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Page 19
"There is no gainsaying the fact that this age is superficial, and the
great office of art is to cultivate that idealism which will uplift and
inspire. In an important sense the teacher must be a preacher of
righteousness. He knows that 'beautiful things are fashioned from clay,
but it has first to pass through the fire,' and only those who can
endure that scorching can hope to achieve success.
QUESTION OF PERSONALITY
"If asked to what extent a player's personality enters into the
performance, my answer would be: Only in so far as the performance
remains true to the composer's intention. So long as personality
illumines the picture and adds charm, interest, and effectiveness to it,
it is to be applauded; but when it obstructs the view and calls
attention to itself it should not be tolerated. It is not art; it is
vanity.
"Yes, I teach both high finger action and pressure touch, once the
principle of arm weight is thoroughly established, although I use high
finger action only to develop finger independence and precision, and for
passages where sharp delineation is required. I believe in freedom of
body, arm and wrist, a firm, solid arched hand and set fingers. That
freedom is best which insures such control of the various playing
members as to enable the player to produce at will any effect of power,
velocity or delicacy desired; thereby placing the entire mechanical
apparatus under complete subjection to the mind, which dominates the
performance. In other words, I am neither an anarchist who wants no
government, namely unrestrained devitalization, nor a socialist, whose
cry is for all government--that is, restriction and rigidity. In piano
playing, as in all else, 'Virtue is the happy mean between two vices.'"
X
KATHARINE GOODSON
AN ARTIST AT HOME
When one has frequently listened to a favorite pianist in the concert
room, and has studied impersonally, so to speak, the effects of touch,
tone and interpretation produced during a recital, it is a satisfaction
and delight to come into personal touch with the artist in the inner
circle of the home; to be able to speak face to face with one who has
charmed thousands from the platform, and to discuss freely the points
which impress one when listening to a public performance.
[Illustration: Katharine Goodson]
It has been my recent privilege thus to come into intimate touch with
the artist pair, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Hinton, the latter being known all
over the world as Katharine Goodson. They have a quiet, beautiful home
in London--a true artist's home. One feels at once on entering and
enjoying its hospitality, that here at least is one instance where two
musicians have perfect harmony in the home life. Mr. Hinton, as is
widely known, is a composer and also a violinist and pianist. The
beautiful music-room, which has been added to one side of the house and
leads into the garden, contains two grand pianos on its raised platform.
This music-room is Miss Goodson's own sanctum and workroom, and here
piano concertos, with orchestral accompaniment supplied on the second
piano, can be studied _ad infinitum_. Mr. Hinton has his own studio at
the top of the house.
The garden music-room is lighted at one end by a great arched window, so
placed that the trees of the garden are seen through its panes. It is
easy to imagine one's self in some lovely sylvan retreat--which is
indeed true! All the appointments of this room, and indeed of the whole
house, every article of furniture and each touch of color, betoken the
artistic sense for fitness and harmony. Miss Goodson has a keen and
exquisite sense for harmony in colors as well as for color in the
harmonies she brings from her instrument.
"My coming tour will be the fifth I have made in America," she said. "I
enjoy playing in your country immensely; the cities of New York, Boston,
Chicago, and Philadelphia are the most appreciative in the world. It is
true we have masses of concerts in London, but few of them are really
well attended and people are not so thoroughly acquainted with piano
music as you are in America. And you are so appreciative of the
best--even in the smaller cities.
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