THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO To my Father JOHN FRANCIS GREW Yardley Wood THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO A TEXT-BOOK FOR STUDENT AND TEACHER BY SYDNEY GREW . . . though indeed all are naturally inclined unto Rhythme. . . ." LONDON KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & CO., LTD. NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO. 1922 LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORN SAiSTA BARBARA PREFACE The Art of the Player-piano lies in the pedalling and in the use of Tempo-control Lever or Buttons. Pedalling is as breathing in singing or fingering in pianoforte playing. Certain of the more subtle refinements of musical performance remain outside the Art of the Player ; but in the main everything is possible that is necessary in an intelligent, personal, and complete per- formance. I say complete, because what cannot be produced in the normal way of musical effect may be produced in a way special to the new instrument — there is compromise in the executive art of any musical instrument. Rhythm, the foundational and constructional power in music, determines pedalling and tempo rubato, or free time. The player-pianist creates mentally the rhythmical form of the motive or phrase, and then creates it in the instrument by process of pedalling and tempo-control. It is a curious thought that, since the imaginative conception of rhythm is a highly intellectual act, the Art of the Player-piano is entirely volitional ; the playerist has no mechanical work to do, even in the beginning, of the order inseparable from the piano, the organ, and the violin. My idea throughout this book has been the development of the rhythmical consciousness. I am not aware that any attempt has been previously made to formulate the principles of this new executive art. Cadenced metrical counting must take the place of fingering in the work of the player-pianist ; after that, articulation of notes into motive on the one hand, and on the other hand the cadential phrasing of groups of motives into measures, clauses, and sentences. The teacher of the pianoforte first shows his pupil how to finger notes ; the teacher of the player-piano vi PREFACE instructs his pupil first how to count. The instrument itself compels correct quantitative counting, being its own metronome. I have provided generous supplies of music, for the reason that the playerist will get through as many as twelve large works in an evening. The pieces set for close intellectual study in the latter half of the book are of the type that is easy to memorise. It is my idea that the student should play a piece some twelve or fifteen times, and then reconstruct it in mind by aid of the abstracts I make of the form, rhythm, cadency, and accentuation of the piece. He will thereupon complete his study of a composition with the same fine and accurate knowledge of its dynamical features as a reader of elaborate verse has of the same features in a poem. Every detail of the rhythmical abstracts can be transcribed to the roU. I have assumed that the student has no ability to read music. The course of instruction, however, gradually supplies facts and principles of musical notation which will in the end enable the student to find his way about printed music, and to observe the many details of the pieces which I have not been able to mention. The intellectual effort required in Chapters XXV-XXIX is slightly less than that required in the study of instrumentation, canon, building construction, algebra, and so on ; but it requires the same qualities and similar determination. I am happy to acknowledge unusual indebtedness to G. W. F. Reed, Esq., and to express warm gratitude. And I thank my wife for her patient consideration during the putting together of the book, and for her selection of the pieces used in an important chapter. 8. G. CONTENTS PART I PAOB Preface v CHAFTSB I. Preliminary 1 II. The Instrument and its Music . . .11 III. Becoming Acquainted with Music and the Player 16 IV. Pedalling 23 V. Metre of Music 27 VI. Pulse-Groups 34 VII. Phrase, Cadence, and Form .... 42 VIII. Chorales and Foundational Metres . . 47 IX. Listening to Inner Voices .... 55 X. Punctuation, Phrasing, and Free-Time . 60 XI. Tone-Production, Control-Levers, and Sus- taining-Lever 67 XII. Singing-Tone, Melody-Levers, and Automatic Melodiser 77 XIII. Metrical Pedalling 82 XIV. Studies in Metrical Counting and Pedalling (a) The Constructive Spirit in Music — Economy of Motive-Power ... 87 XV. Studies in Metrical Counting (6) — ^The Lyric Spirit in Music — Tempo-Control . . 91 vii viii CONTENTS XVI. Studies in Metrical Counting (c) — The Scherz- oso Spirit in Music — Manipulation of Con- trol-Levers 98 XVII. Studies in Metrical Counting {d) The Spirit of Rhythmical Energy — Synthetic Use of Levers 104 PAET II XVIII. Rhythmical Pedalling . . . .112 XIX. Prosodlal Terms and Rhythm in the Abstract 115 XX. Rhythm of Verse (a) — ^Iamb and Trochee . 132 XXI. Rhythm of Verse (6) — Chori ambus . . .146 XXII. Rhythm of Verse (c) — ^Dactyl and Anapest . 153 XXIII. Musical Values and Rhythm op Emphasis . 163 XXIV. Rhythm of Verse (d) — Composite Pulses and Measures 173 XXV. Two-pulse Measure : Quadruple-Time . . 187 XXVI. Rhythm of Phrase and Clause . . . 225 XXVII. Triple-Time 236 XXVIII. Dactylar Rhythm and Irregular Clause . 282 XXIX. Fugue 299 XXX. A Word to the Teacher .... 302 XXXI. Polymetre and Syncopation . . . 306 Index . . 313 THE ART OF THE PLAYER.PIANO PART I CHAPTER I PRELIMINARY On taking up the study of the player-piano, we remove from our minds an apparently instinctive idea — the idea that the instru- ment must be driven by heavy and laborious pedaUing. The idea is erroneous, and while it prevails we do nothing artistic- ally. The instrument is to be stimulated, not driven. It is to be made to operate, not by crude physical force, but by move- ments induced by musical feeling and guided by musical know- ledge. The player-piano, like the pianoforte and the organ, is a musical instrument ; its control is an art, and the per- former an artist. The course of study laid out in this book indicates how player technique may be acquired and developed, and how the student may build up the knowledge of music on which that technique is based. I find it takes about three years to make a good player-pianist of a man or woman of average musical intelUgence. It takes about seven years to make a good pianist or organist or singer. The difference in time is due to the different executive character of the instruments. Musical inteUigence progresses at the same rate ; but where the player-pianist understands first the larger aspects and effects of music, and works back to the more minute and refined details, other instrumentahsts move from the small to the great. Some singers and pianists do not ever develop the larger imderstanding of musical compositions, and few playerists 2 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO develop the refinements and individualities of art. About three years is the time required to cultivate a true musical conscious- ness ; but one has to work. The player-pianist has mastered the rudiments of his art as soon as he can pedal easily and quietly, play soft or loud at will, alter the tetnpo without losing grip of the rhythm, and throw a slight measure of warmth and personality into performance. This stage should be reached within a month, the music selected being simple and the playing carried on with the mechanical aids to performance (i.e. separation of melody and accompaniment, employment of Sustaining-lever, etc.) afforded by roll and instru- ment. He is on the road to a skilful command of the instnmient as soon as he can deUver a pedal-stroke on any beat or " count," which he should be able to do the moment he has learnt to count or beat time. And he is not far from final mastery of music and player when he can pedal according to the rhythmical " measures " of the music, so that his strokes are not only strictly economical, but placed so delicately that the musical sound is cadenced, or (as musicains term it) phrased. This third stage can scarcely be reached imder a couple of years ; but the matter rests entirely upon musicianship : unmusical persons never reach it. Player technique cannot be formulated and described beyond the elementary grade. Its technicale is as elaborate and subtle as that of singing and speaking, but also it is very nearly as instinc- tive. Just as a good reader of poetry can scarcely explain how he produces his effects, so a good player-pianist can scarcely say how he operates on his instrument ; all he can say is, that he is conscious of something musical, and that what he feels is instan- taneously translated into effect. (See page 112.) I emphasise the comparison drawn between reading emotional verse and performing music at the player-piano, with the remark that I have in more than twenty years met less than a score of capable elocutionists, and with the further remark that in over ten years I have met but a half-dozen of adequate player-pianists. I In this coarse of elementary musical study we shall not give much thought to the architecture of music ; but the clear pre- sentation of form is so vital a matter in the performance of music that I consider we ought to carry with us, from the very begin- ning, the following proposition : That emotional and cesthetic PRELIMINARY 3 appreciation of music is safe and sound only when controlled by intelligent understanding of the form of music. The proposition is true of the appreciation of any art ; but it is particularly true of the art of music, because music is, by nature, something which occupies successive fleeting moments of time and which has for subject-matter, not an intellectually apprehensible thought, or a visible object, but a subtle, mentally intangible, mood or phase of feehng. Music, therefore, must itself be clear in form, and its performance must be architecturally stable, if it is not to appear rambhng at the best and chaotic at the worst. Architecture and Form, mean balance and proportion. A piece of music is a balanced rhythmical movement round a certain centre. That centre, being tonal, we cannot describe ; but the movement itself we can describe and, moreover, illustrate by a diagram that could be carried in mind during performance, with, for result, a presentation of form as clear as the outlines of a cathedral. With the form clear, the meaning of the piece is clear likewise, and our emotional and aesthetic appreciation of the music is made fuU and safe. When we do not like a piece, it is sometimes because we do not understand its form. When we are bored and confused with a piece (as at the first playing of such a work as Schimaann's Humoreske) it is because we are unable to apprehend the balance of its parts and to relegate them to their common centre. When we get tired of a piece, it is generally because we have proved that its architectural principle is too elementary any longer to interest us. Similarly when we find that we are getting tired of all pieces of a particular type or class (as pieces of the class of Chaminade) it is because we have reached a stage of development where we want something larger and grander. And when we discover that what once bored or confused us (as the music of Bach or Brahms) begins now to afford intellectual and aesthetic pleasure, it is because we have found what is suited to our advanced musical knowledge. Form, the final manifestation of Rhythm, is the end of the means whereby music is made up — com-posed, " put-together." And that is why I say we must stedfastly make ourselves aware of the form of music, and furthermore that so long as we make the above proposition an article of our musical faith, we never tire of study, or find it impossible to understand a composition, 4 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO however hard and obscure the composition may seem at first sight. You may say to yourself, And have I, in working at my player, always to be analysing pieces, and always to be on the alert for intellectual details ? Have I always to be thinking about things ?. Can I never give myself up to a simple, straightforward enjoy- ment of music ? The answer to such questions is a simple No. You may, indeed must, give yourself up to simple, straightforward enjoy- ment of music, and this whenever and wherever you desire ; particularly when, for a moment, you become tired of study, or when you encounter a piece of attractive music. (There is no dehght greater than floating through an unfamiliar piece of pleasant music.) And when you have once learned a piece, you must cease to play it analjrtically, and for all time play it synthet- ically ; that is, as a compact whole ; who parses the sentences, or analyses the paragraphs, of a poem he is reading for pleasure ? But none the less must you train and educate yourself. You must acquire the ability to parse and analyse, and the power to contemplate philosophically the manifestations of cause and effect ; else in serious and profound art you may not be able to understand the expressions of the poet and to comprehend the significance of his thought. There are in Browning phrases we cannot understand until we have examined them grammatically, and in Shakespeare events and characters we cannot fathom without long continued psychological study. Similarly in great composers are passages, sometimes whole movements, that we have to thresh out with intellectual energy and scientific thorough- ness before we understand them and so find them pleasurable. The reward is worth the labour, as it is to climb a stiff hill to see a gorgeous stretch of country. Yet it is only while we are novices learning music, or when we happen to encounter a particularly tough problem, that we player-pianists have to study with extreme intellectual concen- tration. At other times we have merely to play — Uterally to play ; though it still remains true that as a baby has to go slow when it is learning to walk, and carefully to calculate distances before its mind grasps problems of space and movement, so we in the beginning have to be content to do the same. With our instrument, these early stages of slow calculation and elementary labour do not last long ; and when they are once PRELIMINARY . 6 over they are oyer for all time : the player-pianist has no occasion to fear the constantly recurring hindrance of a technique that may suddenly dissipate itself. He may neglect his instrument for a month, and on taking it up again find himself still in good tech- nical condition ; he may spend months in quite careless enjoy- ment of music, and find — when he has occasion to probe deep into some knotty matter of rhythm or form — that his mental power of analysis is still as keen as ever, provided, that is, he has in the earlier days of study properly and adequately trained himself in these respects. You have indeed not always to be working hard. Half the time you have not to work at all. Your position is as that of the instrumental virtuoso in finest condition ; you can for the greater part of your time play without effort, thinking only of music, and savoring its pleasantness. As regards a method of practising, you will do what seems best for yourself ; but as a general thing, it is well to practise slowly, trusting to knowledge and artistic inspiration later on to make playing at the proper speed safe and easy. It is rarely profitable to play straight through a piece which caUs for sectional study. It is better to remain at a typical passage, and to go through that passage time after time until its problems become clear. Sectional practice is a cool intellectual matter ; it induces an analytical and patiently observant mood, a sort of mood which, if you are a genuine music-lover, cannot be retained under the excitement of playing the whole piece. Yet, on the other hand, it may happen that the enthusiasm of playing the entire piece may inspire you to seeing through a difficulty which has baffled you in quiet intellectual study ; the swift movement, and the presentation of the complete outline of the piece, throwing light on what had remained obscure. And as regards practice-pieces, it is well to select short pieces of strongly marked character. Long pieces are fatiguing ; and in any case, the longest piece is, in effect, nothing but a balanced, architecturally synthetised collation of small passages and sections. n There is a fundamental fact of the nature of music which it behoves us to know. It is indeed imperative we should know it, if we would understand music and be happy at the player. The THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO fundamental fact is, that music derives either from song or from dance, however it may expand and develop, and however it may idealise the material of its origins. Therefore a piece is either mainly melodic or mainly rhj^hmic. Rhythm holds melody together, even when the melos is so con- tinuative that in " pricking " the sounds the composer uses no metre, and we do not count the pulses. And melody appears in nearly all rhythmical music ; though at times it is so merged in the rush of sound and power of pulse as to be but a fleeting spirit, wellnigh invisible, passing over the surface of the movement, or through its body. Therefore, again, we are either singing or dancing when per- forming music. But it is with the mind and soul of us that we sing or dance, because we are idealised singers or dancers. Highly developed music is the representation of matter that transcends voice and body. As the eye may reach the stars, and the mind remote ages and distant places, so the mind and soul may have conceptions which have no utterance but by abstract sounds. The Beethoven scherzo is only the final ideahsation of minuet, mazurka, and country dance ; and the elaborate figurations of Chopin, and the impassioned ornamentation of Bach, are only the final idealisations of the simple folk-song tune, expressing in exact sound what none but the more inspired singer can intimate in voice. I hold the opinion that in music Rhythm is more important than Melody ; and since Rhythm happens to be the more tangible and definite ; also, since rhythmic energy and exact metrical accentuation are among the superb characteristics of the Art of the Player,* it is Rhythm, in its various manifestations from simple metrical accent up to large symphonic balance of parts, which we who are to work together along the lines of this present course of study, will chiefly consider or have in ultimate view. And since rhythmic effects are produced by pedalling and * But everyone does not think so. This is what Mr. Abdy Williams says about the matter in his book. The Rhythm of Modtrn Music, "... the whole tribe of mechanical instruments, which are incapable of placing a stress on individual notes. For no one will deny that rhythm can exist on these instru- ment'*, in spite of this limitation. . . . We remember hearing a modem composi- tion which was unfamiliar to us played on a player-piano many times over, but we never succeeded in making out where its accents should come, and from being at first meaningless it became with repetition an irritation to us." An experienced player-pianist wonders whether the fault lay in the instrument, or in the particular performer, on this occasion, or even in the listener. PRELIMINARY 7 time, our chief study must be devoted to the Pedals and to the Tempo-lever. m PedalUng is for the player-pianist what breathing is for the singer and bowing for the vioUnist, or — to draw illustration from the instrument out of which the player arose — what finger- touch is for the pianist. The pedaUing, indeed, is the touch, " direct " when unmodified by any mechanical appliance, " con- trolled " when modified by the Touch-buttons or Control-levers. The various appUances manipulated by the fingers are vital in the organism of the player, and the use of them is essential in performance ; but these are all secondary to the Pedals, and the effects derived from the apphances (except perhaps from the Sustaining-lever) are all secondary to the effects derived from the Pedals, and if your pedalling is wrong, your manipulation of the apphances cannot put matters right. At base the Art of the Player is pedaUing, whether the detail under consideration be the marking of metre, the production of tone, the individuaUsing of parts, phrasing, the emphasising of accents, or the presentation of music in vast rhythmic proportion. The player-pianist caresses the pedals. He controls them as a driver controls high-spirited horses. He transmits to them the subtle spirit of the movement which music sets dancing through his soul. He employs them with the delicacy the sculptor em- ploys his tools ; he also hews with them, as the woodsman drives into the tree with his axe. He treats them as the conductor treats his baton, marking not only the beats, but the rhythm also, and effecting phrasing, tone contrast and quahty, chmax, and the thousand and one details of effect — objective and subjective — which go to the making of musical performance. The Pedals are as the centre of a nerve system, from which are radiated commands to every part of the instrument — the most deUcately intimate, as well as broadest and most sweeping. If a chart could be drawn illustrative of the pedal-strokes em- ployed in the performance if such a piece as Chopin's C sharp minor Prelude, Op. 45, the chart would display a curiously varied series of movements. It would show a line made up of grand curves and innumerable minor inflections, these last not only maintained at the zero level, but occurring also in the course of a rising or falling wave. Such a line would represent a creative 8 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO impulse carried into actual effect. And if a similar chart could be drawn illustrative of the constantly varying pressure of the Pedals necessary in the performance of the piece, and a third chart illustrative of the dynamic and emotional nature of the music as so produced, it would in each case be found that the line . was the same as in the first imagined chart ; for as the pedal- strokes are, so is the music. IV I have said that music is an idealisation of singing and measured movement. It is indeed this, the expression of movement that may exist only in the mind, of movement in the soul, for which both earth and air are equally native elements. We may, therefore, help ourselves to play easily and well by conceiving a dancing body that is freed from gravitational re- striction, able to disport itself in air as on the ground. First with feet firm upon the ground, this volatile body thrusts itself upward and away, and — poised in air for a transient though measured moment— performs the motions and assumes the postures com- plementary to, and dependent upon, the primal originative upward spring, returning and resuming in the same order, though with constantly varying periodicity, until the close is reached or the point arrived at where a change is made. How can one describe this ethereal attribute of music — the attribute which neither Whitman nor Browning (the two master- musicians among poets) could describe, the one poet ever filled with a sense of its " impossibihty of statement," the other con- stantly likening it to that never-to-be-held inner part of our being which we call soul — " Who tells of, tracks to source, the founts of Soul ? " I myself cannot describe it, though I seem to have it visualised before my consciousness as vividly as in a month of August I see the full moon. As I consider this matter, a Hungarian Dan) forte. By careful pedaUing during the fermata, we prepare the power to produce the tone of the following phrase. The last hne of the hymn is set to two-beat chords, except the last, which naturally takes a three-beat chord. The tone of the last line is piano. As our power for the third Crown Him is & forte power, we produce soft tone for the last line by drawing in the Control-levers during the third fermata. The closer movement to such syllables as An-gels is effected by breaking the beat into half-beats. The tune Miles Lane was published in 1779, when the composer was nineteen years old. Dykes's tune St. Cuthbert is of two sentences, each of which contains two eight-beat clauses. As the hymn has only four syllables in the last line, the last clause of the tune moves in long notes, — 8 Our A 8 1 2 Blest . . Re Guide . . a 1 2 3 4|56 :7 8112:3 4 16 6 deemer {ere. .. .Ho! breathed His ton-derllast fare- well Com-forter be- iqueathed With us ....... . to dwell: 3 406 :7 8ll2;3 4l6 6 The longer note to Blest and the following shorter note to Re- together make two beats. The unequal length of the two notes is brought about by " dotting " the first note. The tune Alford (also a Dykes composition) shows how the eight-beat musical clause adapts itself to hues of varying length. Ten thousand times ten thousand. In sparkhng raiment bright. The armies of the ransom'd Saints Throng up the steeps of light : 'Tisfinish'd! all is finish'd, Their fight with death and sin ; Fling open wide the golden gates And let the victors in. Dotted notes occur in every line but two. Lines (1) and (5) begin and end with weak syllables. It is impossible in the music (1) Seven syllables (2) Six (3) Eight (4) Six (5) Seven , (6) Six (7) Eight , (8) Six CHORALES AND FOUNDATIONAL METRES 49 to have a parallel clause, unless in the quadruple metre is inserted a three-beat bar : 8 Ten 1 2 thou-sand 3 4 times ten 5 6 thou-sand 1 2 spark-hng 3 4 raiment 5-6-:7 bright. To fill out the full measure of quadruple beats in such case as this, one of the last two syllables must take a two-beat chord. A mo- ment's thought shows the awkwardness of the form [} ^ \ ^^ The more natural form is that employed in the hymn. This effects syncopation. The weak beat 2 absorbs the accent of the strong beat 3. Its note acquires also the time of the following beat.* Syncopation of this kind is called the " syncopation of the outbeat." It is a common feature in music. Weber uses it largely. At the end of line (6) is a cadence somewhat of the feminine order : the music does not rest upon beats 5-6-7, but continues moving in the lower voices. Such cadences have to be carefully " controUed." The hymn " As pants the hart " is constructed of alternate eight- and six-syllable lines. In the ordinary way of musical SymnsAncierU and Modern, ^^rm, it WOuld take four eight-beat No 238, As pants the hart, clauses. But the composer (Hugh „ 184, Rock of ages. Wilson, c. 1800) has set the hynm in „ 254, Art thou weary. triple-time in such manner as makes the clauses alternately four-bar and three-bar. Thus we have in this simple tune Martyrdom an example of the seven-bar sentence : 3 1-2 3 1-2 3 1-2 3 1-2 3 1-2 3 1-2 3 1-2 As pants the hart for cool-ing streams. When heat-ed in the chase So longs my soul, God, for Thee, And Thy re- freshing grace. I II III IV I II Ill We can reaUse the seven-time movement by thinking the tune in quick time and counting bars, not beats. Singers instinctively dwell a moment on the words chase and grace, if only to take breath. " Rock of ages " is a six-line hymn. The tune thus contains three sentences. It is of the three-couplet form of the Chopin Prelude in C minor. But since the lines of the hynm are of seven- syllable length, beginning and ending with strong syllables, the cadences are mascuMne. In the Chopin piece, which fits syllabic- * In instrumental music it nevertheless happens that a phrase of this form takes a two-beat note on beats 5-6 and a one-beat note on beat 7 ; also in hymn music (see the Bach Chorales later in this Chapter). 60 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO ally to lines of eight syllables beginning strong and ending weak, the cadences are feminine. The shape of the clauses in the Schu- bert Ecossaises is the same as in this hymn-tune. In the language of prosodists, the metre of " Rock of ages " is the trochaic oata- lectic, and that of the Chopin prelude the trochaic acatalectic. . The coimting may be 7 8 1 2 3 4 5-6, 7 8 1 2 3 4 5-6, but not for the third verse. (See pages 217-218.) The verse-form in the hymn " Art thou weary " is 8, 5, 8, 3 : Art thou weary, art thou languid, Art thou sore distrest ? " Come to Me," saith One, " and conung, Be at rest ! " But the composer (the Rev. Sir H. W. Baker, Bt., musician, clergyman, and aristocrat) has set each line — even the three- syllalole one — to the normal eight-pulse musical phrase. The first and third clauses in the tune agree in metrical movement and cadence with the Chopin prelude, and have, therefore, feminine cadences. The famous Easter Hymn, with its ecstatic third clause and joyous alleluias, is in duple-time. The reason why the tune is „ . • . J w . barred in a two-pulse metre instead of Hymns Ancient arid Modem. ^, , , ^, . ,i i No. m, Jesus Christ is risen ^}^ usual four-pidse, IS partly because to-day. the alleluias would m four-time stretch " lin' ^T^^*'^^ "****• out in long and unwieldly bar, but , esus tves. chiefly because the energy of both tune and words can be indicated and produced only by duple-metre notation and accentuation. The spirit of energy calls for close downbeat stresses. The lines are of seven syllables, Jesus Christ is risen to-day. Alleluia ! Our triumphant holy day, Who did once upon the Cross, Suffer to redeem our loss. They begin and end with accented syllables, and so the last syllable takes a two-beat portion of the phrase. But where in the " Rock of ages " hymn, for example, the two-beat syllable is set to a two-beat note, here it is set to two notes, producing a feminine inflexion. We may make use of this tune to learn the function of the Control-levers, playing on heavy pressure throughout and modify- ing the tone by constant movement of the levers. CHORALES AND FOUNDATIONAL METRES 51 Easter Hymn, belonging to the year 1708, represents the begin- ning of the typical eighteenth-century hymn ; but it is scarcely touched by the weakness and decadence characteristic of the hynm-tunes of the century. SulHvan's tune Resurrexit shows how the eight-beat phrase spreads over lines ranging in length from eight syllables to five. It is, however, more useful to us as an example of ternary form, and as an example further of the construction of sentences and sections. Section I. 1st sentence : 2nd sentence ; Section II. 1st sentence : 2nd sentence : Section III. 1st sentence Christ is risen ! Christ is risen ! He hath burst His bonds in twain Christ is risen ! Christ is risen ! Alleluia ! swell the strain ! For our gain He sufEer'd loss By divine decree ; He hath died upon the Cross, But our God is He. {text as in section I). The two sentences in section II are *' sequential " in melody. The first sentence of section III is the same as the first sentence of section I. We pause on the last chord of the eleventh hne, and retard the time in the twelfth. The tune St. Albinus is exceptionally instructive as regards our present objects. It begins with a clause in octaves : Jesus lives ! no longer now . . . 5 6 1—2 3 4 5—6 It contains ten beats in its second and fourth clauses, and this despite the fact that the second and fourth lines of the hymn are only eight-syllable Hues 7 8 Can thy 5 6 Je — sus Thou, 7 8 1 2 3 4 1—2 3—4 ter- rors. death, ap- pal us 1 2 3 4 5—6 lives ! by this we know grave, can- not en- thrall us 1 2 3 4 1—2 3—4 62 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO And finally, it finishes with a six-beat " coda " : 5 6 1—2 3—4 Al-le-lu . . . ia. . . . The Lutheran hymns were a foundational part of German music from before 1600 to the close of Bach's life (1750). They ceased to influence music when the change came from Bach to Beethoven. But the artistic principles operating in the chorales are universal in music, and we will make ourselves aware of this truth by studying five Reformation hymns. The beautiful tune known as Meinhold is, in spirit, akin to music of pre-Reformation times. This is to say that it is akin to Meinhold. the Netherlandish-ItaUan music of the sixteenth {A. or A . If he wants the note to stand out less by virtue of physical emphasis than by subtler means, he may mark it tenuto or ten, which gives the note a sUght /ermato. In expressive performance we play tenuto without direction, much as in expressive reading of poetry we dwell instinctively upon words. (See page 269n.) I recommend at this point a return to the Bach chorals of Chapter VIII, with the object of compelling the ear to trace inner movement of parts, and thereby inducing the feet to make the player sing well the interior passages. It will be advisable for us to note that (a hymn-tune being written for four voices) the roll contains four individual Hnes of perforations ; and to note further that where for a single pulse only three perforations appear, we are to understand that two voices happen to be singing the same note. Sometimes the voices cross. Here I pause to argue a little ; not because the art of the player requires argument in this third decade of the twentieth century, but because a spirit irresistibly impels. n We are told by the musician who does not care for the player, that we cannot individualise the parts of contrapuntal music ; meaning, I assume, on open pedalHng, that is, by pedal-touch only. He says that since all the parts are produced by equal 58 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO power, it is inevitable that all should have equal tone, and that whatever prominence may appear, is due entirely to the local disposition of the parts. We have probably just remarked to him that as we concentrate the mind upon an inner part, that part has assumed an outstanding character. The end of his" rejoinder becomes, that there is no objective reality in such prominence, though perhaps a reahty that is subjective. Now even if the loudness we observe were no more than subjec- tive, the matter would not be inartistic. Poets say that if heard melodies are sweet, yet melodies unheard are sweeter. And Ideal- istic Philosophy claims that thought is the only reality in the world and that nothing exists except that which is imagined (these are expressions of Silvestre Bonard). " Nothing is, but thinking makes it so." And if in looking at a number of adjacent objects, we concentrate our eyes on one of them, we know that the rest will fall away, and seem actually to diminish. Therefore it would not matter if the contrapuntal part we concentrate upon became only subjectively prominent ; there would still be a gain, if to ourselves alone. Yet 1 j&nd such concentration to result in prominence that is actual and positive. 1 have played to sensitive musicians, arms folded, feet alone in command of the instrument, and have had them say, " But how do you make those imitations stand out ? " The question proves an objective individuahty in the parts. I have answered that it was by constant phrasing of the music ; by a continuous marking of entries of imitative phrases and a perpetual refining of their cadences, my instrument being deli- cately adjusted to respond to shght variation in pedal strokes. (There are, however, but few passages in music that may be indi- vidualised by pedals alone ; the levers are constantly required, and of these the Tempo-lever and the Sustaining-lever more than the Control-levers.) Imagination (which is an active fullness of knowledge and under- standing) completes what is physically incomplete. In music it enables the violinist to conceive harmony, the organist accent, and the pianist an undiminishing tone, quahties with no objective existence in their respective instruments. And it enables the player-pianist to conceive individuahty of parts even in cases where, in the nature of things, actual individuahty is impossible. We know we caimot sing many-voiced music as can the chorus and the string quartet, and we admit this a defect in our instru- LISTENING TO INNER VOICES 59 ment ; yet we discover that if we have the mental power to imagine many-voiced music as in a state of singing, whatever may come in actuahty from our instrmnent, the sounds will sing in our con- sciousness, and the end will be art of beauty and character. This is the final detail of that work of imagination which I have said is the foundation of player-pianism. It is to be developed first by training the ear to listen to inner parts. But imagination must be wisely directed. It must consider not merely bare facts of the matter occupying it, but facts of external matters. At a risk of my action being misunder- stood and turned back to destroy my argument, I quote a passage from a book relating to Coleridge : — " The language of German literature is equal to the Greek, except in harmony and sweetness. And yet the Germans think it sweet ; Klopstock had repeated to him (Coleridge) an ode of his (Klopstock's) own to prove it, and really had deceived him- self, by the force of association, into a behef that the harsh sounds, conveying, indeed, or being significant of sweet images or thoughts, were themselves sweet." CHAPTER X PXJNCTUATION, PHRASINQ, AND FREE-TIME A TEMPO nuance is an acceleration, a retardation, or a pause. The ritenuio {ritardando) and accelerando may be slight or large, covering one or two beats only, or a sentence. The pause {fer- mata) may be brief or otherwise ; it may be set on a long note or on a note shorter than a beat — the perforation for the latter may be cut long, so as to afford scope to catch and hold the note. We count through a long fennata, and dwell on one only of the beats — which, depends on the character of the rhythm. The return to tempo {a tempo or in tempo) may be immediate or gradual. When gradual, the nuance is double. A rit or accel may occur in long empty times, and even in the approach to — or departure from — the pause-beat of a long jer- mata. This also depends on the rhythm of the music. The rit or accd are graded nuances, each beat being perceptibly slower or quicker. The last beats of a long and pronounced rit may be almost stationary. We move the Tempo-lever in sudden jerks only for pauses, changes of speed, and a certain accentu- ation. Changes of time occur in a piece. The change may be led into by a rit or accel, or it may be taken abruptly. Such changes are indicated by figures referring to the tempo-plate, or by the position of the time-Une of the roll. Sometimes the arranger has to adopt a different standard of beat-length, owing to the music becoming long-drawn or crowded with short notes. The movement of the roll is then altered in performance, so as to retain the same tempo in the music. Tempo nuances are expressive or structural. The latter are matters of punctuation, and appertain to rhythm. The former (the true tempo rubato, or " free time ") are sometimes personal matters, and are not intimated by the composer. If in the study of the metre of a piece we lose the beat during &fermata, we resume from some point that is metrically clear. to PUNCTUATION, PHKASING, AND FREE-TIME 61 The rit and accel nuances are measured. The actual point of the pause is not measured, but is a complete holding up of the time. n Music has to be pimctuated, as definitely as prose and poetry ; otherwise it is unintelUgible. A cadence-less performance is inartistic, like a child's sing-song recitation. Pimctuation is a first step to phrasing. It is effected by a dehcate use of the Tempo-lever to bring about a quickening or slackening of time in the approach to a cadence, or a slight slackening at the actual moment of the cadence. The singer, for physical reasons, makes a break at the close of clauses and sen- tences, generally without perceptible cessation of time, but often with what is actually a brief silent fermata. The player-pianist may adopt the singer's practice ; he cannot, perhaps, break off the tone, but he can still give the same sense of poise. A sentence contains not less than two clauses. The cadence to the first clause is the middle cadence. Representing the coesura of a line of poetry, it requires especially dehcate phrasing. The cadence to the final clause permits a more emphatic ruhato and a more decided break in the movement. As already said, a cadence may be mascuHne or feminine. When the latter, the cadence may often be played in pronounced ritenuto, i.e. with a large slackening of time (an enlarging of the " quantity " of the beat) on the first chord, and an apparent holding-up of time on the second, combined with a decrescendo. An eight-pulse clause usually moves (in more elementary music) by two short and one long steps, as in the hne : — But 1 2' look . . . the 3 4' dawn ... in 5 6 7 8" russet mantle clad. . . . This is a regular classical procedure ; and though it is departed from and varied times and ways beyond number, it remains the phraseological basis of simple music. If the idea of it is carried in the mind, to punctuate such music becomes easy. I suggest we take up still again our hymn-tunes and chorales, and play them now with exaggerated punctuation, coming to definite pauses wherever sense of text and cadential nature of music permit. We shall take care to resume strict time for the clause following a full close, and not ghde sluggishly back to the G2 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO normal position of the Tempo-lever. And I suggest further we make immediate use of such regularly constructed pieces as the Schubert Ecossaises and Waltzes, Op. 18a, for similar development of our phraseological sense. Composers occasionally indicate an expressive poise. Elgar, Brahms, and others, place a comma over the bar-line, upon observing which the performer acts as if the sign were a sUght silent /ermo^a. Such indication cannot be transferred to the roll ; it can be expressed only by a short blank space, and (as the break in the sound is extra-metrical) only by an addition to the length of the bar-space. Therefore, when we come across a point in the roll where the metrical beat has a Uttle more space allotted to it than is normal, we may explain the matter as a rhetorical, or sense, detail of punctuation. (See page 37n.) m Rigid iemfo is impossible and undesirable — impossible because of the native flexibihty of art, and undesirable because of the monotony of sameness. It is impossible also because it pre- vents expression, the shading of sequential and responsive phrases, and the blending of simultaneous melodies. The academic idea of tempo rubato is, that the time robbed in one beat must be restored in another beat of the same bar, so that the bar shall have strict quantity. We are told that Chopin had free time in the melody, but strict time in the accompani- ment : we have to study the statement well before we understand it. The player-pianist is compelled to ignore both the academic idea and the principle said to have been adopted by Chopin. The tempo rubato helps to enforce cresceiidos and to enhance diminuendos. The impassioned crescendo naturally takes a slight hurrying (stringendo), though its cUmax will probably take a shght pause, the topmost beat perhaps marked by the composer ten, or sostenuto. A solemn and weighty crescendo will strengthen itself by a broadening {aUargando) of time. A dimin- uendo sometimes acquires a slackening (calando), especially at the end of a passage. The note or chord which forms the centre of gravity in a phrase, may always take a sostenuto. The sostenuto chord should then be introduced by a minute Jermata in the time, the instant before it is struck. (" Agogic restraint " is the term found by German pedagogues to describe this detail of rubato.) Poignant clashings PUNCTUATION, PHRASING, AND FREE-TIME 63 of discordant notes may be similarly intensified by an " agogical " pressure, this pressure of the time accompanying a sforzato accent of the tone ; slight, or otherwise, as occasion demands.* When music moves in alternating long and short notes there is a natural tendency to enlarge the long ; and where it moves by way of strong discords, each " resolving " into its sequence (which may be a concord or another discord), there is a similar tendency to enforce the discords by momently dwelHng on them — in the latter case the " chord of resolution " requires to be deli- cately phrased by a softening of the tone, as in the ordinary feminine cadence. Where an element of harmonic surprise enters, as with an un- expected modulation or starthngly foreign chord, it is often necessary to pause upon the beat in order to make the situation intelHgible. The remark applies to elements of rhythmical sur- prise, and (in part) to unexpected tonal nuances in the music of Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, and Tchaikovski. Free time enters into modem " poetic " music more than into classical " abstract " music. Many works of Bach may be played from start to finish with no variation of movement beyond what is natural at the larger structural cadences. Few compositions of Chopin and Schumann can be played in strict time. And even in the case of Bach, there are few passages of warmly human significance that do not demand a fluctuation of the tem'po (as the Chromatic Fantasia in D minor, the Prelude in C sharp minor from the first book of the Well-Tempered Clavier, the Prelude in E fiat minor, the Prelude and Fugue in F sharp major, the Fugue in B minor — aU from the first part of the same work — the Clavier Toccatas, and such rhetorical works as the opening movements of certain Partitas and English Suites). It is a feature with Bach, in music of grandiose nature, to heap tone and power upon a strong discordant harmony, some brief distance from the final cadence ; he occasionally marks the beat to be played in pause, and we may always play it in ruhato. The freedom of time in lyrical pianoforte music is as the free- dom of time adopted by singer and vioUnist. In music repre- senting movement (i.e. dance-music) the tempo ruhato is what the solo dancer would adopt if the piece were danced to. In dramatic music of the class typified by the Hungarian Rhapsodies of Liszt, * In Greek thought, " agoge rhythmica " implied the observation of a melody, not as a thing of pitch, but as a thing of accent and rhythm. 64 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO variations of time are what we might perhaps term oratorical. Frequency and character of ruhato depend on the style of the music. Passionate music, and music of extreme pathos of ex- pression, inspire the subtlest rubato, also music which (as so much of the music of Bach) seems to be searching a way — feeling con- tinuously for the path along which the soul must travel, as ideas and feelings work and shape themselves in the mind until they find utterance in words and tones. In the romantic music of the mid-nineteenth century, especially the Mazurkas of Chopin, where every sentence is likely to appear twice, repetition following immediately upon original, the second appearance of the sentence is almost always played with rubato. This remark appUes to all music in which the phrases are responsive. In polyphonic music, as in the lyrical fugues of Bach, the voices wait upon one another as friends in leisured conversation, each mind inchning itself to that of the speaker who, for a moment, has the chief theme. In scherzoso music the tempo is often fantastically, even grotesquely, free, as is the tone. In gently flowing, lyrical, contemplative music, the rubato is as the play of light over an autumn land- scape. No golden rule exists for the tempo a piacer. The matter is determined by the " pleasure " of the performer — as he feels or imagines, so may the music be. Even the composer's specific directions with regard to time-phrasing are not immutable ; for it happens in many cases that in performance the player may be reading in the music something which forbids him to make the accd or the rit suggested by the composer. Notes are immutable, also rhythms ; but tonal and temporal nuances are variable, as are other quahties the nature of which is artistic and the efiect of which the revelation of personahty. But if we depart far from the composer's directions, we suggest that we do not quite cor- rectly understand his music, and I must not be taken as implying that in respect of time and tone a performer is independent of the expressed desire of the composer — to quote from Walt Whitman — " I do not intend this as a warrant for wildness and frantic escapades — but to justify the soul's frequent joy in what cannot be defined to the intellectual part, or to calculation." For the performer is restricted to what the music suggests ; and if he surround the music with what it does not suggest, he distorts it, and by so distorting it proves himself no artist. All I desire to convey is, that artistic nuances, being matters of emotional PUNCTUATION, PHRASING, AND FREE-TIME 65 feeling and artistic impulse, cannot be rendered exact and un- changeable, and cannot therefore be expressed in immutable terms, even by the composer, who himself would not play the piece exactly the same on two different occasions. One rule, however, may be set out as invariable — the rule that, however free the time may become, the fundamental rhythm must remain. Therefore in all pieces we learn first the main fundamental rh3d;hm of the music ; and we accept it as direct truth, and no paradox, that if we cannot roughly under- stand a piece, and make it roughly intelligible, in strict time, we can never understand it, or make it subtly expressive, in free time. The fundamental rhythm is as trunk and roots of a tree, the tempo rubato as the leaves and branches that sway and quiver in the breeze. And, finally, one result of temjpo rubato may be described as more or less uniform — hurrying intensifies, and slackening modifies, especially when the one is applied to an ascending crescendo and the other to a descending decrescendo. It is perhaps too much to say that every ascending crescendo melody requires a hurrying of the time, and vice versa ; yet it is the custom of composers to indicate, by specific marks of expression, what they want when ascending melody is not to be hastened and descend- ing melody not to be retarded. IV The technique of the Tempo-lever is simple. It comprises merely movements to right or to left — to the right for quickening time, and to the left for retarding it, and to the extreme left (to zero) for bringing the music to momentary pause. But its artistic employment is not simple ; and as the use of this manipulative appUance is combined continuously with all other details of player-pianism — rhythmical playing, accentual pedalling, con- trasts of tone, individualisation of melody, and so forth — the technique of the Tempo-lever is the most subtle and endlessly varied of all. The following pieces help to an instinctive understanding of freedom of time : — Schubert. Moderato from Sonata in A minor, Op. 42. ^ Chopin. Valse in Gflat, Op. 70, No. 1. f Chopin. Grande Valse hrillante, Op. 18. 66 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Brahms. Hungarian Dances Nos. 5 and 6 {in F sharp minor and Dflat). Beethoven. Largo appassiotkUo from Sonata in A major, Op. 2, No. 2. Schumann. Trdumerei, from Scenes of Childhood, Op. 15. Gardiner. Noel. Bach. Chromatic Fantasia in D minor. O'NeiU. Gigue, Op. 27, No. 2. Liszt. Hungarian Rhapsody, No. 5 (or the lyrical passages of any of the rhapsodies). Weber. Les Adieux. Beethoven. First movement from Sonata in D major y Op. 10, No. 3. CHAPTER XI TONE-PRODUCTION, CONTROL-LEVERS, AND SUSTAINING-LEVER The dotted line of the roll is rarely straight for long, in modem music especially. A piece may be quiet throughout, or loud ; but as there are swells and hollows in a calm sea, so the intensity of the tone will expand and diminish. Tonal nuance in music up to 1750 is simple — simple sometimes like the echo, as when an organist alternates passages on two manuals. In music of the latter half of the eighteenth century nuances are more varied, including crescendos and diminuendos, and curious accentuations of the weak particles of the beat. The latter can scarcely be effected on the player ; but they are more violinistic than pianistic. (See the slow movement of the Sonata in C minor of Mozart : composed Oct. 4th, 1784.) It was Beet- hoven who made tonal nuance of abrupt nature an essential detail of emotional expression. With Chopin and Schumann nuance is sometimes as vital as notes. Tonal contrast is vivid in Liszt and Tchaikovski ; and in Reger it alternates in an instant from ffff to ppppp. Present-day composers do not exaggerate tonal effects, having greater powers of phrase and harmony. Pre-Beethoven music is sometimes played according to eighteenth-century ideas. This is not the right way to perform it. The music survives because it pleases our different aesthetic sense ; and we should play it accordingly, pouring into the sounds all that has been learnt between then and now ; I mean, of course, all that the music will carry. Artists are not antiquarians or students of the archaic. Therefore in playing Bach we use the crescendo and the diminu- endo of the modem pianoforte, the modern idea of free time, and the Uke ; and in playing Haydn and Mozart we use what we have gathered from Beethoven. Particularly do we use the Sustaining- pedal, despite the circumstance that the art of the Sustaining- pedal was not finally elaborated until the time of Chopin. 