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diff --git a/15604-8.txt b/15604-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c4d9b53 --- /dev/null +++ b/15604-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6728 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Piano Mastery, by Harriette Brower + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Piano Mastery + Talks with Master Pianists and Teachers + + +Author: Harriette Brower + +Release Date: April 11, 2005 [eBook #15604] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PIANO MASTERY*** + + +E-text prepared by Chuck Greif and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team from page images generously provided by the +Internet Archive Million Book Project + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 15604-h.htm or 15604-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/6/0/15604/15604-h/15604-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/6/0/15604/15604-h.zip) + + + + + +PIANO MASTERY + +Talks with Master Pianists and Teachers +and +an Account of a Von Bülow Class, Hints on Interpretation, by Two +American Teachers (Dr. William Mason and William H. Sherwood) and a +Summary by the Author + +by + +HARRIETTE BROWER + +Author of _The Art of the Pianist_ + +With Sixteen Portraits + +Frederick A. Stokes Company +The Musical Observer Company + +1915 + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Photo Copyright By Marran IGNACE JAN PADEREWSKI] + + + + +CONTENTS + + +PRELUDE + +IGNACE JAN PADEREWSKI + +ERNEST SCHELLING.....The Hand of a Pianist + +ERNESTO CONSOLO.....Making the Piano a Musical Instrument + +SIGISMOND STOJOWSKI.....Mind in Piano Study. + +RUDOLPH GANZ.....Conserving Energy in Piano Practise + +TINA LERNER.....An Audience the Best Teacher + +ETHEL LEGINSKA.....Relaxation the Keynote of Modern Piano Playing + +BERTHA FIERING TAPPER.....Mastering Piano Problems + +CARL M. ROEDER.....Problems of Piano Teachers + +KATHARINE GOODSON.....An Artist at Home + +MARK HAMBOURG.....Form, Technic, and Expression + +TOBIAS MATTHAY.....Watching the Artist Teacher at Work + +HAROLD BAUER.....The Question of Piano Tone + +RAOUL PUGNO.....Training the Child + +THUEL BURNHAM.....The "Melody" and "Coloratura" Hand + +EDWIN HUGHES.....Some Essentials of Piano Playing + +FERRUCCIO BUSONI.....An Artist at Home + +ADELE AUS DER OHE.....Another Artist at Home + +ELEANOR SPENCER.....More Light on Leschetizky's Ideas + +ARTHUR HOCHMAN.....How the Pianist Can Color Tone with Action and + Emotion + +TERESA CARREÑO.....Early Technical Training + +WILHELM BACHAUS.....Technical Problems Discussed + +ALEXANDER LAMBERT.....American and European Teachers + +FANNIE BLOOMFIELD ZEISLER.....The Scope of Piano Technic + +AGNES MORGAN.....Simplicity in Piano Teaching + +EUGENE HEFFLEY.....Modern Tendencies + +GERMAINE SCHNITZER.....Modern Methods in Piano Study + +OSSIP GABRILOWITSCH.....Characteristic Touch on the Piano + +HANS VON BÜLOW.....Teacher and Interpreter + +WILLIAM H. SHERWOOD AND DR. WILLIAM MASON.....Hints on Interpretation + +POSTLUDE.....Vital Points in Piano Playing + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +Ignace Jan Paderewski + +Sigismond Stojowski + +Rudolph Ganz + +Katharine Goodson + +Mark Hambourg + +Tobias Matthay + +Harold Bauer + +Raoul Pugno + +Ferruccio Busoni + +Eleanor Spencer + +Teresa Carreño + +Wilhelm Bachaus + +Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler + +Ossip Gabrilowitsch + +Hans von Bülow + +Dr. William Mason + + + + +PRELUDE + +TO AMERICAN PIANO TEACHERS AND STUDENTS + + +The following "Talks" were obtained at the suggestion of the Editor of +_Musical America_, and have all, with one or two exceptions, appeared in +that paper. They were secured with the hope and intention of benefiting +the American teacher and student. + +Requests 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 to +ask each artist to enlarge and add to his own talk. This, however, has +been practicable only in certain cases; in others the articles remain +very nearly as they at first appeared. + +The summer of 1913 in Europe proved to be a veritable musical +pilgrimage, the milestones of which were the homes of the famous +artists, who generously gave of their time and were willing to discuss +their methods of playing and teaching. + +The securing of the interviews has given the author satisfaction and +delight. She wishes to share both with the fellow workers of her own +land. + +The Talks are arranged in the order in which they were secured. + + + + +PIANO MASTERY + + + + +PIANO MASTERY + + + + +I + +IGNACE JAN PADEREWSKI + + +One of the most consummate masters of the piano at the present time is +Ignace Jan Paderewski. Those who were privileged to hear him during his +first season in this country will never forget the experience. The +Polish artist conquered the new world as he had conquered the old; his +name became a household word, known from coast to coast; he traveled +over our land, a Prince of Tones, everywhere welcomed and honored. Each +succeeding visit deepened the admiration in which his wonderful art was +held. + +The question has often been raised as to the reason of Paderewski's +remarkable hold on an audience; wherein lay his power over the musical +and unmusical alike. Whenever he played there was always the same +intense hush over the listeners, the same absorbed attention, the same +spell. The superficial attributed these largely to his appearance and +manner; the more thoughtful looked deeper. Here was a player who was a +thoroughly trained master in technic and interpretation; one who knew +his Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann and Liszt. These things of +themselves would not hold an audience spellbound, for there were other +artists equally well equipped. In a final analysis it was doubtless +Paderewski's wonderful _piano tone_, so full of variety and color, so +vital with numberless gradations 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 Chromatic +Fantaisie 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 +Schumann's _Papillons_, or the Chopin Nocturnes, which he made veritable +dream poems of love and ecstasy. What listener has ever forgotten the +tremendous power and titanic effect of the Liszt Rhapsodies, especially +No. 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 a consummate master. He showed us that he could make the piano +speak with the delicacy and power of a Rubinstein, but with more +technical correctness; he proved that he could pierce our very soul with +the intensity of his emotion, the poignant, heart-searching quality of +his tones, the poetry and beauty of his interpretation. + +Paderewski is known as composer and pianist, only rarely does he find +time to give instruction on his instrument. Mme. Antoinette Szumowska, +the Polish pianist and lecturer was at one time termed his "only pupil." +Mr. Sigismond Stojowski, the Polish composer, pianist and teacher has +also studied with him. Both can testify as to his value as an +instructor. + +Mme. Szumowska says: + +"Paderewski lays great stress on legato playing, and desires everything +to be studied slowly, with deep touch and with full, clear tone. For +developing strength he uses an exercise for which the hand is pressed +against the keyboard while the wrist remains very low and motionless and +each finger presses on a key, bringing, or drawing out as much tone as +possible. + +"Paderewski advises studying scales and arpeggios with accents, for +instance, accenting every third note, thus enabling each finger in turn +to make the accent impulse: this will secure evenness of touch. Double +passages, such as double thirds and sixths, should be divided and each +half practised separately, with legato touch. Octaves 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 +joints well rounded out; 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 difficult to speak of Paderewski's manner of teaching expression, +for here the ideas differ with each composer and with every composition. +As to tonal color, he requires all possible variety in tone production. +He likes strong contrasts, which are brought out, not only by variety of +touch but by skilful use of the pedals. + +"My lessons with Paderewski were somewhat irregular. We worked together +whenever he came to Paris. Sometimes 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. Frequently these lessons, which +were given in my cousin's house, began very late in the evening--around +ten o'clock--and lasted till midnight, or even till one in the morning. + +"Paderewski the teacher is as remarkable as Paderewski the pianist. He +is very painstaking; his remarks are clear and incisive: he often +illustrates by playing the passage in question, or the whole +composition. He takes infinite trouble to work out 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." + + * * * * * + +Mr. Stojowski, when questioned in regard to his work with the Polish +pianist, said: + +"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 effects he wishes to produce, +how they are to be produced, the causes which underlie and bring them +about; he can explain and demonstrate these to the pupil with the +greatest exactness and detail. + +"As you justly remark the quality of tone and the variety of tonal +gradations are special qualities of Paderewski's playing. These must be +acquired by aid of the ear, which tests and judges each shade and +quality of tone. He counsels the student to listen to each tone he +produces, for quality and variety. + + +CLEARNESS A MUST PRINCIPLE + +"The player, as he sits at the piano, his mind and heart filled with the +beauty of the music his fingers are striving to produce, vainly imagines +he is making the necessary effects. Paderewski will say to him: 'No +doubt you feel the beauty of this composition, but I hear none of the +effects you fancy you are making; you must deliver everything much more +clearly: distinctness of utterance is of prime importance.'' Then he +shows how clearness and distinctness may be acquired. The fingers must +be rendered firm, with no giving in at the nail joint. A technical +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 five-finger forms are +used; when the hand has become accustomed to this tonic, some of the +Czerny Op. 740 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 instrument. + +"You ask what technical material is employed. Czerny, Op. 740; not +necessarily the entire opus; three books are considered sufficient. Also +Clementi's _Gradus_. Of course scales must be carefully studied, with +various accents, rhythms and tonal dynamics; arpeggios also. Many +arpeggio forms of value may be culled from compositions. + +"There are, as we all know, certain fundamental principles that underlie +all correct piano study, though various masters may employ different +ways and means to exemplify these fundamentals. Paderewski studied with +Leschetizky and inculcates the principles taught by that master, with +this difference, that he adapts his instruction to the physique and +mentality of the student; whereas the Vorbereiters of Leschetizky +prepare all pupils along the same lines, making them go through a +similar routine, which may not in every instance be necessary. + + +FINGERING + +"One point Paderewski is very particular about, and that is fingering. +He often carefully 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 effective. He is most sensitive to the +choice of fingering the player makes, and believes that each finger can +produce a different quality of tone. Once, when I was playing a +Nocturne, he called to me from the other end of the room: 'Why do you +always play that note with the fourth finger? I can _hear_ you do it; +the effect is bad,' He has a keen power of observation; he notices +little details which pass unheeded by most people; nothing escapes him. +This 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 Von Bülow editions, while very erudite, are apt to be +laborious and pedantic; they show the German tendency to +over-elaboration, which, when carried too far becomes a positive fault. + + +CORRECT MOTION + +"Another principle Paderewski considers very important is that of +appropriate motion. He believes in the elimination of every unnecessary +movement, yet he wishes the whole body free and supple. Motions should +be as carefully studied as other technical points. It is true he often +makes large movements of arm, but they are all thought out and have a +dramatic significance. He may lift the finger off a vehement staccato +note by quick up-arm motion, in a flash of vigorous enthusiasm; but the +next instant his hand is in quiet position for the following phrase. + + +STUDYING EFFECTS + +"The intent listening I spoke of just now must be of vital assistance to +the player in his search for tonal variety and effect. Tone production +naturally varies according to the space which is to be filled. Greater +effort 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 +conditions, the studio piano can be kept closed, and touch must +necessarily be made stronger to produce the desired power. + + +INTERPRETATION + +"A great artist's performance of a noble work ought to sound like a +spontaneous improvisation; the greater the artist the more completely +will this result be attained. In order to arrive at this result, +however, the composition must be dissected in minutest detail. +Inspiration comes with the first conception of the interpretation of the +piece. Afterward all details are painstakingly worked out, until the +ideal blossoms into the perfectly executed performance. 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, Mr. 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 reply. + +"'Oh, it isn't necessary to play it always the same way; you are not a +machine,' said the lady. + +"This reply aroused his artist-nature. + +"'It is just because I am an artist that I ought at all times to play +in the same way. I have thought out the conception of that piece, and am +in duty bound to express my ideal as nearly as possible each time I +perform it.' + +"Paderewski instructs, as he does everything else, with magnificent +generosity. He takes no account of time. I would come to him for a +stipulated half-hour, but the lesson would continue indefinitely, until +we were both forced to stop from sheer exhaustion. I have studied with +him at various times. One summer especially stands out in my memory, +when I had a lesson almost every day." + +Speaking of the rarely beautiful character of Paderewski's piano +compositions, Mr. Stojowski said: + +"I feel that the ignorance of this music among piano teachers and +students is a crying shame. What modern piano sonata have we to-day, to +compare with his? I know of none. And the songs--are they not wonderful! +I love the man and his music so much that I am doing what lies in my +power to make these compositions better known. There is need of pioneer +work in this matter, and I am glad to do some of it." + + + + +II + +ERNEST SCHELLING + +THE HAND OF A PIANIST + + +As I sat in the luxurious salon of the apartments near the Park, where +Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Schelling were spending the winter, sounds of +vigorous piano practise floated out to me from a distant chamber. It was +unusual music, and seemed to harmonize with the somewhat Oriental +atmosphere and coloring of the music-room, with its heavily beamed +ceiling of old silver, its paintings and tapestries. + +The playing ceased and soon the artist appeared, greeting the visitor +with genial friendliness of manner. He was accompanied by the "lord of +the manor," a beautiful white bull terrier, with coat as white as snow. +This important personage at once curled himself up in the most +comfortable arm-chair, a quiet, profound observer of all that passed. In +the midst of some preliminary chat, the charming hostess entered and +poured tea for us. + +The talk soon turned upon the subject in which I was deeply +interested--the technical training of a pianist. + +"Technic is such an individual matter," began Mr. Schelling; "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. Far 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, too, 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. +Mme. Carreño has that kind of wrist; she never had difficulty with +octaves, they are perfect, Hofmann also has a marvelous wrist. I am +sorry to say I have not that kind of wrist, and therefore have been much +handicapped on that account. For 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 small boy. Then from fifteen to +twenty I did not practise anything like what I ought to have done. That +is the period when the bones grow, muscles develop--everything grows. +Another thing against me is the length of my fingers. When the fingers +are longer than the width of the hand across the knuckle joint, it is +not an advantage but a detriment. The extra 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, judging from the casts I have seen of +his hand. + +"As for technical routine, of 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. One can't jump 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 of these muscles at the back +and thumb side of 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 of all kinds, and octaves. Yes, I agree that +octaves are a most necessary and important factor in the player's +technical equipment." + +Going to the piano and illustrating as he talked, Mr. Schelling +continued: + +"Merely 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. One can play these octaves slowly, using weight, or +faster with crisp, staccato touch. I play diatonic or chromatic 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 way; though it +is somewhat more difficult 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. Sometimes 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 concludes these are the +principles with which he must begin to study or teach the piano. It is +a mistake to begin in that way. Very exact finger movements must be +learned in the beginning. As I said before, technic is such an +individual matter, that after the first period of foundational training, +one who has the desire to become an artist, must work out things for +himself. There should be no straight-laced methods. Only a few general +rules can be laid down, such as will fit most cases. The player who +would rise to any distinction must work out 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. For example: I take the piece and read it through with the +eye, just 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 of them, and if necessary could recall any +special measure or phrase so exactly that I could write it. All this +time my mental ear has been hearing those notes, and is familiar with +them. Then the third stage arrives; I must put all this on the keyboard, +my fingers must have their training; impressions must pass from the mind +to the fingers; then all is complete." + + + + +III + +ERNESTO CONSOLO + +MAKING THE PIANO A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT + + +In a long conversation with Ernesto Consolo, the eminent pianist and +instructor, many points of vital importance to the player and teacher +were touched upon. Among other things Mr. Consolo said: + +"It is absolutely necessary that the piano teacher should take his +profession very seriously. 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 enjoy a very prominent position in the matter +of musical instruction, and perhaps lead the world in musical +advantages. The time is not here just yet, but it is surely coming. You +are still young in this country, though you are wonderfully progressive. + +"If I have spoken of the serious aims of many teachers of piano, I +cannot say as much for the students: they are often superficial and 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. +No art can be hurried. Students of painting, sculpture, architecture or +music must all learn the technique of their art; they must all learn to +go deep into the mysteries and master technic as the means to the end, +and no one requires exhaustive preparation more than the executive +musician. The person who would fence, box or play baseball must know the +technic of these things; how much more must the pianist be master of the +technique of his instrument if he would bring out the best results. + +"At the very bottom and heart of this subject of mastery lies +Concentration: without that, little of value can be accomplished. +Students think if they sit at the piano and 'practise' a certain number +of hours daily, it is sufficient. A small portion of that time, if used +with intense concentration, will accomplish more. One player will take +hours to learn a page or a passage which another will master in a +fraction of the time. What is the difference? It may be said one has +greater intelligence than the other. The greater the intelligence, the +stronger the power of concentration. + +"If a pupil comes to me whose powers of concentration have not been +awakened or developed, I sometimes give him music to read over very +slowly, so slowly that every note, phrase and finger mark can be +distinctly seen. Not being used to thinking intently, mistakes occur, in +one hand or the other, showing that the mind was not sufficiently +concentrated. It is the mind every time that wins. Without using our +mental powers to their fullest extent we fail of the best that is in us. + +"In regard to technical equipment and routine, I do different work with +each pupil, for each pupil is different. No two people have the same +hands, physique or mentality; so why should they all be poured into the +same mold? One student, for example, has splendid wrists and not very +good fingers. Why should I give him the same amount of wrist practise +that I give his brother who has feeble wrists; it would only be a waste +of time. Again, a pupil with limited ideas of tonal quality and dynamics +is advised to study tone at the piano in some simple melody of Schubert +or Chopin, trying to realize a beautiful tone--playing it in various +ways until such a quality Is secured. The piano is a responsive +instrument and gives back what you put into it. If you attack it with a +hard touch, it will respond with a harsh tone. It rests with you whether +the piano shall be a musical instrument 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 an one must learn correct +movements and conditions of hands, arms and fingers; and these can be +acquired 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. + +"Of course I advise comprehensive scale practise; scales in all keys and +in various rhythms and touches. There is an almost endless variety of +ways to play scales. Those in double thirds and sixths I use later, +after the others are under control. Arpeggios are also included in this +scale practise. + +"I have said that Concentration is the keynote of piano 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. There is no need +of having tired muscles or those that feel strained or painful. If this +condition arises it is proof that there is stiffness, 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 fatigue in hands and arms. +Furthermore, the playing of one who is relaxed, who knows how to use his +anatomy, will not injure the piano. We must remember the piano is a +thing of joints; the action is so delicately adjusted that it moves with +absolute freedom and ease. The player but adds another joint, which +should equal in ease and adjustment the ones already there. On the other +hand a person with stiff joints and rigid muscles, thumping ragtime on a +good piano, can ruin it in a week; whereas under the fingers of a player +who understands the laws of relaxation, it would last for many years. + +"This principle of relaxation is exemplified in the athlete, baseball +player, and others. They have poise and easy adjustment in every part of +the body: they never seem to fall into strained or stiff attitudes, nor +make angular or stiff movements. Arms, shoulders, wrists and fingers are +all relaxed and easy. The pianist 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 sufficient 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. + +"For 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 memorizing takes place. The music is before me on +the piano; I forget to turn the pages, and thus find I know the piece. +In playing with orchestra I know the parts of all instruments, unless it +be just a simple chord accompaniment; it would not interest me to play +with orchestra and not know the music in this way. On one occasion I was +engaged to play the Sgambatti concerto, which I had not played for some +time. I tried it over on the piano and found I could not remember it. My +first idea was to get out the score and go over it; the second was 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 whole concerto +back in mind. I played the work ten days later without having 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 to +play it without looking at the notes. Of 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 remembered, so when one can +be at the piano I consider it better. + +"Piano playing is such an individual and complex thing. I do not require +nor expect my pupils to play as I do, nor interpret as I interpret, for +then I would only see just so many replicas of myself, and their +individuality would be lost. I often hear them play a composition in a +different way and with a different spirit from the one I find in it. But +I don't say to them, 'That is wrong; you must play it as I do,' No, I +let them play it as they see and feel it, so long as there is no sin +against artistic taste. + +"I trust these few points will be helpful to both player and teacher. +The latter needs all 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." + + + + +IV + +SIGISMOND STOJOWSKI + +MIND IN PIANO STUDY + + +Mr. Sigismond Stojowski, the eminent Polish pianist and composer, was +found one morning in his New York studio, at work with a gifted pupil. +He was willing to relax a little, however, and have a chat on such +themes as might prove helpful to both teacher 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 important to +each individual; for no two students are exactly alike, nor do any two +see things in precisely the same light. This is really a psychological +matter. I believe the subject of psychology is a very necessary study +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--or +the best means for doing this; another psychological process. I +recommend students to read William James' _Talks on Psychology_; a very +helpful book. + +"The most vital thing in piano playing is to learn to think. Has it ever +occurred to you what infinite pains people will take to avoid thinking? +They will repeat a technical illustration hundreds of times it may be, +but with little or no thought directed to the performance. Such work is +absolutely useless. Perhaps that is a little too strong. With countless +repetitions there may at last come to be a little improvement, 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 subject on which teachers, unluckily, do not +agree. For instance, on the point of 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 for velocity playing. I use quite the reverse where I +wish beautiful, singing, tone quality. The young pupil, at the +beginning, must of course learn to raise fingers and make precise +movements; when greater proficiency is reached, many modifications of +touch are used. That the best results are not more often obtained in +piano teaching and study, is as much the fault of the teacher as the +pupil. The latter is usually willing to be shown and anxious to learn. +It is for the teacher to correctly diagnose the case and administer the +most efficient remedy. + +[Illustration: To Miss Harriett Brower with the kindest of remembrances, +Sigismond Stojowski New York, April 1913] + + +NATURAL TECHNIC + +"There is a certain amount of what I might call 'natural technic' +possessed by every one--some 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. Some singers +have this gift; Mme. Melba is one who never had to study a trill, for +she was born with a nightingale in her throat. I knew a young man in +London who was evidently born with an aptitude for octaves. He had +wonderful wrists, and could make countless repetitions of the octave +without the least fatigue. He never had to practise octaves, they came +to him naturally. + +"The teacher's work 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 build them up. He should have some +remedy at his command that will fit the needs of each pupil. + +"I give very few études, and those I administer in homeopathic doses. It +is not necessary to play through a mass of études to become a good +pianist. Much of the necessary technic may be learned from the pieces +themselves, though scales and arpeggios must form part of the daily +routine. + + +KEEPING UP A REPERTOIRE + +"In keeping a large number of pieces in mind, I may say that the pianist +who does much teaching is in a sense taught by his pupils. I have many +advanced pupils, and in teaching their repertoire I keep up my own. Of +course after a while one grows a little weary of hearing the same pieces +rendered by students; the most beautiful no longer seem fresh. My own +compositions are generally exceptions, as I do not often teach those. To +the thoughtful teacher, the constant hearing of his repertoire by +students shows him the difficulties that younger players have to +encounter, and helps him devise means to aid them to conquer these +obstacles. At the same time there is this disadvantage: the pianist +cannot fail to remember the places at which such and such a student had +trouble, forgot or stumbled. This has happened to me at various times. +In my recitals I would be playing ahead, quite unconscious that anything +untoward could occur--wholly absorbed in my work; when, at a certain +point, the recollection would flash over me--this is where such or such +a pupil stumbled. The remembrance is sometimes so vivid that I am at +some effort to keep my mental balance and proceed with smoothness and +certainty. + +"Yes, I go over my pieces mentally, especially if I am playing an +entirely new program which I have never played before; otherwise I do +not need to do so much of it. + + +FILLING IN A PASSAGE + +"You suggest that a composer may fill in or make up a passage, should he +forget a portion of 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 of my European recitals. It was a wholly +new program which I was to give at Vevay. I had been staying with +Paderewski, and went from Morges to Vevay, to give the recital. In my +room at the hotel I was mentally reviewing the program, when in a +Mendelssohn Fugue, I found I had forgotten a small portion. I could +remember what went before and what came after, but this particular +passage had seemingly gone. I went down to the little parlor and tried +the fugue on the piano, but could not remember the portion in question. +I hastened back to my room and constructed a bridge which should connect +the two parts. When the time came to play the fugue at the recital, it +all went smoothly till I was well over the weak spot, which, it seems, I +really played as Mendelssohn wrote it. As I neared the last page, the +question suddenly occurred to me, what had I done with that doubtful +passage? What had really happened I could not remember; and the effort +to recall whether I had played Mendelssohn or Stojowski nearly brought +disaster to that last page. + +"As soon as my season closes here I shall go to London and bring out my +second piano concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra, under Nikisch. +I shall also play various recitals." + +It was my good fortune to be present at the orchestral concert at +Queen's Hall, when Mr. Stojowski was the soloist. It was pleasant to +see the enthusiasm aroused by the concerto itself, and the performance +of it by the artist. + + + + +V + +RUDOLPH GANZ + +CONSERVING ENERGY IN PIANO PRACTISE + + +[Illustration: Rudolph Ganz] + +"One of the most necessary things is the conserving of vital energy in +piano practise," said the pianist Rudolph Ganz to me one day. "The wrong +way is to continually practise the piece as though you were playing it +in public--that is to say, with all possible energy and emotion. Some of +the pianists now before the public do this, and it always makes me sorry +for them, for I know what a needless waste of energy and vital force it +is. An actor, studying his lines, does not need to continually shout +them in order to learn how they should be interpreted. Neither does the +lyric actress practise her roles with full tones, for she is well used +to saving her voice. Why then should the pianist exhaust himself and +give out his whole strength merely in the daily routine of practise? I +grant this principle of saving one's self may not be easy to learn, but +it should be acquired by all players, great and small. I think a +pianist should be able to practise five or six hours daily without +fatigue. If the player is accustomed to husband his vital force during +the daily routine of practise, he can play a long, exacting program in +public without weariness. In every day practise one often does not need +to play _forte_ nor use the pedals; a tone of medium power is +sufficient. Suppose, for instance, you are studying the Chopin Étude Op. +10, No. 12, with the left hand arpeggio work. Every note and finger must +be in place, every mark of phrasing obeyed; but during practise hours +you need not give the piece all its dashing vigor and bravura at every +repetition. Such a course would soon exhaust the player. Yet every +effect 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 control the impulse to 'let +loose,' if the work is an exciting one. At a recent rehearsal with the +Symphony Orchestra, I told the men I would quietly run through the +concerto I was to play, merely indicating the effects I wanted. We +began, but in five minutes I found myself playing with full force and +vigor. + +"In regard to methods in piano study there seems to be a diversity of +opinion, resulting, I think, from the various ways of touching the +keys--some players using the tip and others the ball of the finger. +Busoni may be cited as one who employs the end of the finger--Pauer +also; while the Frenchman, Cortôt, who has an exquisite tone, plays with +the hand almost flat on the keys, a method which certainly insures +weight of hand and arm. Of course players generally, and teachers also, +agree on the employment of arm weight in playing. The principles of +piano technic are surely but few. Was it not Liszt who said: 'Play the +right key with 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 the +older methods of touch and technic. + +"The vital thing in piano playing is to bring out the composer's +meaning, plus your own inspiration and feeling. You must study deeply +into the composer's idea, but you must also put your own feeling, +intensity and emotion into the piece. And not only must you feel the +meaning yourself, but you must play it in a way to touch others. There +are many pianists who are not cultured musicians; who think they know +their Beethoven because they can play a few sonatas. In music 'knowledge +is power.' We need all possible knowledge, but we also need to feel the +inspiration. One of the greatest teachers of our time holds that +personal inspiration is not necessary; for the feeling is all in the +music itself. All we have to do is to play with such and such a dynamic +quality of tone. Like a country doctor measuring out his drugs, this +master apportions so many grains of power for _forte_, for _mezzo_, for +_piano_, and so on. This plan puts a damper on individuality and +enthusiasm, for it means that everything must be coldly calculated. Such +playing does not really warm the heart. + +"I believe in teaching tonal contrasts and tone color even to a +beginner. Why should not the child form a concept of _forte_ and +_piano_, and so get away from the deadly monotony of _mezzo_? I have +written some little descriptive piano pieces, and my small boy learned +one of them to play for me. There is a closing phrase like this," and +Mr. Ganz illustrated at the piano; "it is to be played _forte_, and is +followed by a few notes to be touched very softly, like an echo. It was +really beautiful to see how the little fellow reached out for the pedal +to make the loud part more emphatic, and then played the echo very +softly and neatly. He had grasped the first