GR E AT P I AN I S TS O N

PI AN O P LAYI N G

ST UDY TA L K S WI T H
F O REM O S T VIRT U O S O S

JAM E S F RAN CI S C O O K E

A S E RI E S OF P E RS O NAL E D U CATI O NAL C O N

F E RE N C E S W I T H RE N O W N E D MA ST E RS

O F T H E K E Y B OARD PRE S E NT I N G T H E
,

M O ST M O D E RN I D E AS UP O N T H E
S UBJE CT S O F T E CH NI C I NT E R
,

PRE TAT I O N S TYLE A ND

,

EXP RE SS I O N

TH E O P RE SS E R C O
. .

P HILAD E LP HIA PA ,
 CONTE NTS PAGE
THE ARTI S T S LI P E
’
I . .
5
n ARE PI ANI STS B ORN OR MADE ? 24

m THE S TORY o r A W OND E R CHI LD

-
. . P epito Arrio l
a 4I

h THE P I ANI S T OF TOMORROW

- 52

m ARTI STI C ASPE CTS OF PI ANO S TUD Y H ro l d B au er

. . 64 a

AP P E ARIN G IN PUB LI C o om fiel

Fan n ie B l d—Zei l
x
c . er 80 s

IMPORTANT D E TAI LS I N PI AN O S TUDY Ferru ccio B u om 9 7/

‘

s
v .

o
o D I STI N CTIV E PI AN O P LAYI N G T es a Carrefi o
. I og er

E SSE NTI ALS OP TOUCH Oss p Gabril

‘ ’

o . o w tsch . 2 z z . 1 2

H0 PHE RE AL SI GNI P I CANCE

'
OF TE CHNI Q Lco po l
d Go do wsk y 1 33

Hd v ANALYs MASTE RP I E CE S K atha rin e Go o dson 1 44

Hm PROGRE SS m PI AN O S TUDY J o sef H o fm am z . 158

I
u
- PI AN O S TUD Y IN RU SSI A J o sef Lhém
‘ ’

n ne I 7o
Hh -
S E E KIN G ORI GIN ALI TY Vl
adim ir dc P achm an n . 1 82

HU
l
PI ANI STI C PROB LE MS
M ODE RN M ax P r au e 19 7

HO E SSE NTI ALS OF ARTI a

x
PLAYI N G S V Rachm an i fi .
'

. . . no
'

. . 2o 8

H
M SYS TE MATI C MU SI CAL TRAINI N G A Reisen au er . 222

u THE TRAIN I N G OP TH E V IRTUOS O

O
O E S au cr . . . 236

HO E C ONOMY IN M U SI C S TUDY
‘
X S cha rwe k . n a 25 2

nO LEARNI N G A NE W PIE CE
n H WHAT I NTE RP RE TATI ON RE ALLY IS S S toj w k i . . . o s 2 79 4
2 2 B RE ADTH I N MU S I C AL ART
. I gn a z J an P aderew ki s 2 90

2 3 THOROUGHN E SS m HUN GARI AN M U SI C

.

24 . U
OP PORT NI TY AND LI MI TATI ON S IN
PI ANOFORTE PLAYIN G .

25 . UNIV E RS ALI TY I N PI ANO TE ACHI NG

Ern es t Hu tche son .

CON CENTRATI ON M U SI C S TUDY Ol

'

IN . .
ga S am a ra j
INS URI NG P ROGRE SS I N MUS I C STUDY Mark Ham b ou rg

MOD E RN I SM IN P I ANOFORTE S TUDY P ercy Grain g. . er

PROFI TAB LE PRACTI CE versus WAS TED

PRACTI CE Al
ex an der Lam b ert
NE RV OUS NE S S IN PI ANO PLAYIN G A l b erto J on as
.

3
 THE ARTI S T S LIFE
’

THE V IRTUO S O S CARE E R A S I T RE ALLY I s

’

TH E fa t he r of a young w o m an who was p re p arin g

to become a virtuoso once applied to a famous musical
educator for advice reg arding the future career of his
“
daughter . I want her to b ecome one of the gre a test
” “
pianists Ameri ca has ever produced he said Sh e has ,
.

talent good health unl

,
im i ted ambition a good gen
, ,
”
eral education and she is industrious
,
The educator .

thought for awhil “

e and then said I t is very likely
, ,

that your daughter will be succe ssful in her chosen field ,

but the amount of grinding study S h e will be obliged

to undergo to meet the towering standards of modern
pi a nism is awfulto contemplate In the end she wi l
. l
have the fla ttery of the multitude and let us hope , , ,

some of their doll ars as well In return S he may have

.
,

to sacrifice many of the comforts and pleasures which

women covet The more successful she is the more of
.
,

a nomad she must become S he wil . l know but few days

for years when S he wil l not be compell ed to prac tice
for hours S he becomes a kind of chattel of the musi
.

cal pub l ic She will b e harassed by ignorant critics

.

and perhaps an noyed by un reli able managers In re .

t u rn she has money? a n d fame but in fact far less of

, , ,

the great joy and purpose of life than if S he fo l lowed

the customary domestic career with some splendid man
5
6 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

as her husband When I was younger I used to preach

.

quite an opposite se rmon but the more I see of the

,

hardships of the artist s l

ife the less I think of the dol
’

lars and the fame it brings I t is hard enough for a

.

”
man but it is twice as hard for a woman
,
.

G O LDE N BAI T
S ome cynic has contended that the much despised -

Alm ighty D ollar

”
h a s been the g reatest incentive
to the strugglin g v irtuoso in E uropean mu sic centers .

Al though thi s may be true in a number of cases it is ,

certainl y unjust in others Many of the v irtuosos find

.

travel in Americ a so di stasteful that notwiths tanding

the huge golden bait the managers h ave the greatest
,

difficulty in inducing t he pianists to come back In .

deed there are many artists of great renown whom the

,

m a nagers wo u l d be glad to coax to our country but

who have withheld tempting off ers for years On e of .

these is Mori t z Moszkowski pro b ably the most popular

,

of modern pianoforte composers of high cl ass music -

.

G rieg when he finally consented to make the voyage

,

t o America placed his price at two thousan d five hu n

,

dred dollars for every concert—a sum which any man

ager wou l d regard prohibitive except in the case of ,

one world famous pian is t Grie g s intent was o b

-
.
’

v io u s .

The inconven i ences of travel in Am erica have been

ridiculously exaggera ted in E urope a n d m a ny v ir ,

t u o so s dre a d the thought of an American trip with ,

the great ocean yawning between the two con tinents ,

 THE ARTI ST S LIP E
’

an d re d Skinned savages just b eyond N ew York or

-

certain l y not far from C hicago D e P achm an n detes ts .

the ocean and when he comes over in his favorite

,

month of June he does not dare return until the follow

ing June Ot hers who have never visited America
.

must get their idea of American travel from some such

acco u nt as that of C harles D ickens in hi s unforgivable
Am erican No tes in which he said in describing ,

one of our railroads :

Th ere is a gre at dea l o f jo l t in g a grea t deal o f n o ise a grea t dea l
, ,

o f w alln o t m
,
ch wi n do w a l o co m o t i ve e n gin e a shri ek an d a bel
u , ,l .

The ca rs are l ik e s hab b y o m n ib u ses h ldi g thi t y fo t y fif t y p eo p le

o n r ,
r , .

I n t he cen t re o f t he ca rri ge t h ere is u s u al

a ly a st o ve fe d w i t h charco al ,

o r a n t hra ci t e c alw hic h is f r t he m o t p art re d h t

o ,
o s I t is i su f o . u

fe ab l
r y cl e a d y o u se e t he ho t a i fl u t t e ri n g be t w e en yo u rse lf an d
os ,
n r

an y o t h er o b je c t y o u m a y hap pe n t o l o o k at .

There could have been bu t lit tle improvement in our

railroads in 1 8 7 2 when Rubinstein came to America ,

for although he accepted for 2 1 5 concerts dur

ing his first trip he refused an o ff er of $ 12
,
for only
5 concerts when a manager tried to persuade him to
0

return .

American rail roads now present the acme of com

fort convenience and even luxury in travel yet the
, , ,

E uropean artist has diffi c lty in adjusting himself to

u
journeys of thousands of miles crowded in a short
winter season when he has been accustomed to little
trips of a few hundred kilometers He comes to dread .

the trains as we might a prison van P aderewsk i re .

sorts to a private car but even this luxurious mode of ,

travel may be very monotonous and exhausting .

8 GRE A T P I ANI STS ON P IAN O PLAYI N G
,

The great di stances must certainly account for some

of the evidences of s train which defo rm the faces a n d
exhaust the minds of so many virtuoso s The travel .

ing sale sman seems t o thrive upon miles of railroad

travel as do the crews of the trains b ut the virtuoso , ,

d ragged from concert to concert b y hi s Showm an ,

grows tired—O h so tired pale wan listle s s and indii

, , , ,

fe re n t ! A t t h e be ginn ing of the se a son he is quite

another person The magnetism that has done so much
.

to win him fame S hines in hi s eyes and seems to ema

nate from hi s fin ge r tip s but the difi e re n ce in hi s physi
-

cal bein g at the end of the season is sickening L ike .

a bedraggled worn out circus coming in fro m the wear

,
-

and te ar of a h ard season he crawl s we arily b a ck to

,

N ew York with a cinematographi c recol lection of

countle ss telegr aph pole s flying past the windows au ,

die n ce after a udience sleeping c a rs budding geniuses

, , ,

the inevitable receptions wi th their equ ally inevitable

“
chi cken sal a d or l u kewa rm oysters and the sweet ,
”
yo ung things who like Heine s mythical tribe o f
, ,
’

Asra must love or peri sh S ome virtuo so s h ave the

,
.

physical strength to endure all this even enjoy it but , ,

m a ny have conf essed to me that their American tours

have been literal nightm ares .

On e of the greate s t pian i sts was obliged to stay in

N ew York for a while before attemp ting the voyage
homeward A t t he time he w as so we ak from the rigo rs
.

of the tour th a t he could scarcely write his name His .

ha ggard face suggested the tortures of a To rqu am ada

ra ther than Buff alo K ansas C ity D enver and Pitts
, ,
 THE ARTI ST S LI PE ’
9

burgh His voice was tired and falterin g and his chief
.

interest was that of the inva lid—getting home as soon

,

as possible To have talked with him upo n music a t

.

that time would have b een an Injus tice Accord .

in gly I led him away from the sub j ect and dwelt
,

upon the woes of hi s native P oland and much to his , ,

surpri s e left him without the educational material

,

of which I had been in quest He asked the reas on .

,

and I told him that a musical conference at that time

could serve no purpo se .

AS men and women aside from the a t tainments

,

w hi ch have made them illustrious virtuosos are for ,

the mo s t p art very much like ordinary mortals who

have to content themselves at the foot of P arnassus .

I t has been my privilege to know thirty or more o f

the most eminent ar t ists and some have become ,

go od personal friends I t is interes ting to observe

.

how several very d iff erent types of individuals m a y

succeed in winning public favor as virtuosos Indeed .
,

except for the long haired caricature which the

-

pub l i c accepts as the conventio nal virtuoso there is

”
no virtuoso type Here is a business man here
.
,

an artist here an engineer here a j urist here an actor

, , , ,

here a poet and here a freak all of them distinguished ,

performers P erhaps the enthusias t ic music lover

.
-

will resent the idea of a freak becoming famous as a

pian ist but I have known no less than three men who
,

could not po ssibly b e o t herwise described but who ,

h ave nevertheless made b o th fame and fort un e as

virtuosos .
I O GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

FRE AK PI ANI STS

The an t hropologist who chooses to conduct special
investigations of freaks can fin d no more entertaining
field than that of the remarkable fre aks of the brain ,

shown in the cases of some asto ni shing performers

whose intell igence and menta l capacity in other ways
has been negligible The Classic case of B l
. ind Tom ,

for instance was that of a freak not so very far re

,

moved in kind from t he S iamese Twins or G eneral ,

Tom Thumb B orn a Slave in G eorgia and wholly

.
,

without what teachers woul d term a musica l education ,

B lind Tom amazed m any of the mo st conserv a t ive

musicians of his time I t w as possible for him to re
.

peat dif ficu lt compo sitions a fter hearing them played

only once I conversed with him a number of years
.

ago in N ew York only to find that intel

,
lectu a lly and
'

physically he w as allied to the creten .

B lind Tom s pecul ’

iar ability has led many hasty
commentators to conclude that music is a wholl y
separa te mental faculty to be found particul arly in a
more or le ss S hiftle s s and irresponsible class of gif ted
but intellectually limited hum an beings The few .

cases of men and women whose m u sicaltalent seems

to eclipse their minds so that they remain in utter
darkness to everything el s e in life shoul d not be taken
,

as a b asis for judging other ar t is ts of real genius and

undisputed menta l bre adth I have in m ind however
.
, ,

the cas e of one pi anist who is very widely know n and

highl y lauded but who is very S lightly removed from
,
 THE ARTI ST S LIF E
’
11

the class of Blind Tom A trained alienist one

.
,

acquainted with the di fference between the e ccen

t ricit ie s w hi ch frequently accompany greatness and
the unconscious physical and psychi cal evidences of
idiocy which so clearly agree with the an tics of the
chimpanzee or the droll C apuchi n monk eys might ,

find in the performer to Whom I refer a subject fo r

some very interesting not to say startling reflections
,
.

Few have ever b een successful in inducing this pian ist

to talk upon any other subj ec t than music for more
than a few minutes at a tim e An other pian ist who
.
,

was distinguished as a L isz t pupil and who toured ,

America repeatedl y seemed t o have a hatred for the

,
”
piano that amounted to an obsession Look .
,

“
he exclaimed I am it s slave I t has sen t me round
, .

and round the world night after night year after

, ,

year I t has cursed me lik e a wandering Jew N o

. .

rest no home no liberty D o you wonder that I

, ,
.

”
drink to forget it ?

A PA THE TIC E XAMPLE

And drink he di d in B acchanalian measure ! On e
time he gave an unconscious exhibit ion of his techn ical
ability that while regrettable would hav e been of im
, ,

mens e interes t t o psychologists who are seeking to

prove that music depends upon a separate operation
“
of a Speci a l fa culty ”
D uring his Am erican tours I
.

called frequently upon this virtuos o for the purpo se of

investigating his method of playing He was rarely .

free from the influence of alcohol for more than a few

12 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

hours at a time On e morning it was necessary for

.

me to see him professionall y and when I found him

,

at hi s hotel he was in a truly disgraceful condition I .

remember that he was un able to stand from the f a ct ,

that he fell upon me whi le I was sitting in a Morris

chair He w as barel
. y able to talk and just prior t o ,

my leavin g he in s isted upon scrawling upon his visit

“
ing card Z ur freundlichen E rrin eru n g auf einen
, ,

sehr spaten Abend (F riendly rememb rances of a

'

very late evening ) S ince it was stil

. l very early in the
morning it may b e realized that he had lost all idea of
,

his whereabouts N ever t heless he sat at the piano

.
,

keybo a rd and played tremendously difficul t compo si

tions by L iszt and Brahm s—compositions which com
p el le d his hands to leap from one part of the keyboard

to the other as in the case of the Liszt Cam p an el la .

He never missed a note until he l o st hi s b al an c e u p o n

the piano stool and fell to the floor Disgus ting an d .

p a thetic as the exhibition w a s I co u ld not help feeling

,

that I was witnessing a marvel o us instance of au

t o m a t ism that wonderfulpower of the mind working
,

through the bod y to reproduce apparently witho ut ,

eff ort or thought opera tions which have been repeated

,

so many times that t hey have become second nature .

More th an thi s it indicated Cle a rly that whil

,
e the
better part of the man s body was de ad t o the
’

world the faculty he h ad cultiva ted t o the highe s t

,

extent still rem ained alive S ome years later this

.

man succumbed to alcoholism .

 ’
THE ARTI ST S LIF E

OF To DAY
THE PI ANI ST -

C ontra sted wi th a type of this kind may be men

t io n e d such men as S auer Rachman i nov d Al b e rt
’

, , ,

P aderewski G odowsky B achau s Rosenthal P auer

, , , , ,

Jo se ffy S t o jo w sk i S charwenka G abrilowitsch Hof

, , , ,

mann B auer Lhevinn e to say nothing of the ladies

, , , ,

Bl d Z ei sler C arre n o G oodson et al many of

o o m fie l -

, , ,
.
,

whom are intel lectual giants Most all are exceed .

in gl y regular in their habits and at least two are strong

,

temperance advocates In tellectually pian i sts of .

,

this class represen t a very remarkable kind of men

t a lity On e is impressed with the surprisin g quick
.

ness with which their brains Operate even in ordina ry

conversation Speak in g in alien languages they
.
,

fin d compara tively l i ttle difli cu l

t y in expressn them
selves wi th rapidity and fl uency Very few great .

singers ever ac quire a similar e as e These pianists .

are wonderfully well read many being ac quainted ,

wi th the li terature o f three or more tongues in the

ori ginal I ndee d i t is not unusual to find them sk ip
.
,

ping through several languages d uring ordi n ary con

versa ti on wi thout rea liz ing tha t they are perfo rming
lin gui s tic fea ts tha t woul d pu t the a verage college
graduat e t o shame They are fam i li ar wi t h art
.
,

science poli tics man ufactures even in their most

, , ,
“
rece nt developmen ts What is your favorite typ e
.

of aero p l an e ?
”
aske d one some years ago in the ,

k indergarten days of cloud naviga ti on I told him .

that I had made no choice since I had never seen a ,

14 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

flying machine despite the fa ct that I w a s a n a tive

,

of the country that gave it birth He then vouch .

S afed his opinions and entered into a physic al and

mechan ical di scussion of the matter indicating th a t ,

he had spent hours in getting the whole subject

straightened out in his mind Thi s same man a .
,

G erman knew whole c antos of the I nf ern o by heart

, ,

and could repeat long scenes from K in g Le ar with a

very creditable E ngli sh accent .

The average American t ired busin ess man who is

inclined to look upon the touring virtuoso as only a
pianist woul
”
d be immensely surprised if he were
“ ”
called upon to compa re his store of universal
in fo rmation with tha t of the performer He would .

soon see that hi s long close confinement behind the

bars of the dollar Sign had made him the intell ectual
inferior of the m us ician he almost ignores But it is .

hardly fair to compare the se famous interpreters

“
wi th t he average tired business man They are .

the C ecil Rhodes the Thomas E disons the Maurice

, ,

Maeterlincks of their fields I t is eas y enough to find

.

musicians of smaller life oppo rtunities basking in their

ignorance and conceit .

While t h e virtuoso may be described as intellectual

in the bro ader sense of the term he usually has a ,

grea t fear of becoming academic He aspire s to be .

artistic ra t her than scholarly He strives to elevate

.

ra th er than to tea ch — in the strictly pedagogical

sense. S ome of the grea te st performers have been
notoriously we ak as teachers Th ey do not seek the
.
’
 TH E ART I ST S
’
LIF E 1
5

walls of the college neither do they long for the cheap

,

B o hem ian ism th a t so many of the F rench feu i lle t on ists

delight in describing (Why Shou l d the immorality
.

of the artist s life be laid at the doors of fair Bohemia ? )

’

’
The artist s life is wrapped up in makin g his readings
of master works more significant more elo quent , ,

more beau tiful He is interested in everything that

.

cont ributes to his artistry whether it b e literatur e , ,

science history art or the t echn i c of his own inter

, ,

re t a t iv e development He penetrates the various

p .

mystic problems which surround piano playing by the

infall ible process of persistent study and reflection .

The psychical phase of his work interests him im

m e n se l y particul
,
a rly t he phenomena of personal a t
—
traction often called magn e tism .

THE MAGICMAGNE T I S M OE

Magne tism is surely one of the most enviable pos

sessions o f the successful pian ist Just what magne .

t ism is and how it comes to be few psychologists ,

attempt to relate We all have our theories just

.
,

why one pianist who often blunders as readil y as a

Rubinstein or who displays his many shortcomings at
,

every concert can invari ably draw larger audiences

and arouse more applause than his confrere with
weaker vital forces although he b e admittedly a bet
,

ter technician a more highly educated gen t leman

,

and perhaps a more sensitive musician .

Charles Frohman keenest of thea t rical producers

, ,
“ ” ’
a ttributed the ac tor s success to vitality and in ,
16 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

doin g this he merely chose one of the weaker syn o ny ms

of magnetism Vital ity in this sense does not imply
.

great bodily streng t h I t is ra t her so u lstrength .

-

mind strength life streng th P rofessor J o hn D Quack

-

,
-
.

en b o s AM M D ,
formerly of C olumbi a Un i
. .
,
. .
,

versity essays the following definition of magnetism

,

in his excellent Hypn o tic Therapeu tics:

“
Magn e t i sm h in g m o re t han earn est ess a d si c i t y
is no t n n n er ,

co p l d wi t h in s ight sym p t hy p t i c a d t ct Th s
u e , a ti l ,
a en e n a . e e e sse n a s

can n ot b b o u gh t d ca n n t b t a gh t
e an Th y e b o rn by
‘
t
o e u . e ar n a u re ,
’

t h y a e dy d wi t h t he d ripe o f t h h
‘ ’
e r e t re e ear .

But D r Q u ack e n b o s is a physician and a p hil

. o so

pher Had he b een a lexicographer he would have

.

foun d the term magnetism far more inclusive He .

woul d at lea st have admitted the phenomenon which

we have witnessed so often when one po sse ssed with
vol c anic vitality overwhelms a great audience .

The old idea that magnetism is a kind of invisible

form of intellectual or psychic electricity has gone
down the gro tesque phrenologica l vagaries of Gal l as
well as so me of the p seu do scie n t ific t heories of that
very unusual man Mesmer We all po ssess what is ,
.

known as magnetism S ome have i t in an unusual .

degree as di d E dwin Boo th Franz Lisz t Phill

, ips , ,

B rooks and Bismarck I t was surely n either th e .

art nor the ability of D an iel Webs ter tha t made hi s

audi ences accept some of his fatuous p l atitudes as
great u t teran ce s nor w as it t he histri onic t alent
,

alone of Richar d Man s fi el d tha t enabled him to w ri ng

success from such an ob vious theatrical co ntrap tion
18 GRE A T P I ANI STS ON P LANO PLAYING
’
subject a moment s thought Many of the artists .

already mentioned (in this book) who possess magnet

ism similar to that of P aderewski could surely never
make claim for personal beauty N either is mag .

n e tism akin to that attraction we allexperience when

we see a powerful well groomed horse a Sleek houn d
,
-

, ,

—
a handsome tiger that is it is not mere admiration
,

for a b eautifulanimal Whether it has any similarity

.

to the mysterious charm which makes the doomed

bird lose control of its wings upo n the approach of a
snake is difli cu l t to estim a te C ertain l
y in the
.
,

paraphernali a of the modern recital with its lowered

lights an d its solitary figure playing away at a po lished
ins tru ment one m ay fin d something of the physical
apparatus employed b y the professional hypnotist
—
to insure concentra tion bu t even this can not
account for the pianist s real attractiveness I f
’
.

“ ” “
Mr Frohman s vitality means the v ital spa rk
.
’
,

“ ”
the life element it comes very close to a true
,

definition of m a gnetism for succes s without thi s

,

p recious P romethean force is inconceivable I t may .

be o n ly a smouldering ember in t he so u lof a dying

C hopin but if it is there it is irresistible until it b e
,

comes extinct F acial beauty and physic a l prowess

.

all made way for the kind of magnetism that S ocra tes ,

G eorge S and Julius C ae sar Henry VIII P agan ini

, , , ,

E merson D ean S wift or Richard Wagner posse ssed

,
.

More wonderful still is the fa ct that magnetism is

by no means co n fined to tho se who have finely trained
intellects or who have achi eved great reputations .
 THE AR TI ST S LIFE
’
19

S ome vaudeville b u fl o o n or some gypsy fiddler may

have more attractive power than the virtuoso who had
spent years in developing his m ind and his technic .

”
The average virtuoso thinks far more of his geist ,
“ ” “
his ta lent (or as E merson would have I t the ,

— ”
shadow of the soul the otherwise ) than he does of
‘

his technic or his cadenz a s

,
By what mystic means
.

magne tism may be developed the writer does not

‘

,
’
pretend to know P o s sibly by placing one s deeper
.

“ ”
self (shall we say subc o nscious self ) in closer
commun i on with the great throbbing problems of the
invisible though perpetually evident forces of nature
which surround us we may become more alive more ,

sensitively v iv ifie d What woul

. d it mean to the
youn g virtuoso if he could go t o some occult master ,

so me seer of a higher thought and acqu ire that lode

,

stone whi ch has drawn fame and fortune to the blessed

few ? Hundreds have Spe nt fortunes upon Charlatans
in the attempt .

All artists know the par t that the audience itself

plays in fa lling under the magnetic spell of t he per
former I ts connection with the phenomena o i auto
.

suggestion is very clear D r Wundt the famous

. .
,

G erman psychologi st showed a class of students how

,

superstitions unconsciously acquired in early life

affect sensible adults who have long since passed the
sta ge at which they might put any credence in omens .

A t a concert given by a famous pl ayer the audience

,

has been well schoo led in anticip a tion The artist .

always appears under a halo his reputation has made

20 GRE A T PIANI STS ON P IANO P LA YING

for him This very reputa tion makes his conques t far
.

easier than that of the novice who has to prove his

ability before he can win the sympathy of the audience .

He is far more likely to find the audience en rapport

than in di fl e ren t S ometime at the play in a theater
.
, ,

watch how the audi ence will u nconsciously mirror the

faci al expressions of the forcefu l actor I n some S im i .

lar manner the virtuoso on the concert platform

,

sensitiz es the minds and emotions of t he sympathetic

audience I f the e fl e ct is deep an d las t ing the artist
'

.
,

is said to poss ess tha t K ohinoor of v irt u o so do m

magne t ism .

S ome widely read cri t ics have made the very

natural error of confoun ding magnetism with person
ality These words have quite difl e re n t connota
.

—
tions personality comprehending t he more subtle
’
force of ma gne tism An ar tist s indi vidual worth is
.

—
very closely allied wi th his personality that is his ,

whole extrinsic attitude toward the thought and action

of the world about him How important personality .

is may be judged by the widely advertised e fl o rt s of

t he manufacturers of piano playing machines to -

convince the public that their products often aston ,

ishingly fin e do actually reproduce the individual

,

e fl e ct s which come from the playin g of the living

artist P iano playing machines have their place

.
-

and it is an important one However wonderful

‘
.
,

as they m ay be they can never be anything but,

m a chines They bring unquestioned joy to thousands

.
,

and they act as missionaries for both music and t he

 THE ARTI ST S LIF E ’
21

music te acher b y takin g t he art into countless homes

-

where it might otherwise never have pene trated thus ,

creatin g th e foundation for a strong desire for a

thorough study of music The piano playing machi ne
.
-

may easily boast of a mechanism as wonderfulas

that of a L iszt a d Al
,
b e rt or a B achau s but it can no
’
,

more cla im personality than the typ ewriter upon

whi ch this article is being written can claim to repro
duce the indivi d uali ty whi ch characterizes the hand
writing of myriads of difl e re n t perso n s P ersonality .
,

then is the virtuoso s one great un as sailable strong

,
’

hold I t is personality th at makes us want to hear a

.

half dozen different renderings of a single B eethoven

sonata by a half dozen difl ere n t pian i sts E ach has .

the charm and flavor of the interpreter .

But pers onal ity in its relation to art has been so

exquisitely defined by the inim itable B ritish essayist ,

A C B enson tha t we can do no b etter than to quote

. .
,

his words :
“
I have lately come t o perceive that the one thing
whi ch gives value to any piece of art whether it be ,

book or pictur e or music is that subtle and evasive

, , ,

thing which is called personality N o amount of labor .

,

of zest even of accomplishment can make up for the

, ,

absence of this quality I t must be an almost in

.

st in ct iv e thing I be l
,
ieve Of course the mere pres
.
,

ence of personality in a work of art is not suffi cient ,

because the personality revealed may b e lacking in

charm ; and charm again is an ins tinctive thing
, ,
.

N o ar tist can set out t o capture charm ; he will toil

 22 GRE AT PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYIN G

all the night and take nothi ng ; but what every artist
can an d must aim at is to have a

p oingg f view He must take his chan ce fi

. w h e t he r
his po int of view is an attractive one ; but sincerity
is the one indi spensable thing I t is useless to take
.

opinions on trust to retail them to adopt them ;

, ,

they must be formed created felt The work of a

, ,
.

\sin cer& artist j s alm ost certain to have some value ;

the work of an insincere artis t is of its very nature
”
worthless .

“ 1
Mr B enson 5 charm is what the virtuoso feels
.

as magnetism I t puts some thin g into the artist s

.
’

playin g that he cannot define F or a moment the .

vital spark flares into a bewildering flame and all his ,

world is peopled with mo ths hovering around the

“
divin e fire .

GRE A TE ST TH ING OF ALL

THE
I f we have dwelt too long upon magnetism those ,

who know its importance in the artist s life will readily ’

perceive the reason But do not let us be led away

.

into thinking that magnetism can take the place of

hard wo rk E ven the tiny prodi gy has a career of
.

work behi nd him and the master pianist has often

,

climbed to his position over Matte rho rn s and Mt

‘

Bl an cs of industry D ays of practice months of

.
,

study years of struggle are part of the biography of

,

almost every one who has attained real greatness .

What a pity to destroy time old illusions ! S ome -

prefer to think of their artist heroes dreaming their

 ’
TH E ARTI ST S LIFE 23

li ves away in the hectic cafés of P es th or b urie d in the

melancholy absinthe and paresis of some morbid
,

cabaret of P aris As a matter of fact the bes t

.
,

—
k nown pianists live a totally difl ere n t life a life of
,
—
grind grind grind in cessant study endles s prac tice
, ,

and ceaseless search for means to raise their artistic

standing I n so me quiet country villa miles away
.
,

from the center of unl icensed B acchanalian revels ,

the virtuoso may be found working hard upon next

season s repertoire
’
.

After al
lthe greates t thi ng in t he ar t is t s lif e is
,
’

WO R K
- - -
.
 ARE P IANI S T S B ORN OR M AD E ?

S OME years ago the D irector of the L eipsic C on

s erv a t o riu m gave the writer a complete record of the
number of gradua tes of the conservatory from the
founding to the l a te nineties Of the thousands of
.

students who had passed through the institution only

a few had gained wide prom inence Hardly one stu
.

dent in one hundred had won his way into the most
voluminous of the musical biographical dic tionaries .

The propor tion of distingui shed graduates to those

who fail to gain renown is very high at L eipsic com
pared with many other institutions What becomes
.

of the thousands o f students all working frantically

with the hope of becoming famous pianists ? S urely ,

so much earnest e fl o rt can not be wasted even though

all can not win the race ? Those who often convince
themselves that they have failed go on to perfo rm
a more useful service to society than the laurel
crowned virtuo s o Unheralded and unappl auded
.
,

they become the teachers the true mi ssionaries of

,

Frau Ma sik to the people .

What is it then which promotes a few fortunate

,

ones from the armies of students all over America and

E urope and makes of them great v irtuo so s ? What
must one do to become a v irtuoso ? How long must
one study before one may make a debu t? What does
24
26 GRE AT P I ANI S TS
~
ON PIANO PLAYING

had it Fine ! S ome day N athan you will be a great

.
, ,

pianist and etc etc .

, .

N athan next goes to the grea t teacher He is .

already eight years old and fairly leaping out of his

’
mo t her s arms Two years with the teacher a n d
.

N athan is probably ready for a deb u t as a wonder

child The critics are kind I f his parents are very
. .

poor N athan may go from town to town for awhile

being exhibited like a trained poodle or a tiny acro
bat The fur ther he gets from home the more severe
.

his critics become and N athan and his mother hurry

,

back to the old teachers who tell them that N athan ,

must still practice long and hard as well as do some

thing to b uild up his general educa tion The worl d .

in these days looks askance a t the musician who aside

from his keyboard accomplishments is a numskull .

More sacrifice for N athan s mother and father ’

,

but what are poverty and deprivation with such a

go al in S ight ? N athan studies for some years in the
schools and in the high schools as well as at the con
se rv at o ry I n the music school he will doubtles s
.

spend six years in al —

l two years in the post graduate -

or master classes following the regular four year

,
-

course When suffi ciently capable he will tak e a

.

few pupils at a kopeck or so per lesson to help out with

the family expenses .

N at han graduates from the conservatory with

high honors Will t he public now receive him as a
.

great pianist ? A concert is planned and N athan

plays D ay and night for years his whole family
.
 ARE PIANI STS B O RN OR MADE ? 27

have been looking forward to that concert L et us .

concede that the concert is a triumph D oes he .

find fame and fortune waiting for him next morning ?

—
N o indeed there are a thousand N athans all equally
,

accomplished Again he must work and again he

.

must concertize P erhaps after years of strife a

.

manager may approach him some day wi th a contract .

—
L ucky N athan have you n ot a thousand brothers
,
“
who may never see a contract ? Then C an it be ,
-

—
possible N athan is it really America America
, ,
-

”
the virtuoso s Golconda !
’
N athan makes a glorious
to n rn ée
. P erhaps the little mother goes with him .

More lik ely she stays at home in Odessa waiting with

glisten in g eyes for each incoming mail P upils come .

to N athan and he charges for each lesson a sum equal

ing his father s former weekly wage Away with the
’
.

Ghetto ! Away with po verty ! Away with ob l ivion !

—
N athan is a real virtuoso a veritable Meister/
,

THE AME RI CAN VIR TU OS O OF To DAY -

How does the American aspirant compete with

N a th an ? Are there not as fine teachers here in
America as in E urope ? I s it really neces sary to go
“ ’
to E u r0p e to finish one s musical education ?
—
C an one not become a virt uoso in Am erica P more
questions with whi ch editors and teachers are con
y pl
s t an t l ied C an one who for ye a rs has waged a
.

battle for the American te a cher and Americ a n mu sical

educ a tion answer this question without bias ? C an
we who trace the roots of our lineage back to barren
28 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

P lymouth or stolid N ew Ne t h e rl
an d judge the question

fairly and honestly ?

On e case su fli ces to S how the road whi ch the Am eri
can virtuoso is likely to travel She is still a young
.

woman in her twenties Among her te a chers w a s

, .

one who ranks among the very best in America Her .

general educ a tion was excellent — in fact far superior

,

to that of the average young lady of good family in

continental E u I Op e Whi le in her early teens S he
.

became the leading feature at conservatory concerts .

Her teacher won m any a profitable pupil through h e r

brilliant playing She studies as do so many Ameri
.
,

can pupils without making a regular business of it

,
.

C ompared wi th the six year all day week in and week ,

out course whi ch N athan pursued in Odess a our little

compatriot was at a decided disadvantage But .

who ever heard of a music student making a re gular

business of le arn i ng the professio n as would a doctor
or a lawyer ? Have not students contented them
selves wi th two lessons a week since time immemori al ?
N eed we go fur t her to di scover one of the flaws in
our own educational sys tem a flaw that is not due to
‘
,
-

the te a cher o r to the methods of instruction but ,

ra ther to our time old custom

-
Tw o lessons a .

week are adequ a te fo r the student who doe s not

aspire to become a profe ssional but altogether in ,

su fficie n t for t h e student who must accomplish a va s t

amount o f wo rk in a comparatively sm a ll number of

years S h e require s const ant adv i ce regular daily
.
,

instruction and careful attention under experienced

 ARE P I ANI STS B ORN OR MADE ? 29

in structors Teachers are not to be blamed if S he

.

does not receive this kind of attention a s there are ,

abundant opportunities now in America to receive

sys tematic training under teachers as t horough as ,

able and as inspiring as may be found in E urope .

The excuse that the expense is greater in America

falls when we learn the very high prices charged by
leading teachers in G erm any Austria and F rance ,
.

To go back to our particular case the young lady ,

is informed at the end of a course Of two or three

lessons a week during two or three years that she is ,

a full fl e dge d virtuos o and may now enter the con

-

cert fiel d to compete with C arren o B l o o m fie l

d ,

Z eisler or G oodson Her playi ng is obviously supe

.

rior to that of her contemporary students S ome one .

insists upon a S hort course of study abroad not ,

-

because it is necessary but bec ause it might add to her

,

reputation and make her first fli ghts in the American

concert field more S pectacular A ccordingly S he .

goes to E urope only to find that S he is literally sur

,

—
rounded by budding virtuosos an army of N athans , ,

any one of whom might easily ecl ipse her A gains t .

her personal charm her new world vigor her Yankee

,
-

smartness N athan places his years of systematic

,

train ing his soul s a turated in the music and art of

,

past centuries of E uropean endeavor and perhaps his

youth of poverty which makes success imperative .

The young lady s E uropean teacher frankly tells her

’

that while her playing is delightful for the s alo n or

parlor she will never do for the great concert hall .
3 0 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

S he must learn to pl ay with more power more virility , ,

more character A ccordingly he sets her at wo rk

.

along special muscle buildin g tone cultivating speed

-

,
-

making lines of techn i c in order to make up for the

lack of the training whi ch the young lady might
easily ha ve had at home had her parents been schooled
toW n e ce ss it y

techn ical exercises with the new teacher are so simple

Her first .

th a t the young woman is on the verge of despair

until she realizes that her playing is reall y taking on a
new and more mature character S he has been lif t .

ing fifty pound weights occasionally Her teacher .

is trai n in g her to lift one hundred pound weights every

day S he has been Sketching in pastels her teacher
.
—
,

is now teaching her how to m ake Vela squez like -

strokes in oils Her gain is not a mere matter of

.

loudness She co ul
. d play quite as loud before she went
to E urope There is something mature in t hi s new
.

style of playi ng something that res embles the play

,

in g of the other virtuosos she has heard Who is the

.

grea t E uropean master who is working such great

wonders for her ? N one other than a celebrated
teacher who taught for years in Am erica —a m aster ,

no better than dozens of other s in Ame ric a right

now C an the teachers in America b e bl amed if the
.

parents and the pupils fa il to m ake as se rious and

continued an e fl o rt here ?
long h a rd and u n re l
,
en l
v at io n of

the student w ho wo uld become a virtuo so With our .

incre asin g wealth and adva ncing culture American

 ARE P I ANI STS B O RN OR MADE ? 31

parents are beginning to discover that given the ,

same work and the same amount of in struction musi

cal education in America differs very slightly from
musical educ a tion abroad .

But we are deserting our young virtuoso most

ungallantly I n Berlin she hears so many concerts
.

and recitals so many di ff erent styles of pl a ying that

, ,

she begins to think for herself and her sense of artistic

— —
dis crimination interpretation if you will becomes
,

more and more acute P rovided with fun ds for a t

.

ten S h e does regularly whereas in ,

America she neglected Opportu nities equally goo d .

S he never realized befo re that there cou l d b e so much

to a Brahms I n te rm e z z o or a C hopin B al
lade A t the .

end of her fir st year her American common sense -

tells her that a plun ge into the concert field is stil l

d angerous A ccordingly she remain s two or possibly
.
,

thr ee more years and at the end if she ha s worked hard

,

she is convinced that with proper management she

may stand some chance of winning t hat fickle treasure ,

public favor .

“ ”
But persists the reader it would have b een
, ,

po ssible fo r her to have accomplished the same work

at home in America Most certainly if sh e had ,

had any one of the hun dred or more virtuoso te a chers

now resident in the United S tates all of whom are
cap able of bringing a highly talented pupil to virtuoso
heights —an d if in their teaching they had exerted
,

su fi cie n t will power to demand from the pupil and

-

the pupil s parents the same condi tions which woul

’
d
32 GRE A T P IANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

govern the work of the same pupil studying in E urope .

Through long tra dition and by means of endless

experiences the c o nditions have been est ab l ished in
E urope .The student who aspires to become a pro
fe ssio n alis given a distinctively professional course .

I n Am erica the need for such a training is but scantily

appreciated Only a very few of us are able to ap
.

praise the real importance of music in the a dvance

ment of human civilization nor is this unusual since
, ,

most of us have but to go back but a very few gene ra

tions to encounter our blessed P uritan and Q uaker
ancestors to whom all music barring the lugubrious
,

P salm singing was the inspira tion of the devil The

,
.

teachers as has been said before are fully ready and

, ,

more than anxious to give the kind of train ing re

quired Very frequently parents are themselves to
.

blame for the slender dil e ttan te style of playing whi ch

their well — instructed children present They measure .

the needs of the concert hall by the dimensions of the

p arlor The teacher of the would b e professional
.
-

pupil aspires to produce a quantity of tone that will

fill an audi torium seating at least one thousand people .

“ ”
The pupil at home is enjoined not to b ang or
“
pound ”
The resul
. t is a feeble characterless tone
,

which rarely fills an auditorium as it shou l d The .

actor can not forever rehearse in whispers if he is to

fill a huge theater and the concert pianist must have a
,

strong sure resilient touch in order to bring about

, ,

climaxes and make the ran ge of his dyn amic power

allcomprehensive Indeed the separation from home
-
.
,
34 GRE A T P IANI STS ON P IANO P LA YIN G

field as have many of our best opera singers who have

“ ”
never had a lesson on the other side .

Ou r little pianist has again been playin g truant

from our manuscript L et us see what happens to .

her when she finished her work with the famous

teacher abroad S urely the making of a virtuoso is
.

an expensive matter L et us take the estimate of .

’
the young pianist s father who practically mortgaged ,

his financial existence to give his daughter the right

musical training .

Le sso n s wi t h first t eacher at a l esso n

E igh t y l esso n s 3 year fo r fo u r years
Le sso n s wi t h se co n d m erica n t ea ch er fo r t w o
A
yea rs at le sso n
a
Le sso n s wi t h t hi rd A m e rica n t ea ch er at a
lesso n fo r o n e ye ar an d S ix m o n t hs
M u sic b o o k s
, ,
etc

0 0 0 0 0

Main t en an ce fo r e igh t years at a ye ar

(m i n im u m es t i m at e )
Fo u r yea rs in E u ro pe ,
t ra e vl , b o ard , i n stru ct i o n ,

ad ve rt i si n g, etc

B ut the expense has only begun if you please ,

.

The harvest is s tilla long way o fl A ccording to the .

fine traditions established by the late P T B arnum . .

,

there must be a E uropean furore to precede the

American advent of the musical star The journal .

istic astronomers must point their telescopes long and

stea dil y at th e E uropea n firm am e n t and proclaim
their disco very in t he columns of their papers Again .
,

furores are expensi ve On e must hir e an audi torium .

,

hire an orchestra an d according to some very fran k

, ,
 ARE P IANI STS B O RN OR MADE ? 35

and disgusted young virtuosos who have failed to

succeed hire a critic or so like the amusing Trotter in
,

F an n y s F irst P l What with three and four

’
ay .

concerts a night why Should not the critics have a

p o u r b o i re for extra critical atten tion ? F ortunately
the best papers hold their criticisms above price .

B ought criticisms are very rare and if the young ,

pianist or any representa ti ve approaches certain

critics with any such suggestion S he may count upon
,

faring very badly in cold type on the followin g day .

I f Miss Virtuoso makes a success her press no tices ,

are sent to her American concert managers who ,

purchase space in some Am erican musical news

papers and reprint these notices P ublicity of this .

kind is legitimate as the America n public knows that

,

in most cases these press notices are reprinted solely

as advertising I t is simply th e commercial process of
.

“ ”
acquainting the trade and if done right may prove
one of the most fortunate investments for the young
artist D o not imagine however that the pian i st s
.
, ,
’

America n manager speculates in the problema tical

success of the coming virtuo so On the contrary his
.
,

“ ”
fee for pu t ting the artist on his lis t and promoting
her interests may range from five hun dred do l lars to
two thousand dollars in advance A fter that the .

manager usually requires a commission on all engage

“
ments booked G raft ? Spoils ? Plunder ? N ot
a bit of it I f the manager is a good one that i s
.
— ,

if he is an upright b usiness man well schooled in his

—
work the investment should prove a good one .
 GRE A T PIANIS TS ON PIANO P LAYING

E xploiting a new artist is a brains ,

energy ingenuity and e xp e rie n c

,
A manufa cturing
firm attempting to put some new product upon an
alre ady crowded market would spend not
a year in advertising but ,
The manager
must maintain an organization he must travel he , ,

must advertise and he too must live I f he succeeds .

in m a rketing the services of the young virtuoso at one

or two hundred dollars a concert the returns soon ,

begin to overtake the incessant expenses However .

,

only the most persistent and talented artists survive

to reap these rewards The late Henry Wo l
. fso hn ,

one of the greatest managers America has ever pro

du ce d told the writer frequently that t h e t ask of
,
.

introducing a new artist was one of the most thankless

and uncert ain undertakings im a gin able .

D oes the work the time the expense frighten you

, , ,

little miss at the keyboard ? D O you fe a r the grind ,

the grueling disappoints the unceasing s a crifices ?

,

Then abandon your great career and join the army of

useful music workers who are te a ching the young
people of the land to love m u src as I t Should be loved ,

not in hys u t b u rst s in the concert hall but in

the home I f you have the unextinguishable

fire wi thin your soul if you have the talent from on
,

high if you have health energy system vitality

, , , ,

nothing can stop you from becom ing great Advice .

,

interferences obstacl es wil lb e n o thin g t o y o u You

' N ‘
“

.
,

wil l work day and night to reach your goal What .

better guide could you po ssibly have th an the words

 ARE P IANISTS B ORN OR MADE ? 37

of the great pianists themselves ? Whil e the ensuing

pages were compiled with the view of helping the
amateur performer quite as much as the student who
would become a professional pianist you will never ,

t heless fin d in the expressions of the rea l ly great

virtuosos a wealth of information and prac tical ad
vice.

Most of the fo l lo w m g Chap t ers are the results of

many di ff erent con f erences with the greatest living

pianists A ll have had the revision of the artists in
.

person before publication was undertak en In order .

to indicate how carefully and wil lingly this was done

by the pianists it is in teresting to note the case of the
great Russian composer virtuoso Rachm aninoff The
-
.

original conference was conducted in G erman and in

F rench The materia l was arranged in manuscript
.

form in E nglish M Rachm an in o fl then requested

. .

a second co n ference I n the mean tim e he had had the

.

better part of the manuscript translated into his

native Russian However in order to in sure accu
.
,

racy in the use of words the writer translated the

,

entire matter back into G erman in the pianist s pres ’

ence M Rachm aninoff did not Speak E nglish and

. .

the wri ter did no t speak Russ ian .

The chapter relating to Harold B auer is the resul t

of a conference conduc ted in E nglish Mr Bauer s . .
’

use of his native tongue is as fluent and eloquent as a

poet or an orator I n order that his ideas might h ave
.

the b est po ssi b l e expression the entire chapter was

38 GRE A T P IANI STS ON P IANO PLAYIN G

written several times in manuscript and carefully

rearranged and rephrased by Mr B auer in person
. .

S ome of the conferences lasted wellon through the

’ ’
night The writer s twenty years experience in
.

teaching was constantly needed to grasp diff erent

Sh a dings of meaning that some pi ani sts found difli cu l t
to phrase M any indeed have felt their weakness in
.

t he art of verbal expressi o n a n d have rejoiced to have

their ide a s clothed with fitting words C omplete.

frankness and sincerity were encouraged in every

case The results of the conference with Wil
. h e hn
B a chau s conceded by m any other pi anists to be the
,
“ ”
foremost techn ica list o f the day are it will be
, ,

observed altogether diff erent in the statement of

,

teaching principles from those Of Haro ld B auer .

E ach is a sincere expression of individual o pi n i on and

the thoughtful student by weighing the ide a s o f b o th
may reach conclusions immensely to his personal
advantage .

No wider range of views upon the subject of

piano fo rte playing could possibly come between the
covers of a book The student the teacher and the
.
, ,

music lover who acquaints himself with the opinio ns

of the different masters of the keyboard can not fail
to have a very clear insight into the best contemporary
ide as upo n technic interpretation style and expression
, ,
.

The author —o r shall he call him self a c o llect o r

believes th a t the u se of the questions foll owing e a ch
chapter will be found ful in the work
o f both clubs
 ARE P IANI STS B ORN OR MADE ? 39
Y
gl
more impor tant than p eC
r The s tud en t might
ep t .

“ ”
easily learn this book by heart and yet be unable
to play a perfect scale L et him remember the words
.

of L ocke :
M en o f m u ch rea di n g great ly learn ed : b u t m ay b e
li t t l e k n o w i n g
.
”

A fter all the virtuoso is great b ecause he really

,

knows and W O R— -
K S- -
.
 P E P I TO A RRI OLA

B IOGRAPHICAL
P epito A rriola was born on the 1 4 th of D ecember ,

1 89 7
. A carefulInvestigation of his ancestry reve a ls
that no less th a n twelve of hi s forefathers and relations
have been prono un cedly musical His father was a
.

physici an but his mother was a musician His early

,
.

musical training was given to him exclus ively by his

mother The foll
. owin g was prepared when he w as
twelve years old and at that time he was apparently
a perfectly healthy child with the no rmal activity
,

of a boy of his age and with a l i ttle more general edu

cation in addition to his music than the average
child at fif teen or sixteen poss esses He spoke F rench
.
,

G erman (fluently) and S panish but little E ngli sh

,
.

D espite the fact that he had received numerous honors

from E uropean monarchs and famous musicians he ,

was exceptiona ll y modest In his pl aying he seemed

.

never to mis s a note in even very complicated com

positions and his musical maturity and point of view
were truly astonishing The foll
. owin g is p a rtic u l
a rly

valuable from an educational standpoint because of ,

the absolute u n afl e ct e dn e ss of the child s narrative o f

’

his own training .

(The following conf erence was conducted in G erman

and F rench ) .
 I II

THE S TORY OF A WOND E R CH ILD

P E PI TO ARRI OLA

MY E ARLIE ST RE CO LLE C TIONS

S O much tha t was of interest to me was continually
occurring while I was a child that it all seems like a
kind of haze to me I cannot remember when I
.

first commenced to play for my mother tells me tha t

,

I wanted to reach out for the keyboard before I was

out of her arms I have also learned that when I was
.

about two and one half years of age I could quite

-

readi ly play after my mother anything that the S ize

of my hand would pe rmit me to play .

I loved music so dearly and it was such fun to run

,

over the keyboard and make the pretty sounds that ,

the piano was really my first and best toy I loved to .

hear my mother play and continually begged her to

,

play for me so that I could play the same pieces after

her I kn ew nothing of musical nota tion and played
.

entirely by ear which seemed to me the most natural

,

way to play A t that time word was sent to the

.
,

King of S pain that I showed talent and he became ,

interested in me and I played before him

, .

MY FRIE ND SHIP W I TH ARTH UR N IRI S CH

A short time a fterward Herr A rthur Nikisch con
, ,

ductor of the Gewan dhau s Orches tra at L eipsic and ,

41
42 GRE A T P IANI STS ON PI ANO P LAYIN G

at one time conductor of the Boston Symphony

Orchestra in America came to Madrid to conduct th e
,

Phil harmo n ic Orchestra for a special concert S ome .

one told him about my playing and I was pe rmitted to

play for him He became so interested that he in
.

sisted upon my being taken to L eipsic fo further r

study I was then four years of age and although

.
,

musical advantages in S p ai n are continually in cre as

ing my mother thought it best at the time that S he
,

should follow the great musician s adv ice and that I ’

shoul d be taken to the Ge rman city .

I want to say that in my earliest work my mother ,

made no eff ort to push me or urge me to go ahead .

I loved to play for the sake of playing and needed no ,

co axing to spend time at the keyboard In my very .

early years I was permitted to play in public very

little although there were cons tant demands made
,

to engage me I was looked upon as a kind of c u ri

.

o sit y and my mother wanted me to study in the

regular way with good masters and als o to acquire ,

more strength before I played in public very much .

I did however play at the gre a t A lbert Ha ll in

, , ,

L ondon The big building holds 8000 people but

.
,

that was so long ago that I have almost forgotten al l

about it except that they all seemed pleased to see a
,

little boy of four playing in SO very big a place I .

also played for royal personages including the ,

K aiser of Ge rmany who was very good to me and

,

gave me a beautiful pin I like the K aiser very much

. .

He seems like a fine man .

 THE STORY OF A W OND E R CHILD 43

MY F IRST RE GULAR IN STRUC T ION

My first teacher aside from my mo ther was a
, ,

Herr D re ck e n do rf of L eipsic He was very kin d to

,
.

me and took the greatest pains but the idea of learn ,

ing the notes was very distastefu lto me I was ter .

ribly bored with the techn ical exercises he gave me ,

but have Since learned that one can save much time
by practicing scales and exercises Al t hough I do .

not like them I practice them every day now for a

, ,

little while so as to get my fingers in good working

,

order .

I n about S ix weeks I knew al lthat was expected

of me in the way of scales in octaves sixths thirds , , ,

double thirds etc and my teacher commenced to

,
.
,

turn his attention to studi es and pieces F or the .

first time I found musical notation interesting for ,

then I realized th a t it was not necessary for me to

wait until some one else played a piece before I could
begin to explore its beau t ies Ah ! it was wonderful
.
,

those first days with the pieces I was in a new .

c o unt ry and co u ld hardly wait to master one at a

time so eager was I to reach the next one and see
,

just what it was like .

