About this book
Three hundred anecdotes and biographical sketches of famous composers and performers. I have attempted to cull from the mass of material that came to my notice such anecdotes as have two features,—that of being characteristic of the person referred to, and that of possessing sufficient interest; and in this re-narration I have incorporated such bits of musical information, along biographical and historical lines, as came to mind at the time of writing, but letting this feature be secondary to the main idea of the work. Thus it is hoped that while my readers may find interesting anecdote, they may also incidentally find that which is of more permanent value. No classification has been made in the body of the work, thus avoiding monotony in a consecutive reading. The indexes furnish ample references. If these narrations awaken a more general interest in musical biography, one purpose of my labor will have been accomplished. - Summary by W. Francis Gates (from the Introduction)
Chapters (61)
1The Gregorian Chant; The Bach Revival; Why We Should Sing; Glimpses of Cherubini; Discovering a Nightingale
2Balfe's Strange Room Mate; Berlioz and Paganini; History Repeats Itself; The Greatest Musical Prodigy; A Test of Precocity
3Irish Enthusiasm; Playing like "Zwei Gotts"; A Sudden Cure; Ole Bull at "Rouge-et-Noir"; Outspoken Admiration
4Whims of Composers; Ole Bull as a Duelist; He Didn't Purchase; A Critical Composition; Keep in with the Accompanist
5The Youthful Beethoven's Trick on a Singer; An Untalented Royal Pupil; Händel's Persuasiveness; Good English in Song; An Uncringing Reply
6Southern Passion; Rather a Hard Opponent to Conquer; Catalani and Goethe; The Music but Not the Face; A Concert Preacher
7Traveling in State; Tuning Up; Voice Against Trumpet; Beethoven's Kiss; Mendelssohn's Dislike of Meyerbeer
8An Army, a Cow and a Prima Donna; A Musical Priest; Musical Criticism; High Art; A Boy's Memory
9Slippers at a Premium; Artistic Aversion to Empty Honors; Music and Madness; Baton Waving. Lully Losing a Limb; Prima Donnas Come High
10An Unorthodox Creed; The Devil's Trill; Unlucky Manuscripts; Forewarned is Forearmed; A Queen's Regard for her Music Teacher
11An Earnest Student; A Witty Songstress; Moscheles' Blunder; Jealousy in the Family; Prejudice
12Musical Gratitude; The Greater the Composer the Greater the Student; An Ignorant Tenor; Three Classes of Players; How to Secure a Successful Début
13A Song for Forty; The Temple Organ; A Fiddler's Trick; Personal Appearance; Mozart's Acknowledgment
14Operatic Sore Throat; Leoncavallo's Whimsical Opinion of his "Clowns"; How to Make a Singer Sing; Another Way; Rossini Hearing the Impossible
15Manuscript for Kettles; A Patti Reception that She Didn't Receive; The Encore Fiend; Händel's Escape; A Hatful of Pearls
16Mendelssohn Composing for Fun; The Right Kind of a Patron; An Episode in the Life of an Artist; Earning a Violin Easily; Schubert's Serenade
17Malibran's Generosity; How Berlioz Fooled the Critics; Music Hath Charms; Wagner's Melodies and Chords; Disposing of an Audience
18Playing on a Shoe; Händel's Successful Scheme; A Basso's Wit; Old Words to New Tunes; The Composer's Debt to Nature
19Sontag's Revenge; A Second Napoleon; A Singer's Sense; Haydn's Noble English Pupil; Lablache and Tom Thumb
20A Composer's Chagrin; The Friends, Mozart and Haydn; A Frightened Desdemona; Retentive Memories; Patti's Vanity
21Clementi's Economy; Music at So Much per Note; Liszt's Precocity; Keeping at It; A Peculiar Genius
22Shaking all Over; The "Ox" Minuet; Nilsson and the Shah of Persia; Modulations; An Eventful Career
23Napoleon Outwitted by a Songstress; Stubborn Composers; Clerical Wit; A Patient Pupil; Field Fooled
24Saving a Fiddle; Absent Minded; The Prima Donna of the Eighteenth Century; The "Harmonious Blacksmith"; The Ups and Downs of a Singer's Life
25Some Liberal Musicians; How Paganini Secured his Favorite Fiddle; Liszt on Mendelssohn; Mara's Revenge; Chopin's Technic
