THE ETUDE MAY 1920 Page 295 Technic versus Interpretation in Piano Study By CLARENCE G. HAMILTON, M.A. Professor of Piano Playing, Wellesley College PSYCHOLOGISTS are fond of telling us about the many and complex mental processes that are involved in trans-lating the printed symbols upon a sheet of music into audible piano tone. For the purposes of the musician, however, all these processes may be grouped under two familiar heads—Technic and Interpretation. Each of these factors must be adequately treated by the piano teacher in order to attain the desired results, and it is upon their proper coordination that the success of the pupil's performance finally depends. Technic, let us observe, is that factor of musical study which works toward the ^mastery of mechanical details. Thus technical study begins with the printed symbols and seeks, through a systematic knowledge of these, to secure their instantaneous recognition and immediate translation into muscular movement, with its musical re-sults. From this study of notation, then, comes the study of what is generally understood when technic is mentioned, namely, the analysis of the muscular move-ments of the fingers, hands, arms and shoulders, in so far as these movements contribute toward piano playing. Fundamental to this latter study is familiarity with certain musical progressions which, from long usage, have become the stock material of the piano composer— scales, chords (arpeggios) in all forms, embellishments, such as the trill and turn, octave passages, melodic fig-ures—in short, all those devices which one meets at every turn, and which a good sight reader dashes off, to the mystification of his less-gifted auditors. From this fundamental material, however, are evolved many unique devices which are individual to certain compositions or composers. Chopin, for instance, sel-dom writes a scale in its ordinary form, but clothes it in graceful evolutions that require an adaptation of the ordinary technic. Such problems must evidently be solved as they are encountered, since no system can provide for the future inventions of a genius. When a child is learning to talk each new word he adds to his vocabulary gives him an increased power of expression. With the word out, for instance, he is able to show his wish to go out and play; and with the word candy he may obtain the desired sweets, if he has an indulgent parent or grandmother. In like manner, each advanced step in technic makes pos-sible the expression of increased meaning—a new mel-odic touch may give added lyric richness, and a new scale figure added emphasis to a climax. Interpreta-tion, in other words, follows directly on the heels of technic, and becomes fuller in its utterance as tech-nical facility and power are attained. Expression of Thought But interpretaion goes much farther than mere tech-nic can possibly carry it. W e must have a medium for the expression of thought; but thought itself must finally triumph over this medium and employ it freely for its own purposes. So, just as the child makes in-stant use of each new word to gain a desired end, the piano student should regard each new technical ac-quirement as but another means of self-expression through music. And, to make this expression reach its goal in the mind and feelings of the auditor, it must, first of all, be presented wth unmistakable clearness. Let us con-sider the methods of the orator or the actor, whose chief object is to get every shade of his thought "across" to his hearers. Not only must each word be • clearly enunciated, but each portion of an idea, each clause, phrase, and, finally, each sentence, must be so marked off that its meaning is instantly flashed upon the hearer's mind. So, in music, each measure group must be given its proper central accent; each phrase must be developed so that it leads inevitably to its 'climax; each group of phrases must be properly co-ordinated and given its place in the scheme of the whole composition. In this structural expression, indeed, a greater responsibility rests upon the musician than upon the actor, for the spoken word has a definite meaning which may sometimes be conveyed even by a poor speaker, while the indefiniteness of mere tonal combinations makes the audible significance o f music entirely dependent upon its rendition. Besides this structural clarity, there is another in-terpretative factor which must be given especial at-tention by the pianist, namely, that of tonal value. Singers or players on orchestral instruments are, as a rule, occupied with but one voice-part at a time, and hence may give their undivided attention to the tonal shadings of this part. Not so the pianist. Dealing as he does with two or more voice parts almost invariably, and at times required to suggest even the complex tones of an entire orchestra, he must so master a varied assortment of touches that he may be prepared, for instance, to simulate a singer in the middle register, a flute obbligato at a higher pitch, a harp playing delicate traceries about these chief voices, and a sonorous, sustained bass, upon which the whole structure com-fortably rests. Such a complex process requires the nicest possible perception of tonal colors and their relation to each other. If he plays a polyphonic piece, each voice must constantly assert its individuality. In a fugue, for instance, the voice which sings subject or answer must, for the time, be paramount; but the sub-ordinate voices must not for an instant become insig-nificant, and therefore nonentities. A climax in one voice may be coincident with a falling inflection in another; brilliant staccatos in one part may go hand in hand with a sustained or flowing melodic progres-sion. A Coherent Whole Again, a subtle adjustment is required when a solo voice and its accompaniment are suggested. Intimate expression in the