Herr D re ck e n do rf gave me some studies b y D u ssek ,

C ramer the I n v en tion s of B ach etc b ut before long

, ,
.
,

the fa scination of playing beautiful pieces was so

great tha t he fo u nd it hard to keep me away from them .
44 GRE A T P IANI S TS ON P IANO P LAYIN G

RE P E RT O RY
E ARLY
S o hungry was I to find new musical works that
when I was eight and a half years old I could play
from memory such pieces as the B flat minor S cherzo ,

the A flat m ajor P olonaise and most of the V alses

,

and Etudes of C hopin I also played the S ixth

.

Rhapsody of L iszt and the C minor C oncerto of B eet

hoven .

In the mean time we moved to B e rlin and thi s has

been our home ever since so you see I have seen ,

far more of G ermany than of my native country ,

Spain In fact it seems more natural for me to speak

.
,

G e rman than Spanish A t the age of seven it was

.

my good fortune to come under the instruction of

Alberto Jonas the Spanish virtuoso who for many
, ,

years was at the head of a l arge music school in

America I can never be grateful enough to him for
.
,

he has taught me without remuneration and not

even a father coul d be kinder t o me When I left .

Berlin for my present tour tears came to our eyes , ,

because I knew I was leaving my best friend Most .

of my present repertory has been acquired under

Jonas and he has been so so exacting ,
.

He also saw to it that my training was broad and ,

not confined to those compo sers whose works ap

pealed most to me The resu l . t is that I now ap
p re cia t e the w o rk s o f a l
l the composers for the piano .

B eethoven I found very abso rbing I learned the .

App assio n a ta S on ata in one week s time an d longed ’

,
 THE ST O RY OF A WONDE R CHILD 45

for more My teacher however insisted upon my

.
, ,

goin g slowly and mastering all the little details

,
.

I have also developed a great fondness for Bach ,

because I like to find how he winds his melodies in

and out and makes such beautifulthings of them I
,
.

play a great deal of Bach including the G minor ,

organ Fugue whi ch Liszt played the devil with in

,

arranging it for the piano Go odness knows it was .

,

difli cu lt enough for the organ in its original form !

I don t see why L iszt wanted to make it more difficult
’
.

L iszt is of course considered a great master for

, ,

the piano and I play his works with great delight

, ,

especiall y the Cam pan ell

a with its beautiful bell
e fl e ct
,
but I cannot look upo n L iszt as a pianistic
composer in the same way that one thinks of C hopin
as a pianistic compo s er The piano was C hopin s .
’

natural tongue Liszt s tongue like th a t of B eet

.
’
,

hoven was the orchestra He knew no difli cu l

,
tie s .
,

according to the manner in whi ch he wrote his o w n

works C onsequently one must think of the orchestra
.

in playing Liszt s works while the works of C hopin

’
,

suggest only the piano .

MY D AILY PRAC TICE

During most of my life my prac tice has n ever
exceeded two hours a day In this country while .
,

on tour I never practice more than one and one half

,
-

hours This is not necessary b ecause of the concerts

.
,

themselves whi ch keep up my technical work I

,
.

never worry about my fin gers I f I can think t he .

46 GRE A T PIANI STS ON P IANO PLAYIN G

pieces right my fin gers will always play the notes

, .

My mother insists upon my being out in the open

air al lthe time I am not studying and practicing ,

and I am out the better part of the day .

A t my practice periods I devote at least fifteen ,

or twenty minutes t o technical exerci ses and strive ,

to play all the scales I n the di fferent forms in all

, ,

the keys once each day I then play some of my

,
.

concert numbers continually trying to note if there

,

is any p l ace that requi res attention I f there is I .

,

at once spend a little time trying to improve the

pass age .

I t is very largely a matter of thinking the musical

thought right a n d then saying it in the right way
,
.

I f you think it right and your aim at the keyboard is

,

good you are not likely to hit the wrong notes even
, ,

in skips such as one finds in the Rubin stein Val se

in E flat I do not ever remember of hitting the
.

upper note wrong I t all seems so easy to me that

.

I am sure that if other childr en in America would

look upon other examples in the same way they ,

could not fin d their work so very difli cu l t I love to .

practice C hopin On e can n ot be so intimate wi th

.

E ach ; he is a lit t le cold and un f riendly untilone

kn ows him very well .

GE NE RAL E DUCA TION

I have said t hat we play as we thin k Th e min d .

must be continually improved or the fingers wil l

grow dull In order to see the beau ties in music
.
48 GRE AT PIANI STS ON PIANO P LAYING

THE O RE TICAL S TUD IE S

Musical theory bores me now alm ost as much as ,

my firs t technical studies did Rich ard S trauss the .

,

great G erman composer has very kindly o fl e re d to

,

teach me I like him very much and he is so kind but

.
,

his thundering musical efl e cts sometimes seems very

noisy to me I know many of the rules of harmony
.
,

but they are very uncomfortable and disagreeable to

me .

I would far ra ther write my music as it comes to

me Herr Nikisch says that when I do it that way I
.
,

make very few blunders but I know I can never be a

,

composer until I h ave mastered all the branches of

musical theory I am now writing a symphony I
. .

pl ayed some parts for Herr Nikisch and he has agreed

to produce it Of course the orchestral parts will have
.
,

to be written for me but I know what instruments I

,

want to expres s certain ideas .

P utting down the notes upon paper is so tiresome .

’
Why can t one think the musical thoughts and h av e
them preserved without the tedious work of writing
them out ! S ometimes before I can get them on paper
they are gone no one knows where and the worst of
-

all is that they never come back I t is far greater .

fun to play the piano or play football or go rowing

, ,
.

RE AD IN G AND S TUD Y
I love t o read an d my favorite of all books is The
,

Three Mu s kete ers I have also read some t hing of

.
 THE STORY OF A WONDE R CH ILD 49

S hakespeare , G oethe S chiller and many other writers

, ,
.

I like parts of the great S panish novel D o n Q u ixo te ,

but I find it h ard to read as a whole I think that .

music students ought to read a great deal I t makes .

them thin k and it gives them poetical thoughts

, .

Music 13 after all only another kind of poetry and

W
, , ,

o e t icalideas from books we b ecom e m ore

poetical and our music becomes more beautiful The
, .

student who thi nks only of hammering down keys at

the piano cannot play in a manner in whi ch people
wi l
l take pleasure Pi a no playing is so much more
.

than merely pressing down keys On e has to tell .

people things that cannot be told in words— that is

what music is .

AT
C ONCE RT THE

I do not know what it is to be nervous a t concert s .

I have played so much and I am always so sure of

what I am going to pl ay that nervousness is out of th e
question Of course I am anxious about the way in
.
,

which audiences will receive my playing I want to .

please t hem so much and don t want them t o applaud

’

me because I am a boy but would ra ther have them

,

come as real music lovers to enjoy the music itself

-
.

I f I cannot bring pleasure to them in that way I do

not deserve to be before the pub lic .

My concerts are usually about one hour in length ,

although I sometim es play encores for some time after

the concert I make it a pra ctice not to eat for a few
.

hours before the concert as doctors have told my

,

4
50 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO P LAYI NG

mother that my mind will be in better shape I want .

to thank the many friends I have made among the

students who have come to my concerts and I hope ,

that I may have told them some things which will

help them in their work .

QUE STI ON S IN S TY LE I N TE RP RE TA TION E XP RE SS ION

, ,

AND TE C HNIC OF P IAN OF ORTE P LAYING

S E RI E S I
PE P I T O ARRI OLA
I . S hould the talented child be urged or pushed
ahead ?
2 I n what period Of time should a very talented
.

child master the elementary outl ines of techn ic ?

3 C an L iszt be rega rded as a pianistic composer in
.

the same sen se as that in which C hopin is considered

'

pianistic ?
4 How should a very ta lented child s practice
’
.

time be divided ?
5 What part does right thinking play in execution ?
.

6 How should the chil d s general education be

’
.

conducted ?
7 S hould the education be confined to the class
.

room ?
8 S hould the musica l chil
. d be encouraged to read
fic tion ?
9 D oe s music resemble poetry ?
.

10 S hould one be carefu l about the b ody be fore

.

concerts ?
 W IL H E L M B ACHAUS

BIOG RAPHICAL
Wilhelm B achau s was born at Leipsic March ,

2 4 1 884 two years before the death of F ranz L iszt

, ,
.

Nine years youn ger than Josef Hofmann and a trifle

more than one — half the age of P aderewski he rep
resents a different decade from that of other pian
is t s included in this work B achau s studi ed for nine
.

years with Alois Reckendorf a Morav i an teacher,

who was connected with the L eipsic C onservatory for

more than thirty years Reckendorf had been a stu
.

dent Of science and philosophy at the Vienna and the

Heidelberg Un i versities and was an earnest musician
and teacher with theo ries of his own He took an .

e special interes t in B a chau s and was his o n ly teacher

with the exception of one year spent with d Al b e rt
’

and three lessons with S il

“
o ti
”
Although B achau s
.

commenced playing when he was eight years old he

feels that his professional deb u t was made in L ondon
in June 1 90 1 when he played the tremendously diflicu l
, ,
t
B rahms P aganini V ariations I n 1 90 5 when B ach au s
-
.
,

was only twenty— one he won the famous Rubinstein

,

P rize at P a ris This consists of 5 000 francs o ffered

.

every five years to young men between the ages of

twenty and twenty six -
.

(The following con ference was conduc t ed in E nglish

and Ge rman ) .
 THE P IANI S T OF TO M ORR OW -

WILHE LM B ACHAUS

To DAY, -
YE STE RDAY AND To Mo RRo w
-

I T is
somewhat surprising how very little difference
e xists between the material used in piano teaching

to day and that employed forty or fifty years ago

-
.

Of course there has been a remarkable amount of

,

new techni cal material exercises studies etc devised

, , ,
.
, ,

written and published and some of this presents the

,

advantage of being an improvement upon the old

an improvement which may be termed an advance
but taken all in all the advance has been very slight
, ,

when compared with the asto nishing advances made

in other sciences and other phases of human progress
in this time .

I t would seem that the science of music (for the

processes of studyin g the art are undoubtedly scie n
tifi c) left little territory for new explorers and in
ventors Despite the great number of é tudes that
.

have been written imagine for one moment what a

,

desert the t echnic of music would be without C zerny ,

C lementi Tau sig P ischn a—to say nothing of the

, ,

great works of S carlatti and B ach which have an ,

e fl e ct upon the technic but are really gre at works of

,

musical art .

52
54 G RE A T P IANI STS ON P IAN O P LAYING

B ACH MU S ICALLY OMN I P OTE N T

I t seems almost foolish to repeat wha t has been
said so many t imes ab ou t the wonderfu lold cantor
of L eipsic Johann S ebastian B ach However there
, .
,

may still be some who have no t ye t b ecome acquainted

with the indisputable fact tha t the practice Of B ach is
the shortest quickest road to technical finish Busoni
,
.

has en l arged upon Bach impossible as that may seem ;

,

b u t as a modern bridge is sometimes built upon won

de rfu lOl d foundations Busoni has taken the idea of
,

B ach and with his penetrative and interpretative

,

ability has been able to make the meaning more clear

,

and more e fl ect iv e An y youn g pian ist who aspires

'

to have his hands in condition to respond to the subtle

suggestions of his brain may acqu ire a marvelous
foundation by the use of scales Bach and arpeggios
”

.
,

THE OLD THA T I S E VE R NE W

I have seen many ways and means tried out S ome .

seem like an attempt to save time at the expense of

thoroughness Furthermore the means whi ch have
.
,

produced the great pian ists of the past are likely to

diff er but little from those which will produce the
pianists of the future .

“
The ultra —mode m teacher who is inclin ed to think
scales old fashi oned should go to hear de P achman n
-

who practices scales every day De P achmann who .

,

has been a virtuoso for a great many years still fin ds ,

daily practice necessary and in addition to scales , , ,

 THE P IANI ST OF To -
MORROW 55

he plays a great deal of B ach T0 day his t echnic is

.
-

more powerful and more comprehensive than ever ,

and he attrib u t es it in a large measure to the simples t

of means .

D IF FICULT IE S m NE W P IA NOF ORTE C OMP OS I TION S

“
I have often been asked if the future of pianoforte
composition seemed destin ed to alter the technic of the
instrument as did the compositions of L iszt for
, ,

instance This is a difficult question but it wo u ld

.
,

seem that the borderland of pianistic difli cu l t y had

been reached in the compositions and transcriptions
of Busoni and G odowsky The new F rench school of
.

D ebussy Ravel and others is difl eren t in type but

, ,

does not make any more severe t echnical demands .

“
However it is hard for one to imagine anythin g
,

more complicated or more difli cu l t than the G odowsky

arrangements Of the C hopin studies I fail to see .

how pianoforte technic can go much beyond these ,

unless one gets more fingers or more hands Godow .

’
sky s treatment of these studies is marvelous not
only from a technical standpoint but from a musical ,

standpoint as well He has added a new flavor to the

.

in div i dual masterpieces of C hopin He has made .

them wonderfully clever and really very interesting

studies in harmony and counterpoint so that one ,

forgets their technical intricacies in the b eauty of th e

compositions On e cannot say that their original
.

beauty has been enhanced but he has made them

,

wonderfully fascinating composi tions despite their

aggrava ting complications for the student .
56 GRE AT PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

M E RE D IFFICULT Y NO L ONGE R AST OUND S

The day when the Show of startling techn i cal
skill was su fli cien t to make a reputation for a pian i st
is fortuna tely pas t The mechan i cal playing devices
, ,
.

have pos sibly been responsible for this The public .

refuses to adm ire anything that can be done by a

machine and longs for something fin er more subtle
, , ,

more closely allied to the soul of the artist This does .

not mean however that the necessity for a c o mpre

, ,

h en siv e techni c is depre ciated Q uite the contrary

.

is t rue The need f o r an al

. lcomprehensive technic
-

is greater than ever before But the public demand

.

for the purely mu sical the purely ar tistic is being

, ,

continu ally manifested .

“
Modern compo s ers are writing with this in view
rather than hug e techn ical combina tions The gi a nt .

of to d ay to my mind is indisputably Rachmanin o ff

, ,
.

He is writing the greatest original music for piano

of an y living composer Al lof his compo sitions are
.

pianistic an d he does not condescend to pander to a

trifling public taste He is a m an with a great mind
.
,

and in addition to this he has a delightful sense of

, ,

proporti o n and a feel ing for the beautiful allof which ,

makes him a composer of the master mould His .

compositions will endure as long a s music .

MO DE RN C OMPO S ITION S
F or others of the type of S criab in e I care less ,

although I am sensible to the beauty of many of t heir

 THE P IANIST OF TO M RR -
O OW 57

compositions They have no t however the splendid

.
, ,

mould of Rachm an in o fl nor have they his vigorous ,

originality D oubtless some of these men will pro

.

duce great o iigin alcompositions in the future C om

'

positions that are simply not bad are hardly worth the
paper they are written upon for they will not last as ,

long The composition that will last is a great new

.
, ,

original thought inspired noble and elemental but

, , ,

worked out with the di s tinctive craftsmanship of the

g reat master .

“
I am very partial to D ebussy He has an extra .

ordinary atmo sphere and after one has formed a ta s te

, ,

for him hi s compositions are alluring p a rticularly

, ,

a pl
his H o m age a Ra m e au J ardin s so u s l
‘
u ie and D u n
’
,

ca hie r d esqu isses which I have b een playing upon my

’
,

American tour .

THE M OST D I FFICULT

C OMP OS I TION S
I have continually been asked Wh at is the most
‘
,

difli cu l The ques t ion always amuses

’
t composition ?
me but I suppose i t is very human and in line with
,

the de sire to measure the highest building the tallest ,

mountain the longest river or the oldest castle Why

,
.

is such a premi um pu t upon mere diffi culty? S tran ge

to say no one ever seems to think it necessary t o
,

inquire Wh at is the most beautifu lpiece ?

‘
,
’

D ifli cu l
“
t y in music should by no mean s b e esti
mated by technical complications To play a Mozart .

concerto wellis a colossally difi cu l t undertaking .

The pianis t who has worked for hours t o ge t such a

58 GRE A T P IANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

compo sition as near as possible to his conception of

perfection is never given the credit fo r his w o rk except ,

b y a few connoisseurs many of whom have been ,

through a similarly exacting experience Months .

may be spent upon comparatively simple compositions ,

such as the Haydn S onatas or the Mozart S onatas ,

and the musical public is blind to the addi tional

fi nish or polish so evident to the virtuoso .

PRAI S E THA T IRRI TA TE S

The Opposite of this is also true A little S how of .

bravura possibly in a passage which has not cost the

,

pi anis t more than ten minutes of frivolous pr a ctice ,

will turn many of the unthin king au di tors into a

ro a ring mob Thi s is of course very di s tressing to
.
, ,

the sincere artist who strives t o establish himself by

his real worth .

“
Of course there are some compositions which
,

present difli cu lt ie s which few work hard enough to

surmount Among these might be menti o ned the
.

G odowsky C hopin étu des (p articu l arly the etu de in

/
/
-

A flat Opus 2 5 N o 1 which is always especi ally

, ,
.
,

exasperating for the student su fli cie n t l y advanced to

approach it) ; the D o n J u an F an tasie of L iszt ; the
B rahms P agan i ni v a riatio n s and the B eethoven Opus
-

1 06 which when properly pl ayed demands enormous

, , ,

t echn ical skill On e certainly saves a lot of bother

.

when one discards it from one s repertoire I f these ’

.

four pieces are not the most difficu lt pieces they are ,

certainly among the most difficu lt .

 THE PIANI ST OF TO-
MORROW

WH Y N OT S E E K THE B E AU TIF UL ?
But why seek difficulty when there is so much that
is quite as beautiful and yet not difli cu lt ? Why try
to m ake a bouquet of oak trees when the ground is
covered with exquisite flowers ? The pi ano is a solo
instrument and has its limitations S ome piano .

music is said to sound orchestral A s a matter of.

fact a great deal of it would sound better with the

,

orchestra .

“
Real piano music is rare The piano appears to be
.

too small for some of our modern Titans among the

composers When they write for the piano they seem
.

to be exhibiting a conce a led longing for the one

hundred or more men of the modern orchestra On e .

of the reasons why the works of Debussy appeal to

me is that he manages to put so much color into his
piano pieces wi t hout suggesting the orchestra Much .

of his music is wonderful in this respect and moreover , , ,

the musicians of the future will appreciate this fact

more and more .

E XE RCI S E S
THA T G IVE IMME D IA TE HE LP
N o one exercise can be depended upon to meet all
the varied conditions which arise in the pra ctice of the
day but I have frequently employed a simple exercise
,

‘
which seems to coax the hand into muscular activity
’

in a very short time I t is S O simple th a t I am diffi

.

dent about suggesting it However elemental proc

.
,

esses lead to large struct ures sometimes The .

60 GRE A T P IAN I STS ON P IAN O P LAYING

E gyp tian pyramids were built ages before the age of

steam and electricity and scientists are still wonderin g
,

how those massive stones were ever put in place .

“
The exercise I use most apart from scales is really
, ,

based upon a principle which is constan tly employed

in all scale playing and in all piano playing that of,

putting the thumb over and under the fingers D id .

you ever stop to think how continually this is em

ployed ? On e hardly goes one step beyond the
elemental grades before one encounters it I t de .

mands a muscul ar action entirely difl e re n t from that

of pressing down the keys ei t her with the finger fore ,

arm o r arm motion .

“
S tarting with the above named principle and
-

devising new exercises to meet the very human need

for varie ty I play some thing like this :
,

The n ext form would employ ano t her fin ge rin g

The next fo rm might be

62 GRE AT PIANI STS ON P LANO PLAYING

exercis e s in the difl e ren t b o oks and the s t u

difl e re n t
'

”
dent has n o reason for su fl erin g for want of va riety
'

QUE ST ION S IN S TYLE I N TE RP RE TA TION E X P RE SS ION

, ,

AND TE CHNIC OF P IANOFO RTE P LAYING

S E RIE S II
WILH ELM B ACHAUS

Does the te chn i cal material of to day differ

1 .
-

greatly from that Of forty or fif ty years ago ?

2 S tate something of the effi c a cy Of scales
. .

3 S tate three sources of te chn i c a l m a terial sure

.

to interest the student .

4 D O celebrated virtuosos u se scales regul a rly ?

.

5 S tate. what else be sides tec h nical S kill is re

quired in these days to gain recognition as a virtuoso

pianist .

6 Why does Rachm an in o fl excel as a composer

.

for pianoforte ?
7 S tate what may be considered the most diffi cult
.

of pian o compositions .

8 Wherein does the appeal of D ebus sy lie ?

.

9 GiVe some Simple exercises suitable for dail

. y
practice .

1 0 Why are too compli cated exer cises unde sirable ?

.
 HA ROLD BAUE R
BIOGRAPHICAL
Harold Bauer was born in L ondon E ngland April , ,

2 8 18 75
,
His father was an accomplished amateur
.

Violinist Through him . the future virtuoso was ,

enabled to gain an excellent idea of the beautiful

literature of chamber music When a boy Mr . .

Bauer studied privately with the celebrated violin ’

teacher P ol itzer A t the age of ten he b ecame so

,
.

proficien t that he made his debu t as a violin ist in

L ondon Thereafter in his tours of E ngland he met
.

with great success eve ryw here .

In the artistic circles of L ondon Mr Bauer met a .

musici an named G raham Moore who gave him some ,

idea upon the detail s of the techn ic of pianoforte

playing which Mr B auer had studied or rather

,
.

picked up by himself with o ut any thought of ever

,

ab andon ing his career as a violinist Mr Moore had . .

expected to rehearse some orchestral accompaniments

on a second piano with P aderewski who was then ,

preparing some concertos for public performance .

Mr Moore was taken ill and sent his tal

. ented musical
friend Mr B auer in his place P aderewski im m e di
,
.
, .

ately took an in terest in his ta lented accompani st and

advised him to go to P aris to continue his studies with
G orski .

After many privations in P aris Mr B auer un able .

,

to secure engagements as a violinist went on a tour ,

of Russia as an accompanist of a singer In some of .

t h e smaller towns B auer played an occasional piano

solo Returning to P aris he found that he was stil
. l,

unable to secure engagements as a violinist His .

pianistic opportunity came when a celeb rated Virt uoso

who was to play at a concert w as ta k e n ill and B auer
was asked to substitute He gradu ally gave more
.

attention to the piano and rose to a very high po si

tion in the tone world .
 A RT I STIC AS PE C TS OF P IANO S TUD Y
HAROLD B AUER

THE IMME DIA TE RE LATI ON OF TE CHNI C ToMU S IC

“
WHILE it gives me great pleasure to talk to the
great number of students studying the piano I ,

can assure y ou that it is with no little diflide n ce that

I venture to approach these very subjects about
which they are probably most anxious to learn I n .

the first place words tell very little and in the second
, ,

place my whole career has been so difl eren t from the

,

orthodox methods that I have been constantly com

p elle d to contrive means of my o w n to meet the

myriads of artistic contingencies as they have ari sen

in my work I t is l a rgely for this reason that I felt
.

compelled recently to refuse a very flattering Off er

to write a book on piano playing My whole life
.

experience m akes me incapable of perceiving what the

no rmal methods o f pianis tic study should be A s a .

result of this I am obliged with my own pupil s to

invent continually new means an d new plans for work
wi t h each student .

“
Without the conventio nal te chnical basis to work
upon this has necessarily resulted in several aspects
,

of pia noforte study which are n a tural ly somewhat

different from the commonly accepted ideas of the
technicians I n t he first pl a ce the onl
.
,
y technical
S4
 ARTI STIC A S PE C TS OF PIANO STUD Y 65

study of any kind I have ever done has b e en I /

ha t
t echnic which has had an immedi a te relation to the
musical message of t he piece I have been studying .

I n other words I have never studied techn i c inde

,

pendently of music I do not condemn the ordinary

.

techn i cal methods for those who desire to use them and
see good in them I fear however that I am unable
.
, ,

to di scuss them adequately as they are outside of,

my personal experience .

TH E AI M OF TE CH NIC
When as a result of circumstances en ti rely b eyond
,

my control I abandoned the study of the violin in

,

order to become a pianist I was forced to realize in

, ,

View of my very imperfect techn i cal equipment that ,

in order to take adva nt age of the opportunities that

o ff ered for public performance it would be necessary
for me to fin d some means of making my playing
acceptable wi t hout spending months and probably
years in acquiring mecha nical proficiency The only .

way of overcoming the diffi culty seemed to be t o

devote myself entirely to the musical essen tials of
the composition I was in t erpre ti ng in the hope that
the purely technicaldeficiencies which I had neither
time nor knowledge to enable me to correc t would
pass comparatively unnoticed provided I was able to ,

give sufficient interest and compel su fli cie n t attention

to the emotional values of the work Thi s kind of .

s tu dy forced upon me in the firs t instance through

,
:

reasons of expedien cy became a habit and gradually

, ,
5
66 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO P LAYING

grew into a conviction that it was a mistake to prac ti ce

technic at all unless such practice sho uld conduce
to some defin ite specific an dimmedia te musical re sult
, .

“
I do not wish to be misunders tood in making this
st a tement containing as it does an expression of
, , ,

Opinion that was formed in early years of study but ,

which nevertheless I have never since felt any reason

, ,

to change I t is not my intention to imply that

.

techn ical study is unnecess a ry or that purely muscul a r

,

train ing is to be neglected I me a n simply to s ay that

.

in every det a il of techn i cal work the germ of music al

expression must be di scovered an d cultiva ted and that ,

in muscular training for force and independence the

simplest possible forms of physical exer cises are all
that is necess ary .

“
The singer and the violinist are always studying
m u sic even when they practice a succession of S ingle
,

notes Not so with the pian is t h o wever for an

.
, ,

isolated note on the piano whether pl ayed by the most

,

accompl ished artist or the man in the street means ,

nothing absolutely no thin g

, .

IND IVID UAL E XP RE SS IO N

S E E KING
A t the time of which I S pe ak my greatest difficu l ty,

was naturally t o give a const ant and defin i te di rection

to my work and in my e fl o rt s to obtain a suitable
muscular trainin g which shou l d enable me to produce
expressive sounds whil e I neglected no opportunity of
,

cl osely obse rving the work of pia noforte teachers and

s tude nts aroun d me I foun d tha t most of the t e chn i
‘
.
.
68 GRE A T P IANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

striving C onse quently from that time to the present

.
,

my work has necessarily been more or les s independent

and empirical in its nature and whi le I trust I am
, ,

neither prejudiced nor intolerant in my attitude to

wards pianoforte education in its general aspect I ,

cannot help fee ling that a grea t deal of natural taste

is stifled and a great de al of mediocrity created by the
persistent and un intelligent study of such thi ngs as an
‘ ’ ‘
even scale or a good tone .
’

“
L astly it is quite incomprehensible to me why any
,

one method of techn i c should be superior to any other ,

considering that as far as I was able to judge no ,

te a cher or pupil ever claimed more for any techn i cal

system than that it gave more technical ability than
some other technical system I have never been able
.

to convince myself as a matter of fa ct that one system

, ,

does give more a bil i ty t han another ; but even if there

were one infin itely superior to all the rest it would
,

still fail to satisfy me unless its whole aim and object

were to fa cil itate mu sical expression .

“
N aturally studying in this way required my
,

powers o f concentration to be trained to the very

highe s t point This matter of concentra tion is far
.

more important than most teachers imagine and the ,

perusal of some standard work on psychology will

reveal things which should help the student grea tly .

Many pupils m ake the mistake of thinking that only a

cer tain kind of music demands concentration whereas ,

it is q ui te as necessary t o concentrate the m ind upo n

 ARTI STIC A S PE C TS OF PIAN O STUD Y 69

the playing of a simple scal e as for the study of a

B ee thoven sonata .

THE RE S I ST ANCE ME DI UM
OF THE

In every form of art the medi um that is employed

off ers a cert ain resista nce to perfect freedom of ex
pression and the nature of this resistance mus t be
,

fully understood before i t can b e overcome The .

poet the painter the sculp tor and the musician each
, ,

has his own problem to solve and the pianist in p art ic

,

ular is frequently brought to the verge of despair

through the fact that the in strument in requiring the ,

expen di ture of physical and nervous energy absorbs , ,

so to speak a large propor ti on of the intensity whi ch

,

the music demands .

“
With many student s the piano is only a b arrier
a wall between them and music Their thoughts .

never seem to penetrate farther than the keys They .

plod along for years apparently strivin g to make

the end
en or .

C onditions are doubtless better now than in former

years Teachers give studies with some musical value
.
,

and t h e months even years of keyboard grind wi thout

, ,

the least suggestion of any thin g musical or gra tify ing

to the natural sense of the b eau tiful are very probably
a thing of t he past But here again I fear the teachers
.

in many cases make a perverted use of studies and

pieces for technical purposes I f we practice a pi ece l
.

of real music with no other idea than that of d evelop

70 GRE A T P IANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

ing some t echn i cal point it often ceases to become a

piece of music and results in being a kind of techn i cal
machinery Once a piece is mechan i cal it is difficult
.

to make it o therwise All the cogs wheels bolts and

.
, ,

screws which an overzealous ambition to beco me per

fe ct technically has built up are made so evident that
only the most patient and enduring kind of an audi
ence can tolerate them .

THE PE RVE RS I ON OF S TUD IE S

‘
P eople talk about u sing the music of B ach to ’

accompli sh some techn i cal purpose in a perfectly

heart— break ing manner They never seem to think
.

of interpreting B ach but rather make of him a kind

, , ,

of technical elevator by means of which they hope to

reach some marvelous musical heights We even hear .

of the stu di es o f C hopin being perverted in a similarly

vicious manner but B ach the master of masters is
, , ,

t he greatest sufferer .

“
I t has become a truism to say that technic is only
a means to an end but I very much d o ubt if thi s
,

assertion should be accepted without question ,

suggesting as it does the advisabili ty of studying some

thing th a t is not m u sic an d which is believed at s o me
‘

future time to be capable of being marvelously trans

formed into an artistic expression P roperly under .

stood te chn ic i s art and mu s t be s tudied a s such

, ,
.

The re Sho u ld be no tech nic in music whi ch is not music

in itsel f.
 AR T I STIC A S PE C TS OF PIANO STUD Y 7 1

THE UNI T OF MU S ICAL E XP RE SS I ON

The pian o is of all instrumen ts the least expre ssive
,

n a turally and it is of the greatest Import ance t hat the

,

student sh o ul d re a lize the nature of its resistance .

The action of a pi ano is purely a piece of machinery

where the individual note has no meaning When the .

key is once struck and the note sounded there is a

completed action and the note ca nnot then be modified
nor changed in the least The o n l y thi ng over which
.

the piani st has an y control is the leng t h o f the tone ,

an d this ag ain may not last any longer than the natural

vibrations of the strings although it may be shortened

,

by relinquishing the keys I t makes no di fference

.

whether the indiv idual note is struck by a child or by

P aderewski— it has in itse l f no expressive value I n .

the case of the Violin the voice and all other in st ru

,

ments except the organ the in di vidual note may be

,

modified after it is emitted or struck and in this modi ,

fi cat io n is contained the possibility of a whole world

of emotional expression
X
.

“
Ou r sole means of e xp re ssI On then in piano play
, ,

ing lies in the relation of one note to the other notes in

a series or in a chord Herein lies the difficul
. ty the ,

resistance to perfect freedom of which I have spoken

before the principal subject for intelligence and care
,

ful study and yet so few students appear to under

,

stand it Their gre a t e fl o rt seem s to be to m ake all

.

the noise in a given series as much alike as c o ins from

a mint They come to the pian o as their only in st ru
.
72 GRE A T P IANI STS ON PIANO P LAYING

ment and never seek to take a lesson from the voice

,

or from the o t her instruments whi ch have expressive

resources infin i tely superior to t hose possessed by the
piano The principal charm of the piano lies in the
.

command which the player has over many voices

singing together B ut until the pianist has a regard
.

for the individual voice in its relation to the ensemble

he has no means wi th whi ch to make his work really
beautiful .

“
There is a great need for more b readth in music
study This as I know has been said very often but
.
, , ,

it does not hurt to say it again The more a man .

knows the more he has experienced the wider his

, ,

mental vision in al lbranches of human information ,

the more he will have to say We need men in music

.

with big minds wide grasp and definite aims Mu si

, .

cian s are far too prone to bec o me overspecialized .

They seem to have an unquenchable thirst to m a ster

the jargon and the in finite variety o f methods which
are thrust upon us in these days rather than a genu
ine desire to develop their mu sical aims Music is .

acquiring a technology as confusin g and as extensive

as bacteriology There seems to be no end to the new
.

kinds of methods in the minds of furtive and fertile

inventors E ach new method in turn seems to breed
.

another and so on ad n au seam

,
.

“
Among other things I would sugge s t the adv isa
b ilit y for pianists to cultiva te some knowledge o f the
constructi o n of their instrument S trange as it may
.

s eem it is n evertheless a fact that the average pi anist

,
 ARTI STIC AS PE C TS OF PIAN O ST UDY 73

kn ows practically nothi ng of a piano being in many

,

cases entirely unaware of such simple things as how

the tone is produced The function of the pedals is
.

as unknown to them as geology is to the coal heaver .

Thi s ignor ance leads frequently to the employment

of motions and meth o d s th a t can only be chara cterized
as ridicu l
ous in the extreme .

MU S IC F IR ST TH E IN STRUME N T AF TE RWARD S
,

F rom the manner in whi ch many ambitious and

e a rnest s tudents pl ay it would seem that they had
,

their minds fixed up o n something which could not be

c o nveyed t o the world in any other form than that of
the sounds which come from the piano Of course the .
,

piano has an idio m peculiarly its own and some com,

posers have employed thi s idiom with such natural

freedom that their music su ffers when transposed for
any o ther instrument The music of C hopin is p e cu l
.

iarl y pi a nistic but it is first of all music and any one

, , , ,

of the wonderful melodies whi ch came from the fertile

brain of the P olish F rench genius could b e played
-

upon one of many difl e ren t instruments besides the

piano The duty of the interpreter shoul
. d surely be to
thi nk of the composition as such and to interpret it
,

primarily as music irrespective of the instrument

,
.

‘ ’
S ome students sit dow n b efore the keyboard to play
the pi ano precisely as though they were going to play
a game of cards They have learned certain rules
.

governing the game and they do not dare disobey

,

these rules They think o f ru les rather th an of the

.
74 GRE A T P IANI STS ON P IANO P LAYING
—
ultimate result the music itself The idi o m of the
.

I talian langu age is appropri a te here The I t alians do .

‘ ‘
not say I play the piano but ra t her I sound the
,
’

piano (S u o n o ii p ian of o rte ) I f we had a little

’
. .

‘
more S oun ding of the piano that is producing
’
, ,

real musical e fl e ct s and a little les s playing on ivory

,

keys the playing of our students would be more

,

interesting .

VARIE TY TH E S PICE OF ART

I t can hardly be questioned that the genes is of all
musical art is to be fo und in song the most n a tural , ,

the most fluent and the most beautifulform o f musica l

expre ssion How much every instrumental
. ist can
learn from the art of singing !
“
I t is a physic a l impo ssibility fo r the voice to p ro
duce two notes in successio n ex a ctly alike They .

may sound very similar but there is a difl e re n ce quite

,

perceptible to the hi ghly trained e ar When a S inger .

starts a phrase a certain amo unt of motive power is

required to set the vo cal app ara tu s in Vibr a tion After .

the first note has been a tt a cked with the full force of
the breath there is n a turally not s o much weight o r
,

pressure left for the following notes I t is however .

, ,

pos sible for the second note to be as loud or even ,

l o uder than the firs t no te But in o rder to Obtain

,
.

the addi tion al force o n the sec o nd note it is n e ce s ,

s ary to compens ate for the l a ck of force due to the lo ss

of the o ri ginal weight or pre ssure by incre asing wh a t
might be called the nervous energy ; that is to say ,
76 GRE A T P IANI STS ON PIAN O PLAYING

vividly convey the idea of organic lif e in all its infinite

variety an d which are inherent in every medium for
,

ar tis tic expression .

PHRA S ING B RE A THING

AND

I t would take a book and by no means a small one

, ,

to go in to thi s matter of phr asing which I am now

discussin g E ven in such a book there would doub tless
.

be many points whi ch would be open to assaults for

sticklers in psychological technology I am not .

issuing a propaganda or writin g a thesis for the purpose

of havin g something to defend but merely givin g a
,

few o ffhand facts that have benefited me in my

work However I t is my conviction that it is the
.

duty Of the p iam st to try to understand the analogy

to the physical limi tations whi ch surround the more
—
na tural medi ums of musical expression the voice
and the viol —
in and to apply the result of his o b se r
v a t io n s to his piano playing .

THE NA TURAL E FFE C T OF E MOTI ON S

There is another relation between phrasing and
brea thing which the student may investigate to
advantage The emoti ons have a direct and imme
.

diate e fl e ct upon the breath and as the brain informs

,

the nervous system of new emotional impression s

the Visible evidences may be firs t observed in the
brea t hing I t is quite unnecessary to go into the
.

physiology or psychology of thi s but a little reflection

,

will immediately in di cate what I mean .

 ARTI STIC A S PE CTS OF P IAN O STUDY 77
“
I t is impossible to witnes s a disastrous accident
without showing mental agitation and excitement in
hurried breathing Joy anger fear love tranquil
.
, lity , , ,

—
and gri ef all are characterized by diff erent modes of
breathing and a trained actor must study this with
,

great closeness .

“
The artist at the piano may be said to breathe
his phrases A phrase that is purely contemplative
.

in character is breathed in a tranquil fashion with

out any suggestion of nervous agitation I f we go .

through the scale of expression starting with con ,

t em p l at iv e tranquillity to the climax of dramatic

,

intensity the breath will be emitted progres sively

,

quicker and quicker E very musical phrase has .

some kind of expressive message to deliver I f a .

perfectly tranquil phrase is given out in a succession

of short breaths indica ting as they would agitation
, , , ,

it would be a contradiction just as it would be per ,

fe ct ly inhuman to suppose that in expressing drama tic

intensity it would be possib le to breathe slowly .

“
In conclusion I would urge studen ts to cultivate
,

a very definite mental attitude as to what they really

desire to accomplish D o you wish to make music ?
.

I f so thin k music and nothing but music all the

, , ,

time down to the smallest det ail even in technic

, .

I s your am bition to play scales octaves doub le notes , ,

and tril ls ? Then by all means concentrate your mind

o n them t o the exclus ion of eve ry t hing else bu t do ,

not be surprised if when la te r on yo u wan t to co m

, , ,

m u n icat e a s emblance of life to your mechanical

78 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIAN O PLAYING

mo tions you succeed in O b taining no more than the

,

jerky movemen ts of a clock work puppet

-
.

QUE STION S IN S TYLE IN TE RP RE TA TION E XP RE SS ION

, ,

AND TE CHN IC OF P IANOFO R TE P LA YING

S E RI E S III
HA ROLD B A UE R

1 What is the nature of the technical study done

.

by Harold B auer ?
2 S hould immediate musical results be sought in
.

techn ical study ?

3 Upon what principle is expression in art based ?
.

4 I s the utmost concentration necessary in al

. l
piano playing ?
5 How may the piano become a barrier betwee n
.

the student an dmusical expression ?

6 I n what spirit should all studies be played ?
.

7 I s the piano an expres sive instrument ?

.

8 S hould pianists acquire a kn owledge of the main

.

feature in the cons t ruction of their instrument ?

9 How may variety in piano playing be achieved ?
.

10 How is phrasing rela te d to bre a thing ?

.
 FANNY BLOOM FI E L D Z E I SLE R -

BIOGRAPHICAL
Mrs F anny B l
. d Z eisler was born at B e il
o o m fie l -
itz ,

Austrian S ilesia July 1 6 1 86 6 Two years later

, ,
.

her p a rents took her to Chi cago Her first teachers

.

in C hic a go were Bernhard Ziehn and C arl Wo l fso hn .

A t the age of ten she m ade a profound impression at a

pub l ic concert in C hicago Two yea rs la ter she had
.

the good fortune to meet Mme E ssip o ff who advised

.
,

her to go to Vienna to study with Theodore L esche

t iz k y
. A ccordi ngly she was taken to the Austrian
c apit al and rem ained under t he instruction of the noted
ped agogue for five years S ta rting wi t h the year 1 883
.
,

S h e commenced a series of annual recitals and con

certs in diff erent American cities which made her very

famous I n 1 893 she toured E urope a ttrac ting even
.
,

more attention than in the homel and Since then S he .

made several tours of E urope and America arousin g ,

gre a t enthusiasm wherever she appeared Her emo .

t io n alforce her personal magnetism and her keen

,

processes o f analysis compelled critics everywhere to

ra nk her with the foremo st pian ists of the d ay .
 AP PE AR ING IN P UBLIC
FANNY B LOOMFI ELD ZE I S LE R
-

THE secret of success in the career of a Virtuoso

is not easily defined Many elements have to be con
.

side re d. Given great talent success is not by any

,

means assured Many se emingly extraneous qual

.

ities must be c u l tivated ; many mistakes must be

avoided .

“
L et me start out with a caution N o greater mis .

t ake could possibly be made than to assume that

frequent pub l ic appearances or extended concert
touring in early youth is essential to a great career
as a virtuoso On the contrary I would say that
.
,

‘
such a cours e is positively harmful The e xp e ri .

ence of frequent playing in pub l

’
ic is essential if one
would get rid of stage fright or un due nervousness
and would gain that repose and self co n fiden ce wi th -

out which success is impossible But such e xp e ri .

ence should be had o n l y after the attainment of

physical and mental maturity A young boy or girl
.
,

though ever so much of a prodigy if taken on an ex ,

tensive concert tour not only becomes unduly self

,

conscious conceited vain and easily satisfied with his

or her work but—an d this is the all impo rtant point
, ,

-
runs the risk of undermining his or her health The .

precious days of youth should be devoted primarily to

80
82 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLA YIN G

ine worth is after all the great essential and thorough

, , ,

preparation leads to genuine worth F or instance .

,

I have long felt t hat the mental technic that t h e study

’
of B ach s inven tions and fugues a fford could not be
supplied by any o ther means The peculiar poly .

phonic character of these works trains the mind to

recogn ize the separate themes so ingeniously and
beautifull y interwoven and at the same time the
fin gers receive a kind of di scipline which hardly any
other study can secure .

“
The layman can hardl y conceive how difli cu lt it
is to play at the same t ime two themes different in
character and running in opposite directions The .

student fully realizes thi s difli cu l

t y when he finds tha t
it takes years to master it These separate themes
.

must be individualized ; they must be conceived as

separate but t heir bearing upon the work as a whole
,

must never be overlooked .

“
The purity of style to be found in B ach in con ,

n e ct io n with his marvelous contrapuntal designs ,

should be expounded to the student at as e arly an

age as his intellectual development will permit I t .

may take some time to create a taste for B ach but ,

the teacher will be rewarded with results so sub

s t an t ialand permanent that al lt he trouble and th e
will seem well wor th while .

There is also a re fin ing influence about which I

would lik e to sp eak The practice of B ach seems
.

to fairly grin d o fl the rough edges and in stead of ,

a raw bungling technic the student acquires a kind

,
 A P P E ARIN G IN P U B LIC 83

Of finish from the study of the old mas ter of E isenach

that no t hing else can give hi m .

“
I do not mean to be un derstood that the study of
B ach even if it be ever so thorough su fli ces in itself
, ,

to give one a pe rfect technic Vastly more is .

necessary The student who wou l

. d fit himself for
a concert career must have the advice Of a gre a t
teacher and must work incessantly and conscientiou sly
under hi s guidance I emphasize the study of B ach
.

merely because I find it is not pursued as much as it

deserves Th a t technical finish is of the very essence
.

of success in public appearance goes without saying ,

.

I t is not only indispensable for a creditable perform

ance but the consciousness of possessing it contrib
,

utes to that con fidence of the player without which

he cannot hope to make an impression upon his
au di ence .

‘ ’
LE S CHE TIZ KY AND M E TH OD
Speaking about teachers rem inds me to put forth
this caution : D o not pin your faith to a method .

There is good and alas ! some bad in most methods

,
.

We hear a great deal these days about the L esche

t iz k y method D uring the five years I was with
.

L eschetizky he made it very plain that he had no

,

fixed method in the ordinary sense of the wor d Lik e .

every good teacher he s tu died the individuality of

,

each pupil and taught him according to that indi

v idu al it y I t migh t almost be said that he had a
.

di fferent method for each pupil and I have often ,

84 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PI ANO P LAYING
’
said that L eschetizky s method is to have no fixe d
method Of course there are certain preparatory
.
,

exercises which with slight variations he wants all his

pupils to go through B ut it is not so much the

.

exercises in themselves as the patience and painfu l

persistence in executing them to which they owe their
virtue Of course L eschetizky has his preference
.
,

for certain works for their great educa tional value .

He has his convic tions as to the true interpreta tion to

be given to t he various compositions but those do no t ,

form what may properly be called a method P er .

so n all
y I am rather skeptical when anybody ann ounces
,

that he teaches any particular method L eschetizky .

,

wi t hout any particular method is a great force by ,

Virtue of his tremendousl y interesting personality

and his great qualities as an artist He is himself a .

never ending source of inspiration A t eighty he

-
.

was still a youth full of vitality an d enthusiasm

,
.

S ome student diflide n t but worthy was always

, ,

encouraged ; another was incit ed by sa rcasm ; still

another was scolded o utright P rac t ical illustration
.

‘ ’
on the piano showing how not to do it tellin g of
, ,

per tin ent stories to elucida te a point are among the ,

mean s which b e constantly employed to bring out the

best that was in his pupils A good teacher cann ot in
.

sure success and L eschetizky has naturally had

many pupils who will n ever become great virtuosos .

I t was never in the pupils and n o mat ter how great ,

the teacher he cannot create talent that does not exis t

,
.

“
The many books published upon the Le sche tiz
 AP PE ARING m P U B LIC 85

ky system by his assistants have merit but they by ,

n o means constitute a L eschetizky system They .

s imply give some very ra tional preparatory exercise

that the assistan ts give in preparing pupils for the

master L eschetizky himself laughs when one speaks
.

‘ ‘ ’ ’
of his method or system .

“
S uccess in public appearance will n ever come
through any system or method except that which
works toward the end of makin g a ma ture and genuin e
a r ti st
.

WE LL S E LE C TE D PROGRAMS
-

’
S k ill in the arrangement of an artist s programs
has much to do with his success This matter has .

two distinct aspects F irstly the program must

.
,

lo o k attractive and secondly it must so u n d well in

, ,

the rendition When I say the program must look

.

attractive I mean that it must contain works which

,

interest concert goers I t should be nei th er entirely

-
.

conventional nor should it contain novelties exclu

,

siv el y . The classics should be represented because ,

the large army of students expect to b e especially

benefited by hearing these performed by a great ar tist :
N ovelties must be placed on the program to make
it attrac tive to the maturer habitués of the concert
room .

“
But more important to my mind is the other
, ,

aspec t of program making which I have mentioned .

There must be contrasts in the character and tonal

n ature of the compo siti on s playe d They mu st be so .
86 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

grouped that the interest of the hearers will be not

only sustained to the end but will gradually in ,

crease I t goes without saying that each compositio n

.

Should have merit and worth as musical literatu re .

But beyond that there should be variety in the char

,

acter of the different compo sitions : the classic the ,

romantic and the modern compositions should all be

,

given representation To play several slow movements

.

or several vivacious movements in succession would

tend to tire the listener Anti climaxes should be
.
-

avoided .

“
I t may truly be said that program making is in
itself a high art I t is difficult to give advice on this
.

subject by any general statement G eneralizations .

are too often m isleading I would advise the young

.

artist to study carefully t he programs of the mo st

successful artists and to attempt to discover the prin
cip le underlying their arrangement .

On e t hing whi ch should never be forgotten is th a t

the object of a concert is not merely to Show o fl
the skill of the performer but to instru ct entertain
'

, ,

and elevate the audience The bulk of the program

.

should be composed of standard works but n o velties ,

of genuine worth should be given a place on the pro

gram .

PE RS ONALI TY
’
The player s personality is of inestimable impor
tance in winning the approval of the public I do .

not refer par ticularly to person al beauty , al t hough it

 AP P E ARIN G IN P UB LIC 87

cannot be doubted that a pleasing appearance is help

ful in conquering an audience What I mean is .

sincerity in di viduality temperament

, ,
What we .

vaguely describe as magn etism is often p ossessed by

players who can lay no particular claim to personal
beauty S ome players seem fairly to hypnotize their
.

—
audiences yes hypnotize them This is not done by
, .

practicing any species of black art or b y consciously ,

following any psychologica l formula but by the sheer ,

intensity of feeling of the ar tist a t the moment of

performance .

“
The great performer in such momen ts of pas sion
forgets himself entirely He is in a sort of artistic
.

trance Techn i cal mastery of the composition being

.

presupposed the artist need not and does not give

,

thought to the matter of playing the notes correctly ,

but re creating in himself what he feels to have been

,
-

the mood of the composer re creates the composition

,
-

itself I t is this kind of playin g which esta blishes

.

’
an invisible cord connecting the player s and the
,
’
hearers hearts and swayed himself by the feelings of
, ,

the moment he sways his audience He makes the

, .

music he draws from the in strument supreme in every

soul in the audience ; his feelin g and passion are con
t agio u s and carry the audience away These are the .

moments not onl , y of the greatest triumph but of ,

the greatest exulta tion for the ar tist He who cannot .

thus sway audiences will never rise ab ove me diocrity .

88 GRE A T PIANI STS ON P IANO P LAYING

D o NOT ATTE MPT IMP OSS IB LE

THE

To those who are stil l in the preparatory stage

of development I am glad to give one word of advice .

D o n o t pl a y pieces tha t are away b ey on d yo u r grasp .

This is the greatest fault in our American musical

educational systems of to day P upils are permitted
-
.

to play works that are techn icall y im possible for

them to hope to execute without years of preparation .

What a huge blunder thi s is !

The pupil comes to the teacher let us say with, ,

the S econ d H u n garian Rha pso dy of L iszt I t takes .

some fortitude for the conscientious teacher to tell the

pupilthat she should work with the C Majo r S o n ata
of Haydn instead The pupil wi th a kind of co n fi
.
,

dence t hat is to say the least dangerous imagines that

, , ,

the teacher is trying to keep her back and often goes ,

to another teacher who will gra t ify her whim .

American girls think that they can do everything .

N o t hing is beyond them This is a country of great

.

accomplishment and they do not realize that in music

,
‘
Art is long. The virtuoso comes to a great m e t ro p
olis and plays a Moszkowski concerto of great difficulty .

The next day the music stores exhaust their stocks

of thi s work and a dozen misses who might with
, ,

diflicu l t y play a Mendels sohn S o n g With Wo rds ,

are bu ried in the avalanche of technical impossibili

ties that the alluring concerto provides .
90 GRE A T PIANI STS ON P IANO PLAYIN G

the audience Have your criticisms translated and

.
,

get them republished in American papers Then if .

,

you have real merit you may get a chance

, .

“
The interest in music in the United S tates at the
present time is phenomenal E uropean peoples .

have no conception of it N owhere in the world can

.

such interest be found Audiences in difl e ren t parts

.

of the country do not difl e r very greatly from the

standpoint of intelligent appreciation When we .

consider the great uncultured masses Of peasants in

E urope and the conditions of our o wn farmers ,

especially in the West there is no basis of comparison

,
.

America is already a mu sical coun try a very musical ,

country I t is only in its failure to properly support

.

native musicians that we are subject to cri ticism .

PRAC TICAL S UGG E STION S

To the young man or woman who wou ld learn
‘
The S ecret of P ublic Appearance I would say ’

I L ook deeply into your natural qualifications

. .

Use every morsel of judgment you possess to e n

deav o r to determ ine whether you are talented or
‘
simply clever at music C ourt the advice of n u
’
.

biased professional musicians and meditate upon the

diflI cu l
tie s leading to a successful career and do not
'

decide to add one more musician to the world un t il

you are confident of your su i tability for the work .

Remember that this moment of decision is a very

important time and that you may b e upon the thresh
old of a d angerous mis take Rememb er t ha t there
.
 APPE ARI NG IN P UB LIC 91

are thousands of successful and happy teachers for

one successful virtuoso .

“
.2 A fter you have determined to undertake the
career of the concert performer let nothing stand
in the way of study except the consideration of
,

your health S uccess w i t h a broken down body

.
-

and a Shattered mind is a worthless conquest Re .

member that if you wish a permanent position you

must be thoroughly trained in all branches of your
art
.
3 Avoid charlata nism and the kind of advertise
ment that will bring you notoriety at the sacrifice of
your self respect and the respect of your best friends
-
.

Remember th a t real worth is after all the thing that , ,

brings enduring fame .

“
.
4 S tudy the pub lic S eek t o find ou t what
.

pleases it but never lower the standards of your art

, .

Read the be s t literature S tudy pictures Travel. . .

Broaden your mind A cquire general culture

. .

“
.
5 B e careful of your stage deportment E n .

de av o r to do nothing at the keyboard that will em

p h asiz e any person a l eccentricity A lways be sin .

cere and t rue to your own nature but within these ,

l im its try to make a pleasing impression .

.6 Always be your o wn severest critic B e not .

easily satisfied with yourself Hitch your wagon to .

a star L et your standard of perfection be the very

.

highest Always strive to reach that standard

. .

N ever play in public a piece that you have not

thoroughly mastered There is nothin g more valuab le
.
92 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

than pub lic confidence Once secured it is the great

.
,

est asset an artist can po ssess .

I have repeatedly b een asked to g1v e ten rules for

practice .

