Anecdotes of Great Musicians/Anecdote 121
121.—SOME LIBERAL MUSICIANS.
The great musicians have been noted for their openhandedness and generosity, and some carried it to the extreme of the spendthrift. Prominent among those who devoted large sums to charity were Liszt, the wonderful pianist, and the "Swedish Nightingale," Jenny Lind.
It is told of Mozart that, not finding any money in his pocket to give to an importunate beggar, he hastily sketched a song on some blank paper, and told the mendicant to present it at a certain publisher's and he would receive a good sum. The beggar did so, and received the money. But if this is true, why was Mozart himself so often in need of money? Why did he not present his own songs and draw the cash for himself?
Rossini, although having a reputation for stinginess, was liberal toward his old parents. After the first three performances of each new opera he produced he would send them two-thirds the amount he received for composing it.