The Masters and their Music Part 8

The name "scherzo" in this connection is to be taken as signifying a play of fancy, rather than an especially playful mood in the sense of mirthfulness; in fact, it is not easy to find a rational explanation of the grounds upon which Chopin named his pieces, especially as between the ballad and the scherzo. Probably, however, he called those ballads which begin with a lyric melody and depend for their interest mainly upon the development of lyric melodies, reaching at times a tragic elevation; but even with this explanation the line between the nocturnes and ballads will be very difficult to draw, since the Nocturne in G major, of which we shall speak presently, lacks only a more brilliant treatment in the middle part to raise it to the grade of a ballad. On the whole, we may as well confess that all these names are more or less fanciful and perhaps applied without any very deep reason, but simply because it was necessary to call the pieces by some t.i.tle in particular.

The Nocturne in G major is one of the most pleasing of all the compositions of this kind in the works of Chopin. It is also rather difficult, since the princ.i.p.al subject runs in thirds and sixths more or less chromatic and in the course of the treatment these figures are carried into a large number of keys, in all of which they have to retain a singing quality of tone in the soprano and a very clean and legato style of performance; but when adequately done the effect is very charming indeed. The middle part again consists of a very beautiful digression, something like a cradle song, or a barcarolle,--a gentle, peaceful, rocking motion,--and then again the princ.i.p.al subject returns. It will be seen that in spite of the quite considerable length to which this nocturne is developed, it never rises to the impa.s.sioned diversification which Chopin seems to have considered as belonging to the ballad. For all his ballads, no matter how quiet their opening subject, become more or less dramatic before they are completed.

The Ballad in A-flat is one of the most frequently played compositions of Chopin. It opens with a very pleasing and melodious subject, which, by the aid of various subordinate ideas, is carried out to the extent of fifty-two measures. At this point a new motion begins and a very pleasing second subject, of a more playful character, perhaps, than the first. Later on, in measure 115, some very pretty running work comes in; then again, still farther on, where the signature changes to four sharps, the second subject appears in the treble, somewhat changed, against some very pretty running work in the ba.s.s; and then begins a charming and elaborate building up to the climax, when the first subject is brought back in fortissimo form. For the player and for the hearer this piece, when well treated, is one of the most pleasing piano solos possible to mention. I do not know, however, that it is necessary to turn it wrong side out in the effort to find some hidden or recondite meaning. It is pleasing and well made rather than deeply impa.s.sioned, and it is a mistake to overdo the contrasts in it.

The studies of Chopin form a literature by themselves. In all, there are twenty-seven published. The first book, opus 10, containing twelve studies, was composed when Chopin was a boy of sixteen or seventeen, and I do not think the history of music shows any similar case of precocity. These studies were vastly more difficult than anything existing at that time excepting the fugues of Bach, and they spring out at once, fully armed as it were, with a well-developed style in melody, in harmonic handling, and especially in the application of the hands to the piano; thus they turned over an entirely new leaf; and what is more significant, and to the credit of the young genius, is that he seems to have divined, by a sort of intuition, the strategic points of modern piano playing as it was to be, so that in spite of these works having now been before the musical world more than fifty years and their having entered into conservatory and boarding-school curricula to an almost universal extent, the pianist who can play them all in the manner in which Chopin intended is already an artist. They belong to the most poetic and sagaciously conceived compositions for the instrument. The five here selected are not particularly better than the five next following, or the last numbers of this same opus, and perhaps no better than those in the second set, the opus 25. The first study, in C major, has for its object to accustom the hand to wide extensions, the arpeggio figure nearly always covering a tenth and sometimes an eleventh. This extension should be accomplished by the fingers themselves as far as possible, and then by slightly turning the wrist. To play this study well betokens first-cla.s.s execution. The second study, in A minor, has a chromatic scale for soprano with staccato chords below, and its technical object is to impart greater flexibility and usefulness to the fourth and fifth fingers of the right hand. The third, also, is a cantabile in a beautiful singing melody, with some very interesting contrasts in the middle part. Here, again, Chopin addresses himself to the weak fingers of the right hand, since these are the ones which will experience the greatest difficulty in securing a proper effect in this study. No. 4 is a very impa.s.sioned presto in C-sharp minor, in which strong single notes and octaves occur, along with an insistent and very rapid sixteenth-note motion.