principle of tone +color--namely tone contrast, and also a poetic idea. + +"There are so many wonder children in these days, and many marvels are +accomplished by infant prodigies. Very often however, these wonder +children develop no further; they fail to fulfil their early promise, or +the expectations held of them. + +"A youthful wonder in the field of composition is Eric Korngold, whose +piano sonata I played in my New York recital. I have played this work +eight times in all, during my present tour, often by request. To 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. Thus the effort of memorizing is +considerable, for I must always bear in mind that this C major chord has +a C sharp in it, or that such and such a chord is changed into a most +unusual one. One cannot predict whether the boy will develop further. As +you say, Mozart was an infant prodigy, but if we judge from the first +little compositions that have been preserved, he began very simply and +worked up, whereas Korngold begins at Richard Strauss. His compositions +are full of the influence of 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 of in the sonata, the fact that I have found it +worth studying and bringing out more than compensates him for all +adverse criticism. To make the work known in the great musical centers +of America is surely giving it wide publicity." + +On a later occasion, Mr. Ganz said: + +"I thoroughly believe in preserving one's enthusiasm for modern music, +even though, at first glance, it does not attract one, or indeed seems +almost impossible. I enjoy studying new works, and learning what is the +modern trend of thought in piano work; it keeps me young and buoyant. + +"One of the novelties lately added to my repertoire is the Haydn sonata +in D. On the same program I place the Korngold sonata. A hundred years +and more divide the two works. While I revere the old, it interests me +to keep abreast of the new thought in musical art and life." + + + + +VI + +TINA LERNER + +AN AUDIENCE IS THE BEST TEACHER + + +Between the many engagements that crowded upon the close of her long +American tour, Miss Tina Lerner found time to talk over certain topics +of significance which bear upon pianistic problems. + +We began by referring to the different methods of holding the hands, +moving the fingers and touching the keys, as exemplified by the various +pianists now before the public. + +"It is true that I play with the ball of the finger on the key, which +necessitates a flat position of hand, with low wrist." Here the pianist +illustrated the point by playing several pearly scales with straight, +outstretched fingers. "I never realized, however, that I played in this +way, until Mr. Ernest Hutcheson, the pianist, of Baltimore, recently +called my attention to it. The fact is, I have always taken positions of +body, arms, hands and fingers, which seemed to me the most natural and +easy. This I did when I began, at the age of five, and I have always +kept to them, in spite of what various teachers have endeavored to do +for me. Fortunately my early teachers were sensible and careful; they +kept me at the classics, and did not give too difficult pieces. The +principles followed by most great pianists I believe are correct; but I +have always kept to my own natural way. In hand position, therefore, I +am individual; perhaps no one else plays with such a finger position, so +in this I am unique. + +"For some reason unknown to me, it has come to be imagined that I have +studied with Leschetizky; this is entirely refuted when I say I have +never been in Vienna. It seems we are getting away from the idea of +helping ourselves out with the name of some great teacher. The question +should be: What has the player in himself, what can he accomplish? not, +Whose pupil is he? We know of some of Leschetizky's famous pupils, but +we never hear of the thousands he must have had, who have come to +nothing. A teacher can only do a certain amount for you; he can give you +new ideas, which each pupil works out for himself in his own way. The +piano student learns from so many different sources. He attends a piano +recital and acquires many ideas of touch, tone, phrasing and +interpretation; he hears a great singer or violinist and absorbs a +wholly new set of thoughts, or he listens to a grand orchestra, and +gains more than from all the others. Then there is life to study from: +experience--living--loving: all go into the work of the musician. A +musical career is indeed the most exacting one that can be chosen. + +"I have been asked whether I prefer to play for an audience of +'music-lovers' or one of 'music knowers.' Perhaps an equal mixture is +the happy medium. Of the two sorts it seems to me the music-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 to say, 'I don't like such or such a player'; +for the music-knower understands the vast amount of time and energy, +labor and talent that go to make a pianist. He rather says, 'I prefer +the playing of such or such an artist.' The word 'like' in connection +with a great artist seems almost an affront. What does it matter if his +work is not 'liked' by some? He knows it can stand for what it is--the +utmost perfection of his powers--of 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; how to make a +greater climax here, or more sympathetic coloring there. For in +conceiving how a work should sound, I get--in my study of it--a general +idea of the whole, and make it as nearly perfect as I am able. But it +has to be tested and tried--an audience must pass its opinion--must set +the seal of approval upon it. When the work has been polished by +repeated trials in this school, interpretation then becomes crystallized +in the mind and the piece can always be given in nearly the same way. A +painter does not change nor repaint his picture each time he exhibits +it; why need the musician change his idea of the interpretation at each +repetition? To trust too much to the inspiration of the moment might +injure the performance as a whole. When I have my ideal of the +interpretation worked out in mind, it becomes my sacred duty to play it +always in this spirit--always to give my best. I can never think that +because I am playing in Boston or New York, I must strive harder for +perfection than if I play in a little town. No, I must give the highest +that is in me, no matter where it may be. People sometimes ask me if I +am nervous before a recital. It is not that I am afraid of people; but I +am always anxious about being able to realize my ideal, when the moment +comes. + +"I can say I prefer playing in America to anywhere else in the world; +for there are more real appreciation and understanding here than in any +other country. Of course the great music centers all over the world are +about the same; but the difference lies in the smaller cities, which in +America are far more advanced musically than in Europe. I have proved +this to be the case repeatedly. Not long ago I was booked for a couple +of recitals in a small town of not more than two thousand inhabitants. +When I arrived at the little place, and saw the barn of a hotel, I +wondered what these people could want with piano recitals. But when I +came to the college where I was to play and found such a large, +intelligent audience gathered, some of whom had traveled many miles to +be present, it proved in what estimation music was held. The teacher of +this school was a good musician, who had studied nine years with +Leschetizky, in Vienna; the pupils understood the numbers on the +program, were wide awake, and well informed as to what was going on in +the world of music. + +"One handicap the present day pianist encounters, who plays much with +orchestra, and that is the dearth of modern concertos. The familiar ten +or dozen famous ones are played over and over, and one seldom hears +anything new. There are new ones written, to be sure, but the public has +not learned to care for them. The beautiful second concerto of +Rachmaninoff has not made a success, even in the great music centers, +where the most intelligent audiences have heard it. I believe that if an +audience 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 concerto by Haddon Wood, +which you see in manuscript there on the piano; it is one I find very +beautiful." + +A subsequent conversation with the artist elicited the following: + +"I might say that I began my music when about four years old, by playing +the Russian National Hymn, on a toy piano containing eight keys, which +had been given me. My older sister, who was studying the piano, noticed +this, showed me a few things about the notes, and I constantly picked +out little tunes and pieces on the real piano. Finally one day my +sister's teacher, Rudolph Heim, came to the house, mainly on my account. +This was in Odessa, in the south of Russia, where I was born and where I +spent my early years. On 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 nothing could be +made out of me that day. You see I was headstrong even at that early +age," said the young pianist, with one of her charming smiles. + +"Soon after this incident, I was taken to the Professor's studio. He +examined me, considered I had talent, and thought it should be +cultivated. So he took me in hand. I was then five, and my real musical +education began at that time. + +"From the very first I adopted a position of hand which seemed to me +most convenient and comfortable, and no amount of contrary instruction +and advice has ever been able to make me change it. I play scales and +passages 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 joint. +This gives me great clearness and firmness. 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 for large works. + +"After five years of study with my first teacher, Rudolph Heim, a pupil +of Moscheles, I entered the Moscow 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 +masters. This kind of music suits me, I think; at least I enjoy 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 six 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 to technical practise. As to the material, I use +Chopin's Études constantly, playing them with high-raised, outstretched +fingers, in very slow tempo. One finds almost every technical problem +illustrated in these études; octaves, arpeggios, 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 _Études Transcendantes_, and, of course, Bach. The advantage of +using this sort of material is that one never tires of it; it is always +interesting and beautiful. With this material well in hand, I am always +ready for recital, and need only to add special pieces and modern music. + +"In learning a new work I first study it very slowly, trying to become +familiar with its meaning. I form my concept of it and _live_ with it +for months before I care to bring it forward. I try to form an ideal +conception of the piece, work this out in every detail, then always +endeavor to render it as closely like the ideal as possible." + + + + +VII + +ETHEL LEGINSKA + +RELAXATION THE KEYNOTE OF MODERN PIANO PLAYING + + +The brilliant young pianist, Ethel Leginska, who is located for a time +in America, was seen in her Carnegie Hall studio, on her return from a +concert tour. The young English girl is a petite brunette; her face is +very expressive, her manner at once vivacious and serious. The firm +muscles of her fine, shapely hands indicate that she must spend many +hours daily at the keyboard. + +"Yes, I have played a great deal in public--all my life, in fact--ever +since I was six. I began my musical studies at Hull, where we lived; my +first teacher was a pupil of McFarren. Later I was taken to London, +where some rich people did a great deal for me. Afterward I went to +Leschetizky, and was with him several years, until I was sixteen; I also +studied in Berlin. Then I began my career, and concertized all over +Europe; now I am in America for a time. I like it here; I am fond of +your country already. + +"The piano is such a wonderful instrument to me; I feel we are only +beginning to fathom its possibilities; not in a technical sense, but as +a big avenue for expression. For me the piano is capable of reflecting +every mood, every feeling; all pathos, joy, sorrow--the good and the +evil too--all there is in life, all that one has lived." (This recalls a +recently published remark of J. S. Van Cleve: "The piano can sing, march, +dance, sparkle, thunder, weep, sneer, question, assert, complain, +whisper, hint; in one word it is the most versatile and plastic of +instruments.") + +"As for the technic of the piano, I think of it only as the +material--only as a means to an end. In fact I endeavor to get away from +the thought of the technical material, in order that I may get at the +meaning of the music I wish to interpret. I am convinced there is a +great future for the piano and its music. Even now we are taking piano +music very seriously, and are trying to interpret it in a far deeper and +broader sense than the pianists of, say, fifty years ago ever thought of +doing. I fancy if Clara Schumann, for instance, could return and play +to us, or even Liszt himself, we should not find their playing suited to +this age at all. Some of us yet remember the hand position Mme. Schumann +had, the lack of freedom in fingers and arms. It was not the fashion of +her time to play with the relaxed freedom, with the breadth and depth of +style which we demand of artists to-day. In those days relaxation had +not received the attention it deserved, therefore we should probably +find the playing of the greatest artists of a former generation stiff +and angular, in spite of all we have heard of their wonderful +performances. + +"Relaxation is a hobby with me; I believe in absolute freedom in every +part of the arm anatomy, from the shoulder down to the finger-tips. +Stiffness seems to me the most reprehensible thing in piano playing, as +well as the most common fault with all kinds of players. When people +come to play for me, that is the thing I see first in them, the +stiffness. While living in Berlin, I saw much of Mme. Teresa Carreño, +and she feels the same as I do about relaxation, not only at the +keyboard, but when sitting, moving about or walking. She has thought +along this line so constantly, that sometimes, if carrying something in +hand, she will inadvertently let it drop, without realizing it--from +sheer force of the habit of relaxation. + +"You ask how I would begin with a young pupil who never has had lessons. +I use the principle of relaxation first of all, loosening arms and +wrists. This principle can be taught to the youngest pupil. The wrist is +elevated and lowered, as the hand is formed on the 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 grasping 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 ringing chords, whose power and tonal quality +bore out her words; the fingers seemed merely to press and cling; there +was no striking nor percussion. + +"To return to the beginning pupil. As for a book to start with, I often +use the one by Damm, though any foundational work may 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 various +sets of exercises to be learned; but it is quite true that none of the +Vorbereiters use a book. + +"In teaching the piano, as you know, every pupil is different; each has +his or her own peculiar hand, and a different degree of intelligence. So +each pupil must be treated differently. 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 to know what sort of character he has. If one is inclined to much +careful detail in everything, it comes out in the playing. If one is +indolent and indifferent, 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. + +"To refer again to the subject of finger action. I do not believe in the +so-called finger stroke; on the contrary I advocate fingers close to the +keys, clinging to them whenever you can. This is also Arthur Schnabel's +idea. You should hear Schnabel; all Berlin is wild over him, and +whenever he gives a concert the house is sold out. He has quantities of +pupils also, and is quite a remarkable teacher. One point I insist upon +which he doesn't: I will not allow the joint of the finger next the tip +to break or give in. I can not stand that, but Schnabel doesn't seem to +care about it; his mind is filled with only the big, broad things of +music. + +"In regard to memorizing piano compositions. I do it phrase by phrase, +and at the instrument, unless I am traveling or unable to get to a +piano, in which case I think it out from the notes. If the piece is very +difficult I take a short passage of two or three measures and play each +hand separately 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 memory. Perhaps the next day I have forgotten +it, so the work has to be done over again; the second time, however, it +generally sticks. + +"My great longing and ambition is to write music, to become a composer. +With this end in view, I give whatever time I am able to the study of +composition. I hope some day to create something that will be worthy the +high aim I have before me." + + + + +VIII + + +BERTHA FIERING TAPPER + +MASTERING PIANISTIC PROBLEMS + + +If environment and atmosphere are inspirational aids to piano teaching +and playing, the students of Mrs. Thomas Tapper have the incentives of +both in their lesson hours. Her apartments on the Drive have the glory +of sunlight all the long afternoons. Outside the Hudson shimmers in blue +and gold; indoors all is harmonious and home-like. In the large +music-room, facing the river, two grand pianos 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 +Mrs. Tapper herself, the serious, high-minded, inspiring teacher; the +"mother confessor" to a large number of young artists and teachers. + +"Music study means so much more than merely exercising the fingers," she +said; "the student should have a good all-round education. When young +people come to me for instruction, I ask what they are doing in school. +If they say they have left school in order to devote their whole time to +the piano, I say, 'Go back to your school, and come to me later, when +you have finished your school course.' It is true that in rare cases it +may be advisable for the student to leave school, but he should then +pursue general or special studies at home. I often wish the music +student's education in this country could be arranged as it is in at +least one of the great music schools in Russia. There the mornings are +given to music, while general studies are taken up later in the day. It +is really a serious problem, here in America, this fitting in music with +other studies. Both public and private schools try to cover so much +ground that there is very little time left for music or anything else. +The music pupil also needs to know musical literature, history and +biography, to be familiar with the lives and writings of the great +composers. Take the letters and literary articles of Robert Schumann, +for instance. How interesting and inspiring they are! + +"In regard to methods in piano study my principles are based wholly upon +my observations of Leschetizky's work with me personally, or with +others. What I know he has taught me; what I have achieved I owe to +him. My first eight weeks in Vienna were spent in learning, first, to +control position and condition of hands and arms according to the law of +balance; secondly, to direct each motion with the utmost accuracy and +speed. To accomplish this I began with the most elementary exercises in +five-finger 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 hands grew stronger and +the number of exercises increased. + +"Next came the study of tone production in various forms, a good quality +invariably being the result of a free condition of the arm combined with +strength of 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 +different authors, but I teach the principles without a book. The +principles themselves are the essential things. I aim to build up the +hand, to make it strong and dependable in every part, to fill out the +weak places and equalize it. That this may be thoroughly and +successfully accomplished, I require that nothing 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 believe in thus devoting all the practise time +to technic, for 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 corrected. + +"If a pupil comes to me who has played a great deal but with no idea of +the principles of piano playing, who does not know how 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. + +"For application of all principles, the studies of Czerny, Op. 299, 740, +and others, offer unequaled opportunity. They are simple, direct, and +give the student a chance for undivided attention to every position +taken and to every motion made. + +"What happens afterward is altogether according to the individual +characteristics of the student. How to recognize these and deal with +them to the best advantage is the interesting task of my great master +(and those who try to follow in his steps)--the man of keenest +intelligence, of profound learning and experience. To learn this lesson +from him has 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 and inspiration in my own work. + +"My chief endeavor is to create a desire for good musicianship. To this +end I insist upon the study of theory, harmony, ear-training and +analysis. In the piano lessons I do not have sufficient time to teach +these things. I have assistant teachers who help me with these subjects +and also with the technical training. Once a month during the season, my +assistant teachers bring their pupils to play for me, and we have a +class in piano teaching. There are sometimes eighteen or twenty students +who come to a class. I can in this way supervise all the work done, and +keep in touch with my teachers, their work, and with all the students. + +"On the first Saturday 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. Especially is it +difficult the first time a student plays in class, to keep the mind +wholly on what he is doing, with sufficient 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 +of music itself, secures, in my opinion, the most perfect foundation, +and later on the best results. It is sometimes wonderful how, with +proper training, the hand will improve and develop in a comparatively +short time. I often marvel 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 Ballade in A flat major; Cesar Franck, Prelude, Fugue and +Variations; a Mozart Fantaisie; Grieg Concerto, first movement; Weber's +Concertstück, and Chopin's Scherzo in E. The recital was most +instructive from an educational point of view. All the players had +repose and concentration, and there were no noticeable slips, though +every piece was played from memory. Hands were well arched at the +knuckles, fingers curved--with adequate action at the knuckle joint; +wrists in normal position, and extremely loose; the whole arm swung from +the shoulder and poised over the keys, thus adjusting 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. Furthermore they +had an intelligent grasp of the meaning of the music they played, and +brought it out with conviction, power, and brilliancy. + + + + +IX + +CARL M. ROEDER + +PROBLEMS OF PIANO TEACHERS + + +"The progressive teacher's method must be one of accretion," said Carl +Roeder, when interviewed between lesson hours in his delightful studio +in Carnegie Hall. "He gains ideas from many methods and sources, and +these he assimilates and makes practical for his work. At the same time +he must originate and work out things for himself. This has been my +experience. + +"I was 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 conservatories, I became, while quite a +young lad, the pupil of de Konstki, then a lion of the day." The speaker +joined in the laugh his remark called up, which brought to mind the +Chevalier's famous battle-horse, "The Awakening of the Lion." + +"De Konstki'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 remembered one of my professors, a man +of considerable reputation, who took the duties of his profession very +lightly. His method of giving 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 'Falsch!' + +"So I, too, began to teach the piano. But I soon discovered that +teaching was something quite different from what 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. + +"One of my first discoveries was that most of the pupils were afflicted +with stiff wrists and arms, and that this stiffness must be remedied. My +own playing had always been free, due to one of my early teachers having +thoroughly inculcated the principle of 'weight,' so often acclaimed in +these days as a modern discovery. But how to bring about this condition +in others was a great problem. I studied the Mason method, and found +many helpful, illuminating ideas in regard to relaxation and +devitalization. I had some lessons with S.B. Mills, and later did +considerable valuable work with Paolo Gallico, who opened up to me the +great storehouse of musical treasure, and revealed to me among other +things the spiritual technic of the pianist's art. Subsequently I +investigated the Virgil and Leschetizky methods. Mr. Virgil has done +some remarkable things in the way of organizing and systematizing +technical requirements, and for this we owe him much. Such analyses had +not before been made with anything like the care and minuteness, and his +work has been of the greatest benefit to the profession. My subsequent +studies with Harold Bauer revealed him to be a deep musical thinker and +a remarkable teacher of the meaning of music itself. + +"In my teaching I follow many of the ideas of Leschetizky, modified and +worked out in the manner which I have found most useful to my own +technic and to that of my pupils. I have formulated a method of my own, +based on the principles which form a dependable foundation to build the +future structure upon. Each pupil at the outset is furnished with a +blank book, in which are written the exercises thus developed as adapted +to individual requirements. + + +FOUNDATIONAL EXERCISES + +"We begin with table work. I use about ten different exercises which +embody, as it were, in a nutshell, the principles of piano playing. The +hand is first formed in an arched position, with curved fingers, and +solidified. 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 movements, aiming to +get the weight of the arm as well as its energy at the complete disposal +of the finger tip. Each finger in turn is held firmly in a curved +position and played with a rotary movement of arm and wrist. When this +can be done we next learn hand action at the wrist from which results +the staccato touch. In this form of hand staccato there is an element of +percussion, as you see, but this element gives directness and precision +to the staccato touch, which in my opinion are necessary. After this we +come to finger action itself. This principle is taken up thoroughly, +first with one finger, then with two, three, four, and five--in all +possible combinations. In this way we come down from the large free-arm +movements to the smaller finger movements; from the 'general to the +particular,' instead of working from the smaller to the larger. I find +it most necessary to 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, scales, +arpeggios, chords, octaves and double notes follow in due course. At the +same time the rhythmic sense is developed, all varieties of touch and +dynamics introduced, and harmonic and structural analysis dwelt upon. + + +USE OF STUDIES + +"Above the third or fourth grade I make frequent use of studies, +selecting them from various books. Duvernoy, Op. 120; Berens, Op. 61; +Czerny, Op. 740 I find far more interesting than the threadbare 299. +Heller is indispensable, so melodious and musical. Arthur Foote's +studies, Op. 27, are very useful; also MacDowell's, Op. 39 and 46. +Sometimes I use a few of Cramer's and the Clementi 'Gradus,' though +these seem rather old-fashioned now. + +"For more advanced pupils I find Harberbier, Op. 53 especially +applicable; there is beautiful work in them. Kessler, Op. 20, and the +Moszkowski studies, Op. 72, have splendid material for the advanced +player, and prepare for Henselt, Rubinstein, Chopin and Liszt études. I +find that studies are valuable for application of technical principles, +for reacting purposes, and for the cultivation of all the refinements of +playing. Some 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. + + +BOOKS THAT ARE HELPFUL + +"As aids to my studies in the art of teaching, several books have been +most helpful. Among these are two volumes by Dr. Herman H. Home, _The +Philosophy of Education_, and _The Psychology of Education_. Another +book, from which I have profited much is William James' _Talks to +Teachers on Psychology_. Every teacher should possess it. + +"You ask what method I pursue with new pupils who have played a great +deal of music but with little idea of correct principles of piano study. +Let us take, for instance, one who has had lessons for years but is in +ignorance of first principles. Arms and wrists are stiff, hands and +fingers held in cramped position; no freedom anywhere. My first move is +to have the pupil stand and learn to relax arms, shoulders and body; +then learn to 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 that piano playing is far more than sitting before the +instrument working the fingers six or seven hours a day. The mechanical +side is only preliminary. 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, to show that piano playing is the +expression, through the medium of tone, of all that the poet, painter +and philosopher are endeavoring to show through other means: to this +end I endeavor to stimulate interest in the wonders of the visible +universe, the intellectual achievements of men and the deep things of +spiritual discernment. + + +IN REGARD TO INTERPRETATION + +"On this subject I think we should 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 successful teacher should be a pianist. He should understand +every point and be able to _do_ the thing, else how can he really show +the manner of the doing? Many of the _nuances_, subtleties of color and +phrase, effects of charm or of bravura, cannot be explained; they must +be illustrated. And furthermore, only he who has been over the road can +be a safe or sympathetic guide. Tolstoi realized he could not be of +service to the people he would uplift unless he lived among them, shared +their trials and experienced their needs. The time has gone by when the +musician and composer was considered a sort of freak, knowing music and +nothing else. We know the great composers were men of the highest +intelligence and learning, men whose aim was to work out their genius +to the utmost perfection. Nothing less than the highest would satisfy +them. As George Eliot said, 'Genius 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 of the great European teachers Mr. Roeder continued: + +"We hear much of the Leschetizky method; but with that master technic is +quite a secondary matter over which, when once the principles are +mastered, he troubles himself but little. It is the conception of the +work as a whole which concerns him, how to project it, so to say, most +effectively to an audience. He 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 illuminating +master for those who have a technical equipment adequate to the +performance of great works of 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 inspirational force. +First he will point out a phrase here, another there, and so on 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 different +threads to form the perfect pattern which the author of the work had in +mind; and finally the master teacher reaches down below the surface of +form and design to the vital significance of the composition, and the +disciple feels the glow 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 that idealism which will uplift and +inspire. In an important 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 that scorching can hope to achieve success. + + +QUESTION OF PERSONALITY + +"If asked to what extent a player's personality enters into the +performance, my answer would be: Only in so far as the performance +remains true to the composer's intention. So long as personality +illumines the picture and adds charm, interest, and effectiveness to it, +it is to be applauded; but when it obstructs the view and calls +attention to itself it should not be tolerated. It is not art; it is +vanity. + +"Yes, I teach both high finger action and pressure touch, once the +principle of arm weight is thoroughly established, although I use high +finger action only to develop finger independence and precision, and for +passages where sharp delineation is required. I believe in freedom of +body, arm and wrist, a firm, solid arched hand and set fingers. That +freedom is best which insures such control of the various playing +members as to enable the player to produce at will any effect of power, +velocity or delicacy desired; thereby placing the entire mechanical +apparatus under complete subjection to the mind, which dominates the +performance. In other words, I am neither an anarchist who wants no +government, namely unrestrained devitalization, nor a socialist, whose +cry is for all government--that is, restriction and rigidity. In piano +playing, as in all else, 'Virtue is the happy mean between two vices.'" + + + + +X + +KATHARINE GOODSON + +AN ARTIST AT HOME + + +When one has frequently listened to a favorite pianist in the concert +room, and has studied impersonally, so to speak, the effects of touch, +tone and interpretation produced during 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 thousands from the platform, and to discuss freely the points +which impress one when listening to a public performance. + +[Illustration: Katharine Goodson] + +It has been my recent privilege thus to come into intimate touch with +the artist pair, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Hinton, the latter being known all +over the world as Katharine Goodson. They have a quiet, beautiful home +in London--a true artist's home. One feels at once on entering and +enjoying its hospitality, that here at least is one instance where two +musicians have perfect harmony in the home life. Mr. Hinton, as is +widely known, is a composer and also a violinist and pianist. 