PianoMastery 10021904

P I A NO MA S T E RY
TA L K S WI T H M A STE R P IA N IS TS
A ND TE A CH E RS
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N E W YO R K
F REZ E E B ICK A . S TQ K E S CO MP A N Y
P U B L ES H E RS
P I A NO MA ST E RY
TA LK S WI TH MA STE R P IA NI STS
A ND TE A CH E RS
A ND
AN A CCO U N T O F A VO N B ULOA W H IN TS O N
CL S S ,
I N TE RP RE TA T I O N B Y TWO A M ERI CAN TE A CH E RS

,
(D R. W ILLI A M M A S O N A N D WILLI A M H .
S H ERW OO D ) A N D A S U M M A RY B Y
TH E AUTH OR
BY
H ARRI E TT E B RO WE R
”
A u th or o Th e A the P ia nis t
f rt o f
WI TH S I ! T EEN P O R T R A I T S
N E W YO R K
F RE DE R I C K A . STO K E S C O M P AN Y
P UB L I S H E R S
Copyright, 1 9 1 5, by
FRE E RI C
D K A . S TO K ES CO MP A N Y
Cop yri gh t , 1913 , 1915. b y
TH E M U S I CA L O B S E RVE R CO M PA NY
Copyri gh t, 191 1 , b y
O LI VER DI T S O N CO M P A N Y
A ll righ ts re s e rv e d, i nc lu d ing th a t o f tra ns la ti on into

oreign la ngu a ges
f .
C ON T E N T S
P RELUDE
I G N AC E J A N P ADERE WS K I
E R N E S T S CH ELL IN G T he H a nd o f a P ia nis t
E R N E ST O CON S O L O M a k ing the Pi no M i l a a us ca
I nstrume nt
MON D S
S IGI S TO J O WSK I M i nd in Pi no S t d y a u
R U OL H G
D P ANz Co nser i ng E nergy in Pi no
v a
Pr ctise a
TIN A LE RN E R An Audience th e B st e
T e cher a
E T H EL L E GI N SK A R el tio n the K eynote f

ax a o
M oder n Pi no Pl yi ng a a
BERT HA F T A ER
I E RI N G PP M steri ng Pi n Prob lems
a a o
CA RL M R OE DER
. Prob lem f Pi no T cherss o a ea
K A T HAR IN E G OOD S ON A n Artist t H ome a
M A R H A M OU RG
K B F orm T echni c nd E pr s
, , a x e
s on r
TOB I AS MA TT H A Y W tchi ng the Artist T e cher

a a
at Wor k
H ARO LD B A UER The Questio n f Pi no T o ne o a
R A O U L P U G NO T r i ni ng the Child
a
T H U E L B U R N HA M M elody Color
“ ” “
Th e nd a
atur H nd a
”
a
E D WIN H UG H E S S ome Esse nti ls f Pi no a o a
Pl yi ng a
FE RRU CC IO B SONI U A n Artist t Home a
A DELE A O
U S DE R HE A nother Artist t Home a
E LE A NOR S E N CERP M ore L ight n Lescheti k y s o z
Id s ea
C ont e nt s
A RT H UR HO CH MA N the Pi nist C n Color

H ow a a
T o ne wit h Actio n nd E m a o
tion 1 54
TERE A CA RRE NO
S E rly T ech nic l T r i ni ng
a 1 60 a a
WI H E M B
L L A CH A U S T e c h n i c l Prob lems D i a s
cussed
A LE A N DER L A M ER T
! B Americ n nd Europe n a a a
T e ch rs a e 1 75
F A NNI E BL OO M I ELD Z E I S LER T h S co pe

F f Pi no T ech nic 1 80
e o a
A G N E S M ORG A N S implicity in Pi no T e ch a a
In
g
E U GE N E H E F F LE Y M odern T e nde ncie s
G ER M A N E I S CH NI T Z ER M oder n M ethods in Pi no
a
S tudy
O SS I P GA B RI L O WI I S CH
'
Ch r cteristic T ouch n the
a a o
Pi no a
H A N S VO N B ELO W T e che r nd I nterprete r

a a
WI LL I A M H S H ERW OO D
. A ND
D R WI LLI A M M AS ON
. Hi nts n I nterpret tion
o a
POST LU D E Vit l Points in Pi n Pl y

a a o a
ing
I LL U S T RA T I O N S
I gna c e J an P a d ere w s k i F rontz s pi e c e

’
F AC I N G
Si gis m o nd S toj w s k i o
R u d ol ph G n a z
K a t h ari ne G oo d so n
M rk H a m b o u r g
a
To b ia M tth ys a a
H rol d B a u er
a
R o u l P u gn o
a
F err c io B u s o ni
uc
E le nor S pe n c er
a
Teres Carre no a
W il h l m B h u s
e ac a
F a nnie B loo m fiel d Z eisler

O s i p G b rilo w i t s h
s a c
H ns n B iil w
a vo o
Dr Wi llia m M as on
.
P RE L U D E
TO A M E R I CAN P I AN O T E ACH E R S AND

S T U DE N T S
TH E following T alks were Obtained at the

suggestion of the Editor of M u s ica l A m erica
.
,
and have a ll with one or two exceptions a p

, ,
p e a re d in that p aper They wer

. e secured
with the hope and intention o f benefiting the
American teacher and student .
Re quests have come from all over the

country asking that the interviews be issued
,
in book form In this event it was the

.
author s intention t o ask each artist to enlarge

’
and add to his own talk This however ha s.

, ,
been practicable only in certain cases ; in

others the articles remain very nearly as they
at first appeared .
T he summer o f 1 9 1 3 in E urope proved to

be a veritable musical pilgrimage the mile ,
stones of which were the h omes o f the famous

artists who generously g ave of their time and
,
were willing to discuss their methods Of play

ing and teaching .
The securing of the interviews has given

ix
x P re l u tl e
the author satisfa cti on a nd delight She

.
wi s hes to s hare both with the fellow workers

Of her
The Talks are arrange d in order in
which they were se cu red .

P IANO MA S TE RY
P IA N O MA S T E RY
I GN A CE JAN P AD E R E W S K I
O NE of the most consummate masters Of

the piano at the present time is Ignace Jan
Paderewski T hose who were privileged to
.
hear him during his first season in this country

will never forget the e x perience The Polish .
artist conquered the ne w world as he had con

quered the old ; his name became a household
word known from coast to coast ; he trave led
,
over ou r land a Prince O f Tones everywhere

, ,
welcomed and honored E ach s ucceeding .
visit deepened the admiration in which his

wonderful art was held .
The question has often been raised as to the

reason of P a derew s ki s remarkable hold on
’
an audience ; wherein la y his power over the

musical and unmusical alike Whenever he .
played there was always the same intense hush

over the listeners the same absorbed attenti on
, ,
the same spell T he superficial attributed

.
2 P i a n o M a s t e ry
these largely to his appearance and manner ;

the more thoughtful looked deeper Here .
was a pl a yer who was a thoroughly trained

master in technic and interpretation ; one who
knew his B ach Beethoven Chopin Schumann
, , ,
and Liszt These things of themselves would

.
not hold an audience spellbound f or there ,
were other artists equally well equipped In .
a final analysis it was doubtless P a de rew s ki s ’
wonderful pia no tone so full Of variety and ,
color so vital with numberless gr a dations of

,
light and shade that charmed and enthralled

—
,
his listeners It mattered to no one save the

—
.
critics that he frequently repeated the same

works What if we heard the Chromati c
.
F antaisie a score of times ? In his hands it

became a veritable Soliloquy on Life and
Destiny which each repetition invested with
,
new meaning and beauty What player has .
ever surpassed his poetic conception of S chu

mann s P a pillons or the Chopin N octurnes
’
, ,
which he made veritable dream poems of love

and ecstasy What listener has ever forgotten
.
the tremendous power and titanic e ffect of

the Liszt Rhapsodies especially N o 2 When
, .
Paderewski first came to us in the flush of his ,
young manhood he taught us what a noble

,
instrument the piano really is in the hands of

every third note thus enabling each fi, nger in

turn t o make the a ccent impulse ! this will se
cure evenness of touch Double passages such .
,
as double thirds and six ths should be divided ,
and each half practised separately with legato ,
touch O ctaves should be practised with loose

.
wrists and staccato touch As a preparatory .
study practise with thumb alone The thumb .
must always be kept curved with j oints well ,
rounded ou t ; it should touch the keys with its

tip so as to keep it on a level with the other
,
fingers Paderewski is very particular about

.
this point .
“
It is difi
icu lt to speak Of Paderewsk i s man
‘
ne r o f teaching expression for here the ideas ,
di ff er with each composer and with every com

position As to tonal color he requires all pos
.
,
sible variety in tone production He likes .
strong contrasts which are brought ou t not

, ,
only by variety of t ouch but by skilful use o f

the pedals .
“
M y lessons with Paderewski were some
what irregular We worked together when
.
ever he came to Paris S ometimes I did not .
see him for several months and then he would ,
be in Paris for a number Of weeks ; at such

seasons we worked together very often F re .
quently these lessons which were given in my

,
I gn a ce J a n P a d e re w s k i 5
cousin s house began very late in the evening

’
—
,
around ten O clock and lasted till midnight

’
o r even till one in the morning .
“
Paderewski the teacher is as remarkable as
Paderewski the pianist He is very pa ins ta k .
ing ; his remarks are clear and incisive ! he Often

illustrates by pl a ying the passage in question ,
or the whole composition He takes infinite .
trouble to work ou t each detail and bring it

to perfection He is very patient and sweet
.
tempered though he can occasionally be a little

,
sarcastic He often grows very enthusiastic

.
over his teaching and quite forgets the lapse

,
Of time In general however he does not care

.
, ,
”
to teach and naturally has little time for it
,
.
M r Stoj ow s ki when questioned in regard

.
,
to work with the Polish pianist said !

his ,
“
Paderewski is a Very remarkable teacher .
There are teachers who attempt to instruct

pupils about what they do not understand or ,
cannot do themselves ! there are others who are

able to do the thing but are not able to explain ,
how they do it Paderewski can both do it and

.
explain how it is done He knows perfectly .
what e ff ects he wishes to produce how they are ,
to be produced the causes which underlie and

,
bring them about ; he can explain and demon

strate these to the pupil with the greatest ex

a ctne s s and detail .
“
As you j ustly remark the quality of tone
and the variety of tonal gradations are special
qualities of P a de re w s k i s playing T hese
’
.
must be acquired by aid of the ear which tests ,
and j udges eac h shade and qu a lity o f tone .
He counsels the student to listen to each tone

he produces for quality and variety
, .
CLEA R N E SS A F IR ST P RI N C I PLE
The player as he sits at the piano his mind

, ,
and heart filled with the beauty O f the music

his fingers are striving to produce vainly im ,
a gine s he is making the necessary e ff ects .
Paderewski will say to him ! N o doubt you feel

‘
the beauty o f this composition but I hear none ,
o f the e ff ects you fancy you are making ; you
must deliver everything much more clearly !

distinctness of utterance is of prime impor
tance.
’
Then he shows how clearness and dis
tinct ne s s may be acquired The fingers must
.
b e rendered firm with no giving in at the nail

,
j oint A t e chnical exercise which he gives

. ,
and which I also use in my teaching trains the ,
fingers in up and down movements while the ,
wrist is held very low and pressed against the

keyboard At first simple fi
. ve finge r forms -
I gna ce J a n P a d e re ws k i 7
are used ; when the hand has become accustomed

to this tonic some Of the Czerny O p 7 4 0 can
, .
be played with the hand in this position

,
.
Great care should be taken when using this

principle or lameness will result A low seat
, .
at the piano is a necessity for this practise ;

sitting low is an aid to weight playing ! we all
know how low Paderewski himself sits at the
in strument .
“
You ask what technical material 1 s em
p loyed Czerny O p 7 4 0 ; not necessarily the
.
, .
entire opus ; three books are considered suffi

cient Also Clementi s G ra dns O f course
.
’
.
scales must be carefully studied with variou s ,
accents rhythms and tonal dynamics ; a rpe g

,
gios also M any arpeggio forms of value may

.
be culled from compositions .
“
There are as we all know certain funda
, ,
mental principles that underlie all correct

piano study though various masters may e m
,
ploy di fferent ways and means to exemplify

these fundamentals Paderewski studied with .
Lesch etizky and inculcates the principles

’
taught by that master with this di fference , ,
that he adapts his instruction to the physique

and mentality of the student ; whereas the V or
b e re ite rs of Leschetizky prepare all pupils
along the same lines making them go through ,
a similar routine which may not in every

, in
stance be necessary .
F I N GERI N G
O ne po int Paderewski is very particular
about and that is fingering He Often care
, .
fully marks the fingering for a whole piece ;

once this is decided upon it must be kept to .
He believes in employing a fingering which is

most comfortable to the hand as well as one ,
which in the long run will render the passage

, ,
most e ff ective He is m ost sensitive to the

.
choice of fingering the player makes and b e ,
liev e s that each finger can produce a different

quality o f tone O nce when I was playing a
.
,
N octurne he called to me from the other end

,
Of the room ! Why do you always play that

‘
note with the fourth finger I can he a r you do

?
it ; the e ffect is bad He has a keen power of

.
’
Observation ; he notices little details which pass

unheeded by most people ; nothing escapes him .
Th is power directed to music makes him the

, ,
most careful and painstaking of teachers At .
the same time in the matter of fingering he

, ,
endeavors to choose the one which can be most

easily accomplished by the player The V on .
B ii l ow editions while very erudite are apt to

, ,
b e lab oriou s and ped a ntic ; the y sho w the Ge r

I gn a ce J a n P a d e r e ws k i 9
man tendency t o over elaboration which when

-
, ,
c arried t oo far becomes a positive fault .
C O RRECT M O T I O N
Another principle Paderewski considers

very important is that of app ropriate motion .
He believes in the elimination of every u n

necessary movement yet he wishes the whole
,
body free and supple M otions should be as .
carefully studied as other technical points It .
is true he Often makes large movements o f

arm but they are all thought ou t and have a
,
dramatic significance He may lift the finger

.
O ff a vehement staccato note by quick u p arm -
m otion in a flash of vigorous enthusiasm ; but

,
the next instant his hand is in quiet position

for the following phrase .
ST UDYI N G E FF ECT S
The intent listening I spoke O f j ust now

must be Of vital assistance to the player in his
search for tonal variety and e ffe ct Tone pro .
duct ion naturally varies according to the space

which is to be filled G reater e ffort must be
.
put forth in a large hall to make the tone carry,
over the footlights to render the touch clear

, ,
the accents decisive and contrasts pronounced .
In order to become accustomed to these condi

tions the studio piano can be kept closed and

, ,
t ouch must necessarily be made str onger to

produce the desired power .
I N TE R P RETA T I O N
“
A great artist s performance of a noble
’
work ought to sound like a spontaneous im

v is a t ion ; the greater the artist the more
p ro
completely will this result be attained In .
order to arrive at this result however the com , ,
position must be dissected in minutest detail .
Inspiration comes with the first conception Of

the interpretation of the piec e Afterward all .
details are painstakingly worked out until the ,
ideal blossoms into the perfectly ex e cuted per

f orm a nce Paderewski endeavors uniformly
.
to render a piece in the manner and spirit in

which he has conceived it He relates that .
after one of his recitals a lady said to him ! ,
Why M r Paderewski you did not play

‘
, .
,
this piece the same as you did when I heard

’
you before .
I assure you I intended to was the re

‘
,
’
O h it isn t necessary to play it always the

‘
,
’
same way ; you are not a machine said the ,

’
lady .
“
T his reply aroused his artist nature -
.
E R N E S T S CH E L L I N G
THE H AN D O F A P I AN I S T
A s I sat in the luxurious salon o f the apart

ments near the Park where M r and M rs, . .
Ernest Schelling were spending the winter ,
sounds of vigorous piano practise floated ou t

to me from a distant chamber It was u n .
usual music and seemed to harmonize with the

,
somewhat O riental atmosphere and coloring of

the music room with its heavily beamed ceil
-
,
ing of old silver its paintings and tapes

,
tries .
The playing ceased and soon the artist a p

p e a re d greeting the Visitor with genial friend
line s s of manner He was accompanied by the
.
“ ”
lord of the manor a beautiful white b ull
,
terrier with coat as white as snow This im

,
.
portant personage at once curled himself up

in the most comfortable arm chair a quiet pro -
, ,
found observer of all that passed In the midst .
of some preliminary chat the charming hostess

,
entered and poured tea for us .
12
E rn e s t S c h e l ling 13
The talk soon turned upon the subj ect in

—
which I was deeply interested the technical
training of a pianist .
“
Technic is such an individual matter b e ,
gan M r S chelling ; for it depends on so many

.
“
personal things ! the physique the mentality , ,
the amount Of nervous energy one has the ,
hand and wrist Perhaps the poorest kind of

.
hand for the piano is the long narrow one with ,
long fingers F a r better to have a short broad

.
,
one with short fingers Josef Hofmann has

.
a wonderful hand for the piano ; rather small ,
yes but so thick and muscular The wrist

, ,
t oo is a most important factor

, Some pianists
.
have what I call a natural wrist that is they

‘
,
’
have a natural control of it ; it is no trouble for

them to play octaves for instance M m e Car
, . .
reno has that kind of w rl s t ; she never had dif

ficu lty with octaves they are perfect Hof
, .
mann also has a marvelous wrist I am sorry .
t o say I have not that kind of wrist and there ,
fore have been much handicapped on that a c

count F or I have had to work tremendously
.
to develop not only the wrist but the whole

technic You see I was a wonder child and
.
,
played a great deal as a s m all boy Then from .
fifteen to twenty I did not practise anything

lik e wh a t I ought to hav e don e T hat is the .
pe ri o d when the bones grow muscles develop

—everything grows Another thing against
,
me is the length of my fingers When the fi n .
gers are longer than the width o f the hand

across the knuckle j oint it is not an advantage
,
but a detriment The extr a length Of finger

.
is only so much dead weight that the hand has

to lift This is another disadvantage I have
.
had to work against Yes as you say it is a

.
, ,
rather remarkable hand in regard to size and

suppleness But I hardly agree that it is like
.
Liszt s ; more like Chopin s j udging from the

’ ’
casts I have seen of his hand .
“
As for technical routine o f course I play ,
scales a good deal and in various ways When .
I go into training I find the best means to

!
,
’
attain velocity is to work with the metronome .
O ne can t j ump at once into the necessary

’
agility and the metronome is a great help in

,
bringing one up to the right pitch You see .
by the firmness O f these muscles at the back and

thumb side O f my hand that I am in good trim
,
now ; but one soon loses this if one lets up on

the routine .
“
Then I practise trills o f all kinds and oc ,
taves Yes I agree that octaves are a most

. ,
’
necessary and important factor in the player s

”
technical equipment .
E rn e s t S c h e l li n g 15
G oing to the piano and illustrating as he

talked M r S chelling continued
, .
“
M erely flopping the hand up and down as ,
—
many do is of little use it does not lead to
,
strength or velocity As you see I hold the.

,
hand arched and very firm and the firmness is ,
in the fingers as well ; the hand makes up and

down movements with loose wrist ; the result is
a full bright crisp tone O ne can play these
, , .
octaves slowly using weight or faster w ith

, ,
crisp staccato touch I play diatonic or eb ro

, .
matic octave scales with four repetitions or

,
—
more on each note using fourth finger for
,
black keys .
“
I sit low at the piano as I get better results ,
in this w a y ; though it is somewhat more dif

ficu lt to obtain them I confess it is easier to
.
sit high and bear down on the hands Yes I .

,
thoroughly approve of weight touch and it ‘
,
’
is the touch I generally use S ometimes it is .
a certain pressure on the key after it is played ,
using arm weight .
“
Ah you are right The young teacher or
, .
player in listening to the artist and noticing

, ,
he does not lift his fingers to any extent and ,
that he always plays with weight hastily con ,
eludes these are the principles with which he

must begin to study or teac h the piano It is .
16 P i a no M a s t e ry
a mistake to begin in that way V ery exac t .
finger movements must be learned in the begin

ning As I said b efore te chnic is s uch an in
. ,
dividual matter that a fter the first period of

,
foundational training one who has the desir e ,
to become an artist must work ou t things for

,
himself There should be no straight laced

.
-
methods O n ly a few general rules can be laid

.
d own such as will fit most cases

, The player .
who would rise to any distinction must work

ou t his own salvation .
In regard to memorizing piano music it ,
may be said this can be accomplished in three

ways ! namely with the eye with the ear and
, , ,
with the hand F or e x ample ! I take the

.
piece and read it through with the eye j ust as ,
I would read a book I get familiar with the .
notes in this way and see how they look in

,
print I learn to know them so well that I

.
have a mental photograph O f them and if ,
necessary could recall any special measure or

phrase so exactly that I could write it A ll .
this time my mental ear has been hearing those

notes and is familiar with them T hen the
, .
third stage arrives ; I must put all this on the

keyboard my fingers must have their train
,
ing ; impressions must pass from the mind to

”
the fingers ; then all is complete .
E R N E S T O C ON S O L O
M AK I N G T H E P I AN O A M U S I CAL
I NST RUME N T
IN a long conversation with E rnesto Con

s olo the eminent pianist and instructor many
, ,
points of vital importance t o the player and

teacher were touched upon Among other .
things M r Consolo said

.
“
It is absolutely necessary that the piano
teacher should take his profession very seri
ou s l
y . In my opinion there is most excellent
instruction to be secured right here in America
“
with such teachers as are willing to take their

work seriously The time is not far away I
. ,
think when America will en j oy a very promi

,
nent position in the matter o f musical ins tru c

tion and perhaps lead the world in musical
,
advantages The time is not here j ust yet but

.
,
it is surely coming You are still young in

.
this country though you are wonderfully

,
progressive .
“
If I have spoken of the s erious aims of
17
many teachers o f piano I cannot say as much

,
f or the students ! they are Oft e n superficial

a nd want to go too quickly ; they are apt to be
in a hurry and want to make a show without ,
being willing to spend the necessary years on

preparation N o art can be hurried Stu
. .
dents O f painting sculpture architecture or

, ,
music must all learn the technique O f their art ;

they must all learn to go deep into the mys
teries and master technic as the means to the
end and no one requires exhaustive prepara
,
tion more than the executive musician The .
person who would fence box or play baseball

,
must know the technic Of these things ; how

much m ore must the pianist be master o f the
technique of his instrument if he would bring
ou t the best results .
A t the very bottom and heart o f this sub

j ec t o f mastery lies Con c entration ! withou t
that little of value can be accomplished
, .
Students think if they sit at the piano and

‘
practise a certain number o f hours daily it
’
is sufficient A small portion o f that time if

.
,
used with intense concentration will a e com ,
p l is h more . O ne player will take hours to

learn a page or a passage which another will
master in a fraction of the time What is the .
di fference It may be said one has greater in

?
playing it in various ways until such a quality

is secured The piano is a responsive ins tru
.
ment and gives back what you put into it If .
you attack it with a hard t ouch it will respond

,
with a harsh tone It rests with you whether

.
the piano shall be a musical instrum ent or not .
“
A student who comes to me with a very
poor touch must Of course go back to first
principles and work up Such a n one mus t
.
learn correct movements and conditions o f

hands arms and fingers ; and these ca n be a c
,
quired at a table Along with these however

.
, ,
I would always give some simple music to play ,
so that the tonal and musical sense shall not be

neglected .
“
O f course I advise comprehensive scale
practise ; scales in all keys and in various
rhythms and touches There is an almost end
.
less variety O f ways to play scales Those in

.
double thirds and sixths I use l a ter after the

,
others are under control A rpeggios are also

.
included in this scale practise .
“
I have said that Concentration is the key
note of pian o mastery Another principle
.
which goes hand in hand with it is Relaxation .
Unless this condition is present in arms wrist ,
and shoulders the tone will be hard and the

,
whole performance constrained and unmusical .

E rn e s to C o ns o l e 21
There 18 no need of having tired muscles or

those that feel strained or painful If this .
condition arises it is pro of that there is sti ff

ness that relaxation has not taken place I
, .
can sit at the piano and play forte for three

hours at a time and not feel the least fatigu e
in hands and arms F urthermore the playing
.
,
of one who is relaxed who knows how to use

,
his anatomy will not inj ure the pi a no We

, .
must remember the piano is a thing O f j oints ;

t he action is so delicately adj usted that it
moves with absolute freedom and ease T he .
player but adds another j oint which should ,
equal in c a s e and adj ustment the ones already

there O n the other hand a person with sti ff
.
j oints and rigid muscles thumping ra g time on

,
a good p i ano c a n ruin it in a week ; whereas

,
u nder the fingers of a player who understand s
the laws of rel a xation it would last for many

,
years .
“
This principle of relaxation is exemplified
in the athlete baseball player a nd others
, ,
.
They have poise and easy adj ustment in every

part of the body ! they never seem to fall into
strained or sti ff attitudes nor make angular or
,
sti ff movements Arms shoulders wrists and

.
, ,
fingers are all relaxed and easy The pianis t .
needs to study these principles as well as the

athlete I believe in physical exercises to a

.
certain extent Light weight dumb bells can

.
- -
be used ; it is surprising how light a weight is

su fficient to accomplish the result But it .
must be one movement at a time exercising one ,
muscle at a time and not various muscles at

,
once .
“
F or memorizing piano music I can say I
have no method whatever When I know the .
piece technically or mechanically I know it by ,
heart I really do not know when the mem

.
o riz ing takes plac e The music is before me

.
on the piano ; I forget to t urn the pages and ,
thus find I know the piece In playing with .
orchestra I know the parts of all instruments ,
unless it be j ust a simpl e chord a ccom pa ni

ment ; it would not interest me to play with
o rchestra and not know the music in this way .
O n one occasion I was engaged to play the

S ga m b a tti concerto which I had not played for
,
some time I tried it over on the piano and

.
found I could not remember it M y first idea .
was to get ou t the score and go over it ; the

sec ond w a s to try and recall the piece from
memory I tried the latter method with the
. ,
result that in about three hours and a half I

had the w hole c oncerto back in mind I .
p layed the work ten days later without having

E rn e s to C o ns o l e 23
once consulted the score This goes to prove .
that memory must be absolute and not merely

mechanical .
“
Students think they cannot memorize when ,
it would be quite easy if they would apply

themselves in the right way I ask them to .
look intently at a small portion two measures , ,
or even one and afterward t o play it wi thout

,
looking at the notes O f course as you say .

, ,
this can be done away from the piano ; the

notes can even be recited ; but there are other
signs and marks to be considered and remem
bered so when one can b e at the piano I con
,
sider it better .
“
Piano playing is such an individual and
comple x thing I do not require nor expec t
.
my pupils to play as I do nor interpret as I ,
interpret f or then I would only see j ust s o

,
many replicas of myself and their individuality ,
would be lost I often hear them play a com

.
position ln a di fferent way and with a different

spiri t from the one I find in it B u t I don t .
’
say to them That is wrong ; you m ust play

,
‘
N O I let them play it as they

’
it as I do .
,
see and feel it s o long as there is no sin against

,
artistic taste .
“
I trust these f ew points will be helpful to
b oth player and tea cher T he latter needs all .
P i a n o M a s t e ry
the encouragement we artists can give for in

,
most cases he is doing a good work .
“
Volumes might be added to these hurried
remarks but for that my time is too limited
,
.
S I GI S M O N D S T O J O W S K I
M I ND I N P I AN O S T U D Y
M R S I GI SM O N D S TO J O W SK I the eminent
.
'
Polish pianist and composer was found one ,
morning in his N e w York studio at w ork ,
with a gifted pupil He was willing to rela x

.
a little however and have a chat on suc h

, ,
themes as might prove helpful to both teache r

and student .
“
You ask me to say something on the most
salient points in piano technic ; perhaps we
should say the points that are most importan t
,
to e ach individual ; for no tw o students are

exactly alike nor do any tw o see things in
,
precisely the same light This is really a ps y .
ch ologic a l matter I believe the subj ect Of

.
p sychology is a very necessary stu dy for both

teacher and student We all need to know .
more about mental processes than we do I .
am Often asked how to memorize for instance ,
O I the best means for doin

-
this a noth r
'
r
g ; e
25
psychological process I recommend students

.
to read William James T a lks on Ps ychology

’
a very helpful book .
“
The most vital thing in piano playing 1s
t o learn to think Has it ever occurred to you
.
what infinite pains people will take to a void

thinking T h ey will repeat a technical illus
?
t ra tion hundreds of times it may be but with ,
little or no thought directed to the per f orm

ance Su ch work is absolutely useless Per
. .
haps that is a little too str ong With countles s .
repetitions there may at last come to be a little

im provement but it will be very small
, .
“
There is quite a variety of Views as to what
the essentials of piano technic are ; this is a
subj ect on which teachers unluckily do not , ,
agree F or instance on the point o f finger

.
,
lifting there is great diversity Of Opinion .
Some believe in raising the fingers very high ,
others do not Lifting the fingers high is not

.
good for the tone though it may be used f or

,
velocity playing I use quite the reverse

.
w here I wish beautiful singing tone quality

, , .
The young pupil at the beginning must O f

, ,
'
course learn to raise fingers and m ake precise

movements ; when greater proficiency is
reached many modifications O f touch are used
,
.
T hat the best results a re not m ore Oft en oh

S ig is m o n d S t o j o w s lci 27
’
in piano tea ching and study is as much

t a ine d ,
the fault of the teacher as the pupil The .
latter is usually willing to be shown and an x

ious to learn It is for the teacher to correctly
.
diagnose the case and administer the most e f

ficient remedy .
N A T U RA L TE C H N I C
There is a certain amount Of wha t I might

call natural technic possessed by every one
‘ ’
som e one point which is easy for him It is .
often the trill It has frequently come under

.
my notice that players with little facility in

other ways can make a good trill S ome
,
.
singers have this gift ; M m e M elba is one who

.
never had to study a trill for she was bo rn

,
with a nightingale in her throat I knew a .
young man in London who was evidently born

with an aptitude for oct a ves He had won .
‘
derfu l wrists and could make countless repe

,
t itions O f the octave without the least fatigue .
He never had to practise octaves they came ,
to him naturally .
“
The teacher s w ork is both corrective and
’
constructive He must see what is wrong and

.
be able to correct it Like a physician he

.
,
should find the weak and deficient parts and

b ui ld them u p He s h ould have some remedy
.
at his command that will fit the needs o f each

pupil.
“
I give very few é tudes and those I a d ,
minister in homeopathic doses It is not ne ce s .
sary to play through a mass of études to b e

come a good pianist M uch of the necessary
.
technic may be learned from the pieces them

selves though scales and arpeggios must form
,
part of the d a ily routine .
K EEP I N G UP A R EPE R T O IRE
In keeping a large number of pieces in

mind I may say that the pianist who doe s
,
much t eaching is in a sense taught by his

pupils I have many advanced pupils and in
.
,
teaching their repertoire I keep up my own .
O f course after a while one grows a little

weary of hearing the same pieces rendered by
students ; the most beautiful no longer seem
fresh lVIy own compositi ons are generally ex
.
c e ptions as I do not O ften teach those T o

, .
the thoughtfu l teacher the constant hearing of

,
his repertoire by students shows him the dif

ficu ltie s that younger players have to e n
counter and helps him devise me a ns to aid
,
them to conquer these obstacles At the same .
time there is this disadvantage ! the pianist can

not fail to remember the places at w hich such
S ig i s m o nd S t oj o ws ki 29
and such a student had trouble forgot or ,
stumbled T his has happened t o me at v a

.
rio ns times In my recitals I would be play

.
ing ahe a d quite u nconscious that anything u n

—
,
toward could o ccur wholly absorbed in my

w ork ; when at a certain point the recolle ction
—
, ,
would flash over me this is where such or such

a pupil stumbled The remembrance is some
.
times so vivid that I a m at some e ff ort t o keep

my mental balance a nd proceed with smooth
ness and certainty .
“
Yes I go over my pie ces mentally espe
, ,
cia l l
y if I am playing an entirely new pro
gram which I have never played before ; other
wise I do not need to do so much of it .
F I LL I N G I N A P A SSA GE
You suggest that a composer may fill in

or make up a passage should he forget a por ,
tion o f the piece when playing in public .
True ; but improvising on a well known work -
is rather a dangerous thing to do in order to

improve a bad case Apropos Of this I am
.
,
reminded Of an incident which occurred at one

o f my Eu ropean recitals It was a wholly new .
program which I was to give at V ev a y I had .
been staying with Paderewski and went from ,
hI orge s to V evay to give the recital

, In my .
room at the hotel I was mentally reviewing

the program when in a M b nde ls s ohn F ugu e
, ,
I found I had forgotten a small portion I .
could remember what went befor e and wh a t

came after but this p a rticu lar pass a ge h a d
,
seemingly gone I went down t o the little

.
parlor and tried the fugue on the piano but ,
c ould not remember the portion in question .
I hastened back to my room and constructed

a bri dge which should connect the two parts .
When the time came t o play the fugue at the

recital it all went sm oothly till I was well over
,
the weak spot which it seems I really played

, , ,
as M endelssohn wrote it As I neared the last .
page the question suddenly occurred to me

, ,
wh a t had I done with that doubtful passage ?
What had really happened I could not remem

ber ; and the e ffort t o recall whether I had
played M endelssohn or S toj ow s k i nearly
brought disaster to that last page .
“
As soon as my season Closes her e I shall
go t o London and bring ou t my second piano
concerto with the London Symphony O rches
tra under N ikisch I shall also play various
,
.
”
recitals .
It was my good fortune to be present at the

O rch e st ra l co n e
c rt a t Queen s Hall when M r
’
,
.
S i g is m o nd S t o j ows ki 31
Stoj ow s k i was the soloist It w a s pleasant to

.
see the enthusiasm aroused by the concerto it

s elf and the performance o f it by the artist
, .
R U D O L P H GA N Z
C O N S E R VI N G E N E R GY IN P I AN O P R AC T I S E
O NE of the most necessary things is the

”
conserving o f Vital energy in pian o practise ,
said the pianist Rudolph G anz to me one

“
day . The wrong w a y is to continually pra e
tise the piece as though you were playing it
—
in public th a t is to say with all possible en
,
er
gy a n d emotion S
. ome Of the pianists now
before the p u blic do this and it always makes

,
me sorry for them for I know what a need

,
less waste O f energy and vital force it is A n .
actor studying his lines does not need to con

, ,
t inu a lly shout them in order to learn how they

should be interpreted N either does the lyric
.
actress practise her rOle s with full tones for ,
she is well used to saving her voice Why .
then should the pianist exhaus t himself and

give ou t his whole strength merely in the daily
routine Of practise ? I grant this principle o f
saving one s self may not be easy to learn but
’
,
it should be acquired by all players great and ,
32
R u d o l ph G a nz 33
s mall I think a pianist should be a ble t o

.
practise five or six hours daily without f a tigu e .
If the player is accustomed to husband his

vital force during the d a ily routine o f prae
tise he can play a long exacting program in
, ,
public without wearines s In every day pra e .
tise one often does not need to play forte nor

use the pedals ; a tone o f medium power is suf
ficient Sup pose for instance you are study
.
, ,
Ing the Chopin E tude O p 1 0 N o 1 2 with .