I t is not possible to formulate ten all co m p re hen -

sive rules that could be applied in every case but the ,

following suggestions will be foun d valuable to m any

students :
I C oncentrate during every second of your pra e
.

tice To concentrate means to bring all your think

.

ing powers to bear upon one central point with the

greatest possible intensity Without such concentra
.

ti o n no thin g can be accomplished during the practice

period On e hour of concentrated thinkin g is worth
.

weeks of thoughtless practice I t is safe to say that .

years are being wasted by students in this country

who fail to get t he most out of their practice because
they do not kn ow how to concentrate A famous .

‘
thin ker has said : The e vidence of superior genius
’
is t h e power of intellectual concentration .

2 . D iv ide your practice time into periods of not

more th an two hours Y ou will find it impossible to
.

concentrate properly if you attempt to practice more

than two hours at a time D o not have an arbitrary
.

program of practice work for this course is liable to

,

make your work monotonous F or one who pra ctices .

four hours (and that is enough for almo s t any student) ,

one hour for purely technic al work one hour for Bach , ,

an d two hours for pieces is to be recommended .

3 . In commencing your practice play over your ,

94 GRE A T P IAN ISTS ON P IANO P LAYING

then take the preceding measures and continue i n

this way until the whole is mastered E ven after .

you have played the piece many times this process ,

often compels a concentra tion that is beneficial .

“
8
. When s tudying remember that practice is
,

simply a means of cultivating habits I f you play .

correctly from the start you will form good habits ;

if you play carelessly and faultily your pl aying
willgrow continually worse C onsequently play so .
,

slowly and correctly from the start that you may

insure the right fingering phrasing tone touch , , ,

(staccato legato portamento

, ,
pedaling and
,

dynamic e fl ect s I f you postpone the attainment of

'

any of these qualities to a later date they are much

more difficult to acquire .

9
. A lways listen while you are pla y ing Music is .

intended to b e heard If you do not listen to your

-

own playing it is very prob able that other people

will not care to listen to it either .

10 . N ever attempt to play anything in public

that you have just finished studyin g When you are .

through working upon a piece put it away to be ,

musically digested then after some time repeat the

,

same process and again t he third time when your

, ,

piece Wil l have become a par t of yourself ”

.
 AP PE ARING IN PU B LIC 95

Q UE STION S IN S TYLE I N TE RP RE TA TION E XPRE SS IO N

, ,

AND TE CHNIC OF P IANOFO R TE P LAYING

S E RI E S IV
A
F NN Y I
B LOOMF E LD ZE -
I SLE R
1 . How should the pub l ic appear a nces of talented
childr en be controlled ?
2 . Wh a t is the best material for the development
o f a mental techn i c ?
’
3 . S hould one pin one s faith to any one method ?
4 What combine s to make a program attractive ?
.

’
5 . What should be a rti s t s m a in object in gi v ing

a concert ?

6 Wh a t part does personal

. ity play in the per
’
fo rrn e r s success ?
7 What is one of the greatest fau l
. ts in musica l
educ a tional work in America ?
8 H o w sh o uld pr a ctice time be divided ?
.

“ ”
9 . May one memori z e b a ckwards ?
10 W. hy should one listen while pl aying ?
 F E RRUCCI O B E NVE NUTO B US ONI

B IOGRAPHI CAL
F erruccio B enven uto B us oni was born at E mpoli ,

near Florence I taly April 1 1 86 6 H is father was a

, , , .

clarinetis t an d his mother whose maiden name was

Weiss indicating her Ge rman ances try was an ex
,

ce llen t pianist His first teachers were his parents

. .

S o pronounced w a s his talent that he made hi s d ébut

at the age of eight in Vienna Austria He then stud
,
.

ie d in the A ustrian city of G raz with W A Remy . .

,

whose right name was D r Wilhelm Mayer This

. .

able te a cher aside from being a learned jurist was also

devoted to music and had among his other pupils
no less a person than F elix Weingartner .

I n 1 88 1 Busoni toured I taly and was made a mem

ber of the Reale A ccademia Fil harm o n ica at B ologna .

I n 1 886 he went t o reside at L eip sic Two years .

later he became teacher of pianoforte at the Helsing

fors C onserv atory in the Finn ish capita l I n 1 890 .

he captured t he famous Rubinstein prizes for both

pianoforte and composition In the same year he
.

became P rofessor of pianoforte playing at the Moscow

I mperial C onservatory The next year he accepted
.

a similar position in the N ew E ngl a nd C onservatory

a t Boston —return ing to E urope for another tour in
,

1 89 3
. After many successful tours he accepted the
position of director of the Meister schule at the -

I mperial C onservatory in Vienna His compositions

.

include over one hundred published opus numbers ,

the most pretentious probably being his Cho ral

Co n certo His editions of B ach are masterpieces of
.

technical and ar t isti c erudition .

(The foll owing C onference w as conducted in

E nglish ) .
I M P ORTAN T D E TAIL S IN P IAN O S TUD Y
FE RRUCCI O BE NV E NUTO B US ONI

THE S IGNIF ICANC E D E TAIL

OF THE

S O ME years ago I met a very famous artist whose

celebrity re s ted upon the wonderful colored glass win
dows th a t he had produced He w as considered by
.

mo s t of hi s contemporaries the greatest of a l lmakers

of high art windows His fame had exten ded through
-
.

out the artis t ic circles o f all E urope A little remark

.

he made to me illu s trates the importance of detail

better than anything of which I can think at present .

“ ‘
He said I f a truly great work of art in the form
,

of a st a ined gl as s window should b e accidentally

Shattered to little bits one shoul d be able to estimate
,

the gre a tness of the whole window by exam ining one

of the fra gments even though all the other pieces were
’
mi ssing .

“
I n fine piano playing al lof the details are im
portant I do not mean to say that if one were in
.

another room that one co u l d inva riably tell the

ability of an ar ti s t by hearing him strike one note ,

but if the note is he a rd in relation to the other notes

in a composition its propor tionate value should be
,

so del icately and ar tis tically estimated b y the highly

trained p erformer that it forms part Of the ar tis tic
,

whole
7
98 GRE A T P IANI STS ON P IAN O PLAYING
'

F or instance it is quite easy to conceive of com

,

po sitions demandi ng a very smooth running per

fo rm an ce in which one jarring or harsh note indi
catin g faulty artistic calculation upon the part of
the player would ruin the entire interpretation A s .

ex amples of thi s one m i gh t cite the B ach Cho ralVo r

sp ie l Nu n F reu t o u ch of whi ch I have made an ar
'

, ,

rangement and such a composition as the C hopin

,

P relude Opus 2 8 N o 3 with its running a e com

,
.
,

p a n i m e n t in the left hand .

“
I t is Often perfection in little things which dis
t in gu ish es the performance Of the great pianist from
that of the novice The novice usu ally m a nages to
.

get the so c alled m ain points but he does not work

-

for the little niceties of interpretation which are

almost invariably the defining chara cteri stic of the
—
interpretations of the re al artist t hat is the per ,

former who has formed t h e habit of stoppin g at noth

ing short of his highest ideal of perfection .

LE ARNING To LI STE N
There is a detail which few students observe which
is of such vast importance that one is tempted to say
that the main part of successful musical progress
depends upon it Thi s is the detai l of learning to
.

listen E very s ound that is produced during the

.

practice period should be heard That is it should .

,

b e heard with ears op en to give that sound the in t e l

l
i
gent analysis which it deserves .

“
Anyone who has ob served closely an d t augh t
I OO GRE A T PIAN I STS ON PIANO PLAYI NG

this which gives zest and intellectu al interest to the

work of the arti s t Without it his public e fl o rt s would
.

become very tame and un a ttr a ctive .

D E VE LOPME N T
S E LF
I n my own development as an artist it has been
made evident to me time and time again th a t suc
, ,

ce s s comes from t he c a reful Observance o f det ails .

All students should strive to estim a te their o w n

artistic abili ty very accurately A wrong estim a te .

always le a ds to a d a ngerous condi tion I f I h ad .

f ailed to attend to certain details m any ye a rs a go I ,

would have stopped very far Short of a nythi ng like

success .

“
I remember that when I concluded my term as
professor of piano at the N ew E ngland C onserv a tory
Of Music I was very con s cious o f certain deficiencies

in my style N otwithsta ndi ng the f a ct th a t I had

.

been accepted as a virtuoso in E urope an d in America

and had toured wi th great orche s tras such as the
B oston S ym phony Orchestra I knew better than ,

anyone el se that there were certain detail s in my pla y

ing that I coul d not afford to neglect .

F or instance I knew that my method of playing

,

the trill could be greatly improved and I a lso kn ew

that I lacked force and endurance in certain pas
s a ges F ortunately al t hough a comparatively young
.
,

man I was not deceived by t he fl a ttery of well

,

meaning but incapable critics who were quite wil

, l
,

ing to convin ce me that my playin g was as perfect as

 IMPO RTAN T DE TAIL S IN PIANO STUDY 1 01

it was possible to make it E very seeker of artistic

.

truth is more widely awake to his own deficiencies

than any of his critics could possibly be .

“
I n order to rectify t he details I have mentioned
as well as some I have not mentioned I have come ,

to the conclusion that I must devise an en tirely new

technical system Tech nical systems are best when
.

they are indi vidual S peaking theoretic ally every

.
,

indi vidu a l needs a difl e re n t techn ical system E very .

hand every arm every set of ten fingers every body

, , ,

and what is of greatest importance every intellect

, ,

is difl e re n t from every other I consequently e u .

de av o re d to get down to the basic laws underlying

the subject of techn i c and make a system of my own .

“
A fter much study I di scovered what I believed to
,

b e the technical cause of my defects and then I re

turned to E urope and for two years I devoted myself
almost exclusively to technical study along the in
dividual lines I had devised To my great delight .

details that had always defied me the rebellious ,

tri l
ls the faltering brav ura passages the uneven
, ,

runs all came into beautiful submission and with th em

,

came a new delight in playin g .

F IND ING IND IVI D UAL FAULTS

I trus t that my experience will set some ambi
ti o us pi ano students to thi nking an d that they may,

be benefited by it There is always a way of cor

.

re ct in g deficiencies if the way can onl

. y be found .

The first thing however is t o recogn ize the detail

, ,
 GRE AT PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING
lIt elf and
f
”
s then to realize that instead of being a de
tail it is a matter of vast importance un til it has
been conquered and brought into submi ssion I n .

playing always note where your difiicu l

,
‘
t ie s seem to
lie Then when advis able i sol a te those difli cu l
.
, , tie s
and practice them separa tely Thi s is the m a nner in
.

whi ch all good techni cal exercises are devised .

Your own difficulty is the diflicu l

‘
t y which you
should practice most Why waste time in practicing
.

p a ssages whi ch you can play perfectly well ? On e

pl ayer may have difficulty in pl a ying trills while to
,

another pl ayer of equ a l general musical ability trills

may be perfectly e a sy I n pl aying arpeggios how
.
,

ever the difli cu l

,
t ie s whi ch prove obst a cle s to the
pl ayers may be entirely reversed The one who .

could pl ay the trill perfectly might not be able under ,

any ci rcum s tance to play an arpeggio wi th the re

,

q u isit e smoothness and true legato demanded while ,

the s tudent who found the trill impos sible possesse s

the ability to run arpeggios and cadenzas with the
fluency of a forest rivulet .

“
All technical exercises must be given to the pupil
with gre a t discretion and judgm ent just as poisonous
medicines must be administered to the patient with
great care The indiscrimi nate giving of techni cal
.

exercises may impede progress rath er than a dvance

the pupil S imply because an ee CI S e happens to
.

come in a cert ain po sition in a book of technical ex

e rcise s is no reason why the partic u l ar pupil being
t aught needs that exercise at that particular time .
1 04 GRE A T PIANISTS ON PIANO PLAYING

thought di visions indicated by the verbal phrases are

not carefully determined and expressed .

Great actors spend hours and hours seeking for

’
the best method of expressing the author s meaning .

N o pianist of ab ility woul d think of giving less care

fu lattention to phrasin g . How stupid it would be
for the actor to a dd a word that concluded one sen
tence to the beginnin g of the next sentence How .

erroneous then is it for the pupil to add the last note

of one phr ase to the b eginning of the next phrase .

P hrasing is anything but a detail .

Fine phr asing depends first upon a kn owledge of

music whi ch enables one to define the lim i tations of
the phrase and then upon a knowledge of piano
forte pl ayin g which enables one to execute it properly .

P hrasing is closely allied to the subject of accentuation

and both subjects are intimately connected with
that of fingering Without the proper fingers it is
.

o ften impossible to execute certain phra s es correctly .

G enerally the accents are considered of importance

,

because they are supposed to fall in certain set parts

of given measures thus indi cating the meter
, .

“
In instructing very young pupils it may be neces
sary to lead them to believe that the time must be
marked in a defin i te man ner by such accents but as ,

the pupil advances he must understand that the

measure divisions are inserted principally for the
purpose of enabling him to read easily He should
.

learn to look upo n each piece of music as a beau

tiful tapestry in which the main consideration is
 IMP O RTAN T DE TAIL S IN PIANO STUD Y

the principal design of the work as a whole and not

the invisible marking threads whi ch the m an u fac
turer is obliged to put in the loom in order to have
a structure upon which the tapestry may be woven .

BACH BACH BACH , ,

I n the study of the subject of accentuation an d

phrasing i t would not be possible for anyone to
recommend anythi ng more instructive than the
works of Johann S ebastian B ach The immortal .

Thtirin gian composer was the master weaver of all -

.

His tapestries have never been equalled in refin e

ment color breadth and general beauty Why is
, ,
.

B ach so valuable for the student ? This is an easy

question to answer I t is because his wo rks are
.

so cons tructed that they compel one to study the s e

details E ven if the student has o n l
. y mastered the
intric a cies of the Two Vo ice I n v en tio n s it is safe to ,

say that he has become a better player More than .

thi s B ach forces the student to think

,
-

“
I f the student has never thought b efore during
his practice periods he will soon fin d that it is quite
,

impossible for him to encompass the difli cu l t ie s of

B ach wi thout the closest mental application I n fact .
,

he may also di scover tha t it is possible for him to

work out some of his musical problems while away
from the keybo ard Many Of the most perplexing
.

musical que stions and difli cu l t ie s that have ever

con f ronted me have been solved ment all y while I
1 06 GRE AT PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYI NG

have been walking upon the street or lying in bed at

night .

S ometimes the solution of difli cu l

“
t details comes
in the twinkling of an eye I remember that when
.

I was a very young m an I w as engaged to pl ay a

concerto with a l arge sy mphony orchestra On e .

part of the concerto ha d always troubled me and I ,

was somewh a t apprehensive about it During one .

of the pauses while the orchestra was playing the

, ,

correct interpretation came to me lik e a flash I .

waited until the orchestra was playing very loud

and m a de an Opportu n i ty to run over the difli cu l t
p a ss age Of course my pl aying coul
.
,
d not be heard
under the tu tti of the orchestra and when the time
,

c ame for the proper delivery of the passage it was

v as tly better than it would have been otherwise .

“
I never neglect an o pportun i ty to improve no ,

matter ho w perfect a previous interpretation may

have seemed to me I n f a ct I often go directly home
.
,

from the concert and practice for hours upon the

very pieces that I have been playing because during
,

the concert cert ain new ide a s have come to me These .

ide a s are very precious an d to neglect them or to

,

consider them details to be postponed for future de

v el o p m e n t wo u l
”
d be ridiculous in the extreme .
 TE RE SA CARRE NO
B IOGRAP HICAL
Teresa C arre n o was born at C aracas Venezuela , ,

December 2 2 I 85 3 S he descended from one of the

,
.

foremost fami l ies of S pan i sh America which bo a sted ,

of S imon B olivar the Washington of S outh America

as one of its members Artists have been known
.

among her ancestors as far back as the fourteenth

century when the f amous p ainter C arren o lived in
S pain.

’
Mme Carre fi o s first teacher w as her father
. .

L ater she studi ed with a G erman teacher in her

native country A t seven she pl ayed the Ron do
.

Cap riccio of Mendelssohn with gre a t écl at A rev o l

u .

tion ob liged the Carre II o family to move to N ew York

'

The death of a friend to whom funds had been e n

tru sted placed the party of eighteen refugees in dire
straits and a concert was a rr a nged at which the tiny
Teresa c ame to the front and secured sufficient means
for their exi stence .

Gottschalk then in the height of his f ame in N ew

,

Y ork bec ame the child s next teacher S he remained

,
’
.

with him for two years Then she went to P aris.

and became a pupil of Georges Mathi a s the famous ,

disciple of C h opin Her succe ss as a vi rtuoso pianist

.

in E urope excited the attention of Rubinstein who

devoted a great deal of time to gi v ing her invaluable
advice and instruction in interpreta tion I ndeed .

Rub instein was so proud of her that he repeatedly

introduced her as his daughter in art and would
“ ”
jokingly say Are not our hands ex a ctly alike ?
Mme Carre fi o s b ri l
.
’
li ance force breadth of thought
, ,

and almost sensuou s lo ve for the beautiful made her

numerous tours through al lof the music loving coun -

tries remarkably successfu l .

I IO GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

The signs of individuality may be Observed in little

folks at a very e arly age With some children they .

are not very prono unced an d the chi ld s eems like ,

hundreds of others without an y p articul a r incli n a tion ,

artistic or otherwi se I t is then that the te a cher s

.
’

powers of di vination should be brought into p lay .

B efore any re al progres s can be m ade the nature of

the child mu s t be s tudied carefully I n the c as e of .

other children the individual

,
ity is very marked at an
early age A s a ru l
. e the chi ld with the marked in
,

div idu al it y is the one from whom the mo s t m ay be

expected l a ter in life S ometimes this ve ry individ
.

u alit y is mist ak en fo r prec o city This is particul arly.

the case with musicians I n a few ins t a nce s the.

individuality of the master ha s been devel o ped l a te

in life as w as the case of Richa rd Wagner wh o se
, ,

e arly individual tendencies were toward the drama

rather th a n music .

NE W P R O B LE MS
A T E V E RY S T E P
The teacher in accepting a new pupil should real ize
that there at once arises new problems at every s tep .

The pupil s hand mind body an d soulm a y be in

’
, ,

reality diff erent from those of every other pupil the

teacher has t a ught The individu al peculiarities o f
.

the hand should be c arefully considered I f the h a nd .

has long tapering fingers with the finge rs w idely

, ,

separated it will need quite di fferent treatment from

,

that of the pupil with a short compact mus cular , ,

hand I f the pupil s mind indica tes mentallethargy

.
’
 D I STINC TIVE P IANO PLAYIN G I I I

or a lack of the proper early educational training this ,

must be carefully considered by the teacher .

I f the pupil s body is frail and the health uncertain

’
,

surely the teacher will not think of prescribing the

same work she would prescribe for a robust energetic ,

pupil who appe a rs never to have had a sick day On e .

pupil might be able to practice comfortably for four

and five hours a day while another would find her
,

energy and interest exhausted in two hours In fa ct I .

,

would consider the study of indi viduality the principal

care or study of the teacher .

The individua lity of di fl e re n t Virtuoso performers

is very marked Although the virtuo so aspires to
.

—
encompass all styles that is t o be what you would ,
“ ” —
call an all around player it is nevertheles s the
-

, ,

i n dividual ity of the player that adds the additional

charm to the piano recital You hear a great master
-
.

piece executed by one vir tuoso and when you hear ,

the s ame composition played by ano t her you will

detect a difl e re n ce not of techn i cal ability or of ar tistic
,

comprehension but rather of indiv iduality Rem

, .

b randt Rubens and V andyke m ight have all painted

,

from the same model but the finished portrait would

,

have been different and that difl e re n ce wou l

, d have
been a reflection of the individuality of the ar tist .

TH E TE ACH E R S RE S PON S IB ILI TY

’

Again let me emphasize the necessity for t he correct

dia gno sis of t he pupil s individuali ty upon the part
’

of the teacher Unless the right w o rk is prescribed

. .
112 GRE AT P IANI STS ON P IANO P LAYIN G

by the teacher the pupil will rarely ever survive

,

artistical ly I t is much the same as with the doctor

. .

I f the doctor gives the wrong me di cine and the patient

dies surely t he doctor is to blame
, I t makes no differ .

ence whether the doctor had good intentions or not .

The patient is dead and that is the end of all I have .

little patience with these people who have such

wonderful intentions but who have neither the ability
, ,

courage nor will ingness to carry out these intentions .

Many teachers would like to accompl ish a very great

deal for their pupils but al a s ! they are either not able
,

or t hey neglect those very things which make the

’ ’
teacher s work a m i ssion On e of the teacher s great
.

est responsibil i ties lies in determining at first upon a

r a t ional educational course by divini ng the pupil s ’

individuality Remember that pupils are not all

.

like sheep to be shorn in the same identic a l fashion

with t he same identic al she a rs .

’
E D WARD MACD O WE LL S I NDI v ALI TY

On e of the most remarkable cases of a pronounced

musical indi viduality was that of the late E dward
MacD o w e l l who came to me for ins truction for a
,

consider able time He was then quite youthful

.
,

and his motives from the very first were of the highest
and noblest His ideals were so lofty that b e required
.

little stimulation or urging of any kind Here it was .

’
necessary to study the pupil s nature very carefully ,

and provide work that would develop hi s keenl y artis

tic indi vid uali ty I remembe r that he w as extremely
.
I I 4 GRE AT PIANI STS ON PIANO PLA YING

virtuoso out of one who can conceive of nothing more

than how many times he can pl ay a serie s of notes
within the beats of the metronome be a ting 2 08 times ,

a minute .

Speed does not constitute virtuosity nor does the ,

ability to unravel the somewhat intricate keyboard

puzzles of B a ch an d Brahms m ake in itself fin e piano
pla ying The mind of the artis t must be cultured ;
.

in fact quite as cultured as that of the composer who

,

conceived the music C ulture comes from the o h

.

serva tion of many things : Na ture archi tecture , ,

science machinery sculpture hi story men and

, , , ,

women an d poetry I advise aspiring music students

,
.

to read a grea t de a l Of poetry .

I fin d gre a t inspirati o n in Sh akespea re inspiration ,

whi ch I kno w is communi cated to my interpret ati ons

of musica l m a sterpieces at my concerts Who can .

rema in unmoved by the mystery and psychology o f

Ham l et the keen su ffering and misery of K in g Le ar
, ,

the bitter h a te and revenge of Othe l lo the sweet de ,

v o t io n o f Rom e o an d J u liet the m ajesty of Richa rd

,

I I I and the fa iry be a uty of A M idsu m m er Night s

’
,

D ream ? I n this wonderful kaleidoscope of all the

human pas sions one can find a world of inspi ration .

I am also intensely fond of Goethe Heine an d Alfred , ,

de Musset I t gives me pleasure to compare them to

.

the gre a t masters of music S h akespeare I compare

.

to Brahms Goethe to B a ch a n d Beethoven and Heine

, ,

and Musset to C hopin and Liszt .

 D I STIN C TIVE P IANO P LAYING 11 5

C UL TIVA TING V IVACI TY AND B RILLIANCY

Vi vacity and brilliancy in playing are l a rgely mat
ters of temperament and a fluent techn i c I owe .

a gre a t deal in thi s respect to Go ttsch a lk Wh en .

he c ame back to America fresh from the hands of

.

the inimitable C hopin he took the most minute

,

p ains to cultivate t hi s characteristic in my playing .

C hopin s own pla ying w as marked by delicacy and

’

an intensity that w as ap a rt from the bravura playin g

o f most of the artists o f his time Gottschalk was a
.

keen ob server and he did everything po ssible to

,

imp a rt t hi s s tyle to me I have used the studies of

.

C ze rny Liszt H e n se l
, , t and C lementi to develop
b rillia ncy with pupils .

I t s hould be remembered th a t the root of all brilliant

pla ying l —
i es in one t hi ng accuracy Without ac
.

cura cy any attempt at brill i a ncy must result in mussi

”
ness. I t is im possible to explain these things by
me a ns of books and theo ries Remember what.

“ ”
Goethe says : Alle Theorie is grau mein Fre u n d,

(al ltheory is foggy or hard to comprehend ) On e .

can say fifty times as much in twenty m i nutes as one

can put in a book Books are necess a ry but by no
.
,

mea ns depend entirely upon books for techni cal

in struction.

I ndividuals who are ca reles s possess a trait that

will serious ly m ar their indiv i dua l ity as musicians
and ar tists C arelessness is so often taken for
.

“ ”
abandon in pla ying Abandon is somethi ng
.
 GRE A T P IANISTS ON PIAN O PLAYING

qu i te diff erent and pertains to that unconsciousness

of techn ical e ff ort which onl y comes to the artist
“ ”
after years of practice To play with abandon
.

and miss a few notes in thi s run pl ay a few false notes

,

in the next strike the wrong bas s note here and

,

there mumble trills and overlook the correct phr asing

,

en t irely with the idea that you are doing the same
,

t hing you h a ve seen some great virtuoso do is simply ,

the superlative degree of carelessness .

To one whose individua lity is marred by careless

ness let me recommend very Slow playing with the ,

most minute attention to detail Technically spe ak .

ing C zerny and B ach are of great value in correcting

,

carelessness I n C zerny the music a l structure o f

.

t h e compositions is so clearly and openly ou t lined

that an y error is easily detected while in B ach the ,

structure is so close and compact that it is diffi cult

to m ake an error without interrupting the movement
of some other voice that willreve al the error The .

main consideration however is personal carefulness

, , ,

and it makes little di fference what the study is so ,

long as the student himself takes great pains to see

that he is right and ex a ctly right before he attempts
, ,

to go ahead Most musicians however would say

.
, ,

that B ach was the one great stone upon which our
higher technical structure must firmly stand .

S ome individuals are so superficial and so frothy

that it is difi cu l t to c o nceive of their doing any
thing serious or really worth while I t is very h a rd .

for the teacher t o work with s uch a pupil because ,

1 18 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYI NG

comes so marked that he can often detect t h e com

’
poser s style in a compo sitio n which he h a s never
he ard The artist studies the indi vidu ality of the
.

composer through the study of his bio graphy through ,

the study of musical history in general and through

the analysis of individual compo sitions .

E very music student should be familiar with the

intensely necessary and extremely valuable subject
of musical history How el s e can he become familiar
.

w ith the pers onal individu alities of the great com

posers ? The more I know of C hopin Beethoven , ,

S c arlatti or Mendel ssohn as men and the more I ,

know of the times in which they lived the closer I ,

feel to the manner in whi ch they would have wished

their compositions interpreted C onsider how mark
.

e dl y di fferent are the individualities of Wagner and

Haydn and ho w difl ere n t the interpretations of the
,

works of these ma sters should be .

S trauss and D ebussy are also very di ff erent in

their methods of composition S trau ss seems to
.

me a tremendous genius who is inventing a new

musical language as he goes D ebu ssy does not
.

appeal to me in the same manner He always seems .

t o be groping for music a l ideas whi le with S trauss

,

the greatness of his ideas is always evident and all

compelling .

In closing le t me say th at Tim e E xperien ce and

, ,

Wo rk are the moulders of al lindi v iduality F ew of .

us close our days with the same individualities whi ch

become evident in our youth We are ei ther grow
.
 D I STIN C T IVE PIANO P LA YING 1 19

ing better or worse all the time We rarely stand .

still To the musician work is the grea t scu l

. p t or
of indi v i duality As you work and as you think so
.
,

will you be N o deed n o though t no hope is too

.
, ,

insign ificant to fail to infl uence your nat ure As .

through work we become better men an d women ,

so through work do we become better musicians .

C arlyle has beautifu lly expressed thi s though t in

” “
P ast and P resent thus : The l a test Gospe l in this
‘
world is Know thy work and do it
,
Blessed is he .
’

who has foun d his work ; le t him ask no o th er

blessedness He has a W ORK a life purpose ; he
.

has found it and will follow i t .

QUE STION S ON S T YLE ,

I N TE RP RE TA TION E XP RE SS ION
,

AND TE CHNIC OF P IANO P LAYING

S E RIE S VI
TE RE SA CARRE NO

1. Why should imita t ion be avoided ?

2 .S h o uld individu ality in pl a ying be developed
at a n early age ?
3 S hould individual physical peculiari ti es b e
.

taken into co n sideration ?

4 I n what way was E dward Ma cD o w e l
. ls In di vi d
u al
it y marked ?
5 How may individuality be develope d through
.

poetry ?
1 20 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

6 What studi es are particu l

. arly usefu l in the
cultivation of brilliant playing ?
7 What is the best remedy for careless playing ?
.

8 How must superficial pupils be treated ?

.

9 Why
. is the study o f musical history so im

portant ?
1 0 What may be called the sculptor of individual
.

ity in music ?
 OSS I P GABR IL OWI TS C H

B IOGRAPHICAL
Ossip G abrilowitsch was born in S t P etersburg .
,

F ebruary 8 1 8 78
,
.His father was a well known -

jurist of the Russian capital His brothers were

.

music al an d his first teacher was one of his brothers .

L ater he was taken to Anton Rubinstein who earne stly

,

advocated a career as a Virtuoso A ccordingly he

.

entered the classes of Victor To l

s t o ff at the S t P eters
.

burg C onservatory then un der the supervision of

,

Rubinstein himself His frequent personal con

.

fere n ces with the latter were of immense value to

him Thereafter he wen t to Vienna and studi ed
.

with L eschetizky for two years He has made many

.

tours of E urope and America as a piano Virtuoso

and has also appeared as an orchestral conductor
with pronounced success He was a great friend of
.

the l a te Mark Twain (S amuel L C lemens ) and .

m arried one of his daughters .

(The following conference was conducted in E nglish ) .

 E SS E N TI AL S OF TOUC H
OSS I P GAB RI LOWI TS CH
MODE RN pianoforte teachers in many instances
seem to make deliberate attempts to complicate the
very Simple matter of touch I n the fin al an alyses
.

the whole study of touch may be resolved into two

means of administering force to the keyboard i e ,
. .
,

weight and mu s cular activity The amou n t of pres

.

sure brought to bear upon the keys depends upon

the amount of arm weight and upon the quickn ess
with whi ch the muscles of the hand forearm full
, ,

arm an d back perm i t the key to be struck Upon .

these two means of administering force must de

pend wh a tever di fferentiation in dynam ic power an d
ton al qu ality the player desires to produce The .

various grad a tions of tone which the v i rtuoso s h and

’

and arm are trained to execute are so min ute th a t

it is impo ssible for me to conceive of a scientific
instrument or sc ale to measure them P hysiologi sts
.

have attempted to construct ins truments to do this ,

but little of value has come from such experim ents .

A RIGID ARM UNDE S IRAB LE

On ly a compar a tively few years ago thou sands
of teachers were insisting upon having their pupils
kee p the arms in a still even rigid co n dition during
, ,

122
1 24 GRE A T PIANI STS ON P IAN O PLAYIN G

means of producing dynamic shading or tone quality .

I kn ow that many authorities contend that the

quality of tone depends upon the in s trument rather
than upon the performer N evertheless I am
.
,

reasonably confident that if I were to hear a nu m ber

of pian i sts play in succession upo n the same in st ru
ment behin d a screen and one of these perfo rmers
were to be my friend Harold B auer I could at once
, ,

identify his playing by his peculiarly in dividual touch .

In fact the trained ear can identify different indi

,

vidual cha racteris t ics with almost the same accuracy

that we identif y different voices On e could never .

’
forget L eschetizky s touch or that of many another
,

contempo rary pianist .

“ ’
N o m a tter how wonderful the pianist s techn i c
that is how rapidly and accurately he ca n play pas
,

sages o f extraordinary difli cu l t y it is quite worth

,

less unles s he po s sesses that co ntrol over his touch

’
which enables him to interpret t h e composer s work
with the right artistic sha ding A fine technic with
.

’
out the requisite touch to liberate the performer s
‘
artistic intelligence and soul is lik e a gorgeous
’

chandelier without the lights Until the lights are

.

i gnited al lits beauty is obscured in darkness With .

an excellent techn i c and a fine touch together with ,

a broad musical and general education and ar t istic

temperament the young player may be said to b e
,

e q uippe d to enter the Virtuoso field .

 E SSE N TIAL S OF T OUCH 12
5

C O MB INING D IF FE RE N T To UCHE s
A s I have intimated if the fingers are used ex
,

clusively a terribly dry tone must result The full .

arm touch in which I experience a complete relaxa

,

tion of t h e arm from the shoulder to the finger tips ,

is the condi tion I employ at most tim es B ut the .

touches I use are combinations of the di fferent fin ger ,

hand and arm touches These lead to myri a ds of

.

results and o n l
,
y the experienced perform er can
judge where they Shoul d be applie d to produce de
sired e ff ects .

“
You will Observe by placing your hand upon my
shoulder that even with the movement of the single

finger a muscul ar activity may be detected at the

shoulder This shows how completely relaxed I keep
.

my entire arm during performance I t is onl y in .

this way that I can p roduce the right kind of singing

tone in cantabile passages S ometimes I use one.

touch in one voice and an entirely di fferent touch

in another voice The combinations are k al
. e ido

scopic in their mul t iplicity .

M E CHANI CAL M E TH OD S D AN GE ROU S

I have never been in favor of the many au to
ma tic and mechanical methods of producing touch .

They are all dangerous to my mind There is onl y .

one re al w ay of teaching and that is through the

,

sense o f he arin g of the pupil The teacher should

.

go t o the piano and produce the desired tonal e fl e ct

'

,
1 26 GRE A T P I AN I S Ts ON P I ANO PLAYING

and the pupil Should l i sten and watch the teacher .

Then the pupil sho u l d be ins tructed to secure a

sim ilar resu l t and the te a cher should persevere until
,

the audible e fl e ct is nearly the same I f the pupil .

,

working empirically does not discover the me a ns

,

leadi ng to this e fl e ct the teacher shoul

,
d c all the
pupil s attention to some of the physicalcondi tions
’

leading to the result If the teacher is unable to

.

pl ay wellenough to illustrate this and to secure ,

the right kind of touch from his pupils he has no ,

busine ss to be a teacher of advanced students All .

the theory in the world willnever lead to the proper

results .

“
Rubinstein paid l ittle or no attention to the
theory of touch and in fact he frequently stated
, , ,

that he cared little about such things but who could ,

’
hear Rubins tein s touch without being b enefited ?
I believe th a t in teaching touch the teacher should
first give his model of the touch required and then
proceed from this positive ide a l by me a ns O f the so
,

call ed S ocra tic method of inducing the pupil to pro duce

a similar result t hrough repe a ted questions I n this
way the pupil will not be obliged to re sign his indi
v idu alit y as would be the c as e if he followed stric t
,

t echnical inj u nctions and rules .

S TUD E N TS S H OU LD
HE AR V IR TUO S OS
F or the s ame reason it is a dvis able for t he pupil
to hear many fine pi an i s ts He should never m i ss
.

an opportun ity to attend the concerts of great virtuo

 GRE AT P IANI STS ON PIANO P LAYING

mo s t dependent upon local muscular activity Aside .

from this the combina tion of musc u la r and weight

touch almost invariably obtain .

D ON T NE GLE CT E AR TRAIN IN G
’

I desire to reiterate that if the ideal touch is

presented to the pupil s m ind through the medium
’
,

of the e ar he will be much more successful in attain

,

in g the artistic ends requ ired The pupil mus t .

realize cl e arl
y m haL
‘ iL go o d and a
j l
t is b ad and his ,

\au ralsen se must be continually ed ucated in this

“

f
ra spéét l H e shoul d practice slowly and carefu lly at
‘
‘

the keyboard un til he is convinced that his a rm is

at all times relaxed He cann ot make his sense o f
.

touch too sensitive He should even be able to se nse

.

the weight or upward pressure whi ch brings t he

pianoforte k e y b a ck into position after it has been
depressed The arm should feel as if it w e re flo at in g
.
’ h

and should never be tense .

“
When I am playing I do not t hi nk of the arm
motion I am of course ab so rbed in the composi
.
, ,

tion being performed A relaxed arm has become

.

second nat u re to me I t comes by itself P layers

. .

are rarely able to tell just how they produce their

resu l ts There are too many contributing factors
. .

E ven w ith the best known pe rformers the e fl e ct s

-

di ffer at di fferent performances I t is impossible .

for the performer to give a program repeatedly in

identically the same manner I f he did succeed in .
 E SSE N TIAL S OF TOUCH 1 29

doing this his playing would soon become stereo

,

typed .

“
The teacher should from the very beginn i ng seek
, ,

t o avoid stiffness a n d bad hand positions such as ,

crooked fingers o r_bJ:Ok eI1; in knuckles I f these de .

t ails are neglected the p u p ilis liab l

h "

e t o go through
his entire musical career greatly hampered I would .

earnestly advise all teachers to di scoura ge the eff orts

of pupils to attain virtuoso heights unless they are
convinced beyond the po ssibility of a doubt that the
pupil has m arvelous talent The really great per.

‘
fo rmers seem to be endowed with a Go d given -
’

insight in the matter of both techn i c and touch They .

are unquestionably born for it They possess the .

right mental and physical capacity for success N0 .

amount of training would make a N ormandy dray

horse that could compete with a K entucky thorough
b red on the race course I t is a pitifu lsight to watch
.

students who could not possibly become virtuosos Slave

ye ar after year before an ivory and ebony tre a d mill -

when if they realized their lack of person al qu al

,
ifica
tions they cou l
,
d engage in teaching or in some other
professional or mercantile line and t a ke a delight in
their music as an avocation that they would never
find in professional playing .

ARTI STIC I N TE RP RE TA TI ON P ARAMOUN T

To some the m a tter of touch is of little S ig
,

i
n fi can ce They
. are app a rently born with an ap

precia tion Of tonal values that others might work

I 30 GRE A T P IANI STS ON P IANO P LAYI NG

years to attain in vai n Those who imagine that

.

touch is entirely a matter of finger tips are greatly

mistaken The ear is quite as important as the
.

organs employed in a dm i nistering the touch to the

keyboard The piani s t should in re al
. ity not think
of the muscles an d nerves in his arm nor of the ,

ivory and ebony keys nor of the hamm ers and s trings
,

in the interior of the in s trument He should thi n k .

first and always of the kind of tone he is eliciting

from the instrument and determine whether it is
,

the mos t appropriate tonal quality for the proper

in terpreta tion of the piece he is playing He must .
,

o f course spend years of hard thought and study

,

in cultivating this abi lity to judge and produce the

right touch but the perform er who is more concerned
,

abo ut the techn ical claims of a composition than its

musical interpretation can onl y hope to give an u n
interesting uninspired stilted performance that
, ,

should rightly drive all intelligent hearers from his

a udience hall .

QUE STI ON S IN S TYLE I N TE RP RE TA TION E XP RE SS IO N

, ,

AND TE CHNI C OF P IANOFO RTE P LA YING

S E RIE S VII
OSS I P GAB RI LOWI TS CH

I What are the two me ans of administering touch ?

.

'

2.S tate the eff ect of a rigid arI rI upon piano

 LE OP OLD GOD OWSKY

B I OGRAPHI CAL
L eopold Go dowsky was born at Wil na Russia ,

(Russian P oland ) F ebruary 1 3 1 8 70 His father

, ,
.

was a physician When Godowsky was nine years

.

old he made his first public appearance as a pian i st

—
and met with ins tantaneo us success success so
great that a tour of Germany and P oland was
a rranged for the chil d When thirteen he entered
.

the Royal High S chool for Music in Berlin as the

pro tégé of a rich banker of K On igsb erg There he .

studied under B arge iland Rudorff I n 1 884 he toured

.

America together with Ovide Musin the violin ,

V i rtuoso
. Two years la ter he became the pupil of
S aint S ae n s in P aris
-
In 1 887 and 1 888 he toured
.

France and visited Lo ndon where he received a com

,

mand to appear at the B ritish C ourt In 1 890 he .

returned to America and made this country his home

for ten years appearing frequently in concert and
—
,

engaging in several tours In 1 894 1 89 5 he became

.

head of the piano department of the S out h Broad

S treet C onservatory Philadelphia
, He then became .

director of the P ia no D epartment of the C hicago

C onservatory and held this position for five years .

In 1 900 Godowsky appe ared in Berlin and was im

mediately recognized as o n e o f the great piano masters
of his time In 1 909 he became di rector of the Master
.

S chool of P i a no P laying connected with the Imperial

C onservatory of Vienna (a post prev i ously held by
E m il S auer and F B Buson i)
. . His success as a
.

teacher has been exceptional His compositions .

,

particularly his fifty studies upon C hopin E tudes ,

have won the admiration of the entire musical world .

1 34 GRE A T PIANI STS ON P I ANO PLAYIN G

TH E
B RAIN SI DE OF P IANO S TUD Y
I n the second channel we would find the s tudy o f
the technic of the art of playing the instrument .

Technic di ff ers from the mechanics of piano playing in

that it has properly to do with the intellectual phase of
the subject rather than the physical I t is the brain .

side of the study not the digital or the manual To the .

average student who is short S ighted enough to spend

-

hours hammering away at the keyboard d evelopin g

the mechan i cal Side of his work a real cons cious ,

knowledge of the great sav ing he coul d e fl e ct through

'

technic woul
,
d be a godsend Technic properly has .

to do with Rhythm Tempo A ccent Phrasing

, , , ,

Dynam i cs Agogics Touch etc

, , ,
.

“
The excellence of one s technic depends upon the
’

accuracy of one s understandi ng of these subjects an d

’

his skill in applying them to his interpret ations at the

keyboard Mechan i cal skill minus real techn i ca l
.
,

grasp places the player upon a lower foo ting than the
,

piano playing machines whi ch really do play al

-
lthe
notes with all the speed and all the power the o per a tor
,

demands S ome Of these ins truments indeed are so

.
, ,

constructed that ma ny of the important considerations

that we have placed in the realm of techn ic are repro
du ce d in a surprising manner .

THE E MO TI ON S
IN P IANO P LA YING
However n o t until man invent s a living s oul can
, ,

piano playing by machin e in clude the third and vas tly

 THE RE AL S IGNI FICANCE OF TE CHNIC 1
35

important channe l t hrough which we communicate

the works of the masters to those who would hear
them That channel is the emotional or artis tic
.

phase of piano playing It is t he channel whi ch the

.

student mus t expect to develop largely t hrough his

own inbo rn artis tic sens e and his c u l tivated powers
of o b servation of the playing of master pianists .

It is the sacred fire communicated from one art genera

tion to the next and modified by the in divi dual emo
tions of the performer him s elf .

“
E ven though the performer may possess the mos t
highly perfected mechan ism technical mastery whi ch
,

enab les him t o play great masterpieces e fl e ct iv e l

y i f ,

he does not po ssess the emotional insight his perform ,

auces will lack a peculiar subtlety and artistic power

t ha t wil l deprive him of becoming a t ruly great pianis t .

INS PIRIN G THE S TUDE NT

E xercises for the mech anica l side o f piano fort e
pl aying abound C zerny alone wro t e over one
.

thousand opus numbers There have also b een valu

.

able attempts t o provide boo ks to assist the student

in his technical work but it S hould alwa ys be remem
,

bered tha t this depends first of all upo n understanding

and then upo n the ability t o t ranslate that understand
ing to the instrument .

There can never be any exercises in the emotional

’
side of the student s work other than the entire litera
ture of the instrument On e m ay as well t ry to cap
.

ture the perfume of the fl ower as defi ne the require

1 36 GRE A T P IANI STS ON P IANO P LAYING

ments of the emotional in pianoforte playing A great .

deal may be do n e w p ire the student an d suggest

ideas whi ch may b ring him to the proper ar tistic
appreciation of a passage but it is this very in de fin
,

ability which makes the emo tional phase one of the

most import a nt of all A ttendance at the recitals
.

of artistic pianists is of great help in this connection .

“
The student however may learn a vast amoun t
, ,

ab out rea l piano techn ic and apply his knowledge to

his playing through the medium of the proper studies .

F or instance in the subject of touch alone there is a

, ,

vast store of valuable in f ormation which can be gained

from a review of the progressive steps through whi ch
this signi fi cant phase of the subject has passed during
the last century The art of piano playing considered
.
,

apart from that of the similar instruments which pre

ceded the piano is very little over one hundred years
,

old.

CHAN GE S I N TH E M E CHANI S M OF THE IN STRUME NT

“
D uring this time many S ign ificant changes have
been m ade in the mechan i sm of the instrument and in
the methods of manufacture These changes in the
.

nature of the instrument have in themselves doubtless

had much to do with changes in methods of touch as
have the natural evolutions coming through countles s
experiments made by teachers and performers Thus .

we may speak of the subject of touch as being divided

into thr ee epochs the first being that of C zerny
,

(characterized by a stroke touch ) th e second being

,
1 38 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

pl aying is not onl y inartistic but devoid of all interest

,
.

Weight playing permits nothing to interfere with dis

criminative phrasing complicated rhythm ical prob
,

lems the infin i tely subtle variation of time for ex

,

pres sive purpo se s n o w cl assed under the head o f

agogics al ,
l sh a des of dy namic gradation ; in f a ct
everything tha t falls in the domain of the arti st
pianist .

MOU LDING THE F IN GE RS To THE K E YS

I n weight pl a ying the fin gers seem to mo u l d the
pi a no keys under them the h a nd and arm are relaxed
, ,

b ut never he avy The m aximum of rel axa t ion results

.

in the n u m m u m of f a tigue I n legato playing for

.
,

instance the fingers rest upon the fleshy part behind

,

the tip ra t her than immedi a tely upon the tip as they
would in p a ss age work when the player desired to have
t h e e ff ect of a string of pe a rls The sensa ti o n in
.

lega to playing is that o f pulling back rather th a n

striking the keys In p as sage s where fo rce is required
.

the s ensa tion is that of pushing .

“
Much might be S aid of the s ensibility of the finger
tips as they come in contact with the ivory and ebony
keys Mo s t every arti st h as a strong consciousne ss
.

th a t there is a ve ry mani fest rel a t ion between hi s emo

t io n al and ment al conditions and hi s tactile sense th a t
,

is his highly developed sense of feeling at the finger

tip s o n the keybo ard However the phenomena
.
,

m ay be expl ained f ro m the psych o l o gical standpoint ,

it is never t heless true that the feel ing of longing ,

 THE RE AL S IGNIFICAN CE OF TE CHNIC 1 39

yearn ing hope or so u lful anticipation for instance

, , ,

induces a totally different kind of touch from that of

anger resentment or hate
, .

The artis t who is incapable of communicating his

emotions to the keyboard or who must depend upon
artifice to stimulate emoti o ns ra rely e l e ct rifies his
’
audiences E very concert is a test of the artist s
.

sincerity not merely an exhibition of hi s prowess or

, ,

his acro batic accomplishments on the keyboard He .

must h ave some vit a l messa ge to convey to his audi

ence or el se his entire performance wil l prove mean ing
less soulless worthless
, ,
.

“
That whi ch is of great impo rtance to him is to
have the least possible b a rrier between his artistic
conception of the work he wou ld interpret and the
soun ds that are conveyed to the ears of his au di ence .

I f we obliterate the emotional side and depend upon

artifice or what might be called in vulgar parlance
“
tri cks of the trade pian i sm will inevitably descend
,

to a vastly lower level B y c u l

. tivating a sensibility
in touch and employing the technical means whi ch
’
will bring the interpreter s message to the world with
t h e least po s sible Obstruc t ion we reach the hi ghest
,

in the art Those who would strain at gnats might

.

contend that with the machi nery of the ins trument

itself intervening between the t ouch a t the keyboard
,

and the sounding wires would make the influence of

,

the emotions though the tactile sense (sense of touch)

is wholl y negligible To this I can only reply that
.

the experience of the artist and the teacher is always

1 40 GRE A T PI ANI S TS ON PI ANO PLAYI NG

more reliable more susceptible to finer apprecia tions

,

of artistic values than that of the pure theorist who ,

Views his problems through material rather than

spiritual eyes E very observing pianist is familiar
.

with the remarkable influence upon the nerves of the

voice making apparatus that any emotion makes
-
.

I S it not reasonable to suppose that the finger tips

possess a similar sensibility and that the interpreta
tions of any highly trained artist are duly affected
through them ?

IND IVID UALI TY CHARAC TE R AND TE MP E RA ME NT

,

“
Indeed I ndividuality C haracter and Tempera
, ,

ment are becoming more and more sign ificant in the

highly organized art of pianoforte playing Remove .

these and the playing of the artist again becomes little

better than that of a piano playing machine N o
-
.

machi ne can ever achieve the distinguishing charm

that this trin ity brings to pianoforte playing .

‘ ’
Whether the performer is a gen i us who has carefully
developed the performance of a masterpiece until it
evidences that distinguishing mark of the au t ho rit a
‘
tive interpretation or whether he is a talent who
,
’

improv is es as the mood of the moment inspires him

and never plays the same composition twice in any
thi ng like a similar manner he need not fear the rivalry
,

of any machin e so long as he preserves his individual

ity charac ter and temperament
,
.
1 42 GRE A T PIAN I STS ON P I ANO PLAYIN G

With what h as technic to do ?

2.

3 What channel in the study of pianoforte must

.

the pupil develop most thoroughly ?

4 N ame thr ee epochs into which the subjec t of
.

t ouch may be di v ided .

5 How does weight playing di ffer from the high

.

angular playing of the C zerny epoch ?

6 How Should the fin gers rest in legato playing ?
.

7 What may be sai d of the sensitivene ss of the

.

fin ger tips ?
8 By wha t device may pianism descend to a
.

lower level ?
9 What qualities mus t the student preserve above
.

al lthings ?
1 0 Will genius or talen t t ake the place of s tudy and
.

work ?
 ANALYZIN G M ASTE RP I E C E S
KA T HA RINE GOOD SON

THE NA TURAL TE NDE NCY To ANALYZE

Judging from the mischi evous investigations of
things in general which seem so natural for the sm al
,
l
boy to make it would appear that our tendency to
,

analyze thi ngs is innate We also have innumerable

.

opportun i ties to observe how children to say nothing

,

of primitive people struggle to construct—to put this

,

and that t oge ther for the purpose of making something

new—in o ther words to employ the opposite process to
,

analysis known as sy nthesis Moreover it does not

,
.
,

demand much philosophy to perceive that al lscientific

and artis tic progress is based upon these very proc
esses of analysis and synthesis We pull things apart
.

to fin d out how they are made and what they are made
of We put them together again to indi cate the
.

mastery of o u r kn owledge .

“
The measure of musicianship is the ability to do .

Al lthe analyzing in the world will not benefit the

pupil unless he can give some visible indications of his
proficiency I ndeed important as the process is
.
, ,

it is possible to carry it to extremes and neglect the

buil ding process which leads to real accomplishment .

144
 ANALYs MA STE RP I E CE S 1 45

THE F IRST S TE P IN A NALYZING A NE W P IE CE

“
A great many of the pupils who have come to me
indicate a lamentable neglect in an understandi ng of
the very fir st thi ngs which should have been analyzed
b y the preparatory teachers . I t is an expensive
process t o study wi th a public artist un l ess the pre
p a r a t io n has been thoroughly made . Reputation
naturally places a higher monetary value upon the
services of the virtuoso and for the student to expect
,

instruc tion in elementary po ints in analysis is o b v i

o u sl
’

y an extravagance . The Virtuoso s time during

the lesson period should be spen t in the fin er study of
—
interpretation not in those subjects which the ele
mentary teacher should have completed Often the .

teacher of an advanced pupil is deceived at the start

and ass u m es tha t the pupil has a kn owledge whi ch ,

future investigations reveal that he does not po ssess .

“
F or instance the pupil should be ab le to deter
,

min e t he general structure o f a piece he is undert aking

and Should be so famil iar with the structure that it
b ecomes a form of second nat ure to him I f the
.

piece is a sonata he S hould be able to identify the

main theme and the secondary theme whenever they
appear or whenever any part of them appears I n .

ability t o do this indi cates the most superficial kind of

study .

“
The s tude nt S houl d know e nough of the subjec t of
form in general to recognize the pe riods in t o whi ch
the piece is divided Wi thout this knowle dge ho w
.

10
146 GRE A T P IANI STS ON P IANO P LAYING

cou l d he possibly expect to study with understanding ?

E ven though he has passed the st a ge when it is n e ce s
s a ry for him to m ark o ff the periods he shoul d not ,

study a new piece without observing the ou t lines the—

architecturalplans the compo ser laid down in con

s t ru ct in g the piece I t is one thing for a Sir C hris
.

t o p h er Wren to make the pl a ns of a great cathedral

like S t P aul s and quite another thing for him to get
.
’

master b u i lders to carry out t hose plans By study .

ing the compo ser s archi tectural plan carefully the

’

student wil l find that he is saving an immense amount

of time F or example let us consider the C hopin F
.
,

Min o r F an tasie In this composition the main theme

.

comes three times each t ime in a diff erent key

,
.

Once learned in one key it should be very familiar

,

in the next key .

The student Should also know something of the

history of the dance and he Should be familiar with
,

the characteristics of the different national dances .

E ach national dance form has something more than a

—
rhythm it has an atmosphere The word atmos .

p he re may be a little loose in its application here but ,

there seems to be no other word to describe what I

mean The flavor of the S pan i sh bolero is very diff er
.

ent from the Hungarian czardas and who coul ,

d
confound the intoxicating swirl of the I t a lian ta ran
tella with the stately ai r of clu ny lace and Sil
ver rapiers
which seems to surroun d the m i nuet ? The minuet ,

b y the way is frequentl

,
y played too fast The .

