The Teaching of Claudio Arrau and His Pupils

These teachers’ common use of a highly structured teaching method, training under a single Arrau pupil, ongoing relationships with Diez and others of Arrau’s pupils, and working as a c[r]

THE TEACHING OF CLAUDIO ARRAU AND HIS PUPILS:

PIANO PEDAGOGY AS CULTURAL WORK

by Victoria von Arx

A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, the City University of New York

2006

3231979 2006

Copyright 2006 by von Arx, Victoria

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© VICTORIA VON ARX All Rights Reserved

This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Music in

satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

_ _

_ _

Professor Allan Atlas

Professor L Michael Griffel

Professor Barbara R Hanning

Profesor Leo Treitler

Professor Marion Guck

THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK

Abstract THE TEACHING OF CLAUDIO ARRAU AND HIS PUPILS: PIANO PEDAGOGY

AS CULTURAL WORK

by Victoria von Arx Adviser: Professor L Michael Griffel

Claudio Arrau was an iconic figure in classical music in the twentieth century In

addition to a major performing career, Arrau taught a sizeable class of students during the

years from 1945 until about 1972 Most of these pupils aspired to performing careers,

and many of them also became teachers whose instruction was informed by Arrau’s

principles Their pupils in turn carried on the work of teaching with yet another

generation of pupils

This dissertation examines the sources of Arrau’s principles in nineteenth-century

piano pedagogy Its focus narrows from a broader view of piano playing down to one

individual, Arrau, and it enumerates and describes Arrau’s principles of piano playing

using Arrau’s published interviews and the testimony of Arrau’s pupils From Arrau,

attention shifts to the larger group of his pupils Using interviews with teachers and

transcriptions of lessons given by them and by Arrau, it describes how Arrau’s principles

have traveled from Arrau’s pupils and their pupils And finally, the scope narrows again

to a select group of pupils of German Diez and their work with children at a community

music school on Manhattan’s Lower East Side Thus, this study follows Arrau’s

teachings from their sources in the nineteenth century, through Arrau and his pupils who

were concertizing professionals, to the training of children in their first lessons

This study also discusses relationships between scholarly and pedagogical

viewpoints on music It studies the piano lesson in an attempt to discover what kind of

experience it is, how it corresponds to notions of musical artistry, and how it builds up a

capacity for independent musical expression

vi

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are many people whose faith, support, and critical input made this work possible First of all, I wish to thank my adviser, L Michael Griffel, for his scholarly guidance and editorial precision His wide-ranging musical scholarship, his knowledge of piano performance, and his unfailing humanity and enthusiasm were indispensable in the development of this study

I also want to thank my primary readers, Barbara Hanning and Leo Treitler, whose many critical insights clarified my thinking and my writing and who helped to shape my thinking during my course work at the CUNY Graduate Center Barbara

Hanning brought a deep knowledge of all periods of music, a lively interest and

background in piano playing, and editorial skill Leo Treitler brought a wide experience

of scholarly writing about musical meaning and deep knowledge of the piano repertory

Thanks also to my secondary readers, Allan Atlas, Jeffrey Taylor, Marion Guck for giving generously of their time and experience to read and comment on the completed dissertation I owe a particular debt of gratitude to Allan Atlas whose teaching sparked

my initial interest in scholarly work and who provided expert guidance and editorial skill

in the beginning stages of this project

I am grateful to Arrau’s pupils who shared their knowledge and experiences in interviews, and enthusiastically supported this project: first, to my teachers German Diez and Frederick Marvin, and also to William Goodrum, Ena Bronstein-Barton, Edith Fischer, José Aldaz, Joseph Reis, Goodwin Sammel, Rosalina Sackstein, Edith Fischer, Ivan Nuñez, Bennett Lerner, Loretta Goldberg, Roberto Eyzaguirre, and Alfonso

vii Montecino I thank also Francisco Miranda, Joseph Ries, and Ellen Mandel (pupil of Goodwin Sammel) for their contribution to this study

I also want to thank Director Barbara Field, Associate Director Mary Lou Francis, and all of the staff, faculty, students, and families of the Third Street Music School Settlement, dear friends and my musical family for nearly thirty years, for extending many a warm welcome during my visits to Third Street, and for their interest,

encouragement, and material assistance in this project The generous hospitality of Mary Lou Francis gave me a home-away-from-home and kept body and soul together during numerous trips to New York City; Marcia Lewis helped coordinate my observation of and conversations with teachers, and gave her time for numerous conversations and interviews devoted to this study; Suzuki piano teachers Angelina Tallaj, Luís Alvarez, Maritza Alvarez, and Susan Inamorato graciously shared their ideas and allowed me to record lessons; and composer Nicholas Scarim provided friendly encouragement and invaluable technical assistance in creating the musical examples in this study

I would like to thank Arrau pupil German Diez and his pupils Cesar Reyes, Laura Ahumada, Angelina Tallaj, and Marcia Lewis who gave generously of their time for cooperative (and joyful!) efforts to produce English translations of Arrau’s lessons given

in Spanish

Finally, I want to thank my family, the Von Arxs and the Zaks, for cheering me

on through thick and thin And above all, loving thanks go to my husband, Albin Zak, whose tireless counsel, encouragement, love, and fabulous cooking were essential to bringing this work to completion

viii

To Albin With love and thanks

Adolf Kullak (1823-62) and Theodor Kullak (1818-82) 26

Proponents of Arm-weight Technique

Chapter IV: ARRAU’S COLLABORATION WITH RAFAEL DE SILVA 157

Assisting a Master Teacher 162

German Diez: Integrating Arm-weight Technique and Finger Technique 177

Ena Bronstein-Barton: Carrying Forward a Transcendent Stream of Sound 192

Frederick Marvin: Oral Tradition and Fidelity to the Score 204

Goodwin Sammel: “Indirection” and Naturalness in Movement 218

Chapter VI: TEACHING ARRAU’S PRINCIPLES TO THE YOUNG STUDENT 233

The Third Street Teachers: Building up from the Earliest Beginnings 244

Applying Arrau’s Principles in the Beginning Lessons 256

Appendix Two: A Lesson on Chopin’s Second Ballade, Op 38 344

Claudio Arrau and Mario Miranda, December 19, 1965 Appendix Three: A Lesson on Beethoven’s Sonata in A-flat Major, 352

Claudio Arrau and Mario Miranda - undated

Appendix Four: A Lesson on Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit: “Scarbo” 358

Claudio Arrau and Mario Miranda – 1965

BIBLIOGRAPHY 397

List of Examples

Example 3.2 Chopin, Ballade, Op 38, mm 51-54 141

Example 3.6 Chopin, Ballade, Op 38, mm 94-98 153 Example 5.1 Schubert, Impromptu in C Minor, D 899, Op 90,