, .
,
th e left hand arpeggio work Every note and .
finger must be in place every mark of phra s ,
ing obeyed ; but during practise hours you need

not give the piece all its da s hing vigor and
bravura at every repetition Such a course .
would soon exhaust the player Yet ever y .
e ffect you wish to make must be thoroughly
studied must be in mind and used at intervals

, ,
whenever a complete performance Of the piece

is desired .
“
As I said before it is Often difficult to con
,
t rO l the impulse to let loose if the work is an

‘ ’
,
exciting one At a recent rehearsal with the

.
Symphony O r chestra I told the men I would,
quietly run through the concerto I was to play ,
merely indicating the e ffects I wanted We .
began but in five minutes I found myself play

,
ing with full force and vigor .

In regard to methods in piano study there

s eems to be a di versity o f opinion resulting I , ,
t hink from the various ways of touching the

—
,
keys some players using the tip and others

t he ball o f the finger Busoni may be cited
.
as one who employs the e nd of the fi nge r

P a uer also ; while the F ren chman CortOt who , ,
has an exquisite tone plays with the hand a l

,
most fl a t on the keys a method which certainly

,
insures weight o f hand and arm O f course .
players generally and teachers also agree on

, ,
the employment o f arm weight in playing .
The principles o f pian o technic are s urely b u t

f ew . Was it not Liszt who said ! Play the ‘
right key wi th the right finger the right tone

—
,
and the right intention that is all ! It seems ’
to me piano technic has been pushed to its limit ,
and there must be a reversal ; we may return

to some of th e older methods of touch and
techni c .
“
The vital thing in piano playing is to bring
ou t the composer s meaning plus your own
’
inspiration and feeling You must study .
deeply into the composer s ide a but you mus t

’
als o put your own feeling intensity and emo ,
tion into the piece And not only must you

.
feel the meaning yourself but you must play ,
it in a way to touch others T here are many .

R u d o l ph G a n z 35
pianists who are not cu ltured musicians ; who

t hink they kno w their Beethoven because the y
can play a few sonatas In music knowledge .
‘
is power We need all possibl e knowledge

.
’
,
but we also need to f eel the inspiration O ne .
of the gre a test teachers o f ou r time holds tha t
personal inspiration is not necessary ; for the

feeling is all in the music itself All we have .
to do is t o play with such and such a dynami c

quality of tone Like a country doctor meas
.
uring ou t his drugs this master apportions s o

,
many grains of power for forte f or m ez zo f or , ,
p ia no and so on
, This plan . puts a dampe r
on individuality and enthusiasm for it means ,
t hat everything must be coldly calculated .
Such playing does not really warm the heart .
“
I believe in tea ching tonal contr a sts and
tone color even to a beginner Why should .
not the child form a concept Of f orte and pia no ,
and so get away from the deadly monotony of

m ezzo ? I have written some little descriptive
piano pieces and my small b oy lea rned one of
,
them to play for me There is a closing phrase

.
like this and M r G anz illustrated at the

”
, .
“
piano ; it is to be played forte and is followed ,
by a few notes to be touched very softly lik e ,
an echo It was really beautiful to see how

.
the little fellow reached out for the pedal to

make th e loud p a rt more emphatic and the n ,
played the echo very softly and neatly He .
had grasped the first principle o f tone color

namely tone contrast and also a poetic idea
, .
“
There are so many wonder children in these
days and many marvels a re accomplished by
,
infant prodigies Very Often however these

.
, ,
wonder children develop no further ; they fail

to fulfil their early promise or the expectation s ,
held o f them .
“
A youthfu l wonder in the fi eld O f com
position is Eric K orngold whose piano sonata ,
I played in my N e w York recital I have .
played this work eight times in all during my ,
present tour Often by re quest T o me it is

, .
most interesting I cannot say it is logical

.
in the development of its ideas ; it Often seems

as though the boy threw in chords here and
there with no particular reason T hus the e f .
fort O f memorizing is considerable for I m ust ,
always bear in mind that this C m a j or chord

’
has a C sharp in it or that such a nd such a
,
chord is changed into a most unusual one O ne .
cannot predict whether the boy will develop

further As you say M ozart was an infant
.
,
prodigy but if we j udge from the first little

,
compositions that have been preserved he b e ,
gan Very simply and worked up whereas K orn ,

R u d o l ph G a n z 37
gold begins at Richard Strauss His c om .
positions are full o f the influence o f Strauss .
The critics have much to say for and against

these early works I do not know the young
.
composer personally though he has written

,
me In a recent letter which I have here he

.
,
expresses the thought that though the critics ,
have found many things to disapprove o f in

t he sonata the fact that I have found it worth
,
s tudying and bringing ou t more than c om pe n
sates him for all advers e criticism To make .
the work kno w n in the great musical centers

”
Of America is surely giving it wide publicity .
O n a later occasion M r G anz said

, .
“
I thoroughly believe in preserving one s e n ’
thu s ia s m for modern music even though at , ,
first glance it does not attract one or indeed

, ,
seems almost impossible I enj oy studying .
ne w works and learning what is the modern

,
trend O f thought in piano work ; it keeps me

young and buoyant .
“
O ne of the novelties lately added to my
repertoire is the Haydn sonata in D O n the .
same program I place the K orngold sonata .
A h undred years and more divide the two

works While I revere the O ld it interests me
.
,
to keep abreast o f the ne w thought in musical

”
a rt and life .
T I N A L E RN E R
AN AU DI E N C E I S THE B E S T T E AC H E R
B ET W EE N the many engagement s that

crowded upon the close O f her long American
tour M iss Tina Lerner found time to talk
,
over certain topics of significance which bear

upon pianistic problems .
We began by referring to the di fferent

methods Of holding the hands moving the fi n ,
gers and touch i ng the keys as exemplified by ,
the various pianists now bef ore the public .
“
It is true that I play w ith the ball of the
finger on the key which necessitates a flat
,
”
position of hand with l,
ow wrist Here the .
pianist illustrated the point by playing several

pearly scales with straight outstretched fi n ,
“
gers . I never realized however that I , ,
played in this way until M r Ernest H u tche

, .
son the pianist of B altimore recently called

, , ,
my attention to it The fact is I have always

.
,
taken positions of body arms hands and fi ,

n ,
38
many di fferent sources He attends a piano

.
recital and ac quires many ideas of touch tone , ,
phrasing and interpretation ; he hears a great

s inger or violinist and absor b s a wholly new set
o f thoughts or he listens t o a grand orchestra

, ,
and gains more than from all the others Then .
there is life to study from ! experience liv —

—
ing loving ! all go into the work o f the musi
c ia n
. A musical career is indeed the most ex
acting one that can be chosen .
“
I have been asked whether I prefer to play
f or an audience o f music lovers o r one o f
‘ ’
-
‘
music knowers ’
. Perhaps an equal mixture
is the happy medium O f the two sorts it
—
.
seems to me the mus 1 c knowers are preferable ,
for even if they are very critical they also ,
recognize the various points you make ; they

see and appreciate what you are striving for .
They are not inclined t o say I don t like such

,
‘ ’
or such a player ; for the music knower under

’
-
stands the vast amount O f time and energy ,
labor and talent that go to make a pianist .
He rather s a ys I prefer the playing of such

,
‘
o r such an artist The word like in connec

’ ‘ ’
.
tion with a great artist seems almost an a ffront .
What does it matter if his work is not liked ‘ ’
b y some ? He knows it can stand f or what it

—
is the utmost perfection of his powers O f —
T in a L e rn e r 41
himself And after all the audience is the

.
greatest teacher an artist can have ; I have

learned more from this teacher than from any
other In this school I learn what moves and
.
touches an audience ; how to improve this or

that passage ; h ow to make a greater climax
here or more sympathetic coloring there F or
,
in conceiving how a work should sound I get

—
,
in my study of it a general idea O f the whole ,
and make it as nearly perfect as I am able .
—
But it has to be tested and tried a n audience
—
must pass its opinion must set the seal Of a p
proval upon it When the work has been pol
.
is he d by repeated trials in this school inter ,
re t a t ion then becomes crystallized in the mind

p
and the pi e ce can always be given in nearly
the same way A pa l nte r does not ch a nge nor
.
repaint his picture each time he exhibits it ;

why need the musician change his i dea o f the
interpretation at each repetition T o trust too
?
much to the inspiration of the moment might

inj ure the performance as a whole When I .
have my ideal Of the interpretation worked ou t

in mind it becomes my sacred duty to pl a y it
—
,
always in this spirit always to give my best .
I can never th in k th a t because I am playing

in Boston or N ew York I must strive harder
,
for perfection than if I play in a little town .

NO ,
I must give the highes t that is in me no ,
matter where it may be People sometime s .
ask me if I am nervous before a recital It is .
not that I am afraid of people ; but I am a l

ways anxious abo ut being able to realize my
ideal when the moment comes
, .
“
I can say I prefer playing in America t o
anywhere else in the world ; for there are more
real appreciation and understanding here th a n
in any other country O f c ourse the great

.
music centers all over the world are a bout the

same ; but the difference lies in the smaller
c ities w hich in America are far more a lv a nce d
,
musically than in Europe I have proved this .
t o be the c a se repeatedly N ot long ago I was

.
booked for a couple of recitals in a small town

o f not more than t w o thousand inhabit a nts .
When I arrived at the little place and s a w the ,
barn of a hotel I wondered what these pe ople

,
could want with piano recitals But when I .
came to the c ollege where I was to play and

found su ch a large intelligent audience gath
,
ered some of whom had traveled many miles t o

,
be present it proved in what estimation music

,
was held The teacher o f this school was a

.
good musician who had studied nine years with

,
Leschetizky in Vienna ; the pupils understood

,
the num b er s on the pro gram were w id e awake , ,

and well informed as to what w a s going on in

the world of music .
“
O ne handicap the present day pianist en
counters who plays much with orchestr a a nd
, ,
that is the dearth of modern concertos The .
familiar ten or dozen famous ones are played

over and over and one seldom hears anything
,
ne w. The re are new ones written to be sure , ,
but the public has not learned to care for them .
The beautiful second concerto of R a chm a nin

o ff has not made a success even in the great ,
music centers where the most intelligent audi

,
e nce s have heard it I believe that if an audi

.
ence of the best musicians could be assembled

in a small room and this work could be played
to them they could not fail to be impressed
,
with its beauties I am now studying a new

.
c oncerto by Haddon Wo od which you see in ,
manuscript there on the piano ; it is one I find

”
very beautiful .
A subsequent conversation Wi th the artist

elicited the following !
“
I might say that I began my music when
about four years Old by playing the Russian ,
N ational Hymn on a toy piano containing

,
eight keys which had been given me M y

, .
older sister who was studying the piano no

, ,
t iced this sh owed m e a f ew things about the

,
notes and I constantly picked ou t little tunes

,
and pieces on the real piano F inally one day .
my sister s teacher Rudolph Heim came t othe

’
, ,
house mainly on my account This was in

, .
O dessa in the south o f Russia where I was

, ,
bo rn and where I spent my early years O n .
this occasion he wanted to look at me and see

,
what I could do Unluckily a sudden fit of .
shyness overcame me and I began to cry ; the

exhibition could not take place as nothi ng ,
could be made ou t of me that day You see .
”
I was headstrong even at that early age s aid ,
the young pianist with one of her charming ,
smiles .
“
S oon after this incident I was taken to the ,
Professor s studio He examined me c on

’
.
,
s id e re d I had talent and thought it should be ,
cultivated S O he took me in hand I was

. .
then five and my real musical education began

,
at that time .
“
F rom the very first I adopted a position
Of hand which seemed to me most convenient
a nd comfortable and no amount of contrary
,
instruction and advice has ever been able to

make me ch a nge it I play scales and pas .
sages with low hand and flat fingers because

that position seems the most favorable for my
hand When practising I play everything
.
,
very slowly raising my fingers high and

,
straight from the knuckle j oint This gives .
me great clearness and fi rmness In rapid .
passage work the action is reduced but the ,
position remains I am said to have a clear

.
,
pearly touch with quite sufficient power at my

,
command f or large works .
“
After five years Of study with my firs t
teacher Rudolph Heim a pupil o f M osche
, ,
les I entered the M oscow Conservatory and

, ,
continued my studies under Professor Pabst ,
brother and teacher Of the composer of that

name I was then ten years old Professor
. .
Pabst was very conservative very strict and , ,
kept me at work on the music of the older mas

ters This kind of music suits me I think ; a t
.
,
least I enj oy it Even here I still clung to

.
my ideas Of holding my hands and of touching

the keys and always expect to do so
, .
“
I remained with this professor about si x
years and then began my public career .
“
You ask about my present studies and ,
how I regulate my practise During my .
periods of rest from concert work I practise

—
,
a great deal I wish I could say all the time ,
but that is not quite possible I give an hour .
or more a day t o technical practise As to the .
m aterial I use Chopin s E tudes constantly

’
, ,
playing them with high raised outstretched -

,
fingers in very slow temp o O ne finds a l

, .
most every technic al problem illustrated in

these études ! octaves arpeggi os scales in , ,
double thirds and sixths repeated notes as , ,
in number 7 broken chords and passage work

,
.
I keep all these études in daily practise also ,
using some of the Liszt E tu des T ra ns cen

d a ntes and o f course B a ch
, , The advantage
, .
o f using this sort of material is that one never
tires of it ; it is always interesting and bean

tiful With this material well in hand I am
.
,
always ready for recital and need only to add ,
s pecial pieces and modern music .
“
In learning a new work I first study it
v e rv slowly t rying t o become familiar with its
,
meaning I form my concept o f it and live

.
with it for months before I care to bring it for

ward I try to form an ideal conception Of
.
the piece work this ou t in every d etail then

, ,
always endeav or to render it as closely like the

ideal as possible .
and concertized all over Europe ; now I am in

A merica for a time I like it here ; I a m fond
.
o f your country already .
“
The piano is such a wonder ful instrument
to me ; I feel we are only beginning to fathom
its possibilities ; not in a technical sense b u t a s ,
a big avenue for expression F or me the .
piano is capable o f reflecting every m ood every

—
,
—
feeling ; all pathos j oy sorrow the good and
, ,
the evil too all there is in life all that one has ,
”
lived (This
. recalls a recently published re
mark O f J S V a n Cleve !
. . The piano can
sing m a rch dance sparkle thunder weep
, , , , , ,
sneer question assert complain whisper hint ;

, , , , ,
in one word it is the most versatile and plasti c

”
o f instrument s
“
)
As for the technic Of the piano I think
—
,
o f it only as the material only as a m e ans to

a n end In fact I endeavor to get away from
.
the thought of the technical material in orde r ,
that I may get at the meaning of the music I

wish to interpret I a m convinced there is
.
a great future for the piano and its music .
Even now we are taking piano music very seri

ou s ly and are trying t o interpret it in a far
,
deeper and broader sense than the pianists of ,
say fifty years ago ever thought of doing I

, .
fancy if Clar a Schumann for instance could , ,

E the l L e g i n s lca 49
return and play to us or even Liszt himself

, ,
we should not find their playing suited to this

a ge at all Some of us yet remember the
.
hand position M m e Schumann had the la ck

.
,
o f freedom in fingers and a rms It was not .
the fashion o f her time to play with the relaxed

freedom with the breadth and depth of style
,
which we demand of artists t o day In those .
days relaxation had not rece i ved the attention

it deserved the re fore w e should probably find
,
‘
the playing of the greatest artists of a former

generation sti ff and angu lar in spite O f all w e,
have heard of their wonderful performances .
“
Relaxation is a hobby with me ; I believe in
absolute freedom in every part of the a rm
anatomy from the shoulder down t o the fi
, nger
tips Sti ff ness seems to me the most re pre
.
he ns ib le thing in piano playing as well as the ,
most common fault with all kinds of pl a yers .
When people come to play for me that is the ,
thing I see first in them the sti ffness While, .
living in Berlin I s a w much o f M m e Teresa

, .
Carreno and she feels the same as I do about

,
relaxation not only a t the keyboard but when

, ,
sitting moving about or walking She has

, .
thought along this line so constantly that ,
s ometimes if carrying something in hand she

, ,
will inadvertently let it drop without re a liz ,

—
ing it from sheer force of the habit Of relaxa
tion .
“
You ask how I would begin with a young
pupil who never has had lessons I use the .
principle o f relaxation first o f all loosening ,
arms and wrists This principle can be taugh t

.
to the youngest pupil The wrist is elevated

.
and lowered as the hand is formed on th e keys

,
in its five finger position with arched knuckles, .
It does not take long to acquire this relaxed

condition ; then come the finger movements I .
do not believe in lifting the fingers high above

the keys ; this takes time and interferes with
velocity and power I lift my fingers but little
.
above the keys yet I have plenty of power

, ,
all the critics agree on that In chords and .
octaves I get all the power I need by grasp

ing the keys with weight and pressure I do .
not even prepare the fingers in the air before ,

”
taking the chord ; I do not find it necessary .
Here the pianist played a succession Of ring

ing chords whose powe r and tonal quality bore
,
out her words ; the fingers seemed merely to

press and cling ; there w a s no striking nor per
cu s s ion.
“
To return to the beginning p u pil As for .
a book to start with I often use the one by

,
Damm though any foundational work may

,
E t h e l L e g in s h a 51
be employed so long as correct principles are

,
taught It is said by Leschetizky that he has

.
no method That may be understood to mean

.
a book for he certainly has what others would

,
call a method There are principles and vari.
o u s sets Of exercises to be learned ; but it is
quite true that none o f the Vorbereiters use a

b O Ok .
“
In teaching the piano as you know every , ,
pupil is di fferent ; each has his or her own pe

c u lia r hand and a di fferent degree of intel
,
lige nce S O ea ch pupil must be treated dif

.
f e rently This is really an advantage to the

.
teacher ; for it would be very monotonous if all

pupils were alike .
“
The piano is such a revealer of character ;
I need only to hear a person play t o know what
sort O f character he has If one is inclined to .
much careful d etail in everything it comes out ,
in the playing If one is indolent and indif .
f e rent it is seen the moment one touches the

,
keys ; or if one is built on broad generous lines , ,
and sees the dramatic point in life and things ,
all this is revealed at the piano .
T O refer again to the subj ect of finger a c

tion I do not believe in the s o called finger
.
-
stroke ; on the contrary I advocate fingers close

to the keys clinging to them whenever you can
, .
This is also Arthur S chnabel s idea You ’

.
s hould hear Schnabel ; a ll Berlin is wil d over
him and whenever he gives a conce rt the

,
house is sold ou t He has quantities Of pupils

.
als o and is quite a remarkable teacher O ne

, .
point I insist upon which he doesn t ! I will not ’
allow the j oint of the finger next the tip to

break or give in I can not stand that b u t.
f
Schnabel doesn t seem to care about it ; his

’
mind is filled with only the big broad things of ,
musi c .
“
In regard t o mem orizing piano composi
tions I do it phrase by phrase and at the in
.
,
strument unless I am traveling or unable to

,
get to a piano in which case I think it ou t from

,
the notes If the piece is very diffi

. cult I take
a short passage of tw o or thre e measures and
play each hand sep arately and then together ;
but generally I play the passage complete
say half a dozen times with the notes and then ,
repeat it the same number of times from m e m

ory Perhaps the next day I have forgotten
.
it s o the work has to be done over again ; the

,
second time however it generally sticks

, ,
.
“
M y great longing and ambition is to write
music to become a composer With this end
,
.
in View I give whatever time I a m able to the

,
E t h e l L e g in s h a 53
study O f composition I hope some day to

.
create something that will be worthy the high

aim I have before me .
BERTHA F I E RI N G TAPPER
M AS T E R I N G P I AN I S T I C P R O B L E M S
IF environment and atmosphere are inspira

tiona l aids to piano teaching and playing the ,
students o f M rs Thomas Tapper have the in

.
c e ntiv es of both in their lesson hours Her .
apartments on the Drive ha v e the glory of s u n

light all the long afternoons O utside the .
Hudson shimmers in blue and gold ; indoors

all is harmonious and home like In the large
-
.
music room facing the river tw o grand p l anos

-
, ,
stand side by side ; there are many portraits

and mementoes of the great in music ; fresh
—
flowers books everything to uplift thought ;
,
while in the midst of it all is M rs Tapper .
herself the serious high minded inspiring

, ,
-
,
”
teacher ; the mother confess or to a large num
ber of young artists and teachers .
“
M usic study means so much more than
” “
merely exercising the fingers she said ; the ,
student should have a good all round educa -
tion When young people come to me f or in

.
54
me ; what I have achieved I ow e to him M y .
first eight weeks In Vienna were spent in learn

ing first t o control position and condition of
, ,
hands and arms according to the law of bal

ance ; secondly to direct each motion with the
,
utmost accuracy and speed To accomplish .
this I began with the most elementary exercises

in fi ve finge r position using one finger at a
-
,
time Then came the principles of the scale

.
,
arpeggios chords and octaves All these

, .
things were continued until every principle

was mastered I practised at first an hour a
.
day then increased the amount as my hand s

,
grew stronger and the number of exercises in

creased .
“
N ext came the study of t on e production in
various forms a good quality invariably being
,
the result of a free condition of the arm com

b ine d with strength o f fingers and hands .
“
The Leschetizky principles seem to me the
most perfect and correct in every particular .
Yes there are several books of the method by

, ,
di fferent authors but I teach the principles,
without a book The principles themselves are

.
the essential things I a im to build up t he .
hand to make it strong and dependable in

,
every part to fill ou t the weak places and

,
e qualize it That this may be thoroughly a nd

.
B e rt h a P i e r i ng T a ppe r 57
successfully accomplished I require that noth ,
ing but technical exercises be used for the first

nine ten or twelve weeks We begin with the
, ,
.
simplest exercises one finger at a time then

, ,
two three and so on through the hand I b e

, .
lieve in thus devoting all the practise time to

technic f or a certain period so that the mind is
, ,
free to master the principles undisturbed by ,
piece playing When the principles have been

.
assimilated the attention can then be directed

,
to the study of music itself If any weak .
places appear in the hand from time to time ,
they can be easily corre cted .
“
If a pupil comes t o me who has played a
great deal but with no idea of the principles
o f piano playing who does not know h ow to
,
handle herself or the keyboard it is absolutely ,
necessary to stop everything and get ready to

play If you attempt even a simple sonata
.
with no legato touch no idea of chord or scale ,
playing you can not make the piece sound

,
like anything It is like a painter trying to

.
paint without brushes or an artist attempting ,
to make a pen and ink drawing with a blunt

lead pencil ; to do good work you must have
the tools to work with .
“
F or applicati on of all pr incip les the stud ,
ie s of Czerny; O p 2 9 9 7 4 0 a nd oth ers , o ffer

.
, ,
unequaled opportunity They are simple di .

,
rect and give the student a chance for nu

,
divided attention to every position taken and

t o every motion made .
“
Wh at happens afterward is altogether a c
c ording t o the individual chara c teristics of the
student How t o recognize the se and deal

.
w ith them to the best a dvantage is the inter

esting task o f my great master (a nd those
—
who try to follow in his steps ) the man Of
keenest intelligence o f profound learning and
,
experience To learn this lesson from him ha s

.
been my greatest aim and to see him at work

, ,
as it has been my privilege to do for several

summers has been of the greatest influence a nd
,
inspiration in my own work .
“
M y chief endeavor is to create a desire for
good musicianship To this end I insist upon
.
the study o f theory harmony ear training and

, ,
-
analysis In the piano lessons I do not have

.
su fficient time to teach these things I have .
assistant teachers who help me with these sub

j e c t s and also with the technical training .
O nce a month during the season my assistant ,
teachers bring their pupils to play f or me a nd ,
we have a class In piano teaching There are .
sometimes eighteen or twenty students who

Come to a clas s I c an in this wa y supervi s e
.
B e rt h a P i e ri ng T a ppe r 59
all the work done and keep in touch with my ,
teachers their w ork and with all the students

, ,
.
“
O n the first S aturday of the month I have
my own pupils here for a class ; they play for
me and for each other Everything is played .
from memory not a printed note is used

, .
Students tell me it is very difficult to play here ,
where all listen so intently E specially is it .
difficult the first time a student plays in class ,
to keep the mind wholly on what he is doing ,
with su ffi cient concentration Later on at the .

,
end of the season it comes easier , .
This idea of separating the technical work

at the outset from the study o f music itself ,
secures in my opinion the most perfect foun

, ,
dation and later on the best results It is

,
.
sometimes wonderful how with proper train ,
ing the hand will improve and develop in a

,
comparatively short time I often m a rve l at it .
”
myself .
The writer had the privilege of being one

Of the guests at the last audition of the season .
Eight or nine young artists played a long and

difficult program Among the numbers were.
a Beethoven sonata entire ; Chopin s B allade ,

’
in A flat maj or ; Cesar F ranck Prelude , ,
F ugue and V ariations ; a M ozart F antaisie ;

Grie g Conc erto first movement ; W eb er s Con
’
,
and Chopin s Scherzo in E The

cert s tu ck ,
’
.
recital was most instructive from an educa

t iona l point of view All the players had re
.
pose and concentration and there were no ,
noticeable slips though every piece was played

,
from memory Hands were well arched at the

.
—
knuckles fingers cu rv ed with adequ a te a c
,
tion at the knuckle j oint ; wrists in normal posi

tion and extremely loose ; the whole arm
,
s w ung from the shoulder and poised over the

keys thus adj usting itself to every requirement
,
of the composition Every note had its .
amount of hand or arm weight The tone .
quality was full and singing These points .
were exemplified even in the playing of the

youngest pupils F urthermore they had an
.
intelligent grasp of the meaning O f the mu sic

they played and brought it ou t with convie
,
tion power and brilliancy

, ,
.
CAR L M . RO E D E R
P R O B L E M S O F P I AN O T E AC H E R S
TH E progressive teacher s method must b e ’
”
one o f accretion said Carl Roeder when
, ,
interviewed between lesson hours in his de

“
lightful studio in Carnegie Hall He gains .
ideas from many methods and sources and ,
these he assimilates and makes practical f or

his work At the same time he must originate
.
and work ou t t hings f or himself This has .
been my experience .
“
I w a s something of a wonder child and ,
at an early age developed considerable facility

and brilliancy After knocking about as a
.
pupil of various private teachers and conser

v a t orie s
, I became while quite a young lad
, ,
”
the pupil of de K ons tki then a lion O f the day
,
.
T he speaker j oined in the laugh his remark

called up which brought to mind the Cheva
,
lier s famous battle horse The Awakening of

’
-
,
”
the Lion .
De K ons tki s style was very brilliant and

’
I endeavored to imitate him in this respect .
I did quite a little concert work at that time .
Realizing however that a pianist s Income

, ,
’
must be rather precarious I decided to teach , .
In those youthful days I had the idea that the

teacher Of the piano had an easy life I re .
membered one of my professors a man of con ,
s id e ra b le reputation who took the duties of his

,
profession very lightly His method of giv .
ing a lesson was to place the music upon the

piano start the pupil going then retire to a
, ,
comfortable couch light his pipe and smoke,
at ease troubling himself little about the pupil s

,
’
doings except occasionally to call out F alsch !