67 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO n The finer tonal nuances cannot be indicated on the roll ; indeed, they cannot be indicated on the printed score, but have to be supplied by ourselves, to which end we reserve the same privilege of tonal inflexion as the reader of poetry. Player-pianists produce widely graded nuances by means of the pedals. Sudden contrasts they produce by the Control-levers. By experience we know exactly what power must be provided for the creation of a required volume and quality of tone, and instinctively we prepare this power by modifying the force, range, and frequency of our strokes. By experience also we learn how, by striking exactly on the note, to play the detached /or^e^ of Beethoven and other composers, and this upon open pedalling. If the change is abrupt from loud to soft, we draw in the levers with the first soft chord. If it is from soft to loud, we draw in the levers towards the end of the soft passage, build up power, and release the levers upon the first loud chord, generally deliver- ing the climactic stroke of our crescendo pedalUng upon the first forte beat. The levers have to be skilfully manipulated in order to avoid soft tone on the first loud beat, or loud tone on the last soft beat. We do not play the whole of a soft passage with levers in, except when the passage is a brief interpolation in a general loudness ; we release them as soon as we feel the power has reduced itself to the degree requisite for the production of the jriano. The Control-levers have a graded influence over the tone. By drawing them in or releasing them gradually, the levers effect a decrescendo or crescendo even when the power remains uniform, having in this respect an atfinity to the swell-pedal of the organ. Few player-pianists, however, are content to let sweUing and diminishing be thus automatically produced ; they grade the pedalling to effect the tonal changes. With the Control-levers operating, direct touch from the pedals is impossible ; which means that whatever we do with the pedals while the levers are ** on," we have no direct influence over the tone. Thus dependence of the levers puts a stop to sensitive pedalling, and eventually prevents the performer from develop- ing individuality of style. In music of the character which permits of short, frequent TONE-PRODUOTION 69 pedal-strokes, and which by crowded notes constantly absorbs power, we may effect sudden changes of tone by direct touch. Thus the great Islamey of Balakirew, where the music moves in compact responsive phrases of alternate forte and piano, we manage the tonal changes without using the levers — provided, of course, our instrument is in order and we are playing to the rhythmic swing of the piece. For the player-piano has a curious property of immediate response and of apparently spontaneous recovery ; when suppUed with just enough power to produce what is wanted, a single second of time is all it requires to drop from loud to soft or to rise from soft to loud. And when our pedalling is strictly rhythmic (i.e. determined by motive cadency) we also require but the same brief stretch of time to effect the alteration in our pedalUng. But in music which does not permit of short and frequent pedal- strokes, and where the perforations are both few in number and lengthy, the instrument cannot spontaneously recover. The student may prove these remarks by looking at the " Black Keys " Etude of Chopin {Op. 10, No. 5) and the Gavotte in D of Bach (arranged from the Sixth Violoncello Suite), taking care to get fixed in his mind the pattern-motive of the Chopin piece. It is necessary to bear in mind that often, in older rolls, the tone-Mne is out of place, coming too soon or too late, and so em- bracing in the piano what should he forte, and the reverse. Ill The following pieces are useful studies in tone-production : — (a) without Control-levers : — MacDowell, Op. 55, No. 2. From a Wandering Iceberg (com- mencing as soft and smooth as possible, we increase gradually and steadily to double-fortissimo in the middle of the piece ; and then gradually diminish to pianissimo, becoming softer and softer to the end : these are the composer's indications). Chopin, Op. 27, No. 1. Nocturne in C sharp minor (begin pianissimo ; and from the point where the time quickens, build up gradually to a fortissimo appassionato ; retain the fortissimo, but with swelhng gradations, until the passage that descends in octaves into the bass ; then resume the original pianissimo). 70 THE AKT OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Grieg, O'p. 46, No. 4. In the Hall of the Mountain Kings (begin pianissimo, reach in due course fortissimo, and a little way from the end have two sudden pianos which swell rapidly each to & fortissimo). Chopin, Op. 25, No. 10. Etude in B minor (begin piano, arrive shortly at forte, and continue increasing to fff at the close of the first part of the piece ; play the middle part in swelling piano; return to forte for the third part, and conclude with the loudest possible tone). Per Lassen. Crescendo (play according to title). Chopin, Of. 25, No. 9. Etude in Gflat (the first and third parts are light in tone, the middle part is loud, abruptly ending bo). Grieg, Of. 46, No. 2. The Death ofAse (play every phrase with an appropriate volume of tone, with an increase to forte in the fourth. This piece is played in the orchestra by muted strings. Its forte therefore is one of feehng rather than of physical tone). (6) with Control-levers : — Beethoven, Op. 2, No. 1. Finale from Sonata in F minor. Haydn. Finale from Quartett in C. "Weber, Op. 49. First Movement from Sonata in D minor. Mendelssohn, Op. 43. Serenade. Brahms, Op. 1. Scherzo from Sonata in C. Reger, Op. 32, No. 3. Burleske. Balfour Gardiner. Noel. Chopin, Op. 30, Nos. 1 Mazurkas in C minor 0.11^ B minor. and 2. Chopin, Op. 67, No. 1. Mazurka in G major. (c) " Echo " effects {ancient) : — Bach. " Echo " from Suite in B flat. Bach. " Echo " from French Overture in B minor. Kuhnau. Gavotte in B minor (the last phrase echoes the phrase preceding it). TONE-PRODUCTION 71 (Modem) : — Chopin, Op. 68, No. 2. Mazurka in A minor. Chopin, Op. 30, No. 3. Mazurka in D flat. Brahms. Hungarian Dance in D minor {No. 12). Schubert, Op. 147. Scherzo horn. Sonata in B major. The singing-tone, or cantando, may be practised by help of any melodious composition. The Consolations of Liszt afford good material, especially the sixth. The cantando pedal-touch comes naturally to many player-pianists, while others it seems to elude. The student's work in the next chapter will prove to him which of the two bodies of players he belongs to. IV You will perhaps have observed at orchestral concerts how the tympanist (the drummer) drops his hands upon the head of the drum at the end of a passage of notes, or after a single note. This he does to put an end to the sound ; because the vibration of the drum continues after the blow and — if not artificially stopped — causes the sound to extend into the following harmony. The operation of putting an end to the vibration of a sound-producing substance, is called damping. The drummer uses his hand as a damper ; so does the harpist. The wires of the pianoforte are damped mechanically. On the striking of a note, the hammer attached to the key hits the wires of the note, and the damper which ordinarily Hes against the wires is raised. The hammer leaps away from the wires after impact, but the damper does not return until the finger looses the key. The Sustaining-pedal of the piano, and the Sustaining-lever of the player-piano, control the entire range of dampers. When the pedal or lever is in operation, all the dampers are removed from the wires ; and all wires are left free for that sympathetic vibration with the wires actually struck, which is so character- istic a feature of the pianoforte. Sympathetic vibration has nothing to do with loudness or softness of tone. It is concerned solely with richness and character. Therefore the pedal should not be called the loud- pedal ; for although it does help us to play loud, it helps us also to play soft, a note struck with dampers raised having possibihties of soft touching greater than a note struck with dampers down. 72 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO A pianist proves himself by use of the Sustaining-pedal. As a purely mechanical device, this Sustaining-pedal serves to hold down, in effect, keys which — owing to the pianist having to move his hand to another register — it is impossible for the per- former to retain with the fingers. Notes which have to continue sounding, but which cannot be so retained, are generally written as short notes, the time of which represents the actual holding of the notes ; and the performer is told to use the Sustaining- pedal. Such notes could be written out in full length ; but that would crowd the score. Now music is transcribed to the roll exactly as written ; and, therefore, there are many perforations (especially in the bass) which, though of short length, represent notes that are long. The pianist, when pedalling an individual note, may raise the dampers exactly on the striking of the note : the impact of the stroke is then transmitted to all the wires. Or he may not raise them until just after the striking of the note : the sympathetic vibrating of the other wires is then very shght, being but a yield- ing to the vibration of the sounding wires. (It is, I hope, under- stood by the reader that the sUghtest vibrating of a tone-pro- ducing medium results in a sound, though the sound may be itself inaudible.) Faulty use of the Sustaining-pedal either runs together notes that are to be separate, or separates notes that are not to be separated. Eye and ear assist the pianist, ear alone the player- pianist. You may ask. How then am I to know when to use the Sustaining-lever ? I can only answer, By experience. There are no rules, short of a complete exposition of harmony and musical aesthetics generally, and of the principles of piano music and tone- production in particular. Perhaps I may say that while the older composers do not often run together discordant harmonies, modem composers, on the other hand, do run them together, sometimes to a degree that brings into simultaneous being every note of the scale. It is worse to use the Sustaining-lever wrongly than to be wrong by refraining to use it rightly ; you may perhaps rest on the old joumaUstic motto. When in doubt, leave it out ! I give a few rule-of-thumb hints, however, in a moment. It is so commonly understood that the Sustaining-pedal is to be in constant use, that when the opposite is determined upon, the composer has to direct accordingly. Schumann's Grief fore- TONE-PRODUOTION 73 boding {Op. 124) is a piece wherein the pedal is not to be employed. The automatic use of the Sustaining-lever in the player-piano is determined by what the composer has entered in his score. It gives merely the letter of the matter. The Sustaining-lever corrects a characteristic defect of the player-piano, which is, an over-clarity of outhne, and uniformity of tone, in all the simultaneously presented notes of a chord. This defect, en passant, is not a disgrace upon the instrument ; it is no more than a defect of other solo instruments — as the in- abihty of the organ to mark accents, of the vioHn to play har- monies, and of the pianoforte to sustain a sound without diminu- tion — and, as is the case with these other defects, it has to be accepted. Yet though accepted, it has not to be exaggerated, whence comes the opportunity of the player-artist to make artistic use of the Sustaining-lever. By means of the lever he may so cloud the outhnes of chords, both when the chords are struck and when they are released, as to produce genuine piano- forte effects, even the effects that are held to be peculiar to human fiuQgers. In soft playing, the continuous employment of the lever upon the striking of the successive notes causes the notes to ghde into existence. In smooth playing it causes the end of one note to overlap the beginning of the next (this overlapping is only partly provided for by the perforations), and so enhances the legato. In loud and emphatic playing it helps the production of clear, ringing tone. And in the case of sustained /ermnto chords which are held by the lever after the perforations have passed over the tracker-bar (see page 92), it makes possible a fading as delicately imperceptible as on the piano. In polyphonic music, by careful introduction upon the prominent notes of an inner melody, the lever helps to that individuahsing of parts without which the music is incoherent. Aided by sensitive pedal- ling and intelHgent use of the Tempo-lever, the Sustaining-lever converts our playing to a thing of beauty. Yet, as few pianists pedal well, so most player-performers use their Sustaining-lever badly. It is in this respect that the style is the man himself, and if we are not artistic by nature, no dissertation can make us so. When set for the left hand, the lever is worked by the Uttle finger. It should not be gripped between thumb and first finger. And only the finger should move as the lever is drawn in or 74 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO released. The lever should be lightly balanced ; if it moves stiffly, it cannot be artistically used.* Studies in Sustaining-lever technique can be found in the pieces listed in this and subsequent chapters. General hints for its use are : (a) where the accompaniment consists of a bass-note followed by a chord or chords, the lever may be brought on with the bass-note and retained through the chords. If, however, the second or third chord is different from the first, the lever should be released at the change of harmony, (b) Where the music con- sists of a series of chords, the lever may be brought in for each chord, particularly when the music is strong and the beats em- phatic, (c) Where the music is made up of a long chord, above which runs a melody, the lever may be held in until the melody has completed itself, even if the perforations of the chord cease earUer, If, however, the running melody descends to a middle or low register, the lever must be released as soon as the melody- notes enter that register, (d) Where a chord is struck in arpeggio (i.e. in broken sequence), the lever may be brought in with the first note and retained to the last.f (e) Repetitions of the same chord may be bound together by the lever, especially at the con- clusion of a piece or passage. (/) In feminine cadences, and in the passing of a discord to its resolution, the chord on the strong beat may be run (though only for the briefest of moments) into the chord on the weak beat. The Softening-lever is included in but few instruments. This lever lifts the hammers nearer to the wires and so reduces their striking power. Unlike the Control-levers, it does not destroy direct touch ; but it is rarely necessary to use it. It is most welcome when we have to produce veiled, muffled tone. The composer's direction for emplopng the Softening-lever is una corda, which refers to the circumstances that on a grand * The following exercises will develop the technique of the little finger : (1) Place thumb and first finger on a flat surface, lift the little finger as high as is possible ; and, without straightening it, or bunching up the back of the hand, bring it down smartly with a hammer-like tap. (2) Place thumb and first finger as before, stretch out to the full extent the little finger, and then gradually draw it under the hand until it rests between thumb and first finger. Wrist and arm must not be stiffened. t Arpeggio chords are charactci istic in the Bach Chromatic Faniaaia and in the last two pieces given on page 66; also in Wcbcr, Op. li, and Chopin, Op. 10, No. 11. TONE-PRODUCTION 75 pianoforte the left-foot pedal shifts the keyboard so that only one of the wires of a note is struck. MacDowell's A Haunted House {Op. 61, No. 5) makes a good study in respect of the Softening-lever. It is to be played mysteriously, the tone in the beginning pianissimo, very dark and sombre, and with both Sustaining-lever and Softening-lever in use (the latter all the time, the former changing chord by chord). Where in the music begins an increase of tone, the Softening- lever is to be released ; where the music takes on a shimmering movement in the upper part, the tone ppp, the Softening-lever is to be used again ; and where the fourth low note appears in this passage it is to be again released in preparation for another crescendo. Towards the end of the piece, where the tone is again pp and the sombre chords of the opening have returned, the com- poser's direction is steadily soft and somewhat vague, becoming gradually slower and softer to the end ; the lever is again to be used in this passage, and retained to the final chord. The slow movement of Schubert's Sonata in A minor. Op. 143 (composed in 1823, when the composer was twenty-six years old), is to be played with Softening-lever in ten places. The piece is rather march-Hke in character. Interspersed among the march- phrases are soft interludes, chiefly of three beats length (beat 2, 3, and 4). These are like passages for muted strings in the orchestra, and are to be played una corda — or according to Schubert's exceptional phraseology, sordini. Where the interludial figure is extended to lead into a forte, the Softening-lever is to be gradually released. The contrasts of tone are striking in this piece, and I recommend it for continuous and careful study. " Tre Garde " orders the release of the soft pedal. VI There is a detail of player-technique pecuhar to the sforzato. At one time this detail was used universally, in particular by the display-salesman. Of late, since the principles of pedalling have been understood, it is less used. The detail is a compound of heavy pedal stroke, snapping em- ployment of the Control-levers, and inward jerk of the Tempo- lever. The latter arrests the tempo for a fraction of time, heaping up the power, and thereby increasing the springboard condition of the mechanism, against which the heavy pedal-stroke can the better establish itself. If a name were wanted for this detail of 76 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO playing, the name might be tempo-sforzato ; because although the tempo is not affected, yet it is the Tempo-lever which most assists in the operation. The student who has a desire to practise the detail independ- ently of the other considerations, may take the Cat's Fugue of Scarlatti, the Chopin Polonaise, Op. 40, No. 1, the Chopin Scherzo . in C sharp minor, Op. 39, the Danse negre of Cyril Scott, or the Gigue and the Burlesque of Norman O'Neill. The A major fugue in Book I of Bach's Well-tempered Clavier has for subject a theme which counts I II m 1 {2 3) (4) '5678 9" ff piano (the figures in brackets represent empty times). A highly virtuosic use of the tempo-sforzato pedal stroke is possible in the production of the loud note of the theme wherever it occurs. CHAPTER XII SINGING-TONE, MELODY-LEVERS, AND AUTOMATIC MELODISEB Singing-tone is efiected solely by the pedals, and tlie more the Control-levers are used the less cantando will be the touch. A piano that will not sing is a defective instrument. The player- piano that will not sing is either defective as a piano, or defective in its mechanism. To test the cantando quahty of your instru- ment, and your own sense of cantahile, take the following pieces from Grieg, and pedal them quietly and observantly, thinking in the first of a body of strings, and in the second of wind instruments of the oboe, cor anglais, and bassoon class : (1) Geheimniss ("Secret"), Op. 57, No. 4; (2) Hirtenknahe (" Shepherd's Boy "), Op. 54, No. 1. Simple lyric music is hke the ordinary song — a melody with elementary accompaniment. More advanced lyrical music is developed until it becomes polyphonic, each " voice " a pure melody. The levers that control the two halves of the compass of the piano help us to separate melody from accompaniment, and are of local or en passant use in lyrical polyphony, with subtle employment of Sustaining-lever, Tempo-lever, and (above all) cantando pedaUing. In simple music of this order the performer is as solo singer and accompanist ; in advanced music he is as chorus or orchestra. The automatic melodising device is often essential in accompanied melody, but is rarely of use in lyric polyphony. I was not always of the opinion that \jx\c poly- phony must be played on open pedaUing. When melody and accompaniment are quite distinct, we can play with direct touch ; also when accompaniment is in a register well removed from the melody. I give at once some studies in 77 78 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO canlando tone and individualising of melody and accompaniment, all without use of the Control-levers : — Bantock. Serenade. Mendelssohn. Lieder ohne Worte, Nos. 42 (in B flat) and 11 (in D major). Mendelssohn. Serenade, Oj>. 43. "Weber. Rondo from Sonata, Op. 39. Chopin. Mazurka (in A Minor), Op. 7. No. 2. Chopin. Mazurka (in F minor) Op. 68, No. 4. Liszt. Consolations {No. 6). Even when the melody is in the tenor register, and the accom- paniment above, we can sometimes individualise the parts on direct touch : — Mendelssohn. Study (in B flat minor). Op. 104 (b), No. 1. Mendelssohn. Prelude (in E minor), from the detached Pre- lude and Fugue, the prelude composed in 1841, and the fugue in 1827. n A melodic character may enter the accompaniment, either responsively to the main melody, or independently. In the following pieces the accompaniment melodies are responsive : — MacDowell. To a Wild Rose, Op. 51, No. 1. Schumann. Trdumerei, Op. 15, No. 7. Schumann. Warum ? Op. 12, No. 3. and in the following they were independent : — MacDowell. At an Old Trysting-place, Op. 51, No. 3. MacDowell. A Deserted Farm, Op. 51, No. 8. Grieg. Symphonic Dance (in A major), Op. 64, No. 2. Synthetic studies in these respects are : — SibeUus. Idyl, Op. 24, No. 6. Chopin. Nocturne (in B major), Op. 62, No. 1. The Sibehus has pauses between beats. Modem composers have little use for the scientific canon ; but they adopt canon in pieces where song or danc€ are idealised, and SINGING-TONE 79 conceived as in duet, the second singer or dancer imitating the first at a certain distance of time : — Moszkowski. Canon, Op. 15, No. 4. Schumann. Canonic Song, Op. 68, No. 27. Jarnefelt. Prelude. Ill There is a type of accompaniment so frequently used in piano music that it should receive special attention. It is a chordal accompaniment ; but the chord is given on two beats, of which the first takes only the bass note, and the second the rest of the chord. We might call it the " bissected chordal accompaniment." In triple-time music, the chord may come on the second beat and be held over into the third ; it may be repeated on the third beat ; or the bass note may be held for beats 1 and 2. But a fresh chord may come on the third beat. The second beat may have its lowest note below the bass note of the first beat. We are then sometimes led astray, and con- ceive beat 2 and a beat 1. The bass note may be lightly touched and the chord on beat 2 specially stressed, as in the Hungarian alia zoppa rhythm. Here again we may confuse the metre. Schubert. Moment musical, Op. 94, No. 3. Chopin. Etude, Op. 10, No. 2. Chopin. Ecossaises (posthumous). Chopin. Etude, Op. 25, No. 9. Brahms. Capricdo, Op. 76, No. 2. Among the more frequent details of accompaniment, are these features : — (1) Sustained chords under a moving melody. (2) Broken chords (i.e. in harp style — arpeggio, arpeggiando). (3) Reiteration of a chord (a favourite device of Mendelssohn's). (4) Reiteration of the same chord in different positions (also a favourite device with Mendelssohn). (5) Long notes in the midst of moving parts (these are to be struck well and firmly, first to draw attention to them, and secondly to enable the piano to sustain their tone). (6) Sustained bass notes (the richness and gravity of tone in the lower register of the piano, and the possibiHty of enforcing and retaining tone by the Sustaining-lever, make it less necessary 80 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO to firmly articulate these notes ; yet a bass should generally be bold). (7) Chords on weak beats, the strong beats empty. (8) Runs, scales, trills, and other decorative features. (9) Independent figures worked out on a plan of their own. We must see that these do not exceed their office, for the main^ melody is the chief thing, and they are not made to rule. But to subserve, where wisdom bears command. IV The Control-levers (melody-levers) are to be used when direct touch cannot distinguish melody from accompaniment. Their technique comprises : — (1) The hass-control drawn in and the treble left open : — Mozart. Finale (" Turkish March ") from Sonata in A major. rChopin. Mazurka (middle section), Op. 17, No. 1. [Chopin. Valse in D flat, Op. 70, No. 3. Mendelssohn. Lieder ohne Worte (Gondola Song), No. 12. (2) The treble-control drawn in, the bass left open : — Cyril Scott Valse scherzando (the middle section of the first part, from where long-held bass notes begin.) (3) The bass drawn in, and the treble used for the momerUs when the accompaniment rises into the treble register — (special studies are not necessary because this detail of technique is in constant use.) (4) The bass drawn in, and released where the melody passes into the bass register : — Chopin. Mazurka, Op. 7, No. 1. Chopin. Prelude, Op. 28, No. 4. (5) The two levers in constant alternation to corUrol and release tone for accompaniment and melody : — Schumann. Warum ? Op. 12, No. 3. Beethoven, Tempo di Menuetto from Sonata in G, Op. 49, No. 2. Liszt. Andante lagrimoso. Bantock. Serenade. Chopin. Prelude, Op. 28, No. 21. Chopin. Prelude, Op. 45. Beethoven. Finale from Sonata in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1. SINGING-TONE 81 The levers should be released for the summit of a crescendo. Being of graded operation, they permit a mechanical crescendo in the accompaniment. V The following pieces cannot be played without the automatic melodising device : — Chopin. Mazurka, Op. 59, No. 2. Chopin. Prelude, Op. 28, No. 8. Chopin. Nocturne, Op. 15, No. 2. Chopin. Nocturne, Op. 9, No. 2. Brahms. Hungarian Dance (in B minor) No. 19. Schumann-Liszt. Friihlingsnacht {" Spring Night "). Strauss. Traum durch die Ddmmerung. Paul Corder. Prelude (in B major). Pieces are often unnecessarily melodised. The device is defec- tive in the respect that it compels a slight delay in the striking of the melodised note, and this is unpleasant at times, causing a splitting of the chord. (The worst instances of unnecessary melodising I have observed, are the end of the slow movement of Beethoven's Sonata pathetique and certain Bach fugues and pre- ludes.) Melodising takes notes out of the influence of the Control- levers, and so we cannot alternate rapidly in the melody between loud and soft. VI Expressive playing rests upon the cantahile. It is the summit of the art of the player-piano, because it is wholly the creation of the performer, the instrument doing nothing to make it possible. How delicate are the attributes of expressive playing is shown in the directions given by the composer for the performance of the following piece. (There are 36 bars, of quadruple-time, each of the opening long notes taking two counts ; the 13th bar is of two counts only) : — Debussy : Des pas sur la neige. To be played triste et lent. Re- garding the accompaniment — "Ce rythme doit avoir la valeur sonore d'un fond de paysage triste et glace." The melody is to be " expressif et douloureux." There are rvbatos in bars 13, 15, 19, 25; and slower time in bars 32-36. At bar 21 — "En animant surtout dans I'expression," and at bar 29 — " Comme un tendre et triste regret." Debussy's Des pas sur la neige is an example of the sort of music which, in this respect, should be left entirely to the performer. CHAPTER XIII METRICAL PEDALLING We have hitherto pedalled chiefly to produce tone and to provide motive-power, and so have pedalled by instinct, in natural response to suggestions from the music. Our pedal technique at present is formed of knowledge how to play loud and soft, how to efEect increase and decrease of tone, to keep the pressure elastic, to economise strokes and to crowd in a series of short strokes, and how to tell by the feel of the pedals and the look of the roll what efEect is hkely to come at a given moment. But we cannot pedal by rule and principle, and we are still Ukely to miss desired effects. The opening paragraph of page 23 is still with us. The first step to acquiring abihty to hit a note as it should be hit, is Metrical Pedalhng, which gives so systematic a regularisa- tion of pedal-stroke that we can employ short motive-strokes in exact and certain preparation for whatever type of dynamic- stroke may be in immediate demand. We will enter upon the task of obtaining metrical command of the pedals, by way of music in quadruple-time, because the music there is usually more spacious and leisured than in triple, and less curt and abrupt than in duple. But we shall extend the coimting to eights and — if we choose — to sixteens. We shall not need to try for metrical accentuation, but only to train the mind to take the relative strength and weakness of beats. These qualities have objective existence in music, and special pedal-strokes may interfere with the systematic rise and fall of stroke which we have to develop. It may be convenient to use the left foot for counts 1 and 3, the left foot being stronger than the right, and taking the " master pulse " in marches and dances. In quickly moving triple- time music, we may give a stroke to a bar, or give a left foot stroke to beat 1 and a single right foot stroke for beats 2 and 3 — that is, in the music where the secondary accent (page 28) is 82 METRICAL PEDALLING 83 on beat 2. Where a single stroke does not create enough power for beats 2 and 3, we may deHver a couple of metrical strokes with the same foot. If you cannot at once will your feet to move to metrical regu- larity, train your mind to think through tunes in terms of , abstract metre, and then learn to step the tunes. The latter you should do in a lonely lane, because in your absorption you may step some of the smaller pulse divisions of the melody. You may then practise beating time, adopting the following movements : — Duple Time. Triple Time. Quadruple Time. D t^ .4^ You may tap metre on a table, with fingers, or two pencils. Remember that where the conductor marks time by the end of his beat, we player-pianists mark it at the beginning of our stroke. And if you cannot move your feet freely to time upon the pedals, seat yourself on a chair, and with heels on the ground, ankles relaxed, and toes raised, repeat your stepping of famihar tunes. You may also pedal to a clock or metronome. A patient friend is useful, provided he can count in time. Make him stand by the instrument, and by soHd counting command the metrical movement of your feet. But the best plan is to give yourself over to the intrinsic power of metre, and the essential charm of music, and invest your pedal movements with the character of the piece. Be as the dream- marchers in Browning's Charles Avison, " in time, to tune, un- changeably the same," and as " the dancers dancing in tune " in the Maud of Tennyson. I must make it clear that metrical pedalUng is only a method of practice, a temporary phase of study designed to give command of the pedals and to make famihar the metre of music. It is useless in artistic playing, and of httle value in rhythmical plapng as distinguished from metrical ; for in artistic playing we pedal according to the position of the chmactic notes (or master-beats) of measure or motive. Every stroke must be effected exactly upon its beat. If the force of the blow does not catch the notes on the instant the per- forations impinge against the slots, the value of the blow is diminished. To a certain extent it becomes waste effort ; and 84 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO in falling upon weak notes whose position within the bar is sub- divisional, it becomes a distorting factor, setting up accentuation where none exists. The movement of the pedal may be arrested in the course of the beat, or continued throughout the whole extent of the beat. It may enter with a strong initial jerk, or come gently into being. It may continue with a quiet even pressure, or it may be- come a strenuous thrust that forces the pedal to lowest position. n Subsidiary metrical accentuation follows the subdivision of the beat. Thus if a beat is divided into half -beats and these half -beats are further divided into triplets (the crotchet, — J becoming first two quavers, — JJ , and the quavers then becoming each a triplet-group of semiquavers, — JJJ Jj j. ) the subsidiary accen- tuation remains the same as if the secondary division had not been effected, i.e. the first of each three notes is stressed. But if the beat is first of all divided according to the ternary power, the crotchet becoming a triplet of quavers, — J ^J. , and each of the quavers is further divided into semiquavers, — r] n n . the subsidiary accents lie then upon the first quaver 'of each pair. Metrical pedalhng teaches us to place our short motive-strokes against the notes that have subsidiary accents. It therefore converts our interpolated motive-strokes into dynamic-strokes, thus making for economy of means, and converting all we do into artistic effort. Speaking strictly, there should be no mere motive-strokes whatsoever in playing ; except, first, at the beginning of the piece in preparation for the first chord, and secondly at these points in the piece where sudden changes are made from soft to loud. And even in the latter case, the motive- strokes can, by skilful metrical pedalling, be made few in number ; because by placing the strokes upon the subdivisional accents, we can play /orte even when there is not a iuU forte supply of power accumulated in the instrument. METRICAL PEDALLING 86 Ease of plajdng comes when we build up power within two or three beats. It is possible for an experienced player to pass in an instant from soft to loud by direct touch only, and to accumulate sufficient power within a few beats to enable him to continue afterwards with strokes determined solely by the larger pulses of the music. Movement in dotted notes ( ^1 X5 ! X3 1/ ) ^^ often difficult to pedal, especially when the music is composed of loud chords. Each chord, whether short or long, absorbs power. The long chord is close to the short chord preceding it, its position affording no scope for the interpolation of preparatory motive-strokes. The long chord has the metrical accent, and so must be louder than its prefixal companion. If power is accumulated before the short chord, that chord will absorb the power the moment it comes into being. The short chord will thereupon stress itself. The result will be, not only that the short chord will have a stress which is not proper to it, but that the long chord will become doubly weak, first by the relaxing of motive-power, and secondly by the emphasising of its predecessor. Close subdivisional pedalUng is the sole means by which dotted note movement is playable. I mention a few pieces where this movement appears : — Schubert, Op. 143. Sonata in A minor (the first move- ment). Schubert. Sonata in B flat (the second and fourth movements). Beethoven, Op. 31, No. 3. Sonata in E flat (the second move- ment). Bach. Fugue in D major, from Book 1 of the Well-tempered Clavier. Liszt. Rhapsodies, Nos. 2, 4 (the maestoso of the opening), 5, 11 (the second section), 12, and 15. The form of dotted note movement in which the short note comes on the beat ( I Jj..\ jj..\) is easier to play, except that the suffixal long note may possibly hammer itself out so strongly as to suggest a false metrical position of the two chords. If we 86 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO imagine the " Scotch snap " (call to mind Within a mile of Edin- boro' town and the refrain of Robin Adair) proceeding in massive chords, we shall have an idea of the character of this form of dotted note progression, examples of which occur in the Chopin Etude in E minor. Op. 26, No. 5, and in the Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody, No. 1. In the third section of this rhapsody, there are passages where the two forms are merged into one ; that is to say, there is a short note before the beat, and a short note on the beat, the long note following the latter, — k\ F] The music of the section is arranged so as to give the '' \^ ^- melody in five-note chords, with a slight accompanying figure (in a higher register) on counts 2 and 3 of the bar. It is to be played una corda up to the end of the crescendo, and in tempo rubato. In that form of the dotted-note movement where the longer note comes on the beat, the shorter note may be affined pre- fixally to the note after it, or suffixally to the note before; that is, the little motive may be "iambic" or "trochaic," as discussed in Part II of this present course of study. The motive is trochaic in the Bach Fugue in D, in the Rhapsody No. 5, and in the movement given on the preceding page from the Schubert Sonata in A minor. The trochaic affiliation makes for massive effect and a majestic dignity of spirit. CHAPTER XIV STUDIES IN METRICAL COUNTING AND PEDALLING (a) — THE CONSTRUCTIVE SPIRIT IN MUSIC — ECONOMY OF MOTIVE-POWER The pieces set for study in this chapter are simple in construc- tion, affording opportunity to observe how music is put together sentence by sentence and section by section. The pieces are also simple in metre, easy to count to, and of a character likely to make the feet strike upon the notes or chords. I The Conquering Hero march of Handel is hght and clear, mov- ing with animation, and requiring Httle motive-power, even in Handel. *^^ ^^^^ sections. The choral portion of the Jvdas Maccabceus. piece has three sections, and the instrumental Chorus and Inatru- portion two. As used in the oratorio, the first mejitaZ March. . • r xi. r i _x • i> section of the choral part is sung by sopranos and altos, the second section by sopranos only, and the third by full chorus : this third section is loud. The instrumental portion, which forms the trio of the piece as arranged for independent march use, is loud throughout. We may count in fours : — S« the Icon qotrinj he- ro beat ttie comes 6ound the • trum pels drums The short strokes of this and later abstracts represent the per- forations. They give the outhne of the metre. The instrumental portion of the piece is in sHghtly faster temfo when used in the oratorio ; but when used as an independent march, it retains the tem'po of the choral portion. The bass here moves in half-beat notes. The cadences are feminine (counts 3 and 4). This composition originally formed part of the oratorio Joshua (1748). It was then inserted in Judas (1747) on the occasion of a later revival of that work. The instrumental portion was an afterthought ; Handel " borrowed " it from a composer named 87 88 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Gottlieb Muffat, who had used it some twenty years earlier in a harpsichord piece. (See Beethoven : 12 variations, 1797.) The C minor Prelude of Chopin (1839) is in four-time, the music very clearly showing the two primary duple-time bars by Chopin, Op. 28, No. 20. Compounding which the quadruple-bar is Prelude in C minor. created. Throughout the piece, count 3 is broken into two notes, the first of these taking three-quarters of the beat. The pulse afl&hation is that which attaches beat 2 to beat 1, and beat 4 to beat 3. Thus the music proceeds in constant falling cadences of two pulse extent. The spirit of the music is revealed when we read the bar as a complete clause, conceiving a caesura between count 4 and the following count 1. Much of the emotionaUty of the music rests in the progression from count 1 to count 3. The prelude contains three 16-pulse sentences : (a) fortissimo, with a crescendo from the ninth pulse to the sixteenth, where is the loudest chord of the sentence ; (b) piano, and immediately so ; (c) pianissimo, with a retardation starting about the ninth pulse : the last two chords of the sentence may be nearly stationary. The prelude ends with an additional chord. This chord repre- sents the coda in embryo. The chord is soft, yet marcato, It is also a/ermato .* I give on page 92 a suggestion as to the playing of such chords. MacDo well's tone-picture Starlight shows quadruple-time in another aspect. The metre appears at first glance to be a spacious MacDoweU, Op 55. duple, which would give two counts only to Sea Pieces, No. 4. the opening chord in the accompaniment. SterrUicht. g^^ actually it is a quadruple, that chord taking, therefore, four counts. The composer wants the music to have a certain compactness, and to give a veiled suggestion of the moveless might of Nature as apparent imder conditions intimated in his poetic motto ; and though counting in slow twos makes no difference to tempo, it makes great difference to expression. The student may better apply these remarks when he is able to think through the piece in silence. The motto MacDowell gives is : — The stars are but the cherubs That sing about the throne Of grey old Ocean's spouse, Fair Moon's pale majesty. METRICAL COUNTING AND PEDALLING 89 The counting should be extended to eight. Beats 2 and 3, also beats 4 and 5, are occasionally tied together in the melody. In places where the bar has two sohd chords, the first of these taking counts 1-2-3 (or 5-6-7), there is to be a caesura between count 4 and count 5 (or count 8 and count 1). The movement in the bass sometimes represents the gentle swell of the waves. The tone is mainly soft, but there is one rise into forte. This concludes on a count 8, and the sequel is immediately jyianissimo : we have about a two-hundredth part of a minute in which to draw the Control-levers. MacDoweU's general direction for playing the piece, is " ten- derly." The Scossaise was a dance of lively character popular between 1775 and 1825. It used to follow the waltz, much as to-day the Schubert, Op. 18 (a), last waltz of a ball is occasionally followed by Six Ecossaises. a galop. Its time is, strictly speaking, a duple- time that moves in half-beat chords ; but we shall find it useful in the Schubert pieces to count in half -beats. Therefore the metre of these particular pieces is — for us at the moment — quadruple. Each number contains two sentences, and each sentence is re- peated. Every sentence contains two eight-count clauses, the music beginning on count 1. The form of the sentence is repre- sented in Life is passing day by day ; Lads and lassies, dance and play ! The rate of movement should be that which gives about 132 counts to a minute. Counting must, of course, be mental. The tone varies from soft to loud. In general, the same tone prevails in one clause or sentence ; and as the changes are abrupt, the pieces afford good practice material for Control-lever technique. n There are certain features in triple-metre which make it less useful for elementary work than duple and quadruple. These features will be outlined later ; and so for the present I suggest one work only in which the counting is to be based on threes. Two types of musical composition go by the name of waltz. One is the type designed to accompany dancing, the other the Schubert, Op. 18 (a), type designed to represent the varying moods Twelve Waltzes. of the dancers ; this last is the tone-poem in waltz-form, which came into being with the rise of the romantic 90 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO period of music — the period of Weber, Chopin, and Schumann. The original poetic waltz is the Invitation to the Dance of Weber. Chopin was the composer who most thoroughly and variedly idealised the waltz. Schumann wrote but few such works : his inspiration was usually a less concrete form of poetic idea than a definite dance. Schubert's waltzes are practical dancing pieces. He was the composer first to treat the form seriously, his prede- cessors giving it but little thought. The Schubert pieces — there are many of them — are beautiful as music, apart from their utility in the ball-room ; and they estabUshed the foundation of the later waltz-poem. When we know such a set as the Op. 18 (a), we find it comparatively simple to play the more organised works of Chopin and later composers, for there is no essential difEerence between the two types. Schubert wrote dances as easily as ordinary folk write a post card, jotting them down in any free moment. The Op. 18 (a) forms part of work he did one evening when friends had locked him in his room. He was then about nineteen years old. On the manuscript of the music he wrote, " Composed while a prisoner in my room at Erdberg. . . . ThankGod!" — the thanks probably because he had not been interrupted until he had done what he wanted. The metrical movement is regular of the twelve waltzes. From the first beat to the last, each pulse contains what we expect. We may, therefore, go straight through the piece (counting 3 for the two opening chords) and savour some of the quahties of elementary three-time music. There is an architectural plan under these twelve waltzes, and a certain dramatic continuity : — Prelude No. 1. Intermezzo No. 2. Act I Scene I Nos. 3 and 4. Scene 2 Nos. 5 and 6. Act II Scene 1 Nos. 7, 8, and 9. Scene 2 Nos. 10 and 11. Epilogue No. 12. CHAPTER XV STUDIES IN METRICAL COUNTING (6) — THE LYRIC SPIRIT IN MUSIC — TEMPO-CONTROL The main abstract qualities of music are (I) intellectual con- struction, (II) Ijrrical feeling, (III) animation and play of fancy, and (IV) direct rli3rtlimical energy. The plan and scope of the classical sonata and S3n3iphony form a synthesis of these four qualities. I have planned our present stage of study on symphony hnes. We have already observed the elements of construction, and are now to look into some aspects of lyrical music, leaving the quahties of animated fancy and rhythmic energy for the two chapters immediately following. No fundamental difference exists in the lyric music of different epochs. The style changes, also the spirit ; but always the fact remains that mdos, or continuative flow of melody is pre- dominant, other attributes being subservient ; also that pathos characterises the music — this word signifying here the classical idea of responsive feeUng and sustained emotion, not sadness or sympathetic grief. I The Chanson de Solvejg of Grieg begins and ends with a seven- bar unaccompanied melody of curiously instructive value. Orieg, Op. 55, No. 4. ^^ metre is quadruple ; the eighth note, Peer Oynt Suite, No. 2. which takes a whole bar, is preceded by Solvejgs L%ed. ^^q decorative notes that, having no metrical character, have to be played practically with the long note. In bar 4 the tone is loud, in bar 5 soft, and in bar 6 very soft. Bar 7 contains an almost imperceptible fer- mata chord of two beats (counts 1 and 2), the pause existing on the second beat ; the rest of the bar is occupied by two silent beats, beat 3 being also a fermata. 91 J 2 /. 4 J s / 92 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO The playerist leams how to make his instrument sing on direct touch by means of passages hke this, especially when he produces gradations of tone without the Control-levers. The fermata chord should be held by the Sustaining-lever, the Tempo-lever not being brought to zero until the perforations have run over the slots. This means that the chord must be taken by the Sustaining-lever before the perforations have run their course. In counting the present bar, we dwell upon beat 2 ; and then, after releasing the lever, dwell similarly upon beat 3 in silence. We return the Tempo-lever to position with the coming of the strict-time beat 4. The reason why the chord must not be held with the perfora- tions over the slots is important. The motive-power with which we play the chord is so shght that it exhausts itself during the pause. Thus the machine is without moving power ; and when we remove the Tempo-lever from zero, there is no power to carry the roll forward. As soon as we start to provide power to move the stationary roll, one or two of the perforations of the chord (these being still over the slots) are bound to speak. The effect is, to sensitive minds and ears, like a badly controlled eructation in the midst of a solemn stillness. Of course, we can if we wish hold up the time with the perforations still over the slots, if we continue to work the pedals gently. But such strokes are un- necessary labour, and our rule is to do as httle work as possible. And the fading of the sound of the sustained chord is more beauti- ful, and its cessation more graceful and gentle, when it is ended by the release of the Sustaining-lever than by the abrupt gliding of the perforations over the Tracker-bar. A pianist does not move his hands during a fermata chord. We should not move our feet — except for the purpose of providing power for the resimiption of movement and sound in those cases where, owing to there being no empty beat following the fermata, we have to pause on the perforations. In the present case, we prepare for the resumption of movement by pedaUing on the silent beat 3. The actual " song " begins on a fourth beat, after two bars of accompaniment where the bass gives two-beat notes. The song appears twice, followed on each occasion by a dance-like passage in triple-time. The tone rises and falls in spacious gradation, and there are several tempo nuances andfermatas. STUDIES IN METRICAL COUNTING 93 Schumann's lyrical question Why ? has the syncopation of Schumann, Op. 12. *^® crossbeat throughout its accompani- Fantasiestiicke, No. 3. ment, also at times an equivalent synco- Warumf pation of the upbeat. 1 1 II 2. .J 1 1 1 1. . . . < MM 4 2.9 1 . 1. . . 2 1 1 / / 1 4 2fi'). 3. . . . II II 2 1 4 2. .3. . . . II 1' Cti'frtqfiar 1 S„r/,m AS C A. Short bass notes. B. Accompaniment chorls (in synco- pation). C. Melody. The piece is in two-time ; but until we are comfortable with the accompaniment, it is better counted by half-beats, despite the circumstance that this stiffens the movement. The counting may be extended to include eight half -beats. MacDowell directs that his Lied is to be played in " changing moods." To this end he uses half a dozen terms of expression, MacDoweU, Op. 65. ^^om " with rough vigour " to " with great Sea Pieces, No. 5. tendemess." The metre of the piece does not ^*^' alter ; but the tempo changes section by section. The tone is strongly contrasted, the piece being unplayable except by aid of Control-levers. The idea of the piece is of a body of sailors in sentimental, reminiscent mood, one or two singing a song, and the rest joining in chorus. The composer's motto is : — A merry song, a chorus brave. And yet a sigh . . . regret For roses sweet in woodland lanes — Ah ! love can ne'er forget. Section I. The singer sings his song, the chorus respond, and the singer repeats his song — this is the simple ternary form, with " c " the same as " a ". U THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO The first clause of the opening sentence adapts itself to Trs b la la. Tra a \ / t J -t , ema—tH' tela la' 5ccms to march in defiantly, and then stride on proudly with a somewhat rigid dignity . . . (after bar 17) the com])osition attains its grcstoat brilliancy from the contrasts suggested by the theme ; fcuddcn bursts and pathetic grandeur developed side by side. {SpiUa : Life of Bach.) STUDIES IN METRICAL COUNTING 107 In the matter of cyclic continuity of idea, the large close to the prelude serves to prepare the mind for the massive, yet energetic, fugue. The fugue is in quadruple-time. It begins on the second beat with a strong figure in short notes, which figure recurs constantly, mostly on beats 2 and 4, but at times decoratively on beat 1, In two bars towards the end of the piece it comes on every beat. The movement of the fugue is characterised by the dotted-note rhythm, this appearing on beats 3 and i of twenty-two out of twenty-seven bars that make the piece. The strong concluding phrase of the fugue is the tonal and emotional response to the rhetorical finish of the prelude. The composition was pubhshed in 1722. It represents the Grerman mind of the generation preceding the generation of Rameau. MacDowell's scherzo-hke Of Br'er Rabbit is in duple-time ; but for convenience of study we may count in half -beats, giving count MacDowell, Op. 61. ^ to the first melody note and two counts to Fireside Tales, No. 2. each of the bass-notes of the opening. Each Of Br'er Rabbit. phrase of the music contains eight of these half-beat counts (8|l-7). Played slowly and strongly, the piece becomes a marche grotesque. The piece depends for effect on quick time and startUng contrasts of tone — ^the latter too elaborate to be detailed verbally. The capriccio is the modem equivalent of the early classical scherzo. Its name has a literal signification ; but as with the Brahms, Op. 76. scJierzo, SO with the capriccio — the mood and Klavierstucke, No. 2. style may be deUcate. The B minor Capriccio Capriccio in B minor, ^f Brahms (1879) is in duple-time, beginning on the down-beat ; owing to irregularities in the length of sentences, it must be coimted in two's. For the most part, the accompaniment consists of short notes on the beat, followed by short chords on the half-beat (these last having an accent in Hungarian style). It should be possible to keep the metrical movement of the piece in mind ; but if, in the decorative passages, the time eludes us, the study of the piece may be postponed. Yet the composition is beautiful, and characteristic of the nineteenth-century post-romantic musicians; and it should therefore be in our personal repertory as soon as possible. 