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Page 60
If B�low's musical trinity, Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms, had a fourth
divinity added, it would surely have been Liszt. The first day's program
contained chiefly works by the Hungarian master; among them _Au bord
d'une Source_, Scherzo and March, and the Ballades. The player who
rendered the Scherzo was advised to practise octaves with light,
flexible wrist; the Kullak Octave School was recommended, especially the
third book; the other books could be read through, practising whatever
seemed difficult and passing over what was easy. Of the Ballades the
first was termed more popular, the second finer and more earnest--though
neither makes very much noise.
The _Annees de Pelerinage_ received much attention. Among the pieces
played were, _Les Cloches_, _Chasse Neige_, _Eclogue_, _Cloches de
Geneva_, _Eroica_, _Feux Follets_ and _Ma__zeppa_. Also the big
Polonaise in E, the two �tudes, _Waldesrauschen_ and _Gnomenreigen_; the
Mazourka, Valse Impromptu, and the first �tude, of which last he
remarked: "You can all play this; thirty years have passed since it was
composed and people are only just finding out how fine it is. Such is
the case with many of Liszt's works. We wonder how they ever could have
been considered unmusical. Yet the way some people play Liszt the hearer
is forced to exclaim, 'What an unmusical fellow Liszt was, to be sure,
to write like that!'
"Exactness in everything is of the greatest importance," he was fond of
saying. "We must make the piano speak. As in speaking we use a separate
movement of the lips for each word, so in certain kinds of melody
playing, the hand is taken up after each note. Then, too, we cannot make
the piano speak without very careful use of the pedals."
The Mazourka of Liszt was recommended as one of the most delightful of
his lighter pieces. The _Waldesrauschen_ also, was termed charming, an
excellent concert number. "Begin the first figure somewhat louder and
slightly slower, then increase the movement and subdue the tone.
_Everything which_ _is to be played softly should be practised forte."_
Of Joachim Raff the Suite Op. 91 held the most important place. Each
number received minute attention, the Giga being played by Ethelbert
Nevin. The _Metamorphosen_ received a hearing, also the Valse Caprice,
Op. 116, of which the master was particular about the staccato left hand
against the legato right. Then came the Scherzo Op. 74, the Valse
Caprice and the Polka, from Suite Op. 71. Von B�low described the little
group of notes in left hand of middle section as a place where the
dancers made an unexpected slip on the floor, and suggested it be
somewhat emphasized. "We must make this little witticism," he said, as
he illustrated the passage at the piano.
"Raff showed himself a pupil of Mendelssohn in his earlier compositions;
his symphonies will find more appreciation in the coming century--which
cannot be said of the Ocean Symphony, for instance."
Of Mendelssohn the Capriccios Op. 5 and 22 were played, also the Prelude
and Fugue in E. Von B�low deplored the neglect which was overtaking the
works of Mendelssohn, and spoke of the many beauties of his piano
compositions. "There should be no sentimentality about the playing of
Mendelssohn's music," he said; "the notes speak for themselves.
"The return to a theme, in every song or instrumental work of his is
particularly to be noticed, for it is always interesting; this Fugue in
E should begin as though with the softest register of the organ."
The subject of Brahms has been deferred only that it may be spoken of as
a whole. His music was the theme of the second, and a number of the
following lessons. B�low was a close friend of the Hamburg master, and
kept in touch with him while in Berlin. One morning he came in with a
beaming face, holding up a sheet of music paper in Beethoven's
handwriting, which Brahms had discovered and forwarded to him. It seemed
that nothing could have given B�low greater pleasure than to receive
this relic.
[Illustration: DR. WILLIAM MASON]
The first work taken up in class was Brahms' Variations on a Handel
theme. Von B�low was in perfect sympathy with this noble work of Brahms
and illumined many passages with clear explanations. He was very exact
about the phrasing, "What cannot be sung in one breath cannot be
played in one breath," he said; "many composers have their own terms for
expression and interpretation; Brahms is very exact in these
points--next to him comes Mendelssohn. Beethoven not at all careful
about markings and Schumann extremely careless. Brahms, Beethoven, and
Wagner have the right to use their own terms. Brahms frequently uses the
word _sostenuto_ where others would use _ritardando_."
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