Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Karina Aleksandrova and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net STORIES OF GREAT MUSICIANS BY KATHRINE LOIS SCOBEY AND OLIVE BROWN HORNE AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO COPYRIGHT, 1905, BY KATHRINE LOIS SCOBEY AND OLIVE BROWN HORNE. ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL, LONDON. GREAT MUSICIANS. W. P. 22 PREFACE That the purpose of the public schools is the training of children for a higher citizenship, a more extensive helpfulness in affairs pertaining to the common good, no one questions; but we need expect no manifestation of a greater integrity, unless lofty ideals are kept constantly before them. Neither painter nor sculptor can produce a greater expression of beauty than that which has been built up in his own consciousness; no individual can produce a greater expression of manhood or womanhood than that which he holds in his own mind. It is important, therefore, that a high standard be set for the children in our schools to-day. The question then arises as to how this result may be attained. Educators agree that the study of biography is a potent factor in the achievement of this end. A new field for biographical study is found in the lives of the great musicians, who furnish many examples of untiring effort and persistent endeavor, for almost without exception their lives repeat the oft-stated but none too often emphasized verity that success comes only to him who earns success. We trust that this little volume may aid the many who are striving to enrich the thought concepts of the children under their care. K. L. S. O. B. H. CONTENTS PAGE JOHN SEBASTIAN BACH 7 GEORGE FREDERICK HANDEL 17 WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART 33 FRANCIS JOSEPH HAYDN 57 LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN 71 FELIX MENDELSSOHN 93 FREDERICK CHOPIN 115 ROBERT SCHUMANN 133 FRANZ PETER SCHUBERT 149 RICHARD WAGNER 159 JOHN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750) THE CHILD MUSICIAN [Illustration: JOHN SEBASTIAN BACH] Long ago, in a little German town, lived a jolly old miller. From morning till night he sang about his work, for he loved music dearly. He had learned to play upon the lute, which is an instrument with strings. The miller used to take his lute with him to his work. He was fond of playing while the merry clacking of the mill beat time for him. This miller was the great-great-grandfather of John Sebastian Bach, who said of the miller, "The grinding of the corn and the music of the lute must have sounded merrily together."