The Art of Accompanying , but There Is No E Am I

PREFACE

f l There are certain di ficu ties , both for author and stu a dent , connected with book on Accompanying , that are not met with in works dealing with other branches of musical activity . The chi ef difficulty is that so little has been written about accompanyin g that thi s book possesses the dis ad o ot vantage f being , n the last , but almost the first word upon the subject . In every phase of human endeavor , fi artistic , philosophical , theological , political or scienti c , the heterodoxy of one generation becomes the orthodoxy of the next , and the student , with a choice of roads , all R onfli ct leading to ome , can , when in doubt , weigh the c ing theories of various guides , philosophers and friends , vi a media whi in and choose some ‘ down ch he can travel his . V safety to goal hen , however , the choice of author ities is limited to almost a single work , he has no touch stone by whi ch to test the validity of the advice therein proffered . The only claim to authority that this work possesses ’ is that it records the author s experiences of more than twenty years of accompanying at every kind of concert and for every grade of artist . Each incident described in it is one that happened personally to the author , with the exception of the one m entioned at the end of Chapter I ; but he was present on that occasion and overheard the conversation narrated . In addition to his personal experiences the author has enjoyed the acquaintanceship , and in some cases the per

- a sonal friendship , of nearly every well known English c com anist p , and has carefully studied their methods as well as the m ethods of many famous Continental acco mp a mi sts . It will be noticed that thi s work is divided into two parts , the idea being to describe , in one part , all the qual n b ities , technical and temperamental , that are eeded y the v i Preface

student who desires to become a competent and artistic

accompanist . They include the powe r of reading at sight

and transposing , a knowledge of the traditions associated

with operatic music , oratorios , and the classical school of ’ s t le i in song , the ability to vary one s y of play ng accord

ance with these different classes of m usic , and the s pecial gifts that are required for accompanying violin and Violon

. Th e s e and in cello solos . other points enumerated the ﬁrst part constitute the essential minimu m equipment of ni a professional accompa st . The second part , although it concerns itself with matters that an accompanist cannot i o n i l in e du afford to gnore , does n t contai anyth ng equa cati na o l importance to the subjects discussed in Part I , but deals principally with a lighte r and less serious type of m usic . A few anecdotes h ave been allowed to creep into the hi hi book , c eﬂy in t s section . Humorous experi ences fall to the lot of the accompanist far m ore frequently than to an not y other c lass of musicians , and it seems a pity to put some of them on record . It is possible that a considerable portion of this sec ond part will prove anathema to art - lovers and to those who consider chapters on the lighter form s of m usic to be

out of place in an educational treatise . Undoubtedly , it is not customary in an art - m anual to deal with art except in “ its higher m anifestations . We needs m ust love the high ” est when w e s e e it . B ut whereas the creative artist can h e ll usually c oos the typ e of work h e wi create , and the e executiv artist the type of work h e will perform , the i accompan st h as no choice whatever . H e must play what is n him hi s m give to play , and t being so , he ust learn to get th e utmost possible effect even out of works that as ’ - art products c an make no claim to anybody s esteem . Universal education and cheap printing h ave not an fo n th e m proved unmixed blessing , r they have bee eans di n of ssemi ating an intolerable deal of pernicious m atter , carefully calculated to c atch the instant fancy of the public . The popularity and ubiquity of the lower forms Preface v ii

of art and literature constitute a problem of our social i development wh ch cannot be entirely ignored , and the necessity for taking thi s into account is res p onsible for the chapter on Music - Hall songs and for a considerable portion of the one on English ballads . It is not possible to neglect either of these subjects in a work which aims at giving assistance to the student in every branch of ao companying . With this apologia pro libro su e the author commends it to the pianoforte student and trusts that it will direct — — hi s or her attention to a much neglected but f ascinating and maybe proﬁtable branch of study .

CONTENTS

PART I

Preface

CHA PTER I INTRODUCTORY Accom—panying the only aspect of music not understood or appreciated G—eneral and mistaken idea as to the qualiﬁcations of an accompa—nist Neglect of acc ompanying at Academies and Con s e rv atorie s Students advised to give more study to this art Arduous preparation necessary

CHA PTER II READING AT SIGHT — — I - G Ne ce s mportance of Sight reading ener—al standard low sity for prelimin—ary attention to details Systematic daily study of Sight- reading Traps for the unwary

CHAPTER III TECHNI QUE AND REPERTOIRE

— ﬂ u , Ample techn—ique a necessity for an accompanist Natur—al ency insu fﬁcie nt V ariety of Tou c h and Tone - color—required A o c om panist expected to b e a com—petent solo pianist P ossession of an extensive répertoire d—esirable Working with singers when they are studying their parts Acquisition of rep e r toire no light task

CHA PTER IV TRANSP O SING — Tran—sposing i n e x cels is Sound knowledge of harmony indis b b e ﬂ pensa le Transposing to accomplished chie y—alphabetically, b ut also with a realiza—tion of the harmonic outline Examples e x Difﬁcul t f b ke plained and analys—ed y o a rupt change of y in a simple composition Some cur ious experiences

CHA PTER V ALTERATIONS IN ACCOMP ANIMENTS

V arious kinds of alterations suggested Technical s im pliﬁca tion Legitimate artistic effects Necessary alterations

ix x Conte nts

CHAPTER V I OPERATIC ACCOMP ANYING — Art impregnated with local color Art rather universal than — ’ national Acc—ompanists methods for dealing with music under either he—ading Two chi ef Schools of Opera : the Ita—lian and the German —Importa nce of the former—in concert - work Tremolo Recitative Instrumental interlude—s Q uality of touch needed in i i . - n s open ng symphon es of Arias , etc Chan—ges in piano part e ce s itate d by faulty—transcription f—rom score Changes advisa b—le for supporting voice Illustrations B ravura Ari a still living Ad o f f — vantages a knowledge o operatic orchestral —scores I ntro duc tion of orchestral effects in piano - accompaniments Répe rtoire

CHA PTER V II AIRS FROM THE ORATORI O S Quality of touch needed for operatic music is not appropriate to sacred music —Reasons for this —Overela b orate transcriptions from the orchestral score —The Recitative—Répertoire

CHA PTER V III TEMPERAMENT AND ADAPTABILITY

Necessity for unanimity of mood betwee n vocalist and aecom — ’ — ani s ff Divi n a p t Intuitive anticipation of the soloist s —e ects g la in it —V song , not merely p y g alue of Rhythm Advice and sug gestions useless unless the student is endowed with imaginatio n and a receptive temperament CHA PTER IX IN THE CLASSICAL SCHOOL OF S ONG

“ — Deﬁnition of Classical Song Importance of Symphonic por tions —' Greatness of Schumann in this respect —Textual alteration not permissib le —Songs of Tschaikowsky and Grieg —The French — — ’ School Two kinds of p ianis s im o playing hopin s playing of C ” his A b Etude described b y Schumann Articulate as O pposed ! — to murmuring touch R epertoire

CHAPTER !

K- O G FOL S N S — Import ance of Folk - music ; recent revival Difference be tween the Folk- song and son—gs of other types Con—nection betwee n Folk song and Folk - dance Their —modal nature Accompaniments to - M s Folk songs , as formerly written odern musician realize need of ' ‘ — something m ore app ropriate Description of some devices in mod ern accompaniments : Added movement ; simple contrapuntal treat — a in ment Import nce of the symphonic portions , modern —arrange — - ments Points to be noted when accompanyi—ng Folk songs Spon tane it ; rhythm ; s bser ience to oice - p rt Fo - songs o other y — u v v a lk —f countries Hungarian Folk - melodies arranged by K orb ay French “ - k F Folk songs We e rlin and Gustave errari , Les Cloches de Nantes Contents

CHA PTER XI VIOLIN AND VI OLONCELLO S OLO S Special re quirements for accompanying No words to aid accompanist Greater ac c uracy of ear needed than for vocal music - - ﬁ l Piano part , usually more dif cu t , necessitates higher standard of technique —Watch the “ outline rather than individual notes V ioloncello harder to accompany than violin Instrumentalists keep stricter —time than voca—lists Difﬁculties in passages with syncopated —accents Harmoni cs Mistakes not always fault of accompa nist Réper toire

CHAPTER XII ORCHESTRAL ACCOMPANYING Rare opportunities for conducting an orchestra —Conductor ship at the—atre a valuab le training Orchestral ve rs u s piano accom anim e nts wh o p —The competent conductor , and one is mo—re than competent Entry of orchestra late at end o—f solo passage Difﬁ culty of correct entry : How to overcome it Str—ict adherence to marks for light and shad—e not always advisable De Pachmann and the Chopin concertos Summary of qualiﬁcations for conduct ing works with orches tral accompaniment

PART II

CHAPTER XIII ACCOMPANYING FROM FIGURED OR UNFIGURED BASS Eighteenth - centur—y accompanying Conditions d iff eren t from those n—ow prevailing Special difﬁculties associated with those con ditio ns Accompaniments to be played from merest indication of ’ — composer s intentions Figured bass B ass without ﬁg uring Ad v ice for obtaining further informatio n on this subject

CHA PTER ! IV THE ENGLISH BALLAD — Ballads of the Ol—d School Changed character of ballad due to changed con—ditions Attitude of the modern musicians to the English balla—d The accompanist should treat this class of music with respect Low s tandard of composition fostered in England Accompanists s hould hear composers accompany their o w n songs Melodic prominence to be given to some notes in an ordinary . accompaniment -ﬁg ure Changes i n harmony also Undesirable alterati ons Repe rtoire x ii Conte nts

CHAP TER ! V

-PLAYIN P Y ORGAN G , AND LA ING BY HEART ” The organ - part in 1 8 1 2 Overture Obbligatos to sacred f songs Ama—teur often more accomplished than pro essional in play ing by heart Suggested r ep e rtoire of songs that should be known — b — J without music Ro in Adair Sir Arthur Sullivan , oachim , and — ’ M c the endelssohn Con erto Singers mistakes , and how to deal with them Playing for amateurs A tragi - comic experience

CHAPTER ! V I

PLAYING FOR MUSIC -HALL ARTISTS

Early experiences usually include playing at Smoking Concerts Sort of work required at Pierrot shows and similar entertainments Methods differ from those needed in concert - work C onv e n P n M - tions of the Hall—s layi g—from S . and from ﬁ—rs t ﬁddle parts Playing by ear V am—ping A n awful experience Sub tle emo tional effects not needed V aluable training afforded in rhythmical playing and in acquiring readiness to meet emergencies

CHA PTER XV II MUSIC TO RECITATIONS —Special difﬁcultie s connected—with this branch of accompanying Necessity fo—r ru b ato playing Reciters who play their own ao c o m pan—im e nts General rules to be o b served in play ing for Reci t atio ns—Several varieties of Incidental Music described and illus trate d Conclusion .

THE ART OF A CCO MPANYING

PART I

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTO RY There is no branch of the art of music about which so little is know n as the art of the accompanist . In fact , it

‘ is not to o m u ch to say that it is the only aspect of music that is not understood , except by accompanists themselves and , in a lesser degree , by the artists they accompany . in The idea of an accompanist , as it exists vaguely the i public mind , is that he is a pian st who is not competent hi i to play solos ; that is supposed to be his c ef qual ﬁcation ,

and if any further thought were given to the matter , a ﬂ u e ntlv certain amount of technique , the ability to read and the possession of a sufﬁciently unobtrusive p e rs onalitv would b e considered to be the chi ef factors that contribute

to the making of an accompanist . One of th e chief obj ects of this work is to show that the ﬁ necessary quali cations include much more than this , and to try and make all who are interested in the subj ect understand and appreciate what natural gifts are required an in the ﬁrst place , d what a vast amount of study and experience m ust supplement these natural gifts before an accompanist is obtained who can take rank in his own department of music with the greatest solo instrumentalists

and vocalists . It is not only surprising , but also a m atter m for great regret that , whilst music , in some for or another , is almost universally taught and examinations in m ost branches of music are conducted in n early every part of i the British emp re , not only is there so little instruction x given in the art of accompanying , but there is no e am i

3 4 The A rt of Accompanying

nati on for ac compani sts and no mag ic letters to h e earned in this m ost n e c e ssary and most difﬁcult of all musical a l s t . t e ccomp i hmen s It is regret able , b cause , of the num bers of competent pianists turned out every year b v l Ac private teachers , Co leges , ademies and Conservatories , very few ever ﬁn d an opportunity of ade quately exercising

r a . x thei t lents There e ist at the present time , in every m t y ni i por ant cit in the world , pia sts who are capable of giving r ecitals and of playing concertos at orchestral th e concerts , who do not possess faintest chance of O h a n n s l t i i g concert engagement , and whose ives are passed , o either in the uncongenial ccupation of giving lessons , e i chiefly to unappr ciative and unmusical ch ldren , or in the still more uncongenial occupation of strivin g for a teachi ng — connection which may or may not c om e z it generally does not . It is b e cause of the almost hopeless outlook for the solo pianist that musical institutions and students them selves should be urged to devote a little more time to the only branch of the profession for which there is always some sort of demand , and which , so far , is neither over crowded nor even taken seriously . Every pianoforte teacher realizes the esteem in whi ch accompanying is “ ’ r held when the mother of a new pupil emarks , I don t e mind if my daughter can never play a pi ce properly , I only want her to b e able to play well enough to play accompanim ents . To play well enough to play ac c om ” a e panim ents ne ces sit t s , however , far greater natural abili ti es and a far m ore arduous course of study than is i e generally real z d , even for those who are content with the m odes t standar d of efficiency attainable b y the in te llig e nt amateur ; but the qualifications n e c e ssary for those who wish to emb ark upon th e career of a professional i m c fi accompanist ar e infin tely ore exa ting . In the rst place , a condi tion of m ental and ph v s ic al alertness and a readines s for any eventuality that may ari se are absolutely es sential befor e a satisfactory e nte nte betwe en soloist and aecom p anist can b e es tablished and the n e ces sary f e eling of I ntrodu ctory a

w conﬁdence engendered on both sides . The pianist h o is playing a work that he has practised for months and has played already many times in public m ay b e prevented

from doing his very best by a headache , an attack of w l neuralgia , nervousness , or a ﬁt of depression ; yet he i l hi if iff know s solo so well that very little , any , d erence

will b e perceptible to the audience . B ut let hi m go on i di to a platform hand capped by one of these sadvantages , and play a whole programm e of unfam iliar mus ic ( as he w will very often have to do) ithout any kind of rehearsal , and the difﬁculty b ecomes increased tenfold . BI os t peo ple in a concert room hardl y realiz e that the accompanist — exists till he makes a mi stake ; when every one bec omes vividly aware of it , the one most miserably conscious of

ni hi . hi it being the poor accompa st mself T s , however , is not always the case . Some people are cheerful and satisﬁ e d in no matter what happens . One even g at a concert in L ini ondon , when the accompanist and the viol st for whom he had been playing had reached the haven of the art ists ’ wi i u room , the former , th a positively beam ng co ntenance , “ n s hockin l tur ed to the latter and said , I played g y for — ” ou Ah no th e li n i y , he added , as vio nist was ki dly go ng “

m s h cki n l . to ake the best of matters , no , I played o g y ” ! hi s I know , I know and he rubb ed hands together complacently and beamed again till the violin ist must “ have felt that he was somehow to blame . It was dis ”

di race ul . ! graceful , sg f And it was CHAPTER II

READING AT SIGHT Of all the qualiﬁcations that go to the making of an re ad accompanist , the ability to well , that is , to play

music ﬂuently and correctly at ﬁrst sight , is by far the ni most important . The répertoire of an accompa st may his be varied and extensive , temperament symp athetic and his power of adaptability remarkable ; these are all excellent

and necessary qualiﬁcations , but they are of little avail

unless supported by the ability to read well at sight . Thi s

is very largely a natur al gift . There are some professional

- i hi pianists whose sight reading s comparatively poor , w lst

others , inferior both as artists and executants , have very hi marked capabilities in t s direction . Many amateurs ,

- s too , are excellent sight readers . A a rule, the standard of

- sight reading amongst students , amateur or professional , o in i is not very high , but those who are n t gifted th s re spect can derive some comfort from the fact that it is

possible , given a little natural ability , for almost any intelligent student to arrive at a standard of competence by steady and continuous practice on certain well - de ﬁne d

lines , such as the following

Before starting to read a piece of music , whether

simple or difﬁcult , he must be careful to notice all pre

K e - liminary details such as Clefs , y signature , Time

signature and Tempo . This seems to be one of those supererogatory pieces of advice that might well have

been dispensed with . It may seem absurd even to suggest n that any one could eglect such obvious precautions , yet every accompanist could give instances of tragedies that

have happened through his neglect of j ust such forethought . F O f E irst all , the Clefs . very one is so accustomed to the treble clef é for the right hand and the bass clef 9 for the left , that it is quite possible to take this for granted and to start the symphony of a song without having 6 Re ading at Sight 7 noticed that the right hand is written in the bass clef or the left hand in the treble .

