Garcia the Centenarian and His Times: Being a Memoir of Manuel Garcia's Life and Labours for the Advancement of Music and ScienceMackinlay, M. (Malcolm) Sterling
History
Garcia the Centenarian and His Times: Being a Memoir of Manuel Garcia's Life and Labours for the Advancement of Music and Science
How different Manuel Garcia when he celebrated his 100th birthday: in
the early morning, received by the King at Buckingham Palace; at noon,
entering the rooms of the Royal Medical Society with short, quick steps,
walking unaided to the dais, mounting it with agility and then sitting
for an hour, smiling and upright, while receiving honours and
congratulations from all parts of the globe. Which of those who were
present will ever forget how he attended the banquet that same evening,
in such full possession of his faculties and bodily strength as to make
his own reply to the hundreds assembled to celebrate the occasion? Could
anything have been finer than this sight of Grand Old Age?
Now the fame of each individual member of the Garcia family would seem
to demand that, in addition to the story of the Maestro's own career,
considerable details should be given regarding that of his father and
sisters. Surely the three last have claims to our attention beyond the
mere fact of being in the one case a parent who exercised a very
important influence upon Manuel Garcia's character and choice of career
in early days, and who was, moreover, the fountainhead from which flowed
the stream of musical talent that in the children broadened out into so
grand a river,--in the other case, the sisters, who were bound not only
by ties of kinship but by a debt of gratitude for the part which their
brother played in their vocal training.
This brings us to the first point, Señor Garcia's position as a teacher.
There is a trite proverb to the effect that the proof of the pudding is
in the eating. It is so in the present case. One can state the fact that
he has been a great master, one can lay down a general outline of his
teaching and applaud the soundness of his methods, but after all the
outer world will in such matters be apt to judge by results alone. Or
let us put it in another way. His knowledge is like the foundations of a
house: experts may examine it closely and admire good points, but to a
great extent the successes of his pupils are the bricks by which alone a
wide reputation is built up.
For this reason I propose to sketch briefly the career of the more
famous among those who studied under the old Spaniard, and in doing so I
trust that the above circumstances will be considered sufficient excuse
for the digressions which will be made at various points.
We now come to a second consideration.
The discovery of the laryngoscope, owing to its far-reaching results, is
of such importance that the chapter dealing with it is bound to contain
matter which will naturally appeal to the special rather than to the
general reader. The desire that the many may not suffer for the sake of
the few to a greater extent than is absolutely necessary has prompted me
to quote but briefly from the text of the important technical papers
which he presented to the Royal Society in 1854 and to the International
Medical Congress in 1881.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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