In Bohemia with Du Maurier - The First Of A Series Of Reminiscences by Felix Moscheles
page 17 of 72 (23%)
page 17 of 72 (23%)
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[Illustration: MOSCHELES ET MOI SI NOUS N'AVIONS PAS ÉTÉ ARTISTES.]
[Illustration: SI NOUS AVIONS ÉTÉ CHEVAUX.] [Illustration: F. S'IL ETAIT CHEVAL.] The sketch shows how it is being applied by a devoted Sister of Mercy. [Illustration: SI NOUS AVIONS ÉTÉ MILITAIRES.] In those days railway travelling was not as rapid as it is now, but one could get from Antwerp to Malines in about an hour, a circumstance which I frequently turned to account. Du Maurier's mother had come to live with him, his sister joining them for a short time, and the home in quiet old Malines soon became a sort of haven of rest. I spent many a happy day and night there, on which occasions I am bound to say that the piano, requisitioned by me for some special purposes of musical caricature, detracted somewhat from the restfulness of the haven. However that may have been, such intrusion was never resented; my Swedish prima donna, or my qualifications as a basso profondo, or a brass-bandsman, were always treated with the greatest indulgence by the ladies, and my high soprano flourished and positively reached unknown altitudes under the beneficent sunshine of their applause. (For all that I never attempted Chopin's "Impromptu.") [Illustration: "CE SACRÉ VESICATOIRE."] [Illustration: ISABEL DU MAURIER.] Then du Maurier would sing the French "romance" or the English song, |
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