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Page 55
ON MEMORIZING
"In regard to memorizing piano music I have no set method. The music
comes to me I know not how. After a period of deep concentration, of
intent listening, it is mine, a permanent possession. You say
Leschetizky advises his pupils to learn a small portion, two or four
measures, each hand alone and away from the piano. Other pianists tell
me they have to make a special study of memorizing. All this is not for
me--it is not my way. When I have studied the piece sufficiently to play
it, I know it--every note of it. When I play a concerto with orchestra I
am not only absolutely sure of the piano part, but I also know each note
that the other instruments play. Of course I am listening intently to
the piano and to the whole orchestra during a performance; if I allowed
myself to think of anything else, I should be lost. This absolute
concentration is what conquers all difficulties.
ABSTRACT TECHNIC
"About practising technic for itself alone: this will not be necessary
when once the principles of technic are mastered. I, at least, do not
need to do so. I make, however, various technical exercises out of all
difficult passages in pieces. I scarcely need to look at the printed
pages of pieces I place on my recital programs. I have them with me, to
be sure, but they are seldom taken out of their boxes. What I do is to
think the pieces through and do mental work with them, and for this I
must be quiet and by myself. An hour's actual playing at the piano each
day is sufficient to prepare for a recital.
"It must not be thought that I do not study very seriously. I do not
work less than six hours a day; if on any day I fail to secure this
amount of time, I make it up at the earliest moment. During the summer
months, when I am preparing new programs for the next season, I work
very hard. As I said, I take the difficult passages of a composition and
make the minutest study of them in every detail, making all kinds of
technical exercises out of a knotty section, sometimes playing it in
forty or fifty different ways. For example, take the little piece out of
Schumann's _Carneval_, called 'The Reconnaissance.' That needed study. I
gave three solid days to it; that means from nine to twelve in the
morning, and from one to five in the afternoon. At the end of that time
I knew it perfectly and was satisfied with it. From that day to this I
have never had to give a thought to that number, for I am confident I
know it utterly. I have never had an accident to that or to any of my
pieces when playing in public. In my opinion a pianist has a more
difficult task to accomplish than any other artist. The singer has to
sing only one note at a time; the violinist or 'cellist need use but one
hand for notes. Even the orchestral conductor who aspires to direct his
men without the score before him, may experience a slip of memory once
in awhile, yet he can go on without a break. A pianist, however, has
perhaps half a dozen notes in each hand to play at once; every note must
be indelibly engraved on the memory, for one dares not make a slip of
any kind.
"An artist playing in London, Paris or New York--I class these cities
together--may play about the same sort of programs in each. The
selections will not be too heavy in character. In Madrid or Vienna the
works may be even more brilliant. It is Berlin that demands heavy, solid
meat. I play Bach there, Beethoven and Brahms. It is a severe test to
play in Berlin and win success.
"I have made several tours in America. This is a wonderful country. I
don't believe you Americans realize what a great country you have, what
marvelous advantages are here, what fine teachers, what great
orchestras, what opera, what audiences! The critics, too, are so well
informed and so just. All these things impress a foreign artist--the
love for music that is here, the knowledge of it, and the enthusiasm for
it. A worthy artist can make a name and success in America more quickly
and surely than in any country in the world.
"For one thing America is one united country from coast to coast, so it
is much easier getting about here than in Europe. For another thing I
consider you have the greatest orchestras in the world, and I have
played with the orchestras of all countries. I also find you have the
most enthusiastic audiences to be found anywhere.
"In Europe a musical career offers few advantages. People often ask my
advice about making a career over there, and I try to dissuade them. It
sometimes impresses me as a lions' den, and I have the desire to cry out
'Beware' to those who may be entrapped into going over before they are
ready, or know what to expect. Of course there are cases of phenomenal
success, but they are exceptions to the general rule.
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