TH E ETUD E 6 9 [Our subscribers are invited to send in questions for this department. Please write them on one side of the paper only, and not with other things on the same sheet IN EVERY CASE THE WRITER' S FULL ADDRESS MUST BE GIVEN, or the questions will receive no attention. In no case will the writer's name be printed to the questions in THE ETUDE. Questions that have no general interest will not receive atten-tion J. S.-—" Agnus Dei" is pronounced, according to the Roman or the Continental method of Latin pronunciation, Ag-nus, both vowels short, Da-e. The English method, which is little used, makes all vowels and consonants like English. 2. The sonata form used by D. Scarlatti was very elementary as compared to the elaborately organized works of Beethoven and his successors, but the importance of Scarlatti's contribution to the de-velopment of the sonata can not be overestimated. He used two subjects, like Haydn and those who followed, but he gave more defi-nite form to the second subject and development passages than his predecessors. An examination of one of the sonatas in the volume of Scarlatti's sonatas published by Breitkopf and Hartel shows his characteristics quite fairly. The sonata commences in E-minor, eight measures; the next forty-six are almost entirely in G-major. This concludes the first half. The second half begins with a reference to the opening figures of the whole and a little key digression, and then a characteristic portion of the second section of the first half is resumed, and the last thirty-four measures of the movement are a recapitulation in E-minor of the last of the first half, making a much smaller work than the modern sonata. Scarlatti frequently confined himself to one move-ment. 3. Scharwenka's " PolishDance" is in E-fiat minor, not G-fiat major. F. C. Y.—Dr. Mason's system of "Touch and Technic" was ar-ranged for the piano, and the training of the fingers taught by that system is not suited to the pipe-organ, since a key is not " struck " on the organ in the same sense as on the piano. Yet it can not be too strongly impressed on intending pipe-organ pupils that the best way to obtain facility of execution on the manuals of a pipe-organ is to practice on the piano. It is not difficult for a well-trained pianist to gain the " organ touch " if he takes instruction from a competent organist. J. C. D.—The "overtones" of any sound can be found by the fol-lowing rule: The fundamental sound is represented by the written note; the next " partial," which is a better term, is the octave; then the fifth higher than that, second octave; and counting from that, third, fifth, minor 7th, octave, major 9th, major 10th, raised 11th, 12th, etc. Thus, C, second line below bass clef, its octave G above that, C, E, G, B-flat, C, D, E, F-sharp, G, A, B flat, C. A work on musical acoustics, like Tyndall's, or "The Student's Helmholtz," will be a good manual for your use. E. M. S.—The use of the " and" in counting time should be very limited. When the note values are unusually complicated it can be used long enough to enable the pupil to understand the passage. The same idea is sometimes useful in solving passages that have an uncommon use of sixteenth notes by counting " one-a-and-a," and for triplets, " one-and-a." For the reed organ, Landon's "School for the Reed Organ," in four volumes, covering six grades of diffi-culty and also about one hundred pieces of sheet music, will abun-dantly meet your needs. Both the studies and the sheet music are fully annotated with elaborate explanations for producing the best effects upon the reed organ. For good solos for the bass voice, get some of the many cheap book collections. W. C.—Students working in Landon's reed-organ method will find superior exercises and supplementary material in the four books of studies by the same author. See answer to " E. M. S." in this issue. R. K. C.—The reason why the reed organ is not more popular is because players do not play with the reed-organ technic and touch. The keys must be struck down quickly and firmly and to their lowest depth. They must be let up as quickly as if striking up into the air. The bellows must be blown evenly and steadily and kept full, or the tone will be weak, wheezy, badly out of tune, and uncertain. The notes of chords and the two hands must be struck exactly at the same instant, and especially letting the keys up simul-taneously and with a decided up-stroke. W. C.—A natural and a sharp before a note shows that it—the note —has been previously affected by a double sharp, and these acci-dentals indicate that the double sharp has been canceled and the single sharp restored. The movement being in 12-8 time, the rhyth-mic division is in groups of three. The figure 2 over a group of two eighths means that they—played equally—shall consume the same time as the groups of three, thus broadening, as it were, the figure at that point. It is the opposite of the triplet, and is called a couplet. B. B. G.