Reading at Sight
On a trip to Ireland, Händel was detained for a few days at Chester. As he wished to try some of the choruses that he intended to bring out in Ireland, he asked the organist of the Cathedral, Backer, whether he had any singers in his choir who could sing by sight. Backer named some of his best singers, among them a printer, Janson, who sang bass very well. Händel appointed the time for a private rehearsal at his hotel; but poor Janson, after repeated trials, made so many mistakes in the chorus of The Messiah, “And through his wounds” that Händel grew furious and after swearing at him in four or five languages, cried in broken English: “You villain, you, didn’t you say you could read by sight?”
“So I can, sir,” replied Janson, “only not the very first time!”