’
minuet from B eethoven s E ighth S ymphony is a .
1 48 GRE AT P IANI STS ON PIAN O PLAYING

ge tting the real beauty of the piece purely as a b eau ti

fu lpiece of music .

“
S ome pieces with special titles are notoriously
m i snamed and carry no possible means of defin i tely

intimating what the composer intended E ven some .

forms are misleadin g in their names The S cherz o s of .

C hopin are often very remote from the playful

—
significance of the word a significance which is
beautifully preserved in the S che rzo s of Mendelssohn .

S T UD YING THE RHYTHM

A third point in analyzing a new piece m ight b e
analyzin g the rhythm I t is one thing to un derstand
.

or to comprehend a rhythm and another to preserve

it in actual playing Rhythm depend s upo n the
.

arrangement of notes and accents in one or two

measures which give a characteristic swing to th e
en tire compo sition Rhythm is an alta r upon which
.

many idols are smashed S ome t imes one is inclined

.

t o regard rhythm as a kind of sacred gift Whatever .

it may be it is certainly most diflicu l

,
t to acqu ire or
better to absorb A good rhythm indi cates a fin ely
balanced musician—one who knows how and one who
.

has perfect self control All the book study in the

-
.

world will not develop it I t is a knack whi ch seems

.

‘ ’
to come in tuitively or all at once when it doe s come .

My meaning is clear to anyone who has struggle d wi th

the problem of pla ying two notes against three for ,

a t tim es it seems impo ssible but in the twinkling

,

o f an eye t h e conflictin g rhythms apparen t ly j u mp

 AN ALYZING MA STE RP IE CE S 1 49

into place and thereafter the pupil has little diffi culty
,

with them .

“
Rhythmic swin g is diff erent from rhy thm but is ,

allied to it as it is allied to tempo To get the swing

.

the impell —
ing force the student must have played
many pieces whi ch have a tendency to develop thi s
swing The b ig waltzes of Moszkowski are fine for
.

thi s I f one of Lesche tizky s pupils had difli cu l

.
’
ty
wi t h rhythm he almost invariably adv i sed them to go
to hear the concerts of that king of rhythm and dance ,

E duard S trauss D ances are invaluab le in develop

.

ing this se n se of rhy thm — s wift moving dances like -

the bolero an d the tarantella are especially helpfu l .

C ertain pieces demand a par ticularly s trict o b se r

vance of the rhythm as does the Opus 4 2 of C hopin
, ,

in which the left hand must adhere very s trictly to

THE
ANALY S I S OF PHRA S E S
The ability to see the phrases by whi ch a composi
tion is built clearly and readily simplifies the study
, ,

of interpreta tion of a new piece wonderf u l ly Thi s .

,

of course is difficu l
, t a t first but wi th the proper
,

training the pupil should b e able to see the phrases at a

glance jus t as a botani st in exam i ning a new flower
,

would divide it in his mind s eye int o its difl e re n t

’

parts He would never mistake the calyx for a petal

.
,

and he wou l d be able to determine at once the peen

liarit ies of each part I n ad di tion to the melodic
.

phras es the pupil should b e able t o see the metric al

I 5 0 GRE A T PIANI ST S ON PIANO P LAYING

divisions which underlie the form of the piece He .

shoul d be able to tellwhether the composition is one

of eight measure sections or four measure sec tions or
- -

whether the sections are irregu l ar .

“
What a splendid thing it wo u l d be if lit tle children
at their first lessons were taught the desirability of
observing melodic phrases Teachers lay great stress
.

upon hand formation wi th the Object of getting the

,

pupil to keep the hand in a perfect condition— a con

dition that is the result of a carefully developed habit .

Why not develop the habit of noting the phr ases in the
same way ? Why not a little mind formation ? I t is
a great deal nearer the real musical aim than the mere
digital work The most perfectly formed hand in the
.

world would be worthl ess for the musician unless the

mind that operates t he hand has had a real musical
training .

S TUDYIN G
HA RMONY TH E

E very piano student ought to have a knowledge

of harmony B ut thi s knowledge should be a p ract i
.

cal one What do I mean by a practical knowledge

.

—
of harmony ? S imply t his a kn owledge of harmony
which recognizes the ear as w ell as the eye There .

are students of harmony who can work out some har

monic problem wi th the skill of an expert m at he m at i
cian and yet they never for one single moment think

of the music their notes might make This is due to .

the gre a t neglect of the study of ear tr ain ing in early

-

musical education .
152 GRE A T PI ANI STS ON P I ANO PLAYING

material for the advan ced teacher and b ecause of the

,

greatly developed powers of the pupil would b e able

to memorize quicker and ma k e much better progress .

In fact ear train in g and harmony lead to great

,
-

economy of time F or i n stance let us suppose that

.
,

the pupil has a chord like the following in a sonata :

If the same chord appeared again in the piece it

would probably b e found in the key of the dominant ,

It seems very obvious that if the pupil could per

ce iv e the harmonic relationship between these two

chords he would be spared the trouble of identifying

an entirely difl e ren t chord when he finds the repetition
of it merely in another key This is only one of
.

scores of instances where a knowledge of the harmo n i c

structure proves to b e of constant importance to the
stu de nt .
 ANALYZING MA STE RP I E CE S 153

A CARE FUL ANA LYS I S OF T OUCH E FFE C TS

Here again we fin d an in terminable subj ec t .

Although there are only a few principal divisions

into which the subject of touch might be di vided ,

the number of di fferent sub di visio ns of these best

know n methods of s trik ing the keys to produce
artistic e ffects is very co nsiderable The ar tist work
.

ing day in and day out at the keyboard will di scover

some subtle touch eff ects whi ch he wil lalways as so ci
ate with a certain passage He may have no logical
.

reason for do ing this other than that it appeals to his

artistic sense He is in all probabil
. ity following no
law but that of his own musical taste and sense of
hearing .

I t is this more than anything else which gives indi

v idu al it y to the play ing of the di fferent virtuosos
and makes their e ff ort s so di fferent from the playing
of machines Time and time again mechanical
.

e fforts have be en made to preserve all thes e infinite

subti l ities and some truly wonderful machi nes have
been invented but not until the sculptor s marble can
,
’

be made to glow with the Vitality of real fl esh can

thi s be accomplished Wonderful as the mechanical
.

invention s are there is always somethi ng lacking .

“
Here again ear training w ill benefit the pupil
, ,
-

who is studying wi t h a Virtuoso teacher I t is im .

possible to Show exactly how certain touches pro

du ce certain eff ects The ear however hears these
.
, ,

e fi ects
, an d if t he pupil has the righ t kind o f per
 GRE A T PI ANIS TS ON PI ANO P LAYING

Si s tenc e he wil lwork and work un t il he is able to

reproduce the same effec t tha t he has heard Then .

i t wil l b e fou nd that the touch he employs will be

very similar to that used by the virtuoso he has heard .

I t may take weeks to Show a certain pupil a kind

of touch The pupil with the trained e ar and the
.

wil lingness to work might be able to pick up the

same touch and produce the same e ff ect a fter a few
days A highly developed sense of he a ring is of
.

immense value to t he student who attends concerts

for the purpose of promo ting his musical knowl
edge .

THE RE S P ON S I B ILI TIE S OF TH E TE ACHE R

The more one contemplates this subject the more
one realize s the resp o nsibilities of the teacher in
the first years of music study Of all the pupils
.

who commence in the art there are but few who make
it a part of their lives ; many of those who do continue
find themselves handicapped when they reach the
more advanced sta ges of the j o urney owing to ,

in e fli cie n t early trai n i ng

. A t the period when their
time is the most valuable to them they have to ta ke
up studies which should have been mastered eight or
ten years before The elementary teachers all over
.

the world have a big responsibi l ity I f they belittle

.

their work with c hildren and pine for the kind o f

teachi ng whi ch the virtuosos attempt to do let them ,

re alize that they are in a sense the found a tion of the

s tructure and al though perhaps not as conspicuous as
,
 JOSE F H OF M ANN

BIOGRAPHICAL
Josef Hofmann was born at C racow Russia Jan
, ,

uary 2 0 1 8 7 7 His father was an exceptional

,
. ly suc
cess fu l teacher and was for a t ime P rofessor of
Harmony and C omposition at the Warsaw C onserva
’
tory The elder Hofmann s talents were by no me ans
.

limited to teachi ng however since he conducted the

, ,

Opera at Warsaw for many performances . He

undertook the training of his son with great care and
since the child showed remarkable promise the musi
cian s of Ru ssia took an extraordin ary interest in him .

He appeared in public at the age of S ix and before he

was ten years of age he was the most celebrated child
prodigy of his time He traveled thousands of miles
.
,

including tours of America playing complicated

,

classical compositions in a ma nner which s u rprised

musicians everywhere F ortunately for his health
.

and education his tours were terminated in time for

him to study for the advanced work of the more
mature artist A ccordingly he was placed with the
.

great Anton Rubinstein with whom he remai ned for

two years At seventeen he resumed his concert
.

work again appearing in D resden in 1 894 By .

t horoughly dign ified methods scholarly analysis and

, ,

his natural poetical sense Hofmann introduced new

ideas in Virtuosoship which made him immensely p o p u
lar at once .
 P ROG RE S S IN P IANO S TUD Y
JOSEF HOFMANN

THE q uestion of progress in pianoforte playing is

one that admits of the widest possible discussion .

On e is frequently asked whether the manner of play

ing the pianoforte has undergone any change since
the time of Hummel and if it has advanced of
, , ,

what natur e are the advances and to what parti cular

,

condi tion are the advances due Johann N epomuk

.

Hum m el it will be remembered was contemporary

, ,

with Beethoven and was in fact a kind of bridge

, , ,

between the old and the new He made his début

.

at a concert given b y Mozart at D resden F or a .

l
t ime he was a kind of assistant k apelm e is te r to Haydn ,

and indeed many at that time though t his works

were quite on a par with those of the great master ,

Beethoven Hummel was a really great virtuoso

.
,

and was noted for his remarkable improvisations .

His style of playing was taken as a model in his time ,

and consequently we may safely start with this epoch

by way of example .

WHA T D E TE RMINE S C HANGE S IN P LA YING

It is sometimes s aid that the changes in the co n
struction of the piano have caused a difi e ren t trea t
ment of it but this re aso m n g Is superfi cial in asmuch
, ,

15 7
1 58 GRE A T P IANI STS ON P IANO P LAYIN G

as the s tructural changes of the instrument itself are

called forth b y the ever increasing demands of t h e -

co m po ser made upon the instrument S o long as the .

tone quality action and nature of the ins tru ment

,

‘
su flice d for compositions of the type of those of

D omenico S carlatti or Fran go is C ouperin or Rameau

, , ,

there was little need for change but as the more

“

modern composers longed for new and more compre

h en siv e effects the piano makers kept up with their
,
-

desires and aims Thus it is that after all is said and

.

done the composer and the composer onl

, ,
y is re ,

sponsible for the changes The literat u r e of the .

piano d e t ermines them It is the same in the ad .

vancement of piano technic and interpreta t ion The .

composers conceive new and Often radically difl e re n t

musical ideas These in turn demand a new manner
.

of interpretation This kin d of evolu tion has been

.

going on con t inually since the i nvention of the in st ru

ment and is going on t o— day onl y it is more difli cu l t ,

for us to see it in the present than it is t o revi ew it

in the past .

The general mental tenden cies of the times the ,

ar t is tic and cultural influences of the world taken as

a whole have also had a conspicuous though some
,

what less pronounced Share in these matters since

they inevitably exert an in fl uence upon the inter
preter S peak ing from a stric tly pianistic point of
.

’
view i t is the player s individuality i nfluenced by
, ,

the factors just s ta ted whi ch is the determining ele

,

ment in producing n ew pianis tic t endenci es It is .

1 60 GRE A T P IANI STS ON P IANO P LAYI NG
—
upon known aesthetic principles the new techn i c
will prove valuable and we should be very grateful
,

for it However as soon as it becomes an objective

.
,

po int in itself and succeeds in eclipsing the higher pur

poses Oi music al interpretation just so soon should
,

it be abolished I f the black charcoal Sketch whi ch

.

the artis t puts upon canvas to use as an outline shows

through the colors of the fin i shed painting no master
,

piece wil l result Re a lly artistic piano playing is an

.

impossibility until the outlines of techn ic have been

era sed to make w ay for true interpretation from the
highest sense of the word There is much more in
.

this th an most young artists think and the remedy

,

may be applied at once by students and teachers in

their d aily work .

TE CHNIC S INCE L I SZT

Again y o u ask whether technic has made an y sig
n ifi can t advance since the time of F ranz L iszt Here.

again you confront me wi t h a subject difli cu l t to

discuss wi t hin the confines of a conference There
.

is so much to be said upon it A mere change in

.

itself does not imply either progr ess or re t rogression .

I t is for this reason we cann ot speak of progress since

the time of Liszt To play as Liszt did that is
.
— ,

exactl y as he did as a mirror reflects an objec t

,

wou l d not be possible to anyone unl ess he were en

dowed wi t h an in di viduality and personal i ty exac tly
like that of Liszt S ince no two people are exac tly
.

alike it is fu t ile to compare the playing of any modern

,
 P ROGRE SS IN PIANO STUD Y 161

pianist with that of F ranz Liszt To discuss accur .

ately the playing of L iszt from the purely techn i cal

standpoint is also impossible because so much of
his techn i c was self made and also a mere manual
-

expression of his un i que personality and that which

his own mind had created He may perhaps never
.

be equalled in certain respects but on the other hand

,

there are unquestionably pian i sts to day who would -

have astonished the great master with their technics

— I speak techn ically purely techn i cally
,
.

D E FINI TE M E TH O D S ARE L I TT LE M ORE

THA N S TE NCI Ls
I have always b ee n o p p o se d to defin i te methods
’

— so called—when they are given in an arbi t rary

-

fashio n and without the care of the intell

'

igent teacher
to adapt special need to special pupils Methods of .

this kind can onl y b e regarded as a kind of musical

stencil or like the dies that are u sed in fac tories to
,

produce large numbers of precisely simil ar objects .

S ince art and its merits are so strangely dependent

upon individuality (and this includes anatomical
in di viduality as well as psychological indi vidual ity) ,

an inflexible me thod must necessarily have a deadening

eff ect upon its vic tims .

The question of whether speci altechn ical studi es

of an arbitrary nature such as scale studies should be
, ,

extensively used is one which has b een widely debated ,

and I fear will be debated for years to come L et us .

understand first there is a wide diff erence between

,
11
162 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

studying and practicing They resemble each other .

only in so far as they both require energy and time .

Many sincere and ambitious students make the great

m i stake of confoun ding these two very essential
factors of pian i stic success S tudy and pra ctice .

really are quite widely removed from each other and ,

at the same time they are Virtually inseparable The .

real difference lies in the amount ahd quality of the

two elements Pg actige means a large nu mber of
.

P ’

t ifi o n s v vi t h a f air amount o f a t t e n t io n to mere

gepg - . _
g
g

correctn ess of notes fing erin g etc Under ordi nary

, , _
.

Circumstances and condi tions it usually means a great

sacrifice of time and a compara tively small investment

of mentality .

s tud y, on the contrary implies first of all

,
mental
act I V I t y o f hg fl gl d t o n cen t rate d lm g
i g s£_an m gs c
W
fl

o w s absolute accuracy in notes time fi n ger , ,

ings etc and implies the closest possible attention to

,
.
,

thos e t hings which are generally though erroneously , ,

regarded as lying outside of techn i c such as tonal ,

beauty dynamic shading rhythmi cal matters and the

, , ,

like S ome have the happy gift of combining prac tice

.

with s tudy but thi s is rare

, .

Hence in the question of scale exercises etc if the

, , .
,
“ ”
word study is meant in the true sense I can only ,

say that the study of scales is more than necessary

it is indi spensable The pedagogical exper ts of the
.

worl d are practi cally un animous up o n this subj e ct .

“ ”
The inj u nc tion study appli e s no t only to scales
, ,
,

but to all forms of techn ica l discipline which only too ,

1 64 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLA YIN G

I n the study of embellishm ents it is vitally im

portant for the student to remember one or two very
important points in connection with his investigation .

On e point is the understanding of t h e nature of the

instrument for which the composer wrote when he
had the embellishment in mind The instruments of
.

the early eighteent h century were characterized by a

tone so thi n and of such Short duration that the com
posers and players (and it should be remembered that
in those days practic a lly all of the great composers
played and mo s t of the great performers were com
,

posers) had to resort to all kind of subterfuges and

tricks to produce the deception of a prolonged tone .

F or instance they had a method of moving t he fin ger

,

to an d fro (S ideways) upon a key after it was struck .

Thus they produced a sort of Vibrato not un l

,
ike that
of whi ch we have received an overdose in recent years
from violinists and cellists This vibrato (German
’
.
,
“ ”
B eb u n g) was marked like our modern shake thus, ,

but if we interpre t it as a shake we commi t a grave

“ ”
error We ought never to regard it as a shake
.
,

u nless it is obviously an integer of the melody .

The o ther poin t t o be co nsidered in the study of

 PROGRE SS IN PIANO STUDY 1 65

emb ellishments is taste or rather let me say fash

, , ,
”
ion for the fashion of those times which over in
,
-

du l g e d in ornamentation an d over loaded every t hi ng -

wi t h it from archi tecture to dress was by no means an

, ,

insign ificant factor in music The point is important

.

“ ”
because it involves the element of concessions
whi ch the compo sers voluntarily or from habit
, ,

made to the public of their day I seriously question

.

the necessity of ret ai ning these often superabundant

embellis hments in their entirety for I contend tha t ,

we study an tique works on account of their musical

substance and not for the sake of gewgaws and frills
whi ch were either induced by the imperfections of the
instrument or by the v i tiated taste of times t o whi ch
the composer had to yield willy n il l y
-
.

I t is of course a very diflicu l

, ,
t and respons ible tas k
to determine what to retain and what to di scard .

This to a large extent must depend upon what par t

, ,

the ornament plays in the melody of the compo sition ,

whether it is really an in t egraLp art o r an artificial w

w e By all means never discard any e m b e l

; l
ishm e n t which may serve to emphasize the melodic
Lun e or any one which may add to its declam atory
,

character A well educa ted t as te assisted b y e XpG

.
-
Ii

ence will be a fairly rel iable gu i de in this matter .

However it is hardly advisable for amateurs with

,

limited train ing to attempt any home e di ting of thi s

Those embellishments which we do regain should in

all cases be executed as the composer of the piece
1 66 GRE A T P IANI STS ON P IAN O PLAYING

would desire to hear them executed if he cou l d be

come ac quainted with the in struments of to day -
.

This of cour s e places the study of ornamenta tion

, ,

with the many auxil iary musical branches whi ch

demand special and separate attentio n Johann .

S ebastian B ach s son Phi llip E manuel B ach realized

’
, ,

this and gave years to the proper exposition of

,

embellishments However the student shoul

. d realize
,

that the study of embell i shments is o n l

y a p a rt of the
great whole an d he should not be misled into acceptin g
every little sh ake or other little frippery and then ,

magnifying it into a matter Of more vita l importance

than the piece itself .

WE LL ME ANIN G AD VI S E RS
-

The student shou l d form the habit of determinin g

things for him sel f He will soon find that he will be
.

surrounded with m any well — me aning advi sers who if ,

they have their own way may serve to con f use him
,
.

So me v i rtuo sos regard their well me a ning ad m i rers

-

and entertainers as the worst penalties of the virtuo s o

life Whether they are o r are not must of course
.
, ,

depend upon the artist s chara cter I f he accepts

’
.

their compliments and courtesie s as an expression of

the measure of pleasure the y deriv ed fro m his pl a ying ,

he has tacitly allowed for that Share in their pleasure

whi ch is due to their power of appreciation and he can ,

therefore o n ly rejoice in having provided something

worthy of it The manner of their expression the
.
,

Observations they make the very wording of their

,
1 68 GRE AT PIANI STS ON P IANO P LAYING

3 .W hy should students avoid becom ing piano

playing machines
4 Wha t must be the sole aim in employing a
.

techn i cal exercise ?

5 Will t he techn ic of L iszt ever be excell
. ed ?
6 W
. h y are stencil l ike methods bad ?
-

7 I s scale study indispensable ?

.

8 Must the student know the characteristics of

.

the instrument for whi ch the composer w rote ?

9 What part did fashion play in the introduction
.

of embellishments ?
1 0 Why should the studen t de t ermin e problems
.

for himse lf ?
J OS E F LH EV I NNE
 P IAN O S TUD Y IN RUSS IA
J OS E F LHEV I NN E

RU SS IA S MANY KE YB OARD MA STE RS

’

RU SS I A is old Russia is vast Russia is m ighty

, ,
.

E ight and one h alf million square miles of empire

-

not made up of colonies here and there all over the

world but one eno rmous territory comprising nearly
,

one hundred and fifty million people of almost as ,

m any races as one fin ds in the United S tates that is ,

Ru ssia Al . though the m ain occupation of the people

is the most peacefu lof all labor agricu l —
ture Russia
-

has had to deal wi t h over a dozen wars and in su r

rections during a little more than a century I n the .

s ame time the United S tates has had b u t five War is .

not a thing to boas t about but the condition reflects

,

the unrest th a t h as existed in the vas t country Of the

C zar and it is not at al
,
lunlikely th a t thi s very unrest
is resp onsible for the ment al activity which has
characterized the work of so many artis ts of Russi a n
bir t h
.

Although Russia is one of the m ost venerable of the

E urope a n nations and although she has ab s o rbed other
,

territory possessed by ra ces even more venerable than

herself her a dvance in art letters and mu sic is com
, ,

p a ratively recent When S c a rlatti Ha ndel an d B a ch

.
, ,

were at their height Russia out side of court circles

, , ,
17 0
 PIANO STUD Y IN R U SS IA 1
71

was still in a state of serfdom Tolstoi was born as .

l ate as 1 8 2 8 Tu rge n ie fl in 1 8 1 8 and P ushkin the

, ,

half negro poet humorist was born in 1 7 99 C on

- -

,
.

temporary with these writers was Mikhail I vanovitch

—
G linka the first of the great modern composers of
Russia . S till later we come to Wassili V e re sch agin ,

the be st known of the Russian p a inters who was no t ,

born until 1 84 2 I t may thus be seen that artis t ic

.

development in the m o dern sense of the term has

occurred during the lifetime of the American republic .

Re a ching back int o the centuries Ru s sia is one of the ,

m ost ancient of n a tions but considered from the ar t

,

standpoint it is one of the newe st .

The folk songs th a t spr ang from the hearts of the

people in sa dnes s and in joy indi cated the unconceal
able talent of the Russi a n people They were longing .

to sing an d music became almost as much a pa rt of

,

their lives as food I t is no wonder then th a t we fin d

.

among the names of the Russia n pian ists such celeb

rit ie s a s A nton Rubinstein Nich o l a s Rubinstein
, ,

E ssip o fl S il, o t i Rachm an in o fl

,
G abrilowitsch S cria
, ,

bin de P achm a nn S afo n o ff S ap el

, ,
ln ik o ff and many
,

others I t seems as though the Russia n must be

.

endowed by nature with those characteristics whi ch

enable him to penetrate the ar tistic maze that sur
rounds the wonders of music He comes to music .

with a new t a lent a new gift and fin ds fir st of all a

,

great jo y in his work Much the same might be said

.

of the Rus sian violini sts and the Russian S ingers ,

many of whom have met with tremendous success .

1 72 GRE A T P I ANI STS ON P IANO P LAYING

WI TH THE MU S ICAL CHILD I N RU SS I A

The Ru ssian parent usually has such a keen love for
music that the child is watched from the very first for
so me indi cation that it may have musical talent The .

parent kn ows how much music brings into the life of

the child and he never looks upon the art as an acco m
p lishm e n t for exhi bition purposes but rather
,
a s a

source of great joy Music is fostered in the h o me

.

as a p a rt of the dail y existence I ndeed busine ss is

.
,

kept far from the Russi a n fireside and the atmo sphere
of most homes of intel ligent people is that of culture
rather than commerce If the child is really musical
.

the whole ho usehold is seized wi t h the ambition to

produce an artist I n my own case I was taught the
.
,

rudiments of music at so early an age that I have

no recollection of ever having learned how to begin .

I t came to me just a s tal king does with the avera ge

child A t five I coul
. d S ing some of the S chumann
songs and some of those of B eethoven .

THE K IND OF MU S IC THE RU SS IAN CHILD HE ARS

The Russian chil d is spared all contact with really
.

b adm usic .That IS he hears for the most part either

,

the songs of the people or little selections from clas si

cal o r romantic composers that are selected e speci ally
with the Vi ew Of cultivatin g his t alent He has prae .

tically no opportun i ty to come in contact with an y

music tha t might be des cribed as banal America is .

a very young country and with the tension th a t one

1 74 GRE AT PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYI NG

is very wrong and the pupil who insists upon such a

,

l surely real
course wi l iz e some day that instead of
a dvancing rapi dly he is really throwing many ann oy
ing obstacles di rectly in his own pa th .

IN STRUC TIO N B OOK S

Many juvenile instruction books are used in Russia
j u st as in America S ome te a chers however find
.
, ,

that with pupils starting at an advanced age it is

better to teach the ru diments without a book This .

matter of method is of far greater importance than the

a verage teacher will admit .The teacher often makes
the mistake of living up in the clouds with Beethoven ,

B ach C hopin and Brahm s never realizing that the

, , ,

pupil is very much upon the earth an d that no matter

,

how grandly the teacher m ay pl ay the pupil must have

,

pra ctical assistance w ithi n hi s grasp The m ain duty

.

in all elementary work is to make the piano study

inte resting and the teacher must choose the course
,

likely to arouse th e most in teres t in the par t icular

p u pfl .

OP P ORTUNI TIE S FOR VIRTUO S O S TUDE N TS IN RU SS IA

-

I t may surprise the American student to hear that

th ere are really more opport unities for him to secure
pub lic appearanc e s right here in his o wn country t h an
in Russia In fact it is really very hard to get a start
.
,

in Russia un l ess one is able to attract the atten tion

of the publ i c very forcibly I n America the stan dard
.

may not be so high as that demanded in the musical

 P IANO STUDY IN R U SS IA 1 75

circl es of Russia but the student has many chanc es

,

to play that would never come to him in the Ol d world .

There the o n l
,
y chance for the young virtuoso is at the
co nservatory concerts There are many music schools
.

in Russi a that must content themselves with private

recit als but the larger conservatories have public con
,

certs of much importance concerts that demand the

,

attendance of renowned artists and compe l t he serious

interest of the press However these concert s are few
.
,

and far between and onl y one student out of many

,

hun dreds has a chance to appear at them .

On e S ingular custom obtain s in Russia in reference

to concerts The pianist coming from some other
.

E uropean coun try is paid more t han the local piani st .

F or instance although I am Russian by birth I

, ,

reside in Ge rmany and receive a higher rate when I

play in Russia than does the resident a rtist In fact .
,

this rate is often double The young Virtuoso in the

.

early stages of his career receives abo ut one hundred

roubles an appearance in Rus sia while the mature ,

artist receives from 800 to 1 000 The roub le while .

,

having an exchange value of onl y fif ty cent s in Uni ted

S ta tes currency h as a purchasin g value of a bo ut one
,

doll ar in Rus sia .

WHY RU SS IAN P I ANI STS ARE FA ME D F OR TE CHNIC

The Russi an pian is t is always fame d for his t echn i
ca lab ility .E ven the m e diocre arti s ts posse ss tha t .

of
no
1 76 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYIN G

sooner think of trying to do without that basis than

they would of dispensing with the beautiful artistic
temples whi ch they build upon the substantial
foundation which techn ic gives to them The .

Russian piani sts have earned fame for their technical

grasp because they give adequate study to the matter .

E verything is done in 1 21
‘ 19 1119 “ solid subs tan tial
,

manner p ossible They build not upon sands but

.
,
W

E OK IJCR F or instance in the conservatory ex

.
,

am in at io n s the student is examined fir st upon techni c .

I f he fails to pass the technical examination he is

not even asked to perform his pieces L ack of pro .

ficie n cy in technic is taken as an indica tion of a la ck of

the right preparation and study just as the la ck of
,

the ability to speak simple phrases correctly would

be taken as a lack of prepara tion in the case of the
actor .

“
P art icu lar atten tion is given to the mechan ical side
of techn i c the exercises scales and arpeggios Ameri
, , .

can readers should understand that the full course at

the leadi ng Russian conservatories is one of about
eight or nine years D uring the first five years the
.
,

pupil is supposed to be building the base upon w hich

must rest the more advanced work of the artist The .

last three or four years at the conservatory are given

over to the study Of master works On l y pupils who
.

manifest great talent are permitted to remain during

the last year During the first fi v e y ears t he backbone
.

of the daily work in all Russian schools is scales and

arpeggios All technic revert s to these S imp le m ater
.
1 78 GRE A T P I AN I e ON PIAN O PLAYI NG

ever one Signal difference exists between the Russians

,

with u l tra modern ideas and the composer s of other

-

nati ons The Russian s advanced ideas are almo st

.
’

always the result Of a development as were those of

Wagner Verdi G rieg Haydn and Beethoven That
, , , .

is constant study and investigations have led them to

,

see things in a newer and more radi cal way I n the .

case of such composers as D ebussy S trauss Ravel , , ,

Reger and others Of the type Of musical Phi listine

it will be observed that to all intents and purposes ,

they started out as innovators S ch On b e rg is the .

mo s t recent ex ample How long wi l l it take the

.

world to comprehend hi s message if he really has one ?

C ertainl y at the present time even the admirers Of
, ,

the biz arre in music must pause before they confess

that they understa nd the queer utterings Of thi s
newest cl aimant for the palm of musical eccentricity .

Wi t h D ebussy S trauss and others it is different for

, ,

the Skilled musician at Once recogniz es an aston i shing

facility to produce e fi e ct s altogether new and Often
wonderfully fa scinating With Reger one seems to be .

impressed with tremendous effort and little re sult .

S trauss however is really a very great master ; so

, ,

gre a t that it is di ffi cult to get the proper perspective

upon his work at thi s time I t is s a fe to say that all .

the modern composers of the world have been in fl u

e n ce d in one way or another by the great Russian

mas ters of to day and yesterday Tch aikovsky

-
.
,

Rimsky— K orsakov C ui Gl az o u n o v
,
Ra chmaninov
, , ,

Moussorgsky Arensky S criab in e and others have all

, , ,
 PIANO ST UD Y IN R U SS IA 1 79

had a powerful bearing upon the musical thought of

the tim es Their virility and ch aracter have been
.

due to the newness Of the field in whi ch they worked .

The influence of the compositions of Rubinstein an d

Glinka can hardly be reg arded as Russi a n S ince they
were S O s aturated with E uropean models that they
might be ra nked with Gluck Mendelssohn L iszt
, ,

and Meyerbee r far better than with their fellow

countrymen who h ave expressed the i di om of Russia
”
with greater veracity .

Q UE STION S IN S TYLE IN TE RP RE TA TION E XP RE SS IO N

, ,

AND TE CH NIC OF P I ANOFO RTE P LAYING

S E RI E S X I

JO S E F LH EVIN N E

I I S mu sic a part Of the d a ily l

. i fe of the child in
the Russian home ?
2. I n what does the Russian teacher of c hil dr en
take great care ?
3 Why are Russian pian i sts famed for their
.

techn ic a l abil
ity ?
4 How are exam i nations conducted in Ru ssia ?
.

5 Wh a t would be thought Of the Russian pupil

.

who attempted pieces without the proper preliminary

scale work ?
6 N eed the practice Of scales be mechanical and
.
1 80 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

Why do some pupils find technical studies

7 .

tiresome ?
8 How does Russian musical progress in composi
.

tion di ff er from that o f other musica l n a tions ?

9 Has Russian music influenced the progress of
.

other musical n a tions ?

1 0 How may the composi tions of Rubinstein and
.

Glinka be regarded ?
 VLAD IM I R D E PACHMANN

BIOGRAP HICAL
Vl adimir de P achmann was born a t Odessa ,

Russia July 2 7 1 84 8 His first teacher was his

, ,
.

father who was a musical enthusiast and a fine per

,

former upo n t he violin The elder de P achm a nn was a

.

P rofessor of L aw at the University of Vienna and at

first did no t desire to have hi s son become anyt hing
more than a cultured amateur In his y outh de .

P achmann was largely self ta ught and aside from

hearing great virtuoso s at concerts and modeling hi s‘

playing to some extent after theirs he had no teachers

until 1 866 when he went to the Vienna C onservatory
to study with the then celebrated teacher Joseph ,

D achs D achs was a concert pianist of the Ol

. d school .

A cademic perfection was his go al and he could not

understand such a pupil as de P achmann who was
able to get resu l ts by what seemed u n academic-

means After one year with D achs de P achmann

.

toured Russia with gre a t success and since then has

made repeated tours of the entire musical world .

He never gave any serious atten tion to music a l

composition A s an interpreter Of the works of
.

C hopin no one in recent times has ever excelled de

P achmann but he also gave numerous recitals show
,

ing a great bre a dth Of style in the performances of

works of the other great masters particularly Brahms
and Liszt .

(The fol lowing conference was conducted in E nglish ,

German French and I tal

, ian ) .
 S E E K ING ORIGINALI TY
VLAD I M I R D E PA CHMANN

M E ANING OF ORIGINALI TY
THE
ORIGINALI TY in pianoforte pl a ying what does it ,

really me a n ? N o t hing more than the in terpretation

of one s real self instead Of the artificial self which
’

traditions mistaken advisors and our own nat u ral

sense of mi micry impose upon us S eek for origin ality
.

and it is gone l ike a gossamer Shin in g in the morning

grass Originality is in one s sel
. f I t is the true
’
.

voice of the heart I would enjoin students to listen

.

to their own inner voices I do not de sire to deprec ate

.

teachers but I think that many teac hers are in error

,

when they failto encourage their pupils to form their

own Opinions .

“
I have always sought the individual in myself .

When I have found him I pl ay at my best I t ry to .

do everything in my own individu al w ay I work for .

months to invent contrive or design new fin ge rin gs

,

not so much for Simplicity but to enable me to m an ip u

,

late the keys S O that I may expres s the mu sica l thought

as it seems to me it ought to be expres sed S ee my .

hand my ge
,
fi n r s —the flesh as soft as that of a child ,

yet covering muscles Of steel They are thus because

.

I have worked from childhood to make them thus .

“
The trouble with most pupils in studying a piece
1 84 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

made to do things whi ch nature never intended that

they should do Thi s forcing method to which some
.

conservatories seem addicted reminds one of those men

who in bygone ages made a specialty of disfiguring
the forms and faces of children to make dwarfs
, ,

jesters and freaks out of them Bah ! .

ORIGINALI TY THE ROAD To P E RMANE N T FA ME

“
Originality in interpretation is Of course no more
important than originali ty in creation S e e how the
.

compo sers who have been the most original have been
the ones who have l aid the surest foundation for
permanent fame Here again true originality has
.

been merely the highest form of self expression No n

-
.

é v ero ? When the composer has sought originality

and contrived to get it by purposely taking out Of the - -

way methods what has he produced ? N othing but a

,

horrible sh am— a structure of cards whi ch is destroyed

b y the next wind Of fashion .

“
Other composers write for all time They are
.

original because they lis ten to the littl e inner voice ,

the true source Of ori ginality I t is the same in archi

.

tecture S tyles in architecture are evolved not

.
,

created an d whenever the architect has striven for

,

bizarre e fl e ct s he builds for one decade on ly The .

architects who build for all time are di fferent and yet
how unl ike how individual how original is the work
, ,

Of one great arc hi tect from that of another .

 S E E KING O RIGINALI TY 1 85

THE MO ST ORIGINAL
C O MP OSE RS
The most original Of all composers at leas t as they ,

appear to me is Johan n S ebastian B ach P erhaps

,
.

this is because he is the most Sincere N ext I should .

class Beethoven that great mountain pe ak to whose

,

heights S O few ever soar Then woul d come in order

.

Liszt Brahm s S chumann C hopin Weber an d

, , , , ,

Mendelssohn S chumann more origin al than C hopin ?

.

Yes at least S O it seems to me That is there is

,
.
,

something more distinctive some t hi ng more indica tive

,

of a great in di viduality Speaking a new language .

C ompare these men with composers of the order of

Ab t S t eib e l
,
t Thalberg and D onizetti and you will
, , ,

see at once what I mean about originality bein g the

basis Of permanent art F or over twenty years my
.

great fondness for mineralogy and for gems led me to

neglect in a measure the development of the higher
works of these composers but I have realized my error
,

and have been working enormously for ye ars to attain

the technic which their works demand S ome years .

ago I felt that technical development must cease at a

certain age Thi s is all i di ocy I feel that I have now
. .

many times the technic I have ever had before and I

have acquired it all in recent years .

HE LP THE S E CRE T OF MA NY S UCCE SS E S

S E LF -

NO one could po ssibly believe more in self help -

than I The student who goes to a teacher and

.

ima gines that the teacher will cast some magic spell
1 86 GRE A T PIANI STS ON P IANO P LAYI N G

about him which wil lmake him a musician without

working has an unpleasant surprise in store for him
, .

When I was eighteen I went to D achs at the Vienna

C onservatory He bade me play somethi ng I played
. .

t he Rigo l
etto parap hr ase of L iszt D achs co m mented
.

favorably upon my touch but assured me that I was

very much upo n the wrong tra ck and that I Shou l d
study the Wo l te m perzrte s K l He assure d
’

av ier of B a ch .

me th a t no musical educa tion co u l d be considere d

complete without an intimate acqu aintance wi t h the
B ach fugues whi ch Of course was most excellen t
,

advice .

“
C onsequently I secured a copy of the fugu es an d
comm enced work upon them D achs had told me to
.

prepare the first prelude and fugue for the foll owing
lesson But D achs was not a cqu ainted with my meth
.

Ods of study He did not know that I ha d mastered

.

the art of concentration SO th a t I could obliterate

every suggestion of any other thought from my min d
except that up o n which I was working He h a d no .

estimate of my youthf ul zeal and intens ity He did .

not know th a t I co u l d not be s a t is fied unless I Spent

the entire day working with all my artistic m ight and

I saw the wonderful design of the great

S oon
master of E isenach The architecture Of the fugues
.

became plainer and plainer E ach subject beca me a

.

fri end and each answer likewise I t was a great joy

.

to observe wi th what marvelous craftsmanship he had

b uilt up the wonderfu lstructures I could not stop .
1 88 GRE AT P IANI STS ON P IANO P LAYING

D E E P TH OUGHT NE CE SSARY
As a rule piano students do not thi n k deeply
enough They Skim over the really difli cu l
. t things
and no amount of persuasion will make them bel i eve
some very Simple thi ngs difficul t Take the scale of
.

C Major for instance This scale is by far the most

,
.

diffi cult of all . To play it with true legato at any ,

desired degr ee of force or speed in any desired

,

rhythm and with any de sired touch is one of the mos t

,

difi cu l t ac hi evements in all music Y et the young

.

pupil will literally turn up his nose at the scale Of C

Major and at the same time claim that he is perfectly
competent to play a B ee thoven S onata .

The scale of C should be le arned step b y step until

the prac tice habits are SO formed that they will reign
supreme while playing all the other scales This is .

—
the way to sec u re results go deep into things P earls .

li e at t he bottom of the se a . Most pupils seem to ex

p e ct them floating upon the surface Of the water .

They never float and the one who would have his
,

scales shi ne with the be a uty of splendi d gems mus t

first dive deep for the gems .

“
B ut what is the use Of saying all this ? TO tell it
to young pupils seems to be a waste of words They .

willgo on making their m i stakes and ignoring the

adv ice of their teachers and mentors until the great
teacher of all— experience —forces them to dive for
the hi dden riches .
 SE E KING O RIGINAL IT Y 1 89

TAKE TI ME To D O THING S WE LL
E very pianist advances at a rate commensurate
with his personal ability S ome pian ists are slow in
.

development Others wi th wonderfulnatural gifts

.

go ahead very quickl y The student willsee some

.

pianist make wonderful progress and will sometimes

imitate him without giving the time or e ffort to study
that the other pi a nist has given The artist will .

spend months upo n a C hopin valse The studen t .

feels injured if he c a nnot pl ay it in a day .

L ook I will play the wonderfulNocturne of C hopin

,

in G Opus N o 2 The legato thirds seem Simple ?

,
. .

Ah i f I coul d onl
,
y tell you of t he y ears tha t are
b ehind those thirds The human mind is pecul
. i ar
in its methods of mastering the movements Of the
fingers and to get a gre a t m a sterpiece so that you can
,

have supreme control over it at al ltimes and under all

conditio n s demands a far greater effor t th a n the
ordinary non professional music lover ca n imagine
-
.

MA STE RING ARTI STIC D E TAI LS

E a ch note in a composition S hould be polished
until it is as perfect as a jewel— as perfect as an I ndi an
di amond— those wonderful scintillating ever chang ,
-

ing orbs of light I n a really great masterpiece each

.

note has its place just a s the st a rs the jewels of heaven

, ,

have their places in their constellations When a .

star moves it moves in an orbit that was created b y

1 90 GRE A T P IANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

Great musical masterpieces owe their existence to

mental forces quite as miracu l ous as those which put
the heavens into being The notes in compositions
.

O f this kind are not there by any rul e Of man They .

come through the ever mystifying source whi ch we

c a ll inspiration E ach note must bear a distinct
.

relation to the whole .

“
An ar tist in jewels in making a wonderful work of
art does not toss his jewels together in any haphazard
way He Often has to wai t for months to get the
.

right ruby or the right pearl or the right di amond to

, ,

fit in th e right place Those who do not know might

.

think one gem just like a nother but the artist knows ,
.

He has been looking at gems exam ining them under ,

the microscope There is a meaning in every facet

.
,

in every Shade Of color He sees blemishes which the

.

ordi nary eye would never detect .

“
F inally he secures hi s jewels and arranges them in
some ar t is tic form which resu l
,
ts in a masterpiece .

The pub l ic does not know the reason why but it will ,

i n s tantly realize that the work Of the artist is in some

mysterious w ay sup erior to the wo rk Of the bungler
,
.

Thus it is th a t the mi nd Of the composer works Spon

t an e o u sl
y in selec t in g the musical jewels for the di a

dem which is to crown him with fame During the .

process of inspira t ion he does not realize that he is

selecting his jewels with lightning rapi di ty but with a ,

highly cultivated artistic jud gment Wh en the musi .

cal jewels are collected and assembled he rega rd s the

work as a whole as the work Of another He does not .
1 92 GRE AT PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

THE
B E ST TE ACHE R
They play just as their teachers have told them to
play which is Of course good as far as it goes B ut
, .

t hey stop at that and no worthy teacher expects his

,

pupil to stop wi th his instruc tion N The b esL t each e r .

J
O O O 0 0

I S the one who Inci tes hi s pupi l to p ene tra te deeper

a nd l éarn new beauties A te a cher in the

'
'

highest se n se of the word is not a mint coining pupils ,

as it were and p ut tin g the same stamp of wor t h upon

each pupil .

“
The great teache r is an artist who works in men
and women E very pupil is different and he must be
.
,

very quick to recognize these differences He Should .

first Of all teach the pupil that there are hundreds of

things which no teacher can ever hope to teach .

He must make hi s pupil keenly alert to thi s There .

are hundreds of things about my own playing which

are virtuall y impo ssibl e to teach I woul d not know .

how to convey them to others SO that they might be

intelligently learned S uch thi ngs I have found out
.

for mysel f by long and l aborious experimentatio n .

The control Of my fif th finger in certain fin ge rin gs

presented endl ess pro blems which could only be worked
out at the keyboard S uch thi ngs give an individual
.

ity to the pianist s art some thing whi ch cann ot be

’
,

Copied .

“
H ave you ever been in a foreign art gallery and
w a tched the copyi s ts trying to reproduce the works
of the masters ? Have you ever noticed that though
 S E E KING OR IGIN ALITY 19
3

they get the form the design and eve n t h e colors and
, ,

also tha t with al lthe s e resemblances there! is some

t hin g which di stinguishes the work Of the master
from the work Of the copyist something SO wonderful
,

that even a child can see it ? Y ou wonder at this ?

P o u rqu o i? N o one can learn by copying the secret
the master has learned in creating .

THE BA S I S OE GRE A TNE SS

Here we have a figure which brings out very clearly
the re a l meaning of originality in piano playing and
at the same time indicates how every pupil with or
without a te a cher should work for himself Why was .

the great L iszt greater than any pianist of hi s time ?

S imply because he found out certain pia n i stic secrets
’
which C zerny or any of Liszt s teachers and contem
p o ra rie s h a d failed to discover .

“ —
Why has G odowsky Ach! Go do wsky der ist ,

wirk l ich ein gro sser Tal en t

— how has he attained his
wonderful rank ? B ecause he has worked out cert ain
contrapuntal and technical problems which place him
in a class all by himself I consider him the greatest
.

master Of the mysteries of c o unterpo int since the

heyd a y of classica l polyphony Why does B usoni
.

produce in imitable results at the keyboard ? S imply

because he was not satisfied to remain content with
the knowledge he h ad Obtained from others .

“
This then is my l —
ife secret work unending work
,
.

I have no other secrets I have developed myself

.

along the l ines revealed to me by my inner voice I .

13
1 94 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO P LAYING

have studied myself as well as my art I have learned .

to study manki nd through the science s and through

the great literary treasures you see ; I speak m a ny,

l anguages fluently I have stepped ap a ce with the

,

crowd I have drunk the bitter a n d the sweet from the

,

cha l ices of life but remember I have never s to pped

, , ,

an d to day I am
-
ju st as keenl
y interested in my prog
ress as I was many ye a rs ago as a you t h The new .

repertoire of the works of L iszt and Brahms and other

composers demanded a diff erent techn ic a bigger ,

technic What exqui site joy it was to work for it

. .

Yes m io a m ico wo rk is the gre a test intoxic a tion the

, , ,

greatest blessing the greatest solace we can know

,
.

Therefore work wo rk work But of all things my

, ,
.
,

go o d musical friends in America remember the old ,

G erm a n proverb
D ar m ag die b estc Ma sik s ei n
c n B e n a n d Ma n d stim m t fib erei n .

Music is best when the heart an d lips (mouth)

speak
 M AX PAUE R
BIOGRAPHICAL
P rof Max P auer was born in L ondon E ngland
.
, ,

October 3 1 1 86 6 and is the son of the eminent

, ,

music al educator E rnst P auer who settled in E n g

, ,

l and in 1 8 5 1 and aside from fil

,
l
ing many Of the fore
most positions in B ritish musical lif e also produced a ,

great number of in structive works whi ch have been ,

of immeasurable value in di sseminating musical

education in E ngland His work on M u sicalF arm s
.

is kn own to most all music students Prof Max . .

P a uer studied with hi s father at the sam e time his

parent was instructing another famous British born -

pi an i st E ugen d Al
,
b e rt A t the age Of fif teen he
’
.

went to K arlsruhe where he came un der the in st ru c

,

tion Of V L achner I n 1 88 5 he returned to London

. .

and continued to a dvance through self study I n 1 88 7 -

.

he received the appointment at the head Of the piano

department in the C ologne C ons ervatory This .

po sition b e retained for ten years until his appoint ,

ment at S tuttgart first as head teacher in the piano

,

dep artment and later as di rector of the S chool .

D uring thi s period the organization of th e famous old

conservatory has changed totally The building .

occupied was very Ol d and unfit for modern needs '

The new conservatory buil di ng is a splendid structure

located in one of the most attractive parts of the city .

The Ol d methods Ol d equipment Ol

,
d ideas have been
,

abandoned an d a wholly diff erent atmosphere is said

,

to pervade the institution while all that was best in

,

the Ol d régim e has been retained P rof P auer made

. .

his déb u t as a virtuoso pianist in L ondon S ince then .

he has toured al lE urope except the L a tin countries .

He h as published several compositions for the piano .

His present tour of America is his first in the N ew

World
1 98 GRE A T PIANI STS ON P IANO PLAYING

nic is encumbered When the pupil comes to recog

.

nize the wrist as a con ditio n rather than a thi n g he

will find that the matter o f the tight cramped wrist
,

will cease to have its terrors I n fact as far as touch

.
,

itself is concerned the motion o f the arm as a whole

,

is v a stly more importa nt than that of the wri st .

The wrist is merely p art of the appar a tus which com

m u n ica t e s the weight Of the a rm to the keyboard.

INNOVA T O RS SH OULD B E PI ANI STS

In my Opinion the technical needs of the piano
are likely to be far better un derstood by the virtuoso
pian i st than by one who has never been through the
experiences which lead to the concert pl a tform .

P le a se do not infer th a t I wo u l
d say tha t all teachers
should be virtuoso pianists I am referring partie
.

ul arl y to the maker s Of methods . I am continual ly

conf ronted in my teaching with all mann er of ab surd
ide a s in pia no technic F or i n stance one pupil will
.
,

c o me and exh ibit an exerci se which requ ires her to

press h a rd upon the keyb o a rd a fter the note is s truck.

Jus t why there Sho u l d be this additional waste O f

nerve force when it can have no po ssible eff ect upon
the depressed key I have never been able to find o u t .

There is enough nervous energy expended in piano

forte study as it is without exacting any more fro m
t h e pupil . P upils are frequently carried away with
some techn i c al trick of thi s kind lik e a child w ith a
new toy They do these things w ithout ever con
.

su l ti n g their own jud gment.

 MO DE RN PIANI STIC P RO B LE MS 1 99

The whole idea of techn i c then is to achi eve a

position throu gh conscious eff ort where one may ,

dispen se with conscious e ffort N ot until this can be .

accomplished can we hope for real self expression in -

playing Nothing is SO odious as the obtrusion Of

.

techn ic in any work of art Techn i c is the tre l .

concealed b eneath the foliage and the blossoms Of the

bower When the artist is really great all idea of
.

techn ic is forgotten He must be absorbed by the

.

Sheer beauty of his musical message his expression ,

of his musical self I n l i stening to Rubinstein or to

.

Liszt one forgot all ide a of techn i c and it must be S O ,

with al lgr eat artists in every branch Of art in every

age What we claim when we attend a recital is
.

the in div idual artis t unrestrained by mechanical

,

bon ds .

Very few of the great mas ters of pianoforte playing

have delved very deeply into the techn ical pedagogical
side Of their art as for instance have Tau sig E hrlich
, ,

or Jo se fl y all Of whom ha ve produced remarkable

,

works on techn i c L iszt s contribution to the technic

.
’

of the instrument was made through his pieces not ,

through exercis es ; his contributions to the L ebert

and S tark S tuttgart C onservato ry method consist of
two well known concert studi es P ersonally I am
-
.
,

oppo sed t o set methods that is those that pretend to

, ,

teach the pupil factory wise Of what value is the -

.

te a cher if he is not to apply his knowledge with the

discretion that comes with experience ?
D eppe s infl uence to this day is far more theoretical
’
2 00 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

than practical Thi s does not imply that Deppe di d

.

not evolve some very useful ideas in pianoforte work .

All of present technic is a common heritage from many

investigators and inn ovators P ianoforte teaching .
,

as a matter Of fact is one Of the most difli cu l

,
t of all
tasks I t is easy to teach it along convention al
.

“ ”
cut and dried method lines but the teachers of ,

real importance are those who have t he ability the ,

gift the in clination and the experience to make a

,

brand new method for every pupil .

I n order to develop the mea ns t o commun icate

’
one s message through one s art with the greatest
’

e fl e ct iv e n ess there must be a mastery Of the delicate

'

balance between natural tenden cies and discipline .

I f the student is subjected to too much discipline ,

sti ff angular results may be expected I f the student

,
.
.

is permitted to play with the flabby looseness whi ch

some confuse with natural relaxation characterle ss ,

playing must invariably resul t The great desidera.

turn is the fine equil ibrium between nature and di s

cip l in e .This may seem an unnecessary Ob servation
to some but many students never seem to be able to
,

strike the happy medium between marching over the

keys lik e a regiment of wooden soldiers or crawling ,

over them like a lot of spineless caterpillars .

Av o n ) MACH INE LI KE P LAYIN G -

“
There is a certain somethi n g which defin es th e
individuality Of the player and it seems well nigh
,

impo ssible to say just what this something is Let us .

 02 GRE A T P I ANI STS ON PIAN O P LAYING

ears and yet the unrelenting machine Showed that

,

in some places I had failed to play both hands exactly

together and had been guilty Of other errors no less
,

heinous because they were trifling I also learned

,
.

in listening to my own playin g as reproduced that , ,

I ha d unconsciously brought out cert ain nuances ,

emphasized different voice s and employed S peci a l

accent s without the consciousness Of having done S O .

Altogether it m ade a most interesting study for me ,

and it became very clear that the personality of the

artist mu st permea te everything that he does When .

his techn i c is su fli cie n t l

y g reat it pe rmits him to spe a k
with fluency and self expression enhancing the value
-

of his work a thousandfold .

B R OAD UND E RSTAND ING NE CE SSA RY

I t would b e a great mistake for the student to
imagine that by merely acquiring fin ger dexterity an d
a familiarity with a cert ain number of pieces he may
consider him self proficient There is va stly more to
.

piano playing than that He must add to his digit al

-
.

ability and his repertoire and comprehensive grasp Of

the principle s Of music itself The pupil should strive
.

to accomplish as much as pos sible through mental

work The old idea of attempting to play every
.