,
‘ ’
“
S O I t o o began to teach the piano
, , But .
I soon discovered that teaching was something

quite di fferent from w hat I had imagined
it to be and that it was something I knew very
,
little about I now set myself to learn how

.
—
to teach how to help those pupils who came
to me .
“
O ne o f my first discoveries was that most
o f the pupils were a fflicted with sti ff wrists and
arms and that this sti ffness must be remedied

,
.
M y own playing had always been free due to ,
one of my early teachers having thoroughly in

‘
culca ted the princi ple of wei ght s o of te n a c
’
,
foundation to build the future structure upon .
E ach pupil at the outset is furnished with a

blank book in which are written the exercises
,
thus developed as adapted to individual re

q u ire m e nt s .
F O U NDA T I O NA L E ! E R C I SE S
We begin with table work I use about .
ten di fferent exercises which embody as it ,
were in a nutshell the principles o f piano

, ,
playing The hand is first formed in a n

.
arched position with curved fingers and solidi

, ,
fie d The thumb has to be taught to move

.
properly for many people have never learned

,
to control it at all .
“
With the hand in firm solid position and , ,
the arm hanging freely from the shoulder I ,
begin to use combined arm and wrist move

ments aiming to get the weight of the arm as
,
well as its energy at the complete disposal of

the finger tip E ach finger in turn is held
.
firmly in a curved position and played with a

rotary movement of a rm and wrist When .
this can be done we nex t learn hand action a t

the wrist from which results the staccato touch .
In this form of hand staccato there is an ele

ment of percussion as you see but this ele, ,
ment gives directness and precision to the

C a rl M . R oeder 65
staccato touch which in my opinion are ne ce s

,
s ary .After this we come to fi nger action it

self This principle is taken up thoroughly
. ,
first with one finger then w ith two three four

—
, , , ,
and fi ve in all possibl e combinations In .
this way we come down from the large free

arm movements to the sm a ller finger move
ments ; from the general to the particular in ‘
,
’
stead O f working from the smaller to the

larger I find it most necessary t o establish
.
relaxation first then strengthen and build up

,
the hand before finger action to any extent is

,
used When these foundational points have

.
been acquired the trill sc ales arpeggios

, , , ,
chord s o ct a v e s and double notes follow in due

»
,
course At the same time the rhythmic sense

.
is developed all varieties o f touch and dyna

,
mics introduced and harmonic and structural,
analysis dwelt upon .
USE O F ST UDIE S
Above the third or fourth grade I make
frequent use O f studies selecting them from ,
various books D u vernoy O p 1 2 0 ; Berens

.
, . ,
O p 6 1 ; Czerny O p 7 4 0 I find far more in

.
, .
t e re s ting than the threadbare 2 9 9 Heller is .
indispensable so melodious and musical Ar

,
.
thur F oote s studies O p 2 7 are very useful ;

’
, .
,
also M a cD ow e ll s O p 3 9 and 4 6 Sometimes

’
, . .
I use a few of Cramer s and the Clementi ’

'
Gradus though these seem rather old fash

‘ ’
-
,
ione d now .
“
F or
more advanced pupils I find Harber
bier O p 53 especially applicable ; there is
, .
beautiful work in them K essler O p 2 0 and .

, .
,
the M oszkowski studies O p 7 2 have splendid , .

,
material for the advanced player and prepare ,
f or H e ns e lt Rubinstein Chopin and Lisz t

, ,
études I find that studies are valuable for

.
application of technical principles for reading ,

‘
purposes and for the cultivation Of all the re

,
finem e nts of playing S ome teachers believe .
in applying the technic directly to pieces and ,
use almost no studies ; but I think a study is

Often more valuable than a piece because a ,
definite technical principle is treated in every

kind of way Though I do not require studies
.
to be memorized they must be played with all

,
the finish of a piece if the pupil is to derive the

,
maximum of benefit from them .
B OO K S T HAT ARE H ELP FU L
As aids to my studies in the art o f teaching ,
several books have been most helpful Am ong .
these are two volumes by Dr Herman H . .
Horne T he P hilos ophy of E du ca tion and

, ,
T he Ps ychology of E du ca tion Another .
book from which I have profited much is Wil

,
liam James T a lks to T e a chers on Ps ychology

’
.
Every teacher should possess it .
“
You ask what method I pursue with ne w
pupil s who have played a great deal of music
but with little idea Of correct principles O f
piano study Let us take for instance one
.
, ,
who has had lessons for years but is in igno

rance O f first principles Arms and wrists are .
sti ff hands and fingers held in cramped posi

,
tion ; no freedom anywhere M y first move is .
to have the pupil stand and learn to relax arms ,
shoulders and body ; then learn t o breathe .
But relaxation even at first is not the only

, ,
thing ; after devitalization comes organization

—
,
firmness and solidity in the right places It .
must be understood at the very beginning tha t

piano playing is far more than sitting before
the instrument working the fingers six or seven
hours a day The mechanical side is only pre
liminary Some one has said that the factors
.
—
in playing are a trinity of H s head hand ’
and heart I try at once to awaken thought

.
,
to give a wider outlook t o show that piano ,
playing is the expression through the mediu m ,
o f tone o f all that the poet painter and phi

, ,
los ophe r are endeavoring t o S how through

other means ! to this end I endeavo r to s tim u

late interest ln the wonders of the Visible uni
verse the intellectual achievements of men and
,
‘
the deep things of spiritual discernment .
IN R E GA RD TO I N TE R P RETA T I O N
O n this subj ect I think we S hould avoid

pedantry ; not to say to the pupil you must ,
play this piece a certain way ; but rather say ,
I see or feel it in this way and give the reasons ,
underlying the conception I believe the suc .
c es s fu l teacher should be a pianist He shoul d .
understand every point and be able to do the

thing else how can he really show the manner
,
o f the doing ? M any of the nu a nces subtle ,
ties O f color and phrase e ffects of charm or ,
Of bravura cannot be explained ; they must

,
be illustrated A n d furthermore only he who

.
,
has been over the road can be a safe or sympa

thetic guide Tolstoi realized he could not be
.
Of service t o the people he would uplift unless

he lived among them shared their trial s and
,
experienced their needs The time has gone .
by when the musician and composer was con

s ide re d a s ort o f freak knowing m u s ic and
,
nothing else We know the great composers

.
were men O f the highest intelligence and learn

ing men whose aim was to w ork ou t their
,
genius to the utmost perfection N othing less .
th a n the highest would satisfy them As .
G eorge Eliot said G enius is the capacity for

‘
taking infinite pains Think of the care .

’
Beethoven took with every phrase how many ,
times he did it over never leaving it till he ,
was satisfied .
In speaking O f the great European teachers

M r Roeder continued
.
“
We hear much of the Leschetizky method ;
but with that master technic is quite a second
ary matter over which when once the princi ,
ples are mastered he troubles himself but

,
little It is the conception of the work as a

.
whole which concerns him how to proj ect it , ,
so to say most e ff ectively to an audience H e

, .
brings into prominence now this part now ,
that accenting here slightly exaggerating

, ,
there in order to make the picture more Vivid

,
to the listener Harold Bauer is another illu

.
m ina ting master for those who have a technical

equipment adequate to the performance o f
great works o f piano literature Some go to .
him who are not ready for what he has to give ,
but to those who can direct attention to the

meaning of the music he is a wonderful in ,
s pira t iona l force F irst he will point out a

.
p hrase here another

, there and so o n through ,
the piece showing how the same idea takes on

,
various aspects in the composer s thought ’

.
Then he shows how to gather up these di ffer

ent threads to form the perfect pattern which
the author of the work had in mind ; a nd
finally the master teacher reaches down below
the surface O f form and design to the Vital sig
nifi c a nc e o f the composition and the disciple ,
feels the glo w and power of the revelation .
“
There is no gainsaying the fact that this
age is superficial and the great Office of art is
,
to cultivate tha t idealism which will uplift and

inspire In an imp ortant sense the teacher
.
must be a preacher Of righteousness He .
knows that beautiful things are fashioned

‘
from clay but it has first to pass through the

,
fire and only those who can endure tha t

,
’
scorching can hope to achieve success .
QU E ST I O N OF PERSO NA L I T Y
If asked to what extent a player s person ’
ality enters into the performance my answer ,
would be ! O nly in so far as the performance

remains true to the composer s intention S o ’
.
long as personality illumines the picture and

adds charm interest a nd e ffectiveness to it it
, , ,
is to be applauded ; but when it obstru cts the

K A T H AR I N E G O O B S ON
AN A R TI S T AT HO ME
W H EN has frequently listened to a

one
f a vorite pianist in the concert room and has ,
studied impersonally so to speak the e ff ects Of

, ,
touch tone and interpretation produced dur

,
ing a recital it is a satisfaction and delight to

,
come into personal touch with the artist in the

inner circle of the home ; to be able to speak
face to face with one who has charmed thou
sands from the platform and to discuss freely
,
the points which impress one when listening

to a publi c performance .
It has been my recent privilege thus to come

into intimate touch with the artist pair M r ,
.
and hI rs Arthur Hinton the latter being

. ,
known all over the world as K at harine Good

son They have a quiet beautiful home in
.
,
—
London a true artist s home O ne feels at
’
.
once on entering and enj oying its hospital ity ,
that here at least is one instan ce where tw o

72
K A TH A RI N E GO O DS O N
r
K a tha ri n e G o od s on 73
musicians h a ve perfect harmony in the home

life M r Hinton as is widely known is a
. .
, ,
composer and also a Violinist and p i an i st .
The beautiful music room which has been -

,
added to one side of the house and leads into

the garden contains two grand pianos on its
,
raised platform This music room is M iss

.
-
G oodson s ow n sanctum and workroom and

’
here piano concertos with orchestral a e com ,
p a n im e nt supplied on the second piano can be ,
studied a d infi nitu m M r Hinton has his ow n. .
studio at the top o f the house .
The garden music room is lighted at one end -
by a great arched window s o placed that the ,
trees o f the garden are see n through its panes .
It is easy t o imagine one s self in some lovely ’
—
sylvan retreat whi ch is indeed true ! A ll the
appointments of this room and indeed Of the ,
whole house e ve ry article of furniture and

,
each touch Of color betoken the art istic sense,
for fitness and harmony M iss G oodson has .
a keen and exquisite sense for harmony in col

o rs as wel l as for color in the harmonies she
brings from her instrument .
“
M y coming tour will be the fifth I have
” “
made in Americ a she said I enj oy play
, .
ing in your c ountry immensely ; the cities of

N e w York B oston Chicago and Philadelphia
, , ,
are the most appreciative in the world It is .
true we have masses of concerts in London ,
but few of them are really well attended and

people are not s o thoroughly acquainted with
piano music as you are in Americ a And you .
—
are so appreciative of the best even in the
s maller cities .
“
I can recall a recital whi ch I gave in a city
o f not more than forty thousand in the West , .
The recital was arranged by a musical club ;

they asked for the program some time in a d
vance studied it up and thus knew every piece
,
I was to play There was an enormous audi

.
ence for people came from all the country

,
round I remember three little elderly ladies

.
who greeted me after the recital ; in parting

they said You will see us to morrow
,
‘
I -
.
’
thought it over afterw ard and wondered what

they meant f or I was to play at a place many
,
miles from there the next night What was .
my surprise to be greeted by the same ladies the

following evening You see we are here ; we
.
‘
,
told you we would co me F ancy t a king a

trip from London to Edinburgh j ust t o hear
a concert ! F or it was a j ourney like that .
Such incidents show the enthusiasm in America

—
for music and for piano music .
“
I hope t o play both the Brahms and Pade
K a tha ri n e G o ods on 75
concertos in A m erica To me the lat

re w s k i
—
.
ter is a beautiful work the slow movement is

exquisite I have as yet scarcely done any
.
thing with the composition for I have been ,
on a long tour th rough N or w ay Sweden and , ,
F inland It was most inspiring to play f or

.
these people ; they want me to come back to

them now but I cannot do so nor can I go
, ,
next season but after that I shall go I re

, .
turned home greatly in need of rest I shall .
now begin work in earnest however as s u m , ,
mer is really the only time I have for study

throughout the year I shall have six full .
weeks now before we take our usual holiday

in the Grindelwald O n the w a y there we .
shall stop at M orges and Visit Paderewski and ,
then I will go over the c oncert o with him and

get his ideas as to interpretation .
M E M O RI Z I N G BY A N A L YS I S
You ask how I memorize F irst I go over .
the work several times to get a general idea o f

the whole Then I analyze it for I feel it
.
,
absolutely necessary to know keys chords and , ,
construction A work should be so well u n

.
d e rs to od along these lines that it can be played

in another key as well as in the one in which it
is wr itten F or the a ctu al memorizin g o f the
.
piece I generally do it phrase by phrase not ,
always each hand alone though occasion a lly

‘
,
’
I do this also I remember learning the B ach

.
A minor Prelude and F ugu e in this way If .
I were now asked to play any measure or pas

sage in any part of it I could do so ; it is mine
”
forever never to be forgotten
, .
Asked about the difl e re nt ways o f teaching

’
the Leschetizky method by various teachers ,
M iss G oodson said

“
As we all know people claim t o understand
,
and teach the Leschetizky principles who are

not competent to do so I do not recall for .
,
instance that the professor re quires the tips

,
o f the fi ngers to form a straight line on the
edge Of the keys I myself have never done

.
thi s I believe in a perfectly easy and natur a l

.
position o f hand at the keyboard When this .
is the case the fi nge r tips for m a curve the

-
,
middle fingers being placed a little farther in

o n the keys than is n a tural f o r the first and
fifth O f course the hand takes an arched

.
p osition and the j oints nearest the tip Of the

fingers must be firm ; there should be no waver
ing nor giving in there The whole arm of .
,
course is relaxed and swings easily from the

, ,
s houlder
M AR K H AM B O U R G
F OR M ,
T E C H N I C, A ND E! P RE S S I O N
IN one of the most quiet secluded quarters ,
of London can be found the home of the Rus

sian pianist M ark Hambourg M r Ham
, . .
bourg lives on a terrace far from the mad ,
”
ding crowd and difficult enough of access
,
to keep mere curiosity seekers at a distance .
O ne can scarcely picture to one s self without ’
an actu a l sight O f them the quaint charm of ,
these short passages or streets usually termed ,
“ ” “ ”
terraces or gardens
, This particular ter
.
race looks Out on a restful green park, where

luxuriant trees make long shadows on the sun
lit turf The house is large and c omfortable
.
—built over a hundred years ago ; its rooms are

spacious and the drawing room and library
,
-
,
which lead one into the other form a fine music ,
salon Surely amid such surroundings with

.
, ,
priceless pictures and obj e ts d a rt all about ’
with exquisite colors with space and quiet a n

, ,
78
MA RK H A M B O U RG
organ playing has had some e ffect on the piano

touch Some schools of piano playi ng advise
.
lifting the fingers high above the keys with a ,
View to producing greater power ; but I think

the t one thus produced is Often of a somewhat
harsh and disagreeable quality Then too . , ,
high lifting interferes with smoothness and

velocity F or myself I advocate keeping the
.
fingers close t o the keyboard and pressing the ,
keys which gives the tone a warmer and more

,
”
elastic quality .
“
A point in hand position I should like to
ask you about S ome teachers advise placing
.
the fi nge r tips close to the edge o f the keys

-
,
forming a straight line with them ; it seems to

”
me such a position is forced and unnatural .
M r Hambourg smiled assent

. .
“
I do not advocate anything forced and nu
” “
natural he answered
, S O many people .
think that a beautiful touch is born not made ‘
, ,
’
but I do not agree with them O ne can a c .
quire I a m sure a fine piano touch with the

, ,
proper stu dy The principal requirement is

.
,
first of all a loose wrist This point seems

,
.
simple enough but it is a point not sufficiently

,
considered nor understood N o matter how .
much the player may fe e l the meaning of the,
mus m he cannot express this meaning with

,
M a rk H a m b o u rg 81
sti ff wrists and arms S ome people have a

.
natural flexibility and to such the securing of

,
a musical tone presents far less difficulty ; but

with time patience and thought I fully b e
, , ,
lieve all can arrive at this goal .
AM O UN T O F P RA CT I SE
In regard to practise I do not think it wise

for the aspiring pianist to spend such a great
amount of t ime at the piano F our hours of .
concentrated work daily seems to me sufficient .
O f course it is the quality of pr a ctise that

counts The o ld saying Practise makes per
.
,
‘
fect does not mean constant repetition merely

,
’
,
but constant thinking and listening I advise .
students to stop after playing a passage sev

eral times and think over what the notes me a n
, .
This pause will rest ears and hands ; in a fe w

moments work can be resumed with fresh vigor .
“
I have been so frequently asked to write
o n the su b j ect of technic that I have done so
in a f e w articles which have been printed in a

small booklet F rom these you may see what
.
my ideas are on these points I do very little .
—
teaching myself j ust a f ew talented pupils ;
they must be something ou t o f the ordinary .
You see I do not live in London continuously ;

,
I am here only about f our months of the year ;

the rest of the time is spent traveling all over

the world O nly that small part of the year
.
when I am stationary can I do any solid work .
Here it is generally quiet enough ! the Zoologi

cal G arden is not far away however and some, ,
times I have the roaring O f the lions as an a c

c om pa nim e nt to my piano .
“
I am always increasing my reperto ire ,
though I find the public does not care for new

things ; it prefers the Old It may listen to the
.
ne w if forced to but it will not attend a recital

,
unless various familiar things are on the pro

gram .
“
I have made several tours in A m erica .
The rush o f travel from place to place over

there is fatiguing but I feel that your people
, ,
are Very appreciative You demand the best

. ,
and concert giving in America is so costly that

a manager can a fford to exploit only the high
est artists Here in London where the ex
.
,
pense is only about two hundred dollars say , ,
to get up a recital almost any one can scrape

,
together that sum and bring himself or herself

befor e the public In America the outlay is
.
four or five times greater N O wonder that .
only a very good artist can take the risk .
O n leaving M r Hambourg took us to a n

, .
other room w here he showed us with much sat

,
T O BIAS MA T TH A Y
WA T C H I N G T H E ARTI S T T E AC H E R AT
WO R K
O NE the first things accompl ished after

of
my arrival in London was t o seek ou t Tobias

M a tth a y the composer and te a cher for an
, ,
echo of his fame had reached me across the

vva t e r.
M a ttha y has done much to make the princi

ples of piano technic so clear and simple that
even a child c a n understand them If he ha s.
stated facts in a way which seems to some revo

lu tiona ry it is because these facts are seldom
understood by the rank and file o f piano teach
ers The work he has done has compelled a t
.
tention and admiration ; his ideas are now

accepted as undeniable truths by those who at
first repudiated them The writings Of M r
. .
M a ttha y will doubtless be better known in

America a little later on than they are at pres
ent They consist in part of an exhaustive
.
work on T he A ct of T ou ch in a ll its D iver

84
stu dents he is ever kind s ympathetic and en ,
c ou ra ging They on their part treat him

.
, ,
with profound respect .
M a t tha y believes and rightly that the b e

, ,
ginning pupil should learn essentials of note

values rhythm time ear training and so on
, , ,
-
,
be fore attempting to play anything at the

piano When first taken to the instrument
.
,
its mechanism is carefully expl a ined t o the

learner and what he must do to make a really
,
mus ical tone He says (Child s F irs t S teps )

.
’
“
B efore you take the very first step in tone
production be sure to understan d that you
,
must never touch the piano without trying to

make music I t is only too ea s y to sound
.
notes without making music at all To make .
music we must make all the sounds mean some

thing j ust as it is no use to pretend to speak
,
unless the sounds we make with ou r lips mean

something that is unless they form reasoned
,
”
phrases and sentences .
Here nothing is left vague M a ttha y shows .
clearly how all musical F orm and Shape imply

M ovement and Progression ! the movement of
a phrase toward its cadence ; the movement of
a group of notes toward a beat or pulse a head ,
o r the movement o f a whole piece toward its
climax etc T hi s original view o f his regard

, .
T o b ia s M a t t ha y 87
ing form which he has advocated for the las t

,
t wenty years is now being accepted generally

,
by the more u p to date of the English theo

- -
rists and teachers .
In regard to key mech a nism and What must

be done to produce all varieties of touch a nd
tone M a ttha y has made exhaustive studies
, .
He says (F irs t Principles of Pia no P la ying )

“
The two chief rules of technic as regards the ,
key are therefore ! Always f eel how much

, ,
the key resists you ! feel h ow much the key

wa nts for every note S econd Always listen
.
,
for the moment each sound begins so that you ,
may learn t o direct your e ffort to the sound

o nly and no t to the key b e d
,
You must neve r .
hit a key down nor hit a t it

, The fi nger tip .
-
may fall on the key and in gently reaching the

,
key you m a y follow up su ch fall by acting

against the key This action against the key
.
must be f or the sole purp ose of making it move

—
in one of the many ways which each give us
quite a di ff erent kind of sound And you .
must always direct such action to the point in

”
key descent where the sound begins .
I quote also this little summary from the

s ame work
()
a It is only by making the hammer end -
of the k e mov e that ou c a n make a s ou nd

y y .
b
() The swifter the moveme n t the louder the
sound (c ) The more gr a dual this swiftness
.
is obt ained the more beautiful the quality of

s ound d
() F brilli nt tone may hit
‘
o r a o u
.
y
the str ing by means of the key but do not by , ,
mistake hit the key instead (e ) You must

, .
‘ ’
aim the key to the beginning of each sound ,
because the hamm er falls off the string as you

he a r th a t beginning and it is t oo late then to
,
influence the sound except its continuance .
()
f It is wrong to squeeze the key beds b e ,
cause it prevents tone impairs musical result

, ,
impedes agility and is besides fatiguing

, , ,
.
g
( ) You must feel the giving way ‘
point of ’
the key s o th a t you may be able to tell how

,
much force is required for each note N ever . ,
”
therefore really hit the keys
, .
M r M a ttha y as minutely gives directions as

.
to the muscular problems o f touch and tech

nique F or instance he explains how all vari
.
,
e tie s o f tone good and bad are caused all in

, , ,
fl e ctions o f Duration and the laws which gov

,
ern the attainment o f Agility and ease of

Technique ; and also ex plains the nature of in
correct muscular actions which prevent the a t
t a inm ent of all these things He shows where
.
the released arm weight should be applied and ,
a gain , where it s hould be eliminated ; makes

90 P i a no bl a s t e ry
a study o f Rubinstein s playing for I found

’
he played a great deal better than I did S o .
I discovered many things in listening to him ,
which he perhaps could not have explained to

me T hese facts are incontrovertible and I
.
have brought many o f my colleagu es t o see the

truth of them M ore than this I have brought
.
,
many even of my older colleagues who had a

life time o f wrong mental habits to impede
-
them to realize the truth of my teachings

, .
“
The work of a teacher should spe a k for it
self F or my own part I never advertise f or
.
—
,
I can point to hundreds of pupils this is no

—
exaggeration in the least who are constantly
before the public as concert pianists and suc
,
c e s s fu l teachers .
“
If there is one thing that rouses me deeply ,
it is the incompetence of s o many teachers of

piano T hey say t o the pupil ! You play
.
‘
b a dly you must play better ; but they do not

,
’
tell the pupil how to play better They give .
d oses of études sonatas and pieces yet never

, ,
get at the heart of the matter at all It is even .
worse than the fake singing teachers ; I feel

”
like saying it is damn a ble !
It was my privilege to be present at some of
M r M a ttha y s private less ons given at the
.
’
Royal Academy S everal young men were to

.
T o bia s M a t t ha y 91
try for one o f the medals and were playing the ,
same piece one o f the Strauss T a u s ig V alse

,
-
Caprices .
M a ttha y listens to a complete performance

o f the work i n hand then turns back to the b e
,
ginning a nd goes over it again for corrections

and suggestions He enters into it with a b s o
.
lute devotion directing wit h m ovements of

,
head and ha nds as a conduc tor might direct an

orchestr a ; sometimes he dashes down a chord
in the treble to urge more force ; at other times
lays a restraining hand on the player s arm ’
,
where the tone sho uld be softer His blue .
pencil is often busy adding phrasing marks .
In the pauses he talks over with the pupil the

characte r of the piece and the e ffects he thinks,
should b e made In short his lessons are most

.
helpful and illuminating .
I also had the opportuni ty to attend a pupils ’
”
Practise Concert and here the results a t
,
t a ine d were little short o f marvelous Small .
children both boys a nd girls played diffi

, c u lt ,
pieces like the G rieg V ariations for two

,
pianos the W eber I nvita tion to the D a nce and

, ,
works by Chopin and Liszt with accuracy and ,
fluency Almost every selection was played

.
from memory The tone w a s always musical

.
a nd o ften o f much power a nd the pupi ls ,

seemed thoroughly to understand wh a t they

were doing and the meaning of the music .
They certainly exemplified the professor s ’
maxim
“
N ever touch the piano without trying to
”
make music .
N ot long afterward I received a copy o f

the ne w book which had j ust come from the
,
press Its comprehensive title is M u s ica l I n

.
te rpre ta tion its L a ws a nd P rinciple s

, a nd ,
the ir A pplica tion in T e a ching a nd P e rf orm

ing . The material was first presented in the
form of lectures ; on repeated requests it has
been issued in book form The author at the .
outset claims no attempt to treat such a com

plex problem e xhaustively ; he has however , ,
selected the following seven points for elucida

tion !
1 T he di ff erence between Practise and
.
Strumming .
2 The di ff erence b e tween Teaching and

.
Cramm ing .
3 How one s m ind can be brought to bear

’
.
on one s work
’
.
4 Correct ideas of Time and Shape

. .
5 Elements of Rubato and its application

. .
9 4! P i a no M a s t e ry
author deplores the misuse of the dam p e r

pedal which can be made to ruin all the care
,
and e ffort besto w ed on phra s m g and tonal e f

feets by the fingers The fault can in most
.
,
cases be tra ced to inattention to the sounds

,
coming from the piano .
There are quotable paragraphs on every

page which in their sincerity and earnestness
, ,
their originality of expressi on stamp them

,
selves on the reader s imagination Every

’
.
te a cher who is serious in his work and has the

best interests of his pupils at heart should read
,
and ponder these pages .

HAR O LD BAU ER
T H E QUE STI O N O F P IAN O TONE
BUR I ED deep in the heart of old Paris in one ,
of the narrow busy thoroughfares of the city

, ,
st a nds the ancient house in which the master

pianist Harold B auer has made a home
, , .
O ne who is unfamiliar with Paris would never

imagine that behind those ro w s of uninviting
buildings lining the noisy commercial street
, ,
there lived people of refined and artistic tastes .
All the entrances to the buildings look ve ry

—
much alike they seem to be mere slits in the
walls I stopped before one of the op e nings
.
,
entered and cr ossed a paved court yard climbed ,
a winding stone stairway rang at a plain ,
wooden doorway and was ushered into the

,
artist s abode O nce within I h a r dl y dared

’
.
,
to speak lest what I saw might vanish away

, ,
as with the wa ve of a fairy s wand Was I ’

.
not a moment before down in that dusty ,
s qu a lid street a nd here I am now in a beautiful

,
95
96 P ia no M a s t e ry
room whose a ppom tm ents are all of quiet ele

g ance — c o stly but in exquisite taste and where ,
absolu te peace a nd quiet reign The wide win .
dows open upon a lovely green garden which ,
adds the final touch of restful repose to the

whole picture .
M r B auer was giving a less on in the music

.
salon beyond from which issued now and

, ,
again echoes o f well beloved themes from a

,
-
Chopin sonata When the lesson was over he

.
came ou t t o me .
“
Yes this is one of the old houses of the sort
, ,
”
that are fast passing away in P a ris he said , ,
“
answering my remark ; there are c ompara
tiv e ly f e w o f the m left This building is
.
doubtless at least three hundred years old I n .
—
this quarter of the city in the rue de B ac for
—
,
instance you may find old forbidding looking

—
,
buildings that within a re m a gn ifi

, c ent p e rfect
palaces ; at the back of them perhaps will be , ,
a splendid garden ; but the whole thing is so

hidden away that even the very existence o f
such grandeur and beauty would never be s u s
”
ct e d fr om w ithout
p e .
He then led the w a y to the m usic room -

,
where w e had an hour s talk ’

.
“
I was thinking as I drove down here I ,
“
began what the trend of ou r talk might be
, ,
H a ro l d B a ne r 97
for you have already spoken on so many sub

j e c t s for publication It occu
. rr e d to me t o
ask how you y ourself secure a beautifu l tone

o n the piano and ho w you teach others to make
,
”
it ?
M r Bauer thought an instant

. .
“
I am not sure that I do make it ; in fact I
do not b elieve in a single beautiful tone on the
piano Tone on the piano can only be beau
.
—
tiful in the right place that 1 s m rela tion to ,
other tones You or I or the m a n in the

.
,
stree t who kn ows nothing ab out music may

, ,
each touch a piano key and that key will sound

,
the same whoever moves it from the nature of

, ,
the instrument A beautiful tone may result

.
when tw o or more notes are played succes

s iv e ly
, through their difi e rence of intens ity ,
which gives variety A straight even tone is

.
,
—
monotonous a dead tone V ariety is life . .
We see this fact exemplified even in the speak

ing voice ; if one speaks or re a ds in an even
t one it is deadly monotonous .
VARIE T Y O F TO NE
“
N ow
the singer or the violinist can make a
single tone on his instrument beautiful through
variety ; for it is imp o ssible for him to make
even one tone which does not have shades of
variation in it however slight they may b e

, ,
which render it expressive But you cannot .
do this on the piano ! you cannot color a single

tone ; but you can do this with a succession of
tones through their di fference through their
, ,
relation to each other O n the other hand you.
may say any tone is beautiful if in the right

place no matter how harsh it may be T he
, .
singer s voice may break from emotion or

’
simulated emotion in an impassioned phrase

, .
The exact note on which it breaks may not be

a beautiful one it may even be very discordant
, ,
but We do not think of that for we are moved ,
by the meaning back of the tones S o on the .
piano there may be one note in a phrase which ,
if heard alone would sound harsh and u nple a s

,
ant but in its relation to other tones it sounds

,
beautiful for it gives the right meaning and

,
e ff ect Thus it is the rela tion of tones which

.
results in a beautiful tone on the piano

‘ ’
.
“
The frequent trouble is that piano teachers
a nd players generally do not understand their
instrument A singer understands his a v io

. ,
linis t fl utist or dr ummer knows his but not

, ,
a pianist As he only has keys to put down

.
and they are right under his hand he does not ,
bother himself further To obviate this dif .
ficu lty for those who come to me I have had

, ,
1 00 P i a n o M a s t e ry
my hand looked on the keyboard ; whether my

fingers were curved flat or stood on end I
, , .
was soon able to get my e ffects and to con

vince others that they were the e ffects I wanted .
L ater on when I had more leisure I took more

, ,
thought about the position o f hand and fingers .
B u t I am convinced that much time is spen t

u selessly on externals which do not reach the ,
heart o f the matter .
“
F or instance players struggle for years to
,
a cquire a perfectly even scale N ow I don t

’
.
believe in that at all I don t believe a scal e

.
’
ever should be even either in tone or in rhythm

,
.
The beginner s untrained e fforts at a scale

’
sound like this ”

— the speaker illustrated at the
7
piano with a scale in which all the tones were

blurred and run into each other ; then he con
“
t inu e d After a year s s o called correct train
’
-
‘
—
,
”
ing his scale sounds like this
,
’
again he illus
t ra t e d playing a succession o f notes with one
,
“
finger each tone st a nding ou t by itself
, To .
my thinking such teaching is not only e rrone

o u s it is positively poisonous
,
— yes pois onou s ! ”
,
“
Is it to be inferred that you do not approve
”
o f scale practise ?
“
O h I advise scale playing surely for f a
, ,
c ility in passing the thumb under and the hand
over is very necessary I do not however de .

