as other German children did. Here, too, he marched through the streets with his playmates, singing hymns. For centuries it had been the custom for the school children to sing in the streets.

John was left an orphan at the age of ten, and went to live with his eldest brother in a neighboring town. In his new home he continued his studies. Besides his school work, his brother gave him lessons on the piano. The brother, an organist, had a book in which he had copied many fine compositions. He kept it on a high shelf in a bookcase.

Little John had learned so rapidly under his brother's instruction that soon he could play almost as well as the organist himself. However, he was eager to know more about music. He thought, If only I could use my brother's book, I could learn faster. But he was not allowed even to touch it. He used to look at it and long for it as it lay upon the high shelf.

One night, when the house was dark and still, John arose from his bed and crept softly downstairs. Standing tiptoe on a chair, he succeeded in obtaining the treasure. How happy this made him!

He could scarcely keep from laughing aloud at his good fortune. Hugging the book close in his arms, he scampered back to his room. He wished to copy every note of the music, but he had neither lamp nor candle. He could work only by the light of the moon, so it was six months before his task was completed.

At school John studied arithmetic, grammar, Latin, and Greek. There, too, several hours each week were spent in the study of music. The boy had a sweet soprano voice and was always happy when the time for music came. The school choir often sang at church services and weddings. Clearer and sweeter than any other could be heard the voice of little John.

The lad learned something about organ playing during the next few years. These were years filled with hard work; but they were happy years, nevertheless. He no longer sang in the white-robed choir, but devoted his time to the piano, violin, and organ.

In the olden days there stood in Hamburg a church, named for the good St. Katherine. The organist of this church was a man of great skill, whose fame had spread throughout the land. Even little John Sebastian Bach had heard of him, and longed to hear him play the great organ at St. Katherine's.

One fine morning he started to make the long journey on foot. The lad little knew how tired he would become before he reached Hamburg. Once inside St. Katherine's, however, he forgot his weariness and his bruises and the long miles of dusty road over which he had traveled. He thought of nothing but the wonderful music.

John was not satisfied with hearing the great organist once. Several times he went to Hamburg, walking all the way. Once, when returning from a visit, he was walking along the highroad, and came to an inn. Being very hungry, he put his hand into his pocket and drew forth one small coin. That was not enough to buy him a dinner.

He seated himself outside the door to rest. The odors of the dinner coming from the kitchen made him hungrier than ever. Some men at dinner in the inn saw the forlorn little figure outside the door. They guessed how tired and hungry the boy must be. Poor little lad, they said to one another, let us give him a surprise.

Meanwhile, John Sebastian had made up his mind that he must go on. He was just rising to his feet, when a window was thrown open and two herrings' heads were tossed out. He ran to pick them up. Imagine his surprise to find in each a shining piece of money.

BACH IN PUBLIC LIFE

At an early age, John Sebastian Bach began to earn his own living. He had no thought of earning it by any other means than music. When he was eighteen, he obtained a position where he played the violin in the duke's band. He was greatly pleased with court life. His grandfather, a musician, too, as you will remember, had once lived at the same court.

Young Bach did not remain a year in the service of the duke. At the end of summer he accepted a position as organist in a small town. From 1703 until 1723 Bach went from place to place as organist and teacher. Sometimes he was church organist; sometimes he was court musician for some noble prince. At all times he was poorly paid. Bach often received no more for a year's work than many men receive for a month's work.

Although Bach played well on the violin and piano, he was most skillful as an organist. Indeed, his fame was spreading throughout all Germany. He often went on journeys to try new organs. On those trips he sometimes played for kings and nobles.

Once he played an organ solo for the crown prince. The crown prince was greatly pleased with Bach's pedal solo. Would it not seem strange to hear music and to see the hands of the musician at rest? That was what the prince heard and saw. When the beautiful music had died away, he drew from his finger a ring set with precious stones. He gave it to the musician, saying, Never before have I listened to such a wonderful organist.

In 1717 a noted French organist came to Germany. In his own land, people thought there was no better organist than he. The Frenchman traveled through Italy, and found no one there to equal him. When he arrived in Germany, he played for the king and was highly praised. The proud Frenchman then thought that no one else in the