- One notices the key signature as a rule , but an ordi nary triad often insists upon looking like a m ajor chord with such de ﬁnite ne s s that it is almost im possible to realize the necessity for verifying thi s b v a

- in l glance at the key signature , which , the above , wou d

be j ust as likely to be one ﬂat as two sharps . A piece written in a major key is very seldom started m in minor by any one , but an opening sy phony in minor h as been played , or , at any rate , has been started , in maj or by the most experienced and even famous musi c ians far m ore frequently than would be imagined . Another exas perating habit of some musical composi as tions is for a piece , written in ﬂats , to look if it were in

v ice ve rs a . no w sharps , or It is only and then that these moods seize certain pieces , and these probably experience some amount of freakish satisfaction when the ruse suc

- c e e ds . A well known accomp anist tells a story of the ’ “ ” lVI e nde ls s oh n s fir st time he ever played duet Greeting . He saw the first bar and his s ub c on s cious ne s s told him so definitely that i t was in E major with fo ur sharps that he never thought of looking at the

i natur e b u t la e d it th at k e . H ad s g , p y in y no dis cov there been accidentals , he would never have hi s i h e n ered mistake ; but , look ng a little ahead , oticed this chord with its (apparently) totally irrelevant

G l) a n d Ah, so he glanced back to the signatur e , discovered that he w as transposing the duet a semi tone hi h e gher than it was written , and found had no choice

o . but to continue doing s till the end After it was over , the ' vocalists complained bitterly of the extraordinarily ian0 ° and hi high pitch of the p he sympat zed with them ,

but he let the blame rest with the piano . Secondary chords of the seventh are very largely em

- m n ployed in latter day usic , and an accompa ist might well

be excused , but very seldom is , for pl aying the following 8 Th e A rt of A ccompanying

as if it were a chord of the dominant seventh in B l) with A l:] and continuing in B l) till he discovered his error

If the next example

* Little Grey House in the West : He rmann L oh r

* B k ind e mi s ion o f Ch Co. L td y p r s appell , .

- were played without the key signature being ﬁrst noted , not it is impossible that it would b e started in El) major , as nothing occurs till the second half of the third bar ”W T which could not belong just as well to Eb as to B l) maj or

E Ab ven here would not be discordant , but there is such a look of dominant seventh of B l) that the accompanist l would fee impelled to glance back to s e e if he h ad been i play ng in the wrong key . Th e ke y might also be mis t F aken for maj or , but then the mistake would be dis c overed earlier, as the hideous effect of the E5] in the bass

1 0 The A rt of Accompanying

what the ﬁngers are able to execute . After that , the

pieces selected should be of increasing difﬁculty , and

the student should , eventually , practise the reading of

music which , to play correctly , would necessitate a con

considerable amount of practice . He will then have the

experience that , at one time or another , falls to the lot n to ke e s ome thin oin of every accompa ist , of having p g g g that shall sound neither incorrect nor inadequate in an accompaniment of which it would be impossible for him to absorb all the details mentally or to execute all the passages technically without previously studying the w hilst la in work . He must adapt and simplify p y g , and must endeavor to translate very difﬁcult chord and ar

peggio passages into a simple form , but one that shall give ’ a fairly adequate idea of the composer s intention . In reading at sight , all music must be played without stop or hesitation ; the natural instinct to slacken the time at a

complicated passage , to go back and repeat a phrase , or f to hesitate before a di ﬁcult bar or unusual chord , must be resisted with the greatest ﬁrmness . From the very beginning of his training the student must imagine , every time he reads a new piece of music at sight , that he is playing for some artist at a concert , and , whatever hap

h e m u st not s ta . e n pens , p He should , at the same time , de av or to notice as many as possible of the details of light

- and shade , expression , part playing , etc ., but should never attempt any pieces , except slow or moderately slow ones , at the full rate of speed . After having played to a certain point he should then go back and play it a second , and then a third time and notice how many of the details that . he has overlooked at the first playing he is able to at tend to at the second , and how many more at the third attempt . A piece that contains many changes in the figure of the accompaniment should always be counted quietly . Students whose weak point is Time will find it help ful to play the voice - parts of some of the operatic reci tativ e s . The following is an excellent example , and Re ading at Sight 1 1 should be counted out loud or played with a metronome

Der Fre is chﬁtz : W e b e r

Accidentals must be very carefully observed through out the bar in which they occur . It is even a wise plan ’ to remind one s self of such accidentals by s aying them quietly until the bar is ﬁnished: In the s ame way it is advisable to remind one ’ s self from time to time of the ke - s i nature hi a y g , w le playing n accompaniment wherein are found either a number of modulations or any passage of considerable length in an unrelated key .

Another trap for the unwary m ust b e mentioned . Two notes in a song , especially if alphabetically next to each n s a n to th e s ame other , when joined by a legato mark , a d g s llable y , often appear to be the same note written twice and tied . The accompanist therefore goes straight on , m a ralle ntando and the singer , who y wish to make a , is dragged on to the second note before he or she is ready for it . A typical example will be found in the extract ’ “ ” R H n s from eynaldo ah Si mes vers avaient des ailes , 5 3 quoted on page , where , in the last bar of the voice F —E part , it is quite possible that the two notes ﬁ might be mistaken for a tied Fi“! The possibility that such an error may occur is caused by the fact that an accompanist , even in a simple work , seldom feel s impelled to devote the same de taile d atten

- tion to the voice part that he does to the pianoforte p art . U is nless the former of a ﬂorid nature , he instinctively l n abs e nce re ies to a certai extent upon the words , and the of a word or syllable and the pre s e nce of a legato mark would be likely to make more impression upon him than would the fact that the notes are even as much as a third

. hi s di t apart T s demonstrate further the absur y , so long apparent to musicians , of using the same sign to indicate 1 2 The A rt of A ccompanying

t hat two notes have to be played leg ato or that the second o ne is tied and has not to be played . An accompanist s hould never omit to look carefully t hr ough any work before beginning to play it . It happens s is s ometime that a page missing or is upside down , or t hat there is a m isprint . This is of frequent occurrence ; it is only necessary to mention that a song by B lumenthal was printed and r eprinted for years with an Fl! for an Ft] ;

- F and a well known s ong by aur e , which must have p assed h m s t rough very any editions , till has D17 for q in a c ertain phrase in each of its three verses . in i o m Sometimes , the m ddle of a performance , an acc p anist will discover that he has been given a new and u nc ut copy . Apart from these interesting but disconcert ing incidents , a perfectly correct but unusual chord may prove somewhat confusing , such as the ﬁrst chord in the b ar given b e lO W '

Tri stan ( Act

n t The brai migh realize that the upper note was Cb , b ut it is quite natur al that the finger should insist upon not as i is m i playing C natural , C sharp , t im ed ately ap parent that it is not an ordinary octave ; but th e combina t ion of C sharp and C flat is s o s eldom m e t with that it is not at all certain it would be played correctly at first s . r l is no n ight Where a ehearsa t obtai able , the adv an t ages of a preliminary glance thr ough th e music c an hardly be overestimated . Many chords and p assages that are t echnically awkward or uncomf ortable to play if the ao c om ani st p is quite unprep ared , often present very few d i fficulties if he h as taken the trouble to look carefully r th ough the music beforehand . CHAPTER III

TECHNI QUE AND REPERTOIRE

The next qualiﬁcation for the accompanist - s tudent is i i r an ample technique , wh ch must be acqu red th ough a

complete and comprehensive cour se of study . There are ni as l as ar e many pia sts , amateur we l professional , who endowed with a natural ﬂuency of ﬁnger and an ability to read at sight which enable them to go harmlessly through an entire concert without making their part in

the programme either ostentatious or interesting . Pianists of this typ e seldom make the best accomp ani sts ; techni cal difﬁculties trouble them so little that they seldom feel any

inclination to prac tise . An accomp anist who practises tech not an i nique , and who , being a capable but mmaculate ﬁ n reader , nds it helpful to study the accompa iments he nuances will have to play , has time to study the of ex i i pression , gets to kno w someth ng of the inner mean ng of n the differe t works , and is , thereby , enabled to impart a very necessary m eas ure of artistic interest to his share in the programme ; for accompaniments , although not meant nl in to be ostentatious , are certai y not meant to be un t e r

esting . If the solo p art were all that an audience were i O n n i supposed to l sten to , the pe i g symphony m ght just as l we l consist of a single chord , and there would be no occasion for the accompaniment to possess either character

or descriptive color . The reason that systematic training wi is so important , even for those who are gifted th a con s ide rab le measure of technical ﬂuency , is not only that a natural technique is seldom adequate to meet all the

demands which may be made upon it , but tha t the natural and u ntrained pianist h as not the power to vary th e quality of his tone or h is touch ; and variety of touch and tone - color are dominant factors in helping a vocalist to create the right atmosphere of a song . The full impor i w l tance of th s ill be rea ized later , when the varia tions of 1 3 1 4 The A rt of Accompanying

touch and tone needed for the accompanying of different

styles of music are explained and illustrated . The acqui s ition and reten tion of a high standard of technique ne ce s

sitate continuous practice . The student must make a point of practising daily before his opportunities of ao ob companying in public arrive , and must have as his je ctiv e the high level of achievement that would be ne c e s

sary for him were he studying to be a solo pianist . In

‘ . fact , he must be a solo pianist in these days At many

concerts , especially in the country , the accompanist is expected to play a solo in each part ; and the importa and interest of the concert will be enhanced or minimized according to the artistic value of the solos chosen and the

merit of their performance . ’ When playing at a violinist s recital , an accompanist must be prepared to play any Sonata for the two instru ments that the concert - giver may wish to include in the

programme . Continuous and s erious study is not only re aration e u necessary as a p p for public work , but when g ag e m e nts begin to come and the student p asses from the obscurity of the amateur to the digniﬁed status of the pro f s ional r ac e s , it is more imperative than ever for him to p tise continually and systematically so that he may never

fall below the standard with which he sets out . He will be well advised also to pay careful attention to his pedalling .

The right , or damper , pedal should be used with rather more restraint than is necessary in pianoforte solos . In music of and prior to Mozart ’ s day it should be used very

sparingly indeed . The artistic effects resorted to by solo a te r pianists , such as the depression of the pedal f a chord on and its release the succeeding chord , with the obj ect le ato artial of obtaining a satisfactory g , the occasional p av i depression of the pedal , the o dance of the pedal in a passage that has neither change of harmony nor passing

notes , but where a suggestion of blur , harmonic back ground o r overtones would be inappropriate ; all these are

desirable effects for the accompanist to study and employ . Although the damper pedal is not needed so frequently i n Te ch nique and Rep e rtoire 1 5

y in - s o t accompan ing as solo playing , the left or f pedal is ve ile d needed more , and for this reason : The sound pro duc e d by this pedal does not interfere with the clearness of the melody which is entrusted to the solo vocali s t or is i instrumentalist ; besides , when he (or she) s nging or ianis s imo c i playing p , the a compan ment should be even ianis s imo th i more p , and the simplest way to produce e ﬂ e ct is to employ the soft pedal . m The next , and perhaps the ost arduous , part of his 1 task is the study of hi s repertoire . It must b e remembered that although an accompanist must b e prepar e d to plav i wi ll y anyth ng at sight , he alwa s g ive a better performance now s of an accompaniment that he k . Sir Frederic Cowen ,

ﬁrs - himself a t rate and experienced accompanist , used to “ ” say : Never re ad an y thi ng ; know e ve ryth ing . It is a At counsel of perfection , but the advice is sound . any rate , ul e v e rv hi n one sho d know t g possible , because (if for no other reason) in readi ng at sight it is impossible to attend to all details of light and shade , phrasing , expression and interpretation . It is not a matter of general knowledge that a great ’ part , often the greatest part , of an accompanist s work is not done at concerts , but consists of working with singers at their own houses and rehearsing with them the works ’ that they have to sing in public . In an accompani st s early days he may get an opport unity of working with an Operatic vocalist who may be studying one of the chief ’ r Ole s in The Nib elun s Rin Tris tan a nd I s olde Th e g g , , or Ill eis rs in v te ge r. None of these O per as are ph e no m e nall or

ifﬁ - impossibly d cult to play at sight . A ﬁrst rate reader l wou d be able to give a fair performance of any of them . This b v no means implies that the rehearsal wo uld be a

1 The advice given on thi s subject is meant to apply onl y to students w h o h ave s o me ros ect b tai i p p s of o n ng p rof es s ional e ng age me nts . It would entail a needless expenditure of time on the part of any one who is not likely b e o a w o to brought into c nt ct ith c ncert artists, and who would have few O t i ppor un ties of accompanying , except for amateurs at an occasional musical y at home, to devote hours to the stud of the pianoforte parts of songs , operas , or violin and violoncello solos . 1 6 The A rt of A ccomp anying

satisfactory one , for the playing of many passages would necessarily bear an unsatisfactory and makeshift char te m i acter , and (most important of all) most of the p would O r be inaccurate . An peratic s inge expects , and has a h a right to expect , that at eac change of tempo the c m nist b ar h co p a will , from the ﬁrst of suc change, play the

tempo that the composer intended , or that has been hal

lowed by tradition as correct . If he had never previously a heard the work he was accompanying , but h d carefully

studied the score , he would adapt himself to these changes of tempo far more readily than if he were playing the

work for the ﬁrst time . An added advantage in his knowing the score lies in the fact that in duets and other concerted numbers he will be expected to play or sing the other or some other

part . It is a strange thing tha t nearly every accompanist n e labors under the delusio that h is a born vocalist , and

always prefers to sing the other p art . It is not an adv is _

able proceeding . A far better plan is to play the voice

part and , when it is necessary to give a cue for the entry to s a th e w ords out lou d hi of the s oloist , y w lst playing the

notes of the m elody . It is easy to s e e that the mere acquisition of a répe r i o n it toire s n light task , but the is no light task to become

a competent professional accompanist ; nor s hould it be . e e oire l s n His r p rt , if es exacting tha that of the solo pianist , is l s must be almost as comprehensive . It es exacting ,

m n - in because , whilst the soloist ust be ote perfect works l f of immense technica di ficulty , and must know enough pieces w ithout th e music to be able to give recitals and to n l diffi play concertos at orchestral concerts , the tech ica cul ie s t encountered are s eldom quite so formidable , and it is only on rare occasions that he is expected to accompany — by h eart and then only something very simple and mi fa liar . In rehearsing operas with vocalists it is not even necessary for him to be note - perfect ; as long as he n plays with ease , knowledge and co fidence , meticulous

accur acy is not by any means essential .

