Violin Mastery Part 17

"We have not enough variety in our concert programs--not enough collaboration. The truth is our form of concert, which usually introduces only one instrument or one group of instruments, such as the string quartet, is too uniform in color. I can enjoy playing a recital program of virtuose violin pieces well enough; but I cannot help fearing that many find it too unicolored. Practical considerations do not do away with the truth of an artistic contention, though they may often prevent its realization. What I enjoy most, musically, is to play together with another good artist. That is why I have had such great artistic pleasure in the joint recitals I have given with Harold Bauer.

We could play things that were really worth while for each of us--for the piano parts of the modern sonatas call for a virtuose technical and musical equipment, and I have had more satisfaction from this _ensemble_ work than I would have had in playing a long list of solo pieces.

"The ideal violin program, to play in public, as I conceive it, is one that consists of absolute music, or should it contain virtuose pieces, then these should have some definite musical quality of soul, character, elegance or charm to recommend them. I think one of the best programs I have ever played in America is that which I gave with Harold Bauer at aeolian Hall, New York, during the season of 1917-1918:

Sonata in B flat . . . . . . _Mozart_ BAUER-THIBAUD

Scenes from Childhood . . . . _Schumann_ H. BAUER

Poeme . . . . . . . . . _E. Chausson_ J. THIBAUD

Sonata . . . . . . . . . _Cesar Franck_ BAUER-THIBAUD

Or perhaps this other, which Bauer and I played in Boston, during November, 1913:

Kreutzer Sonata . . . . . . _Beethoven_ BAUER-THIBAUD

Sarabanda } Giga } . . . . . . . _J.S. Bach_ Chaconne } J. THIBAUD

Kreisleriana . . . . . . . _Schumann_ H. BAUER

Sonata . . . . . . . . . _Cesar Franck_ BAUER-THIBAUD

Either of these programs is artistic from the standpoint of the compositions represented. And even these programs are not too short--they take almost two hours to play; while for my ideal program an hour-and-a-half of beautiful music would suffice. You will notice that I believe in playing the big, fine things in music; in serving roasts rather than too many _hors d'oeuvres_ and pastry.

"On a solo program, of course, one must make some concessions. When I play a violin concerto it seems fair enough to give the public three or four nice little things, but--always pieces which are truly musical, not such as are only 'ear-ticklers.' Kreisler--he has a great talent for transcription--has made charming arrangements. So has Tivadar Nachez, of older things, and Arthur Hartmann. These one can play as well as shorter numbers by Vieuxtemps and Wieniawski that are delightful, such as the former's _Ballade et Polonaise_, though I know of musical purists who disapprove of it. I consider this _Polonaise_ on a level with Chopin's.

Or take, in the virtuoso field, Sarasate's _Gypsy Airs_--they are equal to any Liszt Rhapsody. I have only recently discovered that Ysaye--my life-long friend--has written some wonderful original compositions: a _Poeme elegiaque_, a _Chant d'hiver_, an _Extase_ and a ms. trio for two violins and alto that is marvelous. These pieces were an absolute find for me, with the exception of the lovely _Chant d'hiver_, which I have already played in Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Berlin, and expect to make a feature of my programs this winter. You see, Ysaye is so modest about his own compositions that he does not attempt to 'push' them, even with his friends, hence they are not nearly as well known as they should be.

"I never play operatic transcriptions and never will. The music of the opera, no matter how fine, appears to me to have its proper place on the stage--it seems out of place on the violin recital program. The artist cannot be too careful in the choice of his shorter program pieces. And he can profit by the example set by some of the foremost violinists of the day. Ysaye, that great apostle of the truly musical, is a s.h.i.+ning example. It is sad to see certain young artists of genuine talent disregard the remarkable work of their great contemporary, and secure easily gained triumphs with compositions whose musical value is _nil_.

"Sometimes the wish to educate the public, to give it a high standard* of appreciation, leads an artist astray. I heard a well-known German violinist play in Berlin five years ago, and what do you suppose he played? Beethoven's _Trios_ transcribed for violin and piano! The last thing in the world to play! And there was, to my astonishment, no critical disapproval of what he did. I regard it as little less than a crime.

*Transcriber's note: Original text read "standad".

"But this whole question of programs and repertory is one without end.

Which of the great concertos do I prefer? That is a difficult question to answer off-hand. But I can easily tell you which I like least. It is the Tschaikovsky* violin concerto--I would not exchange the first ten measures of Vieuxtemps's Fourth concerto for the whole of Tschaikovsky's, that is from the musical point of view. I have heard the Tschaikovsky played magnificently by Auer and by Elman; but I consider it the worst thing the composer has written."

*Transcriber's note: Original text read "Tchaikovsky".