Example 5.4 Beethoven, Sonata in A-flat Major, Op 110,

I Moderato cantabile, molto espressivo mm 1-12 205

Example 5.5 Beethoven, Sonata in A-flat Major, Op 110,

I Moderato cantabile, molto espressivo mm 60-61 206

Example 5.6 Beethoven, Sonata in A-flat Major, Op 110,

I Moderato cantabile, molto espressivo mm 12-19 208

Example 5.7 Beethoven, Sonata in A-flat Major, Op 110,

I Moderato cantabile, molto espressivo mm 25-27 209

Example 5.8 Beethoven, Sonata in A-flat Major, Op 110,

I Moderato cantabile, molto espressivo mm 28-31 211

Example 5.9 Beethoven, Sonata in A-flat Major, Op 110,

I Moderato cantabile, molto espressivo mm 32-39 212

Example 5.10 Goodwin Sammel, Exercise for dropping

Example 6.1 Suzuki Piano School, Book 1, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,

Example 6.2 Suzuki Piano School, Book 1, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,

Example 6.5 Suzuki Piano School, Book 1, motives from

Example 6.6 Suzuki Piano School, Book 1, Au Clair de la Lune, mm 1-4,

Example 6.7 Suzuki Piano School, Book 1, Honey Bee,

Example 6.8 Suzuki Piano School, Book 2,

Example 6.9 Suzuki Piano School, Book 2,

Example 6.12 Suzuki Piano School, Book 2,

Example 6.13 Suzuki Piano School, Book 2,

1

INTRODUCTION

Claudio Arrau, born February 3, 1903, in Chillan, Chile, was one of the most

prominent and active pianists of the twentieth century, with a performing career that

spanned eighty years In his prime, Arrau played more than one hundred concerts each

season; and as late as 1980, at the age of seventy-seven, he was still playing about

seventy.1 He celebrated his eightieth birthday with a tour that included six concerts in

New York and performances of Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto and Brahms’s

Concerto No 1 in Paris and Berlin Arrau died on June 9, 1991, in Mürzzuschlag,

Austria, where he was to have performed in a private recital.2

Arrau’s performing legacy is preserved in part on his numerous recordings of

nearly 250 works.3 Another aspect of his legacy is a distinct approach to piano technique

and interpretation, which he conveyed personally to a significant number of students

Arrau’s principles are of interest in part because his main teacher, Martin Krause, was a

pupil of Liszt; and throughout Arrau’s career, there were claims of a Lisztian approach to

piano playing This study will give an account of Arrau’s technical and interpretive

principles and explore their connection to Liszt

This issue of Lisztian influence entails not only claims of Liszt’s pianistic

authority but of a historic lineage leading back to Beethoven.4 This claim is not mere

1 Joseph Horowitz, Conversations with Arrau (New York: Knopf, 1982), 187, 285

2 Arrau died following surgery to correct an intestinal blockage

3 A discography of Arrau’s recordings appears in Horowitz, Conversations, 288-307

4 Henry Kingsbury notes that citing lineages is a means by which teachers present themselves as preservers

of musical heritage; in Music Talent Performance: A Conservatory Cultural System (Philadelphia: Temple

University Press, 1988), 46 See also, Mary Weaver, “Interview with Claudio Arrau,”

The Piano Quarterly 42 (Winter, 1962-63): 22 Weaver writes, “Since Liszt was a pupil of Czerny and

Czerny of Beethoven, Arrau grew up in a world of unbroken tradition ” Arrau himself alluded to this

lineage: “That was what Krause must have received from Liszt I often like to say that Liszt got it all

from Czerny, who received it from Beethoven But, as in everything, it is never a single thing – always the

2

egoism or self-promotion; it underscores the personal dimension of the link between

historic performance practice and pedagogy at all levels, and it points to pedagogy as a

form of cultural work Music learning seen in light of this claim involves more than

“musical knowledge and/or skill voluntarily acquired.”5 It involves initiation into a

culture and belonging to a group with a history of shared experiences Accomplishing the

tasks related to this initiation and sense of belonging is the cultural work performed by

music teaching Shared musical experience transcends many lifetimes; each participant

may take from or contribute to it; and it is crucial not only for performing music but for

listening to it with understanding and enjoyment Performance and appreciation of

classical piano music is not only a matter of individual expression and perception but also

of a culture with a long-established history and tradition When speaking of a tradition, I

am thinking of a discipline and practice that is passed from one generation to another by

people who have gained the authority to determine how the art of music shall be carried

forward Authority is gained through performances that competent listeners judge to be

examples of musical artistry, or at least, competency Performers may transmit and

preserve, or they may transform those values, but they may do so only if their

performances are received by competent and comprehending listeners Some circularity

is to be tolerated in this view, as music teaching and learning must both create and exist

within the community of learners, qualified listeners, and artists

Music teaching and learning is therefore a fundamental fact of all musical life and

entails the dissemination of musical culture in the form of knowledge, skills, beliefs,

totality of things.” Robert Silverman, “Conversation With Claudio Arrau on Liszt,” The Piano Quarterly 89

(Spring, 1975): 9

5 Richard Crawford, “Musical Learning in Nineteenth-Century America,” American Music 1/1 (Spring,

1983): 3

3 practices, shared experience, and sense of belonging Such dissemination is what I would

like to speak of as the cultural work of piano pedagogy What is this knowledge, skill,

and experience, and how exactly is it transmitted? I confronted this question for the first

time during a series of master classes when one participant critically noted that auditors

were writing down all of the teacher’s comments into their scores – comments such as

make this note louder, that one softer, faster here, slower there, make this kind of a

sound, move your body like this – and taking these comments as a prescription for

playing each work He expressed doubt that musical knowledge consisted of an

accumulation of minutiae about each work, or that creative playing and satisfying

performances came as a result of following these directions Since each person might

perform the work differently, he argued, the instructions pertained not to everyone

present but only to the particular performer and performance under discussion His

argument seemed well founded Nevertheless, piano lessons customarily proceed as in

those master classes: a student plays a work for a teacher who gives directions and

advice, fully expecting them to be followed, and from this the student learns But the

questions remain What is being taught? How is this musical knowledge? How does it

promote artistic playing? How does it lead to artistic independence? At the heart of these

questions is the issue of musical expression – how it is taught, how it is related to

technique, and how it is shaped and determined by the language of instruction In this

study, I suggest answers to these questions by drawing upon writings about art, dance,

language and music, and semiotic theory to provide a framework for interpreting the

actual pedagogical situations and actions of people under consideration as formative of an

independent capacity for musical expression

4

This study presents the transmission of Arrau’s pianistic ideas as cultural work –

the dissemination of beliefs and practices – performed within the context of social groups

in which personal relationships among teachers and students are central Stories told by

Arrau’s pupils are not passed on here merely for anecdotal interest but to show that the

support of “the group,” while obviously reinforcing to the students in their study,

performing, and sense of belonging also benefited Arrau in several ways The group

enabled Arrau’s influence to travel (beyond his probable expectations) to several

generations of students from the most advanced to the most elementary levels Within the

group, Arrau could make his actions more meaningful and more fully understood than

anywhere else, and the group mirrored back to him an image of himself as an artist,

showing him which musical ideas and techniques he communicated effectively Through

the group, Arrau refreshed and renewed experiences that may otherwise have become

commonplace or unconscious through repetition Through interaction with students,

combined with careful observation and thought, Arrau could gain insights and ways of

understanding music not available through the more impersonal relationship of performer

and audience The support provided by the group may have helped Arrau to locate

himself within the larger project of consciously making and transmitting musical culture

