It was on a Wednesday afternoon that Persinger agreed to unleash me upon the Beethoven, provided I master the Mozart A Major. I am as unlikely ever to forget the day as a primitive to forget his first dance in the hide or plumage of a totem. Here at last was a promise of authenticity! […] Mozart was the last trial before initiation. In eight hours of concentrated practice between my twice weekly lessons I memorized the Mozart A Major and played it for Persinger. A crueler man than he would have thrown me a coin, complimented the monkey and suggested tunes more appropriate to the hurdy-gurdy, but Persinger mercifully lost his temper for once – in the middle of the Andante. “Go home!” he said angrily. “Use your good mathematical head and figure out for yourself the exact rhythms. I don’t want to see you again until you have given thought to every note in each movement!” << less