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 Miss Goodson's own sanctum and workroom, and here +piano concertos, with orchestral accompaniment supplied on the second +piano, can be studied _ad infinitum_. Mr. Hinton has his own studio at +the top of the house. + +The garden music-room is lighted at one end by a great arched window, so +placed that the trees of the garden are seen through its panes. It is +easy to imagine one's self in some lovely sylvan retreat--which is +indeed true! All the appointments of this room, and indeed of the whole +house, every article of furniture and each touch of color, betoken the +artistic sense for fitness and harmony. Miss Goodson has a keen and +exquisite sense for harmony in colors as well as for color in the +harmonies she brings from her instrument. + +"My coming tour will be the fifth I have made in America," she said. "I +enjoy playing in your country immensely; the cities of New York, Boston, +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 so thoroughly acquainted with piano +music as you are in America. And you are so appreciative of the +best--even in the smaller cities. + +"I can recall a recital which I gave in a city of not more than forty +thousand, in the West. The recital was arranged by a musical club; they +asked for the program some time in advance, studied it up and thus knew +every piece I was to play. There was an enormous audience, 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 afterward and wondered what they meant, +for I was to play at a place many miles from there the next night. What +was my surprise to be greeted by the same ladles the following evening. +'You see, we are here; we told you we would come.' Fancy taking a trip +from London to Edinburgh just to hear a concert! For it was a journey +like that. Such incidents show the enthusiasm in America for music--and +for piano music. + +"I hope to play both the Brahms and Paderewski concertos in America. To +me the latter is a beautiful work--the slow movement is exquisite. I +have as yet scarcely done anything with the composition, for I have been +on a long tour through Norway, Sweden, and Finland. It was most +inspiring to play for 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 returned home greatly in need of rest. I shall now begin +work in earnest, however, as summer 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. On the way there we shall +stop at Morges and visit Paderewski, and then I will go over the +concerto with him and get his ideas as to interpretation. + + +MEMORIZING BY ANALYSIS + +"You ask how I memorize. First I go over the work several times to get a +general idea of the whole. Then I analyze it, for I feel it absolutely +necessary to know keys, chords, and construction. A work should be so +well understood along these lines that it can be played in another key +as well as in the one in which it is written. For the actual memorizing +of the piece I generally do it phrase by phrase, not always 'each hand +alone,' though occasionally I do this also. I remember learning the Bach +A minor Prelude and Fugue in this way. If I were now asked to play any +measure or passage in any part of it I could do so; it is mine forever, +never to be forgotten." + +Asked about the different ways of teaching the Leschetizky method by +various teachers, Miss Goodson said: + +"As we all know, people claim to understand and teach the Leschetizky +principles who are not competent to do so. I do not recall, for +instance, that the professor requires the tips of the fingers to form a +straight line on the edge of the keys. I myself have never done this. I +believe in a perfectly easy and natural position of hand at the +keyboard. When this is the case the finger-tips form a curve, the middle +fingers being placed a little farther in on the keys than is natural for +the first and fifth. Of course the hand takes an arched position and the +joints nearest the tip of the fingers must be firm; there should be no +wavering nor giving in there. The whole arm, of course, is relaxed, and +swings easily from the shoulder. + + +A PIANO HAND + +"I have, as you say, a good hand for the piano; much depends on that; I +have always had a good deal of what is called a natural technic. Thus +when I am obliged to forego practising I do not lose my facility; an +hour's work puts the hand in condition again. What do I do to accomplish +this? Different things. First some finger movements, perhaps with +fingers in an extended chord position; then some scales and arpeggios; +then a Chopin étude, and so on. When practising regularly, I do not +generally work at the piano more than four hours a day; it seems to me +that amount is sufficient, if used with absolute concentration." + +Later we adjourned to the pretty garden back of the music-room, and here +we were joined by a beautiful gray Angora cat, the pet and pride of his +mistress, and a very important personage indeed. He has a trick of +climbing to Miss Goodson's shoulder, from which point of vantage he +surveys the world about him with all the complaisance of which an animal +of such high degree is capable. + + + + +XI + +MARK HAMBOURG + +FORM, TECHNIC, AND EXPRESSION + + +[Illustration: MARK HAMBOURG] + +In one of the most quiet, secluded quarters of London can be found the +home of the Russian pianist, Mark Hambourg. Mr. Hambourg lives on a +terrace, "far from the madding crowd," and difficult enough of access to +keep mere curiosity seekers at a distance. One can scarcely picture to +one's self, without an actual sight of them, the quaint charm of these +short passages or streets, usually termed "terraces," or "gardens." This +particular terrace looks out on a restful green park, where luxuriant +trees make long shadows on the sunlit turf. The house is large and +comfortable--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 +_objets d'art_ all about, with exquisite colors, with space and quiet, +an artist must find an ideal spot for both work and play. I expressed +this thought to Mr. Hambourg when he entered; then we soon fell to +discussing the necessary equipment of the teacher and pianist. + +"I agree with you," he said, "that it is the beginning of piano study +which is the most difficult of all; this is where the teacher has such +great responsibility and where so many teachers are so incompetent. +Perhaps there are more poor teachers for the piano than for the voice. +The organs of voice production cannot be seen, they can only be guessed +at; so there may be a little more excuse for the vocal teacher; but for +the piano we have the keys and the fingers. It should not therefore be +such a very difficult thing to learn to play intelligently and +correctly! Yet few seem to have got hold of the right principles or know +how to impart them." + +"I have heard a number of the young pianists here," I remarked, "and +they all play with very little finger action--with fingers close to the +keys. Do you advocate this?" + + +LOW HAND POSITION + +"Do not forget that for centuries England has been a country of +organists; without doubt organ playing has had some effect on the piano +touch. Some schools of piano playing advise lifting the fingers high +above the keys, with a view to producing greater power; but I think the +tone thus produced is often of a somewhat harsh and disagreeable +quality. Then, too, high lifting interferes with smoothness and +velocity. For myself I advocate keeping the fingers close to 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. Some teachers +advise placing the finger-tips close to the edge of the keys, forming a +straight line with them; it seems to me such a position is forced and +unnatural." + +Mr. Hambourg smiled assent. + +"I do not advocate anything forced and unnatural," he answered. "So many +people think that a beautiful touch is 'born, not made,' but I do not +agree with them. One can acquire, I am sure, a fine piano touch with the +proper study. 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. No matter how much the player may _feel_ the +meaning of the music, he cannot express this meaning with stiff wrists +and arms. Some 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 believe all can arrive at this goal. + + +AMOUNT OF PRACTISE + +"In regard to practise I do not think it wise for the aspiring pianist +to spend such a great amount of time at the piano. Four hours of +concentrated work daily seems to me sufficient. Of course it is the +quality of practise that counts. The old saying, 'Practise makes +perfect,' does not mean constant repetition merely, but constant +thinking and listening. I advise students to stop after playing a +passage several times, and think over what the notes mean. This pause +will rest ears and hands; in a few moments work can be resumed with +fresh vigor. + +"I have been so frequently asked to write on the subject of technic that +I have done so in a few articles which have been printed in a small +booklet. From these you may see what my ideas are on these points. I do +very little teaching myself--just a few talented pupils; they must be +something out of the ordinary. You see, I do not live in London +continuously; I am here only about four months of the year; the rest of +the time is spent traveling all over the world. Only that small part of +the year when I am stationary can I do any solid work. Here it is +generally quiet enough: the Zoological Garden is not far away, however, +and sometimes I have the roaring of the lions as an accompaniment to my +piano. + +"I am always increasing my repertoire, though I find the public does not +care for new things; it prefers the old. It may listen to the new if +forced to, but it will not attend a recital unless various familiar +things are on the program. + +"I have made several tours in America. The rush of 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 afford to exploit only the highest artists. +Here in London, where the expense 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 before the public. In America the outlay is +four or five times greater. No wonder that only a very good artist can +take the risk." + +On leaving, Mr. Hambourg took us to another room, where he showed us +with much satisfaction, a very valuable painting of the old Italian +school, by Ghirlandajo, of which he is very fond. + + + + +XII + +TOBIAS MATTHAY + +WATCHING THE ARTIST TEACHER AT WORK + + +One of the first things accomplished after my arrival in London was to +seek out Tobias Matthay, the composer and teacher, for an echo of his +fame had reached me across the water. + +Matthay has done much to make the principles of piano technic so clear +and simple that even a child can understand them. If he has stated facts +in a way which seems to some revolutionary it is because these facts are +seldom understood by the rank and file of piano teachers. The work he +has done has compelled attention and admiration; his ideas are now +accepted as undeniable truths by those who at first repudiated them. The +writings of Mr. Matthay will doubtless be better known in America a +little later on than they are at present. They consist in part of an +exhaustive work on _The Act of Touch in all its Diversity; First +Principles of Piano Playing; Relaxation Studies; The Child's First Steps +in Piano Playing; The Principles of Fingering and Laws of Pedaling; +Forearm Rotation Principle;_ and, in press, _The Principles of Teaching +Interpretation_. These very titles are inspiring and suggestive, and +show Matthay to be a deep thinker along educational lines. + +[Illustration: Cordially Yours, Tobias Matthay] + +Matthay's activities are enormous. He is professor of advanced piano +playing at the Royal Academy of Music; also founder and head of his own +school of piano playing. So occupied early and late is he, that it is +almost impossible to get a word with him. I was fortunate enough, +however, to obtain an hour's audience, and also permission to attend +various private classes at the Royal Academy, and hear a number of +pupils in recital. + +In appearance Matthay is a striking personality. His head and features +recall pictures of Robert Louis Stevenson. His tall, muscular form has +the stoop of the scholar; and little wonder when one remembers he must +sit in his chair at work day in and day out. His somewhat brusk manner +melts into kind amiability when discussing the topics in which he is +vitally interested. In his intercourse with students he is ever kind, +sympathetic and encouraging. They, on their part, treat him with +profound respect. + +Matthay believes, and rightly, that the beginning pupil should learn +essentials of note values, rhythm, time, ear-training and so on, before +attempting to play anything at the piano. When first taken to the +instrument, its mechanism is carefully explained to the learner, and +what he must do to make a really musical tone. He says _(Child's First +Steps)_: "Before you take the very first step in tone production, be +sure to understand that you must never touch the piano without trying to +make music. It is only too easy to sound notes without making music at +all. To make music we must make all the sounds mean something, just as +it is no use to pretend to speak unless the sounds we make with our lips +mean something, that is unless they form reasoned phrases and +sentences." + +Here nothing is left vague. Matthay shows clearly how all musical Form +and Shape imply Movement and Progression: the movement of a phrase +toward its cadence; the movement of a group of notes toward a beat or +pulse ahead, or the movement of a whole piece toward its climax, etc. +This original view of his regarding form, which he has advocated for +the last twenty years, is now being accepted generally by the more +up-to-date of the English theorists and teachers. + +In regard to key mechanism and what must be done to produce all +varieties of touch and tone, Matthay has made exhaustive studies. He +says (_First Principles of Piano Playing_): "The two chief rules of +technic, as regards the key, are, therefore: Always feel how much the +key resists you: feel how much the key _wants_ for every note. Second, +Always listen for the moment each sound begins, so that you may learn to +direct your effort to the sound only, and not to the key bed. You must +never hit a key down, nor hit _at_ it. The finger-tip may fall on the +key, and in gently reaching the key you may follow up such fall by +acting against the key. This action against the key must be for the sole +purpose of making it move--in one of the many ways which each give us +quite a different 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 same work: + +"(a) It is only by making the hammer-end of the key move that you can +make a sound. (b) The swifter the movement the louder the sound. (c) +The more gradual this swiftness is obtained the more beautiful the +quality of sound. (d) For brilliant tone you may hit the string 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 hammer falls +off the string as you hear that beginning, and it is too late then to +influence the sound except its continuance. (f) It is wrong to squeeze +the key beds, because it prevents tone, impairs musical result, impedes +agility, and is, besides, fatiguing. (g) You must feel the 'giving way +point' of the key, so that you may be able to tell how much force is +required for each note. Never, therefore, really hit the keys." + +Mr. Matthay as minutely gives directions as to the muscular problems of +touch and technique. For instance, he explains how all varieties of +tone, good and bad, are caused, all inflections of Duration, and the +laws which govern the attainment of Agility and ease of Technique; and +also explains the nature of incorrect muscular actions which prevent the +attainment of all these things. He shows where the released arm weight +should be applied, and again, where it should be eliminated; makes +clear the two opposite forms of technic implied by "flat" and "bent" +finger actions, and he goes exhaustively into the little-understood +question of forearm rotary exertions, the correct application of which +he proves to be necessary for every note we play. + +In speaking of methods in piano teaching, Mr. Matthay said to me: + +"I can say I have no method _of playing_, and moreover I have not much +faith in people who have. My teachings merely show how all playing, good +or bad, is accomplished. There are certain principles, however, which +every player should know, but which, I am sorry to say, are as yet +scarcely apprehended even by the best teachers. The great pianists have +experimented till they have hit upon effects which they can repeat if +all conditions are favorable, and they are in the mood. As a rule they +do not know the laws underlying these effects. You may ask the greatest +pianists, for example, how to play octaves. 'Oh, I play them +thus'--illustrating. Just what to do to attain this result they cannot +explain. In my own case I have done much experimenting, but always with +the view to discovering _how_ things are done--the facts and laws +governing actual tone production and interpretation. I made a study of +Rubinstein's playing, for I found he played a great deal better than I +did. So I discovered many things in listening to him, which he perhaps +could not have explained to me. These facts are incontrovertible and I +have brought many of my colleagues to see the truth of them. More than +this, I have brought many even of my older colleagues who had a +life-time of wrong mental habits to impede them, to realize the truth of +my teachings. + +"The work of a teacher should speak for itself. For my own part I never +advertise, for I can point to hundreds of pupils--this is no +exaggeration in the least!--who are constantly before the public, as +concert pianists and successful teachers. + +"If there is one thing that rouses me deeply, it is the incompetence of +so many teachers of piano. They say to the pupil: 'You play badly, you +must play better'; but they do not tell the pupil _how_ to play better. +They give doses 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 damnable!" + +It was my privilege to be present at some of Mr. Matthay's private +lessons, given at the Royal Academy. Several young men were to try for +one of the medals, and were playing the same piece, one of the +Strauss-Tausig Valse Caprices. + +Matthay listens to a complete performance of the work in hand, then +turns back to the beginning and goes over it again for corrections and +suggestions. He enters into it with absolute devotion, directing with +movements of head and hands as a conductor might direct an orchestra; +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 +should be softer. His blue pencil is often busy adding phrasing marks. +In the pauses he talks over with the pupil the character of the piece, +and the effects he thinks should be made. In short his lessons are most +helpful and illuminating. + +I also had the opportunity to attend a pupils' "Practise Concert," and +here the results attained were little short of marvelous. Small +children, both boys and girls, played difficult pieces, like the Grieg +Variations for two pianos, the Weber _Invitation to the Dance_, and +works by Chopin and Liszt, with accuracy and fluency. Almost every +selection was played from memory. The tone was always musical and often +of much power, and the pupils seemed thoroughly to understand what they +were doing and the meaning of the music. They certainly exemplified the +professor's maxim: + +"Never touch the piano without trying to make music." + + * * * * * + +Not long afterward I received a copy of the new book, which had just +come from the press. Its comprehensive title is _Musical Interpretation, +its Laws and Principles, and their Application in Teaching and +Performing_. 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 complex problem exhaustively; +he has, however, selected the following seven points for elucidation: + +1. The difference between Practise and Strumming. +2. The difference between Teaching and Cramming. +3. How one's mind can be brought to bear on one's work. +4. Correct ideas of Time and Shape. +5. Elements of Rubato and its application. +6. Elements of Duration and Pedaling and their application. +7. Some details as to the application of the Element of Tone-variety. + +Such themes must cause the thoughtful reader to pause and think. They +are treated with illuminating originality. The great aim of the teacher +must ever be to awaken thought along correct lines; the pupil must be +assisted to concentrate his thought on what he is doing: to constantly +think and listen. Teaching does not consist merely in pointing out +faults; the teacher must make clear the _cause_ of each fault and the +way to correct it. That section of the book devoted to the Element of +Rubato, is illustrated with many examples from well-known compositions, +by which the principle is explained. He shows how frequently this +principle is misunderstood by the inexperienced, who seem to think that +rubato means breaking the time; whereas true rubato is the _bending_ of +the time, but not _breaking_ it. If we give extra time to certain notes, +we must take some time from other notes, in order to even things up. + +The subject of Pedaling is aptly explained by means of numerous +illustrations. The author deplores the misuse of the damper pedal, +which can be made to ruin all the care and effort bestowed on phrasing +and tonal effects by the fingers. The fault can, in most cases, be +traced 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 expression, stamp themselves on +the reader's imagination. Every teacher who is serious in his work and +has the best interests of his pupils at heart, should read and ponder +these pages. + + + + +XIII + +HAROLD BAUER + +THE QUESTION OF PIANO TONE + + +Buried deep in the heart of old Paris, in one of the narrow, busy +thoroughfares of the city, stands the ancient house in which the master +pianist, Harold Bauer, has made a home. + +One who is unfamiliar with Paris would never imagine that behind those +rows of uninviting buildings lining the noisy, commercial street, there +lived people of refined and artistic tastes. All the entrances to the +buildings look very much alike--they seem to be mere slits in the walls. +I stopped before one of the openings, entered and crossed a paved +courtyard, climbed a winding stone stairway, rang at a plain wooden +doorway, and was ushered into the artist's abode. Once within, I hardly +dared to speak, lest what I saw might vanish away, as with the wave of a +fairy's wand. Was I not a moment before down in that dusty, squalid +street, and here I am now in a beautiful room whose appointments are +all of quiet elegance--costly but in exquisite taste, and where absolute +peace and quiet reign. The wide windows open upon a lovely green garden, +which adds the final touch of restful repose to the whole picture. + +Mr. Bauer was giving a lesson in the music salon beyond, from which +issued, now and again, echoes of well-beloved themes from a Chopin +sonata. When the lesson was over he came out to me. + +"Yes, this is one of the old houses, of the sort that are fast passing +away in Paris," he said, answering my remark; "there are comparatively +few of them left. This building is doubtless at least three hundred +years old. In this quarter of the city--in the rue de Bac, for +instance--you may find old, forbidding looking buildings, that within +are magnificent--perfect 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 of such grandeur and beauty would never be suspected from +without." + +He then led the way to the music-room, where we had an hour's talk. + +[Illustration: HAROLD BAUER] + +"I was thinking as I drove down here," I began, "what the trend of our +talk might be, for you have already spoken on so many subjects for +publication. It occurred to me to ask how you yourself secure a +beautiful tone on the piano, and how you teach others to make it?" + +Mr. Bauer thought an instant. + +"I am not sure that I do make it; in fact I do not believe in a single +beautiful tone on the piano. Tone on the piano can only be beautiful in +the right place--that is, in relation to other tones. You or I, or the +man in the street, who knows nothing about 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 two or more notes +are played successively, through their _difference of intensity_, which +gives variety. A straight, even tone is monotonous--a dead tone. Variety +is life. We see this fact exemplified even in the speaking voice; if one +speaks or reads in an even tone it is deadly monotonous. + + +VARIETY OF TONE + +"Now the singer or the violinist can make a single tone on his +instrument beautiful through variety; for it is impossible for him to +make even _one_ tone which does not have shades of variation in it, +however slight they may be, 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 difference, through their +relation to each other. On the other hand you may say any tone is +beautiful if in the right place, no matter how harsh it may be. The +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. So on the piano +there may be one note in a phrase which, if heard alone, would sound +harsh and unpleasant, but in its relation to other tones it sounds +beautiful, for it gives the right meaning and effect. Thus it is the +_relation of tones_ which results in a 'beautiful tone' on the piano. + +"The frequent trouble is that piano teachers and players generally do +not understand their instrument. A singer understands his, a violinist, +flutist or drummer 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 difficulty, for those who come to me, I have +had this complete model of piano-key mechanism made. You see I can +touch the key in a variety of ways, and the results will be different +each time. It is necessary for the pianist to look into his instrument, +learn its construction, and know what happens inside when he touches a +key. + +"As you say, there are a great many methods of teaching the piano, but +to my mind they are apt to be long, laborious, and do not reach the +vital points. The pianist may arrive at these after long years of study +and experimenting, but much of his time will be wasted in useless labor. + +"In my own case, I was forced by necessity to make headway quickly. I +came to Paris years ago as a violinist, but there seemed no opening for +me then in that direction. There was opportunity, however, for ensemble +work with a good violinist and 'cellist. So I set to work to acquire +facility on the piano as quickly as possible. I consulted all the +pianists I knew--and I knew quite a number--as to what to do. They told +me I must spend many months on technic alone before I could hope to play +respectably, but I told them I had no time for that. So I went to work +to study out the effects I needed. It didn't matter to me _how_ my hand +looked on the keyboard; whether my fingers were curved, flat, or stood +on end. I was soon able to get my effects and to convince others that +they were the effects I wanted. Later on, when I had more leisure, I +took more thought about the position of hand and fingers. But I am +convinced that much time is spent uselessly on externals, which do not +reach the heart of the matter. + +"For instance, players struggle for years to acquire a perfectly even +scale. Now I don't believe in that at all. I don't believe a scale ever +should be even, either in tone or in rhythm. The beginner's untrained +efforts at a scale sound like this"--the speaker illustrated at the +piano with a scale in which all the tones were blurred and run into each +other; then he continued, "After a year's so-called 'correct training,' +his scale sounds like this"--again he illustrated, playing a succession +of notes with one finger, each tone standing out by itself. "To my +thinking such teaching is not only erroneous, it is positively +poisonous--yes, _poisonous_!" + +"Is it to be inferred that you do not approve of scale practise?" + +"Oh, I advise scale playing surely, for facility in passing the thumb +under and the hand over is very necessary. I do not, however, desire +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 and gradations may be made! Then the +personal equation also comes in. Variety and differentiation are of +supreme importance--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 illustrate this little talk. Here is a new one +which was taken right here in this room, as I sat at the piano, with the +strong sunlight pouring in at the big window at my left." + + * * * * * + +On a subsequent occasion, Mr. Bauer spoke further on some phases of his +art. + +"As you already know I do not believe in so-called 'piano technic,' +which must be practised laboriously outside of pieces. I do not believe +in spending a lot of time in such practise, for I feel it is time wasted +and leads nowhere. I do not believe, for instance, in the struggle to +play a perfectly even scale. A scale should never be 'even,' for it must +be full of variety and life. A perfectly even scale is on a dead level; +it has no life; it is machine-made. The only sense in which the word +'even' 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 absolutely regular, either in tone or rhythm. + +"Then I do not believe in taking up a new composition and working at the +technical side of it first. I study it in the first place from the +musical side. I see what may be the meaning of the music, what 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 of the composition as a whole; +when I have this I can begin to work out the details. + +"In this connection I was interested in reading a statement made by +Ruskin in his _Modern Painters_. The statement, which, I think, has +never been refuted, is that while the great Italian painters, Raphael, +Coreggio, and the rest have left many immature and imperfect pictures +and studies in color, their drawings are mature and finished, showing +that they made many experiments and studies in color before they thought +of making the finished black and white drawing. It seems they put the +art thought first before the technical detail. This is the way I feel +and the way I work. + + +AVOID RESTRICTING RULES + +"Because our ancestors were brought up to study the piano a certain way, +and we--some of us--have been trained along the same rigid lines, does +not mean there are no better, broader, less limited ways of reaching the +goal we seek. We do not want to limit ourselves or our powers. We do not +need to say: 'Now I have thought out the conception of this composition +to my present satisfaction; I shall always play it the same way.' How +can we feel thus? It binds us at once with iron shackles. How can I play +the piece twice exactly alike? I am a different man to-day from what I +was yesterday, and shall be different to-morrow from what I am to-day. +Each day is a new world, a new life. Don't you see how impossible it is +to give two performances of the piece which shall be identical in every +particular? It _is_ possible for a machine to make any number of +repetitions which are alike, but a human, with active thought and +emotion, has a broader outlook. + +"The question as to whether the performer must have experienced every +emotion he interprets is as old as antiquity. You remember in the +Dialogues of Plato, Socrates was discussing with another sage the point +as to whether an actor must have felt every emotion he portrayed in +order to be a true artist. The discussion waxed warm on both sides. +Socrates' final argument was, If the true artist must have lived through +every experience in order to portray it faithfully, then, if he had to +act a death scene he would have to die first in order to picture it with +adequate fidelity!" + + +THE QUESTION OF VELOCITY + +In speaking of velocity in piano playing and how it is to be acquired, +Mr. Bauer continued: + +"I believe the quality of velocity is inherent--an 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 of +the South--not on this side of 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 out to walk to a given point; they may +both walk fast, according to their idea of that word, but one 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 main thing is: Do I understand the meaning and spirit of the +composition, and can I make these clear to others? Can I so project 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. + + +OBTAINING POWER + +"Many players totally mistake in what power consists. They think they +must exert great strength in order to acquire sufficient power. Many +women students have this idea; they do not realize that power comes from +contrast. This is the secret of the effect of power. I do not mean to +say that we must not play with all the force we have at times; we even +have to pound and bang occasionally to produce the needed effects. This +only proves again that a tone may 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 regard to it, for that would only be another limitation to the +feeling, the poetry, the emotion of the executant's _thought_. The +quality and degree of power are due to contrast, and the choice of the +degree to be used lies with the player's understanding of the content of +the piece and his ability to bring out this content and place it in all +its perfection and beauty before the listener. This is his opportunity +to bring out the higher, the spiritual meaning." + + + + +XIV + +A VISIT TO RAOUL PUGNO + +TRAINING THE CHILD + + +"An audience has been arranged for you to-day, with M. Raoul Pugno; he +will await you at four o'clock, in his Paris studio." Thus wrote the +courteous representative of _Musical America_ in Paris. + +It had been very difficult to make appointments with any of the famous +French musicians, owing to their being otherwise engaged, or out of the +city. I therefore welcomed this opportunity for meeting at least one of +the great pianists of France. + +At the appointed hour that afternoon, we drove through the busy rue de +Clicy, and halted at the number which had been indicated. It proved to +be one of those unpromising French apartment buildings, which present, +to the passer-by, a stern façade of flat wall, broken by rows of +shuttered windows, which give no hint of what may be hidden behind them. +In this case we did not find the man we sought in the front portion of +the building, but were directed to cross a large, square court. The +house was built around this court, as was the custom in constructing the +older sort of dwellings. + +At last we discovered the right door, which was opened by a neat +housekeeper. + +"M. Pugno is not here, he lives in the country," she said, in answer to +our inquiry. (How difficult these French musicians are to find; they +seem to be one and all "in the country"!) + +"But, madame, we have an appointment with M. Pugno; will you not be good +enough to see if he is not here after all?" + +She left us standing, but returned almost immediately with the message +that M. Pugno had only that moment entered his studio, to which she +would conduct us. + +[Illustration: RAOUL PUGNO] + +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 +Oriental chamber of some Eastern monarch. Heavy gold and silver Turkish +embroideries hung over doors and windows. The walls were covered with +many rare paintings; rich _objets d'art_ were scattered about in +profusion; an open door led out into a pretty garden, where flowers +bloomed, and a fountain _dripped_ into its marble basin. A raised dais +at one side of the room held a divan, over which were draperies of +Oriental stuffs. On this divan, as on a throne, sat the great pianist we +had come to see. He made a stately and imposing figure as he sat there, +with his long silvery beard and his dignified bearing. Near him sat a +pretty young woman, whom we soon learned was Mlle. Nadia Boulanger, a +composer and musician of brilliant attainments. + +"I regret that I am unable to converse with you in English, as I speak +no language but my own," began M. Pugno, with a courteous wave of the +hand for us to be seated. + +"You wish to know some of my ideas on piano playing--or rather on +teaching. I believe a child can begin to study the piano at a very early +age, if he show any aptitude for it; indeed the sooner he begins the +better, for then he will get over some of the drudgery by the time he is +old enough to understand a little about music. + + +TRAINING THE CHILD + +"Great care must be taken with the health of the child who has some +talent for music, so that he shall not overdo in his piano study. After +all a robust physical condition is of the first importance, for without +it one can do little. + +"A child in good health can begin as early as five or six years. He must +be most judiciously trained from the start. As the ear is of such prime +importance in music, great attention should be paid to tone study--to +listening to and distinguishing the various sounds, and to singing them +if possible, in solfeggio. + +"At the outset a good hand position must be secured, with correct finger +movements. Then there must be a thorough drill in scales, arpeggios, +chords, and a variety of finger exercises, before any kind of 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 Bach. In my position, as member of the faculty of +the Conservatoire, a great many students pass before me. If I personally +accept any pupils, they naturally must be talented and advanced, as I +cannot give my time to the children. Still it is interesting to see the +child-thought develop." + +The conversation turned upon the charming studio with its lovely +garden--where absolute quiet could be secured in spite of the noise and +bustle of one of the busiest quarters of Paris. The studio itself, we +were told, had formerly belonged to the painter Decamps, and some of the +pictures and furnishings were once his. A fine portrait of Pugno, life +size, filling the whole space above the piano, claimed our attention. 