XXIV

GUSTAV SAENGER

THE EDITOR AS A FACTOR IN "VIOLIN MASTERY"

The courts of editorial appeal presided over by such men as Wm. Arms Fisher, Dr. Theodore Baker, Gustav Saenger and others, have a direct relation to the establishment and maintenance of standards of musical mastery in general and, in the case of Gustav Saenger, with "Violin Mastery" in particular. For this editor, composer and violinist is at home with every detail of the educational and artistic development of his instrument, and a considerable portion of the violin music published in the United States represents his final and authoritative revision.

"Has the work of the editor any influence on the development of 'Violin Mastery'?" was the first question put to Mr. Saenger when he found time to see the writer in his editorial rooms. "In a larger sense I think it has," was the reply. "Mastery of any kind comes as a result of striving for a definite goal. In the case of the violin student the road of progress is long, and if he is not to stray off into the numerous by-paths of error, it must be liberally provided with sign-posts. These sign-posts, in the way of clear and exact indications with regard to bowing, fingering, interpretation, it is the editor's duty to erect. The student himself must provide mechanical ability and emotional instinct, the teacher must develop and perfect them, and the editor must neglect nothing in the way of explanation, ill.u.s.tration and example which will help both teacher and pupil to obtain more intimate insight into the musical and technical values. Yes, I think the editor may claim to be a factor in the attainment of 'Violin Mastery.'

OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES

"The work of the responsible editor of modern violin music must have constructive value, it must suggest and stimulate. When Kreutzer, Gavinies and Rode first published their work, little stress was laid on editorial revision. You will find little in the way of fingering indicated in the old editions of Kreutzer. It was not till long after Kreutzer's death that his pupil, Ma.s.sart, published an excellent little book, which he called 'The Art of Studying R. Kreutzer's etudes'

and which I have translated. It contains no less than four hundred and twelve examples specially designed to aid the student to master the _etudes_ in the spirit of their composer. Yet these studies, as difficult to-day as they were when first written, are old wine that need no bush, though they have gained by being decanted into new bottles of editorial revision.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GUSTAV SAENGER, with hand-written note]

"They have such fundamental value, that they allow of infinite variety of treatment and editorial presentation. Every student who has reached a certain degree of technical proficiency takes them up. Yet when studying them for the first time, as a rule it is all he can do to master them in a purely superficial way. When he has pa.s.sed beyond them, he can return to them with greater technical facility and, because of their infinite variety, find that they offer him any number of new study problems. As with Kreutzer--an essential to 'Violin Mastery'--so it is with Rode, Fiorillo, and Gavinies. Editorial care has prepared the studies in distinct editions, such as those of Hermann and Singer, specifically for the student, and that of Emil Kross, for the advanced player. These editions give the work of the teacher a more direct proportion of result. The difference between the two types is mainly in the fingering.

In the case of the student editions a simple, practical fingering of positive educational value is given; and the student should be careful to use editions of this kind, meant for him. Kross provides many of the _etudes_ with fingerings which only the virtuoso player is able to apply. Aside from technical considerations the absolute musical beauty of many of these studies is great, and they are well suited for solo performance. Rode's _Caprices_, for instance, are particularly suited for such a purpose, and many of Paganini's famous _Caprices_ have found a lasting place in the concert repertory, with piano accompaniments by artists like Kreisler, Eddy Brown, Edward Behm and Max Vogrich--- the last-named composer's three beautiful 'Characteristic Pieces' after Paganini are worth any violinist's attention.

AMERICAN EDITORIAL IDEALS

"In this country those intrusted with editorial responsibility as regards violin music have upheld a truly American standard of independent judgment. The time has long since pa.s.sed when foreign editions were accepted on their face value, particularly older works. In a word, the conscientious American editor of violin music reflects in his editions the actual state of progress of the art of violin playing as established by the best teachers and teaching methods, whether the works in question represent a higher or lower standard of artistic merit.

"And this is no easy task. One must remember that the peculiar construction of the violin with regard to its technical possibilities makes the presentation of a violin piece difficult from an editorial standpoint. A composition may be so written that a beginner can play it in the first position; and the same number may be played with beautiful effects in the higher positions by an artist. This accounts for the fact that in many modern editions of solo music for violin, double fingerings, for student and advanced players respectively, are indicated--an essentially modern editorial development. Modern instructive works by such masters as Sevcik, Eberhardt and others have made technical problems more clearly and concisely get-at-able than did the older methods. Yet some of these older works are by no means negligible, though of course, in all cla.s.sic violin literature, from Tartini on, Kreutzer, Spohr, Paganini, Ernst, each individual artist represents his own school, his own method to the exclusion of any other.

Spohr was one of the first to devote editorial attention to his own method, one which, despite its age, is a valuable work, though most students do not know how to use it. It is really a method for the advanced player, since it presupposes a good deal of preliminary technical knowledge, and begins at once with the higher positions. It is rather a series of study pieces for the special development of certain difficult phases, musical and technical, of the violinist's art, than a method. I have translated and edited the American edition of this work, and the many explanatory notes with which Spohr has provided* it--as in his own 9th, and the Rode concerto (included as representative of what violin concertos really should be), the measures being provided with group numbers for convenience in reference--are not obsolete. They are still valid, and any one who can appreciate the ideals of the _Gesangsscene_, its beautiful _cantilene_ and pure serenity, may profit by them. I enjoyed editing this work because I myself had studied with Carl Richter, a Spohr pupil, who had all his master's traditions.

