Santa Ana, THE PIANIST AND THE ART OF MUSIC A TREATISE ON PIANO PLAYING FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS BY ADOLPH CARPE. LYON & HEALY, CHICAGO. UNIV. OF CALIF. LIBRARY. LOS ANGELES Copyright, 1893, By ADOLPH CARPE. Music Library Mr INTRODUCTION TECHNIC 7 FINGERING 26 EXPRESSION 41 CHARACTER 70 OUTLINE OF PIANO LITERATURE 89 INTRODUCTION. THE pian.'st's relation to the art of music is in our present age materially different from that of the earlier virtuosos, not so much on account of greater skill in the management of the improved instrument as in reference to the ends which the artist is ex- pected to accomplish. The piano-virtuoso, whose efforts were of an individual type altogether, follow- ing a long line of eminent players and composers (Scarlatti, Mozart, dementi, Dussek, Woelfl, Stei- belt, Gramer, Hummel, Field, Herz, Thalberg, etc.) has, in the natural process of development, made room to the pianists, whose strength rests in the reproduction of the works of other masters, such as Liszt, Mendelssohn, Clara Schumann, Reinecke, Hil- ler, Halle, Rubinstein, Buelow, Essipoff, D'Albert, Paderewski and others. The increasing beauty and artistic variety of the masterworks of piano litera- ture seem destined to gain a constantly increasing influence in this direction, so that an adequate read- ing of the gems of pianistic art will always be con- sidered superior to the ephemeral, though perhaps novel display of individual taste and talent. Franz Liszt, the most eminent and successful of 6 INTRODUCTION. the piano virtuosos, was one of the first to devote all the energy of his genial nature to the reproduction of the better works from the days of Scarlatti, Bach and Haendel to his time; all the notable great pianists have since taken special pride in introducing to the art-loving world the works of the great com- posers. Some have made a specialty of one particu- lar composer, notably Beethoven and Mozart; others have devoted their efforts successfully to several composers, and the possibility has been demon- strated more than once that works of widely differ- ent characteristic traits are accessible to the same artist, so that they receive fully adequate readings. Few programs are found nowadays where the names of our great composers and a host of others do not find place. In this undeniable and praiseworthy advance- ment the pianist's relation to the art of music has become more intimate; the mechanical skill in the use of the instrument is of a higher order; the in- tellectual and emotional qualifications of the per- former are made subservient to a versatile trustiness in reproduction which, through the details of musical tcclinic and expression, represents the character of a particular work according to the general style and manner of the composer. TECHNIC. THE opinion has been gaining ground among thinking teachers, that piano students waste too much time and energy with studies of all grades and kinds, from the prolific Carl Czerny down to the present day; the conviction seems to be fairly estab- lished that a careful selection among the whole host of exercises and study-books would condemn most of them as superfluous, if not useless. The whole system of exercises which to the present day pre- dominates in pianoforte instruction is certainly based upon the theory that piano playing is essen- tially a mechanical art. This inference to a limited extent is true, since piano playing to a period not far distant is almost solely mechanical, and progress in the early stages is made too often by only stick- ing at it. The greater part of all these exercises brings long strings of figures and rhythms in never varying com- binations and repetitions, which are supposed to give a lasting impression to the student's mind and fingers. Truly their success in impressing the aver- age student's mind can not be doubted; after wrangling and struggling in the ordinary way of " established methods," the student is so firmly imbued with the mechanical side of piano playing, 7 8 THE PIANIST'S ART. that his reproductions of the very gems of our piano literature, old or new, fail to reveal often the faintest trace of ideal meaning or feeling. Yet is it to be wondered at that such results are usually obtained? A child which has been drilled though to perfection almost only in the spelling book, whose highest attainment might prove the victory over words like " procrastination," would fail just as truly in an attempt at reading a small sentence with proper emphasis, as a result of thought; yet the child enters the school with the already formed power of speech. The careful gradation of exercises accomplishes the student's progress almost imperceptibly; they have been manufactured mostly for the purpose of furnishing an easy grade to the mediocre student. Musical thought and feeling receive little or no con- sideration; commonplace matter mostly is what they contain, at all times injurious to the intellectual and emotional qualifications the student originally brings to his task. Their object is to produce in the dili- gent worker a certain mechanical skill; and technic being the most coveted of all the prerequisites of a good pianist, the number of their admirers and wor- shipers is, indeed, legion. Technic! What is technic? It is the sum and substance of all that is required to produce or repro- duce a work of art, therefore the product of the student's work, and as such it will represent all that the student acquires by thorough systematic training. In pianoforte playing the term technic is gener- ally applied to the merely mechanical treatment of THE PIANIST S ART. 9 the instrument and the skill and rapidity in execu- tion. As a means of musical reproduction, which must be the student's final aim, there are several other things which fall under this head. Besides digital skill this includes tone-development in all its various grades and shades, a thorough and correct understanding and rendition of time and rhythm, and lastly an increased musical appreciation of the meaning, character and emotional tendency of a composition. A great amount of digital skill is required, and in the exclusive attention to this indeed most essential factor in piano playing, students and teachers too often forget that much theoretical advice may, and must, go hand in hand with finger training. Musical education should prepare also the intellectual appre- ciation of the student, and much can be accomplished by gi ym g the pupil, even at an early stage, an in- sight into the particular means required to bring a performance in close relationship with the character of the composition and so make it truly enjoyable. A modicum of intellect and feeling can be early de- veloped in the average piano student, which, when carefully fostered, will in course of time in a great measure overcome the mechanical tendency of piano playing, will lead to a more elevated enjoyment, to a better defined outline of character and to a healthy glow of artistic individuality. It should always be borne in mind that, as music is the language of emotion, the musical education must strive to arouse the dormant energy of feeling, io THE PIANIST'S ART. as well as to sharpen the intellectual faculties. This craves a greater attention in the. piano student, from the fact that the modus of acquiring skill in playing will always remain morj or less a mechanical pro- cess. Touch, time and correct motion are the ele- mentary prerequisites; musical notation and rhythm, according to grade, follow immediately, and the pupil's first step in musical parlance, little pieces, can be selected so as to appeal more or less strongly to his intelligence and feeling. When the student in the first stages of instruction has acquired a reposeful position of the forearm, the fingers may be more or less pliable, according to the physical development, but attention should be given most carefully to the mode and manner of touch. The finger must press only (not strike) with as little effort as possible, and complete restfulness must be obtained at the moment of touch. A merely mechanical process this, certainly! The student, however, should be made to feel that this touch implies an impressive treatment, and his mind must be impressed before you can get any expression. Awaken the ideas of different ways of touching; the allusion to ideas, natural or latent, in the student will greatly facilitate the teacher's effort. If you compare this pressure-touch to the loving caress of a dear friend, you will give the student a distinct idea, and in all likelihood he will establish a more intimate feeling with the mechanical motion. Such a touch, close and clinging, varied in intensity according to the nature of the student, will, in course THE PIANIST'S ART. n of time, shape itself into the most perfect means for tone production, will be delicate or powerful, singing or crisp as occasion requires, when the player's musical progress is sufficiently advanced to adapt the touch to the vital elements and characterization in music. Two-finger exercises are the most thriving means for the development of a good touch, digital fa- cility and correct time. Has the student's mind grasped the idea of an equal division of time, two- finger exercises in half, quarter and eighth notes will soon establish, these values as time measures, and some patience will see them correctly applied. Two-finger exercises should be practiced daily for their three-fold value in regard to touch, time and execution, first on white keys only, later alternating with black keys. Care should be taken, more especially where black keys are employed, that there be perfect equality in tone production, that there is no discrimination in the length of tone induce the student early to a little self-criticism; necessary also is a good position of the hand and a uniform finger movement. When the student first comes to the keyboard it is sometimes difficult to obtain a correct and repose- ful position. It is in this as well as in later stages of piano playing that the thumb plays an all-impor- tant part. The thumb moves from the first joint near the wrist and should touch the key with the side between the third joint and the tip. If this is strictly adhered to, so that the thumb is allowed to 12 THE PIANISTS ART. strike near the tip only in figures of a wider pattern, the wrist and forearm will fall into position natu- rally, provided the player sits neither too high nor too low. If this is considered inconvenient by students who desire a high seat, a short trial will generally be convincing to them. The development of touch, time and execution are at first closely connected, and, though in the next stages these factors still go hand in hand, each requires a more distinct and separate treatment. The touch w r ill continue to improve best in the two- finger exercises, and a more momentary rise and fall of the fingers without jerking should be cultivated with the utmost repose at the moment of touch, so as to obtain a genuine legato. The training of the student in notation meanwhile has progressed so that little pieces with easy rhythms can be taken into consideration. The easier the pieces the more should the student be left to find his way, as the teacher at this period is only responsible for a cor- rect reading, a good position of the hands, proper fingering and time. Variety in shading had best not be attempted too soon, but the striving for cor- rect time must include all; even the last notes must be given their full value, and rests should not give occasion for hurrying. Many otherwise good piano players indulge in liberties of this kind, where fault could not easily be found with a musician or one whose musical education has been of a high order. Everything at an early stage of progress should be done as thoroughly and correctly by the student as THE PIANISTS ART. 13 possible; but as every pupil differs from another, there will be occasionally a wide margin left. When the student begins to find more pleasure in any piece, take more pains with it, play it to give a simple shading and expression, and so arouse more interest in the pupil; let him memorize and finish with at least a noticeable change in piano and forte. Always insist on slow practice and playing, and con- stantly keep some of the pieces that have been memorized in view, for "repetitio est mater stiidiorum" To more properly advance the execution, scales and broken chords have soon to be employed along with the two-finger exercises. All material of this kind should be thoroughly studied, the rules for each pattern pointed out and made familiar and the fingering should be intrinsically a part of each new evolution. Let the student's mind be active in all mechanical work, make small use of books and the student will be better able to classify and systematize. It seems not amiss to state here that, when more varied rhythms are introduced in the pieces, the la- bor bestowed on a single rhythmical figure, which remains for a time obdurate, will for the future be a great gain musically; no pains should be spared to obtain at an early stage a rhythmical precision which will leave a lasting impression on the stu- dent's mind. The use of pieces exclusively at an early stage of the student's progress as an educational means to obtain a proper knowledge of musical characteristics, can not be too highly recommended, provided that 14 THE PIANIST S ART. they are selected in regard to their efficiency as a means of musical expression as well as to their pleasing effect on the student. Their use should be continued regularly along with the labor requisite for the mechanical mastery of the keyboard; as the latter progresses it will even be advisable to bring the pieces (and musical characteristics) more to the foreground. The mechanical resources will continue to grow after they have been thoroughly understood, and a comparatively small amount of attention will be sufficient to keep the student on the right road and to prevent bad habits or faults of any kind. The pieces should be selected with some care, mainly for their musical value and pleasing char- acter, and a certain gradation should be observed, in such a way that the student proceeds from some- thing familiar to what is new to him. The interest will thus be kept wide awake, so that, even if marked transitions occur in the mechanical skill necessary for a correct rendition, the labor required for these acquisitions will give small trouble. When wrist studies are introduced the wrist should be slightly lower than the knuckles, and the fingers strictly curved. The practice of octaves with hand extended, by simple movement of the first and fifth finger is sometimes advisable; the great tension required to reach the two points of the octave will make this mode of practice, with a quiet hand and wrist, particularly valuable for players with small hands. It can not be too strongly emphasized that much THE PIANISTS ART. 15 attention should be given to rouse in the student both the intellectual and emotional qualities, which will prove that the ideal purpose of a composition is sincerely appreciated. Vocal students experience much less difficulty in determining the poetical meaning of a composition. The living word gives them a more definite idea, and the tendency is gen- erally so plain that little comment is necessary. In instrumental music much is indefinite and, unaccom- panied by a text that familiarizes the meaning, this must necessarily be more or less clouded, and the difficultyto find the right shade of expression is naturally increased. Violinists and performers on all instruments, where the tone is produced directly by the player, have from the very nature of this process an advantage even in this over the pianist, whose tone is ready and produced by indirect means. A student of average ability will, however, hardly fail to discriminate at first between widely different characteristics of emotion, and he will soon learn to give a reading that is more than merely intellectual to such selections as carry the conviction of a very definite meaning on the face of them. Students should all be taught alike; whether they study for pleasure, to make home life enjoyable, or with an artistic purpose, their training ought to be the same, and the difference should only be found in the value of their individual performances. Artis- tic training is only a higher grade of general musical education, which is attainable to all, and it seems unwarranted to exclude a student from the advan- 16 THE PIANIST'S ART. tage of a better musical education, which may enable him to find the right field for his talent. Would it not be fully as unreasonable as to train every stu- dent to be an artist and composer? Music of a higher order should therefore be se- lected, such as will constantly appeal to every stu- dent's intellect and feeling. It is not at all necessary, or even desirable, to feed pupils on classical litera- ture only. Much has been written of a lighter char- acter, which is well worth the learning, and truly enjoyable. The greater the variety of composers and compositions that come within reach of the stu- dent's aim, the greater will be the benefit to his musical development, provided every composition is thoroughly studied and appreciated. The great object of the teacher must be to elevate the pupil's taste, to strengthen the intellectual faculties and arouse the feeling; to gain this object and at the same time the pupil's appreciation of his efforts, he must put himself on a level with the pupil, and if a good selection strikes at all a congenial spirit in the pupil, the interest in good music is bound to grow if the student's inclination to certain charac- teristics is not altogether disregarded. As the student's intellectual faculties increase and his ability to reproduce certain well defined characteristic qualities progresses, give ample illus- trations in the matter of phrasing and the different grades and qualities of touch. As a child can be taught to speak a piece of poetry with some natural grace and meaning, so the average music student THE PIANISTS ART. I/ can be led to distinctly articulate musical phrases and rhythms. Little may be accomplished at the outset, still the attention should be aroused and kept on the alert. A theoretical knowledge at this stage of the student's progress of the construction and symmetrical build of the composition will be of great advantage in determining the general outline for simple and rudimentary phrasing. As the rhyth- mic, melodic and harmonic motives begin to display more clearness, the student will attempt to give them more definite meaning and shading, and will perhaps develop a spark of artistic temperament. Phrasing, even artistic phrasing, is something that can be taught thoroughly; as long as the phrases are more congruent with the metrical and rhythmical constituents of a composition, as is generally the case in classic works, no serious difficulty will be encountered. In compositions of a romantic order, metrical and rhythmical construction is much inter- laced with musical phrases, characteristic accents are heaped together, sometimes seemingly foreign to the even flow of thought. Beethoven, in his later works, and Schubert open this new field for expression, and with Schumann it is one of the chief characteristics; for this reason, probably, the latter composer has spared no pains to make his phrasing as plain as musical notation would permit in his time. Phrasing in classic compositions, where greater perfection of form enhances the beauty, is more a matter of refined intelligence; inasmuch as in these works emotional qualities are certainly latent, but do 2 i8 THE PIANIST'S ART. not for expression appeal to any definite chord in the human soul. In compositions which appeal more directly to the imagination, as is the case with works of the romantic order, phrasing seems more an out- growth of a distinct feeling, and depends largely upon the temperament, the emotional qualifications and the discriminating abilities of the student. Touch, as a means of tone production, and the interpreter's most valuable medium for expression, requires much thought and study. To become a master of all the various grades and shades'of touch is a laborious task; for the strong to produce a tone that is replete with delicate refinement, to instill power and vigor into delicate hands, to bring repose to the restless and awaken energy in a lethargic tem- perament, is all important. Is the physical power at last brought under control and the long line of pianists that have succeeded in this should give en- couragement in untiring efforts the pianist's tem- perament and intellect are called upon for each shade of tone. Good examples, that furnish in musical characteristics solid food for the student's intellect- ual training, will in time give a versatility in touch, which is essential in an artistic reproduction. The pianist's last achievement is to put life into his touch ; in the sympathetic intercourse of his inner life with his hearers, he must strive to make convincing to them through his touch what is alive in his artistic conception. The touch in itself should always be spontaneous, that is, proceeding from natural feeling, tempera- THE PIANISTS ART. IQ ment or disposition, or from an internal tendency without either compulsion or constraint. Has the student acquired a proper insight into the intellect- ual and emotional qualities of the composer's work, the special mode of touch will be regulated by 'his natural feeling, guided by the artistic taste which has been developed. Touch, in a higher sense, is the natural consequence of the musical growth in feeling and intellect; an inexhaustible variety is at the player's command, and experience will by and by become a valuable and reliable guide. In all the varieties of touch there must be sev- eral uniform elements. Whether fingers or arm use a high elevation or touch almost resting on the keys, the movement itself should be quick as thought, sin- cere in purpose and full of repose. As in execution the least exertion insures the best effect, so in touch the concentration of the effort to a minimum will increase the beauty of tone. If the word "touch" signifies not only the attack, but includes throughout the connection of finger and key to the relieve, it should be borne in mind that the finger continues the pressure in complete repose and that the relieve- ment should be accomplished in a perfectly unaf- fected manner, that is, without changing to that end the position of either hand or wrist. Who is not aware that many of our amateur pianists in reliev- ing the key contrive to "gracefully" pull up the fingers by the wrist, a sort of conventional inclina- tion for saying " good-bye! " If the elementary parts of technic have been cor- 2O THE PIANISTS ART. rectly understood and thoroughly practiced, time, rhythm and execution will improve in good order if the teacher quickly notices what needs special care, and takes proper steps to correct what is wrong and to improve what is amiss. There will always be students more or less subject to weakness in one or another of the essential elements of technic, for the model student is still to be found, whose exceptional qualities would enable him to reach a high grade in every branch of the art without encountering greater or lesser obstacles in one or another direction. Ex- perience proves that to go to the root of the evil and remedy what is wanting, fundamentally, gives always the quickest and best cure, but it generally requires patience and perseverance of a higher order, both in the student and teacher. Where a fundamental cure is not admissible, recourse to other means must be had, and it is in such emergency that the studies, which have been written to assist the diligent student in his efforts to overcome special defects, must be employed to remedy the evil. The selection must be made with the particular object in view, and the practice continued until this result has been fairly well accomplished. Even where the fundamental cure is employed, such exercises may be used sparingly as a diet to prevent a relapse. Reading at sight is an accomplishment which is not always a natural gift, and little can be done at first to acquire it, since the defect is not alone one of the eye; the cause in most cases seems to be an unsatisfactory co-operation of eye, intellect and THE PIANIST'S ART. 21 fingers. After a fair amount of skill in the manage- ment of the keyboard has been acquired, some time daily should be devoted to reading, beginning with the simplest little pieces, the easiest arrangements of popular songs, such as are found to any number in our instruction books of later date for children; little by little some readiness will be gained in read- ing if every next trial brings something new. Easy sonatinas, and everything that presents little diffi- culty in rhythm, may thus be read until some satis- factory result is obtained; it is, however, essential that the reading matter should always be of a simple kind, in gradation very much below the general ability of the player, and that no attempt be made to soon increase the harmonic or rhythmical diffi- culties of the matter. Mention has been made repeatedly that in the early part of the student's training, material of sound musical quality should be substituted alto- gether for exercises, since the deteriorating tend- ency of the latter in all that constitutes musical characteristics can scarcely be denied in the abstract. No mechanical exercises, save what may be termed the elements of execution, should be employed; these, however, should be studied and matured, as a means to musical reproduction, until a high grade of perfection is attained. The multumin parvo should be the ruling principle, and a thoroughly correct application of all that pertains to piano technic must be considered as essential. Physical development and the intellectual capacity of the individual will 22 THE PIANIST S ART. largely determine the successful issue; yet more depends on thorough, systematic work. Every step prepares the way for the next, but firm foothold must be gained before the new step is attempted. After the elements of piano technic have been firmly established, the student will be able to successfully develop greater variety in execution, provided that in each new acquisition he adheres to the principle of the utmost exactness. The intellectual and moral development of the individual depends largely upon the associations which have influenced the early growth. The child which has had free access to all the innocent pleas- ures that brighten its tender existence while its education carefully guards it from all harmful and undesirable influences, will in the ordinary course not only develop a more evenly balanced mind and sense of duty, and find in the trials of life a strong support, but will cherish, in advancing age, the treas- ured recollections of a happy infancy. Individual development is generally much easier influenced by the mitigating recreations than by the unbending rule of study, and only by the judicious, unequivocal admixture of pleasure and duty that latent power in life character can be evolved. Parents have little difficulty in grading the read- ing matter of studious children. Nursery rhymes, fables, fairy stories, tales of fiction, which, while they amuse, do not exclude information, follow each other in well regulated rapid succession, excluding fabrications which have a tendency to mislead and THE PIANIST'S ART. 23 deceive in wild freaks of unnatural imagination. Im- perceptibly growing in strength the intellect will ac- quire the intuitive judgment, known as common sense. The piano teacher must combine study and recre- ation at every stage of the pupil's progress. Pro- vided that the selections are of a simple, unaffected kind in their make-up and tendency, less given to outward show than musical enjoyment, the recrea- tions will best improve the educational purpose. The touching strains of pathetic folk songs, the little pieces full of sweet tenderness or childish merriment, all the light matter whose unadorned beauty calls for some interesting association of ideas and sentiments, will lead the pupil to the better appreciation of the frank and sturdy sincerity of the great composers. In the whole range of piano literature few com- posers are found who have not written some easier music, which at one time or another can fill an im- portant place in the pupil's course of study; their character is so varied that something can always be found to please the average pupil. It is evident, since the style and manner of each composer can only be gathered from his own works, that a teacher who introduces his pupils early to the better class of composers, will not only furnish the student with excellent material and give him a higher enjoyment, but will largely improve his prospects for success in later