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 Mlle. Boulanger's work in composition, a subject which +seemed deeply to interest M. Pugno. + +"Yes, she is writing an opera; in fact we are writing it together; the +text is from a story of d'Annunzio. I will jot down the title for you." + +Taking a paper which I held in my hand, he wrote, + +_"La Ville Morte, 4 Acts de d'Annuncio; Musique de Nadia Boulanger et +Raoul Pugno"_ + +"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 accepted the suggestion with +evident satisfaction. + +"Yes, we will come to America and see the work performed, when it is +completed," he said. + +With many expressions of appreciation we took our leave of the Oriental +studio and its distinguished occupants; and, as we regained the busy, +noisy rue de Clicy, we said to ourselves that we had just lived through +one of the most unique experiences of our stay in Paris. + + * * * * * + +(The above is the last interview ever taken from this great French +artist, who passed away a few months later.) + + * * * * * + +The following items concerning M. Pugno's manner of teaching and +personal traits, were given me by Mme. Germaine Schnitzer, the +accomplished French pianist and the master's most gifted pupil. + +"Pugno had played the piano almost from infancy, and in early youth had +taken several piano prizes. Later, however, he gave much more of his +time to the organ, to the seeming neglect of the former instrument. How +his serious attention was reverted to the piano happened in this wise. +It was announced that Edward Grieg, the noted Norwegian, was coming to +Paris. Pugno was one day looking over his piano Concerto which had +recently appeared. 'Why don't you play the work for the composer when +he comes?' asked a friend. 'I am no pianist,' objected Pugno. 'Why not?' +said his friend; 'you know enough about the piano, and there are still +four weeks in which to learn the Concerto.' Pugno took the advice, +practised up the work, played it in the concert given by Grieg, and +scored a success. He was then thirty-nine years of age. This appearance +was the beginning; other engagements and successes followed, and thus he +developed into one of the great pianists of France. + +"Pugno was a born pianist; he had a natural gift for technic, and +therefore never troubled himself much about teaching technical exercises +nor practising them. If the work of a pupil contained technical faults, +he made no remarks nor explanations, but simply closed the music book +and refused to listen any further. The pupil, of course, retired in +discomfiture. He was fond of playing along with the pupil (generally +with the left hand), or singing the melodies and themes, in order to +give him ideas of the meaning and interpretation of the music. This gave +independence to the pupils, though it often afforded them much +amusement. + +"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 showed how all emotions find +their counterpart in tones. 'Above all let kindness and goodness control +you,' he once wrote; 'if you are filled with kindness, your tone will be +beautiful!' + +"Pugno's instruction took the form of talks on the inner meaning of the +composition, and the art of interpreting it, rather than any training on +the technical side; about the latter he concerned himself very little. +It goes without saying that only talented pupils made 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 enthusiasms. + +"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 few simple exercises, +which I have never heard of from any one else. The use of this +principle has helped me amazingly to conquer many knotty passages. I +have never given these exercises to any one; I am willing however, to +jot them down for you." + +(The following is a brief plan of the exercises, as sketched by Mme. +Schnitzer) + +[Illustration: EXERCISES] + +"Pugno wished the thirty-seconds and sixty-fourths to be played with the +utmost quickness. This idea is not alone applicable to all scales, but +can be used with any difficult passage found in a composition. + +"Pugno took a keen interest in my work, my progress and career. A few +sentences culled here and there from the many letters of his which I +have preserved, may serve to throw more light on the inner nature of the +man: + +"'I have endeavored to make 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 of gratitude in you and an +affection within 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 too much significance.' + +"(After playing with Hans Richter's Orchestra): 'What intoxication of +sound--what exhilaration and collaboration in music! What a force within +us, which sways us and throbs through us, developing and expressing +each sentiment and instinct! What art can be compared to music, which +finds expression through this medium, called an orchestra. I feel myself +greater amid the orchestra, for I have a giant to converse with. I keep +pace with him, I lead him where I will--I calm him and I embrace him. We +supplement each other; in a moment of authority I become his master and +subdue him. The piano alone is too small for me; it does not tempt me to +play it except under such conditions--with a grand orchestra!'" + + + + +XV + +THUEL BURNHAM + +THE "MELODY" AND "COLORATURA" HAND + + +A prominent figure in the musical life of Paris is Thuel Burnham, +pianist and teacher. + +Mr. 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. More than this he is a musical thinker who has +worked out things for himself, amalgamating what he has found best in +other methods with what he has discovered in his own experience. He has +been able to simplify the whole fabric of technical material, so there +is no time lost in useless labor. + +As a pianist Mr. Burnham takes high rank. Technical difficulties do not +exist for him. He has come to the last turning of the road; before him +rise the heights of supreme spiritual mastery. A touch that is limpid, +clear, and capable of many gradations of tints; splendid power in +_fortissimo_; delicacy, velocity and variety are all his; together with +all this he has a sympathetic insight into the mood and meaning of the +composer. Of late he has been giving several recitals of a semi-private +nature, at which he has brought out some of the larger works in his +repertoire. These recitals have taken place in his charming studios, and +it was my good fortune to be present when two concertos were played, the +MacDowell in D minor, and the Grieg in A minor. Mr. Burnham is a warm +admirer of the works of our great American composer, and has prepared an +entire program of MacDowell's music, which included the Tragica Sonata, +Polonaise, and many of the shorter pieces. + +In a conversation with Mr. Burnham in regard to methods of teaching, he +gave many helpful points, explaining how he had reduced technical +difficulties to a minimum through the exercise of a few simple +principles. + + +PRINCIPLES OF TOUCH + +"The position and condition of the hand varies according to the +character of the music, and the tone you wish to produce. If you give +out 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 then, you have the 'Melody Hand,' with outstretched, flat fingers. +If, on the contrary, you want 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.' + + +MELODY HAND + + +"The Melody Hand is weighty and 'dead,' so to speak. The touch is made +with flat fingers; the ball of the finger comes in contact with the key, +the whole arm, hand and fingers are relaxed--as loose as possible. You +caress the keys as though you loved them, as though they were a very +part of you; you cling to them as to something soft, velvety or +downy--with pressure, pressure, pressure, always." + +(This illustration recalled to the listener's mind one of Kitty +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. +"Of course I love her best," was the rather hesitating answer; "but I +love kitty too--and she has _fur_!") + +"To acquire the melody touch, I teach it with the simplest exercises, +sometimes with only single tones. When the idea is apprehended, the +pupil works it out in some lyric piece, like a _Song without Words_, by +Mendelssohn. + +"There are three touches for melody playing: First, the _down touch_, +made by descending arm and hand; second, the _up touch_, made by +elevating the wrist, while the finger lies upon the key; third, the +_wiping-off touch_, which draws the finger off the key, with an arm and +hand movement. + + +THE TECHNICAL HAND + +"The technical hand employs finger touch and finger action; the hand is +held up, in military position, so to speak; the finger movements are +quick, alert and exact; the hand is _alive_, not dead and heavy, as is +the melody hand. The two ways of playing are quite opposite in their +fundamental character, but they can be modified and blended in endless +ways. + +"For the technical or coloratura touch, the hand is in arched position, +the five fingers are well rounded and curved, their tips are on the +keys, everything is rounded. When a finger is lifted, it naturally +assumes a more rounded position until it descends to the same spot on +the key from which it was lifted, as though there were five little +imaginary black spots on the keys, showing exactly where the finger-tips +should rest. The fingers are lifted cleanly and evenly and _fall_ on the +keys--no hitting nor striking. I make a great distinction between the +coloratura touch and the melody touch. The first is for rapid, brilliant +passage work, sparkling, glittering, iridescent--what you will--but +cold. It is made, as I said, with arched hand and raised finger action. +Melody touch expresses warmth and feeling; is from the heart. Then there +are the down and up arm movements, for chords, and, of course, scale and +arpeggio work, with coloratura touch. I generally expect pupils who come +to me to go through a short course of preparatory study with my +assistant, Miss Madeleine Prosser, who has been with me for years, and +does most thorough work in this line. + + +ASSIMILATION OF PRINCIPLES + +"Many pupils come to me with no very definite ideas as to touch and what +they may express through it. They think if they _feel_ a passage +sufficiently, they will be able to use the right touch for it. Sometimes +they may be able to hit upon the effect they want, but they 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 player sees a certain passage, he +knows at once what touch is required to express it._ A great actor +illustrates what I mean--he knows how to employ his features and body to +express the thought of his lines. When you go to the Theatre Français in +Paris, you know every member of the company is thoroughly trained in +every phase of his art. You are aware that each actor has studied +expression to such an extent that the features naturally fall into the +required lines and curves whenever a certain emotion comes up for +expression. So with the pianist--he should have the various touches at +his finger-tips. The step beyond is to express himself, which he will do +easily and naturally, when his has such a preparation as I have referred +to. + + +MEMORIZING + +"I am often questioned on the subject of memorizing. Some pupils think +if they play the piece a sufficient number of times they will know it; +then are troubled because they cannot at all times remember the notes. +Such players must know every note of the piece away from the piano, and +be able to recite them. I have students who are able to learn their +music away from the instrument, and can play it to me without having +tried it on the piano. 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 farther back, or at the beginning. +In some cases, however, if the pupil has her own method of committing to +memory, and it is successful, I have no desire to change it. + + +OCTAVE STUDIES + +"For octave study, form the hand with the 'octave grimace,'--that is +with arched hand, the unemployed fingers slightly curved. In staccato +touch of course use light wrist. Begin with one beat in sixteenths and +finish with the 'wiping off' touch. Build up more and more beats in +notes of the same value, always ending the passage with the same touch, +as above mentioned. This exercise can be played the full length of the +keyboard, in all keys, and also chromatically. It can be played in the +same fashion, using four-voiced chords instead of octaves. When such an +exercise can be prolonged for twenty minutes at a time, octave passages +in pieces have no terrors for the pianist. For the octaves in Chopin's +Polonaise Op. 53, he would merely have to learn the notes, which can be +done away from the piano; there is no need for exhaustive practise of +the passage. + + +KEEPING UP REPERTOIRE + +"In order to keep repertoire in repair, one should have it arranged so +that old pieces are gone over once a week. Group your repertoire into +sections and programs. It might be well to begin the week with Chopin, +playing through the whole list; after which pick out the weak places, +and practise those. Tuesday, take Schumann, and treat him in the same +way. Then comes Liszt, Russian music, modern composers, concertos, and +chamber music. In this systematic way the whole repertoire is kept up. + + +DETAILS OF PRACTISE + +"My mornings are given up to practise, my afternoons to teaching. Of +these practise hours, at least one hour is given to technic, scales, +arpeggios, octaves, chords--and Bach! I believe in taking one selection +of Bach, say a Two-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. So with études; instead of playing _at_ so many, is it not +better to perfect a few and bring them up to the highest degree of +completeness? + +"I am very susceptible to color, anywhere, in anything--especially in +pictures. Music should express color. Certain compositions seem to +embody certain colors. As you suggest, red is certainly the motif of +Chopin's great Polonaise, Op. 53." + + * * * * * + +Mr. Burnham should certainly look forward to success in his visit to his +native land. His fine touch and tone, sincere and musicianly style, and +buoyant, genial personality will make friends for his art and himself +everywhere. + + + + +XVI + +EDWIN HUGHES + +SOME ESSENTIALS OF PIANO PLAYING + + +When one has read with pleasure and profit the published ideas 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 +of special import, particularly when the meeting can take place in some +ideal spot in the old world. Such was my thought in visiting Mr. Edwin +Hughes, an American who has made a name and place for himself among the +pianists and teachers of Europe. After years of study in Vienna with +Leschetizky, where he also acted as one of the _Vorbereiters_, he has +established himself in Munich, where he feels he has found a true home +of music and art. Here, amid beautiful and artistic surroundings, he +lives and works, dividing his time between teaching and concert playing. +As a pianist Mr. Hughes has met with gratifying success in the most +important cities of Germany, while as a teacher he has been sought by +students from almost every State in America, from Maine to Texas, and +also from Canada. What has given him special satisfaction is that during +the past year a number of pupils have come to him from the Conservatory +here in Munich. They have been greatly pleased with their progress, only +regretting they had not come to him before. + +As to whether he uses the Leschetizky method in its entirety, Mr. Hughes +testified in the affirmative. + +"If you were to ask Leschetizky about the 'Leschetizky Method,' he would +probably laugh and tell you he has no method, or he would tell you his +'method' consists of only two things--firm 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 of the fingers and knuckle joints by tapping them. At first the +joints, particularly the nail joints, are very apt to sink in when +tapped by a lead pencil; but by having the pupil continue the tapping +process at home, it is not long before he acquires the feeling of +conscious firmness in his fingers. + +"Along with this exercise it is most important to begin at once with +wrist exercises, as otherwise, from the effort to acquire firmness of +finger, the wrist may become stiff and unwieldy. The wrist exercises +consist in raising and lowering this joint, with the hand and arm +supported first on each finger separately, then on two, three, four and +five fingers. The wrist should not be so limp as to be incapable of +resistance; but rather it should be like a fine steel spring--a +'spring-wrist,' I call it--capable of every degree of resistance or +non-resistance the quality of tone demands. + +"High finger action is not so necessary for beginners as most piano +teachers imagine. It is much easier to teach pupils to raise their +fingers high, than it is to teach them the acquisition of the _legato_ +touch at the piano, which is only to be attained by playing close to the +keys, without raising the fingers. It is difficult to get pupils to play +a perfect _legato_ who have had years of training with high finger +action, something which should be taken up for _non-legato_ and +_staccato_ finger work _after_ the more difficult _legato_ touch has +been mastered. + + +TONE PRODUCTION + +"The subject of tone production is one which is much neglected by piano +teachers. Viewed from this standpoint the piano is an instrument apart +from every other, except in some respects the organ. A young violinist, +'cellist or flutist has to study for some time before he can produce a +tone of good musical quality on his instrument. Think what the beginner +on the violin has to go through before he can make a respectable middle +C; but anybody, even a totally unmusical person, can play middle C on +the piano without the least trouble. It is just this ease in tone +production at the piano which leads to carelessness as to the _kind_ of +tone produced; and so piano teachers, above all others, complain they +cannot get their pupils to listen to what they are playing. Pupils +should be made to listen, by means of a special course in tone +production, which should go hand in hand with the technical exercises +used at the very beginning. Otherwise they imagine they are making music +when they place the printed page on the rack, and set the correct keys +in motion. + +"There is no other instrument with which it is so easy to 'bluff' a +large part of the audience; for the character of the piano is such that +the general public often think it fine music if the player makes a big +noise. Pianists of considerable reputation often take advantage of this +lack of discrimination on the part of piano-recital audiences, which, +above all the other audiences, seem peculiarly incapable of judging +correctly the musical value of a performance. + +"Of the hundreds of piano recitals which take place yearly in the +musical centers of Europe, 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 unknown language; just +as though I should repeat a poem in Italian. The words I might pronounce +after a fashion, but the meaning of most of them would be a blank to +me--so how could I make others understand them. + + +RHYTHM IN PIANO PLAYING + +"The subject of rhythm is an important one, and more attention should be +given it. Leschetizky once said that tones and rhythm are the 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 two subjects, that I +have organized classes in ear-training and rhythm. + +"If pupils have naturally a poor sense of rhythm, there is no remedy +equal to practising with a metronome, using this instrument of torture +daily until results are evident, when, of course, there must be a +judicious slowing down in its use. The mechanical sense of rhythm, the +ability to count three or four to a measure, and to group the notes of a +piece correctly, can be taught to any person, if one has the patience; +but for those delicate rhythmic _nuances_ required by a Chopin mazurka +or a Viennese waltz, a specific rhythmic gift must be possessed by the +pupil. + +"Leschetizky says little to his pupils on the subject of technic; I +cannot remember his having spoken a dozen words to me on the subject, +during all the time I have known him. His interest, of course, lies +wholly in the matter of interpretation, and technic comes into +consideration only as a means and never as an end. + +"Leschetizky likes to have the player talk to him, ask questions, do +anything but sit still and not speak. 'How do I know you comprehend my +meaning,' he asks, 'that you understand what I am talking about, if you +say nothing?' At first a student may be silent from nervousness, but if +he is bright he will soon 'catch on,' and see what is expected of him. +Leschetizky says sometimes: 'When the Lord made the ten commandments He +omitted the eleventh, "Thou shalt not be stupid."' If one is not very +quick, one may have a hard time with this master. + +"As a high school in technic I use Joseffy's _School of Advanced Piano +Playing_ with my pupils. This work leads to the highest possible +technical development at the keyboard, and I consider it the last word +in piano technic. The hundreds of exercises have been devised with most +wonderful ingenuity, and the musicianship of the author stands out on +every page. The book is not a dry series of technics but has vital +connection with all the big technical problems found in the literature +of the piano. + +"In teaching, I consider a second piano an absolute necessity. There are +so many things in piano playing which cannot be put into words, and the +teacher must constantly illustrate. How can one teach the interpretation +of a Chopin nocturne, for instance, by merely talking about it. I can +say, 'play loud here--soft there'; but how far do such directions go +toward an artistic conception of the piece? One cannot indicate the +swell of a melody, the tonal and rhythmic _nuance_ of a _groupetto_--and +a thousand other things in any other way than by the living example. +Through imitation one learns rapidly and surely, until one reaches the +point where the wings of one's own individuality begin to sprout. + + +ABOUT MEMORIZING + +"On the subject of memorizing who can lay down rules for this +inexplicable mental process, which will hold good for every one? For +myself, I hear the notes mentally, and know their position on the +keyboard. In actual performance much must be left to finger memory, but +one must actually have the notes in his mind as well as in his fingers. +Before a concert I go over all my program mentally, and find this an +excellent method of practise when traveling from one city to another. To +those who study with me I say, you must try various methods of +memorizing; there is no universal way; each must find out by experiment +which is most suited to his individual case. + +"With some pianists visual memory of the printed page plays the +principal rôle in memorizing; with others visual memory of the notes on +the keyboard; with still others ear-memory, or memory of the harmonic +progressions. I believe in making the pupil familiar with all these +different ways, so that he may find out which one is most helpful to +him. + +"For pupils with weak hands and arms I recommend simple gymnastic +exercises to be done morning and evening. Physical strength is a very +necessary essential for a brilliant technic; the student who would +accomplish big things must possess it in order to succeed. + + +KEEPING TECHNIC IN REPAIR + +"The only way to keep one's technic in repair is to be constantly +working at it. Technic is the mechanical part of music-making; to keep +it in good working order one must be constantly tinkering with it, just +as the engine driver tinkers with his locomotive or the chauffeur with +his automobile. In the course of his technical study every intelligent +pupil will recognize certain exercises which are particularly important +for the mechanical well-being of 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 practise plan, which will allow for a frequent repetition +of the pieces. Those pieces which have been recently added to one's list +will require more frequent repetition, while those which have been +played for a longer period may be left for an occasional brushing up. +Frequent playing before others, either publicly or privately, is above +everything else to be recommended to the pianist, as the greatest +incentive to keeping up his repertoire and toward growing in his art. + + +AMERICAN VERSUS EUROPEAN CONDITIONS + +"In America many people who have little talent study music, intending to +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 standpoint, and although we have accomplished +much there is still much to be done. It is the office of the piano +teacher in America to make music study easy and interesting to pupils of +moderate ability. Just these conditions have brought about very +excellent methods of piano and music study for American children, which +have no counterpart in Europe." + + + + +XVII + +FERRUCCIO BUSONI + +AN ARTIST AT HOME + + +As a man's surroundings and environment are often reflections of his +character, it is always a matter of deep interest to get in touch with +the surroundings of the creative or executive musician. To meet him away +from the glare of the footlights, in the privacy and seclusion of the +home, gives one a far more intimate knowledge of the artist as a man. +Knowing how difficult it often is to obtain such an opportunity, I can +be the more thankful that this privilege has been granted me many times, +even with those artists who hold themselves most aloof. I was told +Busoni was exceedingly difficult to approach, and the only way I could +see him was to call at his house quite unannounced, when I might have +the good fortune to find him at home and willing to see me. Not wishing +to take him by storm in this way, I quietly waited, until I received the +following note: "While I am not fond of interviews, if you will come to +tea on Thursday afternoon, you will be welcome." + +Busoni is located in a stately _Wohnung_ overlooking the handsome +Victoria Luise Platz, in the newer western section of Berlin. Mme. +Busoni met us as we arrived, and conducted us to the master, who rose +from a cozy nook in a corner of the library to greet us. Tea was soon +brought in and our little party, which included a couple of other +guests, was soon chatting gaily in a mixture of French, German and +English. + +During the sprightly chat I could not help glancing from time to time +around the great library in which we sat, noting its artistic +furnishings, and the rows upon rows of volumes in their costly bindings, +which lined the walls. One appreciates what Dr. Johnson meant when he +said that whenever he saw shelves filled with books he always wanted to +get near enough to them to read their titles, as the choice of books +indicates character. + +Presently Busoni turned to me: "I am composing a rhapsodie on American +Indian themes." + +"And where did you capture the themes?" he was asked. + +[Illustration: Ferruccio Busoni] + +"From a very charming lady, a countrywoman of yours, Miss Natalie +Curtis. She has taken great interest in the idea and has been most +helpful to me." + +"One of the German music papers announced that you are about to leave +Berlin, and have accepted an offer elsewhere--was it in Spain?" + +"I intend leaving Berlin for a time," he admitted, "and will go to +Bologna--perhaps you thought that was in Spain," with a sly side glance +and a humorous twinkle in his eyes. "My offer from Bologna appears most +flattering. I am appointed head of the great conservatory, but I am not +obliged to live in the city, nor even to give lessons. I shall, however, +go there for a time, and shall probably teach. I am to conduct six large +orchestral concerts during the season, but aside from this I can be +absent as much as I wish. We shall probably close up our house here and +go to Italy in the autumn. Living is very cheap in Bologna; one can rent +a real palace for about $250 a year." + +Mme. Busoni now invited us to inspect other parts of the house. We +passed to the adjoining room, which contains many rare old prints and +paintings and quaint old furniture--"everything old," as Mme. Busoni +said, with a smile. In this room stands a harpsichord, with its double +keyboard and brilliant red case. It is not an antique but an excellent +copy made by Chickering. + +Farther on is a veritable musician's den, with upright piano, and with a +large desk crowded with pictures and mementoes. On the walls hang rare +portraits chiefly of Chopin and Liszt. Beyond this room came the salon, +with its two grand pianos side by side. This is the master's teaching +and recital room, and here are various massive pieces of richly carved +furniture. Mme. Busoni called our attention to the elaborate chandelier +in old silver, of exquisite 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--_bildschön_, with his curls, his soulful eyes and his big white +collar. + +Busoni soon joined us in the salon and the conversation was turned to +his activities in the new field. + +"When you have finished the new rhapsodie you will come and play it to +us in America--and in London also," he was urged. + +"Ah, London! I am almost homesick for London; it is beautiful there. I +am fond of America, too. You know I lived there for some years; my son +was born there; he is an American citizen. Yes, I will return, though +just when I do not yet know, and then I will assuredly play the +rhapsodie." + + + + +XVIII + +ADELE AUS DER OHE + +ANOTHER ARTIST AT HOME + + +Another opportunity to see the home of an artist was afforded me when +Frl. Aus der Ohe invited me to visit her in her Berlin home. She also +lives in the newer western portion of the city, where so many other +artists are located. One feels on entering the spacious rooms that this +home has the true German atmosphere. Adele Aus der Ohe, whose +personality is well remembered in America, on account of her various +pianistic tours, now wears her brown hair softly drawn down over her +ears, in Madonna fashion, a mode which becomes her vastly. + +"My time is divided between playing in concert, composing, and my own +studies," began the artist. "I give almost no lessons, for I have not +time for them. I never have more than a couple of pupils studying with +me at one time; they must be both talented and eager. The amount of time +I consider necessary for practise depends, of course, on quickness of +comprehension. In general, I may say four, or at most five hours are +quite sufficient, If used with absolute concentration. The quality of +practise is the great essential. If the passage under consideration is +not understood, a thousand times going over it will be only vain +repetitions; therefore, understand the construction and meaning of the +passage in the beginning, and then a thousand repetitions ought to make +it perfect. + +"There is so much practise which can be done away from the instrument, +by reading the notes from the printed page and thinking about them. Is +this understood in America? Always _listen_ to your playing, to every +note you make on the piano; I consider this point of the very first +importance. My pupils are generally well advanced or are those who +intend making music a profession. I have, however, occasionally taken a +beginner. This point of listening to every note, of training the ear, +should stand at the very foundation. + + +LETTING THE HAND FIND ITSELF + +"In regard to hand position, I endeavor not to be narrow and pedantic. +If pupils play with good tone and can make reasonably good effects, I +take them, at the point where they are and try to bring them forward, +even if the hand position is not just what I would like. If I stop +everything and let them do nothing but hand position, they will be +discouraged and think they are beginning all over again. This beginning +again is sometimes detrimental. 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 advantage. There +are so many legitimate positions, each hand is a separate study, and is +apt to take the position most natural to itself. + +"I shall play numerous concerts and recitals 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, as my sister, who always accompanied me, had just +passed away after quite a long illness. So you see I have not much zest +to return. + +"However I am fond of America, and admire the great progress you are +making in 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 do not ask your neighbor's +opinion before you applaud it. If you do not like it you are not afraid +to say so. Even when it is only ragtime that pleases you, you are not +afraid to own up to it. When you learn what is better you say so. It Is +this honesty which leads to progressive results. You are rapidly +becoming competent to judge what is best. I have found the most +appreciative audiences in America." + +Miss Aus der Ohe had much to relate of the Woman's Lyceum. The +Department of Music was founded by Aus der Ohe herself. Not long ago +there was an exhibition of woman's work in music. Women composers from +all over the country sent examples of their work. Our own Mrs. H.A.A. +Beach, who has been located for some time in Munich, was well +represented. There are branches of this institution in other German +cities. + +Several paintings of large size and striking originality hang on the +walls of the pianist's home. They all illustrate religious themes and +are the work of Herr Aus der Ohe, 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." + + + + +XIX + +ELEANOR SPENCER + +MORE LIGHT ON LESCHETIZKY'S IDEAS + + +Eleanor Spencer, whose first American tour is announced for the coming +season, happened to be in Berlin during my visit there. I found her in +her charming apartments in the Schönberg section of the city, far away +from the noise and bustle of traffic. Her windows look out upon a wide +inner court and garden, and she seems to have secured the quiet, +peaceful environment so essential to an artist's development. Indeed +Miss Spencer has solved the problems of how to keep house, with all the +comforts of an American home, in a great German city. + +"I grew so tired of living in _pensions_ that I took this little +apartment over two years ago," she said, "and I like it so much better. + +"I have been away from America for nine years, so the foreign cities +where I have lived seem almost more like home to me than my native land, +to which I have only paid two short visits during those nine years. But +I love America, and perhaps you can imagine how eagerly I am looking +forward to my coming tour. + +"The first eight years of my life were spent in Chicago, and then my +family moved to New York. Here I studied with Dr. William Mason. 