108 THE ART OF THE PLAYER PIANO n We will finish our first studies in counting to simple music with two examples of Hungarian music, one by a composer bom in German Hamburg (Brahms), the other by a composer bom in Hungarian Raiding (Liszt). Hungarian music is gipsy-music. It is also Magyar-music. The gipsy element results in runs, turns, decorations that are either florid or abrupt, and metreless passionate cadenzas, long or short at will. The Magyar element produces the curious alia zoppa syncopation — our already famiUar syncopation of the cross- beat. The true aUa zojypa ("in limping style ") is, however, more than a simple sjmcopation : it is a consistent revision of accent. The weak parts of the bar have a pronounced stress, particularly the weak beat 2 (or second half of beat 1, nearly all quick Magyar dance music being in duple-time). The Magyar element produces also sentence-movement in other than the usual eight- or sixteen-beat lengths, and metres that are compounded of alternate pulse-groups of four and three. Hungarian features appear in the music of Haydn (as in the simple Gifsy Rondo), Schubert, Liszt, Brahms, Joachim the violinist, such minor romantics as Ferdinand David (also a violinist), Moszkowski, and all composers of Hungarian nation- ality. Many young composers to-day vivify their music by in- corporating Hungarian features into it. The terms they use to indicate this are " k la hongroise " (or " all' Ongarese "), " Ungarischer," ** k la zingaresco " (in gipsy style), " Zigeuner- Styl," and the like. Berlioz arranged the Rakoczy march. The metrical movement of the popular D flat major Hungarian Dance of Brahms is so simple that we need not give it preliminary ^^^ reading to a system of counting in half-beats. Ungarische Tdnze, The piece is in duple-time. The first chord ^o. 6. represents count 1, the second count 2 ; for the flat major. ^^^^ ^^^ position of the downbeat is generally made clear by the accompaniment. We will, however, extend our counting to cover whole phrases. I. The first part of section I passes to the counting of four eight-beat phrases and one ten-beat. The ten-beat count is the last of the five. Disregarding for a moment the changes in the tempo, and con- centrating on the ten-beat phrase, we find that in this phrase STUDIES IN METRICAL COUNTING 109 the music seems arrested on counts 6, 7, and 8 : the music suddenly ceases its vivacious movement, a single note only coming on count 6. The cause of this apparent arresting of the move- ment is, that in the bars covered by our pulse-counts 5-8, the extent of the pulses is fantastically doubled. We could if we desired similarly double the time of our counts, and say 5 and 6 in larger range ; it is simpler, however, to continue with counts of the same temporal extent, and so to carry the set on to ten. On beat 2 of the opening is a pause. Phrases one and two are in slow tempo {poco sostenuto). Phrase three has a rit over its beats 3-8. The last two phrases are in vivacious tempo. The first part of section I is played through twice. The second part contains the same number of phrases as the first part. Of these the last is again ten-beats in length. The tempo is vivacious all through. The second part is similarly repeated. The curiously crowded cadence within bar 10 of the final phrases is typical of Hungarian music. It is effected on half-beats. There is a silent wait between sections I and II. II. The first part of the second section has four eight-beat phrases. In beat 8 of the second and of the fourth, the time is held up for a brief cadenza. The tempo for these is slower than elsewhere in the piece. The second part Hkewise has four phrases, all of eight-beat extent. III. The third section is the same as the first. But there is an important point to notice — a point so important that if it is ignored the music fills with confusion. This point is at the end of the ten-pulse portion of the repeated first part. The phrase here is not of ten beats. It is a normal eight-beat, and the tempo is vivacious, not sosteunto ; there is no pause on the second beat. The beats 5 and 6 are not enlarged. The music which in the other ten-beat sections was spread over counts 5-10, is here contracted to the normal dimen- sions of the pulses. The phrase, therefore, counts now to eight. The last portion of the second part runs over the original ten beats ; and the dance ends with three strong whole-beat chords, which must be played short, sharp, and loud, with great firmness in the pedals. (This piece I analyse cadentiaUy on page 234.) 110 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO The sixth of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies contains four £^2<. sections. The third and fourth are dramatically Shaptody interconnected, the former leading directly into «n D flat. the latter. I. Tempo giusto (i.e. at a moderate pace, and in steady time). The movement is marked by Hungarian accentuation, stresses falling on counts 2 and 4, except when a two-count chord is* struck on count 3.* The last bar contains a cadenza ; there is aifermata trill on counts 1 and 2, out of which the cadenza spreads. The cadenza ends with a large arpeggiated chord on count 3. Count 4 is a silent /erwtato. IL Presto. We should practise the second section in com- paratively slow time, and count in half-beats, giving two counts to the opening chord. The tone is curious ; the sentences cover four bars, of which the first three are soft and the fourth suddenly loud. The first count of this fourth bar is still piano, the forte occupying only the chord of counts 2-3 and the chord of count 4. It is necessary to play the quiet bars on controlled tone. (This instance of the use of the Control-levers is one of the most difl&cult I have as yet observed.) III. Andante espressivo. The music of the third section is in mood and style a compound of declamation and floridness. It does not call for metrical consideration. The cadenza which ends the section and leads into the sequel, is a fine example of velocity in music. IV. Allegro. The last section begins with three bars which present the alia zoppa in single notes, the place of the first note of the alia zoppa being empty in the second and third bars. In strict analysis, and therefore in accordance with what we must have in mind, these three bars are actually the finish of the preceding cadenza, their function being to steady us for the animated movement that ensues. The allegro proceeds in two-bar phrases, of which the second has the alia zoppa. I make no further explanatory remark, for the reasons that once we begin a passage of this character, we forget about books, theories, or anything else in the world outside. * This remark applies to counting in half-beats. The full effect of the aoeentuations is felt only when we count in whole beats. STUDIES IN METRICAL COUNTING HI But the last two sets of double-chords will probably let us see that we have not yet finally mastered the Art of the Player-piano. in And here, I imagine, many of us will part company, after what has probably been an acquaintance of two or more years. Player- pianism beyond the point we have now reached appertains to the finely instructed mind ; it escapes sensation and the stimulus of excitement, and so is not for all of us. Moreover, the course of study I now outhne may not, in the minds of some of us, seem adequately related to music, and so we shall not see the profit of following it out. Therefore we shake hands as necessary. But we shall without doubt meet again, and even in the subse- quent musical studies of this book, for the reason that the pieces set there for intensive intellectual observation are among works which we are bound to discover and enjoy, whatever our method of learning. But we shall not meet with equal fullness of know- ledge and certainty of technique. PART II CHAPTER XVIII RHYTHMICAL PEDALLENQ Watching the pedal-work of a player-pianist, we notice more or less continuous movements. At one moment the feet will be regular in step — march-like or dance-like, but with occasional shorter steps amid the longer. At another moment the move- ments will scatter into apparently spasmodic action, with neither rhyme nor reason we can perceive. At odd moments the feet will not move at all, though the music will continue playing. On the other hand, the feet will move, and perhaps very vigor- ously, while no new sounds are coming. Under these last con- ditions, however, we notice that the movements develop into rapid vibrations, and that these vibrations are surmounted by a deep and powerful thrust which coincides with a strongly marked chord. From this point, we shall perhaps observe recurrent details even in the seemingly spasmodic movements, and gradually evolve a sense of underlying raison d'etre. The regular pedal-strokes will be metrical, in use for the reason that the music is flowing rapidly and steadily, with no special or varying demand on the motive-power. The solitary deep and powerful thrust will be an accentual stroke. The constantly varying, and seemingly spasmodic, strokes will be manifesta- tions of rhythmical pedaUing. Player-pedalhng has principles and regulce. When these are in operation, the efEect is always the same, whatever the instru- ment, the music, or the performer. But the principles affect only one-half the matter of pedaUing ; and though they are in them- selves absolute, the other half of the matter, being free, and of momentary and individual character, puts a stop to an attempt to apply these regulce to a piece of music and to " pedal " the piece in the way it is " fingered " for the pianist. Nevertheless, lis RHYTHMICAL PEDALLING 113 the principles and regulce may still be learned and applied ; indeed, if they are not learned and applied, playerism is not an art and science. But they can be learned only in the abstract, and only by a process of collateral study. The portion of pedalling which has no determinable rules, is that concerned with motive-power. It is impossible to say what measure of driving-force this or that instrument may require, or just how this or that individual may chose to supply it. Motive-strokes are deUvered instinctively, and cannot be taught. Rhjrthmical- and accentual-strokes also are, in the end, dehvered instinctively ; they are the natural response to the image of rhythm formed in our consciousness, which is a mental process, and so can be taught. But until the mind is formed — until it is developed, and can spontaneously create an image of rhythm, strokes of rhythm and of emphasis have to be made not instinctively, but dehberately. It is not hard to learn " rhythms " ; nor is it a complex process to learn to " think " in rhythm. The process of learning must be carefully graded, and the work carried on patiently ; also it must be effected by non-musical material, owing to the intangible nature of musical material and the difficulty of describing it. I imagine that the mental activity required in study of rhythm in the abstract, is somewhat as a combination of activities required in the study of a foreign language and mathematics. The non-musical material which I use for this purpose is poetry. My plan is, I beheve, original ; though battles have been fought in the past on the problem of how to reconcile poetic and musical rhythms, and much futile labour gone in the task of applying prosodical terms to musical cadences. Being original, it may be that my plan will not be clearly worked out, or expressed intelligibly. And since I cannot live in the rhythmical conscious- ness of different individuals, it may be that I shall say a certain movement is so-and-so, whereas the reader, having a different rhythmical consciousness, will want to say that it is not my so-and-so, but another. These are not important considerations, however : each person has, in the end, to learn for himself, and out of his own observation ; afid however diversely a form of rhythm may be named, it still remains the same rhythm. Rhythmical pedalling is that which dehvers a stroke at the cHmax of a measure of cadenced movement, after correctly pre- paring the motive-power for the reception of that stroke. The 114 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO measure may be short or long, of such brevity that two motives occur in a second of time, or of such largeness that a single motive takes the twentieth part of a minute ; but the process is ahke in each case. Tempo ruhato and rhythm are inseparable ; and so rhythmical- pedalhng, and the use of the Tempo-lever, move constantly together. When we were studying metrical pedalhng, we kept for the most part an unvarying tempo ; but now (or, rather, after the theoretical work of the ensuing chapters) we shall play with flexible tempo. Indeed, when we take up the pieces analysed from Chapter XXV onwards, we shall frequently bring time to a standstill while forming the rhythmical idea in the mind, or preparing motive-power for its reahsation. CHAPTER XIX PROSODIAL TERMS AND RHYTHM IN THE ABSTRACT Regarding music for the moment as an objective phenomenon, we may define it as articulated sound ; because music can be conceived as a continuous stream of sound which is furnished with joints and divisions — articulated. A steam- whistle gives a musical note, but not music, for the reason that the note is not articulate. The note of the steam-whistle approximates to music so soon as the engineer breaks the blast, if only into a single toot toot. A stream of pure sound may be articulated in ways so varied and numerous as to be beyond definition and computation. Such articulated sound is the raw material of music. These ways, or, rather, a few of them, may be observed in the abstract, the mind forced to contemplate them in the world of pure imagina- tion. As I have remarked, the process is not difiicult, if carefully graded ; the result is a rapid quickening of rhythmical conscious- ness, with accompanying ease and certainty in player-piano pedalling and in phrasing by Tempo-lever. The reader may at once try to conceive the movement of the Sailor's Hornpipe, and of God save the King, without melody or words, and at a speed some four times slower than the original. The course of study in abstract rhythm which I outhne in the coming chapters, is based on the idea of taking a stream of time and compelling the mind to realise the stream as distinctly as the ear reahses the stream of sound from the steam-whistle, articu- lating that stream of time according to principles of cadenced movement. The primary element of articulation, is the " pulse." The pulse, being an element, is not rhythm, because rhythm is a com- pounding of substances by power of interdependence and con- trast. The element of rhythmical articulation is the " measure," 115 116 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO which is a portion of cadenced time containing two or three pulses. One pulse by itself can no more establish rhythm than the half of a pair of scissors will cut cloth, or one leg enable a man to walk. Music should never hop. Yet a rhythm exists within the pulse, as joints exist within the leg. This subsidiary rhythm is produced by articulating the pijJse according to binary or ternary division ; that is, by dividing the puke into two or three portions. The division may itself be subdivided : — Pulse 1 Pulse 1 Binary division 1 2 Ternary division 12 3 Binary subdivision 1-2 3-4 Binary subdivision 1-2 3-4 5-6 and 80 on in various combinations and permutations. I should, perhaps, remind you that in ordinary musical lan- guage rhythm denotes little more than energy of style, precision of metrical accent, and prevaihng certainty and liveliness. A musical critic will tell you that a performer or conductor has great rhythmical power, whereas every bar played shows (by falsity of phrasing) that he has no rhythmical sense. The deeper and only true denotation of the word rhythm is, life and character in movement. Rhythm is identical with substance of thought, and distinguishes, say, Shakespeare from Pope, Milton from Longfellow, and Whitman from T upper. Afliliated elements of movement produce the rhythmical " motive," which may be a measure, a divided pulse, or sub- divided portion of a pulse. There is a difEerence of time, also a difference of ultimate value, between primary and secondary motives ; but relatively to its companions, a motive no longer than the quarter of a pulse is a living organism, and as such may be abstracted in mind, and separately articulated in playing. Counting is, in the larger issue, confined to the puke movement of music ; but often we have to count in half-pulses, third-pulses, and quarter-pukes. However minute the division we count, we have still to carry in mind the puke and the measure ; and how- ever large the extent covered in a coimt, we have still to observe and produce the subsidiary motives. What to avoid when count- ing to puke or measure, is the stiffness of stilt-walkers ; and what to avoid when counting to small divisions of the puke, is the mincingness of marionettes. In the end we play in thought- groups of pukes : yet we require the abihty to articulate each PKOSODIAL TERMS AND RHYTHM 117 syllable, however short ; to analyse the primitive material of each syllable ; and to wait at every stop, or caesura, even the CfflsursB between subdivisional motives. Motive-rhythm extends to the limits of the phrase ; the phrase being a compound of two, three, or four measures. Beyond the phrase, rhythm becomes proportion, with its various attributes of response, parallelism, and contrast. The unity of the particles that form a motive is shown by rise to, or fall from, accent. But accent is not of necessity physical. It need not be a matter of force or pressure. As a fact, it is less this than a matter of time — a shght, evanescent, and entirely incalculable waiting upon certain points of the motive, which points may be points of approach to or departure from the chmax of the motive, or the point of the chmax itself. Musical scientists in Germany have given to this type of accent the name " agogic " (I repeat here several remarks made in earher chapters) ; but they seem to have confined the use of the word to the effect of the waiting on the metrically strong portion of the motive. Such agogical accentuation is the basis of the rubato that is not purely expressive ; it is the soul of the articulation, and must arise at any departure from the normal cadency estabHshed in a piece, also at any sudden and unexpected musical feature, as a change of key, or a novel tonal nuance. We shall help ourselves to take hold of rhythm in the abstract, by aid of detached words and phrases ; giving to the rhythms embodied in these words certain prosodical terms that serve as a vocabulary for the discussion of musical motives. Before pro- ceeding to the first stages of this work, however, I wish to speak of a personal experience of study. When in my student days I entered on the subject of elocution, I used to regard vocal sound objectively. By that means I de- veloped simultaneously my organic sense and my acoustic sense, learning not only to speak clearly and with well-balanced utter- ance, but to appreciate the beauty of the spoken word. I con- verted into conscious process the natural process of speaking and listening ; and I would isolate a word, and the constituent parts of a syllable, until each detail acquired individual being, and the whole of the word or syllable was producible as an act of exquisite gradation and sequence. A word Hke grave I would 118 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO at one time prolong to the limits of a breath, and at another pro- nounce in the briefest space of time, yet without losing conscious grasp of its constituents. I would work on the same plan with lengthy words, and with such phrases as the multitudinous seas incarnadine. One result of this work, among many others, was a capacity for intense pleasure in the mere sound of good poetry, the colour of its material, and the shape of its movement. I was taught nothing of the science of rhythm. Teachers of elocution, singing, and instrumental music in the first decade of this century, had no use for that science (those, that is, I met or heard of), and I doubt if my elocution master could have ex- plained the difference between anapestic and iambic feet any better than my pianoforte master could have explained why, in a certain part of a slow movement, Beethoven puts notes where one expects rests.* Such a word as ccesura was never within my hearing. My work in elocution being with words, I was helped, and kept right in the main, by punctuation, grammar, and the general sense of the matter ; but I am well aware now that I missed much of the beauty and significance of poetry in conse- quence of my ignorance of the science of rhythm, I sometimes discover, when reading a difficult poem, or a passage of Shake- speare, which I have not seen for twenty years, that in my student-days I occasionally misread the meaning of the words under conditions when a moment's apphcation of some general principle of rhythm would have shown me the true meaning, and that with intensive force. I find mistakes of similar nature made by performing musicians, who not only misread rhythm of music while sound is being made, but fail to vitahse the time of rests and empty places. Quite good pianists will read the opening bars of the slow movement of Beethoven's fourth sonata as if it were in a duple-time ; and, in works where there are lengthy empty times, they will bring in the next chord several pulses ahead of the proper moment. This last is a very serious matter, as serious as anticipating a singer in the accompanying part. Fortunately for the player- pianist, his empty times are compulsory. The spacing of the * The slow movement in my mind is that of the fourth piano sonata, and the passage is the last appearance of the opening theme (bars 65-66). I coupled this passage with the earlier passage of forte-pianissimo (bars 37-41), and enquired of my teacher concerning the notes in the latter portion of the bars. He said Beethoven had put the notes in to fill up the time ; as who would say Shakespeare had put in a word to fill the metrical plan of his line. PROSODIAL TERMS AND RHYTHM 119 perforations compels him at the least to fulfil time ; and — music being a sort of accompaniment to a solo made by the genius of rhythm absolute — he is not in this respect able to incommode his mighty companion. Now the steady process of study I should have followed as elocution-student is the process I outline here for the ambitious player-pianist. It provides him with material for isolating, and regarding objectively, cadenced movement in the abstract, and shows him how to apply the resulting knowledge to the study and performance of music. The knowledge embodied in these chapters should be in the possession of singers, composers, the translators of song-texts, and chorus-masters, especially those who perform madrigals. Ill The term used in poetry to denote syllabic time, is " quantity." A syllable is Long or a Short, according to the time it takes to utter. The words pie and preened are longs ; the word pit is a short. Quantity is a scientific consideration only in Greek and Latin verse. In modem verse its function is served by accent — by metrical accent, and by thought-accent. And so in modern verse a Short may appear on a stressed part of a measure, and a Long on an unstressed part. The change from quantity to accentua- tion as rhythmical principle, came about with the rise of that mind which was eventually to express itself in pure, self-main- tained music, that is, instrumental music. In music, quantity and emphasis are often exact and ap- parent. Time is apportioned to rule, and accent is either metrical, rhythmical, or expressional. Therefore in music are gathered together those contrasted quahties and principles of organised movement which difEerentiate between two worlds of poetic thought and statement. My plan of work compels modern verse to admit of quantita- tive reading — temporarily, of course, and only for a special purpose. I take examples of verbal pulse-rhythm and, later, of poetry, from our own language ; but once in a while, and chiefly for the purpose of making material as abstract as possible, I take words from a foreign language. These examples and illus- trations I at first set for strict quantitative utterance, according to methods that suggest themselves moment by moment. Utter- 120 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO ance by quantity results in stiffness, but only in the beginning ; after a while we become able to free even quantity of rigidity, and to pour expression into accurately measured soimds : we are then on the way to an understanding of the movement of music, with its constant change of emphasis and ceaseless ruhato. Few composers have the sensitive mind for verbal quantity, and still less for poetic rh)rthm, which is probably one reason why. poets like Tennyson do not care to hear their Ijrrics sung. And few actors and elocutionists are in better case.* They will cramp five-pulse lines into four accents, and so disintegrate four-pulse lines as to give them five or six points of metrical accentuation (I speak of this again at the end of Chapter XXIII). The result — irrespective of pure art — is a disturbing of the meaning of the line, because deUcacies and refinements and powers of poetic thought he in rhythm more than in words. Great musical performers have the sensitive mind for rhythm ; but, as I have already said, musicians of an order lower than the greatest make mistakes as obvious as sUps in grammar and pronunciation. Such mistakes are fatally serious in music, since music has none of that intel- lectual definiteness of meaning which makes poetry fairly in- telligible even when uttered as prose — or even when printed as prose, as is the custom of various masters of the art of elocution. Player-pianists have considerable excuse for the mistakes they make in rhythm ; they cannot see more than a small portion of their piece, and what they can see at a moment is uninteUigible as Egyptian hieroglyphics. A remark of Dryden's may be quoted at once, though its appli- cation will not appear for some time : " No man is tied, in modem poetry, to observe any farther rule in the feet of his verse, but that they be dissyllables ; whether spondee, trochee, or iambic, it matters not." Also two remarks may be quoted from Coleridge, one respect- ing the rhythmical character of verse and of the reading of verse, the other respecting the power intrinsic in cadenced movement : (a) "... in the art of reconciUng metre with the natural rhythm of conversation, Massenger is unrivalled. Read him aright, and * " Emphaeis itself is twofold, the rap and the dratU, or the emphasis by quality of sound, and that by quantity — the hammei, and the spatula — the latter over 2, 3, 4 syllables or even a whole line. It is in this that the actors and speakers are, generally speaking, defective— they cannot equilibrate an emphasis, or spn-ad it over a number of syllables, all emphasised, sometimes equally, sometimes unequally." — Coleridge, PROSODIAL TERMS AND RHYTHM 121 measure by time, not syllables, and no lines can be more legiti- mate — none in which the substitution of equipolent feet, and the modifications by emphasis, are managed with such exquisite judgment. ... It is true that quantity, an almost iron law with the Greek, is in English rather a subject for a peculiarly fine ear, than any law or even rule ; but, then, instead of it, we have, first, accent ; secondly, emphasis ; and lastly, retardation and acceleration of the times of syllables according to the meaning of the words, the passion that accompanies them, and even the " (dramatic) " character of the person " (in the play) " that uses them. With due attention to these — above all, to that which requires the most attention and the finest taste, the " (dramatic) " character — Massenger might be reduced to a rich and yet regular metre. But then the regulce must be first known. . . . " (6) "... the occasional variation in the number of syllables " (to a foot) " is not introduced wantonly, or for the mere ends of con- venience, but in correspondence with some transition, in the nature of the imagery or passion." And, finally, for the purpose of removing once for all a possible idea that I wish to imply that laws of poetic rhythm and laws of musical rhythm are entirely the same, I quote with acquiescence a statement made by Professor Donald Tovey, the conductor, composer, pianist, critic, and essayist, whose articles on music in the 11th edition of the EncyclopcBdia Britannica should be read by the amateur musician : " Musical rhythm cannot be studied on a sound basis unless its radical divergencies from speech rhythm are recognised from the outset." (Yet see page 296.) IV A two-syllable word or phrase is variously constructed of longs and shorts. Two longs make a " spondee " ^4 (Ex. 1) as in black act, rich gifts, and God spake. Two shorts make a " pyrrhic " j j (Ex. 2), as in spirii, placid, magic, and tepid. The pyrrhic is sometimes called the " dibrach." A long and a short form a " trochee," or, in alternative term, " chorus " J J (Ex. 3) — Gaza, Nebo, Oreb, lightly, sweetly, deeply. A short and long make an " iamb " (iambus, or iambic) J J (Ex, 4), as in ofeak, apert, apart, debris, dibut. 122 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Rhjrthm demands a stress on one of any two associated particles. The stress goes instinctively to the longer particle of trochee and iamb ; whence it comes that in the trochee the short is a suffix, and in the iamb a prefix. The trochee is a falling-cadence, the iamb a rising-cadence. Spondee and pyrrhic may be rising or falling, according to cir- cumstance. If rising, they reflect iambic rhythm, if falling,- trochaic. We shall see later that in music trochee, iamb, spondee, and pyrrhic may be all the same ; our troubles will then begin, but we shall be able to explain them away. There is usually equal stress on the two parts of a spondee ; but the deeper antithesis of thought may require weight on the first or second member — " God spake," or " God spake.'' In- deed, the only word I can call to mind which is used in English with entirely equal stress on the two syllables, is amen. We equilibrate emphasis in many haK-coUoquial phrases, however, as keep up ! and look out ! Metrical counting gives count 1 at the point of prosodical stress. Thus the trochee counts 1-2 3, the iamb 3 1-2, and the spondee 1-2 3-4 when falling, and 3-4 1-2 when rising. The pyrrhic similarly counts either 1 2 or 2 1, but the pyrrhic is a matter which early results in ambiguity when brought into work of the present character, and I shall not often refer to it, or use the term. The place of the strong count is shown in the notation of music, by the bar-hne, which indicates that the count following it is metrically strong. The space between two bar-lines (the " bar ") is sometimes called the " measure " : the alternative term is best used to describe rhythmical extent, not metrical con- struction. In three-count bars, the trochee lies within the bar M "^ I (Ex. 5), while the iambus lifts itself over the bar-Une •* '' (Ex. 6). The spondee lies within the four-count bar if a falling- rhythm] nsonant at the end. The word anywise sometimes comes from the pulpit with a drop of an octave upon the final z-soimd ; the word, properly a falling- anapest counting 1 2 3-4, becoming a ditrochee in duple-time counting 1 2' 3 4". It is not easy to utter words Uke anywise and apperture with a level long for the last syllable ; but com- posers often ask us to phrase inflected pulses in a manner equiva- lent to such an utterance of these syllables, e.g. Chopin, in the sentence-closes of his polonaises. vm The amphibrach proper is a phraseological variant among anapests (Ex. 13) and dactyls (Ex. 14). It is in no way a rhythm of syncopation : ** P W (Ex.22). The amphibrach appears in quadruple-time music. In respect of its second and third particles, it is as a trochee (Ex. 5) ; because the stress of count 3 in quadruple-time, is frequently emulated by a stress on coimt 3 in triple-time, despite the circumstance that in triple-time count 3 is a weak particle ; on the other hand, the gentle touch metrically appropriate to count 3 in triple is sometimes necessary in count 3 of the quadruple-time amphibrach. The amphibrach as outUned in Ex. 22 appears in triple-time when an iamb (Ex. 6) is extended to embrace count 3 and a note is struck on that count. It appears also when a trochee (Ex. 5) receives the preceding count 3 in anacrusis. Amphibrachic words : Azazd, Jemima * ; hosanna, delighted ; horizon, aorta ; azotus. ... ("0 sacred Head, surrounded "). The word decarbonization is a double amphibrach. The energising spirit which brings the dactyl into the falling- amphibrach operates in the trochee, producing the " faUing- ^ *^ I (Ex. 23). This in quadruple-time stands as| ^ ^^J * This word ia correctly an amphimacer (Ex. 19). thus \f r -.rf. PROSODIAL TERMS AND RHYTHM 129 (Ex. 24). The ditrochaic measure (Ex. 9) is frequently disposed (Ex. 25). The same spirit operates in the A > amphibrach, producing the rhythm *" J » (Ex. 26) (" Ten 4 / 2-3 thousand times tefn thousand "). FaUing-iambs — Aphrite, aphthong ; aphthous. . . . This same spirit of energy and contraction affects all pulses or figures which contain a long followed by a short, and is the prin- ciple whereby are to be explained all musical rhythms of unusual, or seemingly unusual, character. It is an elementary detail of " syncopation," and what cannot be explained by its aid has to be referred either to more elaborate syncopation, or to the device of intermingUng metres — a device, that is, which imposes duple- time upon triple, or triple upon duple. Quantitative reading of poetry loses stiffness when the metres are rounded off as shown in Ex. 20, Ex. 21, etc., and when the dweUing of the voice is effected, not on the point of accent, but on the sufifijcal particles. IX The unit of rhythm containing three longs, is the " molossus." On the lines followed in the case of the spondee (Ex. 7), it would be represented by three minims. These minims may lie with the chief metrical stress on any one of the three pulses. Thus the molossus may be a falling-cadence throughout | ^.^ j^ ^ \ (Ex. 27), or a rising-cadence with one long before the bar-line ^^ J J (Ex. 28), or, finally, it may be a rising-cadence with two longs before the bar-line. In effect, the molossus-measure is as a compound of one-and-a- half spondee-measures ; and its secondary accent is determined by whether the half-measure comes before or after the whole- measure of the compound. Obviously the form shown in Ex. 28 is connected with the iamb (Ex. 6) ; and it will gradually suggest itself to the student that the other two forms of the molossus- measure have afi&nity with other pulse-rhythms. (See page 236.) Each long of the molossus may be articulated, and the entire measure may be phrased off into two rhythms. I tabulate a few of the compound rhythms thus growing out of the molossus, 130 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO leaving remarks on them to a later phase of study. Counting is, of course, carried in practice right through a measure ; but as a convenient means of showing the construction of the following compound measures, 1 use counting which represents the molossus as formed of one-and-a-half spondee-measures, i.e. 1_2, 1-2-3-4 ; or 1-2-3-4, 1-2. JiJJJ Ex. 29 /-z\ /its^ " major-ionic," — a long plus a dactyl. JJlJij Ex. 30 ^ ^ I // i ^ " minor-ionic," — an anapest plus a long. I ' t i ' 'j ! I' I Ex. 31 ^ •' ^■:\ " choriambus," — a trochee plu^ an iamb. /V^, •/ Ex. 32 I ^ ^ I "choriambus,"— with falling-iamb (Ex. 23). ' j ! j ' I' j - j '" Ex.33 *| r' * " antispastus," — iambic y?MS trochee. ^ \ /■^\ /z J E^- 34 i\i ^ " antispastus," — with falhng-iamb. The choriambus is never absent from the rhythms of blank verse, and is one of the more important movements in music. In the following lines are the molossus and the spondee : — One cried God bless us, and Amen the other. Listening their fear, I could not say Amen. When they did say God bless us. Before going further, I summarise the principles which de- termine my use of prosodical terms in the study of musical rhythms, freely anticipating later explanations. The pulse is the half, or the third, of a rhythmical measure. It is divisible by two or three. The measure is an affihation of two pulses, or of three. The two-pulse unit of rhythm is a spondee, and the three-pulse unit is a molossus. The spondee-measure has four counts when its pulses are divided by two, and six when they are divided by three. PROSODIAL TERMS AND RHYTHM 131 The molossus-measure, with pulses divided by two, has six counts in the cadency of 1-2' 3-4' 5-6." This measure may, of course, have ternary division of the pulse, its counting then becoming 1-2-3' 4-5-6' 7-8-9." The triple-time trochee and iamb have particles contrasted as two to one. The same figures in duple-time have particles of equal length (e.g. the diiambic of " God, our help ") : — Whatever adjustment of particles is effected by syncopation, the measure is the same. Any pulse, or portion of a pulse, may be trochaised, either by ternary division, or by the dotted-note movement. The only true spondee of musical rhythm is that which forms, or underhes, the measure. Spondees made by adjustment of pulse-particles (see Ex. 41 at " His hand ") are but the spondee of quantity. A spondee-measure (1-2-3' 4-5-6 ") may be so phrased as to become a molossus-measure (1-2' 3-4' 5-6 "). This brings three pulses into the movement in place of two, but it does not add to the actual quantity of the matter. It is in effect syncopation ; but in the scanning and quantitative reading of verse it is to be regarded as a distinct change of metre. (The syncopation is that which is effected by change of ictus.) Dactyl, anapest, and amphibrach, in music represent a measure, but in poetry only a pulse. The appearance in poetic feet of a dactyl for a trochee, or of an anapest for an iamb, is in effect a change in the principle of division. The trochee, for example, is two-thirds plus one-third of the pulse, while the dactyl is one-half plus one-quarter plus one-quarter of the pulse. But in music the appearance of an anapest, for instance, amid trochees, is the result of the measure being catalectic, and of the quantity, or time, of the measure being filled up by extending the sound of the last note of the 1-2 3' 4-5-6" measure. (" Pleasant are thy courts a-bove" — see Ex. 15). The catalectic diiambic measure becomes an iambus of four 4 1-2-3 counts (" Our hope for years to come " — see Ex. 24, and place a bar-Hne after the crotchet, adjusting the counting to 4 1-2-3). Metrical accent serves the office of classical quantity; the terms " heavy " (" strong," " stressed ") and " long " are there- fore synonymous. CHAPTER XX RHYTHM OF VERSE (a) — IAMB AND TROCHEE A VITAL difference distinguishes between metrical analysis and rhythmical analysis. To state the difference is to give the main principle of the science of phrasing. (See page 29, iii.) Rhythmical analysis, of poetry and of music, breaks a stream of material into thought-groups of particles. It thereby provides for emotional and expressive values in the words and notes, making the material plastic in nature, and fit for inteUigible per- formance. Metrical analysis establishes but the mechanical structure ; it disregards even the intellectual aflSnity of particles of material, and so binds and tightens where the other order of analysis loosens. I give an elementary illustration of this general statement. Metrical analysis of Wordsworth's I wander'd lonely as a cloud shows that it is formed of four iambic pulses (two diiambic measures), even the two itaUcised syllables constituting an iambus, though they are halves of words, and though the former is in quantity a long. Rhythmical analysis shows that the line is formed of an amphibrach (Ex. 22), / wandered ; a trochee (Ex. 5), lonely ; and an amphimacer (Ex. 19), as a cloud. The rhythmical analysis, moreover, providing for emotional or expressive values, permits a ruhato or agogical dwelling on the last syllable of the amphibrach which converts the pulse into a " bacchius," J) ^5^ I (Ex.35.) /I Rhythmical analysis, therefore, reveals meaning and enhances effect of expression. It establishes thought by phrasing ; and so phrasing is rhythmising. An iambic phrase in instrumental music will similarly be varied as regards phraseology ; and failure to observe this will 193 RHYTHM OF VERSE 133 result in effects somewhat akin to such a reading of the Words- worth line, as Iwan der'dlone lyas acloud. The varied pulse- cadency of the phrase of music will be apparent partly in notes and harmonies ; but it will be apparent absolutely and indubit- ably only in the composer's phrase-marks, slurrings, and stress- signs. My system of indicating pulse-phraseology, is based on divi- sional (and, when necessary, subdivisional) counting, and on punctuation. I count straight through a measure, joining by hyphen figures representing notes longer than a count (Ex. 9, Ex. 27, etc.) ; and I place a comma at the end of a motive, and a double-comma at the end of a measure, adding stress-signs and tenutos [ten) as required. Thus the musical equivalent of the Wordsworth line would appear as : — Measures. I II Pulses. r ten 2' 3 4" Divisions. 6 1-2 5' 4-5 6" 12 3 4-5'' Where rests, i.e. empty times, occur, I use the sign (5-j for a divisional-count, and the sign (*i) for a subdivisional-count, and the sign (— ) for a pulse-count ; or I set counts in brackets. Counts, therefore, stand for musical notes (see Ex. 9).* I give this early explanation of my method of showing rhyth- mical phraseology, for the reason that though it wiU not for some time be used extensively, it may at any moment manifest itself. II A pulse in music is as a foot in poetry. Verse requires two, or three, feet to express a complete idea, as music requires two or three pulses to estabUsh a rhythmical unit. The poetic measure of two feet is the " dipody " (dipodia) ; this is the same in rhythmical value as the spondee-measure. The poetic measure of three feet is the same as the molossus- measure. I am not aware that it has been named " tripody," metricists having a preference for the term catalectic (see page 134). * See also Ex. 60 (b), and observe the punctuation of the notes, which shows the normal iambs, and the punctuation of the counts, which shows the (verbal) phrasing. 134 THE ART OFTTHE PLAYER-PIANO A phrase of two dipodies is a " dimeter," as in the hne of Wordsworth used a moment ago. A phrase of three dipodies is a " trimeter," as in I n III I read the note, I strike the key, I bid record The instrument : thanks greet the ver- itable word ! The trimeter, however, does not often he thus, in three dipodies, ■ but in two measures, each of three feet : — . . . since Thought hankers after speech, FeeUng Uke music, — mine From every visitant. Its burthen to the back And gone, who feehng once Of words, sought sounds . . . And not in vain I urge : Assist who struggles yet. Thy record serve as well And knew thus much of truth . . , What master's work first came Found my eye, fixed my choice ? while no speech may evince o'erburthened with each gift at last resolved to shift of some musician dead what I feel now, instead " dead and gone away, thy strength become my stay, to register / felt Who was it helped me, then ? responsive to my call. Why, Schumann's " Carnival ! Browning, Ft fine at the Fair, Section XC. The blank verse of Shakespeare and IMilton is the " iambic trimeter catalectic," one of the six feet of the trimeter being absent. The line usually lies in two measures, one of two pulses and one of three, or vice versa. The man that hath Nor is not moved Is fit for treasons. . no music in himself, by concord of sweet sounds, The blank verse Une is also called the " iambic pentameter," the word metre in this case signifying foot, whereas in the case of the phrase " trimeter catalectic " it signifies measure. The Une is clearly a line of five pulses. Five-time is said to be rare in music ; but only because composers do not often write in bars of five crotchets, and so do not often present a time-signature with five as the numerator : as a fact, phrases of five pulses are frequent, in Bach, Beethoven, and Schubert — there is scarcely a piece of music written by Schubert without at least one phrase of five pulses. Wherever such an " irregular " phrase occurs among RHYTHM OF VERSE 136 prevailing four-pulse phrases, a ruhato is required and a special accentuation. The point of conjunction of two measures, is the caesura, or sense-pause. It is a point where breath may be taken, or a slight fermata introduced. There are csesurae, of course, between pulses, when these are individually articulated. As a first step towards reading with observance of bare metrical accentuation, we may do what Coleridge advises and describes in the following passage from a letter he wrote the Wordsworths. Wilham, my teacher, my friend ! dear William and dear Dorothea 1 Smooth out the folds of my letter, and place it on desk or on table ; Place it on table or desk ; and your right hands loosely half-closing, Gently sustain them in air, and extending the digit didactic. Rest it a moment on each of the forks of the five-forked left-hand, Twice on the breadth of the thumb, and once on the tip of each finger; Read with a nod of the head in a humouring recitativo ; And, as I Hve, you will see my hexameters hopping before you. This is a galloping measure ; a hop, and a trot, and a gallop. " Humouring recitativo " is a happy phrase. In quantitative reading we humour the words and quantities, and use a sustained voice — and a modulated tone, as soon as we are able to leave the easier monotone. m The character of the diiambic measure is daintily revealed in Nick Bottom's sample of " Ercles' vein, a tyrant's vein," than which, as he remarks, " a hver is more condohng." Ercles' is as a part " to tear a cat in, to make all spHt." The lover would possibly speak in trochees ; and it is to be regretted Peter Quince did not give Nick time to afford specimens of both styles. The raging rocks, And shivering shocks Shall break the locks Of prison gates ; And Phibbus' car Shall shine from far And make and mar The fooUsh fates. Midsummer Night's Dream, Act I, Scene 2. I would cadentially stress the second syllable of each indented line (Ex. 11), but the end syllable of the others (Ex. 12). In 136 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Warwickshire, people still pronounce " foolish " to rhyme with dullish. Some speakers approximate the vowel to the " o " in folly. The following lines are in pure iambic pulses and measures ; with csesurse after each measure, and sometimes after each pulse. Pulses 1 2 3 (a) We both have fed as well (6) Among the trees in pairs (c) Thy soul was hke a star, 4 and we they rose, and dwelt a spring can both endure, they walk'd. apart, doth fall. {d) From these high hills as when (e) (/ wander' d lonely as a cloud). That floats on high o'er vales and hills (/) He's ta'en ; and hark, they shout for joy. (g) Who chooseth me shall gain What many men desire. In the lines (a) to (/) every pulse is formed of two syllables ; and except for endure (a), among (6), apart (c), each syllable is an individual word. The seventh example (g) shows how two pulses run into a measure, with no ceesura between one pulse and the other. This last feature is illustrated in the next group of examples of iambic movement. {h) Of night or lonehness, I fear the dread events Lest some ill-greeting touch Of our unowned sister.* {i) These soft and silken airs The music must be shrill That stirs my blood ; it recks me not : that dog them both, attempt the person are not for me. and all confus'd and then I dance. (j) To be no more ; Though full of pain, {t?iat must be our cure) sad cure : for who would lose, this intellectual being. When — as in the third of these last examples, at the words sad cure — there is a certain weight of tone, or special intellectual or emotional significance, in the short of a pulse, that short, as I have said, takes a tenuto treatment. The treatment may be so pronounced as to expand the short into a long. The equivalent effect in music is the stress, the pause, or the ten which is some- * Of otir (inown'd sUter. HHYTHM OF VERSE 137 times set against a note metrically weak. (It is here that the remark of Dryden's given on page 120 begins to apply itself in our work.) I give in special illustration a passage from Fijine at the Fair, where the italicised feet, though iambic, are of spondaic value. The passage is from section XCII ; Browning is speaking of the constant change, generation by generation, in music, and of the fact that music still remains eternally the same under its changes — that newness and novelty are but sauces to the same dish : — Pulses 1 2 3 guests came, sat down, fell- to, Rose up, wiped mouth went way, lived, died (and never knew That generations yet should. . . .) When, in instrumental music, the composer wants to retain the prevaiUng metre of crotchet rising into minim (Ex. 6), yet at the same time to have the equivalent of guests came, sdt down, he gives to the crotchets an expressive accent, directs a diminuendo from crotchet to minim, and closely binds the tone of the two notes:- Jjr J^T (Ex.36) Player-pianists in such cases allow the Sustaining-lever to run the sound of the crotchet into the sound of the minim, releasing the lever after the latter has been struck. In effect, the music of Ex. 36 becomes as the faUing-iamb (Ex. 23). The feature was used by EUzabethan composers, and is one of the — as yet imdis- covered — secrets of their rhythms. I suggest the following poems as studies in iambic pulse and measure : — (1) A piece of madrigal verse,* set by Richard Ahson (AUison) and pubHshed in 1606, the year after the Gunpowder Plot. The collection of which this forms part, contained " a thanksgiving for the dehverance of the whole estate from the late conspiracie." The poem has been set by present-day composers. Ahson was a friend of John Dowland's, the musician referred to in the Sonnet * I take this and other studies from the English Madrigal Verse (1588- 1632) of Dr. E. H. Fellowee (Clarendon Press, 1920) — a unique piece of work, because it reduces to poetic form the vast mass of poetic material used by the Elizabethan vocal composers. 