A Young Musician.

Manawatu Herald, 20 March 1894, Page 2

A Young Musician.

Marlborough is the proud possessor of a child gifted with extraordinary musical genius. •• A Marlborough Mozart," a local paper describes him as. Tha boy, who is only five years of age, is named Master Hillier Cheek, and his musical abilities are truly astonishing. Already this five-year-old wonder is a composer — a composer almost before he can write! He dictates the notes to his father, who wnte3 them down as told, and the result is said to show the work of one who has a keen ear for melody, and though ignorant of the formal rules, could yet clothe it in varied and appropriate harmonies. At a recent test in Pic ton, the child proved most conclusively that he is a musical phenomenon. The test started with the striking of a number of notes on a piano in quick succession, the boy, who could not see the instrument, naming each note without a moment's hesitation. Evidently, each note had its own distinct individuality to him —some subtle peculiarity unrecognised by less sensitive souls, but unmistakably j clear to him. The next test is the striking of a succession of chords as remotely related as possible. This brought out the young musician's extraordinary abilities of analysing compound sounds, and in every case he htated the notes forming the chord correctly. A further test was then made of the child's ability to reproduce and resolve discords. The test carefully planned beforehand involved major and minor inversions and one diminished seventh. It made no difference. The child reproduced each chord with the utmost readiness, and as though i they were old friends.— Exchange.