George Friedrich Händel
For a number of years after Händel settled in London he was financially very unlucky. His operas did not take, and when his friends complained that the house was so empty, he would comfort them by saying:
“That does not matter at all, the music will sound so much the better!”
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!”
About as Well as the Cook
When Gluck came to England the first time, in 1745, Händel was asked what he thought of him. His answer, preceded by an oath was: