Der arme Spielmann

by Franz Grillparzer

"Der arme Spielmann" by Franz Grillparzer is a frame novella published in 1848. A narrator encounters an elderly street musician playing terrible violin music at a Vienna fair. Intrigued, he visits the old man's shabby dwelling to hear his life story: a tale of a gentle, impractical dreamer who failed at every worldly pursuit, lost his inheritance to fraud, and was rejected by Barbara, the baker's daughter he loved. The musician finds refuge only in his music and principles, barely surviving on alms in a society that has no place for him.