THE PIAN IST

THE ART OF MUS C

A TREATISE ON PIANO PbAY lNG FOR

TEAGHERS AND STUDENTS

ADOLPH CARPE’

.

LYON H E ALY ,

CC CCC C C C

“M ary

PAGE .

INTRODUCT ION

T ECHN IC

F ING ER ING

EXPRESS ION

C HARACT ER

O UTLIN E O F P IANO LITERATURE

INTRODUCTION .

HE p ian i s t ’s re lat i o n to the art o f music i s i n ou rp resent age mate ri a l ly d i fferen t from that o f the

earl i e r vi rtuosos , not so much o n ac count o f greate rsk i l l i n th e management o f th e improved i nst rumentas i n re fe rence to th e ends wh i ch the art i s t i s ex

pected to accompl i sh . The p iano -v i rtuoso , whosee ffo rts we re o f a n i nd iv i dual type a l togethe r

,fo l l ow

i ng a long l i ne o f em i nent p l ayers an d compose rs

( Scar latt i , M oza1t, C lement i , Dussek , Woelfl ,S te i

be l t,Cramer

,H ummel

,Fie l d

,H erz

,Thalberg

,et c . )

has,i n th e natu ra l p roces s o f deve lopment , made

room to the p ian i sts , whose st rength rests i n th ereproduct i o n o f th e work s o f othe r maste rs

,su ch as

Liszt,Mendel ssohn

,Clara Schumann , Re i necke , H i l

I er, Hal l é , Rub i nste i n , Bue low,E ssipoff, D

’

A lbert,

Pade rewsk i and others . The i nc reas i ng beauty an dart i st i c vari ety o f th e masterworks o f p iano l i te ratu re seem dest i ned to ga i n a co nstant ly i nc reas i ngi nfl uence i n th i s d i rect i o n , so that an adequate readi ng of th e gems o f p ian i st i c a rt w i l l a lways be co n

sidered su per io r to th e ephemeral , though perhapsnove l d isp l ay o f i nd i v i d ua l taste and tal e nt .Franz L iszt , th e most

“em i nentand success fu l o f

6 I N T R ODU CT I ON .

th e p iano vi rtuosos , was o ne o f th e fi rs t to devote a l lth e energy o f h i s gen ia l natu re to the rep roduct io no f the bette r works from the days o f Sca rlatt i

,Bach

and H aende l to h i s t ime ; a l l th e notab l e greatp ian ists have s i n ce taken s p ec ia l p r ide i n i ntroduc i ngto th e art- l ov i ng worl d th e wo rks o f th e great compose rs . Some have made a spec ia l ty o f o ne particul a r compose r, notab ly Beethoven an d Mozart ; othershave devoted the i r e ffo rts s uc cess fu l ly to severa lcompose rs

,and th e poss ib i l i ty has been demon

strated more than o nce that works o f w i de ly d i ffe ren t characte ri st i c t ra i ts are ac cess ib l e to th e sameart i st , so th at th ey rece i ve fu l ly adequate read i ngs .

Few p rograms are found nowadays wh ere the nameso f ou r great compose rs and a host o f others do notfi nd p lace .

I n th i s u nden iab l e and pra i seworthy advancement th e p ian is t ’ s re lat i o n to th e art o f music hasbecome more i nt imate ; th e mechan i ca l sk i l l i n th euse o f th e i nst rument i s o f a h ighe r o rder ; th e intellectual and emot i ona l qual ificat i o ns o f th e pe rfo rmer are made subse rvi ent to a versat i l e t rust i nessi n reproduct io n wh i ch

,th rough th e deta i l s o f mus i ca l

tee/mic and expression,rep resents th e character o f a

part i cu l a r wo rk acco rd i ng to the general an dmanne r o f th e compose r .

TECHN I C .

HE op i n io n has bee n ga i n i ng grou nd amongth i nk i ng teachers

,that p iano students waste too

much t ime and energy w ith s tud i es o f a l l grades andk i n ds

,from th e pro l ifi c Car l Cze rny down to the

p rese nt day ; th e co nv i ct io n s eems to be fa i r ly establ ished that a care fu l se l ec t i o n among th e who l e hosto f exerc i s es and study-books wou l d co ndemn mosto f them as su perfluous , i f not use l ess . The who l esystem o f exe rc i s es wh i ch to th e p rese nt day p redom i nates in p iano fo rte i nst ruct i o n i s certa i n lybased upo n the theo ry that p iano p layi ng i s essen

tially a mechan i ca l art . Th i s i n fe rence to a l im i tedexte nt i s t ru e , s i nce p iano p layi ng to a per io d notfa r d i stant i s a lmost so l e ly mechan i ca l , and p rogressi n th e early stages i s made too o fte n by on ly st i ck

i ng at i t .The greater part o f a l l th ese exe rc i ses brings lo ng

str i ngs o f figures and rhythms i n neve r varyi ng com

binations and repet i t io ns , wh i ch are supposed tog ive a last i ng impress i o n to the student ’ s m i nd andfi ngers . Tru ly th e i r s uccess i n impress i ng th e average student ’ s m i nd can not be doubted ; afte rwrangl i ng and st ruggl i ng i n th e o rd i nary way o f“ estab l i sh ed methods ,

” th e student i s so fi rm lyimbued with the mechan i ca l s i de o f p iano p lay i ng

,

8 TH E P I AN I ST’

S ART .

that h i s rep roduct ions o f th e very gems o f our p ianol i te ratu re

,o ld o r new

,fa i l to revea l o ften the fai ntest

t race o f i dea l mean i ng o r fee l i ng . Y et i s i t to bewonde red at that su ch resu l ts are usua l ly obtai ned"A ch i l d wh i ch has been d r i l l ed —though to perfect io na lmost— o n ly i n th e spe l l i ng book , whose h ighestatta i nment m igh t p rove th e v i cto ry ove r wo rds l i keproc rast i nat i o n , wou l d fa i l j u st as t ru ly i n anattempt at read i ng a smal l s entence w i th p roperemphas i s

,as a resu l t o f thought ; yet th e ch i l d ente rs

th e schoo l w ith th e al ready formed power o f s peech .

The care fu l gradat io n o f exerc i ses accomp l i shesth e student ’ s p rogress a lmost impercept ib ly ; theyhave bee n manu factu red most ly fo r th e pu rpose o ffu rn i sh i ng an easy grade to th e med ioc re student .Mus i ca l though t and fee l i ng rece i ve l i tt l e o r no co ns i derat io n ; commonp lace matte r most ly i s what theyconta i n , at a l l t imes i nj u r i ous to th e i nte l l ectua l andemotio na l qual ificat i o ns th e student o r ig i na l ly bri ngsto h i s task . The i r obj ec t i s to p roduce i n th e d i l igent worker a ce rta i n mechan i ca l sk i l l ; and tech n i cbe i ng th e most coveted o f a l l th e pre requ i s i tes o f agood p ian ist , th e number o f th e i r adm i re rs and wo rsh ipers i s , i ndeed , l eg io n .

Tech n i c" What i s tech n i c " I t i s th e sum andsubstance o f a l l that i s requ i red to p roduce o r rep roduce a work o f art

,the re fo re th e product o f th e

student ’s work,and as such i t w i l l rep resent a l l that

th e student acqu i res by thorough systemat i c t ra i n i ng .

I n p iano fo rte p lay i ng th e te rm tech n i c i s genera l ly app l i ed to the mere ly mechan i ca l t reatment o f

TH E P IA N I ST’

S ART . 9

th e i nstrument and th e sk i l l a nd rap id i ty i n execu

t io n . As a means o f mus i ca l rep rodu ct io n , wh ichmust be th e student ’ s fi na l a im , the re are severa lothe r th i ngs wh i ch fa l l u nder th i s h ead . Bes i desd ig i ta l sk i l l th i s i n c l udes to ne-deve lopment i n a l l i t svar ious grades and shades , a tho rough and co rrec tu nderstand i ng and rend i t i o n o f t ime and rhythm

,

and l ast ly an i nc reased mus i ca l appre c iat i o n o f th emean i ng

,characte r and emot i o na l tendency o f a

compos i t i o n .

A great amount o f d ig i ta l sk i l l i s requ i red,and i n

th e exc l us i ve attent io n to th i s i ndeed most essent ia lfacto r i n p iano p layi ng , stu dents and teachers tooo ften fo rget that much theo ret i ca l adv i ce may

,and

must,go hand i n han d wi th finger t ra i n i ng . Mus i ca l

educat io n shou l d p repare a l so th e i nte l l ectua l apprec iation o f th e student , and much can be accomp l i shedby giv i ng th e pup i l , eve n at an ear ly stage , an ins igh t i nto th e part i cu la r means requ i red to b r i ng aperformance i n c lose re lat i o nsh i p wi th th e charactero f th e compos i t io n and so make i t t ru ly enj oyab l e .

A mod i cum o f i nte l l ec t and fee l i ng can be ear ly developed i n th e ave rage p iano student , wh i ch , whencare fu l ly foste red , wi l l i n cou rse o f t ime i n a greatmeasure overcome th e mechan i ca l tendency o f p ianop layi ng , wi l l l ead to a more e l evated enjoyment , to abette r defined out l i n e o f ch aracte r and to a heal thyglow o f art i st i c i nd iv i dual i ty

I t shou l d a lways be bo rne i n m i nd that,as mus i c

i s th e l anguage o f emot io n , th e mus i ca l educat io nmust st r i ve to arouse the do rmant e nergy o f fee l i ng

,

I O TH E P i AN I ST’

s ART .

as we l l as to sharpen th e i nte l l ec tual facu l t i es . Th i sc raves a greate r atte nt i o n i n th e . p iano student

,from

the fact that th e modus o f acqu i ri ng sk i l l i n p lay i ngwi l l a lways remai n mo r: o r l ess a mechan i ca l p rocess . Touch , t ime an d co rrec t mot io n are th e e lementa ry p rerequ i s i t es ; mus i ca l notat i o n and rhythm ,

acco rd i ng to grade , fo l l ow immed iate ly , and thepup i l ’ s fi rst step i n mus i ca l parl ance , l i tt l e p i eces ,can be se lected so as to appea l more o r l es s st ro nglyto h i s i nte l l i ge nce and fee l i ng .

Wh en the student i n th e fi rst stages o f i nstru ct ionhas acqu i red a repose fu l pos i t i o n o f th e fo rearm

,th e

fingers may be mo re o r l ess p l iab l e , acco rd i ng to thephys i ca l deve lopment , bu t atte nt io n shou l d be g ive nmost ca re fu l ly t o the mode an d manne r o f touch .

The finger must p ress on ly (notst r i ke ) w ith as l i tt l ee ffo rt as poss ib l e , and comp lete rest fu l ness must beobta i ned at the moment o f touch . A mere lymechan i ca l p rocess th i s , ce rta in ly" The stude nt ,howeve r , shou l d be made to fee l that th i s touchimpl ies an impress i ve t reatment , an d h i s m ind mustbe impressed be fo re you can get a ny exp ress i on .

Awaken th e i deas o f d i ffe rent ways o f touch i ng ;th e al l us i o n to i deas , natu ra l o r l atent , i n th e s tudentwi l l great ly fac i l i tate th e teache r ’ s e ffo rt . I f youcompare th i s p ressu re - touch to the l ov i ng caress o fa dear fr i en d

,you w i l l g i ve th e student a d i s t i nc t

i dea , and i n a l l l ik e l i hood h e w i l l e stab l i sh a morei nt imate fee l i ng w i th th e mechan i ca l mot i o n . Sucha touch , c l ose and c l i ng i ng , var i ed i n i ntens i tyacco rd i ng to the natu re o f the student , wi l l , i n course

TH E P I AN I ST'

S ART . I I

of t ime,shape i tse l f i n to the most per fec t means fo r

to ne p roduct i o n,wi l l be de l i cate o r powerfu l , s i ngi ng

o r c ri sp as occas io n requ i res , when the p layer’

smus i ca l p rogress i s s u ffi c i ent ly advanced to adaptth e touch to the v i ta l e l ements and character i zat i o ni n mus i c .

Two -finger exerc i ses are the most th riv i ng meansfo r th e deve lopment o f a good touch , d igi ta l fac i l ity and correc t t ime . H as th e stu dent ’ s m i n dgrasped th e i dea o f a n equa l d iv is i o n o f t ime , tv

’

vo

fingerexerc ises i n ha l f , quarte r and e ighth notes w i l lsoo n establ i sh. these va l u es as t ime measures , andsome pat i en ce w i l l s ee th em correct ly appl i ed .

Two - fi nge r exerc i s es shou l d be pract i ced da i ly fo rth e i r th ree- fo l d va l ue i n regard to touch , t ime andexecut io n , fi rsto n wh ite keys o n ly , l ate r a l ternat i ngw i th b lack keys . Care shou l d be taken , moreespec i a l ly where b lack keys are emp loyed

,that there

be perfect equal ity i n to ne p roduct i on , that th e rei s no d is c r im i nat i o n i n th e l ength o f to ne— i nducethe student early to a l i tt l e se l f-c r i t i c i sm ; necessarya lso i s a good pos i t i o n o f th e hand and a u n i fo rmfinge r movement .When th e studen t fi rst comes to th e keyboard i t

i s somet imes d i ffi cu l t to obta i n a co rrec t and reposefu l pos it i on . I t i s i n th i s as we l l as i n late r stageso f p iano p lay i ng that th e th umb plays an a l l - i mportant part . The th umb moves from th e fi rs t j o i ntnear th e wr i st~ —and shou l d touch th e key w i th thes i de between th e th i rd j o i nt a nd the t i p . I f th i s i sstr i ct ly adhered to , so that th e thumb i s a l lowed to

1 2 TH E P I A N I S T’

s ART .

str ike mar th e t i p on ly i n figu res o f a wi der patte rn,

th e wr ist and fo rearm wi l l fa l l i n to pos i t i o n natura l ly , provi ded th e p laye r s i ts ne i the r too h igh no r tool ow . I f th i s i s co ns i de red i nco nve n i ent by studentswho des i re a h igh seat , a short t r ia l w i l l general lybe convi n c i ng to them .

The deve lopment o f touch , t ime and execut io nare at fi rst c l ose ly c o n nected

,and

,though i n th e

next stages th ese facto rs st i l l go hand i n hand,each

requ i res a more d i st i nc t and separate t reatment .The touch w i l l co nt i n ue to improve best i n th e twofinger exe rc i ses , and a mo re momentary r i se and fa l lo f th e fi nge rs w i thout j e rk i ng shou l d be cu l t i vatedwith the utmost repose at th e moment o f to uch

,so

as to obta i n a genu i ne l egato . The t ra i n i ng o f thestuden t i n notat io n meanwh i l e has p rogressed sothat l i tt l e p ieces w i th easy rhythms can be taken i ntocons i de rat i on . The eas ie r th e p ieces th e moreshou l d th e student be l e ft to find h i s way , as th eteach e r at th i s per iod i s o n ly res po ns ib l e fo r a co rrec t read i ng , a good pos i t i o n o f th e hands , prope rfinger i ng an d t im e . Vari ety i n shad i ng had bestnot be attempted too soon

,but th e st r i v i ng fo r cor

rec t t ime must i nc l ude al l ; even the l as t notes mustbe g ive n the i r fu l l va l ue , and rests shou l d not g iveoccas io n fo r h urryi ng . Many otherwi se good p ianoplayers i ndulge i n l ibe rt i es o f th i s k i nd , where fau l tcou l d not eas i ly be fou nd w i th a mus i c i a n o r onewhose mus i ca l educat i o n has been o f a h igh o rde r .Eve ryth i ng at a n early stage o f p rogress shou l d bedone as thorough ly and co rrect ly by the student as

TH E P IAN I ST’

S ART . 13

poss ib le ; but as eve ry pup i l d i ffe rs from another,

the re wi l l be occas io nal ly a wi de margi n l e ft .When th e student beg i ns to fi nd more p l easu re

i n a ny p i ec e , tak e mo re pa i ns w ith i t , p lay i t to g ivea s imp l e shad i ng and express i o n , and so arouse morei nte res t i n th e pup i l ; l et h im memori ze a nd fi n i shwith at l east a not i ceab l e change i n p iano and fo rte .

A lways i n s i st o n s low p ract i ce and p lay i ng,an d con

stantly keep some o f th e p i ece s that have beenmemor i ze d i n v i ew , fo r

“repetz

’

tz’

o estmater sludz’

orum.

To more p roperly advance the execut io n,sca l es

and broke n cho rds have soon to be emp loyed a lo ngwi th th e two-finger exerc i s es . A l l mate r ia l o f th i sk i nd shou l d be tho rough ly st ud i e d , th e ru l es fo reach pattern po i nted out a nd made fam i l i a r and thefinger i ng shou l d be i nt r i ns i ca l ly a part o f each newevo l ut i o n . Let the student ’ s m i nd be act i ve i n a l lmechan i ca l wo rk , make smal l u se o f books and thestudent wi l l be bette r abl e to c lass i fy and systemat i ze .

I t seems not am is s to state h e re that , when morev ari ed rhythms are i n t roduced i n th e p i eces

,th e la

bo r bestowed on a s i ngl e rhythm i ca l figure,wh ich

remai ns fo r a t ime obdu rate , wi l l fo r th e futu re be agreat gai n mus i ca l ly ; no pa i ns shou l d be spared toobta i n at an early stage a rhythm i ca l p rec i s i onwh i ch w i l l l eave a last i ng impress i o n o n the student ’ s m i nd .

The'

use o f p i eces exc l us ive ly at an early s tage o fth e stu dent ’ s p rogress as an educat i o na l means toobta i n a p roper k nowledge ofmusical cha racte r i st i cs

,

can not be too h igh ly recommended,provi ded that

I 4 TH E P i A N i sT’

s ART .

they are se l ected i n regard to th e i r e ffi c i e ncy as ameans o f m us i ca l express io n as we l l as to the i rp l eas i ng effec t o n th e student . The i r u se shou l d becont i nued regu larl y a lo ng w i th th e labor requ i s i tefo r th e mechan i ca l mastery o f th e keyboard ; as th el atte r p rogresses i t w i l l eve n be adv i sabl e to b ri ngthe p i eces ( an d mus i ca l character i st i c s ) more to thefo reground . The mechan i ca l resou rces w i l l cont i n ueto grow a fte r th ey have been tho rough ly u nderstood ,

and a comparat i ve ly smal l amount o f atten t i o n w i l lbe suffi c ie n t to keep th e student on th e r igh t roadand to p revent bad hab its o r fau l ts o f any k i nd .

The p i eces shou l d be se l ected wi th some care ,mai n ly fo r the i r mus i ca l va l ue and p l eas i ng characte r , an d a certa i n gradat io n shou l d be obse rved ,i n su ch a way that th e stu dent p ro ceeds from someth i ng fam i l i a r to what i s new to h im . Th e i nterestw i l l th us be kept wi de awake , so th at , even i f markedt rans i t io ns o ccu r i n th e mechan i ca l sk i l l n ecessa ryfo r a co rrect r e n d i t i on , th e l abo r requ i red for theseacqu i s i t i o ns w i l l g ive smal l t ro ub l e .

When wris t stud ies a re i nt roduced the wri stshou l d be s l igh t ly l owe r than th e k nuck les , and thefinge rs s t ri c t ly curved . The pract i ce o f octaves wi thhand extended

,by s impl e movemen t o f th e fi rs t and

fi fth finger i s somet imes adv i sabl e ; th e great te ns i onrequ i red to reach the two po i n ts o f th e octave wi l lmake th i s mode o f pract i ce , with a qu i et hand andwri st

,part i cu la rly va l uab l e fo r p layer s w i th smal l

hands .

I t can not be too strongly emphas i zed that much

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

16 TH E P IAN I ST'

S ART .

tage o f a bette r mus i ca l educat i on , wh i ch may enabl eh im to find th e righ t fie l d fo r h i s ta l e n t . Woul d i tnot be fu l ly as u n reasonab l e as to tra i n eve ry student to be an arti s t and composer"Mus i c o f a h ighe r o rder shou l d the re fo re be se

lected , such as w i l l co nstant ly appea l to eve ry student ’ s i n te l l ec t and fee l i ng . I t i s not at a l l n ecessary

,

o r even des i rabl e , to feed pup i l s o n c lass i ca l l i te ratu re o n ly . Much has been wri tten o f a l ighte r characte r

,wh i ch i s we l l worth th e l ea rn i ng , and t ru ly

enj oyab l e . The greate r th e var iety o f composersand compos i t i o ns that come wi th i n reach o f th e stu~

dent ’ s a im , th e greate r w i l l be th e benefi t to h i smusical deve lopment , p rov i ded eve ry compos i t i oni s tho rough ly stud i ed an d app rec i ate d . The greatobj ec t o f the teache r must be to e l evate th e pup i l ’ staste , to st re ngthen th e i nte l l ectua l facu l t i e s andarouse th e fee l i ng ; to ga i n th i s obj ec t and at thesame t ime the pup i l ’ s apprec i at i o n o f h i s e ffo rts

,he

must put h imse l f o n a l eve l w ith the pup i l,and i f

a good se l ect i o n st r ikes at all a congen ia l s p i r i t i nth e pup i l , th e i nte rest i n good mus i c i s bound togrow i f th e student ’ s i nc l i nat i o n to certa i n charac

teristics i s not altogethe r d i s regarded .

As th e student ’ s i nte l l ectua l facu l t i es i nc reaseand h i s ab i l i ty to reproduce ce rta i n we l l d efinedcharacteri st i c qual i t i e s progresses , gi ve ampl e i l l ustrations i n th e matte r o f ph ras i ng and the d i ffe rentgrades and qual i t i e s o f touch . As a ch i l d can betaught to speak a p iece o f poet ry wi th some natu ra lgrace and mean i ng , so the ave rage mus i c s tudent

TH E P I AN I ST ’S ART . I 7

can be l ed to d i s t i n ct ly art i cu late mus i ca l ph rasesand rhythms . Litt l e may be accompl i shed at th eoutset

,st i l l the attent io n shou l d be aroused and kept

o n th e a l ert . A th eo ret i ca l k nowle dge at th i s s tageo f th e student ’s p rogress o f th e const ru ct i o n andsymmetr i ca l bu i l d o f the compos i t i o n w i l l be o fgreat advantage i n dete rm i n i ng th e gene ra l out l i nefo r s imp l e and rud imentary ph ras i ng . A s th e rhythm i c

,melod i c and harmon i c mot ives begi n to d i sp lay

mo re c l earness , th e s tuden t wi l l attempt to g i vethem more defin i te mean i ng an d shad i ng , and wi l lperhaps deve lop a spark o f art i s t i c t emperament .

Ph ras i ng , even art i s t i c ph ras i ng , i s someth i ng t hatcan be taugh t tho rough ly ; as lo ng as the ph rases a remore congruent w i th the metr i ca l an d rhythm i ca lconst i tuents o f a compos i t io n , as i s genera l ly th ecase i n c l ass i c works , no se rious d i ffi cu l ty w i l l beencountered . I n compos i t i o ns o f a romant i c o rder

,

metr i ca l an d rhythm i ca l constru ct i o n i s much i nterl aced w i th mus i ca l ph rases , character i s t i c accents areheaped togeth er , somet imes seem i ngly fore ign to theeven flow o f though t . Beethoven , i n h i s later works ,and Schubert open th i s new fie l d fo r express i o n

,and

w ith Sch umann i t i s o ne o f th e ch i e f character i st i c s ;fo r th i s reason , probab ly , the latte r composer hass pared no pa i ns to make h i s ph ras i ng as p l a i n asmus i ca l notat i o n wou l d perm i t i n h i s t ime .

Ph ras i ng i n c lass i c compos i t io ns , wh e re greater

pe rfect io n of fo rm enhances th e beauty,i s more a

matte r of refined i nte l l i gen ce , i n asmuch as i n these“

Worlz

<s emot io na l qual i t i es are ‘certa i n ly latent ; but do‘

1 8 TH E P 1A N 15'

1"s ART .

not fo r express i o n appea l to any defin i te cho rd i nthe h uman sou l . I n compos i t ion s wh i ch appea l mored i rec t ly to th e imagi nat i on , as i s th e case wi th workso f th e romant i c o rder

,ph ras i ng seems more a n out

growth of a d is t i nct feeling, and depends large ly uponth e temperament , th e emot ional qual ificat i o ns a ndthe d i s c r im i nat i ng ab i l i t i es o f th e student .Touch , as a means o f to ne p roduct i o n , and th e

i nte rp rete r ’ s mos t va l uab l e med i um fo r express i o n ,requ i res much though t and s tudy . To become amaster o f a l l th e variou s grades and shades’

of tou chi s a labo rious task ; fo r th e s tro ng to p rodu ce a to nethat i s rep l ete w i th de l i cate refinement , to i n s t i l lpowe r and vigo r i nto de l i cate hands

,to b r i ng repose

to th e rest l ess and awaken energy i n a l ethargi c tem

perament, i s a l l i mpo rtant . I s th e phys i ca l powe rat l ast b rough t u nde r contro l -and th e l o ng l i ne o fp ian i s ts that have s ucceeded i n th i s shou l d g ive en

couragement i n u nt i r i ng e ffo rts— th e p ian i s t ’ s tem

peramentand i nte l l e ct a re ca l l ed upon fo r each shadeo f to ne . Good examp les , that fu rn i sh i n mus i ca lcharacter i s t i c s so l i d food fo r th e student ’ s i nte l l ec tua l t ra i n i ng , wi l l i n t ime gi ve a ve rsat i l i ty i n touch ,wh ich i s essent ia l i n a n art i s t i c re p roduct io n . Thep ian ist ’ s l as t ach i evement i s to put l i fe i nto h i s tou ch ;i n th e sympath et i c i n te rcou rse o f h i s i n ne r l i fe w i thh i s h ea re rs

,h e must s t r i ve to make conv i nc i ng to

them th rough h i s touch what i s a l i ve i n h i s art i s t i cconcept i o n .

The touch i n i tse l f shou l d a lways be spon taneous ,that i s , proceed i ng from natu ra l fee l i ng , tempera

TH E P I AN I ST ’S ART . 19

ment o r d i spos i t i on,o r from an i nte rna l tendency

wi thout e i the r compu l s io n o r constra i nt . H as th estudent acqu i red a prope r i n s igh t i nto the i nte l l e ctua l and emot io nal qual i t i es o f th e compose r

'

s work ,the s pec ia l mode o f touch w i l l be regu lated by

’

h is

natu ra l fee l i ng , gu ided by th e art i st i c taste wh i chhas bee n deve loped . Touch , i n a h igher se nse , i st h e natu ra l consequence o f th e mus i ca l growth i nfee l i ng and i nte l l ect ; a n i nexhaust ib l e var i ety i s atth e p layer ’ s command

,and exper i en ce w i l l by and

by become a val uab l e and re l i ab l e gu i de .

I n a l l th e var i et i e s o f touch the re must be severa l u n i fo rm e lements . Whether fi nge rs o r a rm usea h igh e levat io n o r touch a lmost rest i ng o n th e k eys ,th e movement i tse l f shou l d be qu i ck as though t , s i nce re i n pu rpose an d fu l l o f repose . As i n execut ionthe l east exert i o n i n su res th e best e ffect , so i n touchthe co ncentrat i on o f th e e ffo rt to a m i n imum wi l li nc rease th e beauty o f to ne . I f th e word “ touchs ign ifies no t o n ly th e attack

,but i nc l udes th roughout

'

th e co nnect i o n o f finger and key to the re l i eve,i t

shou l d be bo rne i n m i nd that th e fi nge r cont i nuesth e pressu re i n comp l ete repose and that th e re l i evement shou l d be accomp l i sh ed i n a perfect ly unaf

fected manner , that i s , wi thout changi ng to that endth e pos i t i o n o f e i th e r hand o r wri st . Who i s notaware that many of our amateu r p ian i sts i n rel ievi ng th e key cont r i ve to “ grace fu l ly ” pu l l u p thefinge rs by the wr ist , a so rt o f co nvent io na l i nc l i nat io n fo r say i ng good -bye"

I f th e e l ementary parts o f tech n i c have been cor

20 TH E P I A l T’

s ART .

rectly u nderstood and tho rough ly p ract i ced , t ime ,rhythm and exec ut i o n wi l l improve i n good o rde r i fthe teache r qu i ck ly not i c es what n eed s s pec ia l ca re

,

and takes p rope r s teps to correct what i s wro ng andto improve what i s am i ss . There w i l l a lways bestudents mo re o r l ess subj ect to weak ness i n one o ranother o f th e essent ia l e l ements o f tech n i c

,fo r the

mode l s tuden t i s s t i l l to be found , whose except io na lqual i t i e s wou l d enab l e h im to reach a h igh grade i nevery b ran ch o f th e art w i thout e ncounte r i ng greatero r l esse r obstac l es i n one o r ano th e r d i rect io n . Ex

perience p roves that to go to th e root o f th e ev i l an dremedy what i s want i ng , fundamental ly , givesa lways the qu i ckest and best cu re , but i t general lyrequ i res pat i en ce and perseverance o f a h ighe ro rde r , both i n th e student a nd teach e r . Where afu ndamenta l c u re i s not adm1ssible , recourse to othe rmeans must be had , and i t i s i n such emergency thatth e stud i es

,wh i ch have been wri tte n to ass i s t th e

d i l igen t s tudent i n h i s e ffo rts to ove rcome spec ia ld e fects

,must be employed to remedy th e evi l . The

se l ect i o n must be made with the part i c u la r obj ec t i nvi ew

,and the p ract i ce cont i nued u nt i l th i s resu l t has

bee n fa i rly we l l accompl i shed . Even where th efu ndamenta l c u re i s employed , su ch exerc i ses maybe used spar i ngly as a d i e t to p reven t a re lapse .

Read i ng at s igh t i s an accompl i shment wh i ch i snot a lways a natu ra l g i ft

,and l i tt l e can be done at

fi rs t to acqu i re i t,s i n ce th e de fect i s no t a lo n e o ne

o f th e eye ; the cause i n most cases seems to be anunsat i s facto ry co-operat i on o f eye , i n te l l e c t and

THE PIANI ST’S ART . 21

fingers"

. A fte r a fa i r amount o f sk i l l i n th emanagement o f th e keyboard has been acqu i red , some t imeda i ly shou l d be devoted to read i ng , begi nn i ngwi ththe s imp l est l i t t l e p i eces , th e eas i es t arrangementso f popu la r so ngs

,such as are found to any number

i n ou r i nst ru ct i o n books o f l ate r date fo r ch i l d ren ;l i tt l e by l i tt l e some read i ness w i l l be gai ned i n readi ng i f every next t r ia l br i ngs someth i ng new . Easyso nat i nas

,an d eve ryth i ng that p resents l i t t l e d i ffi

cu l ty i n rhythm , may thus be read u nt i l some sat i sfac to ry resu l t i s obta i ned ; it i s , howeve r , essent i a lthat th e read i ng matte r shou l d a lways be o f a s imp l ek i nd

,i n gradat io n ve ry much be low th e genera l

ab i l i ty o f th e p layer , and that no attempt be madeto soon i n c rease th e harmon i c o r rhythm i ca l di fficu lties o f th e matter .Ment io n has been made repeated ly that i n th e

ear ly part o f th e student ’ s t ra i n i ng , mater i a l o fsound mus i ca l qual i ty shou l d be subst i tuted a l togethe r fo r exerc i ses , s i n ce th e dete r i o rat i ng tendency o f th e lat te r i n a l l that co n st i tutes mus i ca lcharacte r i st i cs can scarce ly be den i ed i n th e abst ract .N o mechan i ca l exerc i s es , save what may be te rmedthe e l ements o f execu t i o n , shou l d be emp loyed ;these

,however

,shou l d be stud i ed and matu red , as a

means to mus i ca l rep roduct i o n , unt i l a h i gh gradeo f perfect io n i s atta i ned . The multzzm z

'

nparvo shou l dbe th e ru l i ng pr i n c i p l e , and a thorough ly co rrec tappl i cat i o n o f a l l

.

that perta i ns to p i ano tech n i c mustbe cons i dered as essent i a l . Phys i ca l developmentand the i nte l l ectua l capac i ty o f th e i nd iv i dua l w i l l

22 TH E P i AmsT’

s ART .

l arge ly dete rm i ne the success fu l i ssue ; yet moredepends on thorough , systemat i c work . Every stepprepares th e way fo r th e next , but fi rm footho l dmust be ga i ned be fore th e new step i s attempted .

