Scan 30
Musical Courier 1902-02-12: Vol 44 Iss 1142, 1902
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1who I believe profess to represent the elegant French school plus all the finer perceptions, the stubler nuances of pure sentiment of the Pole, which, as in the case of men like Paderewski, is the genius of mystic (who will say fantastic?) psychology, of the sensitive sufferings, the aesthetic vagaries of the Chopinesque soul.
3Moszkowski, who is a Pole grafted into the German tree, takes the French school seriously. But with him the sensitive pride and natural reserve of the Pole seems to disdain any parade of sentiment. A pupil of Kullak (who, I take it, was one of the Polish inhabitants of Posen, born three years after it was incorporated in the domain of Russia after the peace of Tilsit) Moszkowski enjoyed the tutorship of a man whom Leschetizky characterized as a greater teacher than all others except Liszt (regarded simply as a pedagogue Kullak was certainly a greater teacher than Liszt).
5Now, to return to the French there has always been a close sympathy between them and the Poles. Their language, possessing a certain similarity of vowel sounds, has a kind of linguistic tendency toward the French, though, of course, entirely different in origin. Then there is the same fineness of feeling, elegance of manner, delicacy of sentiment. The Poles admire the French art, the French manner, indeed I fancy the whole French nation. The seriousness and reserve of the Pole find relaxation in the more expansive and volatile character of the French and so on. When I say that Moszkowski takes the French school seriously, I speak advisedly. He plays with an absolute flawlessness of technic; false notes are his abomination. Rubinstein must have tremendously shocked Moszkowski's high sense of perfection of detail. No matter what the tempo nor what maddening temperament a piece may have Moszkowski never misses a note nor strikes a false one, and all this with such ease that no technical difficulties appear to exist for him. He can play a composition at sight as well as most artists who have practiced it several days. Moszkowski has been accused of being a cold interpreter, but I have heard him play, especially in his teaching, with a fine perception and delicacy of feeling. Still I am forced to think that Moszkowski's natural reserve might not dispose him to lay bare his feelings to any public; but I have never heard him play in public so I can have no real opinion on the subject. But I know he does prefer great simplicity of style, and in this he is a true German. Surely this is better than that awful mawkish sentiment of some French pianists which must be abhorrent to a man like Moszkowski. Better than all else I can say about Moszkowski is that he is a true musician whose creed is Bach and Beethoven. How true a musician none but those who have studied with him can know. In this intimate knowledge of a piece as a composition, and then in its technical performance he is a genius in the fingering alone, which was a revelation to me as concerns double notes, and in the sometimes difficult "agreements" in which he is a true modern, so far as rendering all more pianistic or "Clavier Mässig" is concerned. As a composer he has written mostly for the salon, yet he has composed enough other works to show his real calibre, such as his E major Concerto, for piano, which I had the pleasure of hearing him play himself, and which is one of the most effective and brilliant piano concertos. And in the smaller pieces where will you find a greater freshness, more refinement, a more delicate charm or a nicer "chic" than in his Spanish Dances, or "Les Nations" (the spirit of each of which he has caught and pictured so faithfully, and which now are so finely orchestrated), in "Les Etincelles," the "Valse d'Amour," the grand E major Concert Waltz, &c.? I heard Gorski play a bolero for the violin, which was "delicieux," as the French say; at the same time Mlle. Duchamin played the tarantelle with great verve and brilliancy. Below is an "audition" which I heard of his works by the pupils of Mlle. Gabrielle Turpin, which shows how varied is his style of composition:
7AUDITION D'ŒUVRES MOSZKOWSKI.
9PROGRAM.
11Sarabande.
12Passe Pied.
13Sarabande (tirée du Ballet Lorin).
14Menuet, op. 17.
15Valse en la bémol.
16Polonaise.
17Tristesses et sourires—
18Effusion.
19Consolation.
20Prés du berceau.
21Suite, op. 50—
22Allegro Moderato.
23Air.
24Capriccio.
25Presto Alla Giga.
26Printemps—
27Impatience.
28Cloches de Printemps.
29Premier Bouquet.
30Zéphyr.
31Valse d'Amour.
32Valse en mi majeur.
33Andante et Scherzo du Concerto en mi majeur.
34(Avec acc. d'un second piano.)
35Etude, tre et je.
36Les Etincelles.
