were composed at the
request of Sixtus V.

Palestrina's end came February 2, 1594. He died in Rome, a devout
Christian, and on his coffin were engraved the simple but splendid
words: "Prince of Music."

II

JOHN SEBASTIAN BACH

Away back in 1685, almost two hundred and fifty years ago, one of the
greatest musicians of the world first saw the light, in the little
town of Eisenach, nestling on the edge of the Thuringen forest. The
long low-roofed cottage where little Johann Sebastian Bach was born,
is still standing, and carefully preserved.

The name Bach belonged to a long race of musicians, who strove to
elevate the growing art of music. For nearly two hundred years there
had been organists and composers in the family; Sebastian's father,
Johann Ambrosius Bach was organist of the Lutheran Church in Eisenach,
and naturally a love of music was fostered in the home. It is no
wonder that little Sebastian should have shown a fondness for music
almost from infancy. But, beyond learning the violin from his father,
he had not advanced very far in his studies, when, in his tenth
year he lost both his parents and was taken care of by his brother
Christoph, fourteen years older, a respectable musician and organist
in a neighboring town. To give his little brother lessons on the
clavier, and send him to the Lyceum to learn Latin, singing and other
school subjects seemed to Christoph to include all that could be
expected of him. That his small brother possessed musical genius of
the highest order, was an idea he could not grasp; or if he did, he
repressed the boy with indifference and harsh treatment.

Little Sebastian suffered in silence from this coldness. Fortunately
the force of his genius was too great to be crushed. He knew all the
simple pieces by heart, which his brother set for his lessons, and
he longed for bigger things. There was a book of manuscript music
containing pieces by Buxtehude and Frohberger, famous masters of the
time, in the possession of Christoph. Sebastian greatly desired to
play the pieces in that book, but his brother kept it under lock and
key in his cupboard, or bookcase. One day the child mustered courage
to ask permission to take the book for a little while. Instead of
yielding to the boy's request Christoph became angry, told him not to
imagine he could study such masters as Buxtehude and Frohberger, but
should be content to get the lessons assigned him.

The injustice of this ref