to see Tartini, and on reaching his destination he proceeded to the
house of the great violinist.

Tartini received him kindly, and evinced some curiosity to hear him
play. Pugnani took up his instrument and commenced a well-known solo,
but he had not played many bars before Tartini suddenly seized his arm,
saying, "Too loud, my friend, too loud!" The Piedmontese began again,
but at the same passage Tartini stopped him again, exclaiming this time,
"Too soft, my good friend, too soft!" Pugnani therefore laid down the
violin, and begged of Tartini to give him some lessons. He was at
once received among Tartini's pupils, and, though already an excellent
artist, began his musical education almost entirely anew. Many anecdotes
have been foisted upon Pugnani, some evidently the creation of rivals,
and not worth repeating. Others, on the contrary, tend to enlighten us
upon the character of the man. Thus, when playing, he was so completely
absorbed in the music, that he has been known, at a public concert, to
walk about the platform during the performance of a favorite cadenza,
imagining himself alone in the room. Again, at the house of Madame
Denis, when requested to play before Voltaire, who had little or no
music in his soul, Pugnani stopped short, when the latter had the bad
taste to continue his conversation, remarking in a loud, clear voice,
"M. de Voltaire is very clever in making verses, but as regards music
he is devilishly ignorant." Pugnani's style of play is said to have been
very broad and noble, "characterized by that commanding sweep of the
bow, which afterward formed so grand a feature in the performance of
Viotti." He was distinguished as a composer as well as a player, and
among his numerous works are some seven or eight operas, which were very
successful for the time being on the Italian stage.