Books › Musical Courier 1909-03-17: Vol 58 Iss 11, 1909 › scan 37
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Musical Courier 1909-03-17: Vol 58 Iss 11, 1909
36 lines. Read by computer on 26 September 2026. Printed page 38. See the scan on archive.org.
1Julian Pascal's Interesting Views.
2Julian Pascal, the well known New York pianist, contributes an interesting article to Harper's Bazar, which deals with the question of the development of tone production and technic on the part of students. Mr. Pascal's treatise is concise and to the point. It is published under the caption of, "Suggestion to Piano Students," and is as follows:
3[From Harper's Bazar. Copyright 1909 by Harper & Brothers.]
4"Today, owing to the discoveries made during the last few years in regard to the scientific production of tone, piano students have a much easier and quicker road to the attainment of technique than did those of the past. Formerly it was considered necessary to spend years on exercises for strengthening the fingers, as can be seen by the quantity of such exercises that has been published. But now advanced teachers give their pupils little or none of this work, knowing, as they do, that tone cannot be produced by strength of finger; for life would not be long enough for the fingers to be made sufficiently strong to produce tone by their muscular action alone; and that even if they could be the tone would, at the best, be thin.
5"It is now recognized that the weight of the arm from the shoulder down must be thrown against the string when a large, broad tone is required; less weight and more muscular energy where brilliance is necessary; and that the fingers alone are never used except where very quick and zephyrlike effects are desired; also, that they must never be used to strike the keys, as such action hinders the development of the muscular sense—that delicate feeling in the fingers on which a player must entirely rely for the production of tone color. Franz Liszt practised exceedingly hard, and experimented for years before he finally achieved his unequalled technique; but that he reached his end blindly and through the instinct of genius is proved by the fact that he was unable to teach the principle of technique to any one of his pupils. Among the older pianists of the day, the only one whose technique is thoroughly scientific is Eugen d'Albert.
6"But there is no need now to waste time on such laborious and soul wearying experiment. The futility of trying to produce tone by lifting the fingers and hitting the keys, while forcing the muscles to hold the arm in a fixed and rigid position, by placing a coin or other small article on the back of the hand—a common way teaching some years ago, and indeed still more or less persevered in—can be demonstrated in a very short time beyond all cavil. Such practice not only interferes with the production of tone color, but results in the almost entire loss of one of the most important aids to memorizing. In memorizing music, every faculty that can aid us is called into play. First the musical memory, then the muscular memory, and lastly the memory of the keys and printed notes. Now if the fingers are kept off the keys and not constantly allowed to touch and caress them, one very important auxiliary to success will surely be lacking—the muscular memory. But there is even a more serious drawback than this to be mentioned—the impossibility of producing real pianissimo if the keys are struck; for this touch can only be obtained by allowing the keys to descend slowly—in fact, by gently overbalancing the resistance of the keys by the simple weight of the arm; and here any quick movement of the action, such as that produced by a blow, would be fatal. It is indeed necessary to have free and independent fingers, and this need not take more than a few weeks for its accomplishment, but in scientific piano playing the fingers must always touch the keys before the energy necessary for the required sound is imparted; and it should always be kept in mind that the action of a piano is a carefully balanced instrument for striking the strings, and that this instrument must be taken hold of and used—never struck.
7"Should it be objected that the fullest fortissimo cannot be obtained if the fingers are first placed on the keys and not again raised before sound is produced, the falsity of this idea can be very easily proved in but a fair sized room, and even an untrained ear will have no difficulty in hearing the comparatively poor result of striking; there can be no doubt that the disagreeable quality of tone produced by many players is the result of this unscientific habit. It is most important for the student to realize that technic consists in imparting motion to the strings by a series of efforts, the longest of which occupies only a fractional part of a second, and that each of these efforts must cease with the production of sound, otherwise the energy will be wasted on the felt under the key, and the player not only exhausted, but greatly hampered in his movements.
8"This can be best understood and the right touch acquired by repeating a staccato chord several times without taking the fingers off the keys. If the facts stated in this article were known to students generally they would not only be saved much useless labor, but would be quickly enabled to produce what all artists most highly prize—namely, tone color."
10Music in Kirksville.
11STATE NORMAL SCHOOL,
12KIRKSVILLE, Mo., March 10, 1909.