1 8 Th e A rt of A ccompanying

Le Bal c o n: De b u s s y

With a view to assisting the student in the preparation e e rtoir e of his r p , a list of works is given at the ends of the chapters devoted to different classes of music that he and may at any time be called upon to play , that it will ,

him . therefore , be advisable for to become acquainted with To do this eff ectually he will ﬁnd it helpful to join a

- music lending library . Only works are given of which the pianoforte p art presents some very deﬁnite difﬁculty . A certain amount of monotony and tedium is necessarily involved in the continuous practising of accompaniments ’ by one s self . This can be obviated very largely , and the greater part of this work rendered interesting and , at the s u e s same time , educational , by adopting the following gg tions . Nearly every pianoforte student must know , or could get to know , other students who are either taking

- n singing lessons or learni g some stringed instrument , and it should not be a difﬁcult matter to arrange to play for them for a few hours every week . Those who are at Musical Colleges or Academies would probably b e Te chniqu e and Repertoire 1 9

i l O perm tted to accompany occasional y at the peratic class ,

or allowed to play for some of the pupils in singing , violin ,

. i nl m or Violoncello Th s should not o y b e per itted , but ’ shou ld b e m ade a compu ls ory p art of th e piano s tu de nt s ’ cu rri cu lu m , and no week s work should be considered complete unless the pianoforte - lesson had been supple m e nt e d by one or more practices with a vocalist , or a performer on some other instrument . CHAPTER IV

TRANSP OSING

The question is often asked : Is it possible to learn ! ” transposing , or is it purely a natural gift This question is one to which it is somewhat difﬁcul t to give a quite satis

factory answer . That a few musicians possess this faculty

in a superlative degree is incontestable . There is a well ’ authenticated case of a pianis t s transposing his part of a violin and piano Sonata b y Sj ogren a s emitone lower because the violinist would not tune h is instrument up to

th e high pitch of the piano . The Sonata is of considerable l f not technica and h armonic di ﬁculty , and the pianist had no ad n n only t rehearsed the work , but h ever see or heard

it till he was called upon to play it .

The power to transpose with s uch facility is intuitive , . and can never b e acquired ; but a few hints and s u gg e s tions m ay be given which should render the transposition of an ordinary s ong a s emitone or a tone higher or lower

a comparatively easy m at ter .

To begin with , a sound fundamental knowledge of

harmony is indispensable , especially the ability to recog — nize all chords (sevenths dominant , s econdar or dimin — y ish e d as well as triads) ; also to which note of the

scale each one belongs and which position it is in . One n a must also be able to recog ize m odulation , whether m omentary or transitional , or a deﬁnite modulation to a key in which the piece or s ong will remain for an appre i l c ab e length of time . One m ust transpose pri marily al h abeticall s s u b p y, alway retaining a consciousness (or consciousness) of the h armonic outline . An illustration will show that this is not as confusing s as it ounds . The subjoined extract , which offers a very m ’ simple example , is fro Henry Smart s The Lady of the L ” n ea , and is tra sposed a semitone down , that is , from Trans p os ing Q1

E5 major to D major , a line of the transposed version b e m di li g given imme ately below a ne of the original key .

Th e La dy o f t h e L e a: H e nr y S mart 2 I 1 2 ! i vi 1 rv i rv i rv i v ,

s v s t e m y As the of ﬁguring emplo ed is not in general use , it requires a word of exp lanation . The Roman ﬁg ures indicate to what degree of the scale the chord belongs ; the 7 beside some chords shows that they are chords of the

to x l seventh ; and the small numbers at the p 3 e p ain in w h at osition . s V p the chord is For in tance , 7 is meant to indicate a chord of the seventh on the fifth note of the hi scale in the t rd position (second inversion) . For the r pu poses of transposition , the first chord in bar 7 is treated as a transitional modulation to B 7 . There is no actual indi cation in bar 9 of a definite modulation to thi s k e y B i ( b) , but the ton c chord suggests it as probable and it

n 1 - is co ﬁrmed in the next bar by an A 1 in the voice part . Thi s harmoni c outline of chords in their various positions 22 The A rt of Accompanying is what the student must have in the back of his mind e e ct when transposing , but he should not try to j the transposition thus ; his attention must be concentrated on the fact that the music is to be played one lette r lower tw o s h ar s and that , in the present instance , p take the place of thre e ﬂ ats . The transposition of a tone involves almost exactly the same mental process as that of a semitone ; that is , the notes become one letter higher or lower than they are

- t written , but the key signature will be differen from that required for transposition by a semitone . The realization of chords and chord - p assages is par i ularl fﬁ . t c y helpful where technical di culties occur If , for ke ' of instance , in a piece of music in the y G , a very rapid n u a d exacting passage occ rred which , however , cont ained i only the notes D , Fii, A , C : t should be an easy mat ter to perceive at once that this is nothing more complicated than a chord of the dominant seventh , and it should not be difﬁcult to substitute s ome kind of pass age on the dominant seventh of whatever key was needed for the transposition . There is no occasion to quote examples ; any student

- can ﬁnd a large number of rapid arpeggio passages where , whilst the actual notes are difﬁcult to play correctly when t i ransposing , the harmonic outline s quite simple and kee s ome straightforward ; so that , as long as he was able to p thin h a e nin on n g pp g the correct chords , the tra sposition s a t t of the ong would become leas a technical possibility , and the performance could take place in the ke y desired by the singer .

There is one transposition of a semitone which , though it looks easy , often contains a subtle and unwelcome s t1r D prise ; namely , such a transposition as from D to b , or F from F to it. Here the notes remain alph abe tically the same , and all that has to be remembered is the different key signature . This is such plain sailing that the ae com p anist hardly gives it a thought till he 1 s rudely awakened by the sudden appearance of a chord that 1s quite foreign Trans p osing 23

to the key . He may be transposing from G to Gb and upon turning over the page (for these tragedies usually occur where they are likely to cause the greatest inc on v e nie nc e ) may come across a passage in B b major . In a case like thi s it is not wise for him to to thi nk of the s a me le tte rs i l a sem tone lower , as they wou d mostly b e double

flats . What he must do is to fix his attention instantly on the fact that a semi tone lower than Bb is A . The B A tonic of b thus becomes the tonic of , and as long as the music remains in B b he m ust think A m ajor ke y and n m i e A maj or harmo ies , but ust be prepared , d rectly it r r ke h tu ns to the original y , or to some key wit sharps on its way to the original key , to remember that the notes become once more alph ab etically the s ame as they appear m i in the usic , six flats tak ng the place of one sharp . The “ ” following (from Die Stille , by Schumann) is an example of thi s kind of abrupt change :

Th e not e s alph a Th e note s alph ab eti cally b e nc any th e s ame one l e tte r l ow e r

Another transposition of a semitone has a peculiar difﬁculty of its o wn— the transposition by a semitone from

C major , either U p o r do wn ; the difﬁculty being to decide whether to think the transposition up as being to C;4 or D b , i n dow n C and the transpos tio to b or B . It depends entirely upon the accidentals and m odulations that occur l n r the cou se of the piece . If there were a great number of sharps in a piece that had to be transposed a sem itone 24 The Art of Accompanying

h in igher from C , or a great number of ﬂats the trans

position by a semitone lower , it would be wise to think D of the former as a transposition to b , and the latter to

B , and thus avoid the needless complication of continual

double sharps and double ﬂats . The advisability of look ing thr ough the music before playing it is here further

exempliﬁed . as Reference , so far , h been made only to transpositions

of not m ore than a tone up or down ; that is , to a key that

al h abe ticall . is p y a note higher or lower The student , hav ing practised transposing a semitone and a tone higher hi s and lower , should turn attention to transpositions of

a major and minor third . If he has acquired any facility in the closer transpositions , this should not give him much trouble . The m ethod to be adopted is somewhat different

and , in some respects , easier . n He must begin by regarding the notes , ot so much as notes with alphabetical names , but purely as lines and s aces p . In transposing a third up or down , it does not matter how many le tters higher or lower the notes become ;

' m th at e v e r what does atter is y line remains a line , every r th e line or th e s a space emains a space , being p ce imm e dia te ly ab ove or b e low th e one w ritte n . The only difference between the transposition of a major and minor third , like n the transposition of a semito e and tone , is in the key signat ure .

a thi rd l ow e r a t h ird high e r

Sig natur e e ith e r tw o s harp s S na u e e 1 e s i x fl a s or f ive f lat s ig t r th r t or one s h arp

Quite apart from the carelessness of a singer who may bring a soprano song in the contralto key , or vice ve rs a — , it often happens that a guest at a private hous e it may n — be a famous professional si ger is asked to sing , and the

, , host hostess or one of the other guests has some music ,

26 Th e A rt of A ccompanying

difﬁculty to transpose these songs a semitone or a tone

higher or lower . The accompaniments that are really is difﬁcult to transpose , although the difﬁculty not ade l qu ate y appreciated , are those which consist of a moving

ﬁgure (not an arpeggio) , of rapid changes of harmony , of

unusual chords and unexpected modulations . In order to test thi s the student should ﬁrst turn to the few simple “ ” looking bars from Dabbling in the Dew (p . and ff C transpose them straight o into , say , ﬁminor , a semitone A lower . He should then try the following in b , a semitone

higher . He will probably ﬁnd the former much more

difﬁcult than it appears , and the following number almost

impossible .

Th e V i o let : Fr e d e r i ck De l 1 ns

hi Concerning t s subject , it is not possible to do much more than offer the above hi nts and suggestions ; but with

a little steady practice on these lines , supplemented by

experience , an accompanist should ﬁnd it almost as easy to transpose a fairly simple accompaniment by a semitone in i s or even a tone as to play it t original ke y . CHAPTER V

ALTERATIONS IN ACCOMPANIMENTS

It will be noticed that in some chapters , notably those E dealing with Operatic Music , nglish Ballads , and Folk songs , certain alterations in the pianoforte part are sug gested . As this is a matter of some importance, a few preliminary words on the subject follow here . Alterations in the text of an accompaniment m ay be arranged under three headings : Alterations that are nece s s ar A advis able A y, lterations that are , and lterations that b r A are allow a le . There is a fou th , lterations that are abl hi no inexcus e , w ch includes every species t comprised under the ﬁrst thr ee headings . A change in the notes of an accompaniment is necessary only in a passage of such technical difﬁculty that it is impossible to give a satis factory performance of it as written . This is generally found in music that has been arranged from an orchestral hi score , where the c ef concern of the arranger has been to make the music as faithf ul a reproduction as possible of i the or ginal score , so that passages are often included

dif un- which are either needlessly ﬁcult , pianistic , or absolutely impossible of performance . The question of “ allowable” alterations opens up a much wider ﬁeld of discussion . There is no solo pianist of any standing or eminence who plays every piece of music exactly as it

r . w itten If he is merely an executant , using the music as

- loriﬁca i a means of self g t on and technical display , he is like ly to add nothing to it but what will tend to disﬁg ur e ’ it and to obscure the composer s intentions . If , on the h other and , he uses his technical equipment as a necessary adjunct to his powers of interpretation and expression , that portion of himself which he puts into the work he is l performing will , in all probabi ity , be found to be both appropriate to the music and helpful to a proper under s tanding of it . It m atters little what alterations m ay be 27 Q8 The A rt of A ccomp anying

e mployed to impart this individuality of treatment ; they cre s ce ndo diminu may consist of effects of and e ndo, of prominence given to subsidiary parts , of subtle pedal h effects , of variations of tempo or p rasing not indicated s t u in the score . A good idea of re pec f l alterations c an be gathered from a careful study of three or four different editions of the same works . There are several editions of the pianoforte compositions of all the great masters who wrote for this instrument , wherein the music is treated k with sympathy , profound nowledge and the greatest reverence ; yet the suggestions as to performance in one edi tion differ m aterially and considerably from those con 1 taine d in another edition . A certain liberty and elas ticity are both permissible and desirable in the performance of n a y and every class of music , and it stands to reason that any interpretative effect that is legitimate in a piano f orte solo is equally legitimate in the pianoforte solo p ortion of an accompaniment . But the accompanist must make sure that the effect is legitimate and must refrain altogether from introducing it if he has doubt or misgivings o n the subject . An illustration of Alterations that are advis able is

- a fforded by the accompaniments to Folk songs where , in the printed C opy , the melody is repeated with the same a ccompaniment for many consecutive Verses . hi l i In t s class of music , as wi l be exempl ﬁed later , an a dded sensation of charm and spontaneity can be im arted to the performance by a varied and tactful treatment p — o f the pianoforte part . With regard to Alterations that come under the heading of merely allow able . These are concerned primarily

1 The student will ﬁnd it interesting and helpf ul to make a careful ’ B - P e xamination of ach s Forty eight reludes and Fugues as edited by Czerny, P nter alia Kroll , and Germer ; of the Cotta and auer editions (i ) of the ’ B eethoven Sonatas ; and of some of the numerous editions of Chopin s works ; K ullak Klindw o rt h on no account omitting the editions of and , whose sug gestions for interpretation should be compared with the work of other editors i n this direction . A somewhat extreme case in point is afforded by the sug ’ ’ P W gested alterations in Liszt s edition of Schubert s ianoforte orks , although t h e original text is g iven in every ins tance . A lterations in Accompanime nts 29

with a certain class of English ballad , where the accom ni n p a m e t is so bald and unconvincing a narrative , both in its technical and harmonic outline , that it becomes O allowable , and in some cases almost bligatory , to amplify the passages . Under great provocation it is also justiﬁable occasionally to impart a little m ore Variety to the harmony than has been provided by the composer . In the succeeding chapters , s uggestions will be given as to th e manner in which all these alterations , necessary , advis able , and per

e c . missible , should b arried out CHAPTER VI

OPERATIC ACCOMPANYING

One of the earliest facts that the student- accompanist for must endeavor to grasp is , that it is just as essential

’ him as it is for the vocalist to vary his s tyle in accordance All with the class of m usic he has to accomp any . art , i except the very h ghest , is stamped with the hallmark of its nationality and betrays on its surface the characteristics

of the country that has given it birth . The very highest

alone is above all nationality . Greek drama and Greek o sculpture , o ur w n Shakespeare , and German music , belong i n l to no age , to no period and to no people ; there s o ocal

color in them , because they are not local b ut universal .

' - All m ankind is their province . A work b y Saint Saens is a is un unmistakable French music , s a work by Grieg N mistakable orwegian , or at least Northern . B ut in a B B work by ach , eethoven or Wagner the nationality i s not established b y any stereotyped progressions of inter b ar vals , y characteristic cadences or peculiarities of h

. h matter monic outline It is t e that counts here, and manner l h not the , and the esson for t e accompanist to m is n i draw fro this , that whe play ng a work stamped with m local color , h e ust play it as if he wer e a compatriot if of the composer , as he belonged to the country from s h ad S h l which thi work prung ; that is , wit the loca charac i t e rist cs well brought out . B ut when playing a work that i l b e has no deﬁn te ocal color , he must the composer and ’ not merely a countryman of the composer s . When playing m n or a Schumann or Schubert song , he ust be Schuman la in his ow n s on n Schubert p y g g , and ot m erely a stranger

interpreting the ideas of a m usician of an earlier and , in m a any respects , n alien age . Operatic music may be divided roughly into two s chools , the school of Italian opera and the school of Operatic Accompanying 3 1

German opera ; the former comprising works consisting i wholly or mainly of complete airs , duets , etc ., wh ch can be detached from the context and performed effectively as concert numbers ; the latter including works wherein n the music is wholly or m ainly of a continuous ature , the numbers that lend themselves to isolated perform ance being 1 fa as O the exception rather than the rule . As r peratic

work is concerned , it is the former of these two schools of music that an accompanist will have chieﬂy to deal with

on the concert platform , therefore the greater part of this

chapter will be devoted to its consideration . When playing the various arias , s cenas and other detached numbers O ni far from the Italian peras the accompa st must , as as l lies in his power , project himse f into the spirit of the l h its n in music , im bue h imse f wit ationality , other words , o a m mus t b e f r the moment n Italian , playing the usic of his ow n country . To accomplish this with any degree of success h e must begin by m aking himself conversant with the traditions and conventions associated with the inter i pre tat on of these works . I tr molo i h n playing the e , which s t e conventional form in R of accompaniment a ecitative , it is cus tomary to play

a sforz ando at each change of harmony. This i s usually s s indicated by fp or fpp , but there are m any places where it will b e found desirable to introduce this effect where it

is no t m arked . Where the same harmony continues for an two or more bars , accent at the beginning of each bar ,

- h . and a slight accent at t e h alf beat , is a help to the singer

Ivanhoe : Sull iv an

E n R ve a ecitative ne e d not be formless .

