The Pianolist Part 4

A reading of this poem conveys to the player the correct mood in which to interpret the impromptu.

By way of contrast I follow these careless raptures--careless only in their effect of spontaneity--with the famous "Marche Funebre," the funeral march which forms the third movement of Chopin's sonata in B flat minor, Op. 35. This has been called the best funeral march ever written for the pianoforte. At Chopin's own funeral it was played scored for orchestra. In my opinion it is not only "the best funeral march ever written for the pianoforte," but the most intrinsically beautiful and sad funeral march ever composed. Its opening suggests the solemn tolling of great bells, the heavy march rhythm gives the effect of the slow procession of mourners; and the dirgelike music, soft and m.u.f.fled at first, grows in power like the measured, inflexible rhythm of fate. Then it seems as if the mourners had arrived at the open grave, for the music voices a weeping melody, pure and tender and sweet; then the march rhythm makes itself heard again and the procession leaves the grave, the music dying away in the distance. This is the funeral march of a nation, of Chopin's own beloved Poland.

Chopin wrote two sets of twelve "Etudes." They gave an entirely new significance to the term. For the Chopin etudes not only are supreme as studies. They are supreme as music as well. Before they were published the usual musical study was something very dry and set. How different these superb compositions are from studies such as are comprised in Czerny's "School of Velocity," which make you feel like employing the "velocity" you have acquired to run away as quickly as possible from the "school," whereas the Chopin etudes are so full of melody and of the rarest and the most beautiful musical effects, that to play any one of them suffices to whet the appet.i.te for the others.

The pianolist might well go through the entire two sets of twelve. It would open up a new musical world to him. Here I can only point out three. Opus 10, No. 5, is the "Black Key" etude, so called because all the notes of the right hand are on black keys. This is a brilliant study with a very charming ending. Opus 25, No. 9, is the so called "b.u.t.terfly Wings" etude, a designation which expresses its general characteristic of lightness and grace, but fails to make allowance for the accent of pa.s.sion in the rising and descending pa.s.sage that occurs about the middle and which should be brought out when it is correctly interpreted--which usually it is not. The greatest of all the etudes is the "Revolutionary," Op. 10, No. 12. It was written by Chopin in 1831, when he heard the news that Warsaw had been taken by the Russians, and it expresses the tornado of emotion that swept over him when he realized that Poland was about to sink beneath the triple onslaught of Russia, Austria and Germany. This composition which, mind you, goes by the simple name of "study," is one of the most tremendous outbursts of wrath in music--a storm of the soul without even such lyric episodes as those which form islands of calm in the torrential last movement of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata." Well may Mr. Huneker say that the end "rings out like the crack of creation. It is elemental."

This etude, certain of the "Polonaises," the "Scherzos," the "Ballades" and the "Fantaisie" in F minor, reveal a fire, pa.s.sion and virile power that will surprise those who have formed their estimate of Chopin from the mournful nocturnes and brilliant waltzes. The so-called "Military Polonaise," Op. 40, No. 1, is so replete with the spirit of war that in the middle portion it is easy to hear the roll of drums and the clash of battle. It was of this polonaise Chopin said, "If I had the strength to play it as it should be played I would break all the strings of the pianoforte."

The most effective of the polonaises, his opus 53, also breathes forth martial ardor and defiance. It begins with a stirring call to arms, followed by the swinging measure of the polonaise proper with a melody that suggests soldiery on prancing steeds and with flas.h.i.+ng sabres, defiling in review before battle. This is followed by a "trio" in which a rapid octave figure in the ba.s.s, beginning softly and growing louder and louder until it reaches a cras.h.i.+ng climax, with strains like a bugle call ringing out above it, depicts a cavalry charge coming from the distance, drawing nearer and nearer and sweeping past with a mighty roar. There is a story that while Chopin was composing this polonaise, he was so affected when playing over the nearly completed work, that, seized by a peculiar hallucination, he saw the walls of the room open and, approaching from the outer night, a band of medieval Polish knights mounted and in armor, as if they had risen from their ancient graves and ridden on the clouds to appear in response to the summons of his music. The somewhat vague pa.s.sage which follows the climax of the cavalry charge and leads back to the main subject possibly may be accounted for by this strange experience.