efforts. Reinecke, Hiller, Gurlitt, Krause, Volkmann, Jensen, Scharwenka and a host of others, have 24 THE PIANIST'S AR?. written many easy and enjoyable pieces for children, which, with selections from the easier works of Mozart, Haydn, Haendel, Mendelssohn and the Album for the Young of Schumann's, offer a wealth and variety which is truly excellent. According to the ability and mettle of the pupil compositions of a light genre may be employed alongside of this better material, provided the empty, meaningless phrase and the altogether patternlike technic in composition is sufficiently shunned. Necessarily, what will insure the greatest versa- tility in execution, on the soundest musical princi- ples, will be the best means to the end; and the greatest exponent of music pure and simple, J. S. Bach furnishes the student with the greatest variety in technical figures. The student will find in him every assistance in his efforts for greater variety and superior neatness in execution, while the sound musical character of his works will greatly mature the healthy musical instincts. If it is conceded that musical qualification should be combined with technical efficiency, the student, whose selections of a more technical tendency are largely interspersed with Bach, from the little preludes to his "Well Tempered Clavecin," will find an endless variety of musical and technical material, which with proper application will not only greatly enlarge his execu- tive ability, but will give him intellectually the ordi- nary complements, the first principles, which estab- lish sound musical convictions, that will be a safe- guard for his musical conscience. THE PIANIST'S ART. 25 Piano music and piano technic have been devel- oped and broadened since Bach's time to an aston- ishing degree, and though Bach may justly claim the foremost consideration in the student's curriculum, there would be no gain in a totally one-sided devo- tion to his musical genius. It is no easy task for the student to gain a thorough knowledge of the mas- terworks of piano literature. Mozart, Haydn, Men- delssohn and Haendel will prepare the way for Schu- bert, Weber and Beethoven, while Chopin and Schu- mann require a more mature development. The works of the masters, each more or less perfect in its own peculiar manner, are varied in the composer's ideal vision of beauty, their creative power, their technic of composition and individual use of the in- strument so that an appreciation of their various characteristic qualities can only be attained by care- ful and persevering work. As life's intercourse develops character and brings out the qualities in man which distinguish one being from another, so musical characteristics can only be developed in constant interchange with the ideal characters in the great works of our art. The greater the variety of composers and compositions of sterling value that come within the range of the student's efforts, the more thoroughly each is studied and appreciated in its musical character, the more chance will the pianist have to acquire that subtle intelligence, that broadness of character, and inten- sity of feeling in musical reproduction, which is the chief charm of piano playing. FINGERING. FINGERING designates the manner or mode of using the fingers in piano playing, and a rational method of fingering applied to the mechanical man- agement of the keyboard for practical purposes is what constitutes the executive ability of the pianist. The more the fingers are freed from natural restraint the more will they be qualified for action, and execu- tion in its highest attainable state will depend for equality and rapidity upon the independence of the fin- gers but for accuracy and faultlcssncss upon a thor- oughly systematized fingering. So closely and inseparably connected save for the indispensable mechanical ability are systematic fingering and executive skill that in effect the one is a comple- ment to the other; even the mechanical independ- ence of the fingers can not be developed without some rudimentary system in fingering. The execution can be even without being swift, and correct without reaching that perfected state which almost excludes defect but it is self-evident that an even execution must rely to a great ex- tent on a correct system of fingering; and that a per- fect execution (which includes swiftness) is only the 20 THE PIANIST'S ART. 27 highest degree of equality and accuracy which can be obtained. A systematic fingering includes all grammatical rules which govern digital skill according to sound principles and established usage; etymological rules will comprise the fingering of all elementary techni- cal forms and their changes and inflections, syntac- tic will be the application of the elementary rules to the musical sentences themselves, and in their nec- essary relations to each other in compositions. The elementary rules of fingering have been established so thoroughly in course of time by the constant attention of the masters, and the later phases of pianistic art have so perfected and ar- ranged the material, that a reliable basis for a theory of fingering seems to have been gained. The appli- cation of these rules, however, to connected musical sentences in composition is still, and probably al- ways will be, more or less arbitrary, since the practi- cal analysis is always to a great extent influenced by individual adaptability, which allows and often ne- cessitates modifications to all rules. The perfect practical mastery of fingering in the artist must be, so to say, individualized to obtain in conjunction with an adequate independence of the fingers a faultless execution. Our knowledge of any attempt to give rules for fingering reaches back to the sixteenth century, and sufficient evidence can be found in all the various epochs of piano music and piano playing to prove that the masters at all times considered a well- 28 THE PIANIST'S ART. matured method in fingering one of the most essen- tial requirements in the pianist's artistic make-up. The views expressed in the earliest days are of such primitive order and in the light of our ad- vanced attainments so insufficient and erroneous, that they have none but an historical interest nowa- days. The hands and elbows of the player were at first below the keyboard and permissible only was the use of the three middle fingers; when, somewhat later, the hands were raised to be in a line with the fingers, these were held stiff and straight so as to still exclude the use of the thumb and fifth finger. The keyboard in those days had only the lower keys and two B flats, the instrument itself was altogether inferior and offered small chance for musical combinations, so that the above mode of fingering was probably tantamount to all the re- quirements of execution. With the introduction of the chromatic half- tones, the division of each octave into seven lower and five upper keys, and the tempered tuning of the instrument, a decided change in composition must have caused a marked revolution in fingering and the treatment of the instrument. The first treatise on "musical temperature" by Andreas Werkmeister (1691) is very likely the result of many prior experi- ments; these radical changes themselves, however, can hardly be many years older. Francois Couperin highly esteemed for his originality and musical qualities in composition, and for his elegant and expressive performances on the THE PIANIST'S ART. 29 clavecin who made use of the even temperament, gives in his "/' art de toucher du clavecin' (1717) ex- amples of fingering, which, though extremely dar- ing, seem altogether capricious and void of method, a proof that the ideas on fingering for the new key- board were at that time, in France at least, still vague and unsettled. Couperin's novel use of the thumb and fifth finger, though apparently nowhere subject to any rule, forms the bridge to the rational system which was developed about that time. Scarlatti's mode of fingering must have been well systematized to judge the great performer by his compositions, though there seems to be no trace left of any method. Joh. Seb. Bach's system, which forms the basis for our modern fingering, was, no doubt, due to his very superior ability as a player and may have been developed in his earlier years it is, however, diffi- cult to say whether he originated this system inde- pendently, since Buxtehude (1635-1707), celebrated as organist before Bach's time, required as thorough a system of fingering for a good rendition of his complicated works, as Bach was probably well matured when he wrote the first part of his Well- Tempered Clavecin (about 1720), and the ideas were transmitted to posterity mainly through his son, Ph. Em. Bach. The salient feature of this new system was the employment of all the fingers and their curved po- sition so as to equalize the reach of the longer and shorter members; the use of the thumb and fifth 30 THE PIANISTS ART. finger must have been nearly equal to that of the other fingers, though their serviceableness for the upper keys was restricted by Bach to cases of necessity. Only with such a basis for fingering it is possible to reproduce the difficult and complicated works which Bach is said to have played with ease and where polyphone playing in either hand fre- quently necessitates the use of the thumb and fifth finger on the black keys. This theory has held good with all the great players and teachers after Bach who held connection with him in an almost unbroken line through his sons. Dussek, Clementi, Mozart, Hummel, Cramer, Czerny, Moscheles and many others have on this same basis specified rules for fingering according to their own individual requirements. Special rules were made for the various practical ends and ex- emplified in many a great piano method, but the fundamental principle of Bach's system remained unchanged. As, however, the predominant homo- phone style of piano music after Bach offered hardly any needful occasion to use the shorter fingers on the black keys, it became in course of time a strict rule not to use the thumb or fifth finger on the upper keys. As long as the figures in piano passages were of a narrower pattern, seldom reaching an octave and in very extraordinary cases only going beyond that interval, this positive interdiction of the short fingers on the black keys could not become a serious obsta- cle in execution. When, however, in the last, most THE PIANISTS ART. 3! brilliant and versatile epoch of pianistic art the pas- sages were made up more frequently of the very widest patterns; when everything that nature and training could bring within reach of the artist was not only considered practicable but made use of on all occasions ; when all the parts of the arm, wrist and hand joined in the most complete physical develop- ment, it became a matter of necessity to often employ the shorter fingers on the upper keys. The modern school recognizes the necessity of putting the shorter fingers as much as possible on an even basis with the longer fingers; reckoning with perfect freedom of the hand in complete repose, and with thoroughly independent fingers, it relieves the latter from all restrictions, so that henceforth the artistic purpose in musical performance and the convenience of the player are the only considerations which govern the choice of fingers for any end whatever. It is an erroneous idea to suppose that the me- thodical and convenient way of playing, what might be termed the elements of execution which has been rationally developed and is upheld by the approval of all, even the latest masters has been or ever will be radically changed by any new theory. As long as the mechanism of the instrument remains the same the use of the thumb or fifth finger on black keys in the scales or other elementary combinations is neither obligatory nor desirable without urgent cause, though perfectly permissible under circum- stances. The established way of playing has not 32 THE PIANIST S ART. been changed, although in many instances it has been considerably improved in a rational manner. The fundamental principles for a systematic fin- gering, whether applied to elementary formations or adjusted to practical purposes in playing by student or artist, may be summed up as follows: That the natural succession of the fingers is the most desir- able, that the simplest fingering is the best and most methodical, and that according to the natural posi- tion of the fingers within compass of a fifth, octave or tenth, the fingering must be constructed on these principles. Based on these ideas, the rules for a rational system of fingering have been developed for the elements of execution, and while such rules as would be fitting for the various possibilities in musi- cal practice can not possibly be framed, since the various combinations in composition can as little be brought into connection with general precepts in fingering, as the individual qualifications of the student or artist can be disregarded, a general synop- sis of some particular features in the application of fingering to practical purposes can be given. Five fingers, slightly curved and resting on five lower keys in an unbroken row, will represent the most natural position; this position may either be contracted by omission of one or more fingers, or expanded. All groups of notes ranging from the interval of the second to that of the sixth will be within easy reach in this position; an extension of the hand to the octave will include the seventh and easily cover the ninth, and the further extension to THE PIANIST S ART. 33 the tenth will include the interval of the eleventh for all such as are sufficiently favored by nature to be able to reach it with a quiet hand. Any one of these positions of the fifth, octave or tenth may be transposed and interchanged by cross- ing the fingers over the thumb or by gliding the lat- ter under the fingers; or it may be slightly shifted by slipping the fifth finger below the longer fingers or the latter over the little finger. The elements of execution trills, diatonic and chromatic scales in all their various combinations, the broken chords and arpeggios in all their posi- tions, variations and transpositions, the repeating notes, the diatonic and chromatic scales in thirds, sixths and octaves, the broken chords and arpeg- gios in double notes have a stereotyped fingering which can be traced in any of the modern hand- books. (Plaidy's Technical Studies.) A thorough knowledge of harmony will further elucidate the fingering of these typical tone combinations and will enable the student to locate the different patterns and figures derived from scales and chords correctly as to their position and so find their normal finger- ing. A combination of different positions or trans- position will change nothing in the system of finger- ing, as the change, once effected, restores the same quiet position of the hand. Carl Tausig's daily studies offer a much larger variety of technical fig- ures which, inasmuch as they are developed system- atically from trills, scales and chords, and cleverly transposed through the whole harmonious system, 3 34 THE PIANISTS ART. are likely to broaden and mature in a careful student the ideas for a good method in fingering. The correct fingering of these elementary com- binations, if properly and thoroughly mastered by the student, will give his fingers in course of time a sort of instinctive tendency to perform certain movements, and some deliberation will enable him to apply his proficiency to advantage in composition. The later standard editions, as Peters, Litolff, etc., are, in their carefully revised fingering, an invaluable aid to student and teacher, if the same imperative necessity compels the use of the right fingers, that calls for the right notes. Though a natural succession of the fingers is usu- ally preferable, trills often gain in power and brill- iancy by employing fingers out of their natural order, 1.3 or 3.5 fingers instead of 1.2 2.3 3.4 4.5; a change, however, of 1,3,2,4, for trills require a very even touch and great facility to be effective. The use of one and the same fingering for all the scales beginning with the thumb and ending with the fifth finger would simplify the fingering for the scales in flats, would work, perhaps, to perfection theoretically, but could not fail to be awkward and clumsy if carried out persistently even by an excel- lent player. Musical construction makes it desirable sometimes to use the thumb or fifth finger on the upper keys, even in scale passages, mostly, however, toward the end of such passages for the purpose of getting a more desirable position of the hand for the next phrase. THE PIANIST S ART. 35 For short chromatic passages the use of the fourth ringer on upper keys and the fifth on the lower keys insures a very effective mezzo voce; for rapid play- ing of the chromatic scale, a fingering (a) has great advantages and is practicable, as the change from fifth to thumb is by no means difficult to overcome. A certain amount of proficiency in changing after the fifth finger should be developed, as it may fre- quently be found useful; it is one of the prominent features in modern fingering. Scale passages, or their derivations, will gain in swiftness the fewer the changes of position; there is no fingering that wdl give the scale in C the supreme dash that two changes of five fingers each (b) for two octaves will impart to it. Passages or figures developed from or made up of scales can easily be fingered systematically; pas- sages composed of a succession of similar figures should be fingered uniformly; if they are made up in close position after the manner of the classic school, it is desirable to avoid the use of the thumb on upper keys as much as convenient; in the ex- tended figures of the modern writers a change to a higher or lower octave will often make the use of the two short fingers on the black keys necessary. 36 THE PIANIST'S ART. Even in common arpeggios, according to their posi- tion and extent, a change to the thumb after the fifth finger may be advisable in reference to the ensuing position of the hand, which will always decide the choice of fingers. Repeating notes may be played with various orders of fingers (i, 2, 3, 4 or 4, 3, 2, I or i, 4, 3, 2, etc.), but a regular change in the succession should be adhered to and the grouping should be such that the accents are rendered with the stronger fingers. In all the later standard editions of classic and mod- ern piano works a change of fingers for a renewed attack of the same key, where and whenever it occurs, is carried out with characteristic conse- quence, a usage which highly recommends itself, as it insures an almost unfailing repetition in the mechanism of the instrument. This practice, how- ever, appears less urgent in polyphone playing in the same hand, more especially when one part is of strong, melodious import, while the other is second- ary; the methodical change in such cases seems to increase frequently the difficulty in the more neces- sary qualifications of the touch, and is even more often liable to interfere with rhythmical precision. For diatonic scales in thirds, a fingering analo- gous to that of the simple scale, with one change of position(<r), is preferable, and the modern way of fing- I I I t ' i . I THE PIANIST S ART. 37 ering the chromatic scale in thirds (d] is superior for smoothness and agility. The more extended in compass the double passages become, the more liable is the thumb to get the entire charge of one part, while the 3, 4, 5 fingers take the other. The use of the longer fingers for the upper keys, and the fifth finger for the lower, more particularly in octave playing, seems the most natural. For arpeggios in double notes a regularly recurring fingering for every octave is advisable. In melodious passages with accompaniment in the same hand, recourse may often be had to a quiet change of fingers, by continued pressure, on the notes of the melody, so as to render them well con- nected. The notes in the accompaniment should be played leggiero that is non-legato and the fingers should leave them before the next note of the melody is taken. This mode of cantabile playing with accompaniment in the same hand, though by no means the only nor the most effective one, is well calculated to purify the melodious feeling in the student. In polyphone playing in the same hand, the parts will either move in parallel motion, in which case the fingering may be developed after that of the scales in thirds or sixths; or in contrary motion, when the thumb will generally take care of one I I 5 I \ \ \ \ I I 1 ft a t a i a 1 i a l a 38 THE PIANIST'S ART. part, while the four fingers take the other; or in oblique motion; in this case the moving part will be fingered according to the natural order of the fin- gers. If a change of position in the moving part is required generally when the fifth finger holds the other part this must be effected with due regard to the following phrase. The use of the thumb and fifth finger on the upper keys in polyhone playing is often indispensable and, like the change of fingers on the same key without striking, frequently a mat- ter of necessity. When the accompaniment is made up of wide- spread harmonies in the left hand and the chords are struck after a fundamental bass note, it is desirable to retain the extended position of the hand as much as possible, and the chords are struck without the use of the fifth finger whenever practicable. The execution of some passages can be at times facilitated and certainly made much more brilliant and dazzling, by dividing them between both hands. The particular fingering for each group can be easily developed some routine in this special manner can be acquired in Carl Reinecke's studies, op. 121. To give a succession of notes in a melodious pas- sage greater delicacy, Chopin often uses one of the weaker fingers, and a strong finger for a martellato; of much greater effect, producing with full arm stroke a tone of great penetrating quality, is the alternate use of a strong finger in either hand in melodious passages or trills. Liberal views and rules which more readily THE PIANIST S ART. 39 adapt themselves to the greater variety of technical matter in composition, distinguish our modern fin- gering from the old system. Modern training aspires pre-eminently to a certain natural freedom in execu- tion, which equally affects the movements of the fingers, hand, wrist and arm, a freedom which was not needed in the homophone style of composition after Bach, with its more limited practical require- ments; but if greater diversity in the executive qualification of the pianist is necessary to accom- plish the higher, more difficult and varied technical problems, greater liberty and variety in fingering will naturally follow. Yet it does not always appear that a greater variety will insure a better result. A continual change in the natural order of the fingers and the consequent shifting in the position of the hand may be under circumstances very desir- able, may even become necessary, but should never become a ruling principle in fingering. Mechanical ability in playing always admirable when a means to the end in musical reproduction has just as much right to become the sole and final aim of the artist. In all cases where a moderate or slow motion is required in the character of the phrase, where a quiet and reposeful position of the hand will more prop- erly represent the expressive quality of the composi- tion, a continued change in the regular succession of the fingers is decidedly undesirable and unnec- essary. Whenever the regular stereotyped manner of fingering is apt to tire the muscles, in the unvarying 4O THE PIANISTS ART. employment of the same fingers in natural order; wherever greater power of tone is required obtain- able by combined movement of fingers and hand and wherever a vacillating character demands an agitated, restless rendition, the regular routine of the system may be altered to obtain the desired effect. EXPRESSION. EXPRESSION is the evidence of emotion, a vivid representation of a certain meaning or feeling, and implies in music a style or manner which gives life and suggestive force to ideas and sentiments. Emo- tion is a state of intense excitement of feeling; emo- tion in music, or an emotional expression in music, would impart a degree of excitement which is not compatible with art. Is, however, music the lan- guage of emotion, it must be an emotion which has been intellectually conceived, and prepared by the mind for utterance or reproduction; that the feeling must be latent in the artist to be by him well under- stood and defined, seems certain; yet it is the ar- tistic intelligence which shapes the means for the re- production of the emotional characteristics, and the imagination reconstructs and combines the material furnished by the artist's apprehension. Musical expression is, therefore, not emotional, but represents in the abstract certain qualities of emotion in repose, and each emotion appears as repre- sented by certain characteristics, which make it dis- tinctly different from some universal sentiment. Its chief promoter seems to be a distinct order of intel- 41 42 THE PIANIST'S ART. lectual faculty, which conceives a more or less defi- nite idea of certain emotions, develops the means by which this idea is made manifest, and commands them in musical reproduction. As an intellectual process, musical expression requires instinctive dis- crimination in regard to the means employed. This discrimination is a part of intellectual training, and can be developed to a certain degree. In a general way, musical expression will represent a correct musical sentiment, and a proper apprecia- tion of the outline of character designated by the composer in the meter, indications of movement and shading. If this correct musical sentiment, as first conceived by the composer, is intensified by higher intellectual power and temperament of the artist, it becomes a manifestation of artistic individuality, which is the highest attainment in reproductive mu- sical art. Melody, harmony and rhythm, the essential and integral parts of composition, form the basis of ex- pression in music. Melody and harmony represent the musical matter to which rhythm gives the system- atic order and logical importance. As a principle of order, rhythm is quantitative, it gives each note its special value and arranges the notes into groups, so as to fill the meter of the composition; it is qualita- tive inasmuch as it determines the logical importance of notes and groups. Meter is a systematic arrange- ment in musical art, which regulates the succession of parts to a satisfactory interchange, according to strict laws. Meter, therefore, arranges the musical THE PIANIST'S ART. 43 matter, and is the embodiment of rhythmical law, while rhythm represents the material in everchang- ing motion. Rhythm and meter spring from the same source, one always changing in endless variety, the other constant in the special form it assumes. Meter represents time (German, tact measure), and it includes always more than one unit, each of which is important as part of the meter, though the first gives the normal conditions of the others; it is, as such, more prominent, and receives an accent. Parts of the meter, though as units and time meas- ures unchangeable, can be represented in all rhyth- mical figures. Meter is distinguished as simple and compound; the latter, as the name implies, is a com- bination of simple meters. Meters of two or three units will always be considered as simple (2-4, 3-4); four, six, eight, nine, etc., units will constitute com- pound meters. Units, as time-measures, can repre- sent different note values, as half, quarter, eighth- notes, etc. As a means of bringing the first and important part of the meter into prominence, metrical accents are part of the meter, and metrical accents will not change as long as the meter is unvarying in the form it has taken; the metrical accent can not be trans- ferred to an unaccented part of the meter. In com- pound meter each of the component parts claims an accent, and, as in simple meter, the first unit gives the normal conditions for the others, so in compound meter, the first component holds the same relation to the others; it naturally follows that metrical ac- 44 THE PIANIST S ART. cents in compound meter should be related in the same manner; the first accent should be more promi- nent than those of the other components should be primary in importance and grade of tone, the others secondary. As simple meter has one accented part, and com- pound meter an accent to each component, it follows that simple meter will represent an easier flow of matter than compound meter, and the larger the compound the more will be gained in breadth and importance. A change of meter of one kind to another will plainly mark a change in the fundamental rhythmic principle, and