Harper's Young People, September 26, 1882 An Illustrated Weekly

A young, shy kitchen boy with a soaring soprano voice is whisked from a modest German kitchen into the lofty halls of a Viennese cathedral choir. The seasoned Maestro Reuter, eager to claim the prodigy, insists the child devote every waking hour to choral duty, while the boy’s own longing to compose is quietly smothered. By thirteen he steals a few pennies, buys treatises on music, and produces his first mass—a humble effort that earns only a scornful laugh from his demanding mentor.

Facing relentless discipline, the boy’s mischief lands him a sudden expulsion on a cold winter night, setting him adrift on Vienna’s streets. He finds sanctuary with a kindly barber, whose loft houses an old harpsichord and a modest table for sharing meals. There the fledgling musician meets Anne, a plain‑spoken daughter whose simple kindness fuels his resolve, and he joins a band of wandering minstrels, testing his fledgling compositions beneath moonlit gardens.