Side by side with learning to play the piano I was taught the elements of singing by a Mr. Hirschberg, and harmony by Professor Schaffer, under whose conductorship I sang, when a little over nine years old, the soprano solo in Mendelssohn's Hear my Prayer at a concert of the Church Music Society. How I loved that beautiful air "Oh, for the wings, for the wings of a dove," and how I flushed with elation and pleasure when I received a bright new thaler (three shillings) into the bargain!