TheInterpretationofPianoMusicTHEINTERPRETATIONOFPIANO MUSICBYMARYVENABLEBOSTONOLIVERDITSONCOMPANYNEWYORK CHICAGOCHAS.H.DITSONCO. LYON&HEALYMADEINU. S. A.Copyright,MCMXIIIBYOLIVERDITSONCOMPANYInternationalCopyrightSecured_NOV201968))MOFTOROtfJs^-----r^&rm7fV?7TOMYMOTHERPREFACEAGERMANauthorityhasremarkedthat if it wereaseasytoread musicastoreadwords, "thesonatasof Beethoven wouldhavethepopularityof thepoemsof Schiller." Thedifficultyofcomprehendingthefullimportof musicwrittenforthepiano-forte arises from the fact that thesigns representingthe con-ceptionsof thecomposerare variable andinaccurate, being,atbest, suggestive,butneverabsolutelyprecise.Theprime objectof theworkhere offered to the studentis to assist him inacquiringa correctunderstandingof thevisiblelanguageofmusic;togatherthesignificanceof theabbreviated modes of a notation which must berightlyinterpreted bythe mind before the music can beconveyedtotheearby meansofthemechanismofthepianoforte. Verylittle attention has beengivento thesubjectinprinted pub-lications,andthesepagesareintendedto set forth theprinci-ples involved,inawaythat is notmerelyof theoretic interestbutis alsoofpracticalvalue.It is believed that this brief treatise is the first whichadequatelyconsiders the mattersbroughtto the reader'sattention under thetopics: Bowing-signs,MusicalSymbolsand theirMeaning;Howto Find a HiddenMelody;Har-mony:Duration andDynamicsof Tones in the DifferentVoices;ATheme ofChopinInterpreted;andOrchestrationat the Pianoforte. Someportionsof the discussion of theAppoggiaturaand the Acciaccaturawill befoundatvariancewith theexplanationsoftengivenof theseterms,which a'resometimes confused evenby highauthorities. ThechapteronThePedals,the substance of whichwasfirstpresentedinthe form oflectures,considers thetopicwithspecialrefer-ence toNotation, laysstress on thenecessary cooperationof thefingerswith thefeet, givesabibliographyof worksvi PREFACE.dealingwith thepedal,andbriefly explainsvariousmethodsofpedalnotationformerlyincommonuse.Fromtimetotime,sinceJuly, 1902,muchof thematterof this volume hasappearedin TheMusician, Boston,TheEtude, Philadelphia,and TheCourier, Cincinnati;buteveryparagraphhas beencarefully revised,and inmanyinstancestheoriginalpapershavebeenconsiderablyamplified.The author wishes toacknowledge deepindebtedness toherhonoredmaster, SignorAlbinoGorno,formanyfacts hereembodied.MARYVENABLE.CONTENTSChapter PageI. THELANGUAGE OF Music 1II. MUSICAL SYMBOLS ANDTHEIRMEANING 8III. BOWING-SIGNS : THESLUR,THEDOT,THEDASH. . 23IV. PHRASING 46V. THEACCIACCATURA-ARPEGGIO 54VI. THEACCIACCATURAANDOTHEREMBELLISHMENTS 63VII. THE APPOGGIATURA 73VIII. HowTO FIND A HIDDEN MELODY 89IX. HARMONY: DURATION AND DYNAMICS OFTONESINTHEDIFFERENT VOICES 104X. ATHEME OF CHOPIN INTERPRETED 118XI. ORCHESTRATION ATTHE PIANOFORTE 139XII. THEPEDALS 154XIII. AWORDON TECHNIC. ,.216VIITHEINTERPRETATIONOFPIANOMusicCHAPTERITHELANGUAGE OF MusicTheart ofreadingapieceofliterature,anessay,for ex-ample,or apoem,consists ofgatheringinto the mind fromtheprinted pagethemeaningcontained in andReadingsuggested bythe words and sentences whichdefinedconstitute theparticularworkperused.If the readerpossesstheknowledge requisiteto acomplete understandingof allthewords,sentencesandpunctuationmarksin theirseparatevalues andin theirlogicalandgrammaticalrelations,hemayfully comprehendandappreciatetheessayor thepoem,pos-siblyat asingle reading, having,throughtheeye,taken intohis consciousness theimpressionswhich the author intendedtoconveybymeans of thearbitraryforms at his command.Subjectively,suchareaderhasmasteredthecontentofthoughtandoffeelingrepresentedbythetextwhichvisuallyandmen-tallyhe hasinspected.Should he desire to communicate toanothertheimpressionhehasreceivedfromtheprinted page,hemay, bytheorgansofspeech,render audible and intel-ligiblethesignificanceof thesamepieceof literature. Inthenecessarilymoreor less mechanicalprocessofembodyingthesilentspiritof thecompositionin vocal utterance he will bemuch aidedbythe devices invented forfacilitating spokenspeech, namely, articulation, accent, emphasis, tone-qualities,pauses,in aword,elocution. On theinspired lipsof ageniuslike Novelli or EdwinBooth,even the bestlanguageof asupremedramatist receives anewandincalculable valueofinterpretativeart.There is a closeanalogybetweenthe methodoflearningto read apieceofliterature, especiallyapoem,and that of12 INTERPRETATIONOFPIANO MUSIC.learningto read apieceofmusic,for theremaybesaid tobealanguageofmusic, thoughto theeyeit differsessentiallyMuskandfromordinarywrittenorprintedlanguage.Therhythmicthoughts, conceptsor emotions which it is thefunctionof thecomposerof musictoconveyto themind,througheitherthe eyeor theear,or throughboth,arenotrepresented bywords ofdefinite,limitedmeaning, arrangedin the usualgrammaticalandlogical sequence,buttheyarerepresented byother sets ofsymbols which,likewords,arerecognizabletotheeyebytheirformandtotheearbytheirsound. Thepurposeofmusicalexpressioniscertainlynolessexact than that ofpoetical expression,and the written lan-guageofmusic, slowly developed throughthecenturies,hasbecome anexceedingly complexand intricatesystem,oftenverydifficult to master. Nevertheless it is evidentthat untilthe student hasacquiredskill in theready understandingofwhatconfrontshimonthepuzzlingpagesofhismusicalscore,until,asBerliozsays,"hedivinesmusicbeforehehasreadit,"he cannothopeto take silentpleasurefromreadingit tohimself,much lessgive pleasure by translatingit intothevibrationsofasingingvoice or of thestringsof apiano.Theartist,.whethervocal orinstrumental,mustsomehowgetthemusicintohissoulbeforehecanbringittohistongueandlipsortothetipsof hisfingers.Thereforethe firstnecessityfor thestudent of musicis,Learnto read! Andthe second?Learntoread! Andthethird? Learntoread!Itisfundamentaltoanysymbolizedschemeofmusicthatthere should be at least astaff,a clef and some notes. ToMusicathese essentials havebeen added numerous ac-symboiizedcessorymarksanddevices,such as theslur,thedot,thebar,therest,to aid the reader to aneasierandmorefelicitousunderstandingandinterpretationoftheelementarymechanismjusmentioned.Thenotes,whichsinglyand in combinations ofvaryingcomplexityconstitute the mainbodyofthetext ofapieceofmusic, represent tones,andtheymaybesaidtocorrespondtotheletters, especiallythevowels,ofordinary language,whichINTERPRETATIONOFPIANO MUSIC. 3represent elementarysounds. The smallestorganicunit inmusic is notthenoteortone,butconsists of agroupofnotesortones. Such agroup, havinga certain com-Theperiodpletenessorpleasingeffectinitself,thoughneverthephraseandindependentof itsorganicrelationstothe whole1(compositionofwhich it is avitalpart,isrecognized bymusi-cians as amotive,and formsanintegralmemberof aphrase.Thephrase,thoughbearingaresemblancetothephraseofthegrammarian,cannotbeidentifiedwiththat,but ispeculiartotheartofmusic.Indeed,whatisknownasphrasingis oneofthecomplicatedand difficultsubjectsof musicalstudy.Theprocessof musicalphrasing,orresolvingthecompositionintointelligibleandcomponent ideas,iscomparabletothegram-maticalanalysisofcomplexsentences inordinary language.Whenweconsider that thephraseis "the structural basis ofall musicalforms,"we realize howimportantan element inmusical education is that which consists inteaching pupilsto discernwithaccuracyjustwhatis included in eachsucces-sivephraseandjusthowthephraseas awhole is related toits subordinatepartsand to othercomplete phrases.Muchconfusionprevailseven in thewritingsof authorities ofgoodreputationinregardto theprecise meaningof the words"phrase"and"phrasing,"and a recklessterminology,confoundingtheapplicationof such names ashalf-phrase,section, motive, phraseletandfigure,and these with thephraseof whichtheyare but subdivisions ormembers,befogsthe mindand misleads thepracticeofearnestlearnersof music. The true musicalphrase, owingto itsintegralcharacter and relativeindependence, correspondssomewhatto thesimplesentence ofordinary language;but it is tobe observedthat,in musicalso,the terms "sentence" and"period"arespecially employedtodesignateamelodyex-tending througha series of measures andhavinga certaincompleteness largerthanthat of thephrase,andcomprisingin itself twophrasesand sometimes more than two. Sen-tential subdivisionsmay beginatany partof ameasure,whether it be unaccented or accented. The musicalperiod4 INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC.orsentencecorresponds,in somedegree,tothestanzaofpoetry;and,indeed,theprovinceofthecomposerofmusicandthatofthe builder of"lofty rhyme"lieveryneartogether and,insomecases, appeartooverlapeachother.Musicalarticulation maybedennedastheactofforming,insong,orby meansofinstruments,orbycombinationsofanypurposesof^these,theelementsof musicallanguage.Themusicalarticulate character of musicdepends uponadivision of collocated tones with reference tocomponentsingletones andtheunitingof thesetogetherintointelligible groupssoastoformso-calledmotives. Eachtoneshouldhaveitsdueproportionof sound so that the ear shalleasilyperceiveeither its detachment from other tones or itsconnectionwithother tones. Inmusic,as in oralspeech,agoodarticulationgives greater powerand reach than theloudest vociferationcangive.Theobjectsofmusicalarticu-lationare to show the derivation orcompositionoffigures,motives and passagesand todivide musical groups properlywhendisconnection is desirable.Byfalse division of the tonestheseobjectsaredefeated,the text ismisrepresented,andthemusicis renderedunintelligible.Certaingeneralindicationssymbolicalof the intendedarticulationaredesirablebothinprinted speechandinprinteds mboiizationofmusic. It is indeedpossibleto read apoeminarticulation iswhichthelines arenotseparatedfromeachother,as in some ancientwriting,and we often readmusic in which the articulation is notindicated,as in theolder classicalmusic; yetinneither case is thereadingentirelyeasy,noris italways possibletoknowexactlythemeaningofthewriter,since diversearticulardivisionsmaymakequitedifferentimpressions.Ontheotherhand,abookwhichmakestoofrequentuse ofitalics, quotation marks, parenthesesandpunctuationmarksis notpleasantandfacilereading and,simi-larly,apieceof music which is over-editedbyan excessiveuse ofdouble-stems, dots, dashes,tenutomarks, slurs,accentmarks, dynamic signs, tempo marks, fingerings,and notes ofdifferentsizes,is hardtoread,and inspiteof itsmultipliedINTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC. 5notations still remainsincompletely symbolized.Theaccom-plishedmusicianusuallyadvises hispupilsto consult andthoroughlytomasterthedifferentfinelyeditedandannotatedpublicationsof the workstheyarestudying,as well as theoriginal edition; althoughfor his ownuse the masterprefersthemoderately symbolized original edition, supplementingthis with his ownoriginality, feeling, taste,andknowledge,thereby recreatingthework,so that inmany respectshisinterpretationdiffersfromthatofhispeers.Inspeech,theconnectionandthe disconnection of wordsandofsyllablesareindicatedbyaclosejuxtapositionofletters,byspaces,byhyphens,andbydiacriticalmarks; Thesymbolsofandsimilarly,inmusic,the connection andthearticulationdisconnectionoftonesareindicatedbyslurs,bytenutomarks,bydotsandbyverticaldashesplacedoverorunderthenotes,byvarious combinations of thesesigns appliedto thenotes,bytheabsenceofallthesesignsfromanoteorfromacontinu-oussuccession ofnotes,byrests,andbypedalmarks. Butitmustalwaysbe