Complete Encyclopaedia of Music/A/Arriaga, Jean Chrysostome De

Arriaga, Jean Chrysostome De. Born at Bilbao, in 1808 ; - self taught in music, for which he showed rare talent, until the age of thirteen, when he was sent to the Conservatoire at Paris, and studied the violin under M. Baillot, and counterpoint under M. F�tis. He had al-ready, with no knowledge of harmony, written a Spanish opera, in which there were charming and original ideas. His progress was astonishing : in less than three months he had a perfect knowledge of harmony, and by the end of two years he could laugh at any difficulty in counterpoint and fugue. He had two gifts rarely united ; viz., ready invention and a scientific turn. He wrote a fugue for eight voices, on the words of' the Credo, "Et vitam venturi," which Cherubini did not hesitate to pronounce a masterpiece. On the violin his progress was equally remarkable. He was tormented by the continual need of' composing. His first work was three quatuors for violin, &c., which appeared in Paris in 1824. These were original, elegant, and purely written. Then came an overture, a symphony, a mass, "Salve, Regina," several cantatas and romances, &c. Exhausted by intense labor, he died, lamented and esteemed, in 1826.