The effect of the whole is very strong and striking, and esthetically considered it belongs to the dramatically conceived moods of Chopin.

No. 5, in G-flat major, is commonly known as the "black-key study," and its object is to accustom the hands to the black keys and to very rapid changes from one part of the keyboard to another. It is a charming piece, producing the effect of a delightful scherzo.

It is interesting to note in this connection that all of these studies and many others belonging to this set have, in recent times, been rewritten for the left hand. This has been done in various ways. Mr.

Phillippe, of Paris, has simply transferred the right-hand part to the left, and left the right hand with nothing or with but little to do.

Mr. Leopold G.o.dowsky, the distinguished Russian pianist, has taken a different course. The first study he has placed with the arpeggio figure in both hands simultaneously, and a heavy melody of chords is also added. The second study gives the chromatic runs to the weak fingers of the left hand. The black-key study also is written for the left hand, while an entirely new part has been composed for the right.

One of the most curious of all these arrangements of Chopin's material is that of the late eminent organist, August Haupt, of Berlin, who arranged this fourth study in C-sharp minor for the organ for Mr.

Clarence Eddy, by whom it is often played in concerts with an effect extremely remarkable, especially when the pedals have the sixteenth-note motion.

It should not be forgotten that all these five studies, as well as the others in the whole collection, are tone-poems no less than exercises for the pianoforte, and they can not be said to have been played until this poetic sense is derived from them.

The romanza from the Concerto in E minor is a very beautiful nocturne-like movement, and if given with an accompaniment of second piano, or, better still, a very soft accompaniment of organ, it produces the most delightful effect.

The Impromptu in A-flat, opus 29, might just as well have been called a study, since the essential part of it is a rapid movement in eighth notes having for its object, in part at least, the freer and more delicate treatment of the left hand in accompaniments. It will require a great deal of practice to play well, but when so played it produces a very pleasing pianoforte effect. It belongs to the same cla.s.s of Chopin's works as the Fantasia Impromptu in C-sharp minor, already mentioned. The middle part of this impromptu, as in the case of the other, is essentially a nocturne-like movement.

The Nocturne in D-flat, opus 27, No. 2, is very often played. It is a very beautiful composition, and while representing a number of serious technical difficulties, esthetically considered, it is perhaps sufficiently plain to any student capable of mastering it. In all these cases it is to be observed that Chopin takes the implication of the term "nocturne" somewhat freely, often developing the idea with considerable force and dramatic spirit.

One of the most celebrated of all the compositions of Chopin is the famous Polonaise in A-flat major, which seems in the fullest manner to ill.u.s.trate the description of the polonaise already quoted above, from Liszt's Chopin. This remarkable work opens with a rather striking introduction, the princ.i.p.al subject entering in the seventeenth measure, very bold and strong. In the forty-ninth measure an extremely forcible and dramatic idea begins which presently, in the fifty-seventh measure, gives place to a more quiet melody. The most remarkable part of this piece, and the one which has had much to do with its use by virtuoso pianists, is the middle part in E major. Here, after a series of heavy chords, a sixteenth-note motion enters in octaves for the left hand, and for the right hand a melody, which is at first soft and afterward built up. This octave middle figure continues without interruption for sixteen measures, and then, after the chords are repeated, is continued again for the same length of time. When this is properly done, the pa.s.sage begins quite softly and works up by degrees until the very imposing climax at the end, and in the repet.i.tion the same thing takes place again. The difficulty consists in this insistent repet.i.tion of the same figure in the left hand, and a very clear note of Chopin's genius is seen when he changes this ba.s.s figure from E major to E-flat major. This change, although apparently not significant on paper, has the keyboard peculiarity of giving the left hand a rotary motion in the opposite direction from that necessitated in the E major, and in three measures of it the player unwinds himself, as it were, and is ready to begin again with the original figure.

Still another pleasing Chopin peculiarity is noted at the close of this strong part, where there is a page or more of very delightful dreamy work, at first in G major, afterward in F minor, and so at length the original subject is resumed and the Polonaise brought to an end. A work of this magnitude admits of being considered in so many different lights as to make any short discussion of it seem fragmentary and suggestive merely, and such, in fact, is the intention of the present comments. Enough that we have in it a poetic suggestion brought to expression.

