Whims of Notable Musicians

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 19959, 17 November 1934, Page 12

Whims of Notable Musicians

INTERESTING SIDELIGHTS ON THE GREAT MASTERS

Nearly all the more famous musicians have been distinguished by peculiarities indicative of high-strung temperaments strange superstitions and odd methods of work.

Meyerbeer’s happiest inspiration came when the thunder roared, the winds howled and the rain dashed in deluging sheets down the window panes of his study. De Pachmann made remarks to his audience while he was playing. If the public indulged in more applause than was agreeable to him, he signified his displeasure by violent gestures with hands and arms. Biszt smoked large black cigars. When giving lessons he walked up and down the room, muttering to himself and emitting volumes of smoke by way of accompaniments to his remarks. He smoked constantly while he worked. Berlioz, though so famous as a composer, could play no instrument except the guitar, and that very badly. Wagner had his tomb made in the garden of his house, so that at any moment he could visit it. He sometimes insisted on having his guests inspect this sepulchre, and at the dinner table he took singular delight in descanting on the subject of death. “Marvellously Regular” Schubert was marvellously regular in his attention to composition. When he was composing, his features worked, his eyes flashed and his limbs twitched. This unnatural excitement held complete control of him until the fever of composition passed away. He seldom made alterations in his score. Gluck often had his servants carry his piano out to the lawn. His finest inspirations came to him when playing in the garden. Several bottles of champagne were placed conveniently near him. His theory was that bright sunshine was favourable to inspiration, and he always worked in It whenever possible. Gluck was fifty years of age before he wrote an opera of any renown. Handel had an odd habit of tossing sheets of manuscript from the table as fast as he filled them. The slightest gain in time was of the utmost importance to him. There was only one man living, his copyist, Smith, who

could read his manuscript. Handel often wept while composing, some of his sacred writings being blotted with tears. Haydn arrayed himself at daybreak in full court dress—sword, wig, lace ruff and silver buckles. He said that he could never write so well as when a massive diamond ring, which the Emperor of Austria had given him, was on his finger. The paper on which he wrote had to be of superfine quality and of the most exquisite whiteness. Beethoven used the snuffers for a toothpick. It was one of his peculiarities that he never allowed his servant to enter his study. He insisted that this room should remain exactly as he left it, no matter how deeply the dust lay on the precious musical manuscripts. He seldom looked in the mirror when he tied his stock. Half the time he forgot to brush his hair. Every morning he counted out seventeen beans from the coffee canister, these serving as his breakfast. When he composed, he would pour cold water over his hands. Often the people below him would complain of the water that soaked through the floor. “Talked to His Piano” Chopin, unlike most musical geniuses, was a late riser. He practised so long at the piano, with his back unsupported, that his spine was permanently injured. He never composed except when seated at the piano, and he always had the lights turned out when he was improvising. A public audience unnerved him to such an extent that he could not properly interpret the music before him. Seated in the midst of a small select circle, he easily extemporized and improvised. He “talked” to his piano whenever he was melancholy. Chopin had a superstitious dread of the figure seven, and would not live in a house bearing that number nor start upon a journey on that date. Rossini was indolent and procrastinating. He never started his compositions until necessity forced him to. Bach, on the other hand, seems to have been the most prolific of all composers, for he worked continually and his works run well into the thosands.