A fte r th e e l ements o f p iano tech n i c have been fi rm lyestab l i sh ed , th e st udent w i l l be ab l e to success fu l lydeve lop greate r vari ety i n execut io n

,p rovi ded that

i n each new acqu i s i t io n he adhe res to the pr i n c i p l eo f th e utmost exact ness .The i nte l l e ctua l an d mo ra l d eve lopment o f th e

i nd iv i d ua l depends l arge ly upo n the assoc i at i onswh i ch have i nfluen ced th e ear ly growth . The ch i l dwh i ch has had free ac cess to all th e i n nocent p l easu res that b righte n i ts te nde r ex i stence wh i le i tseducat io n care fu l ly guards i t from al l harmfu l andundes i rab l e i nfluences

,wi l l i n the o rd i nary cou rse

no t o n ly deve lo p a more even ly balan ced m in d andse nse o f d uty

,and fi nd i n th e t r ia l s o f l i fe a st rong

suppo rt , but wi l l che r i sh , i n advanc i ng age , th e t reasured re co l l ect io ns o f a happy i n fancy . I nd ivi dua ldeve lopmen t i s genera l ly much eas i e r i nflue nced byth e m it igat i ng recreat i on s than by the u nbend i ngru l e o f study , and o n ly by th e j ud i c io us , u nequ ivoca ladm ixtu re o f p l easu re and duty that laten t power i nl i fe— characte r -can be evo lved .

Pare nts have l i tt l e d iffi cu l ty i n grad i ng the readi ng matte r o f stud i ous ch i l d re n . N u rse ry rhymes ,fab l es

,fa i ry sto ri es

,tal es o f fict i o n , wh i ch , wh i l e they

amuse,do not exc l ude i n fo rmat io n , fo l low each

other i n we l l regu lat ed rap i d s uccess i o n , exc l ud ingfabr i cat io ns wh i ch have a te ndency to m i sl ead and

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

24 THE PI AN I ST’S ART.

written many easy and enjoyable p i eces fo r ch i ldren,wh i ch , with se l ect i o ns from th e eas i e r works o fMozart , H aydn , H aendel , Mende l ssoh n and th eA lbum fo r th e Y ou ng o f Sch umann ’ s , o ffe r a weal thand varie ty wh i ch i s t ru ly exce l l en t . Accord i ng tothe ab i l i ty and mett l e o f th e pup i l compos i t i ons ofa l igh t gen re may be emp loyed al o ngs i de o f th i sbette r mater ia l

,p rov i ded th e empty

,mean i ngless

ph rase and the al togeth e r patte rn l i ke tech n i c i ncompos i t io n i s suflfic iently shu n ned .

Necessar i ly,what wi l l i ns u re th e greates t versa

ti l ity i n execut io n , o n the sou ndest mus i ca l p r i nc ip l es

,wi l l be th e best means to the end ; and the

greatest exponent o f mus i c pu re and s impl e , J . S .

Bach fu rn i shes th e student wi th th e greatest vari etyi n tech n i ca l figures . The studen t wi l l fin d i n h imevery ass i stance i n h i s e ffo rt s fo r greate r va ri ety andsuper io r neatness i n execut i o n , wh i l e th e sou ndmus i ca l character o f h i s works wi l l great ly matureth e heal thy mus i ca l i nst i ncts . I f i t i s conceded thatmus i ca l qual ificat io n shou l d be comb i ned wi thtech n i ca l e ffi c i e ncy , th e st udent , whose se l ec t ions o f-a more tech n i ca l tenden cy are largely

'

interspersed

with Bach,from th e l i tt l e p re l udes to h i s “Wel l

Tempered C lavec i n,w i i l fi nd a n end less var iety o f

mus i ca l and tech n i ca l mate ri a l , wh i ch w ith p rope rapp l i cat i o n w i l l no t o n ly great ly en large h i s execu

t i ve ab i l i ty,but wi l l g ive h im i nte l l e ctua l ly th e o rd i

na ry complements,th e fi rst p ri nc i p les , wh i ch estab

l i sh sound mus i ca l co nv i ct io ns,that wi l l be a safe

guard fo r h i s mus i ca l consc i en ce .

THE PI ANI ST’S ART.

Pi ano mus i c and p iano tech n i c have been deve loped and broadened s i n ce Bach ’ s t ime to an asto nish ing degree , and though Bach may justly c l a im theforemost cons i de rat i o n i n th e student ’ s c u rr i cu l um

,

the re wou l d be no ga i n i n a tota l ly o ne-s i ded devot io n to h i s mus i ca l gen i us . I t i s no easy task fo r th estudent to ga i n a tho rough knowl edge o f th e masterworks o f p iano l i te ratu re . Mozart , H ay dn , Mendelssohn and H aendel wi l l p repare th e way for Sch ubert , Weber and Beethove n , wh i l e Chop i n and Sch umann requ i re a more matu re deve lopment . Thework s o f th e maste rs

,each more o r l ess perfect i n i ts

own pecu l ia r manne r, are vari ed i n th e compose r’ s

i d ea l v is i o n o f beauty,th e i r c reat ive power , th e i r

techn i c o f compos i t io n and i nd iv i dua l use o f th e ins t rument so that an app rec i at i o n o f the i r vari ouscharacte r i st i c qual i t i es ca n on ly be atta i n ed by carefu l and perseveri ng work .

As l i fe ’ s i nte rcou rse deve l ops characte r and br i ngsout th e qua l i t i e s i n man wh ich d i st i ngu i sh one be i ngfrom anothe r

,so mus i ca l characte r i st i c s ca n on ly be

deve loped i n co nstant i nte rchange w i th th e i dea lcharacters i n th e great works o f our art . The greate rth e var iety o f composers and compos i t i o n s o fsterl i ng val ue that come wi th i n th e range of th estudent ’ s e ffo rts , th e more tho rough ly each i s stud i e dand app rec iated i n i t s mus i ca l characte r , th e mo rechance w i l l th e p ian i s t have to acqu i re that s ubt l ei nte l l i gence

,that broadness o f characte r

,and imte n

sity o f fee l i ng i n mus i ca l reproduct i on , wh i ch i s th ech ie f charm o f p iano p lay i ng .

F I NGER ING .

I N GE R I N G des ignates th e man ner o r mode ofus i ng the fingers i n p iano p lay i ng , and a rat iona l

method o f finger i ng app l i ed to th e mechan i ca l management o f th e keyboard fo r p ract i ca l p urposes i swhat co nst itu tes th e execut ive abi l i ty o f th e p ian i st .The more th e finge rs are freed from natu ra l res t ra i n tth e mo re wi l l th ey be qual ified fo r act io n , and execut io n i n i ts h ighest atta i nab l e state w i l l depend fo r

equality and rapidity upon th e i ndependence o f th e fi ngers bu t fo r accuracy and faultlessness upon a thoro ugh ly systemat i ze d finger i ng . So c lose ly andi nseparab ly co nnected— save fo r th e i nd i spensab l emechan i ca l ab i l i ty— are systemat i c fi nger i ng andexecut i ve sk i l l that i n e ffec t th e o ne i s a comp l ement to th e other ; eve n th e mechan i ca l independen ce o f th e fi ngers can not b e deve loped wi thoutsome rud imentary system i n finge r i ng .

The execut io n can be even w i thout be i ng swi ft ,and co rrec t w ithout reach i ng that perfected statewh i ch almost exc l udes de fect -but i t i s se l f-evi de ntthat a n even execu t i on must re ly to a great extent on a correc t system of finger i ng ; and that a per

fcctexecut io n ( wh i ch inc lz

i

édes swi ftness ) i s on ly the

TH E P IAN I ST ’S ART . 27

h ighes t degree o f equa l i ty and ac curacy wh i ch canbe obta i n ed .

A systemat i c finger i ng i n c l udes a l l grammat i ca lru l es wh i ch gover n d ig i ta l sk i l l a ccord i ng to soundpr i nc i p l es and estab l i shed usage ; etymo logi ca l ru l esw i l l compr i se th e finger i ng o f a l l e l ementary technica l fo rms and th e i r changes an d i nflect i o ns

,syntac

t i c w i l l be th e app l i cat i o n o f th e e l ementary ru les toth e mus i ca l se ntences th emse l ves

,and i n th e i r nec

essary re l at i ons to each othe r i n compos i t i o n s .The e l ementary ru l es o f finger i ng h ave bee n

estab l i shed so thorough ly i n cou rse o f t ime by theco nstant attent i o n o f th e maste rs , an d th e l at e rphases o f p ian i st i c art have so perfected and arranged the mate ria l , that a re l i ab l e bas i s fo r a th eo ryo f fingeri ng seems to have been ga i ned . The app l icat io n of th ese ru l es

,however

,to co n nected mus i ca l

sentences i n compos i t io n i s st i l l , and probab ly al

ways w i l l be , more o r l es s arb i t rary , s i n ce th e practica l analy s i s i s a lways to a great exte nt i n fluenced byi nd iv i dua l adaptab i l i ty , wh i ch a l l ows and o fte n necessitates mod ifi cat i o ns to a l l ru l es . The per fectp ract i ca l mastery o f finge r i ng i n th e art i s t m ust be ,so to say

,i nd i v i dual i zed to obta i n i n co nj u n ct i o n

wi th an adequate i n depe ndence o f the fingers afau l t l ess execut i o n .

Our knowledge o f any attempt to g i ve ru l es fo rfinger i ng reach es back to the s i xteenth cen tury , andsuffi c i e nt ev i den ce can be found i n a l l th e vari ousepochs o f p iano mus i c and p iano p lay i ng to p rovethat th e maste rs at a l l t imes cons i de red a we l l

28 THE PI AN I ST ’S A RT .

matu red method i n fi ngeri ng one o f th e most essen4

t ia l requ i rements i n th e p ian is t ’ s art i st i c make-up .

‘The vi ews expressed i n th e earl i e st days are o fsu ch pr im it i ve order a nd i n th e l igh t o f our ad

vanced atta i nments so i nsuffic i e n t an d erroneous ,that th ey have none but an h i sto r i ca l i n terest nowadays . The hands an d e lbows o f th e p laye r we re atfi rs t be low the keyboard and perm i ss ib l e o n ly wasth e use o f th e th ree m idd l e fingers ; when , somewhatlate r, th e h ands we re ra i sed to be i n a l i n e wi th th efi ngers , th ese were he l d st iff and st ra igh t so asto st i l l exc l ude th e use o f th e th umb and fi fthfinger . The keyboard i n those days had o n ly th el owe r keys and two B flats , th e i nstrument i tse l fwas a l togeth er i n fe r i o r and o ffe red smal l chancefo r mus ica l comb i nat io ns , so that th e above mode o ffingeri ng was p robably tantamount to a l l th e re

qu irements o f execu t i on .

With th e i nt roduct i on o f the ch romat i c hal fto nes , th e d ivi s i o n o f each octave i nto seve n lowerand five uppe r keys

,and th e tempered tun i ng o f th e

i ns trument , a dec ided change i n compos i t io n musthave caused a marked revo l ut i o n i n finger i ng andth e t reatment o f th e i nst rument . The fi rs t t reat i seo n “mus i ca l temperatu re” by A nd reas Werkme i ste r

( 169 1 ) i s ve ry l ike ly th e resu l t o f many pr io r experi

ments ; thes e radi ca l changes th emse lves , howeve r ,can hard ly be many years o lde r .Franco i s Couperi n— h igh ly esteemed fo r h is

or i gi na l i ty and mus i ca l qual i t ies i n compos i t i on . andfo r h i s e l egant and express i ve pe rfo rmances o n the

THE P 1A N 15T’

s ART . 29

C l avec i n— who made use o f th e even temperament ,gives i n h i s “

1’

arta’c toac/tcr a

’u clavccz

'

n”

( 1 7 1 7 ) examples o f finger i ng

,wh i ch

,though extremely dar

i ng,seem al togeth er capr i c ious and vo i d o f method ,

a proo f that th e i deas on fingeri ng fo r th e new keyboard were at that t i me , i n France at l east , st i l lvague and u nsett l ed . Couperin

’

s nove l use o f th eth umb and fi fth finger

,though apparent ly nowhere

subj ect to any ru l e,fo rms th e br i dge to the rat i o nal

system wh i ch was deve loped abou t that t ime .

Scarlatt i ’ s mode o f fingeri ng must h ave bee n we l lsystemat i zed to j udge th e great perfo rmer by h i scompos i t i o ns

,though there seems to be no trace le ft

o f any metho d .

Joh . Seb . Bach ’s system,wh i ch fo rms the bas i s fo r

ou r modern fi nger i ng,was

,no doubt

,d ue to h i s very

s uper io r ab i l i ty as a p layer and may have beendeve l oped i n h i s earl i e r years —it i s , howeve r , d i ffic u l t to say whether he o r ig i nated th i s system i nd ependent ly

,s i nce Buxteh ude ( 1635 c e l eb rated

as organ i s t be fo re Bach ’ s t ime , requ i red as thorougha system o f fingeri ng fo r a good rend i t i o n o f h i scomp l i cated works

,as Bach— was p robab ly we l l

matu red when h e wrote th e fi rs t part o f h i s We l lTempered C lavec i n ( about an d the i deas weret ransm i tted to poste r i ty mai n ly th rough h i s so n ,Ph . Em . Bach .

The sa l i e n t featu re o f th i s new system was th eemp loyment o f all th e fingers a nd the i r curvca’ pos i t io u— so as to equa l i ze th e reach o f th e longe r andsho rte r members ; th e use o f th e thumb and fi fth

30 TH E P IAN I ST’

S ART .

finge r must have been nearly equal to that o f th eothe r finge rs , though the i r serv i ceab l e ness fo r theu pper keys was rest r i c ted by Bach to cases o fnecess i ty . Only w i th such a bas i s fo r finger i ng i t i sposs ib l e to rep roduce th e d i ffi cu l t a n d comp l i catedwo rk s wh i ch Bach i s sa i d to have p layed w ith easeand where po lyphone p lay i ng i n e i th e r hand frequentl y necess i tates the use o f th e thumb and fi fthfinge r o n the b lack keys .

Th i s theo ry has h e l d good wi th al l th e greatp layers and teachers afte r Bach who he l d con nect i o nw i th h im i n an a lmost u nb roken l i n e th rough h i sso ns . Dussek , C lement i , Mozart , H umme l , Cramer ,Czerny , M osch eles and many othe rs have o n th issame bas i s spec ified ru l es fo r fi nger i ng acco rd i ng tothe i r own i nd i v i d ua l requ i rements . Spec ia l ru leswere made fo r th e various p ract i ca l e nds and exemp l ified i n many a great p iano method , but th efu ndamenta l p r i n c i p l e o f Bach ’ s system remai nedun changed . As

,howeve r

,th e p redom i nant homo

phon e s tyl e o f p iano mus i c a fte r Bach o ffe red hard lyany need fu l oc cas io n to use th e sho rte r fi ngers o nth e bl ack keys , i t became i n cou rse o f t ime a stri c tru l e notto use th e thumb or fi fth finge r on the upperkeys .

As l ong as th e figu res i n p iano passages were o f anarrowe r pattern

,se ldom reach i ng an octave and i n

ve ry extrao rd i nary cases on ly go i ng beyond thati nte rval , th i s pos i t i ve i nte rd i c t i o n o f th e short finge rso n th e b lack keys cou l d not become a se rious obstac l e i n execut io n . When , however , i n th e las t , most

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32 TH E P 1AN 15 T’

s ART .

been changed , a l though i n many i nstances i t has beencons ide rab ly improved i n a rat i ona l manner .The fundamenta l p r i nc i p les fo r a systemat i c fin

ger i ng , whethe r app l i ed to e l ementary fo rma’

t i on s o radjusted to p ract i ca l purposes i n p lay i ng by studento r a rt i s t , may be summed up as fo l l ows : That th enatu ra l s uccess io n o f th e fi nge rs i s th e most des i rab le , that th e s imp les t finger i ng i s th e best and mostmethod i ca l , and that accord i ng to th e natura l pos it i o n o f th e fi ngers wi th i n compass o f a fi fth

,octave

o r t enth , th e fingeri ng must be co nst ructed o n thesepr i nc i p les . Based o n these i deas , th e ru l es fo r arat i ona l system o f finger i ng have been deve loped fo rth e e l ements o f execut ion , an d wh i l e s u ch ru l es aswou ld be fi tt i ng fo r the var i ous poss ib i l i t i es i n mus ica l p ract i ce can not poss ib ly be framed , s i n ce th evar i ous comb i nat io ns i n compos i t i o n can as l i tt l e bebrough t i nto co nnect i o n wi th genera l p recepts i nfinge r i ng , as th e i nd iv i dual qua l ificat io ns o f th estuden t o r a rt i s t can be d i s regarded , a ge nera l synops i s o f some part i cu lar featu res i n th e app l i cat i o n o ffinger i ng to p ract i ca l pu rposes can be gi ven .

Fi ve fi ngers , s l igh t ly c urved and rest i ng o n fivel ower keys i n a n u nbrok en row , w i l l rep resent th emost natu ra l pos i t io n ; th i s pos i t io n may e i ther becontrac ted by om iss io n o f o ne o r more fingers

,o r

expanded . A l l grou ps o f notes rang i ng from th ei nte rva l o f th e seco nd to that o f th e s i xth w i l l bewith i n easy reach i n th i s pos i t io n ; an extens i o n o fth e hand to the octave w i l l i n c l ude the seve nth andeas i ly cover the n i nth

,and the fu rth e r exte ns io n to

THE P IAN I ST ’S ART . 33

th e tenth wi l l i n c lude the i nte rva l o f th e e l eventhfo r a l l s uch as are s uffi c i e nt ly favo red by natu re tobe ab l e to reach i t w i th a qu i et hand .

Any one o f these pos i t i o ns o f th e fi fth , octave o rtenth may be transposed and i nterchanged by crossi ng the fingers over th e th umb o r by gl i d i ng th e latte r u nder th e fingers ; o r i t may be s l ight ly sh i ftedby s l i pp i ng th e fi fth finger be low the longer fi ngerso r the latte r over th e l i t t l e finge r .The e lements o f execut io n— t ri l l s , d iaton i c a nd

ch romat i c s ca l es in al l th e i r various comb i nat i o ns,

the broken cho rds and arpeggios i n a l l the i r pos it i ons , var iat i o ns and t ranspos i t i o ns , th e repeat i ngnotes , the d iato n i c a nd ch romat i c s ca l es i n th i rds ,s i xth s and o ctaves , th e broken cho rds and arpeg

gios i n doub l e notes— have a stereotyped fi nger i ngwh i ch can be t raced i n any o f th e modern h andbooks . (P laidy

’

s Tech n i ca l S t ud i es .) A tho roughknowl edge o f harmony wi l l fu rth er e l u c i date th efinger i ng o f th ese typ i ca l to ne comb i nat i o ns and w i l le nab l e the student to l o cate th e d i ffe rent patte rnsan d figures de r ived from sca l es and ch o rds co rrect lyas to the i r pos i t i o n and so find th e i r norma l fingeri ng . A comb i nat io n o f d i fferent pos it i o ns o r t ranspos i t i o n w i l l change noth i ng i n th e system o f fingeri ng , as th e change , once e ffected , resto res the samequ i et pos i t i o n o f th e h and . Car l Tausig

’

s da i lystud i es

'

o ffe r a m uch larger var i ety o f tech n i ca l figu res wh i ch , i nasmuch as they a re deve loped systemati cal ly from t ri l l s , sca les a nd cho rds . and c lever lyt ransposed th rough th e who l e harmon ious system

,

34 TH E PI AN I ST ’ S ART .

are l ike ly to broaden and matu re i n a care fu l studentth e i deas fo r a good method i n finge ri ng .

The co rrect finger i ng o f th ese e l ementary comh imat io ns , i f p roperly and tho rough ly mastered byth e student , wi l l g ive h i s fingers i n cou rs e o f t imea sort o f i nst i n ct i ve tendency to perfo rm certa i nmovements , and some de l ibe rat i o n w i l l e nab l e h imto apply h i s p rofic i e ncy to advantage i n compos i t i o n .

The l ate r standard ed i t i ons,as Pete rs

, L itolff, e tc . ,

are,i n the i r care fu l ly rev i sed finger i ng

,an i nva l uab l e

a i d to student an d teache r , i f th e same i mperat ivenecess i ty compe l s th e use o f the righ t fingers

,that

ca l l s fo r t h e r igh t notes .Though a natu ra l su ccess io n o f th e fingers i s u su

al ly pre ferab le , t r i l l s o fte n gai n i n power and b ri l liancy by emp loyi ng fingers out o f the i r natura lo rder

,o r fi nge rs i nstead o f I . 2

a change,howeve r, o f fo r t r i l l s requ i re a

very even tou ch and great fac i l i ty to be e ffect i ve .

The use o f o ne and th e same fi nger i ng fo r all th es cal es— begi nn i ng w i th the th umb and end i ng wi thth e fi fth finger— wou l d s imp l i fy the fingeri ng fo r thes cal es i n flats

,wou l d work , pe rhaps , to perfect io n

theo ret i cal ly,but cou l d not fa i l to be awkward and

c lumsy i f carr i ed out pers i ste nt ly eve n by an exce ll e n t p layer . Mus i ca l co nst ruct io n makes itdes i rab l esomet imes to use the th umb o r fi fth - finger o n theupper keys

,even i n sca l e passages , most ly , however ,

toward the end o f such passages fo r th e pu rpose o fgett i ng a more des i rab l e pos i t ion o f th e hand fo r th e

next ph rase .

TH E P IAN I ST 'S ART . 35

For short ch romat i c passages th e use o f the fou rthfinge r o n upper keys and the fi fth o n the lower keysi nsu res a very e ffec t i ve mezzo voce ; fo r rap i d p l ayi ng o f th e ch romat i c s ca le , a finger i ng (a ) has greatadvantages and i s p ract i cab l e , as th e change fromfi fth to th umb i s by no means d iffi cu l t to ove rcom e .

A c e rta i n amount o f p rofi c i ency i n changi ng afte rth e fi fth fi nger shou l d be deve lo ped , as i t may fre~

quent ly be foun d use fu l ; i t i s o n e o f th e prom i nentfeatu res i n modern fi nger i ng . Sca l e passages , o rthe i r de ri vat i o n s

,wi l l ga i n i n sw i ftness th e fewe r th e

changes o f pos i t i o n ; the re i s no finger i ng that w , ll

give the s ca l e i n C th e supreme dash that twochanges o f five finge rs each (6 ) fo r two octaves w i l limpart t o i t .Passages o r figures deve loped from o r made up

o f sca l es can eas i ly be finge red systemat i ca l ly ; passages composed of a success i o n o f s im i lar figuresshou l d be fingered un i fo rm ly ; i f th ey are made u pi n c l ose pos i t i o n after th e manner o f th e c lass i cschoo l , i t i s des i rab l e to avo i d th e use o f th e th umbon upp e r keys as much as conven i e nt ; i n th e extended figures of th e modern wr i te rs a change to ah igh er or lowe r o ctave wi l l o fte n make th e use o f

,

th e two short fi nge rs o n th e b lack keys necessa ry .

36 TH E P 1AN 1ST’

s ART .

Even i n common a rpeggios , ac cord i ng to the i r pos it i o n and extent , a change to the thumb afte r thefi fth fi nge r may be advi sab l e i n re fe rence to th eensu i ng pos i t i o n o f th e hand , wh ich wi l l a lwaysdec ide th e cho i ce o f finge rs .

Repeat i ng notes may be p layed wi th var i ousorders o f fingers ( I , 2 , 3, 4 o r 4 , 3, 2 ,

1 o r 3, 2 ,

but a regu lar change i n th e success i o n shou l dbe adhered to and th e group i ng shou l d be such thatth e acce nts a re rende red w ith the s tro nger fi nge rs .I n a l l th e later s tandard ed i t io ns o f c l ass i c and modern p iano wo rks a change o f fingers fo r a renewedattack o f th e same key , where and wh eneve r i toccu rs , i s car r i e d out w i th characte r i st i c

.

conse

quence , a usage wh ich h igh ly recommends i ts e l f , asi t i nsures a n a lmost u n fa i l i ng repet i t i o n i n themechan i sm o f th e i n strument . Th i s p ract i ce , h owever

,appears l ess u rge nt in polyphone p lay i ng i n the

same hand,more espec ia l ly whe n o ne part i s o f

s t rong , melod ious import , wh i l e th e oth e r i s secon da ry ; th e method i ca l change i n such cases s eems toi n c rease frequent ly th e d i ffi cu l ty i n th e more necessary qual i ficat io ns o f th e touch , and i s even moreo fte n l iab l e to i nte rfere w ith rhythm i ca l p rec i s i o n .

For d iato n i c sca l es i n th i rds , a fingeri ng a na l ogous to that o f th e s impl e s ca l e , with o ne change o f

position(c) , i s pre ferab l e , and the mode rn way o f fing

THE P I A N I S T’

s ART . 37

eri ng the ch romat i c s ca l e i n th i rds (a’

) i s s uper i o r fo rsmoothness and ag i l i ty . The more extended i ncompass th e doub l e passages become

,th e more

l iab l e i s the th umb to get th e ent i re charge o f o nepart

,wh i l e th e 3, 4 , 5 fingers take the oth er . The

use o f the lo nger fingers fo r th e upper keys,and the

fi fth finger fo r th e lower,more part i cu l ar ly i n octavep lay i ng , seems th e most natu ra l . For arpeggi os i ndoub l e notes a regu larly recu rr i ng fingeri ng forevery octave i s adv i sab l e .

I n melod ious passages with accompan iment i nthe same hand , recours e may -o fte n be had '

to a qu i etchange o f finge rs , by co nt i nued p ressu re , o n thenotes o f th e me lody , so as to re nder them well co nnected . The notes i n th e accompan iment shou ld 'be

p layed l eggiero— that i s no n - l egato— and the fi nge rsshou l d l eave them before th e n ext note o f th emelody i s taken . Th i s mode o f cantab i l e p lay i ngwi th accompan iment i n th e same hand,though

'

by

no means the on ly nor th e most e ffect i ve One , i s we l lcal cu lated t0

'

puri fy th e me lod ious fee l i ng in'

the

student .I n po lyphone p lay i ng i n th e same hand , the parts

wi l l e i ther move i n para l l e l mot io n , i n wh i ch caseth e finger i ng may be deve loped afte r that o f ‘ th esca l e s i n th i rds o r s i xth s ; o r i n co ntrary mo t i o n ,when the th umb w i l l ge nera l ly take care of o ne

38 TH E P 1A N 15 T’

s ART .

part,wh i l e th e fou r finge rs take th e othe r ; o r i n

ob l i qu e mot ion ; i n th i s case th e mov i ng part w i l l befingered acco rd i ng to the natu ra l o rder o f th e fingers . I f a change o f pos i t i o n i n th e mov i ng part i srequ i red genera l ly when the fi fth finge r ho l ds th eothe r part— th i s must be e ffected w ith due rega rd tothe fo l low i ng ph rase . The use o f th e th umb and fi fthfinge r o n th e uppe r keys i n polyhone p l ay i ng i so fte n i nd i spensab l e a nd , l ik e th e change o f fi ngerso n the same key withoutst r i k i ng, f requent ly a matte r o f necess i tyWhen the accompan iment i s made up o f wid e

spread harmon i es i n th e l e ft hand and the cho rd s arest ruck afte r a fu ndamenta l bass n ote , i t i s des i rab l eto reta i n th e extended pos i t i o n o f th e hand as muchas . poss ib l e

,and the cho rds are st ruck wi thout th e

use o f th e fi fth finger wheneve r p ract i cab l e .

The execut io n o f some passages can be at t imesfac i l i tated and ce rta i n ly made much more br i l l i a ntand dazz l i ng

,by d iv i d i ng th em betwee n both hands .

The part i c u l ar finger i ng fo r each group can be eas i lydeve loped— some rout i n e i n th i s spec ia l manner canbe acqu i red i n Carl ‘

R e inecke’

s stud i es , op . 1 2 1 .

To give a s uccess i o n o f notes i n a melod ious passage greate r de l i cacy

,Chop i n o ften u ses one o f the

weake r fi ngers , and a strong finger fo r a marte l l ato ;o f much greate r e ffect , p roduc i ng w i th fu l l a rmstroke a tone o f great penet rat i ng qual i ty , i s th eal te rnate use o f a strong fi nge r i n e i ther hand i nmelod ious passages or t ri l l s .Libe ra l v i ews and ru l es wh i ch more read i ly

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4 0 TH E P 1A N 1ST’

s ART .

emp loyment o f the same fi ngers i n natu ra l o rder ;whereve r greate r power o f to ne i s requ i red— obta i nabl e by comb i ned movement o f fingers an d ha ndand wherever a vac i l lat i ng character demands anag i tated , rest l ess rend i t i o n , th e regu la r rout i n e o fth e system may be a l tered to obta i n the des i rede ffect .

EXPRESSION .

XPR E SS I O N i s th e ev i denceof emot ion,a v iv i d

rep resentat io n o f a ce rta i n mean i ng o r fee l i ng,

and imp l i es i n mus i c a styl e o r manne r wh i ch g ives l i feand suggest i ve fo rce to i deas and sent iments . Emot io n i s a state o f i ntense exc i tement o f fee l i ng ; emot io n i n mus i c , o r an emot io na l exp ress i o n i n mus i c ,wou l d impart a degree o f e xc i tement wh i ch i s no tcompat ib l e wi th art . I s

,however , mus i c th e l an

guage o f emot io n , i t must b e an emot i o n wh i ch hasbeen i nte l l e ctua l ly co nce i ved

,and prepared by the

m i n d fo r utte rance o r rep roduct i o n ; that th e fee l i ngmust be l ate nt i n th e art i s t to be by h im we l l u nderstood an d defined , s eems certa i n ; yet i t i s th e artistic i n te l l igence wh i ch shapes th e means fo r th e reproduct i o n of th e emot i o na l character i st i cs

,an d the

imagi nat i o n reconstructs and comb i nes th e mate r ialfurn i sh ed by th e art i s t ’ s apprehens io n .

Mus i ca l express i o n i s,th ere fo re , not emot io nal ,

but represents i n th e abstract certa i n qua l i t i e s o femot io n i n repose, and each emot io n appears as represented by certa i n character i st i cs , wh ich make i t d i stinctly d i ffere nt from some u n iversa l sent iment . I tsc

’

nief promoter seems to be a d ist i n ct o rder o f i n te l41

4 2 TH E P i A N I S T’

s ART .

l ectua l facu l ty , wh ich co nce ives a more o r l ess delin i te i d ea o f certa i n emot i ons , deve lops th e means bywh ich th i s i dea i s made man i fest

,and commands

th em i n mus i ca l rep ro duct io n . A s a n i nte l l ec tua lp rocess , mus i ca l expression

'

requ ires i n s t i n ct i ve d i sc r im i nat i o n i n regard to th e means emp loyed . Th i sd is c r im i nat io n i s a part o f i nte l l e ctua l t ra i n i ng , andcan be deve loped to a ce rta i n degree .