, ,
H a ro ld B a u er 101
sire the even monotonous scale but one that is

, ,
full of variety and life .
“
In regard to interpretation it should be ,
full of tonal and rhythmic modifications .
Briefly it may be said that expression may be

exemplified in four ways ! loud soft fast and , , ,
slow But within these crude divisions what

.
infinite shades a nd gradations may be made !

Then the personal equation als o comes in .
V ariety and di fferentiation are of supreme im

—
portance they are life !
“
I go to America next season and after that ,
to Australia ; this will keep me away from my

Paris home for a long time to come I should .
like to give you a picture to illustr a te this little

talk Here is a new one which was taken right
.
h ere in this room as I sat a t the piano with

, ,
the strong sunlight pouring in at the big win

d ow at my left .
O n a subsequent occasion M r B auer spoke , .
further on some phases of his art .
“
As you already know I do not believe in
s o called piano technic which must be prae
‘ ‘ ’
-
,
t is e d laboriously outside of pieces I do not .
believe in spending a lot of time in such prae

tise for I feel it is time wasted and leads no
,
where I do not believe for instance in the

.
, ,
struggle to play a perf e ct ly even scale A .
scale should never be even for it must be full

‘
,
’
o f variety and life A perfectly even scale is

.
o n a dead level ; it has no life ; it is machine
made The only sense m which the word ev en ‘ ’
may be applied to a scale is for its rhythmic

quality ; but even in this sense a beautiful scale
has slight variations so that it is never a b
,
s olu t e ly regular either in tone or rhythm

, .
“
Then I do not b elieve in taking up a ne w
composition a nd working at the technical side
o f it first
. I study it in the first place from the
musical side I see what may be the meaning
.
of the music w hat ideas it seeks to convey

, ,
what was in the composer s mind when he wrote ’
it In other words I get a good general idea

.
,
o f the c omposition as a whole ; when I h a ve this
I can begin to work ou t the details .
“
I n this connection I was interested in read
ing a statement made by Ruskin in his M odern
P a inters The statement which I think has
.
, , ,
never been refuted is that while the great Ital

,
ian painters Raphael Coreggio and the rest

, , ,
have left many immature and imperfect pic

tures and studies in color their drawings are ,
mature and finished showing that they made

,
many experiments a nd studies in color before

they thought of making the finished black and
1 0 45 P i a n o M a s t e ry
must h a ve experienced every emotion he inter

p re t s is as ol d as antiquity You remember
. in
the Dialogues of Plato S ocrates was discuss
,
ing with another sage the point as to whether

a n actor must h a ve felt every emotion he por
t ra ye d in order t o be a true artist The discus .
sion waxed warm on both sides Socrates .

’
final a rgument was If the true artist mus t

,
have lived through every experience in order

to portray it faithfully then if he had to act
, ,
a death scene he would h a ve to die first in order

”
to pi cture it with adequate fidelity !
THE QUES T I O N O F VELO CIT Y

In speaking of velocity in piano playing and
how it is to be acquired lVI r B auer continued !
‘
.
,
“
I believe the quality of velocity is inherent
—a n integral part of one s thought Even ’
.
a child if he has this inherent quality can play

, ,
a simple figure of five notes as fast as they

need to be played People o f the S outh not —
—
.
o n this side o f the water but of Spain and

Italy are accustomed to move quickly ; they
,
gesticulate with their hands and are full of life

and energy It is no trouble for them to think
.
with velocity Two people will set ou t t o

.
walk to a given point ; they may both walk fast ,
according to their idea of that word but one ,

H a ro l d B a u er 105
will cover the ground much more quickly than

the other I think this idea of a time unit is
.
again a limiting idea There can be no fixed

.
and fast rule as to the tempo of a composition ;

we cannot be bound by such rules The m a in .
thing is ! D o I understand the meaning a nd

spirit of the composition and can I make these
,
clear to others ? Can I so proj ect this piece

that the picture is alive If so the fact as to
?
,
whether it is a few shades slower or faster does

not enter into the question at all .
O B TAI N I NG PO WER
M any pl a yers totally mistake in what
power con s ists They think they must exert
.
great streng th in order to acqu ire suffi cient

power M any women students have this idea ;
.
they do not realize that power c omes from con

trast This is the secret of the e ffect of power
. .
I do not mean to say that we mu s t not play

with all the f orce we h a ve at times ; we even
have to pound and b a ng oc c asionally to pro
duce the needed e ffects This only proves.
again that a tone m a y be beautiful though in ,
itself harsh if this harshness comes in the right

,
time and place .
“
As with velocity so with power ; there is no
fixed and infallible rule in reg a rd to it for that ,
would only be another limitation to the feel

ing the poetry the emotion of the executant s
, ,
’
though t The quality and degree of po wer are

.
due to contrast and the ch oice of the degree

,
to be used lies with the pla yer s understanding

’
o f the content of the piece and his ability t o
bring ou t this c ontent and place it in all its

perfection and beauty before the listener .
This is his opportunity to bring out the higher ,
the spiritual meaning .

we sought in the front p orti on of the building ,
but were directed to cross a large square court , .
The house was built a ro und this court as was ,
the custom in constructing the older sort of

dwellings .
At last we discovered the right do or which ,
was opened by a neat housekeeper .
“
M Pugno is not here he lives in the
.
,
country she said in answer to our inquiry

, ,
.
H o w di fficult these F rench musicians are to

(
“
find ; they seem to be one and all in the
“
B madame we have an appointment with
ut, ,
M Pugno ; will you not be good enough to see

.
”
if he is not here after all ?
She left us st an ding but returned almost

,
immediately with the message that M Pugno .
had onlv that moment entere d his studio t o .

,
whi ch she would c onduct us .
In another moment we had crossed the tiny

foyer and were standing within the artist s ’
sanctuary At first glance one felt as though

.
in an O riental chamber of some E astern mon

arch Heavy gold and silver Turkish em
.
broideries hung over doors and windows The .
walls were covered W1th many rare paint

ings ; rich obj e ts d a rt were scattered about
’
in profusion ; a n open door led ou t into a

RA O U L P U GN O
that he shall not overdo in his piano study .
After all a robust physical condition is o f the

first importance for without it one can do little
, .
“
A child in go o d health can begin as early
as fi v e or six years He must be most j udi
.
c iou s l
y trained from the start As the ear
. is
o f such prime importance in musi c gre a t a t
—
,
tention should be paid to tone study to listen

ing to and distinguishing the various sounds ,
and to singing them if possible in solfeggio ,

.
“
At the outset a good hand position must be
s ecured with correct finger mo v ements
, Then .
there must be a thorough drill in scales a rpe g ,
gios chords and a variety of finger exercises

, , ,
before any kind o f pieces are taken up The .
young student in early years is expected to ,
play various études as well as the technic

—
,
studies I have mentioned Czerny Cramer , ,
Clementi and always B ach In my position

,
.
,
as member of the faculty o f the Conservatoire ,
a great many student s pa s s before me If I .
personally accep t any pupils they naturally,
must be talented and advanced as I cann ot ,
give my time to the children Still it is in .
”
t e re s ting t o see the child though t develop
-
.
The conversation turned upon the charming

—
studio with its lovely garden where absolute
quiet could be se cured in spite o f the noise and
A Vi s i t t o R a o u l P u g no 1 11
bustle of one of the busiest quarters of Paris .
The studio itself we were told had formerly

, ,
belonged to the painter Decamps and some ,
o f the pictures and furnishings were once his .
A fine portrait of Pugno life size filling the , ,
whole space above the piano claimed ou r a t ,
tention He kindly rose as we admired the

.
,
painting and sought a photograph copy .
—
,
When it was found the last one he possessed

—he presented it with his compliments .
We spoke of M lle B oulanger s work in com .

’
position a subj ect which seemed deeply to

,
interest M Pugno . .
“
Yes she is writing an opera ; in fa ct we are
,
writing it together ; the text is from a story

of d A nnu nz io I will j ot down the title for
’
.
”
you .
Taking a paper which I held in my hand he ,
t vro t e ,
L a Ville M orte 4
’
,
A c ts cl e d A nnu ncz o
M u s iqu e (le N a dia B ou la nge r e t R a ou l Pu gno
You will certainly have it performed in

America when it is finished ; I will tell them
,
”
so I said
, .
The great pianist smiled blandly and a c

c e pt e d the suggestion with evident satisfaction .
“
Yes we will come to Am erica and see the
,
work performed when it is completed

, , he
said .
With many expressions of appreciation we

took ou r leave of the O riental studi o and its
distinguished occupants ; and as we regained ,
the busy noisy rue de Clicy we said to ou r

, ,
selves that we ha d j ust lived through one of

the most unique experiences of ou r st a y in
Pari s .
(The a bove 1 s t he last interview ever taken

from this great F rench artist who passed ,
away a few months later ) .
The following items concerning M P u gno s .

’
manner of teaching a nd personal traits were ,
given me by M m e G ermaine Schnitzer the

.
,
accomplished F rench pianist and the master s ’
most gifted pupil .
“
Pugno had played the piano alm ost from
infancy , and in early youth had taken several
pi a no prizes Later however he g a ve much
.
, ,
more o f his time to the organ to the seem ,
ing neglect o f the former instrument H ow .
his serious attention was reverted to the pian o

happened in this wise It was announced t hat
.
E dwar d Grieg the noted N orwegian was

, ,
coming to Paris Pugno was one day look

.
ing over his piano Concerto which had recently

With advanced students Pugno spoke

much about music and what it could express ;
he translated themes and passages back into
the feelings and emotions which had originated
them ; he sh owed how all emotions find their
c ounterpart in tones Above all let kindnes s
‘
.
and goodness control you he onc e wrote ; if

,
’ ‘
y ou are filled with kin dn ess your tone will

, be
beautiful ! ’
“
P u gno s instruction took the form o f talks
’
on the inner meaning o f the composition and ,
the art of interpreting it rather than any ,
training on the technical side ; abou t the latter

he concerned himself very little It goes with .
ou t saying that only talented pupils mad e
progress under such a master ; indeed those

without talent interested him not at all He .
was a wonderful teacher for those who had the

insight to read between the lines and were ,
able to follow and absorb his artistic enthu

s ia s m s .
“
I have said that Pugno did not concern
himself about teaching the technical side of
piano playing Even with me his best pupil
.
, ,
he rarely touched upon technical points I .
must mention a notable exception He gave .
me one technical principle expressed in a fe w

,
simple e x ercises which I have never heard of

,
A Vis i t t o R a o u l P u g no 115
from any one else The use of this principle

.
has helped me amazingly to conquer many

knotty passages I have never given these ex
.
e rc is e s t o any one ; I a m willing however to

,
”
j ot them do w n for you .
( The following is a brief plan o f the e x er
cises as sketched by M m e Schnitzer )

, .
Pugno wished the thiity seconds and sixty

'
-
fourths to be played with the utmost quick

ness. This idea is not alone applicable t o all
s cales but ca n be used with a ny difficult pas

,
sage found in a composition .
“
Pugno took a keen interest in my work ,
my progress and career A fe w sentences .
culled here and there from the many letters

o f his which I have preserved may serve to ,
throw more light on the mner nature of the

man !
I have endeavored to mak e clear to your
‘
young mind the thoughts expressed in music ,
so that your understanding and your emotions

also might grow ; all this has created a link
o f gratitude in ou and an a ff ection within
y
me I have opened the windows for you and
.
have given you light and I have reaped the

,
satisfaction of my sowing ’
—
.
‘
Hear all the music you can do not miss
any of the pianists either good or bad ; there
is always something to be learned even from
—
,
a poor player if it is only what to avoid !

Study great works but even in those there are
,
some figures and phrases which need not be

brought into the foreground lest they attain ,
t oo much significanc e
’
.
“ ’
(After playing w ith Hans Richter s O r
ch e s t ra
) What
‘
intoxication o f sound— wha t
exhilaration and collaboration in music !
What a force within us which s ways us and
,
TH U E L B UR N HAM
T H E M E LO D Y AND C O LO R AT U R A H AND
A PRO M I N EN T figure in the musical life of

Paris is T hu el Burnham pianist and teacher
, .
M r Burnham is an American who for a

.
,
number of years has made his home in Paris .
He has studied with the greatest masters of

his instrument on both sides of the water .
M ore than this he is a musical thinker who

has worked ou t things for himself a m a lga m a t
,
ing what he has found best in other methods

with what he has discovered in his own ex
p e rie nc.e He has been able t o simplify the
whole fabric of technical material so there is
,
no time lost in useless labor .
As a pianist M r Burnham takes high rank

. .
Technical diffi culties do not exist for him .
He has come to the last turning of the road ;

before him rise the heights of supreme spirit
ual maste ry A touch that is limpid clear
. , ,
and capable of many gradations of tints ;

s plendid power in fortis s irno; delicacy v e loc
,
1 18
T hne l B u rn h a m 1 19
ity and variety are all his ; together with a ll

this he has a sympathetic insight into the mood
and meaning of the composer O f late he .
has been giving several recitals of a semi

private nature at which he has brought ou t
,
some o f the larger works in his repertoire .
These recitals have taken place in his charm

ing studios and it w a s my goo d fortune t o be
,
present when two concertos were played the ,
M a cD ow e ll in D minor and the Grieg in A

,
minor M r Burnham is a warm admirer of

. .
the works of ou r great American composer ,
and has prepared an entire program of M a c

Do w ell s music which included the T ragica
’
S onata Polonaise and many o f the shorter

, ,
pieces .
In a conversation with M r B urnham in re

'
.
gard to methods of teaching he ga ve many ,
helpful points explaining how he had reduced

,
technical difficulties to a minimum through

the exercise of a fe w simple principles .
P RIN CI PLE S O F T O U C H
The position and condition of the hand
varies according to the character of the music ,
a nd the tone you wish to pr o duce If you .
give out a melody you want a full lusc ious

, ,
tone the we i ght of a rm on the ke y e veryth ing

, ,
1 20 P i a no M a s t e ry
re laxed and a clinging caressin g pressure of

, ,
fi nger Her e then you have the M elody

. ,
‘
Hand with outstretched flat fingers If on

,
’
, .
,
the contrary you want rapid passage work , ,
with clear bright articulate tou ch the hand

, , ,
m ust stand up in well arched normal playin g -

,
p osition with fingers well

, rounded and good
finger action Here you have the Technical .
‘ ’
or Coloratura Hand
‘ ’
.
lM E L O DY H AN D
The M elody Hand is weighty and dead ‘
,
’
so to speak The touch is made with flat fi

. n
gers ; the ball o f the finger comes in contact

with the key the w hole arm hand and fingers
—
, ,
a re relaxed as loose as possible You c aress .
the keys as though you loved them as though ,
they were a very part of you ; you cling t o

t hem as to something soft velvety or downy ,
”
with pressure pressure press ur e always , , , .
(This illustration recalle d to the listener s

’
mind one of K itty Cheatham s stories the one ’
about the little girl caressing a pet kitten .
She was asked which she loved best her —

mother or the kitten O f course I love he r .
” “
best was the rather hesitating answer ; but
—
,
”
I love kitty too and she has fu rl )
“
T o ac quir e the m elody to u ch I te a ch it ,
!
the key from which it was lifted as though ,
there were five little imaginary black spots on

the keys showing exactly where the fi
, nge r tip s -
should rest The fingers are lifted cleanly

.
—
and evenly and fa ll on the keys no hitting
nor striking I m a ke a great di stinction b e
.
tween the coloratura touch and the melody

touch The first is for rapid brilliant passage
.
—
,
work sparkling glittering iride s cent what

, , ,
—
you will but cold It is made as I said with .
, ,
arched hand and raised finger action lVI el .
od
y touch expresses warmth and feeling ; is
from the heart Then there are the down and
.
up arm movements for chords and of course , , , ,
s cale and arpeggio work with coloratur a ,
touch I generally expect pupils who come t o

.
me to go through a short cours e of prepara

tory study with my assistant M iss M adeleine ,
Prosser who has been with me f or years and

, ,
does most thorough work in this line .
ASS I M ILAT I O N O F P RIN CI P LES

M any pupils come to me with no very def
inite ideas as to touch and what they may ex
press through it T hey think if they feel a
.
passage su ffic iently they will be able to use ,
the right touch f or it Sometimes they may be .
a ble t o hit upo n the e ff ect the y want but they ,

T hu e l B u rn h a m 1 23
don t know quite how they got it nor can they

’
,
repeat it another time at will I believe the .
principles governing certain touches can be so

thoroughly learned and assimilated that when
the pla ye r s e es a certa in pa s s a ge, he knows at
once wha t tou ch is re qu ire A

d to ex pre s s it .
great actor illustrates what I mean he knows -
how to employ his features and body to ex

press the thought of his lines When you go .
to the Theatre F ran cais in Paris you know ,
every member of the company is thorou ghlV

trained in every phase o f his art You are .
aware that each actor has studied expression

to such an extent that the features naturally
f all into the required lines and curves when
ever a certain emotion comes up f or expres
—
sion S o with the pianist he should have the
.
various touches at his fi nge r tips The step

-
.
beyond is to express himself which he wi ll do

,
easily and naturally when he has such a prep

,
aration as I have referred to .
M E DI O RI Z IN G
I am often questioned on the subj e ct of

memorizing Some pupils t hink if they pl ay
.
the piece a suffi cient number of times they will

know it ; then are troubled because they can
not a t a ll tim es rem em be r the not e s Such .
p layers mus t kno w every note of the piece

aw a y from the piano and be able to recite ,
them I have students w ho are able t o learn

.
their music away from the instrument and ca n ,
p lay it to me without having tried it o n the

pian o I require the piece so thoroughly
.
memorized that if I correct a measure or

phrase the pupil can go right on from that
,
point without being obliged to start fa rther

,
back or at the beginni ng In some cases

, .
,
however if the pupil has her own method of

,
comm itting t o memory and it is successful I , ,
have no desire to change it .
O C TAVE S T UDIES
octave study form the hand with the
F or
—
,
‘
octave grimace that is with arched hand
,
’
,
the unemployed fingers slightly curved In .
staccato touch of course use light wrist B e .
g in with one beat in sixteenths and finish with
the wiping off touch Build up mor e and

‘ ’
.
more beats in notes o f the same value always ,
ending the passage with the same touch as ,
above mentioned This exercise can be played

.
the full leng th of the keyboard in all key s and , ,
also chromatically It can be played in the .
same fashion using four voiced chords instead

,
-
o f octaves When such an exercise can b e

.
1 26 P i a no llI a s t e ry
a T w o voiced Invention and perfecting it

-
, ,
—
playing it in various ways transposing it into
all keys and polishing it to the highest degree
possible The B flat Invention is a useful one
.
for this treatment S o with études ; instead

.
o f playing a t so many is it not better to per

,
feet a few and bring them up to the highest

degree o f completeness ?
“
I am very susceptible to color anywhere
—
, ,
in anything especially in pictures M usic .
should express color Certain compositions.
seem to embody certain colors As you sug .
gest red is certainly the motif of Chopin s

,
’
great Polonaise O p , .
M r Burnham should ce rtainly look forward

.
to su c cess in hl s V 1S1t to his na t1v e land H is .
fine touch and tone sincere and musicianly

,
style and buoyant genial personality will

, ,
make friends f or his art and himself every

w here .
EDWI N H U G HE S
S OM E E SS E NTIA L S O F P IAN O P L A YI N G
WH EN one has read with pleasure and profit

the published ide a s of a musical worker and
thinker it is always an interesting experience
,
to meet such an one personally and have the ,
opportunity to discuss points o f special import ,
particularly when the meeting can take place

in some ideal spo t in the old world Such .
was my thought in visiting M r E dwin .
Hu ghes an A m erican who has made a name

,
and place for himself among the pianists and

teachers of Europe After years o f study in
.
V ienna with Leschetizky where he also acted

,
as one of the Vorb e reite rs he has established

,
himself in M unich where he feels he has f ound

,
a true home of musi c and art Here amid .

,
beautiful and artistic surroun dings he lives ,
and works dividing his time bet ween teaching

,
and concert pl a ying As a pianist M r

. .
Hughes has met with gratifying success in the

most important cities of G ermany while a s ,
127
1 28 P ia no M a s t e ry
a teacher he has been sought by students from

almost every State in America from M aine ,
to Texas and also from Canada What has

, .
given him special satisfaction is that during

the past year a number o f pupils have come to
him from the Conservatory here in M unich .
They have been greatly pleased with their

progress only regretting they had not come to
,
him before .
As to whether he uses the Le s chetizky

method in its entirety M r Hughes testified in
, .
the affirmative .
“
If you were to ask Leschetizky about the
‘
Leschetizky lVI e thod he would probably
,
’
l augh and tell you he has no method or he ,
would tell you his method consists o f only

‘ ’
two things fi — rm fingers and pliable wrist .
“
These are the principles upon which I base
the technical training of my pupils I first .
establish an arched hand position and then test ,
the firmness o f the fingers and knuckle j oints

by tapping them At first the j oints pa rticu
.
,
la rly the nail j oints are very apt t o sink m

,
when tapped by a lead pencil ; but by having

the pupil continue the tapping process a t
home it is not long before he acquires the fee l
,
ing of conscious firmness in his fingers .
Along with this exercise it is most impor

Viewed from this standpoint the piano is an

instrument apart from every other except in ,
some respects the organ A young violinist

.
,
’
cellist or fl u tis t has to study for som e tim e
before he can produce a t one of good musical
quality on his instrument Think what the .
beginner on the violin has to go thro ugh b e

fore he can make a respectable middle C ; but
anybody even a totally unmusical person can
, ,
play middle C on the piano without the leas t

trouble It is j ust this c a s e in tone produc
.
tion at the piano which leads to carelessnes s

as to the kind o f tone produced ; and s o piano
teachers above all others complain they can
, ,
not get their pupils to listen to what they a re

playing Pupils should be made to listen by
.
,
means of a special course in tone production ,
which should go hand in hand with the tech

nic a l exercises used at the very beginning .
O therwise they imagine they are making musi c

when they place the printed page on the rack ,
and set the correct keys in motion .
“
T here is no other instrument with which it
is so easy to blu ff a large part of the audience ;
‘ ’
f or the character o f the piano is such that the

general public often think it fine music if the
player makes a big noise Pianist s of consider
.
able reputation often take advantage of thi s

E d wi n H u ghe s 1 31
lack of discrimination on the part of piano

recital audiences which above all the other a u
, ,
die nc e s seem peculiarly incapable o f j udging

,
correctly the musical value of a performance .
“
O f the h u ndreds o f piano recitals which
take place yearly in the mu s ical centers of
Euro pe only a comparatively small number
,
are of real musical interest In many cases .
it seems as though the players were merely

repeating something learned by rote in an u n ,
known language ; j ust as though I should re

peat a poem in Italian The words I might .
pronounce after a fashion but the meaning o f

—
,
most of them would be a blank to me s o how

could I make others understand them .
R H YT H M I N P I AN O P LAYING
The sub j ect of rhythm is an important one ,
and more attention should be given it Les .
che t iz k once said that tones and rhythm are

y
t he only things which can keep the piano alive
as a solo instrument I find in pupils who
.
come to me so much deficiency in these tw o

subj ects that I have organized c lasses in ear
,
training and rhythm .
“
If pupils h a ve naturally a poor sense o f
rhythm there is no remedy equal t o practising
,
with a metronome using this instrument of

,
torture daily until results are evident when , ,
of course there must be a j udicious slowing

,
down in its use T he mechanical sense of

rhythm the ability to count three or four to
,
a measure and t o group the notes of a piece

,
correctly can be taught to any person if one

, ,
has the patien c e ; but for those delicate rhyth

mic nu a nces required by a Chopin mazurka
or a V iennese waltz a specific rhythmic gift ,
must be possessed by the pupil .
“
Les che tizky says little to his pupils on the
s ub j ect o f techn ic ; I cannot remember his hav
ing spoken a dozen words t o me on the sub

j cet during all the time I have known him
, .
His interest of course lies wholly in the mat

, ,
ter of interpretation and technic comes int o ,
co nsideration only as a means and never as an

end .
“
Leschetizky like s to have the player talk
to him ask questions do anything but sit still
, ,
and not speak H ow do I kno w you compre

‘
.
hend my meaning he asks that you under ,

’
,
‘
stand what I a m talking about if you say ,
no thing ? At first a student may be silent

’
from nervousness but if he is bright he will ,

‘
soon catch on a nd see wha t is expecte d of
,
’
him Leschetizky says sometimes ! When the

.
‘
Lord made the ten c omm andment s He omit

tion one learns rapidly and surely until one ,
reaches the point where the wings of one s own ’
individuality begin to sprout .
AB O U T M E M O RIZ I NG
O n the subj ect of memorizing who can lay
down rules f or this inexplicable mental proc
ess which will hold good for every one F or
,
?
myself I hear the notes mentally and know

, ,
their position on the keyboard In actual per

.
f orm a nce much must be left t o finger memory ,
but one must actually have the notes in his

mind as well as in his fingers Before a con
.
cert I go over all my program mentally and ,
find this an excellent method o f practise when

traveling from one city to another T o those .
who study with me I say you must try vari

,
ou s method s o f memorizing ; there is no uni
versal way ; each must find ou t by experiment

which is most suited to his individual case .
“
With some pianists visual memory of the
printed page plays the principal rfi le in mem
oriz ing ; with others visual memory o f the notes
on the keyboard ; w ith still others ear memory -

,
or memory o f the harmonic progressions I .
believe in making the pupil familiar with all

these di ff erent ways so that he may find ou t
,
which one is most helpful t o him .

E d wi n H u ghe s 1 35
F or pupils with weak hands and arms I

recommend simple gymnastic exercises t o be
done morning and evening Physical strength
.
is a very necessary essential for a brilliant

techn1 e ; the student who would accomplish big
things must possess it in order to succeed .
K EEP I NG T EC H N IC I N REPAIR
The only way to keep one s technic in re ’
pair is to be constantly working at it Tech .
nic is the mechanical par t of music making ; -
to keep it in good working order one must be

constantly tinkering with it j ust as the engine
,
driver tinkers w ith his locomotive or the ch a u f

feur with his automobile In the course of
.
his technical study e very intelligent pupil will

recognize certain exercises which are pa rticu
l a rly important f or the mechanical well being -
o f his playing ; from these exercises he will plan
his daily schedule of technical practise .
“
In order to keep a large repertoire going
at the same time one must have a weekly prae
,
tise plan which will allow for a frequent repe

,
tition o f the piec es Those pieces which have

.
been recently added to one s list will require

’
more frequent repetition while those whi ch

,
have been played for a longer period may be

left for an occa s 1ona l brushing up F requen t .
pl a ying before others either publicly o r pri

,
v a te l
,y is abo v e everything else t o be re c om
mended to the pianist as the greatest incentive

,
t o keeping up his repertoire and toward grow

ing in his art .
A M ERICAN VE RS U S E U R OP EAN C ON DITI ON S

“
In America many people w ho have little
talent study music intending t o make it their
,
profession ; whereas in Europe there is such

a profusion of music and music making that -
only those of more than average gifts think

of making music their life work In America .
we are still in the making from a musical

‘
,
’
s tandpoint ,
and although we have aecom
p lis h e d much there is still much to be done It .
is the o ffice of the piano teacher in America

to make musi c stu dy easy and interesting t o
pupils of moderate ability Just these c on .
ditions h ave brought about very excellent

methods of piano and music study f or Ameri
can children which have no counterpart in
,
Europe .
inte rviews if you will come to tea on Thurs

,
”
day afternoon you will be welcome
, .
Busoni is located in a stately Wohnung

ov erlooking the handsome Victoria Luise
Platz in the newer western section of Berlin
, .
M m e Busoni met us as we arrived and con

.
,
ducted us to the master who rose from a cozy

,
nook in a corner of the libr ary to greet us .
Tea was soon brought in and our little party ,
which included a couple o f other guests was ,
soon chatting gaily in a mixture o f F rench ,
G erman and English .
During the sprightly chat I could not help

glancing from time to time aroun d the great
library in which we sat noting its artistic ,
furnishings and the rows upon rows of v ol

,
umes in their costly bindings which lined the ,
walls O ne appreciates what Dr Johnson

. .
meant when he said that whenever he s a w

shelves filled with books he always wanted to
get near enough to them to read their titles ,
as the choice o f books indicates character .
“
Presently Busoni turned to me I am !
composing a rhapsodie on A m en ca n Indian

”
themes .
“ ”
And where did you c a pture the themes ?
he was asked .
“
F rom a very charming lady a country ,
o o Cop y
P h t ri g h t b y Tyl er
a smile In this room stands a harpsichord

.
,
w ith its double keyboard and brilliant red case .
It 1 s not an antique but an excellent copy made

by Chickering .
F arther on is a veritable musician s den

’
,
with upright piano and with a large desk ,
crowded with pictures and mementoes O n .
the walls hang rare portraits chiefly of Chopin

and Liszt B eyond this room came the salon
.
,
with its tw o grand pianos side by side This .
is the master s teaching and recital room and

’
here are various massive pieces of richly carved

furniture M m e Busoni called ou r attention
. .
t o the elaborate chandelier in old silver o f ex ,
q u is it e workmanship which she said had cost

, , ,
her a long search to find There are several .
portraits here of the composer pianist in his -
—
youth one as a boy of twelve a handsome
—
,
lad bilds ehen with his curls his soulful eyes

'
, ,
and his big white collar .
Busoni soon j oined us in the salon and the

conversation w a s turned to his activities in the
ne w field .
“
When you have finished the new rhapsodie
you will come and play it to us in America
and m London also he was urged , .
“
Ah London ! I am almost homesick for
,
London ; it is beautiful ther e I am fond of .