Single study written by C zerny or C ramer or the other

,

prolific writers Of studies is a huge mistake A judi .

cio u s selection from the wo rks of these pe dagogical

writers is desirable but cert ainly n o t all Of them They .

are at best on l y the materi al with which one must work

 M O DE R N PIANI STIC P RO B LE MS 2 03

for a certain aim an d that aim should be high artistic

,

re sults I t should be realiz ed by all students and

.

teachers tha t this same study material excellent in ,

it self may actually produce bad results if not properly

,

pra cticed I have repeatedly watch ed students

.

practicing indus triously but becoming worse and

,

wors e and actually cul t ivating faults rather than

approaching perfection The student must always
.

remember th a t his fingers are onl y the outward

organs of his inner consciousne ss and while hi s wo rk
,

m ay be m echanical in part h e S ho u l d never thi nk

mech an ic a lly The smallest technical exercise mus t
.

have its own direction its own aim N othing Should

,
.

be done without some defin i te purpose in View The .

student should have pointed out to him jus t what the

ro a d he must travel is and where it leads to The
,
.

ideal teacher is t he one who gives the pupil something

to take home and work out at home not the one who ,

works out the student s lesson for him in the cl a ss

’

’
room The teacher s greatest mis sion is to rais e the
.

co nsciousness Of the pupil until he can appreciate his

own powers for developing an idea .

FRE E D O M FRO M C ONV E N TION

Oh the horror of the conventional the absolutely ,

right the human m a c hi ne who cann ot m ake an error !

,

The balance between the frigidly correct and the

abominably loose is a most difli cu l t one to maintain .

I t is of cour se desirable that the young student pass

, ,

through a certain pe riod of stric t di sciplin e b ut if ,

2 04 GRE A T P IANI STS ON P IANO P LAYING

this discipline succeeds in making an automato n of ,

what earthl y use is it ? I s it really necessary to in

struct our little folks to thin k that everything must be
“ ”
done in a cut and dried man ner ? Take the Simple
matter of time for ins tance L isten to the playing
,
.

of most young pupils and you wil l hear nothing but a

“ ”
kind of railroad train rhythm E very measure .

bumps along precisely like the last one The pupil .

has been taught to observe the bar signs like stone

walls partitioning the whole piece o ff into sections .

The result as a whole is t oo awfu l to describe AS a .

matter of fact the bar Signs necessary as they are as

, ,

guide posts when we are learn ing the elements of

-

notation are Ofte n the means of l

,
eading the poorly
trained pupil t o a wholly erroneous interpretation .

F or instance in a passage like the following fro m

,

Beethoven s F minor S onata Opus 2 No 1 (dedicated

’
, ,
.

to Joseph Haydn) B eethoven s idea must have been

,
’

the following :

b efore it was divide d into measures by bar lin es as

now fo u nd printed
2 06 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

ures which may be counted in fours it will be foun d ,

th at the same arrangement often prevails The pupil .

will continually meet opportunities to study hi s work

along broader lines and the wonderfu lpart of it all
,

is that music cont ains so much that is interesting and

surprising t hat there need be no end to his investiga
,

tions E very page from a master work that has been

.

studied for years is likely to cont ain some unsolved

problem if the student can only see it right and hunt
for it .

QUE STION S IN S TY LE IN TE RP RE TA TION E XP RE SS I ON

, ,

AND TE CHNIC OF P IANOFO RTE P LAYING

S E RI E S XIII
M AX PAUE R

D efine techni cal ability

1 . .

2 D escribe some useless technical tricks

. .

3 D o great pian i sts devote much time to writing

.

upon piano techn ic ?

4 S tate the evils of too much di scipline
. .

5 How may machi ne l ike pl aying be avoided ?

-
.

6 S tate how fau l

. ts are most frequently developed .

7 Why must one seek to avoid conventions ?

.

8 S hould music be studied by phrases or measures ?

.

9 P lay the C hopin V alse Opus 6 4 NO 1 in dica ting

.
, ,

how it may best be counted .

1 0 Where must the student find his pro b lems ?

.
 E SSE N T IAL S OF A RTI S TIC P LAY IN G
S . v . RA CHMA NI NOFF

F O RMING THE PROP E R C ONC E P TION OF A P IE CE

I T is a seemingly impos sible task to define the
nu mber of attributes of really excellent pianoforte
playing By selecting ten impo rta nt characteristics
.
,

however and considering them carefully one at a

, ,

time the student may learn much that wi l

, l give him
food for thought After all one can never tell in
.
,

print what can be communicated by the l iving

teacher In undertakin g the study of a new com
.

position it is highly important to gain a conception

of the work as a whole On e mus t comprehend the
.

main design of the composer N atural l

y there are
.
,

t echn ical diffi culties which must be worked out ,

measure by measure but un l es s the student can

,

form some idea of the work in its larger propo rtions

his fin i shed perform ance may resemble a kind of
musical patchwork Behind every compo sition is
.

the archi tectural plan of the composer The student .

Shou l d endeavor first of all to discover t hi s plan

, , ,

and then he Shoul d build in the manner in which the

composer would have had him build .

“
You ask me ,
How can the student form the
proper conception of the work as a whole ? Doubt
less the best way is to hear it perfo rmed by some
 E SSE N TIAL S OF ARTI STIC P LAYING 2 09

pian i st whose authority as an interpreter cannot be

questioned However many students are SO Situated
.
,

that this course is impossible I t is also Often qu i te .

impossible for the teacher who is busy teaching ,

from mornin g to night to give a rendering of the ,

work that would be absolutely perfect in all of its

details However one can gain something from the
.
,

teacher who can by his genius give the pupil an idea

, ,

of the artis t ic demands of the piece .

If the student has the advantage of hearing neither

the virtuoso nor the teacher he need not despair ,

if he has tal en t Talent ! Ah that is the great thi ng

.
,

in all musical work If he has talent he will see with

.

—
the eyes of talent that wonderful force which pene
trates all artistic mysteries and reveals the truths as
nothing else possibly can Then he grasps as if by .
,

int u i tion the compo ser s intentions in writin g the

,
’

work and like the true interpreter communicates

, , ,

these thoughts to his audience in their proper form .

TE CHNICAL PROFICIE NCY

I t goes without saying that technical proficiency ,

Should be one of the first ac quisi t ions Of the student

who wou l d become a fine p i an i st I t is impossible .

to conceive of fine playing that is not marked by

cl ean fl uent dis t inct elas tic technic The techni cal
, , ,
.

abil ity of the performer Should b e of such a nature

that it can be app lied immedia tely to al lthe ar tistic
d emands Of the composi t io n to be interpre ted Of .

Course there may be indi v i dual pa ssages w hich re

,
‘

14
2 10 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLA YING

quire some special techn i cal study but generally , ,

spe ak ing technic is worthl

,
ess unless the hands and
t he mind of the player are so trained that they can
encompass the principal difli cu l t ies found in modern
compo sitions .

I n the music schools of Russia great stress is laid

upon techn i c P ossibly thi s may be one of the rea
.

sons why some of the Russi a n pian i sts have been

so favorably received in recent ye ars The work in .

the leading Ru ssian conservatories is almost entir ely

under supervision of the Imperial Musical S ociety .

The system is el a stic in th a t although all students are

,

obliged to go thro ugh the same course special attention ,

is given to individual cases Techn ic however is a t .

, ,

first made a matter of paramount importance All .

students m u st heco m e t echn ical lw

y proficient; N one
are excused I t may be intere s ting to he ar somethi ng
.

of the general plan followed in the Imperial music

schools of Ru ssi a The course is n ine years in dura
.

tion D uring the first five years the student gets

.

most of his techn i cal instruction from a book Of studi es

by Hanon whi ch is used very extensively in the con
,

s e rv a t o rie s I n fact this is pra ctically the only

.
,

book of strictly techn i cal studies employed All of .

“ ”
the studies are in the key of C They include .

scales arpeggios and other forms of exercises in

, ,

special techn i cal designs .

At the end of the fif t h year an examination ta k es

pla ce This exam in a tion is twofold The pupil is
“

. .

exam ined firs t for proficiency in te chni c and la ter ,

212

in Russia . dies are S O beautiful that

they Should ra assed with pieces like the stud
ies of C ho pin.

P ROPE R PHRA S ING

An ar tis tic interpreta tion is not possible if the
student does not know the laws underlying the very
important subject of phr asing Un f ortunately many
.

e di tions of good music are found wanting in proper

phrase markings S ome of the phrase Sign s are
.

erroneo usly appl ied C onsequen tly the onl

. y safe
way is for the student to make a Special study of
this importa nt branch of musical art I n the olden .

days phrase Signs were little used B ach used them

.

very sparingly I t was not necessary to mark them

.

in those times for every musi cian who counted him

,

self a musician cou l d determin e the phrases as he

played But a knowledge of the means of defin ing
.

phrases in a composition is by no means all su fficie n t-

.

Ski ll in execu ting the phrases is quite as important .

The real musical feelin g must exist in the mind of the

Composer or all the kn owledge of correct phrasing

he may possess will be wor thless .

RE GULA TING THE TE MP O

If a fin e musi cal feeling or se nsi ti veness mus t
, ,

control the execu tion Of the phrases the regula tion

,

of the tempo demands a kind of musica l ability no

less exac ting Although in most cases the tempo
.

of a given composi tion i s now indi cated by means

 E SSE NT IAL S OF ARTI STIC P LAYIN G 2 13

of the metronomic markings the judgment of the ,

player must also be brought frequently into requisi

tion He cannot follow the tempo marks blindly,
.

although it is usually un safe for him to stray very

far from these all important musical sign posts
- -
.

The metronome itsel f must not be used wi t h close d

eyes,
as we should say it in Russia The player .

must use di scretion I do no t approve of continual

.

practice with the me tronome The metronome is .

designed to set the time and if not abused is a very

,

faithful servant However it Should only be used

.
,

for this purpose The most mechanical playin g

.

imaginable can proceed from those who make them

selves S laves to t hi s little musical clock which w as ,

never intended to stand like a ruler over every minu t e

o f the s t udent s practice time
’
.

CHARAC TE R I N P LA YING
TOO few s tu dents realize tha t there i s con tinu al
and marvelous opportunity for contras t in playing .

E ve ry piece is a p ie ce u n to itself I t Should there .

,

fore have its o wn peculiar interpreta tion There

,
.

are performers whose playin g seems all al ik e It . .

is like the meal s served in some ho tels Every

thing b rought to the t ab le has the same ta ste Of .

course a successful performer must have a strong

,

individuality and all of his interpretatio ns mus t

,

bear the mark of this individuality but at the same ,

time he Sho u l d seek variety constantly A C hopin .

b allade must have quite a diff erent interpreta tio n

2 14 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIAN O PLAYING

from a S carlatti C apriccio There is re al

. ly very lit
tle in common between a Beethoven S onata and a

Liszt Rhapso dy C onse quently the student must

.
,

seek to give each piece a diff erent character E ach .

piece must stand apar t as possessing an individu al

concep tion and if the player fails to convey t hi s
,

impression to his audience , he is little better th a n

some mechan i cal instrument Josef Hofmann has
.

the ab ility of inves tin g each composition with an

individu aland characteristic charm that has always
b een very delightfu lto me .

THE S IGNIF ICANCE OF THE PE DAL

The pedal has been called the soul of the piano .

I never realized what thi s meant until I heard Anton

Rubinstein whose playing seemed S O marvelous to
,

me that it beggars description His m a stery of the

.

ped alwas nothing Short of phenomenal I n the last

.

movement of the B flat m i nor sonata of C hopin he

produced pedal e fl e ct s that can never be described ,

but for any one who remembers them they will

always be treasured as one Of the greatest of musical
joys The pe dal is the study of a lifetime I t is
. .

the most difli cu l

t branch of higher pianoforte study .

Of course one may make r u les for its use and the
, ,

student Should carefully study all these ru l

es but at , ,

the same time these ru les may Often be skilfu lly

,

broken in order to produce some very Charm i ng eff ects .

The rules represent a few known prin ciples that are

wi thin the grasp Of our musical intelligence They .
216 GRE A T P IANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

for real musical knowledge and not merely wi th the

,

d e sire to make a superficial exhibition at t h e keyboard !

RE AL MU S ICAL UNDE RSTANDIN G

I am told that some teachers lay a great deal of
stress upon the nece ss ity for the pupil le a rning the
source Of the composer s inspiration This is inter
’
.

esting of course and may help to stimu l

, ,
ate a dul l
imagination However I am convinced that it
.
,

would be far better for the student to depend more

upon his real musical understanding I t is a mis .

take to suppose that the knowledge of the fact that

S chubert was inspired b y a certain poem or that ,

ChOp in was inspired by a certain legend coul d ever ,

make up for a lack of the real essentials leading t o

good pianoforte playing The student must see
.
,

first of all the mai n points of musical relationship

,

in a composition He mu s t understand what it is

.

that gives the work unity cohesion force or grace

, , , ,

and must know how to bring out these elements .

There is a tendency with some teachers to magn i fy

the imp ortance of auxiliary studies and minimize
the importance of essentials This course is wrong.
,

and mus t lead to erroneous results .

P LAYING TO E DUCA TE THE P UB LIC

The virtuoso must have some far greater motive
than that of playing for gain He has a mission
.
,

and that mission is to educate the public I t is quite .

as necessary for the S incere student in the home

 E SSE NT IAL S OF ARTI STIC P LAYING 217

to carry on thi s educa tional work F or this reason .

it is to his advantage to direct his e fforts toward

pieces which he feels will be of musical educational
advantage to hi s friends I n thi s he must use judg
.

ment and not overstep their intelligence too far .

Wi th the virtuoso it is somewhat di fferent He ex .

p e ct s and even demands from his audience a certain

, ,

grade of musical taste a certain degree Of musical

,

education Otherwise he would work in vain I f

. .

the public would enjoy the greatest in music they mus t

hear good music un til these beauties become evident .

I t would be useless for the virtuoso to attempt a

concert tour in the heart of Africa The Virtuoso .

is expected to give his best and he Should not be

,

criticiz ed by audiences that have not the mental

capacity to appreciate his work The virtuosos look .

to the students of the world to do their Share in the

educa tion of the great musi cal public D O not waste .

your time wi th m u src that is trite or ignoble L ife .

is too short to spend it wandering in the barren S aharas

of musical trash .

In a ll go o d pianofor t e playing there is a vi ta l spark

that seems to make each in terpreta tion of a master
—
piece a living thi ng I t exists onl
. y for the moment ,

and cannot be explained F or instance two pianists

.
,

of equal techni cal ability may play the same composi

tion With one the playing is dull lifeless and sapless
.
, ,

wi th the other there is somethi ng that is indescribably

2 18 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

wonderful His playing seems f airly to quiver with

.

life I t commands interest and inspires the audience

. .

What is this vital spark that brings l ife to mere notes ?

In one way it may be called the intense artistic interest
Of the player I t is that astonishing thing known as
.

inspiration .

When the composition was originall y written the

composer was unque s tionably inspired ; when the
performer finds the same joy that the composer found
at the moment t h e composition came into existence ,

then something new and different enters hi s playing .

I t seems to be stimu l ated and invigorated in a manner

altogether marvelous The audience realizes t hi s
.

ins tantly and will even sometimes fo rgive technical

,

imperfections if the perform a nce is inspired Rubin .

stein was techn ically marvelous and yet he adm itted

,

m aking mistak es N evertheless for every possible

.
,

mistake he may have ma de he gave in return ideas

, , ,

a n d mu sical tone pictures th a t would have made up for

a mill i on mi s takes When Rubinstein was over

.

exact his playing lost something of its wonderful

charm I remember th a t upon one occasion he was
.

pl a ying B al ak ire ff s I s lam e i at a concert S omethin g

’
.

distracted hi s attention an d he apparently forgot the

compo sition en tirely ; but he kept on imp rovising in
the style of the piece and after about four minutes the
,

remainder of the compo sition came b a ck to hi m and he

played it to the end correctly This annoyed him .

g reatly a n d he played the next number upon the pro

g ram with t he greates t exactness but strange
,
to
,
sa y ,
2 20 GRE AT PIANI STS ON P IAN O P LAYING

Q UE STION S IN S TYLE I N TE RP RE TA TI ON E X PRE SS IO N

, ,

AND TE CH NIC OF P IANOFO RTE P LAYING

S E RI E S XIV
S . V . RACH MANI N OFF

1 . S hould
the student gain an idea of the work
as a whole before attempting detailed study ?
2 How is the matter of digital techn ic regarded
.

in Rus sia ?
3 What part Should the study of phrasing play in
.

modern music education ?

4 S tate how contrast in playing may be acco m
.

ishe d
pl .

5What may b e considered the most difli cu l

. t
branch of pianoforte study ?
6 What is the law of artistic progress ?
.

7 How. mus t real musical understan ding be

achieved ?
8 What is the vital spark in piano playing ?
.

9 C an
. one be o v e re xact in playing ?

1 0 What is the e ff ect of too many mechanic al

.

rules ?
 X VII

S Y S TE M AT IC M US ICAL TRAINING
ALFRED RE I S E NAUE R

I CAN never than k my mother enough for the

splendi d s tart S he gave me in my early musical lif e .

She was a wonderfu lwoman and a veritable geni u s

as a teacher Se e I have here to d ay on my piano
.
,

a copy of the S chum ann S onata in F Sharp minor

which she herself used and which S he played wi th a
feeling I have never heard equaled There is one .

thing in particul a r for which I am everlas tingly gra te

fu lto her Before I was taught anything of notes or
.

of the piano keyboard She took me aside one day and

,

explained in the Simple and beautiful tongue which .

onl y a mo ther employs in talking to her child the

“ “

wonderfu lnatural rela tionships of tones used in mak

ing music Whether thi s was an inspiration an
.
,

intui tion or a carefully thought out plan for my

,

benefit I cannot tell but my mother put into prac tice

, ,

what I have Since come to consider the most importan t

and yet the most neglected s tep in the education of
the child The fau l
. t lies in the fact that most teachers
at the star t do not teach music ra ther musical nota tion
,

and the peculiari ties of the ins t rument .

No thing coul d possibly b e more stul tifying t o the

musical ins tinct of the child F or instance the plan
.
,

general ly pursued is to l e t the chil d grope over the

222
 SYSTE MA TIC MU S ICAL TRAIN ING 2 23

whit e keys of the piano keyboard and play exercises

in the scale of C until he begins to feel that the whole
,

musical world lies in the scale of C with the scales of ,

F and G as the frontiers The keys of F sharp B D

.
, ,

fl at and others are looked upon as tremendously

difli cu l
t and the c hi ld mind reasons wit h its own p e cu
liar logic that these keys being S O much less used must , ,

of course be less important The black keys upon .

‘ ’
the keyboard are a terra in co gn ita C onsequently .

at the very start the child has a radi cally incorrect

View of what 11111l really is. .

“ —
B efore notation existed before keyboards were
,

,
—
invented people sang Before a chi ld knows any
.

thing o f not a tion or a keyboard it sings I t is fol ,

.

lowing its natural musical instinct N otation and

,
.

keyboards are S imply symbol s of music—cages in

which the beautiful bird is c a ught They are not .

music any more than the a lphabet is literature .

Unf ortunately our system of musical symbols and

,

the keyboard itself a re very complex F or the young .

child it is as difli cu lt as are C alculus and Algebra for

his Older brother AS a matter of fact the keys of F
.
,

Sharp B and D flat maj or etc are onl

, ,
y diflicu l
, t .
,

because fate has made them so I t woul d have served .

the musical purpose just as well if the pitch of the

instrument s employed had been adjusted S O that what
is now F Sharp would be the key of C maj or That
, .
,

however woul d not have Simplified mat t ers and we

,

ha ve to receive our long established musical nota tion

until we can exchan ge it for a better o n e .
2 24 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

A t a very early age I was taken to F ranz Liszt

,

by my mother Liszt immediately perceived my

.

natural talent and strongly advised my mother to

continue my musical work A t the same time he said .

‘
AS a chi ld I was exposed to criticism as a Wunder
kind (prodigy) through the ignorance o f my parents
, ,

long before I was properly prepared to meet the in

evitable conse quences of public appearance Thi s .

di d incalc u lable damage to me L et your child b e .

spared such a fate My own experience was di sas

.

trous D O not let your son appear in public un t il he is

.

’
a mature ar tist .

“
My first teacher L ouis K ohl er was an artist and a
, ,

great artist but he was an ar t ist teacher rather than

,
-

an ar tist pianist C ompared with many of his con

-
.

temporaries hi s playing suffered immensely but he ,

made an art of teaching as few other men have done .

He did not pl ay for his pupils to any extent nor did ,

he ask them to imitate him in any way His playing .

was usually confined to generalillustrations and sug

ges tions By these means the individuality of his
.

pupils was preserved and permitted t o develop so ,

that whil e the pupil always had an excellent idea of

the authorita tive tra ditions governing the interpreta
tion of a certain piece there was nothing that sug
,

gested the stilte d or wooden performance of the b rain

less m imic He taught his pupils to think He was
. .

an i ndefa ti gable student and think er himself He .

had what many teachers would h ave co n sidered pe o u

liar ideas upon technic .
226 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

vices of the medieval ascetics or the oriental priests

of to —day ? N o techn ic is the Juggernaut which has
,

ground to pieces more musicians than one can imagine .

I t produces a stiff wooden touch and has a tendency

,

t o induce the pianist to believe tha t the art of piano

forte playing depends upon the continuance of tech
n icalexercises whereas the acquisition o f technical

ability S hould be regarded as the beginning and not

the end When pupils leave your schools you say
.

‘
tha t they are having a C ommencement The .
’

acquisition of a technic is only the commencement

.
,

un f ortun ately too many con sider it the end This .

may perhaps be the reason why our conservatories

t urn out S O many bright and proficient you ng people
who in a few years are buried in oblivion .

WI TH L I S Z T
When I ha d reached a certain grade o f advance
ment it was my great fortune to become associ a ted
,

wi t h the immortal Franz Liszt I cons ider Li szt the.

greatest man I have ever met By this I mean th a t.

I have never met in any other walk of lif e a man

, ,

wi th the mental grasp Splendid disposition and

,

glorious geni u s This may seem a somewhat ext rav a

.

gant statement I have me t many many great men

.
, ,

ru l ers jurists au thors scientists teachers merchants

, , , , ,

and warriors but never have I met a man in any posi

,

tion whom I have not thought would have proved the

in f erior of F ranz Liszt had Liszt chosen to follow
,

the career of the man in question L iszt s perso nality .

’
 SYSTE MA TIC MU S ICAL TRAINING 2 27

‘ ’
can only be expressed by one word colossal He had
,
.

the most generous na t ure of any man I have ever me t .

He had aspiration s t o b ecome a great composer ,

greater than his own measure of his work as a composer

had reveal ed t o him The dire position of Wagner
.

pres ente d itse lf He ab andone d his own amb ition s

.

amb i tions higher than th ose he ever hel d t oward piano

v irtuosit y
— ab and oned them completely t o champio n
the difi cu l t cause of the grea t Wagner Wha t Lisz t .

su fl e re d t o ma ke this sacrifi ce the worl d does no t

,

know B u t no finer example of moral heroism can

.

b e imagi ne d His conversa ti ons wi th me upon the

.

sub j ec t were so intim a t e that I d o no t care t o reveal

one word .

’
LI S ZT S PE DAGOGICAL M E TH OD S
His ge nerosity a nd p ersona l force in his work with
the young artists he ass isted are har d to describ e .

You ask me whe ther he had a cer tain me tho d I .

reply he ab horre d me tho ds in the mo d ern sense of the

,

term His work was ec l ec ti c in the hi ghes t se nse In

. .

one way he could not b e con si d ere d a t eacher at al l .

He charged no fees and had irregu l ar and somewhat

unsys tema ti c c l asses In ano ther se n se he was the
.

greatest o f t eachers Sit a t the pi ano and I wil

. l in
dicat e the general p l an pursue d b y Li sz t a t a l e sson .

Reisena uer is a rem arkab le and wi t ty mimi c o f

pe op l e he d esire s t o des crib e The pre sen t wri ter sa t
.

at the pi ano and playe d a t some lengt h through several

short composi tions eventually coming to the in ev it
,
2 28 GRE A T P IANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

able C hopin V alse Op 6 9 N o I in A flat maj or

,
.
,
.
, .

In t he meanwhil e Reisenauer ha d gone t o ano ther

,

room and after listening pa ti ently returned im i

, , ,

t a ting the wa lk facial expressi on and t he pecu l

,
ia r

guttural snort characteristic of Liszt in his later years .

“ ”
Then followed a lo ng kindly sermon upon the
emotional pos sibili t ies of the composition Thi s was .

interrupted with snorts and went w ith kaleidoscopic

rapidity from F rench to German and back again
many many tim es Imitating L iszt he said
, .
,
“
First of all we must arrive at the very essence of
the thing ; the germ that C hopin chose to have grow
and blossom in his soul I t is roughl .y cons idered thi s :
, ,

C hopin s next thought was no doub t

’
,

B ut with his unerring good taste and sense of

symmetry he writes it SO

N ow consider the thing in studying it and while p lay

ing it from the composer s attitude ’
. By thi s I mean
2 30 GRE A T PIANI STS ON P IANO PLAYIN G

A UNIQUE ATTI TUDE

Re isen au er s at t itude toward the piano is unique
’

and interesting Musicians are generally understood

.

to have an affec tionate regard for their instruments ,

almost patern al N ot so with Reisenauer He even

. .

“
goes S O far as to make thi s statement : I have
aways been dr awn to the piano by a pec u l iar cha rm I
have never been able to expl ain to myself I feel that .

I must play play p lay play play I t has b ecome a

, , , ,
.

second nature to me I have played so much and so

.

long that the piano has b ecome a part of me Yet I .

am never free from the feeling that it is a con stant

battle wi t h the instrument and even wi th my t echn i
,

cal resources I am no t able to express all the b eau ties

I hear in the music While music is my very life I
.
,
’
nevertheless hat e the piano I play because I can t .

help playing and b ecause t here is no other ins t ru ment

whi ch can come as near imitating the melodies and the
harmon i es of the music I feel P eople say wherever .

I go Ah he is a master
‘
, , Wh at absurdity ! I the
.
’

master ? Why there is the master (po inting to the

,

piano) I am on l
,
y the slave .

THE
F U TURE o r P IANOFO RTE MU S IC
A n interesting question that frequen tly arises in
musical circles relates to the future possibil ities of
the art of composition in its con nection with the piano
forte N ot a few have some considerable ap p re he n
.

si on regard ing the possible dear th of new melodic

 SYSTE MATIC MU S ICAL TRAN I NG 231

materi al and the techn ical an d ar ti s ti c treatme nt

“
of such material I do not think that there need b e
.

any fear of a lack of original melodic material or

original me tho d s of trea ting such materi al The .

po ssibilities of the art of musi cal composi tion have by

no means been exhausted While I feel that in a .

certain sense very diflicu l

,
t to illustrate with words one ,
‘ ’
grea t S chool of composi tion for the pianofor t e en d ed
wi th L iszt and the other in Brahms never theless I ,

can but prophesy the arising of many new and wonder

fu lschools in the future I base my prophecy upon
.

the premises of fre quen t Sim il ar condi tion s during t he

history of musical art .

N evertheless it is ye t my amb ition to give a

,

lengthy series Of reci ta ls wi th programs arranged t o

,

give a chronological aspect of al lthe great master

pieces in music I hope to b e enabled t o do this
.

before I retire I t is par t of a plan to circle the worl d

.

in a manner tha t has not yet b een done Whe n .

asked whether these programs were t o resemb le

’
Rubinstein s famous historical recita l s in L ondon ,

years ago he replie d

,
“
They wil
'
l be more extensive
than the Rubinstein recitals The times make such .

a series possible now which Rub instein woul

,
d h ave
hesitated to give .

As to American composers Reisenauer is so thor ,

oughly and enthusiastically wo n over by Mac

Dowell that he has not given the o t her composers
suffi cient atten tion to warrant a critical opinion I .

foun d upon questioning tha t he had made a genuin ely

2 32 GRE A T P IANI STS ON PIAN O PLAYIN G

sincere efl o rt to fin d new material in Am erica but he ,

said that ou tside Of MacD o w el lhe found nothing bu t

,

in difl ere n t l
y goo d salon music Wi th the works of
-
.

several American composers he was however u n , ,

familiar He has done little or nothing himself as a

.

compo ser and declared that it was not his forte .

AME RICAN MU S ICAL TA STE

I find that American musical ta ste i s i n many
ways astonishing Many musicians who came to
.

America prior to the time of Thomas and D am

rosch returned to E urope wi th what were no doubt , ,

true stories of the musical condi tions in America a t

that time These stories were given wide circulation
.

in E urope and it is diflicu l

,
t for E uropeans to under
s tand the cultured condition o i the American people
a t the present time Am erica can never thank D r
. .

L eopold D amrosch an d Theodore Thomas enough for

their unceasing labors Than k s to the impetus that
.

they gave the movemen t it is now possible t o play

,

programs in almost any American city that are in no

sense diff e rent from those one is expected to give in
great E uropean capitals The status of musical edu
.

cation in the leading American cities is surprisingly

high Of course the commercial element necessarily
.

aff ects it to a certain extent ; but in many cases this

is not as injurious as might b e imagined The future .

of music in America seems very roseate t o me and I

can look back to my American concer t tours wi t h
great pleasure .
2 34 GRE A T P IANIS TS ON PIAN O PLA YING

QUE STIONS IN S TYLE ,IN TE RP RE TA TION E XPRE SS ION

,

AND TE CHNIC o r P IANOF ORTE P LAYIN G

S E RI E S XV
ALFRE D RE I S E NAUE R

1. What Should be the first step in the musical

e duca ti on o f the chil d ?
2 . Why was K Ohl e r so successful as a teacher ?

3 Did L iszt follow a method in teaching or was

.

his work ec l ec tic ?

’
4 Give L isz t s concep ti on of how C hopin d e
.

v elo p e d one of hi s Valses .

5 Ha
. ve the possibilities o f the ar t of musical
composition b een exha usted ?
6 Are o ther grea t schoo l s o f pianoforte playing
.

likely to arise ?
7 . W h a t was R e is e n au e
’
r s op in i on of t he works of
MacD o w el l?
8 Wha t may b e said of musical tas t e i n America
.

when Reisenauer was touring this coun try .

9 . What may be said of the status of American

musical educa tion ?
1 0 Wha t great diflicu l
. ties do the vi rtuo sos Visitin g
Ameri ca encou nter ?
 X VIII

THE TRAIN IN G OF TH E VI RTUOS O

E M L S UE R
I A

ONE of t h e most ines t imable advantages I have

ever had was my good fortune in having a musical
mother I t is to her that I owe my whole career
.

as an ar tis t If it had not b een for her loving care

.

and her patient persistence I might have b een e n

gaged in some entirely diff erent pursuit As a child .

I was very indiff erent to music I abhorred practice

.
,

and in fact showed no signs of pronounced talent

, ,

until my twelfth year But S he kept faithq y

.

pe gging away at me and insisted that because my

grandfa ther had been a noted artist and because
S he was devoted to music it must be in my blood .

My mother was a pupil of D eppe Of whom Miss ,

“
Amy Fay has written in her book Music S tudy in
Germany . D eppe was a remark able pedagogue
and had excellent ideas upon the foundation of a
r a tional system of touch He sought the most
.

natural position of the hand and always aimed to

work along the line of least resistance My mother .

instil ’
led D eppe s ideas into me together with a very
comprehensive train in g in the st a ndard etudes and
classics withi n my youthf ul technical grasp For .

those years I co u ld not have had a better teacher .

L ucky is the child who like Gounod Reisenauer and

, ,
23 6
 THE TRAINING OF THE VIRTUO S O 7

o thers has had the invaluable instruction tha t a

,

patient self sacrifi cin g mother can give The mother

,
-
.

is the most unselfish of all te a chers and is painst ak i ng,

to a faul
t .

S Lo w S Y STE MA TIC P RAC TIC E

S he insisted upon Slow systematic regular p rac
tice S he knew the importance of regularity and
.
,

one Of the first things I ever learned was that if

I m issedm n e or two days practice I co u l’
d not hope ,

to m ak e it up b y prac ticing over time on the following

days P ractice days missed or skipped are gone for
.

ev er .On e must make a fresh start and the loss i s

some times not recovered for several d ays .

I was a l so made to realize the necessity Of fresh

ness at the practice period The pupil who wan ts.

to make hi s prac ti ce lead t o results must fee l well

while practicing P rac ti cing whil
. e tired either me n ,

tally o r physically is wasted prac ti ce

, .

P upils must learn t o concentrate and if they have ,

not the ab ility to do thi s naturally they Shoul d have

a master who wil lteach them how I t is no t easy .

to fix the mind upon one thing and at the same time

drive every other though t away With some young.

pupils this takes much prac tice S ome never ac .

—
quire it it is no t in them C oncentra tion is the .

verteb rae of musical success The student who can

.

not concentra t e ha d b etter ab andon musi cal study .

In fact the young person who cannot concentrate

,

is not likely to be a co n spicuo u s success in any line

2 38 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIAN O PLAYIN G

of ac ti vity The study Of music cul tiva tes t he

.

’
pupil s powers of concentration perhaps more than
an y other study The notes to be played must be
.

recognized insta ntaneously and correctly performed .

In music the mind has no time to wander This is .

one of the reasons why music is SO valuab le even

for those who d o no t ever contemplate a professional
career .

On e hour of concen tra t ed prac tice wi th the mind

fresh and the b ody rested is better than four hours
of dissipated practi ce wi th the mind stale and the
b od y tire d With a fa ti gue d intellec t the fingers
.

Simply daw dle over the keys and nothi ng is a cco m p

lishe d I find in my own daily prac tice that it is
.

b es t for me t o prac ti ce two hours in the morning

and then two hours la ter in the d ay When I am .

fin i shed wi th two hours of hard study I am exhausted

from close concentra tion I have also noted that any
.

tim e over this period is wasted I am too fa tigued

.

for the prac tice t o be of any benefit to me .

THE NE CE SS I TY A G OOD GE NE RAL E DUCA TION

F OR

P aren ts make a grea t mistake in not insuring the

generale d uca tion Of the chil d who is des tined to
b ecome a concert performer I can imagin e nothing
.

more s tultifying or more lik ely to result in artistic

disaster than the course that so me parents take
’
in neglec ting the child s school work with an idea
tha t if he is to become a professional musician he
nee d onl y devote himself to music This one side d
.
-
2 40 GRE A T P IANI STS ON P IANO P LAYING

C LE AN P LA YING v s SLOVE NLY P LAYING .

I n the matter of techn i cal preparation there is ,

perhaps too little attent ion being given to day to

,
-

the necessity for clean playing Of course each .

,

individual re quires a diff erent treatment The pupil .

who has a t endency to play with stifl n ess and rigi dity
may be given studi es whi ch will develop a more fluent
’
style F or these pupil s studies lik e those of Heller
.
, ,

are desirab le in the cases of students with o nl y moder

“ ”
ate techn ical ab ility while the splen did etudes
,

of C hopin are excellent remedies for advanced pupils

with tendencies towar d hard rigid playing The , .

difli cu l
t y one ordinarily meets however is ragged , , ,

Sloven ly playin g ra ther than stiff rigid playing To ,

.

remedy thi s Slovenliness there is nothing like the ,

well known works Of C zerny C ramer or C lemen ti

-

, .

I have fre q uently told pupils in my Meisters chule

in Vien n a b efore I abandoned teaching for my work
,

as a concert pianist that they must learn to dr aw

,

b efore they learn to paint They wil lpersist in try .

ing to apply colors before they learn t he art of making

correct designs This leads to dismal failure in al
.

.
—
mos t every case Technic first then interpretation .

The grea t concer t going pub l i c has no use for a player

-

wi th a di rty Slove n l
y technic no matter how much he
,

strives to make morbi dly sen timent al in terpre ta tions

tha t are expe c t ed to rea ch the love rs of sen sati on .

F or such players a conscientious and exacting s tudy

of C zerny C ramer C lemen ti and others o f sim ilar
, ,
 THE TRAINING OF THE VIR TUO S O 24 1

design is good musical soap and water It washes .

them into respect a bility and techn ical decenc y .

The pianist with a b ungling Sl o venly technic who , ,

at the same time attempts to perform the great

masterpieces reminds me of those persons who at
,

tempt to disguise the necessity for soap an d water

with nauseating perfume .

H E AL TH A VI TAL FAC T O R
F ew people realize what a vital fac tor health is
to the concert pianist The student should never
.

fail to think of this Many young Americans who go

.

abroad to study break down upon the very vehi cle

upon which they must depend in their ride to success
through the in di scretions of overwork or wrong
living The concert pianist really lives a life of pri
.

va tion I always make it a point t o restrict myself

.

t o certai n hygie n i c rules on the day b efore a concert .

I have a certain di et and a cer tain amount Of exercise

and sleep without whi ch I cannot play successfully
,
.

In America one is overcome with the kindness Of

well meaning people who insist upon late suppers
-

receptions etc I t is hard to refuse kindness of thi s

,
.

description but I have always felt that my deb t to my

,

audiences was a matter of prime importance and while ,

on tour I refrain from social pleasures of all kinds .

My mind and my body must be right or failure will

surely result .

I have often had people say to me after the per

“
fo rm an ce of some particul arly brillian t num b er Ah !
16
24 2 GRE AT P IAN I STS ON PIAN O P LAYING

You must have taken a b ottle of champagne to give

a performance like that Nothing cou l
. d be further
from the truth A half a bottle of beer would ruin
.

a recital for me Th e habit Of taking alcoholic

.

drink s with the idea that they lead to a more fiery

performance is a dangerous custom that has b een
the ruin of more than one pianist The performer .

who woul d b e at his best must live a very careful ,

almost abstemious life An y unnatural excess is

.

sure to mar his playi ng and lead to his downfall wi th

the public I have seen thi s d one over and over again
.
,

and have watched alcohol tear down in a few years

what had taken decades of hard practice and earnes t
s tudy to b uild up .

JUDICI OU S US E OR TE CHNICAL E XE RCI S E S

The field of music is so enormou s that I have
often thought that the teacher shoul d b e very care
ful no t to overdo the matter of giving technical ex
e rcise s .Technical exercises are a t best short cuts
, , .

They are necessary for the student He sho u l d have

.

a vari e ty of them and not b e kept incessantly poun d

,

ing away a t one or two exercises As Nicholas .

Rubins tein once said to me S cales shoul

“
,
d never be
dry If you are no t interes t ed in them work wi th
.

”
them un til you b ecome intereste d in them They .

Should b e played wi t h accen ts and in difl eren t rhythms .

If they are given in the Shapeless manner in whi ch

some t eachers obliged their unfortunate pupils to
practice them they are worthl ess I do not be l
. ieve
244 GRE AT P IANI STS ON P IANO P LAYING

S TUDY
AB ROAD
In the ma tter o f foreign s tudy I think that I may
speak without b ias as I am engaged in teaching and
,

am not lik ely to resume for some years I am a bso l u te l

y .

co n v in ced that there are many teachers in A m erica

who are as goo d as the b est in E urope Ne v e rt h e .

less I would advise the young Am erican to secure

,

the b est instruction possib le in his na tive land and ,

then to go abroad for a further course I t will serve .

to broaden him in many ways .

I believe in patriotism and I admire the man who

,

sticks t o his fatherland B ut in art there is no such

.
,

thing as pa trio tism As the cons ervatory of P aris

.

“ ”
prov i des through the P rix de Rome for a three
, ,
’
years residence in I taly and other coun tries for the
most promising pupil so t h e young American music
,

students should avail themselves of the advantages Of

Ol d World civil ization art and m u sic ,
There is
,
.

much to b e learned from the hustle and vigorous

wholesome grow th of your own coun t ry that wou l d
b e of decided advantage to t he German students who
cou l d afford a term of residence here I t is narrowing .

to thi nk that one should avo id the Ol d Wo rld art

centers from the standpoint Of American patrio ti sm .

VE RSA TILI TY
F ew peo ple recogn ize the mu lt ifarious require
ments of the conce rt pianist He mu s t adjus t him .

lsorts of b al
self to al l
s pianos and living conditions
,
.
 THE TRAI NING OF THE VIRT UO S O 24 5

The diff erence between one piano an d another is

Often very remarkable I t sometimes obliges the
.

a rtist to readjust his technical methods very materi

ally Again the difl e ren ce in halls is noteworthy

.
,
.

I n a great hall like the Al

,
ber t Hallof L ondon one ,

can only strive for very broad effects I t is not pos

.

sible for one to attempt the delicate Sha dings whi ch

the smaller halls dem a nd Much is lost in the great
.

’
hall and it is often unjust to determine the pianist s
,

abil ity b y his exclus ively bravura performances in

very large auditoriums .

C UL TIVA TIN G F INGE R S TRE NG TH

The concert pianist must have great endurance .

His fingers mus t be as strong as steel and yet they ,

must b e as elasti c and as supple as will ow wan ds

“ ”
I have a l ways had grea t f ai th in the Kl ei ne P ischn a
“ ”
and the P is chn a E xercises in cultiva ting strengt h .

These exercises are now world famous and it wo u l ,

d
b e hard for me t o imagi ne anything b e t ter for thi s
par ticu l
ar purpose They are somewhat voluminous
.
,

but necessaril y so On e conspicuous difli cu l

. t y with
which teachers have t o contend is tha t pupils attemp t
pieces requiring great digitals treng th wi thout ever
hav ing gone through such a course as I advoca t e
above The result is tha t they have al
. lsor ts of t ro u b
les with their hands through strain S ome of these
.

troubles are irremediab le others are curable b ut cause

, ,

annoying delays I have never had anything of this

.

sort and attri b ute my immunity from weeping Sinews ,

2 46 GRE A T PIANI STS ON P IANO P LAYING

etc to correct hand posi t ions a loose wris t and Slow

.
, ,

systematic work in my youth .

VE LOCITY
Velocity depen ds more upon na tu ral el as tici ty than
strength S ome people seem to b e b orn wi th the
.

ab ility to play rapidly It is always a matt er of the

.

fingers bu t is more a ma tt er of the b rain S ome

,
.

people have the abil ity t o think very rapi dly and ,

when these people have goo d supple han ds they seem

t o be able to play rapidly wi th compara ti vely lit tl e
study When you fail t o ge t veloci ty a t firs t d o no t
.
,

hesitate to lay the pi ece asi de for several weeks ,

months or years Then y ou will doubtless fi nd that

.

the matter of ve l oci ty willno t troub le you Too .

much study upo n a piece tha t fails for the time being
t o respond t o earn es t e fl o rt is Often a b ad thing .

Be a l i ttle pa ti en t l al
I t wil .lcome ou t righ t in the
end I f you fus s and fum e for M ediate resu lts
.

you may b e sa dly di sappoint ed .

TALE N T
Talent is great and immutab le Tak e the case of .

L iszt for instance I recently heard from a reliab le

,
.

source the following int eresting s tory : On e d ay

L iszt was called away from his class at Wiemar b y
an in v it atio n t o visit the Grand Duke Von B iil
ow
'

.
,

then a mature artist was present and he was asked

, ,

by L iszt to teach the class for the day L iszt left .

the room an d a young s tud en t was asked t o play

,
248 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIAN O PLAYING

wi t h invari able success I have also a series of thir

.

teen E tudes o i my own that I have made for the

express purpose of afl o rdin g pupils material for
'

work which is not ade quately covered in the usual

course .

Y oung Am ericans have a great future before them .

The pupils I have had h ave invariably been ones

who progress with asto n ishing rapidi ty They Show .

keenness and good taste and are wil ling to work

,

faithf t and conscientiously and that after all

, , ,

is the true road to success .

TALE N T C OUN TS
I f you thi nk that talent does not coun t you are
very greatly m i staken We not infrequently see
.

men who have been engaged in one occupation with

onl y very moderate success suddenl y le ap into fame
in an entirely di fferent line Men who have struggled
.

to be grea t artists or ill ustrators lik e du Maurier

astonish the world wi th a previously concealed liter
ary abili ty I t is foolish not to recognize the part
.

that talent must play in the careers of artists S ome .

times hard work and patient persi s tence wi l l st im u

late the mind and s oul and reve al talents that were
,

never supposed to exist but if the t alent does not

,

exist it is as hopele s s to hunt for it as it is to seek for

diamonds in a bowl Of porridge .

Talented people seem to be born with the knack

or ability to do certain things twice as well and twice
as quickly as other people can do the same things .
 TH E TRAINING OF TH E VIRTUO S O 249

I well remember tha t when all E urope was wild

“ ”
over the D iabolo craze my little girl commenced to
play with the sticks and the li ttle spool I t looked .

interesting and I thought that I would try it a few

times and then show her how to do it The more I .

tried the more exasperated I bec ame I Simply .

could not make it go and before I knew it I had was ted

,

a whole morn ing upon it My little daughter took

.

it up and in a few m inutes practice she was able to do

’

i t as well as an expert I t is precisely the same at the

.

keyboard What takes some pupils hours to a cco m

.

pl ish others can do in a few seconds with apparently

less eff ort The age of the pupil seems to have little
.

to do wi th musical comprehension Wh at does .

count is t alent that peculiar qualifi cation whi ch seems

,

to lead the student to see thr ough complex problems

as if he had b een solving them t hrough difl e re n t
generations for centuries .

QUE STION S IN S TYLE IN TE RP RE TA TION E XPRE SS I ON

, ,

AND TE CHNI C OE P IAN OFO R TE P LAYING

S E RIE S XV
EM L S UE R
I A

C an missed practice periods ever be made up ?

Does piano study cultivate concentration ?
What is a good a rrangement of practice hours ?
What are some remedies for S l o venly playing ?
’
How is one s playing afl e ct e d by health ?
2 50 GRE A T P IANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

Are s t imu lan ts good or bad ?

Is listen i ng important in pianoforte playi ng ?
How may finger strength be cul t ivated ?
Upon what does velocity depend ?
’
Wha t p ar t does t alent play in t he artist s suc
c ess ?
 XAVE R S C H ARWE N KA

B I OGRAPH ICAL
F ranz Xaver S charwenka was b orn a t S am t er ,

P osen (polish P russia) January 6 1 8 5 0 He was a

, ,
.

pupil of K u l lak and WiI rs t at K u llak s A cademy in

'
’

B e rl in from whi ch he gr a duated in 1 868 S hortly

,
.

thereafter he was appointed a teacher in the same

ins titution The next year he made his d ébut as a
.

virtuoso at t he S in gak adem ie F or many years .

thereafter he gave regul a r concerts in B erlin in con

n e ct io n with S auret and Griin fi el d In 1 8 74 he .

gave up his position in the famous B erlin music

school and commenced the career of the touring
virtuoso I n 1 880 he founded the S charwenk a
.

C onservatory in B erlin together with his brother

Phip S charwenka an able composer
,
.

I n 1 89 1 S charwenk a came to N ew York to establish

a cons ervatory there Thi s however was closed in
.
, ,

1 8 98 when S charwenk a return e d to Berlin as D ire c

tor o i the Kl in dw o rt h S charwenka conservatory

-
.

He has been the recipient of numerous honors from the

governments of Austria and G ermany He received .

“ ”
the title Of P rofessor from the K in g of P russia
(E mperor Wilhelm II) and that of C ourt Pianist
from the emperor of A ustria .

His many concert tours in America an d i n E urope

have established his fame as a pian is t of great intel
lectual strength as well as strong poetic al force .

Hi s compo sitions including his four C oncertos have

, ,

been widely played and his opera Ma tasw in tha has

, , ,

received important productions On e of his e a rlier .

wo rks the P o l
, ish D an ce has bee n enormous ly popul
,
ar
for a quarter of a century .

(The following con ference was conducted in Ger

man and E nglish ) .
 E C ON OM Y IN M US IC S TUD Y
XAV E R S CHARWE N KA

IT is somewhat of a ques tion whether any time

spent in music study is actuall y wasted S in ce all
,

intellectual activity is necessaril y accomp anied by an

intellectual advance However it soon becomes ap
.
,

parent to the young teacher that results can be

achieved with a great economy of time if the right
“
methods are used By the use Of the words right
.

”
me thod s I do not mean to in fer t hat only one right
method exists The right method for one pupil might
.

b e quite difl eren t from that which wou l d bring about

the best results with another pupil In these days
.

far more elasticity Of metho ds exis ts than was generally

sanc t ioned in the past and the greatness of the teacher
,

consists very largely of his ability to invent adapt , ,

and adjust his pedagogical means t o the special

requirements of his pupil Thus it happens tha t the
.

teacher by selectin g only those exercises etudes and

, ,

teaching pieces demanded by the obvious needs o f

the pupil and by el
,
imina tin g unnecessary material ,

a much more rapid rate of advancement may be

ob tained On e pupil for instance m ight lack those
.
, ,

qualities Of velocity and dexterity whi ch many of the

etudes of C zerny develop in such an adm irable manner ,

whil e ano t her pupil might be deficien t in the singing

25 2
2 54 GRE A T PIANI STS ON P IANO P LAYI N G

s tar t is no t right ? On e might as well expect a

broken down automo bile to win a race The equ ip
-
.

ment at the beginning must be Of the kind which will

carry the pupil through his en tire career with success .

I f any omissions occur they must b e made up later

,

on and the diflicu l

,
t y in repairing this neglec t is twice
as great as it wo u ld have b een had the s t uden t received
the proper ins truc tion a t the star t .

The t raining o f the ear is of great import an ce and ,

if t eachers would on ly mak e sure that their pupils

s tu died music wi th their sense of hearin g as wellas
with their fingers much time would be save d in
,

l at er work Youn g pupil

. s should be ta ugh t t o
listen b y perm i tting them to hear good music whi ch ,

is at the same time sufficiently simple t o in s ure

comprehe nsion E arly m u sical educa tion is alto
.

gether too one Sided The child is tak en t o t he

-
.

piano and a peculiar se t o f hi eroglyphics known as

no ta tion is di splayed to him He is given a few .

wee ks to comprehend that these signs refer to certain

k eys on the keyboard H e commences to push down
.

these keys fait h q y and patiently and his musical

educa tion is thus launched in what many consider
the approve d manner N othing is said ab out the
.

meaning of the piece its rhythm its harmonies its

, , ,

m st h e t ic beauties N othing is told Of the composer

.
,

or of the period in which the piece was written I t .

would be j us t about as sensible to teach a pupil

 E CONOMY IN MU S IC ST UDY 255

t o repeat the sounds of the C hi nese language by

reading the C hinese word S igns but without com
-

prehending the mean ing of the sounds and sign s .

Is it any wond er that beginners lose interest in their

work and refuse to prac ti se except when compell
,
ed
t o do so ?
I am mos t empha ti cally in favor o f a more ra ti on al ,

a more b road and a more thorough training of the

,

b egin n er Time tak en from tha t ordin arily given t o

.

the senseless b rai nless working up and down o f

,

the fingers a t the keyboard an d devote d to those

,

s tudies such as harmony musical histo ry form and

, , ,
’
in fact any study which wi ll tend to wi den the pupil s
,

knowledge and increase his in teres t will save much ,

time in la ter work .

WA STE IN TE CHNI CAL S TUD Y

Geome tri cally speaking the shortest di s tance b e
,

tween two po ints is a straigh t line Teachers Shoul d .

m ake every possib le e fl o rt to find the s traigh t l ine

o f techni c which wil lcarry the pupil from his firs t

s t eps t o technical pro fi ciency wi thou t wanderin g
ab ou t through endl ess lanes and avenues whi ch lea d
to no particular end I suppose tha t all American
.

teachers hear the same complain t that is heard by

all E uropean t eachers when any a ttempt is made to
insis t upon thorough practice an d adequate s tudy
from the dil ettan te.As soon as the teacher demands
certain indisp ensable technical s tudies certain nec ,

essa ry inve s tiga tions of the harmon i c e s t he t i c o r

a ,
256 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYI NG

his t orical probl ems , which contrib ute much t o so

the excellence of pianistic interpretations he hears ,

“ ’
the followin g complaint : I don t want to b e a com
” “ ’
poser or I don t want to be a virtuoso I only —
wan t t o play j ust a little for my own amusement .

’
The teacher knows and appreciates the pupil s attitude
exactly and whil e he realizes that his reasoning is
,

altogether fatuous it seems well nigh impossib le to

,
-

explain to the amateur that unless he does his work

right he wi l l get very lit tl
e real pleasure or amusement
out of it .

The whole sum and substance of the matter i s that

a certain amoun t of technical theoretical and his ,

t o ricalknowledge must be acquired to make the

musician before we can make a player There is
,
.

th e distinction Teachers should never fail to re

.

member that their first consideration should b e to make

a musician Al .lunmusical playing is insufferable .

N0 amount of techn i cal study wil lmake a musician ,

an d all technical study which Simply aims to make the

fingers go faster or play compl
,
i cated rhythms is ,

wasted unl ess there is the foundation and culture

of the real musician behind it .

To the Sincere student every piece presents t ech

n icalproblems peculiar to itself The main o b je c
.

tion to all techn i cal study is that unless the pupil

is vitally interested the work b ecomes monotono u s .

The student Shoul d const antly strive to avoid mo

n o t o n y in practicing exercises AS soon as the exe r
.

cises b e come dul l and uninteresting their value im

2 58 GRE A T P IANI STS ON PIANO P LAYING

wri tten b u t no one woul d thi nk o f demanding a

,

pupil to play all Of the C zerny studies any more than

,

the student should be compelled to play everything

that Lo e schh o m C ramer and C lementi ever wrote
,
.

