Page 728 NOV EMBER 1920 THE ETUDE listen to him. It can be said that even in the concert hall Biilow remained a great pedagogue, from whom everyone could learn the art of bringing to light the deepest hidden treasures of a composition. It will also be very difficult to surpass Biilow as an orchestra leader. His thorough scholarship, coupled with an unconquer-able firmness, gave him such an authority over the per-formers that they were soon flaming with a sacred fire and were ready to follow him everywhere. It was not only the general poetic idea of the work which von Biilow sought to unfold, but he also endeavored to bring out the smallest details in the greatest possible perfec-tion. Not a single ornament, not a trill, not a legato sign, a musical comma, that did not receive his full attention. It is hardly necessary to say that the rehearsals were exhausting for him as well as for the players, for he was relentless in correcting, improving, reviewing till the work stood perfect. Not the slightest mistake escaped his extremely musical ear. He directed everything by heart. Franz Liszt I had the good fortune of being introduced to Franz Liszt by Sgambati in Rome. The very first im-pression was of an imposing and striking personality, but at the same time of a friendly and benevolent dis-position. The resemblance to his daughter, Cosima Wagner, whom I had known before him, was striking. The huge warts on his face also attracted my attention. His feminine admirers had for each of these warts some pet name. Of course, Liszt could hardly be blamed for the fact that a lot of silly women made fools of themselves over him. The way he showed interest in my modest doings revealed his altruistic and noble feel-ings. He held in high honor both art and artists. One can declare that his uplifting magnetic influence made itself perceptible as soon as one came in touch with him. One could then understand how he helped friends, pupils and all who shared his views toward enlarging their horizon and elevating their artistic aims. The en-thusiasm with which he fought for all that is great, the disinterestedness with which he disposed of all his gifts and of all he possessed, to foster the cause of other less fortunate musicians are unique in the history of art. What Liszt always accented in his conversation was that in the midst of the universal progress of mankind the art of music could not remain at a standstill. "Every-thing in the world," he said, "is subject to uninterrupted and continuous evolution. Why should music alone escape that law?" About "program music" of which Liszt was one of the most strenuous champions, he maintained that the program is the Ariadne's thread which shows the way through the labyrinth of musical composition and that artists themselves are coming to the conviction that it is to their own interest to furnish their auditors with a guide that they may be relieved of the embarrassment of guessing what the composer wished to say. The program is the more desirable if the com-poser has created his work under well-defined concep-tions. These were on the whole the main points of the unforgetable conversation I had with Liszt. Carl Reinecke Among the deceased pianists who had a great influ-ence on musical life, especially in Germany, Carl Rei-necke ought not to be forgotten. I made his ac-quaintance in Leipsic, where he was conducting the "Gewandhaus Concerts" and teaching at the Conserva-tory. He was very courteous and honey-mouthed. Being, by reason of his important position, in continuous touch IF there is any one form of musical composition under the sun that will cause the dilletante to yawn rather audi-bly, and long for something with "straight melody/' it is the time-honored fugue. How often have we heard the remark upon leaving a concert hall, where some noted pianist has begun with Bach and ended with Liszt, "Oh! I like most of the stuff he played all right, but the first thing was drier than chips." Such a remark may come from a person of good general education—nay, even from one of natural mu-sical feeling and intelligence—but never from one who has an earnest desire to get acquainted with this genial old giant of counterpoint, whose outward demeanor seems at first so cold and forbidding. Even the task of getting acquainted is a hard one, and the teacher must prescribe it at first in small, carefully graded doses, with the most prominent musicians, he had become a man of the world and he understood how to flatter human vanity. He was very diplomatic in giving his opinion on other musicians so that it was difficult to find out whether he was in favor of a musician or against him. The fact is that in his heart he was a decided classicist, and he hated Wagner and all his followers. He was a specialist in Mozart, whose piano works he interpreted delightfully indeed. His melodious singing touch and his flawless technic enabled him to present a perfect rendition of this master. When Carl Reinecke paid me a visit in Heidelberg, where I was living for a number of years, I accompanied him on his excursions through the picturesque valley of the Neckar and often grew tired long before he felt any fatigue. He was an indefati-gable walker and although apparently of weak frame, all skin and bones, he was wiry and musclar. Leschetizky, Paderewski, Zeisler Another prominent figure in the pianistic world was Theodore Leschetizky, the great pianist and pedagogue. Undersized, with a short gray beard framing a tiny red-dish face, he suggested rather the humble Russian peas-ant than the great artist. After a short while one found out, under the unassuming presence, the master mind, the iron will. I made his personal acquaintance in Vienna at his country home in the "Villan Colonie," of Wah-ring, where he also gave lessons to the numerous pupils who came from all parts of the world to enjoy his in-struction. No other pianist could have surpassed him in the evenness of scales, arpeggios and similar corner-stones of piano playing. He was a born teacher, al-though very severe, even harsh in his lessons. He had many American pupils and as he did not speak English a lady assistant acted as his interpreter. As once one of these American pupils did not put enough feeling into her interpretation, Leschetizky lost his patience and shouted in German: "I wager, if I would puncture you with a needle sour milk