The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-02-18

| players of today, as far AS technical
\ skill is concerned, are 50 very great
! The player must spend so much time
| IN the study of composition that the
| fingers alone must retain it willy-nilIy.
| he fingers not seldom know more
tbout it than the head. 1t is certainly
| true that a SulOist should have his
| piece in memory; but I do no, C1rsid.
| er 1t bad sign that he. regardless oe
| this, places the notes on the desk, for
| la err is human and faults Of memory
and their consequences harm the en-
| joyment of art more than the play
| ing from memory furthers it,"
Another musician, whose article but
whose name. unfortunately. does not
| appear in my scrap book, saws the
| following which is i'm line with what
has already been said: cit would be
| absurd to- underestimate the value of
musical memory and its cultivation in
connection with our musical education
| The memolizing process will bring out
certain points that have. until then,
remained obscure and indstinct How
ever between the process of memoriz-
ing piece and playing it from menu
orN iD public is a vast difference. The
| former is duty we owe ourselves as
| conscientious students: the latter is
! not an absolute necessity. After ALL
is not the hydra-headed monster called
"the public" composed of creatures of
| habit? If it were a question of art
for arts sake, the public would be
benefited by pianists resorting to a
more frequent use Of the printed score
in public. Here we have concertos by
SglmbatU Martucci. Pierne, ana a host
ol Others. Why does the public never
hear them? Because pianists hesitate
To play them with notes. and have not
the courage to play them without notes,
not wishing to trust their memory.
"T remember hearing Joseph Wieni-
aWski founder around in the most
helpless sort "f fashion in the f minor
nucturnc of Chopin. until that occult
force which miracuously protects
pianists as well as inebriates, led his
tottering steps back To the right path.
Pachmann's slip in one of Liszt's T.e-
gends is still within the recollection
of concert goers. The eccentric Rus
sian pianist stopped abruptly. and not
until he had performed some myster-
ious gyratiUns with arms and legs did
he recommcnce the composition. At
one of his reCitals in Vienna. Hans
Won BuloW suddenly began pounding
away at single key like a carpenter
hammering nail. Then he made
| frantic rush for the door and re-
appeared with an Individual who set
| about tuning the instrument. After
| that performance had been gone
through with TO the evident satisfaction
of the great pianist the latter resumed
his seat and continued his work. The
| l;tt
neatly conceived and executed that
| only the initiated saw through the
| scheme and understood that even the
infallbic doctor had triyDed up and
suffered a temporary loss of memory.
| At his debut in Carnegie hall, RCscn-
thai incidentally omitted eighteen
measures in Chopin's Barcarolle. In
the same composition both Rubnsten
and Paderewsk became the victim of
that bug bear of piansts-loss of mem
orv Memory can be strengthened by
perseverance,. Rut let not its use turn
into abuse; for although of import
ance it is neither the Alpha nor the
Omega of piano-furte playing"
An mqurer.-L win you please he
| 50 kind as to give me through The
| Tribune II list of the most approved
studies for the first -four or five grades
| i'm piano work? Kindly state order in
which they should be given.
| Answer-The use of Etudes or Stu
dies does no. properly begin until the
pupil enters the second grade. for
| which there are several collections
| which are suitable. Among these |
would especially recommend the fist
| volume of the Selected Studies by
| Czerny, edited by Germer. In this
| grade. as in all the following grades. the
| systematic practice of scales, arpeS-
gios. etc, in all their forms must be
steadily adhered to.
For the third grade one may use as
| the principal studies the Velocity
| Studies of CZerny, edited by Germer.
! They are, however, not studied in the
| order of tIair difficulty. with these
| may be used Heller'S opus A., book two
| and BaChs tWO-part Inventions. The
| standard studies for the fourth grade
are those of Cramer. edited by Won Bu-
| low or GeTmer. With these should be
| used the famous Kulak Octave Studies
ANA the three-part Inventions of Bach.
| The "Gradus ud Parnassum, 10y Gle
menti. edited by Tausig, is begun after
| the completion Of the CTamer studies.
In the firth grade the "Gradus" is
| completed and followed by Moscheles'
| opus 20 and the easier Chopin studies.
! I'm the sixth grade one takes up the
! very difficult Chopin studies and sclec-
| tions from Etudes by Schumanu, Liszt
and others.
! The editions indicated contain il is
| true, the choicest studies culled from
the original editions. \ judicious selec-