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Page 51
"I use no instruction books for technical drill, but give my own
exercises, or select them from various sources. Certain principles must
govern the daily practise, from the first. When they are mastered in
simple forms later work is only development. Loose wrist exercises, in
octaves, sixths, or other forms, should form a part of the daily
routine. So should scale playing, for I am a firm believer in scales of
all kinds. Chords are an important item of practise. How few students,
uninstructed in their principles, ever play good chords? They either
flap the hand down from the wrist, with a weak, thin tone, or else they
play with stiff, high wrists and arms, making a hard, harsh tone. In
neither case do they use any arm weight. It often takes some time to
make them see the principles of arm weight and finger grasp.
QUESTIONS OF PEDALING
"Another point which does not receive the attention it deserves is
pedaling. Few students have a true idea of the technic of the foot on
the pedal. They seem to know only one way to use the damper pedal, and
that is to come down hard on it, perhaps giving it a thump at the same
time. I give special preparatory exercises for pedal use. Placing the
heel on the floor, and the forepart of the foot on the pedal, they learn
to make one depression with every stroke of the metronome; when this can
be done with ease, then two depressions to the beat, and so on. In this
exercise the pedal is not pressed fully down; on the contrary there is
but a slight depression; this vibration on the pedal has the effect of a
constant shimmering of light upon the tones, which is very beautiful."
Here the artist illustrated most convincingly with a portion of a Chopin
Prelude. "One needs a flexible ankle to use the pedal properly; indeed
the ankle should be as pliant as the wrist. I know of no one else who
uses the pedal in just this fashion; so I feel as though I had
discovered it.
"Yes, I have numbers of pupils among society people; girls who go out a
good deal and yet find time to practise a couple hours a day. The
present tendency of the wealthy is to take a far more serious view of
music study than was formerly the case. They feel its uplifting and
ennobling influence, respect its teachers, and endeavor to do carefully
and well whatever they attempt.
"While necessary and important, the technical foundation is after all
but a small part compared to the training for rhythmic sense, and for
the knowledge of how to produce good and beautiful results in musical
interpretation."
XXVI
EUGENE HEFFLEY
MODERN TENDENCIES IN PIANO MUSIC
Eugene Heffley, the Founder and first President of the MacDowell Club,
of New York, a pianist and teacher of high ideals and most serious aims,
came to New York from Pittsburg, in 1900, at the suggestion of MacDowell
himself. He came to make a place for himself in the profession of the
metropolis, and has proved himself a thoroughly sincere and devoted
teacher, as well as a most inspiring master; he has trained numerous
young artists who are winning success as pianists and teachers.
Mr. Heffley, while entertaining reverence for the older masters, is very
progressive, always on the alert to discover a new trend of thought, a
new composer, a new gospel in musical art. He did much to make known and
arouse enthusiasm for MacDowell's compositions, when they were as yet
almost unheard of in America. In an equally broad spirit does he
introduce to his students the works of the ultra modern school, Debussy,
Rachmaninoff, Florent Schmitt, Reger, Liadow, Poldini and others.
"My students like to learn these new things, and the audiences that
gather here in the studio for our recitals, come with the expectation of
being enlightened in regard to new and seldom heard works, and we do not
disappoint them. Florent Schmitt, in spite of his German surname, is
thoroughly French in his manner and idiom, though they are not of the
style of Debussy; he has written some beautiful things for the piano; a
set of short pieces which are little gems. I rank Rachmaninoff very
highly, and of course use his Preludes, not only the well-known
ones--the C and G minor--but the set of thirteen in one opus number;
they are most interesting. I use a good deal of Russian music; Liadow
has composed some beautiful things; but Tschaikowsky, in his piano
music, is too complaining and morbid, as a rule, though he is
occasionally in a more cheerful mood. It seems as though music has said
all it can say along consonant lines, and regular rhythms. We must look
for its advancement in the realm of Dissonance; not only in this but in
the way of variety in Rhythm. How these modern composers vary their
rhythms, sometimes three or four different ones going at once! It is the
unexpected which attracts us in musical and literary art, as well as in
other things: we don't want to know what is coming next; we want to be
surprised.
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