138 THE AKT OF THE PLAYER-PIANO of Banifield (" If music and sweet poetry agree ") included in Shakespeare's The Passionate Pilgrim (No. 8). The caesura breaks every hne into exact halves : — The sturdy rock By raging seas The marble stone By Uttle drops The ox doth yield The steel obeyeth The stately stag By yelping hounds The swiftest bird At length is caught The greatest fish Is soon deceived for all his strength is rent in twain ; is pierced at length of drizzling rain ; unto the yoke, the hanuner stroke. that seems so stout at bay is set ; that flies about in fowler's net ; in deepest brook with subtle hook. (2) A piece of verse, also set by Alison (and by Michael East and John Mundy), and included in the above collection. The poet is Chideock Tichbome, one of the " five others " who were condemned to death with Antony Babington and the priest John Ballard, for conspiracy against Queen Elizabeth in 1596. Tich- bome, like Babington, was a very young man. He wrote the poem the night before his execution. The caesura divides each line into a two-pulse measure and a three-pulse : — My prime of youth My feast of joy My crop of corn And all my good My life is fled, And now I Uve, The Spring is past, The fruit is dead. My youth is gone I saw the world, My thread is cut. And now I live, I sought my death, I looked for life, I trod the earth. And now I die, The glass is full, And now I live, is but is but is but is but and yet and now and yet and yet and yet and yet and yet and now and found and saw and knew and now and now and now a frost of cares ; a dish of pain ; a field of tares ; vain hope of gain. I saw no sun ; my life is done. it hath not sprung ; the leaves be green ; I am but young ; I was not seen, it is not spun ; my life is done. it in my womb ; it was a shade ; it was a tomb ; I am but made, my glass is run ; my fife is done. RHYTHM OF VERSE 139 This and the preceding (and all later studies in poetry) should be cadenced in individual measure according to the rising and falling progressions, as suggested in Nick Bottom's Unes on page 135. Measures will be as pulses I II, or II I, according to the antitheses and responses of the thoughts and poetic figures. The first couplet of (1) hes rhythmically as : — I II III I The sturdy rock for all his strength By raging seas is rent in twain. I II I II A modem composer would retain two-pulse metre, and mark a crescendo in the second measure, with stress upon his weak pulse : — I II I II The sturdy rock for all his strength. cres forte ten This is the principle of many expressional stresses and tonal nuances in abstract instrumental music, whether derived from song or dance. (3) The Rabbi ben Ezra of Browning is a fine example of modem iambic. Of the opening stanza, the words grow, our, His, youth, trust, and perhaps nor, require the tenuio, or expressive agogic :— Grow old along with me ! The best is yet to be, The last of Ufe, for which the first was made : Our times are in His hand Who saith : " A whole I planned. Youth shows but half ; trust God, see all, nor be afraid." IV Trochaic movement is often chosen by poets for the expression of personal thought and feehng (for example. Browning's One Word More). It is less used for weighty utterance than the iambic movement, being in nature in agreement with a spirit of impulsiveness and passion, or of hghtness and fancy. And so poets who inchne to statement of definite and general thought, find their native cadences in the iambic. Such poets are rarely great in the trochaic or the anapestic ; the really poor poems of 140 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Wordsworth and Keats, for example, are among their non- iambic works. Elizabeth Browning's trochaics are beautiful ; and Shelley's anapestics are ethereal, though sometimes only briUiant. Trochaic rhythms are more frequent in strong triple-time music than iambic rhythms. The Beethoven scherzo and the Chopin mazurka are the two chief forms to use the trochaic, the former for energy, power, and clear imagination, the latter for' warmth of feehng, passion, and richness of idea. The difference between Beethoven and Chopin is indicated by the circumstance that Beethoven largely uses the ditrochee with emphasis on count 6 (Ex. 9), while Chopin uses that form of the ditrochee which gives the faUing-iamb (Ex. 23) to the second pulse of the measure. There are several constructional details to be observed before one can comfortably read trochaic verse. (a) The last foot of a measure may have but one syllable, the measure being " catalectic." This reduces the ditrochee to the proportion of the amphimacer (Ex. 19). (6) When the measure following the catalectic ditrochee is trochaic, and beginning therefore with count 1, it is a convenience in reading to let the catalectic pulse take the full three counts. Music constantly avails itseK of this convenience, so as to avoid the intrusion of five-count measures. Through the forest have I gone, But Athenian found I none. . . , Night and silence ! who is here ? Weeds of Athens he doth wear. {Midsummer Night's Dream.) (c) The first puke of the ditrochee may take an " anacrusis." This is a prefixal short ; and it causes the pulse (normally 1-2 3') to count 3 1-2 3'. The trochee with anacrusis, is the amphi- brach (Ex. 22, in triple-time). {d) Where the preceding pulse is catalectic, the anacrusis uses the quantity of the ehded syllable. Thus there is only a change of caesura, the normal caesura of (a) becoming as (b). (a) 1-2 3' 4-5 6" 1-2 3' 4-5 6" (b) 1-2 3' 4-5" 6 1-2 3' 4-5 6". But where the preceding pulse is " acatalectic " (furnished with the normal two syllables), the anacrusis compels an adjustment RHYTHM OF VERSE 141 of metre or a redistribution of quantity. Either a four-count bar will be introduced : ,_2 3' 4.5 g" 7 i_2 3' 4_5 6 " ' ®^ *^® preceding pulse will be contracted into the faUing-iamb of Ex. 23, and the second syllable of its trochee will use but one count, leaving count 3 free for the anacrusis : — I II I II 1-2 3' 4 5" 6 1-2 3' 4-5 6". Modem composers adopt the latter plan. Such a csesura as this, occurring in instrumental music, requires a sHght rubato upon the count 5, and a firm touch upon the anacrusic count 6. ... On whose eyes / might approve This flower's force in stirring love. . . . This is he, my master said, De-spis-ed the .4-thenian maid ; And here the maiden, sleeping sound. On the dank and dirty ground. Pretty soul ! she durst not lie I II I II Near this lack-love, this kill-courtesy. 1-2 3' 1-2 3" 4 1-2 3' 1-2-3" or 1-2 3' 1 2" 3 1-2 3' 1-2-3" The concluding line of the above has puzzled the editors of Shakespeare, and has been much amended. (e) The affinity of syllables in trochaic verse may be such as gives every short to the following long. Thus the initial long of the hne will stand alone ; and the line will proceed thence in iambics. The last pulse will be iambic or amphibrachic according to whether it is catalectic or acatalectic : — Churl, upon thy eyes I throw All the power this charm doth owe. When thou wak'st, let love forbid Sleep his seat on thy eyehd : So awake when I am gone. For I must now to Oberon. Observe the beautiful " enjambment " of 6 let 1-2' 3 Love for - 4-5-6 hid . 1-2" Sleep 142 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO and the resulting moving forward of the caesura. Chopin has many such effects ; he generally inforces them by dehcate uses of the Sustaining-pedal, to run the sound of count 6 into the sound of count 1. This phraseological iambicising of trochaic verse, has its counterpart in iambic verse, where after a feminine caesura (7 wander' d) will come a trochee (londy). The trochee will be followed by other trochees, until an amphimacer permits the movement to return to the iambic {as a cloud' that floats' on high'). Often an iambic pulse will have this feminine extension, yet the following pulse will be pure iambic ; the " hyper- catalectic " (additional to the metre) syllable, will then either enforce a four-count pulse, or the three syllables will adjust them- selves to three counts, as in the case of the anacrusic trochee : — 6 1-2' 3 4-5 6" Lest some ill-greeting touch attempt the person 6 1-2' 3 4 5" 7 1-2 3' 4-5 6' 7-8 9" 1-2 3' 4 5" Of our un- own'd sister. I do not, brother " 6 1-2 3' In- fer, as if I thought my sister's state. . . . This passage, which is from Milton's Coinus (Une 405), shows how "do not," by metrical compression, becomes don't. (See page 176 (5).) (/) A dactyl may appear in place of a trochee. Thus the above " I do not " may be treated as Ex. 14. To eliminate the inevit- able four-count bar, a composer would set the syllables to one 12 3 count each • / ^ «^# He would then indicate a secondary stress on count 2. (See Ex. 68, page 170.) What thou seeat when thou dost wake, Do it for thy true love take. . . . When thou wakest it is thy dear : Wake when some vile thing is near. Such phrases as " I do not, broth'r," " when thou dost wake," and " it is thy dear," when given the quantity and metre of I II III 1-2 3 4 5-6, become choriambic (see Chapter XIX, section IX). RHYTHM OF VERSE 143 (g) An iamb may take the place of a trochee, especially at the beginning of a line. The long of the iamb will then take three counts, so as to leave the metre direct for the following trochee. See (e) above, in the phrase of bur ilnovm'd. Dust and ashes dead and done with, Venice spent what Venice earned. The soul, doubtless, is immortal Where a soul can be discerned. (Browning : A Toccata of Galupjn's.) The following studies will serve to fill the student with the various trochaic quaHties of clarity, lightness, personal feeling, and intensity of mood. (1) The text of a madrigal from Thomas Bateson (1604). I itahcise syllables requiring the tenuto : — Beauty is a lovely sweet. Where pure white and crimson meet, Joined with favour of the face, Chiefest flower of female race. But if Virtue might be seen, It would more deUght the eyne. (2) From Shelley's Dirge for the Year (" Orphan Hours, the Year is dead "). As the wild air stirs and sways The tree-sioung cradle of a child, So the breath of these rude days Rocks the Year : — be calm and mild, TrembUng Hours, she will arise With new love with-in her eyes. There is a choriambus, in she will arise ; and in with new love a bacchius, or short-long-long. I interpolate here a general rule : all phrases like of the, in a, to the, as of, in my, and so forth, when of trochaic value, may be uttered to counts of 2 and 3 of the pulse, leaving count 1 either empty, or tied back to the short of the preceding pulse. In many cases, the trochee of that preceding pulse is a word that almost . I II reqmres the spondaising effected by the phrasing : , _o o-i Here, in Shelley's cradle of a, the sound of the letter I runs sweetly into the first coimt of the third pulse of the line. 144 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO (3) From Mrs. Browning's Catarina to Camoens : — On the door you will not enter, I have gazed too long : adieu ! Hope withdraws her peradventure ; Death is near me, — and not you. Come, lover, Close and cover These poor eyes, you called, I ween, " Sweetest eyes were ever seen ! " (Observe how misplacement of csesura in the second line, w^ould convert the meaning into, " I have also gazed : and now, a long adieu." Instrumental music has similar csesural characteristics.) While my spirit leans and reaches From my body still and pale, Fain to hear what tender speech is In your love to help my bale. my poet. Come and show it ! Come, of latest love, to glean, " Sweetest eyes were ever seen." (Observe the delicate enjambment of the last syllable of the third line and the first of the fourth.) my poet, my prophet. When you praised their sweetness so, Did you think, in singing of it. That it might be near to go 1 Had you fancies From their glances, That the grave would quickly screen " Sweetest eyes were ever seen ? " There are many poems of this character among Mrs. Browning's works. She caught the trochaic spirit which expressed itself in Buch mediaeval hymns as the Stabat mater dolorosa. (4) Pee : The Raven. Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore. While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping. As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. * 'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, ' tapping at my chamber door — Only this, and nothing more.' RHYTHM OF VERSE 146 This is a unique example of trochaic cadency, and the harmonies are sustained like harmonies of Bach. (5) Browning : A Toccata of Galujypi's. (6) From The Passionate Pilgrim : — III I II Crabbed age and youth ' Cannot Uve together. Youth is full of pleasance, Age is full of care ; Youth like summer morn, Age like winter weather ; Youth hke summer brave, Age Uke winter bare. Youth is full of sport, Age's breath is short. Youth is nimble, age is lame ; Youth is hot and bold. Age is weak and cold ; Youth is wild, and age is tame. Age, I do abhor thee. Youth, I do adore thee ; my love, my love, is young ! Age, I do defy thee — sweet shepherd, hie thee, For methinks thou stay'st too long. This tjrpically impassioned piece does not seem to have survived with music from the EHzabethan epoch ; but it has been set as a solo song by Hubert Parry. (7) WiUiam Watson : Song (" April, April — ^Laugh thy girUsh laughter.") The two ditrochees of Death has' boldness" besides' coldness'* would adjust themselves in triple-time music as in Ex. 37 : — J'JiJ y U{J J 1 (Ex 37) «a)h tvus :boldi\eis BeU/des coldne« V.-"-^- "V You will have noticed in your quantitative reading how the pyrrhic (Ex. 2, page 121), when set in the pulse of the trochee (Ex. 5, page 122), accepts naturally the cadency of the falling- iamb (Ex. 23, page 128). CHAPTER XXI RHYTHM OF VERSE (6) — CHORIAMBUS The choriambus is a two-pulse measure, compounded of a trochee and an iamb. It counts therefore to I- II- 1-2 3' 1 2-3, the pulses being " dotted." When this rhythm appears as thus in plain triple-time music, the short of the iambic element comes with count 1 (or count 4, counting right through the measure) : — I- II- 1-2 3' 1 2-3. (4 5-6) The iamb is thus a (metrically) falling figure. Composers place a special stress against the long of the iamb (count 5). Regarded absolutely, and without reference to triple-time, the choriamb belongs to the molossus measure. It was given, as thus derived, in Ex. 31. Thus regarded in the absolute, it represents three pulses in binary division, not two pulses in ternary : — I II III 1-2 3' 4 5-6". The secondary stress of the pulses I II III, falls upon the long of the iambic. There is a relative stress on the first division of pulse II ; this is natural to the trochee, which is often of spondaic value in the weight of its particles, though of trochaic quantity. The choriamb, brought into ordinary simple triple-time, forms a syncopation, or change of metre : it converts the prevaihng two-pulse measure into a measure of three pulses. Composers often tie count 3 to count 4, which takes away the choriambic, and leaves the plain molossus. Brahms does this in the bass, while the upper parts continue the triple-time movement. 146 RHYTHM OF VERSE U7 n The choriamb is not recognised as an English poetical rhythm, but it enters constantly into iambic verse. We can, indeed, read scarcely six Unes without finding it (a) in the first measure of a line, (6) as the first measure of the second phrase of a line, or (c) forming enjambment between the end of one line and the beginning of the next. Here is an example of (c) : — I II 1-2 3' attempt the person Of our unown'd sister. 4 5-6 1-2 3 4-5 6 III I- II- ExperimentaHsts in metre produce choriambic verse, as Swinburne : — Love, what ailed them to leave hf e that was made lovely we thought with love. They retain the classical intermixture of other measures, begin- ning a line with spondee or trochee, and ending it with iamb. The long immediately preceding the concluding iamb, belongs to a pulse that has to have three divisions — two for the long last in the choriamb, and another for the short of the iamb : — I II III- I lovely we thought with love. 1-2 1 2 1-2 3 1-2 This enlargement of the pulse is a feature of great beauty, especially in our quantitative reading. The pulse takes a pressure which distinguishes it from its companions, and acquires a power out of which springs the concluding iamb : ifti : uktt W\ .. fiorv at . Sleep Oowr\ ff)P»n Ihe ; liffM ft ^^- (Ex. 38). /-£■' The EHzabethan composers, who set words to their intrinsic quantities, regardless of modern metre, used to dwell on a word in the place of light, and permit the voices to float in mehsma {cadenza). 148 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO (1) Study in choriambics. From the chorus which opens Robert Bridges' Detneter. The measures printed in itahcs are not choriambs. The metrical value of the Une is that of nine minims, the penultimate pulse of each line being half as long again as the others. As we reahse the cadency of these Unes, and adjust sense and metre, we find the apparently academic verse has lightness, energy, and freshness — the quahties of its subject. These are created by rhythm of the order that is inherent in instrumental music. II III I II III I II III- I And one season of all chiefly deUt- -eth us When fair Spring is afield. happy is the Spring ! Now birds early arouse their pretty min- -strelfing ; Now down its rocky rill murmureth ev- -ry rill ; Now aU bursteth anew, wantoning in the dew Their bells of bonny blue, their chalices honey' d. Unkind frost is away ; now sunny is the day ; Now man thinketh aright, life it is all deUte. Now maids playfully dance o^er enamelVd meadows, And with goldy blossom deck forehead and bosom ; While old Pan roUicketh thro' the budding shadows, Voicing, his merry reed, laughing aloud to lead The echoes madly rejoicing. The choriamb forehead and bosom has the feminine cadence. It contains, therefore, (a) a trochee, forehead, and (b) an amphibrach, and bosom (Ex. 22). We contract the amphibrach (Ex. 26), and produce the quantities of : — I II III forehead and bosom 1-2 3 4 1 2-3 The choriamb passes into triple-time music, as shown in the following : — t^ -f r r rT (Exs. 39 and 40). in We are aware that the trochee (Ex. 5) may be a two-count figure, of which the first count will be metrically the stronger. Of the six counts of the measure, the trochee may stand on 1 2, RHYTHM OF VERSE 14d or 4 5, or (with count 1 empty) on counts 2 3, or finally 5 6. See Ex. 37, the word boldness. We are aware also that the iamb (Ex. 6) may be stressed in its short, and receive there an expressive rubato (Ex. 36). The pause may be made in actual time and quantity, the short of the iamb taking two counts. This brings the iamb to the proportions of the spondee (Ex. 8). Music " spondaises " an iamb in triple- time, by bringing the short upon the middle count of the pulse : ^^r //mti ffre /f/j I /ta^^ Y^Y 7Yf fXf (Ex. 41). The first iamb of this pattern (" are in ") has two counts, the second has four. Left to itself, the player-piano destroys the fundamental triple-time of such a passage : it converts the majestic and forceful 1- II- 6 1' 2-3 4-5" are in His hand into the light and bounding III I II 5 6' 1-2' 3-^". are in His hand Between these two rhjrthms is a difference as complete as between the phrases " He struck him dead " and " Happy sweethearts." The iamb shown in the second pulse of Ex. 41 (" His hand ") may be retained for several successive pulses. When triple-time is preserved, the accented particle (" hand ") can have only a single count. *«' olJ J\J dlJ (Ex. 42). The composer may si 4' 5<| I- 6-51 4' 5-611-2 stress the minims, as in this pattern : if further he phrases a diminuendo from the minim to the crochet (see Ex. 36), he establishes syncopation, and the pulse becomes a true trochee of 1-2 3' thrust into the pulse progression that gives it the counts 2-3 1. But the composer may not stress the minim. He may stress the crotchet, and direct a crescendo from the minim up to the crotchet. The dynamic effect is then tremendous. We cannot swell tone on the piano in a sustained note, and so we have to imagine it. In impassioned music, the composer will probably have a sustained chord for the minim, but with a series of running 150 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO notes in bass, inner part, or treble ; these are to be played crescendo, rising climactically into the crotchet. The crotchet will probably be played staccato. Such adjustments of quantity take place in every form of rhythm ; and unless the result is referred back to its original, we phrase and accentuate wrongly — things not being what they seem, or what the player assumes them to be. The matter is comphcated further by the circumstance that the minim may be' decoratively inflected (see page 127). It may also be rhythmised, as in ^ i cij L,\d^ (Ex. 43), where the measure has an iamb followed by an anapest. Compare with Ex. 43, the phrase " has boldness besides " of Ex. 37. These statements and explanations may strike the reader as complex and subtle. They are not so in reahty : that they are simple, is proved the moment we apply them to reading poetry or playing music ; because the ideas they convey reflect what we do naturally in reading and playing. IV The " antispastus " is the choriamb reversed. Thus it is a measure compounded of iamb and trochee (Ex. 33 and Ex. 34). Passed into triple-time, the antispastus counts I- II- 1 2-3' 4-5 6" or (more usually) II- I- 4 5-6' 1-2 3" (1) Study in the ditrochee, the diiamb, the antispastus, and the choriamb. From the " Sonnets to Sundry Notes of Music " attached to The Passionate Pilgrim. Antis'pastus. (a) My flocks feed not, My ewes breed not, My rams speed not, Chorianibus. (6) All is amiss. Ditrochee. (c) Love's denying. Faith's defying, Heart's renying, (&) Causer of this. RHYTHM OF VERSE 151 (c) All my merry jigs are quite forgot, All my lady's love is lost, God wot ; Where her faith was firmly fixed in love, There her nay is placed without remove. (6) One silly cross Wrought all my loss ; Iambic. (d) frowning Fortune, cursed, fickle dame ! For now I see Inconstancy (c) More in women than in men remain. The three lines I have marked as iambic are actually trochaic (with anacrusis) in the first line, and choriambic in the second line, also the third : we naturally dwell on, or stress, the syllables for, now, in-, -con-. But as the poem continues into later verses, iambic pulses develop, and it is good art to suggest as early as possible the material the piece is to contain. (2) Analysis of the quantities of a passage in blank verse. From Comus. You may as well spred out the unsun'd heaps Of Misers treasure by an out-laws den. And tell me it is safe, as bid me hope Danger will wink on Opportunity, And let a single helpless maiden pass Uninjur'd in this wUde surrounding wast. Iambic. (a) You may as well spred out First epitrite. (b) the unsun'd heaps {see below) Feminine cadence. (a) of Misers treasure Pyrrhic and molossus. {d) by an out-laws den (a) and tell me it is safe as bid me hope Choriambus. (e) Danger will wink (a) on Opportunity Spondaised. {a) and let {see Ex. 41, at His hand) Trochaic ccesurce. (a) a single helpless maiden pass Bacchius. (/) uninjur'd {see Ex. 35). Anapest. {g) in this wilde {see Ex. 19) (a) surrounding wast. .ivni/ Aeafii if \f' f '\f (Ex. 44). See page 175. 152 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO (3) From Coleridge's Lessons in Metrical Feet. Trochee. Trochee trips from long to short. Spondee. From long, to long, in solemn sort, Slow Spondee stalks, strong foot, yea HI able Dactyl. Ever to come up with Dactyl iiisijllahle. Ian\h. Iambics march from short to long. Arwtpest. With a leap and a bound the swift anapests , throng. Amphibrach. One syUahl^ long, with one short at each side Amphibrachys hastes with a stately stride. Amphimacer. First and last being long, middle short, Amphimacer Strike his thun^^m^f hoofs like a proud high-bred racer. (4) The bacchius : — Adieu love, adieu love, untrue love, Your mind is light, soon lost /or new love. (5) The dactyl (a) : the choriamb (6) : the epitrite (c) : the ditrochee spondaised (e) : the antibacchius (/) : the bacchius {g) : the amphibrach (h) : the iamb (i) : the trochee (/) : — (a) Come to me, Come to me, Come to me, (e) Just grief, heart tears, (a) Go from me. Go from me, Go from me, 0*) Sidney, {h) Sidney, (6) Sidney, the hope Sidney, the flower Sidney, the spirit Sidney is dead. (c) grief, for ever ; tears, day and night ; plaint, ah, helpless ; (/) plaint worthy. (c) dread to die now ; care to live more ; joys all on earth ; (t) is dead. ig) of land strange ; {h) of England ; heroic ; (t) is dead. The above piece of elaborate prosody is from ono of the " funerall Songs of that honorable Gent. Syr Phillip Sidney, knight," as set for singing by William Byrd. CHAPTER XXII RHYTHM OF VERSE (c)— DACTYL AND ANAPEST The bulk of good English verse is iambic or trochaic ; anapestic and dactylar pieces being either slight or rare. But we still re- quire to study the latter, first because anapestic and dactylar pulses occur in iambic and trochaic verse, and secondly because it is impossible to speak of rhythms of music without using the terms. I The anapestic rhythm (Exs. 13, 15, and 20) is one of the founda- tional movements of music, despite the circumstance that the anapest itself is little more in music than a ditrochee catalectic. It characterises clause, measure, pulse, and pulse-division. In particular, it is the power which shapes the normal classical phrase of four measures, giving a caesura after the first measure, a csesura after the second, but not one after the third. This four- measure anapestic phrase appears in simplest outUne as : — ^'^"-'V'uy |°j J / ^j n Yn ^^j'n'j' r(Ex.45). f^'cc&A I /v j-f M/e\ /,? J 4 s-<5 7 s~ /^e J 4's^-i^ The dactylar rhythm (Ex. 14 and Ex. 16) appears less fre- quently in music, and serves relatively a minor office (as in the smaller sections of Ex. 45). It alternates with the amphibrach (Ex. 22 and Ex. 21), and with the faUing-anapest (Ex. 20) and the spondee (Ex. 7). The following is a typical dactylar plurase : — I remarked above that anapestic rhythm is one of the founda- tional movements and forms in music,'' (fesp^Ye the circumstance that it is as a ditrochee catalectic. I wish now to impress this matter on the mind, as being of widest and deepest significance, and to substitute because o/for despite. Lightness of touch, mental and physical ; briUiance o| concept and of execution ; energy, 153 154 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO and emotional power ; animation, fancy, grace, and humour ; economy of labour in producing music and in listening to it ; scope for contrast — these, and all other attributes and qualities of the art of the player, as of the art of music in general, rest upon the idea that the normal four-pulse, or four-measure, phrase is as a ditrochee catalectic, with full quantity provided in the time, the cadential climax being either in the first or third measure of the phrase, and what follows that climax being a spontaneous (or, rather, naturally responsive) occupation of the quantity, free for ruhato hastening or retarding according to mood and condition. In reading verse, we usually give as empty time the catalectic spaces ; which is one reason why these are provided in narrative verse of alternate hues of four and three pulses : — (Ex. 47.) 12 3 4 1 2 3 4 I cannot eat but little meat, my stomach is not good [• But sure I think that I can drink with him that wears a nood |* (Ste Ex. 57.) There is a profound reason — a reason at once objective and psychological, imderlying the conception of the blank verse form as a trimeter catalectic (see page 134). With this grand rule fixed in mind — that the normal four- pulse or four-measure phrause is as a rising or falling catalectic ditrochee in respect of generative energy and achieved poise, departures from the normal (as phrases of two, three, five, seven, nine, ten, eleven, and so forth, pulses or measures) take on not only an individual inteUigibiUty, but the vital and interesting attributes of art — variety and contrast. II Anapestic pulses in poetry are varied. (1) A foot will acquire the first short following. Its material is then two shorts, a long, and another short. This figure is the " third paeon." What follows the pseon must be either an iamb or an amphibrach (Ex. 48) : — / am monarch of all I survey. (2) The initial pulse, or any pulse, may be iambic, but often the iamb is sufl&ciently weighty in its short for the figure to be spondaised : — My right there is none to dispute. From the centre all round to the sea, I am lord of the fowl and the brute. RHYTHM OF VERSE 166 (3) The pulse may acquire the quantity of the two shorts following. What foUows in the next measure will probably be the choriamb : — solitude ! where are the charms ? The word " soUtude " being a faUing-anapest, we adjust the quantities thus : — r rr rj f r,r\?- . (Bx. 49). (4) The first snort of the anapest may be anacrusic to the second short, if that second short is weighty enough to be spondaised with the long of the figure : — 3 4 1-2 3-4 1-2 3 4 1-2 I am out of hu-man-ity' s reach II I II I II I The time of the anacrusis is taken from the preceding long. (5) The final anapest in the hne may have the feminine extension. The first of the next line may be either an iamb or a full anapest : — On the brink of the night and the morning My coursers are wont to respire. But the Earth has just whisjpered a warning That their flight must be swifter than fire. They shall drink the hot speed of desire. "Hiey shall r r drink the hot Speed of del; r .: r r,rr r, (Ex.50). Sire Studies in anapestic and amphimacer verse. (1) Matthew Arnold : A Modern Safpko. They are gone : all is still : foolish heart, dost thou quiver ? Nothing moves on the lawn but the quick lilac shade. Far up gleams the house, and beneath flows the river. Here lean, my head, on this cool balustrade. (2) Shelley : various songs in Prometheus Unbound, as : — (a) To the deep, to the deep, Down, down ! Through the shade of sleep,* • 3 4 1-2-3 4 1-2 Through the shade of sleep II I II I 156 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Through the cloudy strife Of Death and of life . . . While the sound whirls round, Down, down ! As the fawn draws the hound, As the lightning the vapour. As a weak moth the taper ; Death, despair ; love, sorrow ; Time both ; to-day, to-morrow. . . . (3) Browning : Summum Bonum. All the breath and the bloom of the year in the bag of one bee : All the wonder and wealth of the mine in the heart of one gem : In the core of one pearl all the shade and the shine of the sea : And now the amphimacers : — Breath and bloom, shade and shine, wonder, wealth, and (how far above them) Truth that's brighter than gem. Trust that's purer than pearl, — Brightest truth, purest trust in the universe — all were for me In the kiss of one girl. (4) Shelley's Autumn : a Dirge contains the bacchius and the amphibrach. In quantitative reading, we adjust the measures thus : J'. J J J J J (Ex. 51). The warm sun is failing, the bleak wind is wailing. The bare boughs are sighing, the pale flowers are dying, And the year On the earth her death-bed in a shroud of leaves dead is lying. Come months, come a-way From No-vember to May, In your saddest ar-ray; Follow the bier Of the dead cold year. And like dim shadows watch by her se- -pul-chre RHYTHM OF VERSE 157 The last line of this stanza seems at first glance a falling away from the rest. But if we make the italicised words into amphi- macers, and the last two syllables into a rich spondee, we find that the " picture " of the idea, with its mystery and remoteness, enters both words and movement. We may convert the last line into pyrrhic and molossus, as on page 151. In the second stanza comes the hne, " Let your light sisters play." The measures here are anapestic. But a caesura after " light " is not good, because it sets the word up as a substantive, and we expect some such sequel as " so shine before men." The phrase " sisters play " is to be given as an amphimacer, the extra time of the first long (" sis-") being taken from the time of the word " hght." The antithetical importance of this word is rendered by metrical stress : — Let your 1 lighf sis-ters I ploy Return to study (2) : — ... Of Death and of Life ; Through the veil and the bar (of) things which seem and are 3-4 1 2-3 4 1-2 n I II I m Dactylar movement in poetry, cadences freely into anapestic and various modifications of anapestic. The lines are frequently catalectic, closing with a trochee ; and the elided short may or may not pass in anacrusis to the next line. Often the lines are brachycatalectic, the final foot losing both shorts ; in such cases the next line may take one or two shorts in anacrusis, or it may begin with the normal long, the two shorts being lost entirely. One of the lovehest poems in dactyls is Hood's The Bridge of Sighs. I quote (but not for quantitative reading) a representa- tive passage, recommending study of the whole work. Touch her not scornfully ; Think of her mournfully. Gently and humanly ; Not of the stains of her. All that re- -mains of her Now is pure womanly. Make no deep scrutiny 158 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Into her mutiny Rash and un- -dutiful : Past all dis- -honour, Death has left on her Only the beautiful. Loop up her tresses Es-caped from the comb, Her fair auburn tresses ; Whilst wonderment guesses Where was her home ? The bleak wind of March Made her tremble and shiver ; But not the dark arch, Or the black flowing river : Mad from life's history, Glad to death's mystery Swift to be hurl'd Anywhere, anj'where Out of the world. These lines might, after all, be read to quantity, and still have beauty, if trochees are properly phrased, falling-anapest used for dactyl as sense and feeling suggest, and the principle of syncopation allowed to operate, e.g. : — r \rcf\ re , f4f,r r r . (Ex.53). The strongest form of dactylar or anapestic poetry in English, is that where the line seems to begin dactylic and end anapestic. This is variously described as anapestic with the shorts of the first measure elided, or dactylic with the shorts of the last measure elided. Actually it is a phrase compounded of (1) a choriamb in the first measure and (2) anapests in the rest. The anapests are often of amphimacer quantity. Browning's Master Hugues of Saxe-Ootha is a brilliant example of the form (see page 167) : — (1) Hist, but a word, {2)Jair and soft ! Forth and be judged, Master Hugues, Answer the question I've put you full oft ; What do you mean by your mountainous fugues ? See, we're alone in the loft. RHYTHM OF VERSE 169 The speaker is the organist, who has just played a work by the composer Hugues, who is " dead though and done with, this many a year." The " colloquy " passes into a curious description of the fugue style of musical composition : — First you deliver your phrase — Nothing propound, that I see. Fit in itself for much blame or much praise — Answered no less, where no answer needs be : Off go the two on their ways. Straight must a Third interpose. Volunteer needlessly help ; In strikes a Fourth, a Fifth thrusts in his nose, So the cry's open, the kennel's a-yelp, Argument's hot to the close. One dissertates, he is candid ; Two must discept, — has distinguished ; Three helps the couple, if ever yet man did ; Four protests ; Five makes a dart at the thing wished ; Back to One goes the case bandied. One says his say with a difierence ; More of expounding, explaining ! All now is wrangle, abuse, and vociferance ; Now there's a truce, all's subdued, self -restraining : Five, though, stands out all the stifEer hence. One is incisive, corrosive ; Two retorts, nettled, curt, crepitant ; Three makes rejoinder, expansive, explosive ; Four overbears them all, strident and strepitant ; Five ... Danaides, Sieve !* * This rather obscure allusion is to the story of the daughters of Danaus. The Danaides had committed the crime of killing their husbands on the night of marriage. For this they were condemned to the hopeless task of pouring water into a vessel with perforated bottom. The humorous conclusion of the stanza is usually looked on, first as a clever bit of rhyming, and secondly as an intimation of the futility of scientific music. But there is, I imagine, something more subtle. I think there is the consideration that, as the end and consummation of union between art and artist is production of beauty and simplicity, the composer who destroys the union by turning his powers to complexly intellectual ends, shall be forced in punishment to the hopeless task of trying to pour the spirit of music into forms which cannot in nature contain it. (It should scarcely be necessary to remark that Browning is at game in this poem : fugue may be as lovely as song, and Browning was a genuine admirer of all music — though he seems rather to question Bach, even if he names him "glorious Bach.") 160 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Now, they ply axes and crowbars ; Now, they prick pins at a tissue Fine as a skein of the casuist Escobar's Worked on the bone of a lie. To what issue ? WTiere is our gain at the Two-bars ? Estjuga, volvitur rota. On we drift : where looms the dim port ? One, Two, Three, Four, Five, contribute their quota ; Something is gained, if one caught but the import — Show it us, Hugues of Saxe-Gotha ! The rest of the piece is a deep touch of philosophy ; and the end is a curious suggestion that there is no answer to the question, death r unni ng us off before we achieve it. IV Anapestic poetry is difl&cult because of its apparent tendency to commonplace. Even when we have removed sing-song, this apparent tendency remains ; and not only because the movement is associated with the Tom Moore type of song-text, the weaker poetry of Byron, satire, and light verse generally, but also because there seems a certain obviousness in the thought and expression. Now in the more serious work of great poets, such qualities as commonplace and obviousness do not exist, though it is only by special observation that we may convince ourselves of the fact. Already in this section of study we have discovered how to dignify anapestic verse by varying the quantities of syllables, giving three counts to an iamb, five to a paeon, and so forth, and bringing in massive spondees and light dotted-note movement as occasion serves ; also we have probably discovered how to modify the effect of a close sprinkling of consonants by means of rich tonal utterance in those that are voiced. What we have to do now, is to see how the apparent tendency to commonplace can be removed. This immediate matter relates only to poetry, but reacts upon music ; and the more delicate here the perception we have of the matter, the more delicate will become our ultimate manipulation of the Tempo-lever. The amphibrach (Ex. 22 and Ex. 26, also Ex. 37, at has boldness), and the ordinary waltz accompaniment, are likely to appear commonplace and obvious, in slow music as RHYTHM OF VERSE 161 well as fast ; yet if these cadences are actually commonplace in our performance of music made by a master, it will be proved that the defect is in ourselves. Read to four-count quantity, and considered in the abstract, the opening line of Shelley's The Sensitive Plant is commonplace : J JJJj J J JU Ji J (Ex.54). sensitive : plant in a I garden I jjrov But modified by emphasis, and varied in length of pulse, the line assumes beauty : — sensitive ' plant in a oanden ; crew (Ex. 55). I know few forms of aesthetic joy more pure and continuous than that which comes of the silent reading in terms of quantity of a poem of this character. The joy is as great as what I have of the silent reading of music — it is, indeed, joy of the same character, owing to the veiled intellectuaUty (in the case of this poem) of the poet's thought and object, the richness of his language, and the music-hke nature of his form and progression. Coleridge remarks that " musical notes are required to explain (the emphases and quantities) of Massenger " and similar poets ; and I am of opinion that only the musician may be entirely appercipient as regards the subtle beauty of poetry which, as this of Shelley's, creates effects by suggestion rather than state- ment, and moves in the abstract way of music, by power of pure rhythm rather than of definiteness of idea. I would suggest The Sensitive Plant as material for final synthetic study in rhyth- mised reading, were it not that finer material for voice and mind lies in Milton and Shakespeare. JlJJJi J* JJIJ J i J* /ll J J A I sensitive I plant in a I garden grew. And the lycxfn} winds fed it with ujj J t:\jj' j\j J J' n\ j- j I silver! dew. And it I opened ib ! fon-like leaves h Ihe /ight. And ^ I dosed tfiera be-Sneath the kisses of ! Might. (Ex. 56.) 162 THE AKT OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Old ecclesiastical melody, as sung congregationally to-day, is metricised (i.e. barred), but the pulse is kept elastic. Thus the puke is permitted to break itself into two, or three, divisions, and we may be allowed to feel that the pulse of three divisions is half as long again as the pulse of two (see page 203). If you turn to the following pieces in Hymns Ancient and Modern, and read the texts quantitatively, accepting hints from the barring of the melodies, you develop several ideas as to how our present quantitative reading may be eased of stifEness, and touched by the living spirit of rhythm : — Iambic. No. 96 Vexilla Regis. " The Royal Banners forward go. „ 311 SaliUaris. " The Heavenly Word proceed- ing forth." „ 177 Jesu, dulcis tnemoria. " Jesu, the very thought is sweet." ,,509 .... " Be near us, Holy Trinity " (this hymn and tune have some exceptionally fine in- stances of trochaic caesurae). Trochaic. No. 396 Urbsheata. "Blessed city, heavenly Salem." ., 309 Pange Lingua. " Now, my tongue, the mystery teUing." The student may be interested to measure his prosodical knowledge against the following piece of madrigal text : — sweet grief, sweet sighs, sweet disdaining, sweet repulses, sweet wrongs, sweet lamentings. Words sharply sweet, and sweetly sharp consenting ; sweet imkindness, sweet fears, sweet complaining. Grieve then no more, my soul, those deep groans straining ; Your bitter anguish now shall have relenting, And sharp disdains receive their full contenting. CHAPTER XXIII MUSICAL VALUES AND RHYTHM OF EMPHASIS It is time to ease ourselves of the labour of uttering to quantity the material of verbal pulses and measures, and to let emphasis govern. This will put us in the way of feehng and Nature ; and Nature will carry on the work, for the reason that rhythm of emphasis is intrinsic in the substance of modem poetry. Also it is time to turn our poetic rhythms more completely to musical purpose, which we shall effect by noticing their musical values, with for result some definite intellectual grasp of the more regular and frequent musical rhythms. But we shall not ignore quantity. At all times observation of quantity remains necessary in preliminary study of intricate verse, just as observation of metre in first study of elaborate music. Quantity and metre, indeed (the fact must never be lost sight of), are the sole means of adjusting variation to the normal ; and since the force and beauty of a variation are not perceived except in'relation to the normal, it follows that quantity in verse, and metre in music, become a sort of magic wand, at a touch of which are revealed more refined significances and more intense vitalities than otherwise would be apparent. Yet it is only when the restriction of quantity and metre is removed, that such force and beauty have character. On several occasions already, we have had to yield to emphasis, and have discovered thereby a number of characteristic rhyth- mical figures. Yielding entirely to meaning and emphasis, we shall discover many more, and without losing scientific grasp of fundamental principles. Plain quantitative reading will not at all serve in the examples to foUow : it is impossible to fit sense and convenience of utterance into such hnes as these of Pope, without very free modification of the normal iambic quantity : — One tragic sentence, if I dare deride, Which BeitertorCs grave action dignijy'd, Or well-mouth' d Booth with emphasis 'proclaims. 163 164 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Here are a few of the steps we take, in yielding quantity to emphasis, and in arriving at the possible musical value of a verbal phrase : — (1) Each stressed syllable has two counts, and each unstressed syllable one count : this is the simple rule of quantity. (2) The order of quantity is inverted in certain figures, the stressed syllable having one count and the imstressed two : this is the preliminary observance of natural speech and expressive pause, the lengthening of the weak syllable resulting in a sort of empty time and caesura. (3) Dotted note movement prevails as comfortable for utter- ance or advisable for sense. (4) Pulses merge into thought-group measures, achieving rhythmical cadence. (5) Catalectic measures may take the full number of counts proper to the metrical pulse, as in hymn-tunes ; and (6) hyper-catalectic measures (that is, measures with addi- tional syllables, as the iamb extended so as to have feminine cadence, or measures which have two initial shorts in place of the normal one), compress the added syllables into the space metrically proper to the measure (see Ex. 37) ; or else they take an extra pulse, but in this case without altering the function of the measure — in effect simply expanding the pulse. (7) The quantity of long and short is equalised, the trochee and iamb having two or four counts, and the anapest, amphibrach, and dactyl three (see Ex. 37). This is particularly interesting in verse made of intermixture of two-syllable and three-syllable pulses. (8) All measures are adjusted to a regular musical movement of counts that are grouped in fours and eights (or, in triple-time in sixes and twelves) ; and, while the important syllables are placed on the strong counts, the intermediate syllables are allowed to fit themselves to the natural movement of musical figures. (9) Rests (i.e. empty times) and pauses, the former metrical, appear according to what is convenient for speech or understand- ing. (10) Syllables of weight and significance are allowed to appro- priate quantity from the sequel. MUSICAL VALUES AND RHYTHM 166 It is good study to take a song or hymn ; and after variously analysing the text to quantity, emphasis, and meaning, to think through the text in the rhythm and phraseology of the composer, retaining still a recollection of the plain metrical characteristics. Such study shows how and why a composer modifies poetic rhjrthm. It also shows at times where he has modified it unnecessarily, and, perhaps, made mistakes. I illustrate this recommendation by giving the outhne of Schubert's setting of the song from Two Gentlemen of Verona. The poem is trochaic, the hnes alternately four-pulse and three- pulse. The three-pulse lines take an initial anacrusis (page 140) and so have for first measure a diiamb {That all our swains) ; their second measure being an amphibrach {commend her) : — Who is Sylvia ? That all our swains Holy, fair. The heavens such grace That she might What is she com-mend her ? and wise is she. did lend her ad-mired be. @ J. J' Who is Salvia Wha J' is she -^J That J.J J"©J all our swains com- mend her - J. J Ho- ly fair and J. J wise is she The y J r J heaVns soch grace did lend her &^ J. n That a JJ ^ dored J.. She mig 3^ It be J^ ®\ J" ji J j"U- -n u^ I That a I dor- ed I She might I be (Ex. 57). It is a custom in setting the trochee of a catalectic measure {-mend her), to " spondaise " the syllables, so as to touch each of 166 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO the two pulses of the measure. The same principle obtains in setting iambic verses where the final foot is amphibrachic, thereby converting the amphibrach into a bacchius ; e.g. : — I II I II 6 1-2 3 4-5 6 1-2-3 4-^6 It's oh, to be a wild wind When my la- dy's in the sun 1-2 3 4-5 6 1-2 3 4^5- Schubert's setting of the Shakespeare song runs : — (a) Ditrochee in quadruple-time, the second pulse our falhng- iamb (Ex. 24). (6) Diiamb in quadruple-time, each note of equal length. (c) The amphibrach, treated as described, and so brought into the rhythm of the " bacchius " (short-long-long). The empty bar represents the catalectio portion of this line ; it is filled in the accompaniment by an echo of the voice-melody to the syllables -mend her, which is rather funny in the English version. (d) This empty bar, which again spaces out the catalectic, is an error, because it compels a pause where no pause is grammatic- ally possible. As the text stands in the cadency of the music, something of a full-stop is compelled at the end of the fourth line, and a consequent grammatical connection is created between the third and fourth lines, whereas the third hne closes a sentence and answers the second question of the stanza. (e) Ditrochee, the notes of equal length. Several pulses of this Schubert song show how music has notes that are decorative, but not rhythmical (page 127). The bass of the accompaniment has a ditrochee derived from the amphibrach shown in Ex. 21. I -^ ** r- -^ I (Ex. 58). \ / ^•J ■* I Such a figure as this is used in order to carry the music along, the decorative treatment of count 4 compeUing an immediate con- tinuance, and so giving the coimt the character of an anacrusis. The principle is active in the Chopin mazurka, the Beethoven scherzo, and all forms where the last count of a measure is stressed or made prominent by decoration. Sometimes, how- ever, such a figure is " integral " — that is to say, all its notes are phrased within the quantity of the measure ; it is then MUSICAL VALUES AND RHYTHM 1«7 the reverse of easy to create in mind and perform at the player-piano.* The player-pianist should be constantly on the alert for vul- garised rhythm, and still more constantly be careful himself not to vulgarise rhythm. The amphibrach (Ex. 21 and Ex. 26) is made commonplace in Verdi's opera Aida ; and there is not a pulse in the following hymn-tune but has some element of vulgarity in it (the metre is trochaic, with choriambic initial measures) — J J J J J r^ J J JJ Lord of our life. and Ood of our sal- vation J J ju Ji J. ;-n|jj| star of our I nigM- and I Hope of. every I nation I I J J JU JI J. ; -HN yi I Hear and relceive' Thy I Church's 5uppli - I cation I I J J J) J- \l I Lord Cod Al-|mi^-ly (Ex. 60 a). n It is more or less natural to utter iambs and anapests in strict quantity ; because their anacruses lift us into the place of accent, and justify a pause. But trochees and dactyls are self-generative. Their strong point is their first particle ; and it is not, therefore, natural to utter these two rhythms in strict quantity. It is expedient, and indeed necessary, in reading English verse, to make the trochee a two-count figure, and the dactyl a three-count ; from which arises a clue to the character of much musical phraseology. Iamb and anapest we also utter as two- and three-count figures respectively. The following hymn-tunes from Chapter VIII serve to remind the student of the effect of duple-time iambs and trochees : — * See Beethoven : Sonata in A major. Op. 2, No. 2 — the last movement. The middle section of this finale is an example of the rhythm of Ex^ 58 where the measure is thus integral. And see Grieg : Anitra's Dance, I j p^ Op. 46, No. 3, which has this figure in triple-time (Ex. 59). I * f- J y 168 THE AKT OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Trochee. Iamb. Art thou weary. All hail the power. Christ is risen. sacred head. Weary men that still. The tune Maidstone {Pleasant are Thy courts above) shows the trochee as a three-count pulse, and the tunes Martyrdom {As pants the hart) and Angelus {At even, ere the sun was set) show the iamb as the same. We frequently find it expedient to dwell expressively on the second syllable of the two-count trochee. When this dwelMng is fixed by quantity, the trochee becomes a three-count figure again, but disposed as the falling-iamb (Ex. 23 and Ex. 25). The opening line of the Passion Chorale shows how iambic catalectic measures adj ust themselves in quadruple-time. Set out in triple-time, and maintaining strict quantity, the line appears as Meoaurea J- J Sacred .n , . . . m J" J U' J i,/J| J' J! J- J Head. 5ur-lrounded ' By I crotm cf '. pierOno. Vf . J- thorn ' : ^'' (Ex. 60 b). Here the catalectic pulse-divisions are empty. Set out in quad- ruple-time, the amphibrach {surrounded) takes an entire measure, and the final iamb {-ing thorn) extends its long through three counts, forming an iamb of 1 plus 3 counts : — Measuns i n . m Ol Sacked ■ Head, sor-lnound^ed By I crown of i pierc-iiK} llfem : . (Ex 60 c.) This illustration of musical value brings forward a detail of expression of importance in the art of musical performance. The detail lies in the amphibrach of Ex. 60 c (" surrounded "). When a choir is performing a cadence of this character, the singers generally vulgarise it by stressing count 3 (the syllable -ed). This they do because they have to pronounce the syllable and then take breath ; the dual effort is more easily made if the pulse-division is treated as a stressed point. Instrumentahsts are less likely to make the same mistake ; but if we player- pianists touch the pedals on count 3 of the amphibrach, or do not control the power, we imitate the chorus. The process by which the nature of this count 3 is realised, is as follows : perceive the nature of count 3 as it exists in the triple-time version (Ex. 60 &), and convey the same " touch " to the count as it exists in the quadruple-time version (Ex. 60 c). LIU MUSICAL VALUES AND RHYTHM 169 m The choriamb (Ex. 31), passes to triple-time in the mamier shown in Ex. 39 and Ex. 60 a. By process of simple syncopation of accent, it can pass to triple-time and still remain true in quan- tity. This syncopated form of choriamb can be made out of Ex. 25 by setting to the four notes such a phrase as Lord of our life. The choriamb passes rather curiously into quadruple-time also, by aid of syncopation by accent. The figure that results is (Ex. 61). This is an important musical rhythm, and one that generally confuses our pedalling. It is constantly brought into EUzabethan music by our conventional barring in four-time. The problem is, of course, how to dehver two accentual beats and strokes in such close proximity as counts 4 and 1 ; also how not to disturb the sense of faUing-cadence over counts 1-2 and the sense of (syncopated) rising-cadence over counts 3-4. The effect can perhaps be imagined by practising a counting in 1-2, 3-1, 1-2, 3-1, 1. The antispastus (Ex. 33) which is as the verbal phrase a trim duncing' will in triple-time be as \yd\Ai\ (Ex. 62). ; this motive is the reverse of that shown in Ex. 25. The motive in Ex. 62 explains another difficult sjrncopation of quadruple-time : — J J \ J J (Ex. 63 a), the nature of which is to be clearly seen when the motive is associated with the phrase a trim dancing. The choriambic companion of this antispastus is » , ^, (Ex. 63, 6), — dancing so trim (see Ex. 82, page 177). In Beethoven, Schubert, Liszt, and Brahms, are versions of these figures with dotted-note movement, e.g., •'^•',N_// (Ex.64). All rhythmical motives of this character the player-pianist practises in slow time, and with great mental concentration. In full performance, he employs vigorous rubato and pronounced csesurse. His rubato brings the four-time motives into approximation with their triple-time originals. j ji j j ; j The minor-ionic (Ex. 30) produces in triple-time Ms© ^ ^\i' ^ t (Ex. 65). And the major-ionic produces in triple-time the rhythm of \ie^^i\ (Ex.66). These are ditrochees. 