1 O n Other schools of pera , such as the French , Russian and E glish , ﬁ although possessing de nite national characteristics O f their own , may all

be said , in a general way , to fall partially or completely into one or other of

these categories . 82 Th e A rt of A ccompanying

The next and one of the most usual forms of accom

anim e nt R p to a ecitative , consists of short passages that ins tru come betw ee n the vocal phrases , vocal passage and mental p assage succeeding one another . These latter (if in allegro time) must not be played with metronomic exact

s trin e ndo a itato . ness , but with a g or g effect

Di norah : Me y e r b e e r

L a Rei ne de S ab a : G o u no d

When the accompaniment consists of single , detached chords , they must be played with great decision , whether e they come with the voice , marking the outlin of a phrase , or (as is more often the case) after each vocal phr ase . They always sound very decided when played by an orchestra , because , as a rule , the conductor does not beat time through the unaccompanied vocal part ; he just gives e the beat for these chords , which nsures a certain crispness ﬁni and de te ne s s . When they occur separated b y an interval of h alf a bar or more , they always sound par ticularl fo n : A y decided , and r this r easo single beat is a dow nw ard beat , or the one given for the ﬁrst accent in a bar ; every one of these isolated chords is consequently played with the decision associated with th e strongest accent in a bar .

The opening symphony of almost any operatic air , A b rillante con written in llegro time and marked f, ﬂ , ,

in 3 4 The Art of Accompany g

The audience will then at once realize the change of mood ’ and atmosphere without having to wait for the soprano s “ ” O ciel and the high G . Al though to produce this or any effect a pianist will naturally employ whatever system of touch and technique impressions and willing to experiment in new directions likely to lead to desirable results . There is one method an a v a which , though unsuited to y but ery limited cl ss of ff solo work, is peculiarly e ective in the brilliant symphonic portions of the Italian Operatic airs . It can best be de r scribed as an accent on eve ry note . The late Signo Tito Mattei was the chief exponent of this class of playing . For many years he never played anything in public but s his o w n compositions , and the curiou individuality he gave to them was largely caused b y this s ystem of acc e n

n h is are , tu ation . A few bars of o e of solos quoted so marked as to give an impression of his method of per form ance :

Fete ch ampétre : Tito Matt e l

Signor M atte i was one of the best accompanists of Italian O i m operat c usic of his time , and no one who heard him could eas1ly forget the verve and vitality with which he used to play the opening symphony of a brilliant Scena or Aria . w o m T examples are given , arked on the same lines as the extract given above : Operatic A ccompanying 3 5

“ ’ Ah s L aTrav iata: V e rd , for é i

are in th e s cor The accents in the following e , and have not been altered in any way

Toreador Carmen: B i z e t

B rmi ion o f y pe ss Me tzler Co L ond on.

s s h In cla of music , the t ree kinds of alteration , i necessary , advisable and perm ssible , are frequently em ’ ployed . The ﬁrst is required in the numerous instances where , owing to the carelessness with which the music has been adapted , p assages of needless technical difﬁculty have been included . The following is a typical example

“ Tace a 1a Il Trovatore : V e r di Allegro

At the rate at which this air is usually sung , the r accompaniment , as w itten , is almost impossible of per 3 6 The A rt of A ccompanying

form ance . In such a case single notes must be substituted i i for octaves , as ind cated (the smaller notes to be om tted) , and other passages of corresponding difﬁculty that will be met wi th from time to time must be simpliﬁed in any way that retains the general effe ct without imposing any

undue strain on the accompanist . There are two kinds of accomp animent ; one forming i an integral part of an organic whole , the song depend ng for its artistic u nity on the combined values of voice - part

- i and piano part , and the other possessing no intr nsic merit of its own except as a medi um for supporting the not voice . Thi s latter kind need be treated with any special reverence if it presents any serious techni cal — difficulty The alterations that are either advisable or l permi ssible consist of the fol owing : First , an Amplification of any very simple accompaniment where some common place figure is repeated for a great number of bars (this may be left to the taste and discretion of the accompani st) ;

y or r s , and , secondl , the playing , for a few bars ph a es of the melody in unison w ith the v oig There ar e sixteen bars of the following ﬁgur e in the Duet from Nor ma

, It is quite allowable , besides being a help to the singer to alter it thus :

R H “ nth V oi c e

A few bars of the melody are so frequently played by one or more instruments in the orchestra and omitted from the Operatic A ccompanying 3 7

pianoforte arrangement that , in many cases , this hardly

. e n l ranks as an alteration At the end of a song , a p u ti mate high note is often found without an accompanying e chord . Some singers like to hav a chord introduced , and prefer that the bass should be played tre molo as a sup port :

e e : Go nod Vals . Rom o e t Juliette u

Musical taste h as changed so much in re cent years that it is a comparative rarity to ﬁnd m ore than one number from any of the early Italian Operas included in a m odern concert programme . Many vocalists nowadays

hi m . eschew t s class of usic altogether Still , although they turn their attention far m ore to the works of the great ’ - mode rn song writers , to Wagner s operas and those of the Trovatore Italian school , the famous solo numbers from , Travi ata Ernani i oletto , , R g and other works of that period w in ill , all likelihood , retain a measure of vitality for a considerable number of years . After all , if this music was r clas si cal vocal o a neve , it was always , and it is n t so e sy to write effectively for the voice . Many songs are beautiful as music which are , vocally , unsatisfactory and ineffective . Singers will never quite abandon music which exhibits l their vocal powers to advantage , and a arge section of the public will always remain appreciatively grateful for the tunes that are scattered lavishly throughout these works . It is not onl y an advantage for the student to make himself acquainted with the traditional m ethods of ren i o dering the ch ef operatic r les as regards tempi , light and 3 8 The A rt of A ccompanying

shade , and other interpretative effects , but his performance will gain materially in value if he acquires some knowledge of the orchestral details of the works h e may have to

. n i U accompany This eed not be unduly nsisted pon , for ni the work of the accompa st is already s u ﬂi cie ntly arduous . In many cases orchestral effects have to be trans late d

- b u into piano effects ; t where this is not necessary , the i student who can recollect nstrumental details is advised , an when playing y work arranged from an orchestral score , to vary the quality of hi s tone and touch so as to indicate the instruments employed in the orchestral version . A legato passage written for stringed instruments should be played on the pianoforte with a smoother and more gliding effect than would be necessary if it were written for wood - wind instruments ; whilst in playing music i o n wr tten f r the brass , each ot e m ust be given more deﬁnite individu al signiﬁcance than would be required in

- p assages for either strings or wood wind . o i F r example , the following , wh ch forms the ae com ’ anim e nt s s in Rh ein old p to Wotan ﬁrst olo the g , is scored for throughout trumpets , trombones and tubas , the accents

- being m arked by light arpeggio chords on th e h arp . On the pianoforte each chord should be played with a slight accent to indicate the penetrating quality of these instru o s eci al n ments , and n p pains eed b e taken to connect the chords ; and this despite the fact that th e passage is marked s le ato p and pp , and phra ed for g playing .

’ The next example is from Vulcan ’ s song in Gounod s ’ Philemon e t B aucis : Operatic Accompanying 3 9

An accompanist unfamiliar with the original score might be tempted to play this chromatic scale in the second bar with a certain fullness of tone , and to make the cre s ce ndo of some importance ; but one conversant with the orchestral details would remember that in the orchestra it is given to a single oboe , and he should therefore p lay it with an extremely thin quality of touch suggesting the employment of a weak solo instrument . Another charac te ris tic example is afforded by the accompaniment of the

- i S a second verse of the well known a r from ms on e t Dalila . The s hort chromatic scale - passages are played by a single ﬂute answered by a single clarinet or two clarinets in n octaves ; the accompaniment , o divided strings , being of the very lightest texture

Andantino

An accompanist who knew the orchestra] score would endeavor to give some indication of this , or might prefer to give a s omewhat more faithful transcription even at the cost of a little enhanced difﬁculty . 40 The A rt of A ccompanying

REPERTOIRE

SOP RANO

Plus gr and dan s son O b s curité (Re ine de Sab a) Go unod JC h ans o n des bijoux ( Je w el - Song) ( Fa u st) ’ ’ Ah s é lui t V , for ( Travia a) Tacc a la notte (Trovato re) Ritorno v in cit or ( Ai da) Verdi Ernani inv ola m i ( Ernani) o V Caro nome ( Rigolett ) Dove sono ( Noz z e di Fi garo) ‘ B b n atti , atti ( Don Giova ni) is S f y P re is ch iit z W r Le e, leise ( o tl sighs) ( Der ) ebe ' ’ Eliz a b e th s Gre eting ( Tannh aus e r) Omb ra leggiera ( Sh ado w - Song) ( Dinorah) Me y erbe er Hab anera l C h anso n bo heme ( Carmen) B izet V Je di s que rien ne m e p o u v ante I ’ i e J a n d A r c Ad eu , for ts ( e n e ) P y ux L e leurez , mes e ( Cid) Il est doux (H éro dia de ) B ell - So ng ( La km e) Je i P a s v suis Titan a . olacc ( Mig non) Ambroise Thom a Depuis le jour (Lo ui se) Charpentier goi lo sa pete ( Cavalleria R u stica na) Mascagni n i mi chi amano Sl im ’ ’ ( La Boheme) l Q uando m en v o ' P uccini Vis si d art e ( La To s ca ) Un b e l di v e dremo ( Madame B utterﬂ y) J

CONTRALTO

’ Mon coe ur s ouvr e a ta voix (Sams on) Saint - Saé ns O don fatale ( Don Carlos) V erdi TENOR

a r F S lv e , dimo a ( aus t) Le nd me y our aid ( La R e ine de Sab a ) ’ La ﬂ e ur que tu m av ais jetée ( Carmen) Celes te Aida ( Aida) Che gelida manina ( La Boheme) E lucevan le s telle ( La Tosca) f ' Preis li e d ( Mei s t e r sun g e r) BASS

She alone ch arm e th m y sadness (R e ine de Saba) Au brui t d e s lour ds marte a ux ( Phil emon e t B aucis) ‘ Non pi ti an drai ( Nozz e di Fi garo) E ri tu ( B all o in Mas chera) Pro logue ( Paglia c c i) Tore a dor So ng ( Carm en) ' Figaro s Song (Il Barb iere) Wahn ! VVahn ! ( Meis t ersinger)

CHAPTER VII

AIRS FROM THE ORATORIOS

The style of playing and quali ty of touch appropriate

to the accompaniment of airs from the Oratorios differ , in in one important respect , from those used accompanying

any other c las s O f music . In the forte and fortis sim o

passages of the symphonic portions , brilliance , sparkle and m r glitter are no longer required , and ust be eplaced by A ne w atmos h e re h as ﬁrmness , steadiness and seriousness . p m to b e cre ate d. In accompanying secular vocal usic , dealing n m vitalit as it does with every phase of huma e otion , y

n . m of touch is one of the primary ecessities Sacred usic , m m where the emotions depicted are , in the ain , ore placid le s s e motional as sis tance and restrained , requires on the

part of the accompanist . A great deal of the pianoforte i hi s music of Brahms , particularly the pianoforte part n h chamber m usic , needs t e ﬁrm , steady , s erious touch that in is desirable the accompaniment to Oratorio , and music

of a s imilar nature . The two following extracts belong to a kindred class of work ; but whereas the opening of the former s hould be played with th e utmost brilliance and decision and a very deﬁnite sforz ando at th e beginning of each bar , the latter should be interpreted with a judicious estr ained i but r ﬁrmness , and an accent rather ind cated than insisted U pon.

S chumann

Piano Quartet : Brat Airs from the Oratorio s 43

This applies in a measur e even when the chords of this latter subj ect appear in a more developed and brilliant form ; dignity and fullness of tone still being more appro priat e as a rendering than anythi ng savoring of virtuoso display .

lVI u ch the same kind of contrast is needed between 3 5 such operatic numbers as are given on p . , and an oratorio n umber like the following :

Honour and Arms : Hande l

hi t , mil T s la ter although a song glorifying itary renown , is . drawn from a work of seri ous intent and of s omewhat formal pattern . It 1s the product of a composer of whom seriousnes s and stateliness were two prevailing character istics s , and hould be played with far les s as se rtive ne s s than air u s an from a p rely ecular work . It will be s een that

- when the voice part begins , the accompaniment , though in i unison with the vo ce , is marked p i ano.

Hon our and arms

hi T s is the rule , and not the exception , even in the most dramatic and declamatory airs from Handel ’ s oratorios . 4 4 The A rt of Accompanying

Somewhat fanciful as many of these suggestions may ni in appear , the accompa st who succeeds realizing the e ssential differences between two such apparently similar ” numbers as the “ Toreador Song ” and Honour and Arms will succeed in imbuing hi s playing of them with the essential difference of j oyousness on the one h and and m s tateliness on the other , necessary to create the ood and xce atmosphere appropriate to each . Of course , many e p t ions occur ; there are dramatic bass solos and sparkling numbers for S oprano , in sacred works , that should be treated with the vigor and ab andon of a descriptive ballad o r an operatic s ce na ; but they are the exception and not t h e rule . 0 O In oratorio as in peratic music , the pianoforte part is sometimes too faithf ul a transcription of the orchestral “ ” s core . In one edition of The Messiah , the contralto air “ 0 Thou that tellest ” has the accompaniment over elaborately transcribed , as shown in the two following extracts “ ” 0 Thou that tellest . Messiah : H and e l

A singer h as only h erself to blame for anything that happens if she gives her accompani st this version to play from . The next extracts are the s ame bars as they appear in the simpler and equally e ﬂ e ctiv e arrangement

It is advisable for an accomp ani st to have a copy of this . vers 1on b y him and to take it with him to any concert at Airs from the Oratorios 45

which he is playing whe re this number is included in the programme . There is a convention in the writing of oratorio

i , Recitative , wh ch , at any rate amongst amateurs is not generally known . The former of the two concluding chords is usually written as if it were to be played w ith the ﬁnal

- s it not note of the voice part , wherea should be played th e - till after that note h as been s ung . When voice part b ﬁnishes on the dominant , no discord is created y playing — : the ﬁrst chord as it is written that is , with the voice

Samson: Hande l

But in the next example it will be seen how necessary it is to play the ﬁrst chord on the second and not on the ﬁrst beat in th e bar

Samson: H ande l

This effect is not reserved for the final chord of a h ras e Recitative , but h as often to be used at the end of a p . An e xample is given where the accompaniment has to cease abruptly at the end of th e s econd beat to avoid the discordant effect that would be produced if it were i s pl ayed as written . The Recitat ve itself doe not end

till ﬁfteen bars later . 4 6 The A rt of A ccompanying

a A s w 1t e n ( b A s l a e d . ( ) r t , ) p y

Je phtha Hand e l

- a l as h me in to mad-nes s . - - Th t ln to mad nes s .