I n a general way,mus i ca l exp ress io n w i l l rep resent

a correc t mus i ca l se nt iment,and a proper apprec ia

t i o n o f th e out l i n e o f characte r des ignated by th ecomposer i n th e mete r

,i nd i cat i o ns o f movement and

shad i ng . I f th i s co rrect mus i ca l sen t iment , as fi rstco nce i ved by the composer

,i s i n te ns ified by h ighe r

i nte l l ectua l powe r and temperament o f th e art i st , i tbecomes a man i festa t i o n o f art i s t i c i nd iv i dual i ty,wh i ch i s th e h igh est atta i nment i n rep roduct ive mu

sical art .Melody , harmony and rhythm , the essent i a l and

i ntegra l parts o f compos it i o n,fo rm the bas i s o f ex

press io n i n mus i c . Melody an d harmony represen tth e musical matte r to wh i ch rhythm gives th e systemat i c o rde r an d l ogi ca l importance . As a p ri nc i p l eo f o rde r

,rhythm i s quantitati ve, i t g ives each note i ts

spec i a l val ue and arranges th e notes i nto groups , soasto fi l l th e mete r o f th e compos i t io n ; i t i s qualita

tive i nasmuch as i t dete rm i nes th e l og i ca l impo rtanceo f notes and groups . Meter i s a systemat i c a rrangement i n mus ica l art , wh i ch regu lates th e success io no f parts to a sat i s facto ry i nte rchange , accord i ng tostr i ct l aws . Mete r, there fo re , arranges the mus i ca l

TH E P I AN I ST’

s ART . 4 3

matte r,and i s the embod iment o f rhythm ica l law ,

wh i le rhythm represents th e mate r ia l i n ev erchang

i ng mot ion . Rhythm and'

mete r sp r i ng from thesame sou rce

,one always chang i ng i n e nd l ess vari ety ,

the oth er constant i n th e spec ia l fo rm i t assumes .Mete r rep rese nts t ime (German , tact— measure ) ,

an d i t i n c l u des a lways more than o ne u n i t , each o fwh i ch i s i mportant as part o f the mete r , though thefi rst g ives th e norma l cond i t i o ns o f th e others ; i t i s ,as s uch

,more prom i nent

,and rece ives an acce nt .

Parts o f th e mete r,though as u n i ts an d t ime meas

ures u nchangeab l e,can be represented i n a l l rhyth

m ica l figures . Mete r i s d i st i ngu i shed as s imp le andcompound ; the latte r , as th e name imp l i es , i s a comb i nat i on o f s imp l e mete rs . Mete rs o f two or th reeun i ts w i l l a lways be cons i d ered as s im p le ( 2-

4 , 3

fou r,s i x , e ight , n i n e , et c .

,u n i t s wi l l co nst i tute com

pound mete rs . U n i ts , as t ime-measu res , can repre

se n t d i fferent note val ues , as ha l f, quarter , e ighthnotes , etc .

As a means o f br i ng i ng the fi rst an d importantpart o f the mete r i nto prom i nence . metr i ca l accentsa re part o f th e mete r

,and met ri ca l acce n ts wi l l n ot

change as lo ng as th e meter i s u nvary i ng i n th e fo rmi t has taken ; th e metr i ca l acce nt ca n not be t ransfe rred to an u nac cented part o f th e mete r I n compound mete r each o f th e component parts c la ims anaccent

,and

,as i n s imp l e mete r , th e fi rst u n i t g i ves

th e.

normal co nd it i ons fo r th e others , so i n compoundmete r

,th e fi rst component ho l ds th e same re lat io n

to the others ; i t natu ra l ly fo l lows that metr i ca l ac

4 4 TH E P 1A l T’

s ART .

cents i n compound mete r shou l d be re l ated i n th esame manne r ; the fi rstacce nt shou l d be more prom inen t than those o f th e other components— shou l d bep rimary i n impo rtance and grade o f tone , th e otherssecondary .

As s impl e mete r has one ac cented part , and compound mete r an acce nt to each component , i t fo l lowsthat s imple meter w i l l rep resent an eas i e r flow o fmatte r than compound mete r

,and the l arge r th e

compound the more wi l l be gai ned i n breadth andimportance .

A ch ange o f mete r o f one k i nd to another wi l lp la i n ly mark a change i n th e fundamenta l rhythm i cpr i nc i p le

,and a dec i ded change i n characte r .

Melody , harmony and a v iv i d reproduct i o n wi l la lways i n su re m i nute mod i ficat i ons o f th e st r i c t lawso f constancy i n met r i ca l d i v i s i o n

,and human fee l i ng

wi l l,to some extent

,vary an unchangi ng monotony

i n the grade o f to ne .

Rhythm i cal d i v i s ion depe nds on the same lawsas the metr i ca l . I n th e subd iv i s io n o f t ime va lues

,

tak i ng a who l e note as a u n i t , th e fi rs t o f two hal fnotes w i l l be the we ight i e r

,the fi rst and th i rd out o f

fou r quarte rs , and so o n i n each fo l low i ng subd iv i s i o n ; th e i deas of metr i ca l i mportance and mete raccent app ly to th e rhythm ica l d i v i s io n , so that thefi rst o f a pa i r i s a lways the we ight i e r o f the two . Forth e same reaso n , th e fi rs t i n each t r i p l et w i l l beac cented

,and wi th each new subd i vi s i o n the accents

o f e i th er pa i r o r t r i p l et wi l l become less s ign ificantand l ess marked

,so that fina l ly the p layer s imply

THE P i A N I S T’

s ART . 4 5~

reta i n s th e fi rm consc iousness o f the rhythm ica lpu l sat i on, wh i ch wi l l p revent acce nts on wrong parts,o r exaggerated accents i n th e i r r igh t p l ace .

Metri ca l an d rhythm i ca l accents requ i re d i ffe rentgrades o f ton e acco rd i ng to th e importance o f th eaccented parts , yet th i s accentuation , wh en s implyi nd i cat i ng th e out l i n e o f s t ru ctu re , shou l d bemoderate and adapted to th e characte r o f th e compos i t ion ; where rhythm i c c l earness on ly i s requ i reda s l ight i n c rease o f to ne wi l l t he refo re be suffic i ent .I n a l l fo rms

,where rhythm becomes a characte r i st i c

an d determ i n i ng facto r , as i n va l ses , po lo na ises ,mazurkas and marches,

'

themet r i ca l accent m us t bestrengthened to some exte nt , but neve r so as to become v io l ent .As i n poet ry metr i ca l fo rm estab l i sh es the verse

by joining a se r i es o f mete rs acco rd i ng to certa1n

ru l es,and fash io ns verses i nto groups , so i n mus i c

metr i ca l fo rmat i o n i s extended to sect i o ns andper i o ds . As a mete r ho l ds two , three ,ormore un i ts ,a se ct i o n w i l l co nta i n two

,th ree

,fou r, o r more

meters,and a per i o d wi l l i n c l u de severa l s ect i o ns ;

and as i n mete r th e fi rs t u n i t i s th e ru l e fo r th eothers

,so i n a sect i o n th e fi rs t meter ho l ds p romi

nence befo re th e oth ers . Greate r d i s c r im i nat i on i naccents w i l l be th e natu ra l co nsequen ce o f th i s p rogress i n metr i ca l co nstru ct i o n , and as i n rhythm i ca lsubd iv is i o n th e rhythm i c pu l sat i o n i s final ly reducedto a fi rm co nsc i ous ness o n the part o f th e performer

,

so i n metr i ca l fo rmat io n the acc ents o f s i ngl emete rs w i l l assume an i ntu i t i ve qual i ty that makes

46 TH E P I AN i ST’

s ART .

the i r p resence fe lt, and bri ngs th em to a steadyrecogn it i o n wi thout u ndue p rom i nence .

Metr i ca l fo rmat io n and metri ca l a c cents o ffe r astudy o f great va l ue to the p iano student as fo rm i ngthe bas i s fo r ph ras i ng and exp ress i o n . Meters arep la i n ly i nd i cated , metr i ca l groups may be eas i ly d i stingu ish ed wi th some pract i ce , and pe ri ods aredete rm ined by the reappea rance o f th e fi rs t o r th ei nt roduct i o n o f a n ew subj ec t wh i ch beg i ns the nextper iod . A compos it i o n must be thorough ly apprec iated i n i t s arch i tecto n i c co nstru ct i o n be fo re th ei nte l l e ct can c l early grasp th e i deas , and i f thestudent ’ s attent i o n i s cal l ed to the matte r ear ly andoften , at fi rst i n a more casual way and wi th s l ighti n s i stence , th e Subj ec t w i l l soo n become c l ear toh im .

Metr i ca l acce nts are pos i t i ve and abso l ute lynecessary , and do not depend on changi ng c i rcumstances . The i r p resence must be fe l t under a l l c i rcumstances, and the fact that at t imes the pos i t i veac ce nt seems removed by reason o f the mus i cal co nstruct i o n does not i n i tse l f a l te r th e fu ndamenta lpr i nc i p l e . When by syncopat io n an acce nted parto f th e mete r i s cont racted to an unacce nted part

,

th i s cont ract i o n apparent ly th rows th e acce nt o n theweake r part o f th e mete r . Syncopat io n , howeve r,as a d i ve rgency i n mus i ca l co nst ruct i on , wi l l o n lyappear c l ear ly o rgan i c when a non -syncop i c fo rmbri ngs i t to th e fo re by d i rec t cont rast , and i n th iscase the no n-syncop i c part bears the accent .Metri ca l accents and th e pu lsat i o n o f rhythm ica l

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48 TH E P 1A N i sT’

s ART .

qu i res a most emphat i c met ri ca l ac cent to give i t i t st rue characte r i n s p i te o f th e n umerous s fo rzat imarked to show the change o f the rhythm i ca l figureto 2—8 groups . H ow p la i n and t r iv ia l th e fo l lowi ng“ imp rovement o f that passage i n notat i o n (a

’

)wou l d sound , anybody can see who takes th e troublcto study th e beaut i fu l compos i t i on .

I f i n syncopated passages th e non-syncop i c parti s want i ng , as i s o ften the case w i th Sch umann , th epr i n c i p l e mus t st i l l be l atent , though the acce nt fa l lso n th e u nacc e nted part o f th e mete r .I t i s no t to be supposed that Sch umann

,and a l l

h i s p redecessors and fo l lowers i n syncopat io n wi thout an accompanyi ng and contrast i ng no n-syncop i cpa rt , was lack i ng the pract i ca l sense to avo i d mystifi cation, wh i ch 15 th e e ffec t o f his notat i o n to theun i n i t i ated . I t seems apparent that a passage l i ke

TH E P IAN I ST ’ S ART . 49

th e fo l low i ng from th e Fasch i ngss chwank (e) wou l dhave bee n more proper ly wr i tten (f ) , and modernexperts i n notat ion , who see no occas i o n fo r syncopat io n , may i ns i s t that Schumann

’ s notat i o n i s not as i tshou l d be . H oweve r , l e t a v io l i n i s t p l ay th e passagei n th e two d i ffe re n t read i ngs , and the i n c reased i dea lcharm i n Sch umann ’ s notat i o n w i l l be u nquest i o nab le , s i n ce th e o r ig i na l w i l l i mp ly more i ntens i ty o ffee l i ng ( espress ivo ) , wh i l e th e othe r wi l lread p la i n ly ( d im i nuendo ) .

The po i nt can now be argued that th e p i ano doesnot o ffe r th e means fo r th e reproduct i o n i n th eo rig i na l se nse , an d i n th e abst ra c t th i s can not beden i ed . I f , however , i n p l ay i ng th i s syncop i cpassage the peda l i s emp loyed i n th e fo l l owi ng manne r (g) a resu l t w i l l be obta i ned , wh i ch , thoughfa i nt ly represent i ng th e i deal

,w i l l be more adequate

P ed . 31: F ed. 34 F ed . at: P ed . 3: P ed .

50 TH E P i AN i sT’

s ART .

to Schumann’

s de l i ght fu l myst i c i sm than the rea l ist i ca nd dry e ffect o f th e new notat i on .

I n the l ast movemen t o f Sch uman n ’ s wonderfu lconce rto , th e s econd mot ive i s i n t roduced by theo rchestra i n s i xtee n very s imp l e measu res . I n theo rig i na l notat i o n ( li ) a fee l i ng i s l ate n t o f such su

preme i /mer joy , that i t s carce ly can find utte ran ce

( hes itat i ng shyness— th e om iss i o n o f th e accentedpart i n every seco nd measu re ) ; what a cha rm i ngcontrast th i s i d ea l co ncept i o n to the almost defiantoutburs t i n th e fi rst part o f th e movement . A n improved notat i on fo r th e s i xtee n measu res (t) wou ld ,i ndeed , prove a ver i tab le march o f th e

“woode nshoemakers i n a puppet show"”

Melody , th e outgrowth o f mus i ca l though t andfee l i ng

,i s a rhythm i ca l s uccess i o n o f s i ngl e to nes so

re lated as to fo rm a mus i ca l se nten ce . As a p roducto f mus i ca l th ought mel ody appears most ly i n a compact fo rm as an essent i a l part i n mus i ca l compos it i on

,and i t fo rms th e bas i s fo r th emat i c const rue

TH E P IAN I ST ’ S ART . 51

t i o n , e i th e r i n i t s i ntegr i ty o r i n th e shape o f shorte rpa rt s taken from i t and ca l l ed mot i ves . Melod i ousfo rms o f th i s k i n d occu r ch i efly i n c l ass i c works

,and

whereve r mus i ca l fo rm and thought govern exp ress io n .

I n themat i c work the melody , o r th eme , must beb rought ou t c l ear ly ; i n many i nstances i t w i l l besu ffic i en t to mark the e ntrance o f th e theme by anaccent , wh i l e gene ra l ly th e who le th eme i n i ts mus ica l characte r i st i c s shou l d be b rought i nto p rom inence . A rt i st i c d i s c r im i nat i o n w i l l find new shadeso f to ne and express i o n fo r th e de l i ve ry o f the themeat each new entrance , and though th e characte r mustrema i n th e same , a wid e marg i n i s l e ft t o th e pe rfo rmer fo r a d i sp lay o f more o r l ess i ntens i ty o f fee li ng . The shorte r mot ives shou l d , i n a measu re , reflect th e characte r o f th e theme , d i sp l ayi ng greate re ne rgy and crav i ng more attent i o n when uncon

t ro l l ed by the theme , subdued aga i n by th e ent ranceo f th e latte r.

Every theme or mot ive , as i t g ives exp ress i o n tothough t or fee l i ng , becomes mus i cal ly va l uab l e . Thesuccess i o n o f to nes i n i tse l f g i ves utteran ce to a ce rta i n fu ndamenta l sent iment , to wh i ch rhythm gi vesth e power o f character i s t i c i ns i n uat i on

,an d as such ,

rhythm i s an i ntegra l and i nseparab l e essence i nme lody . Rhythm gives th e l ogi ca l importan ce tome lod i c ph rases

,an d i nsu res the i r h igh er mus i ca l

mer it. I n ascend i ng me lod ious ph rases th e genera lsent iment w i l l i nd i cate r i s i ng emot io n , desce nd i ngsuccess io n o f to nes greate r s ubs i de nce o f fee l i ng ; a

2 TH E P I AN I ST’

s ART .5

ser i es o f d iato n i c i n te rval s w i l l represen t a more evenflow , wider steps a greate r exc i tement ; a ser i es o fascend i ng and descend i ng ph rases wi l l g ive an u nd ulat i ng characte r . M e lod 1ous fo rm w i l l ga i n i n r i chn ess and refined charac ter whe n d iaton i c i n te rva l sare i nte rm i xed wi th ch romat i c and ha rmon i c steps .w i l l reta i n greate r c l earness as l o ng as to nal i ty i sp rese rved

,and wi l l become more e rrat i c a nd indefi

n i te as i t d i ve rges from tona l i ty .

The genera l se nt iment th us imp l i ed i n th e construct i o n o f mus i ca l ph rases i s eas i ly u nderstood ,and i t can not be d ifli cu lt to find express i o n fo r i ti n a natu ra l way ; d i l i ge n t study w i l l b r i ng o n agreate r refinemen t i n art i s t i c d i sc r im i nat i o n and thenecessary qua l ificat io n o f to uch , and i f th e p r i n c i p l eo f metr i ca l co nstruct io n i s a lways co rrect ly app l i edto th e melod ious flow

,mus i ca l characte r i st i cs i n

melody wi l l find p rope r reproduct i on .

Shorte r th emes find fu l l express i o n th rough d ialectic deduct io n . When th e theme i s e n larged so asto g1ve i n i t s seve ra l parts a comp l ete expos i t i o n o fi t s mean i ng , th e sc i e nt i fic i nvest igat io n assumes th efo rm o f vari at io ns . I n the var i at i on s th e theme i sremode l ed i n i t s harmon i c and rhythm i c co nst ruet io n , th e melody i ts e l f appears i n var iou s shapes ,majo r and m ino r modes are i nte rchanged , a s lowmovement i s rep laced by one o f a l i ve l i e r characte r ,even th e mete r i s changed to repre sent th e mean i ngi n an ent i re ly n ew aspect . Every fac i l i ty that arto ffe rs i n mus i ca l character i st i c s i s at th e d i s posa l o fthe composer , and i t stands to reason that i n the

THE P IAN I ST ’ S ART . 53

master-works o f th i s k i nd the student w i l l find everyass i stance i n th e acqu i s i t i o n o f a l l that i s requ i re dfo r a good cha racter i s t i c rep roduct i o n . Mozart a ndH aydn have employed th i s fo rm l arge ly fo r a r i che ra n d more var i ed d i sp lay o f tech n i ca l means , butBeethoven g ives i n th i s fo rm a ser ies o f characteris

t i c sketch es , each o f wh i ch rep rese nts th e or ig i na li dea i n d i st i nct ly d i ffe re n t shape an d mean i ng .

Th e s tuden t w i l l de r ive greater benefi t fo r adeve lopment o f mus ica l character i st i c i n workso fth i s k i n d th e more h e bears i n m i n d that , as th e var iations fi nd th e i r bas i s i n th e theme and are o n ly n ewexpos i t io n s o f a fi rs t i dea

,th e theme

,however s im

pl e i t may be , requ i res i n th e fi rs t i n stance a tho roughapprec iat i on . The out l i nes o f const ruct i o n and thegenera l s en t imen t o f th e theme can be t raced i n th evar iat i o ns , and a more comp lete u nderstand i ng o fth e fi rst i n a l l i ts deta i l s w i l l large ly ass i s t i n th edeve lopment o f th e new character i st i cs

,wh i ch i n

tu rn may reflect a n ew l igh t o n th e th eme .

As a n outgrowth o f mus i ca l fee l i ng mel ody o ftenassumes a b roade r fo rm ; th e fee l i ng i s , so to say ,i n d iv i d ual i zed , and i n a generous flow i t seems o ftento overru n mus i ca l fo rm by th e sway o f i ts power ,and as me lody i nc reases i n impress ive ness harmonybecomes more subserv i ent an d takes th e p lace o f anaccompan iment . I n th i s th e bass , as th e mus i ca lfou ndat io n , requ i res some prom i nence , so as to bettersuppo rt th e me l ody , and th i s i t genera l ly rece ivesth rough metri ca l accentuat i o n . The accompan imentshou l d a lways be d i s creet , th e bass gi v i ng enough

54 TH E P i AN i ST’

s ART .

sustenance so that th e me lody stands out c l ea r andd i st i nct . A wel l guarded con nect i o n i n mus i ca lse nt iment between accompan imen t a nd me lody wi l lbe requ i s i te , and a d i s c reet cont i nu i ty i n th e melod i ons s teps o f th e bass wi l l o c cas i o nal ly le n d newcharm to th e me lody . When two me lo d i es cont rastw i th each othe r, they are best re ndered i n su ch manne r that i n e i th er o f th em i nc reased mot i o n comesmore to th e fo regrou nd . Express io n can not comefrom an accompan iment

,and shou l d emanate f rom

the melody , yet th e exp ress i o n o f the l atte r can bemate ri al ly ass is ted by th e oth er parts . A l l t h e gradesand shades o f exp ress i o n shou l d be ca rr i ed mai n lyby th e melody , and on ly when greate r i n s i ste nce i srequ i red th e accompan iment can r i se to a morepowerfu l de l i very .

H armony i n mus i ca l compos i t i o n i s th e conco rdo f two o r more parts

,as we l l as th e con nect i o n o f

cho rds acco rd i ng to estab l i shed ru l es . H armonyo ffe rs th e essent i a l means fo r l a rger fo rms

,fo r th

fo rmat io n and connect i o n o f mus i ca l ph rases ; i t su pports and st rengthen s th e me lody

,c l early defines

doubt fu l co n nect i o ns o f th e same,and i s i nva l uab l e

as a means fo r vary i ng and changi ng the me lod iousflow o f mus i ca l matte r .H armony

,as con nected w i th exp ress i o n i n mus i c ,

i s th e great u ndercu rren t wh i ch exe rc i ses th e st ro ngest i nfluen ce

,though it does not i n i tse l f o ffe r fo r

express io n such d i st i n c t featu res as rhythm andme l ody . When , h owever , i n harmon i c p rogress io none o r more i nt e rva l s o f a chord are retarded o r sus

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56 TH E P IAN I ST ’ S ART .

o f movement , adagio and a l l egro , wi th the i r modificat i o ns from the largo to the p rest i ss imo , the ritar

dando and ac ce l e rando , th e te nuto o r pathet i c st ress ,th e fe rmate and th e rubato .

Dynam ics,as fa r as they i nc l u de the d i ffe ren t

grades o f powe r , a re part o f th e p ian i s t’ s tech n i ca l

outfi t rep resented i n th e adequaten ess o f h i s touch ;as a med i um fo r express i o n dynam i cs requ i re th e in

te llectual facu l ty , wh ich fi nds th e proper grade o fton e i n th e ri ght p l ace

,and qual ifies the tou ch ; th i s

facu l ty i s based upon comparat ive est imat io n and i spart o f th e art i s t i c d i s c r im i nat i on . P i ano and fo rt eand the i r variou s degrees imp ly an even grade o fto ne fo r th e passages so i nd i cated

,wh ich shou l d in

clude accented parts as wel l as u naccented and inc idental mod ificat io ns o f to ne , so that they are d i stinctly d i ffe rent i n p iano and fo rte . Crescendo andd im i nuendo im ply gradual changes i n the evengrade o f power ; c rescendo i s p iano grow ing i ntofo rte

,and d im inuendo i s fo rte l ead i ng gradual ly to

p i ano ; th e change i n th e tone gradat io n must begradua l whethe r c resce ndo o r d im i nuendo are o fl o ng o r short extent

,and th e greate r th e du rat i o n

o f th is gradual change the more wi l l i t tax th e p ianist

’

s capab i l i t i es,both i nte l l ectua l ly and i n the dev e lopment o f tone . When c resce ndo and d im i noendo are comb i ned

,th i s imp l i es a gradual i n c rease

to a c l imax and a subsequen t gradua l dec rease ; th ec l imax i s most ly i n th e cente r o f th e “ swe l l , andthe greate r th e c l imax the more i n tens i ty o f fee l i ngi s man i fested . Th i s swe l l i s frequent ly emp loyed i n

TH E P IAN I ST ’S ART . 57

phras i ng , to g ive v i ta l ene rgy and a we l l qual ifiedfee l i ng to me lod ious passages

,acco rd i ng to the nat

u ra l sent iment imp l i ed by ascending and descend i ngser ies o f to nes , and cou l d i n th i s p rope r adj ustmentfind no fi tte r name than th e “ esp ress ivo .

” The c l imax o f th e espress i vo wi l l a lways co i n c i d e w ith amet r i ca l accent

,an d wi l l vary acco rd i ng to th e in

te ns i ty o f fee l i ng , wh i ch i n tu rn must be gove rnedby th e genera l characte r o f the compos i t ion . Greate raccents fo r s i ng l e notes i n mus i ca l notat i o n aremarked by a s fo rzato ; sudden changes 1n th e gradeo f power fo r passages o r ph rases are i n d i cated by afo rte sub ito , o r p iano sub ito ; changes o f th is k i nd arei n some works

,part i cu larly Beethoven ’ s

,too mark

ed ly character i s t i c to adm i t o f convent io na l p reparat i o n by crescendo o r d im i nuendo

,and must be str ict ly

carr i e d i nto e ffect .The underly i ng cu rrent i n a l l that perta i ns to

agogi cs i s keep i ng t ime , i . e. , to regu late th e success i on o f sou nds acco rd i ng to the i r rhythm ica l va l ueby an eve n p ri nc i p le . To keep t ime i s th e fi rs t an dfundamenta l requ i rement i n a mus i ca l pe rfo rmance

,

and on ly when th i s most essent ia l facu l ty has beenfu l ly obta i ned by the student ’ s e ffo rts

,art i s t i c free

dom i n t ime-keep i ng wi l l appear as emanat i ng froma master ’ s purpose , wh i l e i t w i l l otherwi s e imp ly incapac i ty , care l essness ; or fr i vo lous l i cense .

N ext to keep i ng st r i c t t ime, wh ich i s o ne o f th etech n i ca l p rerequ i s i tes , comes th e se l ect i o n o f ap roper degree o f mot io n

,and the tho rough apprec i

at io n o f th e-

composer ’ s i n tent and pu rpose,as i nd i

58 TH E P 1AN 1S T‘

s ART .

cated by the tech n i ca l te rms : l argo , adagio , andante ,a l l egro , p resto , and the i r va rious mod i ficat i o ns .

For the student who a ims i n th e fi rst p lace at ap roper reproduct ion o f th e composer ’ s i n tent i o ns ,these i nd i cat i o ns shou l d a lways be the ru l e , thoughart i s t i c temperament w i l l i n course o f t ime acqu i re al im ited freedom

,and become an essent ia l facto r i n

th e m i nute se l ect io n o f th e proper movement .An important part i n all that perta i n s to agogics

seems to be ass igned to the metr i ca l u n i ts . The factthat a mete r may be represented i n d i ffe ren t u n i ts o fhal f, quarter , e ighth notes , etc . , i n th e same degreeo f mot ion , g ives i n i tse l f an abundant vari ety . A

movement , fo r i n stance , i n allabreve t ime ( 2 co nstitutes a mete r o f two un i ts , each o f wh i ch repre

s ents th e va l ue o f one ha l f note ; i f th e p roper degreeo f movemen t i s adag io th e metro nome w i l l p robab lymark s i xty u n i ts , that i s , ha l f notes , to a m i nute . A

movement i n common t ime (C ) co nst i tutes a mete ro f fou r un i ts , each o f wh i ch has th e val ue o f onequarte r note , and i f th e movement i s th e same as i nthe allabreve t ime , i . e. , adag io , there wi l l be s i xtyquarte r notes to a m i nute

,wh i l e i n th ree-e igh th s

t ime i n adagio movement the re w i l l be s i xty e igh thnotes to a m i nute . I t fo l l ows that

,i f th e movement

i s th e same,the d i ffe re n t un i ts as hal f

,quarte r and

e igh th notes rep resent d i ffe rent va lues ; th i s fac tcou l d not have any i nfluence on the movementproper , i nasmuch as s l ow movements cou l d be re ndered so much faster

,and v ice versa ; o r an allabreve

time cou l d be wri tten i n 2-

4 t ime by red uc i ng th e

TH E P I AN I ST ’S ART . 59

notes i n wri t i ng to ha l f th e i r va l ue . H oweve r, aslarge bod ies move s l ower than smal l bod i es , i t s eemsc l ear that th e la rge r u n i t o f al labreve t ime w i l l i nsu rea more d ign ified and broader flow , an d as an i nc reasei n s i ze

,bare ly percept ib l e i n a large un i t , wou ld swe l l

the smal l e r o ut o f a l l p ropo rt io n , i t fo l lows thatl arger un i ts w i l l a l l ow a greate r b readth o f express i on

,so that greate r scope can be perm i tted

wherever mod ificat i o ns o f th e st r i c t t ime are i n o rder .As i n poet ry there i s a d i st i nct d i ffe re nce i n mod

ern usage to that o f th e ha l cyo n days o f Greece andRome

,i nasmuch as th e latte r d ist i ngu i sh ed between

lo ng and sho rt feet , th us g iv i ng greate r occas io n fo rpath et i c d isp lay , wh i l e modern poet ry ga i ns i nrhythm i ca l p rec i s io n by the use o f accented andu naccented syl lab les , so i n musical reproduction ad i st i nct i o n must be made between rhythm i c flow andpathet i c s t ress . Rhythm forms th e rea l i st i c bas i swh i ch a pathet i c re nd i t i on u nde r ce rta i n c i rcumstances i dea l i zes , and , to some exte nt , mod ifies .Pathos i s a contagio us warmth o f fee l i ng

,espec ia l ly

that wh i ch awakens ten de r emot i ons ; and i t imp l i esi n mus i ca l per fo rmance , where emot io n fin ds reproduct i on as th e art i s t i c rea l i zat io n o f a n abst ract i dea ,greate r b readth and qu i e t i n rhythm i c mot i o n i tse l f .To c l early define th i s path et i c st res s i s as imposs ib l eas to analyze i nd iv i dual i ty ; i t i s a l togethe r an i nd iv i dua l att r ibute i n mus i ca l express i o n

,and varies

acco rd ing to th e art i st i c poten t ia l i ty o f th e i nd i vi dual .The rhy thm J

—i OI fo r i nstance represe nts 1n 1tself

60 TH E P IAN I ST'

S ART .

a fact,wh ich as su ch can not be a l tered , yet i n a rti s

t i c rend it i o n th i s rhythm embod i es a d i fferent meani ng accord i ng to th e characte r o f th e compos i t i o nand requ i res a d i ffe ren t read i ng u nde r changed c i rcumstances. A mart ia l Sp i r i t , bo l d and aggress ive ,wi l l g i ve the 1

" i n a fu l l and determ i ned manner ,wh i l e th e "wi ll rep resent a sho rt , e l ast i c sw i ng tothe

‘I . Th i s same rhythm i n a noctu rne o r any

compos i t io n o f pathet i c characte r w i l l g i ve l ess fu l ln ess and dec i s io n to the and mo re breadth to the

t to represent th e l angu i d l o ngi ng , wi l l do so asmuch , i n fact , as i s compat ib l e w i th th e re nd i t io n o fth e rhythm i ca l figure . I t does not natu ra l ly fo l lowthat a l l sho rt notes i n s l ow movements requ i regreate r breadth

,but th e pathos o f the s l ow move

ment can o n ly be atta i n ed by greate r qu i etness i nth e rhythm i ca l flow . Th i s pathet i c st res s does notat any t ime ca l l fo r greate r power o f to ne

,i s e nt i re ly

i ndependent as a means o f express i o n from metri ca lo r rhythm i ca l acce nt , and may be emp loyed whereve r greate r breadth or i n tens i ty o f fee l i ng seeksutterance . I f th i s path et i c st ress co i nc i des wi th therhythm i c o r metr i ca l acce nt , the emphas i s w i ll be somuch mo re powerfu l .The pathet i c st ress does not a ffect the movement

no r change rhythm i ca l mot ion ; i t i s on ly a s l i gh tsusta i n i ng of notes o r rests

,depend i ng i n mus i ca l

rend i t i o n o n the i nd i vi dua l natu re o f th e perfo rmer .When such pathet i c st ress i s a d i s t i nct featu re o fmus i cal characte r i n th e i nten t i o ns o f the compose r ,i t i s i nd i cated i n mus i ca l notat i on by a te nuto ; i f

THE P IAN I ST ’S ART . 6 1

part o f a movement o r the who le movemen t i s to berendered wi th greate r pathos , i t i s marked sostenuto .