13An announcement was made by Capt. David R. Gebhart, in the Auditorium this morning, that twenty-five more voices were wanted for the Festival Chorus, which will produce Weber's cantata, "With Mighty Wisdom"; Grieg's "Olaf Trygvason," and Haydn's "Creation." The Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, with Emil Oberhoffer, conductor, and its soloists, have been engaged. A chorus of one hundred voices is being trained by Captain Gebhart, director of music. This is the first time any Normal School in Missouri has attempted a musical event of this nature. It will be attended by musicians from all of Northeast Missouri. The day of the festival is from April 30 to May 1. This undertaking promises to be a great success. If this proves so, a similar event of greater proportion will be given the following year.
15The first regular student recital was given last Thursday afternoon. The program was about an hour in duration. Various selections were given by the students of voice under the direction of Capt. David R. Gebhart, and by piano pupils under Nellie Buzard. These programs occur the last Thursday of every school month, and are not to exhibit the talent of the performer, but to cultivate ease and self possession when singing in public. Only those who find it difficult to overcome this nervousness will be continued on these programs.
17Grace Foncannon, a member of the "Form Class," recently wrote a cantata, "The Princess." This will be produced at the May commencement exercises by the senior class, of which Miss Foncannon is a member.
19Clara Sanford.
21SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA NEWS.
22Los Angeles, Cal., March 6, 1909.
23Lhévinne played here Tuesday evening and created more enthusiasm than any artist has in years. Californians, who live much out of doors, like the normal, healthy artist, and Lhévinne's sane musicianship appealed to us.
25Thursday morning, Estelle Heartt-Dreyfus gave the first of her Lenten song recitals. The Führer String Quartet, consisting of Bessie Führer, first violin; Norah Dickinson, second violin; Frances Aylsworth, viola, and Lucy Führer, cello, played the Handel largo and an arrangement of "Mein glaubiges Herze" of Bach and the accompaniments to Mrs. Dreyfus' songs. The Biblical songs of Dvorák; "Immortality," by Parks; "He Shall Feed His Flock," Handel; "Litany" of Schubert, and Frederick Stevenson's "Salutation of the Dawn" (words from the Sanskrit) were the songs. This last number is Mr. Stevenson's latest work and was written for Mrs. Dreyfus, with piano and quartet accompaniment.
27Minnie Jenkins, organist of the United Presbyterian Church, assisted by Mrs. J. S. Thayer, soprano, gave an organ recital Thursday evening. Miss Jenkins is a graduate of the New England Conservatory. Her program was: E minor prelude and fugue (Bach); "Flugeln des Gesanges" (Mendelssohn); cantabile from fifth symphony (Widor); cantata in F (Rheinberger); fantaisie in D (Dumham); "Ich Grolle nicht" (Schumann); "Still wie die Nacht" (Bohm); "Es muss ein Wunderbares sein" (Ries).
29The fifth Symphony concert was given Friday afternoon, and the orchestra, under the direction of Harley Hamilton, did some excellent work, especially in the accompaniment of the Saint-Saëns violin concerto and the Goldmark symphony. The program is as follows: Symphonic poem, "Launcelot and Elaine," op. 25, MacDowell; third concerto in B minor, op. 61, Saint-Saëns; Ignaz Edward Haroldi, soloist; "Country Wedding" symphony, op. 26, Goldmark, and overture, "A Life for the Czar," Glinka.
31The music committee of the Gamut Club, through the request of many lovers of good music, is arranging a series of popular priced Sunday afternoon concerts, the first to be given Sunday, March 7. Soloists will be selected from the membership of the Gamut Club, visitors from the East and choir singers.
33The Woman's Lyric Club gave the second concert of its fifth season Friday evening, J. B. Poulin conducting. This fine body of singers, ninety in number, presented this program: Bridal Chorus from "The Rose Maiden," Cowen; "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes," Rogers; "Evening Prayer in Brittany," Chaminade; "The Gypsies," Brahms; "Cupid Made Love to the Moon," Smith; "Gallia," Gounod; and "O Wert Thou in the Cauld Blast," Macdougal. The club always draws its soloists from the ranks of the club, and on this occasion they were Mary L. O'Donoghue, Ada Marsh-Chick, Mrs. Frank Bryson, Rose Zobelein, Mrs. Clarence M. Knox, Mrs. George Sloan and Mrs. Charles A. Post. BLANCHE ROGERS LOTT.
35Ernst Wendel, leader of the Königsberg Musik Verein, will probably succeed Panzner (engaged for Düsseldorf) as conductor of the Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra.
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