REPERTOIRE

SOP RANO

Hear ye , Israel (Elijah) l l e nde ls soh n Let the b right Seraphim (Samson) Handel CONTRALTO 0 Thou that tellest (Messiah) Handel TENOR Every valley (Messiah) Handel BASS Is not Hi s word (Elijah) Honour and arms (Samson) Wh y do the nations (Messiah) ’ 1 Revenge ( Alexander s F e ast) 1 Oh , ruddier than the cherry (Acis and Galatea)

1 These two numbers are from secular works by Handel , but the music is of the same order as that found in the oratorios and therefore needs the i f f same qual ties o touch and interpretation on the part o the accompanist . CHAPTER VIII

TEMPERAMENT AND ADAPTABILITY

It mus t be remembered that , so far , most of the advice i given has been with reference to the symphon es , or portions of the music in which th e pianist has to perform alone . h i As soon as the voice starts , t e nterest is at once trans ferred to the vocalist and th e accompani st m ust proceed to merge his individuality into that of the artist for whom no b ein ith he is playing . It is t merely a question of g w the singer , O f playing softly or loudly as the vocalist sings softly or loudly . He must project himself into the mood

m . of the singer , ust feel the song as he (or she) feels it i i m If the song m ean s anyth ng to the soloist , t ust mean as much to the accompanist . Any little wave of cres ce ndo or diminu endo must happen simultaneously in voice - part

- i - m and piano part , and wh lst the piano part ust be very

- definitely subservient to the voice part , it should never i m m n n be insign ficant , the rhyth ust ever be eglected , and if the accompanist possesses that priceless and most c necessary gift , a sympatheti and responsive temperament , he will find himself able at times i ntuitive ly to anticipate ’ b the soloist s effects and to feel , y some electric wave of a o ianis s im o sympathy , where pause r a sudden p will be introduced , and , even if unprepared , be able to produce the exact effect that is required . These m oods , which i represent a kind of artistic exaltation , occur ch efly when one is playing for a truly great artist , and need the same expenditure of nervous force and artistic endeavor on the part of th e accompanist as they do o n the part of the vocalist or s olo instrumentalist . It is chiefly a matter is f i of temperament , and very dif icult , if not mpossible , to acquire ; but the possession of it m akes for ideal accom panying and it enhances immensely the pleasure that the audience derives from the performance . It is not possible to count upon rehearsals for the preparation of these effects . 47 48 The A rt of Accomp anying

In the ﬁrst al is not always ob t ainab TOl in n the second place , the vocalist or i strumentalist may have sung or played a phrase with certain effects ve r ri htl when rehearsing , they often , and y g y, alter their rendering at the actual performance under the inﬂuence

hi ' of some sudden inspiration . T s inspiration , even if in a measure it runs counter to the effect indicated by the n composer , is often of great artistic value in creati g a feeling of sp o inevitability . In such accompanist must not remain unresponsive of the moment . If the song is r of a d amatic nature , he must help to create the atmo oi hi ni sphere somet ng tense and vivid happe ng , he must i ” not be merely a gu lty creature sitting at a piano , leaving the vocalist unaided to visualize the story and suggest its environment . He , as well as the singer , must live e l the song , and betwe n them they wil enable the audi ence to live and not merely to listen to it . Several references have been made as to the importance

- of Rhyt hm . It is well nigh the most ess e ntial fac tor in the o playing of any acc mpaniment , as indeed it is in the per form ance - instru of every description of music , vocal , solo or ni mental , orchestral . An accompanist always recog zes at once if the artist—especially the instrumental art ist for whom he is playing is of the ﬁrst rank by h is capacity rh h for yt mical utterance in hi s work . No inf erior artist

i . acc om possesses th s , no great artist is devoid of it The ani st p , therefore , must not fail in such an important detail . Whether playing a military song or an elusive - rh th mical tone poem of the modern French school , the y outline must always be clear and unmistakable , either o i d strongly insisted upon r faintly n icated , as the case may re qu l re .

All these suggestions , especially those in the two pre ceding chapters as to the manner of producing varying s u e s qualities of touch and tone , are to be regarded as gg t di n r vi ions only , depen ng for their value o the e cepti ty of

- the re ade r. e Nothing print d in a book or a music score ,

CHAPTER IX THE CLASSICAL SCHOOL O F SONG

The composers whose pianoforte works are reckoned as belonging to the Romantic school are the Clas si ci s ts

- where song writing is concerned . Thi s is not the anomaly that it seems . Classical music is usually understood to mean music written in certain set forms like the Sonata ,

' m h on th e Sy p y , and the Fugue ; music that keeps to a recognized pattern involving a considerable amount of

- development on well de ﬁne d lines . These forms cannot

exist in connection with isolated vocal solos , so that the term “ classical ” must be afﬁxed to the songs of those composers who are acknowledged by the world to be the

greatest in this branch of composition . The model set by them is as truly classical as the instrumental form of R First Subject , Second Subject , Development , ecapitula

tion and Coda of the Sonata and Symphony . The classical nature of the Song is due to the importance given to the

accompaniment . An important or elaborate acc om p ani

ment is not , however , sufﬁcient in itself to r ender a song classical ; it m ust possess some of that essence of im m or “ ” tality , that intangible something which the world recog — — niz e s immediately or eventually as the hall - mark of hi B ut great ac evement . , given this important qualiﬁcation , it is the character of the accompaniment whi ch may be said to determine the difference between a classical song

and a song by a classical composer , between the songs of Schumann or Schubert on the one hand and the songs of

Beethoven or Mozart on the other . The former are

beautiful works for voice and pianoforte , the latter are i beaut ful vocal works with a pianoforte accompaniment . A salient characteristic of the classical song is that its interest starts with the ﬁrst notes of the opening symphony

and continues till the last notes of the final symphony . The songs of Schumann are particularly noticeable for thi s featur e ; he seldom even employs the device of relying “ F l upon one figure throughout the song . Even in rii h ing s ” e nacht , with its almost continuous triplet movement , r markable beauty and variety are produced by the addition of a syncop ated melody in the accompaniment , consisting mi of two se quavers in one part against three in the other , “ ’ ” and in the song Und w ils st e n s die Blumen a totally new figure is introduced in the final symphony . The standard classical songs should be studied as thoroughly and as frequently by the accompanist as by the vocalist ; for it is easy to see that the better such accompaniments are known , both as regards notes and traditions , the better understanding will an audience have of the songs when they hear them performed , and the more readily will they be able to appreciate their beauty . In the portions for the pianoforte alone the piani st has the same freedom that he would have in playing a solo work by the same composer . No textual alterations i should be introduced into th s class of music , but effects cres cendo diminu endo of , , etc . , not indicated in the score , m that are ade by the vocalist , must be supported by the accompanist . The technical changes that are occasionally permissible in the pianoforte solos of the great composers are not justifiable in the pianoforte portions of their songs , for the reason that alterations which might be considered to lend point , prominence or brilliance to a hi pianoforte solo would , in an accompaniment , c efly serve

- to draw attention from the voice part , which , after all , is the chief centre of interest . No special advice need be given w ith regard to the accompaniments of the other great German song - wr iters L R Brahms , oewe , Hugo Wolf , Richard Strauss , Max eger , to mention some of the best - known names ; nor is any different method of treatment required for the classical school of English and American song - writing exempliﬁed in the works of Parry , Mackenzie , Stanford , Vaughan R i M acD w ll E Williams , oger Qu lter , o e , thelbert Nevin ,

Chadwick , and others of equal eminence . The songs of 5 2 The A rt of Accompanying

Tschaikowsky and of many other Russian composers mostly i need a somewhat p assionate , emotional rendering , wh lst in the playing of songs b y Grieg and other Northern writers a few hints may well be taken from the Chapter

- - on Folk Songs , because the majority of these works are dance s founded upon national songs and , consequently the

rhythm must be not only deﬁnite , but slightly insisted

upon . N o detailed comments are required upon the in accompanying of French songs general , but some re marks are needed upon the songs that have acc om p ani

ments of a very light and fragile texture . Although a delicate t ouch and an unobtrusive method will carry one

safely through all the simpler examples , very beautiful artistic effects can be obtained by the correct employment of th e particular kind of pianiss im o tou ch that is required in the m any rippling passages that are found in composi

tions of this class . There are two distinct kinds of pi auis s imo o n playing ; e , where the passage , however soft , is ticu te still distinctly ar la ; the other , where the listener has s o just the feeling that omething is happening , but is n t ’ conscious of the individu al v alue of the notes . In Kullak s edition of Chopin ’ s Etudes there are some interesting

. A . 2 remarks bearing on this point Of the one in b (Op 5 , “ S chum ann w rote s ollo No 1 ) he says , a f w s I have had the advantage of hearing most of these Eti1 de s ” “ Ku llak n O h e played by Chopin himself , and co tinues , f t ‘ ﬁrst one e spe cially (th e p re s ent Etude) h e w r ite s . Imagine ZEolian that an harp possessed all the m usical scales , and that the hand of an artist were to cause them all to inter l ming e m all sorts of fantastic embellishments . It would be an error to think that Chopin permitted every

one of the small notes to be distinctly heard . It was rather n A m an undulatio of the b ajor chord , here and there w n And Kullak thro aloft anew by the pedal adds , “ After these words there c an be no doubt as to the mode

of delivery . No commentary is required to show that the melodic and other important tones !represented in a song b - mus t e me r e as it w e re rom ithi n y the voice part] g , , f w The Clas s ical Sch ool of S ong 5 3

th e s w e etl w his e ri n w ave s . i y p g Th s description , though f somewhat per ervid and hyperbolic , nevertheless gives a very good idea of the inarticulate and murmuring pianis s imo that should be used in these delicate and elusive

accompaniments . The con trast between the two styles of

playing is exempliﬁed in the extracts given below °

“ ”Wohi n : S chub e r t

! Si me s vers ! : R e y nal do H ah n

P és de vous r ,

th e In former accompaniment , th e groups of six notes , r s howeve oftly played , should be h eard distinctly and di in vidually with a slight but very deﬁnite insistence on t i l the bass no es ; wh lst in the atter , except for the slight on accent the ﬁrst beat , the accompaniment should be

e lt r h h e ard. s i f at er than It amount to th s : When , as is e n m generally the cas in Germa usic , th e accompaniment has a distinct interest of its own , it m ust never develop F into a subdued murmur ; but , where , as in rench music , “ it is just a delicate accompaniment , only that and nothing 5 4 The A rt of Accompanying

” m a l more , it y safely be treated with the ightness and ’ u i vag eness that , in Chopin s play ng , suggested to Schu l mann the sound of an ZEo ian harp . It is in these contrasts that the training of the s olo pianist is such a valuable

asset , for as shown by the indications for light and shade

in the Reynaldo Hahn extract , the very softest playing

need be neither colorless nor m onotonous . In a great deal m a of m odern French usic , where deﬁnite theme is some

- what to s eek , even in th e voice part , and is replaced by a m inde ﬁnite n melodic atmosphere of ysticism and e s s , a b i anis s imo great deal can be done y varying shades of p ,

- delicate pedal effects and lightly marked rhythm . This will h elp to create the impression of vagueness and mystery in i needed compositions , some of wh ch can truly be

characterized as being all Atmosphere and no Air . The following are some of the best - known classical songs whose accompaniments possess some technical dith s l not culty . The conscientiou student wil , however , rest m content with such a eagre selection , but s trive to become gradually conversant with the m ajority of the vocal works of the most famous composers and to extend his researches l in other directions as far aﬁeld as hi s O pportunities permit .

REPERTOIRE

B EETHOV EN MOZ ART ’ e r ﬁdo o f 11 , Ah p (S) L amer ( rom Re pastore) JAde laide (T) C B M S HU ERT , SCHU ANN Schone Mulle rin (cycle) Dichterliebe (cycl e ) ' Auf dem Wasser z u singen Auftrage ' Die Forelle Vt n ung Gretchen am Spinnrade J/De r N u s sb au m Der ErlkOnig Ivalde s g e sp rach Der Lindenb aum Frii hling s nach t Mondnacht

1 i The greater number of songs in this list are su table , in their original

or transposed keys , either for male or female voices of ordinary compass . B The letters S . A . T . . are used only when a song is written for one type of voice and is unsuitable to any other . ! r The Clas s ical School of Song 0 O

B RAHMS LISZ T V ergeb liches Standch e n Die Lorelei Der Schmied V o n e w iger Liebe Meine Lieb ’ ist grun Botschaft TSCHAIKOWSKY FRANZ Don Juan ’ s Serenade (B) Im Herb st Inmitten d e s B all es O heller Tag UGO WOLF ' e rb o r g e nh e it ’ STRAUSS Er is t s

' V RA Standch e n D O K ' Heimliche Auﬂ orde rung ./Als di e alte hl utt e r Cé cilie (from Z igeunerlieder) DE B USSY C ESAR FRANCK GOUNOD Les Fantoche s La Procession Le Pr intemps Mandolin

HENRI DUPARC SAINT- SAENS DELIB ES ’ \/ L inv itation au voyage La Cloche Les ﬁlle s de Cadiz (S) B E MB ERG Nymphes e t Sylvains GORING THOMAS GEORG HENSCHEL ED WARD ELGAR Le B aiser Jung Dietrich ( B) Sea Pictures (A) Spring Song (S) Shepherd ’ s Song PURCELL V AUGHAN WILLIAMS Nymphs and Shepherds (S) The Roadside Fire (cycle) STANFORD Songs of the Sea ( B) CHAPTER X

FOLK- SONGS There is no musician nowadays who can afford to

- n eglect the study of Folk music . The discovery and rescue of Folk - music on any systematic and extensive scale is

of comparatively recent date , but its inﬂuence has already made itself felt to some purpose and must inevitably tend

more and more to do so in the future . To play this kind

of music in a satisfactory manner , an accompanist must realize fully what constitutes the diﬂ e r e nce between a

- Folk song and an ordinary song , what constitutes an

ff - appropriate and e ective accompaniment to a Folk song , and the particular kind of rendering it requires to supply the local color and to make it a suggestive and adequate

- complement to the voice part . The difference between the two types of songs is , brieﬂy , this : The ordinary indoor song or ballad is an composition , written generally by a trained professional musician , and intended to be

- sung in the home or concert hall . In many instances the signiﬁcance of the accompaniment is equal to or greater than that of the melody , the character of the song often being established by the O pening symphony and sustained

- A - throughout the whole of the pianoforte part . Folk song , in on the other hand , probably owes its origin to the spiration of some untrained and unlettered genius , the im rov is e d melody being , in all likelihood , p to some Folk legend or story . It was not written down and was u n consciously changed from generation to generation . It is V essentially ou tdoor music . l I u ch of it is allied to the Folk - dance and is imbued with the lilt and rhythm of the

- dance measur es of the people . Therefore the two salient

- s ontaneit rh thm features of the Folk song are p y and y , and the accompanist must bear thi s in mind when playing

- music of a traditional or Folk song type . It used to be the fashion to make the accompaniments

- of the few Folk songs that were known and published , of

5 8 The A rt of A ccompanying

Sir Charles Stanford has used a moving ﬁgure to perfection “ ’ ” in his arrangement of Tr ottin to the Fair

By k i d p mi ion o f Boo n er ss sey Co., L ond on

An accompanist who has to play a Folk- song in which a simple accompaniment is repeated for a number of

verses can scarcely go wrong if , in some verses , he turns

- a few of the chords into simple arpeggio passages . Effective

as this treatment is , it must be employed with great care ,

no - and commonplace ﬁgure should be used . A Folk song

is never commonplace , at least the ones that have survived

are not ; if they had been , it is obvious that they would

not have survived . An upward arpeggio

or (in a lesser degree) a downward one Folk- Songs 5 9

if rightly employed , lends variety and adds artistic value to the accompaniments ; but a broken chord of the fol i O f low ng pattern is redolent the cheap , popular ballad and would be most inappropriate :

Modern editions , however , go far beyond these simple cou nte r methods . It might be thought that a musicianly poi nt ﬁgure would be foreign to the spirit of thi s S pon n ta e ou s , simple m usic , whereas , on the contrary , it ﬁts into the scheme of th e music and adds to the interest instead of detracting from it . Two examples are given ; the accompani ment in each cas e is purely contrapuntal (of course , in a very simple form) , and yet it strikes the listener as very appropriate to and in keeping with the melody .