rememberedthat,like all other intendedeffects,musical articulation isonlyin small measuresymbol-izedbythecomposer,whoemploysthesignsonlyassuggest-iveguidesto the intuitionandskill oftheplayerandnot asacompleteexpressionofhisownintention.Intheproperandexpressiverenderingof amusical com-position,eitherbymeansofthevoiceorbymeansofamusicalinstrument,it isnecessaryto observepausesofPunctuationvaryinglengthinordertobringoutthemeaningRhetoricalandof thewriter, justas incompositionswheresententialPauseswords instead of notes are used assignsof ideas. But theformalpunctuationof music is notusuallyindicated on theprinted pagein theoriginalworks ofimportant composers.Muchis left to thejudgmentand discretion of the reader orperformerof the music.However,it iscustomaryfor thosewhoannotatespecialeditionsofstandardworksfortheuseofpupilstosupplysomeofsuchguidingmarksasobviouslywereunderstoodandobservedinthemindofthecomposer. When,byaneditororajudicious teacher,withprintorpencil,marks6 INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC.are addedto theoriginalscore tosuggestthe correctmodeofpunctuation,theseauxiliariesusually,insteadofbeingcommas,semicolons,andperiods,as incommonprint,aresuchmusicalsignsas theslur, interlacing slurs,short linesplaced singlyor incouplesacross aline of the staff or abovethestaff,thefermata,thebreath-mark, rests,etc. The duration of eachof the severalpausesshould beproportionalto thedegreeof connection between thepartsof the musicaldiscourse,andtheir effectiveemploymentdependsingreatmeasureuponthetaste, feeling,andimaginationof theperformerwhoen-deavorstointerpretthesymbolizedmessageofthecomposer.It isexceedingly difficult,if notimpossible, byanymodeordegreeofexplanatorynotationtosupplyadequateguidanceAudibleto him whopursuesthepathtowardsuperiorinterpretationmusicianship,unilluminedbythe innerlampofclearjudgmentandintuitivesenseoffitness. Thelawsofjustproportionapplyto all the finearts,andthe correctinterpre-tation of amasterpiece depends uponthe same estheticprin-cipleas does theperfectvocalrenderingof amasterpieceofliterature in artistic recitation. Considerations oftempo,quantity, accent, emphasis,modulation oftone, grammaticalandrhetorical articulationandpause,delicate variation fromrigid rules, individuality, continuallyarisewheneverbymeansof the voice orthroughtheagencyof a musical instrument asensitivesingerorplayerendeavors toreproduce byaudibleinterpretationtheinspired conceptionwhichlayinthe^soulofaBach,aMozart,aSchubert,andwhich the master himselfinadequately representedin the scores which hemayhavedashed off in the hurried"raptureof creation." "That ageniuslikeChopindid not indicateeverything accuratelyisquite explainable,"writes Rosenthal. "Heflew,where wemerelylimpafter."Yetwemustnot undervalue the mechanical aids that itis theoffice ofthecompetenteditortofurnish. AsSchumannSchumann's says,"Musicwouldindeedbeamiserableart,ifwordsit wereabletodescribeaffectionsonlybysoundswithoutlanguageandsymbols."INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC. 7Those modulations of tone termedcoloringandshadingarelargely dependent uponthetaste,emotionaldepth,andpoeticvision of theinterpreter,and it is of theutmostimportancethattheyshould be diversi-fied, natural,andrightly adaptedto thesubject,foruponthem ingreatmeasuredependsthe auditor'senjoymentofthemusicalperformance.Theplayer'stechnical commandand intuitivefeelingareassumedbythecomposerto beamplysufficient tointerpretthe written music withconvincingmusical andpoeticart. Absolutedeparturefromthewrittenindications of accredited authorities is nottobetoleratedinabeginner,althoughthemastermusician, beingalawuntohim-self,whileviolatingnoestheticprinciple, maydisregardmusicalrules,as apoet maybreakstereotypedrules ofversification,since,as Busonisays,"Thedeliveryof awork is atranscrip-tion,"and "It is for theinterpreterto resolve therigidityofthesignsinto theprimitiveemotion."Intelligent practiceof music canproceed onlyfrom afullrecognitionof theelementary principlesherebrieflydis-cussed. Most of the causes whichpreventa...,.. ., , ,Notationcorrectinterpretationofpianomusicmightbesuggestive,removedwithoutdifficulty providingthat musicnevertun?.,. . elaboratedbeconsidered as anaccuratemeansto adefiniteend,an artbymeans of which the soul and theimaginationfindexpression throughthe voice andinstrument, conveyingmusicalthoughtandfeelinginamanneranalogousto thatbywhich, through verse,thepoetcommunicates thethoughts,sentiments andaspirationsof mankind in thelanguageofwords. Allnotation issuggestiveratherthanfully elaborated,forthefinestshadesofinterpretationcannotevenbesuggestedbyanymechanical contrivance. "All nuances cannotbe indi-cated,"wroteBeethoven. Themusicianofbreadthanddepthcomprehendsthegivensignsin theircompletesignificanceandinalltheirrelationstotheotherimpliedandprintedindications,sincetohim,astoMendelssohn,"Musicisadistinctlanguage."CHAPTER IIMUSICAL SYMBOLSANDTHEIRMEANINGThe notation used inwritingmusic for thepianofortemightaptlybe called musical shorthand. OftenrepresentingMusical solelythesimplest wayofwritinga musicalshorthandthought,itmayalsoincludesuggestionsinregardto the manner ofperformance,and thecomplicationsand in-adequaciesof anotationaddressingtwosenses, hearingandtouch,andsymbolicalboth of effects for the ear and ofdirections tofingersandfoot,areamongthe difficulties withwhich thepianistcontends. Sometimes the sound is morefully expressed bythe musical characters than is themode ofexecution,and sometimes viceversa,the renditionbeingthesame in both cases. As apassage maytherefore be notatedinmanydifferentways,athoroughandcomprehensiveknowl-edgeof thelanguageof music is essential in order toperceivefromthecontextthetruesignificanceofeverynote.It is attimesimpossibleforthecomposertowriteinsuchamanner that hisconceptionwill be disclosed to thepianista^SO a musi cian- I*1 a^ HlUsic theTonaldurationnotdefinitelypitchof a note isabsolutelydeterminedbytheclefpreceding it,and in a workcomposedfororchestralinstruments,where eachpart usuallyis written onaseparate staff,the relative duration of tones is indicatedbythenotes,andsilencebytherests;whilethefewsignsreferringtoexecutionarequitedefinite intheirnature. Butinapiano-fortecompositionall theparts, frequently six, eightormore,arecompressedupontwostavesonly,andinthe caseofanor-chestraltranscription,or anorchestrallyconceivedpianocom-position,avery largenumberof voicesmayberepresentedinthenecessarilylimited andfewernumberof notes which con-venientlycanbeused. It followsthatonenotemaystandforseveral tones of the samepitchbut ofvaryingdurationanddynamics,andadevelopedmusicalintelligenceisnecessarytoINTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC. 9understand its trueimport;for in writtenpianoforte music,pitch onlyisdesignatedwithdefiniteness; signsoftonal dura-tion,release andattack,connection and disconnection arevague,oftenequivocal,whilemanyof thosebetokeningtonalquantityandqualityarenotinvariableinmeaning.EXAMPLE 1a.Originalnotation.i6. Notessymbolizingexecutionofa.c. Anothernotationofa.I,_K_I i k ^ N IWhatcould looksimplerthanthenotes ofExample1a?Yet the correctwayofplayingthem can be deducedonlyfrom anunderstandingof the idea whichtheyDiverseread_convey,for the intended duration of the tones ings, synonymousmayormaynotbefullysymbolized.Iftheybenotationswrittenforthevioloncelloorotherorchestralinstrument;orforthepianoforte,butimaginedas in imitation of an orchestralinstrument, theydoshowtheexactdurationofthetones;butusuallysucharpeggiatedharmonies formaccompanimenttosomemelodyand should not begivenas ameageranddrysuccession ofsingle tones,but so as to sustain all or some ofthe tones of theharmony,bymeansof thefingers,thepedal,orboth. Thefull durationofthesetones,asusuallyplayed,isshownwithprecisioninthetwoversionsat 1 band 1 c. Butitisapparentthat apiecenotatedin either ofthesewayswouldbeextremelydifficult toread,andwould notconveythe de-signed meaningnearlysoquicklynorsocompletelyasdoestheordinarymethodofwritingshownata, which, simpleas itis,10 INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC.assumesacertainamountofmusicalinsightandexperienceonthepartoftheperformer. Besides,evenwhenit is bothpos-sible anddesirable topointoutunmistakablytheduration oftones,to do so takes agreatdeal of thecomposer'svaluabletime.Obviously,thesethreeillustrationsmaytypifythesamesound; equallytrueisitthattheexampleata may havediverseauthenticreadings.Whatdoesarestmean? Silence?Sometimes;notalways.Thereare soundingrestsaswellasrestsofsilence. Itconstantlyhappensthatalthoughthe tone should beheld,Soundingrests;*Cmanualthefingershave to be removed from thekeys,executiong^d a res^ js written forthem,but not for thetone,in which case the notation of the musicalconceptioniscomplicatedwiththatreferringtotheexecution,thesymbols indicatingnowone,nowtheother,nowboth ofthese,asis shownintheillustration2a,taken fromSchumann'sNovelette in Amajor,in which each bass tone should soundthroughthemeasureinthemannershownat2b.EXAMPLE 2SCHUMANN Novelettein Amajor,Op. 21,No.6.a.Originalnotation.ib. Thebass,notatedas itsounds,andaccompanyingchords.Ac. Themelody,notatedasitsounds.INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC. 11The notation 26,more indicative of the desired musicaleffect thanof themeansusedtoproducethateffect,calls forthe same manner ofplayingas theoriginalno-..^JExacttonaldura-, tation,bothdemandingtheemploymentof thetion andpedaldamperpedal,astheringersoftheleft handcan-executionsym-not sustainthebasspartwhileplayingtheinnerparts.Anotherinstance inwhichthemannerofperformanceismoresymbolizedthan is thesound,occurs inExample2ain thenotesandrests written for theright. hand;at c thenotesrepresentthemelodyas itactually sounds,withoutspecifyingwhether the tones are sustainedby ringersorbypedal.Intheoriginal notation,a,themelodyof the first twomeasures is writteninquarter-notes,because thekeys produ-cingthemelodicB\>andCmustbesoftlystruckagainbythethumb of the left hand inplayinganaccompanying voice;but each of these two melodic tones is intended to soundthroughoutitsmeasureasifwritteninhalf-notes. Asinthecaseofthebass,eachofthesenotesofthemelodydemandstheuseof thepedal,withoutwhich the melodic tones cannot be sus-tainedandconnected.In cases like these there is sometimesanattemptto indi-cate both the tonal duration desired ahalf-note andthemeansofproducingthat duration theuse ofsignsdemandingthepedaland thecomposer putsthe markuseofpedaiPed.,as if tosay:"The tone should besustained,evenif thefingerscannot doit;the rest is for thefingers,not for the tone."Frequently, however,it isimpossibleto showby signseither the manual andpedalmode ofsustaininga tone withoutblurringothertones,or theexact moment ofpedal release;andso, althoughthepedalis the chief means of orchestralcoloring,often its use is notindicated. When inanyvoicethere is anote oflongor ofshortdurationwhichrepresentsatonesustainedthroughmanymeasures,theemploymentof thepedalisusuallyleft to thejudgmentoftheplayer.Thecomposermayindicatethatthepedalisindispensable bywritingunder the note to be heldthe wordPed.,withoutgivingasignforpedalrelease;or12 INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC.hemayemploythephrasesemprePedale(alwaysthepedal);orPed.,and a little latersempresimili(alwaysthesame);or,as Schumannoftendoes,mil