Unfortunately there is no opportunity here to take up the "Scherzos,"

so unlike the coquettish, bantering pieces of the same name by other composers, Chopin seemingly representing tragedy mocking itself, as any one playing the B flat minor "Scherzo," Op. 31, may hear for himself; the "Ballades," so eloquently narrative of love and adventure, the A flat major and the G minor being especially popular in the pianolist's repertory; and the "Fantaisie," in F minor, one of the greatest compositions for pianoforte. As for the "Mazurkas" and "Preludes," pieces that are among their composer's happiest creations, I can do no more than call the pianolist's attention to their existence and advise him not to neglect them.

VI. NOTES ON SOME OTHER MASTERS

Besides those composers, one or more of whose works I have described in some detail, there are others who at least should be touched on, always bearing in mind, however, that one of the aims of this book is to stimulate the pianolist to explore for himself. Bach, Handel, Haydn and Mozart can be studied most profitably in connection with the courses that are referred to in the chapter on Educational Factors which follows. There too will be found reference to the thorough courses on Wagner, one a general course on that composer, the other a special course on his "Ring of the Nibelung."

A line of composers that may well interest the pianolist has come to the front in Russia. Rubinstein, whose "Melody" in F and "Kammenoi, Ostrow," No. 17, are among the popular selections in the pianolist's repertory was a Russian, who, however, from a musical standpoint, expressed himself in German. To a certain extent the same is true of Tschaikowsky. His music is "universal" rather than national. It has, nevertheless, the Russian tang to a greater degree than Rubinstein's, and Tschaikowsky is cla.s.sed correctly as the head of the Russian school and one of the greatest of modern composers. His "Pathetic Symphony," which has been metrostyled by Edouard Colonne, a distinguished French orchestral conductor, is a n.o.ble work. Among smaller pieces which the pianolist readily will appreciate, are the "Song without Words," Op. 2, No. 2; an attractive "Valse a cinq Temps," with its oddly extended rhythm; the very characteristic "November, in the Troika," Op. 37, No. 11; an expressive "Barcarolle"

and the selections from his "Ca.s.se Noisette" (Nutcracker) ballet suite.

Next to Tschaikowsky's "Song without Words" the most widely known short piece for pianoforte by a Russian composer is Rachmaninoff's "Prelude," Op. 3, No. 2, a broad and sonorous work with a splendid climax. A little "Waltz," Op. 10, No. 2, is captivating; and a "Serenade," Op. 3, No. 5, has an originality and charm quite its own.

A very beautiful "Moment Musical," Op. 16, No. 5, does not seem to have been included as yet in the catalogue of music rolls, an honor to which it clearly is ent.i.tled. Arensky, Balakirew, Cesar Cui, Glazounow, Karganoff, Liapounow, Rimsky-Korsakow, Sapellnikoff and Taneiew are other interesting figures of the "New-Russian" school of which so much is heard at present.

Dvorak who was a Bohemian wrote much music distinctly and fascinatingly characteristic of his native land. He was, however, broad enough in his tastes to recognize, during his sojourn of three years in America, the beauty of the Negro plantation melodies and to compose upon several of these as themes, his symphony "From the New World," sometimes called more briefly the "American Symphony." This symphony, two works of chamber music, also composed during his residence in America, and his compositions in his native Bohemian musical idiom usually are ranked higher than his more cosmopolitan efforts. His "Humoreske," Op. 101, No. 5, the "Slavic Dances" and "On the Holy Mount" are among his compositions unmistakably Bohemian in origin.

While Saint-Saens, having worked more successfully in the larger orchestral forms, is ranked first among contemporary French composers, and Chaminade leads as a composer of clever salon music, the pianolist can add some attractive pieces to his repertory from the compositions of Delibes and G.o.dard. Delibes is the composer of the opera "Lakme," and the Airs de Ballet from this, as well as the selections from his "Coppelia" and "Sylvia" ballets, will be found spontaneous and original. In fact in all instances in which music composed in dance forms has survived, this will be found due to a decided strain of individuality and resulting originality in the composer. The Valse Lente from the "Coppelia" ballet is among the hundred most popular pieces in the pianolist's repertory; and well up in the same list is G.o.dard's graceful "Second Mazurka," Op. 54.

