This article first appeared on pages
163-164 in The Etude, March issue of 1932
Note:
A photo of Horowitz published with the article is not reproduced here.
Technic the Outgrowth of Musical Thought
An Educational Conference with the Sensationally Successful
Russian Piano Virtuoso
VLADIMIR HOROWITZ
SECURED EXPRESSLY FOR THE ETUDE
By FLORENCE LEONARD
This conference was conducted in German
Vladimir Horowitz is one of the outstanding figures in the pianistic world of
today. Born October 1, 1904, at Kieff, Russia, at six he had piano lessons from
his mother, and later entered the Petrograd Concervatory to become a pupil of
Blumenfeld, himself a pupil of Rubinstein. He made concert tours of Russia till
1924 when he left for Berlin and became a favorite throughout musical Europe.
Three seasons in America have made him one of the most welcome of pianists.
For the development of technic, it is important to
know not only how to practice but also what to practice. One
cannot choose any particular composition or any particular composer as best to
practice. Instead one should play all the good music, all the good
composers.
As a small child of six years I studied
music with my mother, and at the age of eight or nine I began to read music for
myself — whatever I fancied, easy or difficult. When I was ten years, old, I
tried to learn the compositions of Rachmaninoff. So I suppose that would be
called "talent." But not till I was twelve or thirteen did I seriously
consider making music my career.
My teacher who had
been a pupil of Rubinstein had of course learned most valuable ideas from him.
And one of them was this — to make his pupils acquainted with all the best
music. So we played duets together, the symphonies of Beethoven and of Brahms,
and much Russian music.
Playing Musically and Orchestrally
Our talk was of music, not of technic. My technic I had
to find out for myself, in order to play these duets. And, further, whatever was
played, it must be played musically. Further still, it had to be played
orchestrally. Moreover, I had to find out for myself how to make the effects. In
other words, we first played not "the piano" but "music."
Then we played music as it is rendered by special instruments.
"How would a violinist play that?" my teacher
would ask. Or, "Play that like a "cellist," or, "Like a flutist."
Whatever was the effect which he sought, I myself had to find out the way to
make it.
I cannot tell how I learned technic any more
than I can tell how I learned languages — French, German, Italian — which I
was learning at the same age. I only know that in the music itself I found out
what the fingers had to do. I practice four hours a day
and have done so for years. An artist must keep up a large repertoire, and must
continually add to it. The new compositions require new technic also.
Different Technics for Different Composers
Every composer has a different technique. Bach,
Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms, each has his special technique. One must find this
technique with the fingers themselves, must feel it out. The studies of
Czerny, Clementi, Cramer and the like I have never practiced. They are bad for
the ear and bad for the touch, because they are not alive; they are merely
mechanical. No mechanical playing assists the technique.
It is easy to understand why technique varies so much
in Bach, Beethoven and Chopin, for instance. The early
classics were not written for the grand piano, but for a piano with a much
lighter action. Therefore the technic of the fingers was all-important. The
contrapuntal devices in which the middle voices were so prominent required the
sensitive, active finger. There is always an intimate connection between brain
and finger tip! After the polyphonic period came the
doubling of voices, the expansion of the whole style of writing for the piano.
This took place in Beethoven's day. So the development
continued up to the time of Chopin. Chopin was the first composer who wrote for
the piano as a piano. His objective was to produce a variety of
characteristic sounds from the piano to make the tones of the piano express his
ideas. With Beethoven the case was different. He wrote
for the piano, but he thought orchestrally. His piano was the means to an end,
and his objective was fulness of tone. He heard in the piano the string quartet,
the orchestra.
Arm, Wrist and Finger
Such
differences in the style of writing brought about changes in technic. Before
Beethoven's time, the wrist had not had much to do in technic. But since that
time the use of the wrist has been one of the chief elements of technic. Now the
ideal equipment for the pianist consists in movement in the wrist and relaxation
in the arm. The touch itself must reside in the finger. This is the secret of
avoiding a harsh tone.
In my own technic, the fifth
fingers (both right and left) are the basis for playing runs, chords and octaves.
Great strength is necessary in the fingers, but it comes with playing, if one
plays rightly, that is, musically. From the moment one feels that the finger
must sing, it becomes strong. That is a quite different matter from
playing exercises or etudes with mechanical repetition merely for the sake of
strengthening, and saying, "I will exercise my fingers and make them
strong." Such playing as this latter sort does not help.
The fifth finger I might call the "guide"
through passages of scales or arpeggios ("runs"), chords and octaves.
It is almost as if the fifth finger, with its acute sensitiveness, strength and
control, taught the other fingers how to play. In
scales and other passages I play as the violinist does. A good violinist does
not play all the tones with equal strength. The following from Chopin's Ecossaise
[in D flat major, Op.72 No.5 (1826) - bars 11-13 &
27-29]
he plays thus:
[Examples 1 and 2 are notated identically,
presumably in error. Perhaps some of the intermediate notes in Ex. 2 should be
printed as grace notes.]
