Page:Notes of a Pianist.djvu/50

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32
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

he was placed. His departure broke the hearts of the family, but the father was inflexible, and the mother yielded. The July following he arrived in Paris, and was placed to board in a private family, who never received more than six boarders at a time. His first musical . professor was Hallé, but those to whom Moreau was confided, not liking the nonchalant manner with which he taught his pupils, gave him up and placed Moreau under the musical tutelage of the best French professor of the time, Camille Stamaty, a most conscientious, noble-hearted, and high-minded man. Moreau, in after years, was often pleased to say that he had never loved and respected any man more than his dear professor, Mr. Stamaty. In addition to music, he seriously engaged in other studies. Composition was taught him by Mr. Maleden, whose name is celebrated for the scholars he has educated, among whom may be mentioned Saint Saëns. French, Italian, Latin, Greek, riding, and fencing—nothing was neglected. At the same time he was introduced into the noble and elegant society of Paris, and his refined and delicate manners soon made him a favorite. The Duke of Salvandi, and the Duchesse de Narbonne, to whom he was introduced at the house of his grandaunt, the Marquise de la Grange, became his patrons; afterwards, the Duke d'Ecarre, Rothschild, and Edouard Rodrigue were added to the list of those who most admired and esteemed him.

Moreau pursued his studies with great ardour. He possessed a very remarkable memory for music, being able to recollect hundreds of pages of it after one or two days' study. In literature, however, it was different, and he had more difficulty in retaining what he had learned. Piqued by the remonstrances of his professor, he formed a system of musical mnemotechny, which he applied to history and geography. In the same way he applied it to the 'Art poétique' of Boileau, and learned it by heart, and by this means soon became very proficient. At the age of seventeen, he could converse with equal facility in English, French, and Italian. He read Virgil, translated Dante, recited the 'Orientales' of Victor Hugo, and, when twenty-two, spoke Spanish like Gil Blas.

Previous to 1845, he had only played in the salons of the