German Genius, Part II.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am reading a long tome by Peter Watson called "German Genius." It's a survey of the brilliant minds of the Vaterland which have been over overshadowed by the horrors of Nazism.

I came upon two witticisms in my reading last night, or at least two things that handed me a laugh.

One was about the critics' reaction to Arnold Schoenberg's atonal composition "Second String Quartet." One newspaper labeled the performance a "Convocation of Cats," and the "New Vienna Daily" printed their review in the crime section of their newspaper.

Then there was this on the misanthropic and dyspeptic Johannes Brahms who said as he hurriedly left a party one evening, "If there is anyone here that I have not insulted, I apologize."