170 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Any of these rhythms of syncopation may be influenced by the power of emphatic contraction. The major-ionic, for example growing out of Ex. 66, will become as ^ Ai^i 5 J (Ex. 67). And, again, any count or counts, of any of these rhythms, may be left empty in a succession of measures, especially in the accom- paniments. The art of playing such variations of the normal 1-2-3' 4-5-6"' of triple-time, depends on (a) the accentuating of the long notes, and (6) the light, but firm, touching of the short ones. Studies exemphfying the rhythms appear in later chapters. In the mean- time, the student may discover for himself how the foregoing illustrations (Ex. 61 to Ex. 67) can be appMed to possible musical values of measures in passages previously quoted from Browning, Bridges, Milton, and Shakespeare. IV With the dactyl (Ex. 14) and the falling anapest (Ex. 20) brought into notes of equal quantity, two rhythms are produced of which the constituent parts are single-count notes. These two rhythms, being different in origin, are different in stress. The dactyl has its secondary accent on count 2, and r i * I its first note is the equivalent of a " long " : f,: T T (Ex. 68). The falhng-anapest has its secondary accent on count 3, and it is this count which is now equivalent of a " long " : T T.: f I (Ex. 69). The dactyl as Ex. 68 provides the simple waltz-accom- pani ment ; the f alling-anapest as Ex. 69 appears in Chopin mazurka and Beethoven scherzo. Ex. 68 is, in stress, the antibacchius. The count which, in these and other triple-time figures, is the equivalent of a " long " in quadruple-time, may frequently take a tenuio ; and this ruhato may be so pronounced as to bring the note back to approximately the two-count quantity of the quad- ruple form. This is one of the few scientific rules attending upon tempo ruhato. The rising-anapest, imder the conditions now being outhned. is as f r I r ■(^^' '^^)- (^® ^^- ^^ ^^^ ^^' ^^•) '^^^^ t J' MUSICAL VALUES AND RHYTHM 171 various triple-time anapests approximate by rubcUo to the am- phimacer (Ex. 19). ■ a > The amphibrach of Ex. 22 appears as ^\f^,f. (Ex. 71a); and the amphibrach of Ex. 21 appears as J J J (Ex. 71 6). / e s The anapest frequently comes as i^ W (Ex. 72). The dactyl sometimes comes as J Jl (Ex. 73), but only in steady or humorous music. ^'^ "^ The following is a typical Schubertian passage : — J? J /3iJ /3 ; J JiJ CIT. fjlJ^^/Ex 74^ Pulses I : a- 4' I 5- 3 There are other triple-time rhythms which derive from the various paeons. V The above generalisations may be made to apply to the rhyth- mical reading of all modern verse of strong cadential character. I suggest in the next chapter how to apply them to blank verse of Milton and Shakespeare ; the unrhymed iambic pentameter of these poets, affording best material for the musician's study of cadenced movement. At the same time I draw attention still further to some of the composite measures we have noticed in passing. Simple music has a sort of cadential assonance, and an order of phraseological paralleUsm, which make it akin to simple rhymed poetry of anapestic or dactylar movement. Well-developed music, with its varied pulses and measures, extended phrases, subtle accentuations and pauses, constantly altering cadences, and frequent enjambment of clause, is akin to blank verse and — though but rarely, and chiefly when of rhapsodical nature — to emotional and elaborate prose. Blank verse is unique for flexibiUty of pulse and measure. It depends on thought-cadence, mood, and dramatic situation or epic elevation. Abihty to read it weU is an indication of con- siderable rhythmical intelligence and of sensitiveness to the agreement of feehng and expression. " Our blank verse," said Addison, " where there is no rhyme to support the expression, is extremely difficult to such as are not masters of the (EngUsh) 172 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO tongue." Coleridge remarks that the " simple feet may sufl&ce for understanding the metres of Shakespeare, for the greater part at least "(these simple feet being the two- and three-syllable pulses, from pyrrhic to bacchius, antibacchius, and molossus) " but Milton cannot be made harmoniously inteUigible without the composite feet, the Ionics, Paeons, and Epitrites." In another place he says, " Milton attempted to make the English language obey the logic of passion, as perfectly as the Greek and Latin. • Hence the occasional harshness in the construction." Coleridge in these sentences gives principles that apply with power and exactness to music, and to our present work ; we have to learn to make music harmoniously inteUigible, and to perceive that it expresses a logic of passion ; the former by aid of know- ledge of rhythm, the latter by apperception of what brings rhythm into being. In other places, Coleridge, the first entirely wise student of Shakespeare, speaks of " the fineness of Shakespeare's sense of musical period " (this, by the by, of a passage in Timon of Athens which in Coleridge's time was printed as prose), and states that " Shakespeare never introduces a catalectic line without intend- ing an equivalent " (to the particle omitted) " in the pauses, or the dwelUng emphasis, or the diffused retardation." (See, for instance, Ex. 78, on page 176.) Music provides for these pauses, dwelhngs, and retardations, in the setting of poetry for singing ; and it is by the independent study of poetic rhythm on our present hues, and especially by study of vocal music, that we may learn the nature of those attributes of cadenced movement when the piece is not " appUed " music, but " absolute " or instrumental. I round off the quotations made above with a passage Cole- ridge wrote in 1796, when he was but twenty-four years old ; the passage is rather roughly expressed, being possibly from a private letter or marginal note, but it serves to remind us of our situation when in company with good music : " The reader of Milton must always be on his duty : he is surrounded with sense ; it rises in every line ; every word is to the purpose. There are no lazy intervals ; all has been considered, and demands and merits observation. If this be called obscurity, let it be remembered that it is such an obscurity as is a compUment to the reader ; not that vicious obscurity which proceeds from a muddled head." CHAPTER XXIV RHYTHM OF VERSE {d) — COMPOSITE PULSES AND MEASURES I QUOTE in full the chief passages from which I illustrate further the compound rhythms that help one to understand movement in music. The passage from The Comedy of Errors is interesting chiefly as an example of primitive blank verse, the feet being simple iambics, and the thought confined to the line. (1) From Hamlet, Act III, scene 1. ... I never gave you aught. My honour'd lord, you know right well you did : And, with them, words of so sweet breath compos'd As made the things more rich : their perfume lost. Take these again : for, to the noble mind, ^ Rich gifts wax poor, when givers prove unkind. (2) From Comedy of Errors, II, 3. Ay, ay, Antipholus, look strange and frown ; Some other mistress hath thy sweet aspects : I am not Adriana, nor thy wife. The time was, once, when thou unurg'd wouldst vow That never words were music to thine ear. That never object pleasing in thine eye. That never touch well welcome to thy hand. That never meat sweet- savour' d in thy taste, Unless I spake, or look'd, or touch'd, or carv'd to thee.* How comes it now, my husband, oh, how comes it. That thou art thus estranged from thyself ? (3) From Hamlet, I, 3. Ay, springes to catch woodcocks. I do know When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul Lends the tongue vows : these blazes, daughter, Giving more Hght than heat, extinct in both. Even in their promise, as it is a-making. You must not take for fire. * This line is given in some editions as, " Unless I spake, look'd, touch'd, or carv'd to thee." 173 174 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO (4) From Cormis — the opening speech. Before the starry threshold of Jove's Court My mansion is, where those immortal shapes Of bright aereal Spirits live, insphear'd In Regions mild of calm and serene Air, Above the smoke and stir of this dim spot, Which men call Earth, and with low-thoughted care Confin'd, and pestered in this pin-fold here, Strive to keep up a frail, and Feverish being Unmindful of the crown that Virtue gives After this mortal change, to her true Servants Amongst the enthron'd gods on Sainted seats. Yet some there be that by due steps aspire To lay their just hands on that Golden Key That opes the Palace of Etsrnity : To such my errand is, and but for such, I would not soil these pure Ambrosial weeds, With the rank vapours of this Sin-worn mould. It is my suggestion that we memorise these passages, mitil the words are " music to our ear," and have become the " Golden Key that opes " the Palace of Eternal Rhythm. I The pulse in blank verse is so elastic that it will admit as many as four syllables. The process of adjusting these to the primitive two particles of the pulse, is what most stimulates the rhythmical imagination and quickens the mind to see the beauty of sub- sidiary rhythms in music. My explanatory remarks in this chapter are mostly based on analysis to strict quantity, and on the principle of changing metres ; but always to the idea of the five pulses of the line. A simple iambic pentameter would be : — Unless I spake, or look'd, or touch'd, or carv'd . . . (1) The choriambic measure (Ex, 31) succeeds a pause or caesura. The following line (to my personal sense) has a choriamb for its first measure (a), and a choriamb with iambic sequel (page 147) for its second (b) : — (o) Take these' again" ; {h)for, to the noble mini , , . The pressure upon the first syllable of noble, due to the pulse taking three counts, results in a moment of gravest beauty of accent. RHYTHM OF VERSE 176 (2) With each syllable of the measure spondaised as to quan- tity, the diiamb becomes a " dispondee " (c) : — (c) Rich gifts' wax poor" (6) (when givers prove unkind). Here again the pressure on the point of the three-time pulse (jyrove) results in extreme beauty. (3) With three syllables of the diiamb (or choriamb, or anti- spastus) enlarged to the proportion of two counts, the rhythm becomes the " epitrite." There are four forms of the epitrite, as there are four forms of the paeon, numbered according to the position of the short. Epitritus primus. Amongst the en-thron'd gods on Sainted seats. Epitritus secundus. When the hlood hums, (b) how prodigal the soul Lends the tongue vows. . . . (See Ex. 78, page 176.) Epitritus tertius. Which men call Earth, and with low thoughted care Strive to keep up a frail and Feverish being . . . This epitrite passes by syncopation into triple-time as j4^,{.^|;^ (Ex.76). Epitritus quartus. How comes it now, my husband, how comes it (That . . .) When composers repeat a phrase immediately, they usually want a different treatment of the notes at the second appearance. And when Shakespeare repeats words in a sentence, it is generally for some emotional or intellectual reason that compels a fresh accentuation. By reading the second measure of this line in the epitrite, we distinguish between the first how and the second, each of which is metrically weak ; and we bring beauty of em- phasis on the second comes by reason of the pulse at that point being the place where the three-count division is resumed. (This particular pulse is a four-count pulse, because of its extra syllable {it) ; but that circumstance only enhances the effect of the extra weight brought into the pulse.) Expressed in triple-time, this passage throws light on a fre- quent musical nuance : J JJ rJ J caiTts // ' Jl J (Ex. 76). fAeu 176 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO (4) The amphibrach (Ex. 22), with its last syllable long, pro- duces the " bacchius " (See Ex. 56, at the kisses). Confin'd and pestered in this pinfold here, Unmindful of the crown . . . (5) Two syllables added after the long of the iamb, produce the "second paeon" which is an iamb plits pyrrhic (or a one- count anacrusis plus dactyl), or carved to thee. We naturally stress thee in this phrase, converting the line to one of six pulses. But the phrase carved to thee is pure dactyl (Ex. 14). It was an old custom to honour a guest by carving to him, as to-day we honour a man by drinking to him. The song makes us say " Drink to me' only' with thine eyes' ..." (see page 152, Study No. 5, and refer to page 142). A passage like this from Comedy of Errors has the musical value, in plainest triple-time setting, of J I J ^' J 1 J ^' (Ex. 77). ■ar I cervix ibfte I Such caesural phraseology occurs in instrumental music ; it is not easy to bring in the caesura after the second quaver of count 2. The effect of this cadency is rather intoxicating. I do not follow this detail of our subject further, partly for the reason that it is inexhaustible, and partly because it is better for each to trace for himself rhythmical attributes of poetry. n Empty times in music are the equivalent of pauses and pro- longations in poetry, and of catalectic measures and feet. They are often emotional, and always rhythmical, except when extra- metrical. There is an empty pulse in the third line of the extract from the speech of Polonius given on page 173. This line might appear in music thus : r-j^/ ^ | f ^f Hf T | f f | (Ex. 78). Such a psAsa^e as the following is frequent in chordal music in\ J njzjj/ J J-l J J'/N J f J y (Ex. (the words are from Macbeth, Act 111, scene 4). The lines from Pope quoted on page 163 might have the musical J T /: J , r W . J J r J J J 79). values of '^ r r r ^ur ae /Mm r r ^>f-/H- rr (Ex. 80). RHYTHM OF VERSE 177 An interesting companion to these iambics of Pope, is the following, which comes from George Herbert's Temple : — The late past frosts tributes of pleasure bring. This is an iambic line, of five pulses. Read in plain, normal iambs, however, it is not only false in the accentuation of a word (tributes), but ugly in tonal efEect. I leave it for the student to spread out in musical notation, but offer the help of an analysis : (a) Epitrite The late past frosts. (b) Dactyl tributes of. (c) Choriambus pleasure bring (with count 4 empty. See Ex. 83.) Intermixture of (a) anapests and (6) diiambs, as in 3 4 1—r 3 1-2' 3 1-2" (a) Ye hear how ... (6) the tales are told. Ye know why . . . the forms are fair when compressed to regular movement in quadruple-time, with- out empty tim-es, results in phrasing which Bach requires con- stantly, also Beethoven, Schubert, and sometimes Brahms, and of course all composers to one degree or another : JjlfJJ'J S (Ex.81.) ni The student who, having abiHty to read written music, ob- serves that the composer often binds in unbroken sequence the sounds of measures which are cadentially distinct and integral, preventing the expected csesurse, need not consider that a fresh rhjrthmical power is in operation. Such binding is the legato. It represents the poetic principle of enjambment, and intimates objective or emotional continuity. Chopin frequently enjambs his phrases. fyenA ^ /•Z J' i'5 ja jKfmef ■*■ S-6' inaiH / / /^ The tendency of the forte (counts 2, 4, and 6) is to push the count into iambic relation with the following strong count. Second Section. Ditrochaic. Seven clauses, each of four measures. Ritardandos of importance occur in the fourth clause. Every phrase is catalectic in its second measure ; but in the first, third, fifth, sixth, etc., phrases, the long (counts 7 and 8) is melodically inflected in the treble-melody (see pages 127 and 198). Phrases 1, 2, 3, and 4. The bass-melody is a dactyl in counts 1-4, and an anapest-falling in counts 5-8. (This is the rhythm of the first two measures of the melody in the trio of Chopin's Funeral March.) Phrases 5 and 6. The first measure has, in the bass, the amphi- brach of Ex. 21, thereby inducing a sUght prominence upon count 2. Third Section. Three clauses. 196 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Fourth Section. This rhythmically important passage is analysed in connection with the Schumann-piece, Etide vom Lied, set for study on page 224. At present it may be played to the following scheme of counting. Weak counts (even numbers) are tied to strong counts, as shown by hjrphens. Each weak count so tied is stressed. The mind should, for the moment, be directed to observation, first of how the passages overlap, and secondly of how the passages vary in length. (a) Measures I II III IV (7 pulses) 8-1 2-3^^6-7 8-9 10 11 12 i'" Rit (6) „ IV V VI I (7 pulses) 12-1 2-3 4r^ 6-7 8-9 10 11 12 7'" RU (c) „ I II III (5 pulses) 12-1 2-3 4r-5 6-7 8 1" {d) „ III IV V VI (8 pulses) „ 7^8-1 2-3 4-5 6-r8-l 2—3' 4-5 6 T" RU (a), (c), and [d) are played again after {d). In this recapitulation, the counting of {d) is continued to encompass count 8 within the phrase. Fifth Section. One clause. Sixth Section. Seven clauses. Seventh Section. (1) Three clauses, as originally in First Section. (2) Five phrases, in which the iambic tendency of the stressed counts 8, 2, 4, and 6, is yielded to ; and the music is allowed to be diiambic. Therefore the phrases here count 8 r 2 3^* 4 5' 6 7'" (3) the concluding /orno phrase: an iamb, counts 8 1-2, and an anapest, counts 3 4 5-6. The D minor " novellette " was composed in March, 1838. It is a characteristic Schumann work, and an exceptionally good piece for developing the plainer playeristic style. Marcato conform : 108 counts to the minute. TWO-PULSE MEASURE : QUADRUPLE-TIME 197 (10) Chopin : Mude in A minor {" chromatic "), Op. 10, No. 2, Ternary form (no breaks between the sections). Ditrochee measures. The opening phrase is the dimeter catalectic trochaic, count 8 being empty (I am speaking of the accompaniment). What I named the " bissected chordal accompaniment " is (when in duple- or quadruple-time) clearly trochaic. And, more- over, it is of that trochaic type which gives fullness of tone, and rhythmical prominence, to the weak particle of the pulse ; because while the bass has but a single note on count 1, the accompaniment has on count 2 a full chord (see page 79). The accompaniment has in various places : (a) the amphi- brachic measure (Ex. 21), sometimes with count 3 or count 7 empty, which means that the note on count 4 or 8 must be care- fully touched ; (6) the stressed weak particle which forces the cadence forwards, and so compels a hght touch upon the following strong count. Three of the phrases must be counted to twelve : — (1) the middle section of the piece ends with the clause where the bass has a long sustained note : the phrase preceding this clause must be counted 1-12, so as to bring the long bass-note upon count 1. (2) the piece ends with another clause which has a long bass- note : the phrase before this takes twelve counts. (3) the final clause is of twelve counts, the final note taking counts 9-12. (11) Bach : Well-tempered Clavier, Book I, Prelude No. 2 (C minor). Binary form. Ditrochees, with each count divided into four notes of equal length. The pedalling must be strictly metrical, so as to catch the first note of each four-note group. (Speed : about 150 counts to the minute.) (a) First Section. Thirteen phrases ; the first twelve to the counting oi 1 2' 3 4" 5 6' 7 8" ; the last to the counting of twelve. The thirteenth measure is a single-voice cadenza. (b) Second Section. (1) The speed suddenly quickens for three phrases of the 1-8 counting. The first phrase begins where the bass strikes a note that is held for four counts. 198 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO (2) A slow phrase of eight counts, with pauses on count 1 and count 5. (3) Three measures, the last two of molossus quantity. 12' 12 3' 12 3 1 2' 3 4" 1 2' 3 4' 5 6" 1 2* 3 4' 5 6" allegro rail lento rit The C minor prelude is of passionate mood ; the alterations in speed and style of the second section are due to this quahty of the music. The fugue following is in exquisite contrast — animated, and fanciful, yet (for the musician who sees through the notes to the soul beyond) tenderly thoughtful. Companion studies of this C minor prelude may be (a) the prelude in D major ; (6) the prelude in E minor ; (c) the prelude in B major ; and {d) the prelude in C major (these are all from the same Bach book, and are in some respects easier than the piece in C minor) ; also (e) the Chopin Mude, Op. 10, No. 1. (12) Beethoven : Sonata in G, Op. 14, No. 2 — the second move- ment. Andante with variatioris. (Pulse =66 ; i.e. counts = 132 to the minute.) Theme. Ternary form, the first section (a) without repeat. (a) (First Section of the theme). One sentence, of four phrases. The phrase takes eight counts. Each phrase is cata- lectic in its second measure. The fourth phrase is catalectic in both measures. This phrase is nuanced thus : — 12 3-4' 5 6 7 r". ores forte piano (6) (Second Section of the theme). An interludial clause of two phrases, each catalectic in the second measure ; but the last pulse (counts 7-8) of the second phrase is " inflected " (see page 195). A clear caesura is required before the music proceeds to the next section. (Third Section). One sentence ; a developed recapitulation of the first, and with accentuations that are characteristic of Beethoven and of the trochee. I^ClauseJl Measures I TL III IV Counts 1 2' 5" 4 5' 6 7 8" 1 2' 3-i" 5 6 7r' piano (a) (6) forte (c) piano Clause 2 Measures I II Counts 1 2' 3 4" 5 6' > > > TWO-PULSE MEASURE : QUADRUPLE-TIME 199 (a) The catalectic ditrochee, as falling-anapest of three counts (Ex. 69). (6) Diiambic cadency for counts 4 5' and 6 T : but the pulse appropriates count 8, which restores the trochaic cadency. Counts 6' 7 5" constitute the amphibrach of three counts (Ex. 22, and Ex. 71 (a) ). The sudden sforzato on count 8 is the characteristic humour of the Beethoven trochee (Ex. 61, etc.). (c) The trochee stress comes again on the weak particle, count 2. A tenuio is possible on count 5, and a rough ruhato in the whole of measure II. Ill IV 7-8" 1 2' 3 4" 5 6' 7 r" > 'piano Variation No. 1. The theme is in the middle part of the music. The upper part moves, for the most part, a half-count late ; this is the syncopation of the half-count. Variation No. 2. The same principle of half-count syncopa- tion prevails. But now the melody is in the treble, and it is the melody which is a half-count late. The bass gives single notes on the counts, the melody gives chords after the counts. It is hard not to lose the time here, and so to shift the pulses ahead to the chords.* An interlude of two phrases (counts 2-5, 1-8) separates the second variation from the third. * This type of movement is likely to occur at any moment. It is invariably a cause of mental trouble when continued for any length of time, especially in quick or vigorous music. The Chopin £tude in A minor, Op. 25, No. 4, is cast thus throughout, single notes on the counts, and chords on the half- counts, with a treble melody attendant upon the time of the chords. The piece is well-named agitato. Its rate of movement is 160 counts to the minute. The best plan for training the mind to encompass this very serious problem is as follows : reduce the speed to extreme slowness, and imagine each count as containing a trochee of the " bissected chordal accompaniment " type. Speed must be increased gradually, and the mental grasp of the trochaic character of the count must be imwaveringly maintained. Relax this for an instant, and at once your instrument slips the metrical accents to the chords. Two further studies may be : Albeniz, Cadiz-Gaditana ; and Brahms, Inter- mezzo, Op. 76, No. 3. See also Sibelius : Nocturno, Op. 24, No. 8 ; the WarumJ of Schumann; and the Courante from Partita No, 6 of Bach, 200 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Variation 3. The bass gives notes on the counts. The upper part gives a graceful decoration of the melody, in which the actual melody notes come on the half-count. Coda. A reminiscence of the theme, at first exactly as the original : (1) a phrase of eight counts, measures I, II ; (2) a phrase of six coimts, measures III, IV ; (3) a phrase of ten counts, measures IV, V, VI. Phrase 2 Measures III IV Pulses 5 6 7 Counts 1 2' 3 r 5 r" pianissimo Phrases Measures V VI Pulses (a)8 1 2' 3- ---4" CourUs 7 r 1 r 3 r 5 r r f pianissimo fortissimo (a) pulses 812 form a double-sized amphibrach (Ex. 71 (a) ), in pianissimo tone. The entire phrase 3 is a large diiamb, with Beethoven humour is the exipected fortissimo of the final particle. This diiamb is phrased internally as is the " I wander'd lone-" measure analysed in the beginning of Chapter XX.* 13 (a). Greig : In the Hall of the Mountain Kings, Op. 46, No. 4. The clause contains two phrases, each of eight counts. The second phrase is catalectic. * The passage contained within measures III-V, is a large manifestation of a rhythm which we shall see later enters into the molossus-mcasure of the polonaise, and also into the subsidiary pulse rhythm of the scherzo. If wo play in quick time the music of these three measures, and count thus Measures III IV V Pulses 12 3' 4 8 6" we produce the rhythm of ^m^^ \ / i '■ f- i \i 6-\ (^*' ^) (counts 1 and Ives). And if i iilse-divisions, • 2 being, of course, broken into halves). And if we play still faster, and conceive these counts as, not pulses, but pulse-divisions, we produce the rhythm of Ath»^.i/ji*iO (Ex. 86). The smallest subsidiary rhythm, and the largest phrase rhythm are alike in nature. I name the composite rhythm of Ex. 84 "anapest — amphibrach (Ex. 69 and Ex. 71 (a) )." This rhythm is sometimes so small that it passes in a half-second of time, and sometimes so large that, as in the above BeetboYen, it occupies a considerable portion of a minute (see page 221.) TWO-PULSE MEASURE : QUADRUPLE-TIME 201 The opening phrase of the piece begins with four notes in its first puke, and has falling-anapests (Ex. 20) in its remaining three pulses. Thus the opening phrase, in quarter-pulse count- ing, is as : — Measures I n Pulses 12 3 4 Divisional counting 1 2' 3 r 5 & 7 8" l-jmlse counting 1 2 3 4' 5 6 7-8" 1 2 3-4' 5 6 7-8'' As the music develops, special figures of decoration and re- inforcement enter upon the weak parts of the pulses (i.e. on divisional counts 2, 4, 6, and 8). This reinforcement gradually becomes tremendous sforzatos on those counts, representing the characteristic trochaic accentuation in extremest form. Towards the end are empty times on counts 3 and 4, also on counts 7 and 8. The shrieks in which the stressed weak counts culminate, are depictive of the sounds made by Peer Gynt as he becomes more sore on the one hand {hand, of course, is used here as a figure of speech only) from the repeated kickings of the gnomes, and as they on the other hand perfect the power and direction of their kicks. The piece is an alia marda e molto marcato. There are to be 138 counts to the minute, when the piece is played on full time. 13 (6) Bach : Prelude in B major from Well-tempered Clavier^ Book I. n The Ditrochee (Ex. 10) in quadruple-time (from the Spondee-rising, Ex. 8) The ditrochee catalectic forms the anapest-rising of Ex. 13, when its third particle extends through the two counts of the pulse. Oh Ga - luppi, Baldas - saro. This is very sad to find ! I can hardly miscon - ceive you ; It would prove me deaf and blind. Here you come with your old music, And here's all the good it brings. What, they lived once thus at Venice Where the merchants were the kings ? 202 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO (14) The hymn-tune Austria, from Haydn's " Kaiser " string quartet. Phrase 1 / v t tt (a) I n Praise the Lord, ye heavens ad-ore Him Pulses 4 1 2 3(c) Counts 7 8 r{b) 2 3' 4 5 6" (a) the trochee of 1| and |, that is, the dotted note for the strong particle. (h) count 2 acquired as anacrusis by the next measure, convert- ing the second pulse into an iamb (counts 2 and 3). This cadencing {7 8 1" 2 3' 4 5-6") is frequent in gavotte music : see Ex. 81. (c) the clean vigour of the rhythm often converts the second member of the ditrochee into a subsidiary faUing-anapest (Ex. 20) : see the sentence-close of Ase. Phrase 2 Praise Him, angels in the height 7 8' 1 2" 3 4 5—6" {d) counts 4, 8, and 2, whether attached in rising anacrusis or not to the next count, are frequently inflected, as here. Count 6 even is at times broken into half -count notes. Counts 5-6 are then Ught and graceful, while the following count 7 is clearly attached. This inflection of counts 5-6 produces the sub- sidiary dactyl. Phrase 6 Worlds His mighty voice o-beyed 7 8' 1 2 3" 4 5-6 ie) (e) the measure may acquire the following strong count. Thus counts 8 T 2 3" become a diiamb ; there is generally a cres up to count 3 under such conditions. With count 3 appropriated by the preceding measure, the next measure becomes either an iamb, or the amphibrach of Ex. 71 (a). A more frequent extension is for counts 1-4 to be phrased to- gether into ditrochee-falUng, etc. Counts 7 and 8 will then be a distinct unit, also coimts 5 and 6. The phrase becomes 4' 1 2' 3" 7 8' 12 3 4" 5 6" TWO-PULSE MEASURE : QUADRUPLE-TIME 203 which is, in the larger regard, as the amphibrach of Ex. 22. This is a csBsural item of importance in gavotte-like music of Bach Beethoven, and Schubert, because it does much to remove the simple, obvious cadency of the rising-ditrochee. See phrase 2 of Pange Lingua, and the hymns mentioned on page 162. (15) Pange Lingua^ an old mediaeval tune, given in Hymns Ancient and Modern, and sung in the Communion Service. The" first phrase of the text is in dimeter acatalectic trochaic : Pulses 4 1 2 3 Now, my tongue, the mystery telling Counts 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 But in the metricised version which we sing nowadays, the third pulse is doubled in extent, taking four counts : — Pulses 4 1 2 3 . . . Now, my tongue, the mystery tell-ing Counts {7 8) 1 2 3 4 5-6 7-8 The quantity of the syllable tell- is further modified, being divided into three notes. Counting these metrically, and altering thereby the relative length of the half-pulses (as we did in some of our early quantitative reading), this phrase counts : — Pulses 8 1 2 3 Now, my tongue, the mystery tell- ing {7 8) 1 2 3 4 5-6-7 8-9 Phrase 2 Pulses 4- 5 6-7 Of the glorious Bo-dy sing 10-11 12 1 2 3-4 5 6-7 In metrical counting, we cannot conveniently regard a doubled haK pulse {telling) as other than two actual pulses. Therefore we arrive at the principle of " five-time " (quintuple-metre), also at the principle of that phrase (so frequent in Schubert) which is made of a two-pulse measure followed by a three-pulse measuref 204 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO In expressive, or strongly emotionalised, music of ditrochaic cadency, we may have ruhalos on counts which, as here in Pange Lingua, have a special character ; and that character may be intimated in harmony, melody, or accent-sign. Wherever in modem music the normal binary division of pulse or half-pulse is departed from, ternary division taking its place for a moment, we may have the same sort of ruhatos, if only in obedience to the general law that departure from normal must be made clear, and prominent. (16) MeinhoU (page 52). 8 12 3 Weary men who still await Death as refuge from thy weep-ing 4 5 6 7 8 Shrinking from the blows of Fate . . . 9 12 3 The enlargement shown in mystWy telling (plain-song melody) and mfrom thy weeping, is the minor-ionic of Ex. 30 incorporated by pulse-expansion into quadruple-time. Since the verbal phrase is at base a ditrochee, the present minor-ionic is as a trochee of two counts and a trochee of four. This leads us to an important point of " touch," or accent, and realisation of the present matter will have a good deal to do in developing refined and intelligent style of performance. Being a trochee of the smooth type (that is, not of the type which may heavily stress its short, as Ex. 61, etc.), and being but the equivalent of one pulse, the four-count trochee has not on its second particle the metrical stress of the second pulse of a spondee measure (Ex. 8). This statement conveys the point regarding " touch " I want to impress on the student. Its principle affects those measures and phrases that are made of 2 and 3 in alternation, where very often the last member of the 3 has that gentle trochaic aflfinity to the middle member which -ing has to weejh or tell-. (See the remark on page 168 concerning how choirs sing words like surrounded, when these words are amphibrachic as in Passion Chorale, and note that choirs often have the same vulgarity of rhythm on their singing of such words as this weeping and telling). TWO-PULSE MEASURE : QUADRUPLE-TIME 205 In order to remove possible misconception, I mention here that when the minor-ionic appears by 83mcopation in triple-time, as in Ex. 65, it is generally robust, and specially stressed on the final particle. Yet often it is otherwise ; the words " of his father's . . . grace " in Ex. 83, intimate how delicate and rich may be the surroundings of this syncopated rhythm. Famihar hymns in the rising-ditrochee are : — Irby (Dr. Gauntlett) " Once in royal David's city " Innocents (anon) " Conquering kings their titles take " Love Divine (Dr. Stainer) " Love divine, all loves excelling " St. Helen (Dr. Martin) " Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendour " There is often no special reason why a hymn should be cadenced for rising-measure, the falUng-measure perhaps being just as appropriate. Sometimes alternative tunes wiU be in one case in rising-ditrochee, and in the other case in faUing. The hymn, " Hark, the sound of heavenly voices," for example, has three tunes in Hymns Ancient and Modern. Of these, two (Henry Smart's Gloria and James Langran's Deerhurst — the latter the product of a one-success composer) are in falling-measure, while the third (Dykes's Sanctuary) is in rising. The rising is the only satisfactory cadence for this hymn, because of the alleluias of the first verse. Now though there is usually no special reason why a hymn or a poem should be set in either cadence, there is a vital difference in instrumental music between one cadence and other. To play the gavotte, for instance, in faUing-measure, is to convert the music into a stiff, and perhaps crude, alia marcia, and so to rob the music of its stately alertness or buoyant energy. (17) Bach : Gavotte in G major, from Fifth French Suite. Ternary form, each section a sentence of two clauses (four phrases). Clause 1, phrase 1 Measures 1 II Pulses 4 (a)l' 2 3" Counts 7 8' 1 r 3 4' 5-6'" 306 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO (a) The subsidiary dactyl in counts 1 and 2. Thus the fifth note in the treble is not aflBned to the sixth. Clause 1, phrase 2 Measures III IV Pulses 4' 1 2' 3" Counts 7 8' 12 3 4' 5 6'" (6) The phrase as a whole is the amphibrach of Ex. 22. Thus pulses 1 and 2 are connected. The phrase has not two ditrochees, as phrase 1 ; but a trochee (counts 7 and 8), a di trochee (counts 1-4), and a trochee (counts 5 and 6). Clause 2 4 12 3 4 1 2 3 7 8' 12" 3 4' 5,6" 7 8 1,2" 3 4 5-6 (c) (c) In the treble, the phrase extends to count 6, but in the bass count 6 is anacrusic in relation with the next puke. It is not easy to produce two simultaneous phrasings upon the player. The effect is aided by controlling the treble register on count 6, and by accentually pedalling the bass note on the same count. The process is too deUcate for calculation, but possible when the idea is formed in mind. (18) Mendelssohn : Adagio in D (Lieder ohne Worte, No. 44 ; sometimes called Retrospection). A study in the amphibrachic cadency of Study 17, at (6). The piece has seven clauses, and a short phrase for coda. Clause 1 4 12 3' 4 r 2 3" 7 8' 1 2 3 4' 5 6" 7 8* 1 2" 3 4' 5-6 (19) Bach : Gavotte and Musette in D minor, from Siaih English Suite. A further study in the same. (20) Bach : Gavotte and Musette in G minor, from Third English Suite. A study in the subsidiary dactyl of Study 17, at (a). The bass of the Musette represents the drone of the old sweet-toned corna musa, or bagpipe. I^WO-PULSE MEASURE : QUADRUPLE-TIME 201 (21) Purcell : Cebell in C major, from a Suite for Harpsichord. As the phrases are of irregular length, I recommend counting in measures only, that is, in groups oi 3 4 1 2 continuously. The chief detail of phrasing is the anacrusic count 2. This appears first in the ninth measure, which therefore counts 2 3' 4 r\ and is diiambic. In several cases count 2 is at once a suffix to one measure and a prefix to the next measure, as in Study 17 (c). There are several instances where two adjacent measures phrase into the large amphibrach. The final measure enlarges its second trochee to four counts ; the piece thus ends with a phrase counting 3 4 1-2 3-4. The Cebell was an old EngUsh dance of Gavotte character. The foregoing pieces, though of value in themselves, may be looked on as prehminary studies for the following sonata move- ment from Beethoven, which is exceptionally important in several respects. It has quick contrasts of tone and remarkable alertness of mood, and is refined and powerful. The music intimates the change that was to come when Beethoven had developed his genius. It was pubHshed March 9th, 1796, when the composer was twenty-six. Haydn, to whom Beethoven dedicated his Op. 2, was then sixty-four. Mozart had died four years previously, at the age of thirty-six. Schubert was born ten months after the date of pubHcation — he died the year following the death of Beethoven. In analysing this sonata movement, I depart from the rough- and-ready plan which has to serve during this chapter, and analyse according to the rhythmical principles described in the next chapter. Therefore the various countings (by measure, pulse, and half-pulse) in this one analysis indicate by the position of counts one and five the rhythmical character of the portion of music they appertain to. The indication by five is less cadentially climactic than the indication by one. The music is easy to memorise ; and as the form is not complex, it is easy to build the music in silence around the abstraction of the analysis. (22) Beethoven : Sonata in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1 ; the last movement. In three sections, the first section being repeated, but with a different final clause to the repeat. 208 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO First Section. In four parts. Rising-ditrochee measures. The normal clause has four measures. (1) Five clauses — Nos. 1, 4, and 5 in response and sequence with each other : Nos. 2 and 3 forming a couplet (that is to say, the five clauses are as a stanza of poetry of five lines, where lines 1, 4, and 5 rhyme, and lines 2 and 3 rhyme). Clause 1 (give counts 1-2 to the opening of the accompaniment). Measures II III' IV I" Pulses 2 3' 4 5" 6 7' 8 1" ^pulse Counts 3 4' 5-6" 7 8' 1-^ 3 4' 5-6" 7 8 1-2" piano forte piano forte The measure is the rising-ditrochee ; catalectic as regards the chords, and therefore the rising-anapest. The clause as an entity is the Rising-Diiamb, the pulses lying as 2 3' 4 5". Clause 2 is as Clause 3, except for the final measure. Clause 3 II III IV I 2 3' 4 5" 6 7' 8 1" piano 3 ^ 5 6" 7 8' 1 2" 3 4' 5" (a) 6-7 8' 1-2" fz (a) count 6 acquired by next measure, and tied to count 7, as in Ex. 52. It is a custom of Beethoven's to specially accentuate the prefixal parts of the last measure of a clause, when that measure is, as here, the rhythmical cUmax of the clause. Clause 4 is as Clause 1. Clause 5 II HI (c) IV V fortissimo 2 3' 4 5 6" 7 8 ^9 10" 3 4' 5-6" 7 8* 9-10 11-12" 1 2' 3 4' 5 6' 7 8" (6) (c) id) (6) the minor-ionic, as discussed on page 204, here with enormous vigour. (c) measure IV is the chmactic point of these five clauses (d) the extension which effects the minor-ionic compels the next measures to have the falUng-ditrochee cadence ; and so measures IV and V are phrased as indicated. But these measures contain only a downward running scale, and are to be articulated in respect of the pulse-points. TWO-PULSE MEASURE : QUADRUPLE-TIME 209 (2) Three clauses, aW fortissimo and very animating. Measures : in the falling-ditrochee. The first and second clauses are as the third up to the point of the last count 8. Clauses I 11' III IV I" I 2' 3 4" 5 6' 7 8 1" r2 3 r 5 6' 7 S" 1 2' 3 4" 5 & 7 8' 1 2" • (3) Four clauses, all piano. The same cadency of measure and of clause as in part (1). But the cadency of the phrase is the large amphibrachic described on page 202. Thus the phrases here are as Ex. 22, but the pulses counting 2 3-4 1. Clause 1 II III' IV I" 3 4' 5 6 7 8' 1-2" 3 4' 5 6 7 8" 1-2 (4) The " Codetta " (i.e. coda to a section). fortissimo sempre (e) piano II lir IV i" ii III I Pulses 2 3' 4 5" 6 7' 8 1" 2 3 4' 5 6 1" Counts 3 4' 5-6 7 8 1-2'' 3 4 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 The Repeat of the First Section foUows at once, and the piano pulse 1 is that with which the piece begins. Here that pulse is the end of the sentence ; the sudden tonal nuance is Beet- hovenian. Observe the Codetta is a seven-measure sentence. Its struc- ture is that of an eight-measure, with measure II of the second clause elided : thus measure (e) is as the measure III of a four- measure clause ; it carries the " secondary stress " of three- time, and we have hereby a light thrown upon that vital quality of triple-metre. The clause of pulses 2 3 4' 5 6 1" is the compound motive of amphibrach-anapest (see Ex. 84) : — ? .H.J J I J J'ij J r (Ex.86). The Repeat of First Section is exact, but the Codetta is as : — fortissimo sempre fff II III' IV i" li III' i II" 2 3' 4 5" 6 7' 8 1" 2 3 4 5-(6)' 1 2 3-(4)" Observe the powerful rhythm of this eight-measure sentence, and resolve the process which converts the last two measures into a falling-phrase. 210. THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO There is humour in the empty pulse 6 — the humour of unex- pectedness. And there is dramatic humour in the extreme fortissimo of the last anapest, in view of the graceful lyrism of the Second Section. When we say that Bach is epic, and Beethoven dramatic, we have in mind such contrasts and sequels as this. Middle Section. Six sentences. The normal cjause takes measures III-IV I-II", and is therefore a manifestation in the dause-dimension of the rising-ditrochee which, in part 1 of first section, is operative in the measure-dimension. The abstract I give of the Middle Section is restricted to pulses : the music will sing in your recollection as you formulate the pulses rhythmically. Sempre piano e dolce. Sentence (1) Clause 1 III IV V VI I II (/)5-6 7 8" 9 10' 11 12" 1 2' 3 4" (/) a four-pulse dactyl in the melody. Clause 2 III IV I II 5 6' ig) 7 8" {h) 1 2 3-4" (g) a two-pulse dactyl, the long decorated, (h) a four-pulse anapest. Sentence (2), as (1). Sentence (3) Clausal III IV' I 11" (repeat for Clause 2) 5 6' 7 8" 1 2' 3-4 trill Sentence (4) as (1) ; but observe Clause 1 : — III IV' I 11" 5-6 7 8" 1 2' 3 4" sf sf Measures V-VI of the original are ehded. Beethoven has accents on pulses 1 and 3 here ; we may have a ruhato in the large melodic dactyl of pulses 5-8, and a touch of rapturous feeling in the entire clause. Jt should be clear to your mind why such a touch of feehng would be out of place in the first sentence. Sentence (5) as (3). Sentence (6) as (4), but ceasing directly upon pulse 1 of the second clause. TWO-PULSE MEASURE : QUADRUPLE-TIME 211 Return to third section. In two parts. 1 now indicate the haK-pulses again. (1) Four clauses. pianissimo Clauses 1, 2, and 3 II IIF IV I" 3 4' 5-6'' 7 5" 1-2-3 4' 5-6-7 5" 1-2 {h) note carefully this three-count trochee, with its stressed long. fortissitno Clause 4 II III IV V VI I (i) (h) 5-6-7 5" 1-2-3 4" 5-6-7 5" 1 2-3 4' 5 6' 7 8' 1 2 P (i) observe the sudden piano on count 2. (2) Three clauses, with sforzatos in bass (indicated hyfz below the counts) and stresses in treble. Clause 1 counts the same as Clause 1 in Part (1). Clause 2 II III 3 4 5-6" 7 8 1-2" 3 4'" Clause 3 1 II III IV I 1 2' 3 4" 5 & 7 5" 1 2' 3 4" 5 & 7 8" 1-2 piano diminuendo pp forte Third Section. Recapitulation of First Section. Entirely as the original, except for : — Part (1) Clause 3 II III' IV V VI I" Pulses 2 3' 4 5" 6 7' 8 l"(i) 2' 3 4' 1" Counts 3 4' 5 6" 7 8' 1 2" 3 4' 5 (5" 7 8' 1 2" 3 4' 5-6 7-8' 1-2" fP (j) the amphibrach of the measure, taking pulses 2 3-4 1. Part (4). Codetta. II III' IV i" II III i 2 3' 4 5" 6 r 8 1" 2 1' 2 3 4 1" forte ff (k) (k) There is but a single note with the end pulse, and this is the finish of a downward arpeggio; by aid of rhythm, you catch the note with a fi.tting pedal-stroke. Prestissimo. 108 pulses to the minute. 212 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO m The Diiamb (Ex. 11) in quadruple-time : (from the Spondee-faUing (Ex. 7) ). (23) Erk. Phrase 1 Sing praise to Grod, who reigns above Measures I II Pulses 12 3 4 CourUs 8 r 2 3" 4 6' 6 T The phrase is the " dimeter acatalectic (di-) iambic," i.e. it consists of two measures, each a complete diiambus. Phrase 2 The God of all cre-a — tion Counts 8 r 2 r 4 5-6 7" Pulses 5 6 7 8 The phrase is catalectic, wanting the final long. The quantity is occupied by converting the incomplete diiamb {creation) into an amphibrach of four counts (Ex. 22). This brings the last syllable, which is metrically weak in the diiambic cadency, upon a strong point of the metre. See page 168 for a remark as to how such incidents of rhythm are to be phrased in instrumental performance. In Passion Chorale (Ex. 60 (c)), the long of the amphibrach is a single two-count note in respect of melody ; but there are two chords in the harmony and lower parts. In Erk, the long of the amphibrach is inflected, that is, it has two notes. In such cases, the movement around the long is not rhythmical, but inflexional (see page 127). The inflexion is a trochaising of the puke. This estabUshes a vital principle of diiambic music : What appears by character of notes to be a diiamb, and therefore as a cadencing of the order oi 4 V 2 3" may actually be amphi- brachic, demanding a cadencing of 4* 1 2' 5". Compare study 17 above, at (6). (24) Alford. I II Phrase 1 Ten thousand times ten thousand 8 12 3" 4 5 6-r The catalectic measure brings its third syllabic upon count 2 of the pulse, and retains the sound over the metrical place of the TWO-PULSE MEASURE : QUADRUPLE-TIME 213 absent fourth syllable, thereby producing the amphibrach of Ex. 26. Ill ly Phrase 2 In sparkling raiment bright . . . 8 1 2' 3 4' 6-6-r Thought should be given to the trochaic caesuree of the words. Such trochaisings may be accompanied in iambic music by the trochaic stress of the weak particles (as these have been studied in the Beethoven Op. 14, No. 2, and the Grrieg Op. 46, No. 4. You may get the aesthetic efEect of trochaic stresses by well- sounding each z-sound in the following iambic hne : — I II The daisies, lilies, pansies, droop 8 1 2' 3 4" 5 & r (25) Ein' feste Burg. I II Phrase 1 Re- joice to- day with one ac-cord Counts 8 r 2 3" 4 5' 6 T i-pulses (a) 7 8 l-2'\h) 3-4 5 &' (6) 7-8 1 2" 3-45-6'' The subdivisional counting indicates the subsidiary rhythms : (a) anapest (Ex. 13) in the bass ; (6) dactyl in the melody (Ex. 14), with its long on the weak part of the metre (see Ex. 80, at grave action, and compare the " rising-trochee " of Ex. 42), The diiambic measure may carry strong and impassioned music, or music that is light and active, as the Sailor's Hornpipe. In their lighter music, classical and romantic composers (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Schumann) convert counts 4 T into a subsidiary anapest, and touch counts 2 and 3 with short whole-count notes. This is exempHfied in the hornpipe, where — naming the pulse-rhythms from the position of the sub- divisional counting — the opening measure is a compound-rhythm of anapest-spondee. This subsidiary anapest, which is the ditrochee catalectic, may be the complete ditrochee ; and the subsidiary spondee of counts 2 and 3 may be itself anapestic or ditrochaic. Such modification brings us back to gavotte rhythm, giving in the diiambic measure (counts 4 r 2 5") what we have had in the ditrochaic phrase (pulses 4 1' 2 3"). See page 208, section (1). 214 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO It is not necessary to study the diiambic measure by means of pieces so elementary as the Chopin C minor Prelude or the Death of Ase. (26) Beethoven : Sonata in A flat, Op. 26 ; the third move- ment, " marcia funebre, sulla morte d'un 'Eroe." March. Ternary form, the second section no more than a single phrase, but of extreme emotional value. Many counts are trochaised in the dotted-note proportion. First Section. Four clauses, each of two phrases. Every clause is as : — Clause 1 Measures {a) I II' (6) III IV" Counts 8 r 2 5" 4 5-6-7"' 8 V 2 3" 4 5' 6 T (c) (a) the first phrase is catalectic, counts 4 5-6-7 forming at (c) the iamb of four counts ; in the bass, however, the movement continues, the approach to count 7 having grave dignity and power. (6) the second phrase is acatalectic. The second sentence is the same as the first, in another key ; the change of key expresses emotional force. Second Section. One clause. I IF III IV" I {d) 8 1-2' 3 r (e) 5 6-7 5'" (/) 1 2' 3 4" (e) 5 6-7 8' 1 . . , «/ /z (9) fP pianissimo fortissimo {d) the second pseon (iamb of three counts, and pyrrhic : see Ex. 35 for the basic original). (e) the amphibrach, Ex. 21, heavily stressed on the long. (/) the ditrochee, but passionately articulated in each count into the subsidiary dotted-note trochee. (g) observe how the second section is Unked to the third, the last two counts shown in the abstract being common to the two sections.* Count 8 of measure II is not in the fortissimo. * Fortf.piano (/p) moans that the note is to bo loud, and what follows the note is to bo soft. It is different from afonato {sfz), because it implies no " forcing " of the tone. TWO-PULSE MEASURE : QUADRUPLE-TIME 215 Third Section. Three clauses ; the last having only two measures, and being a continuation of the second. Clause 1 is as the opening clause of the March. Clause 2 I II III IV 8 r 2 5" 4 5-6-7 8" 1-2-3 4" 5-6-7 'piano cres (h) (i) forte (h) let count 8 be phrased within the measure, creating caesura between count 8 and the following count 1. This creates in (t) a massive trochee of four counts {1-2-3 and 4) — i.e. so far as the chords of the music are concerned. fortissimo Clause 3 1 II 8 1^ 3'' 4 5' 6 7-8'" ij) (k) (j) the amphibrach of Ex. 22, with count 2 empty. The final particle of the amphibrach (count 3), is to be touched firmly and distinctly, not gently, as in the " surrounded " of Passion Chorale, page 168. {k) note that count 8 is incorporated in the measure, and that the iamb of counts 6 7-8 is loud and massive. In the correspond- ing portion of the recapitulated March, the fortissimo ends on count 5, with the counts 6 and 7 receiving but a subdued iteration of the prevaiUng dotted note rhythm. Trio. The ditrochaic cadency of the measure. Four clauses, all as : — Clause 1 I (l) II III IV 1 2 3' r 5 6 7' 5" 1 2' 3 4'' 5 6 7-8'" p cres f ff p cres § fz fz if) count 4 has, in most powerful circumstance and condition, the strong trochaic stress of the weak particle (Ex. 61, etc.) The loud counts have a short anacrusis. The above is scarcely more than metrical analysis. Study now by rhythmical analysis (page 132), and perceive more varied motive, deeper tonal solemnity, and further spiritual power. Clause 1 :—8 1 2" 3 4' 5 6 7' yjjj 216 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Coda. Two clauses, gradually settling into the rising-anapest. Clause 1 I II III IV 6 r 8 1-2' (m) 3 4 5-6-r (n) 8 1-2 3 i' 5-6 piano ores piano ares piano (m) the anapest, (n) observe that the caesura in measure III is not as in measure I. Clause 2 I II III (o) 7-8 1-2" 3-4 5-6'' 7 8' 1-2-3 sf (o) in effect, counts 7-8 1-2 are a rising-spondee. The fz is vital. (27) Schumann : Ende vom Lied, Op. 12, No. 8. Ternary form, with large coda. First Section. Ternary form. A. One sentence, not repeated.