The group mitigated the isolation that normally accompanies a demanding schedule of

practice, performance, and travel

This study also documents the progress of Arrau’s principles through his pupils,

and, through their pupils, to a third generation of piano students It describes a process by

which those principles, which informed and guided a major performing career, have been

channeled into the training of young beginners studying piano in a community music

5

school,6 and thus have influenced and enhanced the lives of people far removed from

Arrau’s original sphere of activity This progression invites reflection on the power of

both teaching and learning to incorporate values that may be either articulated or tacit; to

locate musical repertories within a context of social use; and to remove prejudices

imposed by issues of nationalism, ideology, and gender As Arrau’s principles travel

farther, are internalized by greater numbers of people, and become intermixed with other

pianistic influences, they will become indistinguishable Therefore, insofar as the history

of ideas and practices contributes to our understanding, this study attempts to document

Arrau’s contribution to that history as close to its source as possible

This study came about as a result of two circumstances First was my piano study

with two of Arrau’s pupils, Frederick Marvin and German Diez Their teachings were

crucially important in my growth as a musician and alerted me to the importance of

Arrau’s pedagogical legacy Second was my involvement with the Third Street Music

School Settlement, where I started the Suzuki piano department in 1978 and taught until

1997 From about 1984 until the present, the Suzuki piano department has been carried

forward by pupils of Arrau pupil, German Diez, under the continuous leadership of Diez

pupil, Marcia Lewis These teachers’ common use of a highly structured teaching

method, training under a single Arrau pupil, ongoing relationships with Diez and others

of Arrau’s pupils, and working as a cohesive group within the social environment of a

community music school with continuity provided by Lewis made them a unique and

interesting group for study This study is not intended as a prescription for teaching, but

as a description and interpretation of the pedagogy under study and discussion

6 The Third Street Music School Settlement, located at 235 East 11 th Street on Manhattan’s Lower East

Side in New York City

6

The chapters within this study are organized as follows:

Chapter one posits two contrasting views of piano technique and investigates

nineteenth-century writings on piano pedagogy in light of these views in order to locate

Arrau’s principles in relation to those of earlier pedagogues, and to explore the claim that

Arrau inherited a Lisztian approach through his teacher and Liszt pupil, Martin Krause

Chapter two discusses Arrau’s technical principles

Chapter three explores the inseparability of technique and expression in Arrau’s

philosophy Semiotic approaches recently applied to music study provide an apparatus for

analyzing excerpts from a lesson given by Arrau on Chopin’s second Ballade, Op 38

Chapter four describes the development of the collaboration between Arrau and

his teaching assistant, Rafael de Silva

Chapter five discusses the teaching of Arrau’s pupils It begins with the

experiences of two pianists whose studies reflect the contrasting pedagogical trends set

forth in chapter one; it then explores the teaching of Arrau’s pupils, and of how

expanding and developing Arrau’s principles have led to their individual philosophies

and styles of teaching

Chapter six discusses the teaching of Diez’s pupils at the Third Street Music

School Settlement

Biographical information related to the major informants contributing to this

study is found in Appendix one Appendices two, three, and four contain transcriptions of

lessons given by Arrau Appendix five contains short biographical sketches of persons

named in this work

7

ONE

THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF ARRAU’S PRINCIPLES: PIANO

PEDAGOGY IN GERMANY IN THE NINETEENTH AND EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURIES

“The war between musicians is unfortunately not yet finished, and even less

so the war between teachers, which was already raging during the Romantic era.”1 PRELIMINARIES

To understand the principles of Claudio Arrau’s piano playing, we must uncover their origin and development in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Already in the early press releases, there are claims that Claudio Arrau inherited the secrets of

Liszt’s playing from Martin Krause When asked how he acquired his technique, Arrau replied, “I was lucky enough to have had a great teacher, who not only handed down the precepts he got from Liszt but carried them further When I was young I spent hours and hours on exercises, some of which Krause noted down They are not available now.”2

On a video recording of Arrau’s eightieth-birthday recital, the commentator states, “ Arrau can claim a direct connection to Liszt His teacher Martin Krause was a pupil

of Liszt’s and imparted to the young Arrau many of the secrets of Liszt’s own piano playing.”3 Arrau’s pupils also believe this According to Ena Bronstein-Barton,

A lot of what Arrau did was a product of influence, but mostly from Krause and Liszt I would think He admired Carreño greatly But this [Arrau’s way of playing] comes directly from Liszt and from Krause He just says he developed it further But this is the way The business, for instance, about breaking arpeggios beautifully and having an inner life to the broken chord all of this comes from the way he was taught Except

he says he developed it even further.4

1 Bertrand Ott, Lisztian Keyboard Energy: Liszt et la pedagogie du piano, trans Donald H Windham

(Lampeter, Dyfed, Wales: Edwin Mellen Press, 1992), xiii

2 Mary Weaver, “Interview with Claudio Arrau,” The Piano Quarterly 42 (Winter, 1962-63), 19

3 Claudio Arrau: The 80 th Birthday Recital, West Long Beach, N.J., Kultur, 1987

4 Ena Bronstein-Barton, interview in Princeton, N.J., August 1, 2002

8

Alfonso Montecino, another Arrau pupil, recalls,

He [Arrau] put so much emphasis on relaxation, how to get it through certain motions like rotation, and chords that [are played with] free fall of the weight of the arm, which was already something that Liszt talked about Of course, Martin Krause studied with Liszt My impression is that Martin Krause was not very strict on how to use this idea and it was Arrau himself that gave it such importance.5

A flier advertising summer master classes conducted in Munich by Arrau’s assistant, Rafael de Silva, explicitly claimed that Arrau and de Silva inherited the “traditions of the Liszt School”:

Arrau and de Silva have carried further the traditions of the Liszt School

in a creative manner With profound insight into the technical and interpretation problems of the pianist, they have opened new paths to their solution.6

According to other evidence, however, Arrau’s connection to Liszt is tenuous at best; and Arrau himself mentioned only a few details of Krause’s teaching that might be traced back to Liszt.7 Arrau used and taught a complex and highly specific system of piano technique; but he stated that this came from his own natural instinct for piano playing and not from Krause’s teaching

There [with respect to hand position and arm weight] he [Krause] left me alone to a great extent You see, I moved on the piano like a cat I played

by nature – very relaxed So he didn’t tell me about special motions of the

5 Alfonso Montecino, interview in New York City, February 27, 2003

6 This flier is found under the name “Rafael de Silva” in the clipping files at the New York Public Library

at Lincoln Center

7 “He would speak of Liszt’s way of breaking chords, and of trilling He taught us several ways to break a chord: to start slowly, and then accelerate toward the highest note; or to make a crescendo to the highest note; or to make a diminuendo; or to do it freely, with rubato But always so that broken chords would have

a meaning coming from what went before The speed of a trill has to be in relation to the Stimmung