—Chopin is pronounced Sho-pang, the final ng nasal. II Trovatore, III Tro-vah-to-re. Kohler, Kayier. Weber, Vayber, the Vsoftened from the ordinary English sound. Beethoven, Bay-to-ven, accent first syllable. Paderewski, Fah-de-ref-ski, second sylla-ble short (the w in this name is the German equivalent of the Polish sound, and is better indicated to English-speaking people by / or ff,; according to the French custom in transliteration from the Polish). Wagner, Vog-ner} the V same as above in Weber. Bohm, Borne. Schultze, Shooltay. Leschetizky, Lesh-e-tits-ky. Leybach, Lie-bakh, the a as in father. The final sound can not be very easily indi-cated in English. Perhaps you have some German friends ; if so, ask one of them to pronounce the "ch " for you. The following rule will be found a good one : " Place the throat in position to form k, and then force a sound through the throat by a movement of the diaphragm similar to that used in making a sudden hiss." Liszt, List. Mozart, pronounced by some Mot-zart, accent on first syl-lable. Some English writers say Mo-zart, accenting final syllable. See " Clarke's Dictionary." G. E.—Marches written in alia breve time are easier to read than if they were written in 2-4 time on account of the notes being of greater length. They are also much easier to write, not requiring the numerous hooks and tails which the use of eighth and sixteenth notes would involve. There are many examples of marches in \ time, notably the Turkish March in the "Ruin of Athens," by Beethoven. It is really optional with the composer which shall be used, but custom has made preferable. L. B. D.—1. The chromatic soale is sung to the syllables Do, Dee, Re, Ree, Mi, Fa, Fee, Sol, See, La, Lee, Si or Ti, Do; descending, Do, Si or Ti, Say or Tay, La, Lay, Sol, Say, Fa, Mi, May, Re, Rah, Do. We prefer to substitute Fee for Say, in descending, believing that it is easier. 2. The words perdendosi, smorzando, and morendo indicate a decrease both in power and speed. Clarke's "Pronouncing Dic-tionary of Music " is very useful in all difficulties of this kind. 3. Abt's " Singing Tutor," for any of the voices, soprano, alto, tenor, or bass, and Randegger's "Method of Singing," are very good books for your purpose. H. H. P.—Friedrich Kuhlau was born at Uelzen, in the province of Hanover, Germany, September 11, 1786, died March 18, 1832, at Copenhagen. He wrote several operas, well received at the time but now forgotten. His most popular and useful works for the piano are his sonatinas, Op. 55, 20,59. He wrote a number of songs and quartets for male voices, now but rarely heard. F. D. M.—The following list contains the names of a number of singers who achieved eminence in oratorio singing: Sopranos: Clara Novello, Parepa Rosa, Edith Wynne, Mme. Albani, the latter of Canadian birth but partial American training. Contraltos: Antoinette Sterling, Anna Louisa Cary, both Ameri-cans, the former at present living in England. Tenors: John Braham, Sims Reeves, Edward Lloyd, Ben Davies, English; Whitney Mockridge, Leonard Auty, American. Basses: Charles Santley, Watkin Mills, English; Myron Whitney, Dr. Guilmette, American. F. L. S.—Harmony can be studied without a teacher, in your case more easily since you have already had some instruction. Clarke's " Harmony " can be used for self-instruction. C. S. W.—Mme. Patti's first husband was the Marquis de Caux, a French nobleman, from whom she was divorced in 1885. She bought the estate in Wales in 1878. M. E. M.—You will find an article on some points in Lesche-tizky's teaching in this number of THE ETUDE. Please bear in mind that there is no distinct " Leschetizky Method " in the sense of the work Mason's "Touch and Technic." Leschetizky's teach-ing is confined to advanced work, and deals most largely with inter-pretation. M. L. B,—For the pronunciation of Paderewski see B. B. G. Marchesi is pronounced as if spelled Mar-ka-zi. C. A.—" Rag-time" is a term applied to the characteristic rhythms used in the popular " coon songs." Syncopation is used very freely. As to the origin of the term, we can not say. G. W. C. P.—In answer to an inquirer who wishes to progress beyond the knowledge of harmony and counterpoint, especially in the direction of orchestral work, we would recommend the follow-ing course: First, procure Berlioz's "Ar t of Instrumentation," or Corder's " The Orchestra" (abetter book, and not so expensive,for beginners), and study, first the compass of ttie instruments, then what may be gathered from either of these books in regard to the manner of combining them. Study in conjunction with the book some scores of chamber music and overtures and symphonies. These may be obtained now in cheap form in the small editions, Payne's for chamber music, Eulenberg for the larger works, at from 25 to 75 cents for a complete symphony. Get, for example, the first of Beethoven, one of Mozart, one of Mendelssohn ; in quartets get some of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Scores for " band" are rarely published, but " parts" for band may be cheaply purchased, and no better training for this kind of writing may be had than to write a "score " from a set of " parts." There is an orchestral primer by Prout, published by Novello, which gives the compass and peculiarities of all the orchestral instruments; but after all these things are learned there remains what is the most important thing of all—that is, never lose an opportunity of hearing an orchestra or band, even if it is a poor one; to write well for instruments one must have fixed in his memory the tone quality of each one, and the effects which result from their combinations. Arrange with the leader of your best local band and orchestra to have the loan of the parts, prepare a score from them, and then at-tend as many rehearsals as possible. F. H. S.