Scan 34
Voice and violin : sketches, anecdotes, and reminiscences, 1898
12 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 14. See the scan on archive.org.
1Russian sovereign might show his mother what that French Emperor was like.
3Alexandre Boucher was certainly a clever musician, and when Paganini, who was very fond of the highest notes of the violin, came to Paris, Boucher accused him of stealing his "little birds." It may be well imagined with what surprise Boucher heard the "Marseillaise" sung everywhere, when he recognised it as his own music, though it had been very slightly altered to suit the words.
5A good many years afterwards the violinist met Rouget de l'Isle at a dinner party in Paris. He had never seen him before, and he took this opportunity of complimenting him upon his poem of the "Marseillaise."
7"You do not say a word about the music," remarked the officer, "and yet, being an eminent violinist, it ought to interest you—do you not like it?"
9"Oh! very much indeed!" exclaimed Boucher, smiling.
11"Well, I will be frank with you," added the other, "the music is not mine; it is that of a military march which came Heaven only knows whence, and which they kept on playing at Marseilles during the Reign of Terror whilst I was a prisoner in the fortress St. Jean. I made a few alterations to suit the words, that was all."
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.