He taught us to use the Bebung effect It was something all the Liszt pupils did I use this in the Petrarch Sonnets and the Dante Sonata Pedaling That at the beginning of Beethoven’s G-major Concerto, for

instance, never to strike the chord and then put down the pedal, but to have the pedal down already, and then strike the first chord And then for the long pedals in Beethoven – in the D minor Sonata, for

instance – to use a very fast vibrato pedal.” Joseph Horowitz, Conversations with Arrau (New York:

Knopf, 1982), 38-39

9

hands and arms All that I found by myself, somehow Sometimes he told

me not to be stiff, that all the joints must be relaxed But I don’t think he ever told me very much about using my arms I have noticed that a number of his pupils never lifted their arms very much.8

Moreover, Liszt’s pupils reported that Liszt never taught technique, but – and here, perhaps, is the crucial point – only musical principles (see p 33) Thus, if Liszt did not consciously teach his technique to Krause, Krause could have passed on Liszt’s technique only if he had learned about it through observation And if, as Arrau said, he did not learn his technique from Krause, the connection between Liszt and Arrau appears broken at two points Nevertheless, one must entertain the suspicion that Liszt’s influence had affected Krause just as profoundly as it affected nineteenth-century pianism

generally

Martin Krause was the major figure in Arrau’s education, and Arrau had no other teacher after him At the time of Krause’s death in 1918 (at age sixty-five), Arrau was only fifteen years old and had studied with Krause for only about five years While Arrau believed that Krause had taught him all that a teacher could about piano playing,9 Arrau still had a long life and career before him in which to develop, mature, and come into contact with other influences Some of these reflected various trends of nineteenth-

century thought that were still being explored and debated in piano playing

Contextualizing Arrau’s principles, therefore, requires an investigation of what is known of Liszt’s pianism as well as other writings on piano playing The following takes

up this investigation in order to identify the elements that show a relationship between Arrau’s principles and those of Liszt and other nineteenth-century pedagogues

8 Horowitz, Conversations, 38

9 Ibid., 49

10

FINGER TECHNIQUE AND ARM-WEIGHT TECHNIQUE

Early in the nineteenth century, the technical demands of new music and heavier piano actions made piano technique an issue of paramount importance Pedagogues and performers attempted to buttress the previously established finger techniques by

increasing the strength, agility, and stamina of the fingers Fatigue while playing was taken as a sign that more finger strength was needed Thousands of exercises were

developed and etudes composed to strengthen and adapt the body to the new

requirements of the instrument This approach dominated in the newly formed

conservatories and was epitomized in the teaching of Adolf and Theodor Kullak (who taught at the Berlin Conservatory, later called the Stern Conservatory; and Neue

Akademie der Tonkunst in Berlin),10 Sigismund Lebert and Ludwig Stark (at the Stuttgart Conservatory),11 and Louis Plaidy (at the Leipzig Conservatory).12

By the 1870s, however, many pianists were seeking other solutions to their

technical problems The playing and teaching of Liszt was a catalyst that inspired a new way of thinking about both piano technique and pedagogy that went beyond mere muscle building Some teachers began searching for ways to reinforce the fingers with the larger muscles of the upper arm, shoulder, and back, and to use the force of gravity, or arm weight Rather than adapt the body to the requirements of the instrument, they tried to

10 Adolf Kullak, The Aesthetics of Pianoforte-Playing, trans Theodore Baker (New York: G Schirmer,

1893; repr New York: DaCapo, 1972) Amy Fay described her experience of studying with Theodor

Kullak in Music Study in Germany (Chicago: A C McClurg, 1880; repr New York: Dover, 1965), 264-68

11 Sigismund Lebert and Louis Stark, Grand Theoretical and Practical Piano-School (Stuttgart: J G Cotta, 1869; New York: Schirmer, 1899), xxiii-xxiv See also Amy Fay’s remarks about Leipzig in Music Study in Germany, 264-68

12 Leonard Phillips writes of Plaidy’s teaching in “The Leipzig Conservatory: 1843-1881” (Ph.D

dissertation, Indiana University, 1979), 141-43 See also Louis Plaidy, Technical Studies for the Piano (New York: Schirmer, 1875), 3-7

11

meet the challenges of playing by using the body accordance with its natural

capabilities.13 Moreover, they sought a more pleasing tone and a style of performance able to move audiences, and they conceived these as the prerogative of a well-formed technique.14 Among these were Ludwig Deppe, 15 Rudolf Breithaupt,16 Friedrich

Steinhausen,17 and their followers

Thus, two distinct concepts of the body one as requiring necessary adaptations

to be trained into it and the other as having natural abilities to be released from it gave rise to two different approaches to playing that may be characterized as “finger

technique” and “arm-weight technique” and that divided their followers into opposing camps Differing views of technique gave rise to different concepts and descriptions of tone, and alternative views on the relationship of technique to interpretation and musical style

13 Writing nearly thirty-five years later, Friedrich Steinhausen summarized this view: “Wir kommen damit auf den einzig möglichen und richtigen Standpunkt, dass wir nämlich den Körper nichts lehren, sondern nur von ihm lernen können.” “Thereby we come to the only possible and correct standpoint, namely that we

can teach the body nothing, but we can only learn from it;” Die Physiologischen Fehler und die

Umgestaltung der Klaviertechnik (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1913), 3

14 Godowsky articulated this concept: “Technique embraces everything that makes for artistic piano playing – good fingering, phrasing, pedaling, dynamics, agogics, time and rhythm – in a word, the art of musical expression Weight, relaxation and economy of motion are the foundation stones of technique

or interpretation Ninety percent of my playing is based on the weight principle and I taught it

scientifically as early as 1892.” J G Hinderer, “We Attend Godowsky’s Master Class,” The Musician 38 (July, 1933): 3; quoted in Reginald R Gerig, Famous Pianists and Their Technique (Washington, D.C.,

and New York: Robert B Luce, 1974), 332

15 Ludwig Deppe, “Armleiden des Klavierspielers,” Deutscher Musiker-Zeitung (1885); repr Neue

Zeitschrift für Musik 70: 315, and in Gerig, Famous Pianists and Their Technique, 252-54 See also, Elisabeth Caland, Die Deppe’sche Lehre des Klavierspiels (Magdeburg: Heinrichshofen’s Verlag, 1921); Amy Fay, The Deppe Finger Exercises for Rapidly Developing an Artistic Touch (Chicago: S W Straub, 1890; repr Chicago: Musica Obscura, 1971); Fay, Music Study in Germany, 286-92; C A Ehrenfechter, Technical Study in the Art of Pianoforte-Playing (Deppe’s Principles) (London: William Reeves, 1900)

16 Rudolf M Breithaupt, Die natürliche Klaviertechnik Band I: Handbuch der modernen Methodik und Spielpraxis; Band II: Die Grundlagen Des Gewichtspiels (Leipzig: C F Kahnt, 1909)