* Clause 1, phrase 1 I II (a) 8 r 2 5" (b) 4 5' 6-7-8 (a) The diiamb. (b) The amphibrach (Ex. 26) extended to take count 8. There are half-count notes in 8 and the latter half of 7 ; I explain this subsidiary progression on page 221. Clause 1, phrase 2 III IV (c) 1 2' 3 r id) 5 6 r sfsf (c) The ditrochee (counts 1 and 2 are in double pyrrhic — pro- celeusmaticus, as in Grieg's Hall of the Mountain Kings), {d) The falhng-anapest, with count 8 given to next phrase : see Ex. 69. B. Two sentences repeated. Second Section. The diiamb is converted to " anapest- spondee," as in the Sailor's Hornpipe. Coda. This has the epitrite phrase of eight counts, in the order (c) 1-2-3 4' (/) 5-6 7-8" : (c) trochee, (/) spondee. Into this phrase enters the opening melody of the piece, in lengthier notes, and with overlapping of phrases. * See page 224 for another analysis of the cadency of this sentence. TWO-PULSE MEASURE : QUADRUPLE-TIME 217 The last phrase but one begins with a single note in the bass ; the time of the phrase is free. The last phrase is an anapest of eight counts. First section : Mit guten Humor, 150 half-pulse counts to the minute. Second section : etwas lebhaft (" quicker "). (28) Brahms : Ballade in G minor, Op. 118, No. 3. The clauses vary in length from two measures to seven. The six-measure clause is as four plus two, and the five-measure as two plus three, or, better, as two plus one plu^ two. First Section. The foundation of the measure is the diiamb. Second Section. The foundation of the measure is the ditrochee. This Ballade is a powerful composition, and should be analysed rhythmically at a late stage of study. With intellectual know- ledge of the cadency of the five-measure phrases, we have the sense of final mastery of music and the player. At present, the piece serves as sequel to Study 27. (29) Schubert : Impromptu in C minor. Op. 90, No. 1. IV The Diiambus (Ex. 11) in quadruple-time ; (from the Spondee-rising, Ex. 8) It is not necessary to make special study of the measure of the rising-iamb. I therefore give pieces where it may be observed as varying normal cadence, or as forming part of a compound motive. Few, if any, famihar hymns are set in the rising diiamb, and hymns that are so set do not comfortably fit the cadence. English verse seems to prefer a stress on the first of two pulses rather than on the second, which is one reason why most of our hymns of trochaic metre agree better with the falling measure than with the rising. In Hymns Ancient and Modern, numbers 552 (" Look down upon us, God of grace ") and 615 are set to the diiambic tune called Gloucester. I quote the first verse of the latter ; to show how unnatural is the setting : He sat to watch o'er customs paid A man of scorn' d and hard'ning trade ; AUke the symbol and the tool Of foreign masters' hated rule. 218 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO The hymn " Sweet Saviour, in thy pitying grace " (No. 490, ShoUery) is another bad example of the use of the diiambus- rising. A good example is Dyke's Trinity College and the Uttle- known Christmas hymn (No. 483), — From east to west, from shore to shore, Let every heart awake and sing The Holy Child Whom Mary bore, The Christ, the ever . . . lasting King. (Dykes has a delicate metrical sense). Attached to this Christmas hymn is a plain-song melody useful for well-poised quantitative reading ; its prolongation of pulses intimates the elastic nature of musical time, and suggests a general principle of rubato. The major stress-points in simple verse of hymn type, are — it seems to my mind and ear — the first, second, and fourth pulses of the four-pube Une. This produces the large amphibrachic cadency of the phrase, observed in Study 17. Organists and choristers should render hymns as follows (see Ex. 61, p. 169 ; also p. 139 and 242) :— II II I 2 1 2 1 2 3 4 1 He sat to watch o'er customs paid, A man of scorned and hard'ning trade ; A-hke the symbol and the tool Of foreign masters' hated rule . . . From east to west, from shore to shore, Let every heart a-wake and sing The Holy Child Whom Mary bore, The Christ, the ever- -lasting King . . . The structure of two bars of two counts and one bar of four counts, enters into instrumental music, but is not shown in notation. Its principle explains many tonal and temporal nuances, and lies at the base of some details of the rubato. (30) Chopin : Impromptu in A flat, Op. 29, Ternary form. Ditrochaic measures. First Section. In three parts. TWO-PULSE MEASURE : QUADRUPLE-TIME 219 (1) Two clauses, as I (a) II III (6) IV 1 2' 3 4'' 5 & 7 8" 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8" {Ex. 87) (a) the stressed count 4 as summit of slight crescendo (see Ex. 61). (6) there is no caesura between measures III and IV. Clause 2 ends on count 7. (2) Three clauses, of varying cadency. Clause 1 (count to the notes in the bass). I II III IV 8 r 2 3" 4 5' 6 7" 8 V 2 5" 4 5' 6 7" (c) sf tenuto (d) (c) each measure is in the falling-diiambic. (d) a rvbato. Clause 2 s/I II III 8 1 2" 3 4' 5 6" 7 8' r (e) ten if) (g) (e) the ditrochaic is reasserted by means of an amphibrach (Ex. 71 (a)) in counts 8, 1, 2. Observe that the Sustaining-pedal is used on count 2 to give weight to its music. The same occurs at (d). (/) the rising-ditrochee. (g) the rising-ditrochee, but cut short with count 1, so as to provide for the ensuing rising-diiamb ; therefore the rising- anapest of Ex. 70. Clause 3 III IV V VI (h) 2 3' 4 5" (h) 6 r 8 i" (i) 2 3' 4" 5 & 7 5" teniUo (h) the rising-diiamb. {i) the rising-diiamb, but cut short with count 4 to provide for the ditrochee-f ailing of the measure VI. Counts 2, 3, 4 form therefore the amphibrach of Ex. 71 (o).* (3) Four clauses. Clauses 1, 2, and 3 are strongly ditrochaic, leading off as in * For a general remark concerning these many interpolated amphibrachs eee what I say in Section V of this Chapter, relative to Ende vom Lied. 220 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO part (1) ; but clause 3 is to be phrased as follows. Note how the Sustaining-pedal enters on the weak part of the pulses (counts 2, 4, 6, 8). Clause 3 piano I II III IV (I) 1 2' 3 r 5 & 7-8'' 1 2" 3 4" (t) 5 6 7" (j) 8 i" «/ «/ «/ «/ «/ «/ «/ (^). ( J*) a pause between counts 7 and 8. (k) an iamb, with its short (count 8) well stressed. Clause 4 (I) II III IV (m) pmno 2 3' 4 5'' 6 7 5" 1-2-3-4—5-6 7 8 {I) (t) forte sfz sfz (l) the diiamb-rising. (w) the marcato of counts 7 and 5 is very important. Middle Section. Six clauses, each of eight me^asures. Typical Chopin melody and decoration. Third Section. As first section, up to the point of clause 4 of Part (3). I analyse from that clause inclusive. (3) aause 4. Measures I II III IV I piano 2 3' 4 5" 6 T 8 1" 2 3' 4 5" 6 T 8 r {I) {I) (n) (n) (n) chords, to be played soUo voce. Clause 5 is exactly the same as clause 4. Clause 6 II III IV {Ex. 88) (o) r r r r" 6 r 8 r (p) r r (t) >• r i*" (o) an empty measure, coimting 2 3' 4 5" (see page 37 n.). {p) another empty measure, counting 2 3' 4 5 6" Clause 7 1 II III iq) 7 8' 1-2 r r {r)5-6 7-8 1-2-3-4'' {q) the anapest-rising (that is, the ditrochee catalectic). (r) thejphrase-anapest of eight counts. Tempo and style. Allegro assai, quasi jyreslo. TWO-PULSE MEASURE : QUADRUPLE-TIME 221 (31) Beethoven : Sonata in G major, Op. 31, No. 1; the last movement. Ternary form, with important coda, in which are changes of tempo and empty measures. The empty measures in the early part of the coda are rising, and so count to 5 4' 1 2". Those in the last clause are faUing, and so coimt 1 2' 3 4". The loud chords in the final measures come on counts 3 4 and 7 8. The rhythm of the opening of the piece is as Ex. 81. Therefore the first motive of the compound is the anapest counting 7 8' 2" (Ex. 70), and the second motive is the rising-diiamb. The Subsidiary Amphibrach (Ex. 71 (a)) Measure II of Ende vom Lied contains, in its last three counts, a minute manifestation of the cadency studied in the coda of the Beethoven andante. We observed the rhythm in the Beethoven by help of quickened time, and we shall observe the rhythm in this Schumann by help of greatly enlarged time (see page 200). There is material in these last three counts of measure II of extreme importance for the student of rhythm. Knowledge may be derived from their four notes that can be supplied to music of every tjnpe and character, — slow, quick, melodic, solidly chordal, lightly decorative, serious and impassioned, or humorous and fanciful. And so I analyse the notes closely, and ask you to regard the occasion as one for patient constructive thought. The measure controls counts 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, of the phrase. Chords are struck in counts 4, 5, and 6. We are to study measure II as an individual entity, closing our minds to all considerations but what lie in the five counts. We will use the count-numbers 8 12 3 4, and manipulate the word confiding. Worked into the dimeter catalectic iambic II I ('* We've all been most confiding ") 4 5' 6 7" 8 1 2-3" our word becomes the amphibrach, taking counts (a) 8 1 2-3 in quadruple-time. Count 4 is thus empty, and the value of the amphibrach is that shown in Ex. 26. 222 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Treated as in tunes Erk and Passion Chorale, it becomes the 8 1-2 3 amphibrach of Ex. 22— (6) con-fd-ing ^^^® P^^^ ^^^^• Now as the iamb may be extended to a feminine-cadence, so may this amphibrach. The result is 8 1-2 3 4 " We all have most con-fd—ing-ly "(c). The resulting figure (c) is the second psBon, short-long, short- short. Now, again, the contraction of the amphibrach of Ex. 22 (counts 8 1-2 3) to the amphibrach of Ex. 26 {8 1 2-3) may take place within this paeon, producing con-fd-ing-ly {d). '^^^^ ^^ * short-short, long-short, and is therefore a third pseon. But since its main metrical stress comes on a short, and its long is effected by syncopation, the figure {d) is a third paeon by syncopation. There are deUcate reasons why a composer might adjust the following verbal phrases to the syncopated pceon tertius : — Ex. 44 the unsun'd heaps. Ex. 53 Whilst wonderment. Ex. 52 your light sisters. Ex. 55 A sensitive. So much for the half-pulse movement of measure II of Ende vom Leid. The quarter-pulse notes at the end of the measure, the last two of which represent the final count of the paeon, bring us to the matters that, as I said, are of extreme importance in respect of clear musical articulation. We abstract from the Schumann measure counts 6, 7 and 8 (i.e. counts 2-3 and 4 of the pattern (d) above), and contemplate them in the absolute. They form the figure -j^A^r^^ z7i ii i Pulses I Z 3 (Ex. 89). For convenience we will count the major particles of time as from 1, and will consider the minor particles as half- pulse counts. This establishes the counting shown in Ex. 89. The figure now stands converted to something of a molossus character (Ex. 27). What is its inner structural cadency ? Is it to be counted (c) 1-2-3 4' 5 6" ^^ ^ (/) 1-2-3" 4' 5 6" ^ wan — der lone-ly lone I wan-der TWO-PULSE MEASURE : QUADRUPLE-TIME 223 In other words, is this compound motive : — (e) a ditrochee, the first member of which takes pulses 1 and 2 (counts 1-2-3 4) and the second member of which takes pulse 3 (counts 5 6); or is the motive compounded ol : — ( /) a trochee catalectic of three counts, with all the quantity of the trochee given to the one particle present, that is, the long ; plus the ever appearing amphibrach of three counts (Ex. 71 (a)) ? We must remember that we are contemplating these four notes in the abstract, without thought for how they appear in Ende vom Lied. Obviously the answer to the question is vital, and for these reasons : if the inner C8Bsura is as (e), count 4 is a suffix, to be touched as such, and there will be certain ruhato in counts 3 4, with a swift taking up of counts 5 6 ; ii the inner caesura is as (/), count 4 is a prefix, to be made consonant-Uke in touch, and there will be a different order of ruhato. In nearly all cases, the answer is provided by the composer's phrase-marks and accents. I venture a general rule, however (though it is a rule so very general in character and apphcation, that exceptions perhaps equal observances) : — Beethoven prefers (e) : Schubert, Schumann, and Chopin prefer (/). The distinction estabUshes the fundamental difference between the Classic com- poser and the Romantic : (e) is powerful, rugged, and intense ; (/) is easy, direct, and voluptuous. Bach did not phrase his music ; but I think he requires (e), which is what in ordinary performance we do not give his music. When Beethoven has (/), it is with powerfully articulated prefi:s: in the amphibrach. Ex. 89 shows this figure as falling from pulse 1 to pulse 3. It is connected with Ex, 69. But the figure may exist as from pulse 3 to pulse 2, whereupon it becomes connected with Ex. 71 {a) and Ex. 77. It may appear even in connection with Ex. 70. In Ende vom Lied it begins on the weak particle (count 6 of the piece), and is syncopated over the strong, as if from Ex. 71a. The foregoing may strike the student as argument " fine as a skein of the casuist Escobar's," though I beheve it is not " worked on the bone of a Ue." The gain to be derived from it, rests mostly with music in triple-time ; but the matter appertains little less to quadruple-time music* One thing is certain — with its principle learnt and appMed in connection with four- time cadences the more involved and subtly moving triple-time cadences are robbed of half their intricacy and ambiguity. * When advanced in knowledge, and patient in mood, you may apply 224 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO (32) Schumann : NovelleUe, Op. 21, No. 1, (page 196). Fourth Section. The short figure on which this ordinarily troublesome passage is constructed, is (/), the figure of the " cata- lectic-trochee of three subdivisional counts plus the amphibrach of three subdivisional counts " ; rising rhythm, and therefore syncopation, as if derived from Ex. 71a. A different aspect of the amphibrach in (/) is displayed in the following studies, Nos. 34 and 36.* VI Supplementary Studies (33) Schubert : Sonata in A minor, Op. 143 ; the first move- ment. For the dotted-note trochee of the half-pulse. (34) Brahms : Capriccio in G minor. Op. 116, No. 3. (35) Bach : Fugue in B flat minor, from Book I, Well-tempered Clavier. (36) Beethoven : Sonata in D major. Op. 10, No. 3 / the last movement, and (37) the first movement. (38) Schubert : Sonata in D major. Op. 53 ; the last movement. these remarks to the foUowing : \ ^ 7 ^ tir/f. f}\ *^ ^ < 9 e* 7 a" y^^ £• I a a- \ (Ex. 90), which is bars 9-12 of the £jiale of Beethoven's Honata in E flat. Op. t7, No. 1. (a) the rhythmical climax of the phrase. I gave the following (page 216) as the analysis of the opening sentence of Ende vom Lied : — I II' III IV" 8 1 g S" 4 6' 6-7-8 1 g' S 4" B 6 T This analysis is not entirely the true one. I used it, however, first because I could then bring the composition immediately into our course of study, and Secondly because I found in the music — as thus analysed — material for the present close discussion of an important rhythmical motivt. The true analysis of the sentence is : — 1 II m IV 8 1" g y 4 ff' 6-7-8' 1 g" 3 4' 5 6 T (o) (6) (c) (rf) > > I I I I I I (a) iamb, (6) diiamb, (c) spondee of counts 6-7-8 and 1-2, decorativoly inflected, {d) the trochee of counts S 4, and the amphibrach of Ex. 716. See for the stresses upon counts 6 and 7, the remarks on page 1 G9. • Observe in Ex. 60 (a), at the words hope of ev'ry, how exceedingly common- place the motive of (/) may be in triple-time ; and again, at the words Church's tuppli- how (e) may have, on the short of the trochee (-cA'«) that special stress of the weak particle of which I have so often spoken. CHAPTER XXVI RHYTHM OF PHRASE AND CLAUSE In duple-time, with octuple extension of the metrical counting, the numbers 1, 5, 3 and 7, are strong. In triple-time counting the strong numbers are always 1 and 4 ; and 2 and 5, or 3 and 6, according to circumstances. Counting might show the strong and weak measures. Thus instead of counting from I on to the end of the clause, we might plan the numbers to begin on III, IV, VII, and so forth, in order to bring the strong counts upon the strong pulses. In Chapter XXV, I adopted, for the most part, the simple plan of counting measures from I onward. In the coming chapters I adopt, where convenient, counting which shows cadential rise and fall. But I cannot do this always, for an important reason. It is desirable that a recurrent passage should have the same set of counts. Where the clause is irregular, the irregularity puts a stop to such recurrence. Therefore when the clauses vary from the normal sequence of measures, we have to return to simple non-rhythmical laying out of measures. It would be possible to count cadentially in measures, even in irregular constructions, were we to jump or repeat a measure- coimt once in a while ; but the practice is dangerous, though it serves to show at times how music is varied by elision and addition of measures. The rhythm of an eight-measure clause may be of the same varied character as the rhythm of an eight-count measure. It may be diiambic, ditrochaic, or amphibrachic, and it may be synco- pated. Syncopation of measures, I should remark, is not t}'ing of notes, but altering of csesurse and displacement of stresses. Let me describe a few possible rhythms of the ordinary eight- measure clause. In quick music, the measures may lie as Phrase (1) Phrase (2) V VI' VII VIII" I II' III IV" Q 225 226 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Here the clause has cadential climax in the middle. Phrase 1 rises into phrase 2. The phrases themselves are falling-cadences, each a ditrochee-falling. Composers mark such phrases sf on measures V and I. Beethoven runs a crescendo up to measure II, and then softens the tone for measures III and IV, often with a plain invitation that we shall rubato the time on those measures. In Schumann, there may be stress and rubato in VII. Convert the above to the phrase of the falling-diiamb, and repeat the same remarks : IV V VI VII" VIII I' II III". With this rhythm, there is more scope for rubato in measures 11 III". Convert the two foregoing into rising diiambs and ditrochees of the phrase : — (a) VI VII' VIII I" II Iir IV V" (6) III IV' V VI" VII viir I II" The entire clause may be a faUing inflexion, except for one or two anacrusic measures : VIII I' II III" IV V VI VII". The faster the music, the more it is likely to be a long faUing rhythm. Measure VIII of this last quoted rhythm will be very energetic. The eight measures become amphibrach by such a change of caesura as the following: VII VIII' I II III IV' V VI". There is usually power now in measiures II and III, and perhaps something tumultuous in measures V and VI. Six of the measures may form into molossus phrases : — Phrase (a) Phase (6) Phrase (c) I II' III IV V VI VII VIII" Always now is sweUing rubato in VII, and usually quietude in V ; while VI, being prefixal instead of suflSxal, will perhaps have sharpness and precision of attack. Clauses of six measures will be either as the spondee (IV V VI' I II III") or as the molossus (I II' III IV' V VI"), with the permutations that may be rung on six counts. Clauses of five measures, which are almost as frequent as those of four and eight in the music of men of the enormous energy of Bach, Beethoven, and Schubert, are as I II HI' IV V" ; or I II' 111 IV V", or r IF III IV" V". The last is Hungarian. Clauses of nine dnd eleven measures, also clauses of seven, have equal variety. RHYTHM OF PHRASE AND CLAUSE 227 Ot the normal four or eight measures, one, two, or three measures may be elided. It is at the end of a piece, when energy is crowding to a climax of expression, that elision is hkely. A frequent form of elision is for a clause to enter on the measure which ordinarily represents the finishing of the clause preceding : ten 1 n' III (IV") V VI' VIII VIII" Theorists call this overlapping. The ehsion causes a weak measure to become a strong one. The overlap may take place anywhere : — (a) I ir (III IV") (6) V VI' VII VIII" (c) V vr VII viir (a)-(6) is six measures for eight, and (a)-(c) five for eight. There is no need for us, whose work is with ear, and not with eye, to retain the idea of overlapping. Our turn is better served by the idea of ehsion. A measure cannot be both strong and weak at once, except in choral music, where at a single moment one voice finishes and another begins, or in strictly polyphonic music for instruments. And even then the measure has but one character, so far as the forward rhythmical cadency is concerned. Yet see the Schumann on page 196, The incontrovertible guides to rhythmical structure of clause and sentence, are harmonic progression, and accent-marks, I do not mention harmony in this book, because our study is already sufficiently occupied, I draw constant attention to accent- marks ; and I now give here the general rule, that accentuations are very often but as devices for enforcing the rhjrthmical character of the passage containing them. Accents that are not straightforwardly metrical, but come as do accidental sharps and flats in harmony, are considered as arbitrary decorations on the part of the composer. As a fact, however, they are no more arbitrary than barhnes. But their principles are not yet scientifi- cally elucidated. The player-pianist has not hitherto been able to sforzato notes in unexpected places, because he has not known 228 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO why they were there. Yet it is actually as easy to stress the fourth note of a passage as the first ; and if the playerist knows rhythm as well as he ordinarily knows metre, he can make pro- minent any note which may be touched with the pedal-stroke, or isolated by the Control-levers, When the speed is too fast for this, or the note obscurely situated, he cannot accentuate the note physically. But he can accentuate it quantitatively. Therein hes the golden principle of this new art of musical performance, as I take occasion to say in a footnote in Chapter XXVII (page 269). In Chapters XXV and XXVII, I avoid pieces where clause construction and cadency is complex. In Chapter XXVIII, I combine dactyls and complex clauses into one department of study, helped by the circimastance that the dactyl motive, and clause irregularity, happen to be characteristic of the same type of music, namely, Hungarian. Here I set a few pieces for study at the reader's leisure, by no means intending them to be worked at before Chapters XXVII and XXVIII are completed — except the first piece of the group. (1) Mozart : Sonata in D ; the last movement — Tema with Twelve Variations. (Composed 1777.) The same sequence of clause is maintained through each varia- tion, even the last, where the metre changes from quadruple to triple. Each variation should be worked at as a study in piano- forte style of the lighter and more refined type. The composition belongs to player-piano hterature much as dementi's Gradus ad Parnassum belongs to pianoforte literature. The last variation is dealt with in Section III of Chapter XXVII. (The counting in itahcs of the following abstract, represents the relation subsisting between quadruple and triple times.) The Theme is in binary form. Part 1 has a two-clause sentence, repeated. Part 2 consists of two clauses, the first con- taining five measures ; this part also is repeated. rt 1. Clause 1 III Theme 7 8 l-2'3 4" Var. 12 6 12' 5" IV 5 6'7 8" 4 5" 6 I 1 2'3 4' 12 3 n 5-6" 4-6" Clause 2 is of the same cadential progression. RHYTHM OF PHRASE AND CLAUSE 229 Part 2. Clause 1 III IV V I II piano forte jmno fp 7 8'9 10' 11 12" 1 2' 3 4" 5 6' 7 8" 1-2 3(4 5 6)" 6 r 8' 9" 12 3 4 5 6" 1-2—3 4(5) Clause 2 is of the same form as Clause 2 of Part 1. There is a coda to the Twelfth Variation. This contains the change of rhythm whereby a piece constructed in the falUng- phrase is made to end with a I-II phrase of accumulated cadential power. I therefore analyse Clause 2 of Variation 12 (which is in triple-time), Part 2, and its coda : — Clause 1 of the repeat of Part 2, ends with 2 3 4 5 in soft octaves, each count one octave, and the music low in the bass. Clause 2 (as Clause 2, Part 1, but with the original measure I now as measure V) : forte III IV V 6 1 2 3' 4 5 & 7 8 9" {c) (c) Let the tone accumulate, and play ritardando, as though the next measure were to be the finish. I II III IV 1 2 3' 4 5 &' 1 2 3' 4 5 6" (c) (d) {d) This measure is the last of the threefold utterance of the idea of measure V. Its rubato may be well pronounced. I II 12 3 4-5 ie) (e) In time, swiftly and lightly. Theme. Andante. 138 of the counts to a minute. Variation 11. Adagio cantabile. 76 of the same to the minute. Variation 12. Allegro. 152 counts to a minute. 230 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO (2) Beethoven : Sonata in E, Op. 14, No. 1 ; the finale. First Section. In two parts. Part 1. Sentence 1 : — piano ores p III IV' V VI" VII VIII' I II" 4 5' 6 7" 8 1 2 3" 4 5 6 7' 8 12 3" 7 8 1-2' 3 4 5-6" 7 8* 1 2-3 4'5-6'' sf Sentence 2 : as sentence 1, but of six measures : — ores p {rubaio) III IV' V VI" I 11" Sentence 3 : a continuation of the idea, and of the phraseology, of the latter part of sentence 2 : — ores forte. . . . m IV' V VI VII' I II 4' 5 6' 7" 8 1 2'3 4 5 6' 1 2 3" trtr Sentence 4 : — piano pianissimo dim pp III IV' V VI" VII VIII' IX I II" Part 2. Sentence 5 : as sentence 1. Sentence 6 : — ores forte sfz sf sfz III IV' V VI" VII VIII" I II" Middle Section. See Study No. 25 of Chapter XXVIII (page 290). There are in this Section most dehcate appearances of the three-measure phrase (III I II) amid the prevaihng two-measure phrases (I II). Thibd Section. Sentence 1 (take first sentence of Section 1). Sentence 2 (take third sentence of Section 1). Sentence 3 (as fourth of Section 1, but with a prolongation) : — piano pianissimo ppp \n IV' V VI" VII viir ix x' i ii" 1 2-3 RHYTHM OF PHRASE AND CLAUSE 231 Sentence 4 : — piano forte III IV' V VI" VII VIII' I II" 12 3 4" Sentence 5 : — sf III 5 6' 1-2 3 4' (a) IV 7 8' 5S 7 8' sf v I ri 9 10" 1 2 3 9-10 11 12" 1 2 3 4 5-i sf (a) dactyls. Sentence 6 : — pp p ten a tempo III IV' V VI" VII VIII' IX X I II" 9 10' 11 12' 1" 2 3" cres 5' 4 5-6" forte (3) Schubert : Impromptu in E flat, Op. 90, No. 2 : an impor- tant technical piece for the player-pianist, and a highly intricate rhythmical study. Counting in twelve-pulse groups is convenient for first study, but the rhythm is to be estabhshed only by counting in measures. First Section. Part 1. Three clauses, as : — Clause 1. Measures VI VII' VIII I" II III' IV V" (3) 4 5-6' 1 2-3 Part 2. Three clauses : — Clause 4 (i.e. from the start of the piece) pianissimo {three measures) (falling-cadence) VI VII' VIII I" II III" IV V VI' I II" 4 5 6' 1 2-3 4 5-6" 1 2 3'4-5-6" sf sf 232 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Clause 5 (rising-cadence) {falling-cadence) III r II HI" IV v I 11" 7 8 9' 1 2-3" 4 5 6' 1 2-3" 4 5-6' 7 8-9" 1 2-3 4-5-6" fp fP fP fP Clause 6 decrescendo cres dim ■ HI IV V ^Vl' VII VIII— IX ^I" 7 8-9 10 11-12' 1 2-3-4-5-6" 7 8-9 1-2-3^-5-6 1-2-3 Part 3. Four clauses : — Clause 7 (as Clause 1) cres II {as VI) III' IV 1" II Iir IV V" Clause 9 fortissimo {three-measure phrases) VI VII VIII" I II III' IV V VI" 4 5-6 12-3 4 5-6" 1 2-3 4 5-6 7 8-9 sf sf sf sf sf sf Clause 10 I II III IV' I 11" 1 2-3 4 5-6 7 8-9 10 11 12" 1-2-3 4-5-6 sf sf sf ff fff The last two chords are the final elements of the accumulating energy which prepares for the Middle Section. Middle Section. Every clause has characteristic and in- dividual accentuations. The signs are rarely transcribed correctly on the roll. Part 1. Five clauses. The pulse-counting may still be in twelves. Clause 1 fortissimo hen marcalo III IV' V VI" VII viir 1 11" 7 8-9* 10 11-12" 1 2 3' 4 5-6 (a) rf ^ {cres dim) sf RHYTHM OF PHRASE AND CLAUSE 233 (a) in measures V and I, and in most parallel measures in later clauses, give a ores to pulse 1, and a decres to pulses 2 3. Clause 2 piano forte ff piano III IV' V VI" VII VIII' IX X" XI XII' I U" Clause 3 fff piano ff piano III IV' V VI" VII VIII' I 11" 7 8-9 10 11-12 7 8-9 10 11-12 ffz piano fz piano (h) (h) (6) observe the sforzato discord, and its resolution in the next measure. Clause 4 f ff f ff III IV' V VI" VII VIII' I II" Clause 5 ff ^f */ (tenuto) forte III IV' V VI" VII VIII' I II" (c) the middle of the Section. Part 2. Five clauses. Note the changes of cadency of clause and phrase. Two " strong " measures will be adjacent, causing a rising phrase to be followed by a faUing phrase, and vice versa. There is syncopation induced by change of ictus within the measure (page 259), with resulting contraction of the length of the clause. Note in particular the beautiful effect of the transition from the tumultuousness and disturbance of the Middle Section to the direct energy of the Third Section. Clause 6 (take Clause 1 again, but piano). Clause 7 (take Clause 2 again, hut forte in the first phrase — ^that is, measures III IV V VI"). Clause 8 (take clause 3 again). Clause 9 forte cres III IV' V VI VII" I n' III IV V" 1 2-3' 4 5-6" 7 8' 9 10' 11 12" 1 2-3' 4 5-6" 7 8' 9 10' 11 12" 234 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Clause 10 fortissimo dim decres VI VII r II III' IV V" 1 2' 3 4' 5 6" 1-2-3-4^5-6' 7-8-9-1-2-3" sf sf Third Section as First ; therefore take again Clause 1 of First Section, which picks up in respect of measure-counting and pulse-counting from the position estabhshed at the end of the Middle Section. Coda. Four clauses. Clause 1 (take Middle Section, Clause 1 , fortissimo) Clause 2 (repeat the foregoing) Clause 3 fortissimo accelerando rubato III IV' V VI" VII viir I II' III" 7 8-9' 10 11-12" 1 2 3' 4 5-6" 4 5-6" 7 8 9" Clause 4 fortissimo I ir III IV" V VI' I II" 1-2 3' 4-5 6" 7-8 9' 10-11 12" 1 2 3' 4 5 6" 1-2-3 4^5-6 sf sf sf sf sf sf sf sfz sfz (4) Brahms : Variations, Op. 21, No. 1, in D major. 1 ir III IV" V VI' VII VIII' IX" (5) Beethoven : Sonata in Bflat, Op. 106 ; the second move- ment. (6) Beethoven : Sonata in A flat, Op. 26 ; the last movement. (7) Schubert : Sonata in A minor, Op. 42 ; the third move- ment. (8) Brahms : Hungarian Dance in G minor. No. 1. (9) Bach : Gigue from English Suite in D minor. (10) Brahms : Hungarian Dance in D flat, No. 6 (see page 109), — analysis of the opening sentence. There are two pulses RHYTHM OF PHRASE AND CLAUSE 235 to a measure, and each pulse has one low bass-note ; but there is one measure that has three pulses. Measures ^ II IH IV I \-'pulses 3 4 5 &' 7 8 9 m 1 2 3 r 5 6 7 8' 1 2 3 r f sf p sost rit 11 I II III 5 6 7 8' 1 2 3 4' 5 6 7 8' 1 2 3 4" f vivo IV I- 12 3 4' 12" sf piano II Quintuple and Septuple Metres. Pieces in metres uniformly of five and seven pulses are rare and not difl&cult to play. (1) Tchaikowsky : Symphonie pathetiquey Op. 74; the second movement. I II 12- 3 4- 1 2' 3 4 5'' 6 r 8-9-10" (2) Chopin : Sonata in C minor, Op. 4 ; the third movement. I II III IV 1- tew 2 3- teni 1-2 3-4 1 2 3' 4 5" 6 7 8' 9 10" 1 2 3' 4 5" 6 7-8' 9 10" sf sf (3) Brahms : Variations on a Hungarian Song, Op. 21, No. 2. I II 1 , 9 ^ 1 • 9 S 1 2 3' 4 5 6 7" 1 2 3' 4 5 6 7" (4) John Heath : Six Inventions, " Endeavour," No. 5. I II III 1 2' 3 4' 5 6 7" 1 2' 3 4" 5 6-7 1 2" ten IV ten V 3 4 5' 6 r 1 2" 3 4 5' 6 7' 1 2" The motive caesurae change constantly. The last measure but two has six counts. (5) Kalinnikov : Chanson triste. Count 1 2 3' 4 5" CHAPTER XXVn TRIPLE-TIME I Spondee or Molossus ? It is not easy to discuss triple-time without ambiguity, because there are — or seem to be — two sorts of triple-time movement. The one sort is where the measure is as the molossus ; that is, where the measure is as a unit of three pulses, each pulse divisible by the power of two : — (1) Measures I II Pulses 1 2 3' 4 5 6" Half-pulses 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10 11-12 This is the sort of triple-time which is outUned from Ex. 27 to Ex. 34. The second sort is where the measure is as the spondee, with each pulse divisible by the power of three : (2) Measures I 11 Pulses 1 2' 3 4" Third-pulses 1-2-3 4-6-6 7-S-9 10-11-12 This second sort is indicated in examples 5-12, and around examples 15-25. In musical notation, two " bars " are occupied with the material of (1), and four bars with the material of (2). In speaking, hitherto, of duple or quadruple in contrast and association with triple, I have had in mind triple-time of spondee- measure (2) ; except, of course, when I have made specific reference to the matters of Ex. 27, etc. Therefore there has not been danger of ambiguity. But we must be sure henceforth, S36 TRIPLE-TIME 237 that we understand this problem of (1) the molossus measure with binary division of the pulse, and (2) the spondee measure with ternary division. The complication is due to several circumstances : — (3) The pulse of the molossus (1) is, by nature, an element capable of carrying, by primary division, an individual rhythmical motive. But though this is so, the three pulses of the measure will reUnquish their individual powers, and aflihate themselves into a single-motive iamb, — trochee, or anything else. The measure then becomes, in appearance (and also in effect), as the half of a spondee measure (page 123, and Study No. 23, on page 250). (4) The third-pulse particles of the spondee-measure (2), when subjected to subdivision, take upon themselves an individuahty which approximates them to the whole-pulse of the molossus-measure. The third-pulse particle then carries a subsidiary motive, and the pulse as a whole becomes — again in both appearance and effect — as an entire molossus-measure. (5) The two-measure phrase of the molossus (I-II of (1) above) will have an unbroken sequence of effect, with no noticeable caesura between pulse 3 and pulse 4. The phrase will then be, in effect, as the measure of the other sort of time ; particularly if its material is treated as in paragraph (3). The distinction between the two forms of triple-time leads, perhaps, to nothing of vital significance. It may be that there are not, in reahty, two sorts after all ; and so it may be that the phrase of the one, and the measure of the other, are one and the same thing. But I personally consider this is not so, and that we have in music a " phrase " as outlined in (1) and another as outUned in (2), with the resulting differences of interior move- ment, caesurae, and cadential rise and fall. Theorists have dis- cussed the problem seriously, to no final end. Composers have acted without consistency ; and often there is nothing in a piece of music to justify their way of noting their expressions. Speed is no guide. The molossus, which at base is slow and stately, may be quick ; and the spondee may be slow. I cannot discuss the problem from the position of musical science, and argue about time-signatures and metronome-marks. All I can do is to pro- pound the problem, and to say that — for convenience of counting, mental construction of rhythm, comparison of duple and triple. 238 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO and pedalling — we must accept as a fact the existence of two sorts of triple-time, the one comiting six from the basis of three units (1), the other counting six from the basis of two units (2). Two further details should remain in our minds : — (6) The subdivision of the pulse of (1), whereby the 1-2-3 counting passes into (4) the subsidiary counting of 1-2 3-4 5-6, produces the same type of subsidiary or secondary motive as was produced in quadruple-time by the subdivision there of the pulse, which, as we will remember, converted the half-pulse counting of 1-2' 3-4" into the quarter-pulse counting of 1-2-3-4' 5-6-7-8." I think we must put aside the idea of primary and secondary motives in our thought on triple-time, and avail our- selves constantly of the clearer distinction of molossus and spondee measures. Thus in what follows in this chapter, the roman numerals indicate the measure, figures in ordinary type indicate the pulse, and figures in itaUcs indicate the primary division of the pulse, as in Chapter XXV. (7) The puke of the molossus-measure may be divided, not by two, but by three : — Measure I Pulses 1 2 3 Third-pulses 1-2-3 4-5-6 7-8-9 Any pulse, or pulse particle, may be freely divided by the binary or ternary powers ; triplets and duplets alternating in the same voice, or occurring simultaneously in different voices. The two-note group is sometimes called a duole, and the three-note group a triole. n Relation of Triple and Duple Three counts may stand for two, in the sense that a certain couple of the three counts represents a doubling of the quantity of a certain one count of the two. This statement, read quickly, soimds Uke a conundrum ; but it means that if two pieces of elastic substance, each an inch long, are placed end to end, and the half of one piece stretched out to the length of a full inch, TRIPLE-TIME 239 and fixed in that position, the result will be as the conversion of duple-time music into triple-time (see page 245). Our first mental studies of three-time may be planned to illus- trate the statement. (1) Measures II I Duple-time 4 5' 6 7" 8 12' 3" All hail the power of Je — sus' Name Triple-time 6 7-8' 9 10-ir 12 1-2 3' 4-5" Observe the feminine caesura of the iamb " Of Jesus'," the richness of sound in the final syllable of the amphibrach 80 created, and the two notes of the melody in count 3 ; and then note this as illustration of the practice of Beethoven in his clause-cadences. The triple-time form might be , no (2) 4 5—6 7 8' 1—2 3" Our blest Re-deem-er' ere he breathed 6 7-8 9 10-11 m 1-2 3 4r^" 4 5 6 7 8 1-2-3 His tend-er last fare- well 6 7-8 9 10-11 12 1-2-S-4-5 The catalectic pulse becomes very long when filled out in triple- time. We shall see in the next study how in triple-time it is the custom not to fill out the quantity, and how there results from this a beautiful fineness and deUcacy of rhythm, with gain in verbal expression. (3) 12 3 4 12 3 4 Art thou wea-ry art thou lan-guid 4-5 6 1-2 3 4-6 6 1-23 12 3 4 1-2-3-4 Art thou sore dis-tressed 4-5 6 1-2 3 4^-6 1 234 12 34 Come to me, saith One, and com-ing 7-8 9 1-2 3 4-5 6 1-2 3 1-2 3-4 1-2-3-4 Be at rest 4-S 6 1-2-3 240 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO The upper counting represents the metre of the tune Stephanos, to which we usually sing this hymn. The creator of Stephanos was the Rev. Sir H. W. Baker, Bart., and the tune was arranged in its current form by W. H. Monk, one of the musical editors of Hymns Ancient and Modern. (At the end of this phase of our study I give the outline of the tune Christus Consolator, which is the effort made by the Rev. J. B. Dykes, Mus. Doc, to encompass the cadences of this hymn.) The lower counting of (3) represents the natural flow of the metre, and reveals the natural significances of the words. My scanning will not, of course, admit tempo di valse. Observe the two notes on " Come to me," and compare " That ad-ored " in Ex. 57. The same movement takes place in the concluding measure of the Allegretto of Beethoven's Moon- light Sonata. (4) 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 Je- sus Christ is risen to-day . . . 7-8 9 10-11 12 1-2 3 4-5 6 5 6 7 8 12 3 4 Al le ... lu .... ia. . . 7 8 9 10-11 12 1-2 3 4-5-6 Consider carefully what happens to the half-counts in alleluia when the movement is passed into triple. The two notes on 5 take each a separate count (7 and 8), and the two notes on 6 are compressed into the dimension of one count (9). The two notes on 8 go into the quantity of 12. (5) 5 6 7 8 1 2 3-4 Wea- ry men, that still a- wait, 7-8 9 10-1112 1-2 3 4r-5-6 5 6 7 8 9 10 1-2 3-4 Death as re- fuge from thy weep — ing 7-S 9 10 11-121-2 3 1-2-3 4-6-6 5 6 7 8 1 2 ^-4 Shrinking from the blows of fate 7-8 9 Observe the scanning of " death as refuge " {7-8 9' 10 11-12), and compare Ex. 25. This disposition of the measure (trochee : iamb-falUng) is of momently occurrence in music. The word TRIPLE-TIME • 241 " weeping " might, in solo voice setting, take count 3 upon " -ing," producing a gentle syncopation, and modifying the weight of the pulse of counts 4-5-6 (see page 244, Study 15, at coming) : — weep-ing 1-2 3 4-5- 6 I II (6) 8 1—2 3 sacred Head sur-round- ed 12 1-2-3 4-5 4 5 6 7 8 1-2-3 By crown of piercing thorn 6 7-89 1011121-2-3-4-5 The truer scanning, in triple-time, is : — By crown of pierc-ing thorn 6 7-8 9 12 3 4-5 This rhythm makes poignant the word " piercing," which is the dominant word of the phrase, not its companion, the word " thorn." For the same reason as in Study 5, the word " sur- rounded " might be scanned to take counts I II 12 1-2' 3 4-5. 8ur-round-ed . . . Thought fine as this makes us realise how delicate must the touch sometimes be on the final particle of the amphibrach of Ex. 22, etc. (page 168). Refer to page 168. Triple-time is reduced to duple by reversing the above process. Material can be taken from the Ancient and Modern hymns : — (7) No. 253, Burford : Jesu Christ, if aught there be That more than aU beside . . . (8) No. 290, Wiltshire : Through all the changing scenes of Ufe In trouble and in joy . . . (9) No. 438, Beatitude : How bright these glorious spirits shine ! Whence all their bright array ? (10) No. 20, Angelus : At even, ere the sun was set. The sick, Lord, around Thee lay . . . 242 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO (10 a) No. 238, Martyrdom : this tune, as is the case with Burford and Wiltshire, has a poem of which the second hne is catalectic. Being in triple-time, it does not provide for the missing foot. The conversion to duple-time must therefore alter the cadences : — 4 1 2 3 4 12 3 As pants the hart for coohng streams* 6 1-2 3 4-^ 6 1-2 3 4r^ 4 12 3 4 1-2-3 When heated in the chase. 6 1-2 3 1-2 3 4-6 The coinciding of the weak word " in " and the strong count 1, is what in music makes composers carry crescendo to the end of a measure, and give to the final particle a special stress. This nuance would not be required in the fourth hne of the stanza : — So longs my soul, God for Thee, And Thy lefreshmg grace (11) The tune Cloisters (Ex. 60 (a)), becomes dignified when cast into quadruple-metre : — 1-2 3 4 1-2-3 4 1 2 3 4 1-2 3^ Lord of our hfe and God of our sal-va-tion 1 2 3 1-231 2312-3 An old psalm-tune will exist in both metres, or it will settle nto one metre after being used originally in the other. There may be similar differences in the quantity of a measure. The Old Hundredth, for example (" Praise God from Whom all bless- ings flow ") exist in two versions (a) and (6), of which the latter has an enlargement of the pulse which converts the two measures into three : — II I (12) 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 (a) All peo-ple that on earth do dwell Sing to the Lord with cheer- ful voice It was usual in earher EngUsh than ours (e.g. in Shakespeare verse and madrigal music) to stress weak particles like this " to," and Americans and Canadians still do the same. But it is not 4 1 2 12 3 4 1 * Or, better {$u pagt 218) : — As pants the hart for cooling streams. 6 IS S IS S 4-6 6 IS TRIPLE-TIME 243 in the way of modem music to do so ; and thus comes about that strong stress on the short of an iamb with which music, both vocal and instrumental, is varied. Congregations instinctively stress " sing " in the form (a), creating a quintuple bar. Ill I II 7-8 9 10 11 12 1-2 3-4 5-6 (6) All peo-ple that on earth do dwell Sing to the Lord with cheer- ful voice (13) Bishop Heber's " The Son of God goes forth to war " is in the dimeter iambic catalectic as regards its alternate Unes. The hymn is sung to a quadruple-time tune — St. Arme — and also to a triple-time tune — Old Eighty-f/rst : — 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 The Son of God goes forth to war 6 7-8 9 10-11 12 1-2 3 4-6 4 5 6 7 8 1-2-3 A King-ly crown to gain 6 7-8 9 1-2 3 4-6 (14) The form of the diiamb which allows the third particle to enter on count 2 or count 5 (as in Ex. 41 " our times are in His hand "), is usually a cause of strength in instrumental music. Another cause of strength is the choriamb, which appears in plain diiambic movement whenever one phrase ends with the feminine caesura (taking count 6 into its compass) and the next phrase begins with trochee plus iamb. The choriamb is then as in Ex. 39-^0. It appears as three notes of equal length followed by one note of two counts, phrased in simplest fashion as 12' 3 4-6. Dr. Crofts, in the original form of his St. Matthew, has both the emphatic diiamb of Ex. 41 and the choriamb ; but in the modem form of his tune these features are lost : — (14a) Original 6 7-8 9 10-11 12 1-2 3 4-5 Thine arm, Lord, in days of old 6 7-8 9 1 2-3 4-5-6 Was strong to heal and save Modern 6 7-8 9 1-2 3 4-^ 7 8 9 10-11 12 1-2 3 4-5 It triumphed o'er disease and death 6 7-8 9 10-11 244 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Observe the curious power of the word " triumphed " in the original version, and the ugliness of " -umphed " in the revised form. The ugliness is due to the thin length of " tri-" and the stout brevity of " -umphed," as of a weedy man topped by a large round head. (15) Dykes's attempt to overcome the problem of " Art thou weary," is as follows. His metre is the indubitable molossus measure. II I Pulses 3 4 5 6 12 CourUs5 6 7-S-9 10 11 12 1-2 3-4 Art thou wea ry art thou lan-guid 3 4 5 6 12 3 5 6 7-8-9-10 11-12 1-2 {3-4-S-6) Art thou sore dis- -tressed 4 5 6 12 3 4 7 8 9 10 11 12 1-2-3-4 5-6-7-8 Come to Me, saith One, and com ing 5 6 12 9-10 11-12 1-2-3-4 Be at rest. The counts in brackets are empty times. in Relation of Triple to Quadruple Observation in the foregoing section was concerned with the pulse. We thought of the triple-time pulse, in relation to the 1' 2* duple-time pulse ; the counting of i2_7 j ^ g representing the 1 2 same spondee-measure as the counting of y « o_j The posi- tion in the present section is different. Here it is the pulses 1-2-3 1 2 which have to represent the half-pulses i_2_ji_d -^^^ ^° ^® ^®* molossus-measure against spondee-measure, to discover the relation between the two. Three counts in triple, may stand for four counts in quadruple ; in the sense that a certain one count of the triple, represents a certain two counts of the quadruple. And standing for, or TRIPLE-TIME 245 representing, its quadruple-metre equivalent, it may retain — in diminished quantity — everything that characterises its equivalent. This new aspect of the conundrum brings forward again the idea of two pieces of elastic substance. Imagine two pieces of material now of contractile rather than extensile nature, each two inches long, and scored alike. Let the half of one of these pieces be compressed into the dimension of a half -inch, but with retention of markings, as exact, clear, and duly proportionate within the haK-inch as within the full inch. The result is as a three-pulse measure, in relation to a four-count measure (see page 239). The following lines are in the measure of the dimeter trochaic, rising progression. We fix them in mind as cast into four-time : — II I 34 1 2 3 4 12 (16) I wiU look out to his future I will bless it till it shine We next convert the movement to a three-count plan, retaining 1 and 2 intact : — II- I- 3 12 3 12 I will look out to his future , I will bless it till it shine The result is the ditrochee of the molossus. " I will " and " to his " have gone into the space of one count ; but each pair of syllables is still a trochee, and the two musical notes represented by the pair form a trochee likewise.* This elementary illustration estabhshes the golden key to unlock mysteries and complexities of triple-time motives. What- ever exists in four counts of equal length, can exist in three counts of equal length. When in doubt as to the rhythmical character of a motive, or when unable to justify a use of prosodial terms, we employ this key. We determine which one of three counts stands for the particular couple of the four counts ; we enlarge it, mentally, or on paper, to the dimension of its equivalent, and find then that matters become clear. From knowledge thus gained, we see the cause of special and apparently peculiar accents ; and have scientific understanding of the nature of rubato, for the reason that many free-time effects are but as ♦ See page 52, alleluia ; page 204, myaVry telling ; page 208 (Clause 6, at (6)); and page 223, at (e). 246 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO expressive approximations to the quantity of the equivalent. What stands for a " long," may be dwelt upon. I have heard Pachmann play mazurkas in a way that fitted the music to the counting 1-2 3 4, with acceleration of the 1-2, as well as to the coimting 12 3, with retardation of the 1. In order to see still more clearly into the matter, we will alter our counting to half-pulses. This gives us eight and six, the relative position of the particles being : — I II III IV 1-2 3-4 5-6 7^ 12 3-4 5-6 I II III This example fixes pulse 1 of the triple as the puke which has bipartite quahties. Reading the illustration in hne, with smooth phrasing of hyphenated particles, and detached touching of individual particles, we arrive at : — I ir III IV" v VI VH" 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-« i 2 5-4 5-6 which is but our clause of seven pulses or measures, — the clause which in hymns counts as : — III IV' I IF' III I II" 5-6 IS 1-2 d^ 5-6 1-2 3-4 As we noticed in the comparison between the large measure at the end of the Beethoven andante Op. 14, and the minute notes at the beginning of Ende Vom Lied, all rhythm is the same, from the rhythmised portion of a pulse, up to the largest measure, phrase, section, and indeed, entire composition. If we understand one manifestation of the matter, we have the principle that ex- plains all other manifestations, both smaller and greater. Now any pulse of the molossus-measure may be the bipartite member. Therefore any pulse may carry the individual motive. In Study 16 above it was the third pulse. In the following the bipartite puke is the third : — (17) 12 3 12 3 1-2 3-4 5 6 1-2 3-4 5-6 Whatso- ever eyes terr-ene Be the sweetest his have seen 1-2-^ 4 5 6 1 2 3 TRIPLE-TIME 247 This the ditrochee-falling. The catalectic measure produces a musical value of three whole pulses ; which, naturally, is the faUing-anapest of Ex. 20 and Ex. 69. I set Mrs. Browning's itaUcised " 6e " to a dotted note. The immediate outcome of the sense-connection of the words in the third measure of the couplet, compels an affining of counts 4 5 6 (i.e. in the phrase " the sweetest "). These three counts form that minor amphi- brach discussed at length in Chapter XXV. Is it clear that ruhato must attend the utterance of this little amphibrach, the centre of which is pulse 3, and clear likewise, that pulse 3 is of bipartite nature ? (Consider again the first four notes of the alleluia in Study 4, page 240.) Whatever the bipartite pulse, its place is the " secondary accent " of triple-time. A question may come at this moment to trouble the student. The ditrochee of Studies 16 and 17 is constructed of two shorts and two longs, and therefore the motive would seem to be the ionic. No doubt the motive is the ionic ; but to name it such would not help to formulate its shape, to understand its interior cadency, to phrase it, or to pedal it. The mind that would grasp the science of musical rhythm, than which nothing in art is more subtle and elusive, must be an elastic mind, non-combative, and friendly. A sHghtly similar question arose with Ex. 41, page 149. (18) 1 2 3' 1 2" (a) 1 2 3-4 5-6{b)l 2 3-4 Through the for- est have I gone But A-thenian found I none (c) 5 6 1 2 3-4 5-6 1-2-3-4-5-6 3 1' 2 3 (a) " Through the forest " . . . . faUing-ditrochee (6) " have I gone " falling-anapest (c) " but Athenian " rising-ditrochee, with further subdivision in count 1 to provide for the two-syllable character of " -nian " (this not expressed in the counting). (d) " found I none " rising-anapest. Such diversity of phrasing is frequent in Beethoven and other composers of vitahty. It is not found in Chopin and Grieg. Chopin's variety lies in tonal nuance, the ruhato, and enjambment (not enjambment of motive, but of tone, which explains his 248 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO frequent use of the Sustaining-pedal between count 6 and the next count 1; he does not mind if the pedal runs together discordant harmonies, but he releases the pedal immediately count 1 has struck its note.) The task is too elaborate to show in full how motives of triple- time parallel those of quadruple. It is, moreover, one a student may execute for himself, with pencil and paper if the matter is too complex to perform mentally. I therefore leave this phase of study, offering in conclusion a scanning of a line from a hymn which shows one typical aspect of the diiambus in triple-time. If such treatment of material associated with reUgious practice hurts a reader, I can say that there are things in popular hymns which hurt the musician, and that my fabricated specimen of movement represents a type of hymn-rhythm that pleased Church people between, say, 1750 and 1850 : — (19) 3 1—2' 3 1 — 2" 4 5' 6 1-2-3'' 4 5 6' 1-2-3" All hail the power of Je-sus' Name 3 12 3" 1 2 4 5 6 1-2 3-4 5-61-2 3 Let angels pros-trate fall {empty). The orchestra would do something in the gallery to fill up the time of the last three counts. (20) Mozart : Sonata in Z), the Theme and Variations (Chapter XXVI). Study variation 12, as set out on page 228. (21) Mozart : Sonata in A, the first movement. The theme is in triple-time, to the phrase of the falling- ditrochee, as in Ex. 9. The last variation is in quadruple-time : — III IV I II Theme 1-2 3' 4-5 6" 1-2 3' 4-5 6" Far. 6 1 2 3' 4" 5 6' 7 8"1 2 3' 4" 5 6' 7 8" (22) Beethoven : Sotiatu in EJlat, Op. 27, No. 1 ; the first two movements (these are on the same roll), (o) Andante (72 of the J-pulse counts to the minute) : — II I \-jmUe8 5 6 7 — 8' 1 2 3 4 \-puUe8 1-2 3-4 5-6-7-8 1-2 3-4 5-6-7-8 TRIPLE-TIME 249 The andante ends with ^-pulse counts 5-6 7. Let count 5 be as 12 for the sequel. (6) Allegro (108 ^-pulses to the minute). II I l-pulses 5678 1234 (8=) 12123'456"789 10-11" 12 1 23' 466" 7 89 10-11" forte 'piano forte piano There are some splendid trochaic stresses, with detached chords, on the weak particles 6, 12, and 9. This allegro Middle Section ends with a long chord. (c) The andante is resumed, ending with a chord that must be counted 1-2-3-4 5-6-7-8. This chord is a fermata. Let the fermata acquire in mind the further counts 1 2 3 oi triple-time, in preparation for the next movement. There must be no break between the andante and the allegro molto e vivace. {d) Allegro molto e vivace (138 half-pulses a minute). II III' IV I" f pulses 2 3' 4 5" 6 7' 8 1" 45& 7 8 9" 10 11 12' 12 3" 4 56' 7 89" 10 11 12' 123" The above represents the opening clause. There are ten such clauses in the First Section. The last ends I" 1 2 12 3 4^ (the Middle Section is to progress in the faUing measure). The clause-rhythm in the Middle Section is irregular : — Part 1 (played twice) : — II" I II' III IV" V I 3 4" 1 2' 3 4" 5 6' 7 8" 9 10' 1 2" 6 1-2 3' 4r-5 6" ores ff dim piano {trill) Part 2 (played twice) : — (a) II" I II III I' 3 4" 1 2' 3 4" 5 6' 1-2" (6) II III IV I 3 4' 5 6" 7 8' 1 2" cres piano 250 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO This allegro inoUo e vivace piece is, in all respects, mental as executive, one of the more difficult player-piano pieces in our repertory. The entire sonata, indeed, is difficult. I do not re- commend study of it until late, and have brought it forward here because of the exceptional alternations between quadruple and triple metres (observe Study No. 31, page 297). rv Compound Motives of the Molossus (1) Anapest-Amphibrach (page 200 n.) (23) Beethoven : Sonata in A major, Op. 2, No. 2 ; the second movement. First Sentence. Four phrases, each of six pulses, or twelve counts. The bass leads the counting (see page 237 (3)). Empty in Clause 1 upper part Pulses V 2 3" 4 5 6" 1-2 3' 4 (5 6 )" Ccmnts 1-2' 3-4' 5-6'' 7-8 9-10-11-12" T' 8 9 10 11 12" Clause 2 : ends upon counts 1 2' 3-4 5-6" 7-8 9". The remaining counts 10 11 12, contain an amphibrachic hnk into the second sentence. (See Ex. 84, for the cadency of these counts 7-8' 9" 10' 11 12".) Second Sentence. An interludial clause of four measures, i.e. twelve pulses. Third Sentence. As the first sentence, but with ehsion : — I II' III IV' V I 11" r 2 3" 4 5-6" 1 2-3' 4 5-6" 1 2' 3" 1' 2 3' 4 5" piano sf sf sfsf forte ff piano The sentence ends with counts 7-8 9" Fourth Sentence. The motive at first counts : — 6' 1 2 3' 4 5 10 11 12' 1 2 3" 4 5 6' 7 8 9" See Ex. 86, page 209. This motive is the amphibrach-anapest. The rhythms in the remainder of the piece reveal themselves to counting and observation of tonal nuances. Largo appassionalo. 