The fermate seems to have been i nte nded o rig ina l ly to mark the e nd o f a compos i t i o n

,an d when

i t occu rred i n th e cou rse o f th e p i ece th e word“ fine ” was added to show that i t was i ntended toc l ose th e p i ece at th e fe r

'

mate afte r repeti ti on ; i twas al so used i n sacred mus i c to des ignate th eve rses i n th e chora l e

,and i n secu l ar mus i c to po i n t

o ut notes wh i ch the s i nger or p layer was expectedto ornament and embe l l i sh ad l ibitum. The fe rmatearrests mot io n , e ith er to e ffect greate r emphas i s o rto a l low a more comp lete and exhaust i ve d isp lay o ffee l i ng , and th e l ength o f th e fermate dependstherefo re o n th e power o f thought o r emot i o n d i sp l ayed , and w i l l v ary acco rd i ngly from a l ong ‘

tenuto to a fu l l stop,wh i ch br i ngs th e fee l i ng o f

complete rest .Gradua l changes i n th e eve n flow o f t ime are the

r i ta rdando and acce l e rando . Ritardando imp l i es as lacken i ng o f speed by degrees , and acce l e rando agradua l i nc rease i n mot i o n . Ri tardando and acce lerando app l i ed to sho rt se nten ces i n mus i ca l constru ct io n requ i re l es s a rt i st i c j udgment , but whe nthey cover larger per iods great care must be takenthat th e change i n mot io n appears more not i ceab l eo n ly toward the e nd . Ritardando i s , perhaps , morefrequent ly app l i cab l e and eas i ly e ffected than accel

erando . Ritardando and acce l e rando can be ap

p l i e d to any part o r po rt i o n o f ph rases o r periods ;they do not a ffec t the rhythm i ca l construct io n

62 THE P 1A N 1S T’

s ART .

s i nce th e re l at i ve va l ue o f notes must be st r i c t lycarr i e d i nto e ffect ; i t i s th e ge neral flow o f rhyth

m i ca l matte r,wh ich i s retarded o r acce l e rated .

A cce l e rando and r i ta rdando i n agogics are analogousto c rescendo and d im i nuendo i n dynam i cs , and areo fte n comb in ed

,c resce ndo wi th acce l erando , and

r i tardando w ith d im i nuendo , i n acco rdance w i th anatu ra l se nt iment ; ac ce l e rando can , howeve r , becomb i ned wi th d im i nuendo and c resce ndo w i thr i ta rdando

,and acqu i re

,i n that case , greate r sign ifi

cance o f exp ress i o n . Ac ce l erando and c rescendosucceeded by a r i tard -d im i nuendo fo rm an ex

pressivo o f a mo re errat i c characte r .Ri tenuto requ i res a pe rcept ib l e change to the

s l owe r at o nce,as stretto demands a sudden i nc rease

i n speed ; r i tenuto and st retto are subj ect to mus i ca lconst ruct i on i nasmuch as th ey can be app l i ed o n ly

to a who le ph rase or sente nce o r a p l u ra l i ty o f th ese ;ne i th e r o f them requ i re p reparat i o n by degrees

,nor

do th ey i n themse l ves i nc l ud e var ious degrees o fspeed ; st i l l greate r changes from th e original mot io n are des ignated by p i u r i te n uto o r p i u st retto .

Ri tardando and acce le rando , as we ll as r i te nu toand st retto , as essen t i a l facto rs i n th e composer

’ si dea l co ncept io n o f th e characte r o f h i s work

,wi l l

find p lace i n notat i on , and can not be m istaken ; th e i rre nd i t io n , however , i s an i nd iv i dua l matte r and depends large ly on art i st i c d i sc r im i nat i o n and the tem

perament o f th e perfo rmer .A prope r i n s i gh t i n to metr i ca l co nst ruc t i o n and

an i ns t i nct i ve app rec iat i on o f mus i ca l characteris

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6 TH E P i AN I ST’

s ART .4

l i ne,eve ry case requ i res part i cu la r study . Ph ras i ng

can be e ffected by dynam i c means o r agogi c,o r

both ; and i nd i v i dua l art i s t i c taste w i l l dete rm i ne towhat e xte nt to n e shad i ng , o r mod ificat i o ns i n theeven mot io n o f t ime sha l l be emp loyed i n each ins tance

,yet th e re are some d i st i nc t featu res i n mus i

ca l characte r i st i c s , wh i ch an i nd iv i dua l concept io nmust take i nto cons i d e rat i o n .

I n c l ass i c compos i t i o ns,where a logi ca l deve lop

ment i nsu res l uc i d i ty o f thought an d c l earness offo rm , where sent iment and express i o n are o f a moreun i fo rm characte r c l early defined i n th e re l at io nsh i po f harmon i c con nect i o n s , ph ras i ng shou l d be a matte r

j

of to ne shad i ng to prese rve th e i deas i n th e i rs imp l i c i ty and beauty o f form . The flow of mus ica lmatte r must be u n i nte rrupted ; de l i cate to ne shad i ngwi l l suffi c iently

-

mark th e d i ffe rent ph rases , and o n lyat th e c lose o f l a rger m us i ca l pe ri ods greate rbreadth may be i n p lace me re ly as a matte r o f l ogi ca l emphas i s . That a ce rta i n h uman fee l i ng i n as imp l e

'

way can th us be imparted even to wo rk s o fthe severest fo rm , with out a ffect i ng the arch i tecto n i cbeau ty

,i s undeniable ,and th e ve ry natu re o f a co n

st ru ct i o n,wh i ch im presses ma i n ly th rough i ts beauty

and compactness o f fo rm , makes i t ob l igato ry toavo i d arb i t rary changes , however s l igh t , i n th e eventeno r o f mot ion .

When melod ious fo rm assumes a b roader castand a more predom i nat i ng i nfluen ce i n musical

const ruct ion ; when systemat i c con c l us io ns gi ve wayto imagi nat i o n

,wh i ch i n fanc i fu l d reams c reates

TH E P IAN I ST ’S ART . 65

fo rm s o f a more fict i t i ous cha racte r ; when indefinab l e l o ngi ng seeks exp ress i o n fo r fee l i ng wh i ch hass carce ly been rea l i zed i nte l l e ctua l ly ; when logica ldeduct io n and c lass i c pe rfect io n o f fo rm gi ve way tothe fantast i c ; when i n harmon i c con nect io n afli nityi s d i s regarded so that to nal i ty i s frequently l osts igh t o f ; when more o r l ess sudden changes i n h armony appear l ess natura l an d comprehens ib le , th egenera l movement ( though smooth and even ) wi l lreflect l a rge ly these mus i ca l ch aracte r i st i cs

,and

ph ras i ng and express i o n tak e o n a more e rrat i c characte r . Ph ras i ng , th e outward sty l e ,wh i ch the art i s t

’ staste lav i sh es o n the deta i l s o f mus i ca l co n st ru ct ion ,and express i on , rep resent i ng the i n ne r va l u e o fmus i ca l ph rases , must be i n i n t imate re lat i o nsh i p toth e character o f th e work , and mus i ca l characte r i st i csuper i o r to i nd iv i dua l con cept io n .

I t i s gene ra l ly u nde rstood among p ian i sts an dmus i c ians that Bach must be p layed i n st r i c t t ime ,that th e re i s no i ndec i s i o n i n h i s m us i ca l st r i des , nowave r i ng i n the con nect i ng l i nks o f h i s work s .H aydn an d Mozart are too l i tt l e taken i nto cons i de rt i o n i n th i s fas t mus i ca l l i fe o f ou rs ; they are sad lydep rec iated and o ften rated as anti quated and ch i l di sh

,and i f Beethoven i s p l ayed i n con form i ty wi th

the c l earness o f mus i ca l though t and fo rm wh i ch,at

l east i n h i s two fi rst per i o ds , adm i ts o f l i tt l e ch angei n th e even teno r o f mot io n , the perfo rmance i scharacte r i zed as a matte r-of—fact rend i t i on , and as

man i fest i ng an i nte l l i gence wh i ch apprec iates notesbut

Enotthe i r se nt iment and poet ry . I n the eager

66 TH E P 1A N 15 T’

s ART .

ness fo r new phases o f emot io n revea l ed i n mus i ca lexpress i on , the c r i t i ca l mus i ca l wo rl d somet imes fo rgets that mus i ca l characte r i st i c s of d i fferen t t imesand d i ffe re nt schoo l s must be rendered i n some conform ity wi th the i r s tyl e and manner , and the rubatosty l e o f p layi ng wi l l j u st as l i tt l e se rve Beethovenas the seve re sty l e wou l d give a t rue representat i o n o f Chop i n . I f Mozart , H ay dn and the earlyBeethove n show greate r freedom o f thought andexpress i on than the venerab l e canto r o f Le i pz ig ,the i r mus i ca l co nst ruc t io n o ffe rs s uch we l l -definedout l i nes that l i t t l e occas io n can be fou nd fo r express io n by agogi c means ; r i tardando and acce l e randoo r sudden changes i n t ime , ca n ve ry rare ly be emp loyed

,and o n ly i n th e most impe rcept ib l e degrees ,

except when i nd i cated i n the composer ’s notat i on .

Beethoven i n h i s la te r works shows a dec i dedcont rast i n the deta i l s o f notat i on to those o f earl i e rdate ; the i n ne r necess i ty fo r l arger sco pe i n exp ress io n can eas i ly be t raced i n h i s care fu l notat io n i nopus 90 an d the l ate r wo rk s fo r the p ia no , and ,though t he fi rm ness and compactness o f h i s se nte h ees are u n im pa i red and requ i re a read i ng i n c loseco n fo rm ity w i th the construct i o n , th e cont rastse ffected by a j uxtapos i t io n o f st ro ngly d i ffer i ngmusical se n t iments o ffe r at t imes o ccas io n fo r anot i ceabl e change i n movement , and the con nect i ngph rases a l l ow th e greate r freedom o f a s i nge r i n t imeand exp ress io n .

Sch ube rt,not i n fe r i o r to any o f ou r great com

posers,deve lops i n course o f t ime a rnythm ical

TH E P i AN i ST’

s ART . 6 7

const ruct io n st ro ngly co n t rast i ng at t imes wi th themete r , and a superabu ndance o f negat ive me lod i ousacce nts , wh ich can scarce ly be t raced i n h i s ear l i e rp iano compos i t i ons ; th e systemat i c and energet i cdeve lopment o f a greater vari ety i n express i o n st i l lp rese rves th e out l i nes o f fo rm , but gives occas i o n fo rnot i ceab l e mod i ficat i o ns i n t ime .

Sch umann ’ s mot i ves show a marked s imp l i c i ty,

a stu rdy compactness , wh i ch ca l l s fo r a h eal thyren d i t i o n , f ree from sent imenta l i ty and art ifi c i a la ffectat i o n ; th e i r s ent iment , fu l l o f v igor and co rd ia lwarmth , i s o ne o f de l ibe rate reaso n and j udgment ,th e outgrowth o f a severe mus i ca l co nsc i ent i ous ness

,

wh i ch the master ’ s art and imagi nat i o n c loth e i nmany fantast i c garbs . Wh i l e th e poet i c essence o fSchuman n ’ s mot ives , wheth er fu l l o f indefinable

l o ngi ng or youth fu l v igo r , give a defin i te out l i n e fo rreproduct ion , th e i r expos i t io n fu l l o f v i s i o naryimagi nat io n and ofte n o f a r i c h fantast i c tu rn mustgovern the exp ress i o n wh i ch w i l l requ i re large freedom i n movement acco rd i ng to the more o r l esse rrat i c natu re o f th e wo rk . Schuman n ’ s vi s i o narysp i r i t o fte n d is regards but scarce ly l oses s ight a l togeth er o f fo rm as the u nder ly i ng p ri n c i p l e

,and i n a

number o f compos i t i o ns o f th e h igh est art i s t i c an dmus i ca l mer i t h e fina l ly su cceeds i n ass im i lat i ngbeauty o f fo rm and h i s romant i c sp i ri t .Large r power o f mus i ca l expos i t i o n i n the “com

pose r ca l l s fo r greater freedom of express i o n i n th eperfo rmer, and tone shad i ng , as th e fu ndamenta lpr i nc i p l e for ph ras i ng an d express i o n i n the severe

68 TH E P 1AN 1S T’

s ART .

s ty l e , s t i l l rema i ns a p rom i nent featu re i n c lass i c expos i t i o ns

,wh i l e o n ly the i n ne r tendency and mean i ng

o f late r compos i t i ons have , by degrees and i n a natu ra l p rocess , th rough greate r express ive power i ndeta i l s , necess i tated su ch mod ifi cat ion s i n t ime asmus i ca l expos i t i o n e ngende red , u nt i l i t final ly ap

pears as a se l f-asse rt i ve and essent ia l facto r i n Chop i n,

k nown as the rubato .

To Chop i n,fo rm and ru l e become a fette r and a

bu rden— h i s gen i us i s wont to roam free and unre

s ,tricted and on ly th e l i th e and p l i ab l e fo rms un fo l dt ru ly h i s wonderfu l power o f express i o n . The r i chd i sp lay o f harmony seems a lmost a lways improvi sed ;th e i d ea o f to nal i ty i s o fte n a l togeth er vague andundec i ded , and sharp ly ac ce nted rhythms i n d ec i d edcontrast to th e met ri ca l co nst ru ct i o n gi ve th e me l od ious s tra i ns a sty l e o f rec i tat ive , wh i ch cal l s fo r a nexpress i o n as capri c i ous as th e mood o f th e wri te r .The worl d i n wh i ch h e d reams ; th e pri de and gl o ryo f h eroes ; th e love an d grace o f beaut i fu l women ;bri l l i ant deeds and fest i ve s ce nes ; sweet sec rets anddark l o re

,th e hopes and despa i r o f h i s nat i o n , all

are brough t nea r to us i n ka le i doscop i c array i n h i smazurkas

,val ses , impromptus , noctu rnes , po lona ises ,

etc . Chop i n’ s o r ig i na l styl e o f p l ay i ng , t/ze r ubato,

i s a cap ri c i ous robb i ng o f t ime by acce l e rando o rr i tardando

,more o ften by sudden changes i n t ime ,

s ubject to no part i cu la r ru l e but th e wh im o f theperfo rmer

,yet on ly t ru ly e ffec t i ve when fu l ly con

tro l l ed by the consc ious ness of mus i ca l fee l i ng andh igh ly matured art i st i c taste .

THE P I AN I ST ’S ART . 69

More o r l ess characte r i st i c featu res can be d i stinctly t raced i n each o f our great p iano composers ;defin i te out l i nes that g ive suggest ive fo rce o f meani ng an d fee l i ng can be foun d i n a l l compos i t i ons o fh igh mer i t , wh i ch an art i s t i c rep roduct i o n must re

fl ect i n some measu re eve n i n outward sty l e .

‘

I t i si n th i s way on ly that a we l l -matu red character‘i st i cread i ng can be give n to ou r great masters

‘

each i nh i s separate way , an d mus i ca l rep roduct i o n wi l l beo f a h ighe r o rder , th e more th e composer

’s i deas andh i s mode o f deve lopment i n thought and exp ressi o nare absorbed by tru ly art i st i c i nd iv i dua l i ty .

CHARACTER .

RT i n a genera l way presumes an act i v i ty wh i ch,

by more than ord i nary sk i l l and j udgment,pro

duces resu l ts that have a ce rta i n grade o f perfect i o nand i n ne r mer i t ; any one show i ng sc i ence and tastes uper io r to a de ft man ipu lat io n i s an art i s t

,and what

h e accompl i shes art i st i c . Every compos i t io n o fh igher mus i ca l a nd art i st i c m eri t i s a work o f art

,

wh i ch i s i n i t se l f th e more perfect th e more i t i s endowed with a pervad i ng an d u n i fyi ng pr i n c i p l e

,i n

wh i ch all th e parts are so i n t imate ly j o i n ed andcc -re lated as to fi nd the i r i dea l ex i stence and art i st i cqual ificat i o n on ly i n th e i r we l l d efined re lat i ons toeach other . Thought becomes c l early consc ious o fi tse l f i n th e compose r , an d produces th e beautifulwith th e d i st i n c t a im o f embodyi ng some defin i tephase o f truth c l ear ly d i s ce rn ib le from some oth e rid ea l i n i ts part i cu l a r qual i t i es . As th e composerhas th e power o f apprehend i ng th i s i dea l characte r ,th e i n ne r co nsc ious nes s o f t ruth and beauty , andrea l i zes i t i n h i s work

,so th e perfo rmer must seek i t

by vi rtue o f i nte l l e ctua l c omprehens io n .

Ou r great composers impress more even by thet ruth o f the i r conv i ct ion s and th e logi c o f the ir ideas

70

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72 TH E P 1A N 1sr’

s ART .

Beethoven ’ s so natas and con certos reta i n th e i ru nd im i n i sh ed powe r and beauty a fte r a l apse o fmany decades , wh i l e thousands o f compos i t i o nshave d i sappeared

,whose me lod ious an d bri l l iant

make-up , beaut i fu l modu lat io ns and s tr i k i ng rhythmsfo r a t ime were th e s upreme de l igh t o f e nthus iast i camateu rs . I f Beethoven ’ s a rt s eems to have grownst ro nger i n i ts pe renn ia l , youth fu l beauty , i t i s becauseeve ry ph rase and deta i l , eve ry l igh t and shade i s sofu l l o f th e co nsc i ous ness o f a rt i s t i c qual ificat i o n asto w i thstan d th e decayi ng i nfluen ce o f t im e andfash io n

,wh i l e i n th e host o f fo rgotten works th e

d ispar i ty between cause and e ffect , c reat ive gen i u san d art i st i c shape l i ness d i d not i n su re a l as t i ng l i fe .

Whatever i s do ne by compose r or perfo rmer h asan e ffec t o f o ne k i n d o r another and i s never indifferent. A s th e composer i n the fu l l co nsc i ousness o fh i s i dea l c reates th e work o f a rt i n s i nce r ity o f pu rpose and hon est devot io n

,so th e perfo rmer , i n t en t

o n h ighe r art i s t i c me r i t i n rep roduct i on , must reproduce th e compos i t i o n i n a l l i ts deta i le d qual ificat i o ns

,

and th e i dea l ch aracte r whose o r ig i na l beauty hasi n sp i red th e maste r

,and wh i ch h e has t raced i n

u nm istakab l e out l i nes , must be th e obj ec t o f th ep ian is t ’ s asp i rat i on . The hearty des i re to do fu l lj ust i c e to the composer and h i s work i s not suffi c i e n tas i t l acks th e prudence and fores igh t wh i ch gove rnand d i rec t th e romant i c and imagi nary essen ce i n th ei nd iv i dual .Express i on

,always o f an indiv idual type i n th e

perfo rmer,though i t employs a l l the refinement

TH E P I AN I ST ’S ART . 73

o f p ian i st i c art,frequent ly a ffects a sort o f sameness

i n p lay i ng wh i ch,i n course o f t ime

,l oses i t s charm

to a great extent,becomes d u l l an d monoto nous

even i n ex ce l l e n t p l ayers , an d gives at best a nimpover i shed sat i s fact i o n to th e co n no i sseu r . Thepu re ly i nd iv i dua l reflect i o n o f an art i st i c i dea l showsa greate r art i s t i c weak ness th e more i t l acks th ei n ne r fo rce o f l i v i ng beauty wh i ch i s embod i ed i nth e t ruth and s i n ce r i ty o f th e composer ’ s art . Thestudent must ga i n that tho rough ly pract i ca l mus i ca lab i l i ty and art l ess d evot io n to th e master ’ s c reat i veauthor i ty wh i ch w i l l fi t th e artist to overcome by acharacter i st i c read i ng th e du l l n ess and i ns i p i d i ty o fa pu re ly i nd iv i dua l an d convent io na l styl e .

P layi ng i s l i k e speech— someth i ng that anybody,

eve n a parrot,can acqu i re u nde r no rmal cond it i o ns .

Language as we l l as p lay i ng i s a matte r o f p ract i cean d educat i o n ; th e most capab l e i nd i v i dua l , i f de

priv ed o f a l l th e benefits wh i ch c iv i l i zat i o n has accumulated fo r h im , wou l d j ust as l i tt l e find language anatu ra l means o f commun i cat i o n as th e p ian i st whod i d not benefi t by th e d iscover i es and improvements o f others wou l d fin d execut i o n a natu ra l g i ft .Language i s o n e o f th e commod it i es o f o rd i nary l i fewh i ch r i s es to greate r d i gn i ty o n ly as i t adapts i tse l fto h igher pu rpose s . The speech o f th e lower c lasses ,as we l l as o f th e educated and refined, ga i ns i n val ueand power ove r th e p ratt l e o f ch i l dren an d th e sma l lta l k o f th e day when i t becomes th e carr i e r o f i deasand sent iments . The wel l -matured e ffo rt o f th eo rato r with al l i ts rh eto r i ca l flou r i sh ‘re l i es fo r e ffect

74 TH E P I AN I ST’

s ART .

mai n ly o n the we l l -p lanned arguments,but i t s power

an d sway i s p ropo rt i o nate to the t ruth and s i ncer i tyo f th e convi c t i o ns .P i a no p layi ng i s a feat o f manua l dexteri ty and

mechanical ski llwh ich risestoart i st i c importance as i tbecomes a means o f exp ress io n i n mus i ca l reproduct i o n . The e l egant smooth ness o f i n tr i cate passages ,th e dazz l i ng b r i l l i a ncy o f t r i l l s a n d the grace o f de l icate o rnamentat i o n , al l th e var i ous qual ificat io ns o fth e touch— th e s c i nt i l l at i ng staccato

,th e c l i ngi ng

l egato , th e i n s i nuat i ng tenderness o f th e p iano andth e command i ng power o f th e fo rte ; th e even moreexpress i ve rest r i ct i o ns o f th e movement —th e impetnous acce l erando , th e l i ngeri ng ri tardando

,th e

r i tenuto and st retto and th e fanc i fu l rubato— al l a reat th e p layer ’ s b i dd i ng to se rve h i s art i s t i c pu rpose

,

yet more art i st i c an d e ffect ive as th e per fo rmer sac r ifices i n d i v i dua l taste an d l i k i ng to th e h ighe rrequ i rements o f mus i ca l art as qual ified i n th e characte r o f th e compos i t i o n .

The p ian i st ’ s educat io n , as p ract i ca l as i t i s i n al lmechan i ca l wo rk , i s tho rough ly romant i c , i . e. , s pe cu lative and impract i ca l i n a mus i ca l way ; thoughpa i n stak i ng an d exact i ng i n a l l the deta i l s o f execut i on

,th e teach e r a l lows a remarkab ly large freedom

to th e pup i l i n mus i ca l matte rs . Eve n where themechan i ca l e l ement i n th e ave rage pup i l i s not morerespo ns ive to h i s e fforts than the i nte l l ectua l , th eteache r who finds i n the br i l l iant though empty d i sp lay of h i s pu p i l a read i e r assu rance o f suc ces s a imsat th e product i o n o f a n executant rathe r than th e

THE P IAN I ST ’ S ART . 75

deve lopment o f an i nte l l ectua l co ncept ion . Truei nte rest i n th e art and i ts e levat i ng m i ss i o n and thepup i l ’si n c reased ab i l i ty i n mus i ca l app rec iat io n andenj oymen t are sacr i ficed to a d ig i ta l fac i l i ty

,wh i ch

,

though o f th e h ighest va l u e as an agent i n musical

art , has i n i tse l f n o. i n t r i ns i c o r art i st i c mer i t howeve r pr ized itmay be by th e mu l t i tude .

Wh i l e work i ng w ith pat i e n t i n s i ste nce forth egreatest poss ib l e accu racy i n execut io n an d fingeri ng

,wou l d i t no t be we l l to us e th e same ge nt l e

,

never- fa i l i ng persuas io n i n regard to the more i nde finite requ i rements o f musical tech n i c " To noto n ly have the pup i l know that fo rte means lo ud

,tha t

c resce ndo i s p iano growi ng to fo rte , exp l a i n what i smeant by r i tardando o r r i tenuto , et c . , et c . , but wa i ti n th e same hopefu l s p i r i t u nt i l th e pup i l does thes eth i ngs w i th some assu ra nce an d effi c i e ncy , instinct

i vely ,as th e matte rs o f execut io n when and whe rever

they are requ i red " I t i s much more d i ffi cu l t fo r th estudent to acqu i re a p ract i ca l ab i l i ty i n mus i ca l matters than i n mechan i ca l work , yet what ass i stancedoes h e genera l ly rece ive i n th i s respect " The s impl e k nowledge o f t ech n i ca l term s wh i ch everymus i c-pr ime r a ffo rds wi l l n ever i nsu re that capabi li ty wh i ch i s to gu i de th e p ian i st to th e i n ne r sanctuary o f mus i ca l art .I nd iv i d ua l taste and l ik i ng o f th e student com

mand an early and prom i nent cons i derat io n i n matte rs mus i cal

,an d as long as they do not counte ract

th e es tab l i sh ed p r i n c i p l es— i . e, smooth ness and

c l earness i n execut io n and th e much coveted rap i d

76 TH E P I AmsT’

s ART .

i ty o f finge r and wr i s t-movement— th e student i scons i dered o n th e best road to a fine sty le i n p ianop lay i ng . Thus

,i t i s c l a imed

,noth i ng i s do ne that

cou l d impede the pup i l ’ s i n d i v i d ua l devel opment"as though the natural deve l opmen t o f i nd iv i dual i tycou ld ever atta i n genu i ne artistic im po rtance"A fte r years o f t ra i n i ng and hard l abo r, what i s

th e actua l outcome " That sco res o f p layers w i thmore than ave rage ab i l i ty to bu i l d upo n have a l lbee n deve l oped afte r th e one unvar i ed pattern ; thatth e d i ffe re nce i n the i r p l ay i ng i s c l earl y apparento n ly i n th e pecu l ia r adaptab i l i ty and styl e o f execut i on ; that scarce ly one i s found who possesses amarked ly i nd i v i dua l sty l e , an d that a rare b i rdi ndeed i s th e p ian i s t who i s capab l e o f g iv i ng atleast some abst ract o f th e t ruth wh i ch the charactero f th e compos i t i o n and the composer ’ s gene ra l sty l ep la i n ly i nd i cate . I t i s eas i e r nowadays to find ap ian i st who exce l s i n a Li szt rhapsod i e than onewho can render a compos i t i o n o f Mozart o r th eear l i e r Beethove n w i th th e requ i red una ffected s i ncerity ; and i t i s no t th e p roduct ion o f far removedyears wh i ch ou r generat i o n fi nds d i ffi cu l t o f atta i nment— art and i ts t rue ch i l d re n reta i n the i r youth ,at l east i n th e sp i r i t , i n sp i te o f th e fl igh t o f t imeeven modern compos i t i o ns o f val uab l e mus i ca l characte r yet modest p ian i st i c asp i rat i ons , as th e l essd ifli cult works o f Sch umann and othe rs fa i l to getmo re tha n a superfic ial— artific ial— read i ng .

A l l th e mean i ngl ess ph rases wh i ch se rve as roadstones i n th e student ’ s educat io na l course , from th e

TH E P IAN I ST ’S ART .

barren waste o f cou nt l ess stud i es to th e oste ntat i ousfinery of L i szt ’ s rhapsod i es (worthy ev i dence , neverthe less

,o f th e perfo rmer ’ s p rowess") fu rth e r th e

natural dev e lopment , and afte r years o f to i l andlabo r th e student commands a marked mechan ica lp rofic i e ncy , wh i l e eve n the rud imentary deta i l s i nmus i ca l tech n i c a re st i l l i n an embryon i c state .

Th is dep l o rably u nequal adm ixtu re o f two important factors,wh ich shou l d each i n fu l l -grown st rengthsuppo rt a nd susta i n th e othe r as fi t h e l pmates i n th eart i st i c pu rpose , causes soone r o r later a se l f-ass ertiv eness i n mus i ca l character i s t i cs wh i ch i s more disgust i ng than the grossest i gno rance .

An art i s t whose fac i l i ty i n arch i tec to n i c d rawingi s o f an acknowl edged super io r i ty cou l d j ust as soonc la im equa l co ns i de rat io n i n port ra i t-pa i nt i ng w i tho ne o f th e masters i n that b ran ch o f art as t h e p iani st who i s great i n th e use o f h i s i nst rument

,com

mand i ng al l th e fin i sh and grace o f a n i nd i v i d ua lsty l e

,can compare h imse l f to th e p ian is t whose

power l i es i n th e t ruth o f h i s rep roduc t i o n , howeverl im i ted the latter ’ s versat i l i ty . S tra igh t a nd curvedl i nes

,th e we l l adj usted p roport io ns and a repose fu l

pe rspect ive i n arch i tec to n i c d rawi ng may fo rm ah igh ly art i st i c p roduct i n that gen re— th e po rtrayerrequ i res th e tho rough art i s t i c k nowl edge and command o f co lo r-effect and , above al l , that h ighe rart i st i c qua l i ty

,th e trusty express i on wh i ch , a resu l t o f

comparat ive analys i s , i s final ly caught o n the w i ngso f i nsp i rat i o n .

As i n o rd i nary l i fe p rogress can on ly be made by

78 TH E P I AN I ST'

S ART .

th e i nd i vi dual,i n a ny d i rect i o n , on th e st rength of

observat ion , so i n a rt th e studen t advances o n thebas i s o f fo rmer acqu is i t i o ns . The p ian i s t must takepattern a fte r oth e r p ian i s ts i n th e cu n n i ng o f h isc ra ft —h is art i s t i c i d ea l h e can on ly find i n th e composer ’ s art , i . e . , i n th e fu l l measu re o f a l l th e art i s t i cp ropert i es o f standard compos i t i o ns . To fu l ly recognize th e i mpo rt o f a l l th e deta i l s wh i ch mak e u pth e l i fe -giv i ng

,character i st i c qua l i t i es o f a compos i

t i on,th e student must not o n ly acqu i re a thorough

k nowl edge o f th e rud imenta ry e l ements o f musical

tech n i c (part i cu larly those o f mo re i ndete rm i natequant i ty , as th e various gradat io ns o f to n e and th emod ificat io ns o f speed ) , he m ust command themwith good ab i l i ty

,l ear n to proper ly grade th em i n

th e i r effec t and app ly th em correct ly i n reproduc

t i o n . A cont i nued i nt e rcou rse w i th th e mus i ca lqual i t i es o f works o f standard mer i t w i l l se rve tostrengthen th e student ’ s a rt i s t i c purpo se , wi l l i n t imedeve lop h i s i nd i v i dua l i ty i n an art i s t i c manne r , andsubsequent ly e nab l e th e p ian i st to g ive a more sat i sfac to ry abst rac t of th e compose r ’ s co nsummate artsh ou l d h e even f i i l to g ive a read i ng wh ich i s honest and t ruth fu l to th e l ast l ette r .The composer ’ s i dea l i n th e fu l l measure o f we l l

ba lan ced a rt i st i c qua l ificat i on s must be th e fi na lpu rpose o f the perfo rmer ; and to make genu i ne progres s toward an art i s t i c rea l i zat i o n o f th i s obj ect

,

the student must l earn from th e outset to sac r i ficeh i s own natu ra l i n c l i nat io n to th e maste r ’s though t

,

h i s ve rac i ty must s tr i ve to become equa l to th e mas

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80 TH E P i AmsT’

s ART .

