Newspapers / The Deaf Mute (Raleigh, … / Nov. 2, 1850, edition 1 / Page 1
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:'V' A MMii V?:V :: "V f. A ff ;i JUMP. ' i JSCiiK:,f. X ;:t:A .. ..i I L ' ' I 14 3- A. W MM Fi i , ;.i:'' 1 !l 'i II'"" . ' - : T .... Wi.Ma'.aj',,, '11 Grru...; , , , V,, ... . . ml. V c X...L ii fi'-l mi, I. r illHW I vwv -,-...- , : W I k- K2M . -'- -- M ''--I' f ... t . ... - 7 . " . . . , ,i , , m. - . 1 . .TTV . .... . . t Hi"'' ,na VOL. II. E Fx m. to From Barony' Musical Time, THE DEAF AND DUMB MUSICIAN. I." ' ' BY WERMAS 8. 8AR0SV. IirtticS tintT of 1841, I om ovcnii)g'ittjJ the Sun Carlo at Naples. Tho opera performed was that half-genftmental, half-heroic composition of Donizetti 'Koberto Devereux." I Mill con few at onco that I njn not very fond of Donizetti's music, and I hud only gouo tu the theatre to hoar Moriuni and Strepponi. After having heard these artists, I had plenty of h-Uure to looWbout the .house, and to reconnoitre the audience. In one of the stalls reserved f.r stranger 1 n)ticed a yoimg iiian," w lfo Btrutk'ino ns much by hw proud bearing and char acteristic face, as by'tlie manner in which he evinced liLs interest for the performance. ' lie was a -man of r, i l i t..t fi brows, aouiline nose, and small mouth.' lie had h K!orc m,n volume of 'music, evidently the score !i f t',e openi, for his eyes were continually wander- ; jng from the took to the stage, and sometimes seemed as it nveKKi on iihj rirejponi. Jic Kept his mouth wide open, as. if ho wished to inhale every note that was sung or played. 1 regarded him for fomo. minutes, with always increasing interest, lie turned , neither to" th right nor -to the left, and even when the curtain fell, he gazed npon it as if the performance were still going on, and the gaudv figures of the curtain werei thing of life. Mean time, some fiiends had espied me; from oneif the galleries, and before I "was aware of it, they had half dragged, half carried me to their ibox. I di rected thei wo gjiierally were, and mire particularly so after the several bottles of wine whicli we had vanquished, e!Hstened towards the spot whence the saunds 4 interest! no one had been able to find out his name ! or Li3 profession. I hjui not seen my friends for several years, ana it was tiieretoro qiute natural thaV instead u( listening ioilhe music theyjhould speak of various events thathad happened during ' our long""sepiiratlon. . When., the curtain dropped for tho last time, w-e joined our hravl with those of the audience, and having neither bouquets nor' doves with us, to offer them to the artists, .we concluded to thread our way throngh the noisy crowd, Mid to coutinuo our con versation in a neighboring cafe. There wo sat until nearly-" three o'clock in thj; morning, and we were just bidding adieu 'to each . other, on the large square before tbjj theatre, when we were startled ' by a- fti'Angn, unearthly 'noise, coming from tho principal entrance .oLTtho tli(.'atreJ. I shall never forgeTthose sound'. 1 hey came upon ua lit a tho vinrnii of demons.. I could not nofmiblt' (compare ihem to anything. They were low, gut-.1VLjl$-. Jiwj?). .Wiunding in one tnoment like the cruntinir of a nig in another, like the snortini:" pt f-i h )-ry horse; A ltd tlw -agai n .wu-. would haar jil I "0m like the tramping of a hundred men. .The niglit was ; pitch nark not a lantern to ixj scon. Wo suspected -tome - foul play, and .cltivfiirpus came. - . : .'. . "r7 . " .Du our arrival at the theat-rc,' three men mado a. linsty exit, while; I'erozzi, a young Italian painter, and .one of our yarty, stiimbled over a human body. I had a sjnglo ma'tcE jnny pocket, and this.once lit, it was just surlicient to let U3 recognize our stranger with the music, book. We thought him dead", 6$!filwVe'r to what course to pursue, he showed sites' of life, and in a few min utes afterwards we succeeded in getting him on his legs. We soon found out that he was. deaf and dumb, and ot knowinhat iodo, we tiiqiight it best .to. return to the cafe, and to take our protege along withms. Vvrozn and myself supported him, and. the reader can easily imagine the astonishment ofourhost,w heii.wv-fter-ruueh hard knocking, succeeded in making him open the door, und ho re cognized his guests who had left him. but a;short time before. :. 