related to his master some wonderful stories of his little son
Wolfgang--how the child had astonished and delighted every one by his
playing; how, when the father carried him and his sister Marianne to
Vienna and Paris and London, they had been invited to play at the
Courts, and how little Wolfgang had been praised by the royal families
and loaded with presents; and how he had already composed some
wonderful things, including several sonatas for the pianoforte, and a
symphony--the latter when he was only eight years old.

There was no exaggeration in Leopold Mozart's description of his
child's powers, as to which, indeed, accounts from less partial
sources had already reached the Archbishop's ears. None the less,
however, was the old ecclesiastic inclined to attribute to a parent's
pardonable pride the anticipations which the father had formed with
regard to the boy's future, and more especially as those anticipations
rested upon the assumption that the child was a miraculous genius.
That Wolfgang could play remarkably well for a child of his age was
sufficient in itself to justify the extraordinary praise which he had
received; but that he was gifted to the extent of writing original
music of a sort worthy to be recorded the Archbishop may be excused
for doubting. At any rate, he resolved to settle the matter to his own
satisfaction by setting the boy to work under conditions which
precluded every chance of his being enabled to copy from the works of
other composers, and also--and this was a great point with the
Archbishop--of his being helped by his father. Leopold readily
assented to the conditions of the test proposed by his master, and so
little Wolfgang was duly installed as a close prisoner in the palace,
and supplied with music-paper, pens, and ink, and a subject on which
to write, in the manner in which we have already described.

And now we must leave him for a space weaving harmonies in his attic
chamber whilst we recount his history up to the present point.

Born on January 27, 1756, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had attained his
third year when the father's attention was first drawn to his fondness
for music. In his little daughter Marianne, who was five years older
than Wolfgang, he had rejoiced to discover an extraordinary gift for
playing, and it was not long ere her music-lessons from her father
became a source of attraction for her little brother, who would cast
aside his toys and take his stand beside the