na, where in utter solitude he applied himself to working
out the fundamental principles of the bow in the technique of the
violin--principles which no succeeding violinist has improved or
altered. Tartini, even while absorbed in music, did not neglect the
study of science and mathematics, of which he was passionately fond,
and in the pursuit of which he might have made a name not less than his
reputation as a musician. It was at this time that Tartini made a very
curious discovery, known as the _phenomenon of the third sound_, which
created some sensation at the time, and has since given rise to numerous
learned discourses, but does not appear to have led to any great
practical result. Various memoirs or treatises were written by him, and
that in which he develops the nature of the _third sound_ is his "Tratto
di Musica se-condo la vera scienza de l'Armonia." In this and others of
his works, he appears much devoted to _theory_, and endeavors to place
all his practical facts upon a thoroughly scientific basis. The effect
known as the _third sound_ consists in the sympathetic resonance of a
third note when the two upper notes of a chord are played in perfect
tune. "If you do not hear the bass," Tartini would say to his pupils,
"the thirds or sixths which you are playing are not perfect in
intonation."

At Ancona, Tartini attained such reputation as a player and musician
that he was appointed, in 1721, to the directorship of the orchestra of
the church of St. Anthony at Padua. Here, according to Fetis, he spent
the remaining forty-nine years of his life in peace and comfort, solely
occupied with the labors connected with the art he loved.

His great fame brought him repeated offers from the principal cities of
Europe, even London and Paris, hat nothing could induce him to leave his
beloved Italy. Though Tartini could not have been heard out of Italy,
his violin school at Padua graduated many excellent players, who were
widely known throughout the musical world. Tartini's compositions
reached no less than one hundred and fifty works, distinguished not only
by beauty of melody and knowledge of the violin, but by soundness
of musical science. Some of his sonatas are still favorites in the
concert-room. Among these, the most celebrated is the "Trille
del Dia-volo," or "Devil's Sonata," composed under the following
circumstances, as related by Tartini himself to his pupil Lalande:

"One night in 1713," he says, "I dreamed th