r.--The French Singer, Garat, finds him
out in his London Obscurity.--Anecdote of Viotti's Dinner Party.--He
quits the Wine Trade for his own Profession.--Is made Director of the
Paris Grand Opera.--Letter from Rossini.--Viotti's Account of the
"Ranz des Vaches."--Anecdotes of the Great Violinist.--Dies in London in
1824.--Viotti's Place as a Violinist, and Style of Playing.--The Tourte
Bow first invented during his Time.--An Indispensable Factor in Great
Playing on the Violin.--Viotti's Pupils, and his Influence on the
Musical Art.

I.

In the person of the celebrated Viotti we recognize the link connecting
the modern school of violin-playing with the schools of the past. He
was generally hailed as the leading violinist of his time, and his
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 w