S tu di es must be selected with great care and adapted

t o par ticular cases and if the young teacher feels
,

himself incapab le of doing this he Should ei ther use

,

selec tions or collections of studies edited by able

au thorities or he Shoul d place himself under the
a dvi ce of some mat ure and experienced teacher un til
the right experience has b een o btai ned I t would .

no t b e a bad plan to demand that al lyoung teachers

b e apprenti ced t o an older teacher until t he righ t
amount of experience has been o b taine d The com .

l
p e tio n o f a cou rse in mus ic does not imply that t he
student is ab le to t each Teaching and the mat ter
.

of musical proficiency are two very diff eren t things .

Many conservatories now conduct classes for teachers ,

which are excellen t in their way I n the olden days

.

a mechanic had to work side b y side with his master

b efore he was cons idered proficient t o do his work by
himself . How much more important is it that our
educators shoul d be competently trained They do .

not have t o deal with machinery but they do have t o

,

d e alwith the most wonderful of all machines—the

hum an b rain .

S ome stu dies in use b y t eachers are und eservi ng

of their popularity according to my way of th ink ing
, .

S ome s tudies are altogether trivial and quite disp e n

sable I have never held any particular fondn ess for
.
 E CONOMY IN MU S IC STUD Y 2
59

Heller for instance His studies are t une ful b ut they

.
,

seem to me in many cases weak imitation s of the

, ,

style Of some mas ters such as S chumann Mendelssohn , ,

etc who may b e s tudied wi th more profit I believe

.
,
.

tha t the s tudies of Lo e schho rn possess great p e dago gi

cal value Lo eschho rn was a born teacher : he knew
.

how to collec t and present technical difficu l t ies in a

manner designed to b e of real assistance to the s tuden t .

The studi es of K u l lak are a lso extremely fine .

This is a subjec t which is far more Sign ifican t

than it may at first appear Whatever the student .

may choose to study after he leaves the teacher hi s ,

work whil e under the teacher s d irection Sho u l ’

d be
focused upon just those pieces which will be of most
value to him The t ea cher sho u l
. d see that the course
he prescribes is unifi ed There should be no waste
.

material S ome teachers are inclined to teach pieces

.

of a worthl ess order t o gain the fickle interest of some

pupils They feel that it is better to teach an oper
.

a tic arrangement no matter how superficial and re

, ,

t ai n the interest of the pupil than to insist upon what

,

t hey know is really best for the pupil and run the ,

risk of having the pupil go t o another teacher less con

scie n t io u s ab ou t making compromises of thi s sort .

When the t eacher has come t o a position where he is

obliged to permi t the pupilto select his own pieces
or di ctate the k in d of pieces he is to be taught in order
to retain his interes t the teacher wi ll find th a t he has
,

very little in fluence over the pupil P upils who insist .

upon mapping out their own careers are always stumb

2 60 GRE AT PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

ling blocks I t is far better to make it ve ry clear to the

-
.

pupil in the firs t place that interference of this kind

is never desirable and that unless t he pupil has
,

impl icit confidence in the teacher s judgment i t is

’

better t o discontinue .

B RAIN TE CHNIC V E RS U S F INGE R TE CHNIC

F ew pupils realiz e that hours and hours are was t ed
at the piano keyboard doing those things which we
are already ab le to do and in the quest of somethin g
,

which we alrea dy possess When we come to think

.

of it every one is born with a kind of finger dexterity

,
.

Any one can move the fingers up and down with grea t
rapidity ; no study of the pianoforte keyboard is
necessary to do this The savage in t he Af rican
.

wilds is gifted with that kind of dexterity although ,

he may never have seen a pianoforte Then why .

spend hou r s in prac t icing at the keyboard with the

view of doing something we can already do ? It
may come as a surprise to many when I make the
statement that they a lready possess a kind of dexter
ity and velocity which they may not suspect On e .

does not have to work for years to make the fin gers go

up and down quickly I t is also a fact that a few
.

lessons under a really good teacher and a few tickets

for hi gh class piano recitals wil
-
loften give the feeling
“ ”
and kna ck Of producing a good touch for which ,

m any s trive in vain for years at the keyboard .

NO the techni c which takes time is the technic

,

of the brain whi ch di rects the fingers to the right

,
262 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

A CA S E IN P OIN T
An illustration of one means of was ti ng time is
well indicated in the case of some pedagogs who
hold to old ideas in piano playing Simply b ecause -

they are old I believe in conservatism b u t at the

.
,

same time I am opposed to conservatism which

excludes all progressiveness The world is con .

tin u ally advancing an d we are con tinually fin ding

,

out new things as well as determin in g which of the

older methods wil l prove the b est in the long run .

All musical E urope has b een upse t d uring the last

quarter of the cen tury over the vi tal sub j ec t of
whe ther the pressure touch is b etter than the angular
b low t ouch There was a time in the past when an
.

apparent e fl o rt was made to make everything per

taining to pianofor t e techn ic as stifl and inelastic as
possible The fingers were trained to hop up and down
.

—
like little hammers the arm was held stifl and hard
at the side In fact it was no t uncommon for some
.
,

t eachers to put a book under the armpit and ins ist

upon their pupils holding it there by pressing against
the body d u ring the practice period .

H E hr lich who in his day was a wi dely recognized

.
,

authority wrote a pamphlet to accompany his edition

,

of the Tau sig technical studies in which this system

is very clearly outlined He asserts that Tau sig
.

insis ted upon it To day we witness a great revolution

.
-
.

The arms are held freely and rigidity of all kind is

avoided I t was found that the en tire system of
.
 E C ONOMY IN MU S IC STUD Y 2 63

t ouch was under a more delicate and se nsitive control

when the pressure touch was employed than when the
“ ”
mechanical hi tting touch was used It was also .

found that much of the time spent in d eveloping the

hitting touch along mecha nical lin es was wasted sin ce ,

superior resu l ts coul

d b e achieve d in a Shor ter time
“ ”
b y means of pressing an d kn ea ding the k e ys ,

ra ther than delivering b lows to them The pressure .

touch seems to me very much freer an d I am em

phati cally in favor of i t The Older me thod pro
.

du ce d crampe d unmusi cal playin g an d the pupil was

so restricted tha t he reminded one for all t he world
“ ”
o f the new fangled Skirts ( ho bb le Sk ir ts ) which
- -

seem to give our l a di es o f f ashi o n so much diffi cul ty

j ust now.

The Ameri can pup il s who have come t o G e rmany

to study with me have b een for the mos t par t ex
ceedingly well trained I n Am erica t here are in
.

numerab le excellen t t ea chers The American pupil

.

is a lmost always very in dus t rious His chie f po int .

Of vantage is his abi lity t o concen tra t e He does .

no t dissipa t e his time or thought In some in s ta nces.

he ca only remain in E urope for two years some

n —
times less H e qui te naturally fee ls that a great deal
.

mus t b e done in tho se two years and consequently ,

he works at white heat This is not a disadvantage

.
,

for his men tal powers are in te nsifi e d and he is fai thful
to his lab or .

The young women of America are for the most part

very se lf re liant This is al so very much t o their
-
.
2 64 GRE AT P IANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

advantage As a r u le they know how to take care

.
,

of themselves and yet they have the courage to

,

venture and ask questio ns when ques tions should be

asked My residence in America has b rought me
.

many good friends and it is a pleasure to note the

,

great advance made in every way since my last visi t

here I am particularly anxious to have some o f my
.

lat er compositions b ecome b etter kn own in America ,

as I have great faith in the musical future of the

coun try I wish tha t they might become f ami l
. i ar
wi th such works as my F o u rth Con certo I Should .

deeply regre t t o th ink tha t Ameri can s would judge

“
my work as a composer b y my P olish D ance and
some o ther lighter compositi o ns whi ch are Ob vi ously
inferi or to my o ther works .

QUE STI ONS IN S TYLE ,

INTE RP RE TA TION E XP RE SS ION
,

AND TE CHN IC o r PI ANOF ORTE P LA YING

S E RIE S XVII
XA VE R SCHA RWE NKA

I s an y time spent in music study really wasted ?

1.
’
2 How may the pupil s e l ementary work b e made
.

more secure ?
3 S tate the importance of ear train ing
-
. .

4 What addition al musical studies Sho u l

. d be
included in the work of the pupil ?
5 What shou l
’
. d b e the teacher s firs t considera
tion ?
 E RN E S T S C HE LLIN G

B I OGRAPHI CAL
E rnest S che ll
in g was born at B elvidere N ew Jer ,

sey 1 8 75 His fir st musicaltraining was received

,
.

from his father A t the age Of four and one

.

hal f years he made his début at the P hil adelphia

A cademy of Music A t the age of seven he entered
.

the P aris C onservatoire with the famous C hopin ,

pupil G eorges Mathi as as his teacher He re

, , .

m ained with Mathias for two years However he .

,

commenced giving concerts which too k him to F ra nce ,

E ngl a nd a n d A ustria when he was o n l

,
y eight years old .

A t ten he w as t a ken to S tuttgart and placed under the

educational gu i dance of P ruckner and the American
teacher P ercy GO t s chiu s who attained wide fame
' '

, ,

abro a d S hortly thereafter he was placed for a Shor t

.

time under the instruction of L eschetizky b ut this ,

was interrupted by t ours through Russia and other

countries A t twelve he w as ta ken to B asle S witzer
.
,

l a nd and Hans Huber undertook to continue his al

, ready
much varied train ing Here his gener al education.

received the attention which had been much neglected .

A t fifteen he went to study with B a rth in B erlin bu t ,

the strain of his previous work was S O great t hat at

seventeen he was a t tacked with neuritis and abandoned
the career of a virtuoso An accidental meeting .

with P aderewski led to an arrangement whereby

P aderewski became his teacher for three ye ars during
which tim e P aderewski had no other pupils S ince .

then S chelling has made numerous tours at home an d

abroad .
2 68 GRE A T PI ANI STS ON P IANO P LAYING

THE TE CH NICAL D E MAND S OF THE P IE CE

The next consideration should be the execution
of the right notes A careless prima vi sta readi ng
.
-

Often leads the pupil to play notes quite di ff erent

from those actually in the piece I t is astonishing
.

how often some pupils are deceived in this m a t t er .

Untilyou have insured absolute accuracy in the mat

ter of the notes you are not in condition to regard
the ot her details The failure to repeat an accidental
.

chromatic alteration in the same bar the neglect of a ,

tie or an en h armonic interval wi th a tie are all common

,

faults which mark careless performances After the .

piece has been read as a whole and you have deter

mined upon the notes SO that there is no opportunity
for inaccuracy from tha t source you will find that the
best way to proceed is to take a very small passage
and study that passage first F or the inexperienced
.

student I Should suggest two measures or a phrase of

Similar length D o not leave these two measures
.

until you are convinced that you have mas tered them .

This will take a great amount of concentration .

Many pupils fail because they underestimate the

amount Of concentration required They expect re .

su l
t s to come without e ffort and are invariably dis
appointed After th e first two measures have been
.

m astered take the next two measures and learn these

thoroughly Then go b ack and learn measures two
.

and three so that there may be no po ssibility of a

break or interruption between them Next proceed .
 LE ARNING A NE w P I E CE 2 69

in t he same way with the following four measures and

do not stop until you have completed the piece .

Thi s kind of study m ay take more time than the

methods to which you have become accustomed b u t ,

it is by all means the mos t thorough and the mos t

satisfactory I found it indispensable in the prepara
.

tion of pieces for public performances It demands .

the closest kind of study and this leads t o artistic

,

results and a higher perception Of the musical values

of the composi tion being studied Take for ins t ance
.

the C Maj or F antasie of S chumann one of the most ,

beautifuland yet one of the most difficu l t of all

compositions to interpret properly A t first the whole .

work seems disunited and if studied carelessly the

,

necessary uni ty which Shoul d mark this work can

never be secured B ut if studied wi th minute re
.
,

gard for d etails after the manner in which I have

suggested the whole composition becomes wonder
fully compac t and every part is lin k e d to the o ther
parts so that a b eautiful un i ty mus t result .

F O RMAL DIVI S I ON S
Many work s have formal divisions such as those ,
‘
of the sonata the suite etc E ven the Liszt Rh ap so
, ,
.

’
dies have movements of marked di ff erences in tempo
and style Here the secret is to study each di vision in
.

its relation t o the whole There mus t b e an internal

.

harmony between al lthe parts Otherwise the inter

.

p e t at io n will mar the great masterpiece

r The dif .

fi cu lt y is to find the bearing of one movement upo n

2 70 GRE A T PIANI STS ON P LANO PLAYING

ano ther E ven the themes of subj ec ts of the co n v en

.

t io n alsonata have a definite interrelation How to

.

interpret these themes and yet at the same time pro

duce contrast and unity is diflicu l t I t is this diff er
.

ence of interpretation that adds charm to the piano

recita l s of difl e re n t virtuosos There is no one right
'

way an d no one best way b u t rather an indefinite

,

margin for personal Opinion and the exhibition of

artis ti c ta ste I f there was one b est way there are
.
,

now machin es which could record tha t way and there

the who le ma t ter woul d end B ut we want to hear
.

all the ways and conse quen tl y we go t o the recitals

of diff erent piani sts How can I express more em
.

pha ti cal ly the necessity for the pianist being a man of

cu l ture ar ti s ti c sensibil
,
i ties and of creative tendencies ?
The student mus t b e taught to think about his in ter
p re t a t io n s and if this point is missed and he is per
m i t t e d to give conventional uninspired pe rformances
,

he need never hope to play artis tically .

TOUCH RE QUI RE D
THE
In s tu d ying a new piece as soon as the s tyl e of
,

the pi ece has b een determined and the accuracy of

the no t es secured the pupil should consider the
,

all impor tant ma tter t o touch He sho u ld have b een

-
.

previously instructed in the principles of t he dif

fe re n t kinds of touch used in pianoforte playing I .

am a firm b eliever in associa ting the appropriate

kind of touch with the passage studied from the very
beginning I f the passage calls for a staccato touch
.
2 72 GRE AT PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

mand perfect time from himsel f With some students .

thi s can onl y be cultiva ted a fter much p ainful eff ort .

The metronome is of assistance as is counting but , ,

these are not enough The pupil must create a

.

sense of time he must have a sort of internal metro

,

nome which he mus t feel throbbing within all the

time .

“
Always b egin your practice slowly and gradually
advance the tempo The worst possible thing is to
.

star t practicing too fast I t invariably leads to b ad

.

results and to lengthy delays The right tempo .

will come with time and you must have pa tience

‘
un t il you can develop it I n the matter of tempo
.

’
rub ato passages which always invite disaster upon
,

the par t Of the student the general idea is that the

,

righ t hand must be out of tim e wi th the left This .

is no t al ways the case as they sometimes play in

,
‘ ’
un ison The word simply implies rob b ing the time
.
,

but i t is robbed after the same manner in which one

‘ ’
robs P e ter to pay P aul that is a ritard in one part of
, ,

the measure mus t b e compensated for by an accelera

tion in another part of the measure If the righ t .

hand is to play at variance with the left hand the lat ter
remains as a kind of anchor upon whi ch the tempo
of the entire measure must depend C hopin called .

’
the left hand the chef do rche stre and a very good
appellation thi s is Take for instance his B fl at
.
, ,

m in o r P rel
ud e I n the latter part of this wonderful
.

composition the regular rhythmic repetition in octaves

 LE ARNING A NE W P IE CE 2 73

inthe bas s makes a rhythmic foundation whi ch the

most erratic and nervous right hand cannot shake .

RH Y THMIC P E CULIA RI TIE S

Rhythm is the basis of everything E ven the .

silent mountain boulders are but the monuments Of

some terrib le rhythmic conv ulsion of the earth in
past ages There is a rhyt hm in the humming bird
.

and there is a rhy thm in the movement s of a gian t

-

locomo tive We are all rhythmic in our Speech our

.
,

walk an d in our lif e more or l ess How important

, .

then is the s t udy of the rhythmic pecul iari ties of the

new pi ece E very contrib uting accent whi ch gi ves
.

mo ti on and characteris tic s wing to the piece must b e

carefull y studie d I t is rhy thm which sways the
.

audience S ome performers are so gi f te d with the

.

ability to invest their interpreta tions with a rhyt hm ic

cha rm that they seem to fai rly in vigorate their audi
e m e es with the Spirit of motion I cannot conceive .

of a really great ar ti st wi thout thi s sense of rhy thm .

THE
’
C O MP O S E R S IN SP IRA TI ON
‘ ’
P ersonally I b elieve in pure music tha t is musi c ,

in the field of pianofor te composi tion that is su fli cie n t

un to itself an d whi ch d oes no t requi re any o f the
o ther ar ts to e nhance i ts b eau ty However in the .
,

case s of some Of our mo d ern compo se rs who have

professe dly draw n the ir musi calin spira ti on from tales
'

gr e a t pictures or from nature I can see the desira

,

b il
it y of investigating t hese sources in or d er t o come
18
2 74 GRE A T P IANI STS ON P IANO P LAYING
’
closer to the composer s idea S ome of the works o f .

‘
Debussy demand this Le t me play you his Night
.

in Gran ada for instance

’
,
The work is mos t subtle
.

and re qu ires an apprecia ti o n Of Orient allife and is ,

indeed a kind of tonal dream picture of the Ol dfortifi ed

palace Of Moorish Spain I feel that in cases o f thi s
.

kind i t helps t h e performer t o have in mind the com

poser s concep tion an d in p laying thi s piece in public
’

I always follow this plan .

S TUDYI NG THE PHRA S ING

phr ase in a piece re qui res separate s tudy
E ach .

I b elieve tha t the student Sho u l d leave no thing u n

d one to learn how t o phrase or rather to anal yze a
piece so tha t all i ts co ns tituent phrases b ecome cl ear
t o him E ach phr ase must b e studi ed with the same
.

deference t o d e tail that the singer wou l d give to an

individual phr ase This is b y no means an easy
.

ma tter More impo r tant s til

. lis the in terrela tion of
phrases E very no t e in a work o f musicalart b ears
.

a cer tain rel atio n t o every o ther no t e SO it is wi th .

the phrases E ach phr ase mus t b e p laye d with

.

reference to the work as a whole or more par ti cul arly

t o the movement of whi ch i t is a part .

MARKI NG THE FIN GE RI NG

I t se ems hardly ne cessary to say anything ab ou t
the finge ring when so much attention is b eing given
to the ma tter b y the b es t t eachers of the coun try ,

b u t certainly o ne Of the mos t essen ti al co nsiderations

2 76 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

b y the student after the student has given su fli cie n t

,

time to the new fingering The required accent often

.

o bliges the performer to employ a diff erent fin gering .

The s tronger fingers are naturally better ad apted to

the s tronger accen ts Otherwise i t is b es t to use a
.

simi l ar fingering for Sim i lar passages .

ME MORI s
I sho u ld lik e t o add a few words with regar d t o
comm it ting pieces to memory There are three .

ways 1 By sight ; tha t is seeing the notes in your

.
, ,
‘
m ind s eye ;
’ ’
2 memorizing b y ear
,
the way which ,

comes to one most naturally ; 3 memoriz ing b y the ,

fingers that 15 training the fingers to do their duty

,

no matter what happens B efore performing in.

pub lic the s tudent should have memorized the com

positi on in all Of these ways Only thus can he be
.

absolutely sure of himself I f one way fail

. s him the
o ther me t hod comes to his rescue .

“
Af ter careful atten ti on has b een given t o the
various points of whi ch I have spoken and the de t ail s
of the composition sa tisfactorily worked out the stu
dent Should practice with a view to learning the
piece as a whole N o thing is so distressing t o the
.

musician as a piece which does not seem to have

coherence and un i ty I t Should b e regar de d aurally
.

as the artist regards his work visu ally The p ain ter .

stan ds o ff a t some distance to look a t his work in

order to see whether all parts of his pain ting har
m o n iz e The pian ist must do much the same thing
. .
 LE ARNING A NE W PIE CE 2 77

H e must listen to his work time and time again and

‘ ’
if it do e s not seem to hang together he must un ify
all the parts until he can give a real interpretation
instead of a collec ti on of disjointed sections This .

demands grasp insight and talent three qu al

,
ifica
,

tions withou t which t he pianis t canno t hope for

large success .

QUE STION S IN S TYLE IN TE RP RE TA TIO N E X PRE SS ION

, ,

AND TE CHNI C o r P IANOFO RTE P LAYING

XVII I
S E RI E S
E RNE ST S CH ELL I N G

Wha t shou l d b e the preliminary study of a new

’
compo sition ?
2
. How Should the mechan i cal diffi culties of the
p iece b e stu died ?
3 How may one find the b earing o f one movemen t
.

upon another ?
4 S ta t e the impor t ance Of deciding upon the
.

appropriate touch .

5 How may the right tempo b e established ?

.

6 What di d C hopin call

. the left hand ?
7 Wha t is it in playing tha t sways the audi ence ?
.

8 How Should the fin gering of a new piece be

.

studi ed ?
—
9 W
. h y is a more diflicu lt fin gerin g some times pref
e rab le?

10
. Give a practical plan for memorizing .
 S IGI S M UND S TOJOWS KI

BIOGRAP HICAL
S igismund S t o jo w sk i was born at S trelce P oland , ,

May 2 1 8 70 He studi ed piano with L Z elenski at

,
. .

C racow and wi t h D iém er at the P aris C onserva

toire A t the same institution he stu di ed composi
.

tion with L eo D elibes His talent both as a com

.

poser and as a pianist was considered extraordinary

at that time and he was successful in carrying o ff
two first priz es one for piano and one for compo
,

sit io n A t tha t time S t o jo w sk i s great fellow

’

countryman P aderewski assum ed the education al

, ,

supervision Of his career an d became hi s teach er in

person .

’
S t o jo w sk i s orchestral compositions attracted wide
attention in P aris and he met wi t h pronounced suc
ce ss as a Virtuoso Mr S t o jo w ski came to America
. .

in 1 906 and he entered im mediately into the musical

life o f the cou n try taking foremo st rank as a composer
, ,

pianis t and t eacher A side from his musical talent

.

he is a remarkable linguist and speaks many languages

fluently His articles w ritten in E nglish for instance
.
, ,

are un usually graphi c and expressive Once when .

complimented upon hi s linguistic ability he remarked

“
We P oles are given the cre di t of being natura l
lingui sts because we take the trouble to learn many
”
languages thoroughly in our youth . In 1 9 1 3 Mr .

S t o jo w ski made a highly succes sful tour ab road his ,

compositions mee ting with wi d e favor .

 WHAT INTE RP RE TATION RE ALL Y IS

S IGIS MUND S TOJ OWS KI

THE C O MPO S E R S L IMI TA TION S IN HI S M E ANS

’

OF E XP RE SS IO N
I T is diflicu l
t for some people who are no t versed
in the intricate mysteries of the art of music to realize
how limited are the means aff orde d the composer for
comm un ica ting to the interpreter some slight in di ca
tion of the ideal he had in mind when writing the com
position I t may be said that while every great com
.
,

po ser feels almost G od like at the moment of creation

-

the merest fraction of the myriad beauties he has in

mind ever reach human ears The ve ry signs with
.

which the composer is provided t o help him put hi s

thoughts down on paper are in themselves in ade
quate to serve as a means of recording more than a
S hadow of his masterpiece as it was originally con
ce iv e d Of course we are Speaking now in a large
.
,

s e n s w w e are ima ginin g that the composer is a B eet

hoven with an imm ortal messa ge t o convey to pos

t e rit y
. Of al lcompo sers B eethove n was perhaps
,

the one to employ the most pe rfec t means of expres

sion His works represent a completeness a poise
.
,

and a masterly finish which will serve as a model for

al ltime to come I t mus t also b e no ted that few com
.

27 9
 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYIN G

posers have employe d more accura te mark s of expres

—
sion such as tim e marks dynamic marks etc , ,
.

I n all these things B eethoven was obliged to adhere

to the conventions adopted by others for this purpo s e
of attempting to make the composer s meaning clearer ’

to other minds These conventions like all co n v e n

.
,

tions are partly insufficient to convey the full idea

,

of the composer and partly arbitrary in that they do

, ,

not give the interpreter adequate latitude to introduce

his own ideas in expression The student should .

seek to break the veil o f conventio ns provided by

notation and seek a clearer insight into the compo
’
ser s individuality as expressed in his compositions .

F rom thi s po int Of View the S O called subjective inter

-

p re t at io n seems the onl y legitimate one I n fact .

,

the ones who pretend to be objective in the sense of

being literal and playing strictly according to the
marks of expression and admitting little elasticity
in the interpretation of thes e are al so a s Rubinstein ,

pointed out s ubjective at heart Thi s may be more

, .

conci sely expre ssed thus : S ince all things of perma

nent value in music have proceeded fro m a fervid
artistic im agina tion they Should be interpreted with
,

the continual employment of the performer s imagi ’

nation .

On the other hand the subjective method right

, ,

as it is in principle can become of course acco rd

, , ,

ing to the I talian saying Tradu tto re tra dito re, ,

that is an absolute treachery to the composer s ideal

,
’
,
’
if the performer s understanding and execution of
282 GRE A T P IANI STS ON P IANO P LAYIN G

moment i t passes through the soul of the master

performer I t is here that he Should real
. ize the great
“
truth that in music more than in any other art the
, ,
”
letter k ills and the spirit v iv ifie s The interpreter .

“ ” “ ”
must master the letter and seek to give rebirth
to the spirit If he can do this he wi l
. l attain the
greatest in interpreta tive ability .

F rom the literal or Objective standpoin t then an , ,

’
insight is gained into the nature of the composer s
—
masterpiece b y close and carefulstudy of the work
,

itself by gaining a kn owledge of the musical laws

,

underlying the structure and composition of a work

of its kind as well as the necessary keyboard t echnic
to give expression to the work — but the veil is torn
,

from the composer s hi dden mean i ng only becoming

’
,

intimate wi th his creative personality as a master ,

by studying hi s life environments by investigating ,

the historical background of the period in which he

worked by learning Of his joys and his suff erings by
, ,

cu ltivating a deep and heartfelt sympathy for his

ideals and by the scrupulous and constant revision
of one s own ideals an d conceptions of the standards
’

by which his masterpieces Shoul d be judged .

S TUDYIN G HI STORICAL BACKGROUND

THE

To exemplify what I mean I coul d for ins tance

, , ,
’
refer to P adere w ski s interpre t ations of L iszt and
C hopin D uring the time I was associated with the
.

master pianist as a pupil I had abundant opportun i

ties to mak e notes upo n the very indiv i dual as well ,
 WHA T INTE RPRE TA T I ON RE ALLY I S 28
3

as the highly ar tis ti ca ll y differen t i ate d expressi o ns of

his musical judgment It was int eresting t o observe
.

that he played the Rhapsodies with various extensions

and modifications the resu l,
t Of which is the gl o rifica

tion of Liszt s o wn spirit On th e contrary in order

’
.
,

to preserve C hopin s Spirit the master would always

’
,

repudiate an y changes l ike tho se Of Tau sig for in

, ,
“
stance by which s o me virtuosos pretend to e m p ha
,

” ” ’
size o r modernize C hopin s personal and perfec t
pianism D i fference s i n t reatment are the outcome
.

of deep insight as well as the study o f the time an d

con di tions under which the work was produced .

The study of musical history reveals many very

significant things which have a direct b earing not only
upon the interpretation of the performer but upon ,

the degree of appreciation with which the lis tener is

able to enjoy a musical work I t was for this reason
.

that I prefaced the first two recit al s of my course of

historical recitals given a t Mendelssohn Hall N ew ,

York during the past season wi th a lecture upon the

, ,

hi st o rical c o nditions whi ch surrounded the masters a t

the time the compositions were composed .

INADE QUACY OF MU S ICAL S IGN S

THE
I have already referre d t o the in ade quacy of musi
cal signs E ven the mechanical guide the metronome
.
, ,

is not always to be depended upon to give the exac t

tempo the compo ser had in mind L et me cite a little .

instance from the biogr aphy of Ries the friend of ,

B eethoven Ries was preparing t o conduc t a per

.
2 84 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIAN O P LAYING

fo rm of the B eethoven Ninth S ymphony

an ce He .

requested B eethoven to make notes upon paper re

garding the metron omic marks of speed at whi ch the
compo si tion shou l d be played The metronome at .

that time was a compara tively new instrument .

Mae l z e lits inventor (or rather its improver S ince the

, , , ,

principle of the metronome was of D utch origin) was ,

a friend of B eethoven A t times they were on the

.

best of terms and at other times they were literally

,

at swords points ’
N evertheless Ma el
. z e l who , ,

had a strong personality succeeded in inducing B ee ,

t h o v e n to put metronomic markings upon several of

his compositions N aturally the metronome was im
.
,

mediately accorde d an important place in the musical

world even a t that day Ries was consequently very
.

anxious to give the C horal S ym phony according to

’
B eethoven s own ideas B eethoven had complied
.

’
with the publisher s desire and sent a slip of paper
with the tempi marked metronomicall y This slip .

was lost Ries wrote to B eethoven for a duplicate

. .

B eethoven sent another L ater the lost S lip was found

.
,

and upon comp aring it with the second slip it was

, ,

fo und that B eethoven had made an entirely difl e re n t

estimate of the tempi a t which he desired the Sym
phony to be played .

E ven with the most elaborate and complete marks

o f expre s si o n such as tho se for inst ance employed
, , ,

by B eethoven and by Wagner the composer is con ,

fronted with his great po verty Oi resources to pre

sent his Views to the mind of the interpreter E x .
2 86 GRE A T P IANI STS ON P IANO P LAYING

kn owle dge of musical grammar and beyond that ,

the correct feeling of musical declamation since —

music after all is a lan guage which is at all times
, ,

perfectly teachable and which Should be most care

,

ful ly and systemati ca lly taught I consider the .

book o f M athis Lu ssy Rhythm an d Mu sicalE xpres

,

sio n o f great value t o the student in search of truths

,

pertaining to in telligent in terpret a tion Lu ssy w a s a .

S wiss who was born in the early part of the last cen
tury He went t o P aris to study medicine but
.
, .

having had a musical training in the country of his

birth he became a good pianoforte teacher and an
,

excellent writer upon musicalsubjects While teach .

’
ing in a young ladies school he was confronted with ,

the great paucity Of real knowledge Of the rudiments

of expression an d he accordingly prepared a book
,

upon the subject which has S ince been tra nslat ed into
several languages This book is mos t helpfu l and I
.
,

advocate its use frequently I t S ho u l d be in t he

.

hands of every conscien tious piano student .

MI STAKE S PE CULIAR TO THE P IANOFO RTE

P LAYE R
The n ature o f the keyboar d o f the piano and the ,

ease with which certain things are accomplished ,

make it possible for t he performer to make certain

e rrors which the cons t ruction of other i nstruments

would prevent The pianist is for in stan ce e ntirely

.
, ,

unlike the violinist who has to locate his keybo a rd

,

every time he takes up his ins trument , and , more

 WH AT INTE RPRE TAT ION RE ALLY Is 2 87

over locate it by a highl

,
y trained S ense of posi tion .

In a certain way I sometimes feel somewhat ashame d

fo r the pianist profession when I hear players even ,

t hose with m a nifest technical proficiency comm i t ,

flagrant mistake s agai ns t elementary rules of acce n

tu a t io n and phr a sing such as for instance an average
, , ,

Vio lini st acquai nted with good bowing is accordingly

p revented from making upon his i nstrument .

The means of di s covering the composer s hi d de n ’

m eaning are in fac t so numerous that the con

, ,

scie n t io u s interpreter must k eep upon continuous v o y

ages of exploration There are many easily re co gn i

.

z ab le paths leading to the promised lan d

— one is the
p ath of harmony without an understanding Of which
,

the would b e performer can never reach his goal ;

-

another is musical hi story ; others are the studies o f

p hr a sin g,
rhythm accentua,
tion pedaling etc
,
e t c ,
.
,
.
,

ad infin itu m To fail t o traverse an y one of these

.

roads will resul t in en dl ess exasperation Fin d your .

guide press on without thi nking of failure and t he

, ,

way to success may b e foun d before you kn ow it .

2 88 GRE A T P IANI STS ON P IANO PLAYING

QUE STION S IN S TYLE IN TE RP RE TATI ON E XP RE S

, ,

S ION AND TE CHNIC o r P IANOFO RTE P LAYING

S E RI E S XI X
S IGI S MUND S TOJ OWS KI

What compo ser preserved the most perfect b al

1 .

ance between arti s tic conception and expres sion ?

2 How may the student break the veil of co n v en

3 . What fundamental laws Shoul

d under lie inter
p re t a t ion ?
4 . How may master works be born ag ain ?
5 . I s one ever warranted in altering a masterpiece ?
6 . Tell of B ee t hoven s attitude towa rd the met
’

ro n o m e .

How may errors arise in the use of the terms Of

7 .

expression ?
8 How m ay one be helped in le a rn ing the musical
.

langu age ?
9 S tate some mis tak es peculiar to the pi anoforte
. .

10 What voyages of exploration must the student

.

make ?
 IGNA Z JAN P AD E R E WS KI
B IOGRA PH ICAL
I gn a z P ad e re w ski w a s b o rn a t K u ryl o w k a , P o d o l i a,
J an
P o l an d , N o e m b e r 6 , 1860v At t h e Wars aw Co n s e r at o ry
. v
p p
h e w a s a u i l o f Ra g u sk i H is fir s t c o n c e rt t o u r o cc u rre d
.

h
w e n h e w a s s i xt e e n y e ars o f ag e T re e y e a rs l at e r h e h
W
.

b e c a m e a t e a c e r at t h e h a rsaw Co n s e r at o ry T e re v . h
a ft e r h e w e n t t o h
B e rl i n w e re h e s t u di e d u n d e r U rb an
an d W
u e rs t H e di d n o t g o t o L e s c e t i z k y u n t i l h e w a s
. h
t w e n t y f o u r y e ars o f a g e
-
F o r a S o rt t i m e h e w as a
. h
p ro f e s s o r at t h e S t ra s b u r g v
Co n s e r at o ry a t a e ry s m al l v
s a l ary . h
H e re t u rn e d t o L e s c e t i z ky, a n d s o rt l y t e re h h
a f t e r h e c o m m e n c e d m ak i n u blic a gpe a ra n c e s pp
H is s u c .

c e s s w a s s o o n t ri u m an t phI n 1 890 h e m a d e h is fi rs t ap
.

p e aran c e s in E n gl a n d , a n d b e c a m e i m m e n s e ly p o u l ar In p .

189 1 h e v
i s i t e d Am e r ic a, an d h a s s i n c e m a d e m a n y t o u rs
o f t h e Un i t e d S t at e s H is p i a n o f o rt e
. l ayi n h as b e e n p g
so f re q u e n t ly a pp
ra i s e d by g
re at c ri t ic s t a t it is u n n e c e s h
sa ry t o c o m m e n t u o n it p e re h
B y m an y h e is r e ard e d
. g
as t he g
re at e s t c o m p
o s e r o f his ra c e w i t h
t h e e xc e t i o n o f p
h p
C o in H is m a n y n o t e w o rt y c o m p o s i t i o n s fo r t h e i a n o
. h p
a re h e a r d f ar t o o ra re l y f ro m t h e k e yb o ar d s o f o t e r v ir h
t u o so s . h
T e re is a ch a rm a n d o rigi n ali t y ab o u t h is w o rk s
su c has t h e Cha n ts du V o y ag e r, t h e Co n ce rt o in A Min o r,
t h e H u m o re s qu e s an d t h e To cca ta t a t c o m m a n d h e rm an e n t p
at t e n t i o n f ro m t h e m u s ic a l w o rl d H is o p e ra Ma n ru h as
.

v
b e e n gi e n o c c a s i o n a lly in E u ro p e a n d in Am e ric a I t is .

a w o rk o f f o r c e a n d di s t i n c t i e n e s s v
H is S y m p h o n y in B
.

Min o r fi rs t i e n b y t h e B o s t o n S y m
,
gv ph
o n y O r c e s t ra in h
1 9 09 is a w o rk o f l arg e d i m e n s i o n s an d f re s
,
i n s i rat i o n h p .

D u ri n g t h e g re a t w ar P a d e re w s k i g v
a e e n o rm o u s l y f ro m
his w e a l t h
an d i n c o m e t o s t ric k e n P o l an d I n 1900 P a .

g
de r e w s k i av e by D e e d o f Tru st a s u m o f to e s
t ab l is h a ri z e pto b e g v
iv e n e e ry t re e y e ars fo r t h e h
b e s t c o m p o s i t i o n s s u b m i t t e d by n a t iv e A m e ric an s Am o n g .

h
t o se w h o h
av e w o n t h e ri z e s in t h e as t a e been H p h v
W
.

K H a dl e y , H
. . P ar e r, Art u r B i rd an d Art u r
. h h
S h e p h e rd .
 B R E A D T H I N M U S ICA L ART
I GNAZ J AN P ADE RE WS KI
TH E ca ll f o r b readth in musica l ar t has b een
insistent since the earliest d ays o f its hist ory Y et .

o n e can n o t help b eing conscious o f the fact that

the public i n general is inclined to look upon a l l

a rt workers a s idealists confined to a narro w ro a d

very m uch apart f rom the b road pathway o f li fe

itsel f AS a matt er o f f act the a rt worker n ever
.
,
-

approaches the great until he has placed himsel f in

communicatio n with li fe in all its wonder ful mani

f e sta t io n s Take fo r instance the case o f the re
.
, ,

m arkab le F lorentine painter L eonardo da V inci .

The average reader woul d probably rememb er him

a s the creato r o f the much d iscussed Mona L isa ,

but he was far more than a painte r He was an .

a rchitect an enginee r a sculpto r a scientist a

, , , ,

mecha nician and he even made excursions into the

,

a rt o f music to say nothing o f that o f aerial navi

,

g at io n . Da V inci lived ove r four centuries ago ,

a n d yet even in our own time one now an d then

,

fin d s w el l meaning indivi duals who fail to realize

that unless the art ist has the element o f b readth in
al lhis work his productions mus t b e t o say the
, ,

leas t t ran sie nt in val ue

, .

A gain we en counte r the case o f an othe r g reat

,

Italian artist Michelangelo painter sculptor a r

, , , ,

290
2 92 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

and others too k g reat pride in their pub lic per

f o rm an ce s I ndeed in the early d ays o f musical
.
,

art when the l iterature o f the piano f or instance

, , ,

w a s insign ificant in comparison with its great pres

ent wealth the interpreter was in ma ny c a ses ide n t i
,

cal with com p oser I nterest centered in him b e

.

cause O f the fact that he w as gi fted with the crea

tive faculty B ach indeed was not only a masterly
.
, ,

organist but could play the violin and the clavichord

in a manne r w hich attracted wide attention S ince .

the time o f B a ch ho w ever the sco re o f music has

, ,

increased so eno rmously that i f one masters the

literature o f one instrument he will have aecom
pl ish e d a great task B ut he Should not however
.
, ,

permit this accomplishment to ob literate eve rything

else in his li fe as so m any apparently think he m ust
,

do I f he pos sesses t he m in d O f a creator he owes it

.

to himsel f a n d to society to develop that as well He .

m ust keep in touch with the great movemen ts o f his

t ime and o f the past in a rt science histo ry and , ,

philosophy The student who sacrifices these things

.

can never hope to climb t o fame on a la dd e r o f

technic .

S ERI OU S I N T E RE ST IN S T UD Y
The nee d f o r tech nic must n eve rthel ess n o t be , ,

underrated Techn ic d emands patient painsta king

.
, ,

pe rsistent study Art without technic i s inve rte

.

b rate S hapeless characte rl ess

, Y ou a sk
, m e .
 BRE ADTH IN M U S ICAL ART 2 93

whether the P oles for i nstance are a musica l

, ,

people I can only say tha t one constantly meets

.

in P oland young men an d women with the mos t

exceptional musical talent—b ut what is t alent with
out serious earnest study l ea ding t o a r tistic an d
,

technical per fection ?

F o r more than one hun d re d years P o l an d has
been woe fully restricte d in its dev l o pm en t With .

out n ationa l resources an d wi th l imite d school

f a cilities little progress o f a b roa d characte r has
been po ssible I n the conservato ry at Warsaw fo r
.
,

instance we mee t at once a d eci d e d di ff erence b e

,

tween that institution an d the great music schools

a t Moscow and S t P etersbur g
. I n the Russian
.

conse rvatories general educational wo rk goes hand

in hand with music an d the result is that the stu
,

dents receive a comprehensive course leading to

high culture I f the same studies were introduced
.

in the Warsaw schools instruction woul d have to

,

be in the Russian langua g e an d the P olish opposi

tion to this is so g reat tha t such a plan could only
meet with failure On e can b ut ta ke pride in a
.

n ation tha t has b een divide d f o r a centu ry ye t stil l,

maintains the integrity o f its mothe r tongu e .

A s a consequence O f the e d ucatio na l conditions in

P oland there has b een i n the past what might b e
describ ed as a lack o f amb ition to d evelop serious
works o f art The peopl e st rive to b e light hearted
.
-

an d much o f the music one hears in the home t akes

2 94 GREA T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYI NG

it s c o mplexion f rom this spirit H owever there .

,

has develope d i n P oland during the last twenty o r

t wenty fiv e years what many n o w regard as the
-

n e w P olish school o f music Much o f this is due

.

to the eff o rts o f that remark able man S igismund

No sz k o w sk i .

No sz k o w sk i was bo r n in 1 848, H e was early

fired with an intense zeal to d evelop the melodic t e
sou rces o f his n ative land F o r a time he studie d
.

un d e r K iel an d Rai f at B erlin bu t in the late ,

eighties he bec ame a pro fesso r a t the Warsaw C on

se rv at o ry. His no b le attitu d e t owar d his art may
be estimated f rom the fact that his eff o rt s fo r a
time were confined t o the inventi on o f a system o f
musical notation fo r the blin d His example soon .

inspired many younger men t o wo rk at musical

creatio n and as a result we can point a t t he present
moment to distingu ishe d younger composers with
really remarkable accomplishments as musicians .

A mon g the b est kn own I m ay quote such names as

S zymanowski Rozycki Melcer
, , The compo ser.

F it e l
b e rg is f requently classed amon g the membe rs
o f the n ew P olish school d espite the fact that he
,

is proper l y o f Russian Jewish o rigin

-
.

B y the use o f themes su ggesting those o f the folk

music o f P ola n d these younger m en all finely
, ,

equippe d f o r their careers through exha ustive tech

m ical training have produced new music al works
,

which must contribute much to the fame o f P o l an d

2 96 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

at the keyboard and little o r n othin g accomplishe d .

The ve ry essence o f success i s o f course practice

, , .

B ut students w ho are gi fted are very likely t o b e so

enchante d with a composition that they d ream a way
the priceless practice minutes without any more
definite purpose than that o f amu sing themselves .

I t is human to crave pleasure an d the m ore musica l

the student the more that studen t is i nclined to reve l
in the musica l b eauties o f a new work rather than
to devo te the practice time t o the m ore laborious b ut
vastly mo re pro d uctive process o f rea l har d music
s tu dy .

MU S IC S T UDY I s WO RK
This i s O ften especially t rue o f exercises scales
, ,

a rpeggios etc , S tu d ents with monstrous technica l

.

shortcomings n eglect all ex ercises with the sublime

conceit that t hey a re di ff erent f rom other morta ls
and can aff ord to do without them They are quite
.

willing to attempt the most di fficult things in the

piano repertoire The highest peaks are nothin g to
.

them They will essay anyt hing b e fore they are

.

able t o climb an d the result i s almost invariab ly

disastrous Music study is w ork Those who work
. .

a re the only ones in any art who eve r win the great

es t rewards What could be more obvious ? S till

.

it is one o f the g reatest t ru ths in all music stu dy .

I t is very delight ful to sit at the k eyboard and reve l

i n some great masterpiece but when it comes to the
,
 BRE ADTH IN M U S ICAL ART 29 7

systematic study o f some exacting detail o f fin g e r

ing pedaling phrasing touch dynamics : that is
, , , ,

work an d n othing but work On e can not b e too

, .

emphatic on this point .

P RAC T IC E
T H A T L E ADS To B RE AD TH
On e is o fte n i mpo rtune d f o r suggestions to help
a spiring pianists in their practice While one may .

welcome an oppo rtuni ty t o help others i n this par

t icu l
a r there is very little that can b e sai d
, S ystem .

is perhaps the most essential thin g in practice I .

d o n o t mean a system tha t is so inelastic that it can

n o t b e instantly adapte d to changin g n ee d s b ut I ,

d o re fer t o the fact that the stu d ent who wishes

t o pro gress re gu l arl y must have some system in his
d aily work H e must hav e some d es i gn some
.
,

chart some plan f o r his development A ba d pl a n

, .

is b etter than no plan I n his daily practice how

.
,

ever he should see to i t that he d oes n o t n arrow

,

himse l f H is plan should be a comprehens ive one

.

an d S hould emb race as m any things as he can

possibly d o superlatively well an d n o more , .

MU S ICAL C UL T U RE IN TH E H O M E
Music in itsel f i s one o f the greates t forces fo r
developin g breadth in the home F ar too many stu .

dents study music with the view to becomin g g reat

virtuosi Music should be studied fo r itsel f withou t
.

an y great aim in View except in the cases o f ma rvel

2 98 GREAT PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

ou s ly talente d chil d ren A gain . many child ren

,

might be develope d into teachers or composers who

woul d never make virtuosos This shoul d b e very .

care fully considere d Most O f the stu d ents assume

.

that the career o f the virtuoso is easier mo re illus ,

t rio u s an d last b ut no t least mo re lucrative than

, ,

tha t o f the compo ser B ut is i t n o t b etter to start

.

out to be a grea t composer o r a great t eacher an d

become one rathe r than to s t rive t o be a virtuoso
,

and prove a fiasco ?

The intellectual drill which the stu dy o f music
gives the chil d is o f great educational value There .

is nothing which will take its place and it i s fo r this

reaso n that many o f the greatest e d ucat o rs have
advocate d i t so highly I n addition to this the a c
.

tual study o f music results in almost limitless grati

ficat io n i n later li fe in the u n d erstanding o f great
musical masterpieces .

I am very much impresse d wi th the educa tional

value o f the mechanical means f o r representing
music such as the best piano playe rs with the b est
,

rolls an d the sound reproducin g machines with the

-

b est record s I know o f one instance o f a man who

.

possesse d a high class player piano A t first he re

-
.

fused t o have anyt hin g t o d o with music except

that o f the most po pular description such as p o p u ,

lar songs and light operas G radually his taste was

.

revolutionized an d now he will no t permit any

tra shy music i n his home This was accomplishe d
.
300 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

4 How
. has the conse rvato ry at Warsaw di f
f e re d in the past f rom the le a din g conservatories o f
Russia ?
5 What is the essence o f pianistic success ?
.

6 What is one o f the dange rs o f gi fted

.

students ?
7 S tate the v alue o f a pl a n in pi a no study
. .

8 What S hould be the principal aim o f music in

.

the home ?
9.O f wha t value as an intellectual d rill is
music ?
1 0 I s there any sub j ect th at will take the place
.

o f music in general e d ucational work ?

T H OR OUG H N E S S I N H UN GA R IA N M US I C
S T UD Y

MME YOLAND O
.
MERO
C O M PARA T IVE L Y few A merican tourist s visit
B ud apest a f ter th e mann er i n which they go in
veri table d roves t o Lo ndon B erlin Pa ris Munich
, , , ,

V enice an d N uremb erg The reason prob ably is

.

that the city is something over one hundre d miles

fur the r than Vienna an d A merican tourist s are
,

fear fu l that they migh t n o t b e so readily und er

stoo d AS a matter o f f act B udapest is the most
.

hospitable o f cities an d the t ourist ha s l ess difficulty

there in making himse l f u n d erstoo d than he does
in some o f the weste rn centres o f culture in E urope .

Musically speak in g B u d apest has the a dvantage

,

o f the so calle d G e rma n effi ciency an d the Hun

-

g aria n Zal o r Spi rit wh i ch i s e t ern ally identified

,

with a l lphases o f M agyar a rt P art O f the H un

.

g a rian capital re aches b ack to the m iddle ages an d ,

“
o ther part s are as mo d ern o r i f you please a s u p
,

”
t o d ate a s any A merica n ci ty E ducation is re
-

, .

vere d an d the Universi ty has in the vicinity o f five

thousand stu dent s It i s a city o f ve ry n early one
.

mi llio n inhab itant s an d what an interestin g city it

is with i t s c o smopo litan ancestry an d i ts cosmo
po l ita n present . Li fe l ack s l ittle i n v a ri e ty an d
c olo r in the old ci ty o n the Da nub e There people .

3 02
 TH OROUG H N E SS IN H UNGA RIAN M U S IC STUDY 303

o f al lnations m eet The predominating Spirit i s

.

Hungarian although there are thousands o f G er

,

mans and A ustrians i n the city a s ind ee d there are ,

F rench and E nglish a n d o rienta ls P lease get out .

o f your head the idea that H ungarians a re m eces

sa rily gipsies A s
. a matter o f fact the gipsy o
p p u

latio n o f Hungary is comparatively small There .

a re however many in fl uences f rom the O rient

,

wh i ch one ca nnot fail to no te A s late as the time

.

o f the birth o f B ach B udapest was und er Turkish

,

control and was the seat o f a Turkish P ash a I t is .

desirabl e t o review the ch aracte r o f H ungary in

o rder t o understand the n ature o f Hungarian musi
cal education I n no city o f the worl d do exactly
.

the same co n ditions exist .

’
H UNGA RY S G RE A T MU S IC S C H OOL S
I n B udapest there are two great musical in st it u
tions b oth o f which were f ound e d by F ran z L iszt .

On e is the Royal A ca d emy an d the othe r i s the

’
N ational C onservato ry L isz t s pupil Count Z ichy
.
, ,

w ho in young manhoo d lost his right arm an d then

s tart l e d the worl d w i th his wonde r fu l l e f t ha nd
playi ng has b een the a rt istic ex ecutor o f Li szt in
,

these great un d ertakings in that he has given o f his

time and energi es m a mos t generous mann er to
the N ational C onse rvato ry o f which he is the presi
d en t
.

While there are many private t eachers in B uda

304 GREA T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

pest the government institutions set the stand ar d

,

an d a l lothe r teachers are obliged to live u p to that

standar d The schools b egin at the ve ry b eginning
. .

E ve ry step is tak en up and nothing is le ft out The .

pupil is n o t permitted to advance until the exam

i m ers have b ecome convinced that everything has
been comprehen d e d W omen have played a very
.

interesting pa rt in H ung arian musical education .

L ina Ram an n although b orn in B avaria devised a

, ,

system o f training fo r the young which has in fl u

e n ce d Hungarian music t eachers in that it d e

m an de d that little children S hould S ing songs as a

part o f thei r training L ina Ram an n was a pupil

.

o f L isz t an d was his biographer I t is under

.

stood that she was advise d by L iszt in many o f the

re forms that she institute d My own teacher Mme
.
, .

A ugus ta Renn ebaum had the greatest regar d fo r

’

her common sense ideas pointing to musical devel

o pm e n t alon g a rtistic lines Un fo rt unately her
.

valuab le ess ays u pon elementary m usica l trainin g

have not been translated into E nglish .

While the general line o f m usica l inst ru ction in

the H ungarian schools is n o t so ve ry diff erent f rom
tha t o f the G erman schools the pupi l s are charac
,

t e riz e d b y the enthusiastic Hungarian t emperament

and th e interest in the work is intense i n the ex
treme There i s co n stant rival ry amo n g the pupils
.

e ve n in such m att ers as t echn ic o r Si mpl e scal e p lay

in g The pupil s a re k ept at a white heat o f interest

.
306 GREA T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

training an d that is that the pupils run a fter so

,

many di ff erent teachers I saved years by sticking

.

to one good teacher . A merican music students

should cultivate more respect f or thei r teachers and
teachers should be so thorough and so sincere that
they will command respect A teacher is n o t a suit
.

o f clothes that can be changed eve ry day o r eve ry

hal f hour The selection o f a good teacher is a
.

serious problem but once you have foun d a good

’
one and find yoursel f progressing properly don t,

think o f changing because someone suggests tha t

you might do be tter unde r another teacher The .

H ungarian musical students are spared such u n

fo rt u nate changes because their musical training is
intelligently g uide d The parents have respect fo r
.

the j ud gment o f musician s o f estab lishe d reputa

tion an d do no t as a rule att empt to inter fere in
things about which they know litt le o r nothing I .

have a feeling tha t many A merican parents o f p u

pils who could be put to sh ame music ally by Hun
garian parents o f the same sta tion meddle n eed
lessly with the musical educ ation o f their children ,

sending them f rom teache r to teacher until the chil d

has nothing b u t a muddle d i d ea o f what he is doing .

Why canno t A merica ns see fit t o l eave the direction

o f the careers o f thei r children t o Specialists ?
In much the same manne r A mericans have be en
sent in horde s t o E urope for the b enefits o f the
e fficient t raining in some centers only t o find that
 TH OROUG H N E SS IN H UNGARIAN M U S IC S TUDY 307

they could have accomplished as much i f they had

gone t o the right teachers in A merica Why send .

pupils to E urope hal f traine d t o have the tho rough

-

E uropean teachers laugh at them and gain a con

t e m p t u o u s idea o f A merican musical training when
as a matter o f fact the right teache rs in A merica
woul d have given them quite as thorough a drilling
as they could have gotten in any E uropean country .

