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Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—M

Music

Men of genius averse to music. The following men of genius were actually averse to music: Edmund Burke; Byron had no ear for music, and neither vocal nor instrumental music afforded him the slightest pleasure. Charles Fox, Hume, Dr. Johnson, Daniel O'Connell, Robert Peel, William Pitt; Pope preferred a street organ to Handel's oratorios; the poet Rogers felt actual discomfort at the sounds of music; Sir Walter Scott, the poet Southey, and Tennyson. Seven of these twelve were actually poets, and five were orators. The Princess Mathilde (Demidoff), an excellent artist, with a veritable passion for art, may be added to those who have had a real antipathy to music.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894

Music of the Spheres

Music