Among the most distinguished modern composers is the American, Edward Alexander MacDowell. He is living, but his work is over; for, unfortunately, his mind has given way. His "Scotch Poem" with its graphic musical representation of the sea beating against a rockbound coast and its lyric episode consisting of a trist Scotch ballad, is highly dramatic, while his "Sea Pieces" are among the most poetic of contemporary compositions for pianoforte. His "Witches' Dance" is highly descriptive, and in whatever direction the pianolist may familiarize himself with the music of MacDowell, he will be found a highly original, eloquent and expressive composer, whose fame, already established, is bound to grow with the lapse of time.

This chapter may fittingly be concluded with a brief reference to two great German composers, Schumann and Brahms. Although "popular" is not a word ordinarily a.s.sociated with Schumann, two of his shorter pieces, "Traumerei" (Revery) and "Warum" (Why) are great favorites. Schumann did much for the development of music that has a distinct meaning and his works frequently bear t.i.tles that are suggestive of some mood or scene, like "At Evening," "Soaring" (Aufschwung, sometimes translated as Excelsior), "Carnaval," a series of twenty-one pieces descriptive of carnival scenes; and the "Novelettes."

Brahms is far more of a melodist than his critics give him credit for, but his clearness of expression is interfered with by the relentless scientific accuracy with which he works out his ideas, to which method he is apt to sacrifice only too often the innate beauty of his thoughts. He seems, however, to be slowly gaining ground, but more through his songs than through his instrumental works excepting those of chamber music. Yet any one who will seriously study Brahms and begin with the shorter pianoforte pieces, Op. 76 and Op. 116-119, will find mines of purest musical gold, where, perhaps, he least expected to discover them. Entirely different in style from Brahms' other works are his "Hungarian Dances," in which he has taken dance themes of the Hungarian Gypsies and skillfully worked them up into pieces that are melodiously and rhythmically fascinating and unreservedly popular.

They are much played by pianolists.

Let me point out again, here, that, however unsystematic the arrangement of this book may seem to the musical pedant, I have followed a certain sequence--one of my own devising and which seemed to me best adapted to give the pianolist a bowing acquaintance with some of the great composers that would lead him to wish for a closer intimacy with these and others. What I have kept in mind, and very clearly, is the fact that I am dealing with a player for whom all technical difficulties have been eliminated by the very instrument on which he plays. The complete control it gives him of all technical resources is what makes the old method of a.n.a.lyzing pieces according to their historical sequence not only unnecessary but futile in a book of this kind. Nevertheless, so perfectly does this instrument adapt itself to all music, that any one who desires to trace up the technical evolution of the art from Bach to the present day, will find it the readiest means for accomplis.h.i.+ng his purpose, especially if he uses in conjunction with it the educational courses referred to in the next chapter.

VII. EDUCATIONAL FACTORS.

It is not overstating the case to say that the pianola is the first practical means ever devised in history through which people in general, whether they have had previous instruction in music or not, can become familiar with the world's best musical compositions. Not only can they familiarize themselves with the past, they are able to keep up with the present. For example, many of Richard Strauss's works, including selections from "Salome," are to be found on the rolls prepared for this modern instrument. In fact every new composer whose work has any significance is represented in the catalogue of music rolls. Supposing a pianolist is planning to attend an opera or a concert. It would have to be a very peculiar opera or a very peculiar concert program which he could not obtain and try over beforehand.

Needless to say that, by trying it over beforehand, his appreciation of the performance would be increased a thousandfold.

Singers who cannot accompany themselves on the pianoforte, will find this new instrument a boon. For there is a special list of accompaniments in which the princ.i.p.al works in the vocalist's repertory are represented. Lovers of chamber music in which the pianoforte figures, will find pieces like sonatas for pianoforte and violin or violoncello, trios for pianoforte, violin and violoncello, pianoforte quartets, quintets and similar works, arranged so that the pianolist can play the pianoforte part. "This is the first time I ever have heard every note of the pianoforte part of the Schumann quintet,"

said the first violinist of a well known string quartet to Mr. E.R.

Hunter, a professional pianolist, after a performance of this famous work with Mr. Hunter at the pianola.

