ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE YOUNG IN MUSIC.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXXXIV, Issue 60, 2 July 1908, Page 1

ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE YOUNG IN MUSIC.

The poets, musicians, artists, and soldiers, representing the true geniuses of the world and those in whom the imaginative ana impulsive elements are the strongest, have distinguished themselves early in life. This is eminently true oi : the m.isicians, whose records' 1 are, in this reject, truly marvellous. Thus, Mozart, ./hen only three years oi age, shared he harpsichord lessons or his sister Msi*. i.a, who was eight years old. At four ■ o played minuets and composed little nieces. He performed in public for j first time when live years old. At lght he played before the English ro; ity, made his first attempt at the omposition of a symphony, publish'. -; his third set of sonatas, and wro . "God is our llefugo," an anthem for our voices. At ten lie first essayed • t'o oratorio; at eleven composed an op ra bouffe. Meyerbeer Wo.: an excellent pianist at five; at sevev. played Mozart's concerto in D minoi in public; at ten had written an operu, "Jepthas Golubde," and at thirteen produced his second opera, "Wirth und Gast." Handel showed his musical talent at a very early age. At eight his playing attracted the attention of the Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels; in his twelfth year, he made his debut as a virtuoso at the court of Berlin; at thirteen he composed a mass; at seventeen wrote "Florinde" and "Nero"; and at nineteen, was a theatre director. At the age of nine Liszt displayed great musical ability ; in his eleventh year he played before enthusiastic audiences in Vienna, and at fourteen he wrote the operetta "Don Sancho." *

Mendelssohii L :i; played in publio at nine, and at ele.on he began to coiaposo with astoniJung rapidity. At that age he wrote In.- cantata "In ruhrend ieirlichen Tonon. ; and produced nearly 60 movements, including songs, pianoiorte sonatas, a iio for pianoforte, violin, and violoneviio, a sonata for violin and pianoforte, ;>ieces for the organ, and a little dramatic piece in three scenes. At twcl ■ he wrote five symphonies for stri.i ,'od instruments, each in three movent ;its. At thirteen ho produced an op„v.i in three aots, a pi- ~ anoforte concerto, and an immense amount of other music. At fifteen he composed Ins liii'- symphony in 0 minor, a quartet in B minor, and a pianofoito sestet. Before i was eighteen ho liad completed his amous overture to Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream." 11 or. was a remarkable instance of preco .ous productiveness. V erdi, when :' ty ten, was appointed organist at Le v jncolo, and at fifteen wrote his first s; aphony.' Ilossini sang solos in church : ten; at thirteen appeared in the o, va house at Adolfo in Paer's "Camilla, ' and at eighteen produced at Venic his first opera, "La Cambiale di M.i limonio." Weber at twelve publishec. .i set of "Six Fughotti" ; at thirteen //rote "Variations for the Pianoforte' nd an opera. Cherubim awoke poj.,.»nr enthusiasm with a mass at thirteei . Schubert began writing music at thirteen, and when eighteen compo, I two symphonies, five operas, and no nver than 137 songs, besides a multii Le of other important pieces. At seventeen .vaguer published his first important >. imposition—the overture in B Hat— id at twenty his first symphony was p< tormed. It iB a truth pregnant with ■■ iggestion that Beethoven, that pvi. .'e of musicians, who occupies in mu ■ o the place held by Shakespeare iu <oetry, did not composo anything e: titled to mention until after he had ~ ached his twenty-fifth birthday.

Lady journali j must avoid Japan. The new press uws for the Mikado's Empire prohibit /omen from becoming publishers or edi jrs; "the discharge of such work by fe ales is neither becoming nor desirab The l'ramers of the law are cer. inly looking far into the future, for, ~s yet, Japanese damsels have given no sign of emulating their Western sisters in newspaper work. An inquiry at the White House as to the truth of. a report that had bocome current that President Itoosevelt intended to buy a motor car brought this answer: "Wot. so long as there are horses." M. Tournay, a Belgian engineer, has been commissioned by the committee for the Intrenal Exhibition at Brussels in 1910 to erect a tower at Ixelles, which will be much higher than the JSiffel Tower. The cost is estimated at £48,000. A Berlin telegsam states that the principal object of Herr Dernburg, the Colonial Secreta.- •, in his forthcoming visit to South Aft '.c&, is to ascertain the views of the. Brit ;h authorities with regard to the ultin ite possibility of linking up the British: and German African railway systems. TtTe Roman Catholic Archbishop of Munich has issued a decree to all churches in his iiocese warning Catholics not to join the movement in Germany in favor o 1 cremation. He points out that not on : y is cremation forbidden by the Clutch, but the Bavarian Government disapproves it. During his voyage from Bermuda, Mark Twain had ;i very narrow escape. Jtlo was walking >u the bridge of the steamer when a ueavy sea struck the vessel and wash : i hiin away from his position. He ha' the presence of mind to seize one of .. >? rails, and so saved himself from going overboard.