Th e M d l n arr. b V au han W i lli ams ai of Is i gton, y g

b b n in arr b C e cil S Da li g the Dew, . y h arp

The Symphonies before and between the verses in any

- - well arranged Folk song should be noted . 6 0 Th e A rt of Accompanying

\V w O peni ng Sym . to Th e illo Tre e Gu s t av v on Ho l s t

Particularly interesting examples will be found in the ’ symphonic portions of h I r . Cecil Sharp s arrangements of

- O m Folk songs , the pening bars of one of the ost charac t e ris tic being appended : Con s pirito “ ’ ” I m s e v e nt e e n c ome Sun day ( V o i c e )

All these examples and illustrations serve to show i s that a genuinely nspired mu ical utterance , even though

it be the artless theme of some untutored peasant , is ui assisted by a gen nely artistic instrumental addition , in trodu c e d by the trained but , perforce , sympathetic musi

cian of a later day . The onl y form of accompani ment that strikes a discordant note is where a harmonic scheme is used that is entirely at variance with the spirit of the

- . lk words and melody In Fo music , equally with the sim le r s s p forms of all old ong and ballads , abrupt modula tions and chromatic harmonies bring an unwelcome spirit i n of modern ty , eve of futurity , into the naive utterances l i of an ear ier and less S oph sticated age . The moving contrapuntal and other ﬁgures referred to so continually sho ul d not be insisted on undul y when n t playi g ; they are seldom of an elabora e nature , nor are they used mainly with a View of des cribing th e i ncide nt of

a song , but are just a ripple of movement and must b e

played with extreme delicacy . Dr . Vaughan Willi am s m has arranged some of the ore dramatic songs , such as ” Ward the Pirate and “ 0 who is that that raps at my Folk- S ongs 6 1

window with very striking and important accompaniments . ff They are extremely e ective , but , taken as a whole , the outdoor nature of Folk- music is best served when the piano

- s forte part is not of too trongly predominating a character .

The primary object of an accompanist , when dealing

- h with Folk songs , must be to play them wit so much freedom and spontaneity as almost to give the impression l of an im prov is ation ; at the same time let him be careful to remember the rhythmical character of Folk- music and make it apparent in his playing ; also remembering that , except in very stirring or declamatory examples , it is advisable to keep the accompaniment very deﬁnitely sub servient to the voice, the background to the picture, not the picture itself .

The effect , often referred to , of accenting a few upper , middle or lower notes , is occasionally allowable . If it is not overdone these notes will not obtrude themselves to the detriment of the song , and if used with judgement the t artistic effect is likely to be enhanced ra her than diminished . m The effect ust not be used too frequently , or introduced in the same way in a number of consecutive verses . (See pp . 85 It will have been noticed that the examples and illus trations have been selected only from the Folk- songs of

- England . The reason is that , although Folk songs have been assiduously and systematically collected for some in years many parts of the world , they do not often ﬁnd

w a t- their y into the programmes of concer givers , and therefore an accompanist is seldom called upon to deal with them . Notable exceptions are the Hungarian national h e n melodies , which av bee arranged with very brilliant Ko b a and characteristic accompaniments by r y , and French

- s Folk songs , ome of which are included in the rep e rtoir e of most vocalists . Many of these have been ﬁtted with W k lin simple , unpretentious accompaniments by e e r , but

e . o Cecil Sharp , when acc mpanying the songs he has collected and c arranged , succeeds in onveying this impression in an inimitab le manner . It

- is a revelation of what Folk song accompanying should b e . 62 The A rt of A ccompanying

more ambitious and far more interesting are the arrange ments m ade for Madame Y vette Guilbert b y Gustave Ferrari . These accompaniments are effective and m usi cianl y and , at the same time , invariably appropriate to n the character of the words and the ature of the m elody . One that will repay careful study is the accomp ani “ L ” ment to es Cloches de Nantes , a song of a strongly r romantic and d amatic character , from the seventeenth century . The points that should be noted specially are the e ﬁe ctiv e but unpretentious O pening symphony and the simple but well harmoni zed accompaniment to the ﬁrst four verses . The sixth verse O pens in the following striking m anner :

it is i and nteresting to ﬁnd that from the middl e of verse n mi seve to the ddle of verse eight , the device so often commented upon of addi ng move me nt to the pianoforte is part adopted with the h appiest results .

, hi h In the closing bars of w c the last two are given , th e m odal - nature of Folk music is suggested by the us e of th e m tonic chord of F ajor instead of the dominant (or domi nant seventh) of G m inor : Folk- Songs 63

In i i n h e h hi add t o to t songs referred to thr oug out t s chapter , ’ a word should be spared for Mrs . Kennedy Fraser s col “ ” n O f lectio the Songs of the Hebrides , and only lack of space prevents further reference to many excellent arrange

- m s th F s n l . ent of e olk o gs of Scotland , Ire and and Wales CHAPTER XI

VIOLIN AND VIOLONCELLO SOLOS

s s L Any one who attend concert regularly in ondon , or even reads the advertisements or criticisms about them , will notice that certain accompanists nearly always seem to be S elected for violin and violoncello recitals , whose names are not seen s o much upon programmes of purely vocal m usic . From this it is reasonable to infer that , if certain accompanists play more successfully for instru mentalists than they do for vocalists , and make this their r speciality , a particular aptitude is equired , comprising temperament and gifts of a distinctive order . It is the ’ most exacting phas e of the accompanist s art . I n the f m of accom first place , the di ficulties of the ajority these anim nt not s olo p e s are considerable ; only that , but the a n part is frequently of such n elaborate ature , that to “ ” watch it and keep with 1 it accurately imposes a great strain upon both brain and fingers . It is almost impossible for an amateur of even limited capacity to lose hi s way in

- a o r b e in n the voice part of song , to doubt as to what ote is i the vocalist sing ng . In addition , he has the words to i o a m i help h m and s , whether he c n anage h s own part o ot s not successfully r n , if he doe always know where he

h e . is , can at least always ﬁnd out where he ought to be i n But when , n accompanying a violi or violoncello solo , fo he loses his w ay r a moment , there are no friendly words for him to rely upon ; he sees a range of Alpine i arpeggios , wh ch the soloist is successfully negotiating , and till some welcome pause or change of ﬁgure arrives

1 ” The word follow is purposely avoided throughout this work . It always suggests one person chasing another through a musical composition and never quite catching him

66 The A rt of Accompanying

n on notes are clearly heard , the otes that occur the beats , or accents , being , of course , the most prominent , some what as if they were written thus :

le ato A corresponding g ﬁgure on a violin , viola or violon cello

has a curious effect of rocking backwards and forwards i between the h ghest and lowest notes , where nothing but the accentuated notes seem to have any deﬁnite identity . The effect could almos t be indicated thus

In one respect only is a little more care needed in playing for a violoncellist than for a violinist . When the former is playing at any considerable rate of speed on th e

C or G string (the two lowest strings) , is it well to keep the accompaniment very light , and to avoid using the i pedal , except very sparingly . The propinqu ty of the i piano to the accompanist , the fact that th s instrument him is between and the soloist , and the slightly blurred all effect produced by the use of the pedal , tend to obscure the solo part when it lies in the lower registe r of the in n strument . In these circumstances , when the accompa ist who neglects the above precaution emerges to the surface

- from the waves of this pedalled piano part , he very likely u b ato ﬂ ﬁnds that , owing to some little r e e ct , or some slight acce le rando ritardando or introduced by the soloist , they ’ have temporarily parted company . It is like keeping one s eye on the ball at golf . Once let the player lose sight of it , when in action , and the stroke is foozled . A foozled Violin and Violonce llo Solos 67

accompaniment is worse , as s ome one who is absolutely guiltless in the matter becomes the sufferer . s u r i e m m Vocalists , a a r le , equ r ore hu oring and a more adaptable elasticity o n the part of th e accomp anist th an instrumental players do . They constantly introduce emotional e ﬂ e cts and changes of tempo in order to give point to the words . An instrumentalist is not tempted in the s ame way ; h e is more accus tomed to an orchestral o hi s ub ato w ithin accompaniment , s that r effects are kept on nes o the b ar b e the c ﬁ f , and nearly always arrives at the

beginning of a bar when the ﬁrst beat is due . It follows

then that , on the whole , it is safe for his accompanist to rh thmicall accurate keep y y time , listening keenly , however , for any license or variation that m ay occur . Occasionally a phrase is found where a prominent note occurs on a non- accented part of the bar in a rapid

passage . This creates a s pecial difﬁculty for the ae com ls p anist . He fe e thi s note to be a rhythmical or accented

u s e e s i ot . i note , altho gh he that it s n To an nexperienced accompanist the following example :

' Co ncerto in D minor : W ie ni aw s kl

would probably s ound thus

As this passage progresses it becomes even more con a s fusing , owing to the fact that ccent are written on these upper notes which occur between the beats . If (as often s s t n happens) the s oloist exaggerate thi effect , hese otes will s ound as if they came on the beats instead of after s them ; the accompanist then feels impelled , strive again t 68 The A rt of A ccomp anying

corre ct accom p ani it as he may , to make the beats in the n as ment coincide with these accented notes . A illustra tion of this , a further quotation is given from the same section of this concerto :

The pianoforte - part is simple in the extreme , but if do the violinist played th e ac ce nted D with a strong sforz an mi effect it woul d doubtles s lead to s ome such rhyth cal chaos as the following Violin and Viownce llo Solos 69

If an accompanist feels that he is likely to go astray hi in a passage of t s description , there is only one thing for e nde av oi° s tart m him to do . He must to correctly , ust count very softly but distinctly , and must play hi s own i not part in strict time , forcing h mself to listen to the soloist until the dangerous corner has been safely turned . m Whenever the soloist has a passage in har onics , the accompanist should always slightly slacken the time . Har f m oni c s are di ﬁt to play , and even if the violinist or violoncellist prefers to make no change in the tempo , he is always grateful for the hint that his collaborator is ready to yield and adapt himself if necessary . There are times when a temporary loss of uni ty hap o b u t b no m e ans i nvari abl l pens , ften , y y , t o be the fau t of the is b e accompanist . If he inexperienced , g enerally loses his l t his n head a i tle , puts foot ervously on the pedal , keeps s it down , and play very loudly as if he would force the lin h him or hi m soloist into e wit dro wn in the attempt , at the same time calling the attention of every one in audience to the disaster . When h e has had m ore e xp e ri l ence he will , very tactfu ly , subdue his part s uddenly to m the merest whisper ; ake it , in fact , s o insigniﬁcant that the strangest discords will hardly be noticed . If the i m stake has been his , the soloist will forgive h im on ac count of the eas e with whi ch he has reduced the unple as antne s s a m if t h e ni to inimum , and violi st or violoncellis t s is responsible through los of memory or some other cause , he will be extremely grateful for the manner in which his temporary lapse has been hidden from the audience .

REPERTOIRE

VIOLIN SOLO S

B eethoven Me ndels s oh n B rahms Concerto (D minor) V Conce rto (E minor) Concerto ( D major) ‘ Ts ch aikow s ky Dvoi dk Spokr 8 Concerto (D major) Concerto ( A minor) Concerto (No . , A minor 9 Concerto (No . , D minor 70 The A rt of Accompanying

Max B ruch L alo Concerto (G minor) Symphonie espagnole Concerto (D major)

S aint-S aens P aganini B rahms -Joachim Concerto (B minor) Concerto (D major) Hungarian Dances Rondo Cap riccioso

Vieuxte mps Wie niaw s ki R everie Concerto (D minor) B allade and Polonaise (G minor) Polonaise ( G major) Polonaise ( D major) Tartini Lé gende i M Trille da Diable Souven r de oscou (Airs russes)

Vitali S aras ate Chaconne Z igeunerweisen Introduction and Jota Arragone se

’ Novabe k Hu bay Moto Perpetuo He jre Kati Z ephyr Wilh elmj Arrangement of Preislied (Wagner) Arrangement of Ave Maria (Schubert)

Ries Sinding Goldmark *Suite (G major) Suite (A minor) Suite (E major) * t t A mo o perp e u o from this Suite is often played separately . SONATAS

Handel B eeth ove n B rahms

F . 5 Sonatas in E , D and A Sonata in (No ) Sonatas in G and A major major Sonata in A minor and D minor (Kreut z er)

Grieg Cés ar Fr anck G Sonatas in F and major, and C Sonata in A major minor VIOLONCELLO SOLO S

‘ S aint- S acns Boellmann

Concerto (A minor) Variations Symphoniques Le Cygne

Ts ch aikow s ky Me ndels s oh n Variations sur u n Theme rococo V ariations Concertantes

Max B ru ch Ch opin Kol Nidre i Introduction and Polonaise

’ ’ Davidoﬁ Fau re Am Springb runnen Elegie Violin and V iolonce llo Solos

P oppe r Spinnlie d Papillons Hungarian Rhapsodie Arlequin Tare nte lle Elfentanz SONATAS

Beeth ove n B rah ms

n Sonata in A major (Op . 6 9) So atas in F major and E minor

Ru bi ns tei n Gri eg Sonata in D major Sonata in A minor CHAPTER XII

ORCHESTRAL ACCOMPANYING

Although opportunities for orchestral conducting do o n ot often fall to the lot of an accompanist , such pp or

‘ tu nitie s are not beyond the bounds of possibility . The a ccompanist at a series of orchestral concerts i s sometimes s permitted to conduct the econd , or lighter , part of the h e aﬂ orde d programme . If successful in this , may be a chance of deputizing , s hould the regular conductor be ac com absent , and a Concerto or songs with orchestral

anim e nt . p will , doubtless , be included in the programme

A n accomp ani s t s hou ld b e e quippe d at all points . If he is able to secure an engagement as conductor at a theatre

- o r a tour with a comic opera company , it will be all to a the good . He will gain facility in wielding a b ton , giving cues , detecting errors , and subduing what may sometimes be very r ough orchestral material , so as not to overpower the smaller voice s in the comp any ; and all this will prove of ultimate beneﬁt if he is ever called upon to undertake

the direction of m ore serious orchestral work . Very little that is of practical value in the m atter of conducting can be learnt from books ; but as regards the orch es tral ae com an in l p y g of instrumental and voca works , some ad v ice can ’ be given which will be worth the student s attention . An orchestral accompaniment is a m uch m ore im m p ortant atter than a pianoforte accomp animent , and the c onductor plays a more prominent part in the ensemble t han the pianist can possibly do ; orc—hestral effects have to b e dealt with and all shades of tone color h ave to be pro

duce d in a manner impossible upon a pianoforte alone . As i was mentioned earlier , solo nstrumentalists (and , e it may be add d , vocalists accustomed to singing with an o rchestra) can usually be counted on to keep their part

rhythmically steady , and to adapt themselves to the spirit

o f the work . With a great ar tist and a ﬁrs t- rate orchestra 72

74 Th e A rt of A ccompanying

i arrangement with the pian st , how it might be treated so ’ as to ens ure the orchestra s entrance absolutely upon the ﬁnal

Many pianists habitually adopt one of these methods ; but if they prefer not to do so , the conductor should give the beat for the entry of the orchestra j us t b efore the ﬁnish of the solo , about the place indicated by the mark in the ﬁrst of the above extracts . It really means that the sound of the orchestral entry will coincide with the e nd of the beat . Some conductors always start the beat a fraction of time before it is due for an orchestral entry at an the end of y kind of unaccompanied solo section . It is a device very much to b e recommended . A conductor must always take great care not to over

his . power soloist Owing to the difference of timbre , a its single voice , in upper register , can be h eard th rough a t strenuous and complicated orches ral accompaniment , but it is not fair continually to put upon any vocalis t the strain involved in thi s effort . The soloist must be sup n ported , but ever overwhelmed . If any part of a score marked fortissimo would prevent the soloist from being it mus t not b e la e r heard , p y d fo tis simo. is It quite usual for a conductor , when accompanying s a vocali t or instrumentalist , to ask the members of m m his orchestra to consider every f as f , every f as p Orche stral Accompanying 75

and every p as pp . Some such idea as thi s should be in the m ind of every conductor when he is acting as an or

. A ch e str al accompanist single violoncello , like the lowest a is register of a violin or voice , very easily overpowered

b y a large body of instruments .

