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Article BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF EMINENT (DECEAS... ← Page 3 of 11 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Biographical Sketches Of Eminent (Deceas...
who had an elder brother who greatly distinguished himself as a composer , and being asked Avhat should be done with little Marcello , answered , ' Let him mend my pens / whic ^ much , that he determined , and did most wonderfully , ^ ^ brother .
Mr ., afterAvards Dr . Arnold , was the first , who , upon hearing him play on . the harpsichord- ^ one of my f ^ Uy / * / But even this , it would appear , made no impression on his parents , for his father added , " Butwe did not much regard him , coniing " after Charles . The first thing that drew our attention was , the great delight he took in hearing his brothers play ; and whenever Mr . KelAvay went to teach him , Sam constantly attended and accompanied Charles xm the cltair , undaunted by Mr . Kelway ' s frown .
" He was so excessively fond of Scarlatti , that if Charles ever began playing his lessons before Samuel was called , he would roar and cry as if he had been beat en . I have since recollected Mr . KelwaA / s words , to the effect , that ' It ^ good music , ' and he nsed to add , 'If any man would learn to play
Avell , let him hear Charles . ' So that it would appear Samuel had this double advantage from his birth . As his brother employed his evenings in plying Han listening and joining with his voice , and would sometimes presume to find ferirfc wtth his playing ^ w knew nothing of the
matter . " Between the ages of four and five years , he obtained possession of a copy of Handel ' s oratorio of ' Samson , and by that alone taught himself to read words , and soon after to write . From this he sprang up like a mushroom , and when turned of five he could read perfectly well , and had all the airs , recitatives , and choruses of ' Samson ' and the ' Messiah / both words and notes , by heart .
" Whenever he heard his brother begin to play , he would tell us whose music it was ( whether Handel , Corelli , Scarlatti , or any other ) , and at what part of what lesson , sonata , or overture . " Before he could write he composed much music . His custom was to lay the words of an oratorio before him , and sing them all over . Thus he set ( extempore , for the most partY ' Ruth / ' Gideon /
' Manasses / and the ' Death of Abel . ' We observed , when he repeated the same words , it was always to the same tunes . The airs of ' Ruth / in particular , he made before he was six years old , laid them up in his memory till he was eight , and then wrote them down . I have seen him open his prayer-book , and sing the ' Te Deitrii' or an anthem from some psalm , to his own music , accompanying it with the harpsichord . This he often did after he had learned to play by note , which Mr . Williams , a young organist of Bristol , taught him
between six and seven . iC , and when , be learnt counterpoint , I can hardly tell ; but without ever being taught it , he soon wrote in parts . He was full eight years old when Dr , Boyce came to see us , and accosted me
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Biographical Sketches Of Eminent (Deceas...
who had an elder brother who greatly distinguished himself as a composer , and being asked Avhat should be done with little Marcello , answered , ' Let him mend my pens / whic ^ much , that he determined , and did most wonderfully , ^ ^ brother .
Mr ., afterAvards Dr . Arnold , was the first , who , upon hearing him play on . the harpsichord- ^ one of my f ^ Uy / * / But even this , it would appear , made no impression on his parents , for his father added , " Butwe did not much regard him , coniing " after Charles . The first thing that drew our attention was , the great delight he took in hearing his brothers play ; and whenever Mr . KelAvay went to teach him , Sam constantly attended and accompanied Charles xm the cltair , undaunted by Mr . Kelway ' s frown .
" He was so excessively fond of Scarlatti , that if Charles ever began playing his lessons before Samuel was called , he would roar and cry as if he had been beat en . I have since recollected Mr . KelwaA / s words , to the effect , that ' It ^ good music , ' and he nsed to add , 'If any man would learn to play
Avell , let him hear Charles . ' So that it would appear Samuel had this double advantage from his birth . As his brother employed his evenings in plying Han listening and joining with his voice , and would sometimes presume to find ferirfc wtth his playing ^ w knew nothing of the
matter . " Between the ages of four and five years , he obtained possession of a copy of Handel ' s oratorio of ' Samson , and by that alone taught himself to read words , and soon after to write . From this he sprang up like a mushroom , and when turned of five he could read perfectly well , and had all the airs , recitatives , and choruses of ' Samson ' and the ' Messiah / both words and notes , by heart .
" Whenever he heard his brother begin to play , he would tell us whose music it was ( whether Handel , Corelli , Scarlatti , or any other ) , and at what part of what lesson , sonata , or overture . " Before he could write he composed much music . His custom was to lay the words of an oratorio before him , and sing them all over . Thus he set ( extempore , for the most partY ' Ruth / ' Gideon /
' Manasses / and the ' Death of Abel . ' We observed , when he repeated the same words , it was always to the same tunes . The airs of ' Ruth / in particular , he made before he was six years old , laid them up in his memory till he was eight , and then wrote them down . I have seen him open his prayer-book , and sing the ' Te Deitrii' or an anthem from some psalm , to his own music , accompanying it with the harpsichord . This he often did after he had learned to play by note , which Mr . Williams , a young organist of Bristol , taught him
between six and seven . iC , and when , be learnt counterpoint , I can hardly tell ; but without ever being taught it , he soon wrote in parts . He was full eight years old when Dr , Boyce came to see us , and accosted me