TH E L AN D O F L I S ZT
I t i s n atural that in the land o f L isz t the piano
Should b e the most popular instrument The in .

t e re st in g cembalo that one sees in Hungarian bands

is comparatively r a re —as the zither is rare in mod
,

ern G e rmany I t is a nation a l instrument b ut the

.
,

most popular instrument o f Hungary is unquestion

’
a b ly the piano with the violin as second
, P ianists
.

concerts in B udapest are attended with the same in

t e re st with which the people o f N ew Y o rk flock to
the opera The stu d ent is o f course influenced by
.

this I f one lives in a community where the piano

.

is respected only as a piece o f machinery as one ,

woul d respec t a steam b oiler o r a threshin g m a -

in the instrument is not likely to

to the student L is z t w as an d
.
,

e great n ationa l heroes o f Hun

was fi rst and foremost a pianist .

In f the worl d has the piano a higher

sta tion than i t has i n Hungary The interest in
.
308 GREAT PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

eve ryt hin g pianistic i s serious and deep The .

pianist is somebody This principle needs n o ex

.

planation It is human to crave appreciation NO

. .

body is impelled to spen d a li fetime in developing

something that will be rej ected by the public F o r .

this reaso n the Hungarian music student even ,

though he i s at the s ame time a violinist usually

,

plays the piano and plays i t well .

G IP S Y I NFLU E NC E S
I n Hunga ry the peasants still invent folk songs
fo r thei r own entertainment They have no idea
.

o f ever doing anything more than amusin g thei r

own circle o f f riends with the pretty tunes Many
.

o f the themes that are believe d by the public t o b e

G ipsy themes are n o mo re no r l ess than these Mag
yar folk songs that have been appropriated by the
G ipsies an d playe d by them as they roamed around
the country The Hungarian themes have h ad a
.

great influence u pon Hungarian music o f the more

developed kind L iszt was among the first t o utilize
.

this material B ut it is a great mistak e to b elieve

.

that the themes a re Gipsy in their o rig i n On e .

hears it sai d that m odern Hungarian composers

s uch as B arto k and K e dal ,y who are as advanced in
their methods as Debussy have employe d Gipsy
,

themes They have b ee n sub j ect to Hun g arian in

.

fl u en ce s b ut their G ipsy influence is l imite d t o the

exploitation o f Hungarian themes by the roam ing
 RUD O LF GAN Z
B IOGRAP H ICAL
Mr Rudolph G anz ha s made repeate d t ours o f
.

the United S tates gaining continual favor eve ry

,

year He has the unique distinction o f being one

.

o f the few musicians o f S wiss birth who have come

to renown in the United S tates M r G anz was . .

bo rn i n Z urich F eb ruary 2 4 1 877

, H is first
, .

studies in music were receive d a t the Z urich C on

se rv a t o ry under Robert F reun d (piano
) an d Jo b .

Heg a r H e was then placed under the

instruction o f his u ncle C arl E schmann—
, Dumur i n ,

L ausanne I t was at this time that he m ade his

.

’
first appearance as a pianist a cellist an d o rganist
,

a n d as a composer Then he went to S trasburg

.
,

where he b ecame the pupi l o f F ritz B lumer at the

loc a l conse rvatory Therea f ter he went t o B erlin
.

a n d studie d a sho rt tim e wi th Ferru ccio B usoni .

His teachers in com p o sition were Charles B lanchet

(at L ausanne ) and Heinrich U rb an (at B erlin ) .

I n 1 899 he appe a red several t imes a s a pianist with

the B erlin P hilharmonic Orchestra an d also directe d
his own F irst S ym phony I n 1 900 he was called
.

to C hicago w here he remaine d f o r five years as a

,

teache r in a leading conse rvato ry Then he re .

turned to E urope with the View o f givi n g more time

a n d a ttention to his concert work and to compo si

tion H e has produce d many o riginal works in

.
,

cludin g a K o n z e rts tiick f o r piano an d orchestra ,

n umerous male choruses and m a ny songs H e has .

given particular attention on his concert prog rams

t o the w ork s o f mo d ern masters .

310
3 12 GREAT PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

obse rver to determine the identity o f the teacher

by hearing a pupil play a given work I know o f .

one teacher whose pupils play a certain B eethoven

sonata so much a fte r the same fashion that one
might think that they ha d swallowed the same
piano playe r roll and that t he perforations were
-

going through their automatic intellects with the

same mechanical precision that they would through
a piano player -
I t seemed t o b e a case o f makin g
.

p p
u ils out o f w o u l
d b e y o u n g
-
ar t
-
is ts instead o f
-

making y o u n g a rtis ts out o f pu pil s which is the n e w

,

i d ea o f teaching .

F o r insta nce the theme o f the Ro n do in the

,

S onata Opus 5 3 o f B eethoven is as follows

No I. .

I have heard thi s S ona ta playe d by innumerable

pupils o f a great E uropean teacher and they in v a ri
ably play it thus

There is no aesthetic reason why the passage

S hould be altered but that is not the main question
,

here b ut rather to demonstrate the deadly uni form

,
 OPPO RT UNIT IE S AN D LI M I TATION S 3 13

ity o f set o r forced interpretation I t is a s though .

a teacher o f acting with a peculiar nasal whine

should insist upon the pupil imitating him in eve ry
detail .

TH E RIG H T FUL P RE S C RIP T ION T E C H NIC OF

On e canno t always prescribe technic a s one d oe s

m edicine but there are ce rta in things which the
,

teache r Should take into account in roundin g out

’
t he pupil s work F o r instance the pupi l with an
.
,

inclination to b e sentimental is to b e d eveloped b y

havi n g music that is heroic in style A gain the .

pupil who is rob ust and ponderous in type Should

have the delicate side o f his nature cultivated A t .

al ltimes however t h e semblance o f the machine

, ,

in playin g S hould b e fought through the culture o f

personality — indivi d u al ity L e t the teacher ask the
, .

pupil (I am spe akin g here o f the well prepare d and -

well advance d student ) :

-
“
What is your feeling
about this passage ? I n the light o f what you k now ,

how do you think it ought to b e interprete d In

almost every case this will b rin g ab out a f ar b etter

an d higher form o f interpretation t han i f t h e

teacher lays d ow n i ronc l a d rules an d insists upon
their ob se rvance .

TH E L I M I T A T ION S O F TH E P IANOF ORT E

S ome pi ano enthusiasts seem t o be happiest when
“ ”
t hey are t ryi n g to m ak e t he piano whispe r or
3 14 A T PIANI STS
GRE ON PIANO PLAYING

make it sound like a cyclone A fter all so few . ,

have considered the indivi d uality o f the piano itsel f

an d the gentle art o f making it sound like a piano .

I ndeed there is a di fference in pianos and the

, ,

di ff erent pianos and the di fferent auditoriums in

which they are heard all require a di ff erent treat
ment The parlor grand is to my mind the best
.

b alanced instrument more so than the great concert

,

grand The pi ano is suited t o m e dium sized halls

.
-

fa r b etter than large h alls and when one plays in

,

such a great room as C arnegie H all the nature o f

t he piano is n ecessarily straine d The player must.

b e able to ad apt himsel f t o his instru ment an d the

S ize o f his instrument S ome d o this and some
.

never think o f it The huge concert hall is only

.

suitable fo r a lfresco pl ayin g and such sensational

per fo rmances S hould b e given in a great winter
garden .

There is a need for more reserve and sensitive

n ess in piano pl ayin g so that the pianistic Values
,

may be better observed The piano is not an anvil

.
,

as many seem t o I mag i ne It is not the poor piano s

.
’

’
fault that it is a piano and it Shouldn t be made to
,

su ff er for it Wh y deceive our ears and our in

.

t ellig e n ce ab out musical i nstru ment s whe n their ,

characteristics a re so very Obvious t o all ? I can

al w ays get far more out o f the treb le i n a parlo r
grand tha n I can out O f the treble in a conce rt grand
b e cause the propo rt io n o f t o n e b et ween t reble an d
3 6
1 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PL AYI N G

day when the actions o f pianos are very much

,

heavier This is the principal reason fo r the com

.

p l
e t e revolutionizin g o f ideas in playing ; instea d o f
so called per fect relaxation we have weight playing
-

“ ” “ ” “ ”
an d set finger wrist
, f orearm etc positions
, , .
, .

TA ST E
A s certai n classes o f cultured people are trained
to love C hopin S chumann an d Debussy S O there
, ,

will always b e hor d es o f people climbin g up the

cultural staircases who fo r the time being must
,

survive on music very near to their intellectual an d

emotiona l capacity It is well f or them to be f rank
.

about their likes an d d islikes and I have far more,

respec t for the man who ca ndidly says that he pre

fers L ange s F l ’ ’
o w e r S o n g to Richard S trauss
El e k tra than I have fo r the individual who en d ures
'

El e k tra like a surgical operation merely because it

is fashionable to do so The n ee d fo r the music

.

o f yesterday is shown in a remarkable way by the

tremendous amount o f piano player records o f o l d
fashione d pieces I have recently hear d pieces on
.

the piano player that I imagined were extinct only ,

to learn that there is a great market for such pieces

a mon g purchasers who have had no specific training

in piano playing Think o f it ! S o much had musi c

.

is written an d no t enough to supply the m arket ! I t

“
does n o t pay for anyone to be snobbish o r pat ron
”
ize the musical taste o f others This is a b ig .
 OPPORTUNITI E S AN D LI M I TATION S 3 17

world and while it is incumbent upon all a rtists to

,

help i n r a ising the taste o f the public as a whole it ,

is no t going t o b e done by snatching away Gott

schalk s D yin g P o e t o r Ju n gm an n s H eirn w e h f rom
’ ’

the person who i s revelin g in them but by lea d in g ,

them to see that the music o f abler compo sers has

a refinement and character ab sent in the pi eces o f
the more superficial writers .

IN S H ADING
O PPO RT U NI T I E S
The pi a nist is learning n e w ide a s upo n the sub
j e ct o f shadin g
. There was a time in our a rt whe n
nothing b ut a very definite tune would satis fy the
ta ste o f the cultured musician The day o f melody
.

is not pa st by any me a ns and Wa gn er S chumann

, ,

a n d B rahms sho w ed u s that the definition o f a tune

was a very el a stic one It remaine d fo r Debussy

.

an d his con fr eres ho w ever t o point out that there

, ,

w a s a b eauty in atmosphere an d colo r j ust as t here

is a b eauty in m asses o f clouds o r in sunsets I .

h ave all o f my pupils play the Deb ussy P re l u des ,

and the Ravel and S cott pieces so t hat they may

learn that one kind o f beauty may b e o btained by
t h e exquisite shadin g o f tone masses in wha t might
be t ermed fluid f orm F rom these they l earn ho w
.

to Shade in C hopin Without Shadin g the mo d e rn

.

F rench is nothing Rave l in some ways is greate r

.

th a n Debussy in the Oppo rt unity his work s o ff e r

for po lyphonic and polyharmo nic sha d ing This is .
3 18 GRE AT PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

instanced in his wonderfully exotic L e Gib e t which ,

I consider the most complete example o f modern

musi c I t is one o f the mos t ambitious things ever
.

written fo r the i nstrument I ndeed it would seem

.
,

to me one o f the m ost di ffi cult compositions o f all

piano forte literature —much more difficult f or the
,

interpreting musici a n than the famous D o n J u an

F a n taisie o f M o z art as arranged by L iszt .

O PPO RT U N I T I E S
H RA S ING IN P
There are o f course n o n ew oppo rtu nities in
, ,

phrasing ex cept th at the student o f today realizes

the necessity fo r intelligent phrasing far more than
the student o f twenty years ago There are how .
,

ever still some people who b elieve t hat a nyone can

,

play the piano without bein g a musician That is .

,

they seem to think that all one nee d d o is to culti

vate a d igital cleve rness to succeed as a pianist O f .

course one may learn a great deal f rom certain

,

boo k s on phrasing but the master pianist gets his

,

outlook upon phrasin g by b ein g as familiar with

the laws o f the composer as the composer himsel f .

A smattering o f in fo rmation on the subj ect wil l

n ever satis fy him I a dvise my pupils t o go t o
.

hear the concerts o f great orchestras and lea rn how

to listen to the ca re ful phrasing o f each instrument .

The playing o f conce rt os with accompaniment o f

the teache r at the second piano is t o be re co m
men d ed most highly Th e stand ar d o f musical in
.
32 0 GREA T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

QU E ST ION S IN S T YL E I N T E RP RE T A T ION E xp RE S
, ,

S IO N AN D T E C H NIC O F P IA NOFO RT E P LAYING

S E RI E S XX II
R UDO LF m m

1 What is the tendency o f modern piano fo rte

.

playing ?
2 What danger S houl d the student fight i n his
.

piano playing ?
3 What type o f piano i s the best balanced in st ru
-
.

ment ?
4 Upon what does the manner o f striking a S in
gle note depend ?
5 Has the day O f m elody passed ?
.

6 What is D e b u sse y s signal accomplishment ?

’
.

7 How does the master pianist get his a rtistic

.

outlook ?
8 Why are o rchestral concerts desirable fo r the
.

piano student ?
9 How
. has the modern F rench school a ffected
the study O f pedaling ?
 UNI V E RS ALI TY I N P IAN O T E A CH IN G
'

M E T H OD S
E RNE S T HUTCH E S O N

TH E N E E D F OR P RAC T ICAL I N STRUC T IO N

WH E N one contemplates the vast numbe r o f
things that have b een sai d ab out pian o playing and
piano study one is tempted to be silent upon the sub
j c e t but as a matte r o f fact there 15 still a great
,

dea l th at one may ob serve and a great deal that one

may say The t endency j ust n o w i s away f rom
.

theory in piano pedagogical matters

, P eople do .

n o t ask to know useless Opinions upon piano technic ,

b ut rather pre fer to fi nd out how the best playing

i s d one f rom actual observation .

The need for practical instruction has in a way

created a new class o f piano teachers w ho do n o t
write ess ays about wh at they intend to do but who ,

actually play and teach and through their e xp e ri

,

e n ce s evolve means o f t heir own t o fi t particular

needs .

L esche tizky has b een called the greatest pian o

teacher o f the n ineteenth century and this is n o
exaggeration He was great because he was al
.

ways practical H e indicate d cert ain m etho d s for

.

help in establishing the main p ricip l

e s o f elementary

technic but b eyond that he was abo ve m ethods

, .

322
 UNIVE RSALI TY IN PIANO T EAC H ING M E TH OD S 32 3

T E CH N I C RE QUIRE D
Technic has always adapted itsel f to the n eed o f
the times and to the character o f the inst ru ment .

I n the early days o f k eyb oar d instruments the

a ctio n an d the music t o b e playe d made little de

mand s upon the strength o f the player ; acco rdingly ,

with the spinet we find that i t was the custom to

play wi th extende d fingers the motion coming prin
,

cip al l
y f rom t he n ailj oint and to avoid the thumbs .

The spinet was a d elicate Inst rument m eant f o r deli

cate ears I t tinkled delight fully but had little
.

sonori ty A few mo d er n chor d s would smash such

.

an instrument .

At the nex t step o f the historical development O f

the inst ru ment a n ewe r an d s t ronger technic came
in vo gue through the u se O f the h a rpsichord and
early piano forte coincidently with the writings o f
,

B ach S carlatti Haydn Mozart and B eethoven

, , , .

F ree r use o f the thumb a stronger fin ge r action

,
-

( f rom the knuckle j oint with

-
cu r
,ved fingers ) and ,

the hand action from t h e wrist fo r staccato work

-

characterize the progress o f this perio d .

F inally came the t echnic o f F ranz L iszt an d with ,

it a piano o f iron an d s teel f rame deepened touch ,

an d immensely ma gn ified resources o f tone A gain .

pianists modifie d thei r methods the chie f points o f

,

n ovelty b eing an arche d po sition o f the han d to

(
give greater scope to the fin g e r action ) and the -

f ree u se o f the upper arm .

32 4 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

P ia no touch however is merely a necessary

, ,

means o f creating piano tone and in considering ,

the external m ovements o f the a rms and fingers

it is all too easily po ssible to lose S ight o f their true
Obj ect .

A fter all music is the art o f the car It reaches

, .

the individual solely through tha t o rgan and th a t ,

b eing the case the first consideration o f the pianist

should be be auti ful varied a n d expressive tone
, .

TH E S T U DY O F TO N E
The analysis o f tone must be an ear analysis .

N o matte r h o w ca re fully the student may have a t

tended to a l lthe outwa rd technic al directions re
garding hand position fingers etc i f the tone is
not right his W
.
, , ,

hole technic is faulty I r a rely .

watch the fingers o f a pupil n o r indeed do I watch ,

my own fingers ve ry closely when playing b ut I ,

listen incessantly I f I hear a particul a r kind o f

.

tone I know that the elbow is sti ff — another kind

might betray wobbly fin g ers and so on , .

“
On e o f the most common de fects in the technic
o f the avera ge pupil is lack o f f reedom in the uppe r
a rm . I t is su rprising what m ischie f can be b rought
a bout by a tightness o f the muscles a b ove the elbow .

I t prohibits a proper concentration o f weight in the

finger tips an d in fallibly hardens the tone in fo rte
passages o f all kinds especially strong chords an d
,

octaves S ave fo r quite extrao rdinary e ff ects the

.
,
32 6 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

I am o ften aske d why pianists move the w rist up

and down af te r playing a note ; it is agreed that
n othing ca n b e done to modi fy the tone when the

key is held down F irst I answer practica lly all

.
, ,

pianists do it there fo re it is prim a facie right and

,

must have a meaning S econdly a tone undoubt.

,

e dl y can b e modified in m any ways a fter its initial

‘ ’
sounding by pedalling b y B eb ung and echo e f
, ,

f e ct s and by this very oscillation o f the wrist Just

, .

watch me fo r a moment while I do it an d then

w atch that vase o f fl owers o n the other en d o f the
piano Y ou see that every rose nods its head in
.

sympathy with m y S light movements That means .

tha t I am communicating vibration t o the entire

case O f the piano and rein forcing the e ff ect o f the
sounding bo ard A gain d o you k now t hat the
.
,

thunderous ec hoing roll o f b ig chords in a great

,

concer t hall is largely caused by strong vibration

impa rted to the w hole bo dy o f the piano by pedal
action ? Once more are you aware that i f one n ote
,

i s played with singing tone and anothe r lightly as ,

in accompa niment the hammers may seem to b e

,

have di ff erently a fter leavin g the strings ? B ut now

let u s leave these instances o f the delicacy o f the
instrument and retu rn t o technic .

TYPICAL TOUC H E S
The student I n my Opinion Should begin by ,

mastering certa i n typ ical fo rms o f touch which may

 UNIVE RSALI TY IN PIANO T EAC H ING M E TH ODS 3 7
2

at first be definitely associated with simple move

m ents These touches are what might be called the
.

prima ry colo rs o f piano playing and they should

be understood by the player and intelligently ap
plied I have o ften foun d the followin g tab le o f
.

great use t o b eginners :

These o f course are only the b roadest o f types
, , ,

an d I do not mea n to say that a po rt ament o ca nno t

b e executed by the fingers o r that the wr i st takes ,

n o part in legato playing A staccat o fo r instance .

, ,

may be per forme d by fin g e r action by hand action -

,
-

f rom the wrist by movement o f the wris t itsel f b y

, ,

arm action from the elb ow o r shoul d ers o r by com

-

b in e d action o f finge r an d hand o r han d an d a rm .

I n fac t a n almos t infinite variety O f touch is

,

po ssible a cco rdin g t o the tonal e ff ect d esire d and

, ,

i t is largely this w hich gives charm t o expressive

inte rpretation N evertheless the three typica l
.
,

touches shoul d fi rst b e studied and deve l ope d n o t ,

only in technical exercises b ut also in musical per

’
f o rm an ce The stu dy o f Mozart s F anta sias an d
.

S onatas may b e espec i al l y recommen d e d i n this

connection .

The extension o f piano lite ratu re has mad e a

giant technic necessary Y et i t is Obviously im .

po ssible to prepare fo r every diffi culty which may

o ccu r in modern music Teachers now realize that
.

a command o f certa in technical form ul ae an d ele

m enta ry principl es Ope n s the way t o the more in

32 8 GREAT PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

t ricat e problems . They know that technic is at

best a means to an end They consider how the
.

exercises and scales are played rather than the mere

task o f playing them an infinite number O f times .

A ny fool can play a fiv e fin g e r exercise but it takes

-

a wise m an to ad apt what he has learned from play

ing such an exercise to the uses o f his interpretative
wo rk .

I t is surprisin g h o w certain ped a gogical materials

survive in the piano fo rte study o f today . Of
course new and excellent m ateri als come f rom the
,

printing presses all the time but only the best sur
,

vives . Take the case o f C ze rn y and C ramer .

Teachers fin d themselves turning back to those able

étude writers all the time C ze rn y was a contem
.

p o ra ry o f b oth Hummel and S t e ib e l t and in their

day H ummel an d S t e ib el t were looked upon as the
e quals o f B eethoven N ow their music is largely
.

a memo ry but C zerny and C ramer are both used to

this hour .

S o it is with scales an d arpeggios The wise

.

teacher is the experienced te a cher an d the e xp e r

,

ie n ce d teacher kn ow s that a certain fluency and

easiness an d general intuitive intimacy w i th the k ey
board can be Obtained through the use o f these
materials that cannot be Obtained as easily in other
’
ways I n other words the pianist s mind has to be
.
,

hitched up to the instrument so that he is able to do

a great d eal o f his keyb oar d work without co n scious
3 30 GREA T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

things which a pianist must remember in playin g a

complicated masterpiece The mind must direct at
.

al ltimes but it s chie f conce rn must be the a rtistic

,

import o f the passage and never the mechanical de

tails A ll modern methods reco g nize this and seek
.

to have these details a ccomplished by wisely planned

t echnical drill This in a measure accounts fo r the
.

gre at improvement in pi ano forte playing in general

during the last twenty fiv e years
-
.

QU E ST IO N S IN S T YL E I N T E RPRE T A T ION E X PRE S

, ,

S IO N AN D T E C H NIC O F P IANOFO RT E P LAYING

S E RIE S XX III
E RN E ST H U T C H E S O N

1 . Why was L eschetizky regarded as the gre ates t

piano teacher o f the nineteenth centu ry ?
2 . S tate the di ff erences in the touch demanded by
the spinet the ha rpsichord a n d the pian o
, .

3 How must tone be analyzed ?

.

4 . What is the e ff ect o f tightening t h e muscles

above the elbow ?

5 What Should the student kno w about the sen

.

sit iv e n e s s o f the piano ?

6 How is the piano tone a ff ected by pressure

.

upon the keys a fter they have been struck ?

7 S tate the characteristic touches o f the finge rs,
.

the hand and the a rm .

 UNIVE RSALIT Y IN PIANO TEAC H ING M E TH ODS 33 1

8 .What i s the value o f scales and arpeg gi os in

piano prac tice ?
9. S ta te how t he s u b c o nscious mind help s in p iano
stu dy .
 O LGA S AMAROF F

B IOGRAP H ICAL
O l ga S am aro ff (Mrs L e o p o l d S t o k o w s ki )
. w as b o rn o n
Au g u s t 8 , in S a n An t o n i o , T e xa s
1 88 2 , H er m , t he . o th er
g g
d au h t e r o f Ge o r e L o e n in g , a n at i e o f B re m e n , Ge r v
m a n y , w a s b o rn in Mu n ic h
b u t e d u c a t e d in Am e ric a H er .

fat e r is o f H o ll an d D u t c e xt ra c t i o n Mm e S am aro ff
h h . .

re c e iv e d h e r fi r s t i n s t ru c t i o n f ro m h e r m at e rn al ran d g
h
m o t e r an d m o t e r, b o t h
fi n e m u s ici a n s hAt t h e a g e o f .

f o u rt e e n s h e e n t e re d t h e P ari s Co n s e rv a t o ry , b e i n , s o f ar g
a s t h e w r i t e r k n o w s , t h e fi rs t Am e ric a n w o m an t o b e a d
m itt e d t o t h e c l a s s e s o f t at f am o u s i n s t i t u t i o nh Af t e r
g
g ra d u at i n f ro m t h e P a ri s Co n s e r a t o ry s h e s t u d i e d w i t v h
J e dl p p
icz k a (a u i l o f Ru bi n s t e i n a n d Ts c a i k o w s ky ) in B e r h
l in. I t m ay b e m e n t i o n e d t at a t v ar i o u s t i m e s Mm e h .

S am aro ff s t u di e d t h e p
i an o fo r a s o rt t i m e u n d e r Co n h
s t an t i n v o n g v
S t e rn b e r , L u d o ic B re i t n e r, E rn e st H u t ch e
s o n , an d t h e o r a n w i t g
H u o Ri e m a n n h g .

p
I n s i t e o f h e r s e r i o u s s t u di e s a n d e e r p ro m i n e n t p as v
s i o n f o r m u s ic Mm e S am aro ff d id n o t i n t e n d t o m ak e a
.

p u b l ic c a re e r I t w a s n o t u n t i l an u a ry 1 8 1 905 t at S h e
. J , ,
h
m a d e h e r fi rs t a pp
e aran c e o n a n y s t a e , a t Carn e i e H all g g
in N e w Yo rk, w i t h
t h e N e w Yo rk S y m o n y O r c e s t ra ph h .

H er cc e s s w as s o rapi d t h at m an y c o n c e rt g o e rs a re
su -

u n d e r t h e i m p re s s i o n t h at s h e h a s pl ay e d f o r a m u c h l o n g e r
p e ri o d I t w as n o t u n t i l h e r s u cc e s s w a s t h o ro u gh l y e s
.

t ab l is h e d in Am e r ic a t h at S h e p l ay e d in E u ro p e an d it ,

is S i g n ific an t o f t h e p re s t ig e w h ic h a n Am e r ic a n s u cc e s s
n o w g iv e s a n art i s t t h a t Mm e S am aro ff a t On c e O b t ai n e d
.

e n gag e m e n t s w i t h t h e l e a di n g o r c h e s t ras in t h e ci t i e s
w h e re S h e p l ay e d an d m a d e h e r déb u t in P a r i s V i e n n a
, , ,
L o n d o n Mu n i c h a n d e l s e w h e re a s s o l o i s t at t h e m o s t im
,

p o rt an t o rc h e s t ra l c o n c e rt s o f t h o s e ci t i e s .

A ft e r t h i s s i n gl e s e a s o n in E u ro p e an d fo u r s e as o n s in
Am e ric a Mm e S am aro ff s c are e r w a s i n t e rru p t e d by a
’
.
,

v e ry s e r i o u s ill n e s s w h ic h f o rc e d h e r t o a b a n d o n a l
,
lc o n
c e rt w o rk fo r n e a rl y f o u r y e ars Th re e y e ars ag o s h e .

b e c am e t h e w if e o f L e o p o l d S t o k o w s k i t h e n c o n d u c t o r ,

o f t h e C i n ci n n at i O r c h e s t ra n o w fill i n g t h e s am e p o s i t i o n
,

w i t h t h e P h il ad e l p h i a O rc h e s t ra I t m ay b e a d d e d t h at .

t h e v e ry Ru s s i a n s o u n d i n g n a m e o f O l g a S am aro ff is a
n om de P l
u m e n am —t h
e e n am e o f Mm e. S am a ro ff
’
s m a
t e rn a l g re at g ran -
dm o h
t e r, w h o w a s a Ru ss i an .
 C ON C E N TR A T I ON I N M US IC S T UDY

OLGA S AMAROFF
TH E subj ec t Of co ncentration in music stu dy has
be en discussed so many times that it woul d seem
well n igh impo ssible to say anything ab out it ap
p ro achin g novelty Y et concentra tion is a matter
.

o f such great consequence t o all students p a rt icu

,

la rly music students that there

, a re f e w a rtists who

would hesitate to place it at the ve ry f oundatio n o f

al lserious work . S uccess ful concentration is a
menta l process att ained only a fter much intellectua l
e ffo rt Th ere is un fortunat ely a tendency among
.

certain A merican students t o look upon anythin g

intellectual connected with music with more o r l ess
contempt They do n o t hesitate t o criticize ce rtain
.

great a rti st s in such a way that one readily dis

“ ”
covers that the students make intellect synonym
ous with in ferio rity On e realizes how absurd this
.

is when one remembers that all higher musica l work

’
is based upo n a d evelopment o f the indivi dual s in
t ele ct u al
l ity .

The precious d ivi ne spark which the a rt is t must

keep fl aring on his high altar I S n o t to be dimmed
by highe r m ental culture B ut the emoti onal con
.

’
tent o f the art ist s interpretati o n will n ot be lessene d
because he uses his b rain every second during his
study hours It is true that we O ften hear music per
.

334
336 GREA T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

nature To my mind howeve r these p e rform e rs

. , ,

do not d ese rve t o be seriously considere d as artists .

The truly great a rt ist is one w ho not only possesses

all the gi fts which the natural per fo rmer may have ,

but who also combines these with intellectual

b readth achieved through years o f intelligent study
an d expe rience .

’
MAKING O N E S P RAC T IC E
A T H OU S AN D FOLD MO RE
V ALUA B L E
The student then Should have a high regard fo r
al lintellectual wo rk demanded by his music study ,

t echnic a l mastery and all those f a culties which

,

make fo r a refined understanding o f music co n sid

ered f rom the highest a spect L et us repeat to
.

those who hesitate to consider the intellectual pro

cesses in their work— if the flame o f genius within
t h e musician is S O feeble that it coul d b e e xt in

gu ish e d by the development an d use o f his grey

matter it would sc a rcely in any case be capable o f
producing distin gui shed a rt istic re sults O f all the
.

intellectual processes none is more help ful to the

student than concentration—directing one s think ’

ing po wers t oward one thing and keeping them

upon that thin g until some definite purpose is ac
complished . The student shoul d al ways fasten
upon the conviction that whatever is his in the way
O f natural talent is there t o remain C oncentration
.

u pon technical details will enhance the value o f hi s

 CONCE N TRA TION IN M U S IC STUDY 337

t ra l talent a thousan d f ol d There a re d oubt

na u .

less hundreds o f student s now who are struggling

along hopelessly b ecause they do n ot know how to
concentrate thei r fo rces W hy will some students
.

persis t in b eing so Short sighted in this particular ?

-

The playing o f B ach d emands concentration in a

remarkab le degree Y et I have students come to
.

“
me an d say I f I play B ach I shall n o t be able to
,

“
play C hopin .On e might as well say I f I read ,

S hakespeare I shall n o t b e ab le t o rea d Maeter

linck C an anyone imagine anythin g more ah
surd ? The qualities which one develops t hrough
playing B ach a re o f inca lculable b enefit i n playin g
C hopi n.

NO P A T E N T RUL ES F OR CON C E N T RA T ION

B y c o n cent ratio n the stu d en t must not imagi ne
that I have a n y proprieta ry methods in min d .

There are n o patents n o rules no schemes Wha t

, , .

i s n eede d i s everyday common sense C ommon .

se n se ought to revea l to the average student that i f

he can pl ay a passage once correctly he should b e

able t o play it a gain an d again correctly i f only he ,

repro d uces the same degree o f concentration which

insured per fectio n in the fi rs t c a se That is to say .
,

i f the student s techn i ca l ab i l ity an d musica l und er

’

s tand ing e n compa ss a passa g e in ques tion o nc e i t ,

is l argely a matt er o f mind co ntro l i f t he stu de nt

su cceeds i n repro d u cin g t he pas s age w itho u t t he
338 GREAT PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

customa ry n eedless an d w a st f u lrepetitions throu gh

which so many students go b e fo re they seem to get
results E very time the passa g e you have selected
.

“ ”
f o r practice fails t o g o right a fter you have once
succee d ed in playing i t to your satis faction j ust tell
,

yoursel f that you a re n o t concentrating S ome mis

.

guided young m usicians seem to fai l in realizing tha t

in o rder to insure results one must invariably pre
serve that intimate connection b etween the b rain and
the fingers that spells concentration They seem to
.

think that they may dream away at the keyboard and

let thei r blunderin g digits tak e care o f themselves .

Y ears o f study are w a ste d i n this way an d the ears

o f students to say n othing o f others w ho are ob lige d
,

to l isten are tortured by bunglin g practice that neve r

,

i n al lthe wo rl d ca n po ssibly lea d t o real success

.

The first mi stak e l ike al l fi rst o ff ences is the b e

, ,

ginnin g o f the en d unless the stu d ent takes great

care to avoid such a custom Mistake making i n
.

most cases i s an entirely avoi d ab le habit o ften re

,

su l t in g f ro m n o t checki n g the matter at the very

start I f the stu d ent woul d only l earn t o stop the
.

ve ry moment that t he first mistak e is mad e an d

give himse l f a severe l ecture o n the l ac k o f co n ce n
t rat io n he woul d stan d a far b ett er cha n ce o f ulti
mate success tha n i f he bl indly continue d t o concea l
his b lunders under that most d eceptive o f l e gen d s
”
P ractice makes P er fect . P ractice does make pe r
f e ct it i s true b ut only righ t p ra ctice b rought about
, ,
340 GREA T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

to master the ways an d m e an s leading to an im

p ressive theatric a l e ffect that the audience would at
once perceive an d comprehend he once practiced
,

the little bit some two hun d red times With every.

repetition he b ecam e more and more ab sorbed so ,

that he entirely forgot eve rything else N ot only .

did several important e n gagements escape his mind ,

but he also failed to remember that he was to take

a certain train for the south o f F rance where he ,

was engaged to appear thus losing his last chance

,

for a lucrative per formance It seems needless to

.

s ay that all those who saw his per fo rm a nce were

especially impressed by this pa rt icul a r passage .

To the art ist who has once gaine d complete con

tro l o f himsel f an d his medium there is such a thing
a s a sub conscious gove rn ing or d irecting by the
-

m ind which g i ves him sureness and a kind of

‘

technical lib erty permitting his imagination to have

,

the freest possible play .B ut this sub conscious -

gove rn ing o f our work comes only with the com

p le t e control resulti ng f rom years and ye a rs o f

ri ght prac tice habits at the keybo ard Most o f the

.

problems con fronting the average stu d ent and per

former may b e solved by the kind o f concentrated
think i n g which comes through the habit o f collect
’
ing one s thoughts an d focusing them u po n one
po int u nti l so me thing is actua ll y acco m pli sh e d .

I n preparin g a passage fo r public per fo rmance

the stu d ent S hou ld end eavor t o k eep in mind the
 CONCE N TRA TION IN M U S IC STUD Y 34 1

ultimate manner i n which the passage wi ll be per

formed That is to say he will gain nothing by
.
,

practicing the pa ssage in an y othe r way The idea .

surprisingly advocated by some otherwise fine

teachers o f always practicin g things as they a re n o t
to be playe d eventually has alw ays struck me as
,

preposterous S ome teachers tell their pupils to

.

disregard the phrasing the ped alin g the expression

, ,

m a rks etc I t is easy t o see how the student can

, .
,

by givin g special attention to any one o f these

phases o f his playing through concentration de
v elo p that ph a se b ut at the same time he must
,

realize that in playing a single measure he is called

upon n o t to do one thing only but to control many ,

diff erent things all occurring at the same inst ant .

That is one o f the things that makes music study

so fascinating The mind is given one Sho rt mo
.

ment to per form a number o f diff erent actio n s and

these must b e ex ecute d with per fection o f di gital
detail fine appreciation o f a rt istic values and cor
,

respondence with the rest o f the composition The .

a rtist with the brush may stand b e fore his easel

f o r months painting painting painting erasing
, , , ,

o n e color here a nd supplying a line there but he ,

has all etern ity i n which to complete his ta sk i f he

chooses t o t ake it The canvas o f the interpreta
.

tive musician is the att ention o f his listener He .

paints at a m iracu o u sl y rapi d rate and his mind

must be traine d to think with a speed demanded in
3 42 GREA T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

no other a rt except perhaps that o f the sta ge Thi s

.

in itsel f should emph a size the necessity for co n ce n

t ra t io n in study so that the stu d en t will realiz e ho w
ve ry vital i t is t o his progress .

I find pupils who will completely l ea rn an d pro

duce the notes o f a work an d expect by some mys
t e rio u s means t o b e able to supply all the fine points
o f phrasin g accenting ped alin g and correct tempo
, , ,

a t the moment o f playing without any deta ile d con

,

centration upo n these matters b e fore the hour o f

the concert B e fore the student permits his work
.

to reach th e ears o f the audito r he must have studie d

it n o t only in all its parts but he must have pl aye d
it many many times j ust as he expects t o play i t on
,

the evenin g o f its ultimate per fo rman ce H e m u st

.

concentrate upon his work so that he can sit at the

keyb o a rd with supreme confidence and paint a to n al
picture that will leave a permanent a rtistic impres
s ion upon the mind o f the b e are r I f the student
.

woul d only keep be fore him the f a ct that he ha s

such a ve ry short time in which to creat e a maste r
work in interpretation he will surely see that he
,

can not a ff ord to waste any moments d u ring his

practice periods in wool gathering
-
.

DO N T TRY To Do To o MUC H AT O NC E
’

S ome stu d ents attempt t o l earn a whole composi

tion at one time This usually results in a succes
.

sion O f disasters .The stu d ent works pro di gi ously

344 GREA T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

S eventy three n otes

-
.

Thirtee n marks o f phrasing .

Three marks o f t empo .

Three import ant pe d aling mark s .

S ixteen marks indicatin g a certa in kind o f touch .

N ine ma rk s pertainin g to dyn amics (cres sf .

, .
,

Twenty three fin ge rin g s specified by some pains

-

takin g edito r .

Two Si gn ificant pauses .

A n embellishment which must b e properly inter

p re t e d A nd al l in eight measures ! Y et the stu
.

dent h as o nly skimmed o ver the sur face o f the

measures He must study the nature o f the p h ra s
.

ing n o t indicate d in the phrasing mark s ; he must

know how the opening a rpeggio is to be played ; he
must note the extent o f the main theme b e fo re the
second theme is introduced ; in fact there are man y
things yet to be considered in this little passage o f
eight measures S ome people have the g i ft O f o h
.

serving comprehending an d fixing these technical

,

and artistic points so that they are able to d o the

work in a much sho rte r time These people are .

those who have l earne d to concentrate .

Ho w C O NC E N T RA T IO N H E LP S M E M O RIZING
C oncent ration helps immensely in memorizin g
indee d it hardly seems necessary to ment i on this
very o bvious f act On e little device I have e m
.
 CONCE N TRA TION IN M U S IC STUDY 345

ployed i n memorizing may b e o f assistance t o the

student I n studying a n ew phrase with the vie w
.

to fixing it in the mind one shou ld no t merely study

the phrase alone but also p a rt o f the precedin g
phrase The acto r in studyin g his parts lays great
.

stress u pon his cues He learns the last wo rds o f

.

the previous speech so that the moment he hears

them his own lines come out automatically— that is
without apparent thought o r e ff ort I n m e m o riz
.

in g I apply a similar metho d which seems to help

,

me immensely in works O f a complicated nature .

I n studying a new phrase I always commence in the

middle o f the previous phrase Fo r instance in
.
,

a section o f the sonata to which we have j ust t e

ferred we fin d these t wo phrases

In memo ri z ing the second phrase I would p ra c

tice it a s f o ll o w s :
346 GREA T PIANI STS ON P I ANO PLAYING

This gi v e s t othe musi cal memory the same as

sist an ce upo n which the actor d epends fo r his se

cu rit y in reciting his lines on the sta ge .

A g reat deal may b e g ained by wa tching the

fingers on the k eyb oar d O f course this re fers o nly
.

to the work o f the pianist playi n g f rom memory .

I t m ay b e n ecessa ry a t the o utsta rt f o r the stu dent

to practice with his eyes away from the keyb oard ,

b ut a fter the stu d ent has gaine d a sense o f location

he will find tha t his eyes will help him immensely
in preservin g accuracy On e famous vi rtuoso one
.
,

o f the very greatest al ways keeps his eyes upo n the

,

keys The superficial stu d ent might think that this

.

would make the playin g o f the vi rtuoso stilte d and ,

l a cking in the aban d on o f the Ol d type o f pianist ,

who focused his eyes on the ceiling and his fingers

,

o n the wrong notes However there is something

.
,

in the attraction o f the k eyboard tha t becomes al

mos t hypnotic and the eye learns t o help make the
playing more definite more d epen d able while at
, ,

the same time the poet interpreter s i magi na ti on is

’

not robbed O f any o f its phantasy .

It is grati fyin g to n ote that A merican arti sts are

g ai n i n g more an d more reco gn itio n in their o wn
 M A R K H A M B OUR G
B IOGRAP H ICAL
Mark Hamb ourg is a member O f a very musical
family His fathe r Michael Hambourg is himsel f
.
, ,

’
a noted teacher ; his brother Boris is a cellist o f re
n own while another brother o f Mark is the brilliant
,

violinist Jan Hambourg

, Mark Hambourg was
.

born at B o g u t char S outhern Russia June 1 st 1 8 79

, , ,
.

At first the pupil o f his father he became the pupil

,

o f L eschetizky at the age o f twelve A s a prodi gy .

he made numerous very success ful appearances but ,

his parents wisely fo resaw the necessity o f develop

ing his generaleducation until he became a mature
artist A ccordingly he was withdra w n f rom public
.

wo rk for many years but since then he has toured

,

all o f the civilized countries meeting with great

,

success I n 1 9 07 he married D orothea daughter

. ,

o f S ir K enneth Muir Mackenzie G C B P e rma , . . .

,

nent C lerk to the H o use o f Lo r d s .

MARK H A MB O URG
35 0 GREA T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

no ti me at al lcan be wasted The need f or expe rt

.

inst ru cti o n i n the ca se o f the stu d ent expecting t o

be come a vi rtuoso is really ve ry great A po o r .

teacher wast es n o t only time b ut that more scarce

i f n ot more valuab le commodity money The goo d , .

t eacher uses only what is neede d in each particular

c a se ; a n d thus the pupi l is n o t weight ed d own w ith
a vas t amoun t o f unnecessa ry l uggage .

E SS E N T IAL S T H A T COU N T
Great eru d iti o n an d great k eyb oar d skill n eve r
make a success ful teacher unless there is that p re
cio u s gi ft f o r d ivinin g j ust wha t is right at the right

time C ommo n sense in little things in teaching is

.

far b etter t han a complicate d View o f musical com

p l
e x it ie s .F o r i n s ta nce,the pupil S hou ld learn at
the outsta rt that he has four mai n channels th rough
which hi s musica l t raining m ay b e b ro ugh t t o him ,

name ly
Vis u a l
A ural
H arm onic
Me chan ica f
That is he must use his eyes to fix in his mi nd
,

everything that can be d etermi ne d by the eye .

N othing on the print ed page must escape him

n othing in hand a rm and b o dy posi tion must el u d e
,

the cl os e scru tiny o f his eye s H is eyes m u st b e

.
 IN SU RING PROGRE SS IN M U S IC ST UDY 35 1

l ike t wo eve r present teachers making every hour

-

o f practice an instructive hour an d n othin g b ut an

instru ctive hour H is ea rs a re l ikewise teachers
.
,

a n d when the aura l sense i s so d eveloped that he ca n

hear music when he sees i t a s though it was b eing

,

playe d and enj oy i t with the same ease with which

he reads a b ook he is to b e congratulate d B y syn
, .

ch ro n iz in g as it were the visual sense an d the a ural

sense a vast a mount o f waste time may b e save d .

Y et thousands struggle with the k eyb oar d for years

an d never acquire this sense .

N ext the student must understand the family o f

,

chor d s an d know how they a re relate d P ractice .

in harmony Shoul d b e as regu lar a s practice i n k ey

b oar d exercises The b rain must have a ki nd o f
.

harmonic technic The reason why I emphasize

.

this is Simply b ecause with such a technic the stu

dent can save hours o f silly finge r d awdling at the
key s—hours that n eve r produce anythin g b ut cal
loused finge r tips .

F inally we have the mechanical which in disp en

, , ,

sab le as it i s sometimes results in excesses a lto

,

gether unwarranted P lease d o n o t think t hat I

.

am t rying t o say a nything so stupi d as d ec l ari ng

that keyboar d practice an d lo t s o f i t is n o t n e ce s
sary Quite the contrary is t ru e What I am t ry
. .

ing to point ou t is that i t is n o t the time t hat o n e

spen d s at t he k eyb oar d that counts b u t what is
brough t to the k eyb oar d by the b rain O f the pupil ,
35 2 GREA T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

an dhow the ti me I s spent at the keyboard I do .

my b est practice away from the keyboard That is

.
,

I work out the musical problems and get them

st raight in my mind so that no time is lost in f u m b
ling Over keys .

A CONVINCING I LLU STRA T ION

In o r d er t o point out very clearly what I mean
when I say th a t it is what is done at the keyboard
rather than how much time is Spent there that
really counts one nee d n o t go an y further than the
,

case o f the child prodi gy Here we h ave a n in

.

stance where there has not been time fo r an enorm

ous amount o f practice yet there are continually
b rought be f ore the public children o f ten eleven
,

and twelve with astonishing tech n i cal ability I n .

my own case I rememb er very well that my father ,

a very busy man let me have as a first teache r one

,

o f his own pupils who was gi fte d in playin g rather

than teaching This was a well meaning person o f
.

eighteen o r twenty who took a per functory interest

in teaching b ut did not do everyt hin g possible to
,

advance me . C onsequently I ca me to hate my

,

music l essons a n d detested practice This hate he

.

came so violent that I remember as a ve ry little tot

running splinters into my fi ngers to prevent taking

a music lesson My fathe r was quick to n ote my

.

a ttitude and soon took me in hand hims e l f He .

was a natural born teacher who love d chil d ren and ,

35 4 GREA T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

period o f re fl ection the piece is as it were digested

, ,

musically I t is only by some such process that the

.

student can really be said to master a work The .

great trouble is that the fingers are ma gn ifie d i n

their impo rtance and the brain is minimized .

Teachers seem to fail to realize that pupils have

b rains and that these b ra ins must b e directed as
,

care fully in music as in any educational work More .

“ ”
talents have b een ruined by f a iling t o conside r
the brain side o f the work tha n in any other way .

I n no othe r art b ut music is anybody and everybody

permitted to teach TO preserve the talent O f the
.

child and insure regu lar progress by all means se ,

cure a good teacher at the star t F orget ab out the

.

method th a t the teache r teaches and see that you

get the right individual O f course the work must
.
,

’
be methodica l but it need not be somebody s patent
plan that is supposed to apply in all cases with magic
prec i s i on With all other thinking pianists Le s
.
,

che t iz k y included
, I am emphatica lly against the
proprieta ry method idea in music study A poor .

teacher with the best metho d in the world could not

produce goo d results . To paraphrase a line o f
’ ”
S hak espeare The teacher s the thing and by this ,

I mean the individual To hol d to a weak teacher

.

wi th a much adve rt ise d metho d woul d b e like re

taining an incompetent d octor in a d angerous case
j ust because he was a homeopathi st a n a l lopath ,

o r a C h ristian S cienti s t The mai n thin g i s t o get

.
 IN SU RING P ROGRE SS IN M U S IC ST UDY 35 5 .

the right individual who has repeatedly S hown his

effi ciency so th at there can b e no mistaking his
claims Le t proprietary methods go t o the wind
. .

A ll really good teachers use much f rom many many ,

di ff erent methods .

A DVANC E D WO RK
N atura lly the pupil mus t expec t t o wor k with a
teache r who will criticize his e fforts with relentless
severity i f he expects his advance d wo rk to be
,

pro fitable A nyone who has faced the fi re o f

.

L eschetizky ha s always realized that a fter this e x

p e rie n ce one was ready to face almost anything .

N othing could have b een more ex a cting than the de

m ands o f L eschetizky Y et everyt hing he said was
.

tempere d with such good common sense and o fte n ,

w ith biting wit th a t pa rt o f the stin g was t ake n

,

away While with him I a lways tried to create o p

.

p o rt u n it ie s to play E ve ry week I l e a rne d a n e w

.

piece and it seeme d as though L eschetizky was

equally caustic with each one There is no way i n
.

which the aspiring young student who hopes to b e

come a virtuoso can go ahea d faster than by playing
a great deal fo r di fferen t people who are frank
enough to S pe ak out their min d s a n d who are in
t ellig e n t and experience d enough to give criticisms
o f value I n other wo r d s these b e n e fice n t critics by
.

thei r consta nt pounding en ab le the stud ent t o get

new angles o f vision upo n his o wn work .
356 GREA T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

CRI T IC S WH O H E LP
N o one i s a b etter critic than the fellow pupil .

O ften he sees things which the teache r does not I .

value the criticisms o f my fellow a rtists very highly .

I n an assembly o f pupils however where rivalry

, ,

runs high and tongu es are loosened by good n atured -

familiarity criticisms o f real worth are bound to be

,

received I t is next to useless fo r the pianist to

.

’
play be fo re his S O called f riends The pupils re
-
.

cital be fore smiling per fumed audiences o f pa rents ,

a unts brothers a n d admirers are usu a lly misleading

,

a s f a r as their educational e ff ect is c o ncerned They .

m ay have some value in accustoming the pupil to

’
public appearance and exhibiting the teache r s work
but they are likely to b e wholly misleading to the
pupil The studios a re filled with somewhat ghastly
.

examples O f young people who have been caj oled

into b elievin g that they have already m ade quite a
respectable climb up P arn assus when they have ,

really not touched the foot hills F l att e ry is the

.

bomb that d emolishes more honest effo rt than any

thing e l se .

C riticism that is well meant is easily detected

f rom that which is merely empty praise o r on the
other hand stupid fault hu din g During all the
-
.

time I was with L eschetizky sta nding u p under a

,

bo mb ardmen t o f criticisms I kn ew tha t he had o nly

,

my go o d at heart When h e ca me to me a s I was

.
-

abo u t t o s tart u po n my caree r a s a n a rtis t he h ad

358 GREAT PIANI STS ON PIANO PL AYI N G

thinks S omeone has said that we continually think

.

the thoughts o f other people b ecause we are t oo lazy

to think our own O f course the public has ce rtain
.

natural an d human appetites which no virtuoso is

foolish enough altogethe r t o disregard yet eve ry ,

’
program S hould b e representative o f the artist s in
dividual character This does not mean that he
.

should emphasize his whims o r exaggerate his per

sonal prej udices b ut with all good sense he should
strive to have eve ry program he presents b e him
sel f in person an d not some model a fter whom all
o thers are foolishly copyin g .

P rogram makin g is a distinctive a rt It i s con

-
.

ce iv ab l
e that an artist who makes n o e ff ort t o have

his personal taste represented in his programs but

who simply follows the conventions o f another day
may so stulti fy his work th a t progress would be im
possible I n the olden days at the L eipsic C onserva
.

to ry conventions were so strictly defined that L iszt

an d C hopin were practica lly debarred f rom many

programs ; an d L iszt to this day f rom the H och

, ,

schule in B erlin ! C onventions then Shoul d not b e

, ,

the main facto r in making a goo d program The re .

are certai n intellectual n eeds o f a musical kind as ,

wel l a s emotional deman d s an d these should b e con

,

s ide re d a bo ve all things F or insta nce in consider

.
,

i ng variety the per forme r is o ften inclined to let it

go with a variety o f diff erent names u pon the pro
gram whereas the main consideration is the variety
,
 IN SU RING PROGRE SS IN M U S IC ST UD Y 35 9

whic h S hould come to the ear o f the au d ience E ven .

leavin g out o f consideration those memb ers o f the

audience who a re igno rant o f the sign ificance o f
the names o f great masters there are still those
,

musically trained people who are quite as human in

thei r aura l appetites an d who will respond to a well
o rdered program and re j ect a poorly arranged pro
gram O f course the virtuoso has to play a n umber
.

o f works which a certa in portion o f the musical

public wants to hear A s a rule such works are

.

those with which the public a lready has some

familiarity o r those by composers su ffi ciently dis
cussed in print to have aroused a real curiosity t o
become acquainted with the compositions A fte r .

these considera tions the next woul d b e variety in

,

keys an d modes an d then variety in forms Who

, .

in the world would want to listen to three sym

phonies in G M a j or one right a fter the other ?
V ariety may be obta i ned f ro m pieces in m arkedly
di fferent rhythms an d metres C ertain pianists
.

have o f course given historical recit als at which

, , ,
.

fo r inst a nce have been per formed a long series o f

B eethoven S onatas These have an educa tional
.

value for the stu d ent an d the pro fessional b ut with ,

the general public six B eeth oven S o n ata s one right

a fte r the other would be like eating six b ig b ee f
steaks at one meal ! The followin g would in many
ways comply with the conditions which go t o mak e
a varied high class pro gram o f the presen t day
-
.
3 60 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

N ote the constant change o f key I t is neither the .

“ ”
conventional historical program nor is it cc ,

centric .

S P E CI AL P ROGRAM
T
K EY

F . Majo r 1 S
. . BACH I talia Co n n ce r to
L . V AN B E E TH O V E N So ata
n . Op . 106 o r I I I

F . CH OP I N

III
M RAV E L
. J e u d E au
’
x
CY R I L S C OTT L oto L a d s n

M Mo s z xo w s xx
. V b gen u s er m u s ic o
fr m

Ta n n ha u s e r a a rr n ged
fro Wa g m n er . Dr a ati
m c

DE B US S Y S u it e Ch a a t i tic
r c er s

course this is only one o f a great many di f

Of
f e re n t programs which would exhibit equal variety .