F e rru c c i o B u s o ni 141
America t oo You know I lived there f or

, .
some years ; my son was born there ; he is an

American citizen Yes I will return though
.
, ,
j ust when I do not yet kn ow and then I will

,
”
assuredly play the rhapsodie .
XVIII
A D ELE AU S DER O HE
AN O T H E R A R TIST AT H O M E
AN O T H ER opportunity to see the home of an

artist was a fforded me when F rl Aus der O he
.
invited me t o visit her in her B erlin home .
She als o lives in the newer western portion o f

the city where so many o ther artists are lo
,
c a te d. O ne feels on entering the spacious

rooms that this home has the true G erman a t
m o s phe re Adele Aus der O he whose per
.
,
s ona lity is well remembered in America on a c ,
count of her various pianistic tours now wears ,
her brown hair softly drawn down over her

ears in M adonn a fashion a mod e which b e
, ,
comes her vastly .
“
M y time is divided between playing in con
cert composing and my own studies began
, , ,
“
the artist .I give a hn os t no lessons for I ,
have not time for them I never have more

.
than a couple of pupils studying with me a t

o ne time ; they must be both talented and eager .
The amount of time I consider necessary f or

142
e ffects I take them at the point where they

,
are and try to bring them for w ard even if the ,
hand position is not j ust what I would like .
If I stop eve rything and let them do nothing

but hand position they will be discouraged
,
and think they are beginning all over again .
This beginn ing again is sometimes d e trim en

tal To take a pupil at his present point and
.
,
carry him along was also Liszt s idea He ’

.
did not like to change a hand position to which

the player has grown accustomed for one
which seems unnatural and which the pianist
,
has to work a long time to acquire He felt .
that one s time could be spent to more a dv a n

’
tage There are so many legitimate positions

.
,
e a ch hand is a sep a rate study and is apt to

,
take the position m ost natural to itself .
“
I shall play numerous concert s and recital s
in Europe the coming season but shall not be
,
in America I know your country well as I

.
have made several tours and have lived there .
I left it the last time under sad circumstances

a s m sister who always a ccompanied me had
,
y , ,
j ust passed away after quite a long illness .
S o you see I have not much zest to retu rn .
“
However I am fond o f Am erica and a d ,
mire the great progress you are making in

A d e le A us d e r O he 145
music and art And you have the courage of

.
your convictions ; you do not admire a musical

work simply because some one else says you
should or the critics tell you to You d o not
, .
ask your neighbor s Opinion before you a p

’
p laud it If you
. do not like it you are not
afraid to say so Even when it is only rag
.
time that pleases you you are not afraid ,
to own up to it When you learn what is bet

.
ter you say so It is this honesty whi ch leads

.
to progressive results You are rapidly b e .
coming competent to j udge what is best I .
have found the most appreciative audiences in

”
America .
M iss Aus der O he had much t o relate of the

Woman s Lyceum ’
The Department of
.
M usic was founded by Aus der O he herself .
N ot long ago there was an exhibition of

woman s work in music Women comp osers
’
.
from all over the country sent examples o f

their work O ur own M rs H A A Beach
. . . . . ,
w h o has been located f or some time in M unich ,
was well represented There are branches of .
this institution in other G erman cities .
S everal paintings of large size and striking

’
originality hang on the walls of the pianist s
home They a ll illustrate religious themes
.
and are the work of Herr Aus der O he the ,
pianist s only brother who passed away at the

’
height of his career.
“ ”
Yes , said the composer my mother
, ,
brother and sister have been taken away since

,
I was last in America and now I am quite

,
”
alone ; but I have my art .
visits during those nine years But I love .
America and perhaps you can imagine how

,
eagerly I am looking fo rward t o my coming
The first eight years of m y life were spent

in Chicago and then my family moved t o N e w
,
York Here I studied with Dr William

. .
M ason When I was about fifteen I went to

.
Europe for further study and although I had ,
another master at first it was not so very long,
before I went t o Vienna to Leschetizky for I , ,
felt the need Of more thorough preparatio n

than I had yet had There is nothing like a.
firm technical foundation ; it is a rock to build

upon ; one cannot do great things without it .
I have had to labor hard for what I have a t

t a ine d and am not ashamed t o say so
, I .
practise all my spare time as one of my col

‘
,
’
leagues expresses it ; though o f course if one , ,
studies with the necessary concentration one

c annot practise more than five hours t o a dv a n
tage .
“
I thoroughly believe in practising techni c
ou tside of pieces ; I have always done s o and
still continue to do it This brings the hand .
into condition and keeps it up t o the mark so

,
that d iffi cult compositions are more readily

within the grasp and the technical require
,
1 50 P i a no Bl as t e ry
M iss Spencer s laugh rang merrily

’
ou t .
“
This is the first I have eve r heard of the
i dea ! Such a position must seem very
strained and unnatural Leschetizky on the .
,
contrary wishes everything done in the most

,
easy natural w a y O f course at first when

, .
, ,
o ne is seeking to acquire strength and firmness
of han d and fingers one must give time and

,
thought to securing an arched hand and steady

first j oints of fingers Later when these con
.
,
di tions have been thoroughly established the ,
hand can take any position required Lesche .
t iz k y s hand Often lies quite flat on the keys

’
.
He has a beautiful piano hand ; the first j oints

Of the fingers have so long been held firmly
curved that they always keep their position
, ,
no matter what he is doing ; if he only passes

his fingers through his hair his hand is in ,
shape .
“
Leschetizky is indeed a wonderful teacher !
The player however must divine how to be re
, ,
c e ptiv e how to enter into the master s thought

’
, ,
o r it may go hard with h1m If he does not .
understand nor grasp the master s words he

,
’
may su ffer terribly during the ordeal Of the

lessons I have w itnessed such scenes !
.
Those who are e qual to the situation receive

most illuminative instruction .
E l e a n o r S pe n c e r 1 51
I trust I do not give you the impression O f

being s o devoted t o and enthusi a stic in the
, ,
work I en j oyed with my venerated master that

I wish t o exclude other masters and schools .
I think narrowness one o f the most u n

pleasant O f traits and one I should dread t o
,
be accused Of I see so much good in others

. ,
their ways and ideas that to me all things , , ,
great and beautiful in art seem very closely

related .
M E M ORIZ ING
How do I memorize a composition I ?
first play it over a few times to become some

what familiar with its form and shape Then .
I begin to analyze and study it committing it ,
by phrases or idea s one or tw o measures at a

, ,
time I do not always take each hand alone

. ,
unless very intricate ; sometimes it is easier t o

learn both hands together It is a good thing .
to study out the melodic line to build each ,
phrase to work with it till you get it to suit

,
you Then come the larger proportions the

.
,
big climaxes which have to be thought out

,
and prepared f or in advance A composition .
should be so thoroughly your own that you can

play it at any time if your hand is in condi
,
t ion O r i f it h a s b e en la i d a sid e for a long

.
,
time a couple of days should bring it back

, .
“
The subj ect Of forming a repertoire is one
often overlooked or not understood The .
repertoire should b e comprehensive and built

on broad lines A pupil intending to make
.
music a profession should know the literature

o f the piano not only the small and u nim or
, p
tan t works o f the great composers (as is to o
often the case ) but the big works as well If .
one is well grounded in the classics at an e arly
a ge it is of great benefit afterwards

, .
PO WER AN D VELO CITY

gaining power heavy chords are very
F or ,
beneficial ; combinations o f five notes that take

in all the fingers are most useful .
“
The principle of velocity is the doing away
—
with all u nnecessary movement raising the
fingers as little as possible and so on But ,
.
in early stages of study and at all times for ,
slow practise exactness and clearness the fi

, n ,
gers must be raised Leschetizky is a grea t

.
b e lie ver in fi nger a c t on;i he holds it to b e ab
s olu te ly
“
ne ces s a ry for
fi nger d e ve lopm e nt .
I have been concertizing for the last three

years and studying alone T his does not
, .
mean I have learned all the masters can teach

m e but only that I have come to a place whe re
,
AR T H U R H O O H M AN
H OW T H E P IANI ST CAN C O LO R T O N E
W I T H ACTI O N AND E M O TI O N
A P IAN IS T like a painter should have an

, ,
infi
”
nitu de of colors on his palette remarked ,
Arthur Hochman the young Russian pianist

, ,
“
in a recent chat about piano playing He .
should paint pictures at the keyboard j ust as ,
the art ist depicts them upon the canvas T he .
pian o is capable of a wonderful variety of

tonal shading and its keys will respond most
,
ideally to the true musician who understands

h ow to awaken and bring fort h all this tonal
beauty from the instrument .
“
The m ode rn pia nis t is Often lacking in two
—
fi
important essentials phrasing and shading .
Inability to grasp the importance O f these two

points may be the cause Of art istic failure .
An artist should so thoroughly make his own

the composition which he plays and be so ,
deeply imbued with its spirit that he will know

,
the phrasing and dynamics which best express

the meaning Of the piece When he has risen
.
1 54
A rt h u r H o c hm a n 1 55
to such heights he is a la w to himself in the

,
matter of phrasing no matter what marks ,
may stand upon the printed page As a rule .
the editing O f piano music is extremely ina de

quate though how can it really be other wise
,
?
How is it possible with a series of dots lines

, , ,
dashes and accents to give a true idea of the

,
interpretation of a work of musical art It is

?
not possible ; there are infinite shadings b e

t ween pia no and forte — numberless varieties
Of touch which have not been tabulated by the
schools G reat editors like v on B iilow Busoni
.
,
and d A lb e rt have done much to make the

’
classics clearer to the student ; yet they them

selves realize there are a million gradations Of
touch and tone which can never be expressed
,
by signs nor put into words .
F O UR RE QU ISITES F O R P IAN ISTS

F our things are necessary for the pianist
who would make an artistic success in public .
They are ! V ariety Of tone color ; Indiv idual

and artistic phrasing ; True feeling ; Personal
magnetism Colors mean so much to me ;
.
some are so beautiful the various shades O f,
red for instance ; then the golden yellows rich

, , ,
warm browns and soft liquid blues We can

,
.
m a ke a s wonderfu l combinat ion s with th em a s

ever the painters do T O me dark red speaks

.
o f something tender heart searching m ys t e ri

,
-
,
ou s
”
. Here M r Hochman illustrated his
.
words at the piano with an expressive fragment

full of deep feeling O n the other hand the
.
,
s hades o f yellow express gaiety and bright

”
ness ; here the illustrations were all life and
fire in crisp brilliant staccatos O ther colors
, ,
.
were j ust as e ffectively represented .
“
What I have j ust indicated at the key
“
board continued the artist gives a faint idea
, ,
o f what can be done with tone coloring and ,
why I feel that pianists who neglect this side

o f their art o r do not see this side of it
, are ,
missing j ust so much beauty I could name .
o ne pianist a great name in the world of music
—
,
a man with an absolutely flawless technic ,
yet whose playing to me is dry and colorless ; ,
it gives you no ideas nothing you can carry

—
,
away ! it is like water water Another with .

,
great variety O f tonal beauty gives me many

—
,
ideas many pictures Of tone His name is .
G abrilowitsch ; he is for me the greatest pianist .
M A K I NG CLI M A! E S P IAN ISSI M O

In my own playing when I color a phrase , ,
I do not work up to a climax and make that

the loudest note a s m o s t pianists do but
, ,
thy with dry mechanical performance where

, ,
every e ffect is coldly calculated beforehand ,
and the player always strives to do it the same

w ay . H ow can he always play the same way
when he does not feel the same If he simply
?
seeks for uniformity where does the inspiration

come in ?
“
The true artist will never give a mechanical
performance At one time he may be in a
.
tender melting mood ; at another in a daring

,
or exalted one He must be free to play a s

.
he feels and he will be artist enough never to

,
overstep bounds The pianist w ho plays with

true feeling and heart can never play the
‘ ’
s ame composition twice exactly alike for he ,
can never feel precisely the same twice This .

,
Of course applies more especially to public

,
performance and playing for others .
“
Another essential is breath control Res .
p ir a t ion must be easy and natural no matter ,
how much physical stren gth is exerted In .
fortis s im o and all diffi cult passages the lips ,
must be kept closed and respiration taken

through the nostrils as it always ought to be
,
.
D ISSECTI O N OF DE TAILS
Yes I do a great deal of teaching but pre

, ,
fer to t a ke only such pupil s a s a re intelli gen t

A r t hu r H o c hm a n 1 59
and advanced With pupils I am very par

.
ticu la r ab out hand position and touch The .
ends O f the fingers must be firm but otherwise ,
the hand wrist and arm from the shoulder

, , ,
are all relaxed In teaching a composition I

.
,
am immensely careful and particular about

each note Everything is dissected and ana
.
lyz e d. When all is understood and mastered ,
it is then ready f or the stage setting the a o ,
”
tors the lights and the colors !
, ,
I was intended for a pianist from the first .
B orn in Russia I afterw a rd came to B erlin , ,
s t u dv ing seven or eight years with ! aver

S charwenka then with d A lb e rt Stavenhagen
,
’
and others But when one has all that can be

.
learned from others a man s greatest teacher ,

’
is himself I have done a great deal of con

.
cert work and recital playing in Europe and ,
have appeared with the leading orchestras in

”
the largest cities of America .
M r Hochman has done considerable work

.
in composition N umerous songs have been .
published and doubtless larger works may be

expected later .
TERE SA CARRE NO
E AR LY T E C H NI CA L T R AININ G
A M U S I C critic remarked T hat ever youth

,
ful and fascinating pianist Teres a Carreno is

,
”
with us again .
I well remember how fascinated I was as a ,
young girl with her playing the first t iIne I

—
,
heard it it was so full of fire enthusiasm , ,
brilliancy and charm How I longed and la

—
.
bored to imitate it to be able to play like

that ! I not only loved her playing but her
whole appearance her gracious manner as she
,
walked across the stage her air O f buoyancy

,
and conscious mastery as she sat at the piano ;

her round white arms and wrists and the — ,
red sash she wore !

During a recent talk with Mm e Carreno I
’
. ,
recalled the above incident which amused her

, ,
especially the memory o f the sash .
“
I assure you that at heart I f eel no olde r
now than in the days when I wore it she said ,
.
The conversation then turned to questions of

m a stering the piano with parti cular re feren ce
,
1 60
T e re s a C a rr e n o 161
to the remarkable technic O f the artist herself .
“
The fact that I began my studies at a very
”
early age was a great advantage to me she ,
“
said . I loved the sound of the piano and ,
began to pick ou t bits O f tunes when I was

little more than three At six and a half I
.
began to study seriously so that when I was ,
nine I was playing such pieces as Chopin s

’
B allade in A flat Another fact which was O f

.
the utmost advantage to me was that I had an

ideal teacher in my father He s a w that I .
loved the piano and decided I must be prop

,
erly taught He was passionately fo nd of

.
music and if he had not been a statesman

, ,
laboring for the good Of his country he would ,
undoubtedly have been a great musician He .
developed a wonderful system for teaching the

piano and the work he did with me I now do
,
with my pupils F or one thing he invented

.
a series of stretching and gymnastic exercises

which are splendid ; they did w onders for me ,
and I u s e them constantly in my teaching .
But like everything else they must be done in

, ,
the right way or they are not beneficial

,
.
58 0 TEC H N ICAL E! ERCISE S

M y father wrote out for me a great many
technical exercises ; to be exact there were , 58 0
Of them ! S ome consisted O f difficult passages

—
from the great composers perhaps originally
—
written for one hand which he would arrange
f Or two hands so that each hand had the same
,
amount o f work to do T hus both my hands

.
had equal training and I find no di fferenc e

,
bet ween them These 58 0 exe rcises took j us t

.
three days to go through E verything must .
be played in all keys and with every possible

—
,
variety Of touch legato staccato half stae , ,

-
cato and s o on ; also with all kinds of shad

, ,
9,
mg .
(Think o f suc h a drill in pure t echnic O ,
ye teachers and students who give little or no

,
time to such matters outside Of études and

pieces !)
“
Part O f my training consisted in being
shown how to criticize myself I learned to .
listen to be critical to j udge my ow n work ;

, ,
for if it was not up to the mark I must s e e

what was the matter and correct it myself .
The earlier this can be learned the better I .
attribute much Of my subsequent success to

this ability I still carry out this plan for
.
,
there on the piano you will find all the notes

for my coming recitals which I work over and
,
t ake with me everywhere T his method of .
study I always try to instil into my p upils .

indeed I have been grateful all my life for the

thorough foundation which was laid for me .
I n these days we hear Of so many short cuts

‘ ’
,
so many ne w methods mechanical and other ,
wise of studying the piano ; but I fail to see

,
that they arrive at the goal a n y quicker or ,
make any more thorough musicians than those

who come by the royal road Of intelligent well ,
”
directed hard work .
Asked how she Obtained great power with

the least expenditure of physical strength ,
M m e Carreno continued
.
“
The secret o f power lies in relaxation ; or
I might say power is relaxation This word
,
. ,
however is apt to b e mis un derstood You

,
.
tell pupils to relax and if they do not under

,
stand how and when they get nowhere R e .
laxation does not mean to fl O p all over the

piano ; it means rather to loosen j ust where it
, ,
is needed and nowhere else F or the heavy .
chords in the Tschaikowsky Concerto my arms

are absolutely limp from the shoulder ; in fact ,
I am not conscious I have arms That is why .
I can play for hours without the slightest

f atigue It is really mental rel a xation f or
.
,
one has to think it ; it must be in the mind

first before it can be worked ou t in arms and
hands We have to think it and then act it
. .
T e re s a C a rre n o 165
This quality O f my playing must have im

pressed Breithaupt for as you perhaps know
, , ,
it was after he heard me pl a y that he wrote

his famous book on Weight Touch which is ‘
,
’
de di cated to me A second and revised edi

.
tion of this work by the way is an improve

, ,
ment on the first M any artists and musi

.
cia ns have told me I have a special quality of
tone ; if this is true I am convinced this qual

”
ity is the result of controlled relaxation .
I referred t o the artist s hand as being of ’
exceptional adaptability for the piano .
“ ” “
Yes
, she answered and it rese m bles ,
closely the hand of Rubinstein This brings .
to mind a little incident As a small child . ,
I was taken to London and on one occasion ,
played in the presence Of Rubinstein ; he was

delighted took me under his wing and in
, ,
t ro du c e d me all about as his musical daughter .
Years afterward we came to N e w York and ,
located at the O ld Clarendon Hotel which has ,
housed so many men o f note The first day .
at lunch my aunt and I were seated at a table

,
mostly occupied by elderly ladies who stared ,
at u s curiously I was a shy slip Of a girl

. ,
and hardly ventured to raise my eyes after

the first look around the room Beside me .
sat a gentleman I glanced at his hand as it

.
rested on the —
table then
I looked more
closely ; how much it remi nded me Of R ubin
st ein s hand ! M y eyes traveled slowly up to
’
—
the gentleman s face it was Rubinstein ! He
’
was looking at me ; then he turned and em

”
braced me before all those Observing ladies !
,
We spoke O f Berlin the home Of the pianist

, ,
and O f its musical life mentioning von B iilow

,
“
and K lindw orth B oth good friends Of
.
mine she commented

, What a wonderful
.
work K lindw orth has accomplished in his edi

tions of Beethoven and Chopin ! As G oethe
said of himself we can s a y of K lindw orth
,
he has carved his own monument in this work .
We should revere him for the great servic e

he has done the pianistic world .
“
I a lw a v s love to play in America and each ,
time I come I discover how much you have

grown The musical development here is
.
wonderful This c o u ntry is very far from

.
being filled with a mercenary and commerci a l

spirit If Europeans think so it is because
.
they do not know the American at home .
Your progress in music is a marvel ! There

is a great deal O f idealism here a nd idealism
,
is the very heart and soul of music .
“
I feel the artist has such a beautiful calling
XX II
WILHEL M B A CH A U S
T E C H NI CA L P R O B L E M S DISC U SS E D
H OW do I produce the e ffects which I ob

”
tain from the piano ?
The young German artist Wilhelm B ach ,
aus was comfortably seated in his spacious

,
apartments at the Ritz N ew York when this

, ,
question was asked A grand piano stood

.
close at hand and the pianist ran his fingers

,
lightly over its keys fro m time to time or ,
illustrated some technical point a s he talked .
“
In answer I would say I produce them
,
—
by listening criticizing j udging working,
over the point until I get it as I want it

,
.
Then I can reproduce it a t will if I want to ,
make j us t the same e ffect ; but sometimes I

w ant to change and try another .
“
I am particular about the seat I use a t
the piano as I sit lower than mos t amateurs
, ,
who in general are apt to sit too high M y .
piano stool has j ust been taken out for a fe w

repairs or I could show you how low it is
,
. .
16 8
—
right and Of c ourse the scales and arpeggios
come in for their share O f criticism I prae .
tise them in legato staccato and in other ,
touches but mostly in legat o as that is some

, ,
what more difficult and more beautiful than

the others .
“
Perhaps I have what might be called a
natural technic ; that is I h a ve a natural apti
tude for it so that I could a cquire it easily
, ,
and it stays with me Ho ffmann has that .
kind of natural technic ; so has d A lb ert O f ’

.
course I have t o practise technic ; I would not

allow it to lapse ; I love the piano too much
to neglect any pa rt Of the work A n artist .
owes it to himself and the publi c to keep him

—
self u p in perfect condition for he must
never o ff er the public anything but the best .
I only mean to say I do not have to work at

it as laboriously as some others have to do .
However I practise technic daily and will

, ,
add that I find I can do a great deal in a short

time When on tour I try to give one hour a
.
”
day to it not more
,
.
Speaking of the action O f fingers M r , .
B a cha u s continued
“
Why yes I raise my fingers whenever
, ,
a nd wh e r e ve r nec e ssar y mo m or e D O you -

.
Wi l h e l m B a c ha u s 1 71
know Breithaupt Well he does not approve

?
,
o f such technical exercises as these ill

( u s tra t
ing ); holding down some fingers and lifting

others for technical practise but I do As
, , .
for the metronome I approve of it to culti

,
vate the sense of rhythm in those who are lack

ing in this particular sense I sometimes use
it myself j ust to see the di fference between
,
the mechanical rhythm and the musical rhythm

— f or they are not always the same by any
means .
“
D O you know these Technical Exercises Of
Brahms I think a great deal Of them and
?
, ,
as you see carry them around with me ; they

,
are excellent .
“
You ask me about octaves It is true they
.
are easy for me now but I can remember the

,
time when they were difficult T he only a l

t e rna tiv e is to work constantly at them Of .
course they are more difficult for small hands ;

so care must be taken not t o strain nor over
tire the hand A little at a time in frequent
.
,
doses ought in six months t o work wonders

,
.
Rowing a boat is good t o develop wrists for

octave playing .
“
You ask if I can tell how I Obtain power .
That is a very difficult question Why doe s .

1 72
‘
P i a n o M a s t e ry
one child learn to swim a hnos t immediately ,
while another cannot master it f or a long time ?
T 6 the first it comes naturally he has the—

kna ck so to speak
, And it is j ust so with the
.
quality of power at the piano It certainly is .
not due t o physique nor t o b rute strength, ,
else only the athlete would have suffi cient

power N o it is the knack or rather it is
.
,
‘
,
’
the result Of relaxation as you suggest , .
“
Take the subj ect of velocity I never .
work for that special thing as some do I .
seldom practise with great velocity for it in ,
t e rf e re s with clea rness I prefer to play more

.
slowly giving the greatest attention to clear

,
ness and good tone By pursuing this course

.
I find that when I need velocity I have it .
“
I am no pedagogue and have no desire t o
be one I have no time for teaching ; my own
.
studies and concert work fill all my days I .
do not think that one can both teach and plav

succ essfully If I were teaching I should no
.
doubt acquire the habit of analyzing and criti

c iz in
g the work Of others ; o f explaining and
showing j ust how a thing should be done .
But I am not a criti c nor a teacher so I do ,
not always kn ow how I produce e ffects I .
play as the bird sings to quote an Old Ger

‘
,
’
man song .
certo . The Hamburg master was not a v ir

t u os o in the present acceptance of the term
,
his touch on the piano was somewhat hard and

dry ; but he played the work with commendable
dexterity and made an imposing figu re as he
,
sat at the pian o with his grand head and

,
his long beard O f course his performance

.
aroused immense enthusiasm ; there was no end

o f applause and cheering and then came a
,
huge laurel wreath I mentioned this episode

.
t o M r B a cha u s a f e w days later

. .
“
I first pla yed the Brahms Concerto in
Vienna under Hans Richter ; he had counseled
me to study the work T he Am ericans are .
beginning to admire and appreciate Brahms ;

he Ought to have a great vogue here .
“
In studying such a work for piano and ,
orchestra I must not only k now my own part

—
,
but all the other parts what each instrument

is doing I always study a concerto with the
.
orchestral score s o that I can see it all b e

,
”
fore me .
XX III
ALE ! AN DER LAM B ER T

A M E R I CAN AND E U R OP E AN T E AC H E R S
A M O NG American tea chers Alexander Lam

bert takes high rank F or over twent y fi
. ve -
years he has held alof t the standard O f sound

musicianship in the a rt Of teaching and play
ing A quarter of a century of thorough con
.
,
s c ie nt iou s e ffort along these lines must have
left its impress upon the whole rising genera

tion of students and teachers in this country ,
and made for the progress and advancement

of American art .
It means much to h a ve a native born -
teacher o f such high aims living and work

ing among us ; a teacher whom no flattery
nor love Of gain can influence nor render
indi fferent to the high aim ever in view .
There is no escaping a sound and thorough

course o f study f or those who come under
M r Lambert s supervision Scales mus t
.
’
.
be willingly or unwillingly the daily bread

, ,
of the player ; the hand must be put in

1 75
go od shape the finger j oints rendered firm

, ,
t he arms and body supple before pieces ,
are thought of Technic a l study must con

.
t inu e along the whole course h a nd in hand ,
with piece playing ; techni c for its own sake ,
outside the playing Of compositions And .
why not Is the technic Of an art ever quite

?
finished ? Can it ever be laid away on the

shelf and considered complete M ust it not
?
always be kept in working order ?

“
Have you not seen many changes in the
aims of students and in the conditions of piano
,
teaching in N ew Yo rk during the years you,
have taught here I asked M r Lambert in the

? ”
.
,
course of a recent conversation .
“
Some changes it is true I have seen he
, , ,
answered ; but I must also say that the con

ditions attending piano teaching in America
are peculiar W e have some excellent teach
.
ers here teachers who can hold their own

,
anyw here and are capable Of producing fi

,
n
is he d artists Yet let a pupil go to the best

.
teacher in this country and the chances are ,
that he or she is still looking forward to fi n

‘
is hing with some European artist They are

’
.
not satisfied until they have secured the f or

e ign stamp o f approval While this is true of
.
the advanced pianist it is even more in evi

,
full O f faults O f all kinds faults which it takes ,
me years to correct S ome of them come with .
hard touch with tense position and condition

,
o f arms and body with faulty pedaling and

, ,
with a lac k o f knowledge of some of the fun

da m ent a l principles of piano playing .
PO WER WI T HO U T E FF O RT
How do I teach them to acquire power

with little e ffort Relaxation is the whole
?
secret Your arm is really quite heavy it

.
,
weighs considerable Act on this principle .
then ! let the arms fall with their full weight

o n the keys and you will have all the power
,
you need provided the fingers are rounded and

,
firm That is the other half Of the secret

. .
The finger j oints must be firm especially the ,
third j oint It stands to reason there can be

.
no power no brilliancy when this j oint is w a v

,
ering and wobbling .
“
I teach arched hand position and for , ,
children and beginners decided finger action ; ,
the fingers are to be raised in the beginning ,
though not too high Some teachers may not .
tea ch finger action because they say artists do

,
not use it But the artist if questioned would

.
, ,
tell you he had to le a rn finger action in the

beginning There are so many stages in piano
.
A lea ’
a nd e r L a m b e rt 179
playing The beginner must raise his fingers

.
in order to acquire finger development and a

good clear touch In the middle stage he has
,
.
secured enough finger control to play the same

passage with less action and still perform it
,
with suffici ent clearness ; while in the more fi

n
is he d stage the passage may be played with '
scarcely any perceptible motion so thoroughly ,
do the fingers respond to every mental require

ment .
“
S ometimes pupils come to me who do not
know scales though they are playing diflicu lt
,
compositions I insist on a thorough knowl

.
edge O f scales and arpeggios and a serious ,
study O f B ach I use almost everything Bach

.
ever wrote for the piano ; the T w o and Three

Part Inventions F rench and English Suites
, ,
Well tempered Clavichord and the organ Pre

-
,
”
ludes and F ugues arranged by Liszt
, .
XX I V
F A NN IE BL OO M F IELD ZEI SLER
T HE S COP E O F P IAN O T E C H NI C
E AC H year as M m e Bloomfield Zeisler

, .
plays for us we feel the growth of a deeper

,
experience a clearer insight into human na

,
ture a broader outlook and grasp on art and

,
life Such a mentality ever seeking for

.
,
truth and the sincerest expression Of it must

—
,
continually progress until as now the —,
greatest heights are reached M m e Zeisler is . .
no keyboard dreamer no rhapso di st on Art ,

.
She is a thoroughly practical musician able to ,
explain as well as demonstrate able to talk ,
as well as play O ut of the fulness of a rich

.
experience ou t Of the depth o f deepest sin

,
c e rit
y and conviction the artist speaks as she ,
plays with authority and enthusiasm

, .
“
The first thing to be done for a pupil is to
see that the hand is in correct position I ex .
plain that the wrist should be about ou a level

with the second j oint o f the middle finger ,
when the fingers are properly rounded T he .
1 80
F a n ni e B loom fi
e ld Z e is l e r 1 81
knuckles will then be somewh a t elevated ; in

fact they will naturally take care of them
selves other points O f the hand being correct
,
.
Two things are of supreme importance

namely firm finger j oints and loose wrists ;
,
these must be insisted on from the very b e

ginning I sometimes use firm wrists in my
.
o w n playing if I wish to make a certain e f

,
fe et ; but I can safely a ffi

rm I think that no , ,
o ne has ever seen me play with weak bend ,
ing fingers .
W H AT TE C H N IC IN CL UDES
Piano technic includes so much ; every
—
thing goes into it arithmetic grammar dic , ,
tion langu age study poetry history and

, , , ,
painting ! In the first stages there are rules

to be learned j ust as in any other study In
, .
scho ol we had to learn the rules of grammar

and mathematics Just such rules are a p .
plicable to musical performance I must .
know the rules of v e rs ific a t ion in order to scan
poetic stanzas ; so I must know the laws O f

rhythm and meter to be abl e to punctuate
musical phrases and periods Pupils who .
have long passed the stage o f division and

fractions do not seem able to determine the
time values of the various notes and groups o f
-
notes used in musi c ; they do not know what

m ust be done wit h triplets dotted notes
, and ,
S O you see j ust technic includes a

‘ ’
s o on .
multitude Of things ; it is a very wide sub j ect .
EAC H PUPIL A D I FFERE N T P RO BLE M

Ea ch pupil presents a di ff erent problem
as t o physical formation of hand and body in ,
t e llige nc e and talent T hose who are the mos t

.
talented do not always prove the most satis

factory students They grasp the composer s
.
’
ideas quickly enough it is true so that some

, ,
times in a fe w days they can take up a dif

,
ficu lt composition and dash it O ff with such

showy e ff ec t as to blind the eyes of the super
ficia l listener ; but these students are not will
ing to work ou t the fine points of the piece a nd
polish it artistically N either are they will
.
ing to get right down to the bed rock o f tech

nic and work at that seriously and thoroughly .
If this course is suggested they grow restive ,
think they are being held back and sometimes ,
prefer to study with a more superficial teacher .
The consequence is they never really amoun t

to anything ; whereas if these same players pos
sessed perseverance along with their talent
they could become great artists I would .
rather have an intelligent earnest serious, ,

not think because he sees a great artist hold

—
i g his hands a c ertain way at times turn
n
ing under his unemployed fingers for oct a ves
perhaps or any other seeming eccentricity
, ,
that he himself is at liberty to do the same

things N o he mu st learn to play in a nor
.
,
mal safe w a y before attempting any tricks

, .
What may seem eccentric to the inexperienced

student may be quite a legitimate means Of .
producing certain e ffects t o the mature artist ,
who through wide experience and study knows

j ust the e ffect he wants and the way t o make
it The artist does many things the pupil
.
should not attempt The artis t knows the .
capabilities O f his own hand ; his technic is ,
in a certain sense individual ; it should not be

,
imitated by the learner of little or no e x pe ri

ence If I play a chord passage with high
.
wrist that I may bring out a certain e ffect

,
o r quality Of tone at that point t he thought ,
less student might be under the impression that

a high wrist w a s habitual with me which is ,
not true F or this reason I do not give single

.
lessons to any one nor coach on single pieces

,
.
In the case Of the interpretation o f a piece ,
a student can get the ideas Of it from he a ring

it in recital if he can grasp and assimilate
,
them .
F a n ni e B l oom fi e ld Z e is l e r 1 85
O N I N TER PRE TATI O N

Interpretation ! That is a wide subj ect ;
how can it be defined I try to arouse the
?
imagination of the student first of all We .
speak Of the character of the piece and try ,
to arrive at some idea of its meaning Is it .
—
la rgo then it is serious and soulful ; is it
s che rz o— then it should be blithe and gay .
We cannot depend on metronome tempi for ,
they are not reliable Those given in Schu .
mann are generally all wrong We try to feel .
the rhythm of the music the swing of it the , ,
spirit Of it In giving ou t the opening theme

.
or sub j ect I feel it should be made prominent

, ,
t o arrest attention t o make it clear to the

,
listener ; when it appears at other times in the

piece it can be softened or varied V ariety
, .
o f e ff ect we mus t have ; but whether a pas
sage is played with decreasing or increasing

tone whether this run is soft and the nex t
,
loud or vice versa does not matter so much

, ,
as to secure variety and individuality I may .
look at it one way another player an Opposite

,
way O ne should be broad minded enough to

.
-
see the beauty o f each interpretation I do .
not expect my pupils to copy me or do things

j ust as I do them I s how them how I do it
.
,
then leave them to work it ou t as they see it .
“
Pia nis s im o is one o f the later things t o
teach A beginner should not attempt it too
.
soon for then it will only result l n fl a b bine s s

, .
A true pia nis s im o is not the result of weak

ness but Of strength .
M U SICAL C O N DI T I O N S I N A M ERICA
Am erica has made marvelous progress in
the understanding and appreciation Of music ;
even the critics many of them kn ow a great
, ,
deal about music The audiences even in .