'ZZ7Z' " ; However, we had-no time 'fur '-explanation,, and beggt'd :him tor reserve his- curiosity for h moro tit oq)ortunity, and to furnish us with a candle and a few liottli's of good wind. The stranger, fully re vived by the fiery burgundy, pressed our hands re jrfcatedly, and gavo.r u.s to ...understand that we had saved his life. We then .escorted him to his resi dence, which was a mile or "more from the theatre, and after making him promise to call on us next tliiy, we gave him our address, and separated for the night. ' - The next morning, when I was hardly dressed, I heard tr knock- atr my-dooiyaitd- my-"comcinljiot. Wing answered, 1 rose and opened the door myself. Before' me stood tur friend of the San Carlo," true r attention to the stranger with the mu- to the minute to his aiii'oiutmcnt, I asked him in. sic before him, -and" they told me, that though heloflered hiin a cigar, and begged him to make him- was there almost, every evening and excited genera, self as comfortable as he could in a bachelor's hall. Our ccjnversation wiis carried on by means of little ivofy 'tablets and pencil, and his expressive gestures finished what the pencil could not do, or would hayju'equircdjieasm I found him exceedingly in telligent, well-informed "orTalT subjects, and often witty. For a long time I. re strained Tfiyduriosity in regard to last night's ad venture, but at last I could no longer bear it, and I asked him how it camo that he, a deaf mute, should seem to understand nay, take pleasure in music. He smiled sidly, and begged mo not to- ask an ex planation, b('cause called up in his breast feelings which lie washed were buried in tho depths" of the gulf.- "Hut." continued he, "I owe my life td you, nml when wo become better friends, I that you shall have my history,". 1 ; Ilii;lLET1ittlo vexed for the moment, but after wards got over my feeling, and 'proposed a prome nade ill vompany with my other friends. , To this lie ghdly assented, nnd wo were not long iaiunt ing up the different actors of last nigh A drama. ' Tlielirio was-fasTasIrp' when we nrrivcd nt his . lusc, iiudJigmuibhdn2tiiJMi) turtx'dliis dreams by means of several hard imshes. lnt sooner had ho seen rrry companion, than he hurried on his dress, and in a fewminutes wo were assuro you now three, on the'way to tho other friends. Perozzi was tho only one whom we found awake. . lie was dressed in a rich robe de chambre, and was engaged hrfilli ngup-aviewof the"1ajnof apiesTwhich-H juiiuu,,. as no suiu. iiitu oruerea oi uim. vvnen l told him of the proposed promenade, he threw pal let itnd brush away, and dressed quickly. -We were now six in number,, and the stranorer. who had been a resident of Naples much longer"" man eiiner ot us, onered tp te ur gicerone. ..To his credit I must say that we couid'not" possibly have wished for a better one. He seemed to know every thing. Every street, every alley, every square, ievery hut, every palace, every cKurch, every bas relief of every thins ty? Hi omfl anecdote to tclLand be seemed to bo as familiar with the history of every painting and ite painter as a schoolboy with his A B Cr or a priest with his litany. He was evidently an artist, fW no mere dilletante could have spoken with such good judgment of the merits of a work. Ho praised the grouping of one picture, the color ing of another, the . tone of a thirds he criticised the position of one figure, spoke knowingly of the foreshortening of - another, and in a third he ex plained to us the difference of the modern and an cient school. And every thing ho said, or. rather wrote, was done with such a modesty,- such an ab sence of all presumption, that w ith every moment we became more interested in'him, and when we parted, we made him promise to repeat his visit soon. . .......v ... .. .. . . -.-' ' ' He kept his word.. lie tfas almost daily at the studio of one, or the room of the other, and he never went away without leaving the germ, of a. beautiful thought, or the resulu of experience in arts by which to remember him. He had told us that he wasnartistTlharlie formerly-painted" tnuch, but that lately he had hardly touched his pallet, except to finish a icture he had begun five years ago. This made us nnturally very curious to see the production which had required so much time, ami we begged him to let us enjoy the benefit which tho examination of so good a critic's work would undoubtedly confer. But his answer invaria bly was . . ' T,Bc7'iitienrrw heniFis finished you Tshalt seelf , and not before." ' . ' . ... Thus weeks and weeks passed on. Terozzi had gone to Venice, Hildebrandt had returned to Ger many, and the two others .were engaged in some Government business which called them away from Naples, when one morning ho camo to mo and in formed mo that the .picture was finished, and if I wished to sec it I would have tocomo soon, because early the 'next morning he would send it away. I aked him whether the gentleman w ho had bought it would not permit him to exhibit it. He told me that the picture was not sold, and that liff never would sell it. , "But you told mo that to:morrow you w ould send it away." "And so I will," he replied, "but, that doos'not imply that I have sold it,-or that o gentleman has .op.nghUk This was a reproof of mv liastv "conclusion, and I npologi.ed immediately ; but ho said that he was' n(jt at all offended, and he only declined an expla- ' ' " .' ' '' ' '
The Deaf Mute (Raleigh, N.C.)
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Nov. 2, 1850, edition 1
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