Wieniawski, Damrosch, Ernst, David, Costa, Hiller, Halevy, and even Offenbach. Truly, an array to be proud of. Among these we find men that have been in the very first rank as composers of symphony, opera, and all other musical forms; and we also find conductors and performers of almost unexcelled merit. The two great faiths, the Catholic and the Hebrew, have done more for the art than the world is willing to acknowledge.
268.—THE STORY OF MOZART'S REQUIEM.
Not long before Mozart died he was visited by a tall and dignified stranger, who said he came from a person who did not want his name to be known, but who wished that Mozart should compose a requiem for the soul of a friend recently lost, and whose memory he was desirous of commemorating by this solemn service. Mozart undertook the task, and engaged to have it completed in a month. They arranged the price that was to be paid for the composition, and the stranger paid Mozart a hundred ducats in advance.
Mozart was at that time in ill health, and was affected frequently with a deep melancholy. The mystery of this visit seemed to produce a profound effect on his mind, and he brooded over it for some time, and then set to work earnestly at composition. So intense was the ardor of his application that he was taken with fainting spells, and was finally obliged to suspend his work. "I am writing this requiem for myself," he said one day to his wife; "it will serve for my own funeral service."
At the end of the month the stranger appeared and asked for his requiem.
"I have found it impossible," said Mozart, "to keep my word; the work has interested me more than I expected, and I have extended it beyond my first design. I shall require another month to finish it." The mysterious stranger made no objection, but, saying that Mo-
