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Show NEWMAN, THE MUSICIAN. I Less familiar to the general reader than some other phases of the many-sided many-sided John Henry Newman was his love for music. At 10 he had already begun to learn the violin, and his brothers joined him in trios, Francis taking the bass, w hen he went to Oxford he still found time for his favorite diversion, and took part in weekly concerts. In June, 1320, he wrote: "I was asked by a man yesterday to go to his rooms for a 'little music' at 7 o'clock. I went. An old don a very good-natured man. but too fond of music played bass, and through his enthusiasm I was kept playing quartettes quar-tettes on a heavy tenor from 7 to 12. Oh, my poor eyes and head and back." When the news arrived of his success suc-cess at Oriel he was practicing music. The provost's butler made his way to Mr. Newman's lodgings in Broad street, and found him playing the violin. vio-lin. Delivering the set address for such occasions, that "He had, he feared, disagreeable news to announce, an-nounce, namely, that Mr. Newman had been elected fellow of Oriel, and his immediate presence was required there," he was astonished to hear the future cardinal answer: "Very well," and go on fiddling. One author thus recounts the musical musi-cal relations of Newman with Blanco White and Reinagle: "Both Newman and White were violinists, vio-linists, but with different instruments. Blanco White's was very small. Poor gentleman! Night after night anyone walking in the silence of Merton lane might hear his continual attempts to surmount some little difficulty, returning return-ing to it again and again, like Philomel to her vain regrets. With Reinagle Newman and Blanco White had fre quent trios at the latter's lodgings, where I was all the audience. Most interesting was it to contrast Blanco White's excited and even agitated countenance with Newman's sphynx-long, sphynx-long, rich notes with a steady hand." Canon McNeill of Liverpool, the celebrated cele-brated anti-Catholic, attempted at one time to arrange a public debate with Dr. Newman. The great man sent word that Canon McNeill's well known talents as a finished orator would make such a public controversy an unfair trial of strength between them; because he was himself, he said, no orator. His friends, however, had told him that he was no mean performer on the violin, and if he agreed to meet Canon McNeill he would only make one condition, that the canon should open the meeting and say all he had to say, after which Dr. Newman would conclude with a tune on the violin. The public would then be able to judge who I was the better man. Though early initiated into the mysteries mys-teries of Beethoven, music of a high order did not appeal to him at once w-ithout study; Brahms, for instance. When he was in Rome in 1883 he wrote home: "This last week we have heard the celebrated Miserere, or, rather, the two Misereres, for there are two compositions composi-tions by Allegri and. Baii, so like each other that the performers themselves can scarcely tell the difference between them. One is performed on the Thursday Thurs-day and the other on Good Friday. The voices certainly are very surprising; surpris-ing; there is no instrument to support them, but they have the art of continuing con-tinuing their note so long, and equally well that the note is as if an organ j were playing, or, rather, an organ of I violin strings, for the notes are clearer more subtle and piercing, and more 1 i npassioned (so to say) than those of an organ. "Teh music is doubtless very fine as every one says, but I found myself unable to understand all parts of it" The-Republic. |