That characte r i n mus i c a l art — and more os

pec ially i n p i ano m us i c , wh ich i n the large r numberand greate r vari ety o f i ts maste r-works can eas i lyc la im superi o r i ty— i s a dec i ded ly mo re val uab l e a rtistic facu l ty than th e perfo rmances o f p ian i sts ge nerally warrant an d that a n impl i c i t ly correc t read i ngi n p iano mus i c w i l l mater ia l ly im prove th e mo rerefined art i s t i c qual i t i es i n reproduct i o n i s undenia

bl e . An abl e conductor who , personal ly u nhampered by th e requ i rements o f execut ive sk i l l

,

s upervi ses and en forces th e co rrec t read i ng andexecut i on , i s l ik e ly to g i ve a dec i ded ly more characteristic read i ng to a symphony than th e l argemajor ity o f p ian i sts give to a sonata

,though i n

po i nt o f i nd i v i dua l charm and convent ional gracethe l atter may ga i n over th e l arge body o f th e or

chestra .

The greate r th e p ian i st ’ s ab i l i ty,th e st ronger h i s

i nd iv i d ua l facu l t i es,the mo re does he o ften seem to

seek compl ete r power o f exp ress io n i n th e changedand even m ut i l ated art i s t i c p ropert i e s o f a composition. Whi l e i n wo rks o f l ess marked mus ica lme ri t— serv i ng pre -em i nent ly as expos i t i o ns o f p ianistic sk i l l— a l a rge margi n may be conceded to thepe rfo rme r

,al l u nwarranted l ibert i es fa i l u t ter ly to

improve th e i n ne r va lu e i n works o f a h ighe r o rder ,appear as f r i vo lous l i ce nse i n art , and lack the powero f co nvi n c i ng t ru th i n th e i r e ffec t o n th e h eare r.

The more art i st i c i nd iv i dual i ty fi nds th e sou rce andmeasu re o f express io n i n th e composer

’

s art , th emore vari ed

,r i ch and impress ive wi l l be th e power

TH E P I AN I ST ’S ART . 8 1

o f i n ne r l i fe . H e re i n l i es th e sec ret o f Rub i nste i n ’ su nd i sputed art i st i c superiori ty that , desp i te h i s powerfu l i n d iv i dua l i ty

,th e composer ’ s a rt shapes th e

mannerof h i s read i ng ; that , though he ne i th e r p laysBach and Beethoven d ry -as -dust

,nor th e v i s i o nary

Schumann l ike th e e rrat i c Chop i n,th e characte r o f

th e compos i t i o n and th e composer ’ s styl e find generally an u nse lfish cons i de rat i o n .

Though the mus i ca l qua l ifi cat i o ns o f a compos it i o n are c l ear ly and u nm i stakab ly defined by theautho r

,th e part i c u lar grade and shade w i l l neces

sari ly vary i n d i ffe re nt p laye rs— an i n c reased speedmay even se rve i n a n al l egro o r presto , and anadagio may cause o ne p laye r to l i nger more thananother ; s pec ia l rest r i ct i o ns fo r u nvar i ed , typ i ca lgradat ion s i n p lano and fo rte

,c resce ndo o r d im i n

uendo, r i tardando o r acce l erando cou l d neve r bethought of— s uch t i nge o f i nd i v i dua l i ty , wh i ch i sperfect ly natu ral

,wi l l neve r a ffect th e characte r o f

th e work as l ong as the art i s t i c qual ificat i ons o f th ecompos i t io n remai n u nchanged i n the i r re lat i o ns toeach other .The i nd i v i dua l g i fts o f the p ian i st

,h i s i nte l l ect

ua l ab i l i ty,the l i fe -curre nt o f h i s emot io ns , h i s

phys i ca l powe r and h i s sk i l l w i l l at a l l t imes dete rm i ne the art i st i c potent ia l i ty

,but an adequate resig

nat io n in th e h ighe r autho r ity o f the compose r ’ sc reati ve art w i l l more fu l ly reflect th e t ruth andbeauty of th e composer ’ s i dea l and w i l l c l ear lydemonstrate th e weakness o f thought l ess presump

82 TH E P 1AN 1sr’

s ART .

t io n wh i ch changes th e characte r i st i c t ra i ts o f acompos i t io n to su i t i nd i v i dual taste and l ik i ng .

I s i t r igh t that Schumann ’ s Des Abe nds— moltoafi ettuoso, so fu l l o f romant i c d ream i ness and artl ess se nt iment— shou l d se rve to show some p ian i st ’ ss peed and fin i sh o f execut io n

,that anoth er shou l d

de l iberate ly subst i tut e a forte fo r a piano or tu rn anappassionato con forea i n to a de l i cate pianissimo,

another ( care l ess ly or i ntent i o na l ly ) change therhythm

,perhaps even m ut i l ate th e mete r" What i f

a p ian i st who p lays th e open i ng ph rases o f L i szt ’ sE Majo r Po l o na i se wi th fu l l to ne and command i ngrhythm

,sudden ly changes to a du l l mezzo forte i n

the grand c l imax at th e end o f the fi rst part , thoughth e ri ch e r harmon ious const ru ct i o n and h ighsp i r i ted rhythm cal l fo r i n c reased power and greateri n s i s te nce ; yet , eve n i f li e does not fee l th e need o fmore un re l ent i ng energy i n ac t i on , Liszt markedth e passage rinforzando. Does i t not appear asthough i nde fat igab le pract i ce o f the d i ffi cu l t passagehad depr ived the art i s t ’ s co ncept io n o f some valua

bl e spark o f l i fe "A re the pe rfo rmers a l one to b lame fo r th i s i f a.

read i ng wh i ch changes and m ut i l ates th e we l lba lanced and c l ear ly defined art i s t i c p roport i o ns o fa work i s o fte n ha i l ed wi th e nth us iasm by so-ca l l edmus i c i ans as a n ew departu re i n art " Tru ly aneasy and we l come O pportu n i ty fo r some smal ll igh ts to make ev ide nt the i r fo ndness fo r n ewi deas and to man i fest th e i r be l i e f i n th e progressiveness o f mus i c as an art . Some venturesome

TH E P 1AN 1ST’

s ART . 83

c r i t i cs even assert that every perfo rmer has a r igh tto do as he p l eases i n the deta i l s o f a compos i t i o nand that i n th i s manner on ly

,freed from s lavi sh

dependence o n th e composer,mus i ca l gen i us can

man i fest i ts art i s t i c i nd i vi d ual i ty"The pub l i c , whether h igh - to ne d o r low-bred , has

no art i s t i c mus i ca l knowledge ; th e large c lass o fmus i c - l ove rs and amateurs eas i ly fo rms an op i n 1ouo f th e p layer ’ s execut ive powers and , i f i t approveso f th e art i st ’ s good taste , de l igh ts i n a gent l e way i nthe usua l p lat i tudes , wh i l e— with l im i ted except i onsthe host o f mus i ca l c r i t i cs , o ften rec ru i ted from

th e ranks o f amateurs,i s equal ly u nab l e to say

exact ly i n what propo rt i o n the read i ng stand s toth e deta i l s o f the composer ’ s work and i ts characte r .Such k nowledge i s

,and a lways m ust be , vested i n

th e pract i ca l mus i c ian who has made a deta i l edstudy o f th e work i n quest i o n

,wh i l e amateu rs and a

certa i n c lass o f cr i t i c s w i l l bas e th e i r op i n io n gen

eral ly o n a qua l i ty o f taste wh i ch , though o fte nvery refined

,i s pu re ly i nd i v i dual .

A mi no ri ty o f mus ica l co n no i sseu rs , constant lyi n c reas i ng for years past , has come to ack nowledgethat i n Beethoven the sum tota l o n ly o f all th edeta i l s ( and Beethove n has been ab l e to out l i n esome very st r i k i ng pecu l iar i t i es i n h i s works) wi l lg ive a t rue representat io n o f th e s ub l ime characte r ;th e d i st i nct i on o f be i ng a Beethoven -p layer i s

,th e re

fo re,con ferred on ly o n the st rength o f an adequate

read i ng o f th e maste r ’ s works i n all the i r characte ristic propert i es . The late r maste rs , more e spec i a l ly

84 TH E PIAN I ST ’ S AR T .

’

Chop i n and Sch umann , have deve loped a conc iseness i n th e deta i l s o f mus i ca l notat i o n , wh ich i s evensuperiorto Beethoven

’ s,and has s i n ce become tho r

ough ly s c i e nt ific . I n en fo rc i ng th e str i c t obse rvat io n o f a l l th e deta i l s th e compose rs , l ate and earlyones

,do not c la im an art i s t i c p r iv i l ege but the i dea l

b i rth r igh t o f th e i r ch i l d ren i n a rt .I f i t can not be den i ed that l igh t and shade i n

mus i ca l art are th e outgrowth o f a rt i st i c fo rmat ion ,that they are part an d pa rce l o f th e mean i ng ande ffec t o f a mus i ca l sen te nce , why shou l d the p ian i s twho cop i es th e composer ’ s notes , rhythms , harmony and me lody stop sho rt o f i n c l ud i ng thedynam i cs and agogics o f the compose r ’ s notat i on , i nshort every deta i l as far as h e i s ab l e , ass e rt i ng h i sown art i s t i c i nd i v i dual i ty i n th e spec ia l mode andmanner on ly o f a perfect ly t ruth fu l rend i t i o n . True ,th e p ian i st i s not a copyi st , but i n h i s read i ng andreproduct i o n o f a mus i ca l work h e can not

'

disregard

th e l aws o f mus i ca l art no r r i se su peri o r to th em ona c l a im o f p ian i st i c exce l l en ce ; an d i f th e art i st i cmeri t o f a compos i t i o n i s due to th e un i fyi ng i n ne rp ri n c i p l e wh i ch g ives a l l the d eta i l s th e i r h igherqual ificat i on

,a marked change i n these same deta i l s

to su i t i nd iv i dua l fan cy w i l l at a l l t imes dete r i o rateth e mus i ca l va l ue o f t h e pe rfo rmance .

Two o f the most p rom i nent p ian i sts o f the prese nt day may be quoted as str i k i ng examples : th eone perfected i n th e most amb it i ous d i sp lay o f ani nd i v i dua l styl e

,th e oth e r resp l endent i n th e i dea l

re p rese ntat io n o f an art i st i c beauty as con ce ived by

THE P IAN I ST ’S ART .

th e composer . From a p ian ist i c standpo i n t th egreat Chop i n p layer i s th e super i or i n the l ightn i ngspeed , fin i sh o f execut i o n and grace fu l e l egance ,adm i rab l e and even i ncomparab l e wherever th elate nt power o f h igher art i s t i c fo rmat i o n i s noti nd i spensab l e i n reproduct i on

,wherever i deal beauty

does not ho l d immutab l e re lat i o ns to an"

idea l t ruth ,as i n a l l th e l igh te r fo rms o f th e dance and é tude ;yet i n a l l th e glo ry o f h i s a rt i st i c powers

, how se l domdoes h e r i se to the h igher requ i rements o f thoseworks whe re the e ffect o f l igh t and shade grows outo f th e affl uen ce o f a rt i s t i c shape l i ness

,where a n

i dea l t ruth enhances th e val ue o f i dea l beauty" I si t because h e fa i l s i n power

'

or de l i cacy,i n grace o r

warmth o f express io n " A l l th ese are h i s i n fu l lmeasu re — what h e lacks i n phys i ca l st rength h efu l ly makes up i n th e wonderfu l gradat io ns o f h i stouch— but , tho rough ly capr i c i ous i n everyth i ng , heputs fo rth a l l th e se lfish ness o f h i s natu re i n va i nglor i ous p resumpt i on

,con ferr i ng ,

as i t must appearto th e ini t i ated , a n honorab l e d ist i nct io n o n theauthor Chop i n by ame l i o rat i ng h i s compos i t i o ns"Let u s tu rn to the other— in the rap i d ity o f exe

cution s carce ly i n th e fro nt rank o f l i v i ng p ian ists ,yet super io r i n th e versat i l i ty o f h i s c raft - fa i r lye nth ra l l i ng h i s h eare rs i n more than the average o fh i s read i ngs th rough the power and truth o f h i s conv i ctions, equal ly great i n la rge and smal l e ffo rt-s,o ften man i fest i n g a ready t rust i nes s i n reproduct i o nunh eard o f s i n ce Rub i nste i n

,he i s somet imes more ,

s omet imes l ess successfu l,but never fa-ifls whe n

TH E PI AN I ST'S ART .

gu ided by the l igh t o f that t ruth wh i ch never fadesa l though fo reve r vari e d i n th e autho r ’ s v i s i o n o fi dea l beauty .

The mus ica l pub l i c i s carr i ed away by the wea l thof express i on , by the ever i nc reas i ng power o f pers uas i o n i n h i s ve ry touch , by the co nstant ly changi ngadaptab i l i ty o f h i s execut i on ; th e c r i t i ca l wo r l demphas i zes h i s r i ch ly e ndowed tempe rament , h i sadm i rab l e d i spos i t i o n , finds the source and stre ngtho f h i s art i n th e s i ngi ng qual i ty o f h i s touch , i n theunequal ed versat i l i ty o f h i s c raft , i n h is P roteanart i st i c nature and i n a l l th e eu log i es a nd encom iumsneve r fa i l s to th row some new l igh t o n the aston ishi ng qua l i ty and me ri t o f an art wh ich seems i n veryt ruth at t imes almost i nfin i te .

An art i s t o f h i s type i s to be judged on ly by thepower o f c reat i ve ' a rt wh i ch has l ed h im to thefu l l measu re o f a l l h i s exce l l e n t art i st i c qual ificat i o ns th rough h i s devot io n to the composer ’ s c reat ive power . Whenever h e str ives fa i th fu l ly to rep roduce the composer ’ s i dea l o ut o f th e fu l l ness o fo rig i na l art i st i c co ncept ion , g iv i ng u n rese rved ly thesum tota l o f a l l th e p ropert i es wh i ch qual i fy th eh igher a rt i s t i c mer i t , he carr i es co nvi ct i o n w ith h imi nto the hearts o f h i s l i stene rs and , though th e particu lar qua l i ty o f e ffec t i s u nm istakab ly i nd i v idual ,th e i dea l characte r o f th e work i n a l l i ts t ruth andbeauty gives h i s read i ng the honorab l e worth i nessand supe rio r powe r .

H uman natu re wi l l a lways cause more o r l essser ious sho rtcom i ngs i n the perfo rmances o f th e

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88 TH E P I AN I ST ’S ART .

always laten t , wh i l e mus i ca l ta len t i n th e i nd iv i dua lmay at o ne t ime be st ro ng

,at another weak ; char

acte r possesses i n te l l ectua l a nd emot i ona l qual ificat i ons wh i ch a re pu re and true

,wh i l e th ese qual i t i es

i n th e i nd i vi d ua l may be tarn i sh ed by se lfish mot ives .

Characte r i s a power wh i ch i n th e end w i l l vanqu i shth e best ta l e nt , fo r , wh i l e th e bounds o f tal e nt a reth e— somet imes narrow— l im i ts o f an a rt i st i c i nd iv i dual ity , the re i s no end to the growth o f characte ras the re i s no end o f l ea rn i ng i n a rt .

OUTLI N E O F PIANO LITERATURE .

N th e deve lopment o f p iano mus i c,the natu re o f th e

i nst rument,th e qua l i ty o f i ts tone and i ts tech

nical fac i l i t i es have at a l l t imes had a p redom i nat i ngi nfluence

,and

,c lose ly con nected w ith gradua l im

prov ements i n th e mechanica l c o nst ru ct i o n and thegrowth o f tech n i ca l resou rces

,a sty l e o f compos i t io n

has . i n course o f t ime , been matu red wh i ch i s pecu liarly adapted to th e p iano . Though th e to ne o fthe i nstrument i s natu ra l ly short and meta l l i c , andi ts ch i e f character i s t i c th e d im i nuendo

,so that eve n

w ith the use o f th e peda l th e sound can be buts l ight ly an d impe rfec t ly susta i ned

,th e poss ib i l i t i es

o ffered for fu l l harmon i es,th e r i c h o rnamentat io n

i n mel ody,th e great vari e ty and super io r br i l l i a ncy

i n passages and a w ide range fo r con t rast i ng e ffectsgave i t early a fi rm ho l d i n the est imat i o n o f mu

sic ians and amateurs .

The o l d c lav i chord o f th e twe l fth and'

th i rtee nthcentur i es had o rig i na l ly twenty-two keys

,to wh i ch

,i n

about 1 50 0 ,ch romat i c to nes we re added . The in

st rument named C lavec i n,harps i cho rd

,v i rgi nal

,c lav

icymbal, et c . , was subsequent ly e n larged to fouroctav esfi forty

- n i n e keys —and near th e e ightee nth

90 TH E P I AN I S T’

s ART .

centu ry separate st r i ngs were i ntroduced fo r eachkey . Constant a nd far-reach i ng improvements continued to i n crease i ts p ract i ca l u se fu l nes s so that

,as

a means fo r mus ica l rep roduct io n i ndependent o fass i stance

,i t soo n ga i ned a dec i ded preponde rance

over al l othe r i nst ruments .Few of th e great maste rs o f mus i ca l art , from the

earl i es t t imes to th e p resent day,have fa i le d to con

tr ibute th e i r share to make p iano l i te ratu re the mostextens ive

,most versat i l e a nd p rec ious . Materia l

d i ffe re nce o r marked improvement may not bec l early apparen t i n some works o f th e same per i od ,yet someth i ng new wi l l be found now and then , asmal l germ wh i ch b ides i t s day o f exuberant growthun t i l th e sp i r i t o f th e t imes causes man ’ s superio re ffo rt to asse rt h i s powers ; and gen i u s ass im i l atesand perfect s what has been prepared by years o fto i l and l abo r .

I nst rumenta l mus i c shows at fi rst a marked re

s emblance to voca l mus i c ; and p iano l i te ratu re i n i tsear ly deve lopmen t i s v i rtua l ly o f th e same type aso rgan mus i c

,fi nd i ng i ts h ighest exponents i n J . S .

Bach and G . F . H mndel . Ph . Em . Bach l eaves th i sseve re sty l e and mark s th e begi n n i ng o f a new erai n p iano mus i c by me lod ious fo rms and passages .

wh ich are more adapted to th e p iano . Th is modeo f wr i t i ng

,d i st i nct ly d i ffe ren t from th e serene and

unconvent io na l sty l e o f o rgan mus i c fo l lowed byHaydn and Mozart

,i s matu red by C lement i and

Beethoven . The latte r i n h is late r works opens th eth i rd epoch o f p iano mus i c wh i ch finds i ts cu lm inat

TH E P I A l T’

s ART . 9 1

i ng po i nt i n Sch uman n and Ch 0 p in, and th i s lastagain stands o n the th resho l d o f th e fou rth an d lastpe ri od

,i nt roduc i ng a d i st i nct ly nat i ona l e l ement i n

i nst rumenta l mus i c .

Voca l mus i c had atta i ned cons i de rab l e meri t i nthe se rv i ce o f th e chu rch as ear ly as the fi fteenthcentu ry

,and u nder th e I ta l ia n masters i t acqu i red a

styl e o f except i ona l grandeur“ and beauty . I nstru

menta l mus i c rece ived , natu ra l ly , but s l igh t attent i o n ; on ly the o rgan , c lose ly co n nected with churchse rv i ce

,c l a imed some cons i derat i o n as th e aecom

pany i ng i nst rument , and the fi rst attempts i n o rganmus i c p robab ly con s i sted i n an exact rep roduct io no f voca l parts

,ornamented acco rd i ng to the wh im

and ab i l i ty o f th e p laye r . These o rnaments deve loped i nto typ i ca l figu res (t r i l l s , s ca l e - l ik e passagesand arpeggios ) , and were brough t i nto some co nnection with the mel ody and harmony , so that about160 0 A . D . o rgan compos i t i o ns , as systemat i cal lyarranged works

,took defin i te fo rm .

Mus i c as a facto r i n home l i fe had probab ly suggested th e i dea o f render i ng the me lody i n voca lcompos i t ions v i va voce

,wh i l e th e othe r part s were

g ive n to an accompany i ng i n st rument ; and when thefi rst e ffo rts fo r a mus i ca l d rama were made aboutth i s t ime , monody , th e great i n novat io n i n mus i ca lcompos i t io n , as th e o utgrowth and embod iment o fi n d iv i dual express i o n was rece i ved with no smal lfavo r by the i nte rested wo rl d . Greate r independen ce and adaptab i l i ty i n th e ac compan iment werethe immed iate con sequences

,an d th e i ntroduct i on

92 THE P 1A N 1S T’

s ART .

to the mus i ca l p lays , th e toccata , marks the begi nn i ng o f sec u lar i ns t rumenta l m us i c .

Fo l k song and ba l lads , th e fi rst evi den ce o f mu

sical l i fe , are th e p roducts o f s t ro ng emot io ns andnatu ra l art i s t i c i nst i n cts ; mus i c as an art i s based onthe songs and dances o f th e peop l e , and mus i ca l artga i ns i n va l ue an d impo rtance the more i t l eaves th ebeate n path w i thout l o s i ng con nect i o n with thenatura l e l emen t . The dances an d va r iat i ons on popu lar me l od ies fo r the c lav i cho rd and v i rg i nal

,though

l ess severe than the o rgan compos i t i o ns , fo l low thesame sty l e i n th e reproduct i o n o f seve ra l equa l lyimpo rtant pa rts as i n vocal mus i c ; and though byim itat io n , by embe l l i shments i n me lody ,

and figura

t i o n i n sca l es and arpegg ios , e l ements are i nt roduced more typ i cal ly i nst rumenta l , the st r i c t adherence to an equal deduct i o n o f th e severa l parts caneas i ly be t race d .

The ear ly masters sh ow l i tt l e i nd iv i dua l d i ffe rence i n th e i r wr i t i ngs ; the i r fo rms evi n ce a ce rta i nst i ffness i n th e mate ria l , th e evi dence o f hard menta l l abo r

,wh i ch d i sappears o n ly wh en tech n i c , by

forc e o f hab i t,acqu i res suffi c i e nt rout i n e . As the

se rene d ign i ty wh i ch characte r i zed chu rch com pos it io ns ( and fo r wh i ch th e organ was the p roper inst rument ) was more and more abandoned i n secu larmus i c , the C l avec i n , a nd late r o n th e p iano fo rte ,o ffered greate r poss ib i l i t i es fo r a d is p l ay i n variousmanners o f touch , and obta i ned a versat i l ity o f express i o n to wh i ch the o rgan cou l d never atta i n . Certa i n fo rms o f exp ress i o n we re speed i ly devel oped

TH E PIAN I ST ’S ART . 93

and he l d some i nfluence fo r a t ime,to make room

aga i n fo r others ; and ,with i n these chang i ng i d ioms

,

i nd iv i dua l i deas and fee l i ngs foun d utteran ce andc reated characte ri st i c works o f more o r l es s art i st i cmer i t .Wi l l iam Byrde ( 1 546 John Bu l l ( 1 563

1628 ) and Orlando G ibbons ( 1 583—1625) i n Englandare among th e fi rst noted composers fo r th e c lav icho rd . Gi ro l amo Frescobal d i ( 1 588— I 654) and M i chae l Ange lo Rossi ( 160 0 —1660 ) i n I ta ly ; Joh . JacobFrohberge r ( 1635— 1695) and Johann Kuhnau ( 16671 7 1 2) i n Germany ; H en ry Dumont ( 16 10 - 1684 ) an dJacques Champ ion ( 1620—1670 ) i n Fran ce , were i nh igh repute both as composers and pe rfo rmers .

The i r compos i t i ons were pub l i sh ed somet imes asopera de cantare ed sonare,

” more o ften , however , as

per organo e cemoalo; and th e compose r ’ s reputat io n was due mai n ly to h i s ab i l i ty as an organ i st and h i se ffo rts and success i n cho ra l works . E ngland ’ s mu

sic ians had lo ng enj oyed a h igh p rofic i e n cy i n voca lmus i c . As th e h igh l i t e rary an d art i s t i c standardo f "ueen E l i zabeth

’ s t ime had great i nfluence o n thesoc ia l and pr i vate e nj oyments o f po l i t e so c i ety

,th e

numbe r o f good perfo rmers o n th e v i rg i na l i n thosedays accou nts part ly fo r th e greate r e ffo rts and earl i e r s uccess o f th e E ngl i s h compose rs .The necess i ty o f contrast i ng e ffects i n instru

menta l mus i c found early recogn it io n among the composers fo r th e c l av i er . For greater var i ety i nmovement

,th e smal l e r p i eces i n dan ce fo rm were

jo i ned together i n the su i te and part i ta , and though

TH E P 1AN 1sr’

s ART .

th e success i on o f p i eces was not a lways th e same,a

d i st i n ct change i n th e characte r o f th e success ivenumbers fo rmed th e bas i s fo r th i s arrangement . A

r i ch e r d i sp lay i n o rnaments and passages cont i nuedto give th ese compos i t i o n s a sty l e more and morei nst rumenta l , but th e i n ne r characte r o f th e wo rkswas st i l l marked ly ak i n to voca l mus i c . The dancesappeared somewhat i d ea l i zed

,but had no connect i o n

wi th each oth er and a number o f movements i n th esame key d i d not o ffe r th e marked characte r i st i cs o fa change i n tona l i ty ; yet p i eces o f the s implest construc t i o n o ffe red at t imes beaut i fu l mel od ious e ffectscomb i ned w i th rea l s e n t im ent .The rondeau , a fo rm o f const ruct io n i n poet ry

wh i ch repeated a ph rase o f compl ex mean i ng at theend o f each separate d i vi s i o n

,was i nt roduced i nto

voca l mus i c i n ea rly t imes,and im i tated i n instru

menta l mus i c i n th e l att e r part o f th e seventee nthcentu ry . Franco i s Couperi n ( 1668—1 733) gave th i sfo rm a more defin i te i nst rumenta l charac te r . A

short theme o f me lod ious fo rm , gene ra l ly e ightmeasu res

,wh i ch he des ignated as rondeau , i s fo l

l owed by one or more “ coup l ets” o f a l i ve l i e r characte r

,so that a fte r each coup l et th e ro ndeau recu rs ;

th e coup l et s a re gene ra l ly r i che r i n harmony andpassages . Couperi n i s th e fi rst who deve lops i n h i scompos i t i o ns a characte r somewhat adapted to th ec lavec i n

,and even where , l ik e h i s contempo ra ri es ,

he cu l t i vate s th e dance,h i s harmon ie s a re a rranged

more su i tab ly to th e pecu l ia r ton e and range o f th ei nst rument ; h i s passages show a supe rio r subt l e ness ,

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TH E P IAN I ST ’S ART .

movements on ly o f more un ive rsa l tendencv and

express i o n .

The contrasts e ffected i n th e d i ffe rent part s o fone movement i n th e ro ndeau gave l i tt l e o rgan i ccon nect i o n save i n th e regu la r repet i t i o n o f the rou ndafte r each coup let . The motette , a styl e of voca lcompos i t i o n i n two o r th ree parts , had as early asth e fi ftee nth centu ry o ffe red a contrast by prese nti ng i ts severa l parts m a pecu l iar manne r ; somet imeswith th e same cantu s firmus fo r a l l th e parts

,wh i l e

th e counte rpo i nt ch anged characte r i n each d i vi s i o nand so accomp l i sh ed a bette r con nect i o n , gi vi ng atth e same t ime opportu n i ty fo r i nd i v i dua l exp ress ion .

Domen i co Scarlatt i ( 1683—1 757 ) began i n h i s so natamovements to contrast th e d i ffe ren t parts a fte r th emanne r o f th e motette

,not on ly i n outward appear

ance , but i n th e i r i n ne r natu re . Th e fi rst part o f th emovement prese nted i n an an imated flow a

,d ialectic

expos i t i o n o f th e th eme i n the keynote o r to n i ca,

wh i ch was fo l lowed by a more express i ve theme of

cantab i l e character i n th e dom i nant ; th e themes o rth e i r mot i ves we re then worked together

,and th e

who l e movement c losed wi th a more o r l ess freerepet i t io n o f th e -first part . Thus th e movemen tga i ned not on ly greate r cons istency i n th e co-re lat i o nand cohes i o n o f th e parts , but a l so greater var i ety o fexpress ion . Scarlatt i ’ s compos i t io ns

,eve n more

than Couperin’

s o r R ameau’

s,sh ow a marked prog

ress ; th e i nstrumenta l styl e ga i ns more d i st i n ct i on ;po lyphon i c t reatmen t begi ns to make room fo r adeve lopment i n two parts ; th e t reb l e ga i n s i n

THE P IAN I ST'S ART .

importance over th e bass,and the tech n i ca l d isp l ay

i s,i n some pecu l iari t i es

,o f las t i ng meri t so that even

at th e present day th e d i ffi cu lt i es i nt ro duced i nScarlatt i ’ s wo rks

,seem i ngly i n p layfu l h umo r , are

cons i dered impo rtant i n th e p ian i s t ’ s educat ion .

The fame o f wr i ters fo r th e c lav i e r contempo rarywi th Couperi n , Rameau and Scar latt i— such as Joh nB low ( 1648- 1 70 8 ) and H en ry Pu rce l l ( 1658- 1695) i nEngland ; Bernardo Pasqu i n i ( 1637 FrancescoGem i n i an i ( 1680 Frances co Durante ( 1684

N i co lo Porpo ra ( 1685- 1 767 ) and Domen i co"i po l i ( 1685- 1 7 i n I ta ly ; Giovann i Batt i s ta Lu l ly

( 1633- 1687 ) a nd J ean Bapt i ste Loe i llet ( 1660 - 1 728)i n France , and Johann Caspar vo n Kerl ( 1625Gott l i eb Mu ffat ( 1650 Math eso n ( 168 11 722 ) and Ch r i stoph Wagense i l ( 1688- 1 779 ) i n Germany— res ts ma i n ly o n the i r e fforts i n oth er d i rcet i o ns . The i r compos i t i o ns fo r th e c lavec i n ev i ncemore o r l es s p ro nounced i nd i v i dua l i ty o f exp ress ion ,and o ffe r a n i nte rest i ng s tudy o f th e mus i ca l sp i ri to f the t imes , wh i l e , writte n i n

‘ the estab l i shed forms ,they p rese nt n o part i cu l ar featu re o f importance i nthe p rogress o f p i ano mus i c .

As th e greatest representat i ve o f th i s fi rst per io do f p i ano mus i c appears Johan n Sebast ian Bach

( 1685 Born i n E i se nach as th e des cendanto f a fam i ly o f mus i c ians o f great ab i l i ty and fame ,he was at an ear ly age le ft to s uppo rt h imse l f. A

beaut i fu l vo i ce,remarkab l e p rofic i e ncy as perfo rme r

o n th e o rgan and c lav i cho rd and genera l mus i ca ladaptab i l i ty served h im i n good stead . The art i s t i c

98 TH E P 1AN 15 T’

s ART .

i nc l i nat i o ns o f the te n generat i ons that seemed cen

tered i n h i s pe rson were deve loped dur i ng a qu ietstuden t l i fe , great power o f obse rvat i o n and neve rt i r i ng energy se rv i ng h im as teach e rs . Vio l i n i st i nWe imar

,he becomes

,a fte r a few months

,o rgan is t i n

A rnstad t ; fou r years late r h e i s i n th e same capac i tyi n M ii lhausen, an d , 1 70 8, cou rt o rgan i st i n VV e imar.

H e re h e remai ned fo r n i ne years , and i t was i n th eseyears that h i s o rgan p lay i ng made h im famous ove ra l l h i s co ntempo rar i es ; he became concert maste r i n1 7 1 4 , and conducted fo r a t ime the ch urch and chamber co nce rts . Removed to Coethen,

1 7 1 7 , as courtconducto r h e made h imse l f i n t imate ly acqua i nt edwith th e i n st rumenta l compos i t i o ns o f th e d i ffe ren tschoo l s

,and i s sa i d to h ave h e re wri tten th e fi rs t

part o f h i s We l l Tempered C lavec i n . Seventee nhu nd red and twenty- th ree , e l ected canto r o f th eThomas schoo l i n Le i pz ig as th e successo r o f Joh ann Kuhnau

,he soon became the cente r o f mus i ca l

l i fe , and gai ned an a l l -powerfu l i nfluence i n th emus i ca l a ffa i rs o f Le i pz ig , wh i ch h e reta i ned unt i lh i s death , 1 750 .