a decided change in character. Melody, harmony and a vivid reproduction will always insure minute modifications of the strict laws of constancy in metrical division, and human feeling will, to some extent, vary an unchanging monotony in the grade of tone. Rhythmical division depends on the same laws as the metrical. In the subdivision of time values, taking a whole note as a unit, the first of two half notes will be the weightier, the first and third out of four quarters, and so on in each following sub- division; the ideas of metrical importance and meter accent apply to the rhythmical division, so that the first of a pair is always the weightier of the two. For the same reason, the first in each triplet will be accented, and with each new subdivision the accents of either pair or triplet will become less significant and less marked, so that finally the player simply THE PIANIST S ART. 45 retains the firm consciousness of the rhythmical pulsation, which will prevent accents on wrong parts, or exaggerated accents in their right place. Metrical and rhythmical accents require different grades of tone according to the importance of the accented parts, yet this accentuation, when simply indicating the outline of structure, should be moderate and adapted to the character of the com- position; where rhythmic clearness only is required a slight increase of tone will therefore be sufficient. In all forms, where rhythm becomes a characteristic and determining factor, as in valses, polonaises, mazurkas and marches, the metrical accent must be strengthened to some extent, but never so as to be- come violent. As in poetry metrical form establishes the verse by joining a series of meters according to certain rules, and fashions verses into groups, so in music metrical formation is extended to sections and periods. As a meter holds two, three, or more units, a section will contain two, three, four, or more meters, and a period will include several sections; and as in meter the first unit is the rule for the others, so in a section the first meter holds promi- nence before the others. Greater discrimination in accents will be the natural consequence of this prog- ress in metrical construction, and as in rhythmical subdivision the rhythmic pulsation is finally reduced to a firm consciousness on the part of the performer, so in metrical formation the accents of single meters will assume an intuitive quality that makes 46 THE PIANIST'S ART. their presence felt, and brings them to a steady recognition without undue prominence. Metrical formation and metrical accents offer a study of great value to the piano student as forming the basis for phrasing and expression. Meters are plainly indicated, metrical groups may be easily dis- tinguished with some practice, and periods are determined by the reappearance of the first or the introduction of a new subject which begins the next period. A composition must be thoroughly appre- ciated in its architectonic construction before the intellect can clearly grasp the ideas, and if the student's attention is called to the matter early and oft^n, at first in a more casual way and with slight insistence, the subject will soon become clear to him. Metrical accents are positive and absolutely necessary, and do not depend on changing circum- stances. Their presence must be felt under all cir- cumstances, and the fact that at times the positive accent seems removed by reason of the musical con- struction does not in itself alter the fundamental principle. When by syncopation an accented part of the meter is contracted to an unaccented part, this contraction apparently throws the accent on the weaker part of the meter. Syncopation, however, as a divergency in musical construction, will only appear clearly organic when a non-syncopic form brings it to the fore by direct contrast, and in this case the non-syncopic part bears the accent. Metrical accents and the pulsation of rhythmical THE PIANIST S ART. 47 matter do not always coincide, and in this case both accents should be present and distinctly felt, though one will generally predominate. In the Weber Concertstueck a rhythmical figure in 3-4 occurs in a meter of 6-8 time; a rhythmical accent (a) for each figure will change the meter from 6-8 time to 3-4, a fault which often can plainly be noticed even in public performances. The rhythmical figure is so unmistakable that it scarcely requires accentuation, and the metrical accent (&) should be of sufficient power to preserve the char- ter of the 6-8 time, while the impression made by the running figure in 3-4 rhythm will lend a higher charm to the otherwise mechanical passage. In the Schubert Impromptu, op. 142, No. IV, in F minor, the following passage (c) in 3-8 time, re- THE PIANIST S ART. quires a most emphatic metrical accent to give it its true character in spite of the numerous sforzati marked to show the change of the rhythmical figure to 2-8 groups. How plain and trivial the following "improvement" of that passage in notation (d) would sound, anybody can see who takes the trouble to study the beautiful composition. If in syncopated passages the non-syncopic part is wanting, as is often the case with Schumann, the principle must still be latent, though the accent falls on the unaccented part of the meter. It is not to be supposed that Schumann, and all his predecessors and followers in syncopation with- out an accompanying and contrasting non-syncopic part, was lacking the practical sense to avoid mysti- fication, which is the effect of his notation to the uninitiated. It seems apparent that a passage like ^*$^H"rr^ri :b ? i-i?i::?!^ THE PIANIST'S ART. 49 the following from the Faschingsschwank (e) would have been more properly written (/), and modern experts in notation, who see no occasion for syncopa- tion, may insist that Schumann's notation is not as it should be. However, let a violinist play the passage in the two different readings, and the increased ideal charm in Schumann's notation will be unquestion- able, since the original will imply more intensity of feeling -==r r==- (espressivo), while the other will read plainly rr>- (diminuendo). The point can now be argued that the piano does not offer the means for the reproduction in the original sense, and in the abstract this can not be denied. If, however, in playing this syncopic passage the pedal is employed in the following man- ner () a result will be obtained, which, though faintly representing the ideal, will be more adequate .(2. (2 5<D THE PIANIST S ART. to Schumann's delightful mysticism than the realistic and dry effect of the new notation. In the last movement of Schumann's wonderful concerto, the second motive is introduced by the orchestra in sixteen very simple measures. In the original notation (//) a feeling is latent of such su- preme inner joy, that it scarcely can find utterance (hesitating shyness the omission of the accented part in every second measure); what a charming contrast this ideal conception to the almost defiant outburst in the first part of the movement. An im- proved notation for the sixteen measures (k] would, indeed, prove a veritable march of the "wooden shoemakers in a puppet show!" Melody, the outgrowth of musical thought and feeling, is a rhythmical succession of single tones so related as to form a musical sentence. As a product of musical thought melody appears mostly in a com- pact form as an essential part in musical composi- tion, and it forms the basis for thematic construe- THE PIANISTS ART. 5! tion, either in its integrity or in the shape of shorter parts taken from it and called motives. Melodious forms of this kind occur chiefly in classic works, and wherever musical form and thought govern expres- sion. In thematic work the melody, or theme, must be brought out clearly; in many instances it will be sufficient to mark the entrance of the theme by an accent, while generally the whole theme in its musi- cal characteristics should be brought into promi- nence. Artistic discrimination will find new shades of tone and expression for the delivery of the theme at each new entrance, and though the character must remain the same, a wide margin is left to the per- former for a display of more or less intensity of feel- ing. The shorter motives should, in a measure, re- flect the character of the theme, displaying greater energy and craving more attention when uncon- trolled by the theme, subdued again by the entrance of the latter. Every theme or motive, as it gives expression to thought or feeling, becomes musically valuable. The succession of tones in itself gives utterance to a cer- tain fundamental sentiment, to which rhythm gives the power of characteristic insinuation, and as such, rhythm is an integral and inseparable essence in melody. Rhythm gives the logical importance to melodic phrases, and insures their higher musical merit. In ascending melodious phrases the general sentiment will indicate rising emotion, descending succession of tones greater subsidence of feeling; a 52 THE PIANISTS ART. series of diatonic intervals will represent a more even flow, wider steps a greater excitement; a series of ascending and descending phrases will give an undu- lating character. Melodious form will gain in rich- ness and refined character when diatonic intervals are intermixed with chromatic and harmonic steps, will retain greater clearness as long as tonality is preserved, and will become more erratic and indefi- nite as it diverges from tonality. The general sentiment thus implied in the con- struction of musical phrases is easily understood, and it can not be difficult to find expression for it in a natural way ; diligent study will bring on a greater refinement in artistic discrimination and the necessary qualification of touch, and if the principle of metrical construction is always correctly applied to the melodious flow, musical characteristics in melody will find proper reproduction. Shorter themes find full expression through dia- lectic deduction. When the theme is enlarged so as to give in its several parts a complete exposition of its meaning, the scientific investigation assumes the form of variations. In the variations the theme is remodeled in its harmonic and rhythmic construc- tion, the melody itself appears in various shapes, major and minor modes are interchanged, a slow movement is replaced by one of a livelier character, even the meter is changed to represent the meaning in an entirely new aspect. Every facility that art offers in musical characteristics is at the disposal of the composer, and it stands to reason that in the THE PIANIST S ART. 53 master-works of this kind the student will firrd every assistance in the acquisition of all that is required for a good characteristic reproduction. Mozart and Haydn have employed this form large!y for a richer and more varied display of technical means, but Beethoven gives in this form a series of characteris- tic sketches, each of which represents the original idea in distinctly different shape and meaning. The student will derive greater benefit for a development of musical characteristic in works of this kind the more he bears in mind that, as the vari- ations find their basis in the theme and are only new expositions of a first idea, the theme, however sim- ple it may be, requires in the first instance a thorough appreciation. The outlines of construction and the general sentiment of the theme can be traced in the variations, and a more complete understanding of the first in all its details will largely assist in the development of the new characteristics, which in turn may reflect a new light on the theme. As an outgrowth of musical feeling melody often assumes a broader form; the feeling is, so to say, individualized, and in a generous flow it seems often to overrun musical form by the sway of its power, and as melody increases in impressiveness harmony becomes more subservient and takes the place of an accompaniment. In this the bass, as the musical foundation, requires some prominence, so as to better support the melody, and this it generally receives through metrical accentuation. The accompaniment should always be discreet, the bass giving enough 54 THE PIANIST'S ART. sustenance so that the melody stands out clear and distinct. A well guarded connection in musical sentiment between accompaniment and melody will be requisite, and a discreet continuity in the melo- dious steps of the bass will occasionally lend new charm to the melody. When two melodies contrast with each other, they are best rendered in such man- ner that in either of them increased motion comes more to the foreground. Expression can not come from an accompaniment, and should emanate from the melody, yet the expression of the latter can be materially assisted by the other parts. All the grades and shades of expression should be carried mainly by the melody, and only when greater insistence is required the accompaniment can rise to a more powerful delivery. Harmony in musical composition is the concord of two or more parts, as well as the connection of chords according to established rules. Harmony offers the essential means for larger forms, for the formation and connection of musical phrases; it sup- ports and strengthens the melody, clearly defines doubtful connections of the same, and is invaluable as a means for varying and changing the melodious flow of musical matter. Harmony, as connected with expression in music, is the great undercurrent which exercises the strong- est influence, though it does not in itself offer for expression such distinct features as rhythm and melody. When, however, in harmonic progression one or more intervals of a chord are retarded or sus- THE PIANISTS ART. 55 pended this retardation should be well marked; the suspended note as such causes the solution, and stands, therefore, in close relation to it. Is the sus- pended the longer note of the two, the solution will be slurred to the same and show a perceptible de- crease in tone; if the suspended note is shorter than the solution, which is generally the case when the suspension is unprepared, the two notes are discon- nected and the solution also receives an accent. Emotion is of an individual character, different in every human being, and expression in an artistic performance is an individual gift, the result of in- stinctive definition of varied emotions differing in intensity of feeling as well as in the means employed for reproduction, according to the nature of the per- former. Expression, as a manner of reproduction, which gives suggestive force to musical ideas, may be effected in two ways: by the application of vari- ous degrees of power, and by the employment of different grades of motion. The first is generally understood to be the theory of dynamics, and the latter would fitly be called the theory of agogics.* The dynamics include the various grades and shades of strength, the piano and forte, their differ- ent degrees from the pianissimo to the fortissimo, the crescendo and diminuendo; under this head fall also the metrical and rhythmical accents and the sforzato. The agogics comprise a correct time (time-keep- ing), the even tenor of motion, the different degrees *From ayeoyrj action, as dynamics from fiuVaftis force. 56 THE PIANIST'S ART. of movement, adagio and allegro, with their modifi- cations from the largo to the prestissimo, the ritar- dando and accelerando, the tenuto or pathetic stress, the fermate and the rubato. Dynamics, as far as they include the different grades of power, are part of the pianist's technical outfit represented in the adequateness of his touch; as a medium for expression dynamics require the in- tellectual faculty, which finds the proper grade of tone in the right place, and qualifies the touch; this faculty is based upon comparative estimation and is part of the artistic discrimination. Piano and forte and their various degrees imply an even grade of tone for the passages so indicated, which should in- clude accented parts as well as unaccented and in- cidental modifications of tone, so that they are dis- tinctly different in piano and forte. Crescendo and diminuendo imply gradual changes in the even grade of power; crescendo is piano growing into forte, and diminuendo is forte leading gradually to piano; the change in the tone gradation must be gradual whether crescendo or diminuendo are of long or short extent, and the greater the duration of this gradual change the more will it tax the pian- ist's capabilities, both intellectually and in the de- velopment of tone. When crescendo and diminu- endo are combined, this implies a gradual increase to a climax and a subsequent gradual decrease; the climax is mostly in the center of the "swell," and the greater the climax the more intensity of feeling is manifested. This swell is frequently employed in THE PIANIST'S ART. 57 phrasing, to give vital energy and a well qualified feeling to melodious passages, according to the nat- ural sentiment implied byascewding and descending series of tones, and could in this proper adjustment find no fitter name than the "espressivo." The cli- max of the espressivo will always coincide with a metrical accent, and will vary according to the in- tensity of feeling, which in turn must be governed by the general character of the composition. Greater accents for single notes in musical notation are marked by a sforzato; sudden changes in the grade of power for passages or phrases are indicated by a forte subito, or piano subito; changes of this kind are in some works, particularly Beethoven's, too mark- edly characteristic to admit of conventional prepara- tion by crescendo or diminuendo, and must be stri'ctly carried into effect. The underlying current in all that pertains to agogics is keeping time, i. e., to regulate the succes- sion of sounds according to their rhythmical value by an even principle. To keep time is the first and fundamental requirement in a musical performance, and only when this most essential faculty has been fully obtained by the student's efforts, artistic free- dom in time-keeping will appear as emanating from a master's purpose, while it will otherwise imply in- capacity, carelessness, or frivolous license. Next to keeping strict time, which is one of the technical prerequisites, comes the selection of a proper degree of motion, and the thorough appreci- ation of the composer's intent and purpose, as indi- 58 THE PIANISTS ART. cated by the technical terms: largo, adagio, andante, allegro, presto, and their various modifications. For the student who aims in the first place at a proper reproduction of the composer's intentions, these indications should always be the rule, though artistic temperament will in course of time acquire a limited freedom, and become an essential factor in the minute selection of the proper movement. An important part in all that pertains to agogics seems to be assigned to the metrical units. The fact that a meter may be represented in different units of half, quarter, eighth notes, etc., in the same degree of motion, gives in itself an abundant variety. A movement, for instance, in allabreve time (2-2), con- stitutes a meter of two units, each of which repre- sents the value of one half note; if the proper degree of movement is adagio the metronome will probably mark sixty units, that is, half notes, to a minute. A movement in common time (C) constitutes a meter of four units, each of which has the value of one quarter note, and if the movement is the same as in the allabreve time, i. e., adagio, there will Le sixty quarter notes to a minute, while in three-eighths time in adagio movement there will be sixty eighth notes to a minute. It follows that, if the movement is the same, the different units as half, quarter and eighth notes represent different values; this fact could not have any influence on the movement proper, inasmuch as slow movements could be ren- dered so much faster, and vice versa; or an allabreve time could be written in 2-4 time by reducing the THE PIANIST'S ART. 59 notes in writing to half their value. However, as large bodies move slower than small bodies, it seems clear that the larger unit of allabreve time will insure a more dignified and broader flow, and as an increase in size, barely perceptible in a large unit, would swell the smaller out of all proportion, it follows that larger units will allow a greater breadth of expres- sion, so that greater scope can be permitted wherever modifications of the strict time are in order. As in poetry there is a distinct difference in mod- ern usage to that of the halcyon days of Greece and Rome, inasmuch as the latter distinguished between long and short feet, thus giving greater occasion for pathetic display, while modern poetry gains in rhythmical precision by the use of accented and unaccented syllables, so in musical reproduction a distinction must be made between rhythmic flow and pathetic stress. Rhythm forms the realistic basis which a pathetic rendition under certain circum- stances idealizes, and, to some extent, modifies. Pathos is a contagious warmth of feeling, especially that which awakens tender emotions; and it implies in musical performance, where emotion finds repro- duction as the artistic realization of an abstract idea, greater breadth and quiet in rhythmic motion itself. To clearly define this pathetic stress is as impossible as to analyze individuality; it is altogether an indi- vidual attribute in musical expression, and varies according to the artistic potentiality of the individ- ual. The rhythm ! I for instance represents in itself 60 THE PIANIST'S ART. a fact, which as such can not be altered, yet in artis- tic rendition this rhythm embodies a different mean- ing according to the character of the composition and requires a different reading under changed cir- cumstances. A martial spirit, bold and aggressive, will give the ^ in a full and determined manner, while the fc will represent a short, elastic swing to the I . This same rhythm in a nocturne or any composition of pathetic character will give less full- ness and decision to the I s and more breadth to the fc to represent the languid longing, will do so as much, in fact, as is compatible with the rendition of the rhythmical figure. It does not naturally follow that all short notes in slow movements require greater breadth, but the pathos of the slow move- ment can only be attained by greater quietness in the rhythmical flow. This pathetic stress does not at any time call for greater power of tone, is entirely independent as a means of expression from metrical or rhythmical accent, and may be employed wher- ever greater breadth or intensity of feeling seeks utterance. If this pathetic stress coincides with the rhythmic or metrical accent, the emphasis will be so much more powerful. The pathetic stress does not affect the movement nor change rhythmical motion; it is only a slight sustaining of notes or rests, depending in musical rendition on the individual nature of the performer. When such pathetic stress is a distinct feature of musical character in the intentions of the composer, it is indicated in musical notation by a tenuto; if THE PIANIST'S ART. 61 part of a movement or the whole movement is to be rendered with greater pathos, it is marked sostenuto. The fermate seems to have been intended origi- nally to mark the end of a composition, and when it occurred in the course of the piece the word " fine " was added to show that it was intended to close the piece at the fermate after repetition; it was also used in sacred music to designate the verses in the chorale, and in secular music to point out notes which the singer or player was expected to ornament and embellish ad libitum. The fermate arrests motion, either to effect greater emphasis or to allow a more complete and exhaustive display of feeling, and the length of the fermate depends therefore on the power of thought or emotion dis- played, and will vary accordingly from a long tenuto to a full stop, which brings the feeling of complete rest. Gradual changes in the even flow of time are the ritardando and accelerando. Ritardando implies a slackening of speed by degrees, and accelerando a gradual increase in motion. Ritardando and accel- erando applied to short sentences in musical con- struction require less artistic judgment, but when they cover larger periods great care must be taken that the change in motion appears more noticeable only toward the end. Ritardando is, perhaps, more frequently applicable and easily effected than accel- erando. Ritardando and accelerando can be ap- plied to any part or portion of phrases or periods; they do not affect the rhythmical construction 62 THE PIANIST'S ART. since the relative value of notes must be strictly carried into effect; it is the general flow of rhyth- mical matter, which is retarded or accelerated. Accelerando and ritardando in agogics are analogous to crescendo and diminuendo in dynamics, and are often combined, crescendo with accelerando, and ritardando with diminuendo, in accordance with a natural sentiment; accelerando can, however, be combined with diminuendo and crescendo with ritardando, and acquire, in that case, greater signifi- cance of expression. Accelerando and crescendo succeeded by a ritard-diminuendo form an " ex- pressivo " of a more erratic character. Ritenuto requires a perceptible change to the slower at once, as stretto demands a sudden increase in speed; ritenuto and stretto are subject to musical construction inasmuch as they can be applied only to a whole phrase or sentence or a plurality of these; neither of them require preparation by degrees, nor do they in themselves include various degrees of speed; still greater changes from the original mo- tion are designated by piu ritenuto or piu stretto. Ritardando and accelerando, as well as ritenuto and stretto, as essential factors in the composer's ideal conception of the character of his work, will find place in notation, and can not be mistaken; their rendition, however, is an individual matter and de- pends largely on artistic discrimination and the tem- perament of the performer. A proper insight into metrical construction and an instinctive appreciation of musical characteris- THE PIANIST S ART. tics, which can be developed to a degree by good examples, are the prerequisites for artistic phrasing. To clearly define musical sentences in every detail in themselves, as well as in their relation to each other and in regard to their position in metrical construction, * constitutes the art of phrasing. Every instance will call for a special treatment, and, though the natural sentiments underlying melodious form will to some extent determine a general out- * The following from Beethoven's op. 14, No. II would require a markedly different reading if the position of the sentence in metrical construction were changed, as in the following examples: =Hpiiiii= ES^^jEE^gggf; 64 THE PIANIST'S ART. line, every case requires particular study. Phrasing can be effected by dynamic means or agogic, or both; and individual artistic taste will determine to what extent tone shading, or modifications in the even motion of time shall be employed in each in- stance, yet there are some distinct features in musi- cal characteristics, which an individual conception must take into consideration. In classic compositions, where a logical develop- ment insures lucidity of thought and clearness of form, where sentiment and expression are of a more uniform character clearly defined in the relationship of harmonic connections, phrasing should be a mat- ter of tone shading to preserve the ideas in their simplicity and beauty of form. The flow of musical matter must be uninterrupted; delicate tone shading will sufficiently mark the different phrases, and only at the close of larger musical periods greater breadth may be in place merely as a matter of log- ical emphasis. That a certain human feeling in a simple way can thus be imparted even to works of the severest form, without affecting the architectonic beauty, is undeniable, and the very nature of a con- struction, which impresses mainly through its beauty and compactness of form, makes it obligatory to avoid arbitrary changes, however slight, in the even tenor of motion. When melodious form assumes a broader cast and a more predominating influence in musical construction; when systematic conclusions give way to imagination, which in fanciful dreams creates THE PIANIST'S ART. 65 forms of a more fictitious character; when indefin- able longing seeks expression for feeling which has scarcely been realized intellectually; when logical deduction and classic perfection of form give way to the fantastic; when in harmonic connection affinity is disregarded so that tonality is frequently lost sight of; when more or less sudden changes in har- mony appear less natural and comprehensible, the general movement (though smooth and even) will reflect largely these musical characteristics, and phrasing and expression