The importance of the educational value of this new instrument is recognized by many of the leading educators in music. Harvard, Yale, Columbia, the University of California, the University of Michigan, Va.s.sar and many other inst.i.tutions of learning use the instrument in connection with their musical courses. At Harvard, in connection with the lectures on music, the students are not only allowed but encouraged to go in groups of six or eight to the hall in which the instruments are installed, and play for themselves the symphonies of Beethoven, the music dramas of Wagner and other music that has formed the subjects of the lectures. "As a self-educator," writes Henry T.

Finck, "this instrument is worth more than all other instruments combined, for the reason that any one can, without practice, play on it any piece ever written."

Under the editors.h.i.+p of Carroll Brent Chilton, a.s.sisted by a staff of musicians and writers on music, among them Paul Morgan and Edward Ziegler, thorough educational courses for pianolists have been devised. The courses collectively are known as "The New Musical Education," and are conducted in connection with the Music-Lovers Library of music rolls. These courses are admirably arranged. There is a "Popular Course on the Great Composers" with a supplementary one on the "Modern Great Composers." The former is divided into five lessons: Bach and Handel; Haydn and Mozart; Beethoven and Schubert; Schumann and Mendelssohn; and Chopin and Wagner. The course on the modern great composers also is divided into five lessons: Liszt and Wagner; Chopin and Brahms; Tschaikowsky, Dvorak and Paderewski; Saint-Saens, Moskowszki and Chaminade; and Grieg and MacDowell, the last named the most distinguished among American composers.

Care has been taken in arranging these two courses not to aim above the head of the musical novice. For example, in dealing with Bach and Handel, two of their lighter pieces are taken up and a.n.a.lyzed.

Biographical data are given and, in addition to the pieces that are a.n.a.lyzed, supplementary rolls of seven compositions by Bach and five compositions by Handel are given, together with lists of reference books. The other lessons in these two courses are planned in the same popular style. They give the pianolist a bird's-eye-view of music and its development from Bach to Wagner.

The "New Musical Education" also takes up the great composers separately and gives most thorough-going courses on them. The Beethoven course, for example, is arranged in twelve lessons. The course furnishes the student with the Beethoven biography by Crowest; with twelve "lesson pamphlets," each pamphlet relating to a division of the course and written by Thomas Whitney Surette; with twelve scores, orchestral and pianoforte; and sixty-two "educational" music rolls. The scores correspond with the twelve works discussed in the twelve lessons, each lesson being devoted to the a.n.a.lysis of one composition. The rolls include not only those which give the works complete, but also special rolls with music quotations ill.u.s.trating the points made in the lesson pamphlets. The various musical forms employed by Beethoven are explained and a.n.a.lyzed, and in the complete rolls the different sections characteristic of each form are clearly indicated in print, so that the student, having read the a.n.a.lysis, can follow it intelligently on the roll. There are many other practical details of this kind in all the courses and which go to enhance their value to the pianolist-student.

There are two splendid Wagner courses to which I direct special attention because of the frequent performances of his works in opera and concert, and because a comprehensive knowledge of the development of his theories adds so greatly to the enjoyment of his music. The first course begins with his early opera "Rienzi" and ends with "Parsifal." All his works for the stage are embraced in this course which consists of ten lessons, each lesson having, in addition to the ordinary rolls, a "quotation roll," ill.u.s.trating the points in the lesson pamphlets, and in the case of the music-dramas, giving the "leading motives," so that the student can familiarize himself with these, and with their significance in the drama, and readily recognize them when he hears them, while playing the complete rolls or at a performance.

The second Wagner course relates to the "Ring of the Nibelung." It takes up consecutively the four great divisions of the work, "Rhinegold," "The Valkyr," "Siegfried" and "Dusk of the G.o.ds,"

devoting a lesson to each. Each lesson contains a quotation roll of leading motives and the following examples from the scores:--Lesson I., "Rhinegold." Prelude and scene of the Rhine-Maidens, Loge's Narrative, and the finale of the work. Lesson II., "The Valkyr."

Siegmund's Love Song, Ride of the Valkyries, and the Magic Fire Spell.

