Hi, I'm a little late joining into this discussion; nevertheless, at the risk of duplicating others' quotes, I went to Caroline's card file to take a peek. Any of you who knew Caroline will not be surprised to hear that there are no less than thirty file cards filled with Mark Twain's references to music. Below is a list of quotes I worked from in 1983 when I wrote material for the hundredth anniversary of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, when "Mark Twain" hosted an evening of music with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, and also told the story of the building of the bridge in between pieces. I'm sorry these quotes are not annotated, but if anyone wants to know the source of any of them, it would be easy enough for me to look that up, so don't hesitate to ask. I do know that Caroline was pretty meticulous, and will vouch for the authenticity of these gems. I'm afraid there are more quotes about music he didn't like than there are quotes about his favorites in this list, but you might be amused by his critical comments as well. Have a great day. Richard Henzel 312-296-8396 http://www.richardhenzel.com MARK TWAIN AND MUSIC LIKES While it was not until his later years that Clemens became fully acquainted with, and appreciative of the classical music, he did have a lifetime love, appreciation, and ability for music--the American Negro Spiritual. While running a printing press, cooking venison in a remote mining camp, steering the majestic Pennsylvania past magnolia forests, or riding a camel across African deserts, he could be expected to burst into any one of a dozen of his favorite spirituals. His longtime Irish maidservant, Katie Leary tells of his singing spirituals to his wife on the night that she died. She also describes another occasion: “...Mr. Clemens was there. It was a perfectly lovely night and there was a full moon outside and no lights in the house. They was just settin’ there in the music room, lookin’ out at the moonlight, and suddenly Mr. Clemens got right up without any warning and begun to sing one of them Negro spirituals. He just stood up with both his eyes shut and begun to sing kind of soft like--a faint sound, just as if there was wind in the trees: and he kept right on singin’ kind o’ low and sweet, and it was beautiful and made your heart ache somehow. And he kept on singin’ and singin’ and became kind of lost in it, and he was all lit up--his face was. ‘Twas something’ from another world. When he got through, he put his two hands up to his head, just as though all the sorrow of them Negroes was upon him; and then he begun to sing, ‘Nobody Knows the Trouble I Seen, Nobody Knows but Jesus.’ That was one o’ them Negro Spiritual songs, and when he come to the end, to the Glory Hallelujah, he gave a great shout--just like the Negroes do--he shouted out ‘Glory, Glory Hallelujah!’ It was wonderful, and none there will forget it as long as they live.” When Clemens was 7 years old, his father bought one of the first American made pianos for the family. While his sister took formal lessons, Sam learned to play in his own elementary way, enough to accompany himself when he sang--and his style would remain pretty constant through his life. His daughter Clara describes his technique some 25 years later: “He had a curious way of playing...each time he played a chord it seemed as if a miracle had happened. He always cleared his throat many times before he began, and then sang quite loudly with his head thrown back and his eyes fixed on the ceiling. We thought he looked ‘cute.’ He interrupted himself constantly to correct wrong chords, but usually in vain, for he could not find the right ones. Then with some display of temper he would change to another song. His two favorites were ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’ and ‘Go Chain the Lion Down,’ which he rendered in a truly impressive way, despite the fact that certain lacks were noticeable. When he sang ‘Rise and Shine and Give God the Glory Glory,’ he gave out so much fervor that one could never forget it.” On (we may assume the fifth symphony) Beethoven: that rich, noble Beethoven piece--the one where, all along and all along, half a dozen of the bass notes keep rolling back down-stairs a little way--only to the first landing; and then get up again and roll down again, and are the darling of the piece and the charm of it. On the Opera: “The banging and slamming and booming and crashing were something beyond belief. The racking and pitiless pain of it remains stored up in my memory alongside the memory of the time I had my teeth fixed.” On the Wedding Chorus: A pretty air in an opera is [prettier there than it could be anywhere else, just as an honest man in politics shines more than he would elsewhere. I have a strong liking for music and a decided preference for sombre and solemn music over the other kinds.. A man with either humor or music in him is half-good and half-bad; he must lack both, to be wholly bad, he must contain both to be wholly good, perfectly good, unqualifiedly good. I contain both. DISLIKES Wagner’s “Parsifal”: “There is a hermit named Gurnemanz who stands on the stage in one spot and practices by the hour, while first one and then another character of the cast endures what he can of it and then retires to die.” “A great chorus composed entirely of maniacs would suddenly break forth, and then during two minutes, and sometimes three, I lived over again all that I suffered the time the orphan asylum burned down.” “Wagner’s music is better than it sounds.” “On “Fremersburg”: “I suppose the Fremersburg is very low grade music; I know, indeed, that it must be low-grade music, because it so delighted me, warmed me, stirred me... enraptured me that I was full of cry all the time, and mad with enthusiasm.” We often feel sad in the presence of music without words; and often more than that in the presence of music without music. On amateur piano players: Early twilight in Bermuda--there is enough of whispering breeze, fragrance of flowers, and sense of repose to raise one’s thoughts heavenward, and just enough amateur piano music to keep him reminded of the other place. there are many venerable pianos in Hamilton, and they all play at twilight. Age enlarges and enriches the powers of some musical instruments--notable those of the violin--but it sets a piano’s teeth on edge. On amateur flautist in Hawaii: There is a villain over the way...I have got to waiting and painfully looking out for it latterly. I wish his funeral was to come off at half-past eleven o’clock tomorrow and I had nothing to do. I would attend it.