influence, not merely on violin music but music in general, was of a
very palpable order. In him were united the accomplishments of the great
virtuoso and the gifts of the composer. At the time that Viotti's star
shot into such splendor in the musical horizon, there were not a few
clever violinists, and only a genius of the finest type could have
attained and perpetuated such a regal sway among his contemporaries. At
the time when Viotti appeared in Paris the popular heart was completely
captivated by Giornowick, whose eccentric and quarrelsome character as
a man cooperated with his artistic excellence to keep him constantly
in the public eye. Giornowick was a Palermitan, born in 1745, and his
career was thoroughly artistic and full of romantic vicissitudes. His
style was very graceful and elegant, his tone singularly pure. One of
the most popular and seductive tricks in his art was the treating of
well-known airs as rondos, returning ever and anon to his theme after
a variety of brilliant excursions in a way that used to fascinate his
hearers, thus anticipating some of his brilliant successors.

Michael Kelly heard him at Vienna. "He was a man of a certain age," he
tells us, "but in the full vigor of talent. His tone was very powerful,
his execution most rapid, and his taste, above all, alluring. No
performer in my remembrance played such pleasing music." Dubourg relates
that on one occasion, when Giornowick had announced a concert at Lyons,
he found the people rather retentive of their money, so he postponed the
concert to the following evening, reducing the price of the tickets to
one half. A crowded company was the result. But the bird had flown! The
artist had left Lyons without ceremony, together with the receipts from
sales of tickets.

In London, where he was frequently heard between 1792 and 1796, he once
gave a concert which was fully attended, but annoying to the player