The Worlds Great Men of Music | Page 4

Sebastian greatly desired to play the pieces in
that book, but his brother kept it under lock and key in his cupboard, or
bookcase. One day the child mustered courage to ask permission to
take the book for a little while. Instead of yielding to the boy's request
Christoph became angry, told him not to imagine he could study such
masters as Buxtehude and Frohberger, but should be content to get the
lessons assigned him.
The injustice of this refusal fired Sebastian with the determination to
get possession of the coveted book at all costs. One moonlight night,
long after every one had retired, he decided to put into execution a
project he had dreamed of for some time.
Creeping noiselessly down stairs he stood before the bookcase and
sought the precious volume. There it was with the names of the various
musicians printed in large letters on the back in his brother's
handwriting. To get his small hands between the bars and draw the
book outward took some time. But how to get it out. After much labor
he found one bar weaker than the others, which could be bent.
When at last the book was in his hands, he clasped it to his breast and
hurried quickly back to his chamber. Placing the book on a table in
front of the window, where the moonlight fell full upon it, he took pen
and music paper and began copying out the pieces in the book.
This was but the beginning of nights of endless toil. For six months
whenever there were moonlight nights, Sebastian was at the window
working at his task with passionate eagerness.
At last it was finished, and Sebastian in the joy of possessing it for his
very own, crept into bed without the precaution of putting away all
traces of his work. Poor boy, he had to pay dearly for his forgetfulness.
As he lay sleeping, Christoph, thinking he heard sounds in his brother's
room, came to seek the cause. His glance, as he entered the room, fell
on the open books. There was no pity in his heart for all this devoted

labor, only anger that he had been outwitted by his small brother. He
took both books away and hid them in a place where Sebastian could
never find them. But he did not reflect that the boy had the memory of
all this beautiful music indelibly printed on his mind, which helped him
to bear the bitter disappointment of the loss of his work.
When he was fifteen Sebastian left his brother's roof and entered the
Latin school connected with the Church of St. Michael at Lüneburg. It
was found he had a beautiful soprano voice, which placed him with the
scholars who were chosen to sing in the church service in return for a
free education. There were two church schools in Lüneburg, and the
rivalry between them was so keen, that when the scholars sang in the
streets during the winter months to collect money for their support, the
routes for each had to be carefully marked out, to prevent collision.
Soon after he entered St. Michael's, Bach lost his beautiful soprano
voice; his knowledge of violin and clavier, however, enabled him to
keep his place in the school. The boy worked hard at his musical
studies, giving his spare time to the study of the best composers. He
began to realize that he cared more for the organ than for any other
instrument; indeed his love for it became a passion. He was too poor to
take lessons, for he was almost entirely self-dependent--a penniless
scholar, living on the plainest of fare, yet determined to gain a
knowledge of the music he longed for.
One of the great organists of the time was Johann Adam Reinken.
When Sebastian learned that this master played the organ in St.
Katharine's Church in Hamburg, he determined to walk the whole
distance thither to hear him. Now Hamburg was called in those days
the "Paradise of German music," and was twenty-five good English
miles from the little town of Lüneburg, but what did that matter to the
eager lad? Obstacles only fired him to strive the harder for what he
desired to attain.
The great joy of listening to such a master made him forget the long
tramp and all the weariness, and spurred him on to repeat the journey
whenever he had saved a few shillings to pay for food and lodging. On
one occasion he lingered a little longer in Hamburg than usual, until his
funds were well-nigh exhausted, and before him was the long walk
without any food. As he trudged along he came upon a small inn, from
the open door of which came a delightful savory odor. He could