—1. Up to the year 1830, the two kingdoms, Holland and Belgium, were known under the name of " The Netherlands." Their music, art, science, medicine, theology, etc., and commerce flourished, in the sixteenth century, all over the world. During a period of two centuries this country produced about 300 composers. Among them the two celebrated masters, Hadrian Willaert, the founder of the Madrigal, and Orlando Lassus, 1520-1594, the greatest next to Palestrina, and most fertile composer of his time. The number of his works amounts to over 2000. He was called the Prince of Music, or the Belgian Orpheus. The firm, Breitkopf and Haertel, in Leipzig, has published many of his works. 2. Twenty-four songs from the fifteenth and sixteenth century for voice and piano, compiled by J. C. M. Van Riemsdyk, published by Breitkopf & Haertel, will give material for illustrations of Dutch music. 3. The national air of Holland is: "Wie n Neerland's Bloed in d'Adern Vloeit." The music can be found in John Philip Sousa's " National Airs of All Lands," page 124, published by H. Coleman, Philadelphia , Pa . BERN . BOEKELMAN . F. B. W.—The power to extemporize good music is much more rare than is generally acknowledged. It is a common thing for organists to say that they extemporize voluntaries, preludes, post-ludes, etc., but the results are, with but little exception, in nowise re-markable. Most of the great organists who rank as composers paid some attention to the matter of extempore playing. The famous organists, prior to the time of Bach, gave exhibitions of extempori-zation. Bach was famous in this direction, and so was the cele-brated Abb§ Vogler; Mendelssohn was an expert at extempore playing both on the organ and piano. Among Englishmen, Henry Smart, the two Wesleys, Sir F. A. G. Ouseley, formerly Professor of Music at Oxford University, were considered able extemporizers, and Alexander Guilmant, in his recitals, introduces extemporiza-tion on given themes. H. L. S.—The following teachers' agencies are reliable: Albany Teachers' Agency, 23 State Street, Albany, New York; Fiske Teachers' Agency, Boston, Mass. ; Mrs. J. Fulton Young, 23 Union Square, New York City; Albert & Clark, Teachers' Agency, Pull-man Building, Chicago, 111. E. Z.—1. Mr. Landon in his " Reed-Organ Method" refers to the "two-finger exercises" as contained in the great work for piano students by Dr. William Mason entitled "Touch and Technic." This work, in four parts, can be secured from the publisher of THE ETUDE. A number of the exercises for the development of speed and accuracy can be used in reed-organ study. 2. You will get better results by deferring the use of finger-exer-cises when starting a beginner in piano study. Landon's " Foun-dation Materials," or Grade I of Mathews' "Standard Graded Studies," is the best to use, introducing special finger-exercises as supplementary work from time to time so as not to cause the inter-est of the child to drop. Both books provide drill in finger develop-ment. 3. The following pieces can be used for marching purposes: Polzer, "School March"; Ortlepp, "T o Arms"; Waddington, " Forget-Me-Not" ; Engelmann, "E n Route"; J. F. Zimmerman, " Two-Step." H. W. S.—Any one who has gained skill in playing the piano should not have trouble in playing the pipe-organ, so far as the manuals are concerned. The difference of touch between a modern pipe-organ with pneumatic action and the piano is not so great. The response is very quick and the resistance is slight. In an older organ in which trackers are used more powerful pressure is required, and a piano player at first finds difficulty in execution of rapid passages. 2. " The Organ," by Stainer, is a very good work for self-instruc-tion. The quality of the stops usually met with and their use in combination is very fully explained, as is also the use of the pedals. The exercises for learning to play the pedals are very good. We advise you to get this book. 3. Stillman's " Organist's Album," two books, is a good work for church use, either for pipe-or reed-organ. Jackson's " Gems for the Organ " is also a popular book. S. M. T.—Landon's "School for the Reed Organ," four books, is a good collection of pieces for reed-organ use. The same author's "Reed-Organ Method" is very popular. 2. The publisher of THE ETUDE has put in book form a number of piano pieces suitable for use in grades three and four, and five and six. If a teacher has copies of these books he can familiarize him-self with the pieces and get them singly as needed. M. S. J.—After Kohler, Op. 190, you can use Czerny, Op. 139, book I; Ehmant, Op. 22, books I and II; Landon's "Easy Melodious Studies." After Kohler's " Practical Method," book I, use Mathews' "Standard Graded Course," book II, or Vogt, Op. 124. After Kohler's "Practical Method," book II, use Mathews' Course, Grade III, and Felix Smith's " Thirty-six Melodic Studies." —The amount of power expended on playing a piano has been figured out in a way which, if not altogether accurate, is at least interesting. It is easy to verify the statement that it really requires more force to sound a note gently on this instrument than it does to lift the lid of a kettle. If one takes a small handful of coins and piles them on a key of a piano, when a sufficient quantity is piled on to make a note sound they may be weighed, and the figures will be found to be true. If the pianist is playing fortissimo, a much greater force is needed. At times the force of six pounds is thrown upon a single key to produce a solitary effect. QUESTION S A. N D ANSWERS /
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