Lesson III., "Siegfried." Forge Song, Siegfried and the Forest Bird, Siegfried and Brunnhilde. Lesson IV., "Dusk of the G.o.ds." Siegfried's Rhine Journey, Song of the Rhine-Maidens, Siegfried's Funeral March. I know from the experience of one of my pianolist friends, how admirable this course is. He took it before hearing the "Ring" for the first time, with the result that he knew the music and the names of all the leading motives, recognized them whenever they occurred in the score, and in consequence, enjoyed the performance as much as if he had become familiar with it through repeated hearings. I may add that the catalogue of music rolls contains a complete collection of Wagner's works, making the music of this composer accessible to the pianolist whether he wishes to play it for study or enjoyment.

The pianolist holds in his hand the future of the development of music in this country. The instrument on which he plays is the only practical means as yet devised of making the great masterpieces of music penetrate to the minds and hearts of the ma.s.ses. Art has to advance on its own shoulders. "I cannot rest contentedly on the past, I cannot take a step forward without its aid." The pianolist has both the past and present of music at his command.

VIII. A FEW "DON'TS" FOR PIANOLISTS.

By way of postscript I give here a few hints to pianolists. General directions on how to play the pianola are provided in pamphlets and circulars which can be obtained without charge, and I do not propose to traverse these. The instrument is capable of great brilliancy and great power, greater than lie in the ten fingers of any pianist. This very fact is what has caused the instrument to be called "mechanical."

But in reality it is the fault of the player, because, carried away by the capacity of the instrument, he is apt in the beginning to play too loudly and too brilliantly. One of the first don'ts for the pianolist is that he refrain from putting the instrument to the full test of its--not really mechanical but superhuman--capacity for brilliancy and power.

Indeed, not only the beginner, but all pianolists should bear in mind that the chief distinction of the instrument lies in its exceeding delicacy. No virtuoso can play as delicately and lightly and, at the same time, as distinctly as can the pianolist those rapid pianissimo runs and those exquisite traceries and ornamentations which are found in modern music; all of which does not mean that the pianolist never should play loudly and brilliantly, but that he should not allow himself to be carried away by the possibilities of the instrument in these directions.

Certain refinements of interpretation which the pianist long has made his own also should be observed. Don't start a trill and keep it up with an evenly sustained strength of tone and rapidity from beginning to end. Begin it a shade slower and a shade more softly than the tempo and dynamic signs indicate, let it swell and grow louder, then taper down, and slightly r.e.t.a.r.d the turn which leads back to the melodic phrase. This is not a hard-and-fast rule, but one which usually it is safe to follow. The pianolist can execute his trills with a combination of delicacy and clearness that is absolutely unique.

Don't rip off runs as if you were tearing cloth. Come down with decision on the first note, begin somewhat slower than the indicated tempo and then increase the time to the proper acceleration. This is the true virtuoso effect, adopted, no doubt, because on the pianoforte it is easier to execute a run in this manner; and so, however erroneously, it has come to be considered the genuine musical way--showing that even in art we are creatures of habit.

Don't use the sustaining pedal too frequently, not even as frequently as indicated on the rolls. The pedal directions on the rolls follow those of the printed sheets too closely. The pianist often is obliged to use the sustaining pedal to hold a note that he cannot keep down because his fingers are otherwise employed. But the music rolls are cut so that every sustained note is held down as long as the composer directs that it should be. Remember too that the term "loud pedal" as applied to the sustaining pedal, as it properly is called, is incorrect. This pedal sustains but does not increase the power of the sound that is produced. That effect is secured by a stronger pressure of the feet upon the pumping pedals. In fact by varying the degree of pressure of the feet on the pumping pedals the pianolist can vary the degree of sound from a whispered pianissimo to the strongest fortissimo.

The pianolist should remember that, as the instrument on which he plays relieves him of all burdens of technique and enables him to play anything, no matter how difficult, with absolute technical accuracy, it is all the more his duty to play with as much expression as he can call forth from his inner nature. Emotion, the power of expression, the art of interpretation, can be developed by practice as well as any other latent capacity. It is an excellent plan for the beginner to take one piece, the Nevin waltz that I have described, for example, and play it over many times, not necessarily at the same sitting, in fact better not; but without attempting anything else.

Each time let the pianolist try to get more meaning, more expression out of it than he did before. He will find, if he does this, that, when he takes up another composition, the expression, the art of interpretation, will come to him more naturally and more quickly, until, from an ignorant beginner, he soon will have developed into a musical artist who can give himself and hundreds of others the most exalted pleasure--that of listening to music, not to mere playing.