Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-03-12
Noted Pianist Clues Advice to
Students On HoUO to Study Art

Walter Darnroseh. dean OF American
conductors, will take his famous New
York Symphony orchestra on a trans
continental tour OF the United states and
Canada during the months OF March,
April and May. the itinerary Of which in
cludes this city. He has for years boon
known az the leading educator in Ameri-
can music. and as he will present Josef
Holman. the worlds greatest pianist, as
the soloist on this tour across the contl-
nent, It occurred to Mr.. Damrosch that
students Of the piano might be interested
In student talk by Josef Hoffman,"
and accordingly he communicated with
the master pianist. who writes as follows
"lnasmuch as hundreds Of students
have at various times asked me what Is
the quickest way to become great pi-
anistT' I will say at the very start that
there is no such thing as a royal road to
learnlng-no secret trick or patent method
to quickly become a great artist
1T does sometimes happen that an
artist suddenly acquires wide renown
In such a case his leap was not into
greatness. but merely into the public rec
ognition OF I'll the greatness must have
been in him for some time before the
public became aware of 1t. II there was
any leaping II was not the artist, but the
public that did It.
1.-THE buoyancy OF the mind. its ability
TO soar, so necessary for both creative
and interpretative art, these are never
impaired by close attention to detail. De
! tails are the steps, one by one, which lead
to the summit Of art We should be care
full not 20 lift one foot before the other
rests quite securely upon its step. One
LII n.
getting through some difficult passage
by the skin OF the teeth or without
breaking down. but should strive to be
able to play with It. to toy with It, In
order to have It at ones beck and call in
any variation Of mood so as to play It
as It pleases the Tnind-not the fingers.
One should acquire sovereignty over
things.
This sovereignty Is technique. But
technique L. not art. II Is only means
to achieve art, payer OF the path to-
wards It, The danger Of confounding tech
nique with art Is not uncomfortable, since
IL takes a long time to develop trust
worthy technique. But the student must
remember that music or any other art,
springs from our innate desire for indi-
vidual expression. word-thought ID
transmitted from man TO man by verbal
language. Feelings, moods and emotions
must be crystallized into tone-thought
and conveyed by music.
Both religion and art needs an altar,
about which It's devotees may congre-
gate. LIszt erected such an altar at Wei
mar. and as its high priest. stood before
1t himself. Rubinstein did the same thing
in Petrograd. Out OF these atmospheric
emerged a large number Of eminent ar
lists. Some OF these eminent artists have
lacked the power in their later life to
Withstand the temptations OF quick ma
terial gain and have descended unto a
lower plane. several have attempted to
crate similar centers in Europe, but all
have failed because they were not serv-
ing art, but rather made art serve their
own worldly purpos.
The artists of talent no longer group
themselves around the man of genius
Perhaps he is not TO be found just now.
Each little celebrity among the pianists
keeps nowadays shop OF his own and
all to himself. Many Of these shops are
mints and some OF them produce coun-
terfeits. This separative system precludes
all unification of artistic principle. and
Is very harmful TO the present genera