When accompanying , a conductor m ust be very care i ful of h s beat ; it should be loose , ﬂexible and easy but v r de nite hi s i e y ﬁ , and position and gestures should be qu et

and restrained . He must not crouch down for a pi anis s imo and rise up like a ghostly apparition for every cre ce ndo e his a n an s , nor should he pok b to like elongated ﬁnger of scorn at different instruments to give them their s cues . Many famou conductors , virtuosi in their art , use

a considerable amount of gesture , and indicate their wishes

by a variety of movements . Thi s temperamental m ethod in in has a serious drawback accompanying , that it tends to dwarf the importance of the soloist ; both the eye and the m ind are attracted to the virtuoso at the conductor ’ s desk and attention is distracted from the possibly equally

s is ni . great , if les emotional , artist who being accomp a ed ” Two stars keep not their m otion in one sphere . Probably the m ost unique experience that could befall a young and ambitiou s musician would be to conduct a Chopin Concerto with de Pachmann as the soloist and try to adapt himself to the abrupt pauses right at the end of a b ar where none would h ave anticipated them ; the sudden i anissimos ru b at an acce le rando p , the o effects , here , there a “ i a all b - r tard ndo, accomp anied y his well known nods and ” becks and wreathed smi les . Those who have been pres ’ ent on s uch an occasion will recall the pianist s bland and chi ldlike gaze at the conductor when he has done s ome m thing ore than usually unexpected , or hi s look of humor ous disappointment when he ﬁnds that the conductor has been able to stop his orchestra on the very brink of the trap laid for them . It were easy to picture his e lﬁn glee if he once succeeded in stopping abruptly in one bar too late to prevent the orchestra from being precipitated into th e n is th ext . It all intensely absorbing to e audience , 7 6 The A rt of A ccomp anying and must be an interesting and exciting experience to the conductor .

c , n n c To onclude th—i s chapter the qualiﬁcatio s e essary f or the conductor accompani st may be summed up as follows : A thorough knowledge of the orchestral score and an equally thorough knowledge - of the solo part ; an accu r ate ear ; a ﬁrm and decided beat ; an avoidance of all needless gesture ; a readiness for all eventualities ; and a s trict sense of rhythm added to a sympathetic adaptability to the requirements of the solo performer .

PART II

CHAPTER XIII ACC OMPANYING FROM A FIGURED ( OR UNFIGURED) BASS Accompanying ﬁrst became a matter of importance in the eighteenth century , the days of B ach and Handel , but the conditions were v ery diff erent from those that obtain

- - to day . The standard of fing e r technique was not so ex th e ru b ato involu ntar ; , , was merely the acting when ” used y elasticity of tempo which it is impossible and would be inadvisable to eliminate from any form of musical inte rpre a i n t t o . The keyed instruments of those days , unlike the modern pianoforte , were not well adapted to the produc tion of temperamental and emotional effects , nor were such effects needed on any extensive scale . But although , in the less las tic m art of that period , a p method of playing acco nim nts f re pa e was required , the di ficulties were in many spe cts far greater than anythi ng an accompanist has to deal with at the present time . Instead of having to play what was written and only s u l th e accom anim e nt what was written , he had to pp y p himself , and that from the most meagre indication of the ’ composer s intentions , this usually taking the form of a bass part with a certain amount of figuring as a clue to the harmonies to be employed . In the case of a Recita tive it was customary to figure every bass note , a new bass note generally meaning a change of harmony .

c t. Pas sions . . Bac Re i Cantata: Ph E . h ( Voice ) 80 The A rt of Accompanying

As a rule the accompani st had to be content with the

- voice part and the bass , with suggestions for symphonic h interludes between the vocal p rases in small notes , as

n . show above Sometimes , as in the following Aria from the same work , a fairly complete extra treble part was written in , and in these cases the ﬁguring was usually a omitted , s it was fairly obvious what harmonies were intended .

. . Bac Aria Pass ions Cantata: Ph . E . h

( V oic e )

It is impossible to discover what inﬂuenced a com poser as to the amount of assistance he should give to the accompanist . In the following example it will be noticed i that there i s no indication of the rate of speed requ red , no there are no marks for phrasing , and suggestion of any kind as to the manner of performance . On the other

- hand , the accompaniment to the voice part is ﬁgur ed very fully and carefully .

’ s Lyre : Hande l V i olini unis oni col Bass o

8 2 The A rt of Accompanying elaboration with which the accompaniments h ave been l in s m as t ﬁ led and harmonized by uch usicians Mozar , m h Mendelssohn , Franz , and any others , e will realiz e the magnitude of the task involved in improvising such accom panim e nts or in playing them with but a slight previous knowledge of the works in which they occ ur . CHAP TER XIV

THE ENGLISH BALLAD

’ In the records of the world s musical output th e mod e rn English ballad w ill ﬁll a very humble niche . The older ballads h ave more c laim to c onsideration , s ince , with the

F - are th e o f m exception of olk songs , they almost nly or of musical c omposition in which are to b e found traces of Eng lish local color and s ome aspects of the English character . i c s Domestic s entiment , religious s entiment , patr oti enti se ment , s implicity and reverence for convention , the are n i s h dominant ational traits , and are reﬂected n uc s ongs “ ” “ ’ ” “ in h as Sally our Alley , Thou rt passing ence , Heart ” “ H m s of Oak, Home , Sweet ome , and any imilar pro ucti ns o l s om d o . When , f r a time , Eng ish ballad were c m posed chieﬂy b y foreign m usicians , a ore passionate and

c l . hi s m e eroti typ e of composition was the resu t T has , r ifull its c y , almost had day , but the complexity of m odern social life forbids any return to the simple art conditions that were cons idered completely s atisfactory in th e mid

Victorian era . The m odern m usician has very little tolerance for any E hi s kind of nglish ballad , and attitude , if unsympathetic , is at least comprehensible . It is undoubtedly withi n his h nk it it is right to t i what he likes of , and if any relief to if i his feelings , to s ay what h e likes of it ; but he s an ac com anist i i p , it is incumbent upon h m to treat t respect fully and to interpret the pianoforte portion to th e best of his ability . It m ust not be O verlooked that although the music of m any a modern ballad is of an evanescent i and meretricious type , t still remains , in m any instances , the genuine utterance of -an individual with a gift of melody of a certain kind . n s Whe a ong becomes popular , some touch of imagina ti o on , r even of inspiration , has gone to its making ; the pity 84 The A rt of A ccompanying

E seems to be that in England , and ngland alone , a low a f standard is fostered and encouraged , and musical t ste su no fers in consequence . The accompanist , however , has choice but to take thi ngs as he ﬁnds them . Amongst Eng lish - speaking people there is a very large public which prefers an English ballad concert to any other form of musical entertainment . It therefore behooves the aecom “ ” s O f - p ani t to beware the superior person attitude , and of thinkin g it beneath h is artistic dignity to put his best work into his playing of thi s m usic . When a vocalist has patiently devoted many hours to the preparation of one of these songs and h as studied every li ttle effect of light and shade , the accompanist should give all the support he is capable of and should do all that lies in his power to help in the success of the l rendering . To do thi s effectua ly it is advisable for him to take O pportunities of hearing composers accompany their o wn songs . In doing s o he wi ll often be surprised to hear what vitality can be given to a song of indifferent merit by a careful observance of the indi cations for ao

sce ndo di minu e ndo . i ns cent , cre , , etc , ind catio which pre v iously h ad seemed but of small moment t o him . An accompanist who w as content to ignore such details would put himself on a p ar w ith an actor who should refuse to identify himself with his rOle becaus e the play in which ’ - he was acting was not a literary chef d oeuvre . m i Many odern dramas sc arcely merit th s des cription , and yet , owing to the art of the actors and actresses play ing in them , the people sitting in front laugh and cry and are thrilled , and it is only when the curtain falls that they return with a sigh from the pleas ant land of m ake - believe h to t e prosaic world of every day . It is the mission of i literature , of drama , of music and of paint ng , even in their humbler forms , to present illusion to the senses and l m to make it seem real , to tel stories and to ake them seem truth . The accompaniments of English ballads do not call for any special quality of touch or of interpretation , but The English Ballad 85

a few words may be given to those which , apart from the support they give to the voice, possess little individual character . A legitimate effect , and one that will in no wise O prove disconcerting to the singer , can be btained by giv ing melodic prominence to some of the notes of an ordinary

- s S s accompaniment ﬁg ure . It form a pecie of artistic color ing which can b e applied m ost appropriately to almost

any form of accompaniment . It h as already been sug gested amongst the alterations that are desirable , but it

has not been dealt with in detail because , in songs that

have an accompaniment of deﬁnite value and importance , it is only an added artistic effect to what is already beau

tiful in itself . The insistence upon a few notes of a middle or lower part produces somewhat the effect of the entry

- of a fugue subj ect in one of these parts , the upper voice

having for the m oment a mere contrapuntal interest . Pianists resort very largely to this effect in every kind of

s . solo , and nearly alway with happy results The following

- are tw o v e ry popular and well known examples , the notes to which prominence may be given being printed in larger

type than the rest .

Valse in Db : dh O pin

The application of this principle to the playing of

accomp animents can be seen in the subjoined extracts ,

and 1s effective when employed with tact and discretion . 86 Th e A rt of Accompanying

’ ’ Life s Re compense : Te r e s a d e l Rie g o

It will be s een that the ﬁrst note of each semiqua—ver - group in the right hand is in unison with the voice part , and therefore it is hardly necessary to call S pecial attention to it . Another example : The Eb at the b eginning of the S e c ond bar has no accent written over it , for , as in the pre v iou s s example , it is rendered unneces ary because the voice - part has the s ame note :

Dorothy Fo s te r

It is chieﬂy in slow or m oderately S low numbers that l it wi l be found desirable to employ this effect , but it can also be resorted to in music of brighter character and in quicker tempo . The following is an illustration

Cherry Ripe : H o r n The E nglish B allad 87

ver s arin l This effect must be used y p g y , and only for a short phrase or section of a ph rase . The effect would be too as s e rtive if resorted to with any frequency . i The question of mak ng changes , not in the struc al ni i tur but in the harmo c outline of an accompan ment , is one that must be approached with great diffide nc e . It seems incontestable that , when a composer has harmonized i a theme a certain way , it is those harmon es that he wants and no other . Still , composers exist whose gift of melody is not supported b y a corresponding knowledge of har mony . Moreover , several composers o f undoubted emi ne nc e seem to have been satisfied when they had composed a striking or attractive melody ; they frequently treated and the accompaniment in a most perfunctory manner , c ontented themselves with a more O bvious harmonic out line than is either necessary or effective . Two phrases ’ “ ” from Bishop s Home , Sweet Home follow , first the original version , and then as they might be varied with no disrespect to the composer Or ig inal v e r s i on

Alt e r e d v e rs ion

O r ig inal v e r s ion

A lt e r e d v e r s ion 88 The A rt of Accompanying

It should be understood very clearly that none of the alterations referred to throughout this work should ever be attempted except by an accompanist who feels them to b e necessary , helpful , or artistically desirable ; one t o whom n technical difﬁculties no longer present a y seriou s obstacle , and who has had sufﬁcient experience to kno w when and where it is expedient for him to depart in some S light measure from the printed text .

REPERTOIRE

Li z a L eh mann Ah ! Moon of my delight Persian Garden)

Hatton Me ndelss oh n The Enchantress (A) I ’ m a roamer (B )

Goring Th om as Willi am Wallace A Summer Night (A) Freebooter Songs (B ) Winds in the Trees

’ Mau de V ale rie White Frederic Clay King Charles ( B ) The Sands of Dee

Pins uti Elliot A B edouin Love - Song Hyb rias the Cretan ( B )

Cole ridg e Taylor

Onaway , awake , beloved “ Hiawatha ” )

Eth elb ert Ne vin Blu m e nth al 0 that we two were maying The Message (T)

I t will be noticed that the above songs belong in the m ain to a class of music far higher than that of the ordi

nary popular ballad . The reason that they are included as an appendix to this chapter is that they are found ai most exclusively in popu lar programmes of English music and but seldom in the classical programme of the recital

g1v e r .

90 The A rt of Accompanying

r ep e rtoire of the accomp animents of certain songs which he should be prepared to play at a moment ’ s notice with out music . The list can be extended to any limits that his enterprise will rise to ; some accompanists will play by ’ P a li acci ore ado s heart the Prologue to g , the T r Song from arme n J Faus t C , the ewel Song from , and many others of equal difﬁculty . When the degree of Doctor of Music was conferred J upon oachim at Cambridge , the students asked him to play them the Mendelssohn Concerto . Not having brought A the music , he was about to decline , when Sir rthur Sulli van , who was present , volunteered to accompany him with i out music , and did so from beginning to end w th absolute ease and certainty . Feats like these are phenomenal , and are not expected from accompanists . For ordinary prao tical purposes the following répertoire will prove sufﬁ cie ntly serviceable :

SOPRANO CONTRALTO Comin ’ thro ’ the rye ( B b) Annie Laurie ( B b)

Home , Sweet Home (E) Three Fishers ( C) Rob in Adair ( B b ) Loch Lomond ( G) TENOR BASS

’ ’ I ll sing thee songs of Araby ( Ab) Y eoman s Weddi ng - Song (G)

Drink to me only ( G) Simon , the Cellarer ( D) Sally in our Alley (D) In Cellar Cool (F) Take a pair of sparkling eyes ( G b)

It is also useful to be able to play by heart such songs L ” “ L ” as The ost Chord (F) and The Better and (A) , as well as a few of the popular successes of the day . The ability to play S imple familiar songs easily and readily by is heart of great value , as is proved by the following l i A typica ncident . singer , one night , having returned to the platform s everal times to bow in response to the ap laus e b ni p , eckoned to her accompa st , and when he was seated at the piano and had turned around to ask for the “ ‘ ’ ” : R copy of her song , she j ust said Play obin Adair in B b . As he confessed afterward , that seemed to be the one s ong r an- la in and P hi in b H e rt O g P y g , y g y a 9 1

i in the whole world that he could not th nk of . But some i th ng had to be done , so , without attempting an O peni ng B symphony , he struck a chord of b , and then followed by

. hi i li ear , getting into it gradually T s was someth ng ke the accompaniment he played to the ﬁrst verse

The second verse was a little better , and by the time the third verse was reached he was able to play a fairly

a . hi i satisf ctory accompaniment In a case like t s , it s the singer who is entirely to blame ; sh e should always give the accompani st due warning if Sh e is likely to want him to an s play y ong , no matter how simple , without the music . An accompanist must always be prepared to cover up any mi stakes made by the solo vocalist or instrumentalist ; the commonest fault made by artists , through nerv ous ne s s or l temporary oss of memory , is to enter before s n the ympho ic portion is ﬁnished . Thi s may happen in 99 Th e A rt of A ccompanying

h e t middle of a work as well as at the beginning , and is a

matter of fairly frequent occurrence . The accompanist m w as ust , ith as little apparent effort possible , skip the ni interve ng portion and glide into the requisite bar , so t hat at least the majority of the audience S hall remain

unaware of any untoward happening .