take on a more erratic char- acter. Phrasing, the outward style, which the artist's taste lavishes on the details of musical construction, and expression, representing the inner value of musical phrases, must be in intimate relationship to the character of the work, and musical characteristic superior to individual conception. It is generally understood among pianists and musicians that Bach must be played in strict time, that there is no indecision in his musical strides, no wavering in the connecting links of his works. Haydn and Mozart are too little taken into consider- tion in this fast musical life of ours; they are sadly depreciated and often rated as antiquated and child- ish, and if Beethoven is played in conformity with the clearness of musical thought and form which, at least in his two first periods, admits of little change in the even tenor of motion, the performance is characterized as a matter-of-fact rendition, and as manifesting an intelligence which appreciates notes but not their sentiment and poetry. In the eager- 5 66 THE PIANIST'S ART. ness for new phases of emotion revealed in musical expression, the critical musical world sometimes for- gets that musical characteristics of different times and different schools must be rendered in some con- formity with their style and manner, and the rubato style of playing will just as little serve Beethoven as the severe style would give a true representa- tion of Chopin. If Mozart, Haydn and the early Beethoven show greater freedom of thought and expression than the venerable cantor of Leipzig, their musical construction offers such well-defined outlines that little occasion can be found for expres- sion by agogic means; ritardando and accelerando or sudden changes in time, can very rarely be em- ployed, and only in the most imperceptible degrees, except when indicated in the composer's notation. Beethoven in his later works shows a decided contrast in the details of notation to those of earlier date; the inner necessity for larger scope in expres- sion can easily be traced in his careful notation in opus 90 and the later works for the piano, and, though the firmness and compactness of his sen- tences are unimpaired and require a reading in close conformity with the construction, the contrasts effected by a juxtaposition of strongly differing musical sentiments offer at times occasion for a noticeable change in movement, and the connecting phrases allow the greater freedom of a singer in time and expression. Schubert, not inferior to any of our great com- posers, develops in course of time a rnythmical THE PIANIST'S ART. 67 construction strongly contrasting at times with the meter, and a superabundance of negative melodious accents, which can scarcely be traced in his earlier piano compositions; the systematic and energetic development of a greater variety in expression still preserves the outlines of form, but gives occasion for noticeable modifications in time. Schumann's "motives show a marked simplicity, a sturdy compactness, which calls for a healthy rendition, free from sentimentality and artificial affectation; their sentiment, full of vigor and cordial warmth, is one of deliberate reason and judgment, the outgrowth of a severe musical conscientiousness, which the master's art and imagination clothe in many fantastic garbs. While the poetic essence of Schumann's motives, whether full of indefinable longing or youthful vigor, give a definite outline for reproduction, their exposition full of visionary imagination and often of a rich fantastic turn must govern the expression which will require large free- dom in movement according to the more or less erratic nature of the work. Schumann's visionary spirit often disregards but scarcely loses sight alto- gether of form as the underlying principle, and in a number of compositions of the highest artistic and musical merit he finally succeeds in assimilating beauty of form and his romantic spirit. Larger power of musical exposition in the com- poser calls for greater freedom of expression in the performer, and tone shading, as the fundamental principle for phrasing and expression in the severe 68 THE PIANIST'S ART. style, still remains a prominent feature in classic ex- positions, while only the inner tendency and meaning of later compositions have, by degrees and in a nat- ural process, through greater expressive power in details, necessitated such modifications in time as musical exposition engendered, until it finally ap- pears as a self-assertive and essential factor in Chopin, known as the rubato. To Chopin, form and rule become a fetter and a burden his genius is wont to roam free and unre- stricted, and only the lithe and pliable forms unfold truly his wonderful power of expression. The rich display of harmony seems almost always improvised; the idea of tonality is often altogether vague and undecided, and sharply accented rhythms in decided contrast to the metrical construction give the melo- dious strains a style of " recitative," which calls for an expression as capricious as the mood of the writer. The world in which he dreams; the pride and glory of heroes; the love and grace of beautiful women; brilliant deeds and festive scenes; sweet secrets and dark lore, the hopes and despair of his nation, all are brought near to us in kaleidoscopic array in his mazurkas, valses, impromptus, nocturnes, polonaises, etc. Chopin's original style of playing, the rubato, is a capricious robbing of time by accelerando or ritardando, more often by sudden changes in time, subject to no particular rule but the whim of the performer, yet only truly effective when fully con- trolled by the consciousness of musical feeling and highly matured artistic taste. THE PIANIST'S ART. 69 More or less characteristic features can be dis- tinctly traced in each of our great piano composers; definite outlines that give suggestive force of mean- ing and feeling can be found in all compositions of high merit, which an artistic reproduction must re- flect in some measure even in outward style. It is in this way only that a well-matured characteristic reading can be given to our great masters each in his separate way, and musical reproduction will be of a higher order, the more the composer's ideas and his mode of development in thought and expression are absorbed by truly artistic individuality. CHARACTER. ART in a general way presumes an activity which, by more than ordinary skill and judgment, pro- duces results that have a certain grade of perfection and inner merit; any one showing science and taste superior to a deft manipulation is an artist, and what he accomplishes artistic. Every composition of higher musical and artistic merit is a work of art ; which is in itself the more perfect the more it is en- dowed with a pervading and unifying principle, in which all the parts are so intimately joined and co-related as to find their ideal existence and artistic qualification only in their well defined relations to each other. Thought becomes clearly conscious of itself in the composer, and produces the beautiful with the distinct aim of embodying some definite phase of truth clearly discernible from some other ideal in its particular qualities. As the composer has the power of apprehending this ideal character, the inner consciousness of truth and beauty, and realizes it in his work, so the performer must seek it by virtue of intellectual comprehension. Our great composers impress more even by the truth of their convictions and the logic of their ideas 70 THE PIANISTS ART. 'Jl than the perfect beauty of their work; none has greater power of conceiving graceful forms, nowhere may be found a more profound devotion to the beautiful, but the grace and beauty are inherent only to their artistic purpose in giving expression to an ideal truth which their creative genius calls forth from the fertile domains of boundless imagination. Their work shows all the clearness of outline in con- struction, the symmetry and eurhythmy which realize the impression and an artistic perfection in detail which includes the most intricate and difficult com- binations, as well as the least perceptible grada- tions. The works of the various masters show a marked difference in the technic of composition and the individual manner of the instrument, and it is the sum total of all the qualities which represents the character of a composition and makes it distinctly different from another. The intervals, rhythm, meter, the degree of mo- tion and the volume of sound are the means which materialize the composer's ideas, and their complex aggregate is required to reproduce the work in the fullness of artistic merit as the master saw it in the unvarnished truth of artistic beauty and heard it in his own artistic conception. A change in the rhythm, any marked deviation from the degree of motion, or a misplacement in the volume of sound which is not justified in the composer's intentions, or the general character of his style, changes the meaning of a musical phrase entirely and mars the artistic beauty of the work. 72 THE PIANIST'S ART. Beethoven's sonatas and concertos retain their undiminished power and beauty after a lapse of many decades, while thousands of compositions have disappeared, whose melodious and brilliant make-up, beautiful modulations and striking rhythms for a time were the supreme delight of enthusiastic amateurs. If Beethoven's art seems to have grown stronger in its perennial, youthful beauty, it is because every phrase and detail, every light and shade is so full of the consciousness of artistic qualification as to withstand the decaying influence of time and fashion, while in the host of forgotten works the disparity between cause and effect, creative genius and artistic shapeliness did not insure a lasting life. Whatever is done by composer or performer has an effect of one kind or another and is never indif- ferent. As the composer in the full consciousness of his ideal creates the work of art in sincerity of pur- pose and honest devotion, so the performer, intent on higher artistic merit in reproduction, must repro- duce the composition in all its detailed qualifications, and the ideal character whose original beauty has inspired the master, and which he has traced in unmistakable outlines, must be the object of the pianist's aspiration. The hearty desire to do full justice to the composer and his work is not sufficient as it lacks the prudence and foresight which govern and direct the romantic and imaginary essence in the individual. Expression, always of an individual type in the performer, though it employs all the refinement THE PIANIST S ART. 73 of pianistic art, frequently affects a sort of sameness in playing which, in course of time, loses its charm to a great extent, becomes dull and monotonous even in excellent players, and gives at best an impoverished satisfaction to the connoisseur. The purely individual reflection of an artistic ideal shows a greater artistic weakness the more it lacks the inner force of living beauty which is embodied in the truth and sincerity of the composer's art. The student must gain that thoroughly practical musical ability and artless devotion to the master's creative authority which will fit the artist to overcome by a characteristic reading the dullness and insipidity of a purely individual and conventional style. Playing is like speech something that anybody, even a parrot, can acquire under normal conditions. Language as well as playing is a matter of practice and education; the most capable individual, if de- prived of all the benefits which civilization has accu- mulated for him, would just as little find language a natural means of communication as the pianist who did not benefit by the discoveries and improve- ments of others would find execution a natural gift. Language is one of the commodities of ordinary life which rises to greater dignity only as it adapts itself to higher purposes. The speech of the lower classes, as well as of the educated and refined, gains in value and power over the prattle of children and the small talk of the day when it becomes the carrier of ideas and sentiments. The well-matured effort of the orator with all its rhetorical flourish relies for effect 74 THE PIANIST'S ART. mainly on the well-planned arguments, but its power and sway is proportionate to the truth and sincerity of the convictions. Piano playing is a feat of manual dexterity and mechanical skill which rises to artistic importance as it becomes a means of expression in musical reproduc- tion. The elegant smoothness of intricate passages, the dazzling brilliancy of trills and the grace of deli- cate ornamentation, all the various qualifications of the touch the scintillating staccato, the clinging legato, the insinuating tenderness of the piano and the commanding power of the forte; the even more expressive restrictions of the movement the impet- uous accelerando, the lingering ritardando, the ritenuto and stretto and the fanciful rubato all are at the player's bidding to serve his artistic purpose, yet more artistic and effective as the performer sacri- fices individual taste and liking to the higher requirements of musical art as qualified in the char- acter of the composition. The pianist's education, as practical as it is in all mechanical work, is thoroughly romantic, i. e., spec- ulative and impractical in a musical way; though painstaking and exacting in all the details of execu- tion, the teacher allows a remarkably large freedom to the pupil in musical matters. Even where the mechanical element in the average pupil is not more responsive to his efforts than the intellectual, the teacher who finds in the brilliant though empty dis- play of his pupil a readier assurance of success aims at the production of an executant rather than the THE PIANIST S ART. 75 development of an intellectual conception. True interest in the art and its elevating mission and the pupil's increased ability in musical appreciation and enjoyment are sacrificed to a digital facility, which, though of the highest value as an agent in musical art, has in itself no intrinsic or artistic merit how- ever prized it may be by the multitude. While working with patient insistence for the greatest possible accuracy in execution and finger- ing, would it not be well to use the same gentle, never-failing persuasion in regard to the more indef- inite requirements of musical technic? To not only have the pupil know that forte means loud, that crescendo is piano growing to forte, explain what is meant by ritardando or ritenuto, etc., etc., but wait in the same hopeful spirit until the pupil does these things with some assurance and efficiency, instinct- ively, as the matters of execution when and wherever they are required? It is much more difficult for the student to acquire a practical ability in musical mat- ters than in mechanical work, yet what assistance does he generally receive in this respect? The sim- ple knowledge of technical terms which every music-primer affords will never insure that capabil- ity which is to guide the pianist to the inner sanct- uary of musical art. Individual taste and liking of the student com- mand an early and prominent consideration in mat- ters musical, and as long as they do not counteract the established principles i. e , smoothness and clearness in execution and the much coveted rapid- 76 THE PIANIST'S ART. ity of finger and wrist-movement the student is considered on the best road to a fine style in piano- playing. Thus, it is claimed, nothing is done that could impede the pupil's individual development! as though the natural development of individuality could ever attain genuine artistic importance! After years of training and hard labor, what is the actual outcome? That scores of players with more than average ability to build upon have all been developed after the one unvaried pattern; that the difference in their playing is clearly apparent only in the peculiar adaptability and style of execu- tion; that scarcely one is found who possesses a markedly individual style, and that a rare bird indeed is the pianist who is capable of giving at least some abstract of the truth which the character of the composition and the composer's general style plainly indicate. It is easier nowadays to find a pianist who excels in a Liszt rhapsodic than one who can render a composition of Mozart or the earlier Beethoven with the required unaffected sin- cerity; and it is not the production of far removed years which our generation finds difficult of attain- ment art and its true children retain their youth, at least in the spirit, in spite of the flight of time even modern compositions of valuable musical char- acter yet modest pianistic aspirations, as the less difficult works of Schumann and others fail to get more than a superficial artificial reading. All the meaningless phrases which serve as road- stones in the student's educational course, from the THE PIANISTS ART. 77 barren waste of countless studies to the ostentatious finery of Liszt's rhapsodies (worthy evidence, never- theless, of the performer's prowess!) further the natural development, and after years of toil and labor the student commands a marked mechanical proficiency, while even the rudimentary details in musical technic are still in an embryonic state. This deplorably unequal admixture of two impor- tant factors, which should each in full-grown strength support and sustain the other as fit helpmates in the artistic purpose, causes sooner or later a self-assert- iveness in musical characteristics which is more dis- gusting than the grossest ignorance. An artist whose facility in architectonic drawing is of an acknowledged superiority could just as soon claim equal consideration in portrait-painting with one of the masters in that branch of art as the pian- ist who is great in the use of his instrument, com- manding all the finish and grace of an individual style, can compare himself to the pianist whose power lies in the truth of his reproduction, however limited the latter's versatility. Straight and curved lines, the well adjusted proportions and a reposeful perspective in architectonic drawing may form a highly artistic product in that genre the portrayer requires the thorough artistic knowledge and com- mand of color-effect and, above all, that higher artistic quality, the trusty expression which, a result of comparative analysis, is finally caught on the wings of inspiration. As in ordinary life progress can only be made by 78 THE PIANIST'S ART. the individual, in any direction, on the strength of observation, so in art the student advances on the basis of former acquisitions. The pianist must take pattern after other pianists in the cunning of his craft his artistic ideal he can only find in the com- poser's art, i. e., in the full measure of all the artistic properties of standard compositions. To fully rec- ognize the import of all the details which make up the life-giving, characteristic qualities of a composi- tion, the student must not only acquire a thorough knowledge of the rudimentary elements of musical technic (particularly those of more indeterminate quantity, as the various gradations of tone and the modifications of speed), he must command them with good ability, learn to properly grade them in their effect and apply them correctly in reproduc- tion. A continued intercourse with the musical qualities of works of standard merit will serve to strengthen the student's artistic purpose, will in time develop his individuality in an artistic manner, and subsequently enable the pianist to give a more satis- factory abstract of the composer's consummate art should he even f lil to give a reading which is hon- est and truthful to the last letter. The composer's ideal in the full measure of well- balanced artistic qualifications must be the final purpose of the performer; and to make genuine prog- ress toward an artistic realization of this object, the student must learn from the outset to sacrifice his own natural inclination to the master's thought, his veracity must strive to become equal to the mas- THE PIANIST S ART. 79 ter's truth, his honesty to the composer's sincerity until, always closely observant of the characteristic musical qualities of the work, he finds in true devo- tion to the art and guileless self-abnegation the key to the meaning which enhances the artistic value and is ever a source of the purest enjoyment. That it is possible to give truly characteristic read- ings to the master-works of piano literature has been sufficiently demonstrated by a number of pianists. The names of such artists as Liszt, Mendelssohn, Clara Schumann, Reinecke and Rubinstein, have a better sound in the musical world, not because these coryphees of reproductive art have greater tech- nical facility or greater intensity of feeling, nor yet a more pronounced individual style, but because they have employed their superior individual gifts in a thoroughly unselfish and unartificial manner in the higher service of musical art, and the truthful reproduction of the composer's ideal has given their readings the plenary power of genuine artistic con- victions. This spirit of resignation acknowledging the higher claim of the composer's creative art in a sort of ideal copyright does not exclude artistic in- dividuality, or warmth of expression in reproduc- tion; the intellectual and emotional qualities which, subject to a more or less refined taste and judgment, are usually employed with individual freedom, are thus made subservient to the purer characteristic essence of the work of art, regulated according to more mature and refined artistic principles and ele- vated to a higher and wider sphere. 8o THE PIANIST'S ART. That character in musical art and more es- pecially in piano music, which in the larger number and greater variety of its master-works can easily claim superiority is a decidedly more valuable ar- tistic faculty than the performances of pianists gen- erally warrant and that an implicitly correct reading in piano music will materially improve the more refined artistic qualities in reproduction is undenia- ble. An able conductor who, personally unham- pered by the requirements of executive skill, supervises and enforces the correct reading and execution, is likely to give a decidedly more char- acteristic reading to a symphony than the large majority of pianists give to a sonata, though in point of individual charm and conventional grace the latter may gain over the large body of the or- chestra. The greater the pianist's ability, the stronger his individual faculties, the more does he often seem to seek completer power of expression in the changed and even mutilated artistic properties of a compo- sition. While in works of less marked musical merit serving pre-eminently as expositions of pian- istic skill a large margin may be conceded to the performer, all unwarranted liberties fail utterly to improve the inner value in works of a higher order, appear as frivolous license in art, and lack the power of convincing truth in their effect on the hearer. The more artistic individuality finds the source and measure of expression in the composer's art, the more varied, rich and impressive will be the power THE PIANIST'S ART. 81 of inner life. Herein lies the secret of Rubinstein's undisputed artistic superiority that, despite his pow- erful individuality, the composer's art shapes the manner or his reading; that, though he neither plays Bach and Beethoven dry-as-dust, nor the visionary Schumann like the erratic Chopin, the character of the composition and the composer's style find gen- erally an unselfish consideration. Though the musical qualifications of a composi- tion are clearly and unmistakably defined by the author, the particular grade and shade will neces- sarily vary in different players an increased speed may even serve in an allegro or presto, and an adagio may cause one player to linger more than another; special restrictions for unvaried, typical gradations in piano and forte, crescendo or dimin- uendo, ritardando or accelerando could never be thought of such tinge of individuality, which is perfectly natural, will never affect the character of the work as long as the artistic qualifications of the composition remain unchanged in their relations to each other. The individual gifts of the pianist, his intellect- ual ability, the life-current of his emotions, his physical power and his skill will at all times deter- mine the artistic potentiality, but an adequate resig- nation in the higher authority of the composer's creative art will more fully reflect the truth and beauty of the composer's ideal and will clearly demonstrate the weakness of thoughtless presump- 82 THE PIANIST'S ART. tion which changes the characteristic traits of a composition to suit individual taste and liking. Is it right that Schumann's Des Abends molto affettuoso, so full of romantic dreaminess and art- less sentiment should serve to show some pianist's speed and finish of execution, that another should deliberately substitute a forte for a piano or turn an appassionato con forza into a delicate pianissimo, another (carelessly or intentionally) change the rhythm, perhaps even mutilate the meter? What if a pianist who plays the opening phrases of Liszt's E Major Polonaise with full tone and commanding rhythm, suddenly changes to a dull mezzoforte in the grand climax at the end of the first part, though the richer harmonious construction and high- spirited rhythm call for increased power and greater insistence; yet, even if he does not feel the need of more unrelenting energy in action, Liszt marked the passage rinforzando. Does it not appear as though indefatigable practice of the difficult passage had deprived the artist's conception of some valua- ble spark of life? Are the performers alone to blame for this if a reading which changes and mutilates the well- balanced and clearly defined artistic proportions of a work is often hailed with enthusiasm by so-called musicians as a new departure in art? Truly an easy and welcome opportunity for some small lights to make evident their fondness for " new ideas " and to manifest their belief in the progress- iveness of music as an art. Some venturesome THE PIANIST'S ART. 83 critics even assert that every performer has a right to do as he pleases in the details of a composition and that in this manner only, freed from slavish dependence on the composer, musical genius can manifest its artistic individuality! The public, whether high-toned or low-bred, has no artistic musical knowledge; the large class of music-lovers and amateurs easily forms an opinion of the player's executive powers and, if it approves of the artist's good taste, delights in a gentle way in the usual platitudes, while with limited exceptions the host of musical critics, often recruited from the ranks of amateurs, is equally unable to say exactly in what proportion the reading stands to the details of the composer's work and its character. Such knowledge is, and always mast be, vested in the practical musician who has made a detailed study of the work in question, while amateurs and a certain class of critics will base their opinion gen- erally on a quality of taste which, though often very refined, is purely individual. A minority of musical connoisseurs, constantly increasing for years past, has come to acknowledge that in Beethoven the sum total only of all the details (and Beethoven has been able to outline some very striking peculiarities in his works) will give a true representation of the sublime character; the distinction of being a Beethoven-player is, there- fore, conferred only on the strength of an adequate reading of the master's works in all their character- istic properties. The later masters, more especially 84 THE PIANIST'S ART. Chopin and Schumann, have developed a concise- ness in the details of musical notation, which is even superior to Beethoven's, and has since become thor- oughly scientific. In enforcing the strict observa- tion of all the details the composers, late and early ones, do not claim an artistic privilege but the ideal birthright of their children in art. If it can not be denied that light and shade in musical art are the outgrowth of artistic formation, that they are part and parcel of the meaning and effect of a musical sentence, why should the pianist who copies the composer's notes, rhythms, har- mony and melody stop short of including the dynamics and agogics of the composer's notation, in short every detail as far as he is able, asserting his own artistic individuality in the special mode and manner only of a perfectly truthful rendition. True, the pianist is not a copyist, but in his reading and reproduction of a musical work he can not disregard the laws of musical art nor rise superior to them on a claim of pianistic excellence; and if the artistic merit of a composition is due to the unifying inner principle which gives all the details their higher