Friday, February 19, 2021
Deathbed Colloquy
Harold C. Schonberg, The Great Pianists, rev. ed. (1987; rpt. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006), p. 108 (on John Field):
Newer› ‹Older
He played in Italy, took sick in Naples, left the hospital in poverty, was bailed out by a Russian family, made his way to Vienna (where he stayed with Czerny), returned to Russia and died in Moscow on January 11, 1837. The following colloquy is attributed to Field on his deathbed:
"Are you a Protestant?" asked the priest.
"No."
"Perhaps you are a Catholic?"
"Never mind."
"Then you are a Calvinist."
"No, I am not a Calvinist. I am a Clavecinist."