17 See note 13

12

Proponents of finger technique spoke of the activity of the fingers as “striking” the keys, and the ideal tone as “pearling” (Kullak).18 Equalizing the striking power of the fingers was considered of greatest importance, and lifting the fingers high was thought to be the means by which the keys could be struck harder, thus creating a more powerful forte (Lebert, Stark).19 Proponents of arm-weight technique spoke of the activity of the arm as

“falling” or “rolling,” the fingers as supporting the arm, transferring the weight,

remaining close to the keys, and the ideal tone as “singing” or “penetrating” or as having

“carrying power without harshness” (Deppe, Breithaupt)

No matter what their technical orientation, all pianists sought a technique that would be effective in meeting the demands of new music and new instrument design Yet the urgency of this need also fostered anxiety that musical quality would suffer as

attention was drawn disproportionately to mechanical issues Moreover, virtuosi

depended upon technical display to delight and impress audiences, and while it was generally agreed that a strong technique was indispensable, some viewed the exhibition

of technical prowess in the concert hall as crass showmanship that devalued music and degraded the public taste Preserving musical quality and taste began to be equated with classicism and performing the classic works by Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven began to be regarded as a performer’s duty

18 Kullak, The Aesthetics of Pianoforte-Playing, 101-2

19 Lebert and Stark advocated the “hammer touch”: “All the fingers must on average be held firmly about one inch over the keys (this…depends upon the size of the hand), strike rapidly and perpendicularly and just as rapidly return to their first position This is the normal touch; its modifications (nearer or quite near

the keys) …can be learned only by personal instruction.” Grand Theoretical and Practical Piano-School,

xxiv For a discussion of Lebert and Stark’s pedagogy, see Sheryl Maureen Peterson Mueller, “Concepts of Nineteenth-Century Piano Pedagogy in the United States,” (Ph.D dissertation, University of Colorado, 1995), 143

13

Piano technique was implicated in this issue, becoming emblematic of either a progressive or conservative orientation Finger technique had always sufficed in

performing the music of the classical masters, while newer arm techniques were

associated with modern music that was sometimes viewed as of unproven or dubious quality and characterized by romantic excess Educational curricula that required pupils

to give up studying repertoire while they built up their technique relegated technical development to a process separate from musical study and interpretation.20 This

dichotomy reinforced a view of technique as different from interpretation, and as opposed

to musical value Those who favored finger technique over arm-weight technique

contributed the most to the separation of technique from musical expression, and their views were often adopted and replicated, unconsciously or not, by their pupils through the process of education Others, impatient with mechanical rigor and eager to ally themselves with music in its purest form, rejected technical practice entirely, preferring to let their techniques suffer rather than abuse their musical sensibilities with mind-numbing exercise

Proponents of arm-weight techniques tended to view technique and musical expression together, as a continuum along which the means merged with the objective; musical expression became inseparable from its physical realization Technique was conceived more broadly to include expressive issues as well as issues of dexterity,

strength, and endurance; and this advanced the notion that technique could be developed

20 Hans von Bülow described his piano study in Leipzig: “Every morning I play trill exercises, simple and chromatic scales of all kinds, exercises for throwing the hands (for these I use a study of Moscheles, one of Steibelt, and a two-part fugue of Bach’s which I play with octaves in both hands toccatas of Czerny

which Herr Plaidy gave me, and Moscheles’ and Chopin’s studies .” Hans von Bülow, The Early Correspondence (New York: D Appleton, 1896), 11 Quoted in Phillips, “The Leipzig Conservatory,” 142

In Phillips, see also p 25, the teaching methods of the Stuttgart Conservatory

Though it is an oversimplification, reducing the thought on piano playing to two categories, “finger technique” and “arm-weight technique,” is not without historical justification Moreover, it enables an examination of how well the views of nineteenth-century writers on piano technique correspond with these categories, yielding a more varied and accurate picture in which the features that connect Arrau to Liszt and to other nineteenth-century figures may be seen

THE PIANO AND PIANO MUSIC

The music written for the piano and the manner in which the music is to be played

is interrelated with the nature of the instrument itself The eighteenth-century piano had delicate hammers and thin, brittle strings The lightness and sensitivity of the action and the shallow key-drop both necessitated and compensated for the restriction imposed on the movement of the hand Tone was produced by the action of the fingers without any participation by the arm, wrist, and hand Furthermore, Fétis noted that these instruments required “no little management to prevent their [strings] being broken For such

instruments Haydn, Mozart and Schubert wrote.” He went on, “They required delicacy of touch, expression and volubility of finger.”21 The technique of playing on these

21 Quoted in Thomas Fielden, The Science of Pianoforte Technique (London: Macmillan, 1934), 36

growing and affluent middle class attended public concerts that were presented by

traveling virtuosi and sometimes sponsored by instrument manufacturers These

performances brought the art of piano playing to audiences that had never before

experienced it.22 More powerful instruments were needed to project to large concert-hall audiences A more powerful sound required thicker, longer strings, and heavier

hammers As a result, piano actions became heavier with a deeper key-drop, requiring more weight and strength of the player to overcome the inertia of the keys. 23 The louder, more resonant instrument encouraged long melodic lines Longer and wider keys

encouraged chromatic music with dense passages of chords, arpeggios, and octaves Composer-pianists such as Chopin, Liszt, Thalberg, Herz, and Kalkbrenner, recognizing the possibilities of the new instruments, gave to their piano music a virtuosic character that enraptured audiences and placed greater demands on both instruments and

performers.24

22 Charlotte N Eyerman and James Parakilas, “1820s to 1870s: The Piano Calls the Tune,” in Piano Roles,

ed James Parakilas (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1999), 184-85 See also, Leon

Plantinga, “The Piano in the Nineteenth Century,” in Nineteenth-Century Piano Music, ed R Larry Todd (New York: Schirmer, 1990), 4-7

23 The double-escapement action is often given credit for the revolution in piano technique See Charles

Timbrell, French Pianism: A Historical Perspective, second ed (Portland, Oreg.: Amadeus Press, 1999),

35 This is true indirectly, for the double escapement action certainly made it possible to write for the piano

in new ways But from a technical standpoint, the difficulties that pianists had to face stemmed not from the use of the double-escapement action itself but from heavier actions and more complex and demanding music

24 Edwin M Good and Cynthia Adams Hoover, “Designing, Making, and Selling Pianos,” in Piano Roles,

58-60; in the same volume, James Parakilas and Gretchen Wheelock, “1770s to 1820s: The Piano

16

Concert-going stimulated an appetite for private music-making in middle-class homes that was fed by a sharp increase in piano manufacturing and music publishing Amateur players as well as those with professional ambitions aspired to perform the wonders they had witnessed in the concert halls Piano playing and piano technique had found a market But it was evident that “volubility of finger” would no longer suffice; piano technique and piano players themselves would have to adapt to the new

instruments and the music.25 To assist players in developing greater strength, skill, and endurance, composers wrote volumes of exercises No one was more prodigiously

productive in this endeavor than Carl Czerny

CARL CZERNY (1791-1857)

A pupil of Beethoven and teacher of Theodor Kullak, Theodor Leschetizky, and Franz Liszt, Czerny was a key figure in a transitional period that began with Beethoven and ended with the younger generation of virtuoso pianist-composers that included