In playing for amateurs , one must be prepared for

anythi ng . If the accompanist plays a short prelude in r any key , whilst waiting for the singer to get ready , he o

she , generally she , often mistakes that for the opening m sy phony , and starts straight away at the ﬁrst pause , “ a nnouncing perhaps that she was seated one day at the ” o rgan at least a th ird higher than she meant to be . As a further warning of what may happen to an u noﬁe nding

ni - accompa st , one ﬁnal tragi comic experience is appended ; . both the tragedy and the comedy of the incident will be

enhanced if the ipsis s ima ve rb a of the chi ef victim are given . “ i He says , I was once playing for a celebrated lady vocal st ’ ‘ at a concert . She was singing Cowen s setting of I thi nk ’ all l of thou art to me , when sudden y she lost her place . I heard afterwards that one of the pages was upside down n she was too co fused to ﬁnd out what the matter was , and ’ as she couldn t remember it by heart , she kept on ex ‘ mi k ’ clai ng , I thin of all thou art to me , occasionally varied ‘ t ’ by asser ing , She dreamed of what I coul d not be . I began hi to t nk of all she was to me , and when in a venturesome ‘ moment , she got as far as declaring My life is cursed with ’ thoughts of thee , I felt she was merely expressing my sen tim e nts . w as i I may mention that I transposing th s song , which is not easy to play , from D minor to Cit minor . All of a sudden she burst forth and it struck me that very like l change to the major key . I tore over the pages , saw that the song had gone into F major , realized that that would be E major in the key in which I was playing , so striking the necessary n tonic chord we ﬁ ished the song together , equally relieved ” n at the terminatio of such a disconcerting incident .

94 The A rt of A ccompanying

It never seems to have occurred to any ordinary con — cert singer to le t the accompanist come on the platform by himself and play his opening symphony o nce through u n disturbed and then repeat it on the arrival of the vocalist . “ ” H an This is a convention of the alls , arrangement not (unfortunately) m ade with a view to letting the pianist or ’ orchestra enjoy a m oment of the audience s undivided at tention . The idea is , that it would be derogatory to the solo performer to come onto the s tage unheralded except for the number exhibited at the S ide of the proscenium . After the s ymphony h as been played tw ice (a long sym S i phony is not always repeated) , a hort phrase s found with “ ” the m ystic S ign over it , Till ready This is repeated till the Singer is ready to begin . The accompanist will find other points of difference between the work required of h im at a serious concert and a Variety con cert . At the former he knows m ore or less what he will be expected to play ; even in the event of his not seeing the programme beforehand h e need not anticipate being asked 1z g v b arre or . At to do anythin ery _ unusual the Variety o n r concert , the othe hand , he knows that it is chiefly the u nex ected h e l p wil have to cope with , and the more often an accompanist is forced to rise to an emergency and grap for ple with something which he is totally unprepared , the more valuable it is for him as training and experience , and the more ready will it make him to m eet and surmount any unforeseen difli culty that m ay arise in his more serious and legitimate work . S It is eldom , on these occasions , that printed m usic is employed at all . The artists have the m usic of their various numbers written specially for them ; even in the c is ase of a song that published , the accompanist is gener ally given the MS . copy from which it was originally ” . not played The words will be written in , but cues are “ ” “ ” given for patter , business , etc . , and he is very lucky if n - he has a properly writte out pianoforte part at all . Playing for Music - H all A rtis ts 95

As often as not the accompaniment must be played from “ ” r - ﬁ l a ﬁ st dd e part , which has to be harmonized on the i spur of the moment . This is the kind of th ng that is put ’ into the accompanist s hand as he goes onto the platform :

Les Blondes : Frag s on

A music -h all performer nearly always has w ith him a ni book contai ng the greater part of the music that he needs , but it is not safe to rely upon this . A pianist one night was asked to play a Tarantella for tw e nty minutes as an accom anim e n p t to a skating act . He had no Tarantella in h is re e rt oire m p , and the perfor ers had brought no music with them , so he had , then and there , to improvise one . He ui accomplished it q te successfully , but , as h e confessed afterward , it was not an experience he would care to go through often . Sometimes a singer is asked for a song that he does him not happen to have with ; then the accompanist , if he k h as nows the song , to play it by heart , and if he does n not k ow it , he has to make up an accompaniment as he i goes along , which is not an easy th ng to do if he has never prev iously heard the song . An accurate ear is needed for l n this , but there is a good dea of k ack about it also . It is a case of listening for the harmonic outline of the ph rase as much as for the individual notes . In this it somewhat resembles the accompanying of rapid violin and violon cello solos , but it is more difﬁcult , because the accompanist 96 The A rt of A ccompanying

has no music in front of him . The knack referred to is thi s He must learn to gras p mentally and apply te ch nically the

chord suggested by each little section of the tune . The

accented notes generally give the clue . Taking the key of m h G ajor as an illustration , a p r ase in which these notes

occurred on the b e ats would require the harmony of the

tonic . Where the accents fall on some or all of these notes the chord of the dominant seventh

would be unmistakably indicated . The notes might require the supertonic (the relative minor of G major) or the subdominant ; it depends very much on the context ; th e addition of B or C would at once settle the question . A similar remark applies

- to any two ch ord notes . The following need a C major or an A minor chord ; neither would be wrong , but in such a case the ﬁrst verse can be used experimentally , and if the chord selected did not seem quite satisfactory , the correct one could be employed on the recurrence of the phrase . The subdominant E e i is som times a d fﬁcult note to harmonize , but h ere agai n the chord is generally suggested by the context :

98 The A rt of A ccomp anying

i . lav i n aud ence The art of p g from a Figured Bass , which wi has already been dealt th , may be said to be a species clas s ical of vamping , middle parts having to be improvised ; for even if the voice - part was played in conjunction with as e the bass , it would , has already be n pointed out , form a totally inadequate accompaniment to any musical number

- except , perhaps , a four part chorus . The refrains of two simple songs are now given ; the l harmonies written in sma l notes are those which , in each th e tune its e l s h ould s u es t t i , f t o he anis t, if case gg p , (as must be taken for granted) he is able to recognize instantly w hich de re e o th e s cale th vo a is i g f e c l t s s ingi ng . This is an essential qualiﬁcation for any one who attempts to ac an n wi company u known song thout the music . Practice

e x ri soon renders it a fairly simple matter , but the ﬁrst pe ence of vamping generally produces a sensation akin to that of swimming in a rough sea and deep water to one whose p re ri ou s exp erience has bee n conﬁned to the shallow

end of a s wi mming bath .

A Jovi al Monk : Au dr an

Very little invention or variety is displayed here in the treatment of the accompaniment ; the harmonies used are the simplest possible and the most obvious ; but strangely enough they are the harmonies used b y the

. composer An accompanist , not knowing this , would e n — Playing for llI u s ic H all A rtis ts 99

de av or to impart a little more varied treatment to sub sequent verses , possibly on the following lines :

m c O r Song from MS . Co i pe a

A . H. L .

There are several points of interest in thi s example . The skip of a fifth downward in the first and second b ars suggests the chord of E minor at the thi rd beat in prefer ence to that of C major or A minor . I n the third bar the F A accented notes , D , # , , proclaim the harmony of the A dominant (or dominant seventh) , fi being obviously a

- passing note resolving into th e tonic in the next bar . A modulation to A minor is very clearly indicated by the melodic outline in the ﬁfth bar , answered by the dominant seventh and tonic of the original key in the sixth . The two ﬁnal bars call for no comment . In playing for music - hall performers one must always 1 00 The A rt of Accompanying

be prepared for this kind of work when called upon to

- undertake it . One well known accompanist often narrates how he had to “ vamp ” accompaniments for an entire hi s evening . This is experience , told in his own words “ When I was quite a young man I was invited by the colonel of a regiment to a dinner that the ofﬁcers were

giving to the men , and was asked by him if I would

play for them to sing after dinner . As there w as a small di n fe e attached , I accepted with pleasure . I found after r e ner that the whole egiment , or so it se med to me , had but not one o m h ad rou ht a come prepared to sing , f the b g

s ong . When the ﬁrst one was announced and came up to “ him : me at the piano , I said to Have you your music with ” “ ” ! : him in you He said No , sir ; so I asked what he

tended to sing , and he mentioned the name of a song that “ I had never heard nor even heard of . I said : Ar e you a ” “ baritone or tenor ! I might as well have asked : Ar e you ” “ a theosophist or an agnostic ! so I altered it to : Have ! ” h you a high or low voice He ad no idea . I then asked

him if he could hum the air to m e . He came very close and murmured something very soft but quite u ndistin

i h le . g u s ab However , I pretended to be satisﬁed , and

‘ struck an octave A fee ling the saddest soul who

’ ever struck an octave in disaster . “ ’ ’ I daren t ﬁll up the chord as I didn t kn ow if the song was in a maj or or minor key , and this single octave i i would do for the dom nant of D major or m nor , the i A mi med ant of F maj or , or the tonic of , major or nor . I thought if the singer could manage the song in any of ‘ ’ - these keys , the octave might act as a kind of jumping off

place for him . “ nl We got through somehow , but that was o y the b e ni gin ng of the evening . Sometimes , before starting a song , ‘ the singer whispered to me , When I come to the chorus , sir , will you play it loud with me , as I want them all to ’ ’ j oin in . A chorus that I didn t know in a song that I

CHAPTER XVII

MUSIC TO RE CITATIONS

It is not easy to ﬁnd an accomp ani st who can play with ease and conﬁdence the incidental music to a recita s tion . One reas on is , that it require considerable practice , and opportunities for practice do not often present them

selves . It is a S pecies of performance which has never dl fo commended itself unreserve y to the public ; yet , r cer n tain reciters , certai audiences and certain composers , it ’ poss e sses a measur e of fascination . The accompanist s Share in the proceedings partakes of the nature of ﬁrst class tailoring ; the garment of m usic m ust hang absolutely i loosely and freely and yet fit to perfe ct on. An almost con tinu ou s but cleverly veiled ru b ato is the chief essential in i h m s in S the production of th s effect , whic ean that pite of the continual need for r e t arding s and ac ce le rating s of vary in th rh th mical outline m n r g degrees , e y ust eve be obscured

or lost sight of . The m usic m ust s eem to ﬂow as eas ily and naturally as if the reciter and pianist were the same i i hi s nd vidual . T s sometimes happen , as in the case of the H e no i late Mr . Clifford Harrison . was t only the pian st , hi s but the composer , as well . Curiously enough , although playing was delightful and hi s music both charming and m e a absolutely appropriate to the poe h w s reciting , he did not know enough of the theory of m usic to be able to write w i o it do n and , unfortunately , it s n w irrevocably lost . The gr eat advantage to a reciter in acting as his o wn i pian st is , that he can modulate hi s accomp animent so that i t supports but never overpowers hi s voice . Another ad vantage is , that in the portions of the Recitation where no music is required the attention of the audi ence is not dis tracted b y the presence on the platform of a second ﬁgure trying to look unconscious through recurring periods of

inaction . It is important to realize that the beauty of 1 02 Al u s ic to Re citations 1 03

music depends upon the rhythmical value of its phr ases ivid l no and not upon the value of i nd u a te s .

In poetry the converse is the case , the metrical s w ing being subservient to the beauty of the individual words .

Therefore , a much wider rhythmical latitude is allowed to th e reciter than to the singer or the instrumentalist . It is necessary to remember this , for it makes apparent one of the chief difficulties with whi ch the accompani st has to l contend , namely , the difficu ty of adapting the somewhat restricted rhythm of instrumental musical phrases to the wider and more elastic rhythm of S poken metrical lan g uage . A solo piani st and an inexperienced accompanist are almost equal sources of exasperation to a Reciter . The former usually treats the incidental music as a composi r tion to be played th ough exactly as it is written , and can not understand why the Reciter cannot adapt hi mself more easily to the ex igencies of the music ; whilst the latter tries to get the notes to fit too closely to the words under which t r i nl hey are w itten , and , in so try ng , o y manages to break the melodi c continuity of the music and seriously to im pair its value . All that the piani st S hould endeavor to do e R acce nte d is to me t the eciter , as far as possible , on the e th l words , to ke p in e s ame bar , to play s mooth y and fl ow in l exactl im g y , and to be y with the Reciter at the w ord portant in any dramatic climax . It is quite possible that the accompanist may some times find himself considerably behi nd or ahead of the

Reciter . He must then make a tactful and gradual acce le rando ritardando or , but it must be done in such a way that it does not sound either like hanging back till he h as caught up , or as if he were racing ahead because he had e hi be n left be nd . In fact , unless the music happens to be i of considerable melod c or thematic import ance , one or more bars may well be repeated or omitted altogether .

There are several varieties of incidental music , some presenting very little difﬁculty to either accompanist or l reciter , some cal ing for a great adaptability on the part 1 04 The A rt of A ccomp anying

of the accompanist, whilst other forms of musical compo sition o n call for equal care the part of both performers . S To the first pecies belongs that kind of music which , fits in part, the recitation almost like the words o f a s ong ; n that is , practically a ote to a syllable . Where a definite is S melody not employed , a ingle chord , note or octave is used to make the accent or outline of the verse . E xamples of both are given . They could be played satisfactorily by any ordinary competent accompanist .

“ ’ The Gay Gordo ns ! He nry Ne w b o l t MuS i c by Hub e rt B at h ’ ' W o s fo r th e Ga e n fo r th e Fa o e s th e C o r- d on to f ) h e h th ri g , a ight T

64 3 3 4

ave s of th e ave are at d e ad l ock e e ( Hi l and e s ! th e ') br t br th r gh r by _ right

b ass a

The Portrait : O w e n Me r e d i th Mus xc by E r i c Mar c o ’ found th e o a its l e d h th e p rtr it in p ac e it by t e t ap e r s s hi ne .

The next species is the most important of all and has been carried out more successfully and consistently by

106 The A rt of A ccomp anying

So important is the musical setting in works of this genre that it would be quite possible for an audience to derive considerable artistic satisfaction from the performance if the poem were recited in a language with which they

were totally unfamiliar . The music is generally of con s ide rab le technical difﬁculty , as is S hown by the accompanying examples :

E nO Ch Arde n: Str au s s llI usic to Re citations 107

The instrumental interludes , when the reciter has to

remain silent , are usually of much greater length than is customary in an ordinary rec itation with music , and thus the task of the reciter becomes more onerous than that of the pianist . He has to know the music almost as thor oughly as he knows the words , for many of his entries occur in the middle of a musical phrase at a second or third beat in the bar ; he has to wait for rests and in some cases he has to be careful to give note - valu es to his words

t , and sentences . In fact , for a great por ion of these works hi s e i he becomes the accompanist , share of the proce d ngs

being of secondary importance . Schumann had a better idea of what was nee ded than most of the German writers who have experimented with this kind of musical compo f sition , for he almost invariably arranges the entry o the reciter so that the ﬁrst acce nted word in the line shall fall

on the ﬁrst beat in the bar .

The Heather B oy : S chumann Th e leav e s on th e e e s w s e di i' e d i k e and s a d tr hi p r g ,

Now tell me

The German words (Ernst von Wildenbruch) are

not given , as the accents in the translation correspond in almost every instance with the accents in the original

version . So little regard do some composers pay to the ne ce s sity for rhythmical u nity between poem and music that it is not uncommon to ﬁnd a poem with four accents in each line set to music in time 1 08 Th e A rt of Accompanying

Con moto

If this were played and recited with great ease and adapt a o n bility the part of the two performers , it would make a

c - ertain effect , but the sensation of cross rhythms i s um s atisfactory and in s ome bars the music is ill ﬁtted to the

. s words If the word were sung , they would have to be

barred and accentuated as here indicated . To such an e xtent are the words m ade subserv ient to the music in this c lass of composition , that it is not uncommon to ﬁnd two words forced apart by a little stream of m usic where any t in hing the nature of a break or pause is not only un n ecessary , but unwarrantable .

Eno ch Arden : S trau s s

w ildly to h im

N o works of the difﬁculty of those quoted above s hould ever be attempted without much practice and

many rehearsals . There is no occasion to summarize or in any way to r ecapitulate the suggestions contained in the preceding