38Indeed, Moszkowski is a favorite in Paris, where a concert program is rarely without one of his compositions. He has of late contributed a valuable addition to pedagogics in his "School of Double Notes," dedicated to Diémer. This work exhausts the subject; it contains all the scales in double thirds and sixths, major, minor and chromatic; original and invaluable exercises in thirds and all manner of double notes for developing independence of finger action; some smaller etudes and three grand etudes close the work. The fingering is the most modern and that used by all the great pianists of the day, that, especially of chromatics superseding the old Chopin fingering. No student of technic can afford to be without it.
40As a man Moszkowski appears to me to be marked by a certain Polish hauteur, a proud reserve and extreme sensitiveness. Perhaps some of those bitter experiences which come into all lives have added a hard side to his character. Yet he can be charming in his beautiful simplicity of manner and his great kindness of heart. He is wholly unassuming; indeed, at times there is even a suggestion of quite childlike naiveté. Still he is withal so very "imposante" or "imponirend," as the German says, that I found it most difficult to play for him, for who can play with faculties and muscles benumbed by a nervous panic! If he would develop a system and educate for this purpose preparatory teachers, compelling all his pupils to appear in a fortnightly recital, he might greatly increase his fame as a teacher and turn out even more famous pupils than he yet has. Förster was studying with him last winter and the very talented Miss Eddy. Bloomfield-Zeisler was at one time his pupil, and Ernst Schelling, now a pupil of Paderewski, was with him as a "wunderkind"; also Mrs. Lent, Frl. Koch and many others. As a rule, Moszkowski seems much beloved by all his pupils, and it is an interesting sight to watch him at different concerts, surrounded by them on easy footing, and with an affable charm he can have which is certainly the overflowing of a very kind heart enhanced by his unaffected simplicity.
42F. Gorski, the violinist, also "installed" in Paris, was my teacher in ensemble work. He was the first husband of the present Madame Paderewski, and I have heard that he had as much to do with Paderewski's teaching as Leschetizky. They used to be much together, I know, and used sometimes to give concerts together.
44Certainly it is given to Gorski to see more on the written page than to most musicians, and as an interpreter he excels. His playing of all the oldest classics, especially of Bach and Beethoven, is as rare as it is beautiful. Gorski has had many misfortunes, not the least of which was to lose a very valuable violin—a Strad.—which was stolen from him. His face and manner are pathetic, sometimes in the extreme, for he is old and seems very frail. Yet he stills gives concerts and with great success. One of the best was that given with the assistance of Delna, the idol of the French public; Stojowski and Mlle. Rose Reida. Gorski gave the E major Concerto of Bach in his own rare and best style, being always somewhat hampered by his violin, which cannot replace his Strad., while Delna sang inimitably "l'Apaisement" of Beethoven, with harp accompaniment, and a beautiful, most impressive song of Stojowski, "Pleure mon Ame." I shall have occasion to speak again of Delna later on, and it was my intention to say much more of Gorski, who, I am sorry to relate, just at the last moment jumped off the very high pedestal upon which I had placed him, and this has made it impossible for me to write of him with the same degree of enthusiasm I would otherwise have done. The most charitable excuse I could make for his conduct, which, not unlike most of the European artists, had to do with the vital question of money, was that he may have been influenced by unfortunate experiences in the past with unprincipled pupils. The most cruel thing I could say to Gorski is that his conduct was not artistic, certainly not worthy of the great artist for which he posed. I feel assured that he now would be the first to acknowledge the justice of these remarks.
46I had a letter of introduction to Diémer, the leading pianist of Paris, which I did not present for several reasons, one of which was that I understood he did not receive ladies as pupils; but I soon had the pleasure of hearing him, which was in the first French concert I attended, one of the Lamoureux concerts in the Trocadero, when he performed the Emperor Concerto of Beethoven. Unfortunately the piano was bad. I cannot like the Erard piano as a rule. The timbre is thin and lacking in resonance and sweetness, especially when compared with a Bechstein or a Bösendorfer. But there was no fault to be found with Diémer's touch, his pearly passages, bell-like tone (when piano would permit) and delicacy of technical finish without a flaw. Here was the French school in its absolute perfection. While Diémer has no great temperament, his perceptions are of the finest, and it is an especial delight to hear him deliver the classics.
48E. POTTER-FRISSELL.
49(To be continued.)
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