title: The Ill Tempered String Quartet: A Vademecum for the Amageur Musician
author:  Lester Chafetz 
description: "a clear, direct and candid style.... Much practical and balanced advice" -- <i><I>The Strad</i></i><br /><br />"absolutely delightful...a complete guide to the joys and pitfalls of participating in an amateur string quartet" -- <i><I>Wilson Library Bulletin</i></i>
zlib_text: The Fifth String
  1
  The Fifth String
  By John Philip Sousa
  
  The Fifth String
  2
  I
  The coming of Diotti to America had awakened more than usual
  interest in the man and his work. His marvelous success as violinist in the
  leading capitals of Europe, together with many brilliant contributions to
  the literature of his instrument, had long been favorably commented on by
  the critics of the old world. Many stories of his struggles and his triumphs
  had found their way across the ocean and had been read and re-read with
  interest.
  Therefore, when Mr. Henry Perkins, the well-known impresario,
  announced with an air of conscious pride and pardonable enthusiasm that
  he had secured Diotti for a ``limited'' number of concerts, Perkins' friends
  assured that wide-awake gentleman that his foresight amounted to positive
  genius, and they predicted an unparalleled success for his star. On account
  of his wonderful ability as player, Diotti was a favorite at half the courts of
  Europe, and the astute Perkins enlar