the maestro's own name--a practice then common in the music and painting
schools of Italy. At the age of nineteen Cherubini was recognized as
one of the most learned and accomplished musicians of the age, and his
services were in active demand at the Italian theatres. In four years
he produced thirteen operas, the names and character of which it is not
necessary now to mention, as they are unknown except to the antiquary
whose zeal prompts him to defy the dust of the Italian theatrical
libraries. Halévy, whose admiration of his master led him to study these
early compositions, speaks of them as full of striking beauties, and,
though crude in many particulars, distinguished by those virile and
daring conceptions which from the outset stamped the originality of the
man.

Cherubini passed through Paris in 1784, while the Gluck-Piccini
excitement was yet warm, and visited London as composer for the Royal
Italian Opera. Here he became a constant visitor in courtly circles, and
the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Queensbury, and other noble amateurs,
conceived the warmest admiration for his character and abilities. For
some reason, however, his operas written for England failed, and
he quitted England in 1786, intending to return to Italy. But the
fascinations of Paris held him, as they have done so many others,
noticeably so among the great musicians; and what was designed as a
flying visit became a life-long residence, with the exception of brief
interruptions in Germany and Italy, whither he went to fill professional
engagements.

Cherubini took up his residence with his friend Viotti, who introduced
him to the Queen, Marie Antoinette, and the highest society of the
capital, then as now the art-center of the world. He became an intimate
of the brilliant salons of Mme. de Polignac, Mme. d'Etiolés, Mme. de