*Transcriber's note: Original text read "provied".

THE MASTER VIOLINIST AS AN EDITOR

"That the editorial revisions of a number of our greatest living violinists and teachers have pa.s.sed through my editorial rooms, on their way to press, is a fact of which I am decidedly proud. Leopold Auer, for instance, is one of the most careful, exact and practical of editors, and the fact is worth dwelling on since sometimes the great artist or teacher quite naturally forgets that those for whom he is editing a composition have neither his knowledge nor resources. Auer never loses sight of the composer's _own ideas_.

"And when I mention great violinists with whom I have been a.s.sociated as an editor, Mischa Elman must not be forgotten. I found it at first a difficult matter to induce an artist like Elman, for whom no technical difficulties exist, to seriously consider the limitations of the average player in his fingerings and interpretative demands. Elman, like every great _virtuoso_ of his caliber, is influenced in his revisions by the manner in which he himself does things. I remember in one instance I could see no reason why he should mark the third finger for a _cantilena_ pa.s.sage where a certain effect was desired, and questioned it. Catching up his violin he played the note preceding it with his second finger, then instead of slipping the second finger down the string, he took the next note with the third, in such a way that a most exquisite _legato_ effect, like a breath, the echo of a sigh, was secured. And the beauty of tone color in this instance not only proved his point, but has led me invariably to examine very closely a fingering on the part of a master violinist which represents a departure from the conventional--it is often the technical key to some new beauty of interpretation or expression.

"Fritz Kreisler's individuality is also reflected in his markings and fingerings. Of course those in his 'educational' editions are strictly meant for study needs. But in general they are difficult and based on his own manner and style of playing. As he himself has remarked: 'I could play the violin just as well with three as with four fingers.'

Kreisler is fond of 'fingered' octaves, and these, because of his abnormal hand, he plays with the first and third fingers, where virtuose players, as a rule, are only too happy if they can play them with the first and fourth. To verify this individual character of his revisions, one need only glance at his edition of G.o.dowsky's '12 Impressions' for violin--in every case the fingerings indicated are difficult in the extreme; yet they supply the key to definite effects, and since this music is intended for the advance player, are quite in order.

"The ms. and revisions of many other distinguished artists have pa.s.sed through my hands. Theodore Spiering has been responsible for the educational detail of cla.s.sic and modern works; Arthur Hartmann--a composer of marked originality--Albert Spalding, Eddy Brown, Francis MacMillan, Max Pilzer, David Hochstein, Richard Czerwonky, Cecil Burleigh, Edwin Gra.s.se, Edmund Severn, Franz C. Bornschein, Leo Ornstein, Rubin Goldmark, Louis Pers.h.i.+nger, Louis Victor Saar--whose ms.

always look as though engraved--have all given me opportunities of seeing the best the American violin composer is creating at the present time.

EDITORIAL DIFFICULTIES

"The revisional work of the master violinist is of very great importance, but often great artists and distinguished teachers hold radically different views with regard to practically every detail of their art. And it is by no means easy for an editor like myself, who is finally responsible for their editions, to harmonize a hundred conflicting views and opinions. The fiddlers best qualified to speak with authority will often disagree absolutely regarding the use of a string, position, up-bow or down-bow. And besides meeting the needs of student and teacher, an editor-in-chief must bear in mind the artistic requirements of the music itself. In many cases the divergence in teaching standards reflects the personal preferences for the editions used. Less ambitious teachers choose methods which make the study of the violin as _easy_ as possible for _them_; rather than those which--in the long run--may be most advantageous for the _pupil_. The best editions of studies are often cast aside for trivial reasons, such as are embodied in the poor excuse that 'the fourth finger is too frequently indicated.'

According to the old-time formulas, it was generally accepted that ascending pa.s.sages should be played on the open strings and descending ones using the fourth finger. It stands to reason that the use of the fourth finger involves more effort, is a greater tax of strength, and that the open string is an easier playing proposition. Yet a really perfected technic demands that the fourth finger be every bit as strong and flexible as any of the others. By nature it is shorter and weaker, and beginners usually have great trouble with it--which makes perfect control of it all the more essential! And yet teachers, contrary to all sound principle and merely to save effort--temporarily--for themselves and their pupils, will often reject an edition of a method or book of studies merely because in its editing the fourth finger has not been deprived of its proper chance of development. I know of cases where, were it not for the guidance supplied by editorial revision, the average teacher would have had no idea of the purpose of the studies he was using. One great feature of good modern editions of cla.s.sical study works, from Kreutzer to Paganini, is the double editorial numeration: one giving the sequence as in the original editions; the other numbering the studies in order of technical difficulty, so that they may be practiced progressively.