Bach was a man o f deep re l igi ous sen t iment andqu i et d ign i ty o f manne r , h i s natu re fu l l o f l i fe andpass i on ; h i s characte r had a ce rta i n ste rn ness , th eev i de nce o f a fixed pu rpose and fi rm determ i nat i on

,

and h i s wo rk s sh ow a powerfu l emot io n,wh i ch i s

h e l d i n check o n ly by the severi ty o f fo rm . A nextrao rd i nary comb inat io n o f super io r i n te l l ectua lpowers and depth o f fee l i ng , wi th a strongly pronounced and powerfu l i n d iv i dual i ty , enab le d h im to

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TH E P 1AN 1ST’

s ART .

s l igh t mod ificat i o ns th e l aw even fo r th e presentd ay .

Bach ’ s name i s co n nected i nseparab ly w ith th efugue

,and

,though fugue-wri t i ng i s by no means h is

h ighest a n d fo remost meri t , i t i s u nd en iab l e that i nth e inst rumenta l fugue h e has reached th e cu lm inati ng po i n t . Fugue as we l l a s cano n i s based on im itation , and , wh i l e th e im i tat i o n i n th e cano n i s pu re lymel od i c

,that o f th e fugue i s governed by harmon i c

laws . Fugues h ave been wri tte n be fo re Bach ( i nfac t i t may be sa i d o f th e o rgan i sts o f no rthe rnGermany about th e begi n n i ng o f th e 1 8th ce ntu rythat to wri t e a p i ece o f m us i c was to wri te a fugue

,

and i n po i n t o f tech n i ca l ab i l i ty and tho rough k nowledge of th e natu re o f i nstrumenta l mus i c some o fth ese o rgan fugues have hard ly bee n su rpassed evenby Bach ) ; but i nasmuch as h i s harmon i c co nst ruet i o n i s based upon th e st r i c t e xpos i t i o n o f a defin i ten umber o f vo i ces

,each o f wh i ch has th e greatest

freedom o f mot i on , h e has perfected th e fo rm andmatu red th e i n strumenta l characte r .I n th e p re l udes and fugues o f th e Wel l Tempered

C lavec i n ( i n two parts , each o f 24 pre l udes andfugues

,i n a l l th e majo r an d m i no r keys ) Bach con

trasts a free sty l e w i th the seve re fo rm and,though

the p re l udes seem to br ing most ly l i gh t mot ives i np layfu l o r thought fu l mood , a wel l defined i de‘a govern s th e easy flow . The poss ib i l i ty o f p layi ng on thec l avec i n i n a l l th e keys i s ma i n ly due to Bach ’ s geni us , and th i s work— th e We l l Tempered C lavec i nseems to have bee n wr i tte n fo r i nstruct ive pu rposes ,

TH E P I A N I ST’

s ART . 1 0 1

though i ts contents are mus i ca l ly o f th e h igh estvalu e and some o f th e p re l udes and fugues be l o ng tothe most exqu is i t e p roducts o f mus i ca l a rt . Bach ’ sfame as a fugue-w r i te r rests more on th i s work thano n h i s l arge r an d more important pre l u des andfugues fo r th e o rgan , a large n umber o f wh i ch havebeen t ranscr ibed fo r th e p iano .

The i nvent io ns,p i eces o f th e smal l es t fo rm

,are

i n the i r way the most . cu ri ous expos i t io n o f thegreat man ’ s art . Composed , no doubt , with thesame i n ten t io n wh i ch caused so many autho rs ofl ate r days to wri te p iano stud i es ( o f l i tt l e o r noart i s t i c an d mus i ca l m er i t ) , th ey are new and o rigi na l an d wi thout para l l e l even i n Bach ’ s works

,con

stru cted o n tho rough ly art i s t i c p r i n c i p l es,co nc i se

an d c l ear as c rystal , and bo rn i n th e sp i r i t o f a warmhearted mus i c ian . The th ree - part i nvent io ns a re o fh igh er art i st i c mer it

,and range i n d iffi cu l ty Wi th

some o f th e fugues o f th e Wel l Tempered C lavec i n .

Bach composed s i x French su i tes ( so ca l l ed o naccou nt o f the i r smal l e r fo rm , wh i ch was l ik e that o fth e su i tes o f French composers ) , and s i x E ngl i shsu i t es o f much more impos i ng fo rm

,and s i x part i tas .

A fte r th e manne r o f th e t i mes , many o f th e p i ecesi n these works we re wri tte n i n imitatory and evenfugato sty l e , but th e c lav i e r characte r appears we l lp ro nou nced ; p ieces o f d ro l l h umo r o r deep se nt iment

,fu l l o f i n nocen t p l easu re o r te nde r abandon ,

p layfu l mood o r e cstat i c j oy , give an eve r vari edchange o f express io n . The so natas p resent but l i t t l ed iffe rence from the su i tes , except i nasmuch as the

TH E P IAN I ST ’S ART .

movements are o f a mo re severe characte r,o ften

wri tte n i n fugato sty l e ; a t rac e o f th e l ate r a rt fo rmo f the sonata— as in Scarl att i— does not appea r

,but

Bach ’ s so natas a re ce rta i n ly th e h ighest type ofth e o l d fo rm and th e s i x so natas fo r p iano an d vio l i nare u ndoubted ly o f great val ue . I n th e co nce rtosBach ava i l s h imse l f fu l ly o f th e oppo rtun i ty o f co ntrasting t utt i and so l o and shows a remarkab l e imp rovement i n th e c l av i e r

.

s ty l e a nd a n occas io na lbeauty o f sou nd ; wri tte n fo r a n immed iate e ffec tthe i r mus i ca l va l u e i s no t as last i ng as that o f h i sOth e r works , save i n th e conce rtos fo r two or th reec lav i e rs .The I tal ia n conce rto has a most beaut i fu l adagi o

,

a melody fu l l o f i nfin ite te nderness a nd pathos,

float i ng and soar i ng over th e s imp l e accompan iment ;th e ch romat i que fantas i e and fugue co nt rasts un

l im ited art i st i c freedom i n fo rm and express i o n wi ththe severest rest r i ct i ons ; th e th i rty var iat io ns b ri ngi n th e fo rms o f canons a ser i es o f to n e comb i nat io nsfou nded o n th e same bass

,wh i ch i n va ri ety , i n grace

fu l des ign as we l l as i n th e exuberanc e o f sp i ri t a nddepth o f se nt imen t a re u nsu rpassed , and h i s Mus i ca l

m ffering and th e A rt o f th e Fugue , as spec imens o fh i s maste ry o f fo rm and l earn i ng , are t ru ly monumenta l.As th e re i s no known a rt fo rm o f h i s t ime wh i ch

Bach has not made fu l ly h i s own and given to a rtfi l l e d w i th the fi re o f h i s gen i us

,i t must be co nceded

that Bach i s a un ive rsa l compose r,or igi na l i n eve ry

b ranch o f compos i t io n ; and , i f th e obj ect i ve measure

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10 4 TH E P IAN I ST ’S ART .

though o f l im ited extent and importan ce as compared w i th h i s O peras an d o rato rios

,fo rm a very

va l uab l e add i t i o n toj

mus i ca l l i te ratu re . H i s compositions fo r th e c lavec i n compri se a ser i es o f su ites

,

s i x fugues , and a n umber o f smal l e r works , togetherwi th e nsemb l e mus i c . The s u i tes , equa l to Bach

’ sbest works i n th i s l i ne , d i ffe r from those o f th e l atte ri n that a l arge po rt i o n o f th e movements b r i ng expos i t i ons o i or ig i na l m us i ca l i deas rathe r than thei dea l i zed dance , and that even th e fugue i s no t d ebarred ; th i s g i ves Ha nde l ’ s su i tes greate r var i etyo f fo rm an d a more un i ve rsa l ten de ncy . The smal l e rcompos i t i o ns i n c l ude a number o f l esso ns . capri c c i os ,fantas i es , chacon nes an d vari at io ns , wri tte n apparent ly i n h i s capac i ty as t eache r ; th ey a re va l uabl e asstud i es i n Ha nde l ’ s s tyl e and tech n i c .

Ha nde l ’s powerfu l a rt i s t i c i nd i v i dua l i ty had anaston i sh i ng e ffect o n mus i ca l matte rs i n h i s day

,a n d

i t may be sa fe ly said that Ha nde l , to a great degree ,gove rned England ’ s subsequent mus i ca l deve lopment . H i s i nfluence o n mus i c and i ts p rogres s as anart , however , i s by no means equa l to Bach

’ s , and i np iano l i te ratu re he be lo ngs to th e great to ne maste rsi n v i rtue o f great c l earness o f fo rm and power o fthought , rath e r than depth and express i o n .

Many composers cont i nue to i nte rest th emse lvesi n p iano and chamber mus i c

,and more o r l ess suc

cessful attempts are made to find a p roper styl e o fwri t i ng su i tab l e to th e c lav i e r . There a re th e sonso f J . S . Bach : Wi lhe lm Fri edemann ( 1 7 10Ph i l i pp Emanue l ( 1 7 1 4 Johan n Ch r . Fried ri ch

TH E P I AN I ST ’S ART .

( 1 732 and Joh . Ch rist ia n ( 1 735 and h i spup i l s , Joh . Ludwig Krebs ( 1 7 1 3 Fri ed . W i lh .

M arpurg ( 1 7 18 Chri stoph N ichelman ( 1 7 1 7and Joh . Ph . K irnberger ( 1 72 1 the re i s

,

i n England , Thos . Aug . A rne ( 1 7 1 0 i n I ta ly,

Giov . Bat . Mart i n i ( 1 706 P i et ro Locate l l i

( 1693 Dom . Parad i s i ( 1 7 1 2 Bal d . Ga

l upp i ( 1 70 3 i n France,Schobert ( 1 720

and i n Ge rmany,Joh n E rnst Eber l i n ( 1 7 1 0

Joh . A . Rol l e ( 1 7 18 Leopo l d Mozart ( 1 7 191 787) an d Geo rg Benda ( 1 72 1 The i r compositions have co ns i de rab l e i nd iv i dua l mer i t

,show i ng

grace an d beauty i n fo rm and express i on ; and , th emore th e wri te rs apprec i ate th e tech n i c o f thec lavi er , th e neare r th ey come to the pecu l ia r styl e .

More and more the po lyphon i c styl e o f wri t i ng d i sappears , except in th e severe fo rm , but a deve lopment i n two parts seems to suc ceed .

Leopo l d Mozart i s more fo rtu nate i n th e management o f th e fac i l i t i es o f th e c lav i er , but Ph . Em .

Bach seems to have fina l ly estab l i shed the fact thatp iano mus i c does not find i ts t rue essence i n th e dev elopment o f d i ffere nt vo i ces , that t reb l e and bassare a pecul i ar i ty o f th e wi d e range o f th e c lav i e r,and that th e t rue natu re o f p iano mus i c l i es i n th egreater o r l esse r fu l l ness a nd sp l en do r o f t reatmentun l im i ted by a defin i te number o f parts .Ph . Em . Bach ’ s compos it i on s fo r th e c l avec i n , a

large number o f conce rtos,so natas and othe r works

—among them so cal l ed character i st i c p i eces w i thh igh sou nd i ng t i t l es— are p l eas i ng and e ffect ive .

1 0 6 TH E P 1AN 15 T’

s ART .

The pecu l ia r c lavec i n sty l e , wh i ch does not dependo n a defin i te number o f pa rt s bu t has recou rse to a l lman ner o f t reatment at w i l l , shows i tse l f best i n h i sso nata movements ; these movements th emse lves arel ess i nte rest i ng s i nce th ey lack a cont rast i ng secondtheme . H i s adagios

,however

,are fu l l o f a certa i n

refi nement i n taste and express i on . With Ph . Em .

Bach , th e sonata beg i ns to take a l ead i ng part i nthe fo rms o f compos i t i o n fo r the c lav i e r ; th e subo rd i nat i on o f a l l th e parts to o ne melod ious p ri n c ipa l vo i ce becomes more apparent ; th e modu lat i onsi nto oth er keys are free r an d mo re dar i ng ; enhar

mon i c re lat i o ns begi n to p lay an important part ,an d sudden and marked t rans i t i o ns i n dynam i cs ,from fo rt e to p i ano

,o fte n gi ve a facet i ous ness to h i s

expos it i o ns wh i ch are i n marked contrast to th eso l i d and se rene h umor o f h i s fath e r .The pri nc ip l es o f p iano forte styl e i nt roduced i n

th e sonatas o f Ph . Em . Bach mark the begi n n i ng o fa new era i n p iano l i t e ratu re . The i nnovat ion s , dari ng and reck l ess as they must have appeared to thesc i ons o f th e o l d school

,and st r ik i ng as they a re i n

compar i so n to th e severe sty l e o f o rgan compos it i ons o f th e t ime , a re beg i n n i ng to show now andth e n i n th e works o f contemporary wri te rs fo r th ec l av i e r, who have worked ene rget i ca l ly , though notwi th equalsuccess, i n th e same d i rect i o n . The greatcompose rs o f th e seco nd peri od , Haydn , Mozart andBeethoven

,a re fu l ly oc cup i e d wi th th e fu rth e r de

v elopment o f th i s typ i ca l styl e , wh i l e th e e ffo rts tofo rmu late th e i deas fi rs t app l i ed to the so nata move

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1 0 8 TH E P I AN I ST’

s ART .

has , du ri ng a l ong l i fet ime ch i efly devoted to or

chestra and ensembl e wo rks , composed some th i rtysonatas fo r th e p iano a l o ne . These so natas show amark ed improvement ove r those o f Ph . Em . Bach ,

i nasmuch as H ayd n g ives each movement a rounderfo rm ; th e mot i ves a re carr i ed out w i th greate r co nsequence , th e d i fferen t parts o f th e movements a rec l eare r defi ned , th e second theme— wh i ch i s want i ngi n th e sonatas o f Ph . Em . Bach a nd i n H aydn

’ s ve ryp robab ly due to h i s early re lat i o n to Po rpo ra andh i s consequent i nt imate acqua i n tance with th e I ta li an method o f compos i t i o n— i s we l l deve loped

,

c la ims cons i de rab l e atten t io n and gi ves th e movement some d ramat i c fo rce and mus i ca l importance .

On th e other hand , th e numbe r o f movements andthe i r co- re lat i o n and impo rt are st i l l a rb i t rary ; somesonatas h ave two , others th ree movements , as thoughw i thout p res s i ng reaso ns o ne o r th e other movement had been l e ft out . The d i ffe rent movementsare not always o f th e same a rt i s t i c and mus i ca l m er i t

,

and few are the sonatas i n wh i ch th e movementsappear somewhat eve n ly graded acco rd i ng to the i ri nne r val ue and to the i r e ffect .The me lod ies are more euphoni ou s and aecom

panied at random ; two , th ree , o r more parts , somet imes i n st r i ct ly i ndependen t deve lopment , changefrom measu re to measu re ; a gi ve n numbe r o f vo i cesi s nowhere carr i ed out

,fu l l ha rmon ies i n c l ose pos i

t i o n o r w i de range change w i th rhythm i c o r harmon i c figu rat i o n

,and as the mus i ca l essence adapts

i tse l f more to th e pecu l ia r characte r o f the instru

TH E P IAN I ST ’ S ART .

ment i t ga i ns i n express ive power . Though Haydn ’ si deas a re ne i th e r o f great we ight mus i ca l ly no r i nexpressi ve qua l i ty o f great depth and var i ety

,the i r

characte r,u na ffected and o f a ch i l d l i ke s imp l i c i ty

,i s

o f a youth fu l , v igorous sp i r i t wh i ch i s enhan ced bya grace fu l mus i ca l expos i t io n and a gen ia l cont rasti n th e themes .

Wol fgang Amadeus Mozart ( 1 756 bo rn i nSa l zburg

,the so n o f one o f th e ab l est mus i c ians o f

h i s t ime,gave early p roo f o f the most extrao rd i nary

gi fts,wh i ch were deve loped w ith lov i ng ca re . The

l i tt l e gen 1us became known to the mus i ca l worl d i nan exte nded co nce rt tou r ( 1 762—1 766 ) an d c reatedthe greatest e nth us iasm everywhere . A p ro l ific compose r, he pub l i sh ed h i s fi rs t so natas i n Par i s

, 1 765,

and at th e age o f twenty had wri t te n over two hund red compos i t i ons , i n c l ud i ng operas , masses , symphon ies

,quartettes , so natas and concertos .

Mozart , undoubted ly one o f th e most g i fted o fou r great compose rs , was o f a gen ial tenderness andnob i l i ty o f fee l i ng wh i ch not o n ly p reva i l e d i n h i scharacter

,but i s th e dom i nat i ng esse nce o f h i s works .

Adm ired and a l l but s po i l ed by enth us i ast i c l overso f art when a p recoc i ous ch i l d , h i s matured gen i usfa i l ed to rece i ve th e ready recogn i t i o n

,an d i n th e

b i tte r fight fo r ex i stence th i s l ov i ng d i spos i t i o n andlo ft i n ess o f character appear to have been th e sa feguard of h i s art i st i c se l f . A never fa i l i ng beauty o fsound wh ich seems to penet rate a l l h i s harmon iouscomb inat ions , a refinement i n mus i ca l characteris

1 10 TH E P IAN I ST ’S ART .

t i c s and a supe rio r power o f fo rmat ion l end a charmto h i s works wh i ch i s eve r fresh and ent ranc i ng .

Among h i s operas,symphon i es an d quartettes

a re maste r works o f m us i ca l art,work s o f perenn ia l

beauty . P i ano l i te ratu re c la ims a la rge n umber o fsonatas , co ncertos , variat io ns , e nsemb le and smal l e rworks o f i nd i s putab l e meri t . One o f th e greatestp ian i sts o f h i s t ime , h e was much more qua l i fied topromote the new c lav ier s ty le than h i s contemporary and fr i e nd , H aydn . The grace and e legant easeo f h i s p lay i ng i s man i fest i n th e b ri l l i an t figures i nh i s conce rtos , wh i ch show a r i ch and var i ed deve lopmen t o f tech n i c . A refi ned mus i ca l i d ea p revai l s i na l l h i s wo rks

,and as the nobl e

,heart -wi nn i ng me lo

d i es ga i n i n importance , th e passages become moresubo rd i nat e , so as to bet te r carry th e i deas and toimpart th e i r s p i r i t to them . As th e p iano ga i ns i nvo l ume o f tone , th e me lody gai ns i n breadth , th e embe llishments are scarce r and l ess g i ve n to manneri sm ; greate r c learness a nd d i st i n c t io n i n me lodyand passages make the co nst ru ct i o n more i n te re sti ng , and as th e d i ffe ren t parts assume more defin i tere lat io n to each othe r

,the i r mean i ng i s bette r de

fined .

The sonatas are not a lways o f the same perfec t type .

Some of them may have bee n wri tten fo r pup i ls , andth e so

'

natas o f late r date are certa i n ly mature r thanthe ear l i e r o nes . The number ( th ree ) o f movementsi s u n i fo rm i n th e sonatas and conce rtos . I n th e co nst ruct i o n n oth i ng i s i nd i st i nc t o r doubt fu l ; each parthas i ts fixed p lac e and i s p roperly carr i ed out , though

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1 1 2 TH E P IAN I ST ’S ART .

greate r even than Moza rt ’ s . A thorough ly systematized finger i ng and w i der pos i t io n o f the hand en

ab l e d C lement i to p lay chords and passages wh i chhad not bee n attempted be fore ; greate r independence i n finge r a nd w r i s t movement made i t easy fo rh im to p lay th i rds , s i xth s and octaves w i th greatsmooth ness and rap i d i ty . H i s s onatas have beautyo f fo rm and e l egance o f sty l e an d are p l eas i ng ande ffect i ve

, yet th ey often make the impress io n o fe l egant stud ies , s i n c e h e uses them fo r th e d i s p l ayo f h i s new and br i l l i ant passages . H i s a l l egro movements at l east a re based o n some prom i nent p ianofigu re , a nd eve n the me l od ious parts se rve more asan o ffset to th e passages than as expos i t io ns o f amus i ca l i dea . Th i s gives C lement i

’ s so natas someth i ng d ry and pedant i c ; an d even i n h i s adagios ,wh ich are at t imes o f remarkab l e b readth and art i st i ccon cept io n

,h e neve r r i ses to th e power o f t ru ly

poet i c exp ress i o n .

Of i nfin i te ly greate r va l ue than the so natas i s h i sGradus ad Parnassum ,

” a co l l ect i o n o f etudes wh i chhas no equa l i n p iano l i te ratu re , and almost r iva l s i nimpo rtance Bach ’ s Wel l Tempered C lavec i n .

”

The exper i ence o f a l ong and ve ry success fu l ca ree ras a vi rtuoso and teache r enab led h im to g ive to thep ian is t i c wor l d a wo rk wh i ch has o ut l ived al l th eper io ds o f improved p iano tech n i c , and i s even to-daya l together i n d i spen sab le to the s tudent .Mozart ’ s beau ty o f fo rm an d refinement i n mus i ca l

characte ri st i c s,and C lement i 's ach i evements i n the

tech n i ca l deve lopment o f th e c lav i e r sty l e were the

THE P I AN I ST ’S ART .

l egac i es l e ft to the maste r sp i r i t whose pos i t i on i nmus i ca l art an d p iano l i te rature i s the most exa l tedand i nd i sputab l e . Ludwig van Beethoven ( 1 770

1 827) not on ly mate r ial ly i nc reased th e ri ch var i etyo f C lement i ’ s s tyl e , he en la rged an d perfected thesonata an d gave i nstrumenta l mus i c th e d ramat i cfo rce

,th e path et i c and pass ionate i n ne r power o f

exp ress i on wh i ch make i t t ru ly the l anguage o f

emot ion .

Born i n Bon n,December

,1 770 ,

where h i s grandfath e r was court conducto r ( 1 76 1r- 1 773) and h i s fathe r

a teno r s i nger and v i o l i n i s t , he i nher i ted st rongmus i ca l i n c l i nat i o ns

,and at an ear ly age deve l oped

an easy mus i ca l apprec iat i o n and tech n i ca l fa c i l i ty .

A steady,systemat i c educat i o n seems not to have

been al l otted to h im,yet unde r th e tu i t i o n o f severa l

more o r l ess worthy i nstru cto rs h e acqu i red goodfac i l i ty i n p i ano and vi o l i n p lay i ng and compos i t i on ,so that h e was appo i nted ass i stant cou rt o rgan i st i n1 783. A v i s i t to Vie nna i n 1 787 , wh i ch b rought h imi n co ntact w i th Mozart , was o f sho rt d urat io n , but i n1 792 he made h i s home th ere to study wi th H aydn ,an d late r w i th A lbrechtsberger and Sa l i e r i . I n1 795 he pub l i shed th ree p iano t r ios— wh i ch seem tohave been proj ec ted al ready i n Bon n— and th reeso natas

,Op . 1 a nd 2 . These works made h im at

o nce the fo remost o f l i v i ng compose rs i n t h esegen res

,and h i s s uper io r i ty o v er s im i lar works o f

H ayd n and Mozart was p la i n ly man i fest i n th egreate r p regnan cy o f h i s i deas

,greate r freedom an d

refin‘cment i n art i st i c format io n an d an o r ig i na l sty le

1 1 4 TH E P I AmsT’

s ART .

i n the treatment o f th e i n st rument . Each success i veyea r brough t new and more im portant works , wh ichrece i ved marked not i ce— glow i ng pra i se a nd h ighestadm i rat i o n o n the o ne hand , severe c r i t i c i sm andd i rec t oppos i t i o n o n th e oth e r . Begi n n i ng about1 798,

h i s h ear i ng bec ame a ffected , an d i n sp i te o feve ry e ffo rt th e ev i l cont i n ued to grow , so that i ncou rse o f t ime h e was reduced to tota l dea fness ,about 18 1 5. Exc l uded from the worl d o f sou nd , hecon t i nued to produce wo rks o f i n c reas i ng grandeu rand beauty u nt i l h i s death , March , 1 827 .

There i s no compose r whose wo rks , from fi rs t tol ast

,show such mark ed and steady advance , each

far su rpass i ng al l s im i lar works o f othe r composers ,and o n ly outc lassed by h i s own l ate r e ffo rts i n thesame d i rect i o n . With each new work h e seems toga i n n ew powe r , and more and more su rpri s i nglyh i s a rt i st i c i n d iv id ua l i ty cont i n ues to u n fo l d i tse l f .I n h i s ear l i e r compos i t i o ns h e man i fests a perfec tharmony i n form and mate ria l

,so that me lod ious

beauty and the mean i ng and express io n are co n

gruent. H e shows a we l l p ronounced i nd iv i duali ty

,great depth o f fee l i ng and a comp lete maste ry

o f a l l that i s requ i red to br i ng i t out p ro pe rly ; yet

with a l l th ese st ro ng and o rig i na l po i nt s h e fi nds h i sexampl e i n Mozart , as i s c l ea rly see n i n h i s mannerand construct i o n . Part i c u larly st ri k i ng and fa r i nadvance o f Mozart , so as to seem even i n th i s pe riodo f homage to the latte r ’ s gen ius

,tota l l y new and

or1g1nal i n every way ,are th e beaut i fu l , la rge-hearted

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1 16 TH E P 1AN 15 T’

s ART .

and fugue styl e . To gi ve fu l l and d i rect express io nto h i s i deas h e man i fests greate r severi ty and labo ri n wri t i ng , and i n i nc reas i ng subj ect i v i ty gives b i rthto the most beaut i fu l though ts and an i nte rest i ngth emat i c wo rk . The maste ry o f fo rm i s st i l l freshand appears at t imes to have grown even st ronge rthan i n h i s pe riod o f p last i c grac e an d st rength

,but

th e fo rm is l ess t rans l u ce nt than fo rmerly,and ne i th er

fo rm no r i dea w i l l u nve i l i ts beauty at fi rs t s ightto th e s tudent . Like a p roph et , h e i s far i n advanceo f h i s t ime and eve r new wonde rs o f th e art a re re

veal ed to those that pers i stent ly seek the i n ner essen ce unde r th e always prom i s i ng but s lowly yi e ldi ng oute r sh e l l .The improved tech n i c o f C l ement i b roadens th e

styl e o f H ayd n and Mozart ; th e p iano passagesbecome r i ch e r and mo re vari ed ; Cl ement i

’ s w ide rpos i t i o ns and r i ch e r cho rds , with th e i r fu l l and satorated sound , reflect i n Beethoven the fu l l import o fthe i n ne r characte r ; i n th e themat i c work th e i deasa re brought i nto eve r new con nect i o n and juxtaposition, so that i n i n c reas i ng i nten s i ty they give amo re comp lete s i gn ificance o f exp ress io n . Thoughtand fee l i ng are equal ly strong and refined

,and wh i l e

th e art i s t i c i dea i s everywhe re i n harmony with ape rfec t fo rm , th e p regnancy o f the

’

idea becomesmo re and more th e mov i ng essen ce , th emat i c workgai ns i n refinement , th e conto urs o f th e d i ffere ntparts and pe r i ods are l ess pronou nced than fo rme rly

,

and the read i ng becomes mo re a matte r o f s tudy .

E very one of h is works is a new revelat ion; there is

TH E P 1AN 1 S T’

S ART .

no manneri sm o f any k i n d,and what can be sa i d o f

o ne o f h i s compos i t i o ns does not fi t the other . Th isi ncomparab l e versat i l i ty gives Bee thoven someth i ngSph i nx- l i k e , i s th e pr ime cause o f h i s a l l su rpass i ngu n ive rsa l i ty

,an d makes h im the ad

’

ored o f th eadm i rers o f pe rfec t fo rm , as we l l as o f those whoworsh i p abso l ute i nd i v i dua l freedom i n the art i st .Beethoven has th e most refined and exact i ng senseo f fo rm ; wherever i n the se ns i t i veness fo r un i ty o fcharacter i n th e who le work and the themes andmot i ves i n deta i l h e can not make use o f th e samepatte rn , h e man i fests h i s ext rao rd i na ry power o fart i st i c fo rmat i o n i n find i ng the r igh t and fi tt i ngoute r fo rm fo r a characte r i st i c i dea . Thus th e so

natas are not o n ly p roducts o f a most u n fathoma’bl enatu re and art i st i c imagi nat io n , but ver i tab l e patte rnso f se l ec t fo rm .

The power o f fee l i ng i n i ts deve lopmen t dependson the consc iousness and act iv i ty o f thought , andmus i c , as th e reflex o f an emot i o nal l i fe , necess i tatesan i nt imate con nect i o n o f though t and fee l i ng .

Mus i ca l thought i n Beethoven may be sa i d to havei ts sou rce i n emot io na l l i fe i tse l f

,and

,comp lete ly

confined to emot i on , i t b r i ngs i n a rt i s t i c concept io nth e m i nute changes o f fee l i ng and express i on .

Where though t and fee l i ng i n menta l t ra i n i ng andfree imagi nat i o n are congruent i n art i s t i c concept io n

,

mus i ca l characte r i st i c w i l l be th e most perfect ; themore var i ed th e emot io ns and th e more they arecarri ed out to a comp lete exhaust i o n o f fee l i ng , th egreate r the versat i l ity o f characte r.

1 18 TH E P 1AN 1sr’

s ART .

Th i s powe r o f thought cont i nual ly engende rsnew mate ria l fitti ng to the characte r o f th e work

,th e

themes and mot ives i n the i r h ighe r p regnan cy re

qu i re greate r scope i n e l aborate expos i t i o n fo r wh i chth e fu ndamenta l characte r o f th e work— l ight o rgrace fu l , proud o r dar i ng , o f j oyous exp ress ion ,j o cose humo r o r bo iste rous merriment

,t ranqu i l pe n

siveness o r se ren e te nderness— gi ves th e co nd i t i ons .

To find room fo r th e new mate ri a l Beethoven c reated the characte r i st i c ep i sodes to h i s p r i nc i pa lper io ds , wh ich , far from obstruct i ng the impo rtanceo f th e l atte r, he l p to carry a nd e l evate th em as heknows how to subord i nate w i thout l os i ng rare mu

sical beauty eve n fo r l ess important parts . Thusthe more e laborate part— Durch fuehrungs

-satz— i sworked up most e ffect i ve ly i n coun terpo i nt andmodulat i o n so as to be frequent ly the cu lm i nat i ngpo i nt o f th e who l e work . The d i ffe re nt movementsare extended by one o r more add i t i o ns— codaswh ich g i ve th e exp ress i o n a mo re comp lete andconsummate deve l opmen t

,and i n th i s part i cu l ar

Beethoven 's greate r matu ri ty o f a rt i st i c i nst i n c t i smost man i fest over h i s p redecesso rs . The sche rzo ,wh i ch h e adds to th e sonata as a fourth movement ,g ives h im occas io n to spread h i s bu r ly h umor ; yeteven he re h e var i es th e characte r by always carryi ngout a d i ffe re nt i dea from the fantast i ca l ly se reneto th e most extravagant . A rt i s t i c i nd iv i dua l i ty hasperfec t freedom even i n th e numbe r and cha racte ro f the movements ; everywhere th e i dea i s i n pe rfe ctharmony with th e fo rm

,so that even h i s sonatas i n

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1 20 TH E P IAN I ST ’S ART .

grace and wi nn i ng tende rness o f the fi rst . The th i rdi n C m i nor i s o f much larger mo l d yet , save fo r thegrand adagio , s t i l l i n Mozart

’ s s p i r i t . The fou rth i nG and th e fi fth i n E flat are among the most beaut ifu l compos i t i o ns o f the seco nd pe r iod . The one o fi dyl l i c fem i n i ne grace and beauty

,th e oth er fu l l o f

man ly power , burly humo r and— in th e adagio— of

romant i c reveri e . Th i s l ast i n E flat, common lynamed the empero r co n ce rto , marks th e culm inati ng po i n t i n th i s c lass o f compos i t io n wh i ch hasneve r bee n obta i ned s i nc e .