88 coimts to the minute. TRIPLE-TIME 251 (24) Schubert : Sonata in B major, Op. 147 ; the second movement. First Section. The opening theme is as 12 3 12 3 1 2 3' 4 5 6" 1 2' 3-4-^-6" (a) (6) (a) the compound motive of Ex. 84 ; (b) the faUing-anapest. The second sentence has chords in the upper part, one chord to a count. The chord that comes on each even number is full and arpeggiated ; the two-count motive of each pair of counts reflects the trochaic accentuation of the weak particle. The sentence is heralded by 5 6, count 5 being a fortepiano. The sentence begins pianissimo ; the fifth measure is loud, with a sfz on its count 6. Middle Section. The latter portion of First Section gradu- ally estabUshes the rhythmical idea of the Middle Section. This idea is a movement in half-count notes. It is based on the " anapest-amphibrach " of Ex. 85. The figure contains twelve notes. Of these, the first five (counts 1, 2, and the first half of 3) constitute the anapest portion, and the remaining seven (counts 4 5 6, with the latter half of coimt 3) constitute the amphibrach portion. This cadencing of twelve short notes into five and seven, is frequent in music. Measures I-V have molossus chords. Coda. See Study No. 48 of this chapter. Atidante. (25) Bach : Italian Concerto ; the middle movement. The bass maintains the rhythm of the " anapest-amphibrach " (Ex. 84). Counts 2 3 are low in pitch. It may suggest itself to the mind that the bass should be phrased, not 12 3 2 3 1 {a) 1 2 3' 4 5 6", but (6) 2 5" 4 5' 6 i" The latter phraseology gives an iamb (counts 2 3) followed by a diiamb rising into the strong part of the bar (counts 4 5' 6 T'). I do not think this reading the correct one. Accepting the phras- ing (a), we may, on the authority of Ex. 71 (6), shghtly stress the note on count 2 — i.e. the middle of the anapest. The melody is florid, but — to my mind — restrained to the same basic rhythm as the theme of the middle part of Study 24. 252 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Andante. The speed may be about 100 counts to the minute, but tempo must be flexible. (26) Chopin : £!tude in C sharp minor, Op, 25, No. 7. This piece shows a modem treatment of the idea of the Bach. It has two simultaneous melodies, one in the bass, the other in the treble. There is a brief opening recitative, in free time, but counting to IS 1-8, 1-6. Speed : 66 pulses (132 of the counts suggested by the accom- paniment chords) to the minute. (27) Bach : Prelude in E flat minor, Well-tempered Clavier, Bookl. The music moves in solemn, yet impassioned, rhythm, a chord to a pulse. The melodic movement is free and florid, with greater emotional expression than the melody of the Italian Con- certo. This melodic movement should be read as derived from the " anapest-amphibrach " of Ex. 85. Let the counting in six half-pulses be subdivided, so that the measure shall count to twelve quarter-pukes : — Measure I Pulses 1 2 3 l-pulses 12 3 4 5 6 l-pulses 1-2-3-4 5-6-7' 8 1-2-3 4" * The subdivisional counting may be carried on in alternate groups of eight and four. This helps to estabhsh the halves of the compound rh3rthm. Every note sounded after count 7 belongs to the second motive of the measure. In many places the melos floods irresistibly from the end motive of one measure to the beginning motive of the next. Lento. (28) Brahms : Intermezzo in E flat minor. Op. 118, No. 6. This is a modem manifestation of the idea of the Bach Prelude, Study 27. Count 1 2' 3" 4' 5 6", from Ex. 85. Andante, largo e mesto {mesto means " pensive "). * The minute csesurse of constantly moving music need not be in the same place in order to establish a foundational motive. The Schubert figure, and this Bach, are alike dependent upon the anapest-amphibrach of Ex. 85 ; 12 3 yet the Schubert is (a) - ^ , ffG 7 8 1 £ S A" *'*'* ^"^^ Bach is often (6) 1 2 3 ltS46 6r81t9 4*' TRIPLE-TIME 253 (29) Chopin : Polonaise in C minor, Op. 40, No. 2. First Section. The measure is the molossus, variously developed and decorated. The counting of Ex. 29 reveals the inner caesurae : — Phrase 2. Measures 1 II' Pulses 1 2 3' 4 5 6" l-pulse counts 1 2' 1 2 3 Tl 2' 1 2 3 4'' Second Section. The opening phrase is as sf 1 2' 1 2-3 4" 1 2' 1 2' 3 4" fortissimo . . . .piano or, in counting straight through the phrase 1 2' 3 4-5 &' 7 8' 9 10' 11 12" fortissimo . . . piano Trio. The Middle Section of the piece begins after the return of the opening music. It is exceptionally claused, and has dactyls in some of its individual pulses. I abstract the construction of the first sentence : — Measures III IV I Pulses 7 8 9 10 11' 12 1 2" espressivo II III IV (o) 3 4' 5 6 7' 8 9 10" pianissimo I II 11 12" 1' 2 3' 4" 5 6" diminuendo (a) a dactyl now comes for each pulse : pulse 6, however, has no dactyl, but two chords of equal quantity ; the rhythm should poise itseK there for a moment. This remark apphes also to pulse 10. Allegro maestoso. (30) Beethoven : Sonata in E flat, Op. 7 ; the second move- ment. The slow movement of Beethoven's fourth sonata is an example of the larger molossus. It contains in two sections the 254 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO " anapest-amphibrach " with half-pulses 12 3 empty, and half- pulses 4 5 6 filled with three tremendous; fortissimo chords. Largo, con grarh espressione. 50 pulses to the minute. (31) Schubert : Sonata in A major, Op. 120 ; the second move- ment. This little piece deserves study because of its irregular length of clause. The motive of the measure is the familiar 12 3 4 5 6 1-2 3' 4 5 6" 1-2-3' 4 5 &\ III IV charmingly maintained and varied. FiKST Section. ruhato Ist Clause .... III-IV I-II III-I-II 2nd Clause .... III-IV I-II III - IV I-II piano forte piano Second Section. 3rd Clause .... {3rd of the piece). The same form as the first clause. 4th Clause .... III-I-II 5th Clause .... The same form as the first clause. Third Section. 6th Clause .... The same form as the first clause. In this the pulse is divided by three. The trochee of the original motive takes 1-2-3 4 of the new divisional counting, the amphi- brach taking counts 5 6" 7 8 9'\ But in measures III-I of the last phrase, the phras- ing becomes b& 1-2 3' 4 5 6 7 8 9. There may be a tenuto caesura between 3 and 4. 7th Clause .... Ten measures, as six and four. 8th Clause .... Ten measures, as six and four. The four are nuanced thus : — V VI' I 11" forte piano pianissimo 9th and 10th Clauses are as the third and fourth. nth Clause .... III-IV V-VI I-II TRIPLE-TIME 255 Compound Motives of the Molossus (2) (Triple in relation to Quadruple) Ditrochee -falling {see pages 191-2) The rhythm for study in this section is that which counts : Pulses 12 3 Counts 1-2' 3-4-5-6" Among the pieces will be found examples of the " anapest- amphibrach " (Ex. 84) of the preceding section. When counts 1 and 2 have separate notes, the triple-time equivalent of the falling-anapest of Ex. 20 is formed. This anapest is used in the swiftest possible speed in : (a) triple-time — Beethoven : Sonata in D, Op. 28 ; the third movement ; and duple-time — (6) Brahms : Hungarian Dance in F sharp minor ; No. 17 of the set, the vivace sections. (32) Chopin : Mazurla in F, Op. 68, No. 3. FiEST Section. The falling-ditrochee and falling-anapest : — I II Pulses 1 2 3' 4 5—6" f-pulses 1 2' 3—4 5—6" 1 2' 3-4-5-6" J-pulses 1-2-3 4' 1-2-3-4 5-6-7-8" 1-2-3 4' Middle Section. A troublesome detail of accentuation : — Pulses 1 2 3' 4 5 6" 1 2 3' 4 5 6" sf sf Allegro, ma nan troppo. 132 pulses a minute, the middle section faster. (33) Chopin : Mazurka in A flat major. Op. 50, No. 2. (See Study 41 below.) Introduction. The faUing-iamb. The fourth phrase is the antispastus : pulses 1 2-3' 4-5 6", with the two longs tied together. 256 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Middle Section. The ditrochee, as in Study 32. In every bar pulse 3 is stressed. Allegretto. 144 pulses to the minute. (34) Chopin : Mazurka in C, Op. 68, No. 1. Introduction. The falling-ditrochee of pulses 12 3. The trochee on puke 1 is not dotted. The trochee of pulses 2-3 is stressed on the weak particle (in bars 1 and 3). This piece contains the faUing-iamb. Vivace. 168 pulses to the minute. (35) Chopin : Mazurka in G, Op. 67, No. 1, The clause is cadenced as : — I II' III IV" jmlses 1 2 3' 4 5 6" 7 8 9 10 11 12" measure I being rhythmically the strong, or master, point. Thus the clause is as a ditrochee-faUing. Vivace. 160 pulses to the minute. (36) Chopin : Mazurka in G, Op. 50, No. 1. The Middle Section has a melody in the bass : — 12 3 1 2' 3-4 5 6" Pulses 2 and 3 carry a dactyl. Vivace. 66 measures to a minute. (37) Chopin. Mazurka in B major, Op. 41, No. 3. See Ex. 83 (" UneamerUs "). Compare the minuet from Grieg's Sonata, Op. 7. Animato. 66 measures to the minute. The foregoing group of mazurka-studies, has made us famihar with the falling-iamb and its derivatives, the falling-anapest, and the falling-ditrochee. It is, I hope, clear that in these three motives pulse 1 is the pulse with bipartible quahties, and therefore the equivalent of two counts of quadruple-time. The next two studies show further aspects of the falling-iamb. The motives now to be noticed have no individual articulation of pulse 1. TRIPLE-TIME 267 (38) Schubert : Impromptu in A flat, Op. 142, No. 2. First Section. Sentence 1. Phrase 1 III IV I II (6) 7 8 9' 10 11 12" 12 3 4 5-6 1-2' 3-4r^ 6" 1-2' 3-4-^ 6" 1-2 3-4 5-6' 1-2-3-^' pianissimo Sentence 2. The motive is the same, but the music is now chordal (not melodic, as in Sentence 1) : — III IV 7 8 9' 10 11 12" (6) 1-2 3-4-5' 6" 1-2 3-4r^' 6" forte The sentence is irregular, and its tonal nuances and general effect are representative of Schubert (helping to understanding of such elaborate movements as the scherzo of the Sonata in A minor, Op. 42) : — III IV' V VI" VII VEii' IX X" xi-xir xiii-xiv" i ii" forte fortissimo sffp sffp p pp There is a pause on the second pulse of II. Trio. The accompaniment is pure falling-iamb. You may compare the music here with the music of the Trio to the second movement of the Moonlight Sonata. (39) Grieg : Aus dem Volksleben, Op. 19, No. 1—' On the Mountains." First Section. As is frequently the case with music of which the clause-rhythm is the eight-measure, starting on III and ending on II, Grieg's Auf den Bergen begins with a six-pulse note that represents measures I-II. The first note of this piece is therefore outside the clause, the movement beginning when the note has run its course. Beet- hoven's allegretto, in the Symphony in A major, affords an example of this device, the main object of which is to steady the rhythm at the outset, and to fix the position of the strong measure, also to estabhsh the fact that each pair of measures forms a faUing- phrase, the even-numbered measure being sufl&xal. ^58 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Clause 1 Phrase 1 III IV' V w* pulses r 8 9" 10' 11 12" 1' 2 3" 4' 5 6" \-'pulse8 1-2' 3 45 6" 7-8' 9 10 11-12" 1-2' 3 45 6" 7-8 9-10-11-12* Phrase 2 VII VIII' I II" 7' 8 9" 10' 11 12" 1' 2 3" 4' 5-6 sf sf The sf to pulse 12 in the second phrase, is important, and characteristic of the piece. There are nine clauses. The last has ten measures : — Clause 9 fortissimo sostenuto moUo III IV' V VI" VII vni' IX X" I II" (a) (6) (a) canon between bass and treble, the bass leading. (6) a chord to a pulse, marcato. Middle Section. Sentence 1. The tone is pianissimo, and the spirit tranquillo. There are three phrases in the sentence : — (1) {2)delicato (3) III IV' V VI" VII VIII" IX X' 1 11" 7' 8 9 10-11" 12 1' 2 3 4-5" Observe the cadency of each pair of measures in phrases 1 and 3, and see Ex. 43. This sentence is played twice. The remainder of the Middle Section contains five clauses, these repeated as a whole. The first clause of the five presents the theme of the Middle Section in canon, the treble leading, and the bass answering at a distance of three pulses. TRIPLE-TIME 259 The third and fourth clauses present in combination the themes of First and Second Sections ; at first the theme of the Second Section is in treble. The fifth clause is in double-fortissimo tone. Some of its mea- sures have the dactyl (here rugged and tumultuous) of Ex. 73 : 12 3 1-2 {-3-4)' 5 6" These are powerful moments in the piece. Third Section. The last clause is ffz. Measures VII VHF I II" are moUo ritard, the last of them lento. The section ends with a loud chord on the final pulse. This is followed by an empty measure, fermata, the movement arrested, and ever3rthing " in the air." Let this empty time be as a quantity of imagined measures I-II-III. Coda. Presto. Count four clauses, as foUows : — (1) IV' V VI VII" VIII' i II III" ten ten (2) IV' V VI VII" VIII' IX X' XI XII" ores sf (3) I II III IV V VI VII VIII' IX X XI XII' I" (4) II I fzfz VI Syncopation by Change of Ictus A phrase may have its six counts stressed according to the molossus. This brings a three-pulse cadency into the time of the two-pulse : — I II Two pulses 1 2 3' 4 5 6" Three pulses 1 2' 3 4' 5 6" I II III The composer does not indicate the syncopation by change of time-signature, but by slurs. Instead of blending the divisions 260 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO into the groups of 1 2 3 and 4 5 6, he blends them into the groups of 1 2, 3 4, and 5 6. Usually he places stress-signs against 3 and 5. The slurs cannot be transferred to the roll. The stress-signs are transferred ; but we are likely to consider 1 O O X F\ A r r as indicating the figures of Ex. 69 and Ex. 68, and so to place the caBSurse as 1 2 3' 4 5 6". The harmony will probably tell us that the bar contains three pulses. The reverse syncopation, where the spondee of 1 2 3' 4 5 6" replaces the molossus of 1 2' 3 4' 5 6", is spoken of in Chapter XXXI. The molossus-swper-spondee syncopation appears in Studies 40-46 below, also in (a). Study 52, page 265 (measures 68-69, 70-71), simple chords; (b) Weber: Momento capriccioso, Op. 12 (second sentence), hissected-chord accompaniment; and (c), Study 65, page 276 (second sentence), subsidiary rhythms. (40) Beethoven : Sonata in E flat, Op. 31, No. 3; the third movement. Trio. Second Sentence. The change of ictus produces the diiamb of quadruple-time : — I II I II I II 6 1-2' 3 4-5" 6 1' 2 3" 4 5' 6 1" 2 3' 4 5" (41) Chopin : Mazurka, Op. 50, No. 2. See Study 33 of this chapter. Count into the piece by means of twelve-pulse phrases. The eighth phrase is — in the bass — as follows : — I II III IV 1_{2)' 3-4' 5 6" (1) 2 3' (4) 5 6" (Pulse-counts in brackets, represent empty times). The ninth phrase is as : — Rit I II IIP I II' III IV' (a) (1) 2 3' 4 5 6" 7 8 9" (b) 1 2' 3-4 5 6" 1 2' 3 4' 5 6" The nine-pulse phrase (a) is exceptional in Chopin. The passage is one of those where, without knowledge of the rhythm, the performer is always lost. But because the rhythmical variation is not shown in the metre (by some such means as a change as TRIPLE-TIME 261 time-signature) few musicians are able to explain to the student why he is for the moment confused.* (42) See Study 3 of Chapter XXVI (page 233), clauses 9, 10. (43) Grieg : Einsamer Wanderer (" Solitary Traveller "), Op. 43, No. 2. The place of the syncopation is at a ritardando after a crescendo and stretto. The cross motives are two-count chords in bass and accompaniment, and in melody they are the trochee of equal particles. The syncopation occurs in two places. (44) Weber : Sonata in C, Op. 24 ; the third movement. After the first full-close of the fortissimo the motive becomes the rising-anapest, as in Ex. 13. The lower part of the music strikes the same four-note chord to each pulse : — QJ Q'f QJ QJ Of l-pulse counts 1-2-3-4'' 561-2^345-612 3-4' 5 6 1-2' 3 4 5-6 pulses 12 312312 3123 I II III IV There are other forms of syncopation in this piece, which are too intricate to analyse here, but are readily understandable by help of half-pulse counting. The four notes that open the minuet take half-pulses 5 6 12. (45) Brahms : Intermezzo in E flat major, Op. 117, No. 1. Another form of syncopation by change of ictus, is that which ties the short of the trochee in one bar to the short of the falling- iamb in the next bar. This gives a note for pulses 1-2, another for pulses 3-4, and a third note for pulses 5-6. The end of the First Section has several bars where I II I II (a) 1-2-3 4-5-6 becomes (6)1-2 3-4 5-6 * In Study 32 above, if you cannot imagine in 1 2 3 time the opening chords of the trio, you may cadence them thus: 1 2 3' 4 5 6" 1 2' 3 4' 5 6" Sf 8f You will then take each pair of counts as the duple-time trochee, with weak particle stressed. Were this book any but an elementary work on music, I should take the student more deeply into mazurka rhythms, and show him how nearly all curious accentuations are merely enforcements of the syncopa- tion by change of ictus. The mazurka-phrase has six pulses ; the signature is that of triple-time, two bars making a phrase ; and we have to regard the mazurka from the triple-time standard : but a number of the phrases are in the larger molossus, and would more legibly be written in the bar of three minims, with binary division of the minim. 262 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO (46) Schumann : Bes Abends, Op. 12, No. 1. Observe that the melody is syncopated as in Study No. 45 (except in moments where it becomes as o_q ak r\\ The melody can be read from the roll, because its perforations are twice the length of the perforations of the other parts. An important feature sometimes attends these syncopations. Empty times may appear in them. The syncopation of II I 2-3 4-6 6-1 is especially prone to have its count 1 empty. I personally find it convenient, in moments of complexity, to look on the pair of measures as containing then the falling-iamb (1 2-3) and the trochee (4-5 6), with the short of the faUing-iamb empty. The most famous example of this motive occurs in Schumann's piano- forte concerto. (Ex. 80, " grave action ".) (47) Weber : Sonata in A flat, Op. 39 ; the third movement, See the second sentence of the Menuetto capriccioso, where there is a bright melody high in the treble, in detached notes.* (48) Schubert : Sonata in B, Op. 147 ; the second movement (See Study No. 24 above). Coda. A strange syncopation characterises the six molossus measures of the coda. These lie as (c) (a) (6) IV V VI I' II III", thus constituting three phrases. It will be remembered that the piece was practised to half-pulse counting. The syncopation is the superimposing of a compound-motive of quadruple-time. This motive is the amphibrach of Ex 21 {1 2-3 4) plus the falling-iamb of Ex. 24 {1 2-3-4). How the motive is imposed is shown in the following outline of the three phrases of this coda. The quadruple-time motive is to be regarded as a rising-rhythm — // I 5 6-7 8' 1 2-3-4'\ • The Middle Section of the Schumann NoveUeUe in B minor. Op. SI, No. 3, is constructed entirely upon these syncopated motives and rhythms. I do not suggest the piece for general study, because its mental difficulties are extreme. See also Brahms, Cajtriceio, Op. 116, No. J, from 6th phrase. TRIPLE-TIMU 263 80 that it may agree cadentially with the cadency of the two- molossus phrase. The figures in ordinary type represent the half-pulse counting in the native triple-metre ; the figures in itaUcs represent the same half-pulses, but these follow the order and sequence which belongs to the compound-motive in its native quadruple-metre. IV sf V sf VI fp r dim 7 8-9 10' 1112-1-2" 3 4-5 6' 7 8-9-10" 11 12-1 2' 3 4-5-6" 5 6-7 8' 1 ^-3-4" 5 6-7 8' 12-3-4" 5 6— 7 8' 1 2-3-4'' II sf IIP IV sf T VI fp r dim II III" 7 8-9 10' 11 12' 1—2—3-4-5-6" 5 6-7 8' 9 10' 11 12' 1-2-3-4" II IIP r Writers on the player-piano sometimes remark that we cannot hope to play a piece well unless we are told its metre ; and that if the piece has a bar with a pulse more or less than the prevaiUng number, we are bound to be confused until we have located the variation. But a pulse more or less is a simple matter, of no greater import than an added or subtracted lace-hole in a boot. A measure more or less is not a simple matter, but a vital one, as essential as the fit of the boot in which we take a walk. The teacher or performer who thinks only to the degree of the pulses in the bar, is as the man who wants concrete facts, and there an end ; but the man who thinks in clause rhythm and phrase cadency is as the man who desires the spirituahty and significance of facts, to which is no end. VII Sextuple in relation to Quadruple Ditrochee and Diiamb The ditrochaeus of Ex. 9-10, and the diiambic of Ex. 11-12, are less used than their quadruple-time equivalents. On page 123 I said ditrochee and diiamb constitute, in Rhythm, the spondee-measure. But on page 238 {6), I said it was advisable in the study of triple-time to let the three counts of the metre constitute a measure, even in the case of 264 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO the one-pulse times. Therefore in this present section I tenn the trochee a measure, and the ditrochee a phrase. (49) Sibehus : Idyl, Op. 24, No. 6. The falling-ditrochee. Each pair of measures is in falling rhythm, and each two-phrase clause is the same : — Measures I IF III IV" Pulses 1-2 3' 4-5 6" 7 8 9' 10-11 12" i-pulses 1-2-3' 4 5-6 (a) (a) The half-pulse 4 is prefixal. It should be clearly articulated, and a sUght tenuto be given to puke 9. (50) Grieg : Sonata in E minor. Op. 7 ; the third movement. Minuet. The trochee and the falhng-iamb are simultaneously present. Read the six-coimt phrase as in rising cadence : — II I upper part 4 5-6' 1 2-3" hass 4-5 6' 1-2 3" The second sentence is syncopated in the upper part, but metrically direct in the bass. It has eleven measures, which he as : — n III' IV I" U III' IV I" II III I" 3 4 5" 6 1' 2 3" 1 2 3" Trio. The divisions of the pulse are ternary, but at times a pulse divides into four equal notes. Alia Menueilo, ma poco 'piu lento. (" Like a minuet, but a little slower.") (51) Bach : Prelude in C sharp major, from Well-tem2)€red Clavier, Book 1. The ditrochee. The phrase is falling — I II 1-2 3' 4-5 6" The clause is as : III IV' V VI" VII VIII" I 11" («) / N Ti, 1 ^ • ,,1-2 3-4 5 6" (a) The melody is syncopated : j jj TRIPLE-TIME 265 Part 1. Seven clauses. Nos. 1-3, of eight measures, as above. „ 4 of ten measures. „ 5 of twelve measures. „ 6-7 of eight measures. The last pair of measures of each clause are as I II". Part 2. Five clauses, the fourth of ten measures. The motive is as Ex. 68. The final chords are as the text, "-claims . dig- ni-fy'd:' of Ex. 80. Vivace. (A buoyant style and tempo.) (52) Schubert : Impromptu in Aflat, Op. 90, No. 4. First Section. The clauses are of six or eight measures. The bass part is the phrase of faUing-iamb and trochee, with longs tied : — I II 1 2-3-4-5 6 Where the music moves in one-pulse chords, the cadency is : — I (a) 12 3' (6) 4 5 6" > > > (o) Ex. 71,6; (6) Ex.69. Middle Section. Four-measure phrases, as I II' III IV". There is in the melody a beautiful syncopation, of the order shown in Ex. 67. Last Section. The final clauses are as : — forte cres sff III IV' V VI" I II III" // // I II' III IV V" VI I" (53) Beethoven : Sonata in D, Op. 10, No. 3 ; the third move- ment. This minuet is one of the pieces which, easy for pianist, are difficult for playerist. The difficulty hes in the stresses and deUcate caesurae. The second sentence of the minuet is " imitative." Read the sentences as : V VI' VII VIII" I II" III IV". 266 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO The last sentence of the minuet is as : — p cres rubcUo V VI' VII VIII" I II" piano pianissimo 111 IV' V VI' VII VIII" pp vpp I II III IV' V vr I ir III IV". Trio. Diiambic phrases. Counts 8 9' 10 11, are empty at the end of the Trio. Allegro. 84 sets of three pulses to the minute. (54) Beethoven : Moonlight Sonata, Op. 27, No. 2 ; the second movement. The pure diiamb, with several feminine caesurae, and conse- quently with trochaic bars. Observe a s3mcopation in the melody :-%! ^' S^^" vni Simple Motive of the Molossus Amphibrach When no puke of the molossus measure has bipartite qualities, the motive of the triple-time amphibrach (Ex, 71 (a)) is the result. But the middle pulse of the motive is still the equivalent of a two-count particle in quadruple-time,* and that pulse may be individually inflected, also it may take in performance a generous rubato. The inflecting it receives is usually the dotted note trochee. The falling-amphibrach is shown in Ex. 71 (6), and the equi- valent of this is shown in Ex. 21. We studied compoimd motives derived from the amphibrach-faUing in section V of this chapter. We could similarly study compound motives derived from the rising-amphibrach, but to no gain of intellectual apprehension of rhythm, certainty of pedalling, and freedom of rubato. I therefore restrict study in this section, to the amphibrach as a simple representation of the molossus measure. • You may test this with the tune Old 104th, and the hymn — O worship the Ring AU -glorious a-bove ; O gratefully sing His power and His love TRIPLE-TIME 267 (55) Mendelssohn : Christmas Piece in G, Op. 72, No. 1. The clause-rhythm may be read as : — TYiezzoforte II III' IV I" 3 4 5' 6 1 2" 3 4 5' 6 1-2 «/ «/ «/«/ Clause 5 : the final pulse of the motive (pulses 5 and 2) is emphasised by a stressed note in the bass. The stress should be confined, if possible, to the single note of the bass, not carried into the chord. Allegro nan tropj)o. (56) Schumann : Kinderscenen, Op. 15, No. 2 — " Funny Story." 112 pulses to the minute. (57) Schumann : Kinderscenen, Op. 15, No. 6 — " An Im- portant Event." Sentence 1. The alternate measures have the rising-amphi- brach* in sohd chords : e r r r .«/ sfsfsf Sentence 2. The motive is a faUing-rhythm : — III IV' V VI" VII VIII' I II" 6 1-2 3' 4-5 6" 1 2 3 4-5-6" 1 2 3' 4 5 6" 1 2 3' 4-5 fortissimo marcato (58) Beethoven : Sonata in A major, Op. 2, No. 2 ; the third movement. This is a piece to dehght the player virtuoso. First Section. One sentence (repeated) : — piano Phrase 1 III IV' V VI" 6 7 8' 9 10 11" 12 1' 2 3 4-5 (a) * But the rhythm is best conceived as a compound-motive of iamb-diirochee I II The ditrochee (2 3' 4 5") is of equal stress in each particle, 6 1" 2 3' 4 5" and therefore is as a dispondee. The same compound- motive is in the Chopiif PreZt«ie in A major. Op. 28, No. 7; here, however, the ditrochee is an anapest, pulses 4 and 5 being tied. See Ex. 43 (page 150), and the last line of the hymn quoted on page 266 ; also the Schubert Scherzo in B flat, page 99. With regard to Study No. 58, page 267, you may couple this Beethoven scherzo with the Brahms Intermezzo in A major. Op. 118, No. S, and reconsider the remarks on page 95, 268 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO (a) " iamb-anapest," — see Ex. 43, and compare the hymn " His power' and His love"." The long of anapest inflected. Phrase 2 has the same form as phrase 1. Second Section. Two sentences : — Sentence 1 : — Phrase 1 III IV' V VI" 6 7 8' 9 10 ir 12 1 2 3' 4 5" cres (6) forte (6) The phrasing of measures V-VI is as " gratefully' sing"." Phrase 2 VII VIII' IX X XI' I 11" 6 7 8' 9 10 11" 12 1 2 3' 4 5 (6)' 7 8-(9)" (1) 2 3' 4" jpiano cres forte fff piano (c) Pulses in brackets are empty times, (c) The anapest of Ex. 70. Sentence 2 Phrase 1 III IV V VI 5 6' 7-8 9' 10 11 12" 1 2 3' 4" tr Phrase 2 ritardando VII VIII IX' I II' III IV I 11" 5 6' 7-8 9" 12 3' 4 5 6" 12 3' 4 5 6" 7 8 9' 10 11 12" (12 3 45) cres dim pianissimo Third Section as First, but of twelve measures only. Trio. Three sentences, all as III IV' V VI" VII VIII' I 11". There are the usual repeats. The music is characterised by sforzato weak measures (IV, VI). The last sentence is as : — III IV — V VI — VII viir I 11" fp sf 8f sf ff 1' 2 3 4-5" /// The Scherzo is repeated as usual after the trio. The style is allegretto, and the speed 60 measures to the minute. TRIPLE-TIME 269 (59) Beethoven : Sonata in F, Op. 10, No. 2 ; the second movement. The falling-amphibrach of Ex. 71 (6) sometimes appears amid plain trochees in the office of secondary rhythm. It is then re- duced to a single note, the note being the stressed middle pulse. This feature appears in the trio of the allegretto of Beethoven's Op. 10, No. 2 (see again Clause 5 of Study 55 above). Allegretto. The movement is derived from the ditrochee of Ex. 9 :— Sentence 1 III IV' V VI" VII VIII' I II" 6 7 8 9' 10 11 12" 1 2 3' 4 5 6" 7-8 9' 10-11 12" 1-2 3 4-5" ten Sentence 2. Each measure has its end-pulse stressed, in the way of the trochee.* The middle pulse of the measure is, moreover, broken ; and so the measure reads in half-pulse counting, as : 1-2 3 4' 5-6. The sentence may be compared with the Middle Section of Study 33 (page 255). Measure II of the sentence is Sifermata. Sentence 3 has but six measures : — III IV' V VI' I II" piano pianissimo * Wherever the final particle of the triple-time trochee of Ex. 5 is made prominent by stress, the motive is approximating to the spondee of Ex. 7. This means that the pulse 3 may be played in rubato. The remark is of general application. The stressed pulse 2 of the trochee in the trio of the above Beethoven approximates the trochee to the quad- ruple-time amphibrach of Ex. 22, and so we may make a slight tenuto poise in the middle of the measure. See Study No. 55. Many of Beethoven's acci- dental (that is, non-metrical) accentuations, are not so much dynamic and physical as agogic and quantitative. Therefore the symbols sf and ten {tenuto) are sometimes of the same denotation, and we need not of necessity sharply stress the note carrying the sf. I am not aware that this observation has been previously made. Attention to the principle it implies adds to the expression and variety of music. The difficulty of individual stress in piano-player performance, and the ease of rubato and pause, make the principle valuable in the extreme for the playerist. I have brought it to notice only in a manner more or less en passant ; but I wish to emphasise its vital importance, and to say, once for all, that it repre- sents the key -fact of the art of our new instrument, and that the entire matter of Chapters XIX-XXVIII of this book are an attempt to give the student the scientific knowledge of rhythm which will enable him to apply the principle. 270 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Trio. There are ten eight-measure sentences. The motive gradually settles into the pure trochee (compare Study No. 63). It is in the third sentence that the amphibrachic accentuation of the middle pulse of the motive makes its appearance. The final (the eleventh) sentence has six measures. When this composition has been studied to the clause-rhythm adopted for my remarks above, its clause-rhythm should be recast into the form adopted for Studies 53 and 54 ; that is, into (1) the 'phrase of the faUing-ditrochee, and (2) the sentence of the rising-spondee : — 'phrase B phrase A . . . v-vi vii-vnr i-ii iii-iv. The recasting gives extreme hghtness to the catalectic phrases (the empty times) of the trio. 76 measures to the minute. (60) Schumann : Grillen (" Whimsical Notions "), Op. 12, No. 4. First Section. Sentence 1 appears four times before Sentence 2. III IV' V VI" VII VIII' I 11" 6 7 8 9' 10 11 12" 1-2 3-4" 5 6 7' 8 9 10' 11 12 1' 2 3 4-5" (a) (6) sf (c) id) (o) The amphibrach of Ex. 71 (6), with anacrusis, i.e. the antispastus. (6) Syncopation, as in Ex. 66. (c) The anapest of Ex. 70. {d) The bass gives a note to pulse 5, and so pulses 2 3' 4 5" are as a square rising-ditrochee of quadruple-time. Sentence 2. The middle-pulse of the motive is as in No, 59, i.e. : {1-2' 3 4 5-6"). Later, the same division continues, but the end puke is stressed — ^ ~ . ' and the motive becomes as 3 1 2'. ^ > Middle Section. Here is the syncopation of Study No. 54, carried into the entire chord. Sentence 1. Clause 1 : — piano III IF V VI" 6-7 8 9' 10-11" 12-1 2 3' 4-5 TRIPLE-TIME 371 Clause 2 : — piano cres f ff VII viir I 11" III IV I 11" 6-7 8 9' 10-11" 12-1 2' 3-4 5" (1) 2—3 4-5 6' 1' 2 3 4-5 (^) (/) grave action dignify' d (g) (e) There is no count 6. (/) Pulse 1 is empty. Measures III-IV : see the remark that leads into Study No. 47 of this chapter. (^f) The verbal pattern is from Ex. 80. Sentence 2. Clause 1 jnano III IV' V VI 6-7' 8 9-10 11" 12 1 2 3' 4-5 Clause 2 PP vir viii" I II" 6-7 8' 9-10 11" 12-1 2-3' 4 5" ten ten ten ten Mit Humor. 72 measures a minute. (61) Beethoven : Sonata in BJlat, Op. 22 ; the third movement. Sentence 1 (repeated) IV' V VI' VII" viir I II' III" 9 10-11' 12 1 2" 3' 4 5 6' 7 8" cres ruhato piano piano ruhato Sentence 2 IV V VI VII" VIII I' II III" 9 10 11 12 1' 2-3" 4' 5 6' 7-8" piano cres ff (a) (a) The faUing-amphibrach. The entire sentence is difficult. Sentence 4 : IV' V VI" I II III" Trio. Two sentences. Sentence 1 : the opening phrase is given in Ex. 42. The motive is the " rising- trochee " ; but in the second phrase the 272 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO inner movement of the music converts the motive to its native form of the anapest of Ex. 70. Sentence 2. The first phrase has the normal iamb, very heavily stressed in its anacrusis. 126 pulses a minute. IX Rising- Anapest in Triple-time The three-count anapest in particles of equal quantity (Ex. 70), has been apparent in several of the immediately preceding studies. The pieces in this section show the motive of this anapest under different conditions. (62) Bach : Prelude in G mirwr, from English Suitss (No. 3). First Section. Four clauses. Clause 1 III IV v VI vir VIII I II (1)' 2 3 ^ 5 6 r l-ZS-^' Clause 2 rit III IV' V VI" VII viir I II" 5 6' 1 2 3' ^' 5 & r 2 5" 4' 5 6" (a) (a) Imagine a motive as : 5-6 1-2-3 4, and compare this with the motive of Ex. 22. Clause 3 sf m ir V VI" I II m" 1-2-3 4-5-6 r Clause 4 IV V VI VH" viir IX X' I II 2 3' 4 5 6 r 2 3' 4 5 6" 1 2 3' 4 5 6" 1-2 3-4 5 6 Second Section. The last note of the full-close of First Section is also the first note of Second Section. Four clauses : Clause 1 piano rit m IV' V VI' vu vni' i n" Clause 2 ores sf forte dim p forte dim III IV' V VI" vu viir IX X' I II" TRIPLE-TIME 273 Clause 3 y ores forte dim p forte dim III IV' V VI' VII viir IX X' I 11" Clause 4 cres forte dim piano III IV' V VI' I II III" rit 12 3-4 5 6' i" Third Section. This is the same as the First ; and so the counting at the end of the Second Section links up with the counting at the beginning of the First. The piece contains seven sections, all formed of the material of the two opening sections. The Sixth Section has trills. Allegro. (Spitta : " The character of the English Suites, which strives after what is rich and grand in effect, is revealed in the preludes. . . . These, which at once Uft the hearer into a higher and graver atmosphere, are masterpieces of Bach's writing for the clavier. . . . They are planned on the grandest scale and elaborated with great variety. . . . That in G minor is developed on the plan of the first movement of an (Itahan) concerto, and its form is also similar to that of the concerto, but is more fantastic " (i.e. free, as a " fantasia ")). (63) Schubert : Sonata in D, Op. 53 ; the third movement. The two rising particles of the anapest of Ex. 70 form a detail of certain motives which are not anapestic, but trochaic. Thus the ditrochee formed of the particles 5 6' 1-2 3", contains these anacruses. But where in the anapest of Ex. 70 the movement is either hght and swift or abrupt and soHd, in this type of ditrochee the movement is vivacious rather than swift, and strong rather than solid. The quantity of count (or pulse) 4 may be empty, or it may be acquired by the fourth note of the ditrochee. Under the first conditions, there is power on count 1 ; under the second condi- tions, there is usually special emphasis on the count 3. The trochaic element of counts 5 6, since that it is an element, has the quahty of detachment. It may therefore be individually articulated, with a caesura between 6 and 1. Scherzo. The motive is as Ex. 65. But the first trochee is converted into a subsidiary compound motive. Count 5 is trochaised into the dotted-note figure. It has also a quarter- 274 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO pulse anacrusis. Thus pulse 5 becomes an amphibrach of the subsidiary order. And pulse 6 is itself trochaised into the dotted note figure. Thus pulses 5 and 6 have five notes, with a minute caesura between the third and fourth. Of the five notes, the last but one is capable of bearing a tenuto in moments of clausular climax. Schubert sometimes gives it a briUiant httle decoration. A verbal pattern of the six-pulse motive of this sonata move- ment might be : — Measures I II Pulses 2 3' 1 — 2 3 — 1" The people' crowding' stand . . fast .... ^pulses 2) 3-4 5-6 1-2 3-4 5-6 1-{2" sf sf First Section. It must be clearly estabhshed in the mind, from the opening measure, that the time is triple, and that the six counts of the motive are the sextuple 1-2-3 4-5-6. Sentence 1 fortissimo 111 IV' V VI" VII viir 1 11" 5 6' 1-2 3-4" 5 6' 1-2 3^ sf sf sf sf Sentence 2 piano III IV' V vr I 11" 5 6' 7 8 9-10' 11 12" 1 2 3-4' 5 6 7 8' 9-10 sf sf sf III IV' V VI' I 11" 11 12' 1-2 3-4" 5 6' 1-2 3-4" «/ «/ «/ «/ The foregoing two sentences are played twice. Second Section. Sentence 1 fortissimo III IV' V VI" VII VIIl" IX X' I 11" 5 6' 1-2 3-4 5 6' 1 2 3' 4 5-6" 1-2 3-4' 5 6" 1-2 3-4" sf sf sf sf sf sf sf sf (o) {b) TRIPLE-TIME 275 (a) Syncopation by change of ictus (page 259). (6) The falling-ditrochee (or, major ionic : see Ex. 66). Trio. The motive now lies within the six pulses from 1 to 6. The foundation of the motive is the ditrochee of Ex. 9 (Compare Study No. 39, page 257). First Section. piano sf sf Clause 1 III IV' V VI" VII VIII' I II" (5 6) 1-2 3' 4 5 6" 1 2 3' 4 5 6" fP fp ores sf dim pp sf Clause 2 III IV' V VI" VII VIII' IX — X' I II" (a) (0) An empty /ermato between pulses 3 and 4 of IX-X, but still a sense of the affinity between IX and X. Allegro vivace. (64) Schumann : Aufschwung (" Soaring "), Op. 12, No. 2. A piece which gathers together many of the foundational motives of triple-time : — First Section. forte sf (1) Opening theme :— III IV' I II" 5 & 1-2 3' 4" 5 6' 1-2 5-(4)" (2) End of sentence 1 sf III IV' I II" III IV I II" 5 6' 1-2 3-4 5-6" 1-2 3-^ 5-6" 1-2-3 4-5-6' l-2-3-{4)" Second Section. (3) The rising ditrochee of Ex. 10. Middle Section. mf (4) The clause of :— V VI VII VIII' I II III IV" sf sf The return to the recapitulation of First Section, is made by fragmentary appearances of the opening theme — either the first three notes, or the first five. Thus the student has here an oppor- tunity to exercise his power of rhythmical phrasing to the full, 276 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO because the notes must be played as though the theme were given entire. Sehr rasch {" jnesto "). But 'presto here does not mean prestis- simo, since the element signified by each roman numeral has the speed of only 80 to the minute. Rising-Diiambus of the Molossus Measure The 19th Study in this chapter shows how the rising-diiambic of Ex. 12 adjusts itself to the molossus measure. (65) Schubert : Sonata in D, Op. 53 ; the second movement. First Section. The opening theme is the diiambic of 6 1 — 2 iff 6 1-2-3" But the amphibrachic cadency described at the beginning oi Chapter XX prevails. The affinity of the particles is therefore not as All hail' the power", but as a-tmning' flowers''. Schubert stresses the metrically strong particles — i.e. the " long " of each iamb, half-pukes 5 and 1. This stressing reveals 6' 1-2" the larger iambic foundation of the motive — r r . He also ties the bass-notes of half-pulses 4 and 5. ^ ^ Sentence 1 (played twice). pia.r\jo mf forte piano III IV' V VI" VII viir I II" 6 1 — 2' 3 4-5" 4 5 e' 1-2-3" Sentence 2 : contains a syncopation whereby the quadruple- time diiamb oi 2 3' 4 5" is imposed on the prevaiUng metre. As in other studies, I set out the sjoicopation to two forms of counting, one of which shows the prevailing movement, the other the syncopated (see page 259, *' Syncopation by change of ictus"). Ill IV' I ir 6 1 — 2' 3 4 5" 6 1' 2 3" 4 5' 4 5 ff 1-2-3" 4 5 & 1-2-3" 4 5 6' 1" 2 3' 4 5" 6 T 8 1" f ff piano pianissimo rit TRIPLE-TIME 277 I 11" 6 12 3 4 — 5" 2 3' 4 r2 3-4 5-6' 1-2-3'* area forte Sentence 3 : III IV V VI" VII VIII' 1 11" Q 1 2* 3 4 5" 6 1 2' 3 i 5 " 456' l-g-3" 4 5 6' 1-2-3" 4 5 6' 1 S S" 4 S 6' 1-S-S" sj cres sf forte piano Sentence 4 : as Sentence 2, but with three measures in place of the first two : — rit III IV V I II' I II" ff V PP fp The tonal nuances are different, the final cadence (pulses 2 3 4-5) being piano. Sentence 5 is as sentence 1, but with Schubertian prolonga- tions : — III IV V VI" I II-III' IV-V VI" I II" sfsf p PP f mf Second Section. The same main structure continues : but syncopations are so minute and elaborate, and accentuations so close and fine, that the music may only be studied to quarter- pulse counting. Different syncopations, moreover, occur simultaneously in treble and bass. The rhythmical situation is further complicated by the circumstance that the sentences are of nine-measure length. The plan of the counting to be adopted is indicated in the following abstract of the opening two measures. The figures (a) represent the upper part of the music, and the figures (&) the lower. Each subsidiary motive, however minute, will be seen to be one of the motives with which we are already acquainted. Measures HI IV Pulses 6 12 3 4 5 6 i-pulsea 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 sf sf sf sf i-pulses (o) 7-8 r 2-3 4 1-2" 3-4-5" 6-7 8 T 2-3 4 1-2' 3-4-5-6" (6) 3 4 r2-3 4 5" 7 8 1' 3 4 1' 2-3 4 5' 6 7 8 1-2" sf sf sf sf sf 278 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Each voice should be learnt independently of the companion voice. It is possible to close the mind to all but one particular hne out of two or more polymetrical hnes. Then, when each line is known as a separate thing, the two Unes may be combined, with some fair chance of your being able to retain the separate individuaUty of each voice. Should you find this piece unplayable, you may perhaps console yourself with the knowledge that the accentuations are more suitable for strings than for piano, and that even the clever pianist can only perform such a passage as this under the hypnotistic control of rhythm, when the intellectual will and the conscious effort are not at work. The above syncopations, and other syncopations which come later in this section of the piece, are entirely natural, and the music is as easy to play in the bulk as a hymn- tune ; but it must be known first. The later syncopations are chordal. Sentence 1. (Remember that there are four phrases in the sentence, and that the third phrase contains, not two measures but three. And remember also when counting in half-pulses that the three-measure phrase runs its counts to eighteen.) J(Mi€ fortiMimo m IV V VT' Vu vni ix* i ir- i-^pvlaea..l-2 3-4-S 6-7 «' 1-2 3-4-r2-3 € 5-6 7-8-1 12 3 4 6 6 Sentence 2 'pianissimo una corda dim III IV' V VI" VII VIII IX' I 11" l-pulses 1 2-3' 4-5 6" 7 8-9' 10-11 12" 12 3 4 5 6 ritard Sentence 3 piano tuUe corde III IV' V VI" VII Vlir I 11" dim Sentence 4 : as sentence 1. Sentence 5. Nine measures, in extension and development of the ideas of the concluding measures of Sentence 4. In measures TRIPLE-TIME 279 V-IX, the chordal syncopation is continuous. The last two measures are as : — I II (1) 2 3 4 5 (1) 2-3 4' (5) 6-7 8" (9)" sf p ppp The figures in brackets are empty times. There is afermata on (9). With I- pulses 10 IT 12" the Third Section begins, where the music is the same as in the First Section. Third Section. The melody is accompanied by a decorative figure. The decoration is even more deUcate in character than the accentuations in Section 2. Fourth Section : as Second. Coda : based on First Section, with a syncopated chordal figure fiUing the quantity of the long note of the motive. Con moto. XI The Subsidiary Amphibrach I gave in Chapter XXV, section V, a minute analysis of a seemingly unimportant detail in Schumann's Ende vom Lied — the subsidiary motive of the fourth pulse of the piece. The motive was the httle amphibrach of three notes, all the notes being of equal quantity, as present in triple-time. I now end this chapter of studies in triple-time music, with two compositions that display the same minute amphibrach. The motive of Ex. 71 (a) is important, under any conditions and in whatever quantity — whether in the form of a clause, or as the decoration of a half -pulse. It has ceaseless vitahty, is flexible, powerful, and deeply expressive. To play it correctly on the player-piano is one of our more severe problems. It consists of a central point, to which are affined a suffix and a prefix. The prefix requires the consonant-hke touch proper to aU prefixal particles. The suffix requires the dehcate touch and fine shading- off proper to all terminal inflexions where the spirit of the music is not cHmactic and impetuous. The root particle requires firm and precise touch. All this has to be effected upon particles of equal quantity, and in a moment's space of time. Pedalling 280 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO cannot effect it, nor control of power by the mechanical levers. Only by a compound of two factors can it be effected, the one factor the accurate formation of the motive in our consciousness, the other the use of the Tempo-lever ; imagination, and scientific knowledge of the parallel existing between Ex. 71 (a) and Ex. 22. I have made much use of poetry and verbal phrases ; and I make use of another vocal illustration in my anxiety to surround this subtle matter with clearness and Ught. Can you conceive and utter in perfect tone, phrasing, and rhythmical cadency, a . , , ,., 6 1 2' 3 4 5"? senes of sounds uke : • • Si-singing Si-nnging If you can do this, you can conceive and perform the subsidiary motive of the rising-amphibrach. Before taking up the last two triple-time studies, prepare yourself by again observing the motive under the easier condi- tions of quadruple-time, and with the comfort of its association with the falling-anapest : — (66) Beethoven : Sonata in G major, Op. 14, No. 2 ; the first movement. Measure 1. Pulses 12 3 4 (o) \.puUes melody : 6 7 8' IS S-4-5" 6 7 ST 1 g S-J^S' bass: S 4 5 — 6-7 S 4 6-6-7 There are other minute motives in this piece : — 1 2 (6) ^-puUes 1 2-3 4" 5 6-7 8" I 2 (c) 1-2-3 4' 5-6-7 8" 2 3' 6 7" AUegro. 88 pulses to the minute. The two pieces in triple-time which contain this motive of the amphibrach under conditions of beauty and difficulty are from Schubert and Beethoven, the two great masters of pure rhythm, whose thought is energy, and whose expression in every part is therefore true, vital, and consistent. (67) Schubert : Sonata in B, Op. 147 ; the third movement. Measure 1. 