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My sister then played another duet with my father; but Dr. Johnson was
so deep in the Encyclopedie that, as he is very deaf, I question
if he even knew what was going forward. When this was over, Mrs. Thrale
in a laughing manner said, “Pray, Dr. Burney can you tell me what that
song was and whose, which Savoi sung last night at Bach’s concert, and
which you did not hear?” My father confessed himself by no means so good
a diviner, not having time to consult the stars, though in the house of
Sir Isaac Newton. However, wishing to draw Dr. Johnson into some
conversation, he told him
the question. The Doctor, seeing his drift,
good-naturedly put away his book, and said very drolly, “And pray,
Sir, who is Bach? is he a piper?”
—The Early Diaries of Frances Burney
—The Early Diaries of Frances Burney
If you look up “Frances Burney” in an encyclopedia you are likely to find two listings. One w ...
This article originally appeared in The New Criterion, Volume 18 November 1999, on page 31
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