,
small towns are a pleasure and delight to play

,
to I am asked sometimes why I attempt the

.
last sonata Of Beethoven in a little town But .
j ust such audiences listen to that work with

rap t attention ; they hang on eve ry note .
H ow are they to learn wh a t is best in music

unless we a re willing to give it to them ?
—
“
The trouble with America is that it does not
at all realize how much it knows how much
talent is here We are so easily tricked with a
.
foreign name and title ; ou r serious and tal

e nt e d musicians are constantly being pushed
to the wall by some unknown with a name end

ing in s ki These are the people who tour
.
America (for one season at least ) who get ,
t e best places in our music schools and co!

h
Europe M y questions remained unanswered

.
for nearly a year Wh en she next played in

.
New York she sent for me to come to her

,
hotel As she entered the room to greet me

.
,
she held in her hand the paper containing the

questions I expressed surprise that she ha d
.
preserved the bit o f paper so long .
“
I am very conscientious she answered ; ,
I have kept this ever since you sent it and ,
now we will talk over the topics you sug

”
gest .
()
1 What means do you favor for gaining
power ?
“
—
I can say non e There is no necessity
.
f or using special me a ns to acquire power ;

when everything is right you will have suf
ficient power ; you cannot help having it If .
you know the piece thoroughly your fingers ,
have acquired the necessary strength through

e fficient practise so that when the tim e comes
,
to make the desired e ffects you have the ,
strength to make them provided everything is

,
as it should be with your technic Power is a .
comparative term at best ; one pianist may play

on a larger scale t h an another I am reminded
.
o f an amusing incident in this connection My .
son Paul when a little fellow was fond o f

, ,
boasting about his mother ; I could not seem to

F a nni e B l o om fi e ld Z e is l e r 1 89
break him of it O ne day he got into an ar

.
g u m e n t with another boy who asserted that ,
his father an amateur pianist could play bet

, ,
ter than Paul s mother because he could play

’
,
‘
louder anyway , I don t kn ow whether they

.
’ ’
fought it ou t or not ; but my boy told me about

the dispute afterward .
‘
What do you think makes a great
player I asked him
? ’
.
‘
I f you play soft enough and loud enough ,
slow enough and fast enough a nd it sounds ,
nice was his answer It is the whole thing

,
’
.
in a nutshell ! and he was su ch a little fellow

at the time !
“
As I said you must have everything right
,
with your technic then both power and v eloc,

”
ity will come almost un consciously .
()2 W h at do you do for weak finger j oints ?
They must be made strong at once When .
a new pupil comes to me the first thing we do

is to get the h a nd into correct position and ,
the fingers rounded and firm If the pupil .
is intelligent and quick this can be a e com ,
p lis h e d in a f e w weeks ; sometimes it ta k es

several months But it must be done O f
. .
what use is it to attempt a Beethoven sonata

when the fingers are so weak that they cave
in. T he fin ger s m ust kee p their ro unded pos i
tion and b e strong enough to bear up under

the weight you put upon them As you say
I .
,
this work c a n be done at a table but I gen ,
orally prefer the keyboard ; woo d is so u n
responsive .
“
I think for this work children are easier
, ,
to handle than their elders ; they have no

faults to correct ; they like to hold their hands
well and make them look pretty They ough t .
to have a keyboard adapted to their little deli

cate muscles with action much less heavy than
,
two ounces the minimum weight Of the clavier

, .
As t hey grow and gain strength the weigh t ,
can be increased If they should attem pt to

.
use my instrument with its heavy action they ,
would lame the hand in a few moments or

their little fingers could not stand up under
the weight .
()
3 Do you approve of finger action ?
M ost emphatically F inger action is an

.
absolute essential in playing the piano We .
must have finger development As you say . ,
we can never make the fingers equal in them

selves ; we might practise five hundred years
without rendering the fourth finger as strong
as the thumb Rather let us learn to so a d
.
j ust the weight and pressure of each finger ,
th a t a ll wi ll s o un d e qual wh enev e r we wis h

,
piece is first of all a study in technic The .
foundation must be rightly laid ; the prin

biple s can then be applied to étude and
piece .
()
5 What do you consider the most vital
technical points ?
“
That is a diffi cult question involving every ,
thing about pian o playing There are the .
scales O f all kinds in single and double notes

,
.
Arpeggios are Of great imp ortance because , ,
in one form or another they c onstantly occur

,
.
”
O ctaves chords pedaling and so on
, , ,
.
“
The trill too I suggested
, , .
Yes the trill ; but after all the trill is a

, , ,
somewhat individual matter S ome players .
s eem to h a ve it naturally or have very littl e ,
trouble with it ; others always have more or

less difficulty They do not seem able to play
.
a rapid even trill M any are unable to finish

,
.
it O ff deftly and artistically They can trill .
for a certain n u mber of repetitions ; when they

become accustomed to the monotonous repeti
tion it is not so easy to go into the ending with
”
o u t a break .
()
6 What means do you advise to secure
velocity ?
“
I make the same answer to this question
that I made to the fi rs t—none I never work .
F a nni e B loom fi e ld Z e is le r 1 93
for velocity nor do I work up velocity That

, .
is a matter that generally takes care o f itself .
If you know the piece absolutely know what ,
it means and the e ff ects you want to make ,
there will be little diffi

culty in getting over the
keys at the tempo required O f course this .
does not apply to the pupil who is playing

wrong with weak fingers uncertain tou ch and
, ,
all the rest O f the accompanying faults I .
grant that these faults may not be so apparent

in a piece O f slow temp o A pupil may be able .
to get through H a ndel s Largo for instance ; ’
though his fingers are uncertain he can make

the theme sound half way respectable while a
-
,
piece in rapid tempo will be quite beyond him .
The faults were in the Largo j ust the same ,
but they did not show Rapid music reveals .
them at on c e Certain composers require a l

.
most a perfect technical equipment in order

to render their music with adequate effect .
M ozart is one of these M uch of his music .
looks simple and is really quite easy to read ;

,
but to play it as it should be played is another

thing entirely I seldom give M ozart to my
.
pupils Those endless scales arpeggios and

.
,
passages which must be flawless in which you

, ,
dare not blur or miss a single note ! To play

this music with j ust the right spirit you must ,
put yourself en ra pport with the epoch in

—
which it was written the era Of crinoline ,
p b w d e re d wigs snu
,
ff boxes and min c in g min
u ets . I don t mean to say M ozart s music
’ ’
is not emotional ; it is filled with it but it is ,
not the emotion Of to day but of yesterday

-
, ,
Of more than a century back .
F or myself I love M ozart s music

“
, O ne ’
.
o f my greatest successes was in a M ozart con
certo with the Chicago O rchestra I after .
ward remarked to one o f my colleagues that

it had been one o f the most diffi cult tasks I
had ever accomplished Yes when one plays
.
‘
M ozart one is so ercpos ed was his clever re ,

’
”
j oinder .
()
7 H ow do you keep repertoire in re
pair ?
“
I f you mean my own I would answer that
,
I don t try to keep all my pieces up for I

’
have hundreds and hundreds o f them and I ,
must always save time to study ne w works .
A certain number are always kept in practise ,
di fferent programs according to the require

,
ments O f the hour M y method o f practise is

.
to play slowly through the piece carefully ,
noting the spots that are weak and need spe

c ia l treatment .To these I give a certain
number O f repetitions and then repeat the
,
1 96 P ia no Ill a s t e ry
fit to listen t o This is the result of constant

.
”
fast playing .
()
8 H ow d o you keep techni c up t o the
standard ?
“
If one is f ar advanced a fe w a rpegg1os and
scales or a brilliant étude will put the hand
,
in condition After one has rested or had a

.
,
vacation some foundational e x ercises and fi

, n
ger movements m a y be ne cessary t o limber ,
up the muscles and regain control and quick

ness O ne may Often have t o revie w firs t
.
principles but technical facility is soon re

,
gained if it has once been thoroughly a c

quired I f one has s te ppe d pra ctise for quite
.
a period the return is slower and needs to

, ,
be more carefully prepared .
“
I use considerable Czerny f or technical
purposes wit h my pupils O p 2 9 9 Of course
, . .
, ,
and even earlie r or easier ones ; then O p 7 4 0 . .
A few of the latter are most excellent for keep

ing up one s technic The Ch opin Studies
’
. ,
”
t oo are daily bread
, .
()
9 The best way t o study chords ?
F rom the wrist and with fingers Of steel .
Small hands must Of course begin with smaller

”
positions .
( )
1 0 What gymnastic exercises do you sug
gest ?
F a nni e B l oom fi
e ld Z e is l e r 1 97
Whatever seems necessary for the special

hand Tight hands need to be massaged to
.
limber the fingers and stretch the web of flesh

between them The loose flabby hand may
.
,
also be strengthened and rendered firm by

massage ; but this is Often a more difficult task
than to stretch the tight hand If technical .
training is properly given it is sure to render

,
”
the hand fle x ib le and strong .
A GN E S M O R GA N
SI M PL I CIT Y I N P IAN O T E AC H IN G
O NE Of the busiest of N e w York piano

teachers whose list of students taking privat e
,
lessons in a season almost touches the hun

,
dred mark is M rs Agnes M organ

, M rs
. . .
M organ has been labo ring in this field for more

than tw o decades with ever increasing suc
,
cess And yet so quietly and unobtrusively

.
is a ll this ac complished that the w orld only ,
knows of the teacher through the work done

by her pupils T he teacher has now risen to
.
the point where she can pick and choose her

own pupils which is a great comfort to her for
, ,
it dispels mu ch of the drudgery o f piano teach

ing and is one Of the reasons why she loves her
,
work .
When one teaches from nine in the morning

till after si x every day Of the season it is not ,
easy to find a leisure hour in which to discuss

means and methods B y a fortunate chance . ,
however such an interview was recently pos

,
s ible .
technic ame rather easy to me I had studied

c
in Leipsic where I may s a y I learned little or

,
nothing about the principles Of piano playing ,
but only crammed a great number of diffi

‘ ’
cult
c ompositions I had been with M oszkowski
.
a lso ; but it was really Dr M ason an Ameri .

,
can teacher who first set me thinking I b e

, .
gan to think s o earnestly about the reason for

doing things that I Often argu ed the points
o u t with him until he would laugh and say
, ,
You go one way and I go another but we both

‘
reach the same point in the end And from .

’
t hat time I h ave gone on and on until I have

e volved my ow n syste m o f doing things A .
t eacher cannot stand still I would be a fool .
not to profit by the e x perience gained through

e ach pupil f or eac h one is a separate study
,
.
T his has been a growth Of perhaps twenty fi ve -
—
years as the result of my e ff ort to present the
s ubj ect Of piano technic in the most concise
form I have been constantly learning what is

.
not essential and what can be omitted

,
.
SI M P L I CI T Y
“
Simp licity is the keynote Of my work I .
t ry t o teach only the essentials There are so .
many études and studies that are good .
Czerny for instance is splendid I believe in

, ,
.
A gn e s M o rg a n 20 1
it all but there is not t im e for much of it S O

, .
with B ach I approve of studying everything

.
we have O f his for piano from the Little ,

‘
Pieces up to the big Preludes and F ugues

’
.
Whenever I can I use B ach But here aga in .
we have not tim e t o use as much of B ach as

we should like Still I do the best I can
. .
Even with those who have not a great deal of

t ime to practise I get in a B ach Invention
,
w henever possible .
“
When a new pupil comes who is j ust start
ing or has been badly taught she mus t of
, ,
course begin with hand formation She learns .
t o form the arch Of the hand and secure firm

finger j oints especially the nail j oint I form
, .
the hand away from the piano at a table , .
N othing can be done toward playing till these

things are accomplished I O ften have pupils
.
who have been pl a ying diffi cult music for

years and who consider themselves far a d
,
v a nc e d When I show them some Of these

.
s imple things they consider them far t oo easy

,
until they find they cannot do them S ome .
times nothing can be don e with such pupils

until they are willing to get right down to rock
bottom and learn how t o form the hand As
, .
t o the length of time required it depends on ,
the mentality of the pu pil a nd the kind O f

hand Some hands are nat urally very soft

.
and flabby and of course it is more difficult to

,
render them strong .
F INGER ACTI O N
When the arch Of the hand is f ormed we ,
cultivate intelligent movement in the finger

tips and for this we must have a strong de
, ,
pendable nail j oint O f course young stu

.
dents must have knuckle action Of the fingers ,
but I disapprove o f fingers being raised too

high As we advance and the nail j oint b e
.
,
comes firmer and more controlled there is not ,
so great need for much finger action Volo e .
ity is acquired by less and less action Of the

fingers ; force is gained by allowing arm
weight to rest on the fingers ; lightness and
deli cacy by taking the arm weight O ff the fi n
—
gers holding it back .
“
I use no instruction books for technical
drill but give my own exercises or select
, ,
them from various sources Certa m principles .
must govern the daily practise from the first ,

.
When they are mastered in simple forms later

work is only development Loose wrist e x e r .
cises in octaves sixths or other forms should

, , , ,
form a part Of the daily routine S O should .
s cale playing f or I am a fi rm believer in s cales

,
stant shimmering o f light upon the tones ,

”
whi ch is very beautiful .Here the artist il
lustrated most convincingly with a portion o f
“
a Chopin Prelude . O ne needs a flexible
ankle to use the pedal properly ; indeed the
ankle should be as pliant as the wrist I know .
o f no one else w ho uses the pedal in j ust this
fashi on ; s o I feel as th ough I had discovered it .
“
Yes I have numbers Of pupils among soci
,
ety people ; girls who go ou t a good deal and

yet find time to practise a couple hours a
day The present tendency Of the wealthy is
.
to take a far more serious view of musi c study

than was formerly the case They feel its u p
.
lifting and ennobling influence respect its ,
teachers and endeavor to do carefully and well

,
whatever they attempt .
“
While necessary and impo rtant the tech ,
nic a l foundation is after all but a small par t

c ompared to the training f or rhythmic sense ,
and for the kno w ledge of how to produce good

and beautiful results in musical interpreta
tion .
XXVI
E U G E N E HE F F LEY
M O D E R N T E ND E N CI E S I N P IAN O M U SI C
EUGE N E H EFFLEY the F ounder and first ,
President of the M a cD ow e ll Club of N ew ,
York a pianist and teacher of high ideals and

,
most serious aims came t o N e w York from

,
Pittsburg in 1 9 0 0 at the suggestion Of M a c

, ,
Dowell himself He came to make a place

.
for himself in the profession o f the metropolis ,
and has proved himself a thoroughly sincere

and devoted teacher as well as a mos t ins pir
,
ing master ; he has trained numerous young

artists who are winning success as pianists and
teachers .
M r H e ffi
. ey w hile entertaining reverence
,
for the Older masters is very progressive a l

, ,
w a ys on the alert t o discove r a new trend of

thought a new composer a new gospel in
, ,
musical a rt He did much to make kno w n

.
and arouse enthusiasm f or M a cD ow e ll s com ’
positions when they were as yet almost u n

,
hear d O f in America In an equally broad .
20 5
spirit does he introduce to his students the

works Of the ultra modern school Debussy , ,
Rachmanino ff F loren t
, Schmitt Reger , ,
L ia dow P oldini and others

, .
“
M y students like to learn these ne w things ,
and the audiences that gather here in the

studio for ou r recitals co m e with the expecta
,
tion of being enlightened in regard to new

and seldom heard works and we do not dis
,
appoint them F lorent S chmitt in spite of

.
,
his G erman surname is thoroughly F rench in

,
his manner and idiom though they are not of

,
the style o f Deb u ssy ; he has written some

beautiful things f or the piano ; a set Of short
pieces which are little gems I rank Rach .
m a ninoff very highly and Of course use his

—
,
Preludes not only the well known ones the -
—
,
C and G minor but the set of thirteen in one

opus number ; they are most interesting I .
use a good deal of Russian music ; L ia dow has

composed some beautiful things ; but T s ohai
k ow s ky in his piano music is too complaining
, ,
and morbid as a rule though he is occasionally

, ,
in a more cheer ful mood It seems as though

.
music has said all it can say along consonant

lines and regular rhythms We must look
,
.
f or its advancement in the realm of Disso

nam e ; not only in th is b ut in the way of v a riet y
I have had more time to know it better I .
can only say I have heard his string Quarte t
three times The first time I found much in

.
it to admire ; the second time I was profoundly

moved by c ertain parts Of it and on the third ,
occasion I felt that the work especially the ,
latter part contained some o f the most beauti

,
ful music I had ever listened to .
In regard to the technical training my

pupils receive it is not so easy to formulat e
,
my manner Of teaching E ach pupil is a sep

.
arate study and is di fferent from every other

,
.
’
As you well know I am not a method man
,
‘
I have little use for the s o called p 1 ano method

-
.
T o be a true teacher o f the piano is a high call

ing indeed ; for there are many pedagogues but
comparatively f e w real teachers I make a .
d istinction between the two A pedagogue is .
one who filled with many rules and much

,
learning endeavors to pour his knowledge into

,
the pupil ; whereas the t rue teacher seeks to

draw ou t w hat is in the pupil He strives t o .
find what the pupil has aptitude f or what he ,
likes to do and can do best T he teacher mus t .
be something o f a psychologist or how c a n he ,
correctly j udge of the pupil s temperament ’

,
his tastes his menta lity and what to do for

, ,
E u g e ne H e ff l e y 20 9
When a ne w pupil comes I must make a ,
mental appraisement Of his capacity his likeli ,
hood to grasp the subj e ct his quickness of in ,
t e lligenc e his health a nd so on

, N O tw o
, .
pupils can be treated in the s ame way O ne .
who has little continuity w ho has never f ol ,
lowed Out a serious line of thought in any di

rection must be treated quite di fferently from
one o f an oppo site mentality and experience .
It would be useless to give B ach to the firs t

pupil it would only be a waste of time and
,
patience ! he could not comprehend the music

in any sense ; he would have no conception of
the great things that B ach stands for Such .
a course of treatmen t would only make him

hate music ; whereas to one Of a more serious
and thoughtful turn Of mind you might give ,
any amount of B ach .
“
A student with a poor touch and u ndev el
oped hand must go through a regular course
,
o f training The hand is first placed in posi

.
tion either at the keyboard o r on a table ; the

,
fingers are taught to start with up movements ,
as the lifting muscles need spec ial attention .
A muscle or a finger is either ta u t fla bby or

—
, ,
s tifl} it is the taut condition I strive for to

make the finger responsive like a fi n e steel ,
spring .
Itis absolutely necessary to establish cor

r ect finger act ion at the outset ; for the sake of
finger development clearness and accuracy , , .
When single fingers can make accu rate up and

down movements we can put tw o fingers to ,
gether and acquire a perfect legato I teach

—
.
three kinds Of legato the pa s s a ge legato the ,
s inging legato and the a ccom pa nyin legato ;

, g
the pupil must master the first before attempt
ing the others I advise technic practise wi th
.
each hand alone for you mus t kno w I am a

,
firm believer in the study Of pure technic out

side O f pieces .
l
“
As the student advances we tak e up chord
playing with di fferent touches scales a rpeg , ,
gios and octaves I Institute quite early what

.
—
I call polyphonic technic one hand doing a
di fferent movement or touch from the other .
This works ou t in scales and a rpe ggIO s with a

—
variety O f touches one hand playing a pas
sage O r scale staccato while the other plays
”
legato and vice versa
, .
Asked if he tau ght technical material with

ou t a book M r H e ffi
, e y replied.
N o I generally use the Heinrich Germer

,
work as it covers the ground very s a tis fa c

,
t orily ; it is compact concise and complete in , ,
one volum e I also use M e rtke to some e x

.
P i a no M a s t e ry
S peh as F F M F PP and so on ; it is more

—
, , ,
subtle than that it is the qu a lity of tone I

seek after Sometimes I work with a pupil
.
for several m inutes over a single tone until he ,
really comprehends what he has t o do to pro

duce the right quality Of tone and can remem ,
ber how he did it The pedal helps wonder.
fully for it is truly the soul Of the piano

,
‘
.
’
S ome pupils have fancy but no imagina

tion and vice versa The terms are not syn
, .
onymous Reading poetry h elps to develop

.
the aesthetic sense ; pi ct ures help also and na ,
ture I must necessarily take into account the

.
pupil s trend of temperament while instruct

’
ing him .
Interpretative expression is not a positive

but a relative quantity O ne player s palette .
’
is covered with large blotches of color and he ,
will paint the picture with bold strokes ; a n

other delights in delicat e miniature work .
Each will conceive the meaning and inte rpre

t a tion o f a composition through the lens Of his
O wn temperament I endeavor t o stimulate
.
the imagination of the pupil through reading ,
through knowledge of art through a compre ,
hens ion of the correlation o f all the arts .
“
The musical interpreter has a most diffi
c ult
,
exacting and far reaching task to per -
E u g e ne H e ff l e y 213
form An act or plays one part night af ter

.
night ; a painter is occupied f or days and weeks

with a single picture ; a composer is absorbed
f or the time being on one work only The .
pianist on the other hand must during a re

, , ,
cital sweep over the whole gamut of expres

,
sion ! the simple the pastoral the pathetic the

—
, , ,
p assionate the spiritual

,
h e is called upon to
portray every phase of emotion This seems .
to me a bigger task than is set before any other

class of art workers T he pianist must be able
-
.
to render with appropriate sentiment the sim

p l ic ity and fresh na iv e t é o f the earlier classics ,
Hay dn M ozart ; the grandeur Of B ach ; the

,
heroic measures o f Beethoven ; the morbid ele

gance Of Chopin ; the romanticism of Schu
mann ; the magnificent splendor o f Liszt .
“
In choosing musical food for my pupils I ,
strive to keep away from the beaten track o f

the hackneyed The mistake made by many
.
teachers is t o give far t oo diffi cult music .
Why should I teach a n Old war horse which -
the pupil has to struggle over for six months

without being really able to master and which ,
he will thoroughly hate at the end of that t ime ?
The Scherzo O p 3 1 O f Chopin and the Lisz t

.
, ,
Rhapsodies he can hear in the concert room ,
where he can become familiar with most Of the

f amous piano compositions Why should he

.
not learn t o know many less hackneyed pieces ,
which do not s o frequently appear on concert

programs ?
“
Herein lies one of the great opportunities
—
f or the broad minded teacher to be individ
-
u a l in his work . According to his progressive

”
individuality will his work be valued .
strives to make It is Often said that the pian

.
is t cannot easily j udge of the tonal e ff ects he

is producing as he is too near the instru ment
, .
With me this is not the case M y hearing is .
s o acute that I know the e xact dynamics Of
every tone eve ry e ffect Of light and shade ;

,
thus I do not have t o stand at a distance as ,
the painter does even if I could do so in order

, ,
t o criticize my work f or I can do this s a tis f a c

,
t orily at close range .
“
I hardly know when I learned technic ; at
all events it was not at the beginning At the .
s tart I ha d some lessons wit h q uite a simple

woman teacher We lived near Paris and my
.
,
elder sister was then studying with Raou l

Pugno ; she wa s a good student and practised
i ndustriously She said she would take me to
.
the master and one day she did so I was a

, .
tiny child Of about seven ve ry small and thin ,
-
not much bigger than a fly The great man .
pretended he could hardly see me I was .
perched upon the stool my feet too short to , ,
reach the floor rested on the extension pedal

,
b ox which I alw a ys carried around with me .
I went bravely through some B ach Inventions .
When I finished Pugno regarded me with in

,
t e re s t
. He said he would teach me ; told me
to prepare s ome more Inventions some ,
G e rm a i n e S c h ni t zer 217
Czerny studies and the M endelssohn Capric

cio O p 2 2 and come to him in four weeks
, .
, .
N e edless t o say I knew every note of these

,
c om po s it 1 ons by heart when I took my second
lesson S oon I was bidden to come to him

.
every fortnight then every week and finally

,
.
he gave me tw o lessons a week .
“
F or the first five years Of my musical ex
rienc e I simply played the piano I played
p e .
— —
,
eve rything sonatas concertos everything ; ,
large works were absorbed from one lesson to

the next When I was about twelve I began
.
to awake to the necessity f or serious study ;

then I really began to practise in earnest .
M y master took more and more interest in my

progress and career ! he was at pains to ex
—
plain the meaning O f music t o me the ideas
Of the composers M any fashi on a ble people
.
took lessons of him f or t o study with Pu gno ,
had become a fad ; but he called me his only

p upil saying
, that I alone understood him I .
can truly say he was my musical father ; to

him I ow e everything We were neighbors in .
a suburb Of Paris as my parents home a d ,

’
j oined his ; we saw a great deal of him and we

made music together part Of every day .
When he toured in America and other coun

tries he wrote me frequently ; I could show
,
strives to make It is often said that the pian

.
is t cannot easily j udge of the tonal e ff ects he

is producing a s he is t oo near the instru ment
, .
With me this is not the case M y hearing is .
so acute that I know the e xact dynamics Of

every tone every e ffect Of light and shade ;
,
thus I do not have to stand a t a distance as ,
the painter does even if I could do so in order

, ,
t o criticize my work f or I can do this s a tis f a c

,
t orily at close range .
“
I hardly know when I learned technic ; at
all events it was not at the beginning At the .
start I had some lessons wit h q uite a simple

woman teacher We lived near Paris and my
.
,
elder sister was then studying with Raou l

Pugno ; she w a s a good student and practised
i ndustriously She said she would take me to
.
the master and one day she did so I was a

, .
tiny child Of about seven very small and thin ,
-
not much bigger than a fly The great man .
pretended he could hardly see me I was .
p erched upon t h e stool my feet too short

, to ,
reach the floor rested on the extension pedal

,
b ox which I always carried around with me .
I went bravely through some B ach Inventions .
When I finished Pugno regarded me with in

,
t ere s t
. He said he would teach me ; told me
to prepar e some more Inventions some ,
you many letters for I have preserved a l a rge

—
,
i
n umber le tters filled with beautiful and ex
alted thoughts expressed in noble and poetic
,
language They show that Pugno possessed

.
a most refined superior mind and w a s truly

, ,
a great artist .
“
I studied with Pugno ten years At the .
end Of that time he wished me to play for Emil

Saur S au r was delighted with my work and
.
,
w a s anxious t o teach me certain points F ro m .
him I acquired the prin c iples Of touch a dv o

c a te d by his master N icholas Rubinstein
, .
These I mastered in three months time or I ’

,
might say in two lessons .
“
According to N icholas Rubinstein the ,
keys are not to be struck with high finger a c

t ion nor is the direct end of the finger used
,
.
T he point of contact is rather j ust back of the

tip between that and the ball Of the finger
, .
F urthermore w e do not simply strive for plain

legato touch The Old instruction books tell
.
us that legato must be learned first and is the ,
most difficu lt touch to acquire But legato .
does not bring the best results in rapid pas

sages for it does not impart suffi
, cient clarity .
In the modern idea something more crisp scin ,
t illa ting and brilliant is needed S O we use a .
half st a c cato tou ch The tones when sepa

. ,
G e rm a i n e S c h ni t z e r 21 9
rated a ha1r s breadth from each other take ,
on a lighter more vibrant radiant quality ;

, ,
they are really like strings Of pearls Then .
I also use pressure touch pressing and caress

—
,
ing the keys feeling as it were f or the qual

ity I want ; I t hink it I hear it mentally and , ,
I can make it With this manner Of touching

.
the keys and this constant search for quality

,
of tone I can make any piano give ou t a beau

,
tiful tone even if it seems to be only a battered

,
tin pan .
TO NE W H IC H VIBRATES T H RO UG H T H E W H O LE
B ODY
Weight touch is of course a necessity ; for
it I use not only arms and shoulders but my ,
whole body feels and vibrates with the tones

o f the piano O f course I h ave worked ou t
.
many of these principles f or myself ; they have

not bee n acquired from any particular book ,
set of exercises or piano method ; I have made

, ,
my own method from what I have acquired

and experienced in ways above mentioned .
ON M E M O RIZ ING
In regard to memorizing piano music I
have no set method The music comes to me .
I kno w not how A fter a period O f dee p con

.
centration Of intent listening it is mine a per

, , ,
manent possession You say Leschetizky a d

.
V I s e s his pupils to learn a small portion tw o ,
or fo u r measures each hand alone and away

,
from the pi a no O ther pianists tell me they

.
have to make a special study of memorizing .
—
All this is not for me it is not my way .
When I have studied the piece suffi ciently t o

,
—
play it I know it every note O f it When .
I play a concerto with O rchestra I am not only

absolutely sure O f the piano part but I also ,
know each not e that the other instruments

play O f course I am listening Intently to
.
the piano and to the whole orchestr a during a

performance ; if I allowed myself to thi nk O f
anything else I should be lost T his absolute
, .
concentration is what conquers all difficulties .
ABSTRACT T E C H N IC
About practising technic for itself alone
this will not be necessary when once the prin
c iple s o f technic are mastered I a t least .
, ,
do not need to do so I make however vari

.
, ,
ou s technical exercises ou t of all di ffi

cult pas
sages in pieces I scarcely need to look at the
.
printed pages of pieces I place on my recital

programs I have them with me to be sure
.
, ,
but the v are seldom taken ou t o f their boxes .

opinion a pianist has a more diffi cult task to

accomplish than any other artist The singer .
has to sing only one note at a time ; the violin

is t or cellist need use but one hand for notes
’
.
Even the orchestral conductor who aspires to

direct his men without the score before him ,
may experience a slip of memory once in

awhile yet he can go on without a break A
, .
pianist however ha s perhaps half a dozen

, ,
notes in each hand to play at once ; every note

must be indelibly engraved on the memory for ,
one dares not make a slip O f any kind .
“
An artist playing in London Paris or
—
,
N ew York I class these cities together

may play about the same sort Of programs in
each The sele ctions will not be too heavy in
.
char a cter In M a drid or Vienna the works

.
may be even more brilliant It is B erlin th a t .
demands heavy solid meat I play B ach, .
there B eethoven and Brahms It is a sever e

, .
test to play in B erlin and win success .
“
I have made several tours in America .
T his is a wonderful country I don t believe ’

.
you Americans realize what a great country

y o u have what marvelous,advantages are here ,
what fine teachers what great orchestras what , ,
opera what audiences ! The critics too are so

, , ,
well informed and so j ust All these things .

