Page:Anecdotes of Great Musicians.djvu/24

12 5. It is the best means to procure a perfect pronunciation, and to make a good Orator.

6. It is the only way to know when Nature hath bestowed the benefit of a good Voyce which guift is so rare, as there is not one among a thousand, that hath it; and in many, that excellent guift is lost, because they want Art to expresse Nature.

7. There is not any Musicke of Instruments whatsoeuer, comparable to that which is made of the Voyces of Men, where the voyces are good, and the same well sorted and ordered.

8. The better the voyce is, the meeter it is to honor and serue God therewith; and the voyce of man is chiefly to be employed to that ende.

 

Cherubini was a gruff old fellow, but occasionally a bit of kindness or humor came to the surface, and then he showed the better side of his nature. He was one day met, at the Paris Conservatoire, of which he was the head, by a father who came bringing his talented son to gain admission to the institution. Cherubini exclaimed, when the man had told his errand, "What do you want? I do not take infants to nurse!"

The father was about to give up his attempt, but was told to take the boy to a certain room and have him play whatever he could think of, and not to stop when Cherubini came into the room. Soon the Director came in. Hearing the boy play, he was astonished at the talent and youth of the performer, and proceeded to question him on the principles of music. The result was that he at once admitted the boy to the Conservatoire. Cherubini afterward, in telling others about the affair, said, "I had to be very careful about pushing the questions too far; for