Page:Anecdotes of Great Musicians.djvu/83

Rh made journeys to London and Paris to introduce his improvements; and it was at the latter place that he sought to obtain the patronage of Rossini, who was then one of the prominent figures of the musical world.

As Rossini was in his dressing-room shaving himself, Böhm was instructed to remain in an adjoining room. Thinking to predispose the master in favor of his instrument, he proceeded to play all manner of scales, arpeggios, trills, and roulades in various keys, with an agility which was almost unheard of; but not content with this he suddenly dashed into the key of D flat, in which key it had been impossible to play with such agility and brilliancy. Rossini could stand it no longer, but rushed out of his dressing room, wigless, and his face covered with lather, and cried in great excitement:—

"You cannot play that!"

"But I am playing it," responded the inventor calmly.

"I don't care if you are," retorted the composer furiously, "it is utterly impossible."

But Rossini was finally convinced, and the Böhm flute is the one now used by virtuosi the world over.  

Beethoven had a hard time of it with his landladies and servants. Evidently these necessary personages were not easier to get along with in his day than in ours. One of the latter class caused him a deal of trouble once upon a time.

Beethoven was working upon the great mass in D. He began the work in 1819, and was to have had it ready for the celebration of the appointment of his friend, Archduke Rudolph, to the archbishopric of Olmutz, which was to take place the next year. But the mass grew in magnitude as Beethoven grew more interested in it, and when it was finally completed the celebration had been over for two years.

During its progress the composer missed certain sheets