CHAPTER IX.

BACH, BEETHOVEN, SCHUMANN, AND CHOPIN.

There are endless selections of compositions which might be made in order to bring together into a single chapter enough of the music of these four great masters to give a taste of their individualities, style, and sentiment. Following are examples:

PROGRAM I.

Bach, Prelude and Fugue in C minor, Clavier, No. 2.

Beethoven, Sonate Pathetique, opus 13.

Schumann, Forest Scenes; "Entrance."

"Wayside Inn."

"Prophetic Bird."

"Homeward."

Bach, Fantasia in C minor. Loure in G (Heinze).

Chopin, Nocturne in G minor, opus 37, No. 1.

Waltz in A-flat, opus 42.

PROGRAM II.

Bach, Prelude and Fugue in D major, Clavier, No. 5.

Beethoven, Sonata in D, opus 10, No. 3.

Schumann, Fantasy Pieces, opus 12: "At Evening."

"Excelsior."

"Why?"

"Whims."

"Dream Visions."

"End of the Song."

Chopin, Nocturne in B major, opus 32, No. 1.

Ballad in A-flat, opus 47.

PROGRAM III.

Bach, Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp, Clavier, No. 3.

Beethoven, Sonata in A-flat, opus 26.

Schumann, Fantasy Pieces, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8.

Chopin, Nocturne in B major, opus 32, No. 1.

Ballad in A-flat, opus 47.

PROGRAM IV. (Regardless of difficulty.)

Bach, Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue.

Beethoven, Sonata, opus III. C minor.

Schumann, etudes Symphoniques, opus 13.

Chopin, Nocturne in D-flat major, opus 27, No. 2.

Polonaise in A-flat, opus 53.

To discuss these selections in detail would take us too far, for which reason only those observations will be made which seem more essential.

Throughout, the intention is to alternate the thematic work of Bach and Schumann with the lyric or quasi-lyric writing of Beethoven and Chopin.

While Beethoven was also at times thematic, his work is generally well balanced as to its structure, and so melodious in comparison with almost anything of Schumann (excepting a few distinctly lyric pieces) or of Bach, that it seems like lyric melody. It was also the intention in these programs to preserve an agreeable succession of keys. The first three programs are of moderate difficulty, although not so easy as might be made. Still, in the present state of piano playing there are few seminaries or private circles where these numbers can not be played well enough to afford pleasure and instruction.

Of the various Bach numbers upon the programs the following distinctions may be made: The preludes and fugues are generally contrasted in respect of the qualities of lyric and thematic writing respectively. The prelude in C minor, for instance, is almost an exercise, being without clearly expressed melody (although the accents in the soprano distinctly suggest a melody), and the whole is rapid and incisive. The fugue, on the other hand, opens with a very sprightly idea, which is carried out delightfully, quite in the manner of a scherzo. The prelude in D major, again, is very light and graceful, yet having a character somewhat between a fancy piece of tone-poetry and an exercise, being capable of receiving either construction, according to the ability and skill of the player. The fugue, on the contrary, is rather firm, resolute, and marked, yet with distinct touches of sentiment--which latter quality is always to be sought for in the playing, but without resorting to rubato. It is not enough to present these selections, they must be made to display the best effect of which they are capable. It is not a question of composers merely, but why we should love and reverence them. The prelude in C-sharp is one of the loveliest in the entire "Clavier." It is lyric in its princ.i.p.al motive, and there is a very pretty interlude of alternating work between the two hands upon the dominant, just before the return of the princ.i.p.al theme, which is quite in modern style. The fugue also is very melodious, yet at the same time rather difficult, and it will be a good player who is able to produce this fugue successfully in anything short of about a month's practice. With the last program we come upon a very different grade of difficulty, especially in the matter of interpretation, for in mere finger work the last Bach piece is not so much more difficult than the fugue in C-sharp major.

