ano, Siciliano, Andantino, and all the
Anos and Inos that constitute the musical science. He can scrape,
scratch, shake, diminish, increase, flourish, &c.; and he is so
delighted with the sound of his own Viol, that an ass would sooner
lend his ears to anything than to him; and as a dog shakes a pig, so
does he shake a note _by the ear_, and never lets it go till he makes
it squeak. He is a walking pillory, and crucifies more ears than a
dozen standing ones. He often involves himself in dark and intricate
passages, till he is put to a _shift_, and obliged to get out of a
_scrape_--by scraping. His Viol has the effect of a _Scotch_ Fiddle,
for it irritates his hearers, and puts them to the itch. He tears his
audience in various ways, as I do this subject; and as I wear away my
pen, so does he wear away the strings of his Fiddle. There is no
medium to him; he is either in a flat or a sharp key, though both are
_natural_ to him. He deals in third minors, and major thirds; proves a
turncoat, and is often in the majority and the minority in the course
of a few minutes. He runs over the _flat_ as often as any Newmarket
racehorse; both meet the same fate, as they usually terminate in a
_cadence_; the difference is--one is driven by the _whip-hand_, the
other by the _bow-arm_; one deals in _stakado_, the other in
_staccato_. As a thoroughbred hound discovers, by instinct, his game
from all other animals, so an experienced musician _feels_ the
compositions of Handel or Corelli.--Yours, TIMOTHY CATGUT,
Stamford."--_Monthly Mirror_.

ORIGIN OF TARTINI'S "DEVIL'S SONATA."

The following interesting account of this marvellous composition was
given by Tartini to M. de Lalande, the celebrated astronomer:--

"One night in the year 1713, I dreamed that I had made a compact with
his Satanic Majesty, by which he was received into my service.
Everything succeeded to the utmost of my desire, and my every wish was
anticipated by this my new domestic. I thought that on taking up my
Violin to practise, I jocosely asked him if he could play on that
instrument. He answered that he believed he was able to pick out a
tune; and then, to my astonishment, began to play a sonata, so strange
and yet so beautiful, and executed in so masterly a manner, that I had
never in my life heard anything so exquisite. So great was my
amazement that I could scarcely breathe. Awakened by the violent
emotion, I instantly seized my Violin, in the hope of being ab