New-York tribune., 1918-01-06
To the Editor Of The Tribune.

ume on Chamber Music In "The Art
of Music Harold Bauer writesx
'1n order to study intelligently
the mechanics, or, il you viii, thc~
art of touch upon the piano, and.
in order to comprehend the variety
of tonecolor which can be produced
from it, one must recognize at the
outset the fact that the piano is an
instrument of percussion It's
sounds result from the blows Of
hammers upon taut metal strings.
With the musical sound given out
by these vibrating strings must in
evitabiy be mixed the dull and un-
musical sound OF the blow that set
them vibrating. The trained ear
will detect not only the thud OF the
hammer against the string, but that
of the finger against the key, and
that of the key itself upon its base.
The study Of touch and tone upon
the piano is the study OF the combi-
nation and the control of these two
clements Of sound. the one musical,
the other unmusical'
And again: "Tnc instrument
sounds at it's best in small hall.
In a large one its worst character
istics are likely to come all too
clearly to the surface And, though
it is in many ways the most power
full of all the instruments, truly
beautiful playing does not call upon
its limits Of sound, but makes it a
medium of fine and delicately shaded
musical thought"
And then, after saying many true
and penetrating things about the
control Of the "after-tone,' he adds:
each note he (the pianisN plays
must be struck from the strings of
his instrument by a hammer He
can only approximate legato style
by concealing, in one way
or another, the sounds which ac-
company this blow
Such q frank statement Of obvi-
Gus fact may be unwelcome to the
student of the piano who is in the
habit of idealizing his instrument.
He, and large portion of the pub
lie with him, likes to think of the
piano as the "king of instruments"
whereas in fact it is (being without
a true legato) rather less mechani-
cal makeshift for a musical instru-
ment, popular not because Of it's
musical qualities than because Of
its convenience.
One might say, in moments Of
hasty generalization, that all
pianists are divided into two classes
those who recognize the limita-
tions Of the piano and those who do
not Those who do not will reject
Mr.. Bauer's dictum that half tho
business Of the pianist is to con-
ceal the defects Of his instrument.
The earliest of the great virtuosi
who made the pianoforte popular
throughout Europe seem to have
seen Of this class. Herr and Kalk-
brenner are known to tradition as
FOUNDERS" glorying most in the
sheer physical vibration of the
sounding board. One who has never
heard List and is forced to de-
duce the style of his playing from
his compositions and from the
playing of some of his pupils feels
convinced that List similarly felt
no obligation to apologize for his
instrument, that he regarded the
set rather than as liability, and
as for legato was content to create
the illusion of it by means of sem
suous melody, instead of making up
his mind to do without it. Appar-
emily the noisy school of playing,
which forced the piano to its ut
most, was overwhelmingly popular
in the first half Of the nineteenth
century Chopin, Of course, was
noted for precisely the contrary
qualities, for the suavity of his
phrasing, the gentle, liquid charac-
ter Of his legato, the pearly soft
ness of his tiorturi. But Chopin
was never a popular virtuoso. SINH
larly Field, who cultivated the
poetic style of playing, was never
comparable in popularity with Herr,
Kalkbrenner and Lslzt
Altogether it would appear that
the art of pianoforte playing, like
composition, suffered in the '30s
from megalomania. The sane ideal
which Mr.. Bauer sets forth so clear
ly has had hard fight to make, and
is only now coming to wide accept
ance. OF all the eminent pianists
now before the public, probably not
a third of them accept Mr. Bauer's
premise.
Mr.. Godowsky and Mr.. CAM stand
as foremost examples of that tradi-
tion which prefers to take the piano
as 1t stands, humping and all. And
nothing short of their amazing
technical virtuosity and meticulous
professional honesty could make
their playing acceptable to the pres
ent generation. The "pounder" has
an uphill fight these days.
Mr.. Paderewski is the foremost
example of that tradition in
pianism, which, while forcing the
piano to its utmost limits, still glori-
fies 1t with the romantic glamour