Music, 1896 has only recently been located and identified as a lost painting by the artist. The work is unusual in its combination of Haberle's familiar trompe l'oeil effects and the table-top composition he rarely used. Tacked to the partially draped panel behind the violin are two engraved portraits of the virtuoso violinist Paganini. A border depicting "carved" likenesses of the great composers surrounds the composition. Clockwise, from upper left, are: Beethoven, Gluck, Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Wagner, Meyerbeer, Schumann, and Weber. The sheet of Music is a violin part from an opera by Bellini.

John Haberle's paintings are among the most skillfully rendered trompe l'oeil scenes from the late nineteenth century. Although he received little formal training, Haberle consistently created works of exquisite precision and thoughtful subjects that fascinate and engage viewers. Throughout his career, Haberle chose to paint compositions that ranged from still lifes and currency trompe l'oeils, to elaborate arrangements of photographs, playing cards, stamps, timepieces and other everyday objects that seem to reflect the artist's personal history.