Scan 54
Famous Violinists and Fine Violins: Historical Notes, Anecdotes, and …, 1896
4 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1having been taught himself by his father, who used at Christmas time to play as one of the waits in the parish of St. Giles—quite a rural spot of London at that time. So, we see there was music running in the family. Well, the merry King Charles II. having formed his violin orchestra somehow or other, and got a German named Baltzar, from Lubeck, to lead it, came to hear of the talent which John Bannister displayed as a violinist, and had him forthwith sent to France to improve his musical education. On his return to England the King appointed him leader of the Royal Violins.
3In Great Britain, at the time when King Charles determined upon forming a band of violinists to play to him after dinner, as he had seen done at the court of Louis XIV. during his years of exile in France, the finest performer on the violin was an amateur named David Mell, a clock-maker. Perhaps he was a very good player, but lacked that thorough knowledge of music which can only be got by a long course of study, and pertains in consequence only to those who make music their sole profession. We could certainly quote the names of many distinguished men, such as Thalberg, Bataille, Hans von Bulow, and others, who have drifted from the ranks of the amateur to those of the professional; but David Mell, fine as his performance may have been, was not offered the appointment, and the German Baltzar was sent for to lead
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