He does not lose
the intermediate tones; they are all there. But the listener does not hear them
obtrusively. Each falls into place, and the emphasis is on the last tone to
which the others lead.
So if I play all the notes
steadily along, without graduation, or without relating one to another, and
without climactic or guiding emphasis, I have said nothing, even though I may
have played the notes correctly and in correct time. But if I play in
such a way that every finger feels its tone, as it has learned to do from
the sensation of the fifth finger, then I have my effect. Finger strength one
must have, however, in order to make the effect.
Such a
composition as the Etude in C Minor, by Chopin, op. 25, No. 12, affords a
good example of how to practice and how not to practice. If, for instance, I play stiffly. holding my wrist low
and my fingers high and striking vigorously, I am soon weary, and, moreover, the
tone is very hard. But if I carry my hand and wrist
more nearly level, with fingers near the key, and keep the fingers extremely
free in the knuckle, always feeling the tone, then I am using the
suitable technic. I can practice for a long time, and I have a musical,
interesting tone. The wrist must relax often, to help
out in the skips, at the change from the first finger to the fifth.
This skip is too wide to be made by the fingers alone.
The fingers would not be accurate, and the tone would be weak. Therefore a
slight sidewise movement in the wrist is needed. For
accuracy, constant care is required. I always practice distinctly, never
indistinctly. Then, if I do play false, I hear the incorrect note at once. But
absolutely distinct practice is an essential for accuracy.
In long compositions the player must have endurance.
Etudes, such as this one, are built on one figure which is repeated throughout
the piece. Endurance, in one sense, is a question {Page
164} for the doctor rather than the artist — a question of prescriptions, of
physical condition. And yet the artist must so balance his powers and distribute
his strength that he can hold out to the end. One must, therefore, not play all
the time heavily and with much strength. He must bring his mind to bear on the
problem and conserve his strength. The idea of the assistance of the fifth
finger is, of course, applicable here.
Endurance
requires, nevertheless, long, strong, firm practicing, with patience. It has to
be, this routine practice! But, after all, endurance is the least difficult part
of playing. In my rapid passage work (runs), I play very much of the time half staccato,
portamento, so that every tone is very clear. This I find to be effective,
even necessary, in a large hall. If I play
as is called by some players legato, by others, superlegato [legatissimo],
the effect will not be clear. The release of the note must be accurate, perfect,
or the tones will be blurred, especially in a large hall. Therefore for rapid
runs I prefer the portamento, in which one note is practically connected
with the next, but not held over beyond the beginning of that note.
For slow melodies, cantilena, however, I use only the very well connected
legato.
I do not use a stroke in playing, either
in runs or in chords. In rapid runs there is no time for a stroke. If you wish
to strike something, your arm must be at a distance from it. You cannot strike
when your hand or arm is close to the object. So in rapid playing there is no
time to lift high and strike. The fingers must remain near to the keys. The tone made by striking is not agreeable to me. I
prefer the tone which is felt by the finger, and it is impossible to
"feel" the note and also to strike it. In
playing forte passages, such as those in the Chopin Etude just referred
to, I am aware of a slight movement in the hips, in addition to the finger
movements already described. This movement in the hips brings the body to the
assistance of the fingers. But — the body is always assisting when the playing
has life, vitality.
Even when playing chords and
octaves, I do not use the stroke. Take as an example this phrase from Brahms' Ballade
Op. 10, No. 1:
The upper notes of all the chords make the melody or
theme. Each such note must be played by the upper finger, fifth or fourth, as
the case may be. The theme must stand out, must sing. The accompaniment, whether
legato or staccato, must be softer than the theme. Both these
effects must be made by one hand. There must be relaxation in the wrist, in
order to accomplish the necessary connecting between the melodic notes played by
the upper fingers. But this idea is not enough! One must not merely say
"the upper voice is stronger than the lower voices, and it must be legato
or portamento." No! The wrist must feel the movement which
makes the connection; the fingers must have a consciousness of the
movement which makes the singing, predominating melody!
Here, again, the fifth finger is the guide through the intricacies and
proportioning of the chord tones. Finger strength is necessary. In legato
or cantilena octaves, similarly, the fifth fingers feel the tone.
In playing chords, whether they are piano or forte,
I play close to the keys. I always use pressure, as it makes a smoother, more
agreeable tone. The Tausig arrangement of Schubert's Marche Militaire
affords a good example of what may be done with pressure chords place of "struck"
chords. One manner of touch makes a clear, songful tone; the other is harsh,
with too many overtones. In other words it is "noisy." Therefore I use
the pressure touch, in all degrees of dynamics, from pianissimo to fortissimo,
and even for accents.
In this chord playing, I am
conscious that there is a connection between the hands and the sides of
the body (the body, again, is assisting!) In fortissimo, the pedal is, of
course, a most necessary aid.
Octaves
The octave passage
in the "Sixth Rhapsody" of Liszt is famous. Here I use the wrist
(hand) alone, not the fore-arm, not the upper arm. The movement stops at
the wrist. If I used the whole arm, I should be fatigued, and the tone would be
harsh and clumsy. So I use the hand, moving it in the wrist only. Yet I perceive,
again, some connection between the wrist, or small acting member, and the
triceps, as if, in some way, the triceps was assisting.