qualification, a marked change in these same details to suit individual fancy will at all times deteriorate the musical value of the performance. Two of the most prominent pianists of the pres- ent day may be quoted as striking examples: the one perfected in the most ambitious display of an individual style, the other resplendent in the ideal representation of an artistic beauty as conceived by THE PIANIST'S ART. 85 the composer. From a pianistic standpoint the great Chopin player is the superior in the lightning speed, finish of execution and graceful elegance, admirable and even incomparable wherever the latent power of higher artistic formation is not indispensable in reproduction, wherever ideal beauty does not hold immutable relations to an ideal truth, as in all the lighter forms of the dance and etude; yet in all the glory of his artistic powers, how seldom does he rise to the higher requirements of those works where the effect of light and shade grows out of the affluence of artistic shapeliness, where an ideal truth enhances the value of ideal beauty! Is it because he fails in power or delicacy, in grace or warmth of expression? All these are his in full measure what he lacks in physical strength he fully makes up in the wonderful gradations of his touch but, thoroughly capricious in everything, he puts forth all the selfishness of his nature in vain- glorious presumption, conferring, as it must appear to the initiated, an honorable distinction on the author Chopin by " ameliorating" his compositions! Let us turn to the other in the rapidity of exe- cution scarcely in the front rank of living pianists, yet superior in the versatility of his craft fairly enthralling his hearers in more than the average of his readings through the power and truth of his con- victions, equa-lly great in large and small efforts, often manifesting a ready trustiness in reproduction unheard of since Rubinstein, he is sometimes more, sometimes less successful, but never fails when 86 THE PIANIST'S ART. guided by the light of that truth which never fades although forever varied in the author's vision of ideal beauty. The musical public is carried away by the wealth of expression, by the ever increasing power of per- suasion in his very touch, by the constantly changing adaptability of his execution; the critical world emphasizes his richly endowed temperament, his admirable disposition, finds the source and strength of his art in the singing quality of his touch, in the unequaled versatility of his craft, in his Protean artistic nature and in all the eulogies and encomiums never fails to throw some new light on the astonish- ing quality and merit of an art which seems in very truth at times almost infinite. An artist of his type is to be judged only by the power of creative art which has led him to the full measure of all his excellent artistic qualifica- tions through his devotion to the composer's crea- tive power. Whenever he strives faithfully to repro- duce the composer's ideal out of the fullness of original artistic conception, giving unreservedly the sum total of all the properties which qualify the higher artistic merit, he carries conviction with him into the hearts of his listeners and, though the par- ticular quality of effect is unmistakably individual, the ideal character of the work in all its truth and beauty gives his reading the honorable worthiness and superior power. Human nature will always cause more or less serious shortcomings in the performances of the THE PIANIST'S ART. 87 best artists, so that an ideal perfection will never be attained; but, if it is unavoidable to reckon with many deficiencies in even the most artistic readings, it is the more desirable that in artistic training no concessions should be made to the natural drift of the student's fancy; that, on the contrary, the higher ideal character in music is called into requisi- tion continually to strengthen and elevate the artistic purpose. There seems to be an opinion that the pianist of to-day has to adapt himself to such numbers and varieties of composers and compositions that it is not surprising that as a class they fail to give char- acteristic readings, and that for that same reason the number of successful interpreters is very limited, that few players succeed in giving adequate performances to any one composer, and that hardly one is found who can fully accommodate his artistic faculties to more than one of the masters. Though it is true that with every new decade the demands on the pianist's musical qualifications are becoming of a higher order, there is no doubt that the artist's pow- ers increase in the same degree as he devotes him- self unselfishly to find the author's true ideal in the outlines of the work, giving an interpretation faith- ful and loyal in the smallest details and, according to his artistic potentiality, truly characteristic. Character in art represents the unifying principle which gives every detail of a work the full con- sciousness of artistic qualification; character in reproduction is an established fact always potent, 88 THE PIANIST'S ART. always latent, while musical talent in the individual may at one time be strong, at another weak; char- acter possesses intellectual and emotional qualifica- tions which are pure and true, while these qualities in the individual may be tarnished by selfish motives. Character is a power which in the end will vanquish the best talent, for, while the bounds of talent are the sometimes narrow limits of an artistic indi- viduality, there is no end to the growth of character as there is no end of learning in art. OUTLINE OF PIANO LITERATURE. IN the development of piano music, the nature of the instrument, the quality of its tone and its tech- nical facilities have at all times had a predominating influence, and, closely connected with gradual im- provements in the mechanical construction and the growth of technical resources, a style of composition has, in course of time, been matured which is pecul- iarly adapted to the piano. Though the tone of the instrument is naturally short and metallic, and its chief characteristic the diminuendo, so that even with the use of the pedal the sound can be but slightly and imperfectly sustained, the possibilities offered for full harmonies, the rich ornamentation in melody, the great variety and superior brilliancy in passages and a wide range for contrasting effects gave it early a firm hold in the estimation of mu- sicians and amateurs. The old clavichord of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries had originally twenty-two keys, to which, in about 1500, chromatic tones were added. The in- strument named clavecin, harpsichord, virginal, clav- icymbal, etc., was subsequently enlarged to four octaves forty-nine keys and near the eighteenth 89 9O THE PIANIST'S ART. century separate strings were introduced for each key. Constant and far-reaching improvements con- tinued to increase its practical usefulness so that, as a means for musical reproduction independent of assistance, it soon gained a decided preponderance over all other instruments. Few of the great masters of musical art, from the earliest times to the present day, have failed to con- tribute their share to make piano literature the most extensive, most versatile and precious. Material difference or marked improvement may not be clearly apparent in some works of the same period, yet something new will be found now and then, a small germ which bides its day of exuberant growth until the spirit of the times causes man's superior effort to assert his powers; and genius assimilates and perfects what has been prepared by years of toil and labor. Instrumental music shows at first a marked re- semblance to vocal music; and piano literature in its early development is virtually of the same type as organ music, finding its highest exponents in J. S. Bach and G. F. Haendel. Ph. Em. Bach leaves this severe style and marks the beginning of a new era in piano music by melodious forms and passages which are more adapted to the piano. This mode of writing, distinctly different from the serene and unconventional style of organ music followed by Haydn and Mozart, is matured by dementi and Beethoven. The latter in his later works opens the third epoch of piano music which finds its culminat- THE PIANIST S ART. QI ing point in Schumann and Chopin, and this last again stands on the threshold of the fourth and last period, introducing a distinctly national element in instrumental music. Vocal music had attained considerable merit in the service of the church as early as the fifteenth century, and under the Italian masters it acquired a style of exceptional grandeur and beauty. Instru- mental music received, naturally, but slight atten- tion; only the organ, closely connected with church service, claimed some consideration as the accom- panying instrument, and the first attempts in organ music probably consisted in an exact reproduction of vocal parts, ornamented according to the whim and ability of the player. These ornaments devel- oped into typical figures (trills, scale-like passages and arpeggios), and were brought into some con- nection with the melody and harmony, so that about 1600 A. D. organ compositions, as systematically arranged works, took definite form. Music as a factor in home life had probably sug- gested the idea of rendering the melody in vocal compositions viva voce, while the other parts were given to an accompanying instrument; and when the first efforts for a musical drama were made about this time, monody, the great innovation in musical composition, as the outgrowth and embodiment of individual expression was received with no small favor by the interested world. Greater independ- ence and adaptability in the accompaniment were the immediate consequences, and the introduction 92 THE PIANIST'S ART. to the musical plays, the toccata, marks the begin- ning of secular instrumental music. Folk song and ballads, the first evidence of mu- sical life, are the products of strong emotions and natural artistic instincts; music as an art is based on the songs and dances of the people, and musical art gains in value and importance the more it leaves the beaten path without losing connection with the natural element. The dances and variations on pop- ular melodies for the clavichord and virginal, though less severe than the organ compositions, follow the same style in the reproduction of several equally important parts as in vocal music; and though by imitation, by embellishments in melody, and figura- tion in scales and arpeggios, elements are intro- duced more typically instrumental, the strict adher- ence to an equal deduction of the several parts can easily be traced. The early masters show little individual differ- ence in their writings; their forms evince a certain stiffness in the material, the evidence of hard men- tal labor, which disappears only when technic, by force of habit, acquires sufficient routine. As the serene dignity which characterized church composi- tions (and for which the organ was the proper in- strument) was more and more abandoned in secular music, the clavecin, and later on the pianoforte, offered greater possibilities for a display in various manners of touch, and obtained a versatility of ex- pression to which the organ could never attain. ( tain forms of expression were speedily developed THE PIANIST S ART. 93 and held some influence for a time, to make room again for others; and, within these changing idioms, individual ideas and feelings found utterance and created characteristic works of more or less artistic merit. William Byrde (1546-1623), John Bull (1563- 1628) and Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625) in England are among the first noted composers for the clavi- chord. Girolamo Frescobaldi ( 1 588-1654) and Mich- ael Angelo Rossi (1600-1660) in Italy; Joh. Jacob Frohberger (1635-1695) and Johann Kuhnau (1667- 1712) in Germany; Henry Dumont (1610-1684) and Jacques Champion (1620-1670) in France, were in high repute both as composers and performers. Their compositions were published sometimes as " opera de cantare ed sonare," more often, however, as u per organo e cembalo;" and the composer's reputa- tion was due mainly to his ability as an organist and his efforts and success in choral works. England's mu- sicians had long enjoyed a high proficiency in vocal music. As the high literary and artistic standard of Queen Elizabeth's time had great influence on the social and private enjoyments of polite society, the number of good performers on the virginal in those days accounts partly for the greater efforts and ear- lier success of the English composers. The necessity of contrasting effects in instru- mental music found early recognition among the com- posers for the clavier. For greater variety in movement, the smaller pieces in dance form were joined together in the suite and partita, and though 94 THE PIANIST'S ART. the succession of pieces was not always the same, a distinct change in the character of the successive numbers formed the basis for this arrangement. A richer display in ornaments and passages continued to give these compositions a style more and more instrumental, but the inner character of the works was still markedly akin to vocal music. The dances appeared somewhat idealized, but had no connection with each other and a number of movements in the same key did not offer the marked characteristics of a change in tonality; yet pieces of the simplest con- struction offered at times beautiful melodious effects combined with real sentiment. The rondeau, a form of construction in poetry which repeated a phrase of complex meaning at the end of each separate division, was introduced into vocal music in early times, and imitated in instru- mental music in the latter part of the seventeenth i66&- P i73s! century. Francois Couperin (1668-1733) gave this form a more definite instrumental character. A short theme of melodious form, generally eight measures, which he designated as " rondeau," is fol- lowed by one or more "couplets" of a livelier char- acter, so that after each couplet the rondeau recurs; the couplets are generally richer in harmony and passages. Couperin is the first who develops in his compositions a character somewhat adapted to the clavecin, and even where, like his contemporaries, he cultivates the dance, his harmonrcs are arranged more suitably to the peculiar tone and range of the instrument; his passages show a superior subtleness, THE PIANIST S ART. 95 the embellishments of his melodies appear as the outgrowth of feeling more than casual ornaments and are employed, especially in the reprises, with greater effect. The marked originality of his works, as compared to others of his time, and his style of playing, which appealed to his hearers by a soulful expression and refined taste, insured him a high reputation in his lifetime even outside of his own country. J. Ph. Rameau (1683-1764), in the originality of invention and novelty of style, proves himself the peer of Couperin, while greater rhythmic variety and a richer display in harmony and modulation gave him at times moments of greater energy. Johann Kuhnan is said to be the first composer of a sonata for the clavichord. His compositions are remarkable for their romantic spirit, and as ideal tone pictures are important in the development of musical expression. The sonata, as a work in differ- ent parts, accomplished variety much in the manner of the suite by an interchange of slow and lively movements; the succession of these, however, was arbitrary as in the suite. Sonatas were written in one, two or three movements, and often served fora greater display of technical facility. Little distinc- tion was at times made between suite, partita or sonata, and either of them was often specified as a "sonata di camera" yet the suite was supposed to con- tain a series of dances (while the partita admitted pieces of a better character), and the sonata to hold 96 THE PIANIST'S ART. movements only of more universal tendency and expression. The contrasts effected in the different parts of one movement in the rondeau gave little organic connection save in the regular repetition of the round after each couplet. The motette, a style of vocal composition in two or three parts, had as early as the fifteenth century offered a contrast by present- ing its several parts in a peculiar manner; sometimes with the same cantus firmus for all the parts, while the counterpoint changed character in each division and so accomplished a better connection, giving at the same time opportunity for individual expression. Scarlatti Domenico Scarlatti (1683-1757) began in his sonata 1683-1757. movements to contrast the different parts after the manner of the motette, not only in outward appear- ance, but in their inner nature. The first part of the movement presented in an animated flow a. dialectic exposition of the theme in the keynote or tonica, which was followed by a more expressive theme of cantabile character in the dominant; the themes or their motives were then worked together, and the whole movement closed with a more or less free repetition of the first part. Thus the movement gained not only greater consistency in the co-relation and cohesion of the parts, but also greater variety of expression. Scarlatti's compositions, even more than Couperin's or Rameau's, show a marked prog- ress; the instrumental style gains more distinction; polyphonic treatment begins to make room for a development in two parts; the treble gains in THE PIANIST'S ART. 97 importance over the bass, and the technical display is, in some peculiarities, of lasting merit so that even at the present day the difficulties introduced in Scarlatti's works, seemingly in playful humor, are considered important in the pianist's education. The fame of writers for the clavier contemporary with Couperin, Rameau and Scarlatti such as John Blow (1648-1708) and Henry Purcell (1658-1695) in England; Bernardo Pasquini (1637-1710), Francesco Geminiani (1680-1762), Francesco Durante (1684- 1755), Nicolo Porpora (1685-1767) and Domenico Zipoli (1685-17 ) in Italy; Giovanni Battista Lully (1633-1687) and Jean Baptiste Loeillet (1660-1728) in France, and Johann Caspar von Kerl (1625-1690), Gottlieb Muffat (1650-1700), Johann Matheson (1681- 1722) and Christoph Wagenseil (1688-1779) in Ger- many rests mainly on their efforts in other direc- tions. Their compositions for the clavecin evince more or less pronounced individuality of expression, and offer an interesting study of the musical spirit of the times, while, written in the established forms, they present no particular feature of importance in the progress of piano music. As the greatest representative of this first period of piano music appears Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Born in Eisenach as the descendant of a family of musicians of great ability and fame, he was at an early age left to support himself. A beautiful voice, remarkable proficiency as performer on the organ and clavichord and general musical adaptability served him in good stead. The artistic 98 THE PIANIST'S ART. inclinations of the ten generations that seemed cen- tered in his person were developed during a quiet student life, great power of observation and never- tiring energy serving him as teachers. Violinist in Weimar, he becomes, after a few months, organist in Arnstadt; four years later he is in the same capacity in Miilhausen, and, 1708, court organist in Weimar. Here he remained for nine years, and it was in these years that his organ playing made him famous over all his contemporaries; he became concert master in 1714, and conducted for a time the church and cham- ber concerts. Removed to Coethen, 1717, as court conductor he made himself intimately acquainted with the instrumental compositions of the different schools, and is said to have here written the first part of his Well Tempered Clavecin. Seventeen hundred and twenty-three, elected cantor of the Thomas school in Leipzig as the successor of Jo- hann Kuhnau, he soon became the center of musical life, and gained an all-powerful influence in the musical affairs of Leipzig, which he retained until his death, 1750. Bach was a man of deep religious sentiment and quiet dignity of manner, his nature full of life and passion; his character had a certain sternness, the evidence of a fixed purpose and firm determination, and his works show a powerful emotion, which is held in check only by the severity of form. An extraordinary combination of superior intellectual powers and depth of feeling, with a strongly pro- nounced and powerful individuality, enabled him to THE PIANIST S ART. 99 absorb the most various forms and idioms of other composers and remodel them in his own original manner. The clearness of his intellect is plainly manifest in the correctness and purity of his style, and the energetic constancy which enables him to attain the end he has in view. A long line of successful pupils prove that he not only possessed the patience and endurance necessary in a help- ful instructor, but the unselfish resignation which makes use of superior knowledge in the service of the untutored and weaker intellect; many of his best piano compositions seem to have been written for the express purpose of assisting his pupils, though this intention is only clearly discernible In his little preludes and inventions. Strange and solitary appears Bach alongside of the musicians and composers of his time, but com- pared with the writers of the preceding period, his art seems the natural development of the earlier efforts. His superiority over his predecessors is to be found mainly in the universality of his genius, in virtue of which he appears to combine in himself a higher musical potentiality of his time. A composer of the highest merit; unsurpassed as organist and pianist; a violinist of superior technical knowledge; a loving and helpful teacher to those who under- stood and appreciated him; inventor of new instru- ments, he was the first to temper the tuning of the clavecin so that it could be played in any key, and he introduced a finger technic which is the founda- tion of piano playing of all later times, and with IOO THE PIANIST S ART. slight modifications the law even for the present day. Bach's name is connected inseparably with the fugue, and, though fugue-writing is by no means his highest and foremost merit, it is undeniable that in the instrumental fugue he has reached the culminat- ing point. Fugue as well as canon is based on imi- tation, and, while the imitation in the canon is purely melodic, that of the fugue is governed by harmonic laws. Fugues have been written before Bach (in fact it may be said of the organists of northern Germany about the beginning of the i8th century that to write a piece of music was to write a fugue, and in point of technical ability and thorough knowl- edge of the nature of instrumental music some of these organ fugues have hardly been surpassed even by Bach); but inasmuch as his harmonic construc- tion is based upon the strict exposition of a definite number of voices, each of which has the greatest freedom of motion, he has perfected the form and matured the instrumental character. In the preludes and fugues of the Well Tempered Clavecin (in two parts, each of 24 preludes and fugues, in all the major and minor keys) Bach con- trasts a free style with the severe form and, though the preludes seem to bring mostly light motives in playful or thoughtful mood, a well defined ide'a gov- erns the easy flow. The possibility of playing on the clavecin in all the keys is mainly due to Bach's gen- ius, and this work the Well Tempered Clavecin- seems to have been written for instructive purposes, THE PIANIST S ART. 101 though its contents are musically of the highest value and some of the preludes and fugues belong to the most exquisite products of musical art. Bach's fame as a fugue-writer rests more on this work than on his larger and more important preludes and fugues for the organ, a large number of which have been transcribed for the piano. The inventions, pieces of the smallest form, are in their way the most curious exposition of the great man's art. Composed, no doubt, with the same intention which caused so many authors of later days to write piano studies (of little or no artistic and musical merit), they are new and orig- inal and without parallel even in Bach's w r orks, con- structed on thoroughly artistic principles, concise and clear as crystal, and born in the spirit of a warm- hearted musician. The three-part inventions are of higher artistic merit, and range in difficulty with some of the fugues of the Well Tempered Clavecin. Bach composed six French suites (so called on account of their smaller form, which was like that of the suites of French composers), and six English suites of much more imposing form, and six partitas. After the manner of the times, many of the pieces in these works were written in imitatory and even fugato style, but the clavier character appears well pronounced; pieces of droll humor or deep senti- ment, full of innocent pleasure or tender abandon, playful mcod or ecstatic joy, give an ever varied change of expression. The sonatas present but little difference from the suites, except inasmuch as the 102 THE PIANIST S ART. movements are of a more severe character, often written in fugato style; a trace of the later art form of the sonata as in Scarlatti does not appear, but Bach's sonatas are certainly the highest type of the old form and the six sonatas for piano and violin are undoubtedly of great value. In the concertos Bach avails himself fully of the opportunity of con- trasting tutti and solo and shows a remarkable im- provement in the clavier style and an occasional beauty of sound; written for an immediate effect their musical value is not as lasting as that of his other works, save in the concertos for two or three claviers. The Italian concerto has a most beautiful adagio, a melody full of infinite tenderness and pathos, floating and soaring over the simple accompaniment; the chromatique fantasie and fugue contrasts un- limited artistic freedom in form and expression with the severest restrictions; the thirty variations bring in the forms of canons a series of tone combinations founded on the same bass, which in variety, in grace- ful design as well as in the exuberance of spirit and depth of sentiment are unsurpassed, and his Musical Offering and the Art of the Fugue, as specimens of his mastery of form and learning, are truly monu- mental. As there is no known art form of his time which Bach has not made fully his own and given to art filled with the fire of his genius, it must be conceded that Bach is a universal composer, original in every branch of composition; and, if the objective measure THE PIANISTS ART. 103 for artistic greatness is commensurate to the power of artistic formation, Bach is the greatest of com- posers. Bach's companion figure in music is George Frederic Haendel (1685-1757). Born in Halle of a family of trades-people, his strongly pronounced musical talent grew in spite of opposition and ad- verse circumstances. Organist in Halle in 1702, he removed 1703 to Hamburg, where in time he enjoyed the friendship of Teleman and Matheson, and be- came closely connected with German opera. A famous organist and cembalist, he met Dom. Scar- latti on his visit to Italy (1707-1710), and returning to Germany became court conductor at Hanover; settled in England 1712, where he remained until his death, 1757. Haendel was a man of the world, full of his own artistic importance and respectability, passionate and impulsive, tenacious of purpose and of liberal views. As a man of the world he knew how to deal with the public and to take public taste into consid- eration, and his oratorios, written for the people, show in melodious form often a remarkable affinity to the tender pathos or rousing spirit of popular songs; they never fail in their immediate effect on the hearer, through the poetic expression or dramatic character. In his choral works, which establish his position in the front rank of composers, he is, in polyphonic treatment, equal to Bach, save where he sacrifices the severe form to dramatic effect. Haendel's compositions for organ and clavier, 104 THE PIANIST'S ART. though of limited extent arid importance as com- pared with his operas and oratorios, form a very valuable addition to musical literature. His compo- sitions for the clavecin comprise a series of suites, six fugues, and a number of smaller works, together with ensemble music. The suites, equal to Bach's best works in this line, differ from those of .the latter in that a large portion of the movements bring ex- positions of original musical ideas rather than the idealized dance, and that even the fugue is not de- barred; this gives Haendel's suites greater variety of form and a more universal tendency. The smaller compositions include a number of lessons, capriccios, fantasies, chaconnes and variations, written appar- ently in his capacity as teacher; they are valuable as studies in Haendel's style and technic. Haendel's powerful artistic individuality had an astonishing effect on musical matters in his day, and it may be safely said that Haendel, to a great degree, governed England's subsequent musical develop- ment. His influence on music and its progress as an art, however, is by no means equal to Bach's, and in piano literature he belongs to the great tone masters in virtue of great clearness of form and power of thought, rather than depth and expression. Many composers continue to interest themselves in piano and chamber music, and more or less suc- cessful attempts are made to find a proper style of writing suitable to the clavier. There are the sons of J. S. Bach: Wilhelm Friedemann (1710-1784), Philipp Emanuel (1714-1788), Johann Chr. Friedrich THE PIANISTS ART. 10$ (1732-1795), and Job. Christian (1735-1782); and his pupils, Joh. Ludwig Krebs (1713-1780), Fried. Wilh. Marpurg (1718-1795), Christoph Nichelman (1717- 1762), and Joh. Ph. Kirnberger (1721-1783); there is, in England, Thos. Aug. Arne (1710-1778); in Italy, Giov. Bat. Martini (1706-1784), Pietro Locatelli (1693-1764), Dom. Paradisi (1712-1795), Bald. Ga- luppi (1703-1785); in France, Schobert (1720-1768); and in Germany, John Ernst Eberlin (1710-1776), Joh. A. Rolle (1718-1785), Leopold Mozart (1719- 1787) and Georg Benda (1721-1795). Their compo- sitions have considerable individual merit, showing grace and beauty in form and expression; and, the more the writers appreciate the technic of the clavier, the nearer they come to the peculiar style. More and more the polyphonic style of writing dis- appears, except in the severe form, but a develop- ment in two parts seems to succeed. Leopold Mozart is more fortunate in the man- agement of the facilities of the clavier, but Ph. Em. Bach seems to have finally established the fact that piano music does not find its true essence in the de- velopment of different voices, that treble and bass are a peculiarity of the wide range of the clavier, and that the true nature of piano music lies in the greater or lesser fullness and splendor of treatment unlimited by a definite number of parts. Ph. Em. Bach's compositions for the clavecin, a large number of concertos, sonatas and other works among them so called characteristic pieces with high sounding titles are pleasing and effective. io6 THE PIANIST'S ART. The peculiar clavecin style, which does not depend on a definite number of parts but has recourse to all manner of treatment at will, shows itsell best in his sonata movements; these movements themselves arc less interesting since they lack a contrasting second theme. His adagios, however, are full of a certain refinement in taste and expression. With Ph. Em. Bach, the sonata begins to take a leading part in the forms of composition for the clavier; the sub- ordination of all the parts to one melodious princi- pal voice becomes more apparent; the modulations into other keys are freer and more daring; enhar- monic relations begin to play an important part, and sudden and marked transitions in dynamics, from forte to piano, often give a facetiousness to his expositions which are in marked contrast to the solid and serene humor of his father. The principles of pianoforte style introduced in the sonatas of Ph. Em. Bach mark the beginning of a new era in piano literature. The innovations, dar- ing and reckless as they must have appeared to the scions of the old school, and striking as they are in comparison to the severe style of organ composi- tions of the time, are beginning to show now and then in the works of contemporary writers for the clavier, who have worked energetically, though not with equal success, in the same direction. The great composers of the second period, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, are fully occupied with the further de- velopment of this typical style, while the efforts to formulate the ideas first applied to the sonata move- THE PIANIST S ART. ID/ ment by Scarlatti bring about finally the perfected great art form, the sonata. Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) received a thorough practical education in music as one of the choristers of St. Stephens at Vienna. Engaged as accompanist to one of Porpora's pupils in 1751, he became at- tached to the distinguished singing master and com- poser as " famulus " and remained with him until 1754, and, having great facility in acquisition, picked up much of the master's method of composition. His first symphony was produced in 1760, and as orchestra conductor to Prince Esterhazy (1761-1790) he composed a long line of similar works for orches- tra and ensemble. Two visits to England brought him many honors and pecuniary benefit. Haydn, who seems to have been but an indiffer- ent piano player, began to compose at a time when the clavecin was still a very imperfect instrument, and when Ph. Em. Bach was beginning to become famous, while toward the end of his long career as a composer the piano had arrived at a comparatively high grade of perfection, and piano technic and piano music had developed in an astonishing man- ner. It is a matter of small surprise, therefore, that some of his sonatas show a sort of primitive style, while others are of considerable value and impor- tance; and, since there is no successive opus number, it may be taken for granted that the better works are of later date. Haydn, who is honored with the distinction of being the "father of modern instrumental music," io8 THE PIANIST'S ART. has, during a long lifetime chiefly devoted to or- chestra and ensemble works, composed some thirty sonatas for the piano alone. These sonatas show a marked improvement over those of Ph. Em. Bach, inasmuch as Haydn gives each movement a rounder form ; the motives are carried out with greater con- sequence, the different parts of the movements are clearer defined, the second theme which is wanting in the sonatas of Ph. Em. Bach and in Haydn's very probably due to his early relation to Porpora and his consequent intimate acquaintance with the Ital- ian method of composition is well developed, claims considerable attention and gives the move- ment some dramatic force and musical importance. On the other hand, the number of movements and their co-relation and import are still arbitrary; some sonatas have two, others three movements, as though without pressing reasons one or the other move- ment had been left out. The different movements are not always of the same artistic and musical merit, and few are the sonatas in which the movements appear somewhat evenly graded according to their inner value and to their effect. The melodies are more euphonious and accom- panied at random; two, three, or more parts, some- times in strictly independent development, change from measure to measure; a given number of voices is nowhere carried out, full harmonies in close posi- tion or wide range change with rhythmic or har- monic figuration, and as the musical essence adapts itself more to the peculiar character of the instru- THE PIANISTS ART. IQg ment it gains in expressive power. Though Haydn's ideas are neither of great weight musically nor in expressive quality of great depth and variety, their character, unaffected and of a childlike simplicity, is of a youthful, vigorous spirit which is enhanced by a graceful musical exposition and a genial contrast in the themes. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), born in w. A. Mozart Salzburg, the son of one of the ablest musicians of his time, gave early proof of the most extraordinary gifts, which were developed with loving care. The little genius became known to the musical world in an extended concert tour (1762-1766) and created the greatest enthusiasm everywhere. A prolific com- poser, he published his first sonatas in Paris, 1765, and at the age of twenty had written over two hun- dred compositions, including operas, masses, sym- phonies, quartettes, sonatas and concertos. Mozart, undoubtedly one of the most gifted of our great composers, was of a genial tenderness and nobility of feeling which not only prevailed in his character, but is the dominating essence of his works. Admired and all but spoiled by enthusiastic lovers of art when a precocious child, his matured genius failed to receive the ready recognition, and in the bitter fight for existence this loving disposition and loftiness of character appear to have been the safe- guard of his artistic self. A never failing beauty of sound which seems to penetrate all his harmonious combinations, a refinement in musical characteris- I IO THE PIANIST S ART. tics and a superior power of formation lend a charm to his works which is ever fresh and entrancing. Among his operas, symphonies and quartettes are master works of musical art, works of perennial beauty. Piano literature claims a large number of sonatas, concertos, variations, ensemble and smaller works of indisputable merit. One of the greatest pianists of his time, he was much more qualified to promote the new clavier style than his contempo- rary and friend, Haydn. The grace and elegant ease of his playing is manifest in the brilliant figures in his concertos, which show a rich and varied develop- ment of technic. A refined musical idea prevails in all his works, and as the noble, heart-winning melo- dies gain in importance, the passages become more subordinate, so as to better carry the ideas and to impart their spirit to them. As the piano gains in volume of tone, the melody gains in breadth, the em- bellishments are scarcer and less given to manner- ism; greater clearness and distinction in melody and passages make the construction more interest- ing, and as the different parts assume more definite relation to each other, their meaning is better de- fined. The sonatas are not always of the same perfect type Some of them may have been written for pupils, and the sonatas of later date are certainly maturer than the earlier ones. The number (three) of movements is uniform in the sonatas and concertos. In the con- struction nathing is indistinct or doubtful; each part has its fixed place and is properly carried out, though THE PIANISTS ART. Ill capable of greater development. The first move- ment is more elaborate; the second in form of the " lied," and the last mostly the rondo. As the can- tilene in the middle movement begins to spread itself more, the two other movements assume a more decidedly lively character. In the concertos a general musical idea establishes organic connection between the piano and orchestra, the technical dis- play, more varied and brilliant, seems to carry out the musical spirit without predominating. ' A number of smaller compositions, the gigue, the rondos in A minor and F major, and the fantasies in C minor and C major (with fugue) are of great artistic beauty, and in poetical sentiment, originality of invention and beauty of form, true children of Mozart's genius; as they have retained a certain freshness, even in outward style, they may be found occasionally on the artist's repertoire. The sonatas and concertos, though full of beauty, have been superseded by more elaborate works of the same order, but offer a variety of matter to the student which is of the very highest value. Mozart's great rival at the piano, Muzio dementi M. Clements (1752-1832), the greatest piano virtuoso of his time, 1752 ~ superior in execution and finish, but lacking much of Mozart's genial nobility and grace of expression, is as a composer of sonatas much more prolific than the latter. In his hundred sonatas there is no mate- rial change in the form, but the improvement in the clavier style is very marked, and dementi's influence on the further development of piano music is much 112 THE PIANISTS ART. greater even than Mozart's. A thoroughly systema- tized fingering and wider position of the hand en- abled dementi to play chords and passages which had not been attempted before; greater independ- ence in finger and wrist movement made it easy for him to play thirds, sixths and octaves with great smoothness and rapidity. His sonatas have beauty of form and elegance of style and are pleasing and effective, yet they often make the impression of elegant studies, since he uses them for the display of his new and brilliant passages. His allegro move- ments at least are based on some prominent piano figure, and even the melodious parts serve more as an offset to the passages than as expositions of a musical idea. This gives Clementi's sonatas some- thing dry and pedantic; and even in his adagios, which are at times of remarkable breadth and artistic conception, he never rises to the power of truly poetic expression. Of infinitely greater value than the sonatas is his " Gradus ad Parnassum," a collection of etudes which has no equal in piano literature, and almost rivals in importance Bach's " Well Tempered Clavecin." The experience of a long and very successful career as a virtuoso and teacher enabled him to give to the pianistic world a work which has outlived all the periods of improved piano technic, and is even to-day altogether indispensable to the student. Mozart's beauty of form and refinement in musical characteristics, and Clementi's achievements in the technical development of the clavier style were the THE PIANISTS ART. 113 legacies left to the master spirit whose position in musical art and pid.no literature is the most exalted and indisputable. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770- 1827) not only materially increased the rich variety of dementi's style, he enlarged and perfected the sonata and gave instrumental music the dramatic force, the pathetic and passionate inner power of expression which make it truly the language of emotion. Born in Bonn, December, 1770, where his grand- father was court conductor (176 1-1773) and his father a tenor singer and violinist, he inherited strong musical inclinations, and at an early age developed an easy musical appreciation and technical facility. A steady, systematic education seems not to have been allotted to him, yet under the tuition of several more or less worthy instructors he acquired good facility in piano and violin playing and composition, so that he was appointed assistant court organist in 1783. A visit to Vienna in 1787, which brought him in contact with Mozart, was of short duration, but in 1792 he made his home there to study with Haydn, and later with Albrechtsberger and Salieri. In 1795 he published three piano trios which seem to have been projected already in Bonn and three sonatas, Op. I and 2. These works made him at once the foremost of living composers in these genres, and his superiority <^er similar works of Haydn and Mozart was plainly manifest in the greater pregnancy of his ideas, greater freedom and refinement in artistic formation and an original style 8 I 14 THE PIANIST S ART. in the treatment of the instrument. Each successive year brought new and more important works, which received marked notice glowing praise and highest admiration on the one hand, severe criticism and direct opposition on the other. Beginning about 1798, his hearing became affected, and in spite of every effort the evil continued to grow, so that in course of time he was reduced to total deafness, about 1815. Excluded from the world of sound, he continued to produce works of increasing grandeur and beauty until his death, March, 1827. There is no composer whose works, from first to last, show such marked and steady advance, each far surpassing all similar works of other composers, and only outclassed by his own later efforts in the same direction. With each new work he seems to gain new power, and more and more surprisingly his artistic individuality continues to unfold itself. In his earlier compositions he manifests a perfect harmony in form and material, so that melodious beauty and the meaning and expression are con- gruent. He shows a well pronounced individual- ity, great depth of feeling and a complete mastery of all that is required to bring it out properly; yet with all these strong and original points he finds his example in Mozart, as is clearly seen in his manner and construction. Particularly striking and far in advance of Mozart, so as to seem even in this period of homage to the latter's genius, totally new and original in every way, are the beautiful, large-hearted THE PIANIST'S ART. 115 and dramatic adagios, which, in their touching ex- pressiveness, attain almost "speaking" quality. More and more his marked, strong and exuberant individuality claims prior consideration, and with his third symphony, the "Eroica," arrives a notice- able change; the forms are considerably wider, the ideas gain greater breadth and are saturated with expression, and the treatment is of greater freedom and variety. Not only the striking .beauty and sim- plicity of the melodies and the full assurance of perfect form are to be admired, but the power of in- vention, the subtleness of musical characteristic and a conciseness in the motives, which admits of a sur- prising thematic construction; the musical impulse is deeper and more lasting, and the imagination richer and more daring. With the increasing difficulty in hearing the left ear still retained a- semblance of life, so that loud and distinct speaking had some effect Bee- thoven begins to disregard the taste and liking of the public; more and more he appears to lose con- nection with the world; his inner life seems to be more active, and the strong current of feeling gains in power the more it is withdrawn from outside in- fluence. His ideas seem to be more inspired and replete with feeling "from the heart, and may it touch the heart" in the power and truth of ex- pression they are more touching than those even of the second period, and as though he wished in the sunset of his life to send a friendly greeting to his great compeer. Bach, he cultivates the polyphone n6 THE PIANIST'S ART. and fugue style. To give full and direct expression to his ideas he manifests greater severity and labor in writing, and in increasing subjectivity gives birth to the most beautiful thoughts and an interesting thematic work. The mastery of form is still fresh and appears at times to have grown even stronger than in his period of plastic grace and strength, but the form is less translucent than formerly, and neither form nor idea will unveil its beauty at first sight to the student. Like a prophet, he is far in advance of his time and ever new wonders of the art are re- vealed to those that persistently seek the inner es- sence under the always promising but slowly yield- ing outer shell. The improved technic of dementi broadens the style of Haydn and Mozart; the piano passages become richer and more varied; dementi's wider positions and richer chords, with their full and sat- urated sound, reflect in Beethoven the full import of the inner character; in the thematic work the ideas are brought into ever new connection and juxtapo- sition, so that in increasing intensity they give a more complete significance of expression. Thought and feeling are equally strong and refined, and while the artistic idea is everywhere in harmony with a perfect form, the pregnancy of the idea becomes more and more the moving essence, thematic work gains in refinement, the contours of the different parts and periods are less pronounced than formerly, and the reading becomes more a matter of study. Every one of his works is a new revelation; there is THE PIANISTS ART. II/ no mannerism of any kind, and what can be said of one of his compositions does not fit the other. This incomparable versatility gives Beethoven something sphinx-like, is the prime cause of his all surpassing universality, and makes him the adored of the admirers of perfect form, as well as of those who worship absolute individual freedom in the artist. Beethoven has the most refined and exacting sense of form; wherever in the sensitiveness for unity of character in the whole work and the themes and motives in detail he can not make use of the same pattern, he manifests his extraordinary power of artistic formation in finding the right and fitting outer form for a characteristic idea. Thus the so- natas are not only products of a most unfathomable nature and artistic imagination, but veritable patterns of select form. The power of feeling in its development depends on the consciousness and activity of thought, and music, as the reflex of an emotional life, necessitates an intimate connection of thought and feeling. Musical thought in Beethoven may be said to have its source in emotional life itself, and, completely confined to emotion, it brings in artistic conception the minute changes of feeling and expression. Where thought and feeling in mental training and free imagination are congruent in artistic conception, musical characteristic will be the most perfect; the more varied the emotions and the more they are carried out to a complete exhaustion of feeling, the greater the versatility of character. n8 THE PIANIST'S ART. This power of thought continually engenders new material fitting to the character of the work, the themes and motives in their higher pregnancy re- quire greater scope in elaborate exposition for which the fundamental character of the work light or graceful, proud or daring, of joyous expression, jocose humor or boisterous merriment, tranquil pen- siveness or serene tenderness gives the conditions. To find room for the new material Beethoven cre- ated the characteristic episodes to his principal periods, which, far from obstructing the importance of the latter, help to carry and elevate them as he knows how to subordinate without losing rare mu- sical beauty even for less important parts. Thus the more elaborate part Durchfuehrungs-satz is worked up most effectively in counterpoint and modulation so as to be frequently the culminating point of the whole work. The different movements are extended by one or more additions codas which give the expression a more complete and consummate development, and in this particular Beethoven's greater maturity of artistic instinct is most manifest over his predecessors. The scherzo, which he adds to the sonata as a fourth movement, gives him occasion to spread his burly humor; yet even here he varies the character by always carrying out a different idea from the fantastically serene to the most extravagant. Artistic individuality has perfect freedom even in the number and character of the movements; everywhere the idea is in perfect harmony with the form, so that even his sonatas in THE PIANIST'S ART. iig two movements are, by way of contrast, perfect types of this genre. As was customary with popular composers, and intended, perhaps, as a concession to the large class of amateurs, Beethoven has written a number of variations in the light and graceful style, and in time he developed this form with all the energy of his genial nature. The variation is well fitted for a slow sonata movement whose tendency is always more or less plastic repose and where purely indi- vidual feeling frequently finds expression in the lied or aria. Beethoven's variations develop the express- ive quality of the aria in all its various phases, and, by continued mental examination, the feeling becomes clearer defined, more idealized, and obtains greater power and insistence. The thirty-three vari- ations, on a valse of Diabelli, are the most stupend- ous; the manner in which the composer reconceives the musical and artistic possibilities of the theme (in itself of inferior merit) in ever new form, ideal- izes and changes the expression at every step, shows almost every contingency of refined musical thought and artistic formation, and makes this work, the last for the piano, one of unique and soli- tary grandeur. The concertos present an equally marked devel- opment in form and idea. The first shows much of Mozart's instrumental style, but the grace and beauty of form and originality of invention is as markedly Beethoven's. The second is written much in the same manner, lacking, however, some of the sweet I2O THE PIANISTS ART. grace and winning tenderness of the first. The third in C minor is of much larger mold yet, save for the grand adagio, still in Mozart's spirit. The fourth in G and the fifth in E flat are among the most beauti- ful compositions of the second period. The one of idyllic feminine grace and beauty, the other full of manly power, burly humor and in the adagio of romantic reverie. This last in E flat, commonly named the emperor concerto, marks the culminat- ing point in this class of composition which has never been obtained since. In ensemble music with piano we have a long line of compositions, duos, trios and a quartette, all of which have their own individual character and beauty; their form is like the sonata for piano alone and all that has been said of the sonatas can fitly be repeated here. It is needless to say that here, as in every other genre, he surpassed all his predecessors, and that in some of them he still stands unrivaled to the present day. An ill-regulated education, the absence of loving care on the part of his parents the father was as severe and untrustful as the mother was overindul- gent and incapable laid the foundation to his later unsociable habits and unguarded manner in life. He was genial and of winning personality to his friends, but careless of their good will and affection; witty and humorous, yet always distrustful and in his transactions occasionally not overdelicate; full of his own artistic importance to overbearing, while ruthlessly fault-finding with others. THE PIANISTS ART. 121 Such was his character in real life; yet if artistic personality is the result of man's thinking and feelihg, the outcome of his inner essence, we have a number of characteristic traits which give a picture of the most refined quality. Capable of idealizing all that moved him and of realizing to such perfection the full measure of truth and beauty, he must have lived an inner life which is truly envi- able. In the beauty of form, the most exacting truthfulness of expression and a discrimination even in the smallest details, there is no one superior to him in the whole history of fine arts and letters. The eminently brilliant passages which were a prominent feature in dementi's sonatas made sub- servient to superior musical thought and feeling by Beethoven, so as to form a rich and varied back- ground to musical characteristic were taken up, remodeled and enlarged by a number of excellent pianists and musicians of great fame and ability in their days, whose depth of feeling and power of thought were, however, even less than dementi's equal to the richer display of material. A finished style and well matured expression in playing and good taste and form in writing give as little claim to individual character and the power and beauty of ideal life in music as the observance of the conven- tional rules of good society is a token of man's inner worth and value. The efforts of these men of undeniable talent and great musical respectability, directed mainly to a tasteful display of their pianis- tic ability in beauty of tone, smooth, harmonious 122 THE PIANISTS ART. progressions, pretty melodies and well rounded phrases, lacked not the symmetry of form which could be studied (and if need be copied) in the many beautiful examples, but the corresponding inner essence of thought and feeling. The arrange- ment in proper periods manifests good sense of pro- portion and insures variety, but the inner force which controls this arrangement is not always ap- parent; the phrases are brought in a certain well arranged manner, but the logic, more or less potent, by which each part leads to something that is to follow and by which all the phrases and motives contribute to the general impulse, is wanting, and the connection and relation of parts seems often merely mechanical. Piano music thus lost in beauty of character and expression what it gained in beauty of sound and material display. The greater bulk of' these compositions was written for pupils or, better still, for the market, and although many excellent traits are found in the works of these writers, their importance was a lasting one mostly for their day. Joh. Ludw. Dussek (1761-1812), pupil of Ph. Em. Bach, is a most prolific composer, in whose works expression rises sometimes to passionate outbursts to change again with commonplace phrases and an overcrowded exposition. Aug. Eb. Mueller (1767- 1817) and Ludwig Berger (1777-1839) have left many works, and Ignaz Pleyel (1760-1831), who was a very popular composer. Most of the works of these three writers have altogether disappeared. John Bapt. Cramer (1771-1858) and John Field (1782- THE PIANIST'S ART. 123 1837), the- two famous pupils of Clementi, still hold a respectable place in piano literature; the first in a set of etudes of good technical and musical quality, the latter in a number of smaller compositions nocturnes of great beauty of form and elegance of spirit. Pianists of extraordinary ability, they have written many meritorious sonatas, concertos and a variety of other pieces which are now scarcely known to have existed. Aug. Alex. Klengel (1784-1852), also a pupil of Clementi, devoted his maturer years to the perfec- tion of a work- -little known, yet of rare merit of canons and fugues, similar to Bach's "Well Tem- pered Clavecin." These (48) canons and fugues are of singular beauty in form and counterpoint, music- ally interesting, and in their (modern) spirit original so that they offer valuable material for a sound development in the polyphone and legato style of playing. Joh. Nep. Hummel ( 1778-1837), a pupil of Mozart, shows in his compositions great clearness, correctness and beauty of form fully adequate to his great fame as a classic player, yet he lacks the inner warmth of feeling and matured thought; the fire of genius is wanting to give his works a valuable mu- sical character,~"and* it is for Fhe beautiful technical display mostly that the concertos and the septette retain their artistic value. Of a decidedly higher order are the piano com- positions of C. M. von Weber (1786-1826), whose c. M.von fame in musical art rests on the merit of his operas, iv^-i&k Simplicity and truth of expression with a shade, 124 THE PIANIST'S ART. however, of coquettishness give his melodies a very popular character; graceful nobility seems to come to him in the spirit of romantic chivalry, and the brilliancy of his passages is more dazzling and original than any before his time, dementi not ex- cepted. In the pyrotechnical display a melodious element often appears latent, which gives it an ele- gant musical stability, even to picturesqueness, and the vigor and fire not coming and going in fitful starts seem to be sustained with energetic con- stancy. Alongside of Beethoven's incomparably nobler and purer works, these good traits appear to less advantage in his sonatas and concertos; but in the Concertstueck and a number of smaller works he has furnished the prototype of many a refined composition of the later piano virtuosos. Classical repose in Beethoven's works of the sec- ond period made room for greater subtleness and refinement of expression in his last period; imagina- tion, " which bodies forth the forms of things un- known," begins to hold a more important part, the idea is pursued almost to the utmost limits of thought and feeling, and though losing sometimes in restful beauty, the composer gains in power of ex- pression and subjectivity. The spirit of romance, which in mysterious forebodings seeks conclusion with the preternatural, whose spritelike aspirations find mystic voices in the whispering winds, murmur- ing waves and rolling thunder, begins to fill musical form. Inciting the feeling and imagination without giving a definite expression to the one or a distinct THE PIANISTS ART. . 