New-York tribune., 1910-10-09

The art of panoforte playing has been de-
roloped hand in hand with the instrument and
the music composed for it. The action of the
evolutionary factors has been reciprOcal-mc~
chanical clements suggesting or compelling
manner and limitation Of performance. technlcal
resources inviting prohibiting the character
of musical ideas, and these in turn, urging to
improvement in mechanism and technical
manipulation. The manufacturer, composer and
performer are thus fellow agents in the evou-
ton of pianoforte music. receiving encourage
ment in strvngs toward both good and bad
ends from popular taste, which is itself prod
uct of the cooperation of all the factors in the
art-sum.
With earnest endeavor, and 50 far as the linn
itatfons Of these articles permitted, have made
q study OF the evolution of the instrument and
the music composed for it, and | must now ad-
dress myself to the third factor. the vlrtuoso-
Were it not for the fact that he is at once a re
eieX and embodiment Of the popular taste, oi
y hich he is also to large extent the creator
he would not he interesting or profitable sub
Act Of study. Idealism, and therefore unsel1sh-
aess in fine sense which are the necessary
attributes of every great creator in art, are eN-
coptonal qualities III the professional repro
Gucer It is therefore. less deporable cir
sentimental rhapsodists that the fame OF the
ordinary virtuoso is evanescent, that all that
2osteritv holds of him and his is anecdotc
(which is seldom valuabIe), or. at the best, ped
agoecal material.
OF course 1 speaking now Of the mere
Nirtuoso. If VrtuOso be in the true sense an
artist he Will be more than a reprOducer; he
viii he creator also giving out SO much OF
himself as has been released by sympathetic in
terest along with the intellectual and emotional
product of the composer. Nirtuosi infamed
with generous and noble sympathes are. there
fore. of infinitely higher rank than virtuosi
whose bent is toward the petty and ignobte. In
this lies the morality of the art 1t is the for
mer Who win a reward like that of the COM
poser, though they may not meet with the same
measure of material recompense as their worldly
wise and unWorthier companions. They create
traditions which fragrant; they leave a her
itage which is enduring and fruitful. They live
en- after death in those who, possessed Of the
same artistic and ethical qualities, have learned
from them and follow their example.
Unfortunately virtuosi of this class not
numerous and never have been The many are
those who seek success in the favor of the null
titude and to win il pander to the predilec-
tions of the crowd. The crowd, however, can
no more occupy the highest plane in musical
appreciation than in wisdom morality; hence,
the most successful VirtuoSi, as rule, are those
whose capacities, physical. intellectual, emo
tional and moral, best adjusted to popular
taste, not much, perhaps in what may be
called its ground swell in the feetinS rippies,
cddies and curling froth its surface, the
phenomena of fad and fashion. Such VlrtuoSl
can have no abiding place in the sympathy or
even the interest of the serious critic or his
torian except as their example be used FOR
doctrine for reproof. for correction, for instruc-
tion in artistic righteousness; there is small
room for them in these articles.
Very little is known about the methods or
study pursued by the early clavier performers
The music of the English virginalists indicates
that aeetness of finger was essential IN the
sixteenth century as it is in the twentieth, and
when one reflects on the system of lingering
which seems to have prevailed up to the time
of Johann Sebastian Bach it is almost incon-
ceiyablc how sufficient digital deXterity to play
the music of the early Virginalists and harpSl-
chordists could be acquired. The rules for fin
gering generally in use to-day date back only
70 c. 2 T. Bach. The earliest marked finger
.ng Of which we have any knowledge" says Mr..
j. J. BIaikley in his admirable essay on the
ful,ioct in Groves Dictionary of Music and
Musicians" is that given by Ammerbach in
his 'Orgel oder Instrument Tabulatur' U-eipsic.
15T1) This like all the lingering in use then
and for long afterward, is characterized by the