Pedal(withpedal). But,evenwhennotimpossible,itremainsdifficultpreciselytodesignatetheexactmomentsofpedalattack andrelease,which is oneofthereasonswhythe marks Ped. and#usuallyareplacedincorrectlyand are useless asguidesto correctpedaling.TheconflictbetweentherepresentationofthesoundofthemusicandofthemeansbywhichthissoundisproducedresultsBassnotesin formin.theadoptionofbothoftheseformsofnotationofgrace-notesmthesamecomposition.This is well illustratedin No. 6 of Schumann'sBunteBlatter, Op. 99, where,ineachmeasure,all the chord-notes written for the left hand shouldbesustainedandhavethe effect ofbeingconnectedwiththoseinthefollowing measure.EXAMPLE3SCHUMANN BunteBlatter,Op.99,No.6.INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC. 13notesofeachmeasureexceptthefirstandlowestnote,omittingthisaltogether. Second,play the measuresinasimilarmanner,but omitthe second noteandholdinsteadthefirstnote,writtenasa small note,which canbedonebyplaying someof thechord-noteswiththerighthand. This modeofplayingisatonceper-ceivedtobethestrongerandmoresatisfying, provingthattheindispensablebasstoneslie inthelowestvoice. Thesemustbesustained, althoughrepresentedasgrace-notes,andasthiscanonly be done by thepedal,Schumanngives thegeneraldirection,milPedal.Thesecondchord-note in each ofthe first threemeasuresis writtenasaquarter-note;ineachofthenextfourmeasuresas a dottedhalf-note;in the last measure as aquarter-note.All these should be sustained asanddottedhalf-dottedhalf-notes asnearlyaspossible.In thenote f eandZ>b,the last tones of each of thesemeasures,withthetoneprecedingit.Butwhenthemeasuresarecorrectly playedthepedalisusedafreshwitheachmelodictoneassoon as it is connectedwith the preceding oneofdifferentpitch,so that when thefingersare removedfromthekeystoplaythenextbassnoteboththeharmonyandthemelodyare sustained andconnected to thetonesinthenextmeasure. Inmeasure7, althoughthedottedhalf-note is stillemployed,there is not the same reason forwritingitso,asall themelodictonesarealsochord-tones.Theseexamplesallshowthat,unfortunatelyforthepianistwhoisnotalsoanexperiencedmusician,themodesbywhichadesiredorchestralorpianisticeffect is indicatedarenumerous.Suchconfusingvarietyofnotationtoexpressamusicalideaisanalogoustothemodeofspelling inShakespeareantimes, whendifferent combinations of letters were admissible inspellingaword.14 INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC,EXAMPLE4SCHUMANNKinderscenen, Op. 15,No. 10.Transcribersfrequentlymake sad work ofpianofortemusic. In a certainarrangementforstrings,of Schumann'sTranscribers'ChildhoodScenes,&curiousmistakeoccurs. Evi-mistakesdentlythetranscriberknewbutlittleofthepecu-liarities ofnotationinpianofortemusic.ThroughoutthepiecenamedAlmost Too Serious(Fastzuernst),afewmeasures ofwhich aregiveninExample4,thefirstnoteof eachmeasureiswrittenasasixteenth-note,althoughthecomposerindicateshisdesiretohaveitheldasabassnote bywritingatthebeginningofthepiecethewordPed. Thesebassnoteswerewronglycon-ceivedbythetranscriber asintendedtobesustainedonlyfortheirwrittenduration;andso,inadaptingthemtotheviolon-cello,insteadofwriting themasconnectedquarter-notes,hesetthemdown, unchanged,in theirpianistic form,as sixteenth-notes.This,badenoughinthefirst few measures,becomesveryunpleasantin effect in the measures where the fermatasoccur, as,without the sustainedbass,the finalharmonybecomes a chord of the six-four with which thephrasecloses. The transcriber did not conceivecorrectlythe com-poser'sintention that the bass notes should be sustained notmerelymentallybutaudiblyandbymeansofthatmechanismwhichis characteristicsolelyofthepianofortethepedal.Notesandrestsapparentlywrittenfor asinglevoicemayinreality belongto several voices. Andthe converse is alsoonevoicewritten true,that notes and restsseeminglywritten forasseveralseveral voicesmayconstitute but asinglevoice.These statements are illustratedbythefollowingfive musicalexamples.INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC.EXAMPLE515BACH Preludein CMajor from TheWell-temperedClavichord,PartII.(meas.8)InthethirdmeasureofthisBachPrelude,whichiswritteninfiveindependentvoices,thenotesofthetheme,insixteenthsandthirty-seconds,make asinglecontinuousvoice, runningthread-likethroughthe othervoices,whichgraduallyformanaccompanyingharmonyinCmajor,ofwhichthetones Cand Gentersimultaneouslywithtonesofthesamepitchinthetheme,andareheldmuchlongerthanthey.Tooneinexperiencedinplaying polyphonicmusic,the notationmightbeconfusing, as,owingtothemergingof twovoicesintheonenote,G,writtenasaquarter-note,thethemeseems tostop here,and its contin-uationinthelowerstaffappearstotheeyetobelongtoanothervoice,forthesixteenth-rest(herewrittenforthefingersofthelefthand)maygiveafalseimpressionthatthesixteenth-notesinthelowerstaffareacontinuationofthebassvoiceC. Inthisexample,thequarter-note G,with one stemdown-turned,representsbothamelodytoneofthevalueofasixteenthandanaccompanying tonefourtimesaslong.IntheaboveExample,whereonevoiceiswrittenasseveral,it is also the case thattwovoicesarerepresentedTwovoicesem_inonenote. Certainmeasures of theC#minor bodiedinonePrelude from TheWell-tempered Clavichord,Partnote/,contain similar difficulties and still others. The Preludebeginswiththesenotes:16 INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC.EXAMPLE6BACHC#MinorPrelude.>JJJj(meas.1)Hiddeninmeasure18,whichisgiveninthenextexample,isanimitationofthis.EXAMPLE7a. Imitationof Ex.6, originalnotation.* i(rneas..18)b. A morecompletenotation.Ii Ti*(meas.18)The melodic imitation at aseems,at the firstglance,tohavelost its firstnote,andtobeginwith aneighth-rest;whilethe dotted half-noteEseems tobelongto theuppervoiceonly.But the imitationreallydoesbeginon the first beatof themeasurewithaneighth-note,E,whichis notgiven sep-aratenotation,but is included in the Ewritten as adottedhalf-note,whichstands for twovoices,not for one as it atfirstsight may appearto do. Instead ofcombiningthesetwonotes inone,thetwoE'smighthavebeengiven separatenotation,so as tofullyindicate all the notes of bothvoices,asshownin 7 6.Another feature of interest in theoriginalnotationgiveninExample7aisthat,asin theCmajor Prelude,inExample5,twoaccompanyingtones(C#andG#)entersimultaneouslyINTERPRETATIONOF PIANO MUSIC. 17withthematictonesofthesamepitch,andaresustainedlongerthanthey.Thisisindicatedbythedoublestemsandtheslurs.Hereagainanotewithonestemrepresentstwotonesbelongingto differentvoicesandofdifferingdynamicqualitiesas wellasdifferingduration. Inthisexamplethe rest is neither for thefingernorthetone,butisasignputtoattracttheattentionoftheplayertothemergingofthethematicEwiththe Eofthehighest voice,andalso totheentryofthethematicimitation,sothathemaybringit outinaninterestingmannerandwithsufficientimpressiveness.EXAMPLE 8a.Originalnotation.___! * L N jJ4r T r f(meas.15)b. Aneditednotationofthe above.KZLInExample8a,the notes in the fifteenth measure ofthesamePrelude furnish an illustration ofboththesewaysofwriting.Thesignificanceofthenotescomposinganimitationof the first theme is somewhat concealedbytheoppositedirectionstakenbythestems,aswell asbythenote Edoingdutyfor more than one voice. The lowest voice hasC#,which,after aperiodofrest,descends to a sustainedA#,asshownat 8b. The F#onthefourthbeat is acontinuationofthe theme ineighth-notes,as is seenbyacomparisonof theoriginalnotation inExample8awiththat of the theme hiExample 6,which showsclearlythat theF#on the fourthbeatand thefollowingG$andA#constitute an inverted freeimitationofthethematicnotes, C#,BandA.18 INTERPRETATIONOF PIANO MUSIC.All this is indicated inExample86,in more detail thanin theoriginalnotation ata, by usingmoresymbols. But,simplestnotationwnile tneupturned stems,the two E"s andtheusuallytheslursemployedmake easier ananalysisof thismeasure, yetthisnotation is lessgoodthanthatof theoriginal,since it is morecomplicatedinappearance,andthereforenotsoeasytoread.Exampleshavebeengivenofonevoicewrittenasseveral,oftwovoicesembodiedinonenote,andofthreevoiceswrittenSeveralvoicesas two. It isfrequentlythecasethatmanywrittenasonevoices arerepresented bya succession ofsinglenotes. Thousandsofcasescouldbecited inwhicharpeggiated(broken)harmonies conceal several voices. Oneis heregivenin the variation from the Andante of Beethoven'sFminorSonata, Op.< 57,where the notes on theupper staff,at 9a,standforthreevoices.EXAMPLE 9BEETHOVENSonata,Op.57,Andante,Var.2.a.Originalnotation.b. Harmonicskeletonoftheabove.This is attestedbyExample9b,inwhichthenotesrep-resentthesameharmonyasthoseat 9a,but in solid insteadofarpeggiatedchords. Ifthesetwoexamplesbeplayed,this isunmistakablyheard.INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC. 19Yetthat anarpeggiatedchord doesnotalways representmorethanonevoice is shownbytheopeningmeasures of theBachPrelude,ofwhichthethirdmeasureis citedMusicaljudg-inExample5. Inthe first twomeasuresof thismentnecessaryPrelude,shownbelow,there is butonemelodicvoice,althoughthisis constructed morefrom chordsthanfromthe scale. Itis obviousthatmusicaljudgmentisnecessaryto discriminatebetweenanarpeggiatedpassagerepresentingseveralvoicesandonerepresentingbutasinglepart.EXAMPLE 10BACHWell-tempered Clavichord,Prelude 1 fromPart II.(meas.1)Notonlydonotes,restsandstemsall havemorethanonemeaning,butso, also,have other musicalsymbols.The dotplacedabove or below anote has various mean-ings.It often calls for somequalityof staccatoashorteningofthenoteaboveorbelowwhichcatomark;toit isplaced.Itmaydemandaheavy,orchestral^fned'ton"8"staccato or alight finger staccato;itmaymeanthat the detachment of one tone from another should be likeabreath,asigh,ormaycall for apronouncedrest betweentwotones,such as isusuallydemandedbythe vertical dashplacedabove a note. Attimes the dot calls' for anon-legatotouch;or itmay signifythat the notes are to beplayedinimitation of a violinpizzicato.Often the dot isused,not asastaccatomark,butasanaccentmarkoramarkofemphasis,the tenuto marlcbeing comparativelya modernsign.Bee-thoven often uses the dot in thisway,andBiilow,in his in-structiveeditions, frequently employsit with thesamemean-ing.Itmayevenbeused to call the attention of theeyeto20 INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC.thefact thatthenoteunderoroverwhich it isplacedshouldbelongsustained witnessespeciallythecompositionsofChopin,SchumannandLiszt.Andthereareothercharacterswhich maycauseconfusion.Whenthenotationisinvolved,theaccentmark(>A)issome-Meanin softhetimes used to call attention to a succession ofaccentmark;ofinterestingtones in an innervoice,ormerelyto a note oflong duration,which must be soattacked as to sound for asufficiently longtime. Theprimaryuse of the slur is tosignifythat the notes includedwithin its curve should beplayed smoothly, connectedly,and without attacki.e., legato.It is sometimes used togroup togethernotes of amelodyhardto findbecause inter-laced with notes of othervoices,or becausetheyare foundnowon theupper staff,now on thelower,as in the thirdmeasure ofExample2a,where it is also used to indicateanalternateuse ofthehands. Andsome editors(notcomposers)use it as asignofphrasing.It hasbeenshownthatthedurationof atone is notindi-catedinthenotationsoastomakebutoneinterpretationpos-summarysible;that arestmaydemandcessation oftone,incompleteness ormerelyarestforthefingerwhilethetonecon-tinues,or itmaybeusedto attract attention toanimportant succeedingnote orpassage.It is demonstratedthat the notes of onevoicemayappearto theinexperiencedplayertobelongto severalvoicesortothewrongvoice; also,that several voicesmaysimultaneouslyemploythe samenoteorrest,orothersign;thatanotewithonestem maysymbolizeonevoice ormanyvoices ofdifferingdurationandtone-color;that anotewithtwostemsmaysymbolizetwoormoreparts,andthat theupwardor downward direction of the stemmayhavesignificanceeitherforthehandorforthetone.Also,it isobviousthatanotewritteninsmallsize,orasagrace-note,maybelongsustainedandofgreatmelodicorharmonicvalue;thatneither thedot,the accent marknor the slur is limited to asinglesignificance,andthattheuseofthepedalisnotdefinitelyindicated.INTERPRETATIONOF PIANO MUSIC. 