125 idea to the other, these forms are filled with terror and fear, grief and sorrow, longing and dreaming, joy and gladness; and the indistinct, nebulous and indefinable finds occasion for new revelry in sound. The adagio of Bach'%Italian concerto and his chromatic fantasie are full of romantic spirit. Beethoven, in the first movement of the so-called Moonlight sonata, and more or less in all his slow movements, is given to romantic reverie; but what heretofore appeared occasionally as a greater ex- uberance of feeling bent on more conclusive expres- sion, now rises to greater importance and becomes a prominent characteristic feature in musical art. Franz Schubert (1797-1828), the son of a school Fr Schubert teacher in a suburb of Vienna, brings in the genial 1797-1&28- facility of conception, an almost sententious method of expression and an ever increasing conciseness of form lyric individuality of feeling to the most com- plete expression in the "lied," and is alongside of the classic composers, the most pronounced repre- sentative of the romantic school. His earliest com- positions, written when he was barely thirteen years old, are full of preternatural imaginings, and the al- most unparalleled productivity in a short period of seventeen years is hardly more astonishing than the exuberant fantasie and wonderful artistic sensi- tiveness which found for every mood the most plas- tic expression, exhausting the feeling in every shade and detail. Schubert's sonatas and the two fantasies are on the average not as perfect in form and fijiish as his 126 THE PIANIST'S ART. songs. The incessantly forking imagination and the lyric essence of his artistic nature do not always reach the concentration in the material which is desirable in the larger forms, and the dialectic ex- position of the classic composers is often wanting; the different movements are frequently too long, so that where in the rich power of his fancy he does not find the right limit, the effect of the whole work is considerably weakened. Critical observation and continued detailed examination which insure a well matured balance in the proportions, and thorough musical training in thematic work and counterpoint are not the strong point, yet the details are full of beauty, a sensuous freshness prevails which keeps the player spellbound while the hearer, who is im- pressed by the effect of the entire work, misses the contrast of the themes, their opposition and the con- sequent dramatic impulse in the movement. The blending of joyfully rising, almost excessive vigor with the increased intensity of tenderest emotions, the passages full of heavenly song, the fresh humor and the interesting, sometimes piquant rhythms pass by as so many beautiful images one more enticing than the other, like fairy stories growing out of the very nature of the instrument and in their fullness of saturated sound a very Lethe for individual moods. In ensemble music two trios and a quintette with piano Schubert unquestionably ranks higher than in the sonatas for piano alone. The thematic work is not of the vigorous classical type, and. the THE PIANIST'S ART. 127 composer loses himself at times in his "heavenly lengths," but an almost individual impulse seems to be imparted to the different instruments which car- ries the movement along more satisfactorily. In his smaller compositions Schubert rises to the full importance of form and expression. The magic spell of an absolute beauty of sound in itself of romantic essence in the refined and original com- binations full of playfully tender, dreamy or happy revelry finds a fitter place in the narrow form. The "Momens musicales" and impromptus are tone pictures of unrivaled beauty, full of character and poetic sentiment and in this form the forerunners of the later "songs without words" and the character- istic pieces. In the valses, Laendler, the polonaises and marches for four hands heretofore scarcely more than popular dance forms he shows such characteristic refinement in melody, such variety of rhythm and withal such healthy sense of enjoy- ment and sweetly alluring, interesting moods that in their greater variety of expression and their higher aims they must now be recognized as typical art forms. Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847), re- Mendelssohn ceived a most careful musical education, and what- 180<J - 1817 - ever could benefit the general development of his rare talents was brought to bear on his susceptible nature. By a remarkable ability as conductor and pianist, by superior refinement in taste and the genial influence of his personality, which he freely and unselfishly used in the service of musical art, he 128 THE PIANIST'S ART. gained easily the first place among contemporary musicians. After a prolonged visit to Italy and England he located in Dusseldorf, 1832, became the conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus concerts in 1835 an d founded the conservatory in 1843. A most detailed and careful musical training, based on the classic principles of Bach, Haendel and Beethoven, gave him a technic in composition, which results in superior clearness and elegance of form. Though he does not introduce an essentially new element in musical art, his extraordinary insight and circumspection develop some of the latent features in an ostensible manner. Weber's operas, with their world of romantic fancy, gave rise to a host of cap- ering, frisking genii in the provokingly romping, frolicsome effervescence of the music to "A Mid- summer Night's Dream" and the scherzos and rondos for piano. New and original, strange and yet so catching and winning is Mendelssohn in this genre, that one almost feels the presence of these beings of elfish lightness and is eager to join them. In his songs without words he attains a genial warmth in melodious form which, though not so expressive and touching as Schubert's, is of great artistic merit and nobility of human sentiment. With all this he develops a peculiarity of style in his piano compo- sitions which, though it appears in ever new and novel form, gives them an outward character which at times almost touches mannerism, and can be traced throughout. The songs without words have always been a vade- THE PIANISTS ART. I2Q mecum with the better class of amateurs; of his other works for piano solo, the concertos and rondo with orchestra and the ensemble works with piano, it may be sufficient to say that they are manifesta- tions of an amiable individuality, which at a very early age attained a surprising artistic perfection, but does not reach a higher potentiality in the later works. Friedrich Kalkbrenner (1788-1849) lacks depth, but his compositions are well finished and pleasing. Ignaz Moscheles (1794-1870) and Ferdinand Hiller (1811-1881) do not obtain in their compositions a uniform excellence, but Moscheles has studies and concertos of good musical quality, while Hiller, besides concertos and ensemble music, has written very interesting character pieces. The most pro- nounced representative of the light virtuoso type, Sigismund Thalberg (1812-1871), a pianist of mar- velous lightness and elegance, developed certain effects in piano playing to the detriment of musical qualities in composition. Though there is a well- bred fluency and equality in his passages, their more or less trivial elegance of manner owed much of its charm to the pretty operatic melodies which are the mainstay of his fantasies. His " Art du Chant" Op. 70, however, offers very desirable mate- rial for study in touch and the use of the pedal, in both of which Thalberg must be considered a great master. Robert Schumann (1810-1856) born in Zwickau, the son of a publisher and bookseller from whom he 9 I3O THE PIANISTS ART. inherited great love for the belles Icttres and art. In connection with other studies, musical education was carried on leisurely and, though remarkable talent was noticeable, little effort seems to have been made to insure an early and careful development. Literature of the romantic school and particularly Jean Paul (the master in all tender effusions, of an exuberance of feeling which continually alternates in tears of joy and sorrow, fantastically playing with romantic shadows without the power of artistic shapeliness) are his daily food; and even after he attends the university, ostensibly to study law, he "works much in private; i. e., at the piano and writes Jean Pauliades." Thus he spends his years at the universities in Leipzig and Heidelberg practicing at the piano all the morning and "enjoying musical evenings with his friends," whom he often astonishes by his powers of improvisation. Finally, in 1830, he takes up music in earnest, studies with Friedrich Wieck in Leipzig but with such energy and withal such impatience and imprudence that in the course of the year his right hand becomes affected and the fourth finger, in spite of medical treatment, remains lame. Debarred from the pursuit of mechanical work, he begins 1831 to study composition with Heinrich Dorn, and again labors with constant energy, though without system, probably in consequence of the high pressure of artistic impetuosity. His early literary inclinations and the desire to exert his influence for the improvement of musical matters (which had become sadly deteriorated as an THE PIANISTS ART 13! art in the fashionable display of the small virtuosos, and seemed almost overcrowded by the worthless jingle of such writers as Herzand Huenten) induced him in 1834 to begin a "New Journal for Music." Schumann's tersely written aphorisms, the novelty of his style and the poetical coloring of his articles soon made themselves felt. And in thus forcing himself out of a dreamy visionary vegetation into the midst of musical life, he gained many an impulse for his artistic self, which lurks in most of his ear- lier compositions. The Davidsbuendler, a fictitious society of Schu- mann's invention which included the co-workers of his paper and many musicians, perhaps personally unknown to him but valued by him for their thor- oughly upright musical qualities, was of great power both in his literary efforts and in his compositions. How closely interwoven his work is in both direc- tions, and how clearly individual both the literary and musical effusions are, is proved by the wholly imaginary representation of Schumann's artistic individuality in either of them by the three char- acters, Florestan, Eusebius and Master Raro; the irrepressible, rash and headlong Florestan; Euse- bius, tender, susceptible and dreaming, and that per- sonification of his own maturerself which was to be, Master Raro, to whose superior judgment all dis- putes on artistic merit were submitted. Hand in hand with this literary work Schumann enjoys the most vigorous period of composition. Rapturous juvenile moods, humorous and merry quibs 132 THE PIANISTS ART. and an often ecstatic depth of sentiment pass by with unimpaired freshness, and his many-sided ideal life gains a force of dramatic impulse which claims attention and forces the player to individual thought and consideration. With almost second sight he enters the remotest depth of feeling to find the tcn- derest, luscious expression. He composes only for the piano, and these works are so "claviermaessig" in their conception that he seems to have almost drawn them from the instrument; his mode of treat- ment is perfectly new and original in the quasi orchestral polyphony, in the use of the pedal and wide harmonies; the indiscriminate use of both hands for every purpose in crossing and interlocking or in melody or accompaniment, give him a great variety of new effects. His technic is markedly different from others, and the difficulties that are found are hardly of a merely mechanical kind, since they are the very embodiment of the musical idea. The smaller forms of the lied or dance carry his ideas most delightfully, and many of these musical tid- bits are joined into larger forms; the variety which he develops and the marked characteristics prove ever and anon his creative power. The sudden impulse of a spontaneous outburst gives them a bewitching freshness and causefulness which seem always incidental. Large and well developed melodies arc scarce in these early works, but the logic of the ideas is con- clusive and unyielding, and the very conciseness of the melodic form causes a superabundance of frag- THE PIANIST'S ART. 133 mentary phrases full of life and meaning, thus giv- ing a spring-like pressing and budding to" the idea which in its very essence and make-up is full -of romantic spirit. A soulful, enraptured feeling and a fantastic, dreamy spirit are mated to a healthy, vig- orous artlessness and sincerity of purpose, which often insures a markedly popular character; playful humor is constantly alive and gives the artistic indi- viduality greater power and freedom of expression. Harmony, rhythm and melody are one and all true types of Schumann's character. Polyphonic writing appears frequently; the counterpoint is mostly of the budding, presentient kind, so that harmony becomes in truth a moving essence. Rhythmical formation sometimes modeled after the more refined of the Greek meters adds its charm and produces many novel effects, yet lacks the clearness and force of the classic composers; the less orderly essence of the syncope and negative accents becomes at times too prominent for greater precision. The smaller forms in the Papillons, Davids- buendler, Carnaval, etc., have no organic connec- tion (save in individual moods of the writer or in the incidents of his daily life) but one and all are of the same poetical impulse which rushes onward to the inevitable climax. Many of the superscriptions to the pieces as, " Glueckes Genug," Verrufene Stelle, im Walde, etc., are well calculated to fix the indefi- nite spirit of romantic dreaminess to a distinct idea, though it can hardly be said that the words are necessary to explain the meaning of the music. 134 TEE PIANIST'S ART. In the Variations Schumann uses the form with greater freedom than had been done heretofore, but with a superior lavishness of feeling and vital energy. The first (op. I) shows some of Moscheles' technic, and the Impromptus (op. 5) are fashioned after the manner of Beethoven's Eroica variations over a fun- damental bass, whilethe Symphonic Etudes in form of variations are on the largest scale, and insure him a place among the foremost composers for the piano; the form is here treated with the most genial audacity, and the technic necessary for the express- ion of the exuberant flow of ideas is reinforced to the utmost limits of true bravura style. That Schumann was not inconsiderate of technical de- velopment is apparent in his version of the Paganini Etudes and the " Toccata." The power of shaping his ideas to the require- ments of larger forms seems to grow on him in course of time. He is most lavish in beautiful ideas in his first two sonatas, and considerable improve- ment in the adjustment and congruency of form and idea must be admitted in his third sonata (op. 22) over the two previous ones; still he fails to obtain unity of form at least in the allegro movements. The Fantasie, op. 17, is of these larger works the more unique and satisfactory, carrying out its poetic sentiment in the loosely connected fantastic pictures of the first movement, the triumphant march and the dreamy restfulness of the third movement. Upon his marriage to Clara Wieck follows a time of glorious song; with his usual ardor and impetu- THE PIANISTS ART. 135 osity he composes over 100 lieder in the same year, and when he returns to the large form in his first symphony there is an unmistakable clearness of purpose and maturity of power. The impassionate earlier impulse seems somewhat quieter, the work shows greater consistency; feeling, imagination and artistic judgment of the proper form are more evenly balanced, while the perennial bloom and freshness of his earlier days seem at times unabated. The Quintett (op. 44) with piano, in the resplendent originality of invention, beauty of sound, the well balanced proportions, and most of all in the reiterated climax, is one of the master-works of ensemble music; the Quartett (op. 47) is almost equal to it save for the impassioned power of in- spiration; the Trios in D minor and F major are of high merit though hardly to be ranked with the two other works (op. 44 and 47). The Concerto in A minor is undoubtedly one of Schumann's noblest works in its true musical qualities, and in the happy organic connection of piano and orchestra equal to the great concertos of Beethoven. Schumann's personal appearance made the im- pression of a healthy, vigorous constitution, but his' nervous system was easily affected, a morbid tension of his feelings became stronger with his years, and the inclination to follow out unhappy moods seemed to grow on him. Dark presentiments filled his mind, and strong emotions would bring on deathly apathy followed by days of deep depression. The power of a naturally strong constitution and youth- 136 THE PIANIST'S ART. ful energy would for a time gain the upper hand and restore him to his own self, but every mental over- taxation would scatter the nervous system anew. A habitual shyness, which had kept him under con- tinual restraint in his intercourse with the world at large, may have been aggravated by uninterrupted musing and pondering; unpleasant occurrences of his daily life may have exercised a baneful influence; as it is, his later works often show again the aphor- istic form of the first period, but the fresh vigorous rhythm of yore seems to lack repose, and the former popular vein in melodious form gives way to in- creased moodiness, which often results in a darksome ( passionate coloring. In one of his moments of deepest depression Schumann left his house in Duesseldorf fishermen rescued him from the waters of the Rhine, and with all the symptoms of mental derangement he passed the next two years in a private asylum near Bonn, where he died, in 1856. Adolph Henselt (1814-1885), one of the great pianists of later times, has written two sets of etudes which are considered by many of the highest value, a concerto of great technical difficulty, ensemble music and character pieces. His works have un- doubtedly considerable influence on the develop- ment of modern piano technic, and his character pieces are, in the originality of style, depth of feel- ing and careful adjustment worthy of high consid- eration. Theodor Doehler (1814-1856), a pianist of elegance and taste, writes pieces in the light genre THE PIANISTS ART. 137 which are melodious and showy. Alexander Dry- schock (1818-1869), celebrated for a finished execu- tion, has left piano works which are especially cal- culated for brilliant playing. Henry Litolff (1818- 1892), highly gifted as pianist and composer, leaves a great number of works of very uneven merit. William Sterndale Bennett (1816-1875), friend of Mendelssohn and in his works not unlike the latter, is given more to a gentle sentimentality than manly energy. Niles W. Gade (1817-1891), also largely in- fluenced by Mendelssohn in his style of composition, shows marked individuality of invention and a color- ing in melody and harmony, which gives his works (mostly ensemble) frequently the freshness and fragrance of national character. Stephen Heller (1815-1888) makes in his compositions the impres- sion of a well balanced individuality, and shows in rhythm, melody and harmony poetic essence and romantic spirit. One of the most fascinating individualities in musical art appears Frederic Chopin (1809-1849), a native of Poland. Born near Warsaw, where his father, a French gentleman from Nancy (married to a Polish lady), held a professorship at the Lyceum, he was brought up in a refined literary atmosphere, and his musical education was carefully looked after. A prolific power of improvisation and mimicry were noticeable in him in early boyhood and in later years he often made use of the latter for the amusement of his friends. A short concert tour to Vienna (1829) served largely to increase his artistic self-esteem, 138 THE PIANIST'S ART. and 1831 he left Warsaw for Paris, where he found his second home. Unlike other composers, Chopin gives in his works no trace of any development in style or char- acter; with the exception of some reminiscences of Hummel's technic in the first Rondo, there is no in- fluence of any kind manifest; fully developed, this musical genius enters the artistic world at an age which seems to put even Mendelssohn's early pre- cocity into the shade. When twenty years of age he had played his E minor Concerto on several occa- sions, and in 1830 he played his second Concerto in F minor (op. 21); presumably all the previous works had been finished before that time and, if we con- sider that he had written altogether some 70 works, all of which he perfected and polished most care- fully, we may rightly estimate that he had hardly entered his teens when he wrote the first Rondo. More astonishing than such premature development is the fact that Chopin has hardly written a musical phrase which is not altogether his own, and that everywhere he manifests the most scrupulous nicety in form and idea; only in his last works a notice- able decrease in artistic power is apparent in the lack of clearness and roundness of form. In all his works of whatever nature and form, Chopin is most markedly original; a veritable magician of inimi- table grace and nobility of expression, with a sweet, attractive grace and gentleness of nature, and a mild sadness in his dreamy reverie which is as bewitching THE PIANISTS ART. 139 as his passionate, forceful and wildly impetuous energy is inspiring. Limited in his creative power, though by choice only, to the piano, he appears totally one sided in comparison to the number of great composers whose productions, embracing almost every known variety of art form, firmly establish their claim to musical glory; yet in his narrow sphere he unfolds a truly masterful, rich and exuberant individuality. The wealth and truth of his ideas find utterance in a lan- guage which is subject to the syntactic rules of mu- sical form only in the widest and most universal sense. The symmetry of artistic formation which gives inner connection and co-relation to ideas, so that their affinity becomes clearly apparent, and the grouping of parts, which defines their impulse in the whole work, are often lacking; the whole inner organism is peculiar and extraordinary; harmony, melody and rhythm are of small import as factors in musical con- struction, but, as the master's power wills and occa- sion requires, they give greater insistence to the flow of ideas, which passes by as in a succession of fanci- ful picture-stories. His conception of tonality is often vague and undecided; the different intervals in the harmonies are so circumscribed that the im- port of their tonal character is frequently lost, and a harmonious construction is developed by enharmonic changes and chromatic alterations which are thor- oughly capricious, albeit extremely sensitive. Re- plete with all the siren-like beauty of sound, this fantastic exposition fills the hearer with a languid I4O THE PIAN'IST'S ART. sensibility which, though always latent, never assumes definite shape. Of similar character with his har- monious structure are the melodic and rhythmic forms which it engenders. Melody, with the stately breadth and power of a beautiful cantilene, suddenly assumes the character of a recitative, or continues in wonderfully arabesqued ornaments; rhythm, now moving complacently with quiet composure, brings new expression, and changes character almost from measure to measure. Rhythmical symmetry is thus continually broken in upon, and, while artistic repose is sometimes impaired, the composition gains in strength of coloring and temperament. In a thousand different ways he revels in roman- tic visions, and loses himself in lingering languish- ment until sadness and gloom deepened to despond- ency seem to abandon every effort; but when with full assurance of his power he strides along in the splendor of martial rhythm, when positive harmoni- ous construction moves with almost crushing force, as though despair impelled to sterner action, he creates an impression of. heroic strength and calm energy which is truly imposing and overwhelming. But his heroism lacks the power of endurance; we miss the crowning triumph; the silvery notes of a lightly fleeting mazurcck whimsically take its place, or darkness and gloom gather anew oppres- sively. Thus in ever changing variety moves the dreamy substance of his poetic spirit now with grave formality, now rapt in ecstatic visions of in- nermost fancy, and in all the grace and splendor, THE PIANISTS ART. 14! mirth and humor, pride or defiance, he is shrouded in melancholy sadness as though overshadowed by impending doom. This ideal life of Chopin's bright visions and de- lusive fantasms has no touch of nature, no refresh- ing breeze is astir in sunny plains; its very source is the refinement of high-bred society, the grateful fra- grance of the boudoir, the festive array of brilliantly illumined scenes. With the full assurance of inner merit, even in outer appearance, aristocratic ele- gance guides the depth and novelty of feeling, and obtains an expression of such sweet, melodious sound and sonorous dignity, that the qualifications of the instrument seem materially improved. With this increased power of utterance in the beauty and variety of new combinations, a new world of sound seems to arise in the wider chords and arpeggios and the groups of ornaments rising and sinking like cascades of pearls in fermenting foam. Chopin's organism was naturally refined, his con- stitution, though wanting in physical strength, not unhealthy, a nervous irritability increased in later years often to gloominess through distress of mind and violent nervous agitation, but his imagination had a