Page:Anecdotes of Great Musicians.djvu/263

Rh Ferdinand Praeger, relates an incident of a visit to Wagner at his Swiss home. The two men sat one morning on an ottoman in the drawing-room, talking over the events of the years. Suddenly Wagner, who was sixty years old, rose and stood on his head upon the ottoman. At that moment Wagner's wife entered. Her surprise and alarm caused her to run to her husband, exclaiming; "Ah! Richard! Richard!" Quickly recovering himself, he assured her that he was sane, and wished to show that he could stand on his head at sixty, which was more than Ferdinand could do. Perhaps Wagner wrote some of his music while standing on his head. It certainly reverses many old-time ideas of composition.  

The pages of manuscript that lie on the composer's desk may represent to him the thoughts, ideas, aspirations of years. It is no wonder, then, that his first thought should be for his beloved score, and that he should be ready to risk a good deal in order to preserve it from destruction. Lulli once ran a terrible risk to save the score of his best opera, no less a risk than that of incurring eternal damnation—according to his father confessor.

It happened this way: Lulli was ill, so ill as to fear death. He hurriedly sent for a priest and asked for absolution, but the priest would not grant it unless he would promise to destroy the score of his latest opera. It seems the church did not regard his operas as being conducive of a rapid moral growth among the people.

Finally the composer gave in, and pointed to his desk where the lately finished work lay in rough score. The priest secured the doomed manuscript, burnt it, and then granted the desired safe conduct to paradise. But Lulli was not so sick as he thought, and proceeded to get better. Some time after, he was visited by one of the