The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-12-05

as phrasing, for nstanc are bound
~ with precision and unanimity. And
then comes the treatment of dynamic
eradations. which is Of vital import
aoce and which differs in every work.
there are certain fundamental
matters here too. For instance, the
string players must be drilled to get
tie most sonorous inc brilliant tone
possible without introducing any ele-
mcnt of roughness into their playing.
The brass must be constrained to play
all the way from "a whispering pianis-
s.mo to a full forte without slovenly
iechnic. and in the latter case without
Overlooking" which produces a rough
and ugly quality of tone. Overlooking
was the thing which used to make peo-
rle think that orchestral brass existed
only for the purpose of making a noise.
1t was often what made them dislike
the Wagner drama in its early days.
And now comes what is perhaps the
most delicate of all the tasks allotted
TO the conductor, namely, the securing
of balance of tone. Without going
into too much detail. it may he said
that the clarity and beauty Of orches-
tration depend largely on the manne
In which the component notes Of each
harmony are distributed among the in
struments. Also they rest equally on
the conductors skill in directing the
players so to play that the proper
ton of sound is perfect. For example.
the middle voices of a chord must not
come out at the expense of the top
n bottom. Furthermore. when a
= neral harmony is written for differ
ent choirs ,strings and brass. let us
say the balance of tone is largely in
the hands of the players. who are to
be controlled by the conductor. What
is forte for brass Is fortissimo for
strings. and this must he kept in mini.
Even then. II the harmony is not skill
fully arranged tha strings may be
o~verbalanccd. The authority and
knowledge II tast- or the conductor
must make matters right.
This brings us to the ultimate tech
meal II interpretative method of n
namely, the relentless pur-
suit of what Wagner called the
"melos' into every nook and Granny
Of the score: upon this n the tempo
rests all else. Wagner took a Greek
word because the common one mel
ody" would have been misunderstood.
n single reading OF his paragraphs on
this point will convince the music lover
that ne meant not only the melody,
put what palnteF: call us quality' that
~, IT'S Hbso'ute personal element that
when makes a Beethoven theme I'M
nhis'ahaoie' d ."oP'n tune iinpossip!c
to confuse with another.
NO" IN all music but particularly
IN that whlch mas an opu!ent poly
phohIc structure as Is the ease with
'he COMPOSITION OF bach ana OF most
WRITER'S OF the iate h~lhets | century
ana to-day thiS meios Is 10 DE Ioufu
no. exclusives! III me one Instruments
voice "hlch sings the principal theme
{" the moment IL must be ought
also III those "ther voices winch SihS
the subsidiary parts creating the con
nj support or contrast.
In "A word we have to do with music
simultaneously u''erinS d.fferent mel
odies. or inherent portions OF the same
melody, n in doing TINS producing
the erect OF a composite melos'
there are also human voices IN the
COMPOSITION the proniehl pelore 'he
conductor bscofhes sun more complI-
Gated for II IL ms business 50 10
repair the periorihahcc that each
hicio"'c Eo.'e ana every one IN the
harmonic pd'NGrouha shal nave pre-
ciselE 'he correct dynamic 'alue IN
order Una Il general meIos shaii
come with All its message Oh eioauehce
ana beauty 10 the ear OF the auditor.
All that has been described-and
II is only the broad view that has
been taken-is done at the rehearsals.
Before going 10 his first rehearsal
the conductor has mastered the score.
He has saturated himself with ii, He
mas iouid tAe hieios ana the general
harmonic p!ah ana ahalNZed the IN
struNhth'al structure, lHls S'du! Is
what reNea's 10 MN 'ie purpose Oh tAe
coNhpose.. from TINS NJ iash.nhs tha'
preseh'''.oh "h'c" we en''''e h!s
'c'"'ns' -. nv" S"e' " 'neu' ,n'
"''es'" an" I" ''a"s 20 'eh MS
" y''' no" Nv 49,
mas 80 No
49,
" "e 80.
" So
N"'"' no -"
1 49, W
aa.I
""e'' N