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 to +Vienna, to Leschetizky, for I felt the need of more thorough preparation +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 attained, and am not ashamed to +say so. I practise 'all my spare time,' as one of my colleagues +expresses it; though, of course, if one studies with the necessary +concentration one cannot practise more than five hours to advantage. + +[Illustration: To Miss Brower in appreciation and pleasant remembrance +of our Berlin meeting ...ELEANOR SPENCER] + +"I thoroughly believe in practising technic outside of pieces; I have +always done so and still continue to do it. This brings the hand into +condition, and keeps it up to the mark, so that difficult compositions +are more readily within the grasp, and the technical requirements in +them are more easily met. When the hand is in fine condition, exhaustive +technical practise in pieces is not necessary, and much wear and tear of +nerve force is saved. In this technical practise, to which I give an +hour or more daily, I use very simple exercises, but each one contains +some principle of touch, movement or condition. Hand over thumb and +thumb under hand; different qualities of tone; staccato or clinging +touch; scales, arpeggios and various other forms are used. Part of the +technic study period is always given to Bach. + +"I began my studies in Vienna with Mme. Bree, to get the preparatory +foundation, but before long combined her lessons with those of the +professor, and later went to him entirely." + +"Just here I should like to mention a trifling point, yet it seems one +not understood in America by those who say they are teachers of the +Leschetizky method. These teachers claim that the professor wishes the +fingers placed on a straight line at the edge of the keys, and in some +cases they place the tip of the thumb in the middle of its key, so that +it extends considerably beyond the tips of the other fingers. Is this +the position taught by the _Vorbereiters_, or favored by Leschetizky?" + +Miss Spencer's laugh rang out merrily. + +"This is the first I have ever heard of the idea! Such a position must +seem very strained and unnatural. Leschetizky, on the contrary, wishes +everything done in the most easy, natural way. Of course, at first, when +one is seeking to acquire strength and firmness of hand and fingers, one +must give time and thought to securing an arched hand and steady first +joints of fingers. Later, when these conditions have been thoroughly +established, the hand can take any position required. Leschetizky's hand +often lies quite flat on the keys. He has a beautiful piano hand; the +first joints 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 receptive, how to enter into the master's thought, or +it may go hard with him. If he does not understand, nor grasp the +master's words he may suffer terribly during the ordeal of the lessons. +I have witnessed such scenes! Those who are equal to the situation +receive most illuminative instruction. + +"I trust I do not give you the impression of being so devoted to, and +enthusiastic in, the work I enjoyed with my venerated master that I wish +to exclude other masters and schools. I think narrowness one of the most +unpleasant of traits, and one I should dread to 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. + + +MEMORIZING + +"How do I memorize a composition? I first play it over a few times to +become somewhat familiar with its form and shape. Then I begin to +analyze and study it, committing it by phrases, or _ideas_, one or two +measures at a time. I do not always take each hand alone, unless very +intricate; sometimes it is easier to 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 for in +advance. A composition should be so thoroughly your own that you can +play it at any time, if your hand is in condition. Or, if it has been +laid aside for a long time, a couple of days should bring it back. + +"The subject of forming a repertoire is one often overlooked or not +understood. The repertoire should be comprehensive and built on broad +lines. A pupil intending to make music a profession should know the +literature of the piano, not only the small and unimportant works of the +great composers (as is too often the case), but the big works as well. +If one is well grounded in the classics at an early age, it is of great +benefit afterwards. + + +POWER AND VELOCITY + +"For gaining power, heavy chords are very beneficial; combinations of +five notes that take in all the fingers are most useful. + +"The principle of velocity is the doing away with all unnecessary +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 fingers must be raised, Leschetizky _is a great believer +in finger action; he holds it to be absolutely necessary for finger +development_. + +"I have been concertizing for the last three years, and studying alone. +This does not mean I have learned all the masters can teach, but only +that I have come to a place where I felt I had to go alone, that I must +work out what is in me. No master can teach us that; we have to find +ourselves alone. + +"I shall probably play considerably with orchestra next season. There is +a Concerto by Rimsky-Korsakow which is quite short, only one movement. +It Is charming and brilliant, and I think has not yet been played in +America. There is also a new work by Stavenhagen for piano and +orchestra, which is a novelty on the other side. I greatly enjoy playing +with orchestra, but of course I shall play various recitals as well." + +Miss Spencer has appeared with the best orchestras in England and on the +continent, and has everywhere received commendation for her pure, +singing tone, plastic touch, and musical temperament. She is certain to +have success in America, and to win hosts of friends there. + + + + +XX + +ARTHUR HOCHMAN + +HOW THE PIANIST CAN COLOR TONE WITH ACTION AND EMOTION + + +"A pianist, like a painter, should have an infinitude 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, just as the artist depicts them upon the canvas. The piano is +capable of a wonderful variety of tonal shading, and its keys will +respond most ideally to the true musician who understands how to awaken +and bring forth all this tonal beauty from the instrument. + +"The modern pianist is often lacking in two important +essentials--phrasing and shading. Inability to grasp the importance of +these two points may be the cause of artistic 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 +to such heights, he is a law to himself in the matter of phrasing, no +matter what marks may stand upon the printed page. As a rule the editing +of piano music is extremely inadequate, though how can it really be +otherwise? 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 between _piano_ +and _forte_--numberless varieties of touch which have not been tabulated +by the schools. Great editors like von Bülow, Busoni and d'Albert have +done much to make the classics clearer to the student; yet they +themselves realize there are a million gradations of touch and tone, +which can never be expressed by signs nor put into words. + + +FOUR REQUISITES FOR PIANISTS + +"Four things are necessary for the pianist who would make an artistic +success in public. They are: Variety of tone color; Individual and +artistic phrasing; True feeling; Personal magnetism. Colors mean so much +to me; some are so beautiful, the various shades of red, for instance; +then the golden yellows, rich, warm browns, and soft liquid blues. We +can make as wonderful combinations with them as ever the painters do. +To me dark red speaks of something tender, heart-searching, mysterious." +Here Mr. Hochman illustrated his words at the piano with an expressive +fragment full of deep feeling. "On the other hand, the shades of yellow +express gaiety and brightness"; here the illustrations were all life and +fire, in crisp, brilliant staccatos. Other colors were just as +effectively represented. + +"What I have just indicated at the keyboard," continued the artist, +"gives a faint idea of what can be done with tone coloring, and why I +feel that pianists who neglect this side of their art, or do not see +this side of it, are missing just so much beauty. I could name one +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 of tonal beauty, gives me many ideas--many +pictures of tone. His name is Gabrilowitsch; he is for me the greatest +pianist. + + +MAKING CLIMAXES PIANISSIMO + +"In my own playing, when I color a phrase, I do not work up to a climax +and make that the loudest note, as most pianists do, but rather the +soft note of the phrase; this applies to lyric playing. I will show you +what I mean. Here is a fragment of two measures, containing a soulful +melody. I build up the crescendo, as you see, and at the highest point, +which you might expect to be the loudest, you find instead that it is +soft: the sharpness has been taken out of it, the thing you did not +expect has happened; and so there are constant surprises, tonal +surprises--tone colors not looked for. + +"It is generally thought that a pianist should attend many recitals and +study the effects made by other pianists; I, on the contrary, feel I +gain more from hearing a great singer. The human voice is the greatest +of all instruments, and the player can have no more convincing lesson in +tone production and tone coloring, than he can obtain from listening to +a great emotional singer. The pianist should hear a great deal of opera, +for there he will learn much of color, of effect, light and shade, +action and emotion. + + +WE DO NOT WANT CUT-AND-DRIED PERFORMANCES + +"The third requisite for the pianist, as I have said, is true feeling. I +have no sympathy with dry, mechanical performance, where every effect +is coldly calculated beforehand, and the player always strives to do it +the same way. How 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 as he feels, and he will be artist enough +never to overstep bounds. The pianist who plays with true feeling and +'heart' can never play the same 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. Respiration must be easy and +natural, no matter how much physical strength is exerted. In +_fortissimo_ and all difficult passages, the lips must be kept closed +and respiration taken through the nostrils, as it always ought to be. + + +DISSECTION OF DETAILS + +"Yes, I do a great deal of teaching, but prefer to take only such pupils +as are intelligent and advanced. With pupils I am very particular about +hand position and touch. The ends of 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 analyzed. When all is understood +and mastered, it is then ready for the stage setting, the actors, the +lights, and the colors!" + + * * * * * + +"I was intended for a pianist from the first. Born in Russia, I +afterward came to Berlin, studying seven or eight years with Xaver +Scharwenka, then with d'Albert, 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 concert work and recital playing in +Europe, and have appeared with the leading orchestras in the largest +cities of America." + +Mr. Hochman has done considerable work in composition. Numerous songs +have been published and doubtless larger works may be expected later. + + + + +XXI + +TERESA CARREÑO + +EARLY TECHNICAL TRAINING + + +A music critic remarked, "That ever youthful and fascinating pianist, +Teresa Carreño is with us again." + +I well remember how fascinated I was, as a young girl, with her playing +the first time I heard it--it was so full of fire, enthusiasm, +brilliancy and charm. How I longed and labored 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 +of 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 Mme. Carreño, I recalled the above incident, +which amused her, especially the memory of the sash. + +[Illustration: TERESA CARREÑO] + +"I assure you that at heart I feel no older now than in the days when I +wore it," she said. The conversation then turned to questions of +mastering the piano, with particular reference to the remarkable +technic of 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 out bits of 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 Ballade in A flat. Another fact which was of the +utmost advantage to me was that I had an ideal teacher in my father. He +saw that I loved the piano, and decided I must be properly taught. He +was passionately fond 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. For one thing he +invented a series of stretching and gymnastic exercises which are +splendid; they did wonders for me, and I use them constantly in my +teaching. But, like everything else, they must be done in the right way, +or they are not beneficial. + + +580 TECHNICAL EXERCISES + +"My father wrote out for me a great many technical exercises; to be +exact, there were 580 of them! Some consisted of difficult passages +from the great composers--perhaps originally written for one hand--which +he would arrange for two hands, so that each hand had the same amount of +work to do. Thus both my hands had equal training, and I find no +difference between them. These 580 exercises took just three days to go +through. Everything must be played in all keys, and with every possible +variety of touch--legato, staccato, half-staccato, and so on; also, with +all kinds of shading." + +(Think of such a drill in pure technic, O ye teachers and students, who +give little or no time to such matters outside of études and pieces!) + +"Part of my training consisted in being shown how to criticize myself. I +learned to listen, to be critical, to judge my own work; for if it was +not up to the mark I must see 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 take with me everywhere. This method of study I +always try to instill into my pupils. I tell them any one can make a +lot of _noise_ on the piano, but I want them, to make the piano _speak_! +I can do only a certain amount for them; the rest they must do for +themselves. + + +VALUE OF TRANSPOSING + +"Another item my zealous teacher insisted upon was transposing. I +absorbed this idea almost unconsciously, and hardly know when I learned +to transpose, so natural did it seem to me. My father was a tactful +teacher; he never commanded, but would merely say, 'You can play this in +the key of C, but I doubt if you can play it in the key of D.' This +doubt was the spur to fire my ambition and pride: I would show him I +could play it in the key of D, or in any other key; and I did! + +"With all the technic exercises, I had many études also; a great deal of +Czerny. Each étude must also be transposed, for it would never do to +play an étude twice in the same key for my father. So I may say that +whatever I could perform at all, I was able to play in any key. + +"For one year I did nothing but technic, and then I had my first piece, +which was nothing less than the Capriccio of Mendelssohn, Op. 22. So you +see I had been well grounded; indeed I have been grateful all my life +for the thorough foundation which was laid for me. In these days we hear +of so many 'short cuts,' so many new methods, mechanical and otherwise, +of studying the piano; but I fail to see that they arrive at the goal +any 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, Mme. Carreño continued: + +"The secret of power lies in relaxation; or I might say, power _is_ +relaxation. This word, however, is apt to be misunderstood. You tell +pupils to relax, and if they do not understand how and when they get +nowhere. Relaxation does not mean to flop all over the piano; it means, +rather, to loosen just where it is needed and nowhere else. For 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 fatigue. It is really mental +relaxation, for one has to think it; it must be in the mind first before +it can be worked out in arms and hands. We have to think it and then act +it. + +"This quality of my playing must have impressed Breithaupt, for, as you +perhaps know, it was after he heard me play that he wrote his famous +book on 'Weight Touch,' which is dedicated to me. A second and revised +edition of this work, by the way, is an improvement on the first. Many +artists and musicians have told me I have a special quality of tone; if +this is true I am convinced this quality is the result of controlled +relaxation." + +I referred to the artist's hand as being of exceptional adaptability for +the piano. + +"Yes," she answered, "and it resembles 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 introduced me all about as his +musical daughter. Years afterward we came to New York, and located at +the old Clarendon Hotel, which has housed so many men of note. The first +day at lunch, my aunt and I were seated at a table mostly occupied by +elderly ladies, who stared at us 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 reminded me of +Rubinstein's hand! My eyes traveled slowly up to the gentleman's +face--it was Rubinstein! He was looking at me; then he turned and +embraced me, before all those observing ladles!" + +We spoke of Berlin, the home of the pianist, and of its musical life, +mentioning von Bülow and Klindworth. "Both good friends of mine," she +commented. "What a wonderful work Klindworth has accomplished in his +editions of Beethoven and Chopin! As Goethe said of himself, we can say +of Klindworth--he has carved his own monument in this work. We should +revere him for the great service he has done the pianistic world. + +"I always love to play in America, and each time I come I discover how +much you have grown. The musical development here is wonderful. This +country is very far from being filled with a mercenary and commercial +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 of idealism here, and idealism is the very heart and soul of music. + +"I feel the artist has such a beautiful calling--a glorious message--to +educate a people to see the beauty and grandeur of his art--of the +ideal!" + + + + +XXII + +WILHELM BACHAUS + +TECHNICAL PROBLEMS DISCUSSED + + +"How do I produce the effects which I obtain from the piano?" + +The young German artist, Willielm Bachaus, was comfortably seated in his +spacious apartments at the Ritz, New York, when this question was asked. +A grand piano stood close at hand, and the pianist ran his fingers +lightly over its keys from time to time, or illustrated some technical +point as he talked. + +"In answer I would say I produce them by listening, criticizing, +judging--working over the point, until I get it as I want it. Then I can +reproduce it at will, if I want to make just the same effect; but +sometimes I want to change and try another. + +[Illustration: WILHELM BACHAUS] + +"I am particular about the seat I use at the piano, as I sit lower than +most amateurs, who in general are apt to sit too high. My piano stool +has just been taken out for a few repairs, or I could show you how low +it is. Then I am old-fashioned enough to still believe in scales and +arpeggios. Some of the players of the present 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 of keys when I practise +the scales; but I select a few at a time, and work at those. I start +with ridiculously simple forms--just the hand over the thumb, and the +thumb under the hand--a few movements each way, especially for +arpeggios. The principle I have referred to is the difficult point; a +few doses of this remedy, however, bring the hand up into order again." + +The pianist turned to the keyboard and illustrated the point very +clearly. + +"As you see, I slant the hand considerably across the keys," he said, +"but this oblique position is more comfortable, and the hand can +accommodate itself to the intervals of the arpeggio, or to the passing +of the thumb in scales. Some may think I stick out the elbow too much, +but I don't care for that, if by this means the scale becomes smooth and +even. + + +OVERHAULING ONE'S TECHNIC + +"I have to overhaul my technic once or twice a week, to see that +everything is all right--and of course the scales and arpeggios come in +for their share of criticism. I practise them in legato, staccato and in +other touches, but mostly in legato, as that is somewhat more difficult +and more beautiful than the others. + +"Perhaps I have what might be called a natural technic; that is I have a +natural aptitude for it, so that I could acquire it easily, and it stays +with me. Hofmann has that kind of natural technic; so has d'Albert. Of +course I have to practise technic; I would not allow it to lapse; I love +the piano too much to neglect any part of the work. An artist owes it to +himself and the public to keep himself up in perfect condition--for he +must never offer 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 of fingers, Mr. Bachaus continued: + +"Why, yes, I raise my fingers whenever and wherever necessary--no more. +Do you know Breithaupt? Well, he does not approve of such technical +exercises as these (illustrating); holding down some fingers and lifting +others, for technical practise, but I do. As for the metronome, I +approve of it to cultivate the sense of rhythm in those who are lacking +in this particular sense. I sometimes use it myself, just to see the +difference between the mechanical rhythm and the musical rhythm--for +they are not always the same by any means. + +"Do 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. The only alternative is +to work constantly at them. Of course they are more difficult for small +hands; so care must be taken not to strain nor over-tire the hand. A +little at a time, in frequent doses, ought in six months to work +wonders. Rowing a boat is good to develop wrists for octave playing. + +"You ask if I can tell how I obtain power. That is a very difficult +question. Why does one child learn to swim almost immediately, while +another cannot master it for a long time? To the first it comes +naturally--he has the _knack_, so to speak. And it is just so with the +quality of power at the piano. It certainly is not due to physique, nor +to brute strength, else only the athlete would have sufficient power. +No, it is the 'knack,' or rather it is the result of relaxation, as you +suggest. + +"Take the subject of velocity. I never work for that special thing as +some do. I seldom practise with great velocity, for it interferes with +clearness. I prefer to play more slowly, giving the greatest attention +to clearness 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 to 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 play successfully. If I were teaching +I should no doubt acquire the habit of analyzing and criticizing the +work of others; of explaining and showing just how a thing should be +done. But I am not a critic nor a teacher, so I do not always know how I +produce effects. I play 'as the bird sings,' to quote an old German +song. + + +MODERN PIANO MUSIC + +"Your MacDowell has written some nice music, some pretty music; I am +familiar with his Concerto in D minor, some of the short pieces and the +Sonatas. As for modern piano concertos there are not many, it is quite +true. There is the Rachmaninoff, the MacDowell I mentioned, the D minor +of Rubinstein, and the Saint-Saens in G minor. There is also a Concerto +by Neitzel, which is a most interesting work; I do not recall that it +has been played in America. I have played it on the other side, and I +may bring it out here during my present tour. This Concerto is a fine +work, into which the author has put his best thought, feeling and +power." + + +A BRAHMS CONCERTO + +As I listened to the eloquent reading of the Brahms second Concerto, +which Mr. Bachaus gave soon afterward with the New York Symphony, I was +reminded of a memorable event which occurred during my student days in +Berlin. It was a special concert, at which the honored guest and soloist +was the great Brahms himself. Von Bülow conducted the orchestra, and +Brahms played his second Concerto. The Hamburg master was not a +virtuoso, 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 figure as he sat at the piano, with his +grand head and his long beard. Of course his performance aroused immense +enthusiasm; there was no end of applause and cheering, and then came a +huge laurel wreath. I mentioned this episode to Mr. Bachaus a few days +later. + +"I first played the Brahms Concerto in Vienna under Hans Richter; he had +counseled me to study the work. The Americans 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 know +my own part but all the other parts--what each instrument is doing. I +always study a concerto with the orchestral score, so that I can see it +all before me." + + + + +XXIII + +ALEXANDER LAMBERT + +AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN TEACHERS + + +Among American teachers Alexander Lambert takes high rank. For over +twenty-five years he has held aloft the standard of sound musicianship +in the art of teaching and playing. A quarter of a century of thorough, +conscientious effort along these lines must have left its impress upon +the whole rising generation of students and teachers in this country, +and made for the progress and advancement of American art. + +It means much to have a native-born teacher of such high aims living and +working among us; a teacher whom no flattery nor love of gain can +influence nor render indifferent to the high aim ever in view. There is +no escaping a sound and thorough course of study for those who come +under Mr. Lambert's supervision. Scales must be, willingly or +unwillingly, the daily bread of the player; the hand must be put in +good shape, the finger joints rendered firm, the arms and body supple, +before pieces are thought of. Technical study must continue along the +whole course, hand in hand with piece playing; technic 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? Must 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 New York, during the years you have +taught here?" I asked Mr. 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 conditions attending piano teaching in America are +peculiar. We have some excellent teachers here, teachers who can hold +their own anywhere, and are capable of producing finished 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 'finishing' with some +European artist. They are not satisfied until they have secured the +foreign stamp of approval. While this is true of the advanced pianist, +it is even more in evidence in the mediocre player. He, too, is +dreaming of the 'superior advantages,' as he calls them, of European +study. He may have no foundation to build upon--may not even be able to +play a scale correctly, but still thinks he must go abroad! + +"You ask if I think students can obtain just as good instruction here as +in Europe? That is a little difficult to answer off-hand. I fully +believe we have some teachers in America as able as any on the other +side; in some ways they are better. For one thing they are morally +better--I repeat, _morally_ better. For another they are more thorough: +they take more interest in their pupils and will do more for them. When +such a teacher is found, he certainly deserves the deep respect and +gratitude of the American student. But alas, he seldom experiences the +gratitude. After he has done everything for the pupil--fashioned him +into a well-equipped artist, the student is apt to say: 'Now I will go +abroad for lessons with this or that famous European master!' What is +the result? He may never amount to anything--may never be heard of +afterward. On the other hand, I have pupils coming to me, who have been +years with some of the greatest foreign masters, yet who are full of +faults of all kinds, faults which it takes me years to correct. Some of +them come with hard touch, with tense position and condition of arms and +body, with faulty pedaling, and with a lack of knowledge of some of the +fundamental principles of piano playing. + + +POWER WITHOUT EFFORT + +"How do I teach them to acquire power with little effort? 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 on 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 joints must be firm, especially the third joint. It +stands to reason there can be no power, no brilliancy when this joint is +wavering 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 teach finger action, because they +say artists do not use it. But the artist, if questioned, would tell you +he had to learn finger action in the beginning. There are so many stages +in piano 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 sufficient clearness; while in the +more finished stage the passage may be played with scarcely any +perceptible motion, so thoroughly do the fingers respond to every mental +requirement. + +"Sometimes pupils come to me who do not know scales, though they are +playing difficult compositions. I insist on a thorough knowledge of +scales and arpeggios, and a serious study of Bach. I use almost +everything Bach ever wrote for the piano; the Two and Three Part +Inventions, French and English Suites, Well-tempered Clavichord, and the +organ Preludes and Fugues, arranged by Liszt." + + + + +XXIV + +FANNIE BLOOMFIELD ZEISLER + +THE SCOPE OF PIANO TECHNIC + + +Each year, as Mme. Bloomfleld Zeisler plays for us, we feel the growth +of a deeper experience, a clearer insight into human nature, 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. Mme. Zeisler is no +keyboard dreamer, no rhapsodist on Art. She is a thoroughly practical +musician, able to explain as well as demonstrate, able to talk as well +as play. Out of the fulness of a rich experience, out of the depth of +deepest sincerity and conviction the artist speaks, as she plays, with +authority and enthusiasm. + +[Illustration: With sincerest good wishes Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler +Chicago Dec 30 14] + +"The first thing to be done for a pupil is to see that the hand is in +correct position. I explain that the wrist should be about on a level +with the second joint of the middle finger, when the fingers are +properly rounded. The knuckles will then be somewhat elevated; in fact +they will naturally take care of themselves, other points of the hand +being correct. Two things are of supreme importance: namely, firm finger +joints and loose wrists; these must be insisted on from the very +beginning. I sometimes use firm wrists in my own playing, if I wish to +make a certain effect; but I can safely affirm, I think, that no one has +ever seen me play with weak, bending fingers. + + +WHAT TECHNIC INCLUDES + +"Piano technic includes so much; everything goes into it--arithmetic, +grammar, diction, language study, poetry, history, and painting! In the +first stages there are rules to be learned, just as in any other study. +In school we had to learn the rules of grammar and mathematics. Just +such rules are applicable to musical performance. I must know the rules +of versification in order to scan poetic stanzas; so I must know the +laws of rhythm and meter to be able to punctuate musical phrases and +periods. Pupils who have long passed the stage of division and fractions +do not seem able to determine the time-values of the various notes and +groups of notes used in music; they do not know what must be done with +triplets, dotted notes, and so on. So you see 'just technic' includes a +multitude of things; it is a very wide subject. + + +EACH PUPIL A DIFFERENT PROBLEM + +"Each pupil presents a different problem as to physical formation of +hand and body, intelligence and talent. Those who are the most talented +do not always prove the most satisfactory students. They grasp the +composer's ideas quickly enough, it is true, so that sometimes in a few +days, they can take up a difficult composition and clash it off with +such showy effect as to blind the eyes of the superficial listener; but +these students are not willing to work out the fine points of the piece +and polish it artistically. Neither are they willing to get right down, +to the bed rock of technic and work at that seriously and thoroughly. If +this course is suggested they grow restive, think they are being held +back, and some times prefer to study with a more superficial teacher. +The consequence is they never really amount to anything; whereas if +these same players possessed perseverance along with their talent they +could become great artists. I would rather have an intelligent, earnest, +serious pupil, who is obedient and willing to work, than a very gifted +pupil. The two seldom go together. When you find both in one person, a +marvelous musician is the result, if assisted by the right sort of +training. + + +HARMONY STUDY + +"One thing a teacher should insist upon, and that is that the pupil +should study harmony. He should have a practical working knowledge of +keys, chords, and progressions. There may be no need for him to study +orchestration or composition, but he must know the foundation and +structure of the material of music. My pupil must be familiar with the +various chords of the scale and know how to analyze them, before I can +make clear to him the rules of pedaling. Without this knowledge, my +words about the use of the pedals are as so much Greek to him. He must +go and learn this first, before coming to me. + + +ACCORDING TO RULE + +"Experience counts for much with the teacher, but much, more with the +pianist. The beginner must go according to rule, until he has thoroughly +mastered the rules. He must not think because he sees a great artist +holding his hands a certain way at times--turning under his unemployed +fingers for octaves perhaps, or any other seeming eccentricity, that he +himself is at liberty to do the same things. No, he must learn to play +in a normal, safe way before attempting any tricks. What may seem +eccentric to the inexperienced student may be quite a legitimate means +of producing certain effects to the mature artist, who through wide +experience and study knows just the effect he wants and the way to make +it. The artist does many things the pupil should not attempt. The artist +knows the capabilities of his own hand; his technic is, in a certain +sense, individual; it should not be imitated by the learner of little or +no experience. If I play a chord passage with high wrist, that I may +bring out a certain effect or quality of tone at that point, the +thoughtless student might be under the impression that a high wrist was +habitual with me, which is not true. For this reason I do not give +single lessons to any one, nor coach on single pieces. In the case of +the interpretation of a piece, a student can get the ideas of it from +hearing it in recital, if he can grasp and assimilate them. + + +ON INTERPRETATION + +"Interpretation! That is a wide subject; 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 _largo_--then it is serious and soulful; is it _scherzo_--then it +should be blithe and gay. We cannot depend on metronome tempi, for they +are not reliable. Those given in Schumann are generally all wrong. We +try to feel the rhythm of the music, the swing of it, the spirit of it. +In giving out the opening theme or subject, I feel it should be made +prominent, to arrest attention, to make it clear to the listener; when +it appears at other times in the piece, it can be softened or varied. +Variety of effect we must have; but whether a passage is played with +decreasing or increasing tone, whether this run is soft and the next +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. +One should be broad-minded enough to see the beauty of each +interpretation. I do not expect my pupils to copy me or do things just +as I do them. I show them how I do it, then leave them to work it out +as they see it. + +"_Pianissimo_ is one of the later things to teach. A beginner should not +attempt it too soon, for then it will only result in flabbiness. A true +_pianissimo_ is not the result of weakness but of strength. + + +MUSICAL CONDITIONS IN AMERICA + +"America has made marvelous progress in the understanding and +appreciation of music; even the critics, many of them, know 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 just such audiences listen to that +work with rapt attention; they hang on every note. How are they to learn +what is best in music unless we are 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; our serious and talented musicians are constantly being +pushed to the wall by some unknown with a name ending in _ski_. These +are the people who tour America (for one season at least), who get the +best places in our music schools and colleges, crowding out our native +musicians. It makes me very bitter against this utterly mistaken and +fallacious idea of ours. I have many talented students, who come to me +from all over the country. Some of them become most excellent concert +artists. If I recommend them to managers or institutions, should not my +word count for something? Ought I not to know what my students can do, +and what is required of a concert artist? But instead of their securing +an engagement, with such a recommendation, a foreigner with the +high-sounding name is the one invariably chosen. When I first started on +my career I endeavored in every way to get a proper hearing in America. +But not until I had made a name for myself in Europe was I recognized +here, in my own land. All honor to those who are now fighting for the +musical independence of America!" + + +A GROUP OF QUESTIONS + +Not long after the above conversation with Mme. Zeisler, I jotted down +some questions, leading to further elucidation of her manner of teaching +and playing, and sent them to her. The artist was then fully occupied +with her long and arduous tours and later went to Europe. My questions +remained unanswered for nearly a year. When 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 had preserved the bit of 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 suggest." + +(1) What means do you favor for gaining power? + +"I can say--none. There is no necessity for using special means to +acquire power; when everything is right you will have sufficient power; +you cannot help having it. If you know the piece thoroughly, your +fingers have acquired the necessary strength through efficient practise, +so that when the time comes to make the desired effects, 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 than another. I am reminded of an amusing incident in this +connection. My son Paul, when a little fellow, was fond of boasting +about his mother; I could not seem to break him of it. One day he got +into an argument with another boy, who asserted that his father, an +amateur pianist, could play better than Paul's mother, because he 'could +play louder, anyway.' I don't know whether they fought it out or not; +but my boy told me about the dispute afterward. + +"'What do you think makes a great player?' I asked him. + +"'If you play soft enough and loud enough, slow enough and fast enough, +and it sounds nice,' was his answer. It is the whole thing in a +nutshell: and he was such a little fellow at the time! + +"As I said, you must have everything right with your technic, then both +power and velocity will come almost unconsciously." + +(2) What do you do for weak finger joints? + +"They must be made strong at once. When a new pupil comes to me the +first thing we do is to get the hand into correct position, and the +fingers rounded and firm. If the pupil is intelligent and quick, this +can be accomplished in a few weeks; sometimes it takes several months. +But it must be done. Of what use is it to attempt a Beethoven sonata +when the fingers are so weak that they cave in. The fingers must keep +their rounded position and be strong enough to bear up under the weight +you put upon them. As you say, this work can be done at a table, but I +generally prefer the keyboard; wood is so unresponsive. + +"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 ought to have a keyboard adapted to +their little delicate muscles, with action much less heavy than two +ounces, the minimum weight of the clavier. As they grow and gain +strength, the weight can be increased. If they should attempt 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? + +"Most emphatically. Finger 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 themselves; we might practise five hundred +years without rendering the fourth finger as strong as the thumb. Rather +let us learn to so adjust the weight and pressure of each finger, that +all will sound equal, whenever we wish them to do so. I tell my pupils +that in regard to strength, their fingers are in this relation to each +other," and the pianist drew with her pencil four little upright lines +on the paper, representing the relative natural weight of the four +fingers. "The fifth finger," she said, "figures very little in scale or +passage playing. By correct methods of study the pupil learns to lighten +the pressure of the stronger fingers and proportionately increase the +weight of the weaker fingers." + +(4) Do you approve of technic practise outside of pieces? + +"I certainly do. The amount of time given to technic study varies with +the pupil's stage of advancement. In the beginning, the whole four hours +must be devoted to technic practise. When some degree of facility and +control have been attained, the amount may be cut down to two hours. +Later one hour is sufficient, and when one is far advanced a very short +time will suffice to put the hand in trim; some rapid, brilliant +arpeggios, or an étude with much finger work may be all that is +necessary. + +"The player gains constantly in strength and technical control while +studying pieces, provided correct methods are pursued. Every piece is +first of all a study in technic. The foundation must be rightly laid; +the principles can then be applied to étude and piece." + +(5) What do you consider the most vital technical points? + +"That is a difficult question, involving everything about piano playing. +There are the scales of all kinds, in single and double notes. Arpeggios +are of great importance, because, in one form or another, they +constantly occur. Octaves, chords, pedaling, and so on." + +"The trill, too," I suggested. + +"Yes, the trill; but, after all, the trill is a somewhat individual +matter. Some players seem to have it naturally, or have very little +trouble with it; others always have more or less difficulty. They do not +seem able to play a rapid, even trill. Many are unable to finish it off +deftly and artistically. They can trill for a certain number of +repetitions; when they become accustomed to the monotonous repetition it +is not so easy to go into the ending without a break." + +(6) What means do you advise to secure velocity? + +"I make the same answer to this question that I made to the first--none. +I never work for velocity, nor do I work _up_ velocity. That is a +matter that generally takes care of itself. If you know the piece +absolutely, know what it means and the effects you want to make, there +will be little difficulty in getting over the keys at the tempo +required. Of course this does not apply to the pupil who is playing +wrong, with weak fingers, uncertain touch and all the rest of the +accompanying faults. I grant that these faults may not be so apparent in +a piece of slow tempo. A pupil may be able to get through Handel'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 just the same, but they +did not show. Rapid music reveals them at once. Certain composers +require almost a perfect technical equipment in order to render their +music with adequate effect. Mozart is one of these. Much 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 Mozart 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 just the right spirit, you must put yourself _en rapport_ +with the epoch in which it was written--the era of crinoline, powdered +wigs, snuffboxes and mincing minuets. I don't mean to say Mozart'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. + +"For myself, I love Mozart's music. One of my greatest successes was in +a Mozart concerto with the Chicago Orchestra. I afterward remarked to +one of my colleagues that it had been one of the most difficult tasks I +had ever accomplished. 