21Thequestionnaturallyarises: Wouldit notsimplifythenotation,withoutdetractingfromthe ease ofwriting, readingorplayingthemusic,if eachsignshouldalways Manymeaningsimplybut onemeaning?But thesemanysignsofeachsymbolfor the samemannerofplayingand the numerousmeaningsof each character are the outcome of centuries of music-writing,an artwhich,like that of musicitself,has beenlonginprocessofevolution,andbearstheimpressof thecon-ventionalusageofmanydifferentperiods,eachcomposerusingthesignswithwhichhe is mostfamiliar,andwhichappealtohimassimplest,mostlucidandmosteffective torepresenthismusicalideas; althoughtheselectionisinthemaininstinctive,notthoughtout, for,withafewnotableexceptions, composersconcern themselves but little with the manner in whichtheywritedowntheirthoughts. Then,too,muchoftheconfusioninmusicalwritingcomesthroughamisunderstandingof Italianmusicaltermsbythosewhodonotspeakthelanguage.Evengoodmusicians haveunconsciouslyusedsigns incorrectlyintheircompositions,andintimemanyofthesecorruptionshavebecomeauthoritativeusage;hencewenowhavemanycorrectinterpretationsofeachsymbol.Itisbestnottotrusttoo muchtosignsbut rather to lookthroughthesignto itsmeaningasdeterminednotonlybyothersignswithwhichit is combinedbutbythecompositionitself.Throughcomparisonof different editions of acompositionthepianistbecomesabletomakehisownedition;thatis,helearns tointerpretsuchsignsas occur with far., , ,.,,Comparisonofmoreaccuracythantheycanpossiblybewritten, editions, inde-andto see thetruemeaningofanycomposition,pendenceofnomatterhowbadlyediteditmaybe;andthushe attains toafeelingfor correctwaysofplayingcorrectwaysfor thereis noonewayrightandall otherswrong,butmanywhich are correct. The manner of executiondependsmuchupontherenderingofprecedingpassages,aswell asuponthepianist'sgeneralstyle.Asthestudyofmanycompositionsbythesamecomposergivesideasastohisdistinctivecharacter-istics,it is desirable tostudy simultaneouslyseveralpiecesby22 INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC.the same composer;someingoodeditions, some inpooreditions,thattheymaybecomparedandthejudgmentexercised astothebestreading. Therefore,inorderthoroughlytounderstandanyonecomposition,itiswelltostudyitintheoriginaleditionor insomeunannotatededition,aswell asinthefine editionsarrangedbyLiszt,Biilow, Klindworth, Busoni,d'Albert,Mu-gellini,Buonamiciandother goodmusicians. Acomparisonoftextsfacilitatesthe formation of a correctconceptionof themeaningofthecomposer.Onemaybecomeinacertainsenseapupilof LisztorofBiilow bycarefullystudyingthesignsandcommentsaddedtotheoriginaledition. Thedrawbacktosuchinstructionisthatthewritercannotadapthimselftothespecialneedsof the pupil.To fosterindependentj udgment and preventa mechanicaladoptionofhis ownconception,Biilow forbade theuseofhiseditionstohisownpupils, preferringtocorrecttheirmisconceptionsand their errors of tastethrough personalin-struction.Butevensuchcomparisonofeditionswillnotfullygivethepianistanunderstandingofthecompositionshestudies. Some-Knowledgeof thingmore isnecessarytoenable himtouse thetheorytextsunderstandinglv.Without muchhearingof goodmusicofallkinds,andwithoutaknowledgeof harmony,counterpoint, rhythmand musicalform,thepianist maybeunable to discriminate between the notationrepresentingthesound and thatsuggestingtheexecution;hemayeven beunconsciousoftheneedtodothis.Ineithercasehemustbedependentuponaguide,andre-maininpupilagesolongas hisignorance continues;whereasThemusician-themusician-pianistreads themeaningthroughPianistthe notation;hiscorrectconception insurescorrectplaying.Addto this apoetictemperament,andheiscapableof artisticinterpretation.CHAPTERIIIBOWING-SIGNSSymbolsarearbitrarysignsforthingsthatare notarbitrary.Much of thesymbolizationof articulation is the same in allmusic, whetheritbewritten forvoiceorforinstru-idealtonement.Consequentlyit ishelpfulaswell as con-symbolizedvenient,whendiscussingtheinterpretationofmusicwrittenforone kind ofinstrument,that both theinterpretationand themode of execution should be described in termswhich,whenappliedin theiroriginal,limitedmeaning,are suitableonlyto music written for someoth^rkind of instrument. Porta-mento,sottovoce, cantabile, legato, pizzicato,and down-beat aretermsoriginatingin vocal and orchestralmusic; yetsome ofthese arefrequentlyseen in the notation ofpianomusic andothers are incommonverbalusebypianists.Andrightly so;forsincetheconceivedtoneshouldbe moreexpressivethanit ispossibletorenderthetoneactuallybroughtforthbytheplayer,suchvocalandorchestraltermsaremorepotentintheproduc-tionof anidealmusicalconception and aconsequentfinemusicalrendering thanmatter-of-fact termswhichcan be takenliterally.Since allgreatcomposersarewritersofvocalandof orchestralmusic,and,therefore,withfewexceptions,oftenfeel,thinkandwriteorchestrallyfor thepiano,it isrequisite,in order tounderstandthemeaningofthenotationforthepiano,tohavesomeelementaryknowledgeof the notation for the voice andfororchestralinstruments.Nextinimportancetothepoeticcontentofthework,andessentiallyapre-consideration,is its musicalsignificance.Cor-rectlytointerpret this,it isimperativethattheMusicalandmusicalsignificanceofeachsymbolbeunderstoodexecutionaiim-exactlyandthatthisbeabsolutelydifferentiatedportofsymbolsfrom its executionaiimport,which varies with each musicalmedium. These twodistinctly separatefunctions should berealized asabsolutelydifferent inkind;andthemusicalsignifi-2324 INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC.cance,which is of universalapplicationbecause of itsapper-tainingto ideal musicalsound,is thebroader. Inthelightofthistruth,itisapparentthat the pianoismerely oneof themanymediumsofmusicalexpression.Mostof itssymbolswerefirstemployedinvocalandinorchestralmusic.Explanationsof thesymbolsandterminologyused inpianofortemusicareinmanyimportantworksconfusedbythewriters withthemeansofexecution thetouchofthefingers.Allsignsandallterminology,suchasslur, dot, dash,accentmark,phrase, punctuation,staccato andlegato,should first be understood in theiroriginaland truestsignificance,assymbolizingideal musicaleffect;afterwhich,thespecialmanner ofproducingthe effect on each kind ofinstrumentshould also receive-carefulconsideration,since thesignsnotonlyrepresentthesound but also instruct as to themeansof execution. Themechanical means ofinterpretationused thefingers,wrist,hand,arm,shoulderandfoot andthepart theytake insettinginto action thevery complicatedmechanismofthepiano,shouldinnowayaffect theideal con-ceptionofthesoundtobeproduced.Faultyinstructionsimilar to thefollowing, clippedfrom arecentmusicjournal,appearstobeverycommon: "ThereareLegato,buttwowaysofplayingthepiano legatoandstaccatostaccato;hencetheyshouldberightlyunderstoodandcorrectlyused. Inthelegato,the hand isquietandthefingermoves. Inthestaccato,thefingerisquietandthehandmoves. ... Aslowstaccato orlegato mayalso involvearmaction." Astudyoftheplayingofdistinguished pianistsshowsthatbothstaccatoandlegatoareproducedbythefingeralone,as well asbythe addedemploymentofhand,forearm andupperarm;thetouchdependingverylargelyuponthequalityof tonedesired itsrichness, dryness, delicacy, power, brilliancy,resonanceorpurity.Butthemusicalmeaningoflegatoandofstaccato has to doonlywith tonalconnection, disconnection,attack and lack of attack. The manner of execution is anentirelydifferentmatter, depending uponthe instrument em-ployedandupontheconceptionof theperformer;and theINTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC. 25interpretationof agreat playervaries somewhat with eachperformance,inresponsetotheinspirationofthemoment.Inthe NovumOrganum,Baconstatestheprofoundandfar-reaching principlethat "Noonesuccessfully investigatesthenatureofanythinginitself;theinquirymustbeHOWtoenlarged,so as to become moregeneral."Itinvestigatethereforebecomesnecessary,inordertounderstandthesignifi-canceofthesymbolsfoundinmusicwrittenforthepiano,thattheirsignificanceshouldbeperceivedinmusicwrittenforotherinstruments,since a similar musical intention isrepresented,regardlessof themechanismof the instrument whichmaybethechosenmediumofinterpretation.Thenecessityofafeelingfor orchestralcoloringisplainlyevidenttohimwhoreadscarefullytheannotationsofeminenteditors ofpianofortemusic. D'Albert writes inorchestrationhis edition of Beethoven's sonatas: "Thispartofpianomusicmightwellbeinstrumented;hereimitatethetoneoftheflute,andfour bars furtheron,thatof the reeds.""Imagine the uppervoiceinthesetwobarsplayedbytheoboe,andtheaccompani-mentperformedbythestrings.""Imitatethe sound of har-monicsontheharp.""Likeabrassband,the left handsub-duingitspart played pizzicato.""Recall the sound of thetrombone.""Quasiclarinetto."Biilow, also,indicates thedesirabilityoforchestralthinkingonthepartofthepianist,bysuchcommentsas: "SoundC-Fshrill likeatrumpet-callhere;at 6 like a drum beat.""Imaginethispassagethus orches-trated: theviolins andflutes should take Eb,while Dis doubt-lessconceivedforthenaturaltrumpet andcorrespondsperfectlywithits character." "Thepianistshouldstudythetoneofthelowvioloncellostrings."Inordertoinvestigatethenatureof certainsignsused inthenotationofpianomusic,theinquirywill beenlargedbyacomparisonwith thenotationusedinviolin music, Berlioz'sandfor thatpurposea glimpseof the notation usedremarksfor theviolin,asexplainedbyBerlioz in histreatise,ModernInstrumentation andOrchestration,is herepresented,thesecomments and illustrationsbeing pertinentto the discussion.26 INTERPRETATIONOF PIANO MUSIC."The different kinds ofbowingare ofgreat importance,and exercise asingularinfluence onthe sonorousness andtheexpressionofpeculiarfeatures and melodies.Theyshouldthereforebecarefullyindicatedaccordingtothe natureoftheideawhichis tobeconveyed bythefollowingsigns:"Fordetachednotes:"Forslurrednotes,twoandtwo:"Forextendedslurs:"For staccato orlightlydetachednotes, simpleordouble,whicharetobeexecutedduringasingledrawingofthebow,bymeansof asuccession ofsmalljerksadvancingas littleaspossible:Allegro"Formarkedlydetachednotes,which are togiveto thestringallpossible sonorousness, by permittingit to vibratealoneafterthebowhasvigorouslystruckit,andwhichparticu-larlysuitpiecesofahaughty,grandcharacter,andofmoderatemovement :INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC. 27"Theundulatingtremolo consists of anotveryrapidut-terance of twoboundnotesonthesametone;while thebowneverquitsthestring.Gluckwrotethus:Amongotherthingsthe above citations call attention tothesuggestivefactthatthedotsin the first staff aretobein-dicated "for detachednotes/'while those in the sixthstaff,identicalinappearance andplacedovernotesofthesamevalue,aretobeindicated "formarkedlydetachednotes,whicharetogivetothestringallpossiblesonorousness."Evidentlytempoandothermusicalrequirementsenter