The Great Composer Quiz – Austere City Man Yearning for a Country Life
This time, it’s a Quiz about the great American tradition of austerity. This Great Composer lived in a big city, in a room at a hotel, a loft. A friend described it as “that dismal sanctuary.” His rent was $8.50 a month, until it went up to $3.25 a week. It wasn’t that he had no money. He had had some fine successes, and was yearning, he said, “for a place of my own in the country.” He even asked a friend who was in real estate to help him look for a place. But he put it off, saying, “If I continue to live simply, I can get by with the fees for a few lectures, leaving me free to spend most of my time composing.” So who was this austere city man who dreamed of being a country gentleman, this Great Composer?