The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-06-30
From the Musical curier.

From the Musical Curier.
 XWYHEN the song has left the com
 Nk< poser's hands it's success de-
 W pends on the singer and the &C., companist. Singers sometimes make the mistake of taking the entire credit of their success on themselves. though they are often enough ready to blame the &C., companist for failure As a matter of fact. the accompanist very often Is the cause of the failure; but, on the other hand, he contributes a great deal to the successful interpretation.
 Singers. as a rule, believe that the su- preme art of accompanying consists in following the singer. We have heard the most abominable accompanists praised to the skies by certain vocalists simply because those accompanists were with the singer" Of course, we do not main tain that 1t is- the business of the &C., companist to go on his own way regard less of the singer. He should be with the singer" even when the singer feels it is his duty to correct the composers un- fortunate rhythm into an elastic recita- tive.
 Very often, however, the accompanist is not with the singer at all, but fraction of a second behind him, and although the singer appears to have tho freedom he wants, yet the continually dragging accompanist unintentionally produces an effort of heaviness The life of the per- formance would be greatly improved if the accompanist anticipated the singer in the slightest possible degree. But. of course, the incorrigible amateur singer waits for the accompanist and produces an effect of heaviness by dragging be- hind him.
 It is usually the emotional side of the accompaniment that Is most neglected. How often have we heard fine vocal cli- max supported only by tame and mezzo forte accompaniment instead of full and resonant chords.
 It is entirely a mistaken idea that the accompaniment should always be kept down to a mere harmonic support. The accompaniment should be the wave of which the voice melody is the crest. An accompaniment which Is loud enough to obliterate the voice is like a huge wave without a crest. But 1t is absurd to con ceive of great whitecaps breaking on the ripples of quiet lake. Yet this is what many accompanists resemble; they leave the singer to supply all the storm and stress of the emotional climaxes, while they remain as placid as mill pond.
 Strange to say, it is this unemotional, unobtrusive, unintelligent accompanlst that many singers like, because he is always with the singer and attracts none of the attention of the audience to himself and his instrument.
 When one has become familiar with the accompanying of George Henschel, for instance, and hears the piano part interpreted as artistically as the voice part, it is not possible to hear without protest the wretched accompaniments of the ordinary accompanist. The good accompanist has rhythmical sense. and can produce beautiful. full. round sing ging tone from the piano. He un- derstands phrasing, and where to sub due his accompaniment to a mere har- monic support for the voice. and where to make prominent certain accented notes. melodic phrases. and counter melodies. He should also possess inn agination so that he can enter into the spirit of the poem and the music and feel the necessity for yelled mystery and high sounding climaxes.
 The ideal accompanist is poet pianist, and we assure our readeri that he is a very rare artist.
 We have been speaking of piano &C., compartments thus far With regard to the orchestra there is less to say. Orchestral accompaniments are usually conducted by the same musician who conducts the symphony and the tone poem, and who is supposed to know how to keep his orchestra in control. Yet we feel certain that in many of his great. overwhelming climaxes Wagner intended the voice to be submerged. knowing that though the singers and many in the audience would resent the annihilation of the voice, yet the sum of the climax would lose more by keep | ing the orchestra down to suit the limi- tations of the singers power than it would be letting the impotent voice be