'Yes, when one plays Mozart one is so _exposed_,' +was his clever rejoinder." + +(7) How do you keep repertoire in repair? + +"If you mean my own, I would answer that I don't try to keep all my +pieces up, for I have hundreds and hundreds of them, and I must always +save time to study new works. A certain number are always kept in +practise, different programs, according to the requirements of the hour. +My method of practise is to play slowly through the piece, carefully +noting the spots that are weak and need special treatment. To these I +give a certain number of repetitions, and then repeat the whole to see +if the weak places are equal in smoothness to the rest. If not, they +must have more study. But always slow practise. Only occasionally do I +go through the piece at the required velocity. + +"My pupils are always counseled to practise slowly. If they bring the +piece for a first hearing, it must be slowly and carefully played; if +for a second or third hearing, and they know it well enough to take it +up to time, they can play it occasionally at this tempo before coming to +me. But to constantly play a piece in rapid tempo is very harmful; it +precludes all thought of analysis, of _how_ you are doing it. When you +are playing at concert speed, you have no time to think of fingering, +movement or condition--you are beyond all that. It is only in slow +practise that you have time and opportunity to think of everything. + +"As an illustration, take the case of a pianist in a traveling concert +company. He must play the same pieces night after night, with no +opportunity to practise between. For the first few days the pieces go +well; then small errors and weak spots begin to appear. There is no time +for slow practise, so each nightly repetition increases the uncertainty. +In a few months his playing degenerates so it is hardly fit to listen +to. This is the result of constant fast playing." + +(8) How do you keep technic up to the standard? + +"If one is far advanced a few arpeggios and scales, or a brilliant étude +will put the hand in condition. After one has rested, or had a vacation, +some foundational exercises and finger movements may be necessary, to +limber up the muscles and regain control and quickness. One may often +have to review first principles, but technical facility is soon regained +if it has once been thoroughly acquired. If one has stopped practise for +quite a period, the return is slower, and needs to be more carefully +prepared. + +"I use considerable Czerny for technical purposes, with my pupils. Op. +299, of course, and even earlier or easier ones; then Op. 740. A few of +the latter are most excellent for keeping up one's technic. The Chopin +Studies, too, are daily bread." + +(9) The best way to study chords? + +"From the wrist and with fingers of steel Small hands must of course +begin with smaller positions." + +(10) What gymnastic exercises do you suggest? + +"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 +right hand. If technical training is properly given, it is sure to +render the hand flexible and strong." + + + + +XXV + +AGNES MORGAN + +SIMPLICITY IN PIANO TEACHING + + +One of the busiest of New York piano teachers, whose list of students +taking private lessons in a season, almost touches the hundred mark, is +Mrs. Agnes Morgan. Mrs. Morgan has been laboring in this field for more +than two decades, with ever increasing success. And yet so quietly and +unobtrusively is all this accomplished, that the world only knows of the +teacher through the work done by her pupils. The 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 much of the drudgery of piano +teaching, and is one of the reasons why she loves her work. + +When one teaches from nine in the morning till after six every day of +the season, it is not easy to find a leisure hour in which to discuss +means and methods. By a fortunate chance, however, such an interview was +recently possible. + +The questions had been borne in upon me: By what art or influence has +this teacher attracted so large a following? What is it which brings to +her side not only the society girl but the serious art-student and young +teacher? What is the magnet which draws so many pupils to her that five +assistants are needed to prepare those who are not yet ready to profit +by her instruction? When I came in touch with this modest, unassuming +woman, who greeted me with simple cordiality, and spoke with quiet +dignity of her work, I felt that the only magnet was the ability to +impart definite ideas in the simplest possible way. + +"Dr. William Mason, with whom I studied," began Mrs. Morgan, "used to +say that a musical touch was born, not made; but I have found it +possible to so instruct a pupil that she can make as beautiful a tone as +can be made; even a child can do this. The whole secret lies in arm and +wrist relaxation, with arched hand, and firm nail joint. + + +INSPIRATION FROM AN AMERICAN TEACHER + +"I feel that Dr. Mason himself was the one who made me see the reason of +things. I had always played more or less brilliantly, for technic came +rather easy to me. I had studied in Leipsic, where I may say I learned +little or nothing about the principles of piano playing, but only +'crammed' a great number of difficult compositions. I had been with +Moszkowski also; but it was really Dr. Mason, an American teacher, who +first set me thinking. I began to think so earnestly about the reason +for doing things that I often argued the points out 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 that time I have gone on and on +until I have evolved my own system of doing things. A teacher cannot +stand still. I would be a fool not to profit by the experience gained +through each pupil, for each one is a separate study. This has been a +growth of perhaps twenty-five years--as the result of my effort to +present the subject of piano technic in the most concise form. I have +been constantly learning what is not essential, and what can be omitted. + + +SIMPLICITY + +"Simplicity Is the keynote of my work. I try to teach only the +essentials. There are so many études and studies that are good, Czerny, +for instance, is splendid. I believe in it all, but there is not time +for much of it. So with Bach. I approve of studying everything we have +of his for piano, from the 'Little Pieces' up to the big Preludes and +Fugues. Whenever I can I use Bach. But here again we have not time to +use as much of Bach as we should like. Still I do the best I can. Even +with those who have not a great deal of time to practise, I get in a +Bach Invention whenever possible. + +"When a new pupil comes who is just starting, or has been badly taught, +she must of course begin with hand formation. She learns to form the +arch of the hand and secure firm finger joints, especially the nail +joint. I form the hand away from the piano, at a table. Nothing can be +done toward playing till these things are accomplished. I often have +pupils who have been playing difficult music for years, and who consider +themselves far advanced. When I show them some of these simple things, +they consider them far too easy until they find they cannot do them. +Sometimes nothing can be done with such pupils until they are willing to +get right down to rock bottom, and learn how to form the hand. As to the +length of time required, it depends on the mentality of the pupil and +the kind of hand. Some hands are naturally very soft and flabby, and of +course it is more difficult to render them strong. + + +FINGER ACTION + +"When the arch of the hand is formed, we cultivate intelligent movement +in the finger tips, and for this we must have a strong, dependable nail +joint. Of course young students must have knuckle action of the fingers, +but I disapprove of fingers being raised too high. As we advance, and +the nail joint becomes firmer and more controlled, there is not so great +need for much finger action. Velocity is acquired by less and less +action of the fingers; force is gained by allowing arm weight to rest on +the fingers; lightness and delicacy by taking the arm weight off the +fingers--holding it back. + +"I use no instruction books for technical drill, but give my own +exercises, or select them from various sources. Certain principles must +govern the daily practise, from the first. When they are mastered in +simple forms later work is only development. Loose wrist exercises, in +octaves, sixths, or other forms, should form a part of the daily +routine. So should scale playing, for I am a firm believer in scales of +all kinds. Chords are an important item of practise. How few students, +uninstructed in their principles, ever play good chords? They either +flap the hand down from the wrist, with a weak, thin tone, or else they +play with stiff, high wrists and arms, making a hard, harsh tone. In +neither case do they use any arm weight. It often takes some time to +make them see the principles of arm weight and finger grasp. + + +QUESTIONS OF PEDALING + +"Another point which does not receive the attention it deserves is +pedaling. Few students have a true idea of the technic of the foot on +the pedal. They seem to know only one way to use the damper pedal, and +that is to come down hard on it, perhaps giving it a thump at the same +time. I give special preparatory exercises for pedal use. Placing the +heel on the floor, and the forepart of the foot on the pedal, they learn +to make one depression with every stroke of the metronome; when this can +be done with ease, then two depressions to the beat, and so on. In this +exercise the pedal is not pressed fully down; on the contrary there is +but a slight depression; this vibration on the pedal has the effect of a +constant shimmering of light upon the tones, which is very beautiful." +Here the artist illustrated most convincingly with a portion of a Chopin +Prelude. "One needs a flexible ankle to use the pedal properly; indeed +the ankle should be as pliant as the wrist. I know of no one else who +uses the pedal in just this fashion; so I feel as though I had +discovered it. + +"Yes, I have numbers of pupils among society people; girls who go out 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 +music study than was formerly the case. They feel its uplifting and +ennobling influence, respect its teachers, and endeavor to do carefully +and well whatever they attempt. + +"While necessary and important, the technical foundation is after all +but a small part compared to the training for rhythmic sense, and for +the knowledge of how to produce good and beautiful results in musical +interpretation." + + + + +XXVI + +EUGENE HEFFLEY + +MODERN TENDENCIES IN PIANO MUSIC + + +Eugene Heffley, the Founder and first President of the MacDowell Club, +of New York, a pianist and teacher of high ideals and most serious aims, +came to New York from Pittsburg, in 1900, at the suggestion of MacDowell +himself. He came to make a place for himself in the profession of the +metropolis, and has proved himself a thoroughly sincere and devoted +teacher, as well as a most inspiring master; he has trained numerous +young artists who are winning success as pianists and teachers. + +Mr. Heffley, while entertaining reverence for the older masters, is very +progressive, always on the alert to discover a new trend of thought, a +new composer, a new gospel in musical art. He did much to make known and +arouse enthusiasm for MacDowell's compositions, when they were as yet +almost unheard of in America. In an equally broad spirit does he +introduce to his students the works of the ultra modern school, Debussy, +Rachmaninoff, Florent Schmitt, Reger, Liadow, Poldini and others. + +"My students like to learn these new things, and the audiences that +gather here in the studio for our recitals, come with the expectation of +being enlightened in regard to new and seldom heard works, and we do not +disappoint them. Florent Schmitt, in spite of his German surname, is +thoroughly French in his manner and idiom, though they are not of the +style of Debussy; he has written some beautiful things for the piano; a +set of short pieces which are little gems. I rank Rachmaninoff 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; Liadow +has composed some beautiful things; but Tschaikowsky, in his piano +music, is too complaining and morbid, as a rule, though he is +occasionally in a more cheerful mood. It seems as though music has said +all it can say along consonant lines, and regular rhythms. We must look +for its advancement in the realm of Dissonance; not only in this but in +the way of variety in Rhythm. How these modern composers vary their +rhythms, sometimes three or four different ones going at once! It is the +unexpected which attracts us in musical and literary art, as well as in +other things: we don't want to know what is coming next; we want to be +surprised. + +"Of the classic literature, I use much Bach, when I can. I used to give +more Mozart than I do now; latterly I have inclined toward Haydn; his +Variations and Sonatas are fine; my students seem to prefer Haydn also. +I thoroughly believe in the value of polyphonic music as a mental study; +it is a necessity. And Bach is such a towering figure, such a rock of +strength in musical art. Bach was essentially a Christian, and this +element of devoutness, of worship, shines out in everything he wrote. I +do not believe that music, without this element of worship, will live. +Tschaikowsky did not have it, nor Berlioz, nor even Mozart, for Mozart +wrote merely from the idea of sheer beauty of sound; in that sense he +was a pagan. I doubt if Strauss has it. One cannot foresee how the +future will judge the music of to-day; what will it think of Schönberg? +I am holding in abeyance any opinion I might form regarding his work +till I have had more time to know it better. I can only say I have +heard his string Quartet three times. The first time I found much in it +to admire; the second time I was profoundly moved by certain parts of +it, and on the third occasion I felt that the work, especially the +latter part, contained some of the most beautiful music I had ever +listened to. + +"In regard to the technical training my pupils receive, it is not so +easy to formulate my manner of teaching. Each pupil is a separate study, +and is different from every other. As you well know, I am not a 'method +man': I have little use for the so-called piano method. To be a true +teacher of the piano is a high calling indeed; for there are many +pedagogues but comparatively few real teachers. I make a distinction +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 +true teacher seeks to draw out what is in the pupil. He strives to find +what the pupil has aptitude for, what he likes to do and can do best. +The teacher must be something of a psychologist, or how can he correctly +judge of the pupil's temperament, his tastes, his mentality, and what to +do for him? + +"When a new pupil comes, I must make a mental appraisement of his +capacity, his likelihood to grasp the subject, his quickness of +intelligence, his health, and so on. No two pupils can be treated in the +same way. One who has little continuity, who has never followed out a +serious line of thought in any direction, must be treated quite +differently from one of an opposite mentality and experience. It would +be useless to give Bach to the first 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 Bach stands for. Such +a course of treatment would only make him hate music; whereas to one of +a more serious and thoughtful turn of mind, you might give any amount of +Bach. + +"A student with a poor touch and undeveloped hand, must go through a +regular course of training. The hand is first placed in position, either +at the keyboard or on a table; the fingers are taught to start with up +movements, as the lifting muscles need special attention. A muscle or a +finger, is either _taut_, _flabby_ or _stiff_; it is the taut condition +I strive for--to make the finger responsive, like a fine steel spring. + +"It is absolutely necessary to establish correct finger action at the +outset; for the sake of finger development, clearness, and accuracy. +When single fingers can make accurate up and down movements, we can put +two fingers together and acquire a perfect legato. I teach three kinds +of legato--the _passage_ legato, the _singing_ legato, and the +_accompanying_ legato; the pupil must master the first before attempting +the others. I advise technic practise with each hand alone, for you must +know I am a firm believer in the study of pure technic outside of +pieces. + +"As the student advances we take up chord playing with different +touches, scales, arpeggios and octaves. I institute quite early what I +call polyphonic technic--one hand doing a different movement or touch +from the other. This works out in scales and arpeggios with a variety of +touches--one hand playing a passage or scale staccato while the other +plays legato, and vice versa." + +Asked if he taught technical material without a book, Mr. Heffley +replied: + +"No, I generally use the Heinrich Germer work, as it covers the ground +very satisfactorily; it is compact, concise, and complete in one volume. +I also use Mertke to some extent. Every form of exercise must be worked +out in all keys; I find the books useful for all kinds of students. I +may add that I use comparatively few études. + +"If the student seems to have a very imperfect rhythmic sense, I use the +metronome, but as sparingly as possible, for I want to establish the +inner sense of rhythm. + +"In regard to memorizing. I give no special advice, but counsel the +student to employ the way which is easiest and most natural to him. +There are three distinct ways of committing music: the Analytic, +Photographic, and Muscular. The Analytic memory picks the passage apart +and learns just how it is constructed, and why; the Photographic memory +can see the veritable picture of the passage before the mind's eye; +while the Muscular memory lets the fingers find the notes. This is not a +very reliable method, but some pupils have to learn in this way. Of +course the Analytical memory is the best; when the pupil has the mental +ability to think music in this way, I strongly recommend it. + +"One point I make much of in my teaching, and that is Tone Color, as a +distinct factor in musical interpretation. It is not merely a question +of using the marks of expression, such as FF, MF, PP, and so on; it is +more subtle than that--it is the _quality_ of tone I seek after. +Sometimes I work with a pupil for several minutes over a single tone, +until he really comprehends what he has to do to produce the right +quality of tone, and can remember how he did it. The pedal helps +wonderfully, for it is truly the 'soul of the piano.' + +"Some pupils have fancy but no imagination, and vice versa. The terms +are not synonymous. Reading poetry helps to develop the aesthetic sense; +pictures help also, and nature. I must necessarily take into account the +pupil's trend of temperament while instructing him. + +"Interpretative expression is not a positive but a relative quantity. +One player's palette is covered with large blotches of color, and he +will paint the picture with bold strokes; another delights in delicate +miniature work. Each will conceive the meaning and interpretation of a +composition through the lens of his own temperament. I endeavor to +stimulate the imagination of the pupil through reading, through +knowledge of art, through a comprehension of the correlation of all the +arts. + +"The musical interpreter has a most difficult, exacting and far-reaching +task to perform. An actor plays one part night after night; a painter +is occupied for days and weeks with a single picture; a composer is +absorbed for the time being on one work only. The pianist, on the other +hand, must, during a recital, sweep over the whole gamut of expression: +the simple, the pastoral, the pathetic, the passionate, the +spiritual--he 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. The pianist must be able to render with appropriate +sentiment the simplicity and fresh naïveté of the earlier classics, +Haydn, Mozart; the grandeur of Bach; the heroic measures of Beethoven; +the morbid elegance of Chopin; the romanticism of Schumann; the +magnificent splendor of Liszt. + +"In choosing musical food for my pupils, I strive to keep away from the +beaten track of the hackneyed. The mistake made by many teachers is to +give far too difficult music. Why should I teach an 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 time? +The Scherzo Op. 31, of Chopin, and the Liszt Rhapsodies he can hear in +the concert room, where he can become familiar with most of the famous +piano compositions. Why should he not learn to know many less hackneyed +pieces, which do not so frequently appear on concert programs? + +"Herein lies one of the great opportunities for the broad-minded +teacher--to be individual in his work. According to his progressive +individuality will his work be valued." + + + + +XXVII + +GERMAINE SCHNITZER + +MODERN METHODS IN PIANO STUDY + + +"It is difficult to define such a comprehensive term as technic, for it +means so much," remarked Germaine Schnitzer the French pianist to me one +day, when we were discussing pianistic problems. "There is no special +sort or method of technic that will do for all players, for every +mentality is different; every hand is peculiar to itself, and different +from every other. Not only is each player individual in this particular, +but one's right hand may differ from one's left; therefore each hand may +require separate treatment. + +"An artistic technic can be acquired only by those who have an aptitude +for it, plus the willingness to undertake the necessary drudgery; +practise alone, no matter how arduous, is not sufficient. Technic is +evolved from thought, from hearing great music, from much listening to +great players; intent listening to one's own playing, and to the effects +one strives to make. It is often said that the pianist cannot easily +judge of the tonal effects he is producing, as he is too near the +instrument. With me this is not the case. My hearing is so acute that I +know the exact dynamics of every tone, every effect of light and shade; +thus I do not have to stand at a distance, as the painter does, even if +I could do so, in order to criticize my work, for I can do this +satisfactorily 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 with quite a simple woman +teacher. We lived near Paris, and my elder sister was then studying with +Raoul Pugno; she was a good student and practised industriously. 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 perched upon +the stool, my feet, too short to reach the floor, rested on the +extension pedal box which I always carried around with me, I went +bravely through some Bach Inventions. When I finished, Pugno regarded me +with interest. He said he would teach me; told me to prepare some more +Inventions, some Czerny studies and the Mendelssohn Capriccio, Op. 22, +and come to him in four weeks. Needless to say, I knew every note of +these compositions by heart when I took my second lesson. Soon I was +bidden to come to him every fortnight, then every week, and finally he +gave me two lessons a week. + +"For the first five years of my musical experience, I simply played the +piano. I played everything--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 for serious study; then I really began +to practise in earnest. My master took more and more interest in my +progress and career: he was at pains to explain the meaning of music to +me--the ideas of the composers. Many fashionable people took lessons of +him, for to study with Pugno had become a fad; but he called me his only +pupil, saying that I alone understood him. I can truly say he was my +musical father; to him I owe everything. We were neighbors in a suburb +of Paris, as my parents' home adjoined his; we saw a great deal of him +and we made music together part of every day. When he toured in America +and other countries, he wrote me frequently; I could show you many +letters, for I have preserved a large number--letters filled with +beautiful and exalted thoughts, expressed in noble and poetic language. +They show that Pugno possessed a most refined, superior mind, and was +truly a great artist. + +"I studied with Pugno ten years. At the end of that time he wished me to +play for Emil Saur. Saur was delighted with my work, and was anxious to +teach me certain points. From him I acquired the principles of touch +advocated by his master, Nicholas Rubinstein. These I mastered in three +months' time, or I might say in two lessons. + +"According to Nicholas Rubinstein, the keys are not to be struck with +high finger action, nor is the direct end of the finger used. The point +of contact is rather just back of the tip, between that and the ball of +the finger. Furthermore we do not simply strive for plain legato touch. +The old instruction books tell us that legato must be learned first, and +is the most difficult touch to acquire. But legato does not bring the +best results in rapid passages, for it does not impart sufficient +clarity. In the modern idea something more crisp, scintillating and +brilliant is needed. So we use a half staccato touch. The tones, when +separated a hair'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 caressing the keys--feeling as it +were for the quality I want; I think 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 out a beautiful tone, +even if it seems to be only a battered tin pan. + + +TONE WHICH VIBRATES THROUGH THE WHOLE BODY + +"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 of the +piano. Of course I have worked out many of these principles for myself; +they have not been 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 MEMORIZING + +"In regard to memorizing piano music I have no set method. The music +comes to me I know not how. After a period of deep concentration, of +intent listening, it is mine, a permanent possession. You say +Leschetizky advises his pupils to learn a small portion, two or four +measures, each hand alone and away from the piano. Other 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 sufficiently to play +it, I know it--every note of it. When I play a concerto with orchestra I +am not only absolutely sure of the piano part, but I also know each note +that the other instruments play. Of course I am listening intently to +the piano and to the whole orchestra during a performance; if I allowed +myself to think of anything else, I should be lost. This absolute +concentration is what conquers all difficulties. + + +ABSTRACT TECHNIC + +"About practising technic for itself alone: this will not be necessary +when once the principles of technic are mastered. I, at least, do not +need to do so. I make, however, various technical exercises out of all +difficult passages 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 they are seldom taken out of their boxes. What I do is to +think the pieces through and do mental work with them, and for this I +must be quiet and by myself. An hour's actual playing at the piano each +day is sufficient to prepare for a recital. + +"It must not be thought that I do not study very seriously. I do not +work less than six hours a day; if on any day I fail to secure this +amount of time, I make it up at the earliest moment. During the summer +months, when I am preparing new programs for the next season, I work +very hard. As I said, I take the difficult passages of a composition and +make the minutest study of them in every detail, making all kinds of +technical exercises out of a knotty section, sometimes playing it in +forty or fifty different ways. For example, take the little piece out of +Schumann's _Carneval_, called 'The Reconnaissance.' That needed study. I +gave three solid days to it; that means from nine to twelve in the +morning, and from one to five in the afternoon. At the end of that time +I knew it perfectly and was satisfied with it. From that day to this I +have never had to give a thought to that number, for I am confident I +know it utterly. I have never had an accident to that or to any of my +pieces when playing in public. In my opinion a pianist has a more +difficult task to accomplish than any other artist. The singer has to +sing only one note at a time; the violinist 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, has +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 of +any kind. + +"An artist playing in London, Paris or New York--I class these cities +together--may play about the same sort of programs in each. The +selections will not be too heavy in character. In Madrid or Vienna the +works may be even more brilliant. It is Berlin that demands heavy, solid +meat. I play Bach there, Beethoven and Brahms. It is a severe test to +play in Berlin and win success. + +"I have made several tours in America. This is a wonderful country. I +don't believe you Americans realize what a great country you 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 just. All these things impress a foreign artist--the +love for music that is here, the knowledge of it, and the enthusiasm for +it. A worthy artist can make a name and success in America more quickly +and surely than in any country in the world. + +"For one thing America is one united country from coast to coast, so it +is much easier getting about here than in Europe. For another 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 be found anywhere. + +"In Europe a musical career offers few advantages. People often ask my +advice about making a career over there, and I try to dissuade 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. Of course there are cases of phenomenal +success, but they are exceptions to the general rule. + +"People go to Europe to get atmosphere (stimmung)--that much abused +term! I could tell them they make their own atmosphere wherever they +are. I have lived in music all my life, but I can say I find musical +atmosphere right here in America. If I listen to the Boston Symphony +Orchestra, or to the Kneisel Quartet, when these organizations are +giving an incomparable performance of some masterpiece, I am entirely +wrapt up in the music; am I not then in a musical atmosphere? Or if I +hear a performance of a Wagner opera at the Metropolitan, where Wagner +is given better even than in Bayreuth, am I not also in a musical +atmosphere? To be sure, if I am in Bayreuth I may see some reminiscences +of Wagner the man, or if I am in Vienna I can visit the graves of +Beethoven and Schubert. But these facts of themselves do not create a +musical atmosphere. + +"You in America can well rejoice over your great country, your fine +teachers and musicians and your musical growth. After a while you may be +the most musical nation in the world." + + + + +XXVIII + +OSSIP GABRILOWITSCH + +CHARACTERISTIC TOUCH ON THE PIANO + + +Arthur Hochman, Russian pianist and composer, once remarked to me, in +reference to the quality of tone and variety of tonal effects produced +by the various artists now before the public: + +"For me there is one pianist who stands above them all--his name is +Gabrilowitsch." + +The quality of tone which this rare artist draws from his instrument, is +unforgettable. I asked him one morning, when he was kind enough to give +me the opportunity for a quiet chat, how he produced this luscious +singing quality of tone. + +"A beautiful tone? Ah, that is difficult to describe, whether in one +hour or in many hours. It is first a matter of experiment, of +individuality, then of experience and memory. We listen and create the +tone, modify it until it expresses our ideal, then we try to remember +how we did it. + +"I cannot say that I always produce a beautiful tone; I try to produce +a characteristic tone, but sometimes it may not be beautiful: there are +many times when it may be anything but that. I do not think there can be +any fixed rule or method in tone production, because people and hands +are so different. What does for one will not do for another. Some +players find it easier to play with high wrist, some with low. Some can +curve their fingers, while others straighten them out. There are of +course a few foundation principles, and one is that arms and wrists must +be relaxed. Fingers must often be loose also, but not at the nail joint; +that must always be firm. I advise adopting the position of hand which +is most comfortable and convenient. In fact all forms of hand position +can be used, if for a right purpose, so long as the condition is never +cramped or stiff. I permit either a high or low position of the wrist, +so long as the tone is good. As I said, the nail joint must remain firm, +and never be crushed under by the weight of powerful chords, as is apt +to be the case with young players whose hands are weak and delicate. + +[Illustration: TO MISS HARRIETTE BROWER, OSSIP GABRILOWITSCH] + + +TECHNICAL STUDY + +"Yes, I am certainly in favor of technical practise outside of pieces. +There must be scale and arpeggio study, in which the metronome can be +used. But I believe in striving to make even technical exercises of +musical value. If scales are played they should be performed with a +beautiful quality and variety of tone; if one attempts a Czerny étude, +it should be played with as much care and finish as a Beethoven sonata. +Bring out all the musical qualities of the étude. Do not say, 'I'll play +this measure sixteen times, and then I'm done with it.' Do nothing for +mechanical ends merely, but everything from a musical standpoint. Yes, I +give some Czerny to my students; not many études however. I prefer +Chopin and Rubinstein. There is a set of six Rubinstein Studies which I +use, including the Staccato Étude. + +"In regard to technical forms and material, each player may need a +different tonic. I have found many useful things in a work by your own +Dr. William Mason, _Touch and Technic_. I have used this to a +considerable extent. To my knowledge he was the first to illustrate the +principle of weight, which is now pretty generally accepted here as +well as in Europe. + +"An ancient and famous philosopher, Seneca, is said to have remarked +that by the time a man reaches the age of twenty-five, he should know +enough to be his own physician, or he is a fool. We might apply this +idea to the pianist. After studying the piano for a number of years he +should be able to discover what sort of technical exercises are most +beneficial; 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 of +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 they will fit the hands of others. I encourage +my pupils to invent their own technical exercises. They have often done +so with considerable success, and find much more pleasure in them than +in those made by others. + +"Two of the most important principles in piano playing are: full, round, +exact tone; distinct phrasing. The most common fault is +indistinctness--slurring over or leaving out notes. Clearness in piano +playing is absolutely essential. If an actor essays the rôle of Hamlet, +he must first of all speak distinctly and make himself clearly +understood; otherwise all his study and characterization are in vain. +The pianist must likewise make himself understood; he therefore must +enunciate clearly. + + +VELOCITY + +"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, without 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 +just relation to each other. As an illustration of this fact, there is a +little Gavotte 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 distorted it I could hardly recognize +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 own tempo exactly and showed her that while it did not differ +so greatly from hers, yet my playing sounded slower because notes and +phrasing were all clear, and everything rightly balanced. + + +POWER + +"How do I gain power? Power does not depend on the size of the hand or +arm; for persons of quite small physique have enough of it to play with +the necessary effect. Power is a nervous force, and of course demands +that arms and wrists be relaxed. The fingers must 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 joint must remain firm under all +circumstances. It is so easy to forget this; one must be looking after +it all the time. + + +MEMORIZING + +"In regard to memorizing, I have no special rule or method. Committing +to memory seems to come of its own accord. Some pieces are comparatively +easy to learn by heart; others, like a Bach fugue, require hard work and +close analysis. The surest way to learn a difficult composition, is to +write it out from memory. There is a great deal of benefit in that. If +you want to remember the name of a person or a place, you write it down. +When the eye sees it, the mind retains a much more vivid impression. +This is visual memory. When I play with orchestra, I of course know +every note the orchestra has to play as well as my own part. It is a +much greater task to write out a score from memory than a piano solo, +yet it is the surest way to fix the composition in mind. I find that +compositions I learned in early days are never forgotten, they are +always with me, while the later pieces have to be constantly looked +after. This is doubtless a general experience, as early impressions are +most enduring. + +"An orchestral conductor should know the works he conducts so thoroughly +that he need not have the score before him. I have done considerable +conducting the past few years. Last season I gave a series of historical +recitals, tracing the growth of the piano concerto, from Mozart down to +the present. I played nineteen works in all, finishing with the +Rachmaninoff Concerto." + +Mr. Gabrilowitsch has entirely given up teaching, and devotes his time +to recital and concert, conducting, and composing. + + + + +HANS VON BÜLOW AS TEACHER AND INTERPRETER + + +Those who heard Hans von Bülow in recital during his American tour, in +1876, listened to piano playing that was at once learned and convincing. +A few years before, in 1872, Rubinstein had come and conquered. The +torrential splendor of his pianism, his mighty crescendos and whispering +diminuendos, his marvelous variety of tone--all were in the nature of a +revelation; his personal magnetism carried everything before it. +American audiences were at his feet. + +[Illustration: HANS VON BÜLOW] + +In Von Bülow was found a player of quite a different 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 expression to be found in the work. From 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 to burn and +scintillate under those wonderful hands. After hearing Von Bülow, on +the other hand, the impulse was to hasten to the instrument and +reproduce what had just seemed so clear and logical, so simple and +attainable. It did not seem to be such a difficult thing to play the +piano--like _that_! It was as though he had said: "Any of you can do +what I am doing, if you will give the same amount of time and study to +it that I have done. Listen and I will teach you!" + +Von Bülow was a profound student of the works of Beethoven; his edition +of the sonatas is noted for recondite learning, clearness and exactness +in the smallest details. Through his recitals in America he did much to +make these works better known and understood. Nor did he neglect Chopin, +and though his readings of the music of the great Pole may have lacked +in sensuous beauty of touch and tone, their interpretation was always +sane, healthy, and beautiful. + +Toward the end of a season during the eighties, it was announced that +Von Bülow would come to Berlin and teach an artist class in the +Klindworth Conservatory. This was an unusual opportunity to obtain +lessons from so famous a musician and pedagogue, and about twenty +pianists were enrolled for the class. A few of these came with the +master from Frankfort, where he was then located. + +Carl Klindworth, pianist, teacher, critic, editor of Chopin and +Beethoven, was then the Director of the school. The two men were close +friends, which is proved by the fact that Von Bülow was willing to +recommend the Klindworth Edition of Beethoven, 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 Frankfort, and come to Berlin, in order to +shed the luster of his name and fame upon the Klindworth school--the +youngest of the many musical institutions of that music-ridden, +music-saturated capital. + + * * * * * + +It was a bright May morning when the Director entered the music-room +with his guest, and presented him to the class. They saw 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 so many industrious +students. His movements, as he looked around the room, were quick and +alert; he seemed to see everything at once, and the students saw that +nothing could escape that active mentality. + +The class met four days in each week, and the lessons continued from +nine in the morning until well on toward one o'clock. It was announced +that only the works of Brahms, Raff, Mendelssohn 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 helpful thing about these hours spent with the great pedagogue +was the running fire of comment and suggestion regarding technic, +interpretation, and music and musicians in general. Von Bülow spoke in +rapid, nervous fashion, with a mixture of German and English, often +repeating in the latter tongue what he had said in the former, out of +consideration for the Americans and English present. + +In teaching, Von Bülow required the same qualities which were so patent +in his playing. Clearness of touch, exactness in phrasing and fingering +were the first requirements; the delivery of the composer's idea must be +just as he had indicated it--no liberties with the text were ever +permitted. He was so honest, so upright in his attitude toward the +makers of good 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 +expression which would elucidate the intentions of the composer. +Everything he said or did showed his intellectual grasp of the subject; +and he looked for some of the same sort of intelligence on the part of +the student. A failure in this respect, an inability to apprehend at +once the ideas he endeavored to convey, would annoy the sensitive and +nervous little Doctor; he would become impatient, sarcastic and begin to +pace the floor with hasty strides. When in this state he could see +little that was worthy in the student's performance, for 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, as of 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 passages for and with the student, +but never played an entire composition. + +One of the most remarkable things about this eccentric man was his +prodigious memory. Nearly every work for piano which could be mentioned +he knew and could play from memory. He often expressed the opinion that +no pianist could be considered an artist unless he or she could play at +least two hundred pieces by heart. He, of course, more than fulfilled +this requirement, not only for piano but for orchestral music. As +conductor of the famous Meiningen orchestra, he directed every work +given without a note of score before him--considered a great feat in +those days. He was a ceaseless worker, and his eminence in the world of +music was more largely due to unremitting labor than to genius. + +From the many suggestions to the Berlin class, the following have been +culled. + +"To play correctly is of the first importance; to play beautifully is +the second requirement. A healthy touch is the main thing. Some people +play the piano as if their fingers had _migrane_ and their wrists were +rheumatic. Do not play on the sides of the finger nor with a sideways +stroke, for then the touch will be weak and uncertain. + +"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; to be one's own critic is the most +difficult of all. + +"When a new 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 but on clarity. What is not +clear cannot scintillate nor sparkle. Make use of your strongest fingers +in brilliant passages, leaving out the fourth when possible. A scale to +be brilliant and powerful must not be too rapid. Every note must be +round and full and not too legato--rather a mezzo legato--so that single +tones, played hands together, shall sound like octaves. One of the most +difficult things in rhythm, is to play passages where two notes +alternate with triplets. Scales may be practised in this way alternating +three notes with two. + +"We must make things sound well--agreeably, in a way to be admired. A +seemingly discordant passage can be made to sound well by ingeniously +seeking out the best that is in it and holding that up in the most +favorable light. Practise dissonant chords until they please the ear in +spite of their sharpness. Think of the instruments of the orchestra and +their different qualities of tone, and try to imitate them on the piano. +Think of every octave on the piano as having a different color; then +shade and color your playing. (_Also bitte coloriren_)!" + +If Bülow's musical trinity, Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms, had a fourth +divinity added, it would surely have been Liszt. The first day's program +contained chiefly works by the Hungarian master; among them _Au bord +d'une Source_, Scherzo and March, and the Ballades. The player who +rendered the Scherzo was advised to practise octaves with light, +flexible wrist; the Kullak Octave School was recommended, especially the +third book; the other books could be read through, practising whatever +seemed difficult and passing over what was easy. Of the Ballades the +first was termed more popular, the second finer and more earnest--though +neither makes very much noise. + +The _Annees de Pelerinage_ received much attention. Among the pieces +played were, _Les Cloches_, _Chasse Neige_, _Eclogue_, _Cloches de +Geneva_, _Eroica_, _Feux Follets_ and _Ma__zeppa_. Also the big +Polonaise in E, the two Études, _Waldesrauschen_ and _Gnomenreigen_; the +Mazourka, Valse Impromptu, and the first Étude, of which last he +remarked: "You can all play this; thirty years have passed since it was +composed and people are only just finding out 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, 'What an unmusical fellow Liszt was, to be sure, +to write like that!' + +"Exactness in everything is of the greatest importance," he was fond of +saying. "We must make the piano speak. As in speaking we use a separate +movement of the lips for each word, so in certain kinds of melody +playing, the hand is taken up after each note. Then, too, we cannot make +the piano speak without very careful use of the pedals." + +The Mazourka of Liszt was recommended as one of the most delightful of +his lighter pieces. The _Waldesrauschen_ also, was termed charming, an +excellent concert number. "Begin the first figure somewhat louder and +slightly slower, then increase the movement and subdue the tone. +_Everything which_ _is to be played softly should be practised forte."_ + +Of Joachim Raff the Suite Op. 91 held the most important place. Each +number received minute attention, the Giga being played by Ethelbert +Nevin. The _Metamorphosen_ received a hearing, also the Valse Caprice, +Op. 116, of which the master was particular about the staccato left hand +against the legato right. Then came the Scherzo Op. 74, the Valse +Caprice and the Polka, from Suite Op. 71. Von Bülow described the little +group of notes in left hand of middle section as a place where the +dancers made an unexpected slip on the floor, and suggested it be +somewhat emphasized. "We must make this little witticism," he said, as +he illustrated the passage at the piano. + +"Raff showed himself a pupil of Mendelssohn in his earlier compositions; +his symphonies will find more appreciation in the coming century--which +cannot be said of the Ocean Symphony, for instance." + +Of Mendelssohn the Capriccios Op. 5 and 22 were played, also the Prelude +and Fugue in E. Von Bülow deplored the neglect which was overtaking the +works of Mendelssohn, and spoke of the many beauties of his piano +compositions. "There should be no sentimentality about the playing of +Mendelssohn's music," he said; "the notes speak for themselves. + +"The return to a theme, in every song or instrumental work of his is +particularly to be noticed, for it is always interesting; this Fugue in +E should begin as though with the softest register of the organ." + +The subject of Brahms has been deferred only that it may be spoken of as +a whole. His music was the theme of the second, and a number of the +following lessons. Bülow was a close friend of the Hamburg master, and +kept in touch with him while in Berlin. One morning he came in with a +beaming face, holding up a sheet of music paper in Beethoven's +handwriting, which Brahms had discovered and forwarded to him. It seemed +that nothing could have given Bülow greater pleasure than to receive +this relic. + +[Illustration: DR. WILLIAM MASON] + +The first work taken up in class was Brahms' Variations on a Handel +theme. Von Bülow was in perfect sympathy with this noble work of Brahms +and illumined many passages with clear explanations. He was very exact +about the phrasing, "What cannot be sung in one breath cannot be +played in one breath," he said; "many composers have their own terms for +expression and interpretation; Brahms is very exact in these +points--next to him comes Mendelssohn. Beethoven not at all careful +about markings and Schumann extremely careless. Brahms, Beethoven, and +Wagner have the right to use their own terms. Brahms frequently uses the +word _sostenuto_ where others would use _ritardando_." + +Of the Clavier Stücke, Op. 76, Von Bülow said: "The Capriccio, No. 1 +must not be taken too fast. First page is merely a prelude, the story +begins at the second page. How wonderfully is this melody formed, so +original yet so regular. Compare it with a Bach gigue. Remember, andante +does not mean dragging (_schleppando_), it means going (_gehend_)." To +the player who gave the Capriccio, No. 5 he said: "You play that as if +it were a Tarantelle of Stephan Heller's. Agitation in piano playing +must be carefully thought out; the natural sort will not do at all. We +do not want _blind_ agitation, but _seeing_ agitation (_aufregung_). A +diminuendo of several measures should be divided into stations, one each +for F, MF, M, P, and PP. Visit the Zoological Gardens, where you can +learn much about legato and staccato from the kangaroos." + +The Ballades were taken up in these lessons, and the light thrown upon +their poetical content was often a revelation. The gloomy character of +the _Edward Ballade_, Op. 10, No. 1, the source of the Scottish poem, +the poetic story, were dwelt upon. The opening of this first Ballade is +sad, sinister and mysterious, like the old Scotch story. The master +insisted on great smoothness in playing it--the chords to sound like +muffled but throbbing heartbeats. A strong climax is worked up on the +second page, which dies away on the third to a _pianissimo_ of utter +despair. From the middle of this page on to the end, the descending +chords and octaves were likened to ghostly footsteps, while the broken +triplets in the left hand accompaniment seem to indicate drops of blood. + +The third Ballade also received an illumination from Von Bülow. This is +a vivid tone picture, though without motto or verse. Starting with those +fateful fifths in the bass, it moves over two pages fitfully gloomy and +gay, till at the end of the second page a descending passage leads to +three chords so full of grim despair as to impart the atmosphere of a +dungeon. The player was hastily turning the leaf. "Stop!" cried the +excited voice of the master, who had been pacing restlessly up and down, +and 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 make the contrast more impressive. There is more music in +this little piece than in whole symphonies by some of the modern +composers." + +Both Rhapsodies Op. 79 were played; the second, he said, has parts as +passionate as anything in the _Götterdammerung_. Both are fine and +interesting works. + +Again and again the players were counseled to make everything sound +well. Some intervals, fourths for instance, are harsh; make them as mild +as possible. For one can play correctly, but horribly! Some staccatos +should be shaken out of the sleeve as it were. + +The first time a great work is heard there is so much to occupy 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 soften 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 Bülow lessons, the desire has been to +convey some of the hints and remarks concerning the music and its +interpretation. The master's fleeting sentences were hurriedly jotted +down during the lessons, with no thought of their ever being seen except +by the owner. But as Bülow's fame as a teacher became so great, these +brief notes may now be of some value to both teacher and student. + +If it were only possible to create a picture of that Berlin music-room, +with its long windows opening out to a green garden--the May sunshine +streaming in; the two grand pianos in the center, a row of anxious, +absorbed students about the edge of 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 instruction. This +mental picture is the lifelong possession of each of those players who +were so fortunate as to be present at the sessions. It can safely be +affirmed, I think, that the principles of artistic rectitude, of +exactness and thorough musicianship which were there inculcated, ever +remained with the members of that class, as a constant incentive and +inspiration. + + + + +HINTS ON INTERPRETATION FROM TWO AMERICAN TEACHERS + +WILLIAM H. SHERWOOD AND DR. WILLIAM MASON + + +WILLIAM H. SHERWOOD + +While a young student the opportunity came to attend a Summer Music +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 magnet who attracted +pianists and teachers from the four corners of the land. + +Perhaps the most intimate way to come in touch with a famous teacher, is +to study with him during the summer months, in some quiet, retired spot. +Here the stress of the metropolis, 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 day, +or of each week, is given over to relaxation, to be spent in the open, +with friends and pupils. + +It was under such conditions that I first met Mr. 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 impressed me as being especially mellow and fine. There was +deep feeling as well as poetry in his reading of both the Chromatic +Fantaisie of Bach, and the Chopin Fantaisie in F minor which were on the +program. This opinion was strengthened at each subsequent hearing, for +he gave frequent recitals and concerts during the season. + +My summer study with Mr. Sherwood consisted mainly in gaining ideas on +the interpretation of various pieces. Many of these ideas seem to me +beautiful and inspiring, and I will set them down as fully as I can from +the brief notes jotted down at the time. I trust I may be pardoned a few +personal references, which are sometimes necessary to explain the +situation. + +With advanced students Mr. Sherwood gave great attention to tone study +and interpretation, even from the first lesson. He laid much stress on +the use of slow, gentle motions in practise and in playing; on the +spiritualization of the tones, of getting behind the notes to find the +composer's meaning. He had, perhaps, a more poetic conception of piano +playing than any master I have known, and was able to impart these ideas +in clear and simple language. + +The first composition considered was Schumann's Nachtstück, the fourth +of the set. He had a peculiar way of turning the hand on the middle +finger, as on a pivot, for the extended chords, at the same time raising +the whole outer side of the hand, so that the fifth finger should be +able to play the upper melody notes round and full. In the middle +section he desired great tenderness and sweetness of tone. "There are +several dissonances in this part," he said, "and they ought to be +somewhat accented--suspensions I might call them. In Bach and Handel's +time, the rules of composition were very strict--no suspensions were +allowed; so they were indicated where it was not permitted to write +them." + +Chopin's étude in sixths came up for analysis. "This study needs a very +easy, quiet, limpid touch--the motions all gliding and sliding rather +than pushing and forceful. I would advise playing it at first +_pianissimo_; the wrist held rather low, the knuckles somewhat high, +and the fingers straightened. In preparation for each pair of notes +raise the fingers and let them down--not with a hard brittle touch, if I +may use the word, but with a soft, velvety one. A composition like this +needs to be idealized, spiritualized, taken out of everyday life. Take, +for instance, the Impromptu Op. 36, Chopin; the first part of it is +something like this étude, soft, undulating--smooth as oil. There is +something very uncommon, spiritual, heavenly, about the first page of +that Impromptu--very little of the earth, earthy. The second page is in +sharp contrast to the first, it comes right down to the hard, everyday +business of life--it is full of harsh, sharp tones. Well, the idea of +that first page we get in this study in sixths. I don't want the bare +tones that stand there on the printed page; I want them +spiritualized--that is what reveals the artist. In the left hand the +first note should have a clear, brittle accent, with firm fifth finger, +and the double sixths played with the creeping, clinging movement I have +indicated. If I should practise this étude for half an hour, you might +be surprised at the effects I could produce. Perhaps it might take ten +hours, but in the end I am confident I could produce this floating, +undulating effect. 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 of sixths in each measure; the effect was wonderful and +beautiful. + +"The Chopin Octave study, number 22, needs firm, quiet touch, elevating +the wrist for black keys (as Kullak explains) and depressing it for +white keys. The hand must be well arched, the end fingers firm and +strong, and the touch very pressing, clinging, and grasping. You always +want to cling whenever 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 +out. The thumb needs a special training to enable it to creep and slide +from one key to another with snake-like movements. + +"Rubinstein's Barcarolle in G major. The thirds on the first page are +very soft and gentle. I make a good deal of extra motion with these +thirds, raising the fingers quite high and letting them fall gently on +the keys. The idea of the first page of this barcarolle is one of utter +quietness, colorlessness; one is alone on the water; the evening is +quiet and still; not a sound breaks the hushed silence. The delicate +tracery of thirds should be very soft, thin--like an airy cloud. The +left hand is soft too, but the first beat should be slightly accented, +the second not; the first is positive, the second negative. Herein lies +the idea of the barcarolle, the ebb and flow, the undulation of each +measure. + +"Begin the first measure very softly, the second measure a trifle +louder, the third louder still, the fourth falling off again. As you +stand on the shore and watch the great waves coming in, you see some +that are higher and larger than others; so it is here. The concluding +passage in sixths should diminish--like a little puff of vapor that ends +in--nothing. On the second page we come upon something more positive; +here is a tangible voice speaking to us. The melody should stand out +clear, broad, beautiful; the accompanying chords should preserve the +same ebb and flow, the advancing and receding wave-like movement. The +exaggerated movement I spoke of a moment ago, I use in many ways. Any +one can hit the piano, with 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, not in haste to +get there, but with confidence of reaching the key in time. If you throw +a stone up in the air it will presently fall back 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 _pianissimo_--in power controlled, held +back, restrained." + +Taking up the Toccatina of Rheinberger, Mr. Sherwood said: "I like this +piece, there is good honest work in it; it is very effective, and most +excellent practise. You ought to play this every day of 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 two parts and slightly accent each. Though your temperament +is more at home in the music of Chopin and Schumann, I recommend +especially music of this sort, and also the music of Bach; these give +solidity and strength to your conception of musical ideas." + +We went through the Raff Suite, Op. 94. "The Preludio is very good," he +said; "I like it. The Menuetto is, musically, the least strong of any of +the numbers, but it has a certain elegance, and is the most popular of +them all. The Romanza is a great favorite of mine, it is very graceful, +flowing and melodious. The concluding Fugue is a fine number; you see +how the theme is carried from one hand to the other, all twisted about, +in a way old Bach and Handel never thought of doing. I consider this +Raff fugue one of the best examples of modern fugue writing." + +Mr. Sherwood was fond of giving students the Josef Wieniawski Valse, for +brilliancy. "There are many fine effects which can be made in this +piece; one can take liberties with it--the more imagination you have the +better it will go. I might call it a _stylish_ piece; take the Prelude +as capriciously as you like; put all the effect you can into it. The +Valse proper begins in a very pompous style, with right hand very +staccato; all is exceedingly coquettish. On the fifth page you see it is +marked _amoroso_, but after eight measures the young man gives the whole +thing away to his father! The beginning of the sixth page is very +_piano_ and light--it is nothing more than a breath of smoke, an airy +nothing. But at the _poco piu lento_, there is an undercurrent of +reality; the two parts are going at the same time--the hard, earthly +part, with accents, and the spiritual, thin as air. To realize these +qualities in playing is the very idealization of technic." + +The Chopin-Liszt _Maiden's Wish_, was next considered. "The theme here +is often overlaid and encrusted with the delicate lace-like arabesques +that seek to hide it; but it must be found and brought out. There is so +much in being able to find what is hidden behind the notes. You must get +an insight into the inner idea; must feel it. This is not technic, not +method even; it is the spiritualization of playing. There are pieces +that will sound well if the notes only are played, like the little F +minor Moment Musicale of Schubert; yet even in this there is much behind +the notes, which, if brought out, will make quite another thing of the +piece. + +"Schumann's Andante, for two pianos, should have a very tender, +caressing touch for the theme. The place where the four-sixteenths +occur, which make rather a square effect, can be softened down. On the +second page, be sure and do not accent the grace notes; let the accent +come on the fifth finger every time. For the variation containing +chords, use the grasping touch, which might be described as a certain +indrawing of force in the end of the finger, as though taking a long +breath. The variation in triplets seems at first sight almost a +caricature, a burlesque on the theme, but I don't think that Schumann +had any such idea. On 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 out, growing fainter and fainter to the end. + +"The G minor Ballade, of Chopin, begins slowly, with much dignity. The +opening melody is one of sadness, almost gloom. The _a tempo_ on second +page contains four parts going on at the same time. At the _piu forte,_ +care must be taken to have the outer side of the hand well raised, and +moved from the wrist. The idea here is one of great agitation and +unrest. The fifth page needs great 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 _animato_ does a restful +feeling come. This should be played lightly and delicately, the left +hand giving the rhythm. The _presto_ 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. Begin the +final double runs slowly and increase in speed and tone. So, too, with +the octaves, begin slowly and increase in power and fire." + +Numerous other compositions were analyzed, but the ones already quoted +stand out in memory, and give some idea of Mr. Sherwood's manner of +teaching. + + +DR. WILLIAM MASON + +Years after the foregoing experiences I had the privilege of doing some +work with the dean of all American piano masters, Dr. William Mason. I +had spent several years in European study, with Scharwenka, Klindworth +and von Bülow, and had returned to my own land to join its teaching and +playing force. My time soon became so largely occupied with teaching +that I feared my playing would be entirely pushed to the wall unless I +were under the guidance of some master. With this thought in mind, I +presented myself to Dr. Mason. + +"You have studied with Sherwood," he began. "He has excellent ideas of +touch and technic. Some of these ideas came from me, though I don't wish +to claim too much in the matter. Sherwood has the true piano touch. Very +few pianists have it; Klindworth did not have it, nor von Bülow, nor +even Liszt, entirely, for he as well as the others, sought for a more +orchestral manner of playing. Sherwood has this touch; Tausig had it, +and de Pachmann and Rubinstein most of all. It is not taught in Germany +as it should be. The best American teachers are far ahead in this +respect; in a few years the Europeans will come to us to learn these +things." (This was Sherwood's idea also.) + +The first composition played to Dr. Mason was the G minor Rhapsodie of +Brahms, with which, as it happened, he was unfamiliar. I played the +entire piece through without interruption, and he seemed pleased. + +"You have a beautiful tone--a really beautiful tone, and you play very +artistically; much of this must be natural to you, you could not have +acquired it. You also have an excellently trained hand. I may say that +in my forty years of teaching I have never had any one come to me with a +better position, or more natural and normal condition. Now, what do you +think I can do for you?" + +I explained that I needed some new ideas in my teaching, and wished to +keep up my own practise. + +"I will explain my theories to you, and we will then study some +compositions together. + +"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 out +the secret. + +"Practise slowly and in sections. Not only must all the notes be there, +they must be dwelt on. There must be a firm and rock-like basis for +piano playing; such a foundation can only be laid by patient and +persevering slow practise. If the player has not the control over his +fingers to play a piece slowly, he certainly cannot play it fast. Slow +practise--one difficulty at a time--one hand at a time; Napoleon's +tactics, 'one division at a time,' applies to music study. Above all do +not hurry in fugue playing, a universal fault. Bach 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 up 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 whole piece through at once. + +"Just as in life every experience of great joy or great grief leaves one +better or more callous, so every time you practise you have either +advanced or gone back. Right playing, 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. +Be in earnest; put your heart, your whole soul, your whole self into +your playing." + +Among other pieces we studied together was the Schumann sonata in F +minor, the _Eusebius Sonata_--a glorious work! In the opening movement +the left hand should be very serious and ponderous, with the hand and +fingers held close to the keys; using arm weight. The melody in octaves +in right hand is beseeching, pleading, imploring. In many places the +touch is very elastic. The second movement begins very softly, as though +one heard something faintly in the distance, and did not quite know what +it was, but thought it might be music. 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 vim and go; the chords +with the utmost freedom and dash. One must use the "letting-go" +principle, which Paderewski has to perfection. + +We next took up the Grieg Concerto; the Peter's edition of this work has +been corrected by the composer. At the first lesson, Dr. Mason +accompanied on a second piano, and seemed pleased with the work I had +done, making no corrections, except to suggest a somewhat quicker tempo. +"Not 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 out and take his chance in life, he holds back +and is afraid, while another with more courage, steps in and takes away +his opportunity." + +We discussed the slow movement at great length. "Note in this movement +the slow, dreamy effect 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 octave passage +cadenza should be practised in rhythmical groups, and the final Andante +must be fast." + +The third time we played the concerto I had it well in hand. Dr. Mason +accompanied as only he could do, and at the close praised me on the way +I had worked it up, and the poetry and fire I was able to put into it. +Who could help playing with fire and enthusiasm when led by such a +master! + +Dr. Mason was a most inspiring teacher, quick to note and praise what +was good, and equally vigilant in correcting what was blameworthy. His +criticisms were of the utmost value, for he had such wide experience, +and such a large acquaintance with music and musicians. Best of all he +was a true artist, always ready to demonstrate his art for the benefit +of the pupil, always encouraging, always inspiring. + + + + +VITAL POINTS IN PIANO PLAYING + + +COMPOSITE PRINCIPLES DEDUCED FROM TALKS WITH EMINENT PIANISTS AND +TEACHERS + + +SECTION I + + +How things are done, how others do them, and the reasons for the doing +of them in one way and not in another, used to occupy my thoughts 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 saw, going into minutest 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 to do +other ways; in fact I began to discover that every one who played the +piano played it in a different fashion. Why was there not one way? + +One memorable night I was taken to hear Anton Rubinstein. What a +marvelous instrument the piano was, to be sure, when its 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-down. What had my home +piano in common with this wonder? Why did all the efforts at piano +playing I had hitherto listened to sink into oblivion when I heard this +master? What was the reason of it all? + +More artists of the piano came within my vision, Mehlig, Joseffy, Mason, +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 effects little dreamed of by the ordinary +learner. What was the secret? Was it the manner of moving the keys, the +size of hand, the length of finger, or the great strength possessed by +the player? I had always been taught to play slowly and carefully, so +that I should make no mistakes; these great pianists had wonderful +fearlessness; Rubinstein at least did not seem to care whether or not he +hit a few wrong notes here and there, if he could only secure the speed +and effect desired. Whence came his fearless velocity, his tremendous +power? + + +ESSENTIALS OF PIANISM + +Little by little I began to realize the essentials of effective piano +playing were these: clear touch, intelligent phrasing, all varieties of +tone, all the force the piano would stand, together with the greatest +delicacy and the utmost speed. These things the artists possessed as a +matter of course, but the ordinary student or teacher failed utterly to +make like effects, or to play with sufficient clearness and force. What +was the reason? + +In due course I came under the supervision of various piano pedagogues. +To the first I gave implicit obedience, endeavoring to do exactly as I +was told. The next teacher said I must begin all over again, as I had +been taught "all wrong." I had never learned hand position nor +independence of fingers--these must now be established. The following +master told me finger independence must be secured in quite a different +fashion from the manner in which I had been taught, which was "all +wrong." The next professor said I must bend the finger squarely from the +second joint, and not round all three joints, as I had been doing. This +so-called fault took several months to correct. + +To the next I am indebted for good orthodox (if somewhat pedantic) ideas +of fingering and phrasing, for which he was noted. The hobby of the next +master was slow motions with soft touch. This course was calculated to +take all the vim out of one's fingers and all the brilliancy out of +one's playing in less than six months. To the next I owe a comprehension +of the elastic touch, with devitalized muscles. This touch I practised +so assiduously that my poor piano was ruined inside of a year, and had +to be sent to the factory for a new keyboard. The next master insisted +on great exactness of finger movements, on working up velocity with +metronome, on fine tone shading and memorizing. + + +THE DESIRE FOR REAL KNOWLEDGE + +Such, in brief, has been my experience with pedagogues and teachers of +the piano. Having passed through it (and in passing having tried various +so-called and unnamed methods) I feel I have reached a vantage ground +upon which I can stand and look back over the course. The desire to know +the experience of the great artists of the keyboard is as strong within +me as ever. What did they not have to go through to master their +instrument? And having mastered it, what do they consider the vital +essentials of piano technic and piano playing? Surely they must know +these things if any one can know them. They can tell, if they will, what +to do and what to avoid, what to 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 to tell me how he did it all. I now know he could not have explained +how, for the greater the genius--the more spontaneous its +expression--the less able is such an one to put into words the manner of +its manifestation. In later years the same impulse has come when +listening to Paderewski, Hofmann and others. If they could only tell us +exactly what is to be done to master the piano, what a boon it would be +to those who are awake enough to profit by and follow the directions and +experiences of such masters. + +In recognition of the strength of this desire, months after a +half-forgotten wish had been expressed by me, came a request by _Musical +America_ to prepare a series of interviews with the world famed pianists +who were visiting our shores, and also with prominent teachers who were +making good among us, and who were proving by results attained that they +were safe and efficient guides. + + +SEARCHING FOR TRUTH + +Never was an interesting and congenial labor undertaken with more zest. +The artists were plied with questions which to them may have seemed +prosaic, but which to the interrogator were the very essence of 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. Some found it +almost impossible to put into language their ideas on these subjects. +They had so long been concerned with the highest themes of +interpretation that they hardly knew how the technical effects 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. However, +with questions leading up to the points I was anxious to secure light +upon, much information was elicited. + +One principle was ever before me, namely the Truth. I desired to find +out the truth about each subject 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 subjects to be considered, the following seem to cover the ground +pretty thoroughly: + +1. Artistic piano technic; how acquired and retained. + +2. How to practise. + +3. How to memorize. + +4. Rhythm and tone color in piano playing. + + + + +SECTION II + + +_Hand Position, Finger Action, and Artistic Touch_ + + +WHAT TECHNIC INCLUDES + +When we listen to a piano recital by a world-famous artist, we think--if +we are musicians--primarily of the interpretation of the compositions +under consideration. That the pianist has a perfect technic almost goes +without saying. He must have such a technic to win recognition as an +artist. He would not be an artist without a great technic, without a +complete command over the resources of the instrument and over himself. + +Let us use the word technic in its large sense, the sense which includes +all that pertains to the executive side of piano playing. It is in this +significance that Harold Bauer calls technic "an art in itself." Mme. +Bloomfield Zeisler says: "Piano technic includes so much! Everything +goes into it: arithmetic, grammar, diction, language study, poetry, +history and painting. In the first stages there are rules to be learned, +just as in any other study. I must know the laws of rhythm and meter to +be able to punctuate musical phrases and periods. Pupils who have long +since passed the arithmetic stage have evidently forgotten all about +fractions and division, for they do not seem to grasp the time values of +notes and groups of notes used in music; they do not know what must be +done with triplets, dotted notes and so on. Thus you see technic +includes a multitude of things; it is a very wide subject." + + +HAND POSITION + +The first principle a piano teacher shows his pupil is that of hand +position. It has been my effort to secure a definite expression on this +point from various artists. Most of them agree that an arched position +with rounded finger joints is the correct one. It was Paderewski 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 +considers hand position of prime importance. + +"I hold the hand arched and very firm,"--Ernest Schelling. + +"The hand takes an arched position, the finger-tips forming a curve on +the keys, the middle finger being placed a little farther in on the key +than is natural for the first and fifth."--Katharine Goodson. + +"The hand is formed on the keys in its five-finger position, with arched +knuckles."--Ethel Leginska. + +"The hand is formed in an arched position, with curved fingers, and +solidified."--Carl Roeder. + +"The hand, in normal playing position, must stand up in well arched +form, with fingers well rounded."--Thuel Burnham. + +"I first establish an arched hand position, with firm fingers."--Edwin +Hughes. + +"I teach arched hand position."--Alexander Lambert. + +"One must first secure an arched hand, with steady first joints of 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 Zeisler. + +"A pupil must first form the arch of the hand and secure firm finger +joints. I form the hand away from the piano, at a table."--Agnes Morgan. + +Leschetizky teaches arched hand position, with rounded fingers, and all +who have come under his instruction advocate this form. It is the +accepted position for passage playing. A few pianists, notably Alfred +Cortôt and Tina Lerner, play their passage work with flat fingers, but +this, in Miss Lerner's case, is doubtless caused by the small size of +the hand. + +It is clear from the above quotations, and from many other opinions +which could be cited, that the authorities agree the hand should be well +arched, the end of the finger coming in contact with the key; +furthermore there should be no weakness nor giving in at the nail +joint. + +FINGER ACTION + +The question of lifting the fingers seems to be one on which various +opinions are held. Some pianists, like Godowsky for instance, will tell +you they do not approve of raising the fingers--that the fingers must be +kept 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. Other players are rather +hazy on the subject, but these are generally persons who have 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 that it becomes second nature, a very part of the +player, something he can never forget nor get away from. So fixed should +it become that no subsequent laxity, caused by the attention being +wholly centered on interpretation can disturb correct position, +condition, or graceful, plastic movement. + +"For passage work I insist on finger action; the fingers must be raised +and active to insure proper development. I think one certainly needs +higher action when practising technic and technical pieces than one +would use when playing the same pieces before an audience."--Clarence +Adler. + +Alexander Lambert speaks to the point when he says: "I teach decided +finger action in the beginning. Some teachers may not teach finger +action because they say artists do not use it. But the artist, if +questioned, would tell you he had to acquire finger action in the +beginning. There are so many stages in piano playing. The beginner must +raise his fingers in order to acquire finger development and a clear +touch. In the middle stage he has secured enough finger control to play +the same passages with less action, yet still with sufficient clearness, +while in the more or less finished stages the passage may be played with +scarcely any perceptible motion, so thoroughly do the fingers respond to +every mental requirement." + +It is this consummate mastery and control of condition and movement that +lead the superficial observer to imagine that the great artist gives no +thought to such things as position, condition and movements. Never was +there a greater mistake. The finest perfection of technic has been +acquired with painstaking care, with minute attention to exacting +detail. At some period of his career, the artist has had to come down to +foundation principles and work up. Opinions may differ as to the +eminence of Leschetizky as a teacher, but the fact remains that many of +the pianists now before the public have been with him at one time or +another. They all testify that the Viennese master will have nothing to +do with a player until he has gone through a course of rigorous +preparation spent solely in finger training, and can play a pair of +Czerny études with perfect control and effect. + + +ARTISTIC TOUCH + +One of the greatest American teachers of touch was Dr. William Mason, +who made an exhaustive study of this subject. His own touch was noted +for its clear, bell-like, elastic quality. He remarked on one occasion, +in regard to playing in public: "It is possible I may be so nervous that +I can 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. Mason's touch specialties were "pressure" and +"elastic" or "drawing-off" touches. He found these gave both weight and +crisp lightness to the tones. + +Mr. Tobias Matthay, of London, has given much time and thought to the +study of 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 much the key _wants_ for every note. Second, always listen +for the moment each sound begins, so that you may learn to direct your +effort to the sound only and not to the key bed. It is only by making +the hammer end of 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 of sound. For brilliant tone, you may hit the +string by means of the key, but do not, by mistake, hit the key +instead." + +Thuel Burnham, a pupil of Mason and Leschetizky, has welded the ideas of +these two masters into his own experience, and simplifies the matter of +piano touch as follows: + + +MELODY AND COLORATURA HANDS + +"The position and condition of the hand varies according to the +character of the music and the quality of tone you wish to produce. If +you give out 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 have the 'Melody Hand,' with outstretched, flat +fingers. On 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 Mr. Burnham clears up the uncertainty about +arched hand and articulate touch, or low hand and flat fingers. Both are +used in their proper place, according to the demands of the music. The +player, however, who desires a clean, reliable technic, should first +acquire a coloratura hand before attempting a melody hand. + + +SECTION III + + +_The Art of Practise_ + + +We have seen that if the pianist hopes to perfect himself in his art he +must lay the foundation deep down in the fundamentals of hand position, +body condition, correct finger movements and in careful attention to +the minutest details of touch and tone production. + +The remark is often heard, from persons who have just listened to a +piano recital: "I would give anything in the world to play like that!" +But would they even give the necessary time, to say nothing of the +endless patience, tireless energy and indomitable perseverance which go +to the making of a virtuoso. + +How much time does the artist really require for study? Paderewski owns +to devoting _all_ his time to it during the periods of preparation for +his recital tours. At certain seasons of the year most of the artists +give a large portion of each day to the work. Godowsky is an incessant +worker; Burnham devotes his entire mornings to piano study; Germaine +Schnitzer gives six hours daily to her work, and if interrupted one day +the lost time is soon made up. Eleanor Spencer "practises all her spare +time," as she quaintly puts it. A professional pianist must give a +number of hours each day to actual practise at the keyboard, besides +what is done away from it. The work is mentally going on continually, +whether one really sits at the instrument or not. + +The point which most concerns us is: How shall one practise so as to +make the most of the time and accomplish the best results? What études, +if any, shall we use, and what technical material is the most useful and +effectual? + +Wilhelm Bachaus, whose consummate technic we have so often admired, +says: "I am old-fashioned enough to still believe in scales and +arpeggios. Some of the players of the present 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 of keys when I practise +the scales. I select a few at a time and work at those. I start with +ridiculously simple forms--just 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. Scales and arpeggios come in for their share of +criticism. I practise them in various touches, but oftener in _legato_, +as that is more difficult and also more beautiful than the others. I +practise technic, when possible, an hour a day, including Bach." + +Sigismond Stojowski considers that scales and arpeggios must form a +part of the daily routine. + +Thuel Burnham says: "Of my practise hours at least one is given to +technic, scales, arpeggios, octaves, chords, and Bach! I believe in +taking one selection of Bach and perfecting it--transposing it in all +keys and polishing it to the highest point possible. So with études, it +is better to perfect a few than to play _at_ so many." + + +THE PIANIST A MECHANIC + +Edwin Hughes, the American pianist and teacher in Munich, remarks: +"Technic is the mechanical part of music making; to keep it in running +order one must be constantly tinkering with it, just as the engine +driver with his locomotive or the chauffeur with his automobile. 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 technical practise." + +Teresa Carreño asserts she had in the beginning many technical exercises +which her teacher wrote out for her, from difficult passages taken from +the great composers. There were hundreds of them, so many that it took +just three days to go the rounds. She considers them invaluable, and +constantly uses them in her own practise and in her teaching. Each +exercise must be played in all keys and with every possible variety of +touch and tone. + +Paderewski gives much time daily to pure technic practise. He has been +known to play scales and arpeggios in a single key for three quarters of +an hour at a stretch. These were played with 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. +Many more testify that scales, chords, arpeggios and octaves constitute +their daily bread. Some have spoken to me especially of octave practise +as being eminently beneficial. They feel these things are essential to +the acquiring of a fine technic, and keeping it up to concert pitch. + +Some artists are partial to certain technical studies. Bachaus highly +recommends those of Brahms, for instance. All artists use Bach in +connection with their technic practise; in fact the works of Bach may be +considered to embody pure technic principles, and pianists and teachers +consider them a daily necessity. + + +INVENTING EXERCISES + +Together with their studies in pure technic alone, the artists invent +exercises out of the pieces they study, either by playing passages +written for both hands with one hand, by turning single notes into +octaves, by using more difficult fingering than necessary, thus bringing +into use the weaker fingers, changing the rhythm, and in numerous other +ways increasing the effort of performance, so that when the passage is +played as originally written, it shall indeed seem like child's play. + +Another means to acquire technical mastery is through transposition. One +would think Bach's music difficult enough when performed as written, but +the artists think nothing of putting it through the different keys. +Burnham relates that during early lessons with Dr. Mason, that master +gave him a Bach Invention to prepare, casually remarking it might be +well to memorize it. The simple suggestion was more than sufficient, for +the ambitious pupil presented himself at the next lesson with not only +that particular Invention learned by heart, but likewise the whole set! +De Pachmann, in his eagerness to master the technic and literature of +the piano, says that when a Bach Prelude and Fugue was on one occasion +assigned him by his teacher, he went home and learned the whole +twenty-four, which he was able to play in every key for the next lesson! + + +SLOW PRACTISE + +The 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?" Many pianists practise very slowly. This was William H. +Sherwood's custom. Harold Bauer believes velocity to be inherent in the +individual, so that when the passage is thoroughly comprehended it can +be played at the necessary rate of speed. Bachaus testifies he seldom +works for velocity, saying that if he masters the passage he can play it +at any required tempo. "I never work for velocity as some do," he +remarks. "I seldom practise fast, for it interferes with clearness. I +prefer to play more slowly, giving the greatest attention to clearness +and good tone. By pursuing this course I find that when I need velocity +I have it." + +Clarence Adler counsels pupils always to begin by practising +slowly--faster tempo will develop later, subconsciously. Velocity is +only to be employed after the piece has been thoroughly learned, every +mark of expression observed, all fingering, accents and dynamic marks +mastered. "You would scarcely believe," he adds, "how slowly I practise +myself." + + +A FEW EXCEPTIONS + +There are very few exceptions to the general verdict in favor of technic +practise apart from pieces. Godowsky asserts he never practises scales. +Bauer cares little for pure technic practise, believing the composition +itself contains sufficient material of a technical nature. + +Whether or not these brilliant exceptions merely prove the rule, the +thoughtful student of 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. Mme. Rider-Possart says: "Technic is something +an artist has to put in the background as something of 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 must devote time and thought to it outside of piece playing. +He must understand the principles and follow out a certain routine in +order to secure the best results in the quickest and surest way. While +each one must work out his own salvation, 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 +difference between the artist and the talented amateur often lies in the +former's absolute concentration, perseverance and devotion to the +highest ideals. + + +SECTION IV + + +_How to Memorize_ + + +At the present stage of pianistic development, an artist does not +venture to come before the public and "use his notes." No artist who +values his reputation would attempt it. Everything must be performed +from memory--solos, concertos, even accompaniments. The pianist must +know every note of the music he performs. The star accompanist aspires +to the same mastery when he plays for a famous singer or +instrumentalist. We also have the artist conductor, with opera, symphony +or concerto at his finger-tips. Hans von Bülow, who claimed that a +pianist should have more than two hundred compositions in his +repertoire, was himself equally at home in orchestral music. He always +conducted his Meiningen Orchestra without notes. + +Let us say, then, that the present-day pianist ought to have about two +hundred compositions in his repertoire, all of which must be played +without notes. The mere fact of committing to memory such a quantity of +pages is no small item in the pianist's equipment. The problem is to +discover the best means of memorizing music quickly and surely. Here +again we are privileged to inquire of the artist and of the artist +teacher. His knowledge and experience will be practical, for he has +evolved it and proved it over and over again. + +It is a well-known fact that Leschetizky advises memorizing away from +the instrument. This method at once shuts the door on all useless and +thoughtless repetition employed by so many piano students, who repeat a +passage endlessly, to avoid thinking it out. Then they wonder why they +cannot commit to memory! The Viennese master suggests that a short +passage of two or four measures be learned with each hand alone, then +tried on the piano. If not yet quite fixed in consciousness the effort +should be repeated, after which it may be possible to go through the +passage without an error. The work then proceeds in the same manner +throughout the composition. + + +ONE YEAR'S MEMORIZING + +A player 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 pursued, 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, out of consideration for the +accumulative difficulties of the music, there will still remain +twenty-five pieces, enough for two programs and a very respectable +showing for a year's study. + +It may be that Leschetizky's principle of memorizing will not appeal to +every one. The player may find another path to the goal, one more +suited to his peculiar temperament. Or, if he has not yet discovered the +right path, let him try different 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 factors in the process of +committing music to memory. + +Michael von Zadora, pianist and teacher, said to me recently: "Suppose +you have a difficult passage to learn by heart. The ordinary method of +committing to memory is to play the passage over and over, till the +fingers grow accustomed to its intervals. That is not my manner of +teaching. The only way to master that passage is to analyze it +thoroughly, know just what the notes are, the sequences 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 just where the +fingers have to go before you put them on the keys. When you thus +thoroughly understand the passage or piece, have thought about it, lived +with it, so that it is in the blood, we might say, the fingers can play +it. There will be no difficulty about it and no need for senseless +repetitions." + + +PHRASE BY PHRASE + +Most of the artists agree that memorizing must be done phrase by phrase, +after the composition has been thoroughly analyzed as to keys, chords, +and construction. This is Katharine Goodson's way, and also Eleanor +Spencer's and Ethel Leginska's, three of Leschetizky's pupils now before +the public. "I really know the composition so thoroughly that I can play +it in another key just as well as the one in which it is written, though +I do not always memorize it each hand alone," says Miss Goodson. "I +first play the composition over a few times to become somewhat familiar +with its form and shape," says Eleanor Spencer, "then I begin to analyze +and study it, committing it by phrases, or ideas, one or two measures at +a time. I do not always take the hands alone, unless the passage is very +intricate, for sometimes it is easier to learn both hands together." +Germaine Schnitzer avers that she keeps at a difficult passage until she +really knows 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 opinions already cited and from many I have heard +expressed that the artists waste no time over useless repetitions. They +fully realize that a piece is not assimilated nor learned until it is +memorized. When they have selected the composition they wish to learn, +they begin at once to memorize from the start. The student does not +always bring to his work this definiteness of aim; if he did, much +precious time would be saved. The ability to memorize ideas expressed in +notes grows with use, just as any other aptitude grows with continued +effort. + +Instead, then, of playing _with_ a piece, why do you not at once begin +to make it your own? Look at the phrases so intently that they become as +it were, photographed on your mind. Ruskin said: "Get the habit of +looking intently at words." We might say the same of notes. Look at the +phrase with the conviction that it can be remembered after a glance or +two. It is only an indication of indolence and mental inertness to look +continually at the printed page or passage and keep on playing it over +and over, without trying to fix it indelibly in the mind. + +In my work as teacher I constantly meet students, and teachers too, who +do little or no memorizing. Some do not even approve of it, though it +is difficult to conceive how any one in his right mind can disapprove +knowing a thing thoroughly. The only way to know it thoroughly is to +know it by heart. + + +CONSTANT REPAIRS NECESSARY + +A repertoire once committed must be constantly kept in repair. The +public player, in his seasons of study, generally has a regular system +of repetition, so that all compositions can be gone over at least once a +week. One artist suggests that the week be started with the classics and +concluded with modern compositions and concerted numbers. Thus each day +will have its allotted task. The pieces are not merely to be played +over, but really overhauled, and all weak places treated to a dose of +slow, careful practise, using the printed pages. Artists on tour, where +consecutive practise is difficult or unattainable, always carry the +printed notes of their repertoire with them, and are ceaselessly +studying, repairing, polishing their phrases, thinking out their +effects. + +To those who wish to become pianists, I would say: "Keep your memory +active through constant use. Be always learning by heart; do it +systematically, a little at a time. So it will be daily progress. So +your repertoire is built!" + + +SECTION V + + +_Rhythm and Tone Color in Piano Playing_ + + +How shall two such opposites as rhythm and tone color be connected, even +in name, some will ask. One belongs to the mechanical side of piano +playing, while the other appertains to the ideal, the poetic, the +soulful. The two subjects, however, are not so wide apart as might at +first appear; for the beauty and variety of the second depends largely +upon the mastery of the first. You must play rhythmically 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. +One depends on the other, therefore time and rhythm come first; when +these are well under control, not before, we can go further and enter +the wider field of tonal variety. + +Rhythm is one of the pianist's most important 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 differs +greatly from the amateur. The latter thinks nothing of breaking the +rhythm 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 sense 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. + + +THE METRONOME + +When the subject of using such a mechanical aid as the 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-bone +sense of time as the artist commands, it is little 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 had their effect on many students, +who, lacking his sense of rhythm, would have been greatly benefited by +its use. + +Godowsky, when asked his opinion of the metronome, replied: "I +assuredly approve of its use; I have even devoted a chapter to the +metronome in the _Progressive Series_, my great work on piano playing." +Edwin Hughes remarks: "If pupils have naturally a poor sense of rhythm, +there is no remedy equal to practising with the metronome, using it +daily until results are evident, when there can be a judicious letting +up of the discipline. The mechanical sense of rhythm, the ability to +count and to group the notes of a piece correctly, can be taught to any +person, if one has the patience; but for the delicate rhythmic _nuances_ +required by a Chopin Mazourka or a Viennese Valse, a special rhythmic +gift is necessary." + +Artists and teachers who have come under Leschetizky's influence and use +his principles, are generally in favor of the metronome, according to +their own testimony. The fact is, they as teachers often find such +deficiency in their pupils on the subject of time sense and accuracy in +counting, that they are forced to institute strict measures to +counteract this lack of rhythmic comprehension. + +Granting, then, that the correct use, not the abuse, of the metronome is +of great assistance in establishing firm rhythmic sense, let us turn +our thought to the fascinating subject of-- + + +TONE COLOR + +When De Pachmann affirmed that he uses certain fingers to create certain +effects, the idea was thought to be one of the eccentric pianist's +peculiar fancies. Other 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. For instance you might not play an +expressive melody with a consecutive use of the fifth finger, which is +called a "cold finger" by Thuel Burnham. He would use instead the third, +a "warm finger," to give out a soulful melody. + + +TONAL VARIETY + +The pianist who desires to play effectively, 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 Bauer thinks variety must be secured by the contrast of one +tone with another. Even a very harsh tone may be beautiful in its right +place, owing to its relation to other tones, and its ability to express +an idea. To render the playing expressive by the contrast of light and +shade, by tonal gradations, by all varieties of touch, by all the +subtleties of _nuance_, is a great art, and only the most gifted ever +master it in its perfection. These are the things that enchant us in +Paderewski's performance, and in the tonal coloring of Gabrilowitsch. +Hofmann's playing is a marvel of atmosphere and color; such playing is +an object lesson to students, a lesson in variety of light and shade, +the shifting of exquisite tonal tints. + +The sensitive musician is highly susceptible to color effects in nature, +in art or in objects about him. Certain colors attract him, for he sees +an affinity between them and the tonal effects he strives to produce. +Other colors repel, perhaps for the opposite reason. Brilliant red is a +warlike color, and finds analogous expression in such pieces as Chopin's +Polonaise _Militaire_, and MacDowell's Polonaise. We cannot help seeing, +feeling the color red, when playing such music. Soft pink and rose for +love music, tender blues and shades of gray for nocturnes and night +pieces are some of the affinities of tone and color. Warm shades of +yellow and golden brown suggest an atmosphere of early autumn, while +delicate or vivid greens give thoughts of spring and luscious summer. +Certain pieces of Mozart seem to bring before us the rich greens of a +summer landscape; the Fantaisie in C minor, and the Pastorale Varie are +of this type. + +Arthur Hochman says: "Colors mean so much to me; some are so 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 painter put upon canvas. To me dark red speaks of +something tender, heart-searching, mysterious. On the other hand the +shades of yellow express gaiety and brightness." + +It has been said that a pianist should study color effects in order to +express them in his playing. He can do this to special advantage at the +theater or opera, where he can see unrolled before him the greatest +possible variety in light and shade, in colors, and in the constantly +changing panorama of action and emotion. + +The pianist can receive many ideas of tone color when listening to a +great singer, and watching the infinite tonal gradations produced on +the "greatest of all instruments," the human voice. + +In short the pianist draws from many sources the experience, the feeling +and emotion with which he strives to inspire the tones he evokes from +his instrument. The keener his perceptions, the more he labors, suffers, +and _lives_, the more he will be able to express through his chosen +medium--the piano! + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PIANO MASTERY*** + + +******* This file should be named 15604-8.txt or 15604-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/6/0/15604 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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