26Spohr as a Horn Player; Securing Music under Difficulties; In Bülow's Class-Room; Viotti's Tin Fiddle; Liszt's Playing and his Generosity
27From Humble Origin to Wealth and Fame; Gallant Haydn; Rossini and the Italian School; Lives of Labor; A Great Quartet
28Rec'd in Full of A/c; Wagner's Working Costume; Cherubini as a Revolutionary Fiddler; Conscientious Acting and Singing; The Peculiarities of Genius
29Händel's Youth; A Violin for Eighteen Pence; Mendelssohn at Work; A Double Dose of Brahms; Unfailing Sight Reading an Impossibility
30A Sharp Rejoinder; Two Kinds of Bills; Von Bülow as a Political Speaker; Lind's First Engagement; Beethoven's First Triumph
31Händel's Duel; Paganini's Generous Deed; A Gentle Critic; Art Before Business; The "Dear Saxon"
32Bülow's Bits; An Interrupted Concert; Coöperative Composition; An Absent-minded Conductor; Costly Admiration
33Wine and Music; Schubert's "Erl-King"; Royal Honors to a Singer; The Deaf Beethoven; The History of a Violin
34"Vorts" vs. Music; French Wit; Too Literal; Imagination a Factor in Hearing Music; Musical and Non-Musical Accent
35Von Weber to a Bawling Choir; An Interrupted Opera; Beethoven Punished; Violin Collectors; Pot-boilers
36Gounod's Faust; Madame Patti; An Even Distribution of Honors; Rapid Composition; Friends
37Haydn's Reception by Prince Esterhazy; Proving Identity; A Great Thief; Von Bülow's Memory; Their Favorite Surroundings for Composition
38A Kind Act; Public Criticism; Fun on the Stage; The Thirty-three Variations; A Deserved Chastisement
39Il Trovatore; Music vs. Commerce; A Narrow Escape; A Pyrotechnic Violoncello; Misdirected and Repressed Talent
40The Discovery of a Tenor; A Long Encore Number; "Englyshe Meetre"; "The Devil on Two Sticks"; Impositions on Musicians
41The Hallelujah Chorus; Beethoven a la Cupid; Wagner and the Beggars; Vox Populi; What's in a Name
42A Costly Fiddle; Bach's Great Works. How Enjoyed by Some; Peculiar English; Original Tapestry; The Manual Labor of Composition
43A Burial Place Denied; Von Bülow's Peculiarities; Not at First Sight; Restoring an Organ; An Exciting Musical Duel
44An Interrupted Strain; A Musical Tragedy; Beethoven's Gratitude; Choleric Händel; Music vs. Conversation
45The World's Reward to Genius; An Obese Basso; Preserving Identity; A Great German Songstress; A Sight for the Boys
46Paganini in Court Dress; A Gory Drumstick; Great Musical Memories; A Comical Revenge; Scherzo
47But One Seat Left; A Compliment from Haydn; A Particular Prima Donna; Mendelssohn's Kindness; Campanini as a Soldier
48To Make a Player Play; True Kindliness; Viotti's Independence; Not the Geese that Saved Rome; That Patti Kiss
49Longevity of Musicians; Liszt as an Advertiser; Arrested for Treason; Rothschild's Music; The “Prison Josephs"
50Schumann's Failure; Genius Discovered by Punishment; Richard Wagner and the Number "13"; A Little Trick of Paganini's; Liszt's Completion of the Beethoven Monument
51Delayed Appreciation; Overfed Composers; Nasal; A Bold Pupil; Wagner's Activity
52An Opera Sacrificed; An Erratic Prima Donna; When They Began; Sarcasm; A Prima Donna's Pets
53Paganini's Method of Study; Goat Hair for Hero Worshipers; Stage Censorship; Fallible; A Dressing-room War
54Aristocratic Patronage—Haydn's Farewell; The Hebrew in Music; The Story of Mozart's Requiem; Liszt's Reply to Louis Philippe; Jenny Lind's Generosity
55Beethoven, Brain-owner; Schubert's Modesty; Our Musical Advancement; Honest Opinions; The Modern Tendency
56Fugues and Chess; Fortunes in Fiddles; One Kind of Criticism; Musical Cooks; Artistic Pride
57Beethoven's Friends; Prolific Composers; Music for the Eye; Schumann's Madness; Humor in Composition
58Haydn's Last Appearance; The Heroic in Music; A Peculiar Visiting Card; Origin of the Name "Kreutzer Sonata"; Royal Musicians
59A Charitable Trio; Beethoven's Forgetfulness; Rossini's Arrogance; To a Pauper's Grave
60Notable Musical Antagonisms: Händel—Buononcini; Gluck—Piccinni; Cuzzoni—Bordoni; Sontag—Malibran; Liszt—Thalberg
61The Financial Circumstances of the Great Composers
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