into themeaningofthedot.Theslur anditsvarious combinationswiththedot,as in-stancedby Berlioz,areemployedalso in music written forwindinstruments,where similar effects of con-nection,disconnection and attack of sound aremeaningproducedbymeansof thebreath;andtheyare*siurandfrequentlymetwith inpiano music,wheretheyhavethesamemusicalpurport.Themusicalpurportisexactlythesame,althoughthemechanicalmeansemployedintheexe-cution of notes written for thepianois neither thebreath,controlledbythroat, lipandtongueandappliedto atubeofair,nor thebow,controlledby fingers,wrist andarm,andapplieddirectlytothestrings,but consists ofkeyscontrolledbythefingers,whichindirectly, bymeans oflevers, applyhammers anddampersto thestrings, thereby elicitingandchecking tone,and ofpedals,the functions of which are dis-cussedinChapterXII.Musicaltonesareproducedbyexcitingtheairtoregularlyrecurrentvibration,bymeansofvibratingstrings,ofvibratingcolumns of air or ofanyotherperiodicallyvi-variousofficesbrating body.All instrumentalists use theirofthefingersfingersinproducing tone, employingthem in differentways.Inplayingtheharpthefingers directlyincite the vibrationof thestrings;inplayingwind instruments thefingersare28 INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC.mainly employedto definethepitchof the vibration whichis incitedbythebreath;and inplayingbowedstringedinstrumentsthefingersof therighthandholdthebow,whichisthevibration-producingmedium,whilethefingersof the lefthand determine thepitch.But inplayingthepianothefingersdo notperformtheir officenearlysodirectly,sincethereintervenebetweenthemandthestringsthreeimportantmechanisms,controlledbymanylesser ones.Finger pressureuponakeyproducestonefromasingle stringorfromtwoorthree unisonstrings bymeans ofindirectly movingto actionthe damper whichliesupon,andthehammerwhichrestsaboutoneandthree-quartersof aninchbelowthestringorstrings.Thesensitivefinger-tipmust controljudiciouslythesevariousmechanismswhichintervenebetweenit andthestrings."Therearethreegradesinmusicalrendition," saysHansvonBiilow. "Onecanplaycorrectly,beautifully,interestingly.TOattaintoaNowdonotplaysointerestinglythatit ceasestocorrect be correct!" "A correct execution isexactlyconceptionequivalentto a fine one." "Toplay correctly,onemustmake itimpossiblefor oneself toplay incorrectly."Notonlydoespianoplayingbecomeinfinitelymoredelightfulwhencomparisonsaremade, mentally,of vocal and orches-tralwithpianofortemusic,but bysodoingiteventually becomesimpossibleto conceive the musicincorrectly,which is alongsteptowardmasterlyperformance.Closestudyofthestrings,especially,isproductiveof aclearer musicalinsight. Manyapassage,theconceptionof whichmaybehazyand uncertaintothepianist,becomesentirelycomprehensiblewhenhepausestoimaginehowit should berendered,vocallyororchestrally,how it would bearrangedforstring quartetand how theplayerswouldbowit.Sometimesthenewapplicationofanoldsign, retainingitsprimarymusicalmeaning,butnot its executionalmeaningasBusoni'sdown-intendedonlyforone kindofinstrument,is ofbowmarkimmense value inclarifyingthe notation. Amostvivid illustrationof this is to befoundinAll'Italia,thesecondpiecein Busoni'sElegien^in which heemploystheINTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC. 29violinsignforthedown-bow,ii,to indicate the desiredattackandthestrongly syncopatedcharacter of a note. Noone oftheusualwaysofmarkingwouldhavemadesoclearhisinten-tionastotherenderingofthepassage.EXAMPLE 11BUSONI All' Italia.*t|rdc|ptfBowing-signsForthefurtheranceofhismusicaldevelopment,as well asofhispleasure,theinterestandattentionofthepianistshouldbestronglyattracted to thestrings,because ofall orchestral instrumentstheyare the mostim-portant, possessing,asthey do,themostbeautiful as well asthe most variedqualities.And also because the means em-ployedbythesingerorbytheplayerupona wind instrumenttoexpressthemusicis notapparentto theeye,since theme-diumwhichincites the air tovibration is the invisiblebreath;butthemediumbywhichtheviolinist incitestheair tovibra-tion is thevisiblebow,thedownandupmovementsofwhichareeasilyseen,evenfromadistance. Forall ofthesereasons,if thecomprehensive terms"bowing-signs "or"signsofbowing"wereadopted by pianistsindiscussingand inexplainingto30 INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC.studentsthesignificanceof theslurandofthestaccatodotanddash,it ispossiblethat thegeneralmusicalunderstandingmightbecomemuchclearerandmoreintelligent,andthepiti-fulhelplessnessinregardto themeaningof thesesignswhichis evincedbysomeofthequestionsandanswersof teachersinleadingmusicjournals mighteasilyberelieved. Thestrange-nessofthetermbowing-signsasappliedtopianomusicwouldvanish as soon as its breadthofmeaning,asdeterminingwithdefiniteness the musicalsignificanceof certainsymbols,wasunderstood;and if seen in written discourse and heard fromthetongueof theteacher,like Busoni's down-bowmark,andlikethemorefrequentlyusedsottovoce, cantabile, pizzicato, etc.,it wouldsoonseemaperfectlynatural andaveryexact termofexpression.The termsbowing-signsandsigns ofbow-ingare here used ascomprehendingthe severalsignsof ar-ticulation.Experienceinteaching pianistshas shown theterm"bowing-signs"tobe auseful one.Byitsemploymentall confusion of articulation withphrasingisavoided,whileslurs,dots and their combinations lose their terrors for thestudent.Theprincipal bowing-signsare the slurembracingwithinits curve two or morenotes,the slurembracingwithin itsThebowing-curvenotesofwhichoneormoremaybemarkedsi nswithadot,thedotordashplacedoverorunderanoteoreachofasuccessionofnotes,andnotesmarkedbytheabsence ofslur,dotanddash.There arerelativelyfewpianistsof moderateaccomplish-mentwhorightlyinterpretthemeaningof theslur,eitherusedsiurasignofalone or in combination with thedot, althoughlegatothis isfundamentally importantandquitedefi-nite. This isbecause, althoughthe slur is usedbycomposersas abowing-sign demandinglegatoand for no otherpurpose,thislegatosignis sometimesplacedoverthenotesofamotiveorotherintegralsubdivisionofaphrase,asisshowninExample18. Butinsuchcases, also,theslurisusedasasignoflegato,not as an indication ofphrasing,which thecomposer rarelytriestoindicatebyspecialsigns.HedoesnotuseslurstodefineINTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC. 31the limits ofphrasesandsentences,andit is thebringingoutof therelationshipsof these that constitutesphrasingin thetruestmeaningoftheword. Theslur, then,is usedtogrouptogethernotes which are to be renderedlegato.Thesluris notused as apunctuationmarkbyrenownedcomposers,either of thepastor of thepresent,as can beseenby consultingthe works ofBeethoven, xhesiumotaSchumann, Chopin,MacDowell,Strauss,Debussymarkofphasingor otherpreeminentauthorities.Any sign employedwithameaningdifferent from what haslongbeen used andcontinues to be usedbythe bestcomposersis not to beconsidered asapplyingwith anewly given significationtotheworksofmasters whousethissignwiththemeaningsanc-tionedbythe use of centuries. Even if thechangein themeaningof thesignshould be a desirableone,it becomesauthoritativeonlyafter itsacceptanceandemployment bythe bestcomposersoftheday;andeventhenit cannotapplytocompositionswritten before the invention of thenewlygivenmeaning.Asa mark ofpunctuationthe slur is usedonlyin theextremelyvaluable andinterestingeditions ofDr.Hugo Riemannandin those of his followers. There is not oneRiemann,suseofimportantmoderncomposer whohasadopted thesluras markofRiemannnotation. All continuetoemploythephrasm&slur,asdidtheclassicwriters,asa signoflegato,notofphrasing.Legatoconsistsin thesmooth,unattackedbindingofonetonetoanother. Absenceof attackisabsolutely,T. , .Legatodefinednecessary toatruelegato.Inpianoforte playingeach tone isproduced bymeansof ahammerstriking uponstrings,and the termlegatoasappliedto this instrumentmust therefore mean: Obtainlegatoasnearlyas ispossible,thatis,with as little attack and as much connection oftoneas iscompatiblewiththenatureofthispercussiveinstrument.Evenstaccato tones canbemadetosoundlegatoifproducedwith aminimum ofattack;while the most connected toneswill notsoundlegatoiftheyareattacked,sincethepercussionof the hammeruponthestringsmakes aquickerandmore32 INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC.vividimpression uponthe ear than does the connection oftones which takesplace simultaneouslywith theblow,andthe effectuponthe auditor is that of disconnectionof tone.Therefore,nomatter what the intention oftheperformer,orwhat the technical meansemployed,wherever thebindingoftonesceasestosoundperfectlyconnectedandunattacked,therethelegatoceases.Legatois mostperfectly producedbythesingerwhenvocalizingupona vowel. Themostperfectandthemostbeautifulinstrumentallegatoisproduced bythe bowedstring instruments,which arecapableofsustainingthelegatoindefinitely,and theplayingof Kubelik or of theFlonzaleyQuartetteaches thepianistmore aboutlegatothan can theplayingofany pianist.Incorrectstatementsregardingtheslurareconstantlymetwithinbooksonpianoplayingandinworksonthetechnic ofincorrectstate-theinstrument;and errors areperpetuated bymentsinbookstherelianceofpianistsandofteachersupontheseworks,and theirconsequentbeliefin,and restatement topupilsof,basicfalsities. Thefollowing quotationsfromamusicjournalareopento criticismuponthispoint."Ourpianofortemusic contains two kinds ofslurs;onekind thecomposer placedasthey appear,the other the en-Someprintedgraverputin wherehethoughttheyshouldem-errorsbellish thepage.In otherwords,what I callconventionalslurs,which do not meanpunctuation;and realslurs,which do. The conventional slursgenerallycover anaturalrhythmicgroup,such as asingle pulsation,ameasure,ahalf-measure,moreoftenameasure. Theseslursarewith-out value aspunctuation. Anyslur whichstopsbefore thenoteswhichreally completetheidea,isincorrectlyplacedandconventional,andnottoberegarded exceptin itspermanentvalue,which is toadjurealegatoof the tones coveredbyit.All slursmeanthis. . . . Thefollowingwill behelpful: Anyslurwhichcoversarhythmicgroupendingwithanunaccentedtone is conventional andimplies simply legato;and a slurconnecting partsof two differentrhythmic groups (pulses,measures)ispunctuational.""ShouldyougofurtherandaskINTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC. 33mewhythe slurs are drawnincorrectlyinprinted music,I answerthatis oneof thethingsnofellowcanfind out."It is an unfortunatemisconceptionof thesignificanceoftheslurtothinkthatit ismerelya"conventional"sign.Im-agine,forexample, Beethoven,who was soSlurnotathoughtfully preciseandpainstakingin his no- "conventional"tation,asbeingsounintelligentandsofoolish asSlgnconstantlyandthroughouthis entire life topermithis workstobepublishedcontainingthousandsofsignswhichhehadnotwritteninhismanuscriptandwhichwereabsolutelyincorrect.No: the conventional he could not tolerate. He was mostparticularthat allsignswrittenbyhim should beprintedexactlyastheystood in themanuscript,and hefrequentlycomplains,in his letters toengraversandtocopyists,of theirmistakes. Hewrites to acopyist concerningone of the lastgreat string-quartets,that in Aminor, Op.132: "ForHeaven'ssake, impressonKempeltocopy everythingas itstands;lookcarefullyover mypresentcorrectionsandyouwillfind all thatyouhavetosayto him. When'isputover anote,'isnottotakeitsplace,andviceversa. Itisnotthesamethingto write{{{{{Theslurs