I n ensemb le m us i c w ith p iano we have a longl i n e o f compos i t i ons , duos , t r i os and a quartette , al lo f wh i ch have the i r own i nd iv i dua l character andbeauty ; th e i r fo rm i s l i ke th e so nata fo r p ianoa lo ne and a l l that has bee n sa i d o f th e sonatas canfitly be repeated he re . I t i s need less to say thathere , as i n every oth er gen re , h e su rpassed al l h i sp redecesso rs , an d that i n some o f th em he st i l ls tands u nr iva l ed to th e present day .

An i l l - regu lated educat io n , th e absence o f l ov i ngcare o n the part o f h i s parents— th e fath e r was assevere and untrust fu l as th e mother was overindu lgent and i n capabl e— l a i d the fou ndat io n to h is late ru nsoc i ab l e hab its an d u nguarded manne r i n l i fe .

H e was gen ia l and o f w i nn i ng pe rsonal i ty to h isfr i e nds

,but care l ess o f the i r good wi l l and a ffect io n ;

witty and h umorous , yet a lways d i st rust fu l and i nh is t ransact i o ns occas ional ly not overde l i cate ; fu l lo f h i s own a rt i s t i c impo rtance to overbea ri ng , wh i l eruth l ess ly fau l t-find ing with othe rs .

“

THE P IAN I ST ’S ART . 1 2 1

Such was h i s characte r i n real l i fe ; yet i fart i st i c pe rsona l i ty i s th e resu l t o f man

’ s th i nk i ngand fee l ing , th e outcome o f h i s i n ne r essence , wehave a number o f characte r i st i c t ra i ts wh i ch g ive ap i ctu re o f th e most refined qua l i ty . Capab l e o fi dea l i z ing a l l that moved h im and o f rea l i z i ng tos uch perfect i o n th e fu l l measure o f t ruth and beauty ,he must have l i ved an i n ne r l i fe wh i ch i s t ru ly env i

ab l e . I h the beauty o f fo rm,th e most exact i ng

truth fu l nes s o f express io n and a d i sc r im i nat io n eveni n th e sma l l es t deta i l s

,th e re i s no one super ior to

h im i n th e who le h i sto ry o f fine arts and l ette rs .The em i nent ly b r i l l i a nt passages wh i ch were a

prom i nent featu re i n C l ement i ’ s so natas— made subse rvi ent to s uper io r mus i ca l though t and fee l i ng byBeethoven , so as to fo rm a r i ch and var i ed backgrou nd to mus i cal charac te r i st i c— were taken up

,

remode l ed and en larged by a number o f exce l l e ntp ian i sts an d mus i c i an s o f great fame and ab i l i ty i nthe i r days

,whose depth o f fee l i ng and power o f

thought were , however , even l ess than C l ement i’ s

equa l to th e ri che r d i sp lay o f mater i a l . A fin i sh edsty l e and we l l matu red exp ress i o n i n p lay i ng andgood taste and fo rm i n wri t i ng g ive as l i tt l e c la im toi nd iv i d ua l characte r and the power and beauty o fi deal l i fe i n mus i c as th e obse rvance o f th e conv en

tional ru l es o f good soc i ety i s a toke n o f man ’ s i nnerworth and va l ue . The e ffo rts o f th ese men ofu nden iab l e ta l en t and great mus i ca l respectab i l i ty ,d i rected ma i n ly to a taste fu l d i sp l ay o f th e i r p ian is

t i c ab i l ity in beauty o f to ne , smooth , harmon ious

1 22 TH E P 1AN 1sr’

s ART .

progress i o ns , p retty melod i es and we l l rou ndedph rase s , l acked not th e symmetry o f fo rm wh i chcou l d be stud i ed ( an d i f need be cop i ed ) i n th emany beaut i fu l e xampl es , but the co rrespond i ngi nne r esse nce o f though t and fee l i ng . The arrangement i n p rope r pe riods man i fests good sense o f p roport i o n and i nsu res vari ety , but th e i n ne r fo rcewh i ch co ntro l s th is arrangement i s not a lways ap

pare nt ; th e ph rases are brought i n a ce rta i n we l la rranged manner

,but the log i c

,more o r l ess potent

,

by wh i ch each part l eads to someth i ng that i s tofo l l ow and by wh i ch al l the ph rases a nd mot i vescontribute to th e gene ra l impu l se , i s want i ng , andth e con nect i o n and re lat i o n o f parts seems o ftenmere ly mechan i ca l . P i ano m us i c th us l ost i n beautyo f characte r an d exp ress io n what i t ga i ned i n beautyo f sound and mater ia l d isp l ay . The greate r bu l k o f

’

these compos i t i o ns was wr i tte n fo r pup i l s o r, bette rs t i l l , fo r th e market , and a l though many exce l l e ntt ra i t s a re fou nd i n th e works o f these wri te rs , the i rim portance was a l ast i ng o ne most ly fo r th e i r day .

Joh . Ludw . Dussek ( 1 76 1 pup i l o f Ph . Em .

Bach,i s a most p ro l ific composer

,i n whose works

exp ress io n r i ses somet imes to pass io nate outbu rststo change aga i n with commonp lace ph rases and anove rc rowded expos i t i o n . Aug . Eb . Mue l l e r ( 1 76718 1 7 ) and Ludw ig Berger ( 1777—1839 ) have l e ftmany wo rks

,and Ignaz P l eye l ( 1 760 who was

a ve ry popu lar composer . Most o f the wo rks o fth ese th ree wr i te rs h ave a l togethe r d isappeared .

Joh n Bapt . Cramer ( 177 1—1858) and Joh n Fi e l d ( 1 782

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1 24 TH E P IAN I ST ’ S ART .

however, o f coquett i sh ness— give h i s me l od ies ave ry popu la r characte r ; grace fu l nob i l i ty seems tocome to h im i n th e sp i r i t o f romant i c ch i va l ry

,and

th e b ri l l i an cy o f h i s passages i s mo re dazz l i ng ando rig i na l than any befo re h i s t ime

,C l ement i not ex

cepted . I n the pyrotech n i ca l d i sp lay a mel od i ouse l ement o fte n appears latent , wh i ch g ives i t a n e l egant mus i ca l s tab i l i ty , eve n to p i ctu resqueness , an dthe v igo r and fire— not com i ng an d go i ng i n fitfuls tarts— seem to be susta i n ed w i th energet i c co nstancy . A l o ngs id e o f Beethoven ’ s i n comparab lynobl e r and pu re r works , th es e good tra i ts appea r tol ess advantage i n h i s so natas an d conce rtos ; bu t i nth e Concertstueck an d a numbe r o f smal l e r worksh e has fu rn i sh ed th e p rototype o f many a refinedcompos i t i o n o f th e l ate r p iano v i rtuosos .C lass i ca l repose i n Beethoven ’ s works o f th e sec

o nd pe ri od made room fo r greate r subt l eness an drefi nement o f express i o n i n h i s las t per i od ; i magi nat i o n

,wh i ch bod ies fo rth th e fo rms o f th i ngs um

known,

” begi ns to ho l d a more important part,th e

i dea i s pu rsued a lmost to th e utmost l im it s o fthough t and fee l i ng , and though los i ng somet imesi n res t fu l beauty

,th e compose r ga i ns i n power o f e x

press i o n and subj ect i v i ty . The sp i r i t o f romance ,wh i ch i n myste r ious fo rebod i ngs s eeks co nc l us i onwi th the p rete rnatu ra l

,whose s pr i te l i k e asp i rat i o n s

fi nd myst i c vo i ces i n th e wh i sper i ng w i nds , murmu ri ng waves an d ro l l i ng thunde r

,begi ns to fi l l m us i ca l

fo rm . I nc i t i ng the fee l i ng and imagi nat io n wi thoutg iv i ng a defin i te exp ress io n to th e one o r a d i st i nct

TH E P I AN I S T’

s ART .

i dea to the other , th ese fo rms are fi l l e d wi th te rro rand fear

,gr ie f and so rrow , l o ngi ng a nd d ream ing ,

j oy and gladness ; and th e i nd i s t i n ct , nebu lous and

indefinable fi nds occas io n fo r n ew revel ry i n sound .

The adagio o f Bach ’

sfi ltal ian conce rto and h i sch romat i c fantas i e are fu l l o f romant i c s p i r i t .Beethoven

,i n th e fi rst movement o f th e so-ca l led

Moon l igh t sonata,and more o r l ess i n a l l h i s s low

movements,i s g ive n to romant i c reveri e ; but what

hereto fo re appeared oc cas io nal ly a s a greate r ex

uberance o f fee l i ng bent o n more con c l us ive exp ress ion

,now ri ses to greate r impo rtance and becomes a

p rom i nen t characte r i st i c featu re i n mus i ca l a rt .Franz S ch ubert ( 1 797 th e so n o f a schoo l

t eache r i n a subu rb o f Vi e nna , br i ngs i n th e ge n ia lfac i l i ty o f concept io n , an a lmost sentent i ous methodo f express i o n an d an eve r i ncreas i ng conc i seness o ffo rm lyri c i nd i v i dual i ty o f fee l i ng to the most com

p lete express i o n i n the“ l i ed ,

” and i s a longs i d e o fth e c lass i c composers , the most p ronou nced repre

sentativ e o f th e romant i c s choo l . H i s earl i e st compos i t i o ns , writte n when h e was bare ly th i rtee n yearso l d

,are fu l l o f p reternatu ra l imagin i ngs , and the al

most u npara l l e l e d prod uct iv i ty in a short period o fseventee n years i s hard ly more asto n i sh i ng than theexuberant fantas i e and wonderfu l art i st i c se ns i

tiv eness wh ich found fo r every mood th e most p last i c express io n , exhaust i ng the fee l i ng in every shadeand deta i l .S ch ubert ’ s sonatas and the two fantas ies are o n

the ave rage not as perfect i n fo rm and fini sh as h is

TH E P I AM S T’

S ART .

’

so ngs . The i ncessant ly Wo rk i ng imagi nat io n andth e lyr i c esse nce o f h i s art i st i c nature do not a lwaysreach th e concent rat i o n i n th e mate r ia l wh i ch i sdes i rab l e i n th e large r fo rms

,an d th e d i al ec t i c ex

pos i t i o n of th e c l ass i c c omposers i s o fte n want i ng ;th e d i ffe ren t movements are frequent ly too l o ng

,so

that whe re i n th e r i ch powerof h i s fancy he does notfind th e righ t l im it , th e e ffec t o f th e who l e work i scon s i de rab ly weakened . C ri t i ca l obse rvat i o n andcon t i n ued deta i l ed exam i nat io n wh i ch i n su re a we l lmatu red bala nce i n th e p roport io ns

,and tho rough

mus i ca l t ra i n i ng i n th emat i c work a nd counte rpo i n ta re not th e strong po i n t , yet th e deta i l s a re fu l l o fbeauty , a sen suous fresh ness p reva i l s wh i ch keepsth e p laye r spe l lbound wh i l e th e hearer , who i s imp ress ed by th e e ffec t of th e e nt i re wo rk , m isses th econt rast o f th e themes

,th e i r oppos i t i o n and the co n

sequent d ramat i c impu lse i n th e movement . Theblend i ng o f j oyfu l ly r i s i ng , a lmost excess i ve v igo rwi th th e i n c reased i nte ns i ty o f te nderest emot io ns ,th e passages fu l l o f h eaven ly song

,th e fresh humo r

and the i nte res t i ng,somet imes p iquant rhythms pass

by as so many beaut i fu l images o ne more e nt i c i ngthan th e other

,l ik e fa i ry sto r i es growi ng out o f the

ve ry natu re o f th e'

i n st rument and i n th e i r fu l l nesso f sat urated sou nd a very Lethe fo r i nd iv i dua lmoods .

I n ensemb le mus i c— two t r i o s and a qu i ntettewith p iano— Sch ube rt u nquest io nab ly rank s h igherthan i n the sonatas fo r p iano al o ne . The th emat i cwork is notof the v igo rous c l assi ca l type , and the

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1 28 TH E P i AN i sr’

s ART .

ga i ned eas i ly th e fi rst p l ace among contemporarymus i c ians . A fte r a p ro lo nged v i s i t to I ta ly andEngland h e lo cated i n Dusse l do rf

, 1832 , becamethe conducto r o f th e Le i pzi g Gewandhaus conce rtsi n 1835 and founded the conse rvato ry i nA most deta i l ed and care fu l mus i ca l t rai n i ng ,

based o n the c l ass i c p r i nc i p l es o f Bach, H zende l an d

Beethoven , gave h im a tech n i c i n compos i t ion , wh ichresu l ts i n super io r c l ea rness and e l egance o f fo rm .

Though h e does not i n t rod uce an essent i a l ly new

e l ement i n mus i ca l a rt , h i s ext rao rd i nary i ns igh t andc i rc umspect i o n deve l op some o f th e laten t featu resi n a n oste ns ib l e man ne r . Weber

’ s o peras , with the i rwor l d o f romant i c fan cy , gave r i se to a host o f caper i ng

,f r i sk i ng gen i i i n th e provok i ngly romp i ng

,

fro l i csome e ffe rvesce nce o f th e mus i c to “A M idsummer N i gh t ’ s Dream and the s che rzos a ndro ndos fo r p iano . N ew and o rig i na l , st range andyet so catch i ng and w i nn i ng i s M ende l ssoh n i n th i sgen re

,that o ne a lmost fee l s th e p resence o f th ese

be i ngs o f e lfish l igh tness and i s eage r to j o i n them .

I n h i s so ngs w ithoutwords he atta i n s a gen ia l warmthi n me lod ious fo rm wh ich though not so exp ress i veand touch i ng as Schubert s , i s o f great a rt i s t i c meri tand nob i l i ty o f h uman sent iment . With a l l th i s h edeve lops a pecu l ia r i ty o f s ty l e i n h i s p i ano compositions wh i ch , th ough i t appears i n eve r new andnove l fo rm

,gives th em an outward characte r wh i ch

at t imes a lmost touches manner i sm , an d can bet raced th roughout .The songswi thout words have always been a vade

TH E P IAN I ST ’ S ART .

mecum with th e bette r c lass o f amateu rs ; of h i sothe r works for p iano so lo , th e concertos and rondowith o rchestra an d the e nsemb le works w i th p iano

,

i t may be suffi c i e n t to say that th ey are man i festat io ns o f a n am iab l e i nd iv i dual i ty , wh i ch at a veryearly age atta i ned a surpri s i ng art i st i c perfect ion ,but does not reach a h igh er potent i a l i ty i n th e laterworks .Fri ed r i ch Kalkb ren ner ( 1 788—1 849) l acks depth ,

but h i s compos i t ions are we l l fin i shed and p l eas i ng .

Ignaz Moscheles ( 1 794—1 870 ) and Ferd i nan d H i l l e r

( 18 1 1—1 88 1 ) do not obta i n i n th e i r compos i t ions au n i fo rm exce l l e n ce , but M osche les has stud i es andco n certos o f good mus i ca l qua l i ty , wh i l e H i l l e r

,

bes i des co ncerto s and ensemb l e mus i c,has wr i tten

very i nte rest i ng characte r p i eces . The most pro

nounced rep rese ntat i ve o f th e l igh t v i rtuoso type,

S ig i smund Thalberg ( 18 1 2 a p ian i s t o f mar

velous l ight nes s a nd e l egance , deve lope d certa i ne ffe cts i n p iano p l ay i ng to the det r iment o f mus i ca lqual i t i e s i n compos i t i on . Though there i s a we l lb red fluency and equal i ty i n h i s passages

,th e i r

more o r l ess t r iv ia l e l egance o f manner owed mucho f i t s charm to th e pretty operat i c me lod i es wh i chare th e mai nstay o f h i s fan tas i es . H i s “ A rt daChant” Op . 70 , however , o ffers ve ry des i rab l e mater ia l fo r study i n touch and th e use o f th e pedal

,i n

both o f wh i ch Tha lbe rg must be cons i dered a great

maste r .Robert Schumann ( 1 8 1 0—1856 ) born i n "wickau ,

th e so n o f a pub l i she r and bookse l l e r from whom he9

130 TH E P 1A N 1ST’

s ART .

i nhe r i ted great love fo r th e be l l es lettres and art .I n co n nect i o n wi th othe r stud i es

,mus i ca l educat ion

was carr i ed o n l e i sure ly a n d,though remarkab l e

ta l e nt was not i ceab le,l i t t l e e ffo rt seems to have bee n

made to i n su re a n ear l y an d care fu l deve lopment .Lite rat u re o f th e romant i c schoo l and part i c u l arlyJ ean Pau l ( th e maste r i n a l l t e nde r e ffus ions , o f anexube rance o f fee l i ng wh ich co nt i n ual ly a l te rnates i ntears o f j oy and sorrow

,fantast i ca l ly p layi ng wi th

romant i c shadows w ithout th e power o f art i s t i cshape l i n ess ) a re h i s da i ly food ; and even afte r h eattend s th e u n ive rs i ty

,osten s ib ly to s tudy law , he

“work s much i n p r i vate ; z'

. e. ,at th e p iano and wri tes

J ean Pau l iades Thus h e spends h i s years at th eu n ive rs i t i es i n Le i pzig an d H e i de lbe rg p ract i c i n g atth e p iano a l l th e morn i ng and “ enj oy i ng mus i ca leven i ngs w i th h i s fri e nds ,

” whom he o fte n aston i shesby h i s powe rs o f improvi sat i o n . Fi nal ly , i n 1830 ,

hetakes up mus i c i n ea rnest, s tud i es wi th Fr i ed r i chWieck i n Lei pz ig— but wi th s uch e ne rgy an d w i tha lsuch impat i e nce and impru dence that i n th e courseo f th e year h i s r i gh t hand becomes a ffected an d thefou rth fi nge r

,i n s p i te o f med i ca l t reatment

,rema i ns

lame . Debarred from th e pursu i t o f mechan i ca l work ,he beg i ns 1 831 to study compos i t i o n w ith H e i n r i chDo rn

,and agai n l abors wi th constant e nergy

,though

w ithout system,probab ly i n con sequen ce o f th e

h igh pressu re o f art i st i c impetuos i ty .

H i s early l i te rary i n c l i nat io ns and the des i re toexert h i s i nfl uence fo r th e im provement o f mus i calmatte rs (wh ich had become sad ly dete r i o rated as an

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1 32 TH E H A N I S T’

S ART .

and a n o fte n ecstat i c depth o f sen t imen t pass byw ith un impa i re d fresh ness

,and h i s many-S i ded i dea l

l i fe ga i n s a fo rc e o f d ramat i c impu ls e wh i ch c l a imsattent i on and fo rces th e p layer to i nd iv i dua l th ough ta n d co ns i de rat i o n . With almos t second s igh t h een te rs th e remotest depth o f fee l i ng to fi nd th e t enderest, l usc i ou s exp ress io n . H e composes o n ly fo rth e p iano , and these works are so

“c lav iermaessig

”

i n th e i r co ncept i o n th at h e seems to have almostd rawn them from th e i nst rument ; h i s mode o f t reatmen t i s perfect ly n ew and o rig i na l i n th e quas io rchest ra l po lyphony , i n th e use o f th e peda l an dwi de harmon i es ; the ind iscrim inate use o f both handsfo r every pu rpose i n c ross i ng and i nterl ock i ng o r i nme lody o r accompan iment , give h im a great var i etyo f new e ffec ts . H i s tech n i c i s marked ly d i ffe ren tfrom othe rs , and the d i ffi cu l t i e s that a re fou nd a rehard ly o f a mere ly mechan i ca l k i nd , s i n ce they arethe very embod iment o f th e mus i ca l i dea . Thesma l l e r fo rms o f th e l i e d o r dance carry h i s i deasmost de l igh t fu l ly

,an d many o f these m us i ca l t i d

b i t s are j o i ned i nto l a rge r fo rms ; the var i ety wh i chh e devel op s a nd the marked characte ri st i c s p roveeve r and ano n h i s c reat i ve power . The suddeni mpu l se o f a s pontaneou s outbu rs t g ives th em abewi tch i ng fresh ness and causefu lness wh i ch seema lways i n c i de nta l .Large and we l l d eve loped mel od i es are sca rce i n

these ea rly works,but th e logi c o f the i deas i s con

e l us ive and u ny ie l d i ng , and th e ve ry co nc i senes s o fthe melod i c fo rm causes a superabundance o f frag

TH E P IAN I ST ’S ART . 1 33

mentary ph rases fu l l o f l i fe and mean i ng , th us giv l

i ng a sp r i ng- l i k e p ress i ng and budd i ng to’ the i deawh i ch i n i ts ve ry essen ce and make-up i s full v ofromant i c s p i r i t . A sou l fu l

,e n raptu red fee l i ng an d a

fantast i c,d reamy sp i r i t are mated to a hea l thy , v ig

orous art l ess ness an d s i ncer i ty o f purpose , wh i cho fte n i n su res a marked ly popu lar character ; p lay fu lh umor i s co nstant ly a l ive and gives th e art i st i c i n d iv i dual ity greate r power and freedom of express i o n .

H armony , rhythm and me lody are o ne and a l l t ruetypes o f S ch umann ’ s character . Po lyphon i c wr i t i ngappears frequent ly ; th e cou nte rpo i n t i smost ly o f thebudd i ng

,p resent i e nt k i nd , so that harmony becomes

i n t ruth a movi ng essen ce . Rhythm i ca l fo rmat io nsomet imes mode l ed afte r th e more refined o f th eGreek meters— adds i ts charm and p roduces manynove l e ffects

,yet l acks th e c l earness and force o f

th e c lassi c composers ; th e l ess o rderly esse nce o fth e syncope an d negat i ve ac cents becomes at t imestoo p rom i nent fo r greate r p rec is i o n .

The smal l e r fo rms i n th e Pap i l lo ns,Davi ds

buendler, Carnava l , etc . , have no organ i c con nect io n ( save i n i nd iv i dua l moods o f th e wri ter o r i n th ei n c i de nts o f h i s da i ly l i fe) but o ne an d al l a re o f th esame poet i ca l i mpu l se wh i ch rushes o nward to thei nev i tab l e c l imax ; Many o f th e supers c r i pt ions toth e p i eces as , G lueckes Genug ,

” Verru fene S te l l e ,im Walde

,etc . , are we l l ca l cu lated to fix the indefi

n i t e sp i r i t o f romant i c d ream i ness to a d ist i n ct i dea ,though i t ca n hard ly be sa i d that th e wo rds arenecessa ry to exp la i n th e mean i ng of the mus i c .

TEE P I AN I ST ’ S ART .

I n th e Var iat i o ns Sch uman n uses th e fo rm withgreate r freedom than had bee n done h ereto fo re

,but

w i th a s upe ri o r l av ish ness o f fee l i ng an d v i ta l e nergy .

The fi rst ( op . I ) shows some o f M oscheles’ t ech n i c ,

and the Impromptus (op . 5) are fash ioned a fte r themanne r o f Beethoven ’ s E ro i ca va r i at io ns over a fu ndamental bass , wh i l e th e Sympho n i c E tudes— in formo f var i at i ons— are o n th e l argest s ca l e , and i nsur eh im a p lac e among the fo remost composers fo r th ep ia no ; the fo rm i s h ere t reated wi th the most gen ialaudac i ty , and the tech n i c n ecessary fo r th e exp ressi o n o f th e exuberan t flow o f i d eas i s re i n fo rced toth e utmost l im i ts o f t rue bravu ra styl e . ThatSch uman n was not i n co ns i de rate o f tech n i ca l dev e lopment i s apparent i n h i s ve rs io n o f th e Pagan i n iE t udes and the Toccata .

”

The power o f shap i ng h i s i deas to the requ i rements o f larger fo rms seems to grow o n h im i ncou rs e o f t ime . H e i s most l av i sh i n beaut i fu l i deasi n h i s fi rs t two sonatas , and co ns i de rab l e improvement i n th e adj ustment and congruency o f fo rm andidea must be adm i tted i n h i s th i rd sonata ( op . 22 )ove r th e two p revi ous o nes ; s t i l l h e fa i l s to obta i nun i ty o f fo rm at l east i n the a l l egro movements .The Fantas i e , op . 1 7 , i s o f th ese l arge r wo rk s th emore u n i que and sat i s factory , carry i ng out i t s poet i cse nt iment i n th e loose ly connected fantast i c p i ctu reso f th e fi rst movement

,th e t ri umphant march and

the d reamy rest fu l ness o f th e th i rd movement .

U po n h i s marr i age to C lara Wieck fo l l ows a t imeo f glo ri o us so ng ; with h i s usua l ardo r a nd impetu

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THE P i A N I S T’

s ART .

fu l ene rgy wou l d fo r a t ime ga i n the uppe r h and andresto re h im to h i s own se l f , but eve ry menta l o vertaxat io n wou l d s catt er th e ne rvous system anew . A

hab itua l shyness,wh ich had kept h im unde r con

tinual rest ra i nt i n h i s i n te rcours e wi th the wo rl d atl arge , may have been aggravated by u n i nte r ruptedmus i ng and ponder i ng ; u np l easan t o ccu rre nces o fh i s da i ly l i fe may have exerc i sed a bane fu l i nflue nce ;as i t i s

,h i s l ate r wo rks o fte n show aga i n th e aphor

istic fo rm o f th e fi rs t pe ri od , but th e f resh v i go rousrhythm o f yore seems to l ack repose , and th e fo rmerpopu l ar ve i n i n me lod io u s fo rm gives way to in

c reased mood iness,wh ich o fte n resu l ts i n a dark some,

pass ionate co lo r i ng . I n o ne o f h i s mom ents o fdeepest dep ress i o n Sch uman n l e ft h i s h ouse i nDuesseldorf— fish ermen rescued h im from th ewate rs o f th e Rh i ne

,and wi th al l th e symptoms o f

men ta l derangement h e passed th e next two yearsi n a p rivate asy l um near Bonn , where he d i ed , i n1 856 .

Adol ph H enselt ( 18 1 4 one o f th e greatp ian i sts o f late r t imes

,has wr i tten two sets o f etudes

wh i ch are cons i dered by many o f th e h ighest va lue ,a co ncerto o f great tech n i ca l d i ffi cu l ty , ensemb lemus i c a n d characte r p i eces . H i s wo rks have un

doubted ly co ns ide rab l e i nfluence o n th e deve lopmen t o f modern p i ano tech n i c , and h i s characte rp i ec es are

,i n the o r ig i na l i ty o f s ty le

,depth o f fee l

i ng and care fu l adj ustmen t wo rthy o f h igh consid

c rat i o n . Theodor Doeh l e r ( 18 1 4 a p i an i st o fe l egance and taste , wri tes p i eces i n the l igh t genre

THE P IAN I ST ’S ART .

wh i ch are me lod ious and showy . A l exander Dryschock ( 1 8 18 ce l eb rated fo r a fin i shed execu

t i on,has le ft p iano

'

works wh i ch are espec i a l ly ca lcu lated fo r bri l l i an t p l ay i ng . H en ry L itolff ( 18 18

h igh ly g i fted as p ian ist and composer,l eaves

a great n umber o f works o f very u neven mer i t .Wi l l iam Ste rnda l e Ben nett ( 18 16 fr i e nd o fMende l ssoh n and i n h i s works not un l ike the l atte r,i s g ive n more to a gent l e sent imenta l i ty th an man lyene rgy . N i l es W . Gade ( 18 1 7 a l so large ly influenced by Mende l ssoh n i n h i s sty l e o f compos i t ion ,shows marked i nd iv i dual i ty o f i nvent io n and a co lo ri ng i n me lody and harmony , wh ich gives h i s works

(most ly ensemb le ) f requent ly th e fresh ness andfragrance o f nat i ona l characte r . Stephen H e l l e r

( 18 1 5—1 888) makes i n h is compos i t ion s th e impress i o n o f a we l l ba lanced i nd iv i dual i ty , and shows i nrhythm

,me lody and harmony poet i c essence and

romant i c Sp i r i t .One o f th e most fasc i nati ng i nd i v i dua l i t i es i n

mus i ca l art appears Freder i c Chop i n ( 1809 anat ive o f Po land . Born near Warsaw , where h i sfath e r

,a French gent l eman from N ancy (marri ed to a

Po l i sh lady) , he l d a p ro fesso rsh i p at the Lyceum ,he

was brought up i n a refined l i t e rary atmosphere,and

h i s mus i ca l educat io n was care fu l ly looked after . Apro l ific power o f improvi sat i on and m im ic ry werenot i ceab l e i n h im i n ear ly boyhood and i n l ater yearsh e o fte n made use o f th e latter fo r th e amusement o fh i s fr i e nds . A short conce rt tou r to Vien na ( 1829)se rved la rge ly to i n c rease h i s a rt i st i c se l f-esteem

,

1 38 TH E PI AN I ST’

S ART .

and 1831 h e l e ft \V arsaw fo r Par i s , where he foundh i s seco n d home .

U n l ike oth e r compose rs , Chop i n g ives i n h i swo rk s n o t race o f a ny deve l opment i n s tyl e o r characte r ; with th e except i o n o f some rem i n i scen ces o fH ummel ’ s tech n i c i n th e fi rst Rondo , th e re i s no infl uence o f any k i n d man i fes t ; fu l ly deve l oped , th ismus i ca l gen ius en te rs th e art i st i c wo rl d at an agewh i ch seems to put even Mende ls sohn ’ s early precoc ity i n to th e shade . When twenty years o f age hehad p layed h i s E m i no r Concerto o n severa l oc cas i o n s , and i n 1830 h e p layed h i s seco n d Concerto i nF m i no r (o p . presumab ly a l l th e p rev ious worksha d been fi n ish ed be fore that t ime and , i f we cons i d e r that h e had wri t te n a l together some 70 works ,a l l o f wh i ch h e perfec ted and po l i sh ed most carefu l ly

,we may righ t ly es t imate that h e had hard ly

ente red h i s teen s when h e wrote th e fi rst Rondo .

More aston i sh i ng than such p remature deve lopmenti s th e fac t that Chop i n has hard ly wr i t ten a mus i ca lph rase wh i ch i s not a l together h i s own , and thateve rywhere h e man i fests th e most scrupu lous n i cetyi n fo rm and i dea ; on ly i n h i s l ast works a not i c eab l e d ec rease in a rt i s t i c power i s apparen t i n th el ack o f c l ea rnes s and roundness o f fo rm . I n a l l h i sworks o f whatever natu re an d fo rm , Chopi n i s mostmarked ly o r ig i na l ; a veri tab l e magi c ia n o f in im i

tab l e grace and nob i l i ty o f express i o n , with a sweet ,att rac t i ve grace and gen tl eness o f natu re , and a m i l dsad ness i n h i s d ream y reve r i e wh i ch i s as bewitch i ng

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1 4 0 THE P i AN i ST’

s ART .

se ns ib i l i ty wh i ch , though a lways l atent , neve r assumesdefin i te shape . Of s im i lar characte r w i th h is harmonious s t ructu re a re th e me l od i c and rhythm i cfo rms wh ich i t e ngende rs . Melody

,with the state ly

breadth and powe r o f a beaut i fu l cant i l e ne,sudden ly

assumes the characte r o f a rec i tat i ve , o r cont i n ues i nwonde rfu l ly a rabesqued o rnaments ; rhythm ,

nowmovi ng comp lace n t ly wi th qu i e t composu re

,bri ngs

new express i o n , and changes characte r a lmost frommeasu re to measure . Rhythm i ca l symmetry i s th uscont i nual ly b roke n i n upon

,and

,wh i l e art i s t i c repose

i s somet imes impa i red , th e compos i t io n ga i ns i nst rength o f co lo ri ng and temperament .

