New-York tribune., 1910-10-09

trv's Minuet' or whatever their first tune other
wise after long practice on a monotonous harp
sichord, however useful for strengthening the
hand the case is hopeless"
The accounts of Mozart's playing are not
n,anv but taken in connection with bis com
ments on some Of the virtuOs whom he ene0un-
tered on his travels il is plain that his style
was chiefly distinguished By its musical quail
ties: its charm came from its expressiyeness. its
grace and Iucidity combined with trutbfulnesy
Of emotional utterance. In 1871, when he met
Clement in rivalry at the Austrian court the
two. after producing set pieces OF their own
composition varied theme which the Emperor
gave them Long afterward Clement said.
Until then I had never heard anybody play
with so much intelligence and charm was
particularly surprised by an adagio and a num-
ber of his extenpOrized variations on "a theme
chosen bv the Emperor. which we were obliged
TO vary alternately, each accompanying the
other"
Mozart was less gracious in his opinion OF
his rival He called the great Roman a mere
"mechanician" (uechGHic4,) with great knacx
in passages in thirds but not a pennyworth Of
feeling or taste. Mozart. it is plain was preju-
diced against Italian players as a rule He had
no patience indeed. with the display Of mere
digital dexterity which many q the virtUosi Of
and expression. Kullak reviews ms qualities az
follows. ..Defcacv and taste with his lifting Of
the entire technique 20 the spiritual aspiration
of the idea elevate him a virtuoso % a
height unanimously conceded by the public by
connoisseurs and by artists capable Of Judging
DittersdOrf finds art and taste combined
in his playing, Haydn asseveratcd with tears
that Nozart's play he could never forget, for il
touched his heart; his SfGccafo is said to have
possessed d peculiarly brilliant charm"
At the beginning Of his career the instrument
for Hozarts intimate commurings the
clavichord: for his public performances the
harpschord. When the pianoforte came under
his notice h gave it his enthusiastic adherence
at once and he seems 20 have sUccee eded in com
bining in it the qualities of it's predecessors
Writing about his visit to Mannheim in I777,
his mother said: "W0Ifgang is highly appre-
ciated everywhere. but he plays very differently
than he did IL Salzburg. for here pianofortes
are to be found all sides, and he handles
them incomparably, as they have never been
heard before. In word. every body who hears
him says that his equal is not 10 be found"
His prediction for the instrument may be
said to have led to the establishment Of the
Vienna school of pianOforte playing, for which
the foundations were laid by his pupil Hummel,
and him who would gladly have been his pupil
Beethoven. This school cultivated warmth Of
expression combined with Iimpidity and sym
rnetry of melOdic contour, while that founded BY
Clement tended to virtuOsty and systematic
development of technique.
1t was Clement who opened the way 20 the
modern style of playing with its greater sorority
and capacity for effects Under him passage
playing became something almost new; deftness.
lightness and fiuency were replaced, or cOnsorted
with stupendous virtuOsOship which rested
full and solid tone. Clement is said to have
been able to trill in Octaves with one hand Mo
zart's opinion of him in 1871 looks less jaun-
diced when brought into juxtapOsitiOn with a
confession which he made in later years than il
does when contrasted with Clements praise Of
his rival To his pupil Ludwig Berger, Clement
said that in the early part of his career he mad
cultivated brilliant and dashing dexterity, par
ticularly passages in double notes which at that
time were unusual and that he had acquire "a
nObIer cGHtGbiIe style later being led thereto by
careful attention TO famous singers and the
gradual perfection of the English pianOfOrtes
reposeful attitude of the hand was also one
of his characteristics. for he perhaps the
first of the players who practised the device Of
balancing coin on the back of his hand while
in action. Among his pupils were Cramer
Field. MOscheles and Kalkbrenner.
Beethoven a pianist was very much what
he was as composer, viz, epitOme Of what