healthy glow and his emotion was all-power- ful. What wonder that in such contrast of mental vigor and bodily infirmity his very pa. c sion should be replete with feminine indulgence, his energy void of manly strength, and his very humor veiled in sad- ness. It is certainly a triumph of his artistic poten- tiality, and 'shows the power of his creative genius, 142 THE PIANIST S ART. that in this often inartistic weakness of feeling and the sudden extravagance of his moods he finds the fitting form which makes us overlook the cause in the beauty of the work. A consequent syntactic exposition of contrast- ing motives is often deficient in Chopin's art; and all the works (the concertos, sonatas and the few ensemble works), where the larger form makes the dramatic impulse of thematic work desirable, are in their inner nature as works of art less satis- factory. In the concertos the inner connection of the piano and orchestra is altogether wanting, and beautiful in its conception and the artistic repose as is the orchestral introduction to the E minor Con- certo, it only opens a series of episodes of wonder- ful poetic depth and refinement for the solo instru- ment, which could as well miss the orchestral back- ground. Even more replete with poetic essence is the second Concerto, in F minor, in the romantic sonority of the first movement and the inspired rev- erie of the Larghetto, while the light, fleeting, ex- tremely graceful Mazurka lacks the force and dash of a fit climax. The sonatas (op. 35 and 58) so- natas in outer appearance are full of the fantastic- ally capricious and impassionatc spirit of the master; with the subtleness of cunning the poetical idea is realized in the sonata in B flat minor, while the so- nata in B minor in passionate coloring of the ma- terial display and great impulse in the last movement is the more effective for concert purposes. It is in the smaller forms of the dance, and in the THE PIANIST'S ART. 143 nocturnes especially, that Chopin stands unrivalled in all the beauty of poetic conception and a pictur- esque, fantastic realization of his dreams. He dances with his whole soul, and with him the spirit of his people; in fanciful stories passes the romance of Polish life in all its pristine glory and recent destiny. The delightfully humorous, melancholy and quizzical chit-chat of the mazurkas tells of re- quited affection, secret love, longing desire, tender abandon and lofty passion, and finds no end of sadly sweet enigmas. The valses are full of the spirit of enjoyment, and a merry throng enlivens the festive scenes; but the polonaises disclose all the ancestral pride and innate grace of his ill-starred nation, with a wealth and depth of feeling and expression that seem to speak wild energy and bold defiance in the roll of drums, and the call of trumpets; in the^ measured step of marching hosts and the trot of charging horse; in the clash of arms and the rush of battle; in the passionate lament of tearful wail- ing and the manly sternness of mourning heroes. All the power of song, lavishly ornamented with the fantastic bric-a-brac of interwoven fiorituri, scintillating like the silvery rays of a starlit night, bursts forth in the nocturnes like a breath of heav- enly inspiration. The elegant finery of the im- promptus; the bolero, picture of southern passion and languor; the whirlwind of the tarantelle; the breadth and fiery impulse of the fantasie; the idyllic charm of the barcarolle, and that sweetest of all musical fantasms, the berceuse all show the 144 THE PIANISTS ART. subtle refinement of the Polish tone poet, and his ballades and scherzos are striking innovations on the old forms, of great diversity of character and ' dramatic force. The preludes, sketches in all the resplendent variety of Chopin's style, admirable miniature por- traits of his ideal character, deserve with the Chopin student a prominent place; and the etudes, full of the most excellent technical and musical material for the thorough and complete mastery of the modern piano, will always insure their composer a place in the front rank of piano literature even with those that fail to recognize the full import of his artistic mission in his other works. The central figure in the musical life of the nine- F STi-M86. zt teenth century is Franz Liszt (1811-1886), the greatest master of pianistic art, whose influence in musical matters for a number of decades was the most remarkable, steadily maintained in his per- sonal magnetism, in his phenomenal executive ability, in his essays on musical subjects, in the notable compositions in the various branches of musical art, in the pianoforte transcriptions and the long list of famous pupils, artists and rising com- posers whom he befriended and brought into prom- inent notice for art's sake. Liszt was born in Raiding, Hungary. His father, a good amateur and musical enthusiast, developed his talents, so that when nine years old he played a concerto by Ries in Oedenburg. Materially assisted by wealthy admirers of his great promise, he pur- THE PIANISTS ART. 145 sued his studies in Vienna under Czerny and Salieri and, after 1823, in Paris under Reicha and Paer. Various concert tours were finally interrupted by the father's death, in 1827, and for some years he seems to have been occupied with teaching and literary work, eking out a livelihood in Paris. The new social and religious ideas fermenting in the revolutionary elements of the times found in him an enthusiastic supporter; sounder principles, how- ever, prevailed, and in course of time he enjoyed the friendship of such men as Lamartine, Heine, Meyerbeer and Chopin. When Paganini appeared in Paris (1831) in the height of success surpassing all previous virtuoso displays, Liszt's fiery nature, thoroughly roused again, concentrated its efforts to the piano, and within a few years a series of works appeared of the most gigantic pianistic aspirations. Thalberg's success in Paris (1835) again brought Liszt to the front in the concert room, and for a number of years (1837-1849) he scored a series of unheard-of triumphs in almost every country and city of Europe. In the last named year he took up his abode in Weimar, where for twelve successive years he conducted the court concerts and operas, com- posing and teaching. After 1861 he lived partly in Rome, where he took church orders, known there- after as Abbe Liszt, partly in Pesth as director of the Hungarian Musical Academy, and in Weimar, where a large and select circle of friends and pupils surrounded him. A great pianist, composer, conductor, teacher, 10 146 THE PIANIST'S ART. \vriter on musical subjects and promoter of art for art's sake, Liszt was one of the most remarkable men of the times. As pianist he has been styled the matchless, the " only " Liszt in the use of the in- strument which excelled all previous efforts of vir- tuosos in brilliancy and dash of execution, astonish- ing power and qualification of touch and great in- tensity of feeling, but far more so in the truthfully characteristic rendition of the master works of piano literature. As a composer, in his piano works, in his orchestral arrangements and symphonic poems, his songs, the masses and oratorios, he covers every branch, almost, of musical art. As conductor he ele- vated the musical standard at Weimar by many a superior artistic performance of old and new works; as a teacher his influence on nearly all the notable great musicians and artists of the day is undeniable; his essays on musical subjects are of the highest value, and his memory will be dear to all that be- lieve in the progressiveness of music as an art. Liszt's piano works are exceedingly numerous and of great variety and may be class! fied as fantasies, studies, transcriptions, arrangements and original works and it admits of small doubt that most of them w r ere finished either before or during the years of his pianistic triumphs and that comparatively few additions to the list of piano works were made in the later years, which were devoted chiefly to or- chestral works, songs, masses and oratorios. Written under the high pressure of youthful enthusiasm and with the express purpose of showing his pianistic THE PIANISTS ART. 147 ability, these works necessarily vie with similar pro- ductions of the day. The fantasies on operatic airs or classic themes offer slight occasion for the dis- play of individual ideas, yet, in the arrangement and fabric of his own, he manifests his superiority over the more conventional, pattern-like fantasies of Thalberg and others. The Robert and the Don Juan fantasies are the most satisfactory in their mu- sical make-up and especially the latter, a work of the most brilliant display. The Paganini studies are proof of the marked impression make by the novelty of style and execu- tion in the dark Southerner's caprices, and show the playful ease with which Liszt enhances the technical difficulties and adapts them to the character of the piano. The systematic development of difficul- ties in execution in his " Etudes d'execution trans- cendentale " evinces a technical mastery and knowl- edge of the possibilities of the instrument that gives his style all the. material advantages of Chopin's aerial facility and grace and Schumann's orchestral polyphony. Yet, while Chopin's etherial wellsprings rise and sink in pearly showers with a genuine art- lessness, void of method in their genial spontaneity, Liszt's pyrotechnical display takes a well arranged and systematically developed flight and his orche - tral polyphony lacks Schumann's harmonic and rhythmical fermentation. The complete mastery of the piano, the consum- mate knowledge of all its possibilities and the mas- ter's discriminating powers as illustrated in his 148 THE PIANIST'S ART. transcriptions of a host of beautiful songs must be admired in the truth and simplicity of their repro- duction. The arrangement of a number qf overtures, organ fugues and fantasies of Bach for concert pur- poses, and the symphonies of Beethoven make a valuable addition to piano literature. In his original works some written for display and very effec- tive: the two concertos, the polonaises, tarantellas, legendes, nocturnes and the galop chromatique others reflecting more strongly the qualities of his inner life: the Consolations, Harmonies, Annees de Pelerinage and a sonata in B minor Liszt does not obtain a uniform artistic and musical merit; the works are full of a certain material magnetism in their sonorous quality, of a make-up that is often sober and unimpassioned, yet where the laborious effort of compiling for artificial effect is unobtrusive, a noble ideal life engenders occasionally passages of transcendental beauty. In his fifteen Hungarian rhapsodies to which seven more were added later of more indifferent quality Liszt, following the precedent of Chopin National introduced an element distinctly national in rhythm > Element. anc j me l o dy, an element which was destined to be- come a prominent feature in the further develop- ment of instrumental music. Sarabande, allcmande, gavotte, gigue and other dances, utilized in early days in the suite, w r ere in name and movement of national origin, being respectively Spanish, German, French and English dance measures. Idealized in the suites they became to an extent individualized THE PIANISTS ART. I4Q by the various composers as the valses and laendler were, in virtue of greater expre:sive quality in melody and rhythm, elevated by Schubert to an ar- tistic standard and endowed with his own youthful individuality. Under different climatic influences, unequal conditions of existence and unequal fortunes, the various nations assumed a different tenor of thought and feeling strongly pronounced in their domestic habits and social customs, which developed marked characteristic traits in their folk songs and dances. The melodies of the southern people, living under a serene sky, with scanty care of existence, show the marked enjoyment of a sensuous beauty of sound; the northern nations, surrounded by darker prospects, toiling from day to day, always hopeful, yet scarcely sure of the morrow, sing in grave and somber strains, sadly longing and touching evert their har- monious essence shows an instinctive drifting into the more plaintive minor mode. Whatever strongly moves the heart bursts forth in song spontaneously, with no other rule and order than what natural instinct suggests; and folk songs are the almost unintentional outgrowth of human feelings which seek expression where language begins to fail. As the nations by commercial and political inter- course acquire some degree of culture and improve- ment, their instincts become more refined and by a certain discipline in mental training even artistic; and their songs, though still developed instinctively, reflect their improved taste. 150 THE PIANIST'S ART. The free reproduction of an ideal beauty in music as an art is accomplished according to strict artistic rules, and requires a certain degree of symmetry and perfection in the work which fashions, forms and co-ordinates the material. The material may reflect a certain character, may represent to the imagination the various phases and aspects of life as it left its impress on the different people, and as it appears in their national songs and dances. These more or less natural and inartistic melodies, with their quaint rhythm and distinctive harmonies, in themselves, in musical art somewhat heteroge- neous elements, must be refined and purified to be- come proper constituents and components in a work of art, and the more this material, in the process of preparation, loses the outer peculiarities and the more it reflects the inner character of the national idiom, the more valuable will it become in musical art. Chopin in his polonaises and mazurkas reflects all the noble pride and elegant grace of his people and shrouds the poetic essence of all his works in a touching, dreamy sadness which seems to be born in the sad fate of the heroic but ill-starred Polish nation. So Schumann in his burly humor, his depth of sentiment, his dreamy reverie and the force and logic of his ideas is as thoroughly German, as Chopin is Polish. The heart-broken lament, the wildly joy- ous shouts of the melodies of the Puszta, the strik- ing rhythmic peculiarities give Liszt's Hungarian rhapsodies a distinctly national coloring (which THE PIANISTS ART. 15! can not be traced in his other works) and the brill- iant make-up of the loosely jointed melodies and the dash and force suitable for forensic display make them dear alike to pianists and public. The French composers show a genial audacity in rhythmic refinement which frequently verges on the extravagant and loses itself in brilliant common- place phrases lacking alike feeling or sentiments; the works of the later French composers for this reason often make the impression of an ostentatious finery without character, and the composers them- selves are, as a rule, hardly above mediocrity. The piano works of N. H. Reber, C. Stamati, George Mathias, Chas. H. Alkan the last a composer of high aspirations, whose works are very difficult, but have a tawdry character even to eccentricity are but little known. Saint-Saens, the most prominent of the French piano composers, has a very thorough knowledge of and deep admiration for Bach, to which commendable inclination much of the higher musical quality in his works may be attributable; three concertos, several ensemble works, solos and transcriptions from Bach are well known, besides a number of larger works for orchestra, chorus, and several operas. The Scandinavian folk songs and dances became known to the musical world in the early part of this century. The Norwegian national airs seem to reflect the grandeur and gloom of rugged mountain scenery with a mysterious depth of sentiment and a strong and vigorous fantasie as befits people who believe in 152 THE PIANIST'S ART. manly courage and valiant deeds. Tender emotions are rarer, and in the melodies that speak of longing desire and heartsore affliction there is no affectation of any kind; their strains give vent to a wealth of suffering in a sonorousness which is always veiled in darkness, and requires a pathetic and declamatory rendition. The spring dances have a capricious, fantastic character full of freshly gushing power of life; their rhythms often move with a quick impulse and suddenly arrested motion. The Swedish and Danish melodies are of a softer tone and romantic character; their form often shows great artistic re- finement. This powerful new element has been introduced in musical art and can be traced in the compositions of N. W. Gade, L. Norman, E. Hartman, Ed. Neu- pert, Halfdan Kjerulf ( 1818-1870) and Edvard Grieg (1843-). The compositions of the last two have a very pronounced Norse character; Grieg's piano works more widely known, are a concerto, sonata, ensemble and smaller works. A neo-Russian school of composers, much influ- enced by the German models, has taken up the spirit of the Slavonic folk-songs and dances and has thus given a powerful impetus to instrumental music. The Russian national airs are exceedingly numerous and very varied in character. The slower airs, in the minor mode, have sometimes remarkable har- monious beauty, are of a somber, melancholy char- acter, very pathetic and of an indescribably touch- ing sentiment which seldom takes on a lighter tinge; THE PIANISTS ART. 153 those in a major key are generally lively, as though intended for dances, and of a sweet, winning charm. The harmonious melodies of more pronounced mu- sical tendency often end their phrases with character- istic long cadences, show marked dissonances and a shortening of the first and lengthening of the second beat, which causes a sort of halting and dragging in the rhythmical construction. These characteristics have more or less success- fully been reproduced in a number of works operas, oratorios, symphonies, etc. This element can also largely be traced in the piano compositions of M. Glinka (1803-1857; small character pieces), Rimsky- Korsakoff (1844 I chamber music and shorter works), Cesar Cui (suite and smaller works), Ana- tole Liadoff (etudes, etc.), Mili Balakirew, (scherzo, fantasie, etc.), Anton Rubinstein (in some of his works) and Peter I. Tschaikowsky (1840 ), who is the most prominent Russian composer of the day, remarkable through his fire, depth of feeling and spontaneity, which is evident in his concertos, so- natas, ensemble works and character pieces. The Bohemians (another branch of the Slavonic race which for ages has bsen well reputed for its musical inclinations), have come into prominence more recently. The strains which were sung by the Hussites in their grim wars are of a most vigorous characteristic rhythm, a darkly determined express- ion glowing with ardent zeal, full of manly energy and martial spirit. Their strict morals and deep re- ligious feeling have left their impress on their hymns 154 THE PIANISTS ART. which have an inspired expression and great beauty of form; others of their national airs are of infinite tenderness, quaint humor even to joviality. Hans Seeling ( 1828-1862), Fried. Smetana, (1824-1884), Ed. Napravnick, (1839-) are among their better known composers, but Antonin Dvorak (1842-), seems to have brought to life again the indomitable spirit of the old Hussites, so inspired, so full of intensity of feeling and romantic grace are the compositions which reflect largely the old national character even in the piano works the Slavonic dances, ensemble music and concertos. German instrumental music has in its early course been largely influenced by France and Italy, but its growth has been a steady and healthy one in its purely artistic tendency up to the present time. With the great hosts of eminent composers the na- tional element never rose to supreme importance in musical art though intheir individuality they manifest a more or less pronounced German spirit, as is evi- dent in the works of Bach, Haendel, Haydn, Mo- zart, Beethoven, Weber, Schubert, Mendelssohn and Schumann. To the fact that the beauty of an ideal life in its complete expression was their ultimate object in their works of art is due the high artistic perfection that German instrumental music has ac- quired, a perfection which in the well balanced pro- portions of form, thought and feeling give it a true cosmopolitan character. Joachim Raff (1822-1882) is one of the promi- nent composers of the romantic school, and has THE PIANIST'S ART. 155 written, besides a number of other important works, compositions for piano, solo and ensemble. His suites and characteristic pieces are brilliant and markedly original; his style is reflective and strong, full of happy harmonious innovations and melodious inflections. He is much given to polyphone writing which not infrequently appears as the outgrowth of a peculiar fancy for scientific combinations and so impresses more readily by its eccentricity than its true poetical essence. Carl Reinecke (1824-) shows a genial and sympathetic spirit in his con- certos and the various solo pieces. His cadenzas to Mozart and Beethoven's concertos give evidence to what extent he has entered into the spirit of the mas- ters; the compositions for children are full of rom- ance and refinement. Robert Volkmann (1815-1883) has valuable ensemble music and smaller works. Theodor Kirchner (1824-) and Woldemar Bargiel (1828-1891) are largely influenced by Schumann's spirit, and while the first shows more musical quality in his smaller works, those of the latter are more pleasing. Refined original sketches writes Alex- ander Winterberger (1834-); Carl Goldmark (1832-) ensemble music. Adolf Jensen (1837-1879) appears musing and tender with a romantic coloring, while Josef Rheinberger (1839-) is eminently a scholarly writer in his chamber music and piano solos. Of later day and brilliant promise are Jean L. Nicode and Moritz Moszkowsky. Among the great pianists Anton Rubinstein Rubinstein (1829-) easily ranks first in the general excellence of 156 THE PIANIST'S ART a characteristic conception and genial rendition of the master works of piano literature. A superior musical intelligence, an unselfish devotion to the intentions of the composer, great physical power and endurance, a touch that responds to the most sensitive refinement, and an intensity of feeling that acts with the magnetic force of plenary inspiration, give his readings serene repose or dithyrambic im- petus, tender abandon or heroic energy. As a com- poser Rubinstein unquestionably ranks very high, but is more admirable in the smaller forms, where the spontaneity of invention is not hampered by the drudgery of labor. Even in the best of his larger works brilliant but barren reveries are encountered where the fire of inspiration goes begging for lack of mental restriction. His concerto in D minor is the best of his larger compositions for the piano, which include five concertos, sonatas, ensemble works, (some of them very valuable), etudes and smaller pieces; a number of the latter must certainly be counted among the gems of piano literature. Hans G. von Biilow (1830-), a musician of great mental astuteness, pianist of great technical and intellectual faculties and prodigious memory, is one of the first conductors of the day. His compositions show that critical analysis in him is superior to imagination. Jan. Ig. Paderewski and Eugen d' Albert, pianists of exceptional prominence, are composers of great promise; the compositions of the first are more of the pleasing, popular kind, while those of the latter show markedly the scholarly musician. THE PIANIST'S ART. 157 In point of uniform excellence, in the originality of invention, the unadorned simplicity and ingenuous- ness of his ideas, the clear, logical development and the evident repose in the consciousness of his men- tal power, in the conciseness of ideal beauty and perfection of form, an emotional life which in its expression is free from excess and always artistic, in his harmonic and rhythmical construction, even in the novelty of his technical treatment of the piano Joh. Brahms (1833-) stands unrivaled among con- temporary composers. In his early works three sonatas, a trio, varia- tions, scherzo and ballads Brahms manifests a pro- lific power and romantic exuberance of fantasie in the genial and poetic essence and the novel and original development of his ideas. The pregnancy and beauty of the melodies, the tender abandon, the burly humor, the feeling in all its intensity, the well planned though often daring construction and the playful mastery of piano technic give the im- pression of a remarkable artistic potentiality. There is nothing trivial or commonplace; even where his melodies take on a more popular color, the inven- tion is altogether of an individual character; ideal beauty is his aim everywhere, but the beauty of sound does not always seem to claim primary con- sideration. The variations (op. 21, 24, 35, and 23 for four hands) show a daring flight of the ideas, a power of combination in the melodic, rhythmic and harmonic reconstructions of the themes and a mastery in coun- 158 THK I'lAMST's ART terpoint which has no equal since Beethoven. The variations on a Hamdel theme (op. 24) belong to the best productions of modern piano music; in those entitled "Studies for the Piano," on a theme of Paganini's (op. 35), it is a trying question to say which is more admirable: the fantastic and withal extremely melodious new formations which the simple theme engenders in the composer's imag- ination or the novelty and the even after Lizst, Chopin and Schumann stupendous technical diffi- culties which carry the aerial flight of capricious ideas. In the valses for four hands there is a wealth of melody and a variety of expression of the most win- ning charm, and it is safe to say that whosoever fails to see the wonderful beauty in these little sketches has no ear for music. The Hungarian dances, arranged from Hungarian melodies, speak for them- selves in their well earned popularity, and the later pieces (op. 76, 79) are continually gaining ground with the sincere lovers of good piano music. If in his larger works for chorus or orchestra, and his beautiful, characteristic songs, Brahms claims consideration with the great masters, he asserts his powers no less in his ensemble works with piano and the second concerto; in a quintette (op. 34), three quartettes (op. 25, 26, 60), five trios (op. 8, 40, 87, 101 and 109), four sonatas (op. 38, 78, IOO and 108) he develops a melodious beauty, a thematic work, a variety in harmonic and rhythmic construc- tion and a well defined character in each composi- THE PIANISTS ART. 159 tion which secure him a place among the first com- posers of chamber and concerted pieces. The mel- odies have rhythmic clearness and distinctness, gen- erally a simple (tonal) harmonic structure, and fre- quently a markedly popular character. In his work Brahms manifests the most complete artistic devel- opment and perfect mastery over the material in the strictest forms. In the "Durchfuehrung" he con- trasts the motives by every artful device of counter- point. His interchange of the major and minor modes is very striking, his modulations into removed keys are effected with ease and appear perfectly natural; the peculiar effects he often produces by harmonic changes for greater intensity of feeling or marked coloring show his masterful use of the har- monic apparatus. The rhythm is most varied; com- binations of different rhythmical figures are a fre- quent occurrence, and striking are the effects pro- duced by latent rhythms in the parts of the differ- ent instruments. When individual sentiment in art frequently takes precedence of musical quality; when the ideal beauty and inspiring spontaneity of invention too often lack the sustaining power of artistic for- mation noticeable in the number of indifferent works of better composers and in many brilliant but unprolific episodes in their larger works it is an evidence of remarkable artistic strength in Brahms that his compositions are of an even merit through- out, that they have no inartistic weakness, and, though they may fail to find ready appreciation, 160 THE PIANIST'S ART. they are of great persuasive power where their sim- ple beauty fails to convince at once. Brahm's way of thinking and feeling, his mode of expressing what he feels, and his whole artistic personality fail in that sympathetic essence which directly appeals to sentimentality; he never tries to win by mere outer charm, makes no concession to a popular taste, and gives expression in his own unceremonious way to what moves him, but in the unassuming sim- plicity of his great art, in the power of his reasoning, in his high aims and his severe earnestness, he is a composer who compels the admiration of all that take cognizance of his works. University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. QUARTER LOAM JAN 2 3 1998 " QUARTER JAN 1 1> 2001 WAR APR 1 2001