Page:Anecdotes of Great Musicians.djvu/146

134 "The Barber of Seville," the audience expressed its disapproval of certain innovations, Rossini shrugged his shoulders, went home and went to sleep. When "La Donna del Lago" was pronounced an utter failure, Rossini openly and loudly proclaimed it a complete success. When "La Gazza Ladra" did not meet the approval of the critics, and he was accused of violating the rules of musical grammar, he retorted:

"So much the worse for the grammar. Reform your grammar; it must be defective."

He might have said "so much the worse for the critics," for the public soon recognized the beauty of the works in question, and Rossini, next to Verdi, ranks as the typical Italian composer.  

Verily, the old classic composers seemed to take literally the command "be not weary in well doing." Händel, whom Beethoven declared to be "the monarch of the musical kingdom," left nearly four hundred compositions, most of them of considerable length, including his forty-three operas, nineteen oratories, and one hundred and fifty cantatas.

Haydn wrote much more than Händel, his compositions being about eight hundred in number. But many of these were of no great length. The principal ones were one hundred and eighteen symphonies, eighty-three string quartets, twenty-four operas and fourteen masses. Haydn's life was more quiet and his disposition more tranquil than was Händel's. While the latter composer had to fight his way in the musical world, Haydn was enjoying the patronage and support of Prince Esterhazy, in whose musical establishment he reigned supreme.

Another writer who put forth an astonishing number of compositions was Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Theophilus Amandeus [sic] Mozart. That Mozart died young was not owing to the weight of so long a name, 