on.

Verdi had now retired to his estate of Sant'Agata, and it was supposed
his career as composer had closed, as he gave his time principally
to the care of his domain. From time to time it was rumored he was
writing another opera. The rumor proved true, for on February 5, 1887,
when Verdi was seventy-four years old, "Otello" was produced at La
Scala, Milan, amid indescribable enthusiasm. Six years later the
musical world was again startled and overjoyed by the production of
another Shakespearean opera, "Falstaff," composed in his eightieth
year. In all, his operas number over thirty, most of them serious, all
of them containing much beautiful music.

At Sant'Agata the master lived a quiet, retired life. The estate was
situated about two miles from Busseto, and was very large, with a
great park, a large collection of horses and other live stock. The
residence was spacious, and the master's special bedroom was on the
first floor. It was large, light and airy and luxuriously furnished.
Here stood a magnificent grand piano, and the composer often rose in
the night to jot down the themes which came to him in the silence of
the midnight hours. Here "Don Carlos" was written. In one of the upper
rooms stood the old spinet that Verdi hacked at as a child.

Verdi was one of the noblest of men as well as one of the greatest of
musical composers. He passed away in Milan, January 27, 1901, at the
age of eighty-eight.

XVI

RICHARD WAGNER

One of the most gigantic musical geniuses the world has yet known was
Richard Wagner. Words have been exhausted to tell of his achievements;
books without number have been written about him; he himself, in
his Autobiography, and in his correspondence, has told with minutest
detail how he lived and what his inner life has been. What we shall
strive for is the simple story of his career, though in the simple
telling, it may read like a fairy tale.

Richard Wagner first saw the light on May 22, 1813, in Leipsic. Those
were stirring times in that part of the world, for revolution was
often on the eve of breaking out. The tiny babe was but six months
old when the father passed away. There were eight other children, the
eldest son being only fourteen. The mother, a sweet, gentle little
woman, found herself quite unable to support her large family of
growing children. No one could blame her for accepting the hand of her
husband's old friend, Ludwig Geyer, in less than a year after the