The "Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue" is a very curious ill.u.s.tration of Bach's genius. No one knows the circ.u.mstances under which it was written nor the time. There is absolutely nothing else in his works which is at all like it, taken as a whole, although each one of its peculiarities may perhaps be found elsewhere in his works. It opens with a bravura run in scale work,--the two hands co-operating interchangeably,--which must have the character of a bold flourish, such as a virtuoso might give upon taking his place and beginning his piece. This is followed with a delicate harmonic pa.s.sage in which a melody is very distinctly suggested; a very delicate and musical pa.s.sage it is. Then the bravura run returns, and then the harmonic arpeggio motive as before, but always carried out in different keys and chords. Upon these two elements the first part of the fantasia is constructed.

In the forty-ninth measure begins another chapter, in which we have a series of recitative-like phrases, the most of which end upon diminished chords and contain or suggest enharmonic modulations of extreme modern type. The recitatives are very expressive, and their proper delivery necessitates a high degree of musical sensitiveness and experience in singing. After the recitatives, at measure 76, a coda begins, which brings the fantasia to an end. The coda is perhaps the most beautiful part of this great work. I have here also forgotten to mention the series of arpeggios upon chromatic chords, beginning in measure 27. These Bach wrote merely as chords to be played arpeggio, and it was for a long time a question as to what manner of filling up the time would be nearest his intention. Mendelssohn, in one of his letters, says he wishes that he knew what Bach meant here, and I believe it is generally thought that the carrying out of the arpeggios in Hans von Bulow's edition of this piece is very near the solution suggested by Mendelssohn. At any rate, I advise using the Bulow edition, particularly as the figures are written out in full and the fingering is carefully marked--a very important consideration in one or two places in the fugue.

The fugue also is interesting, and is elaborated to two quite imposing climaxes, the first beginning in measure 60 and the other in measure 140, where the ba.s.s has the princ.i.p.al theme in octaves. Mr. Liebling does not regard this fugue as quite up to Bach's standard, inasmuch as Bach has repeated quite long pa.s.sages in different keys without materially changing the treatment, something which he rarely does, his fertility of fancy being such that he always or nearly always avoids exactly repeating himself, no matter how many times he chooses to bring back the princ.i.p.al theme. The composition as a whole is by far the most modern of Bach, and it is a veritable tone-poem. In order to realize this it will be necessary to hear it several times, its elaboration being so great and the difficulty of playing so considerable that only very good players will have enough sentiment and surplus of technic to interpret it with sufficiently musical quality.

But when so played it is one of the surest masterpieces in the entire repertory of the piano-forte. And in consequence of its elevated and poetic sentiment, its caprice and program-like character, it affords one of the best possible studies in Bach's style at its best.

The sonatas by Beethoven named upon the programs are of quite dissimilar value. The "Sonate Pathetique" is a very strong work indeed, and, if we have many times seen its name, we must not forget that after all it is not very often played in any one place. Moreover, new players are all the time coming on to whom this strong and original work is new. The introduction carries out the emotional spirit of the Bach fantasia, as also does the work itself. The headlong allegro, the slow, sustained, and beautiful adagio, and the easy-going finale all have their own beauties, and continue the story, which, as Beethoven thought it, was one story from beginning to end. The least satisfactory part of this work is the rondo, the tempo of which is not altogether easy to determine; I prefer it at rather a slow tempo.

There is a unity of movement in this work which is not always observed.

In a general way the eighth note in the introduction, the whole note in the allegro, and the eighth note in the adagio, and the half note in the rondo go at about the same rate--approximately, from sixty to seventy-two by the metronome. If any modification is made, take the rondo faster, say about eighty-four.

A very important technical point of the work is the treatment of the chords in the introduction and in the allegro. All must have a melodic quality in their highest tones, since the melody pa.s.ses through the chord. Neglect of this imparts a brutal and unmusical quality to the tones of chords struck so forcibly. Throughout the work strong contrasts continually occur between the impa.s.sioned motive and the pathetic or appealing idea. These two elements struggle for mastery.

The adagio is one of those slow movements for which Beethoven was noted; the cantilena is lovely and the sentiment deep and tender.

In some respects the sonata upon the second program is even more remarkable. Its general build is rather light and pleasing, and neither in length nor in dramatic contrast is it to be compared with most of the "Pathetique." Especially is this the case when we confine our attention to the light and pleasing first movement and the finale.