Page:Anecdotes of Great Musicians.djvu/149

Rh shoulders." His voice was the most powerful of any of which we have record; and his stage presence and artistic education made him the foremost bass singer of musical history. In this he was unique; there were none to rival him or dispute his claim to greatness. As a youth he sang at the funeral of Haydn and later at that of Beethoven. He was, when in England, the singing master of Queen Victoria.  

The Irish composer, Field, married from a somewhat peculiar reason, if we may believe his version of it. While yet this originator of the style of music called the "nocturne" was single, he numbered among his pupils one attractive young lady from whom he found it exceedingly difficult to collect the amount of her tuition bill.

Finally, Field concluded to proceed to law in the matter, that is, to use one form of law—for he proposed to the slow-paying damsel and was accepted. He made no secret of the fact that she was his pupil and he married her to get rid of giving her lessons for which she never paid, and for which he felt sure she never would.

This may be a good plan. Who can say but it is applied more than the world knows. But what if the teacher is already the happy possessor of one, or if he has several debtors among the fair sex?  

Of the score of greatest composers, perhaps none was more eccentric than that founder of the modern German operatic school, Richard Wagner. The caller who was unaware of one of his peculiarities might suffer a mild shock; for on entering the room where his visitor was seated Wagner would throw the door wide open before him, as if it were fit that his approach should be heralded