I n a thousand d i ff e ren t ways h e reve l s i n romant i c v i s io ns , and loses h imse l f i n l i ngeri ng langu ishment u nt i l sadness and gl oom deepened to desponden cy seem to abando n every e ffo rt ; but whe n withfu l l assu rance o f h i s power h e str i des a lo ng i n th esp l endor o f mart i a l rhythm , when pos i t i ve harmon iou s const ruc t i o n moves w i th a lmost c rush i ng fo rce

,

as though despa i r impe l l ed to ste rne r act i o n , hec reate s a n impress i o n of . heroic strength and calmenergy wh ich i s t ru ly impos i ng and overwhe lm i ng .

But h i s h e ro i sm lack s th e power o f endu rance ;we m is s th e c rown i ng t r i umph ; th e s i l ve ry notes o fa l ight ly fleet i ng mazureck wh ims i ca l ly tak e i tsp l ace

,o r darkness and gl oom gathe r anew oppres

siv ely . Thus i n eve r changi ng vari ety moves thed reamy substance o f h i s poet i c sp i ri t— now withgrave fo rmal i ty

,now rapt i n ecstat i c v is i o ns o f in

nermost fancy ,and i n a l l the grace and sp lendo r,

THE P IAN I ST ’S ART . 1 4 1

m i rth and humor,p ri de o r defiance

,he i s sh rouded

i n me la ncho ly sadness as though overshadowed byimpen d i ng doom .

Th is i deal l i fe o f Chop i n ’ s brigh t v i s ions and delusive fantasms has no touch o f natu re , no refreshi ng breeze i s ast i r i n su nny p la i n s ; i ts very source i sth e refinement o f h igh—bred soc i ety

,th e grate fu l f ra

granee o f th e boudo i r, th e fest ive array o f bri l l iant lyi l l um i ned scenes . With the fu l l assu rance o f i n ne rmeri t , eve n i n oute r appearance , ari stoc rat i c e legance gu i des th e depth and nove l ty o f fee l i ng , andobta i n s an exp ress io n o f such sweet , me lod ioussou nd and so no rous d ign i ty

,that th e qua l ificat i ons

o f th e i n strumen t seem mater ia l ly improved . With’

th i s i n c reased power o f utte rance i n th e beauty andvar i ety of new comb i nat io ns , a new worl d o f soundseems to ari s e i n the w i der cho rds and a rpeggiosand the groups o f o rnaments r i s i ng and s i nk i ng l i kecascades o f pear l s i n ferment i ng foam .

Chop i n 's o rgan ism was natura l ly refined,h i s con

stitution, though want i ng i n phys i ca l s t rength , notu nheal thy

,a nervous i rr i tab i l i ty i nc reased i n late r

years o ften to gl oom i ness th rough d i s tress o f m i ndand v i o l ent ne rvous ag i tat i o n , but h i s imagi nat io nhad a hea l thy glow and h i s emot io n was al l -powerfu l . What wonde r that i n such co ntras t o f menta lv igo r and bod i ly i n fi rm i ty h i s very pa ss i o n shou l dbe rep lete with fem i n i ne i ndu lgence , h i s energy vo i do f man ly st re ngth

,and h i s ve ry humor ve i l ed i n sad

ness . I t i s c e rta i n ly a t r i umph o f h i s art i s t i c potential ity ,

and'

shows the power o f h i s c reat ive gen i us ,

1 4 2 TH E P 1A N 1S T’

s ART .

that i n th i s o fte n i nart i st i c weak ness o f fee l i ng andth e sudden ext ravaganc e o f h i s moods h e fi nds th efi tt i ng fo rm wh i ch makes us overl ook the cause i nthe beauty o f th e wo rk .

A consequen t syntact i c expos i t i o n o f cont rasting mot ives i s o fte n defic i en t i n Chop i n ’ s art ; anda l l th e wo rk s ( th e conce rtos , so natas a nd thefew e nsembl e wo rks ) , where th e large r fo rm makesthe d ramat i c impu l se o f themat i c wo rk des i rabl e ,are i n the i r i n ne r natu re as works o f a rt l ess sat i sfacto ry . I n th e co ncertos th e i n ne r co nnect io n o fthe p iano and o rchest ra i s a l togeth e r want i ng , andbeaut i fu l i n i ts concept io n and th e art i s t i c repose asi s th e o rch est ra l i n t roduct i o n to th e E m i no r Conce rto , i t o n ly ope ns a se r i es o f ep i sodes o f wonderfu l poet i c depth and refi nement fo r th e so lo instrument , wh ich cou l d as we l l m i ss th e orchest ra l backgrou nd . Even mo re rep l ete w i th poet i c esse nce i sth e seco nd Concerto

,i n F m ino r

,i n th e romant i c

so no ri ty o f th e fi rst movement and the i nsp i red reve r i e o f th e Larghetto , wh i l e th e l igh t , fl eet i ng , extreme ly grace fu l Mazu rka lacks th e fo rce and dasho f a fi t c l imax . The sonatas ( op . 35 and 58 )— so

natas i n oute r appearan ce— are fu l l o f th e fantast i ca l ly capri c i ous and impass i onate sp i r i t o f th e maste r ;wi th the subt l eness o f cunn i ng th e poet i ca l i dea i srea l i zed i n th e so nata i n B flat m i no r

,wh i l e th e so

nata i n B m i no r i n pass io nate co lo r i ng o f th e material d i sp lay and great impu l se i n th e l ast movementi s the more e ffect i ve fo r conce rt pu rposes .

I t i s i n th e sma l le r fo rms o f th e dance , and i n the

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TH E P 1AN J ST’

S A R T .

subt l e refinement o f th e Po l i sh tone poet , and h i sbal lades and scherzos are st r ik i ng i n novat ions onth e o l d fo rms , o f great d ive rs i ty o f characte r andd ramat i c fo rce .

The pre l udes , sketches i n a l l th e resp lenden tvari ety o f Chop i n ’ s sty l e , adm i rab l e m i n iatu re po rt ra i t s o f h i s i dea l character

,dese rve wi th the Chop i n

student a prom i nent p lace ; and th e etudes , fu l l o fth e most e xce l l e n t tech n i ca l an d mus i ca l mate ria lfo r th e th o rough and comp lete maste ry o f th emodern p iano , wi l l a lways i n su re the i r compose r ap lac e i n th e fro nt rank o f p iano l i te ratu re evenw i th those that fa i l to recogn i ze th e fu l l i mport o fh i s art i s t i c m iss io n i n h i s othe r works .The cent ra l figure i n th e mus i ca l l i fe o f the n i ne

teenth ce ntu ry i s Franz L i szt ( 1 8 1 1 th e

greates t master o f p ian i st i c art , whose i nfluence i nm us i ca l matte rs fo r a n umber o f decades was themost remarkab l e , stead i ly ma i nta i n ed i n h i s persona l magnet i sm , i n h i s ph enomena l execut i veab i l i ty

,i n h i s essays o n mus i ca l subj ects , i n th e

notab l e compos i t io ns i n th e various b ranches o fmus i ca l a rt

,i n th e p iano fo rte t ransc r i pt i o ns and th e

l ong l i st o f famous pup i l s , art i s ts a n d r i s i ng composers whom he be fr i e nded and brought i nto prom

inent not i c e fo r art’

s sake .

Li szt was bo rn i n Raid i ng , H ungary . H i s fathe r ,a good amateu r and mus i ca l e nth us i ast , deve lopedh i s ta l e nts

,so that when n i ne years o l d h e p layed a

co ncerto by Ries i n O edenburg. Mater ia l ly ass i stedby wea l thy adm i rers o f h i s great p rom ise , he p ur

TH E P 1A l T’

s ART . 1 4 5

sued h i s stud i es i n V ienna under Cze rny and Sal i e ria nd , a fte r 1823, i n Pari s u nde r R e ich a and Paer .Vari ous conce rt tou rs were fi nal ly i nterrupted bythe father

'

s d eath , i n 1827 , and fo r some years heseems to have been occup i ed wi th teach i ng andl i te rary work , ek i ng out a l i ve l i h ood i n Par i s . Thenew soc i a l and re l ig i ous i deas ferment i ng i n therevo l ut i onary e l ements o f th e t imes found i n h iman enth us i as t i c s uppo rter ; sounder pr i nc i p l es , howeve r , p reva i l ed , and i n cou rse o f t ime he enj oyedthe fri e ndsh i p o f s uch men as Lamart i ne

,H e i ne

,

Meyerbee r and Chop i n . When Pagan i n i appearedi n Pari s ( 1831 ) i n th e h e igh t o f su ccess su rpass i ngal l p rev io us v i rtuoso d i sp lays

,Liszt ’ s fie ry natu re ,

tho rough ly roused agai n , concent rated i ts e ffo rts toth e p iano , and wi th i n a few yea rs a ser i es o f worksappeared o f th e most g igant i c p ian ist i c asp i rat i o ns .

T halberg’

s su ccess i n Pari s ( 1 835) aga i n brough tL iszt to th e fro nt i n th e concert room , and for an umber o f years ( 1837- 1849) he sco red a se r i es o fu nheard -of t r i umphs i n a lmost every country and c i tyo f Europe . I n th e last named year h e took up h i sabode i n We imar

,where fo r twe l ve success i ve years

h e conducted th e cou rt conce rts and operas,com

pos i ng and teach ing . A fte r 1 86 1 h e l i ved part ly i nRome

,whe re he took chu rch o rders , k nown the re

afte r as Abbe Li szt,part ly i n Pesth as d i recto r o f

th e H ungar i an M us i ca l Academy , and i n We imar ,where a large and se l ect c i rc l e o f fr i ends and pup i l ssu rrounded h im .

AO

great p ian i st,composer , co nducto r , teache r,

1

1 46 TH E PI AN I ST ’S ART .

wri te r o n mus i ca l s ubj e cts and promote r o f art fo rart ’ s sake , Lis zt was one o f th e most remarkab l emen o f th e t imes . A s p i an i st h e has been sty l edthe match l ess , the on ly ” Liszt i n th e use o f th e inst rument wh i ch exce l l ed a l l p revi ous e ffo rts o f v i rtuosos i n b r i l l ia n cy and dash o f execut io n

,asto n i sh

i ng power and qua l ificat i o n o f touch and great i htens i ty o f fee l i ng , but fa r more so i n th e truth fu l lycharacte r i st i c re nd i t io n o f th e master work s o f p ianol i te ratu re . As a compose r

,i n h i s p i ano works

, inh is

o rchest ra l arrangements and symphon i c poems,h i s

songs , th e masses and o rato r io s , he cove rs eve rybranch , almost , o f mus i ca l a rt . As conducto r he e l ev ated th e mus i ca l standard at We imar by many asu per io r a rt i st i c pe rfo rmance o f o l d and new works ;as a teacher h i s i nfluen ce o n nearly a l l the notab l egreat mus i c i ans and art i s ts o f th e day i s u nden iab l e ;h i s essays o n mus i ca l s ubj ec ts are o f th e h ighestva l ue , and h i s memory wi l l be dea r to a l l that bel i eve i n th e progres s i ve ness o f mus i c as an art .Liszt ’ s p iano works a re exceed i ngly numerous

and o f great va riety and may be c lass i fied as fantas ies,

stud i es,t ransc r i pt i o ns , arrangements and orig i na l

works and i t adm i ts ofg

small doubt that most o fthem were fin i shed e i the r be fo re o r du r i ng the yearso f h i s p ian i st i c t r i umphs and that comparat ive ly fewadd it i ons to the l i s t o f p i ano wo rks were made i nth e l ate r years

,wh ich were devoted ch i efly to or

chestral works , so ngs , masses and o rato r ios . Writte nunde r th e h igh pressu re o f youth fu l e nth us ia sm andwi th the express purpose of showing h is p ian ist ic

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TH E P i AN I S T’

s ART .

t ransc r i pt io ns o f a host o f beaut i fu l songs must beadm i re d i n th e t ruth and s imp l i c i ty o f th e i r reprod uct io n . The a rrangement o f a numbe r of overtu res ,o rgan fugues and fantas i es o f Bach fo r conce rt pu rposes , and th e sympho n i es o f B eethove n make aval uab l e add i t io n to p i ano l i t e rat u re . I n h i s o r i g i na lworks— some wr i tte n fo r d i sp l ay an d ve ry e ffec

t i ve : th e two conce rtos , th e po l o na ises , ta rante l l as ,l ege ndes , noctu rnes and th e ga lop ch romat i queoth e rs reflect i ng mo re strongly the qual i t i es o f h i si nne r l i fe : th e Conso lat i o ns , Ha rmon i e s , A nnees dePe l e r i nage an d a sonata i n B m i no r— L iszt does notobta i n a u n i fo rm art i st i c and mus i ca l m eri t ; th eworks are fu l l o f a ce rta i n mate ri a l magnet i sm i nthe i r s o no rous qua l i ty , o f a make -up that i s o fte nsobe r and u n impass ioned , yet whe re th e labo r io use ffo rt o f comp i l i ng fo r a rt ifi c ia l e ffec t i s u nobt rus ive

,

a nob l e i dea l l i fe engenders occas i o na l ly passageso f t ra nscendenta l beauty .

I n h i s fi ftee n H unga ria n rhapsod i e s— to wh i chseve n more were added late r o f more i nd i ffe re n tqua l i ty— Liszt

,fo l low i ng th e preceden t o f Cho p i n

i nt roduced an e l ement d i st i n ct ly nat ional i n rhythm,

and me lody,an e l ement wh i ch was dest i ned t o be

come a prom i nent featu re i n th e fu rth e r deve lopmen t o f i n st rumenta l mus i c . Sa rabande , al l emande ,gavotte

,gigue an d oth er dances , ut i l i zed i n early

days i n th e su i te,were i n name and movement o f

nat i o na l o rig i n,bei ng respect i ve ly Span i sh , German ,

French and Engl i s h dance measu res . Idea l i zed i nth e su i tes they became to an exte n t i n d iv i d ua l i ze d

TH E P IAN I ST ’S ART . 1 49

by the var ious composers as the val ses and laend le rwere , i n v i rtu e o f greate r express i ve qua l i ty i nme lody an d rhythm , e l evated by Sch ubert to an artistic standard and endowed with h is own youth fu li n d iv i dua l i ty .

U nder d i ffe rent c l imat i c i nfluences,u nequa l

cond i t i on s o f ex i sten ce and u nequa l fo rtunes,th e

various nat ion s assumed a d i fferent tenoro f thoughtand fee l i ng st ro ngly p ro nounced i n the i r domest i chab i ts and soc ia l customs , wh i ch deve loped markedcharacter i st i c t ra i t s i n the i r fo l k so ngs

'

and dances .The me lod i es o f th e southern peop l e , l i v ing under as erene sky

,with s canty care o f ex i stence, show the

marked enj oyment o f a sensuous beauty o f sound ;th e northe rn nat ions

,su rrounded by darkef prospects

,

to i l i ng from day to day , a lways hope fu l , yetscarce lysu re o f the morrow , s i ng i n grave

"

-and sombe rst ra i ns

,sad ly l ongi ng and touch i ng— even th e i r har

monious essence shows an i nst i nct i ve d r i ft i ng i ntothe more p la i nt i ve m i nor mode . Whateve r stro nglymoves th e heart bu rsts fo rth i n so ng spontaneous ly ,

with no other ru l e an d o rder than'

what natu ra li ns t i n ct suggests ; and fo l k songs are th e a lmostu n i ntent i o na l outgrowth o f human fee l i ngs wh i chseek express io n where language begi n s to fa i l .As th e nat io ns by commerc ia l and po l i t i ca l i nte rcourse acqu i re some degree o f cu l tu re and improvement

,the i r i n st i ncts become more refined and by a

ce rta i n d i s c i p l i ne i n menta l t ra i n i ng even art i st i c ;and the i r so ngs , though st i l l deve loped i nst i n ct i ve ly ,

reflect the i r improved taste .

1 50 TH E P 1A N 1S T’

s ART .

The free rep roduct i o n o f an i dea l beauty i n mus i cas a n art i s ac comp l i shed ac cord ing to st r i c t art i st i cru l es , and requ i res a ce rta i n degree o f symme t ryand perfect i o n i n th e wo rk wh ich fash ion s

,fo rms

and co-o rd i nates th e mate r ia l . The mater ia l mayreflect a certa i n characte r, may rep resent t o theimag i nat i o n th e var i ous phases a nd aspects o f l i feas i t l e ft i ts imp ress on th e d i fferent peop l e

,and as

i t appears i n th e i r nat i o na l so ngs and dances .

These more o r less natu ra l and i na rt i st i c me lod ies,

with the i r qua i nt rhythm and d i st i nc t i ve harmon ies ,i n th emse l ves , i n mus i ca l art somewhat heterogeneous e l ements , must be refined and pu ri fied to become proper const i tuents and components i n a worko f art , and the more th i s mate ria l , i n th e proces s o fpreparat io n , l oses th e outer pecu l ia r i t i es a nd th emo re i t reflects th e i n ne r cha racter o f th e nat i o na li d i om , th e more va luab l e wi l l i t become i n mus i ca lart .Chop i n i n h i s po l o na i ses a nd mazurkas reflects

a l l th e nob l e p ri de an d e legant grace o f h i s peop l eand sh rouds th e poet i c essence o f a l l h i s work s i n atouch i ng

,d reamy sad ness wh i ch seems -to be bo rn i n

th e sad fate o f th e hero i c bu t i l l - starred Po l i shnat io n . 5 0 Sch umann i n h i s bu rly humor , h i s deptho f sent iment

,h i s d reamy reveri e an d the force and

l ogi c o f h i s i deas i s as tho rough ly German , as ChO p ini s Po l i sh . The hea rt -broken lament , th e w i l d ly j oyous shouts o f th e mel od i es o f the Puszta , th e st r iki ng rhythm i c pecu l i ar i t i es g i ve L i szt 's H ungar ianrhapsod i es a d i st i n ct ly nat i o na l co lo r i ng (wh ich

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1 52 TH E P i AN I ST’

s ART .

man ly cou rage and val ia n t deeds . Tender emot i onsa re rare r

,a nd i n th e me lod i es that speak o f longi ng

des i re and heartsore affl i ct i o n th ere i s no a ffectat i o no f any k i nd ; th e i r s t ra i ns g ive vent to a weal th o fsu ffer i ng i n a sono rousn ess wh i ch i s a lways ve i l ed i ndark ness

,an d requ i res a pathet i c and dec l amato ry

re nd i t i o n . The sp r i ng dances have a cap ri c i ous,

fan tast i c characte r fu l l o f fresh ly gush i ng power o fl i fe ; the i r rhythms o fte n move wi th a qu i ck impu l seand sudden ly arrested mot i o n . The Swed ish andDan ish mel od i es are o f a so ft e r to ne and romant i ccharacte r ; the i r fo rm ofte n shows great art i st i c re

finement.

Th i s powerfu l new e l ement has been i ntroducedi n mus i ca l a rt and can be t raced i n th e compos i t i o nso f N . W . Gade , L . N orman , E . H artman , Ed . N eupert , H a l fdan Kjerulf ( 18 1 8—1870 ) and Edvard Grieg

( 1843 The compos i t io ns o f th e las t two have avery p ronou nced No rse characte r ; Grieg

’

s p ianoworks more wi de ly k nown , are a concerto , so nata ,ensemb l e and smal l e r works .

A neo -Russ ian schoo l o f composers,much influ

enced by th e German model s , has taken up the sp i r i to f th e S l avo n i c fo lk-so ngs and dances and has thusg iven a powerfu l impetus to i nst rumenta l mus i c .

The Russ ia n nat io na l a i rs are exceed i ng ly numerousand ve ry vari ed i n character . The s lower a i rs

,i n

th e m i no r mode,have somet imes remarkab l e har

monious beauty , are o f a somber , melancho ly characte r

,very pathet i c and o f a n i ndescr ibably touch

i ng sent iment wh i ch se l dom takes on a l ighte r t i nge ;

THE P IAN I ST ’S ART . 1 53

those i n a majo r key are genera l ly l ive ly,as though

i n tended fo r dances , and o f a sweet , wi nn i ng charm .

The harmo n ious me lod i es o f more p ronounced mu

sical tendency o fte n end the i r ph rases w i th characte ristic l ong cadences , sh ow marked d i sso nances and asho rtening o f th e fi rst and l ength en i ng o f th e secondbeat

,~wh ich causes a so rt o f ha l t i n g and d raggi ng i n

th e rhythm i ca l construct i on .

These characte r i st i cs have more o r l ess successfu l ly been rep roduced in a number o f works— operas ,o rato rios , symphon i es , et c . Th i s e l ement can al solarge ly be t raced i n th e p iano compos i t i ons o f M .

Gl i nka ( 180 3—1 857 ;“

small'

character p i eces ) , RimskyKorsakoff ( 184 4 chamber mus i c and sho rte rworks ) , Cesar Cu i ( su i te an d sma l l e r works ) , A nato l e L iadoff Mi l i Balakirew

, ( scherzo ,fan tas i e , Anto n Rubi nste i n ( i n some o f h i sworks ) and Peter I . Tschaikowsky ( 184 0 * who i sth e most p rom i nent Russ ian composer o f th e day ,

remarkab l e th rough h i s fi re,depth o f fee l i ng and

spontane ity , wh i ch i s ev i den t i n h i s co ncertos , sonatas

,ensemble work s and characte r p i eces .

The Bohem ians ( another bran ch o f th e S l avon i crace wh i ch fo r ages has b ee n we l l reputed fo r i tsmus i ca l i n c l i nat i o ns ) , have come i nto p rom i nencemo re recent ly . Th e st ra i ns wh i ch were sung by th eH uss i tes i n th e i r gr im wars are o f a most v igo rouscharacter i stic rhythm ,

a dark ly determ ined expressio n glowi ng with ardent zea l , fu l l o f man ly energyand mart ia l sp i r i t . The i r s t r i c t moral s and deep re

l igious fee l i ng have l e ft th e i r impress o n the i r hymns

1 54 THE P 1AN 1S T’

s ART .

wh ich have an i nsp i red exp ress i o n and great beautyo f fo rm ; others o f th e i r nat i o na l a i rs a re o f i nfin it etenderness

,qua i nt h umo r eve n to j ov i a l i ty . H ans

See l i ng 1828 Fri ed . Smetana , ( 1824 Ed .

N apravnick , ( 1839 a re among the i r bet te r k nowncompose rs , but Anton i n Dvorak ( 184 2 seems tohave b rough t to l i fe aga i n th e i ndom itab l e sp i r i t o fth e o ld H uss i tes , so i nsp i red , so fu l l o f i ntens i ty o ffee l i ng and romant i c grace a re th e compos i t i o nswh i ch reflect l argely th e o l d nat io na l characte r eveni n th e p iano works —the S l avon i c dances

,ensembl e

mus i c a n d con ce rtos .

German i nst rumenta l mus i c has i n i t s ea rly cou rsebeen large ly i nfluenced by France and I ta ly , but i tsgrowth has been a steady an d hea lthy o ne i n i tspu re ly art i st i c ten den cy up to th e p resent t ime .

W'

i th th e great hosts o f em i nent composers th e national e l ement never rose to sup reme impo rtance i nmus i ca l art th ough i n th e i r i n d iv i dua l i ty they man i festa mo re o r l ess p ro nou nce d German s p i r i t , as i s evi ‘

dent i n th e wo rks o f Bach,H ze nde l , H ayd n , Mo

zart,Beethoven

,Weber

,Sch ubert , Mende l ssoh n and

Sch umann . To th e fact that th e beauty o f an i dea ll i fe i n i t s comp lete express i o n was the i r u l t imateobj ec t i n th e i r works o f a rt i s d ue th e h igh art i st i cpe rfect io n that German i nstrumenta l mus i c has acqu i red

,a perfect i o n wh i ch i n th e we l l

’

ba lanced p ropo rt io ns o f fo rm

,th ough t and fee l i ng g ive i t a true

cosmopo l i tan characte r .Joach im Ra ff ( 1822—1882) i s o ne o f the prom i

nent composers o f th e romant i c schoo l , and has

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1 56 TH E P i AN i S T’

s ART

a character i st i c concept io n and gen ia l rend i t i on o fth e maste r works o f p iano l i te ratu re . A supe ri o rmus i ca l i nte l l igence , a n u nse lfish devot io n to thei ntent i o ns o f th e composer , great phys i ca l powerand endu ran ce , a touch that respo nds to th e mostsen s i t i ve refinement , and an i n tens i ty o f fee l i ng thatact s w i th th e magnet i c fo rc e o f p l enary i nsp i rat io n

,

g ive h i s read i ngs se re ne repose o r d i thyramb ic im

petus, te nder abando n o r h ero i c ene rgy . Asa composer Rub i nste i n u nquest i o nab ly ranks very h igh

,

but i s more adm i rab l e i n th e smal l e r fo rms,where

th e spontane i ty o f i nve nt io n i s not hampered by th ed rudge ry o f labo r . Eve n i n th e best o f h i s l a rgerworks b r i l l i ant but barre n reve ri es are e ncounte redwhe re th e fi re o f i n sp i rat io n goes begg i ng for lack o fmenta l rest r i ct io n . H i s conce rto i n D m i no r i s th ebes t o f h i s la rger compos i t i o ns fo r th e p iano , wh i chi nc l ude five co ncertos , so natas , ensembl e wo rks ,

(some o f th em ve ry val uab l e) , etudes and smal lerp i eces ; a number o f th e lat ter must ce rta i n ly becounted among th e gems o f p iano l i te ratu re . H ansG . von B ii low ( 1830 a mus i c i an o f great menta lastu teness

,p ian i st o f great tech n ica l a nd i nte l l e ctua l

facu lt i e s and p rod ig ious memory , i s o ne o f th e fi rs tco nducto rs o f th e day . H i s compos i t io ns show thatc r i t i ca l a nalys i s i n h im i s s upe rio r to i magi nat i o n .

Jan . lg. Pade rewsk i and Eugen d’

A lbe rt , p ia n i sts o fexcept iona l p rom i ne nce , are compose rs o f great

p rom ise ; th e compos i t i o ns o f the fi rst are more o fth e p l eas i ng

,popu la r k i nd , wh i l e those o f th e latte r

show marked ly th e scho larly mus i c ian .

TH E P IAN I ST ’ S ART .

I n po i nt o f u n i fo rm exce l l e nce , i n th e o rig i nal i tyo f i nvent ion , th e unado rned s imp l i c i ty and i ngenuousness o f h i s i deas

,the c l ear

,l ogi ca l development and

the ev i dent repose i n th e consc i ous ness o f h is menta l power , i n th e conc i se ness o f i dea l beauty andperfect io n o f fo rm

,an emot io na l l i fe wh i ch i n its

express i o n i s free from excess and always art i st i c ,i n h i s harmon i c and rhythm i ca l const ruct i o n , eve ni n th e nove l ty o f h i s tech n i ca l t reatment o f the p ianoJoh . Brahms ( 1833 stands un r i va l ed among contempo rary composers .

I n h i s early works— th ree sonatas , a t r i o , var i at i ons

,s che rzo and ba l lads— Brahms man i fests a pro

l ific power and romant i c exuberance o f fa n tas i e i nth e ge n ia l and poet i c essence and th e nove l ando rigi na l deve lopment o f h i s i deas . The p regnancyan d beauty o f th e me lod i es , th e tender aban don , th eb ur ly humo r

,th e fee l i ng i n a l l i ts i ntens i ty

,th e we l l

p lan ned though o fte n dari ng const ru ct i o n andth e p layfu l mastery o f p iano tech n i c gi ve the imp ress i o n o f a remarkab l e a rt i st i c potent ia l i ty . Therei s noth i ng t r i v i a l o r commonp lace ; even where h i sme lod i es take o n a mo re popu lar co lo r , th e invent i o n i s a l togethe r o f an i nd iv i dual characte r ; i dea lbeauty i s h i s a im everywhere

,but the beauty o f

sound does not a lways seem to c la im primary co ns i de rat i o n .

The variat i ons ( op . 2 1 , 24 , 35, and 23 fo r fou rhands ) show a dar i ng fl ight o f th e i deas

,a power o f

comb i nat i o n i n th e me lod i c , rhythm i c and harmon i creconstruct io ns o f the themes and a maste ry i n coun

1 58 TH E ART

terpointwh i ch has no equa l s i n ce Beethoven . Thevar iat i o ns o n a H aande l th eme ( op . 24 ) be lo ng toth e best p roduct io ns o f mode rn p iano mus i c ; i nthose e nt i t l ed “ Stud i es fo r th e P i ano

,o n a theme o f

Pagan i n i ’ s ( op . i t i s a t ry i ng quest i on to saywh ich i s more adm i rab l e : th e fantast i c and w i th a lext remely me lod i ous n ew fo rmat ion s wh i ch th es impl e theme engenders i n th e composer ’ s imag

ination o r th e nove l ty and the— eve n afte r Li zst,

Chop i n and Schumann— stupendous tech n i ca l d ifficu lties wh ich carry th e aeri al fl ight o f capri c iousi deas .

l n the va l ses fo r fou r hands there i s a weal th o fme lody and a vari ety o f express io n o f th e most w i nn i ng charm , and i t i s sa fe to say that whosoeve r fa i l sto see the wonderfu l beauty i n th ese l i tt l e sketch eshas no ear fo r mus i c .

,The H u ngar ian dan ces

,

arranged from H ungaria n me l od i es , speak fo r th emse lves in the i r we l l earned popu lar i ty , and th e laterp i eces ( op . 76 , 79 ) are co nt i nual ly ga i n i ng groundwith th e s i n ce re l ove rs o f good p iano mus i c .

I f i n h i s la rge r work s fo r chorus o r o rch est ra ,and h i s beaut i fu l , characte ri st i c so ngs , B rahmsc la ims cons i d e rat i o n w i th th e great maste rs

,h e

asse rts h i s powers no l ess i n h i s e nsembl e wo rkswi th p i ano and th e seco nd co nce rto ; i n a qu i n tette

( op . th ree quartettes ( op . 2 5, 26 , five t r i o s

( op . 8 , 4 0 , 87 , 1 0 1 and fou r so natas (op . 38, 78, 1 0 0

and 10 8 ) h e deve l ops a mel od ious beauty , a th emat i cwork

,a var i ety i n harmon i c an d rhythm i c co nst rue

tion and a we l l defined character i n each compos i

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160 TH E H A N I ST’

S ART .

th ey are o f great persuas i ve power whe re the i r s imp le beauty fa i l s to co nv i nce at o nce . B rahm ’ s wayo f th i nk i ng a nd fee l i ng , h i s mode o f express ingwhat h e fee l s , and h i s who l e a rt i s t i c perso nali ty fa i li n that sympathet i c esse nce wh i ch d i rect ly appeal sto sent imenta l i ty ; h e neve r t r i es to w i n by mereoute r charm , makes no concess i o n to a popu la rtas te , an d gives express i o n i n h i s own unceremon iousway to what moves h im

,but i n th e unassum i ng s im

p l ic ity o f h i s great art , i n th e power o f h i s reason i ng ,

i n h is h igh a ims and h i s severe earnest ness , he i s acompose r who compel s the adm i rat io n o f a l l thattake cogn i zance o f h i s works .