Burney, Charles, 1726-1814 -- Parodies, imitations, etc.
“Excuse,” said he, “illustrious _Collioni_, the measured mode of my
gestures in saluting you; but I have long accustomed myself to measure
out the parts of time on a variety of sounding instruments, and have
at length introduced it into all the motions of my body. At my house,
sir, you will learn to cut your meat, and move your jaws at dinner in
common or triple time, according to the instruments that accompany our
meals.——By dealing the cards at quadrille, how easy it is to judge if
the party has an ear!——yonder gentleman who comes towards our window,
see how he swings his arms in exact time, true as the pendulum of a
clock. I can assure you, sir, he is great on the violoncello. My dear
wife says, the conjugal endearments are doubly improved, if a husband
is a good timeist. She approves of triple time; and on this account I
formerly had a servant who play’d in our bed-room every Sunday night,
’till we slept. And since I became one of the _castrati_, I have
acquired the habit of making water at intervals in the truest time like
a pig; and may say, that I believe for exactness of ear, that I am not
exceeded by any modern musician.”
On this, this great man took up a Jew’s harp that lay by him, and with
a twing, twang, twong, moving his finger across his lips, and making
faces in the most exact time, he fetched out such prurient harmony,
as ravished my very soul, and threw sweet Miss _Ferni_ into the most
agreeable convulsions.
During our dinner, two of the Doctor’s servants entertained us with
many excellent and solemn pieces of music. Indeed, I was so solicitous
to cut and eat my meat in true time, as I thought my character depended
on this circumstance, that I unfortunately cut my lips, so that the
blood much terrified me; and sweet Miss _Ferni_ was so earnestly
attending to the fiddlers, that on their suddenly changing the time
from _adagio_ to _sestina_, she swallowed the ivory spoon out of a
mustard pot; which, as it stuck across her throat, I am sure must have
given that excellent young lady exquisite pain, yet did she cough, and
even vomit repeatedly in most accurate time, and screamed from fear
most harmoniously through the whole gamut, from _a_ to _g_ inclusively,
long after the spoon was restored to its place.
SHEFFIELD.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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