OCR Text |
Show A MUSICAL JOKE. That music hath charms to soothe the breast of a school-boy is proved by this anecdote of Chopin. It might be called a "story without words." If his father's pupils made too much noise in the house, Frederic had only to place himself at the piano to produce instant and perfect quiet. One day, when Prof. [Professor] Chopin was out, there was a frightful scene, Baroneski?, the master present, was at his wit's end when Frederick, happily, entered the room. Without deliberation, he requested the roisterers [roisterers?] to sit down, called in those who were making a noise outside, and promised to improvise an interesting story on the piano if they would be quite quiet. All were instantly as still as death, and Frederic sat down to the instrument and extinguished the lights. He described how robbers approached a house, mounted by ladders to the windows, but were frightened away by a noise within. Without delay, they fled on the wings of the wind into a deep dark wood, where they fell asleep under the starry sky. He played more and more softly, as if trying to lull children to rest, till he found that his hearers had actually fallen asleep. The young artist noiselessly crept out of the room to his parents and sisters, and asked them to follow him with a light. When the family had amused themselves with the various postures of the sleepers, Frederic sat down again to the piano, and struck a thrilling chord, at which they all sprang up in a fright. A hearty laugh was the finale of this musical joke. |