Piano Playing Part 14

How should I execute a chord that is written with a spread and also marked "secco"?--as in Chaminade's "Air de Ballet, No. 1."

Roll the chord as evenly as possible in all its parts; but use no pedal and do not hold it, but play it briskly and short.

[Sidenote: _Small Notes Under Large Ones_]

What is the meaning of small notes printed under large ones?

Usually the small notes are an indication that they may be omitted by players who have not the stretch of hand necessary to play them.

[Sidenote: _Accenting a Mordent in a Sonata_]

How should one play and accent the mordent occurring in the forty-seventh measure of the first movement--allegro di molto--of Beethoven's Sonata Pathetique, Opus 13?

The accent ought to lie upon the first note of the mordent, but you should not make a triplet of it by occupying the whole quarter with its execution. The mordent must be played fast enough to preserve the rhythmic integrity of the melody-note.

[Sidenote: _The Position of the Turn Over a Note_]

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The turn stands sometimes directly over the note and sometimes farther to the right of it. Does this difference indicate different executions and, if so, how would the two turns have to be played?

The turn always begins with its uppermost note. When it stands directly over a note it takes the place of this note; when more to the right the note is struck first and the turn, judiciously distributed at the time of its disposal, follows.

[Sidenote: _How Are Syncopated Notes to be Played?_]

How are syncopated notes to be played?

Notes occurring an entire beat of the prescribed time are, when syncopated, to be played between the beats. If the syncopated notes occupy only a fraction of the beats they are played between the fractional beats.

[Sidenote: _A Trill Begins on the Melodic Note_]

In modern compositions should all trills begin upon the note which is written, presuming there is no appoggiatura before the note? Is the alternation of the thumb and the second finger desirable in the playing of a trill?

Where not expressly otherwise stated (by appoggiatura) trills usually begin upon the melodic tone (the note which is written). Change fingers when those employed get tired. For extended trills the use of three fingers is advantageous, while in shorter trills two fingers will preserve more clarity.

[Sidenote: _Position of Auxiliary Note in a Trill_]

In the accompanying example of the trill should the auxiliary note be a tone or a half-tone above the princ.i.p.al note? If the half-tone, what would be the name of the auxiliary note?

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The episode you quote moves evidently in the tonality of G minor. The trill stands on B-flat. As the auxiliary note of a trill is ever the diatonic sequel of a stated note it must, in this case, be a whole tone above B-flat, namely C. Since the piece is written in D major there should have been a "natural" marked under the sign of the trill.

[Sidenote: _Speed and Smoothness in Trilling_]

Will you kindly suggest a good method of gaining speed and smoothness in trilling?

While there are no "methods" for trilling there are certain means by which sluggish muscles may be a.s.sisted. Yet, even these means cannot be suggested without knowing the seat and cause of your trouble. The causes differ with the individual, but they are, in the majority of cases, purely mental, not manual. To trill quickly we must think quickly; for if we trill only with the fingers they will soon stick, lose their rhythmic succession, and finish in a cramped condition. Hence, there is no direct way to learn trilling; it will develop with your general mental-musical advancement. The main thing is, of course, always to listen to your own playing, actually and physically, to perceive every tone you play; for only then can you form an estimate as to how quickly you can "hear." And, of course, you do not expect to play anything more quickly than your own ear can follow.

[Sidenote: _Difference in Playing Trills_]

What is the difference in the manner of playing the trill in measure 25, and those in measures 37 and 38, of the Chopin Polonaise, Opus 53?

The significance of the trill in measure 25 is melodic, while that of the trills in measures 37 and 38 is purely rhythmic, somewhat in the nature of a snare-drum effect. The first trill requires greater stress on the melodic note, while in the other two you may throw your hand, so to speak, on both notes and roll the trill until it lands upon the next eighth-note.

[Sidenote: _The Meaning of Solfeggio_]

What is meant by "spelling" in music?

Unless it means the variety of ways in which most chords can be written it refers to an oral reciting of notes, properly called solfeggio.

ABOUT CERTAIN PIECES AND COMPOSERS

[Sidenote: _Some Pieces for a Girl of Fourteen_]

Please tell me some pieces of the cla.s.sics which are not too difficult for my daughter of fourteen to play. She has a great deal of talent but not much technique. The Kuhlau Sonatinas she can play very well.

If your daughter is fourteen years old and has--as you say--much talent but little technique, it is high time to think of developing her technique, for a pianist without technique is like a pleasure traveller without money. At any rate, I should prefer the easier sonatas by Haydn and Mozart to those of Kuhlau, because of their greater intrinsic merit.

Any good teacher will a.s.sist you in selecting them to fit your daughter's case.

[Sidenote: _In Playing a Sonata_]

In playing sonatas my teacher tells me it is a great fault if I neglect to observe the repeat marks. I have heard it said by others that the repet.i.tion is not necessary, though it may be desirable. Will you please give me your opinion?

In a sonata it is of serious importance to repeat the first part (exposition) of the first movement in order that the two princ.i.p.al themes, as well as their tributaries, may well impress themselves upon the mind and memory of your auditor. For, unless this is accomplished, he cannot possibly understand and follow their development in the next part. That the exposition part is not the only one to be repeated you will find frequently indicated; for instance, in the last movement of the "Appa.s.sionata," where the repet.i.tion is needful, not for the reason stated before, but for the sake of formal balance or proportion.

Generally speaking, I am in favour of following the composer's indications punctiliously, hence, also, his repeat marks, which serve aesthetic purposes that you will perhaps not understand until later, when the sonata has, in your hands, outgrown the stage of being learned.

[Sidenote: _A Point in Playing the "Moonlight Sonata"_]

Should not the notes of the triplet figure in Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" be so blended into each other that you do not hear them in separate notes, but as a background, so to speak, for the notes in the melody?

The truth lies midway between two extremes. While the accompaniment should be sufficiently subdued to form, as you say, a harmonic background, it ought, nevertheless, not to be blended to such a degree as to obliterate entirely the undercurrent of a triplet motion. The acc.u.mulation of each chord should be produced through the pedal, not through an excessive legato touch.

[Sidenote: _Playing the "Spring Song" too Fast_]

Should Mendelssohn's "Spring Song" be played in slow or fast time?

It is marked "Allegretto grazioso." The latter term (graceful, in English) precludes a too-quick movement.

[Sidenote: _What a Dot May Mean_]

This is the seventh measure of Chopin's Polonaise, Opus 26, No. 1. What is the meaning of the dot placed after the D in the ba.s.s? Whenever this measure is repeated the dot occurs, or I should have thought it a misprint.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The left-hand notes follow each other as eighth-notes. Their respective duration, however, is indicated by the upward stems and the dot. It is intended here that a complete chord should be built up by acc.u.mulation, as in ill.u.s.tration _a_:

[Ill.u.s.tration]