to bejustastheyareplaced.Itisnot synonymoustowrite|. ,JJJEEror thusSuch is ourwill andpleasure!I havepassednoless thanthewholeforenoontoday,andyesterday afternoon,incorrectingthesetwopieces,andIamactuallyquitehoarsefromstampingandswearing." Uponanother occasion he writes: "I havelookedoverthewholeof theparts. . . and I trusttheymustbetolerablycorrect." ThereisnoreasontoassumethatBee-thovenwouldnot havebeenequally exactingin his demandsinregardto theengravingof hispianoforte works,and it isinconceivable that the corrections sourgentlycalled for werenot made.Misprintsin music are all toofrequent, yetslursarenotmoreoftenincorrectlyplacedthanareothersigns.34INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC.It isquitetrue,asstated inthequotationfromthemusicjournal,thatmostslursarenotpunctuational,donotindicateLegatoslursthephrasing,but do indicatethelegato,andimportant^usedbythecomposerthis is theironly office,exceptwhen used in combination with otherbowing-signs.Legato slurs, however,are mostimportant,areusuallycor-rectly placed,andarenot in the least conventionalnorinanywaytobedisregarded,sinceeverysignis ofmoment,as show-ingin ageneral waytheintentionofthecomposer.Attendance,score inhand,at orchestral and chamberconcerts,whereplayingof thestringsmaybeobserved,forcesTheviolinist'sonthe auditor theperceptionthat the first notelegato-bowingwithin a slur bears the attack of thebow,andhence that this note isbynature morepronouncedthanthose which follow in the same bow.Consequently,thebeginningof aslur is oftenplacedoveranotewhichforsomereasonthecomposermaywishattackedoraccented.Usually,unless the violinist takespainstoprevent it,thelegatois de-stroyedwhenever adown-bowis succeededbyanup-bow,oranup-bowis succeededbyadown-bow. Sometimes it is thecomposer'sdesiretohavethelegatoextendoverseveralslurredgroupsof notes more notes than theplayercanpossiblytake in one bow.Quiteoften a different notation occurs forthesameeffect,thecomposerplacingunderoneslurmorenotesthancanbebowedtogether,withtheintention,asbefore,thattheperformershall makethem all soundlegato.Notinfre-quentlyBeethovenemploysthismannerofindicatinghisdesireforalegatoofmanynotes. Toaccomplishsuchaneffect themusicallyundesired butmechanically necessary changeofdirection in which thestringsare bowed must be inaudibleand almostimperceptible.Yet it should be remembered insuchcases,asalways, that,in common with othersymbols,slurs areguides onlytothegeneraleffectdesired,andunindi-catedarticularsubdivisionsarefrequentlydivinedandexecutedbytheperformer,eveninslurredpassages.Although good pianiststhink andspeakoflegatoas thefundamentaltouchtobeacquired,yettheyarealwaysconsciousINTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC. 35oftheattackofthe hammer onthestrings,it is characteristicoftheinstrument,butfineplayersattaintosuchskill that atwill thesoundoftheattackisreducedtoamini-Thepianist'smum. Inplaying legato,thelifelong difficultyle atowithwhichthevioliniststrugglesavoidanceof attackedtonewhentakinganewbow has itscounterpartin thepianist'sstruggleto avoidattackingeach toneproduced.While thecompetentpianist greatlyreduces the effect ofattack, yethecanneverreallyproducelegatotonesonhisinstrument,sinceeachtone isproducedbythestrikingof ahammeruponthestringinsteadofby drawingabowcontinuouslyacross it. Ofcourse,thepianistutilizes the characteristic hammer-attackofthestringsforsuitablemusicalpurposes.Wearecompelledto differ withmanyof the statementsregardingpianofortenotationmadeinthatstandardauthority,Grove'sDictionary, including portionsof theErrorsinGrove'sfollowingquotationsfromthe articles"Legato,"Dictionary"Slur "and"Phrasing.""Legatoconsistsinthesoundofeachnoteofa phrase beingsustaineduntilthe nextisheard. Insing-ing alegatopassageisvocalizeduponasinglevowel,onstringedinstrumentsbyasinglestrokeofthebow,andonthepianoforteandorganbykeepingthefinger uponitskeyuntil the exactmomentofstrikingthenext. . . . Theslur is nowusedina morerestrictedsense,todenoteaspecialphrasingeffect,inwhichthelastofthenoteswithinthecurvedline is shortenedandacon-siderablestresslaidonthefirst." "Thesignswhichgoverntheconnectionordisconnectionofthesoundsarethedashordot,andthecurvedlineindicatinglegato.Theordinaryuseofthesesignshasalreadybeendescribed,and the due observance ofthemconstitutesamostessentialpartofphrasing,butinaddi-tiontothisthecurvedlineisusedtodenoteaneffectofpeculiarimportance,calledtheSlur. . . . Whenthecurvedlineisdrawnovertwonotesofconsiderablelength,orinslowtempo,it isnotaslur,butmerelyasignoflegato,andthesameif it coversagroupofthreeormorenotes. Inthisthereisnocurtailmentofthelastnote."Since attacknullifieslegato,it is morecorrect tosaythat36 INTERPRETATIONOF PIANO MUSIC.inpiano-playingas inviolin-playing, legatoconsists in theunattackedconnection oftwoor more successive tones. Thelastofthenotescomprisedwithintheslur mayorSomecorrections,, , , . . . .maynotbeshortened;andaconsiderable stressmayormaynot belaidonthefirstnote. Thisdepends upontheperformer's conceptionof thepassageand of the modes ofarticulation andpronunciationbestadaptedto enunciate themusicalsyllableseachinitsdueproportiontothewhole. Theremustbeorchestralaswellaspianisticconceptionoflegato,alsoof thevaryingdegrees andqualitiesof detachment andofattack,bywhatsoever names thesemaybedesignatedof non-legato, semi-staccato, mezzo-staccato, martellato-staccato, spiccato,pizzicato,rests. Allareeffectsnaturaltoandinherentinbowedinstruments,whichoften should be imitated inpiano-playing,if apassagebe conceivedcorrectly.The termumartellato-legato"hammeredlegato althoughinaccurate,is mostuseful,asimplyingattackedbutconnectedtones;butthis isnottruelegato.Thesluris,ofcourse,asignandnotan"effect." Al-thoughoccasionallytheslur definesthelimitsofaphrase-sub-division,it isnotusedbycomposersfor thatpurpose,butasasignoflegatoa bowing-sign,notasignofpunctuation.Thedue observance oflegatoand staccato "constitutes a mostessentialpartofphrasing,"in awaysomewhatsimilar to thatin which the connection and disconnectionofsyllables mightbe considered asconstitutingapartofphrasinginordinarylanguage.Acorrect articulationis,ofcourse,arudimentarynecessity.It is to beregrettedthat the musicalexamplesgivenin Grove'sDictionaryin the article"Phrasing"areillustrative,notofphrasing,butoflegato,staccatoandaccent."Inpianofortemusic,allpassageswhicharewithoutanymarkareplayedlegato,inasmuchasthenotesarenotdetached;thecurvedlineistherefore moreforthesakeofgivingafinishedappearancetothepassagethanfromanypractical necessity."Hereareseveralserious and misleadingerrors. Itisobviousthata"finishedappearance"isofno momenttothecomposer.Hisaimis toconveytootherscertainofhisfeelingsandideas.The varioussignswhich heplacesonpaperare intended toINTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC. 37conveyhismusico-poetic meaning, preciselyas written wordsconveythemeaningofthepoet.Theexpressionofhisinspira-tion is theonly purposeof thepoet,in music as in letters.Neitherwritesanysignforthesakeofembellishingpaper.Passagesofnotesmarkedbytheabsenceofslur,dotanddashareby nomeans"alwaysplayedlegato,"althoughphraseswhicharesongfulincharactershouldofcoursebe .Absenceof slurplayedlegato andas muchaspossibleinimitation inlegatoof the voiceorof astringed instrument,whetherorpassagenotthe notesbemarkedbyslurs.Yet,ascanbeseeninmanypiano compositions,unslurred notesmaydemand alegatorendering.Agoodexampleofthisistobefoundintheoriginaleditionof Beethoven'sFminorSonata, Op.57. Themelody-notesfromtheslowmovement,givenbelow,arenotmarkedbyslurs,becausetheircantabilecharacteris sopronouncedthatitdoes not need to bepointedoutbythecomposer.AsBiilowremarks,thelegato"is herea matter of course."EXAMPLE12BEETHOVENSonata,Op.57. Andante.Inviolin-music,thebowing-sign,indicatedbytheabsenceofslur,dotanddash,callsfordetachmentoftone,andeachofthenotessomarkedisplayedinaseparatebow.r ve ji... . , Detachednotes1 heabsenceorthesesignsinpiano-musicdoesnotmarkedbyalwayscall for detachment oftone,as hasbeenabsenceofslur,T-> i i ft ,1 idotanddashseen. Butwhen,as isveryoften thecase,suchnotes constitutepassage-work;orwhen,as inquartetsandintrios for thepianoandstrings,identical or similarpassages,perhapsthematicorimitativeincharacter,arefoundalternately38 INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC.intheseveralpartsforthestringsandinthepartforthepiano,then,naturally,thesepassagesrepresentanidenticalorasimilarmusicalconception,the several manners of executionvaryingaccordingto the mechanismofthe instrumentemployed.Sothat,insuchpassages,notonlytheplayers on thebowed-instru-ments,butthepianist, also,playsasthemusicalcontextofthepiece maydemandandnotaccordingtosomearbitrary methoddevisedonlyforpianistsandimplyingthattheessenceofpiano-forte music differs fromthat of all other music. "There aremanypassagesinBeethoven'sworks,"writesSchindler,"which,thoughnot markedwithslurs,requiretobeplayedlegato.Butthis acultivatedtastewillinstinctivelyperceive."Thisstate-mentimpliesthatlegato passagesaremostfrequentlymarkedwithslurs,and that unslurred notes areusuallyto beplayedinadetachedmanner.AsBeethovenwaspeculiarlyexactandminuteinhisnota-tion,musicalexamplesillustrativeofdetachednotes marked bytheabsenceofdotand dash willbedrawnfromhispianofortesonatas. Annotatedby distinguishedmusicians andpianistssuch as Hans von Biilow andEugend'Albert,are editionsinvaluable informingtheunderstandingof thedevelopingpianist.EXAMPLE13BEETHOVENSonata,Op.31,No.3. Presto.Oftheprecedingmeasures,takenfromthelastmovementof Beethoven's SonatainE\>, Op. 31,No.3,Biilow remarks:"Theprevailingstyleoftouchin thismovementhavingtobenonlegato(midway betweenlegatoandstaccato),fingerings maybechosenwhichfacilitatetheactionofthefingers."INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC.EXAMPLE 14BEETHOVENSonata,Op.53, Allegro."Theundulatingfigureinsixteenth-notesshouldbeplayedbybothhandswithadistinctlydetachedtouch in thesucces-sivefingers, i.e.,*nonlegato/"saysthe sameeditor,of thesemeasuresfromtheCmajorSonata,Op.53.EXAMPLE 15BEETHOVENSonata,Op.57. Andante..0^740 INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC.EXAMPLE 16BEETHOVENSonata,Op.110. Moderate.a.Originaledition.b. Bulowedition.ConcerningthesemeasuresfromthefirstmovementoftheSonata inA\>, Op. 110,Billowsays:"Here also the notesnotespecially markedmustbe playednonlegato";andd'Albertinhis editionmakesthecomment: "Theeditorplaysthefirstnotestaccatissimo,theremainingthree notes nonlegato."InBillow's edition the notation of the articulation isamplifiedbyadditionalbowing-signs,asshownbytheslurs at b.Ofthefollowingmeasuresfromthe last movementof theSonata, Op. Ill,Billowsays:"Intheoriginaleditiontheslurendshere. It is evidentthata closelegatois notcompatiblewiththesforzatos prescribedfortheweakbeat. Ontheotherhand,avoid an unesthetichammeringandthumping,towhich end we have added menolegato"INTERPRETATIONOF PIANO MUSIC.EXAMPLE 17BEETHOVENSonata,Op.111.Adagio.menolegatoBowing-slursAshas beenshown,the differentbowings produceeitherlegatoor somedegreeof attack and of detachment of tones.Whenuncertainhowtointerpretapiano passage,it is oftenhelpfulto think of it as renderedbythe orchestra. Concen-trated, thoughtful listeningto thisimaginaryorchestral effectmeanwhilefeeling, hearingandnotingthe instrumentationandjudgingalso astotheprobablemannerofthebowingem-ployedbythestrings usuallyleads thepianistto