leading voice must then always stand out in strong relief against its background; but this background may itself be made of complex material, such as imitative melodic fragments, a sonorous bass and fairy-like arpeggios to blend all elements into one. Infinite plasticity of tone, dynamic contrasts, gradual gradations from soft to loud, or the reverse, regard always for the central figure in the picture, and finally the draping of pedal effects—all these factors must blend to produce a coherent whole, in which knotty problems of musical structure and values are simplified to an easy comprehension by the hearer. Having before him a clear vision of the essential features of technic and interpretation, and the points in which these are interdependent, the teacher should be prepared to give to each of these factors its due share of attention. Technic, as we have seen, is a means to an end; and that end will be sooner and more satisfactorily attained if technical problems are solved in advance. Accordingly, the lime-light has of recent years been focused upon technic, and- its intri-cacies have been exploited in a succession of "methods" each one of which has been hailed by its devotees as a vade mecum of piano playing. Insofar as it con-tributes toward the end in view, namely, interpetation, let us welcome any or all of these methods; but when a "method" assumes that it is the end rather than the means, let us fight-shy of its conclusions. For mere technic, while sometimes commanding the attention of the lover of acrobatics, is no more sense music than a carpenter's tools are the house which they help to con-struct. "Technic," wisely says Christiani, "should not seek to shine by itself, and least of all give the im-pression of being the performer's strongest point." It is, therefore, a waste of time to cultivate technic for its own sake, since its only legitimate use is that of preparation for the actual needs of interpretation. A complex exercise, for instance, which may develop unique muscular motions, such as twisting the hand upside down, is valueless for the pianist, since there is no demand for these motions in the compositions with which he is dealing. Hence the ideal technical exercise is one that is in-vented as a direct means of solving a problem in a piece on which a student is at work. After he has mastered the fundamentals of scale and chord playing, he should consequently find his most valuable technical material growing directly out of the problems of expression. T o produce a certain climax, for instance, he must be able to exe-cute wit h f a c i 1 ity a certain scale figure. Let this passage be analyzed irrespective of its envi-ronment and th e proper muscula r movement s DECIDE D CLARENCE G . HAMILTO N upon. Then he is prepared to make use of this technical drill to secure the desired interpretation of the passage in question. No wonder that in the attitude toward technic adopted by teachers of not so many years ago, all youthful enthusiasm for music was effectually quenched. Hours of drill upon meaningless finger motions, intentional withholding of any composition of real musical merit until the pupil should become an automaton at the instrument, conspired to divorce his practice from anything like self-expression. Instead of quickening musical thought and enthusing the pupil for the poetry of rhythm and pitch, such a dull grind was eminently adapted to extinguish whatever spark of divine fire he may have originally possessed. Shall we not then, as teachers, start out, not with the bugbear technic as our slogan, but with the infi-nitely more attractive call to self-expression? May we not, even in dealing with the veriest beginner, place the latter vitalizing ideal before his mind so vividly that it may burn like a lamp to guide him along the way? Wh y cannot the simplest four-measure phrase, played with one hand: A P f P mount its way steadily to the climax on the fifth note and then gracefully fall? Wh y cannot even this primal element appeal to the child's imagination as the utter-ance of an accomplished and soulful singer? It is for the adoption of the watchword interpre-tation that I would plead with, my fellow piano teachers. In our zeal to produce clean, expert players, we are right to insist upon accurate technic; but it is painfully easy to make technic a fetish, and so to lose sight of the only possible excuse for cultivating it. T o each technical "stunt" which we are tempted to inflict upon a pupil let us apply the acid test of its intrinsic usefulness. Is it something that he really needs in performance? Is it demanded for the proper expression of a piece, or is it merely a finger-twister? One may well begin each lesson with technical drill; but let this drill be merely a short prelude to the real business of the hour, which is to discover the thought lurking in the music and the means to make this thought a living thing. So, throughout the lesson, let us deal with musical structure, with musical values. Let us give the pupil, to start with, real music, not the dry husks of Czerny and his like. Let us culti-vate analysis and accuracy in study; but let us stress continually the interpretative attitude—that attitude which seeks to say something interesting and beau-tiful to an auditor, visible or invisible. Above all, to secure these desired results, we must cultivate breadth of view. Piano teaching is largely made up of attention to petty details—notes, fingering, tempo, etc.—and in the constant insistence upon these details there is danger of cultivating a fussy, pica-yune attitude that misses the larger and more impor-tant issues in attending only to their component parts. I have known teachers to become so painstaking and accurate concerning every minute detail of technic as to lose all perspective of the artistic purpose which
< Page 6 | Page 8 >