Dreyschock, Kalkbrenner, Thalberg, and Liszt These composers represented a new style that combined cantabile playing with “bravura,” a mode which, in Czerny’s words, enables a player to “give to the composition which he has selected, an unusual degree of spirit and character, and often to exalt the satisfaction of his audience to absolute

enthusiasm.”26

Czerny’s teaching and writing were crucial in the formation of two generations of pianists Facile in composition and methodical by nature, his writing touched on every

Revolution in the Age of Revolutions,” 110 See also Leon Plantinga, “The Piano in the Nineteenth

Century,” in Nineteenth-Century Piano Music, 6

25 E Douglas Bomberger, Martha Dennis Burns, James Parakilas, Judith Tick, Marina Tsvetaeva, and Mark

Tucker, “The Piano Lesson,” in Piano Roles, 164

26 Carl Czerny, Complete Theoretical and Practical Pianoforte School, Op 500 (1839), III: 29

17

aspect of pianistic training and professional activity.27 The sheer number of his exercises and etudes reveals a passion for analyzing and codifying the elements of pianistic styles and techniques, and they present a wealth of pianistic passagework for the training of the hands His working method has been described as follows:

He is said to have kept several desks going to which he resorted whenever

a pupil had a special technical difficulty confronting him; he jotted down the figure and later on, after teaching hours, amplified it into a full blown study, which served not only as a study for the special purpose, but also as

a study in endurance 28 Czerny put forth the foundation of his technique as well as a summary of

contemporary styles in his Complete Theoretical and Practical Pianoforte School, Op

500, published in 1839 under the patronage of Queen Victoria of England His

instructions for the position of the hand and use of the fingers served as the basis of piano technique at least until the end of the nineteenth century, and continued to influence piano pedagogy throughout the twentieth century Though his etudes and exercises

include no commentary explaining exactly how to play them, they are usually regarded as

a foundation for the development of finger technique; however, a careful reading of his

written instructions in the Pianoforte School shows that Czerny did not advocate the high

finger technique of later pedagogues, and that he recognized the role of weight technique

in dynamic control and melodic expression, even though he did not provide adequate instructions for its use

27 Systematic Introduction to Improvisation on the Pianoforte, Op 200; School of Practical Composition,

Op 600, 3 vols.; Complete Theoretical and Practical Pianoforte School, Op 500; Umriss der Ganzen Musik-Geschichte bis 1800, Op 815 For discussion of these works and Czerny’s importance as a

pedagogue, see Alice Levine Mitchell, “A Systematic Introduction to the Pedagogy of Carl Czerny,” Music and Civilization: Essays in Honor of Paul Henry Lang, eds Edmond Strainchamps, Maria Rika Maniates,

and Christopher Hatch (New York: W W Norton, 1984), 262-69

28 Thomas Fielden, “The History of the Evolution of Pianoforte Technique,” Proceedings of the Musical Association, Fifty-ninth Session, 1932-1933 (Leeds: Whitehead & Miller, 1933), 47

18

Czerny wrote not only about piano technique and musical style but also about the power of knowledge and technical competence to give “intrinsic value” to musical works His phrase in the quotation below, “which they [musical works] could not otherwise lay claim to,” reveals the importance he placed upon actual sound in determining musical identity and worth In his view, a musical work existed not only as an artistic conception residing in the composer’s mind, or as symbols on the page signifying a sound structure,

in what is termed the music itself, but in the potential a work provided for performers to convey sense, interest, beauty, and meaning through the medium of sound For Czerny, the value of a composition rested upon its compelling embodiment in sound Czerny expressed it as follows:

In former times, when mechanical practice had not been carried to the same height as at present, Players were content, when they were able to execute rapid running passages distinctly and in correct Time, however coarsely; and the novelty of the thing then never failed to excite

admiration Now we have discovered that even the most difficult passages admit of a high degree of expression; that by delicacy of touch, well introduced rallentandos &c, an attractive charm may be given to such passages, which formerly were considered only as an excessive heaping together of a monstrous number of notes By this discovery, Piano forte playing has already gained an infinite degree of improvement; and many Compositions obtain hereby an intrinsic value, which they could not otherwise lay claim to; for in this way, passages possess a real melodial interest, and cease to appear to the listener as a mere senseless jargon.29

In this passage, Czerny identified a creative role, not only for composition in creating musical meaning through structural relationships, but also for performance in conveying meaning to listeners and constructing the identities of musical works through sounding elements not necessarily specified by notation His viewpoint was a corollary to

29 Czerny, Complete Theoretical and Practical Pianoforte School III: 51

19

a new conception of piano playing as an autonomous career rather than simply as part of

a composer’s training Piano performance was coming to be valued not simply as a

medium to facilitate and advance composition but as an art in itself In the passage quoted above, Czerny referred to the duality of technique and interpretation but he also made it clear that interpretive achievements such as “expression” and “charm” are technical attainments, the results of “delicacy of touch” and an advanced method of “mechanical practice.” While he certainly understood the difference between musical expression and mechanical training, Czerny nevertheless saw that, at every level of art, technique and interpretation are inseparable

Although execution and expression belong mainly to the intellectual powers of the player, they depend so much on mechanical, or material means, that even in great masters and with highly gifted players, both qualities flow into one another, and hence one seems, as it were, only the natural consequence of the other.30

Though thoroughly trained in the classical style, Czerny plunged into the trend toward the new virtuosity with industry, enthusiasm, and a vision of virtuosity and

advanced mechanical training as an expansion of the earlier musical aesthetic Virtuosity was not mere mechanical display; it was creative art in the sense that it could be used to create or reinvent meaning for a composition It could elevate what seemed “senseless jargon” to a work of “intrinsic value.”

Czerny places the position of the hand and training of fingers as the first practical task His instructions to position the hand curving the fingers so that the thumb and

30 Ibid., 1

20

fingertips lie in a straight line31 appears overly pedantic and counterproductive for a technique suited to the modern piano keyboard; however, for Czerny’s keyboard these instructions described a way of allowing all of the fingers (including the thumb) to fit simultaneously on his keyboard.32 The natural heads on most keyboards of Czerny’s time were about 3.5 cm (a little less than 1.5 inches) up to the end of the eighteenth century as opposed to modern natural key heads, which are 5 cm (about 2 inches).33 Moreover, Czerny states, “The keys must not be struck near their edge, but at about half an inch from their end nearest the player.”34 If this point represents nearly the middle of the natural head, then the natural head must have been about one inch long Therefore,

aligning the fingertips in a straight line was necessary in order to fit the hand to Czerny’s keyboard: the thumb and fingertips had to lie more or less in a straight line in order to fit simultaneously on five adjacent natural heads.The curved position of the fingers brought the thumb and fingertips into alignment The fingers had to stay on the natural heads because they could not fit easily between the sharp keys This type of position would be most suited to music that utilized comparatively few sharp keys

