Great Singers, Second Series: Malibran To TitiensFerris, George T. (George Titus)
History
Great Singers, Second Series: Malibran To Titiens
Ferris, George T. (George Titus)
Singers -- Biography
It may be said, however, that Pauline Garcia was self-educated as a
vocalist. Her mother's removal to Brussels, her brother's absence in
Italy, and the wandering life of Mme. Malibran practically threw her on
her own resources. She was admirably fitted for self-culture. Ardent,
resolute, industrious, thoroughly grounded in the soundest of art
methods, and marvelously gifted in musical intelligence, she applied
herself to her vocal studies with abounding enthusiasm, without
instruction other than the judicious counsels of her mother. She had her
eyes fixed on a great goal, and this she pursued without rest or turning
from her path. She exhausted the _solfeggi_ which her father had written
out for her sister Maria, and when this laborious discipline was done
she determined to compose others for herself. She had already learned
harmony and counterpoint from Reicha at the Paris Conservatoire, and
these she now found occasion to put in practice. She copied all the
melodies of Schubert, of whom she was a passionate admirer, and thought
no toil too great which promoted her musical growth. Her labor was a
labor of love, and all the ardor of her nature was poured into it. Music
was not the sole accomplishment in which she became skilled. Unassisted
by teaching, she, like Malibran, learned to sketch and paint in oil and
water-colors, and found many spare moments in the midst of an incessant
art-training, which looked to the lyric stage, to devote to literature.
All this denotes a remarkable nature, fit to overcome every difficulty
and rise to the topmost shining peaks of artistic greatness. What she
did our sketch will further relate.
II.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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