a correctconceptionofanexecution whichwillinterpret the varioussigns.Ofbowing-slursin the firstmovementoftheSonatain Amajor, Op. 101,Billow wrote: "Theemploymentof doubledslursmayconfuse somereaders;it is to beexplainedthus:Q tii^ET^.meansthatG$-F%areto beplayed(fclT1=in anordinarylegato,andF%-Ein the less connected manner com-monlytermedportamentoanddesignated bydots undera slur. But thefollowingmode of notationmightalso bechosen:Q itrT/^1thoughit could likewise be misunder-stood, fm', I=F=: whereastheoriginalmode,derivedfromthat of. bowed-instruments,is familiar to allviolinists."Allsymbols,whether ofspeechor ofmusic,arerelative,not absolute inmeaning.Mostof the details ofperformancemustbe determinedbytheperformer,since theEditorialcomposercannotspendhisinspiredhours inelaborationelaboratelyeditinghisworks.Besides,evenifheweretomakeanattempttoputonpaper signsforeverysmall detail of42 INTERPRETATIONOF PIANO MUSIC.performance,muchwouldnecessarilystill remainunindicated,forcompletenotation of thecomposer's conceptionis anim-possibility.Theslur, therefore,is anarbitrary signused toindicate,inageneralwayonly,thelegatoof tones. Thenextfourexamplesillustratethis.EXAMPLE 18BEETHOVENSonata,Op.54. In tempod'unMenuetto.a.Originaledition.b. Klindworthedition.c. Bulowedition.d. d'Albertedition.Theabovemeasuresofmelodytakenfromthefirstmove-mentofthe FmajorSonata,Op.54,areshowninfoureditions.Klindworth's edition subdivides the notes under theoriginallongslurintothreeslurredgroups,andplacesdotsoverseveralofthenotes. Billow's editionsubdividesthenotesdifferently,evenextendingthe first short slur of theoriginalover fivenotes instead ofthree,andmakingthreegroupsof slurredINTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC. 43noteswheretheoriginaleditionhas twogroups,explainingthat,"while the left handplaysanunbrokenlegato,thedivisionoftheslur in thehighest partwill formno unsuitable variant.'5D'Albert adds accentmarksandlengthensthe slur to includetwo of theoriginalslurs. These various editorial marksmerelyamplifytheoriginalnotation. All oftheseeditions arecorrect,eachrepresentingthetasteandjudgmentofanauthori-tativeinterpreter.EXAMPLE 19BEETHOVENSonata,Op.13.Adagio.a.Originaledition.b. Billowedition.Example19,takenfromtheslow movementoftheCminorSonata, Op. 13, givestheoriginalnotation at a. Atb isgivenBillow'snotationofthesamemeasures, showingaddeddotstonotes in theupper staff;additionalstems,slurs and dots tonotes in the lowerstaff;and a differentplacingof alongerslur in both staves. Here the articulation is notatedinmoredetailthanintheoriginaledition.INTERPRETATIONOF PIANO MUSIC.EXAMPLE 20BEETHOVENSonata, Op.13. Rondo.a.Originaledition.m.b. Bulowedition.r r rAs is seen inExample 20,the.originalnotation at a isamplifiedintheBilloweditionatbbyadditionaltenuto-marks,dotsandaslur.EXAMPLE 21BEETHOVENSonata,Op. 10,No.2.Allegro.a.Originaledition.b. Anotheredition.The slurs inExample21a,from the first movement ofthe Sonata in Fmajor, Op. 10, maybe elaborated as in thenotation at6,withoutviolatingthemeaningof theoriginalnotation.Examples 16, 18, 19, 20,,21 illustrate at a theINTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC. 45original bowing-signsas writtenbythecomposer,to indi-cate, approximately,his intentionsregardingthe connectionand disconnection of notes. Themoreminute articular indi-cations addedbythe variouseditors,eachaccordingto hisparticularinterpretationofthenotation,areinnocase contra-dictorytothemeaningoftheoriginalnotation."Thequintessenceofourthoughts,"writesWagner,"isunconveyableindirectratioas theygainindepth andcompass."SaysRubinstein: "I hold that music is a Ian-subjectiveguage,to be sure of ahieroglyphic tone,interpretationimage, character;one must first havedecipheredthe hiero-glyphics;thenonly, however,hemayread all that the com-poserintends tosay,and there remainsonlythe morepar-ticularindicationofthemeaningthelatter isthetaskoftheinterpreter.. . .Everyinterpretation,if it is madebyapersonandnotamachine,is coipso subjective.Todojusticeto theobject (the composition)is the law anddutyofeveryinter-preter,but of course each one in his ownway,thatis,sub-jectivelyand how isanyotherimaginable?There are notwopersonsof the samecharacter,the samenervoussystem,thesamephysicalcomplexion;eventhedifferencesoftouchofthepiano players,ofthetoneof violinand 'celloplayers,andthequalityofthevoiceinsingers,ofthenatureofthedirector,affectthesubjectiveininterpretation.. . . Should theconceptionof acompositionbeobjective,there could beonlyonerightone,and all executants would beobligedto accommodatethemselves to it whatwouldan executive artist be in thatcase?Amonkey?. . . Shoulditbedifferentintheinterpretationof musicthanit is in theart ofacting?Is thereonlyone cor-rect art of Hamlet orKingLear? andmust each actoronlyhopetoapeoneHamletoroneKingLearinordertodojusticetothesubject? Ergo,I canonlyallowofthesubjectiveintheinterpretationofmusic." JosefHofmannrelatesthathismas-ter often said to him: "Doyouknowthe difference betweenpiano-playingandpiano-reciting? Piano-playingis themove-mentofthefingers; piano-recitingisthe movementofthesoul."CHAPTERIVPHRASINGThe musicalintelligenceof thepianistissupposedto be sufficient toperceive,withoutsignsofpunctuation,Theintelligentthe limits and the relations of the variouspianistsentences andphrases.Thecomposerassumesthat theplayeris able to subdivide thephrase properlyinto itsintegralmembers and to articulatesuitablythe shortsyllabic tone-groupsandsingletones of whichtheyarecomposed. Only byconsiderablestretchingofthe realmeaningofphrasingcan the members of aphrasebe considered under thatterm,since these do notexpressathought,but aremerely correctlyassembledtone-groups,eachexpressinga short andvery incomplete portionofamusicalthought. Still,as thesesubdivisions ofaphrasearecommonlytreatedunderphrasing, theywill behereso consid-ered.As inlanguage,so inmusic,thephrases composinga work are made to assume theirproperrelation to eachAphrasenotother and to the wholecomposition byanecessarily suitableemploymentofarticulation, accent,emphasis, shadingandcoloring,andespeciallybysentential and rhetoricalpauses.A musicalphrasemaybecomposedoflegatotones or of staccato tones orofanycombinationoflegatoandofdetachedtones. Amusicalphraseor aphrase-memberis not ofnecessity articularlydetached fromadjoiningsententialdivisions,since entiresentencesmaybe sounded either staccato orlegato.It issomewhatthesameinspeech:considerthestaccato utteranceof Mrs.Fiske and the musicallegatoof the lines deliveredbyMme.Bernhardt.46INTERPRETATIONOF PIANO MUSIC.EXAMPLE 22BEETHOVENSonata, Op.81*Allegro.ThispassagefromBillow'seditionoftheBeethovenSonata,Op.8la,is of interestasauthoritatively recordingan instanceofwhatoccursininnumerableinstances; namely,that aphraseor one of itsintegralsubdivisionsdMs^begin*-"maybeginonanynotewhatsoever,andregardlessninginmiddleof thesignsofbowing.Theremaybemany^ut7sedgroupbowingsin aphrase,and aphrase may begineither withthe first slurred noteor,as is morecommon,withsomeoneofthosewhichprecedeorwhichfollowit. Asausualthing,phrasesandtheirmembersarenotindicatedbyaslurorby anyothersymbol.In thepreceding example,where theslurs,asusual,indicate thebowing,were the subdivisions ofthephrasesalso indicatedbyslurs inthenotation there wouldbeanotherslurcuttingacrossthatinthethirdmeasure,betweenDand the lastE\>,andendingovertheGinthelastmeasure.Thesetwoslurs,articularandsentential,mightperhapsappearoppositionalinmeaning,butthis wouldbemerelyanappear-ance,not areality. Actually, theywould no more interferewith each other in function and inapplicationthan do thevarious accentsandstresses ofrhythm,ofmelodyandof har-mony,each ofwhich, governedbyits ownseparate principle,works in essentialagreementwith that of the others. Billowwroteofthesemeasures: "Averyslightdelayonthefirst halfofthethirdmeasure,i.e.,atthecloseofthefore-phrase,wouldnot seeminappropriate:for the shorterafter-phrase begins,despitethelegatoslur, onlyonthefourthbeat."48 INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC.EXAMPLE 23BEETHOVEN ConcertoinCmajor.InExample23,takenfromthe firstmovementofBeetho-ven's Concerto in Cmajor,the notes havelegato slurs,butthis does not conflict with additional mentalgroupingof thenotesaccordingtotheirsignificance,asindicatedbythedottedcurves. If thisbeconceivedasaviolinpassageinterpretedbyagreat artist,thebowingandthesubdivisions ofthephrasingarereadilyperceivedasbeingdifferent, yetcoexistent.EXAMPLE 24BEETHOVENSonata,Op.2,No.3.Allegro.Thesefewmeasuresfromthe first movementof the Bee-thovenSonatainCmajor, Op. 2,are illustrative ofthelegatobowing-marksof thecomposer,combinedwith dotted-curveswhichshowthementalgroupingofthenotesaccordingtotheirsententialsignificance,intoaphraseandphrase-members.EXAMPLE 25BEETHOVENSonata,Op.90. Slowmovement.Example25,takenfromtheslowmovementoftheSonatainF, Op. 90,servesboth asanillustration ofbowing-signsasINTERPRETATIONOF PIANO MUSIC. 49usedbythecomposerand ofphrasing-signsas indicatedbythe editor. All the slurs and dots over the notes are foundin the Beethovenmanuscript,and indicateap-Sententialsub_proximatelythe desiredconnection,disconnectiondivisions. Articu-andattackoftone.(Theadditionaldottedcurveslarsubdivisionsoutlinesentences, phrasesandmotives,butin sodoingconveyan almostshockinglymechanical and therefore a falseimpres-sionofthiswonderfulmelody.)Inanumberof casestheslurdefines both thelegatoof the notes within its curve and anintegralsubdivision of aphrase (motive, section, phrase-mem-ber).Butmostof thesentential subdivisions include severalsmallgroupsofconnectednotes,ofslightlydetachednotesandof notesverymuchdetached. Thelegatonotes are indicatedbyslurs,andthevariousdegreesof detachment are indicatedbydotsoverthenotes,bynotesmarkedwithdotsandplacedunder aslur,andby singlenotes markedbythe absence ofthesesigns.Thepunctuationof thephrasesand of the sen-tences isnotmarkedbythecomposerwithslurs.Veryrarely,indeed,even inelaboratelyeditedpublications,is a sluremployedto outline theselargersentential divisions. Never-theless theslur,used to define thephrases,is asymbolvery helpfultopupilswhenadded to the scorebythepencilof theteacher,as also are additional editorialpencil-marks50 INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC.suggestiveofthearticulation,of thedynamics,ofthemelody,oftheharmony,oftherhythms,of thetempiandevenof thecoloring.Asa result ofregardingmusic as alanguage,it has beendeducedthateachtoneofaphraseis notnecessarilysustainedsignificanceofuntil the next tone is heardandthattheendofrestsaphraseis notnecessarilydetached from thebeginningof thenextphrase.There are oftenrests,both oflongandof shortduration,withinaphrase.Numberlessfugalthemes,as well asphrasesin musicof allkinds,include rests.Intheworksof themasters,rests arerepletewithsignificance.Itwas"by theagitatedbreathingintherests"thatSchumann,onreadingover anewlypublishedopus, recognizedthecom-posertobeChopin.EXAMPLE 26BEETHOVENSonata,Op. 10,No. 1.Allegro.r^ifl-f**U^1PunctuationPhrasingis inpartmadeevidentbypunctuation,thatis,bypauses.Thesemaybeextremely slightorveryprolonged,and often arenotindicatedon theprinted page.Previousexamplesare illustrative of sententialpauses.OfrhetoricalpausesSchindler writes atlengthin his"Life of Beethoven." Hespeaksof Beethoven's"rhetoric,"of "the cesura which he oftenemployed"and of "thepointsofrepose,wheretheyare notexplicitlymarkedbythe com-INTERPRETATIONOF PIANO MUSIC. 