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Page 2
Tobias Matthay
Harold Bauer
Raoul Pugno
Ferruccio Busoni
Eleanor Spencer
Teresa Carre�o
Wilhelm Bachaus
Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler
Ossip Gabrilowitsch
Hans von B�low
Dr. William Mason
PRELUDE
TO AMERICAN PIANO TEACHERS AND STUDENTS
The following "Talks" were obtained at the suggestion of the Editor of
_Musical America_, and have all, with one or two exceptions, appeared in
that paper. They were secured with the hope and intention of benefiting
the American teacher and student.
Requests have come from all over the country, asking that the interviews
be issued in book form. In this event it was the author's intention to
ask each artist to enlarge and add to his own talk. This, however, has
been practicable only in certain cases; in others the articles remain
very nearly as they at first appeared.
The summer of 1913 in Europe proved to be a veritable musical
pilgrimage, the milestones of which were the homes of the famous
artists, who generously gave of their time and were willing to discuss
their methods of playing and teaching.
The securing of the interviews has given the author satisfaction and
delight. She wishes to share both with the fellow workers of her own
land.
The Talks are arranged in the order in which they were secured.
PIANO MASTERY
PIANO MASTERY
I
IGNACE JAN PADEREWSKI
One of the most consummate masters of the piano at the present time is
Ignace Jan Paderewski. Those who were privileged to hear him during his
first season in this country will never forget the experience. The
Polish artist conquered the new world as he had conquered the old; his
name became a household word, known from coast to coast; he traveled
over our land, a Prince of Tones, everywhere welcomed and honored. Each
succeeding visit deepened the admiration in which his wonderful art was
held.
The question has often been raised as to the reason of Paderewski's
remarkable hold on an audience; wherein lay his power over the musical
and unmusical alike. Whenever he played there was always the same
intense hush over the listeners, the same absorbed attention, the same
spell. The superficial attributed these largely to his appearance and
manner; the more thoughtful looked deeper. Here was a player who was a
thoroughly trained master in technic and interpretation; one who knew
his Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann and Liszt. These things of
themselves would not hold an audience spellbound, for there were other
artists equally well equipped. In a final analysis it was doubtless
Paderewski's wonderful _piano tone_, so full of variety and color, so
vital with numberless gradations of light and shade, that charmed and
enthralled his listeners. It mattered to no one--save the critics--that
he frequently repeated the same works. What if we heard the Chromatic
Fantaisie a score of times? In his hands It became a veritable Soliloquy
on Life and Destiny, which each repetition invested with new meaning and
beauty. What player has ever surpassed his poetic conception of
Schumann's _Papillons_, or the Chopin Nocturnes, which he made veritable
dream poems of love and ecstasy. What listener has ever forgotten the
tremendous power and titanic effect of the Liszt Rhapsodies, especially
No. 2? When Paderewski first came to us, in the flush of his young
manhood, he taught us what a noble instrument the piano really is in the
hands of a consummate master. He showed us that he could make the piano
speak with the delicacy and power of a Rubinstein, but with more
technical correctness; he proved that he could pierce our very soul with
the intensity of his emotion, the poignant, heart-searching quality of
his tones, the poetry and beauty of his interpretation.
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