I do not remember if it
was in this year or in 1843 that the great pianist
Thalberg was in London during the summer months,
but I do distinctly remember playing to him his
celebrated study on repeated notes in A minor, in
the front drawing-room of the old Hanover Square
Rooms, and the eminent virtuoso having his hand on
my shoulder, indicating by increased pressure when
he wanted a crescendo, a ritardando, or any of the
other nuances which give to interpretation its 
greatest charm. I was then a mere boy, and
knew not nervousness, so perhaps I acquitted
myself fairly well. At any rate, at the conclusion
of the piece the composer warmly praised me.