G e rm a i n e S c h ni t z e r 223
—
impress a foreign artist the lov e f or music
that is here the kn owledge Of it and the en
, ,
t hu s ia s m f or it A worthy artist can make a

.
name and success in America more quickly and

surely than in any cou ntrv in the world .
“
F or one thing A m e r1ca 1 s one united coun
try from coast to coast s o it is much easier ,
getting about here than in Europe F or a n .
other thing I consider you have the greatest

orchestras in the world and I have played with ,
the orchestras Of all countries I also find you .
have the most enthusiastic audiences to b e

found anywhere .
“
In Europe a musical career o ffers few a d
vant a ges People Often ask my advice about
.
making a career over there and I try to dis ,
suade them It sometimes impresses me as a

.
lions den and I have the desire to cry out

’
,
‘
Beware to those who may be entrapped into
’
going over before they are ready or know ,
what to expect O f course there are cases o f

.
phenomenal success but they are e x ceptions,
to the general rule .
People go to Europe to get atmosphere

( stimmung ) that much
-
abused term ! I
could tell them they make their own atmos
p h e re wherever t hey are I have lived in .
music a ll my li fe but I can say I find musical

,
atmosphere right here in A m erica If I listen

.
to the B oston Symphony O rchestra or to the ,
K neisel Quartet when these organizations a re

,
giving an incomparable performance of some

masterpiece I am entirely wrapt up in the
,
music ; am I not then in a musical atmosphere ?
O r if I hear a performance Of a Wagner oper a

at the M etropolitan where Wagner is given
,
better even than in B ayreuth am I not also in

,
a musical atmosphere ? To be sure if I a m ,
in B ayreuth I may see some reminiscences o f

Wagner the man or if I am in Vienna I can
,
visit the graves Of B eethoven and Schubert .
But these facts of themselves do not create a

musical atmosphere .
“
You in America can well rej oi ce over your
great country your fine teachers and musi
,
e iau s and your musical growth After a while

.
you m a y be the most musical nation in the

”
world .
I cannot say that I always produce a beau

tiful tone ; I try to produce a characteristic
tone but sometimes it may not be beautiful !
,
there are many times when it may be anything

b u t that I do not think there can be any
.
fixed rule or method in tone production b e ,
cause people and hands are s o di fferent .
What does for one will not do for another .
S ome players find it easier to play with high

wrist some with low Some can curve their
, .
fingers while others straighten them ou t

, .
There are of course a few foundation princi

ples and one is that arms and wrists must be re
,
la x e d F ingers must Often be loose also but

.
,
not at the nail j oint ; that must always be firm .
I advise adopting the position of hand which

is most comfortable and c onvenient In fact .
all forms Of hand position can be used if for a ,
r i ght purpose so long as the condition is never

,
cramped or sti ff I permit either a high or

.
low position Of the wrist so long as the tone is ,
good As I said the nail j oint must remain

.
,
firm and never be crushed under by the weight

,
o f powerful chords as is apt to be the case wit h

,
young players whose hands are weak and deli

cate .
pretty generally accepted here as well as in

Europe .
“
An ancient and f amous philosopher ,
Seneca is said to have remarked that by the

,
time a man reaches the age o f twenty fi v e he -

,
should know enough to be his own physician ,
or he is a fool We might apply this idea t o

.
the pianist After studying the piano for a

.
number o f years he should be able to discover

what sort of technical exercises are most bene
ficia l ; if he cannot do so he must be a fool .
Why should he always depend on the exercises

made by others ? There is no end to the list
o f method books and technical forms ; their
name is legion They are usually made by

.
persons who invent exercises to fit their own

hands ; this does not necessarily mean that t hey
will fit the hands of others I encourage my.
pupils to invent their ow n technical exercises .
They have often done so with considerable suc

cess and find much more pleasure in them
,
than in those made by others .
“
T w o of the most important principles in
piano playing are ! full round exact tone ;
, ,
distinct phrasing The most common fau lt is

.
—
indistinctness slurring over or leaving out
notes Clearness in piano playing is a b s o
.
lu t e ly essential I f an actor essays the rOle

.
O ss ip G a b ri l o w i t s c h 2 29
Of Hamlet he must first of all speak distinctly

,
and make himself clearly understood ; other

wise all h is study and characterization are in
vain The pianist must likewise make him
.
self understood ; he therefore must enunciate

clearly .
VEL O C I T Y
You speak of velocity as difficult for some
players to acquire I have found there is a .
general tendency to play everything too fast ,
to rush headlong through the piece withou t ,
taking time to make it clear and intelligible .
When the piece is quite clear in tone and

phrasing it will not sound as fast as it really
,
is because all the parts are in j ust relation to

,
each other As an illustration of this fact

.
,
there is a little G avotte Of mine which I had ,
occasion to play several times in Paris A .
lady a very good pianist got the piece

, , ,
learned it then came and asked me to hear her

,
play it She sat down to the piano and

.
,
rushed through the piece in a way that so dis

t ort e d it I could hardly reco gnize it When .
she finished I remonstrated but she assured ,
me that her tempo was exactly like mine as

she had heard me play the piece three times .
I knew my ow n tempo exactly and showed her

that while it did no t di ffer so greatly from

hers yet my playing sounded slower because
,
notes and phrasing were all clear and every ,
thing rightly balanced .
PO WE R
H ow do I gain power Power does not ?
depend on the size of the hand or arm ; for per

sons O f quite small physique have enough of it
to play with the necessary e ff ect Power is a .
nerv ous force and o f course demands that

,
arms and wrists be relaxed The fingers mus t .
be so trained as to be strong enough to stand

up under this weight Of arms and hands and ,
not give way I repeat the nail j oint must

.
,
remain firm under all circumstances It is so .
easy to forget this ; one must be looking after

it all the time .
M E M O RIZ I NG
In regard to memorizing I have no special ,
rule or method Committing to memory

.
seems to come O f its own accord Some pieces .
are comparatively easy to learn by heart ;

others like a B ach fugue require hard work
, ,
and close analysis The surest way to learn a

.
difficult composition is to write it ou t from

,
memory There is a great deal Of benefit in

.
HAN S VO N B UL O W AS TEACHER
AN D I N TERPRETER
T H O SE who heard Hans v on Bulow in re

cital during his Am erican tour in 1 8 7 6 lis
, ,
tened to piano playing that was at once learned

and c onv m cm g A few years before in 1 8 7 2
.
, ,
Rubinstein had come and conquered T he .
torrential splendor Of his pianism his mighty

,
crescendos and whispering diminuendos his ,
—
marvelous variety O f tone all were in the na
ture Of a revelation ; his personal magnetism
carried everything before it American audi
.
e nc e s were at his feet.
In Von B il lo w was found a p laye r of quite

a di fferent caliber Clarity of touch careful
. ,
exactness down to the minutest detail caused

the critics to call him cold He was a deep
.
thinker and analyzer ; as he played one saw as ,
though reflected in a mirror each note phrase

, ,
and dynamic mark Of express 1ou to be found

in the work F rom a Rubinstein recital the
.
listener came away subdued awed inspired

, , ,
uplifted but disinclined to open the piano or

,
touch the keys that had been made t o burn a nd

2 32
twenty pianists were enrolled for the class A .
few of these came with the master from F rank

fort where he was then located
, .
Carl K lindw ort h pianist teacher criti c

, , , ,
e ditor of Chopin and B eethoven was then the ,
Director Of the school The tw o men were .
close friends which is proved by the fact that

,
Von B ii low was willing to recommend the

K lindw orth E dition O f B eethoven in spite Of ,
the fact that he himself had edited many Of

the sonatas Another proof is that he was
.
ready to leave his work in F rankfort and come ,
to B erlin in order to shed the luster O f his

,
name and fame upon the K lindw orth school

the youngest of the many musical institutions
o f that music ridden music saturated capital
-
,
-
.
I t wa s a bright M a y morning when the

Director entered the music room with his -
guest and presented him to the class They

, .
s aw in him a man rather below medium height ,
with large intellectual head beneath whose ,
high wide forehead shone piercing dark eyes

, ,
hidden behind glasses .
He bowed to the class saying he was pleased ,
to see s o many industrious students His .
movements as he looked around the room

, ,
were quick a nd alert ; he seemed to s e e e very

H a ns c on B ul o w 23 5
thing at once and the students saw that noth

,
ing could escape that active mentality .
The class met four days in each week and ,
the lessons continued from nine in the morn

ing until well on toward one o clock It was ’
.
announced that only the works of Brahms ,
Ra ff M endelssohn and Liszt would be taught

,
and played so nothing else need be brought to

,
the class ; indeed Brahms was to have the place

Of honor .
While many interesting compositions were

discussed and played perhaps the most help
,
ful thing about these hours spent with the

great pedagogue was the running fire Of com
ment and suggestion regarding technic inter ,
t t ion and music and musicians in general

p re a , .
V on B iilow spoke in rapid nervous fashion , ,
with a mixture of G erman and English often ,
repeating in the latter tongue what he had said

in the former ou t o f consideration for the
,
Americans and English present .
In teaching V on B ii low required the same

,
qualities which were s o patent in his playing .
Clearness of touch exactness in phrasing a nd

,
fingering were the first requirements ; the de -

J
livery of the composer s idea must be j ust a s

’
—
he had indicated it no liberties with the text
we re ever perm it te d H e wa s s o honest s o
. ,
upright in his at titude toward the makers of

g O O d music
, that it was a sin in his eyes to
alter anything in the score though he believed
,
in adding any marks Of phrasing or expres

sion which would elucidate the intentions Of
the composer Everything he said or did
.
s howed his intell ectual grasp O f the subj ect ;
and he lo oked for some of the same sort of

intelligence on the part Of the student A .
failure in this respect an inability to a ppre

,
hend at once t he ideas he endeavored to con

vey would annoy the sensitive and nervous
,
little Doctor ; he would become impatient sar ,
c a s tic and begin to pace the floor with hasty
s trides . When in this state he could see little

that was worthy in the student s performance
’
,
f or a small error would be so magnified as to

dwarf everything that was excellent When .
the lion began to roar it behooved the players

,
to be circumspect and meek At other times

. ,
when the weather was fair in the class room -

,
things went with tolerable smoothness He .
did not trouble himself much about technic a s ,
o f course a pupil coming to him was expected
to be well equipped on the technical side ; his

chief concern was to make clear the content
and interpretation Of the composition In the .
lessons he Often played detached phrases and

Clearness we must first have ; every line

and measure every note must be analyzed for
,
touch tone content and expression

, , .
“
You are always your first hearer ; t o b e
one s own critic is the most diffi
’
cult of all .
“
When a ne w theme enters you must make
it plain to the listener ; all the features Of the
new theme the new figure must be plastically
, ,
brought out .
“
Brilliancy does not depend on velocity b u t
on clarity What is not clear cannot scintil
.
late nor sparkle M ake use Of your strongest

.
fingers in brilliant passages leaving out the ,
fourth when possible A scale to be brilliant .
a nd powerful must not be too rapid Every .
note must be round and full and not too legato

— —
rather a mezzo legato s o that singl e tones ,
played hands together shall sound like o c ,
taves O ne O f the most difficult things in

.
rhythm is to play passages where tw o notes

,
alternate with triplets S cales may be pra e .
tis e d in this way alternating three notes with

two .
“
—
W e must make things sound well agree
ably in a way to be admired A seemingly
, .
discordant passage can be made to sound well

by ingeniously seeking ou t the best that is in
it a nd holding t ha t up in the m os t fa vorable
H no n B ul o w 239
‘
a ns
light Practise dissonant chords until they

.
please the c a r in spite of their sharpness .
Think of the instruments of the orchestra and

their di fferent qualities Of tone and try to ,
imitate them on the piano T hink O f every .
octave on the piano as having a different color ;

then shade and color your playing (A ls o .
bitte
If B ulow s musical trinity B ach B e e tho
’
, ,
v e n and Brahms had a fourth divinity added

, , ,
it would s u rely have been Liszt The firs t .
day s program contained chiefly works by the

’
Hungarian master ; among them A u b ord

d u ne S ou rce Scherzo and M arch and the
’
, ,
B allades The player who rendered the

.
S cherzo was advised t o practise octaves with

light flexible wrist ; the K u lla k O ctave School
,
was recommende d especially the third book ;

,
the other books could be read through prae ,
t is ing whatever seemed di fficult and passing

over what was easy O f the B allades the firs t
.
was termed more popular the second finer and

—
,
more earnest though neither makes very

much noise .
The A nnees de P e lerina ge received much

attention Among the pieces played were
. ,
L e s Cloches , Cha s s e N eige E clogu e Cloche s , ,
d e G ene va , E roica F e na F olle ts and M a

,
'
z eppa Also the big Polonaise in E the two

.
,
E tudes Wa lde s ra u s chen and G nom enreigen;

,
the M azourka Valse Impromptu and the firs t

, ,
“
E tude O f which last he remarked !
, You can
all play this ; thirty years have passed S ince
it was composed and people are only j ust fi nd
ing ou t how fine it is Such is the case with .
many of Liszt s works We wonder how they

’
.
ever could have been considered unmusical .
Yet the way some people play Liszt the hearer

is forced to exclaim Wha t an unmusical fel,
‘
low Liszt was t o be sure to write like that !

’
, ,
“
Exactness in everything is of the greates t
” “
importance he was fond Of saying
, We .
must make the piano speak As in speaking .
we use a separate movement o f the lips for

each word so in certain kinds of melody play
,
ing the hand is taken up after e a ch note

, .
Then to o we cannot make the piano speak

, ,
”
without very careful use of the pedals .
The M azourka Of Liszt was recommended

as one o f the most delightful of his lighter
pieces The Wa ldes ra u s chen also
. wa s ,
termed charming an excellent conce rt num

,
ber. Begin the first figure somewhat louder

and slightly slower then increase the move ,
ment and subdue the tone E verything which .

and spoke of the many beauties of his piano

compositions .There should be no s e ntim e n
tality abou t the playing Of M endelssohn s ’
” “
music he said ; the notes spe ak for them
,
selves .
“
The return to a theme in every song or
,
instrumental work Of his is particularly t o be

noticed for it is always interesting ; this F ugue
,
in E should begin as though with the softes t

”
register of the organ .
The subj ect o f Brahms has been deferred

only that it may be spoken Of as a whole His .
music was the theme of the second and a num ,
ber of the following lessons B iilow w a s a

.
close friend o f the Hamburg master and kept ,
in touch with him while in Berlin O ne morn .
ing he came in with a beaming face holding ,
up a sheet O f music paper in B eethoven s hand ’
writing which Brahms had discovered and for

,
warded to him It seemed that nothing could

.
have given B il l ow greater pleasure than to re

c e iv e this relic .
The first work taken up in class was

Brahms V ariations on a Handel theme Von
’
.
B il lo w was in perfect sympathy with this

noble work of Brahms and illumined many
passages with c lear explanations He was .
“
very exact about the phrasing What can.
o o b y Ge
Ph t f o rd
s s , N Y
.
DR
. W
I LLI A M MA S O N
V isit the Zoological G ardens where you can ,
learn much about legato and staccato from the

”
kangaroos .
The B allades were taken up in these lessons ,
and the light thrown upon their poetical con

tent was Often a revelation The gloomy .
character of the E dwa rd B a lla de O p 1 0 N o ,

.
, .
1 the source Of the S cottish poem the poetic

, ,
story were dwelt upon The opening Of this

, .
first B allade I S sad sinister and mysterious

, ,
like the Old S cotch story The master insisted.
on great smoothness in playing it — the chords

to sound like mu ffled but throbbing heart
beats A strong clima x is worked u p on the
.
second page which dies away on the third to

,
a pia nis s im o of utter despair F rom the mid .
dle of this page on t o the end the descending ,
chords and o ct aves were likened to ghostly

footsteps while the broken triplets in the left
,
hand accompaniment seem t o indicate drops of

bloo d .
The third B allade also received an illumina

tion from V on B il low This is a vivid tone .
picture though without motto or verse

, .
Starting with those fateful fifths in the bass ,
it moves over two pages fi t fu lly gloomy and

gay till at the end O f the second page a de
,
scending passage leads to three chords so full

H a ns v on B ul o w 24 5
of grim despair as to impart the atmosphere

Of a dungeon The player was hastily turn
ing the leaf Stop ! cried the excited voice
.
o f the master w ho had been pacing restlessly

,
up and down a nd now hurried from the end

,
“
Of the salon Wait ! We have been in
.
—
prison but now a ray Of sunshine pierces the
darkness You must always pause here to
.
m ake the contrast more impressive T here is .
more music in this little piece than in whole

symphonies by some O f the modern com
”
posers .
B oth Rhapsodies O p 7 9 were played ; the

.
second he said has parts as passionate as any

, ,
thing in the G o tterda m m eru ng Both are .
fine and interesting works .
Again and again the players were coun

s eled to make everything sound well S ome .
intervals fourths for instance are harsh ; make

, ,
them as mild as possible F or one can play

.
c orrectly b u t horribly !
, S ome staccatos shou ld
be S haken ou t of the sleeve as it were .
The first time a great work is heard there

is so much to oc cupy the attention that only
a small amount of pleasure can be derived
from it At the second hearing things are
.
easier and by the twelfth time one s pleasure ’
is complete The pianist must consider the

.
listener in a first rendering and endeavor to ,
s often the sharp discords .
With a group Of five notes play two and

—
,
then three it sounds more distinguished .
Remember that unlearning gives much more

trouble than learning .
In this brief résumé of the Von Bulow les

sons the desire has been to convey some of
,
the hints and remarks concerning the musi c

and its interpretation The master s fleeting
.
’
sentences were hurriedly j otted down during

the lessons with no thought o f their ever b e
,
ing seen except by the owner But as B ii low s ’

.
fame as a teacher became s o great these brief ,
notes may now be Of some value to bot h

teacher and student .
If it were only possible to create a picture O f

that Berlin m u sic room with its long windows
-
,
—
opening ou t to a green garden the M a y sun
shine streaming in ; the two grand pianos in
the center a row Of anxious absorbed students
—
, ,
about the edge o f the room and the short

figure of the little Doctor pacing up and down ,
the polished floor or seating himself at one

,
piano now and then to illustrate his instru o

,
tion This mental picture is the lifelong pos

.
s ession O f each o f those players w ho were so

HI N T S O N I N TERPRE TA T I ON
F R O M TW O AM ERICA N
TEACHERS
W ILLIAM H S H ERW OO D A N D D R W ILLIAM

. .
M AS O N
W I L L IA M H S H E R WO O D
.
WH ILE a young student the opportunity

came to attend a Summer M usic School ,
founded by this eminent pianist and teacher .
He had surrounded himself with others well

known for their specialties in voice violin and ,
diction ; but the director himself was the mag

net who attracted pI a ni s ts and teachers from
the four corners Of the land .
Perhaps the most intimate way to come in

touch with a famous teacher is t o study with ,
him during the summer months in some quiet , ,
retired spot Here the stress Of the m e trop

.
olis with its rush and drive its exacting

, ,
hours its remorseless round of lesson giving

, ,
is exchanged for the freedom Of rural life .
Hours may still be exact but a part Of each

,
d a y or Of each week is given over to relaxa

, ,
24 s
H in t s on I n t e rpr e t a t i o n 24 9
tion to be spent in the open with friends and

, ,
pupils .
It was under such conditions that I first met

M r Sherwood I had never even heard him
. .
play and was glad the session opened with

,
a piano recital His playing delighted me ; he

.
had both power and delicacy and his tone im ,
pressed m e as being especially mellow and

fine There was deep feeling as well as poetry
.
in his reading Of both the Chromatic F a n

t a is ie of B ach and the Chopin F antaisie in
,
F minor which were on the program This .
opinion was strengthened at each subsequent

hearing for he gave frequent recitals and con
,
certs during the season .
M y summer study with M r Sherwood con .
sisted mainly in gaining ideas on the inte rpre

t a t ion Of various pieces M any o f these ideas
.
seem to me beautiful and inspiring and I will ,
set them down as fully as I can from the brief

notes j otted down at the time I trust I m a y .
be pardoned a few personal references which ,
are sometimes necessary t o explain the situa

tion .
With advanced students M r Sherwoo d .
gave great attention to tone study and inter

p r e t a t ion even from
,
the first lesson He .
laid much stress on the use of slow gentle ,

motions in practise and in playing ; on the

Spiritualization O f the tones o f getting behind ,
the notes to find the composer s meaning He ’

.
had perhaps a more poetic conception O f

, ,
piano playing than any master I have known ,
and was able t o impart these ideas in clear

and simple language .
The first composition considered was Schu

mann s N a chts tiick the fourth o f the set He
’
, .
had a peculiar way Of tu rnm g the hand on the

middle finger as on a pivot for the extended
, ,
chords at the same time raising the whole

,
outer side O f the hand so that the fifth finger ,
should be able t o play the upper melody notes

round and full In the middle section he de
.
sired great tendern ess and sweetness of tone .
“ ”
There are several dissonances m this part ,
“
he said and they ought to be somewhat a o
—
,
ce nt e d suspensions I might call them In .
B ach and Handel s time the rules Of composi

’
—
,
tion were very strict no suspensions were a l

lowed ; so they were indicated where it was not
”
permitted to write them .
Chopin s étude in sixths came up for a na ly

’
“
sis
. This study needs a very easy quiet
—
, ,
limpid touch the motions all gliding and slid

ing rather than pushing and forceful I .
wou ld advise playin g it at fi rst pia nis s im o;

am confident I could produce this floating nu ,
du la ting e ffect I heard Liszt play nearly all

.
these études at one time ; I stood by and

turned the pages In this étude he doubled .
the number O f sixths in each measure ; the e f

fe e t was wonderful and beautiful .
“
The Chopin O ctave study number 2 2 , ,
needs firm quiet touch elevat ing the wrist for

, ,
black keys (as K u lla k explains ) and depress

ing it for white keys The hand must be .
well arched the end fingers firm and strong

, ,
and the touch very pressing c linging and , ,
grasping You always want to cling when

.
ever there is any chance for clinging in piano

playing The second part of this étude
.
should have a soft flowing poetic touch in the

, ,
right hand while the left hand part is well

,
brought ou t The thumb needs a special

.
training to enable it to creep and slid e from

one key to another with snake like movements -
.
“
Rubinstein s B arcarolle in G maj or The
’
.
thirds on the first page are very soft and

gentl e I make a good deal O f extra motion
.
with these thirds raising the fingers quite high

,
and letting them fall gently on the keys The .
idea o f the first page Of this b a rca rolle is one -
o f utter quietness colorlessness ; one is alone

,
on the water ; the evening is qu iet and still ;

H in t s on I n t e rpre t a t i o n 2 53
not a s ound breaks the hushed silence The .
delicate tracery of thirds should be very soft

—
,
thin like an a 1ry cloud The left hand is soft .
t oo but the first beat s hould be slightly a c

,
c e nt e d the second no t ; the first is positive the

, ,
second negative Herein lies the idea Of the

.
barcarolle the ebb and fl ow the undulation Of

, ,
each measure .
“
Begin the fi rst me asure very softly the ,
s econd measure a trifle louder the third louder ,
still the fourth falling O ff again As you

,
.
stand on the shore and watch the great waves

coming in you see some that are higher and
,
larger than others ; S O it is here The con .
cluding passage in sixths should d1m 1n1 s h

like a little pu ff Of vapor that ends in noth —
ing O n the second page we come upon some
.
thing more positive ; here is a tangible voice

speaking to us The melody should st a nd ou t
.
clear broad beautiful ; the accomp a nying

, ,
chords should preserve the same ebb and flow ,
the advancing and receding wave like move -
ment The exaggerated movement I spoke of

.
a moment a go I use in many ways Any , .
o ne can hit the piano w ith a sharp incisive

, ,
touch ; but what I refer to is the reaching out

Of the fingers for the notes the passing of the ,
hand in the air and the final gentle fall on

the key in haste to get there but with con

,
not ,
fidence Of reaching the key in time If you .
throw a stone up in the air it will presently

fall b a ck again with a sharp thud ; a bird rising ,
hovers a moment and descends gently This .
barcarolle is not at all easy ; there is plenty of

work in it for flexible hands ; it is a study in
p ia nis s im o—in power controlled held back , ,
restrained .
Taking up the T occatina of Rheinberger ,
M r Sherwood said ! I like this piece there is

.
“
,
good honest work in it ; it is very e ff ective and ,
most excellent practise You ought to play .
this every day o f the year It is written in .
twelve eighths which give four beats to the

-
,
measure but I think that gives it too hard and

,
square a character I would divide each .
measure into tw o parts and s lightly a cc ent r
each Though your temperament is more a t

.
home in the music of Chopin and Schumann ,
I recommend especially music of this sort and ,
also the music o f B ach ; these give soli dity and

strength t o your conception o f musical ideas .
We went through the Ra ff Suite O p 9 4 , . .
” “
The Preludio is very good he said ; I like ,
it The M enu e tto is musically the least

.
, ,
strong of a ny of the numbers but it has a cer

‘
tain elegance and is the most popular of them

,
in playing is the very idealization Of technic .
The Chopin Liszt M a iden s Wis h was next

-
’
“
considered The theme here is often over
.
laid and encrusted with the delicate lace like -
arabesques that seek to hide it ; but it must b e

found and brought ou t There is so much in .
being able to find what is hidden behind the

notes You must get an insight into the 1nne r
.
idea ; must feel it This is not technic not

.
,
method even ; it is the spiritualization O f play

ing There are pieces that will sound well if
.
the notes only are played like the little F ,
minor M oment M usicale of Schubert ; yet even

in this there is much behind the notes which , ,
if brought out will make quite another thing

,
Of the piece .
“
S chumann s Andante for two pianos
’
, ,
s hould have a very tender caressing touch for

'
the theme The place where the four six

.
-
t e e nths occur which make rather a square e f

,
feet can be softened down O n the second

,
.
page be sure and do not accent the grace

,
notes ; let the accent come on the fifth finger

every time F or the variation containing
.
chords use the grasping touch which might be

, ,
described as a certain indrawing o f force in

the end of the finger as though taking a long,
breath The variation in triplets seems at

.
H in t s on I n t e rpre t a t i o n 2 57
first sight almost a caricature a burlesque on ,
the theme but I don t think that Schumann

,
’
had any such idea O n the contrary he meant

.
it as a very sweet gentle loving thought

, , .
The last page has something ethereal ideal ,
about it ; it should be breathed ou t growing ,
fainter and fainter to the end .
“
The G minor B allade of Chopin begins , ,
slowly with much dignity The opening

, .
melody is one of sa dn ess almost gloom The , .
(t te m o on second page contains four parts

p
going on at the same time At the pin forte .
,
care must be taken to have the outer side o f

the hand well raised and moved from the ,
w rist
. The idea here is one of great agita
tion and unrest The fifth page needs grea t
.
power and the legato octaves well connected

and sustained The feeling Of unrest is here
.
augmented until it becomes almost painful ,
and not until the a nim a to does a restful feel

ing come This should be played lightly and
.
delicately the left hand giving the rhythm

, .
The pres to demands great power and dash .
Let the wrist be low when beginning the

chords raise it after the first and let it fall
,
after the second Always accent the second

.
chord B egin the final double runs S lowly

.
and increase in speed and tone S O too with . , ,

the octaves b e gm slowly and increase in power

,
”
and fire .
N umerous other compositions were a n

a lyz e d but the ones alr eady quoted stand ou t
,
in memory and g1v e s ome idea O f M r Sher

, .
wood s manner Of teaching

’
.
M M AS O NDR . W I L L IA
Years after the foregoing experien ces I

had the privilege Of doing some work with the
dean of all American piano masters Dr Wil , .
liam M ason I had spent several years in

.
European study with Scharwenka K lind , ,
worth and v on B ii low and had returned to my ,
o wn land to j oin its teaching and playing
force M y time soon became so largely oc

.
cu pie d with teaching that I feared my play
ing would be entirely pushe d t o the wall u h

less I were under the guidance Of some master .
With this thought in mind I presented m y ,
self to Dr M ason . .
You have studied with Sherwood he b e ,
“
gan . He has excellent ideas O f touch and
technic S ome o f these ideas came from me
. ,
though I don t wish to claim t oo much in the

’
matter Sherwood has the true piano touch

. .
V ery few pianists have it ; K lindw orth did not

have it nor yon E d low nor even Liszt en
, , ,
There is everything in knowing how to

practise but it is something that cannot be
,
taught I played in public ten years before I

.
found ou t the secret .
“
Practise slowly and in sections N ot only .
must all the notes be there they must be dwelt ,
on. There must be a firm and rock like basi s -
for piano playing ; such a foundation can only

be laid by patient and persevering slow pra c
tise If the player has not the control over
.
his fingers to play a piece slowly he certainly

—
,
cannot play it fast Slo w practise one dif.
—
ficu lty at a time one hand at a time N a pol !
eon s tactics One division at a time applie s

’
,
‘
to music study Above all do not hurry in

.
fugue playing a un i v ersal fault B ach needs

, .
a slower trill than modern music Chords .
are not to be played with percussion but with

pressure The main things in piano playing
.
are tone and sentiment When you take u p .
a new piece practise a few measures slowly

, ,
till you know them then play faster ; take the

,
next few measures in the same way ; but at

first do not practise the whol e piece through a t
once .
“
Just as in life every experience of grea t
j oy or great grief leaves one better or more
callous s o every time you practise you have
,
H in t s on I n t e rpr e t a t i o n 26 1
either advanced or gone back Right play .
ing like good manners in a well trained child

,
-
,
becomes habitual from always doing right .
As we are influenced for good or evil by those

we associate with so are we influenced by the
,
character and quality Of the tones we make

and hear B e in earnest ; put your heart
.
,
y our whol e soul your ,

whole self into your
”
playing .
Among other pieces we studied together was

the Schumann sonata in F minor the E ns e
—
,
biu s S ou a ta a glorious work ! In the open

ing movement the left hand should be very
serious and ponderous with the hand and fi ,
n
gers held close to the keys ; using arm we ight .
The melody in octaves in right hand is beseech

ing pleading imploring In many places the
, , .
touch is very elastic The second movement .
begins very softly as though o ne heard some

,
thing faintly in the distance and did not quite ,
know what it was but thought it might be

,
m usic . The accents in this movement are to

be understood in a comparative degree and are ,
not as strong as the marks seem to indicate .
The Scherzo is extremely pompous and is to

be played with heavy accents and a great deal
Of v im and go ; the chords with the utmos t
“
freedom and dash O ne must use the let
.
ting g o
-
principle which Paderew s ki has
, to
perfection .
We next took up the Grieg Concerto ; the

’
Peter s edition Of this work ha s been corrected
by the composer At the first lesson Dr .
, .
M ason accompanied on a se cond piano and ,
seemed pleased with the work I had done ,
making no corre ctions except to suggest a ,

“
somewhat quicker tempo N ot that I would .
do anything to impair your carefulness and

accuracy but you must take a risk and from
, ,
the beginning too I am reminded Of the

,
.
young man who has been very carefully

brought up When the time comes for him to
.
strike ou t and take his chance in life he holds ,
back and is afraid while another with more ,
courage steps in and takes away his oppor

,
”
tu nity .
We discussed the slow movement at great

“
length . N ote in this movement the slow ,
dreamy e ff ect that can be made at the ending

Of the second solo and the artistic use Of the
,
pedal in the following chords The third .
’
movement must have great swing and go ; ‘
the oct a ve passage cadenz a should be pra c

t is e d in rhythmical groups and the final ,
Andante must be fast .
The third time we played the concerto I had

