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Page 63
"The Chopin Octave study, number 22, needs firm, quiet touch, elevating
the wrist for black keys (as Kullak explains) and depressing it for
white keys. The hand must be well arched, the end fingers firm and
strong, and the touch very pressing, clinging, and grasping. You always
want to cling whenever there is any chance for clinging in piano
playing. The second part of this �tude should have a soft, flowing,
poetic touch in the right hand, while the left hand part is well brought
out. The thumb needs a special training to enable it to creep and slide
from one key to another with snake-like movements.
"Rubinstein's Barcarolle in G major. The thirds on the first page are
very soft and gentle. I make a good deal of extra motion with these
thirds, raising the fingers quite high and letting them fall gently on
the keys. The idea of the first page of this barcarolle is one of utter
quietness, colorlessness; one is alone on the water; the evening is
quiet and still; not a sound breaks the hushed silence. The delicate
tracery of thirds should be very soft, thin--like an airy cloud. The
left hand is soft too, but the first beat should be slightly accented,
the second not; the first is positive, the second negative. Herein lies
the idea of the barcarolle, the ebb and flow, the undulation of each
measure.
"Begin the first measure very softly, the second measure a trifle
louder, the third louder still, the fourth falling off again. As you
stand on the shore and watch the great waves coming in, you see some
that are higher and larger than others; so it is here. The concluding
passage in sixths should diminish--like a little puff of vapor that ends
in--nothing. On the second page we come upon something more positive;
here is a tangible voice speaking to us. The melody should stand out
clear, broad, beautiful; the accompanying chords should preserve the
same ebb and flow, the advancing and receding wave-like movement. The
exaggerated movement I spoke of a moment ago, I use in many ways. Any
one can hit the piano, with a sharp, incisive touch; but what I refer to
is the reaching out of the fingers for the notes, the passing of the
hand in the air and the final gentle fall on the key, not in haste to
get there, but with confidence of reaching the key in time. If you throw
a stone up in the air it will presently fall back again with a sharp
thud; a bird rising, hovers a moment and descends gently. This
barcarolle is not at all easy; there is plenty of work in it for
flexible hands; it is a study in _pianissimo_--in power controlled, held
back, restrained."
Taking up the Toccatina of Rheinberger, Mr. Sherwood said: "I like this
piece, there is good honest work in it; it is very effective, and most
excellent practise. You ought to play this every day of the year. It is
written in twelve-eighths, which give four beats to the measure, but I
think that gives it too hard and square a character. I would divide each
measure into two parts and slightly accent each. Though your temperament
is more at home in the music of Chopin and Schumann, I recommend
especially music of this sort, and also the music of Bach; these give
solidity and strength to your conception of musical ideas."
We went through the Raff Suite, Op. 94. "The Preludio is very good," he
said; "I like it. The Menuetto is, musically, the least strong of any of
the numbers, but it has a certain elegance, and is the most popular of
them all. The Romanza is a great favorite of mine, it is very graceful,
flowing and melodious. The concluding Fugue is a fine number; you see
how the theme is carried from one hand to the other, all twisted about,
in a way old Bach and Handel never thought of doing. I consider this
Raff fugue one of the best examples of modern fugue writing."
Mr. Sherwood was fond of giving students the Josef Wieniawski Valse, for
brilliancy. "There are many fine effects which can be made in this
piece; one can take liberties with it--the more imagination you have the
better it will go. I might call it a _stylish_ piece; take the Prelude
as capriciously as you like; put all the effect you can into it. The
Valse proper begins in a very pompous style, with right hand very
staccato; all is exceedingly coquettish. On the fifth page you see it is
marked _amoroso_, but after eight measures the young man gives the whole
thing away to his father! The beginning of the sixth page is very
_piano_ and light--it is nothing more than a breath of smoke, an airy
nothing. But at the _poco piu lento_, there is an undercurrent of
reality; the two parts are going at the same time--the hard, earthly
part, with accents, and the spiritual, thin as air. To realize these
qualities in playing is the very idealization of technic."
The Chopin-Liszt _Maiden's Wish_, was next considered. "The theme here
is often overlaid and encrusted with the delicate lace-like arabesques
that seek to hide it; but it must be found and brought out. There is so
much in being able to find what is hidden behind the notes. You must get
an insight into the inner idea; must feel it. This is not technic, not
method even; it is the spiritualization of playing. There are pieces
that will sound well if the notes only are played, like the little F
minor Moment Musicale of Schubert; yet even in this there is much behind
the notes, which, if brought out, will make quite another thing of the
piece.
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