New-York tribune., 1901-12-10
A MUSICIANS MEMORIES.
MP. WILLIAM MAsoN's OBSERVATIONS
DURING BUSY LIFE

pany)
without striving for literary effect. but SEEM
fngly with the purpose Of sharing huiiluue
Of pleasant recollections with ms 1rlehos anu
musical people generally, Mr.. William mason
wrote dour his observations made during an
active musical career of over fifty years ana
printed them in the pages Of The century
Magazine They have now been brought to-
cether in a tasteful manner between blnder s
boards illustrated with portraits ana repfoouc-
tions in fac sinile from the authors autograph
album provided with handy index, and thus
,,,.7e a r,ortjon Of the musical history of the
nineteenth century to which future writers VIII
turn with much pleasure and some profit
The work Of the reproductive musician, ike
hit of the actor. is fieeting- Compositions re-
-rain. and despite changes in tastes and ideals
trev retain something of their validity for the
historian who is what the word implies Musi-
tz5 -psrforrsances are creative activities IN a
8 nse hut il is only the story of their eHecl
,7-1t n the people who hear them and record their
i.nt,..esions that remains after the performer
has passed away. Memoirs like those or MT
Mason are therefore welcome to those VINO
would Ike tn look at the heroes Of a period
erflter than their own. He lived his youth IN
W. h ,lsr-ceff though not given TO hyperbole
csIs re Golden age of music in Wefnar,
.-e1 TIE old erand duke dreamed of perpetu-
n.fi1t n music gIories like those which Goethe
Schiller FerGer and Wieiand had given to the
E.il- cty's literary life. 1t was the period When
IEs-t abandoned his career of virtuoso to com
pose conduct and train the choice spirits OF
rnu-ica! Europe in the capital of SaXe-Wellnar-
EiseD9ch. NJ Mason Joined the colony in 1888
having spent the preceding four years IN Lelp-
sic. Dresden. Prague and elsewhere. studying
with NoscheIes Moritz Hauptmann and Alex
ander Dreyschcck He also meets Chopin, Nas-
ner Thalfler- and other lights
Himself long . concert pianist ut is interest
ing 10 note that he claims to have been the hrst
pianist to have given concerts exclusively OF
pianoforte music and alone in America). ana
one whose early artistic days were spent in such
d;stine1,fsted rresences it is not surprising TO
find Mr. Mason filling many pages with oescTlp-
;ions of the manner which the pianists OF
fifty wears ago played. Such recollectons are
of the kingdom of heaven in the eyes OF the later
historical writer Mr.. Mason also carries his
observations down to the young artists OF to-
day but here he contents himself, as rule
with amiable generalizings He beheVes' eNi-
aen-Iv that there is a saving virtue in growing
old gracefully and with CHEEKY view OF the
world as il stands and pleasant opinion Of the
generation that has come to take the places OF
the people who were the heroes of his early
pages 1t is an amiable disposition and we
should not quarrel with it if it made for
-,scbievous notions in criticism There is, how
ever more instruction in what he says about
old stvle PLAYERS and old style playing tnan IN
what he says about the new He Studled Win
Moscheles and il is plain from his description
fbat in that egotistical old master there still
lived some of the traditions which dated pach
TO the early days of the nineteenth century.
Noscheles. says Mr.. Mason, was in direct
line of descent from Clement and Hummei' and
the immediate predecessor of Thalberg- He was
-ba of holding
them I'D as excellent examples for his pupils
He advocated a very quiet hand position. con-
f1nine as far as possible. whatever motion was
necessary to finger and hand muscles; and by
way of illustration, he said that Ciemeht S
hands were so level in position ana quiet IN
molten that he could easily keep crown piece
on the back of his hand while playing the most
rapid passages. This is clear reminder of the
old harpschord days when feetness OF finger
and cIearness OF execution were the first requi-
sites of playing and strength of wrist not
at ali called for. Thalberg's playing was char
acterized by grace, elegance and finish in de-
tail and he played the arabesque scale passages
and arpeggios with which he was fond of orna-
renting his melodies =lth rapdty. clearness
and brilliancy. Mr.. Mason accepts the old story
that the inventor Of the manner Of writing
which became identified with Thalbergs name
was the harpist. Parish-Alvars, forgetful Of the
fact which Dehn established long ago that
Giuseppe Francesca Pollini used the device long
before either Parish-Alvars or Thalberg in his
.'SIetodo pei Clavicembalo
Mr. Mason did not hear Chopin, but Drey-
schock used to describe his playing as extremely
delicate and exquisite. these qualities being cul
tivated because Of Chopins lack of physical
strength. Two anecdotes are told in illustra-
ton The first was told by Dreyschock who
said that he had attended a Chopin concert
in Paris in company with Thalberg- They
listened with delight throughout the perform
ance but on reaching the street Thalberg began
shouting at the top Of his voice.
What's the matter?" asked Dreyschock. in
establishment
oh" said ThaIberg, I've been listening to
piano all evening, and now, for the sake OF con-
trast / want little forte
The other story was vouched for by MI Fran
els Korbay: young and robust pianist had
been PLAYING Chopin's "Polonaise Militaire" to
the composer, and had broken string. When,
in confusion. he began TO apologize, Chopin SAID
to him: Young man. If 1 had your strength
and PLAYED that polonaise as it should be played,
there wouldn't be a sound string left in the in
strument by the time I got through
Henselt's playing specially characterized
by warm emotional touch and delicious
legato causing the tones TO melt one into the
other but without confusion Or lack Of clear
ness Dreyschock especially famous for his
wonderful left hand and his octave playing. and
accomplished the feat Of playing the left hand
part OF Chopin's study in minor in octaves,
Though il cost him twelve hours of study day
Cor six weeks 10 prepare himself for the feat,
which he attempted under the stimulus Of
remark made 10y Tomaschek his teacher OF
Liszt's playing must permit Mr.. Mason TO
speak IL his words: