rtuoso, and a noble and kindly spirit.

For the piano, his chosen instrument, Liszt wrote much that was
beautiful and inspiring. He created a new epoch for the virtuoso. His
fifteen Hungarian Rhapsodies, B minor Sonata, Concert Etudes and many
transcriptions, appear on all modern programs, and there are many
pieces yet to be made known. He is the originator of the Symphonic
Poem, for orchestra; while his sacred music, such as the Oratorio
"Christus," and the beautiful "Saint Elizabeth," a sacred opera, are
monuments to his great genius.

XV

GIUSEPPE VERDI

In the little hamlet of Le Roncole, at the foot of the Apeninnes,
a place that can hardly be found on the map, because it is just a
cluster of workmen's houses, Giuseppe Verdi, one of the greatest
operatic composers, was born, October 9, 1813.

There were great wars going on in Europe during that time. When
Giuseppe was a year old, the Russian and Austrian soldiers marched
through Italy, killing and destroying everywhere. Some of them came
to Le Roncole for a few hours. All the women and children ran to the
church and locked themselves in for safety. But these savage men had
no respect for the house of God. They took the hinges off the doors
and rushing in murdered and wounded the helpless ones. Luigia Verdi,
with the baby Giuseppe in her arms, escaped, ran up a narrow staircase
to the belfry, and hid herself and child among some old lumber. Here
she stayed in her hiding place, until the drunken troops were far away
from the little village.

The babe Giuseppe was born among very poor, ignorant working
people, though his father's house was one of the best known and most
frequented among the cluster of cottages. His parents Carlo Verdi
and Luigia his wife, kept a small inn at Le Roncole and also a little
shop, where they sold sugar, coffee, matches, spirits, tobacco and
clay pipes. Once a week the good Carlo would walk up to Busseto, three
miles away, with two empty baskets and would return with them filled
with articles for his store, carrying them slung across his strong
shoulders.

Giuseppe Verdi who was to produce such streams of beautiful,
sparkling music,--needing an Act of Parliament to stop them, as once
happened,--was a very quiet, thoughtful little fellow, always good and
obedient; sometimes almost sad, and seldom joined in the boisterous
games of other children. That serious expression found in all of
Verdi's portraits as a man was even not