If, as I have said before, endurance is not the most difficult thing to acquire
in playing, what, then, is most difficult?
There are
two greatest difficulties, tone and pedaling. And the pedal is hardest of all to
learn! Pedaling is a matter of detail, but such details are most important, most
significant. Pedaling cannot be taught in words only, nor described in words
only. It must be learned by constant experimenting. But when I have once decided
on the pedaling in a composition, I rarely deviate from it. The great question
is which pedal to use! And the next question is when to use it. I often play forte
with the una corda pedal for color. But pianos vary greatly. In some
pianos the una corda pedal gives a very unpleasant tone which can almost
be called a nasal tone. On some pianos only an occasional note has this tone.
But if it is present on any note, I cannot use the una corda pedal.
In general, one must pedal according to the harmony.
Thus, if there are chord effects which sound well when sustained, then the
damper pedal must be used. Even in Bach I find this true. For example, in the Prelude
in C major from "The Well-Tempered Clavichord, Book I,"
I use the damper pedal throughout. But in the Fugue which follows
there should be very little pedal. Another test as to the use of the pedal is
the relation of certain melodic notes to the harmony, as in Brahms' Ballade,
Op. 10, No. 4:
If you wish to join these notes to the accompanying figure you must pedal them
as marked. But if you wish to detach them from the accompaniment, as might well
be the case, you must pedal them as follows:
For each is a different kind of music!
In searching for
tone-quality — the second of the most difficult factors in playing — it is
helpful to think of the instruments of the orchestra. Some people say, "A
piano is only a piano." But I do not feel it so. I think forte, and
think "orchestra." I think of many instruments when I play. I do not
mean that one should try to imitate, for the timbre of the piano is not the
timbre of the violin nor the bassoon nor the flute. But if one thinks of the
quality or the sonority of the various instruments, one is helped to play more
beautifully. We have, in the piano, all registers — flute, oboe, violin,
viola, clarinet, 'cello, bassoon, double bass. If, when I play from Beethoven Sonata
Op. 10 No. 3
I think "double bass," then the color is better. This idea was often
dwelt upon by Rubinstein — so my teacher, Blumenfeld told me. "Do not try
to imitate, but think of color."
As concerns
rhythm and rubato, no rules can be given which are applicable to all
cases. Trifles, details, make greatness; but
exaggeration, too much "greatness," too much rubato, too much
emphasis here and there — these reduce greatness to triviality.
The rhythm of the mazurka is a case in point. These
mazurkas of Chopin appeal to me particularly. I have had great success with them.
They are little poems. The rhythm of the mazurka is, as every one knows,
accented for 1 2 3 | 1 as ˉ ˘ ˉ | ˉ,
that is, strong, weak, strong. In some of the mazurkas I begin with that rhythm.
But then presently I change and play several measures perhaps, or a whole phrase
or two with no marked mazurka rhythm at all, but rather with the rhythm
of the phrase. Because these mazurkas are not absolute dances. They are
poems!
Beginning a Composition
When
the student would learn a composition he should first begin with the "alphabet"
of music, as I might say — the A, B, C! If he were learning poetry
he would learn the words, the spelling, the punctuation, the breathing. So in
learning a musical composition, one must first learn the notes, the pauses, the staccato,
the legato, the pedaling and the technic. Then only, second, after all this, can he take up the idea of his own personal
interpretation, rubato and other such questions.
Memorizing is an individual matter. There are virtuosi who memorize almost
instantly, but the majority of artists rely on a definite way of committing the
compositions to memory. Eyes, ears and brain are all involved in memorizing.
Some musicians depend more on the ear, others more on the eye. In my own case, I
must make use of eyes, ears and brain. Probably the eye memory is strongest with
me, for I do mentally see the page, and also the keys. I must see both keyboard
and notes.
Hands, also, are individual. Liszt's hand
was very long and proportionately narrow; Rubinstein's was short-fingered and
proportionately broad. Yet both hands played marvelous runs, "passage work."
It is the task of the teacher to discover what type of playing is suitable for
each hand, each personality. The teacher must be the physician, to remedy the
weaknesses and prescribe the treatments. No one style is possible for all hands.
Music a Cultural Study
Here
in America the cultural influence of the study of music should be more strongly
emphasized than it is at present. Your modern life, with its sports, machines,
dances and what not, is greatly in need of the influence of the musical classics.
Whether the student is talented or not, these great
works have an influence on his character. It should he remembered that the study
of them is not a "substitute" for education, as some educators would
have us believe. No! it is one phase of education itself!
- Florence Leonard, author
Thanks to Nigel Nettheim for allowing me to use his internetprepared version
of this article
This version first appeared at: http://users.bigpond.net.au/nettheim/
This page is part of The
Vladimir Horowitz Website
http://w1.854.telia.com/~u85420275/index.htm