51poser."Of thepreceding examplefrom the CminorSonata,Op. 10,No.1,hesays:"All the writtenquarter-restsin thehigherpartaretobeaugmentedbyabouttwo,theinterruptedphrase beingthrown off with vehemence. Theaim is to in-creasethesuspense."(Measures5,8and11areinterpolated.)EXAMPLE 27BEETHOVENSonata,Op. 10,No. 1.Allegro.Ofthecadenzabeforethecodainthefirst divisionofthismovementhesays:"Thisshowstheapplicationof the Bee-thovenprecept;thatis, pointsofrepose,whereBeethoven'stheyarenotexplicitlymarkedbythecomposer,"suraTheseareintended, besides,tomarkthedividingline of thecoda." Thefermatas are addedbySchindler.EXAMPLE 28BEETHOVENSymphonyinCminor.Allegro.yj^jWagner says aproposof the rhetoricalpauseover thefourth note of the CminorSymphony: "Usuallythe fermataof the second bar is left after aslight rest;ourBeethoven'sconductorshardlymake use of thisfermataforfermataanythingelse than to fix the attention of their menupontheattackof thefigurein the third bar. Inmostcases theE\?isnotheldanylongerthanaforteproducedwithacarelessstrokeofthebowwill lastuponthestringedinstruments.Now,sup-posethe voice of Beethoven were heard from thegravead-monishinga conductor: 'Holdmyfermata firmly, terribly.52 INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC.Ididnotwritefermatasinjest,orbecauseIwasatalosshowtoproceed;Iindulgeinthefullest,themostsustainedtonetoexpressemotions inmyAdagio;and I use this full and firmtonewhenI want it in apassionateAllegroas arapturousorterriblespasm.Thentheverylife blood of thetone shall beextractedtothe lastdrop.I arrestthewavesof thesea,andthedepthsshall* bevisible;or I stemtheclouds, dispersethemist,andshowthepureetherandthegloriouseyeofthesun.ForthisIput myfermatas,sudden, long-sustained notes,inmy'Allegro.And nowlookatmyclear thematic intentionwiththesustainedE\?afterthethreestormynotes,andunderstandwhat I mean tosaywith other such sustained notes in thesequel/'TheCenturyDictionary,discussingthepunctuationinuseinliterary expression,remarksthat"longafter theuse of theclosepunctua-present punctuationmarks became establishedtion.Opentheywere soindiscriminately employed that,ifpunctuationclosely followed, theywere often a hindranceratherthan an aid inreadingandunderstandingthe text. Closepunctuation,characterizedespecially bythe use ofmanycommas,was commoninEnglishin theeighteenth century,butopenpunctuation,characterizedbythe avoidance of allpointingnotclearlyrequiredbytheconstruction,nowprevailsin theEnglishlanguage.Insomecases,as in certainlegalpapers,title-deeds, etc., punctuationiswhollyomitted." Theintricate closepunctuationwhich Riemannemploysin hiseditions is ofgreatandpermanent interest,even shouldthereadernotagreewithhistheorythatmotivesneverbegin uponastronglyaccentedpartof ameasure. Agreaternumber ofthepoemsintheEnglish language begin uponanunaccentedsyllable,butbynomeansall ofthembegininthisway.Theprinciplewhich has led to the omission of all un-necessarypunctuationmarksinsymbolizedspeechispeculiarlyBeethoven's applicableHosymbolizedmusic. Intheprecedingdeclamationparagraph emphasisis laiduponthe fact thatwheretheexactmeaningofthelanguageisofgreatimportance,punctuation,as on the whole conducive to vital misunder-INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC. 53standings,iswhollyomitted. Sois itomitted,asausualthing,in thecompositionsof thegreatmasters of music. WereadthatBeethoven"wasprevailed upon,afterrepeatedentreaties,tomakearrangementsforthepublicationof acompleteeditionof all hispianofortesonatas. His determinationtoundertakethistaskwas influencedbytheconsiderationofthreeimportantand, indeed, necessaryobjects: viz., first,toindicatethepoeticideas which formthegroundworkofmanyof thosesonatas,thereby facilitatingthecomprehensionof themusic,and de-terminingthestyleof itsperformance; secondly,toadaptallhispreviouslypublishedpianofortecompositionstotheextendedscale ofthepianoforteofsix anda halfoctaves;andthirdly,to define the nature of musicaldeclamation(elocution)."ButthisBeethoven did notdo, notwithstandingthefact,indeedperhapspartlybecause of thefact,thatonthetopicofmusicaldeclamationhewentbeyondthegenerallyreceivedideaof hisday, maintainingthat"poeticalandmusical declamation aresubjecttothesamerules.""Thoughthepoet,"heusedtosay,"carriesonhismonologueordialoguein acertain,continuousrhythm,yettheelocutionist('Declamator'),foTthe moreaccurateelucidation of thesense,mustmakepausesandinterruptionsatplaceswhere thepoetcould not venture to indicate itbypunctuation;and thisstyleofdeclaimingisequallyapplicabletomusic,and is modifiedonly bythe number ofpersonscooperatingintheperformanceofamusicalcomposition."CHAPTERVTHE ACCIACCATURA-ARPEGGIOAs anacceptablerendition of a musicalcompositiondependsprimarilyuponacorrectinterpretationofthemusical... . notation,theperformermustbefamiliarwiththeSymbolizedrspeech. Sym-languageofmusic,both written andaudiblyboiizedmusicinterpreted.If the modesadoptedtomakethemeaningof themusic clear to theeyeandmindofthereaderbenotthoroughly comprehended,theplayermaybeas com-pletely mystifiedas to thecomposer'sidea as aforeignerwhoforthefirst timeseeswordsofdissimilarmeaningspelledalike,as,forinstance, yard (ground, length)',tale(story, tally);seal(stamp,animal): orthedifferentlyspelled butsimilarly soundingwords tier andtear;air andheir; sent,cent andscent;orthose wordswhosepartofspeechas well as theirmeaningisdeterminedbythe location of thesyllabic accent,as in thewordsmvalidandinvalid;entranceandentrance. Thesecon-ditions insymbolized speechare akin to those insymbtylizedmusic.Thedurationofatone is notindicatedwithprecisionandcompleteness,forneither itsbeginningnoritsendingisalwaysgivenwithabsoluteness in thenotation. It hasNeitherattacknorcessationofbeen demonstrated in apreceding chapterthattoneadequatelyjf thenotesofapassagewrittenforthepianoberemoved from the context the relative durationof thetonesrepresentedcannotbedefinitelyindicatedbythemusicalcharactersrepresentingthem. Neitherisattackoftoneshownwithpositivenessbythesymbolsalone.EXAMPLE 29123456 7 854INTERPRETATIONOF PIANO MUSIC. 55Hereareeightwaysofwritingthesamemannerofplayinganarpeggiatedchorduponkeysso closetogetherthattheyareeasilygraspedsimultaneously.YetsomeofthesesignsofvarioussignsofarpeggiodonotshowwhichtonesarPeggishould sound first nor in what order the others shouldcome,nor whether the chord should bearpeggiated gracefullyorstridently.In the case ofwide-spread arpeggioswritten forone hand there are still other means ofexpressingthe samemodeofplaying,someofwhichareshownbelow.EXAMPLE 30These various forms ofnotatinganarpeggioare inparttheoutgrowthof a desire to indicatethat, althoughcertainnotesaresodistantfromeachotherthatthehandOriginofcannotplaythemsimultaneously, yetthe effect acciaccatura-of a simultaneous attack must be attained asarpegglnearlyaspossible. Playedwiththisconceptionoftheirmean-ing,these chordsmaybe calledacdaccatura-arpeggios.Thewordacciaccatura(pronouncedat-cha-ka-tu-ra)is derivedfromthe verb acdaccare(to crush).The acciaccatura as found inpianofortemusic is of two kinds:first,the acciaccatura-arpeggio,of which all or some of the tones are more or lesssustained; second,theacciaccatura-grace-note,whichrepre-sents an unsustained embellishment tone. Adash across thestem,asinnumberfourofExample29,is theoriginalnotationofacciaecaturaandis stillcommonlyusedacrossthestemandflagofgrace-notes,which arefound in vocal andinstrumentalmusic of all kinds. Theacciaccatura-arpeggio, however,isfoundonlyinpianofortemusic.Theacciaccatura-arpeggioshould sometimesbe conceivedevenwhennosymbolis used to indicate the character of thechord. Often it is used in imitation of an effectpossibleonly56 INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC.onstringed instruments, upon which,on account of theirconstruction,a solid chord cannot beproduced,and so theArpeggio-chord-tones areplayedrapidlyoneafteranotherstrappatam onebowandwithanequallysuddenandforce-fulqualityofattack. Anarpeggiothusorchestrallyconceivedis calledanarpeggio-strappata,the wordstrappatacomingfromarootmeaningtowrenchorjerk.Appliedto orchestralmusic,such amannerofplayingiscalledstrappatad'orchestra,anexcellent term'for thevigorousstrappataharmoniconslaughtproducedwhen,onthedown-d'orchestrabeat of thedirector,achord isplayedfortissimoandverystaccato on thestringed instruments, crushingthetonestogetherasjust described,while the rest of the instru-mentsalsoplayfortissimo,sforzandoandstaccato. Thefinalchords of orchestralcompositionsare oftenstrappata.Soaretheyfrequentlyinpianofortecompositions.Thiseffect shouldbe conceived whenplayingon thepianofortesuchcrashingchordsasthoseendingtheBeethovenFminorSonata, Op. 57,fortheperformerwillthenobtainanorchestralqualityoftonewhichotherwisewouldbelackingintherendering.EXAMPLE 31BEETHOVEN Sonatain Fminor,Op.57.Allegro.nINTERPRETATIONOF PIANO MUSIC,57TheExampleat30a is ofteneremployedin classic thaninmodernmusic,andofalltheformshereshownit isthemostdefinite insignificance;as it bears theoriginalStrokethroughsignofacciaccatura(adashacrossthestem),it is stem,andotherundoubtedlyanacciaccatura-arpeggio.Theno-symbolstation atdin thesameexample, althoughplayedin thesamewayas thethreepreceding, a, 6, c,indicates not somuchthemanner ofemployingthefingers,as the desired effect asimultaneousnessofattackwhich,however,asinalltheothercases,fromatoi,isimpossibleonaccountofthewideness ofthe interval to beplayed.Ate thesameeffect is desired asimultaneousattack ofthetonesandasustainingof the bass-tone;but theimpossibilityofprolongingthe bass-tonebymeansof thefingersisrecognizedbywritingthe bass-note ofshorter durationthanthe othernotes of the chord. This is aguidetothemodeofexecutionasfarasthehandisconcerned;butthetonemustbeprolongedbeyonditsapparentvaluebymeansofthepedal.Theconnectingvertical slur at/showsclearlyto theeyethat asimultaneous attack of thetones is wishedfor,andtheuse of the slur alsorecognizesthepianisticim-possibilityof this. The notes areunavoidablystruck one afteranother,but this should be done soquicklythat all the tones sound asthoughplayedonthe beat. BothChopinandGrieg frequently employthe vertical slur in thismanner.Manyinstances inpointare found inGrieg'sowntranscriptionof his PeerGyntSuite,fromwhichthefollowingexampleis taken.EXAMPLE 32.GRIEGMorningSongfromPeerGyntSuite.Verticalslur(f) (f)58 INTERPRETATION OF PIANO MUSIC.Thenotation at 30gisquiteindefinite in itssignificanceand issusceptibleof several differentinterpretations.TheWavyline wavylinemaymeantoarpeggiateeithergrace-beforechordfullyorcrushinglyand,whenusedbeforeachordof severalnotes,does not indicate the order in which thesenotes are tobeplayed;theuppernote oramiddlenotemaybe a note of themelody,which should be struck before theother notes and begivenmelodicemphasis.Yet it is alsooften used to indicate anacciaccatura,as is shown inGrieg'sowntranscriptionfromwhich the abovemeasures aretaken,forlater, uponthe return of thetheme,the chords inthelefthandaremarkedwithawavylineinthesamemannerasat30g,insteadofwithaverticalslurasatthebeginningofthe movement. Inthe orchestral score there is nochangeinthenotationuponthereturn of the theme.The notation at 30 h isfrequently employed byeditorstoshowstudentshowthe acciaccatura shouldbeplayed; but,/Explanatoryalthoughthismaygivesomeideaofthenecessar