instead of blood would pour out of you!" The pupil asked the interpreter: "What did he say?" And the latter diplomatically: "He said only that you must go on." We spoke about technical questions and Leschetizky requested me to play for him my Concert Etudes and gave me afterwards his photograph with the following autograph: "T o Eugenio Pirani as a friendly souvenir and with many thanks for the superlative rendition of his excellent concert etudes." He was especially inter-ested in my fingering of thirds and sixths scales, which is different from that he used. He thought with Elliot that the beauty of a lovely woman is like music and according to that creed he was until his last days an ardent admirer of the fair sex. After having divorced his first wife, Annette Essi-poff, also a pianist of note, he married and divorced, one after the other, several of his pupils. Being always sur-rounded by a bevy of young, nice girls he was jocu-larly called "the sultan amidst his harem." To appreci-ate his importance as an instructor one needs only to mention two of his pupils: Paderewski and Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler. It would be superfluous' to speak at length about the former, who, because of his political activity, has been so much in the public eye. Of Fannie Bloomfield Zeis-ler I need only to remark that she is not only one of the foremost pianists of our time, but also a highly intelli-gent and broadly informed woman with whom one can discuss other things besides music. until the pupil has become thoroughly initiated into the Bach style, since Bach is a style in himself, from which all other musical styles emanate. The fugue is primarily an intellectual composition, written according to a set formula, in two, three, four, and sometimes five or six parts, and this is just what makes it uninteresting or "unmusical" if you will have it so, to the uninitiated, for the great mass of musically un-cultivated cannot concentrate upon more than one melody at a time, so that when the complaint is made that a polyphonic composition "has no tune" the fact of the case is, the piece has so many tunes, that the listener cannot take them all in; and the desire for "straight melody" is nothing more than a demand for a melody in one part, _with the. other parts carrying on an accom-paniment, which, if played by itself, would spell "mo-notony." Chart for Remembering Key Signatures By Mrs. R. R. Forman I FIND that there are many pupils who are unable to name the key signatures correctly. The following little chart has been most helpful in my work in that par-ticular. My plan is to copy the chart in the pupil's scale book, having her repeat each key and signature as I write. As we finish the pupils invariably ex-claim : "Why, I never saw it that way before!" I also make it plain that the relative minor keys bear the same signature. SHARPS actionGoTo:9,CactionGoTo:9, actionGoTo:9,=n actionGoTo:9,oactionGoTo:9, sharpsactionGoTo:9, oractionGoTo:9, flatsactionGoTo:9, F G =F # Bb actionGoTo:9,DactionGoTo:9, actionGoTo:9,=F actionGoTo:9,#actionGoTo:9, CtfactionGoTo:9, Eb actionGoTo:9,AactionGoTo:9, =FitactionGoTo:9, CifactionGoTo:9, GitactionGoTo:9, Ab actionGoTo:9,EactionGoTo:9, actionGoTo:9,=F actionGoTo:9,#actionGoTo:9, c#actionGoTo:9, G#actionGoTo:9, mactionGoTo:9, Db B =F S CS Git D£ Ait Gb Fit=Fit C# Git Dit AS E# Cb: Cit=Fit CS Git Dit Ait Eit Bit Learn to Avoid Making Commands By Sylvia H. Bliss INHIBITIONS and inabilities are more often mental than physical. "Crescendo, crescendo," the teacher ad-monishes, but in vain. Only a sudden leap to loudness ensues. "Bring out the melody," is the command, but the pupil knows no melody to separate from the accom-paniment. "This must be played faster." There fol-lows a spasm of haste, then stumbling and the original tempo. The commands are impotent for the reason that they do not confer ideas. The hearing of a long, gradual crescendo played by a great orchestra is more potent than an hour of explanation. Crescendo must exist in the mind before the fingers produce it. Melody must sing itself in the brain before it sings from beneath the fingers. Mental action must be accelerated before the fingers quicken their pace. I may speak not only from observation but from per-sonal experience as well. If I hear a composition played at a tempo which exceeds my ability to execute, my abil-ity is thereby increased. And other obstacles may be thus overcome. The Etude in A Flat, by Chopin— the "harp etude," had long lain outside my interest and fluent technical command. Only the other day I heard it beautifully played by a young conservatory gradu-ate ; immediately the composition became alluring and within my technical resources. In a more profound and intimate way than we have dreamed is the saying true, "As a man thinketh, so is he." Just a Suggestion By C. A. Browne A MUSIC student, with but limited time for practice, was puzzled to employ that time to the very best ad-vantage. She finally evolved the following little plan, which has been found of great advantage in making glad the rough places. When a new piece is undertaken, a blank sheet of paper is fastened to it, with a letter-clip. On this memo-randa slip is jotted down every idea that presents itself for overcoming the individual difficulties, as they rear their heads; while the learner plods steadily onward. On the reverse side of the slip, it is extremely pleasant to note a short-hand "Who's Who" 'type of account *of the composer's life and best-known achievements, just the most vital things that have occurred between the glad little b and the sad little d. Music and the Home SIDNEY LANIER has said that: "T o make a home out of a household, given the raw materials—to-wit: wife, children, a friend or two and a house—two other things are necessary. These are a good fire and good music. And inasmuch as we can do without the fire for half the year, I may say music is the one essential." He also says that, "Late explorers say they have found some nations that have no God; but I have not read of any that had no music." "Music means harmony, harmony means love, lovq means—God." The Unmusical Fugue By E ward Fletcher FLATS Bb =B b Eb =B b Eb Ab =B b Eb Ab Db =B b Eb Ab Db Gb =B b Eb Ab Db Gb Cb =Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Cb ' Fb
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