There is so much to cho ose f rom that there is n o

need fo r monotony at any time O f the new things .

o f the above program the V enusberg arrangement ,

which Moszkowski ha s been good enough to dedi

cate to me is one o f the most di ffi cult pieces ever
w ritten fo r the piano I t is filled with the genius .

and fire o f the origina l orchestral score and mak e s

36 2 GREA T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

decided by the individual sta rting out upon a ca ree r .

To my mind it is far b e tter to be one live active , ,

helpful teacher than two struggling impotent u m , ,

success ful v ir tu o si The teaching field is eno rmous

. .

The vi rtuoso field is ve ry small D o n o t belitt le

.

’
the work o f the teacher I t is upon the teacher s
.

shoulders that civilization advances I f you are a .

teacher be proud o f it—rej oice in it for there is

, ,

no nobler occupation .

Q U E ST IO N S IN S T YL E I N T E RP RE T A T IO N E X PRES
, ,

S ION AN D T E C H NIC O F P IA NOFORT E P LAYING

S E RIE S XX V
M AR K H A M B OU RG

What are the f our ch annels through which

1 .

musical trainin g comes to the pupil ?

2 What is the chie f value o f harmony to the
.

piano student ?
3 Through what may much time b e saved in the
.

study o f a new piece ?

4 S tate an indispe nsa ble attribute o f the vir
.

tu o so .

5 W . hat S hould b e the ma in factor i n m a king a

g o od recita l program ?
6 S tate how varie ty may b e obt aine d i n a pro
.

gram .

7 Compare the teacher s career with th at O f the

.

virt uo so .
 MODE R N I S M IN P IAN O F O RT E S T UD Y

P E RCY GRAI NGE R

NE W E FFO RTS W I TH OLD M E A N S

JU ST at the moment when the musical pess imists
were declaring that pianistic resources were coming
t o an end we find ourselves on the doorstep o f new
,

forms o f pianism which while they in no sense do

, ,

a way with the old means o f interpretation aid the ,

pianist in bringing new e ff ects even to the master

pieces o f yesterd ay I t is interestin g to think th at
.

’
with the advance o f the art one s resources become
more and mo re refined . Twenty years ago the
whole aim o f many piano forte students seeme d to
be spee d o r the art o f gettin g j ust as many notes as
possible in a given space o f time With the com.

in g o f such composers as Debussy Cyril S cott , ,

Ravel and others we fin d a grate ful return o f the

,

delicate and refined in piano pl ayin g There is a .

coming up ag a in o f the pianissimo More and more

.

artists a re beginning to realize the potency o f so ft

n otes rightly shaded a n d delivere d artistic a lly .

The modern composer has a new reverence fo r

the piano as an instrument The great composers
. ,

such a s B ach and B eethoven thought o f the pian o

,

a s a me d ium fo r all roun d expression ; b u t perhaps

-

they did not so o ften feel inspired by its Specifically

pianistic attributes as d o several o f the mode m s .

Many o f the Beethove n S onat as coul d b e o rches

364
 M ODE RNI S M IN PIANOFO RTE STUD Y 36 5

and a symphonic e ffect produced I n other

t rat e d .

words the magnificent thoughts o f most o f the great

,

masters o f the past were rarely peculiarly pianistic ,

though S carlatti C hopin an d Liszt in their day

, ,
’

(j ust as D ebussy Al b e n e z R avel and C y ril S cott

, ,

tod ay ) divined the soul o f the pi a no an d made the

instrument Speak its own n ative tongue .

TH E MOD E R N P IANO A P E RCU SS IO N

I N ST RU M E N T
Indeed the real nature o f the mo d ern piano a s an
instrument is in itsel f more o r less o f a mode rn
discovery N o one would b e altogethe r satisfied by
.

trumpet passages playe d upon a violin b ecause the ,

violin and the trumpet h ave characteristics w hich

individualize them I n precisely the same fashion
.

the piano has indivi d ual characteristics The piano .

is distinctly an instrument o f percussion—a b eatin g

o f felt covered hammers upon tightene d w ires
-
.

Once we realize this a great deal may b e learned

, .

Debussy has retained in his pianistic vocabulary

many o f the b eauti ful kalei d oscopic eff ects a gi fted
chil d strummin g upon the piano would produce ,

b ut which our overtrai ne d ears might have rej ected

in the past Thus his metho d s have implied a study
.

o f the problem o f j ust ho w much disso n ance can

b e a rtistically appl ie d an d yet k eep his work wi thi n
-

the bo und s o f the b eauti f ul I t has b ee n sai d that

.
'

Debussy lea rn e d much from a Jav an ese instrument

3 66 GREA T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

called a G amalan This instrument is a kin d o f

.

orchestra o f gongs I have been told that when

.

the players f rom the far E ast performed at one

o f the P aris expositions Debussy was greatly a t
,

tracted by their mu sic and lingered long near them

,

to note the encha nting effect o f the ha rmonics f rom

the b ells There can b e n o doubt th at he sought to
.

reproduce such an e ffect on that other instrument o f

percussion the piano when he wrote his exquisite
, ,

Refl e ts da n s l an d the followin g si gnificant

’
e au ,

measures in P ag o des
No I . .
368 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

No 2
. .

plays th e mel o d y an d how d e li cate a nd exquisitely

subdued is t he lace like e mbroide ry which sur ro unds
-

the m e lo d y.
 M ODE RNI S M IN PIANOFO RTE ST UDY 369

I n playing chords so that one note may s ta nd out

above the others we con front what many seem to
thi n k is a really diffi cult task but as a matt er o f
,

fact it is not I t is a habit easily acquired

. .

What is the nee d fo r ever making a note i n a

chord stand out above its fellows ? I n al l good
part writing whether fo r the piano o r other in st ru
-

ments o r fo r voices each voice i n a seq uence o f

,

cho rds has some melodic value Many voices have .

a distinctive melodic value I n the o rchestra o r in

.

a quartet o f st rings o r o f human voices each part

has a certain tone colo r which gives i t individu ality
a n d distin g uishes it f rom the other pa rts B ut on .

the piano we have n o such contrasting tone colors

o r tone qualities to work with What in the o r .

che st ra, fo r instance i s accomplished l argely by

,

contrasts o f qu a l ity we on the piano must acco m

p lis h b y contrasts o f qu a n tity o r diff eren t,sound
’
strengths Don t you see that the only recourse is
.

to individualize the melody in an internal voice b y

making that melody louder o r by subduing the ,

other notes in the chords ? I t is quite possible to

play a chord in the following fashion

No 3
. .
37 0 GREA T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

That is the E fl at is loud and the D fl at an d B

,

flat are so ft N othing is simpler My own metho d

. .

is to hold my fingers rigidly ; with the secon d fin ger ,

which would play the E flat pro t rudin g downwards

, ,

while the thumb and fi fth finger which are to play,

the D fl at and B fl at are kept high S O that the fo rce

, ,

o f the blow descends on to the E fl at key (which is

presse d down as far as it will go ) while the othe r ,

two keys are only lightly struck (an d presse d down

only one thir d o r one hal f o f the tonal d istance they
- -

coul d d escend ) .

This opens up interesting vistas even yet not fully

explored It would be mo re profitable for many
.

o f our students to Spend a little more time upon the

quality o f e ff ects and a little less time in t rying to
clambe r over an immense amount o f technic work .

P laying two such chords as the following in th e

m anner indicated requires an amount o f thought ,

han d control far in excess o f that demanded by

,

m any supposedly di fficult techn ical exercises .

No 4 . .
37 2 GRE AT PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

N E W E FF E C TS
WI T H TH E P E DAL
Mo d ern pianism ha s b rought into vo gue ce rt ain
pedal e ffects which were only employed by the most
iconoclastic a f e w decades ag o A very striking .

eff ect o f diminuendo fo r instance can be produced

, ,

“ ”
by what I call hal f pedalin g -
The problem is t o
.

melt f rom fo rte to pianissimo through the use o f

“ ”
the pe dal B y hal f pedaling I mean repeatedly
.
-

li fting up the damper pedal j ust so high that the

dampers only partially arrest the vibrations o f the
string s thereby accomplishin g a gradual dim in u
,

endo I n the following three last measures O f my

.

Co l o n ia lS o n g fo r piano the n otes marke d with

stars are g radually melted a way by this process in

the secon d b ar O f the example t hough this is not ,

the case wi th the o the r six n otes the keys o f which ,

are pressed d own silently b e fo re the hal f pedaling -

begins so their d ampers are n o t aff ected by the

,

movement s o f the d amper pedal These six n otes .

a re thus hear d vi b ratin g o n to the very en d o f the

piece .
M ODE RNI S M IN PIANOFO RTE STUDY 37 3
 GREA T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

I t seems to me that we liv e in an age in which

the piano has again come ve ry much into its own .

The developments o f the last fifteen o r twenty yea rs

seem to me eno rmous A gain let me say that this
.

is a period in which the piano is not merely a p ra c

tical and se rviceable me dium for expressing noble
a n d touching musical feelings o f a n ature n o t e s

p e cia l
ly limited o r adapted to the piano o r any other
particular instrument but in which the very soul
,

and bo dy o f the instrument all its most individu al

,

peculiarities and idiosyncracies are especially ,

c atered fo r and in which the technical aspects o f

,

the piano are developed to a degree and in a m anne r

so that they are ab le to play an emotional and highly
soul ful role .

AN I N S PIRED P E RIOD
C omposers such as S carlatti C ouperin C hopin ,

a n d L iszt at once leap to one s m ind a s cre a tive

geniuses o f this particul a rly high pi a nistic type .

They have n o t only w ritten gre at music for the

piano such as the gi a nts Bach B eethoven B rahms
, , , ,

but the greatness o f their achievement lies in the

peculiarly pianistic note o f their style an d o f the
elements contained in their work s that prove u n
usually stimulatin g and developing t o pianists play
ing them Though personally I feel perhaps the
.

deepest attraction in the wo rks o f men such a s

B ach Wagner G rieg and F rederick Delius in
, , ,
 GREA T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

I wish to specialize on those composers whose piano

f orte works I have had the pleasure o f being the
first to introduce into many di ff erent countries on
my tours in various parts o f the world as follows : ,

Debussy Ravel Cyril S cott F rederick Delius Al

, , , ,

b eniz A t various times I have had the j oy o f in

.

t ro du cin g these men for the first time to audiences

in E ngland Holland G e rmany S c andinavia A us
, , , ,

t ra l
ia N ew Z ealand a n d I know no privilege more
, ,

’
enticing and no event connected with a per former s
career more satis fying and exciting an d wo rth while
than be in g ab le to introduce the torch bearing works -

o f n ew ico n oclasts t o b roa d mind ed audiences all

-

ove r the wo rld hungry and eager fo r b eauti ful new

,

things .

The soul fully sensuous an d w ist fully t end e r and

pathetic creations o f the modern F rench composers
“ ”
have occasioned a reaction against banging and
over energetic Virtuoso pl aying in genera l fo r which
-

we can never be too thank ful They have re in t ro .

du ce d certain types o f ch a rm ful pianism that had

b een n eglected Since the days O f C ouperin and
S carlatti They have also Opened our eyes to the
.

entrancin g b eauties o f certa in long pedal e ffects ,

’
which a re particularly convincing in Debussy s
R efle ts da rts l
’ ’
eau P ag o des and in Ravel s f e u x
, ,
’
d e a u an d On din es There are a fter all many very
.
, ,

purely percussive and bell like and gong like e ff ects

- -

peculiarly native to the nature O f the metallic mod

 M ODE RNI S M IN PIANOFO RTE ST UDY 37 7

cm piano which lay dormant until so wonder fully

developed by Ravel and Debussy w hich no d oubt ,

they owe in pa rt i f not chie fly to their contact with

, ,

Gam al an s an d othe r E astern instruments an d m u

Sics .

C Y RI L S C OTT S UNI Q
’
U E A C H I E V E M E N TS
There are certain possibilities o f the mo d ern
piano forte that it seems to me only Cyril S cott has
known how to utilize to thei r fullest extent Mod .

ern musicians have long b een pro foundly attracted

to irre gu lar rhythms o f eve ry kind A s early as .

1 899 I was mysel f b usy evolvin g a style o f rhy t h

m ical ly irregular music in which eve ry b ar length

-

every beat length could have a duration that had

-

no regu lar relation whateve r to those preceding o r

following i t I f our present system can be de scribed
.

“
as meter in music then what I was attemptin g
,

“
might be termed p rose in music These e xp e ri
m ents o f mine led Cyril S cott t o pursue highly o r

igin aldevelopments o f his own .

I t is one thing t o write highly i rregu lar rhythms

fo r chorus o r o rchestra o r chamber combinations ;
it is anothe r thing to get such rhythms accurately
per fo rmed with complete unanimity b etween the
,

di fferent per formers ! Cyril S cott realized that the

absolute solo nature o f the piano off ered unique

Oppo rt unities I t is far easier fo r a single pe r

.

forme r to re p ro duce complex rhyt hms than f o r

37 8 GREA T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

s everal musicians playing o r Singing together to do

50 . There fore the most success ful and revolution
a ry developments o f irregular rhyt hms yet in print

ca n be studied in Cyril S cott s piano works such ’

,

a s his great S o n a ta Op 66 his S u ite Op 7 5 an d

,
.
, , .
,

such entrancing and highly o ri gi nal and sign ifica nt

smaller numbers as the following f rom his P o e m s
fo r pian o —The Ga rde n o f S o u lsy m pa thy B e l l
s -

, ,

The Tw il ig h t o f the Ye ar P a ra dis e B irds etc

, , .

AS a pianistic colorist he has exploited the metal

l ic bell like cl anging uppe r octaves o f the piano in
,
-

ways no othe r composer has producing brittle iri ,

d escent casca des o f cho rd sounds that have a ca pti

-

v at in g charm wholly their own .

’
A part f rom all this Cyril S cott s music most
,

soul fully expresses one o f the most interesting ,

noble an d poetic artistic pe rso nalities o f our age .

TH E I N FLU E NC E O F S PA NI SH G IP S Y MU S IC
I t is highly interesting t o t race the i n fl uence o f
’

g uitars m a nd o lins etc in

, such pieces as Debussy s
L a S o i re e dan s Gre n a de and Min s tre l Ravel s ’
s ,

Al b o ra da e l Graz io sa an d A lbeniz s I b e ria A lbeniz

’
.
,
“
developed the t w o hand techn ic perhaps mo re
-

than an yone else H is piano style might also be

.

“ ”
nicknamed a concert ina style so much does it ,

consist o f right le ft right le ft devices Al

“
,
”
, , , .

b eniz s eems to me to give us a volume o f sonority ,

a dashing inten sity an d glowi n g brilliancy tha t have

380 GREA T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

D a n ce R hapso dy, S ea drif t, -

Appal
a chia Mas s
, o f
Lif e, On H e arin g the Firs t Cu ck o o in S prin g , etc .

H is polyphony is marvelous and has an in de fin

able B ach like quality that is no less noticeable in
-

his emotional make u p and in the non e ff ect seeking

- - -

sincerity an d depth o f his whole be ing and utter

a nce His artistic Soul is akin to great cosmic men
.

such as B ach Wa gn er G oethe Walt Whitman

, , , ,

Milton—h e is most at home in great b road lines ,

and his work glo w s with a great lovingness almost ,

reli gious i n its all emb racing and cosmic b readth

,
-
.

QU E ST IO N S IN S T YL E I N T E RPRE T A T IO N E X PRE S
, ,

S IO N AN D T E C H NIC O F P IA N OFO RT E P LAYING

S E RI E S
‘
XX V I
P E RC Y G RAING E R
1. Give some o f the chie f di ff erences be tween
piano playing o f twenty years ago and the piano
playing o f today .

2 G ive the n ames o f some composers whose com

.

positions a re peculiarly pianistic .

3 I n what class o f instruments does the piano

.

properly belong ?
4 F rom wha t oriental instrument did D e b u sse y
.

learn much ?
5 Why is it d esirable to emphasize ce rtain notes
.

in chords ?
 M ODE RNI S M IN PIANOFO RTE STUDY 38 1

6 What have been some o f the chie f innovations

.

o f Cyril S cott ?
7 Tell
. somethin g o f the pianistic a ccomplish
ments o f A lbeniz.
 A L E X AN D E R LA MB E RT
B IOGRAP H ICAL
A lexande r L ambert was bo rn at W arsaw N o ,

v em b e r I 1 86 3 His first teache r was his father

, .
,

Henry L ambe rt A t the age o f te n A lexander

.

played fo r Rubinstein who was much impressed ,

’
with his talent and gave the bo y s father a letter
,

to Julius E pstein at the V ienn a C onservato ry A t .

the conse rvato ry he remained fo r four years gradu ,

ating with a medal sho rtly a fter he was S ixteen

years o f age When seventeen he move d to Am
.

erica whithe r hi s parents had come Here b e de

, .

v elOp e d his repe rtoire through sel f study fo r three

,
-

years When twenty he returned to E urope and

.
,

toured G ermany and Russia with the great Joachim .

Moszkowski then to ok a great interest in the young

pianist an d in addition to dedicatin g a work t o
, ,

him advised him to go to W eimar to study with

,

Liszt A t W eima r he remained for many months

.
,

under the direct guidance o f L iszt Retu rn in g to .

A merica he appeared as a soloist with the orchestras

o f S eidl Damrosch V an der S tucken and made
, , ,

highly success ful appearances in recitals in N ew

Y ork B oston C hicago and other cities
, , A t the , .

a g e o f twenty— three Lambert started in to teach

, ,

an d soon found himsel f at the head o f the highly

success fu l N ew Y ork College o f Music where he ,

remaine d as d irecto r for eighteen years S ever al .

o f his pupils have a ppeared at impo rta nt conce rts

here an d ab roa d with notable success .

382
 P R OFI TABLE P R A CTIC E
V e rsu s
WAS TE D P R A C T I CE
ALEXANDE R LAMBE RT

W A ST E D PRAC T IC E A T TH E OU TST ART

TH E mo re experience d the t eacher the more e v i
d en t it i s t o him t hat n o one can make a set o f
practice rules o r a practice plan that wou ld co v e r e

l
‘

all cases I t is extremely diffi cult to get away f rom

.

generalities b ecause each individual pupil is d i f

'

f e re n t f rom any an d every other pupi l an d to

make a hard an d fast l aw f o r practice that w o u l
- -
dl
fit all would be like making one pair o f spe ctacles
a n d expec t that pair t o fi t t he eyes o f many d i f

f e ren t people The simile is an interesting o n e fo r

.

i f there ca n b e so much di ff erence in the focus o f

diff erent eyes imagine what a n immense d iff erence
t here must b e in the me nta l focus .

The fi rst genera l ru l e fo r the t eacher t o o b se rve

in the p ractice o f the b eginner is to leave nothing
u n d one t o mak e the practice i nteresting a n d e n

t hu sia st ic
. The pupi l shoul d go t o the keyboard
a live with i nteres t It d oes n o t make much di f
.

f erence how the teacher a ccomplishes this so long

a s he real l y d oes it Y ou wil l fi nd hun d re d s and
.

hun d reds o f theories abo ut how to te ach bu t they ,

383
384 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

are all worthless unless the teacher has the power

to grasp the essentials in connection with each case .

T H ROUG H TH E E Y E S OF TH E CH ILD
The t eacher must o f course see the interestin g
, ,

si d e o f music himse l f That i s he must see it

.
,

through the eyes o f the chil d The pupil comes .

with a face that is a picture o f unwillingness H e .

should leave the studio with a face b eaming with

the excitement o f having learn ed something beauti
ful an d pro fitable S ome people are able to do this
.

an d some a re not Those who can create that kind

.

o f enthusiasm which charges the pupil with the d e

sire t o work and work har d until the n ext lesson
are the success ful teachers They outstrip many
.

who may have b etter technical equipment and who

won d er why they do n o t succeed by paradin g the
fact that thei r training has been the most elaborate
o f any o f the teachers in t own .

A fter all the one great thing in all education is

,

simply res u l ts . I f you want to know the greatest

secret o f how t o become a success ful teacher pro ,

duce results n o t o rdinary mediocre results but re

, , ,

su l t s that a re so artistic and so thorough that they

cann o t f ail t o comman d respect an d attentio n My .

frien d s use d t o say to me when I was director o f

“
the N ew Y ork C ollege o f Music Mr L ambert
you are very success ful—you are a good business
, .
,

m an . It always made me laugh as I never felt ,

386 GREAT PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

my teache r has b een turning out success ful pupils

”
fo r years .

Then the well meaning f riend answers

-

“
That has n othing to do with it N obody thinks .

o f studying by any other metho d than the

$ XYZWX$ method in these days
”
.

The pupil runs o ff to the brand new and in co m

parable method A fter a little while some othe r
.

well me an ing f rien d comes along with another in

-

fallible method and the pupil is again torn u p f rom

,

“ ”
he r regular practice by the roots as it were and
, ,

plante d i n a new e d ucational hot b ox guar a nteed to -

produce results finer than anything ever produced

b e fore F o r this reason I have made it a practice
.

not to criticize pupils O f other t eachers A ll teachers .

have their own ideas and are entitled to think as

their j ud gment prompts I t is most unj ust to
.

criticise the work o f another teacher in good stand

in g as one may not perceive the purposes for which
,

the other teacher is working B y criticising n u .

fairly all the pupil s confidence in his teacher (an d

,
’

there fore the confidence he should have in his p rac

tice periods ) is disto rted and instead o f an eager, ,

positive active pupil we have a weak listless wan

, , ,

”
d ering s tudent who never reaches his goal .

R E D UN DANCY IN PRAC T IC E
I n the early sta ges o f musical progress the pupil
should be counseled to watch his own work so ca re
 PROFITA BLE P RACTICE VE RS U S WA STED 387

f ully that he may determine at home whether he

works co rrectly o r not—which passage needs repe
tition an d which does not A nd O ften even a simple
.

little melody requires hard work G ood practi ce is

.

intelligent repetition but there is little intelligence

,

in repeatin g anythin g without concentration o f

mind C oncentrate upon the difficu l t passages and
'

work on them until they sound as fl uent and simple

as the ones that are now easy to you .

I ndeed one o f the chie f a ims during practice is

,

to develop the critical sense Have you ever

.

thought o f it in th a t way ? A ll the time you a re

workin g with your fingers at the keyboard you
should be busy in your brain building up those
faculties which discriminate very nicely indeed b e
tween what is artistic e ff ective o r b eauti ful and
, , ,

that which is weak banal o r ugly A fte r all the

, .
,

sum and substance o f your musicianship apart f rom

your actual keyboard work depends upon the mental
balance o r artistic right an d a rtistic wron g which
you should be building eve ry moment d uring your
practice .

O f course the a dvice o f your t eacher i s in t he

first place o f grea t value in in forming you upo n
,

those art principles which d efine b eauti fu l playin g

and careless playin g There are certa in laws o f ex
.

pression which have to do with form and design

with which eve ry teache r should ac quaint his pupils ,

b ut the working out o f these principles i s d one in

388 GREA T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING
’
the pupil s own mind and nowhere else P ractice .

that does not lead to this is certainly worthless .

I f you were to listen to someone else playing you

“ ”
would be all ears fo r false notes bad phrasing , ,

poor pedalin g L isten to yoursel f in the same way

.
,

as though a strange r were playing—o n e might al

most say as though a rival were playing This .

makes fo r co ncentration and is always profitable .

P H Y S ICAL
C O NDI T IO N S
The student Should constantly realize how thor
oughly practice is a matter o f b ody building an d
b rain building There are times when practice is
.

more inj urious than beneficial I f the b odily health

.

is bad the student should lessen his practice e ff o rt s

o r even stop entirely until better physical conditions

a re obta ined N o teacher is smart enough to give

.

a music lesso n t o a headache a bad case o f indiges

,

tion o r la grippe I f any one o f your pupils happen

.

“
to b e the victim o f legitimate sickness let him ,

stop until he recovers Y ou may lose a little in

.

l esson fees b ut why waste your time your strengt h

, ,

and your knowledge trying to teach when teaching

i s impossible ?
The capacity o f some stu d ents i s limited That .

is they ca n take j ust so much at a time and d o it

,

well I t is much the same with the practice period

. .

P ractice as long at one time as you can practice

well and do n o t t ry to crowd one o r two months
,
’
390 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

While his mind is in that imaginary room the re

should be no intrusions f rom the outside no looking ,

out o f the menta l windows This does not apply

.

only to pieces and to studies a lone but to all modes

,

o f practice—e verything .

F o r instance my experience has shown m e that

,

scales are invaluable and I use them constantly with

all pupils in all grades The pupils are taught f rom
.

the very first to concentrate upon the scale s j ust as ,

though they were playin g the most diffi cult piece .

Their eyes never leave the fingers and the m ind is

constantly at work disciplining the fingers insisting ,

upon co rrect hand positions controlling the touch

, ,

etc V ariety is to be had by practicing scales with

.

Special attentio n to an y o f the fol l owi ng matters ,

all equally important :

TOUC H
S T RE NG TH
S PE ED
L IG H T N E SS
S U RE T Y
LOO S E N E SS, E TC .

A ny one who has practiced scales right in these

ways never pro fesses to be bored with them Many .

o f the great pianists feel the n ecessity f or a thor

ough an d continu al playing o f the scales The .

student who tries to do without them is ma king a

v e ry serious mistake indee d .
 PROFITA BLE PRACTICE VE RS U S WA ST ED 39 1

P RAC T IC E MU S ICALLY
The wors t kind O f practice is per functo ry p ra c
tice The key b oard is a kind o f treadmill fo r
.

thousands o f students They play and play and .

play and n eve r consider the musical side O f their

,

work I n fact there is ve ry little di ff erence b e

.
,

tween t heir wo rk and that o f an acto r who might

take Hamle t an d recite it with the same S ing son g -

t hat childre n use in saying the multiplication tables .

I n all yo u r practice with pieces every note every , ,

motive eve ry phrase every section you play shoul d

, , ,

be fille d to the utmost with musica l expression That .

is you Should n o t leave a phrase pass under your

,

fingers unless it has meant something to you I t .

should have passed through your consciousness an d

should carry a message t o o the r ears a message ,

which is a part o f you .

D O not do this in the har d es t possible way Take .

the n atural Simple way— b e yoursel f S ome u n

, .

fortunate pupils imagine great e ffort wrinkled ,

f oreheads and nervous anxiety will lead t o results

in practice Quite the opposite is really true L et
. .

your mind an d your fingers do the work not your ,

face I f you wanted to walk grace fully you would

.

n o t b e gin by putt in g your fee t and legs in o u t rag

c ous shapes and staggering along like a cripple .

L earning t o play is in some ways like learn ing t o

’
walk Do n t l earn to stagger and stumb l e by per
.

mitting yourse l f repeatedly to stagger an d stumb le .

392 GREA T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

A ll work at the keyboard is for control C ontrol .

does not come about by fo rgiving little slips getting ,

stupidly excited o r making blunders E very pupil .

can get hold o f himsel f and retain that hold so that

mistakes b ecome the exception instead o f the rule .

R E GULA RI T Y IN PRAC T IC E
The great virtuoso who may never have given a
lesson in his li fe and may have forgotten all about
the conditions which existed during his student
days who may have b een so t a lented that his case
,

was no cri terion by which the work o f other less

gi fted pupils might be j udge d O ften gives the fol
,

l owing a dvice :
“
P ractice w hen y o u f ll
ik
eee it .

That i s al l very wel l for the vi rtuoso who has

alrea dy acquired a giant technic but over thirty ,

years o f experience with pupils in all grades dur ,

ing which I have given personally thousands o f

lessons has shown me that the only sa fe course fo r
,

the average pupil is t o

“
P rac tice ll
y o
re g u a r r n o t at a l
l .

Y oung pupils shoul d repo rt fo r their practice

hours every day j ust as they repo rt fo r their school
,

work P upils think that they can Skip a day now

.

and then without a ff ecting their work so long as

“ ”
they make up by practicing three or four hours
39 4 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

hours My only advice to pupils upon assigning

.

“
work to be studied is to say Do as much as you
,

”
can lea rn perfectly I f the pupil does only three
.

measures I am satisfied so long as those measures

are as nearly per fect as possible F o r the average
.

pupil o f eighteen in g o od health three o r at most

, , , , ,

four hours a day is ample Mo re is likely to be in

.

j urions S ome years ago I prepared a card giving

.

a dvice to students upon the sub j ect o f practice .

This is so nearly identical with what I am givin g

today th a t it may be interesting to reprint this card .

It has gone into the hands o f thousands I ndeed I .

,

see nothin g in my advice o f two decades ago that

I would ca re to alter ve ry rad ically t o d ay .

ADVIC E TO S T U DE N TS
Al ways practice systematically .

’
S eldom practice over four hours a day Don t .

think that by practicing S ix o r seven hours a day

you will become a greater artist than he w ho p rac
tices four hours a day Y our fingers cannot stand
.

so lon g a strain and i f you pe rsist they will take

, ,

thei r revenge a few years later when your fi ngers

,

will begin to lose their strength and surety A .

student who cannot accomplish much in f our hours ,

will not in six .

D ivide your hours for practicin g thus : one hour

a n d a hal f in the mor n in g ; the same in the a ft er

n oon an d one hour in the evenin g

,
.
 PROFITA BLE P RACT ICE VE RS U S WA ST ED 395

I n the mo rn ing devote hal f an hour to fiv e fin g e r -

exercises and scales hal f an hou r to your études

,

and hal f an hour to your sonata o r piece Do the .

same in the a fternoon The hour in the evenin g

.

may b e devoted to reviewing your last lesson .

D o not practice your whole lesson every day ;

divide it into equal parts Y ou can learn one page
.

a day where you could not learn two o r three

, ,
.

A lways practice S lowly and care fully I f you .

come across a di fficult passage practice it with each ,

hand sepa rately repeatin g the passage first slow l y

,

and with stren gth and then faster an d mo re so ftly

,

until you have maste red it .

QU E ST IO N S IN S T YL E I N T E RP RE T A T IO N E X P RE S
, ,

S IO N AN D T E C H NIC O F P IA NOFO RT E P LAYING

S E RIE S XX V II
AL E XAN DE R LA M B E RT
I . What is the first general rule in all piano fo rte
practice ?
’
2 .How may a pupil s menta l and ne rvous condi
ti o n be readily detected ?
3 What should be one o f the chie f aims during
.

practice ?
4 .How Should the pupil liste n durin g practice ?

5 .How should physic a l health gover n practice ?

6 S tate si x things which S hould be considered

.

durin g scale practice .

396 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

7Why should the pupil endeavor to discover

.

the easiest form o f practice ?

8 What are the great advanta ges o f regu lar i
.

in practice ?
How long should one practice daily ?
9 .

1 0 H ow shoul d di ffi cult passa ges b e conquered ?

.
 A LB E RT O J ON AS

B I OG RAP H ICAL
S ch o r Jon as is k nown as a S panish vir tuoso b ut ,

i n reality he is a cosmopolita n in every sense o f

the word H e has lived in nearly all the capita ls
'

o f E urope an d also he resided fo r many years in

,

A merica His lea rn ing is wide and comprehensive

.

in other lines than music The fact that he speaks

.

S panish F rench G erman and E nglish with equal

, ,

facility has enable d him to make researches in many

depart ments o f science and literature in m an y coun
tries He has devoted much spe cial at t e n t I o n to the
.

nerves in piano f o rte playin g and has a tho rough

understanding o f the physi o l ogical aspect o f the
subj ect S e iio r Jon as was born at Madrid Jun e 8
.
, ,

1 86 8 .A fter study in S pain he gra d uated at the

B ru ssels C onse rvatory win ning the fi rs t prize in
,

piano forte playing an d two first prizes in harmony .

Lat er he studied with A nton Rubinstein in S t .

P etersbur g an d made an inter national reputation

,

as a pianist .
 N E R V OUS N E S S I N P IAN O P LA Y ING
ALB E RTO J ONAS

N E U RA STH E NIA TH E A M E RICA N DI S E A S E

,

MU S ICIAN S n otably music teachers have the

, ,

reputation o f being nervous and since A me rica has ,

“
been called by many the count ry o f nerves it
would seem th a t A me rican m usic workers Should
be su ff erers This however is by n o me ans an
.
, ,

exclusively A meric an disease nor are the only vic

tims to be found among the A merican m usicians .

P athologists nevertheless a cknowledge that there

, ,

is a great amount o f nervousness in A merica and

this is n o t said in the way o f b eing a S lur upon the
country o r its people I nasmuch as an A merican
.

physician D r G eorge M B eard as lon g ago as

, . .
,

1 88 1 wrote a b ook entitled Am e rica n N e rv o u s n ess ,

I ts Ca u s es a n d Co n s e qu e n ces in which he dwells

,

upon the fine o rg a nization o f native A mericans ,

t heir delicate skin hair o f so ft texture an d small

,

bones there can be no o ffense when A merican nerv

,

o u sn e ss is discussed .

MU S ICIAN S US UALLY K NO W L I TT L E OF CAU S E

Musicians who k now littl e o f other pro fessional
work than their o wn n aturally have only a very
,

vagu e idea o f the nature o f n e rvousness o r it s

ca uses They do not realize that n ervousn ess I S I n
.

3 98
400 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

sel f in no way responsible and f or which he is

ready to b lame any person o r any thing .

A S E LF S UGG E ST E D CO M PLAIN T
P uttin g asi d e heredity and pathological con di !

tions n ervousness comes under the head o f sel f

,

suggested complaints I f one were to isolate the

.

microbe o f nervousness it would pro b ably be found

that it was nothing other than the magnification o f
sel f alth ough on the contrary in some cases it
,

m ight b e laid to the neglect o f sel f .

Take the matter o f food for instance Musicians

, .

eat at all hours consume rich viands o ften hurry

, ,

through their meals and some un f o rtunately are ad

dic ted to the over use o f a lcohol I do not re fer.

n o w t o those who indulge in wine o r beer occasion

a lly , but t o those who consume the ve ry strong

dri n k s A s a matter o f fact there is less alcohol
.
,

i n a glass o f well b rewed beer (G erman beer has

-

3 743 70 ) than in a poorly cooked potato A raw p o

1 .

t at o contains 6 5 % o f alcohol N evertheless the

.
,

b ooks by Specialists on ne rvousness are filled with

inj unctions a gainst the abuse o f alcohol which is a
mos t excellent fuel and motive power fo r machin
e ry o ther than the human stomach .

I have seen A merican musicians rush back to

work directly a fter a meal j ust like their brethren
in the A merican business world The G erman o r .

the F renchman rests a fter his meals rests for per ,

 N E RVOU S N E SS IN PIANO PLAYING 4O I

haps hal f an hour and then returns re f reshe d with

his digestion undisturbed by business c a res There .

can be no question that dyspepsia and n e rvousness

are closely connected in m any cases G et the best .

book you ca n u pon diet and eating the right selec ,

tion o f f ood s etc and then use all o f your will

'

, .
,

power to create habits O f correct eatin g This may .

S how in your pl aying and study Wh o kno w s it .

,

m ay be j ust what you nee d most to ge t ri d o f

ne rvousness .

TH E A M E RICAN T E M P E RA M E N T N E RV E S AN D

A merica i s a land o f such amazin g oppo rtunity

that the musician like the b usiness man keeps him
, ,

sel f constantly under a great strain to get ahead .

N o o n e can tell me that t he A merica ns are not

temperamenta l but m any misconstrue the me aning
o f temperament and imagine i t must b e a form o f
nervous a gitation On the contrary it i s a highly
.

developed n e rvous o rg a nism un d er adequate contro l

o f the wil l It is a lively exuberance an d f orce fu l
.

expression o f the feelings I n music i t includes .

enthusiasm and the ard ent d esire to do j ustice to

the beauties o f a composition The temperamental .

playe r wi l l put m ore emphatic force in his strong

utterances He will give more passionate expres
.

sion to phrases o f love sorrow coura g e a n d despair

, , .

On the o ther han d he is by the very n ature o f his

,

ar t apt to step over the bo unds This ex aggera ti on .

,
 GREA T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

which is ruinous to the interpretation o f a great

m a ste r work is quite as apt to come f rom lack o f
,

the right artistic balance o r j udgment as it is f rom

l a ck O f a strong ne rvous system but it probably
,

comes more f requently f rom the latter .

S OME WO N DE RS O F TH E N E RVOU S S Y ST E M
I n o rder that the musician may gain a better idea
o f the marvels o f the nervous system and perhaps
a higher respect fo r the wonder ful piece o f physio
logical machinery which we all have within us I ,

would suggest th at he secure some good simple

wo rk upon the nerves and do a little close reading .

I n the first place the n umber o f n erve cells in the

,

body is prodigious . Of course they have neve r

been counted because it would be almost as easy to
count the stars in the fi rm am e n t E stimates how
.
,

eve r place the number o f nerve cells in the human

,

b ody at hundreds o f millions Y et all these are

.

connected in some mysterious a n d wonder ful man

ner with the br ain and the spinal cord S ever cer
.

tain ne rves i n your arm and you m ay apply a burn

in g b rand to your hand without feeling it This .

illustrates how closely connected is the nervous

system with the brain A lthough you seem to feel
.

pai n in your fi nger when it is pricked with a pin ,

the sense o f pain is a fter all in the brain This is.

a very impo rta nt fact fo r musicians to note There .

a re in fere n ces which m i gh t be drawn there from

404 GREA T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

which re charges the nerve cells no one really

-

knows The nutrition o f the ne rve cell is howeve r

.
, ,

in large measure dependent upon the b lood supply

and i t may be assumed that anything which will
improve the condition o f the blood will at the same
time make for be tter ne rves I t may also b e seen
.

that the circulation o f the blood must be kept in

the very best possible condition .

There is no more stupid way in which the pianist

o r the piano student can waste his time than by
long continue d periods o f practice without relaxa
tion general bodily exercise and plenty o f deep
,

b reathing A quick walk a round the block inter

.
,

spersed with good full breaths o ften restores the ,

n e rve f orce and insures progress F o r that reason .

short practice periods and many o f them are better

than one lon g period .

ARE P IANI STS E S P E CIALLY L IA B L E To

N E RVOU S N E SS ?
I do not think that pianists are more liab le to
nervousness than people in other pro fessions as a
result o f the fact that the pianist is continually hit
ting with his highly sensitized finger tips all day
long A s a m atter o f fact the violinist exe rts far
.
,

m o re pressure upo n the fingerbo ar d o f the violin .

I n o ther wor d s n ote for note the physical fo rce de

,

m an de d in the case o f t he violinis t is g re ater than

in the case o f the pianist P iano playin g i n it sel f

.
 N E RVOU S N E SS IN PIANO PLAYING 405

does not promote nervousness On e has only t o .

j udge by the well known per fo rmers Most o f the

-
.

virtuoso s I have known are exceptionally strong

persons with hearty appetites and good ne rves The
, .

grea t pianist must have fine ne rves He would .

n ever b e able to stan d the strain otherwise .

N ervousness comes to those who have n ot ye t

le a rn ed how to control themselves mentally and
physically The little teache r who wo rries and
f rets all the time—who tortures her li fe with im a g
.

ining that aw fu l things may occur and who takes

every set — back as a ca lamity—she is the one who is
the victi m o f neurasthenia The teache r imagines.

that beca use success does not come a t once she

must be lacking in ta lent o r is goin g behin d Real .

success in music study is at the en d o f a long

j ourney The piano student must learn to contro l
.

his nerve b reaking eagerness t o ru sh a hea d

-
.

S O ME T H ING S TH E P ARE N T S H OULD K NO W

N e rvousness at the practice hour is by no means
unusual and piano practice in itsel f may b e ma d e a
,

source o f ne rvousness i f prope r cond itions are not

observe d The pupil should always practice in a
.

room alone There is nothing which makes the

.

pupil more nervous than petty disturb ances such as

people passing in and out O f the room annoying ,

parental admonitio n s other children playing in

,

n eighb o ring rooms I insist upo n the pupil having

.
406 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

a com fortable chair during practice There are cer

.

tain positions in sitting and standing which are a

great strain upon the ne rvous system E ase at the .

keyb oard can never be attained unless the pupil

learn s to sit easily and com fortably during practice ,

n o t on a revolving stool balanced like a per former

in the circus but upon a substantial com fortable

,

chair .

An other matter which has to do with nerve strain

is vision S e e to it that the distribution o f light I n
.

the practice room is right The windows (and like

.

wise the artificial light ) should b e behind o r a t the

side o f the per f o rmer never in f ront o f him E y e
, .

strain m ay tire the pupil and lead to ne rvousness

almost as quickly as in any other way Many peo .

ple are ne rvous and yet do not know that the cause
could b e removed by a goo d oculist A nother ca u s e
.

o f nervousness which very few might suspect is the

position o f the music on the music rack I n the .

case o f the grand piano the music is somewhat

higher than in the case O f the upright piano C on .

sequently when the music rack is too high the

player s neck is held in a st raine d position F o r
’
.

this reason a lso (and for other reasons too ) I dis ,

coura ge sitting too low at the piano It forces the

.

player to strain his neck when reading m usic A ll

, .

the great netwo rk o f nerve ganglia located at the

back o f the neck is then strained .
408 GREA T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

If he does f ret he Should look to the piece quite a s

,

much as t o his own ne rves .

B ut i f one searches deeper particularly into the

,

psychological aspects o f the subj ect one will o ften ,

find that underlying it all is a wrong an d let it be ,

s aid f rankly not ve ry noble attitude o f m ind

,
The .

per form er is a f raid because he consciously o r u n

consciously craves the appl a use a n d fl attery o f the
listener This S hould n o t be so and indeed is neve r
.

the c a se with the true artist He is o f course gl a d

.
, ,

i f the a udience understa nds h im he is also gl a d o f

,

the success and for all the good it may bring with
it B ut Should the a udience fail to respond and the
.

apparent success n o t yet b e his then he should ,

quietly investigate whether he has accomp l ish ed

what he had set out to do o r whether the selections
he had played W
,

ere too deep too abstract o r too

, ,

new for the avera ge audience to understand There .

is certainly no real occasion fo r n ervousness The .

per former will honestly and since rely criticize this

per fo rmance with a view to future improvement
and there will b e no sterner nor fairer j ud g e than
he .

Therei n lies the strength o f the true artist with

the view t o future improvement That thought will .

ever console him fo r the artist lives in a world o f

,

ide a ls which he strives to reach knowin g full well ,

t hat he will never quite attain them O ften an artist .

i s greeted with great applause a fter t he per fo rm

 N E RVOU S N E S S IN PIANO PLAYI NG 409

ance o f a piece but at the same time he realizes that

,

he has no t done his best The true artist will forget

.

the enthusiasm o f the audience an d set out t o im

prove the de fective passages even though the audi
ence w a s mistaken .

There fore whethe r the art ist plays well o r not

well he will always strive to improve his work ,

either by keepi n g it up to the fine standard he

usua lly attains or by endeavo ring to excel his own
pa st at future per fo rmances The per fo rm er thus
.

becomes a constant student O f his own playing— the

m o st abso rbin g subj ect he can possibly take up .

H o w can such a per former b ig o r small entertain

the fear thought ? He has far too much on his
m ind to think o f wo rry o r ne rves H e approaches
.

his task o f playin g fo r others without fear o r t re p i

dation but rather with the Spi rit o f Since re in
,

v e st ig a t io n
. N ervousness in public p l
ay in g t h en b e

comes an impossibility because his aim an d reward

lie highe r than the immediate applause .

P RAC T ICAL T E C H NICAL AD VIC E O N N E RVOU S N E SS

Vi ewe d f rom the prac tica l that is the phy sio l
, o gi

cal o r technical standpoint the n ervousness o f the

,

pianist occurs mostly in the changes o f the hand

position at the keyboard The mo re Skips there are
.

in a composition the gre ater is his fear o f missing

,

notes He has there fo re to learn by painstakin g

.

exercise t o control himsel f more an d mo re care fully

4 10 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PL AYING

when Changes o f position occur On the other hand .

“ ”
too much care will kill a ca t and he must acqui re
,

the necessa ry abandon a n d confidence in him sel f

a n d attain the desired a ccur a cy without seemin g

concerned abo ut it .

How closely nervousness is connected with fe a r

must b e evident to anyone who has observed clo sely .

E v e ry s o l
die r who goes into battle fo r the fi rst time
is afra id I f he man a ges to stick to his post w hile
.

the bullets whiz past his head it is because diso b e

die n ce o r retreat would bring him death with equal
cert ainty I t is only a fter repe ated experiences that
.

the soldie r learns to keep cool while dan g er sur

rounds him o u all S ides I n the same manner it
.

takes repeated experiences fo r the per fo rmer on

the concert sta ge to m a ster the courage which makes
him oblivious o f the audience .

D o not minimize th a t matte r o f courage Were .

I to epitomi z e eve ry conceivable requisite o f good

nerve control whether intellectual physical or
, ,

mo ra l I would choose th at word co u rag e as embody

ing them all It t akes c o urage at all times to make
.

the ne rves subservient to the will courage to regu ,

’
late one s li fe habits courage to be onesel f when in
,

’
the presence o f others courage to entert ain one s
own a rtistic convictions—co u rag e
,

COU RAG E , ,

CO URAGE .
4 12 GR ATE PIANI STS ON PIANO PL AYI N G

ne rvous music teachers o r rather those who think

,
’
they are ne rvous should rea d Moli ere s delightful
,

satirica l comedy L e Mal a de I m ag in aire The im .

a gin a ry sick man simply does not want to b e cured ,

an d it is not difficult to see how the tired t eacher

could take some ve ry slight nervous disturb ance an d
nurse i t into a genuine case o f neurasthenia .

MU S I C WO RK E RS
RI GH T L I V I N G F OR

W e are living i n a n age when there is a colossa l

appeal fo r higher an d higher e fficiency The so .

called efficiency expe rt places first o f all good bodily

health S tandar d s o f musici a nship constantly
.

ascend so that one simply must possess good nerves

“ ”
to keep in the S wim H ere are a few o f the
essentials which in my Opinion le a d to good nerves .

I G ood healthy simple food cooked without

.
,
'

u nnecessary strong spices eaten at leisure amid con

,

genial surrounding s and with an untroubled mind ,

not swallowed down in haste with the mind wo r ,

ried by the c a re o f the day F ood o f course is .

, ,

a ssimilated in the stomach but when one realizes

,

how much the m in d a fl e ct s the circulation o f the

'
‘

blood and the administration o f the gastric j uices

in the stomach one perceives how impo rtant the
,

right mental condition during meals really is

'

2 A bstinence f rom stron g stimulants I f you

. .

have an y doubt upon this subj ect get almost an y ,

book on n e rves and you will find that the evidence

,
 N E RVOU S N E SS IN PIANO PLAYING 413

is uncompromi singly against the abuse o f alcohol ,

o r in fact an y drug destined to aff ect the nerves .

A n exception might in some cases b e made o f well

brewed b eer o r goo d wine partaken o f in modera ,

tion .

G oo d mo ral habits I t need hardly b e e m ph a

3 . .

sized that immo rality o f any sort will in time under

mine the strongest nervous system I t is the surest . ,

quickest deadliest enemy o f goo d n e rves

, , .

4 P lenty o f work physica l an d mental do n e

. , ,

w i th j oy .

5 . E xercise in the open ai r not occa sion a lly but

,

eve ry day . D e ep b re a thin g , w he n in the o pe n air,

do n e e v e ry day .

6 .I n so far as possible consiste ntly e arly hours ,

o f re tirement .

’ ’

7 S ensible regu lation o f the day s work Don t

. .

practice four hours one d ay and one hal f an hour -

the nex t I f ne rves are n o t helped by pose they are

helpe d by poise Thin k a little—is this the wise
.

thing o r i s it a f oolish thing ? Y our intellect was

’
given you to gu i d e you Do n t rush f rom a hurried
.

lunch to a game o f l awn tennis o r a moving picture

S how S e e that i nte rva l s o f repose come b etween
.

your inte rvals o f energy A tten d t o thi s f o r a .

f ew months and you will surel y n o te a d iff erence i n

your nervous co nd ition .

‘
8 F reedom f rom worry G et ri d o f the i d ea o r
. .

the habi t o f wor ryi n g else al lremedi es fo r n e rve

,
 GRE A T PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

betterment will fail Musicians perhaps through .

,

too much confinement and long sedenta ry l abor a re ,

prone to worry ab out things o f ve ry little real con

sequence Here ag ain is the m a gnification o f sel f
. .

Just j ot down somewhere the fact th at you a n d all

o f your petty troubles will be out o f the way only
a very few yea rs hence This is a world o f trouble .

o r a world o f j oy pretty much as you choose to look

at it I do not me a n with this to advocate callous
.

ness o r indi ff erence to the real issues o f li fe What .

I m ean is that most o f our worry is misplaced AS .

fo r re a l c a uses fo r grie f these will be dealt with

,

according to our greater o r lesser stren gt h o f mind

a n d o f purpose and to the stoutness and faith o f

our hea rt N o a dvice can b e given here S hake

. .

speare has said it E veryone ca n master a grie f

.

b u t he th at has it .

9 Method and calm deliberation as to the d is

.

t rib u t io n o f your work and the disposing o f the

many thin g s th at have to b e done daily : letter writ
in g tele p hone ca lls visits etc
, I f you find your
, , .

sel f con fronted with a number o f things to do do ,

not f ret but j ust take hold o f the very first at hand
,

an d d ispose o f it calmly and with care .

1 0 G e t jo y ou t o f your work
. .

TH E HA B I T OF N E RV E CO N TROL
I am o f the opi ni o n that by practice o n e can de
“

v el
o p habits o f ne rve control that are in themselve s
4 16 E
GR AT PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

musculospiral nerves control the muscles o f finge rs ,

ha nds and arms But the nucleus o f all these ne rves

.

is situated in the co rtex in the head whence are is

, ,

s ued the o rders that set these nerves in motion .

Quiet your mental sel f gain command o f it an d

, ,

watch the immediate cha nge in the greater quiet

an d certa inty o f your motions A t one time I was
.

exceedingly ne rvous an d this in fact was what set

me to work studying the condition I went to a .

noted B erlin Specialist and he enj oined me to hold

out my hand with the pa lm downward O f course .

there was a ne rvous tremblin g so characteristic and

“ ” “
so annoying N ow he said hol d the hand in
.
, ,

f ront o f the b o dy the arm not at full length b ut

,

slightly b ent with the fingers not quite stretched

,

out straight N ow continue gazing at your fingers

.

and soothe by thought until the relax ed han d ceases

to tremble The thought indeed seemed to S oothe
.

the nerves an d a fter a little time spent in gazing the

condition was much b ettered A fter this he had
.

me turn the palm downward an d repeat the e xe r

cise The simple turn o f the hand resulted in pro
.

du cin g the trembling again but with the treatment

o f fixing the eyes an d concentrating th e attention
upo n the han d I soon found that it became quite
ca lm I practice d this exerci se several times ea ch
.

day f or many weeks with the result that my n e rve

contro l was so much improved that my han d stop ~

pe d S hakin g an d t remb ling entirely S ince then.

 N E RVOUS N E SS IN PIANO P I A YI N G I 7

.
ny erves have become exceedingly strong and
n

quite subse rvient to m y will This is a f orm o f

.

cure with which very few people are familiar and

I consider it extremely valuable I t is especially
.

use ful for pi a nists .

A n equally ingenious test o f nervousness is to

p ro cure a small vi a l like the Ol d fashioned homeo
pathic pill bottle an d put a little m ercu ry o r quick
silver in the bottom Mercury can be secu red at
.

a n y good d rug store C lasp the vial W i th the ti p s

.

o f all five fingers an d hold it with the top up I f .

you a re in a sta te o f poo r ne rve cont rol the mer

cury will dance in the liveliest fashion I f your .

nerves are fairly W ell unde r control the mercury

will be calm on the sur face I t is extremely unusual
.

ever to see the mercury absolutely calm even in the

cases o f people with very steady ne rves .

A V E RY V I T AL N EED
There is unquestionably a need fo r more con
sideration o f the subj ect o f nerves upon the pa rt
o f A meric a n mu sici a ns I f I have given any a d
.

vice in the foregoin g w hich may prove adv an t a

g e o u s to my A merican musica l friends it w ill give ,

me gre a t pleasure to know it My attention ha s re

.

ce n t ly been called to a quotation f rom an article by

D r S m ith E l
.
y J e l
liff e
, E dito r o f the J o u rn a lof

N e rv o u s a n d M e n ta lD is e as es which e m p hasizes my
“
point It reads L et it be rememb ered by the older
.
,
4 18 E
GR AT PIANI STS ON PIANO PLAYING

gene ra tions a n d t aught to the younger that tr ain ,

ing an d econo m izing o f ne rv e force a re vita lly im

po rtant to health and effi ciency and th a t the great
workers achieve thei r ends by that very qu ality o f
ne rvous energy w hich i f dissipate d degenerates into
,

”
nervousness .

QU E ST ION S IN S T YL E I N T E R PRE T A T ION E X P RE S

, ,

S IO N AN D T E C H N I C O F P IANOFO RT E P LAYING

S E RIE S XX VIII
AL B E RT O J O N AS
I To wh a t is n e rvou sne ss genera lly due ?
.

2 I n wh a t i s the norm a l cure for nervousness to

.

b e found ?
3 What is temper a ment ?
.

4 How do long continued periods o f practice in

-
.

’
j ure the student s work ?
5 A .re pi a nists especially liable t o nervou s ness ?

6 W rite out ten remedies for nervousness

. .

S tate how habits o f nerve control m a y b e cul

7 .

t iv at e d
.