This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1877 edition. Excerpt: ... 1784--1840. T the beginning of this century the mother of Paganini had a dream, which she related to her young child in these terms: "My son, you will be a great musician. An angel, radiant with beauty, appeared to me during the night, and promised to accomplish any wish that I might make. I asked ...
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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1877 edition. Excerpt: ... 1784--1840. T the beginning of this century the mother of Paganini had a dream, which she related to her young child in these terms: "My son, you will be a great musician. An angel, radiant with beauty, appeared to me during the night, and promised to accomplish any wish that I might make. I asked that you should become the greatest of all violinists, and the angel granted that my desire should be fulfilled!" Whether this little speech was imagined for the sake of encouraging her son to work, and to enable him to bear the cruel treatment of his father; or whether it was a real dream, a sort of instinctive foreshadowing of the boy's future-career; it is certain that the "angel radiant with beauty " did keep the promise in the most perfect manner possible. Nicolo Paganini, the most wonderful violinist of the nineteenth century, was born at Genoa on the night of the 18th February, 1784. His father, Antonio Paganini, was a ship-broker, who was passionately fond of music and played upon the mandoline. We know very little about him, except that he soon perceived his child's talents, and caused him to study so early and so sevei-ely that he not only affected his constitution, perhaps naturally rather delicate, but he actually forced him to become a tolerable violin-player at six years of age' That the young Paganini gave evidence of very precocious skill, and that, very arly in life, his instinct and natural genius led him to attempt extraordinary effects upon his instrument cannot be doubted. It is no less true that his father's knowledge of music was of-a very meagre kind, and not sufficient to enable him to do more than give his son the roughest-elements of the art. For a short period the leader of the Genoese theatre, Signor Cervetto, ...
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