ent
study and method of vocalisation. 'I don't want to hear any more of
their screaming,' he said; 'I want a resonant voice, full-toned, not
screeching; I care not whether it be for speaking or singing, everything
ought to sound melodious.'

"He then spoke of the pleasure he felt in studying the piano. 'And, if
it were not presumption,' he added, 'in composing for that instrument. I
find it hard, however, to make my fourth and fifth fingers do their duty
properly.'

"Talking of the present style of playing, he said: 'How they maltreat
the piano! Ils enfoncent non seulement le piano, mais encore le fauteuil
et meme le plancher!' (They smash not only the piano, but the chair and
the very floor).

"Every instrument, he went on to say, should be treated according to its
special character. Sor, the guitarist, and Vimercati proved the
possibility of obtaining great artistic results with slender means. I
happened to have heard both these artists, and could quite endorse his
views. He told me that, arriving late one evening at a small Italian
town, he had already retired to rest, when Vimercati, the resident
Kapellmeister, sent him an invitation to be present at a performance of
one of his operas. In those days he was not yet as hard-hearted as he
is now, when he once for all refuses to be present at the performance
of any work of his; so he not only went to the theatre, but played the
double-bass as a substitute for the right man, who was not forthcoming.
This reminded me of what I once experienced to the cost of my nerves at
York, when the part of the viola in Mozart's D Minor Symphony was
missing, and the bassoon was flat. I showed Rossini on the piano what
the effect was like, and he laughed heartily. Then he wanted a little
serious music. I improvised, and he said, 'Cela est il grave? C'est de
la musique qui coule de source; il-y-a l'eau de reservoir et l'eau de
source; l'une ne coule que quand vous tournez le robinet, elle sent la
vase, l'autre, fraiche et limpide, coule toujours. Aujourd'hui on
confond le simple et le trivial; un motif de Mozart on l'appellerait
trivial si on osait!' (Has that been published? That is music which
flows spontaneously. There is tank-water and spring-water; one runs only
when you turn on the tap, and always savours of mud, the other ever
flows fresh and clear. But nowadays people do not know the difference
between the trivial and the simple; they would call a melody of Mozart's
trivial i