31 “The surface of the fore-arm, from the elbow to the knuckles of the bended fingers, must form an

absolutely straight and horizontal line; and the wrists must neither be bent downwards, nor upwards, so as

to resemble a ball The preserving an exactly straight line with the knuckles and the upper surface of the

hands is one of the principal requisites towards acquiring a fine style of playing.” Czerny, Complete

Theoretical and Practical Pianoforte School I: 2

32 “The fingers must be somewhat bent inwards As the fingers are of unequal lengths, each finger (not including the thumb) must take such a part in this specie of curvature, that all their tips as well as the thumb

in its natural outstretched position, may form one straight line, when placed close together In this case the knuckles will assume nearly the form of a semicircle.” Ibid Also, “The end of the thumb must always reach to the middle of the fore or broad part of the white key, and never strike it near to its outer end For the percussion on the white keys should always be made on the surface of the keys by all the fingers, and nearly in the middle of that part; they must never be struck near the extreme end, nor on the small narrow portions included between the black keys.” Ibid., 7

33 Nicolas Meeùs, “Keyboard,” The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed Stanley Sadie

(London: MacMillan, 1980), X: 10

34 Czerny, Complete Theoretical and Practical Pianoforte School I: 2

21

Czerny recommended that each finger “be held very near to its key (without

however touching it); so, after the stroke, it must again return to its previous situation.”35Thus, he did not advocate the high-finger action taught by later pedagogues (Lebert and Stark, Plaidy; see pp 33-35)

Czerny’s beginning exercises focus on the training of the fingers First among them

is the reiteration of one note with repeated strokes of the same finger, a type of exercise

sometimes referred to as Klopfübung.36 Aware of the harmful effects of tension or “strain

upon the nerves,” he advises slow practice and gradual increase in speed His use of language such as “moderately strong touch” and “press down the keys firmly,” which may produce tension or stiffness, is tempered by language such as “as tranquilly as

possible,” “quiet movement,” and “flexibility,” which has a softening effect and shows a concern for the balance between exertion and relaxation in playing.37

Czerny’s exercises for legato touch are to be done with the weight of the hand resting on the depressed key for the full duration of the note.38 While they do not yet draw upon the weight of the arm, the fingers are not used exactly in isolation If

Czerny’s instructions are followed literally, the notes played should be of equal volume,

35 Ibid., 7

36 This exercise was replicated in piano teaching and methods well into the twentieth century Pupils reported that Liszt also recommended it (see p 47)

37 “… The hand must … be held as tranquilly as possible over the five keys, so that the reiterated

percussion may be produced by the quiet movement of the single finger … The beginner must accustom himself to a moderately strong touch, so as to press down the keys firmly; he will naturally practice it, at first very slow, accelerating the movement by degrees, as the flexibility of the fingers develops itself, and without any strain upon the nerves.” Ibid., 7 This exercise was reiterated and varied many times in later books of exercises According to Tilly Fleischmann, who studied with Stavenhagen and Berthold

Kellerman (both Liszt pupils), this exercise was one of several that Liszt himself practiced, and it became

“a tradition among some of Liszt’s pupils” who transmitted it to their pupils Tilly Fleischmann, Aspects of the Liszt Tradition, ed Michael O’Neill (Bryn Mawr, Pa.: Theodore Presser, 1991), 118

38 “In the first Exercise, intended only for two fingers, the thumb must quit the C at the very same moment that the first finger strikes the D, which in its turn must be quitted, at the same moment that the thumb again strikes the C The same thing takes place in the 2 d Exercise, with the 3 fingers; then with the 4, and

22

the dynamic strength of the fingers being automatically equalized by the constant weight

of the hand Perhaps this is why, in the following passage, Czerny speaks of equalization

of the fingers in terms of duration rather than dynamics While “equality of touch” is more commonly taken as meaning equality in dynamic strength,39 Czerny referred to

“equality of touch” in the context of keeping the hands exactly together, therefore

meaning equality in duration

This equality in the touch can only be acquired, when both hands are kept perfectly still, and all the fingers held up equally high; for those fingers which are removed farther from the keys than the rest, or which are held

with stiffness, naturally strike later, by which the perfect equality of the

blow is destroyed [my emphasis].40 Czerny’s first mention of dynamics occurs in connection with exercises in five-finger patterns in which one of the fingers must play a louder sound.41 Czerny asks that the increased volume be produced by increased pressure of the finger alone; however, without the participation of the arm or hand, the finger cannot exert greater pressure except by rising higher and or depressing the key with more velocity, but either way, Czerny wants the adjustment so small as to be invisible It is not clear what he intends; but Czerny invites the conclusion that introducing the arm and hand at this point

interferes with finger training

lastly with all the 5 fingers; so that the weight of the hand always rests on the keys, but on one finger only,

while all the rest are poised in the air.” Czerny, Complete Theoretical and Practical Pianoforte School I: 7

39 As in this passage: “With beginners the thumb is very apt to strike too loudly, while the fourth and fifth

fingers are weak and stiff They should, therefore, moderate the force of the thumb, and endeavor to make that of the fourth and fifth fingers equal to the others We would recommend their practicing passages

which are to be executed by these two fingers, with a stronger touch.” Louis Plaidy, Technical Studies for the Piano, 6

40 Czerny, Complete Theoretical and Practical Pianoforte School I: 9

41 “Here it must be remarked, that the required emphasis must not be produced by any violent movement of

the Player’s hand or arm, but by a stronger pressure of the finger, which must be audible but not visible to

the Bystander Even in marking a single note in the strongest manner, or in a crescendo, both the hand and the arm must be held as quiet as possible.” Ibid., 4

23

A later reference to use of dynamics takes place in the context of musical

expression, and here Czerny stipulates the use of “weight” and “pressure” of the hand to achieve different dynamics Moreover, he seems to refer indirectly to an emotional response to the music as leading to an increase in the feeling of weight: the “increased internal action of the nerves,” both indication and result of a heightening emotional state

in crescendo, prompts greater weight in the hands.42

A reader cannot know from Czerny’s instructions how much weight is applied or where exactly the weight comes from, but only that the hand “receives” it If the weight were to come from bearing down from the forearm, then there is the risk of “fettering the

flexibility of the fingers (note 42).” If the crescendo is to be produced not “by any visible

exertion” but by an internal and therefore invisible action of nerves, then what prompts the nerves into action? It can only be an emotional response to the music, demanding a

crescendo Therefore the increased weight is associated with the musical or emotional

response; the use of weight is the manifestation and expression of this response, rather than simply a mechanical procedure The very lack of mechanical directions invites this interpretation, though the reader is no wiser about what must be done.43

42 “Before anything else, it must be observed that the crescendo should never be produced by a visible exertion of the hands, or by lifting up the fingers higher than is usual, when we are playing legato; but only

by an encreased [sic] internal action of the nerves, and by a greater degree of weight, which the hand

receives therefrom, without however fettering the flexibility of the fingers” [Czerny’s emphasis] Czerny,