VITAL P O I N T S I N PIANO PLAYI N G
C O M P O SIT E P R IN CI P L E S D E D U C E D F R O M
TA L K S W IT H E M I N E NT P IANI STS
AND T E AC H E R S
S EC T I O N I
How things are done how others do them

, ,
and the reasons for the doing o f them in one

way and not in another used to occupy my
,
though ts back as far as I can remember As .
a child I was fond Of watching any one doing

fine needlework or beautiful embroidery ,
and tried to imitate what I s a w going into ,
m m u te s t details
. This fondness for exactness
and detail when applied to piano study led
, ,
me to question many things ; to wonder why

I was told to do thus and so when other people
,
seemed t o do other ways ; in fact I began to

discover that every one who played the piano
played it in a different f ashion Wh y was .
there not one way ?
O ne memorable night I was taken t o hear

A nton Rubins tein What a marvelous in
.
s trument the piano was to be sure when its

, ,
26 4
.
V i t a l P o in t s in P i a n o P l a yi n g 26 5
keys were moved by a touch that was at one

moment all fire and flame and the next smooth
,
as velvet or soft and light as thistle do wn -

.
What had my home piano in common with

this wonder Why did all the e fforts at
?
piano playing I had hitherto listened to sink

into Oblivion when I heard this master ? vVh a t ‘
was the reason Of it all ?
M ore artists of the piano came within my

vision M ehlig J o s e ffy M ason and others
, , , , .
As I listened to their performances it was

brought to me more clearly than ever that each
master played the piano in the manner which
best suited himself ; at the same time each and
every player made the instrument utter tones
and e ffects little dreamed Of by the ordinary
learner What was the secret Was it the
.
?
manner of moving the keys the size o f hand

, ,
the length Of finger or the great strength pos

,
sessed by the player I had always been

?
taught to play slowly and carefully so that ,
I should make no mistakes ; these great pian

is t s had wonderful fearlessness ; Rubinstein at
least did not seem to care whether or not he
hit a fe w wrong notes here and there if he ,
could only secure the speed and e ffect desired .
VVhe nce came his fearless velocity his tre ,
m end ou s power ?
E SSE N T I ALS OF P IAN IS M

Little by little I began t o realize the e s
s e ntia ls Of e ff ective piano playing were these
clear touch intelligent phrasing all varieties

, ,
o f tone all the force the piano would stand

, ,
together with the greatest delicacy and the u t

most speed These things the artists pos
.
sessed as a matter of course but the ordinary ,
student or teacher failed utterly to make like

e ffects or to play with s u ficient clearness and
,
force What was the reason

.
?
In due course I came under the supervision

Of various piano pedagogues T o the first I .
gave implicit Obedience endeavoring to do ex ,
a ct ly as I was told T he next teacher said

.
I must begin all over again as I had been ,

“ ”
taught all wrong I had never learned
.
hand position nor independence O f fi nge rs

th ese must now be established T he follow .
ing master told me finger independence mu s t

be secured in quite a di fferent fashion from the
manner in which I had been taught which was ,
“ ”
all wrong The next professor said I must
.
bend the fi n ger squarely from the second j oint ,
and not round all three j oints as I had been ,
doing This s o called fault to ok several

.
- -
m onths to correct .
And having mastered it what do they con

,
s ider the vital essentials o f piano technic and
piano pla ym g Surely they must know these

?
things if any one can know them T he v can .
tell if they will what t o do and what to avoid

, , ,
what t o exclude as unnecessary or unessential

and what to concentrate upon .
The night Rubinstein s marvelous tones fell

’
upon my childish ears I longed to go to him ,
clasp his wonderful hands in my small ones

and beg him t o tell me how he did it all I .
now know he could not have explained how

—
,
for the greater the genius the more s pont a

ne ou s its expression -
the less able is such an
one to put into words the manner o f its mani
f e s t a t ion
. In later years the same im pulse
has come when listening to Paderewski Hof ,
mann and others If they could only tell us

.
exactly what is to be done to master the piano ,
what a boon it would be t o those who are awake

enough t o profit by and follow the directions
and experiences o f such m asters .
In recognition Of the strength o f this desire ,
months after a half forgotten wish had been

-
expressed by me came a request by M u s ica l

,
A m erica t o prepare a series of interviews with

the world famed pianists who were visiting
ou r shores , and also with prominent teachers
Vi t a l Po in t s in P i a n o P l a yi ng
who were making good among us and ,
were proving by results attained that

were safe and e ffi
cient guides .
SEARC H I NG F O R T RU T H
N ever was an m te re s ting and congenial
labor undertaken with more zest The artists .
were plied with questions which to them may

have seemed prosaic but which to the inter
,
ro ga t or were the very essence o f the principles
Of piano technic and piano mastery It is not .
a light task for an artist to sit down and

analyze his own methods S ome found it a l .
most impossible to put into lan gu age their

ideas on these subj ects They had so long.
been concerned with the highest themes of

interpretation that they hardly knew how the
technical e ffects were produced nor could they ,
put the manner Of making them into words .
“
They could only say with Rubinstein I do
, ,
”
it this way leaving the questioner to divine
,
how and then to give an account of it How .
ever with qu e s tIO ns leading up to the points

,
I was anxious to secure light upon much in ,
formation was elicited .
O ne pr1nc1ple was ever before me namely ,
the Truth I desired to find out the truth

.
a bout each subj ect and then endeavored to

set down what was said expressed in the way ,
I felt would convey the most exact meaning

'
In considering the vital points or heads

under which to group the subj ects to be con
s ide re d the following seem to cover the
,
ground pretty thoroughly

1 Artistic piano t e chn1c ; how acquired and
.
retained .
2 H ow to practise
. .
3 H ow t o memorize
. .
4 Rhythm and tone color in piano playing

. .
S E CTI O N II
H a nd P os ition,
F inge r A c tion , a nd A rtis tic
T ou ch
W H AT TE C H N IC I N CLUDE S
When we listen to a piano recital by a

—
world famous artist we think if we are musi
-
—
,
c ia ns primarily of the interpretation of the

compositions under consideration That the .
pianist has a perfect technic almost goes with

o u t saying He must have such a technic to
.
win recognition as an artist He would not .
b e a n a rtis t witho ut a great technic with out ,

’
agree that an arched position with rounded

finger j oints is the correct one It was P a .
“
d e re w s k i who said Show me how the player
,
holds his hands at the piano and I will tell ,

”
you what kind Of player he is showing the -
Polish pianist co nsiders h a nd position of prime

importance .
“
I hold the han d arched and very firm .
E rnest Schelling .
“
The hand t a kes an arched position the ,
fi nge r tips forming a curve on the keys the

-
,
middle finger being placed a little farther in

o n the key than is natural for the firs t and
”
.
—
fifth K atharine G oodson .
“
The hand is formed on the keys in its fi ve
finger position with arched knuckles

,
”
Ethel .
-
L e gins k a .
“
The hand is formed in an arched position ,
with curved fingers and solidified , Car l

Roeder .
“
The hand in normal playing position must ,
stand up in well arched form with fingers well

—
,
”
rounded T hu e l Burnham
. .
“
I first establish an arched hand position
—
,
with firm fi nge rs

”
Edwin Hughes
—
. .
“
I teach arched hand position A l e x ander .
Lambert .
! Vi t a l P o in t s in P i a n o P l a yi n g 273
O ne must first secure an arched hand with

—
,
steady first j oints o f the fingers Eleanor

Spencer .
“
The first thing to do for a pupil is to see
that the hand is in correct position ; the
knuckles will be somewhat elevated and the
”
fingers properly rounded Bloomfield Zeis .
ler .
“
A pupil must first f orm the arch of the
hand and secure fi rm fi n ger j oints I form .
”
the hand away from the piano at a table , .
Agnes M organ .
Leschetizky teaches arched hand position ,
with rounded fingers and all who have com e

,
under his instruction advocate this form It .
is the accepted position f or passage playing .
A f e w pianists notably Alfred CortOt and

,
Tina Lerner play their passage work with

,
flat fingers but this in M iss Lerner s case is

, ,
’
doubtless caused by the small size of the hand .
It is clear from the above qu otations and ,
from many other opinions which could be cited ,
that the authorities agree the hand should be

well arched the end Of the fi
, n ger coming in
contact with the key ; furthermore there should
be no weakness nor giving in at the nail
j oint .
27 4 P ia n o M a s t e ry
F INGER ACTI O N
The question o f lifting the fingers s eems to
be one on which various opinions are held .
S ome pianists like G odowsky for instance

, ,
will tell you they do not approve of raising

the fi nge rs —that the fingers must be kep t
close to the keys It is noticeable however
.
, ,
that even those who do not speak favorably Of

finger action use it themselves when playing
,
passages requiring distinctness and clearness .
O ther players are rather hazy on the sub

j c et but these are generally persons who hav e
,
not gone through the routine Of teaching .
The accepted idea Of the best teachers is

that at the beginning Of piano study positive
finger movements must be acquired ; finger
action must be so thoroughly grounded tha t
it becomes second nature a very part of the ,
'
player something he can never forget nor ge t

,
away from S o fixed S hould it become that no

.
subsequent laxity caused by the attention b e

,
ing wholly centered on interpretation can dis

turb correct pos 1tion condition or gra ce ful
, , ,
plastic movement .
“
F or passage work I insist on finger action ;
the fingers must be raised and active to insure
p roper development I think. one certainl
y
care with minute attention t o exacting de

,
tail At some period O f his career the artis t

.
,
has had to come down to foundation principles

and work up O pinions may di ffer as to the
.
eminence Of Leschetizky as a teacher but the ,
fact remains that many Of the pianists now b e

fore the public have been with him at one time
or ano ther They all testify that the Vien
.
nese master will have nothing to do with a

player until he has gone through a course o f
rigorous preparation spent solely in finger
training and can play a pair of Czerny études
,
with perfect control and e ff ect .
ART ISTIC T O U C H
O ne O f the greates t American teachers of
touch was Dr William M ason who made an
.
,
exhaus tive study o f this subj ect His own .
tou ch was noted for its clear bell like elastic ,

-
,
quality He remarked on one occas i on In re

.
,
“
gard to playing in public ! It is possible I
may be so nervous that I ca n hardly walk to
the piano ; but once I have begun to play I
shall hold the audience still enough to hear
a pin drop simply by the beauty Of my
,
touch and tone ”

Dr M ason s touch spe
. .
’
“ ” “ “
cia ltie s were pressure and elastic or draw
”
ing off
-
touches He found these gave .
Vi t a l P o in t s in P i a n o P l a yi ng 277
both weight and crisp lightness to the tones .
M r Tobias M a ttha y of London has given

.
, ,
much time and thought to the study O f touch

and key mechanism He says ! . The two
chief rules Of technic as regards the key are
,
Always feel how much the key resists you ,
feel how mu ch the key wa nts for every note .
Second always listen for the moment each

,
sound begins so that you may learn to direct

,
your e ffort to the sound only and not to the

key bed It is only by making the hammer
.
end O f the key move that you can make a

sound The swifter the movement the louder
.
,
the sound The more gradual the movement

.
the more beautiful the quality O f sound F or .
brilliant tone you may hit the string by means

,
Of the key but do not by mistake hit the key

, , ,
”
instead .
T hu e l Burnham a pupil of M ason a nd Les

,
che tiz k
y has
, welded the ideas o f these two
masters into his own experience and simpli ,
fies the matter O f p 1 ano touch as follows
M EL ODY AN D C O L ORAT URA H ANDS

The position and condition of the hand
varies according to the character of the music
and the quality O f tone you wish to produce .
If you give ou t a melody you want a full , ,

luscious tone the weight Of arm on the key

, ,
everything relaxed and a clinging caressing ,
pressure Of finger Here you h a ve the M e l .

‘
Ody Hand with outstretched flat fingers

,
’
,
.
O n the contrary if you wish rapid passage ,
work with clear bright articulate touch the

, , , ,
hand must stand up in well arched normal -

,
playing position with fingers well rounded ,
and good finger action Here you have the .
‘
Technical or Coloratura Hand
’ ‘
.
’
The distinction made by M r Burnham .
clears up the uncertainty about arched hand

and articulate touch or low hand and flat fi n ,
gers Both are u sed in their proper place

.
,
according to the demands O f the music The .
player however who desires a cle a n reliable

, , ,
technic should first acquire a coloratura hand

,
before attempting a melody hand .
S ECTI O N III
T he A rt f
o P ra c tis e
We have seen that if the pianist hopes to

perfect himself in his art he must lay the foun
dation deep down in the fun d amentals Of
hand position body condition correct finger
, ,
The point which most concerns us is ! H ow

sh all one practise so as to make the most of
the time a nd accomplish the best results ?
What études if any shall we use and what

, , ,
technical material is the most useful and e f

f e ctu a l ?
Wilhe lm B a cha u s whose consummate tech ,

“
nic we have so Often admired says ! I am ,
o ld fashioned enough to still believe in scales

-
and arpeggios S ome of the players Of the pres

.
ent day seem to have no use for such things ,
but I find them Of great importance This .
does not necessarily mean that I go through

the whole set O f keys when I practise the
scales I select a few at a time and work at
.
those I start with ridiculously simple forms

—
.
j ust the thumb under the hand and the hand

—
over the thumb a few movements each way ,
but these put the hand in trim for scales and

arpeggios I practise the latter about half an
.
hour a day I have to overhaul my technic

.
once or twice a week to see that everything is

in order S cales and arpeggios come in for
.
their share Of criticism I practise them in .
various touches but Oftener in lega to as that is

, ,
more difficult and also more beautiful than the

others I practise technic when possible an
.
, ,
”
hour a day including B ach ,
.
Vi t a l P o in t s in P i a n o P l a yi n g 281
Sigismond S toj ow s ki considers that scales

and arpeggios must form a part o f the daily
routine .
Thu e l Burnham says ! O f my practise

hour s at least one is given to technic scales , ,
arpeggios octaves chords and B ach ! I b e

, , ,
lieve in taking one selection Of B ach and per

—
f e cting it transposing it in all keys and
polishing it to the highest point possible S O .
with études it is better to perfect a fe w than

,
”
t o play a t s o many .
T H E P IAN IST A M EC H AN IC
Edwin Hughes the American pianist and

,
teacher in M unich remarks !

,
“
Technic is the
mechanical part Of music making ; to keep it
in running order one must b e constantly
tinkering with it j ust as the engine driver with
,
his locomotive or the chau ffeur with his auto

mobile Every intelligent player recognizes
.
certain exercises as especially beneficial to the

mechanical well being of his playing ; from
-
these he will plan his daily schedule of te chni

cal practise .
Teresa Carreno asserts she had in the begin

ning many technical exercises which her
teacher wrote ou t f or her from diffi ,cult pas
sages taken from the great composers There .
were hundreds O f them so many that it took

,
j ust three days t o go the rounds She con .
siders them invaluable and co nstantly uses

,
them in her own practise and in her teaching .
E ach exercise must be played in all keys a nd

with every possible variety Of touch and tone .
Paderewski gives much time daily to pure

technic pract ise I I e has been known to play
.
scales and arpeggios in a single key for three

quarters Of an hour at a stretch These were .
played w ith every variety of touch velocity , ,
dynamic shading and so on .
It is seen from the instances quoted that

many great pianists believe in daily technic
practise or the study Of pure technic apart
,
from pieces M any more testify that scales

. ,
chords arpeggios and octaves constitute their

,
daily bread S ome have spoken to me espe

.
c ia ll
y of octave practise as being eminently
beneficial They feel these things are essen
.
tial t o the acquiring Of a fine technic and keep ,
ing it u p to concert pitch .
S ome arti s ts are partial to certain technical

studies B a cha u s highly recommends those of
.
Brahms for instance All artis ts use B ach in

, .
connection with their technic practise ; in fact

the works O f Bach may be c on s i der e d to em
b
y heart but, likewise the whole s e t! De
Pachmann in his eagerness to master the tech
,
nic and literature o f the p i ano says that when ,
a B ach Prelude and F ugue was on one occa

sion assigned him by his teacher he went home ,
and learned the who le twenty four which he -

,
was able to play in every key for the ne x t

lesson !
SL O W P RAC T IS E
T he question is Often put to artists ! Do
you deem it necessary to work for velocity or ,
do you practise the composition much at the

required speed ? ”
M any pianists practise
very S lowly This was William H Sher
. .
wood s custom Harold B auer believes v e loc

’
.
ity to be inherent in the individual so that ,
w hen the passage is thoroughly comp rehended

it can be played at the necessary rate of speed .
B a cha u s testifies he seldom works for velocity ,
saying that if he masters the passage he can

“
play it at any required tempo I never work .
” “
f or velocity as som e do he remarks I
”
.
,
seldom practise fast for it interferes with

,
clearness I prefer to play more S lowly giv

.
,
ing the greatest attention to clearness and

good tone By pursuing this course I find
.
”
that when I need velocity I have it .
V i t a l P o in t s in P i a n o P l a yi ng 285
Clarence Adler counsels pupils always to

—
begin by pract ising slowly faster tempo will
develop later subconsciously Velocity is only
, .
to be employed after the piece has been

thoroughly learned every mark O f expression
,
Observed all fingering accents and dynamic

, ,
“
marks mastered You would scarcely b e
.
”
lieve he adds how slowly I practise m y
, ,
”
self
.
A FEW E ! CEPTI ON S
There are very few exceptions to the gen
eral verdict in favor of technic practise apart
from pieces G odowsky asserts he nev er
.
practises scales Bauer cares little f or pure

.
technic practise believing the composition it

,
self contains suffi cient material O f a technical

nature .
Whether or not these brilliant except ions

merely prove the rule the thoughtful student ,
o f the piano must decide for himself He has .
already discovered that modern piano playing

requires a perfect technic together with the ,
personal equation Of vigorous health serious ,
purpose and many sided mentality l v e - ‘

. .
“
Rider P os s a rt says !
-
Technic is something
an artist has to put in the background as some
thing O f secondary importance yet if he does ,
not possess it he is nowhere The student .
will not overlook the fact that to acquire the

necessary technical control he mu s t devote
time and thought to it outside of piece play
ing He must understand the principles and
.
follow ou t a certain routine in order to secure

t he best results in the quickest and surest way .
While each one must work ou t his ow n salva

tion it is an encouragement to know that even
,
the greatest artists must toil over their technic ,
must keep eternally at it must play slowly, ,
must memorize bit by bit The di ff erence b e

.
tween the artist and the talented amateur Often

lies in the former s absolute concentration
’
,
perseverance and devotion to the highest

ideals .
S E CTI ON IV
H ow to M e m orize
At the present stage Of pianisti c deve lop

ment an artist does not venture to come before
,
“ ”
the public and use his notes N O artist who
.
values his reputation would a ttempt it .
Everything must be performed from memory

—solos concertos even accompaniments
, , .
The pianist must know every note O f the m usi c

wonder why they cannot commit to memory !

The Viennese master suggests that a shor t
passage of tw o or four measures be learned
with each hand alone then tried on the piano
, .
If not yet quite fixed in consciousness the e f

fort should be repeated after which it may b e
,
possible to go through the passage without a n

error The work then proceeds in the s am e
.
manner throughout the composition .
M E M O RI Z ING
’
ONE YEAR S
A pl a yer who gives five or six hours daily to
study and who has learned how to memorize
, ,
should be able to commit one page of music

each day This course systematically pur
.
,
sued would result in the thorough assimilation

,
of at least fifty compositions in one year .
This is really a conservative estimate though ,
at first glance it may seem rather large If .
we cut the figure in half ou t Of consideration

,
for the accumulative diffi culties Of the music ,
there will still remain twenty fi ve pieces -

,
enough for two programs and a very respect

able showing for a year s study ’
.
It may be that Leschetizky s principle of ’
memorizing will not appeal to every one T he .
player m ay fi nd another path t o the goal one ,

Vi t a l P o in t s in P i a no P l a yi ng 289
more suited to his peculiar temperament O r .

,
if he has not yet discovered the right path le t ,
him try di fferent ways till he hits upon one

which will do the work in the shortest and most
thorough manner All masters agree that
.
analysis and concentration are the prime fac

t ors in the proc ess of c ommitting musi c t o
memory .
M ichael v on Zadora pianist and teache r

, ,
“
said to me recently ! Suppose you have a
diffi cult passage to le a rn by heart T he or .
dina ry method o f committing t o memory is t o

play the passage over and over till the finger s ,
grow accustomed to its intervals That is not .
my manner of teaching The only way t o .
master that passage is to analyze it thor

oughly know j ust what the notes are the se
, ,
q u e nc e s of notes if you
, will their position on ,
the keyboard the fingering the positions the

, ,
hands must take to play these notes so that ,
you know j ust where the fingers have to go

before you put them on the keys When you .
thus thoro u ghly understand the passage or

piece have thought about it lived with it so
, , ,
that it is in the blood we might say the fingers

, ,
c a n pl a y it There will be no difficulty about

.
”
it and no need for senseless repetitions .
PH RASE BY PH RASE
M ost of the artists agree that memorizing
must be done phrase by phrase after the com ,
position has been thoroughly analyzed as to

keys chords and construction This is K ath
, , .
arine G oodson s way and also Eleanor S pe n

’
cer s and Ethel L e gins k a s three of Lesche

’ ’
,
“
tiz k y s pupils now before the public I
’
.
really kno w the composition s o thoroughly
that I can play it in another key j ust as well

as the one in which it is written though I do ,
not always memorize it each hand alone says ,
M iss G oodson “
I first play the composition
.
over a fe w times to become somewhat familiar

”
with its form and shape says Eleanor S pe n ,
“
cer then I begin to analyze and study it
, ,
committing it by phrases or ideas one or tw o , ,
measures at a time I do not always take the

.
hands alone unless the passage is very intri

,
cate for sometimes it is easier to learn both

,
”
hands together G ermaine S chnitzer avers
.
that she keeps at a difficult passage until s he

really k nows it perfectly no matter how long ,
“
it takes What is the use of going on she
.
,
“
says until you are absolutely sure of the work
,
”
in hand .
It is plain from the opi ni ons already cited

though it is difficult to conceive how any one

m his right mind can disapprove knowing a
thing thoroughly The only way to know it
.
thoroughly is to kno w it by heart .
C O N S TAN T RE PAIRS N E CESSARY

A repertoire once committed must be con
s t a ntly kept in repair The p ublic player in
. ,
his seasons of study generally has a regular

,
system o f repetition so th a t all compositions

,
can be gone over at least once a week O ne .
artist suggests that the week be started wi th

the classics and concluded with modern c om
positions and concerted numbers Thus each .
day will have its allotted task The pieces are .
not merely t o be played over but really over ,
hauled and all weak places treated to a dose

,
o f slow careful pra ctise using the printed

, ,
pages Artists on tour where consecutive

.
,
practise is diffi cult or u nattainable always ,
carry the printed notes of their repertoire with

them and are ceaselessly studying repairing
, , ,
polishing their phrases thinking ou t their ,
e ffects .
To those who wish to become pianists I ,
would say ! K eep your memory active

through constant use Be always learning by
.
heart ; do it systematically a little at a time ,

.
Vi t a l P o in t s in P i a n o P l a yi ng 2 93
S o it will be daily progress . S o your reper

t oire is built !
S EC T I O N V
R hythm an d T one Color in Pia no P la ying
H ow shall tw o such opposites as rhythm and

tone color be connected even in name some , ,
will ask O ne belongs to the mechanical side

.
o f piano playing while the other appertains to

,
the ideal the poetic the soulful The two

, , .
subj ects however are not so wide apart as

, ,
might at first appear ; for the beauty and vari

ety of the second depends largely upon the
mastery of the first You must play rhyth .
m ica lly before you can play soulfully ; you

must first be able to keep time before you can
attempt to express color and emotion through
any fluctuation of rhythm O ne depends on .
the other therefore time and rhythm come

,
first ; when these are well under control ,
not before we can go furt her and enter the

,
wider field o f tonal variety .
Rhythm is one o f the pianist s most impor ’
tant assets something he cannot do without

, .
It might be said that the possession of a well

developed rhythmic sense is one point in which
the artist di ffers greatly from the amateur .
The latter thinks no thing o f breaking the

rhyt h m at any time and place that suits his
fancy ; while the artist is usually conscientious

about such matters because his time sense is
,
more highly developed A perfect time sens e

.
is often inherent in the artist a part of the

,
natural gift which he has cultivated to such a

high state of achievement It may be he has
.
never had any difficulty with this particular

point in piano playing while the amateur has
,
constantly to struggle with problems of time

and rhythm .
T HE M E TRO N O M E
When the sub j ect of using such a m e cha nica l

'
aid as t he metronome to cultivate rhythmic

sense is broached to the executive artist it does
, ,
not always meet with an assenting response .
With such bred in the bon e sense o f time as

- - -
the artist commands it is li ttle wonder he takes

,
no great interest in mechanical time beating -

.
Josef Hofmann s censure of the metronome

’
was probably due to his inborn rhythmic and

artistic sense ; yet his words have doubtless
ha d their e ffect on many students who lack , ,
ing his sense of rhythm would have been

,
gre a tly benefited by its use .

“
in establishing firm rhythmi c sense let us turn ,
ou r thought to the f a scinating sub j ect of
TO N E C OLO R
When De Pachmann a ffirme d that he uses
certain fingers to create certain e ffects the idea ,
was thought t o be one of the eccentric pianist s ’
peculiar fancies O ther players however

.
, ,
have had the same thought and have worked

—
,
along the same line the thought that on the

fingering used depends the quality of tone .
F or instance you might not play an expressive

melody with a consecutive use of the fifth fi n
“
ger which is called a cold finger by T hu e l
,
Burnham He would use m s te a d the third a

.
,
“ ”
warm finger t o give ou t a soulful melody
, .
T ON AL VARIETY
T he
pianist who desires to p lay e ffectively ,
must continually strive for variety of tone for ,
tonal coloring These can be studied in scales

.
,
chords arpeggios and other technical forms

, .
The singer seeks to make a tone of resonant

color not a straight flat tone ; the pianist on
, , ,
his part endeavors to give color and variety

,
to his playing in the same way Harold .
B auer thinks variety must be secured by the

c ontrast of one tone with another Even a .
Vi t a l P oi n t s in P i a n o P l a yi ng 2 97
very harsh tone may be beautiful in its right

place owing to its relation to other tones and
, ,
its ability to ex press an idea T o render the .
playing expressive by the contrast of light and

shade by tonal gradations by a ll varieties of
, ,
touch by a ll the subtleties of nu a nce is a

, ,
great art and only the most gifted ever master

,
it in its perfection These are the things that

.
enchant us in P a de re w s ki s performance ’
and in the tonal coloring of G abrilowitsch .
Hofmann s playing is a marvel o f atmospher e

’
and color ; such playing is an obj ect lesson to

s tudents a lesson in variety o f light and s hade
, ,
t he shifting of exquisite tonal tints .
The sensitiv e musician is highly susceptible

t o color e ffects in nature in art or in obj ects,
about him Certain colors attract him for he

.
,
sees an affi nity between them and the tonal e f

f e cts he strives to produce O ther colors re .
pel perhaps for the opposite reason Bril

, .
liant red is a warlike c olor and finds analogous ,
expression in such pieces as Chopin s Polo ’

!
naise M ilita ire and M a cD ow e ll s Polonaise

,
’
.
We cannot help seeing feeling the color red , ,
when playing such music S oft pink and rose .
f or love music tender blues and shades of gray

,
for nocturnes and night pieces are some o f the

affi n ities of tone and colo r W arm s hade s of .
yellow and golden brown suggest an atmos

h re of early autumn while delicate or vivid
p e ,
greens give thoughts of spring and luscious

summer Certain pieces of M ozart seem to
.
bring before us the rich greens of a s umme r

landscape ; the F antaisie in C minor and the ,
Pastorale V arie are o f this type .
“
Arthur Hochmann says ! Colors mean s o
much to me ; some are s o beautiful the various ,
shades of red for instance then the golden

,
yellows rich warm browns and liquid blues

, ,
.
We can make as wonderful combinations in

tone color as ever pain ter put upon canvas .
To me dark red speaks of something tender ,
heart se a r ching mysterious O n the other

-
, .
hand the shades of yellow e xpress gaiety and

brightness .
It has been said that a pianist should study
color e ffects in order t o express them in his
playing He can do this to special advantage
.
at the theater or Opera where he can see u n

,
rolled before him the greatest possible variety

in light and shade in colors and in the con
, ,
s t a nt ly changing panorama of actio n and e m o
tion .
The pianist can receive many ideas of tone

color when listening t o a great singer and ,
watching the infinite tonal gradations pro

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P I A NO MA S T E RY

I N TE RP RE TA T I O N B Y TWO A M ERI CAN TE A CH E RS

A ll righ ts re s e rv e d, i nc lu d ing th a t o f tra ns la ti on into

E R N E ST O CON S O L O M a k ing the Pi no M i l a a us ca

E T H EL L E GI N SK A R el tio n the K eynote f

K A T HAR IN E G OOD S ON A n Artist t H ome a

TOB I AS MA TT H A Y W tchi ng the Artist T e cher

H ARO LD B A UER The Questio n f Pi no T o ne o a

E D WIN H UG H E S S ome Esse nti ls f Pi no a o a

FE RRU CC IO B SONI U A n Artist t Home a

E LE A NOR S E N CERP M ore L ight n Lescheti k y s o z

A RT H UR HO CH MA N the Pi nist C n Color

F A NNI E BL OO M I ELD Z E I S LER T h S co pe

H A N S VO N B ELO W T e che r nd I nterprete r

POST LU D E Vit l Points in Pi n Pl y

I gna c e J an P a d ere w s k i F rontz s pi e c e

F a nnie B loo m ﬁel d Z eisler

TO A M E R I CAN P I AN O T E ACH E R S AND

TH E following T alks were Obtained at the

and have a ll with one or two exceptions a p

p e a re d in that p aper They wer

Re quests have come from all over the

in book form In this event it was the

author s intention t o ask each artist to enlarge

and add to his own talk This however ha s.

been practicable only in certain cases ; in

T he summer o f 1 9 1 3 in E urope proved to

stones of which were the h omes o f the famous

were willing to discuss their methods Of play

The securing of the interviews has given

the author satisfa cti on a nd delight She

wi s hes to s hare both with the fellow workers

which they were se cu red .

O NE of the most consummate masters Of

hear him during his ﬁrst season in this country

artist conquered the ne w world as he had con

over ou r land a Prince O f Tones everywhere

welcomed and honored E ach s ucceeding .

visit deepened the admiration in which his

The question has often been raised as to the

an audience ; wherein la y his power over the

played there was always the same intense hush

the same spell T he superﬁcial attributed

these largely to his appearance and manner ;

was a pl a yer who was a thoroughly trained

and Liszt These things of themselves would

not hold an audience spellbound f or there ,

were other artists equally well equipped In .

a ﬁnal analysis it was doubtless P a de rew s ki s ’

wonderful pia no tone so full Of variety and ,

color so vital with numberless gr a dations of

light and shade that charmed and enthralled

his listeners It mattered to no one save the

critics that he frequently repeated the same

F antaisie a score of times ? In his hands it

new meaning and beauty What player has .

ever surpassed his poetic conception of S chu

which he made veritable dream poems of love

the tremendous power and titanic e ffect of

Paderewski ﬁrst came to us in the ﬂush of his ,

young manhood he taught us what a noble

instrument the piano really is in the hands of

every third note thus enabling each ﬁ, nger in