Complete Theoretical and Practical Pianoforte School III: 15 Contrast Czerny’s instructions for dynamic

control with Plaidy’s: “In proportion as a full and strong tone is required, the fingers must be raised so much the higher, and press with greater weight upon the keys; the more subdued the tone is to be, the more

moderate should be the motion, as well as the pressure, of the fingers.” Plaidy, Technical Studies for the Piano, 4

43 In another example, Czerny again associates the use of weight with musical emotion, in the case of a passage that is “mournful” and requiring “great expression,” and he stipulates, “Both hands must always be held firm, and with all their weight resting on the keys; although the fingers, wherever p or pp is indicated, must strike as gently as is necessary.” To say that the hands are to be “held firm” implies a certain tension

in the hand, presumably to support the weight, but Czerny qualifies this language with the phrase “as gently

24

Czerny again recommends using the “entire weight” of the hand and “an internal and invisible pressure” for playing melodies expressively and in correct balance with their accompaniments.44Czerny’s direction that “the hand must be kept quite tranquil, so that this touch may be produced only by its entire weight ” is of interest He seems to suggest either that tranquility or “relaxation” is essential to releasing the weight of the hand in order to achieve dynamic control, or that movement, specifically finger

movement, should be kept to a minimum, letting weight be the means of tone production When he argues that with the “change from a heavy to a lighter pressure, very different qualities of tone may be produced from the Pianoforte; even when we play the whole with an equal degree of piano,” he indicates that “tone quality” is both a function of weight and a separate domain from dynamics Also significant is Czerny’s advice to interpret “piano” markings in expressive melodic passages by playing the melody almost

“forte” with a corresponding decrease in volume for the accompaniment to create an overall sense of “piano.”

as is necessary.” In other instances, Czerny describes the state of the hand as “tranquil.” Czerny, Complete Theoretical and Practical Pianoforte School III: 21

44 “The Pianoforte, as we know, cannot sustain a sound long, nor swell and diminish it like the human voice, the Violin, Clarinet, &c; For this reason, the performance of a melody consisting of slow notes requires peculiar attention and address In the present day Pianofortes are much improved in this respect; and when the player knows how to treat them, he is enabled to approach very nearly to the instruments above named, without the aid of embellishments and passages A simple melody must be played with much greater expression, and comparatively with much greater power, than is required in the hand which plays the accompaniment to it; If the player were in this case to employ an equal degree of power in both hands, the full harmony in the accompaniment would absolutely overwhelm the melody above it [Here Czerny gives as an example a melodic passage marked “p.”] For this reason the right hand,

notwithstanding the piano which is indicated, must be played almost forte, while the left hand accompanies

in a subdued tone In all such cases too, the hand must be kept quite tranquil, so that this touch may be produced only by its entire weight, and by an internal and invisible pressure We must observe that by this change from a heavy to a lighter pressure, very different qualities of tone may be produced from the Pianoforte; even when we play the whole with an equal degree of piano.” Ibid., 41

25

In the bravura or brilliant style, combining the molto staccato or martellato touch with “great force,” Czerny advised the use of the forearm with “bent and rigid fingers.”45This passage raises many questions and perhaps disappointment as well, as

incompatibility of rigid fingers with speed is obvious But Czerny’s various caveats46about excessive movement of the forearm, the possible harm to equality of tone, effects too “laborious,” “exciting,” and even “prejudicial to the health,”47 suggest a reasonable basis for arguments by Czerny as well as other pedagogues against the use of the arm in playing The forearm stroke described by Czerny was undoubtedly capable of

considerable violence; but it may also have been the only conceivable way of using the arm, as the bent-finger hand position, which allowed all five fingers to lie on the keys

45 “As in the pointed manner of detaching the notes, employed in the Molto Staccato, the entire hand and even the fore-arm must be lifted up; every passage which is executed in this manner receives a particularly shewy effect, and it appears to the hearer much more difficult, than it really is, or than it would appear; if executed in any other style of playing Thus, for Example, no one will call the following passage difficult [Czerny gives as an example a passage containing a g minor arpeggio and several broken octaves] But let

us play it in the following manner [staccato, martellato] that is with bent and rigid fingers, with great force, extremely short, and with the necessary movements of the arm; we shall find that in truth it has become much more difficult; but that it has also become much more effective, and that is now in a certain degree, capable of justly exciting the admiration of the hearer When a passage executed in this manner, is really difficult, and conceived by the Composer with brilliancy, it receives the character of the Bravura, or that which is more particularly called the brilliant style of playing; and when the Player, in public performances, and in a large locality, makes use of this mode; he is enabled to give to the composition which he has selected, an unusual degree of spirit and character, and often to exalt the satisfaction of his audience to absolute enthusiasm.” Ibid., 29-30

46 “This manner can only be employed in its full extent in f and ff; although, naturally speaking, the most pointed detaching of the notes frequently occurs in p, and pp; only in the last case the arm must be kept much more tranquil, and the detaching of the notes must be effected merely by the fingers

Great rapidity cannot be combined with this mode of playing; still, however, the scales must occasionally

be practiced in this way, and in a moderate degree of movement, in order to give the arms and fingers the requisite precision in striking the keys For the Player must take especial care, that the fore-arm shall only

be allowed so much movement, as is absolutely necessary to attain the desired effect, and to always

maintain a fine equality of tone Excess in this respect would be too laborious and exciting, and in very lengthy passage might even become prejudicial to the health.” Ibid., 29-30

47 One suspects that this particular warning was issued with female pianists in mind

Pianoforte School shows Czerny’s progressive ideas of performance as art and of

technique as musical expression While his basic orientation was toward a finger

technique, he advocated using weight for dynamic control, expressive tone, and nuance,

to bring out a melody against its accompaniment, or to effect the bravura or brilliant (martellato) style The ambiguous character of his directions for applying weight and limitation in his use of the arm are related to the nature of his instrument and to that period of flux in which he worked, but his recognition of arm technique as a topic was an indicator of future developments His three most prominent pupils developed in

directions starkly different from each other

PROPONENTS OF FINGER TECHNIQUE

ADOLF KULLAK (1823-62) AND THEODOR KULLAK (1818-82)

Theodor Kullak was cofounder of the Berlin Conservatory in 1850,50 and the Neue Akademie der Tonkunst in 1855 His brother, Adolf Kullak, also a professor of

48 The use of the upper arm is more compatible with somewhat straightened fingers but requires a flexible wrist to prevent losing contact with the keys Edna Golandsky notes that curving the fingers activates the long flexor muscles in the hand, making them tighten over the wrist, thus preventing flexibility in the wrist

Lecture by Edna Golandsky in Dorothy Taubman, The Taubman Techniques: A Series of Videocassettes Presenting the Keyboard Pedagogy of Dorothy Taubman (Medusa, N.Y.: J.T.J Films, Inc., in cooperation

with the Taubman Institute, 1994), Tape 1

49 Alice L Mitchell, “Carl Czerny,” The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed Stanley Sadie

(London: Macmillan, 1980), V: 138-41

50 In 1857, the Berlin Conservatory was renamed the Stern Conservatory Its faculty would later include Hans von Bülow, Martin Krause, Rudolf Breithaupt, Edwin Fischer, and Claudio Arrau