6' 1 2 3' 4 5" 5 6' 1-2-3 4 5 6' 1-2 3-4^* AUegretto. TRIPLE-TIME 281 (68) Beethoven : Sonata in D, Op. 10, No. 3 ; the second move- ment. The subsidiary amphibrach comes at the end of the Second Section. At first it is supported by chords struck on the point of the pulse. Afterwards it is left alone, and isolated by two- pulse empty times : — Pulses (12 3' 4 5 6") 2 3^678' 10 11 12" 234' piano smorzando (12 3' 4 5 6") 2 3 4' 2 3 4' (1 2 3') 2 3 4' 5-6-7-8-9 forte sf Notes are given only where figures stand in itaUcs. Each group is the amphibrach. Learn the passage, by ruhato on the middle note of each group ; and bear in mind Ex. 22, the quadruple- time amphibrach of 4 1-2 3 which compares with, and parallels, the triple-time amphibrach thus : „ -, o XII In the following compositions, the molossus measure appears as the ionics of Ex. 29 and Ex. 30 (page 130). (69) Schubert: Allegro in C major. This is No. 3 of the Drei Klavierstiicke composed in May, 1828. Fikst Section : quick duple-time. The chordal movement is by trochee, dactyl (subsidiary), and falling-amphibrach (Ex. 21) ; the melodic part uses the syncopation of the half-beat. The phrases are of varied length ; thus — from the opening — (a) ten beats (6 and 4), twice ; (6) eight beats (4 and 4), twice ; (c) eighteen beats (8 and 6 and 4) ; and so on. Second Section : Each pulse of the molossus-measure is of the length of two counts of First Section ; therefore, in effect, the music changes to a three-bar phrase, calculating from the rhythmical position of First Section. For the first eight measures, the motive is the major-ionic, and for the remainder, the minor-ionic. (70) Brahms : Capriccio in major, Op. 76, No. 8. CHAPTER XXVIII DACTYLAR RHYTHM AND IRREGULAR CLAUSE The dactyl (Ex. 14) is a true motive. The anapest is, as re- marked elsewhere, little more than the di trochee catalectic. Dactylar " touch " is characteristic. There are passages in music formed of an accented long followed by two shorts, the first of the latter having a secondary metrical stress ; but these passages are not dactyls if the shorts are bound into the legato. Such binding converts the two notes into an expressional inflect- ing of a long. See No. 2, page 283. The true dactyl is formed of a long on the down pulse, and of a faUing pyrrhic on the up-pulse : — I II 1-2 3 4 dac tyl ic An image of the dactyl in quadruple-time music may be created by the following process of construction. Take the triple-time trochee 1-2 3 ; imagine a sUght characteristic stress on the short ; and add a one-count short, in suffixal relation. The pure dactyl in triple-time (Ex. 68) may be similarly created from the trochee of duple-time {12') with sufl&xal short added. The dactyl alternates with the following rhythms : — (o) the spondee / yo o ^> r^ ^ov , the spondee occupies the weak, or suffixal, portion of the phrase, but musical theorists declare the reverse (see page 127). (6) the falling-anapest (Ex. 20). (c) the faUing-amphibrach (Ex. 21). (d) the amphibrach (Ex. 22 and Ex. 26). (e) the molossus : I 1 2' 1-2 3 4* II 3" 5-6** 282 III 4 1 2" 7_^ 1-2 3-4** DACTYLAR RHYTHM & IRREGULAR CLAUSE 2 (/) the falling-iamb (Ex. 24). (^f) the various csBsural modifications shown in the poetic material of Chapter XXII. The subsidiary dactyl is a decoration of a pulse-division ; it occurs in strong or lively music in triple and duple metres, as we have seen in earlier studies. The dactyl may have count 1 empty, which creates amphi- brachic cadency in counts 2 o 4>> When in the accompaniment, it may have counts 1 and 2 empty. This modification is rare in quadruple-time, but its triple-time equivalent is frequent : — I II (1) 2 3" (4) 5 6" Five-measure phrases and clauses are used for dactylar music. These lie as 3 jplus 2. The two-measure phrase will not be dac- tylar throughout, and each of its measures will be a clear entity. It is not fanciful to regard such a phrase as itself dactylar : — the long the shorts I II III' IV' V" II The foregoing general remarks are to be illustrated by reference to the following pieces from Hymns Ancient and Modern. (1) No. 235, the plain song tune quanta qualia : — what the joy and the glory must be, Those endless Sabbaths the blessed ones see. (2) No. 440, the Itahan Alia TrinitA : the text is ditrochaic, and the melody is the dactylar inflection : — Blessed feasts of blessed Martyrs, Holy days of holy men. The setting in quadruple-time of the choriamb produces dactyHc quantity for the first three syllables (Studies 3 to 6) : — (3) No. 114, Dykes's St. Cross, " come and mourn with me awhile." (4) No. 61, Dr. Wainwright's Yorkshire, " Christians, awake, salute the happy morn." (5) No. 24, Dykes's Kehle, " Sun of my soul, thou Saviour dear." 284 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO (6) No. 27, Dr. Monk's Eventide. This is bad of the com- poser. The hymn begins with an iamb, and the choriambicising of the measure makes our congregations sing Herh\ hide with me. (7) No. 423, Henry Smart's Trisagion. The text is as Hood's Bridge of Sighs. The setting is in triple-time. Stars of the morning so gloriously bright. Filled with celestial virtue and light. (8) No. 233, Dr. Steggall's Christchurch. An unpleasant compound of the rising-dactyl and anapest : — II iir IV I" 3-4 5 & 7 8 1-2'* Jer-ru sa — lem on high My song and ci — ^ty is (9) Lux Benigna, No. 266 (Dykes). This tune is in the larger molossus : — 6 12 3 4 5 6 4 5 6 1-2 3 4 5 6 l-23-4r^-6 Lead, kindly Light, amid th' encircling gloom The student may use the choriambus, and apportion the text to the dactyl of six-time, Ex. 16 (the first three syllables of the choriambus form a dactyl) : — I IF I II III" 2-2-3 4-S 6' IS' 6 1-2 3 4-5 & 1-3 4-6 Lead, kindly Ught a-mid th' en-circhng gloom I II" 1-3 4S 6* 1-5 Lead thou me on m (10) Bach : Prelude in B flat minor, from Well-tempered Clavier, Book 1. The " dactyl-spondee " in stately time and impassioned seriousness. Pulse 4 and pulse 8 frequently anacrusic (prefixal) in one voice, while cadentially faUing (suflfixal) in another. The DACTYLAR RHYTHM & IRREGULAR CLAUSE 285 general character of the measure is as a trochee of pulses 1-2-3 4', as in the great chmactic phrase of the piece : — forte ores fff sf 1 2' 3 4" 5-e-7 8" 1-2 3 4' 5-6 7 5" Andante sostenuto. (11) Schubert : Impromptu in Bflat, Op. 142, No. 3. A theme and five variations. The rhythm of the accompani- ment in the variations uses consistently the amphibrach (that is, the alia zoppa) of ^-pulses 1 2-3 4'. Andante. Precede by a study of : — (12) Schubert: Moment musical in C sharp minor, Op. 94, No. 4. Middle Section. The amphibrach : — 1 2 i-pulses 1 2 3-4-5-6 7-8' ^-pulses 1 2 3 4 Moderato. (13) Schubert: Thirteen Variations on a theme of A. Hiitten- hrenner's. A useful prehminary study to Nos. 14, 15, and 16. Variation 13 is in triple-time. Andante. (14) Schubert : Quartet in D minor (posthumous) ; the slow movement. See also the song Death and the Maiden. (15) Beethoven : Symphony in A, Op. 92 ; the second move- ment. This is the supreme example of the allegretto " dactyl- spondee." The symphony was composed in 1812 ; and since the work was produced it has been impossible for the rhythm to be heard again, in simple form, without this piece coming to mind. 76 pulses to the minute (the dactyl-spondee motive covers four pulses). (16) Grieg : In der Heimat (" In my native country "), Op. 43, No. 3. Poco andante. 60 pulses to the minute (the dactyl takes two pulses). La melodia ben tenuto. The Middle Section poco piu mosso. 286 THE AET OF THE PLAYER-PIANO (17) Beethoven : Bagatelle in A, Op. 33, No. 4. AndaiUe. (18) Schubert : Militdr-Marsch in Dfiat (concert-arrangement by Carl Tausig), A typical example of the vivacious dactyl. The main move- ment is in primary dactyls, the accompaniment in subsidiary " dactyl-spondee " : — Phrase 2 III IV I H" jmlses 5 6' 7 8" 1 2' 3 4" \-jmlses 1 — 2 3 ^5-6 7 5" 1-2 3 4' 5-S 7-8" baM:l-iml8e$ 1-2' 3 4 6-6 7-8" The music is constructed of four-measure phrases. But the opening phrase has six measures (III IV V VI' I II"). This six-measure phrase comes three times in the First Section. Its last recurrence is at the end of the First Section, where its entry is anticipatory, agreeing with measure II of the phrase before it. Therefore the end of the First Section is : — phrase phrase phrase phrase lU IV I II" III IV V I II' III IV V VE" I 11" Iff («) (a) a dispondee-f ailing, i.e. four one-pulse notes, counting in pulses 1 2' 3 4". Middle Section. Phrases 3 and 7 have six measures. (19) Schubert : Moment musical in F minor, Op. 94, No. 5. I recommend close observation of the rhythm of the phrase, and this irrespective of the dactylar motives. First Section. Read in four-pulse phrases, i.e. two-measure. There are five phrases, of which the fourth has five pulses. (1). Measures I II' (o) pulses 1 2' 3 4" (6) \-puUes 12' 3 4" 5 ff 7 8" (c) ^-pulses 1-2 3^5-6 7 8" sf sf id) sf DACTYLAR RHYTHM & IRREGULAR CLAUSE 287 (a) The phrase as a whole is a ditrochee-faUing, pulses 1 2' 3 4". (b) The measure as a whole is a ditrochee-falling, pulses 1 2'. (c) The pulse carries a subsidiary dactyl. {d) Note the accentuations. Pulses 2, 3, and 4 are sforzato. Examine the outUne of the Brahms Rhapsodic given as Ex. 26, and recall the csesural modification of the ditrochee which pro- duces r 2 3 4". (2) Repeat phrase (1) ; piano, but with the same accentua- tions. (3) Repeat (1), but with pulse accentuations : — 1 2' 3 4" Here is an interesting point. With pulses 1, 2, and 4 made prominent, the foundation of the phrase becomes the alia zoppa. See also Ex. 61. This phrase, in its stressed final pulse, enunciates a vital detail which later in the piece is vividly developed. The stressing of pulse 4 is not therefore a casual idea, bom of the passing moment. (4). forte cres fortissimo Measures (e) I (/)1I marcato pulses 1 2 3' 4 5" l-jmlses 1 2' 3 4 5" 6 r 8 9 Iff l-jmlses 1-2 3 4' 5-6 7 8' 9-10" 11-12 (e) take the cadency of the measure to be " trochee-anapest," trochee, half-pulses 1 2' ; anapest (Ex. 69), half pulses 3 4' 5". (/) take the cadency of the measure to be " iamb-amphibrach," iamb, half-pulses 6 T ; amphibrach (Ex. 71 (a)), half-pulses 8 9 10". (5). 1 2' 3 4" \-'pulses 1 2' 3 4" 5' 6 7 8". (9) (g) remember here, and everywhere else, that a manifestation of the amphibrach may be rubato. The First Section is repeated. 288 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Second Section. (6) Two phrases, as : jnono (A) I' n m" 1 2' 3 4" 5 6" l-jmlses 1 2' 3 4" 5 & 7 5" 9 W 11 i2" sf sf Qi) The cadential climax of the phrase is measure II. The pukes therefore, if plamied to show by sequence the nature of the rhythm, would read : 5 6' 1 2' 3 4". (7) Four phrases, each of three measures. Pianissimo. The measure a plain ditrochee : — I II III 1 2' 3 4 5 6" \-jmlses 1 2' 3 4" 1 2' 3 4" 5 & 7 «" Return to Third Section. Four phrases, the second as : — 1 2' 3 4' 5 6" l-pulses 1 2' 3 4" 1 2' 3 4" 5 6' 7 8" forte ff p ff Third Section. The same as the first. Coda. Three phrases respectively of 6, 4, and 5 pulses ; the last as : — I 11 (0 1 2' 3 4 5" l-jmhes 12' 3 r 5 ff 7 8" {9 10) l-jmUes 1-2 3 4' 5-6 7-8" jnanoff ff piano fortiss (i) pulse 5 is empty. The music is repeated from beginning of Middle Section. Allegro vivace. Learn in slow time, and with exaggerated tonal nuance. Practise with pauses after each phrase or clause ; and during the pause form in mind the idea of the coming phrase ; then execute the phrase quickly. This is one of the pieces that can profitably be memorised, and performed in mind, until every tonal and rhythmical feature is clear ; upon which it can be as accurately rendered on the player as the piano. It is a virtuoso piece. DACTYLAR RHYTHM & IRREGULAR CLAUSE 289 (20) Brahms : Hungarian Dance in E minor , No. 21. Vivace. (Part 2 — fiil presto.) (21) Bach : the gavottes, from the English Suite in G minor. Here the dactyls are decorations of the rising-ditrochee of gavotte rhythm. There is, of course, nothing of Hungarian spirit in the music. (See Chapter XXV.) The vivacity and clear- ness of the music make it good to bring the pieces into association with the present group of executive studies. This remark applies to the following piece. (22) Beethoven : Sonata in G, Op. 79 ; the finale. Vivace. 152 pulses to the minute. The dactyl a decoration of the pulse. An exceedingly difficult composition for the player- pianist, though but a miniature movement, and no more than a " trifle " for the pianist. (23) Chopin : Mude in Gflat, Op. 25, No. 9. Assai allegro. 112 pulses a minute. There is a dactyl to a pulse. You will discover the dactyl in the Mne of music which is next above the accompaniment. The accompaniment is the bi- sected chord, each chord filHng one pulse. The upper part of the music has four notes to a pulse. But in the " alto " line, the note struck at the beginning of the pulse is of half-pulse quantity, and so is followed by two " shorts " in the manner of the dactyl. Refer back to Study No. 17 ; the accompaniment. Middle Section. The profit that comes of studying this Chopin among dactyls, is the ease with which we realise the light detachment of the shorts of the dactyl (see page 282). (24) Mozart : Sonata in C minor (connected with the Fantasia); the first movement. 7 8" Clause 2 1 II {five 1234 5678 measures) 1-2-3 4-5 6-7 8 12-3 f P f First Section, Clause 1 {four measures) phrase 1 I II 12 3 4" 5 6' 1-2 3 4' 5 6-7" 8 forte piano 290 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Clause 3 as clause 1, but containing ttoo measures only. Clause 4 six measures, the fifth containing six pulses : — piano ores f piano I II' III IV' V- VI 12 3 4' 1 2' 3 4" 5 6' 1 2' 3 4" Clause hfour measures. Clause 6 seven measures, the second containing six pulses : — * I II' III IV' V VI' VH" 1 2 3 (4)' 5-10" forte p forte Clause 7 four measures. Clause 8 four measures — in this is a canonic imitation of the theme. The coda at the end of Third Section has the ditrochee of I 1 2'3 4" 5 & 7 8" jnano sf piano sf (cf. Ex. 61). Allegro moUo. 100 pulses to the minute.* (25) Beethoven : Sonata in E major, Op. 14, No. 1 ; the finale (see pages 230-231).* Middle Section. Four sentences. The half-pulse is sub- divided into three notes. The initial half-pulse of the measure may be empty in the treble. Sentence 1 : — forte III IV' V VI" VII viir IX X" 5 6' 7 8" 1 2' 3 4" 5 6' 7 8" 1 2 3 4 1-2 3-4' 5-S 7 8" 1-2 3-4' 5-6 7" XI r II" 5 6 1 — 2' 3 4 8 9' 10 11 12' 1-2-3'' 4 5" 6 7 8" piano {rubato) * The measure in Study 24 has four pulsed, the mUive being compound ; the meMure in Study 26 has two pulses. DACTYLAR RHY^fHM & IRREGULAR CLAUSE 291 Sentence 2 : — iii-iv V — VI" vii-viir I — ^11" 5 6-7-8' 1 2-3-4" 5 6-7-8' 1 2-3-4" forte Sentence 3 : in part as sentence 1 : — -piano dim III IV' V VI" VII I ir III I II" 5 6 1 — 2 3 4' 5-6 1-2 3 4" 9-10-11 m 1-2-3 4' 5-S 7-'8' Sentence 4 : — jyiano cres dim III IV' V VI" VII-VIII-I — II" 1 2 3" The Third Section of the piece resumes as shown in Chapter XXVI. (26) Brahms : Rhapsodie in E flat, Op. 119, No. 4. The piece is constructed of clearly defined sections. There are seven sections, the last being the coda ; but the form is, in the larger regard, still simple ternary. PART I The phrase is as : — III IV V I II" 1 2' 3 4' 5 6" 1' 2 3 4" 1-2 3 4' 5-6 7-8' 1 2' 3-4 5-6 7-8" («) sf sf sf (h) (a) dactyls in measures III-V. (6) pulses 2, 3, 4 are accentuated, as the great amphibrach of Ex. 71 (a) ; this amphibrachic motive is characteristic of the piece. This, the first portion of the ternary structure, has twelve phrases as above, and a thirteenth to which must be given the I II III-IV". measures of /• ' The thirteenth phrase is a superb anapest ; it is characteristic of the next portion of the piece. 292 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO PART n Section 1. The measure is trochaic. The first pulse is divided into three notes, and the entire measure comes to the ear somewhat as Ex. 15 (page 125). Each pulse of the measure is stressed. Certain measures have the syncopation of change of ictus (page 259),— 1 2 1 2* 3 4' 5 6" piano dim (a) V VI' VII VIII" I ir III IV" (6) V VI' VII VIII" IX X' XI XII" I II' III IV" ores f marcato piu f sf (c) Here are two large eight-pulse anapests. Section 2 : The music is now grazioso. Observe the csesurae. (d) V VI VII" I ir III I II" (c) III IV V" 1 ir III I 11" p p ores (/)III IV' V VI" I II III IV" {g) as {d) {h) the response to (e) and (/), but as : — p ores f p dim III IV' V VI" I IF III IV" Section 3 : Take (a) and (6) from above. Observe the sfz of the last two chords. THE RETURN TO PART lU The music is a mysterious development of the theme of the opening phrase of the piece. The tone is pianissimo ma hen marcato. The end is a tumultuous ^, with amphibrachs of pulses 1 2-3 4. The amphibrachs are hkely to be confusing. They must be well identified, not only for their present climactic value, but because they enunciate an idea of the coda, where powerful trochees come, but within the quantity of one pulse only. (o) six of the phrases of III IV V I II" ppcres (6) one phrase of III IV' I 11" 5' 6 7 8" 1' 2 3 4" DACTYLAR RHYTHM & IRREGULAR CLAUSE 293 (c) four of the phrases in (a) of this passage. {d) a complex clause of extremist importance : — forte ores fortissimo III IV' V VI" VII VIII IX' X I II" 5 6-7 8' 1 2-3 4" 5 6-7 8—9' 10 11 12" 1' 2 3 4" PART III Four phrases as from the beginning of the Rhapsodic. Tone as loud, and touch as marked, as possible. But the tone must not be bad, nor the touch violent. {Coda) Here at first are dotted-note trochees, of the quantity of the pulse. The " short " is a high sforzato note, (a) one phrase : y^,-,,,-^ III IV' I II' III" 5 6 7 8' 1 2 3 4' 5 6" sfsf fortissimo (h) one phrase : I II' III IV' V VI" 12 3 4" (c) five phrases as : I II from/p to fortissimo 1 2' 3 4" {d) one phrase : I II' I II III" 1' 2 3 4" 1-2 3 4 5-6 When we can play such a piece as this with power and refinement, we have mastered the art of the player-piano in all greater objec- tive respects. What Me beyond these, are the respects of sus- tained melody, intimate ruhato, clear polyphony, and personahty. (27) Liszt : Rhapsodic hongroise in Eflat, No. 9," he Carnaval de Pesth." First Section, moderato. Based on a massive dactyl-spondee, the long of the dactyl (as is often the case) slightly trochaised in 294 THE AKT OF THE PLAYER-PIANO the proportions of seven and one, the first note of the inflected long being double-dotted. Care must be taken not to affine the inflexion to the first " short " of the dactyl. Second Section, sempre moderato e capriccio. The accompani- ment is the amphibrach of 1 2-3 4'. Thikd Section, allegretto. Syncopation in the bass : the pulse is in subdivision, and every fourth note in the subdivision of the pulse is tied to the note following. The motive in the upper part of the music derives from the amphibrach of 1 2-3 4, 1' 2 3 4 but to the phrasing oi j, n V l 1 9' 3 4" '^^^^ movement would be intricate to explain, but is not complex to the mind. It is purely Hungarian in character. Fourth Section (the second part of the piece). Hhis finale is highly diversified, and sectional. (1) presto. Twelve measures, each of four pulses. The first I measure as : 1 2' 3 4" 1-2 3 4' 5-6-7 8" (2) un poco m^no presto. Clause 1 I II III IV 1 2' 3 4 5-6' 7 8 9-10" 1 2' 3 4' 5 6" 1 2' 3 4' 5-6 The foregoing twice, and then measures III-IV once again. An extra-metrical /erwioto at the close. (3) allegretto. Clause II Jl rU 1 2 3 4' 567 8' 9 10" 1-2 3 4' 5 6 7-8 Take Clause 1 twice. Clause 2 1 rit 12 3 4' 5 6" 1-2 3 4' 5-6 7-8' Take Clause 2 four times. Then take Clause 1 twice, and Clause 2 three times. DACTYLAR RHYTHM & IRREGULAR CLAUSE 295 ])oco piu animato. A passage, somewhat of cadenza-like nature, in conclusion of (3). (4) presto. Recapitulation and development of (1). Sixteen measures, very strongly chordal, settling into i-2 3 4' 5-6-7-8". Here ends the first main part of the finale. (5) piu animato. (With this begins the second part of the finale). Clause 1 I II I 2 3 4' 5 6 7-8" (three times) VII 12 3 4 5-6 (once) The remainder will analyse itself. Make a large rail in the final 1-2 ? 4' 5 6 7-fi ^^^ anticipate a change of rhythm, style, and pace. (6) allegro moderato. A development of the opening moderato of the rhapsody. (7) presto. A development of the allegretto (3) of the present section. It rapidly becomes ancora piu presto. The ending is one of those passages which inform us as to what is master, we who play, the music, or the instrument. (28) Liszt : Hungarian Rhapsody in A minor. No. 15 (the Rakoczy March). The melody of the Rakoczy march is a national Himgarian melody. Berhoz develops it in the " Hungarian March " of his Faust. The march-theme is as : — (8) 1 2' 3 4" 5 6 7 — 8" (7_5) 1-2 3 4' 5-S 7 8" 1-2 3-4 5-6-7-8 The theme of the Trio is in the diiambic, with subsidiary anapests: 8 r 2 3" 4 5' 6 7" 7 8 1-2' 3 4 5-6 (29) Schubert : Phantasie in C, Op. 15 ; the first movement {allegro confuoco, ma non troppo) ; the second movement {adagio); and the fourth movement {presto). This is the famous " Wanderer " fantasia. It was written in 1820, when Schubert was twenty-three. He himself could not manage t]x^ finale, and would hit the keys and say, " Let the devil come and play it." Schubert wrote the work for a pianist named 296 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO von Liebenberg, who probably could play the last movement without MephistopheUan aid. Schubert wrote several songs into the title of which comes the word " wanderer." There are, for example, the Wanderers Nachtlied to Goethe's Der du von dem Himmel bist, Alles Leid und Schmerzen stillst and the Wanderers Nachtlied which begins Uber alien Gipfeln ist Ruh'. In each of these songs the accompaniment is dactylar. The song on which the fantasia is based is the larger piece called Der Wanderer. The theme of the slow movement of the fantasia, is the accompaniment of the words Die Sonne diinkt mich hier so kalt, Die Bltithe welk, das Lieben alt. Thus we see from these iambic feet, that dactyls may be accom- paniment to melody that is not, and cannot be, dactylic. Hence come all the intricacy of musical rhythm, its changes of cajsura and permutations of motive, and its eternal difference from verbal rhythm ; yet hence also comes the great fact that a musical rhythm contains and enforces the main foundational rhythm of poetry, using the characteristics of the latter for its subsidiary movements. I now refer the student to the remarks on page 121. But Schubert was not responsive to the control of poetic prosody. He was an "absolutist," for all his seven hundred songs. It is in Wolf that we find poetic and musical rhythms in perfect agreement and mutual fitness. IV Pulse-dactyl in Triple-time (30) Schumann : NoveUeite in D major, Op. 21, No. 5. The section vivo (the fourth section of the piece). The entire composition is good study in the various motives of the molossus. The opening phrase of the first section is : — I II III IV 3123 123 1231 4 5 6 r 2 3 ^ 5 6" 1 2^ 4-5 6" 1 2' 3 4' 5 6 r DACTYLAR RHYTHM & IRREGULAR CLAUSE 297 From the regard of the player-pianist, this work of Schumann's is worthy full analytical study. (31) Chopin : Polonaise in F sharp minor, Op. 44. This is the polonaise famous for the tempo di mazourka which forms the middle section. The six crochets of the mazurka measure have the same quantitative value as the six quavers of the polonaise measure. Thus the change is, in rhythm, but an alteration of ictus and caesura : — 1 2 3" Polonaise : molossus 1 2' 3 4' 5 6^' Mazurka : spondee 12 3' 4 5 6" 1 2" We dealt with this parallelism of molossus-measure and spondee- phrase in Chapter XXVIL (32) Chopin : Polonaise in C minor, Op. 40, No. 2. (See page 253). The dactylar passages in the polonaise reveal the difference between Polish and Slavonic music, and Hungarian music. (33) Weber : Polacca brillante, Op. 72. The accompaniment is mostly in the trochee of the pulse. And the dactyl of the pulse has a dotted-note for the first of its shorts. All polonaises and polaccas have the dactyl (" polacca " is Itahan for polonaise, and both words derive from " Polish ").* But it is the general tendency of molossus measures to settle into the rhythm of Ex. 85 {1 2' 3" 4' 5 6"), and this militates against the free operation of the dactyl in triple-time. From this arises the difference between the polaccas of Weber and the polonaises of Chopin ; each is in the molossus measure, but the first is the product of a musician who had less rhythmical power than was required to compel the dactyl to conform to triple- time. The metre for this motive is duple and quadruple, not triple. * The first pulse of the bolero is dactylar. (1 2 3). {1-2 S 4' 298 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO It therefore agrees curiously with the Hungarian rhythmical genius, which has little, if any, use for triple-time. The dactyl takes us from the Arabs and the Moors, into Spain thence to Hungary, and further into the classical world of Beet- hoven, the strangely youthful world of Schubert, and the con- trasting worlds of Chopin, Liszt, and Brahms. Brahms has the greater precision, Liszt the greater impulse, Chopin the greater stateliness, and Schubert the greater ease, variety, and extent. Schubert, moreover, has the further convenience for us player- pianists in the respect that when once he has estabhshed a rhythmical motive, he keeps to it for a long while. (34) Schubert : Divertissement d la hongroise, Op. 54. (35) Chopin : ^tude in F, Op. 10, No. 8. (36) Chopin : £tude in A minor, Op. 25, No. 11. (37) Chopin : Rondeau, Op. 1. (38) Chopin : Rondeau, Op. 16. (39) Brahms : Sonata in F minor, Op. 2; the last movement, animato section (for the motive of Ex. 21, page 127). See also the Schubert Moment musical, Op. 94, No. 4, on page 285. (40) Brahms : Hungarian Dance in E major, No. 10. CHAPTER XXIX FUGXJE The fugue is conventionally played chiefly with regard for the " subject," or theme. Performers consider it necessary " to bring the subject well out " ; and teachers give pupils diagrams where the appearances of the subject, or of portions of the subject, are shown in thick hues. Often the subject is not the principal detail of the passage containing it ; and always the circumstances surroimding and preparing for the appearance of the subject are the chief quahties and characteristics of the composition. A fugue is a discourse upon a text. The composer states his text, and then proceeds to express thoughts arising from it, with constant allusion to the letter of the text. Sometimes the subject will not appear for several clauses. When it appears, it is usually in several voices, either successively, or simultaneously in close canonic imitation. The phrases in a fugue are of irregular length, but all are well cadenced. The cadences are not conclusive, however, because the subject generally enters in the course of the cadence, com- pelling a continuous forward progression. The form of the fugue is the two-part. A large cadence occurs about the middle of the piece, at a pronounced modulatory point. (The steps to the modulation are lengthy.) Each of the two parts is itself in binary form ; but the first part is often ternary. Thus the architecture of the fugue is : — Part I or :— Part I First Section : exposition. First Section : exposition. Second „ 1st development Second „ counter-exposition. Third „ 1st de-velopment. Part II First Section : 2nd development. Second „ recapitulation. Coda. Understanding of fugue architecture depends on sense of tonahty, or key-relationship. Its phraseological nature is made clear in 299 300 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO performance by correct cadential presentation of clause and sentence. The " phrase " is determined by the length and cadency of the subject. Phrases intervening between appearances of the sub- ject are invariably of irregular length. The clause and sentence are determined by the structural cadences. You may regard a prominent entry of the subject as the beginning of a sentence. Sentences may begin without the subject, but rarely end so; except when the sentence passes into another sentence where comes a climactic statement of the subject. The rhythm of the subject should be learnt in the abstract. The material of the entire piece is embodied in the subject, and material strange to the subject need not be anticipated. Fugue playing requires ceaseless cadential poise and intimate ruhato. It belongs to the order of art represented in reading Milton and Shakespeare. Until I realised that the nature of fugal music was not what I had been taught in the musical academy where I spent seven student years, I believed this class of music could not be performed on the player-piano. The remarks I make at the end of Chapter IX grow out of my altered opinion, also the footnote on page 269. But fugue playing still remains the highest attainment of the player-pianist. To play a march or Hungarian Rhapsody is as reciting a Kipling or Macaulay poem, while to play a Bach fugue is as reciting Browning's Rahbi hen Ezra or reading the concentrated and interwoven thoughts of Shakespeare in his final periods. n The following studies are from the first book of The Well- tem'pered Clavier. The accompanying preludes have been studied in former chapters. I give the rhythmical outline of the subject of each fugue. (1) C minor. Pulses (c) 2 \-jmlses (6) 2 3' 4 \-puUeH (a) 3 4 5-6' 7-8 2 {d) 2 3 4' 3 4 6-6 7-8' ten 3' 4 1" 5" (6) 6 r 8 r 1-2" (a) 3 4 1" {e) 5 6 7 8' 1 1 2 3-4-6-6 7 8' 1 FUGUE 301 (a) the " anapest-spondee." (b) the rising diiamb of the two-pulse measure. (c) the rising diiamb of the two-measure phrase. (d) the amphibrach (Ex. 71 (a)). (e) the amphibrach-faUing (Ex. 21) in half-pulses 5 6-7 8\ (2) C sharp major. measures II III IV I pulse 3 4' 5 6" 7 8' 1 2" l-jmlses 4 5 6' 7 8' 1 2 r 4 5' 6 r 8 r 2 3" (3) Eflat minor. pulses 1 2 — 3 4' 5 6' 7 8 — 1 2" ^-jmlses (a) 1-2 3-4^ 6' 7 8" 12 3-4' 5-6 7-8-1 2' 3-4 {a) see page 223. In the latter half of the piece, the theme appears in notes of double size (see the coda of Ende vom Lied, page 216). (4) E minor. Triple-time, four notes to a pulse. Each pulse may be taken to contain a trochee in double-pyrrhic. The counter-subject is as shown : — pulses 1 2 3" Subject 1 2 3 4' 5 6 7 8' 9 10 11 12" Counter subject 1-2 3-4r-5' 6 7 8' 9 10 11 12" (5) B flat minor. (6) B major. 1 2 — 3 4 1-2 3-4-6' 6 7 8" II III' IV I" 2 3' 4 5" 6 7 8 1" 2 3' 4 6-6" 7 8' 1 2" 3 4 5-6-7-8 1" trill The above is the accepted phrasing. The following is a better phrasing : — II III' IV I" 2' 3 4" 5 6' 7 8 1" 2 3 4' 5-6 7" 8 r 2 3 4" 5-6-7-8 1" CHAPTER XXX A WORD TO THE TEACHER The teacher need not use a greater proportion of commonplace music than I include in this book. Men and women who make use of the player-piano in private life, are ordinarily people of character, general interests, and mental activity, the present-day equivalent of the people who, from Fumivall to Pepys, could sing at sight in a madrigal. Commonplace music will not hold them. They like recreation ; but only when its material occupies their minds, and so they want no sentimental waltzes or Murmurs of the Waterfall. Study has to be graded to suit individual requirements ; yet the principle is invariable that every two pieces must explain one another, and that a sequence of pieces must be mentally pro- gressive. To show the average taste of the amateur player-pianist, I give a Ust of compositions made by a girl during the first two years she used the instrument. The girl was not experienced in music, and had been to few concerts. In a vague way she knew that Bach, Beethoven, Wagner, and others, were mighty men, but beyond that was ignorant of the accepted opinions. Having access to a library collection of some eleven hundred rolls, the girl played through what came first to hand, and recorded in the list the names of the pieces she would want to have periodically from the Subscription Library. The works marked with an asterisk were especially pleasing, and those set up in capitals the most pleasing of all. Chopin. The Maiden's Wish* Elgar. The Wand of Youth* Mozart. Turkish March. Liszt. Hungarian Rhapsody, No. 11.* Schumann-Liszt. Spring Night (song transcription). Schumann. Novdlette, Op. 99. 308 A WORD TO THE TEACHER 303 Mendelssohn. Lieder, No. 20. Debussy. Nocturne, Fetes. Saint-Saens. Le Rouet d'Omphale.* Tchaikovski. Symphony No. 6. Richard Strauss. BIN HELDENLEBEN. >> Sonata Op. 6 (last movement).* Chopin. ^tude, Op. 25, No. 9.* Weber. Allegro, Op. 49 (from Sonata III)* Chopin. Waltz, Op. 64, No. 2. Schumann. Carnaval (first roll). 55 Carnavalpranck, Op. 26, No. 1. Schubert. Sonata in B flat. Liszt. Rhapsodies Nos. 18 and 10. Chopin. Posthumous Waltz, in E minor. Schumann. Carnaval (second roll). Schubert. Fantaise, Op. 15. Weber. Sonata, Op. 49 (third movement). Strauss. Enoch Arden. Schumann. Carnaval (third roll). Grieg. Lyric Suite, Op. 62 (first roll).* j> „ (second roll). Chopin. Polonaise, Op. 71, No. 3. Mendelssohn. Scotch Fantasie, Op. 28. Beethoven. Andante in F. }} Sonata, Op. 31, No. 1. >> 32 Variations. » Sonata, Op. 31, No. 3.* ?> „ Op. 111.* 5} „ Op. 10, No. 1.* » „ Op. 53. )> Sonata Pathetique, Op. 13. » Sonata, Op. 28.* l> „ Op. 22 (first three movements) )> Waltzes in Efl^it. Wagner. Tristan and Isolde Prelude.* Strauss. Festival March, Op. 1.* Mozart. Sonata No. 18. Beethoven. Deutscher Tanz, Nos. 1 and 3. Bantock. WITCH OF ATLAS. 55 Egyptian Suite. Mozart. Sonata No. 6. 304 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Corder. PRELUDE No. 2. Chopin. Valse, Op. 70, No. 3. Weber. Soimta in E minor. Op. 70.* Bach. Fantasia in C minor. Beethoven, Bagatelles, Op. 33. Tchaikovski. Pianoforte Concerto, Op. 23. Beethoven. Variations on God Save the King. >> „ Rule Britannia. » Rondo, Op. 129. a Variations^ Op. 35. ft Symphony in A major. Mendelssohn. Andante and Rondo Capriccioso, ( Op. 14. Liszt. Hungarian Rhapsody, No. 8. Weber. Sonata, Op. 49 (second movemen A). Beethoven. Symphony, No. 2 (scherzo). Schubert. „ No. 7 (movements 2, 3, and 4). Chopin. Rondo, Op. 1. Bach. Well-tempered Clavier^ Fugue No. .11. >> No. .9. » Fugue in A minor (organ). » Prceambulum. >> Giguefrom French Suite, No. 5. Chopin. Nocturne, Op. 9, No. 3. Strauss. Burlesque in D minor. >* Intermezzo, Op. 9, No. 3. >> Salome. Reger. Waltzes, Op. 11. Cyril Scott. Water Wagtail, Op. 71, No. 3. Weber. Rondo brillante, Op. 62.* Auld lang syne. Liszt. Hungarian Rhapsody, No. 13. Cyril Scott. Pierrette. Chopin. Valse in D flat, Op. 64, No. 1. York Bowen. Suite in D minor. Chopin. Nocturne, Op. 37, No. 1. >* Polonaise, Op. 44. Weber. Les Adieux. Elgar. ENIGMA VARIATIONS. Debussy. L Enfant Prodigue. Rimsky-Koreakoff. Capriccio, Op. 34. Chopin. Mazurkas, Op. 69. A WORD TO THE TEACHER 305 Chopin. Gung'l. Brahms. ROMANCE, Op. 11. Rheinsegen Walzer, Op. 218. Hungarian Dance, No. 1.* Richard Strauss. Rosehearer. Tchaikovski. Rachmaninoff. Symphony, No. 5 (finale). Prehide, Op. 23, No. 1. Chopin. Rachmaninoff. Valse brillante, Op. 34, No. 1. Prelude, Op. 23, No. 5. »» »> Bache. „ „ No. 2. „ „ No. 6. Ulnesistible Galop. Saint-Saens. SECOND CONCERTO (third m. vement) Grieg. Debussy. Symphonic Dances. L'Aprds-midi d'un Faune.* CHAPTER XXXI POLYMETRE AND SYNCOPATION In section VI (page 259), I gave studies only in the caesural change which converts the * (or |) metre into the * (or J) ; that is to say, I gave studies only in that syncopation by change of ictus which converts (o) the spondee-measure with ternary division of the pulse, into (6) the molossus-measure with binary division : — (a) I- II- (6) I II III 1 2 3' 4 5 6" 1 2' 3 4' 5 6" In those studies, the spondee is the normal, and the molossus the variation. See pages 259-263. I remarked on page 260 that the corresponding variation takes place in music where the normal measure is the molossus, when a cadency of the • (for example) appears amid prevailing cadencies of the J. I did not give studies in this variation of metre, chiefly because it belongs for the most part to either very old or very new music, and — for obvious reasons — such music could not be conveniently worked into the body of our work. At one time, the alternation of J and I metres was a regular feature of music ; also the concorporation of the two metres, the • coming in one voice while the | came in another. (The system of alternation is adopted by modem editors of plain- song mediaeval hymn tunes ; but the editors enlarge the actual quantity, as well as change the csesuree.) By the time of Bach, the concorporation was restricted mostly to the dance known as the courante. There were two forms of the courante. One form was of Italian origin, and was by Bach specifically named the " cor- rerUe.** This is the form Handel wrote in: it does not often employ the present syncopation. 306 POLYMETRE AND SYNCOPATION 307 The Italian form is sometimes written in a one-pulse bar, as is the normal Beethoven scherzo. The time-signature is \. It then runs in two-bar (spondaic) measures, exactly as the scherzo. The final bar strikes a chord on count 1, and then the mugic ceases : — (1) Partita No. V, G major, Correnie [molto allegro). Sometimes the music is elaborately " figured," and beats are tied, in the manner of the slow movement of the Italian Concerto of Bach : — (2) Partita No. VI, E minor ; Corrente {allegro vivace). We can use the " extended metrical counting " in such pieces as the foregoing, taking care to observe any possible three-bar measure that compels an extension to a nine-count passage. We are now exactly in the position arrived at with the scherzos and other pieces of Chapter XXVII, section VI, and can realise that our six counts of the spondee measure may again have to be articulated into the six counts of the molossus : — (3) French Suite, No. 2, C minor ; Corrente {vivace) : — Part 1 (played twice) : twelve of the spondee-measures. Part 2 (played twice) : (a) seven of the spondee-measures. (b) four of the same, the last ritenuto. (c) a three-bar measure (nine counts), normal in the upper part, but in the bass articulated as : — 1 2' 3 4' 5 & 7 8 9" (see pages 147-148). {d) four of the spondee-measures. This old dance, ideahsed by Bach and Handel, is sometimes very graceful, running along in brightness and clarity. It is then written in the bar of three crotchets (^), and its movement does not cease until the last beat of the cadence-bar. The crotchet is divided into semiquavers : — (4) French Suite, No. V, G major {allegro). (5) French Suite, No. VI, E major {allegro e leggiero). Sometimes the style of this particular form of the dance is less graceful and more vigorous. The beat now will be divided into a triplet of quavers ; and divisional counting requires nine counts to the bar. Under such circumstances, the dance approximates to a gigue : — (6) French Suite, No. IV, E flat major {allegro). 308 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO This type of movement with ternary division, may prevail in pieces which end at once on the down-beat of the cadence-bar : — (7) Partita No. I, B flat major (vivace). In the following corrente, the movement comes to a close, not on the first crotchet, nor on the third, but on the second : — (8) Partita No. Ill, A minor (allegro). In this eighth piece, the crotchet divides into semiquavers, and there is much dotted-note movement. The dances from (4) to (8) have none of the syncopation by change of ictus ; but the pieces should be intimately known first for the sake of triple-time in general, and secondly for the sake of the grander type of courante. The courante most characteristic of German music from 1600 to 1750,* is written in the molo8Sus-6ar which has the signature of I (i.e. three minims). Its spirit is variously strong and power- ful, impassioned, spiritual, and nobly lyrical. The style may be polyphonic, and so the compositions belong to the phase of study which includes the fugue. The essential feature of its rhythm is, that the cadence-bar shall be spondaic, the movement ceasing upon the fourth crotchet — 1 2 3' 4-5-6" : — (9) Enghsh Suite, No. Ill, G minor (allegro mvace). (10) EngUsh Suite, No. IV, F major (molto allegro). (11) Partita No. II, C minor (allegro). The molossus measures have for the most part the secondary stress of triple-time upon the middle minim (Ex. 68 and Ex. 29). The crotchet movement is often as the anapest-amphibrach of Ex. 84. All courantes of which the signature is the ' have delicate occasional accentuations, upon the fourth crotchet of the measure, that reflect the influence of the spondaic cadency. The spondaic measure is indubitably clear to the senses in the following : — (12) EngUsh Suite, No. I, A major, the first courante (allegro tnoderato). Part 2— the third measure. (13) English Suite, No. II, A minor :— Part 1 — measures 4, 5, and 6. * A eoitrante should always be preccdod on the player roll by the aUtmande belonging to it, because in the arjhitecture of the Bach suite alUmandt and eouranU are inseparable. POLYMETRE AND SYNCOPATION 309 (14) English Suite, No. V, E minor {allegro vivace) : — Part 1 — the last measure but one. The following are the most richly complex in these respects of all the courantes of the epoch : — (15) Partita No. IV, D major (allegro). (16) French Suite No. I, D minor (allegro). (17) Enghsh Suite No. 1, A major ; the second courante, with its two " doubles " (i.e. variations) (allegro vivace). (18) French Overture, B minor (allegro). Occasionally the courante is compounded in character and substance of the two types — that which has the signature of I (or I), and that which has the signature of *. The music is then written in the bar of six crotchets. The spondee-measure becomes the prevaihng cadency, and so the signature is the J- The molossus csesurse are now the exception : (19) French Suite, No. Ill, B minor (allegro viva^). Chopin, in his Valse in A flat, Op. 42, has in the accompani- ment of the normal * metre, but uses in the melody the cadency of the I. Bach does something the same in the briUiantly interesting Minuet of the fourth Partita. This piece is in three crotchet bars, and the clauses are aU of four-bar length. You may practise in slow time, and count in sixes — a count to a note. Wherever the music is in single notes, the six counts are to be 1 2 3' 4 5 6". Wherever the music is in three-voice writing (as in the cadences) the counting is to he 1 2' 3 4' 5 6". There is one clause where the writing is two-part ; here the bass is in I time, and the treble in |. Brahms uses the syncopations by change of ictus, effecting thereby a momentary change of metre, in the following pieces : — Intermezzo in A major. Op. 118, No. 2. The bar is the I, and the motive either the anapest of Ex. 72 or the amphibrach of Ex. 71a. (I am speaking of the first section of the piece). The 29th bar is in the metre of | . Romanze in F major. Op. 118, No. 5. The bar is the I during the first section. The measure is ditrochaic, in simple form (Ex. 9) with use of that trochee I called the " faUing-iamb," Ex. 23. Bars 4, 8, 12, and 16, are in the metre of *. This Romanze might serve as introduction to the courantes (9) to (19) of the above collection. 310 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO In the Capriccio in C sharp minor, Op. 76, No. 5, Brahms has a I bass and a J melody. (The latter portion of this piece — except the concluding seven bars — is in I time). Even in the simplest music, two metres may be thus con- corporated. Thus in the second of the Schubert ^cossaises, Op. 18 (a), the clauses of the second sentence are phrased (in the upper part only) into 1 2 3' 4 5 6' 7 8" whereby the four minims of the clause become two dotted minims and a minim. When the player-piano phrases incorrectly (page 35) it is usually trying to estabhsh this concorporation of metres in places where the composer does not want it. Finally with regard to the syncopation by change of ictus and ceesuraB, — the phrase of the couranle in I metre may be sub- jected to this syncopation, and the great spondee of two three- minim measures converted into a spacious molossus of three two-minim measures. The third minim is rhythmically the strongest (Ex. 29, page 130). Take as instance Part 2 of Study 14 from above, and cadence the first four measures thus : — {Normal) measuru I' TL- Ul- IV- Minims 1 2 3' 4 5 6" 12' 3 4" 5 6 Croichet-counis J 2^ 3 i" 5 6" 7 8' 9 KT 11 12" 1 2 3 4' 1 2 3 i" 5 6 7 8 ores ril ten dim Pedalling rhythmically, you deliver a stroke against the ninth minim ; pedaUing metrically, you strike the tenth. The ancient couranle justifies the remarks made on pages 236-8, and aUies itself with the mazurka (page 261 w.). n The metres that count to five and seven (page 235) can be approached afresh, from the position of this polymetrical com- bination and alternation of the molossus- and spondee-measures of equal quantity. That is to say, quintuple and septuple metres can be observed afresh by light of the principles of the order of syncopation which is affected by change of caesura and ictus. The matter, however, goes beyond the range advisable in an elementary practical text-book of musical rhythm ; it requires, moreover, a study of pieces from pre-Bach times and post- Brahms times, and so I may not more than outUne it here. The polymetre of the couranle, as we have seen, permits three pulses counting , ,- ,-_ 1 2' 3 4' 5 6" POLYMETRE AND SYNCOPATION 311 to appear on one voice, and at the same time two pulses in another voice counting I- II- 1 2 3' 4 6 6". The former measure is the molossus, the latter the spondee ; the actual quantity of time in each measure is the same. Now if the pulse in the spondee-measure were the same in quantity as the pulse in the molossus measure, we should have a normal four-count spondee-measure. If this normal four-count measure is combined with the molossus-measure, it ceases before its companion, because its quantity is the smaller. But if it alter- nates with the molossus-measure, it converts the movement into ordinary quintuple-time : I II III' IV V" 1 2' 3 4' 5 6" 1 2' 3 4" The spondee portion of this quintuple compound-time sonaetimes admits a rw6a— " Les Moissoneurs " (Suite mvt.), 21 " Les petits Moulins k Vent " (Suite mvt.), 21 Dale, Benjamin J. (1885, London) — Sonata in D minor (1902), 20 Daquin, Louis Claude (1694, Paris: 1772)— " Le Coucou " rondeau, 21 David, Ferdinand (1810, Hamburg : 1873)— Ungarisch, Op. 30 (arr. by Liszt, Ist version), 96 de Aceves, Rafael (1874, Spain) — Aragonesa, Op. 51, 20 Debussy, Claude Achille (1862, St. Germain : 1918)— 2 Arabesques (1891), 19 Ballade in F major (1890), 66, 74 Dansos (1904), ^ " Des pas sur la neigo " prelude (1910), 81 " L'Enfant prodigue " (1884), 304 " Minstrels " prelude (1910), 43 3 Nocturnes for Orchestra (1890) : No. 2, " FSie^," 303 " Pr61ude k I'Apr^-midi d'un Faune" (1902), 306 Dohnanyi, Ernst von (1877, Hun- gary) — Winter-reigen, Op. 13, No. 8, 20 Dowland. John (1663, Ireland : 1626) Lachn/mce (" Passionate Pavanes "), 21 Dvorak, Antonin (1841, Bohemia : 1904)— Humoreske. Op. 101, No. 7, 19, 96 Slavische Tanze, Op. 46, 20 Elgar, Edward (1867, near Wor- cester) — Enigma : orchestral variations (1899), 304 " Salut d' Amour " (? 189-), 18 INDEX 317 Elgar, Edward — Wand of Youth : orchestral pieces (c. 1869-1907), 302 Farjeon, Harry (English composer, born 1878, U.S.A.)— " In the Woods," Op. 21, No. 5, 20 Field, John (1782, Dublin: 1837, Moscow) — Nocturne in B flat, 21 Franck, CMsar Auguste (1822, Li^ge : 1890, Paris)— Prelude, Aria, and Finale (1886- 1887), 22 Prelude, Choral, and Fugue (1884), 15, 22, 96 Funoke : " Ecoutez mot ! " 18 Gade, Niels Wilhelm (1817, Copen- hagen: 1890)— Friihlingsblumen, Op. 2, No. 3, 21 Gardiner, H. Balfour (1877, London) — Noel, 20, 66, 70 Gibbons, Orlando (1583, Cambridge : 1625)— Fantasia of foure parts, 21, 312 Grainger, Percy (1883, Australia) — Folk-song arrt., " Molly on the Shore," 19 Granados, Enrique (1867, Spain : 1916)— Spanish Dances, 20 Grieg, Edvard Hagerup (1843, Nor- way: 1907)— Aus dem Volksleben, Op. 19 : No. 1, Auf den Bergen, 257 Lyrische Stiicke, Bk. 3 ; Op. 43 : No. 2, Einsamer Wanderer, 261 No. 3, In der Heimat, 285 Lyrische Stiicke, Bk. 5 ; Op. 54 : No. 1, Hirtenknabe, 11 No. 2, Gangar {Norwegian Pea- sants' March), 18 Lyrische Stiicke, Bk. 6 ; Op. 57 : No. 4, Geheimniss, 11, 96 Lyrische Stiicke, Bk. 7 ; Op. 62, 303 Norwegische Tanze, Op. 35, 21 Peer Oynt suite, No. 1 (orch.). Op. 46: No. 1, Morgenstimmung, 19 No. 2, Ases Tod, 18, 70, 153 {Ex. 45), 190, 214 No. 3, Anitra's Tanz, 100, 167 n. No. 4, In der Halle des Berg- konigs, 70, 200, 213, 216 (c) Peer Oynt suite. No. 2 (orch.), Op. 55 : No. 4, Sdvejga Lied, 91 Grieg, Edvard Hagerup — Sonata, Op. 7, E minor : 3rd mvt. {Menuetto), 256, 264 Symphonic Dances, Op. 64, 305 No. 2, A major, 78 Gung'l, Joseph (1810, Hungary : 1889)— Amoret ten tanze. Op. 161 {waltzes), 18 " Traume auf dem Ocean," 18 " Sommersnachtstraume," Op. 171, 18 Rheinsegen Walzer, Op. 218, 306 Handel, George Frederick (1685, Halle: 1759, London)— Air and Variations, B flat (from Prelude, Allegro, Aria con varia- zioni), 21 Air and Variations, E major ("Har- monious Blacksmith " ; from Suite No. 5), 19 March, " See, the conquering hero," 87 Haydn, Franz Josef (1732, Lower Austria : 1809, Vienna) — " Kaiser " String Quartet, Op. 76, 202 Quartet (string), C major. Op. 54, No. 2 : finale, 70 Rondo air Ongarese (from Piano- forte Trio, No. 1, G major), 18, 108 Sonata, Op. 78, E flat major, 21 Heath, John R. (1888, Birmingham)- 6 Inventions (1921): No. 5, En- deavour, 235 Heller, Stephen (1815, Hungary: 1888, Paris) — Tarantelle, Op. 88, No. 2, 19 Henselt, Adolf von (1814, Bavaria: 1889)— Etude, Si oiseau j'etais, 19 Hoffmann, Edward : Auld lung syne, paraphrase, 20, 304 Hymn-tunes and Chorales — Alf(yrd (Dykes, 1823-1876), "Ten thousand times," 48, 55, 129, 212 AUa Trinita beata (Italian, c. 1336), " Blessed feasts," 283 Angelus (German, c. 1657), " At even, ere the sim," 168, 241 Austria (Haydn), " Praise the Lord," 202 Beatitudo (Dykes), " How bright these," 241 318 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Hymn -tunes and Chorales — Burford (Eng., 17th cent.), " Jesu Christ, if aught," 241, 242 Canon (Thomas Tallis, c. 1610- 1586), " Glory to Thee," 66 Christchurch (Charles Steggall,1826- 1906), " Jerusalem on high," 284 Christus Consolator (Dykes), " Art thou weary," 240, 244 Cloisters (Joseph Bamby, 1838- 1896), " Lord of our life," 167, 224 n., 242 Deerhurst (James Langran, 1835- 1909), " Hark ! the sound," 205 Easter Hymn, No. 1 (W. H. Monk, 1823-1889), 28 Easter Hymn, No. 2 (1708), "Jesus Christ is risen to-day," 28, 44 n., 50, 189, 240, 247 Ein' feste. Burg (Luther), " Plejoice to-day," 46, 53, 213 Erie (German ; harm, by Bach), " Sing praise to God," 46, 53, 212 222 Eventide (W. H. Monk), " Abide with me," 284 Franconia (German, 1754),"Bless'd are the pure," 45 Gloria (Henry Smart, 1813-1879), " Hark the sound," 205 Olouceater (Eklward Hodges, 1796- 1867), " He sat to watch," 217, 218 Hursley (1792), " Sun of my soul," 28 Innocents : " Conquering kings," 205 Irby (H. J. Gauntlett, 1806-1876), " Once in royal David's city," 205 Jesu, dvlcis memoria (mediaeval), " Jesu ! the very thought," 162 Keble (Dykes), " Sun of my soul," 283 Love divine (John Stainer, 1840- 1901). 206 Luxbenigna (Dykes), " Lead, kindly light," 284 Maidstone (W. B. Gilbert, 1829- 1910), "Pleasant are Thy Courts," 131, 168 Martyrdom (Hugh Wilson, the shoe- maker, 1764-1824), "As pants the hart," 49, 168, 242 Meinhold (from J. S. Bach), " Weary men," 46, 62, 168, 190, 204, 240 Hymn-tunoa and Chorales — 'Merton (W. H. Monk), " Hark ! a thrilling voice," 44 n. Miles Lane (Wm. Shrubsole, 1760- 1806), "All hail the power," 47, 168, 239, 248, 276 Nun danket (Johann Cruger, 1649), " Now thank we," 46, 64 Old Slat (Eng., 16th cent.), "The Son of God goes forth," 243 Old 100th (L. Bourgeois, c. 1510, Paris), 242 Old 104th (16th-17th cent.), "O worship the King," 266 n. O quanta qualia (mediaeval), "0 what the joy," 283 Salutaris (mediaeval), " The Hea- venly Word," 162 Pange Lingua (mediaeval), " Now, my tongue," 162, 203, 204 Passion Chorale (Hassler, 1001), "0 sacred Head," 62, 128, 168, 204, 212, 215, 222, 241 Plain-song (mediaeval), " Be near us," 162 Plain-song (medifflval), " From east to west," 218 Redhead, No. 76 (R. Redhead, 1820- 1901), " Rock of ages," 49, 50 Resurrexit (Arthur Sullivan, 1842- 1900), " Christ is risen ! " 46, 61. 168, 188 St. Albinus (Gauntlett), " Jesus lives ! " 51 St. Anne (Wm. Crofts, 1678-1727), " God, our help," 131, 243 St. Cross (Dykes), " O come and mourn," 283 St. Cuthbert (Dykes), "Our blest Redeemer," 48. 239 St. Oeorge (Gauntlett). " God from on high." 44 n. St. Helen (G. C. Martin, 1844-1916), " Lord, enthroned," 205 St. Matthew (Crofts), " Thine arm, O Lord," 243 St. Thomas (18th cent.), "Lo, He comes," 44 n. Sancttuiry (Dykes), " Hark I the sound," 206 ShoUery (E. Hulton). "Sweet Sa- viour, in Thy," 218 SUphanos (H. W. Baker, 1821- 1877), "Art thou weary ? " 50, 168, 189, 239 Trinity College (Dykes), "From east to west," 218 INDEX 319 Hymn-tunes and Chorales — Triaagion (H. Smart), " Stars of the morning," 284 Vrba beata (mediaeval), " Blessed city," 162 Vexilla Regis (mediaeval), " The Royal banners," 162 Wiltshire (George Smart, 1776- 1867), " Through all the chang- ing scenes," 241-2 Yorkshire (John Wainwright, 1723- 1768), " Christians, awake," 283 Jarnefelt, Armas (1869, Viborg) : Prelude (orch.), 21, 79 Joseffy, Rafael (1853, Hmigary: 1915): Czardas, 20 Kalinnikov, Basil (1866, Russia : 1901) : Chanson triste, 235 Korngold, Eric Wolfgang (1897, Aus- tria) : 7 Pfte. pieces, 22 Kuhnau, Johann (1677, Saxony : 1722) : OavoUe in B minor, 70 Lange, Gustav (1830, Germany : 1889)— " Blue Bells of Scotland " -para- phrase, 20 " Bonnie Dundee " variations, 20 Lassen, Per : Crescendo, 70 Liszt, Franz (1811, Hungary : 1886)— Consolations, 21, 71, 78 Onomenreigen ^tude, 19 Harmonies po^tiques et religieuses : No. 3, " B^nMiction de Dieu dans la solitude," 22 No. 9, Andante lagrimoso, 80 La Campanella etude (Paganini), 15 L^gende : "St. Francis of Assisi : La predication aux oiseaux," 19 Mazeppa etude, 15 Rhapsodies hongroises :* No. 1, E major, 86, 96 No. 2, C sharp minor and F sharp, 85 No. 3, B Jlat major, 96 No. 4, E flat major, 85 No. 5, E minor, Hero'ide-elegiaque, 66, 86, 86 No. 6, D flat and B flat major, 96, 110 I.iszt, Franz — Rhapsodies hongroises : No. 8, F sharp, 96, 304 No. 9, E flat, Le Carnaval de Pesth, 293, 303 No. 10, E major, 303 No. 11, A minor and F sharp, 85, 302 No. 12, C sharp minor, 85 No. 13, A minor, 96, 304 No. 15, A, Rakoczy-Marsch, 86, 295 MacDowell, Edward (1861, New York: 1908)— Amerikanische Wald-Idyllen, Op. 51 (1896) : No. 1, " To a wild rose," 15, 78 No. 3, "At an old trysting-place," 78 No. 7, " From Uncle Remus," 95 No. 8, " A deserted farm," 78 Fireside Tales, Op. 61 (1902) : No. 2, " Of Br'er Rabbit," 107 No. 5, " A haunted house," 75 Sea-Pieces, Op. 55 (1898), 22 No. 2, " From a wandering ice- berg," 69 No. 4, " Starlight," 88 No. 5, Song, 56, 93 Massenet, Jules (1842, France : 1912) : Parade militaire, 18 Medtner, Nicholas (1879, Moscow) : Sonata, Op. 25, 22 Mendelssohn, Felix (1809, Hamburg : 1847): Andante and Rondo capriccioso. Op. 14 (1824), 21, 304 Fantasia, F sharp minor, Op. 28 (1833), 303 6 Kinderstiicke {Christmas Pieces), Op. 72 (1842) : No. 1, G major, 267, 269 Lieder ohne Worte : No. 4, Op. 19, No. 4, A major, 18 No 9, Op. 30, No. 3, E major, 18 No. 11, Op. 30, No. 5 (1833), D major, 78 No. 12, Op. 30, No. 6 (Gondola Song), F sharp minor, 80 No. 20, Op. 53, No. 2, E flat, 303 No. 42, Op. 85, No. 6 (1841), B flat major, 78 * Catalogues of player-piano rolls are not always correct in respect of opus numbers, serial numbers, and keys. This is so in the case of the music of all the great composers. 320 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Mendelssohn, Felix — l.ieder ohne Worte : No. 44, Op. 102, No. 2 (1845), D major, 206 Prelude. E minor (1841), 78 Serenade, B minor. Op. 43 (1838), pfte. and orch., 70, 78 3 Studies, Op. 104 : No. 1, B flat minor (1836), 78 Variations, E flat. Op. 82 (1841), 21 MoRzkowski, Moritz (1854, Germany) : Canon, Op. 15, No. 4, 79 Pohne de mai, Op. 67, No. 1, 19 Serenata, Op. 15, No. 1, 18 Spanish Dances, Op. 12, 19 Ungarischer Tanz, Op. 11, 18 Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756, Salzburg : 1791, Vienna) — Eine kleine Nachtmusic (Overture, Romanze, MenueUo, Rondo), 19 Sonatas {Peter's edition) : No. 10, D major (1777) : 3rd mvt., Tema, and 12 variations, 228 248 No. 12, A major (1779), 21 1st mvt., Tema, and 6 varia- tions, 248 3rd mvt., alia turca, 80, 302 No. 6, F major (1779) : allegro, adagio (B flat) ; allegro assai, 303 No. 18, C minor (1784), 303 Fantasia (May 20, 1785), 21 1st mvt., allegro molto, 289 2nd mvt., adagio, 67 National Tunes and Songs, 19 Auld long syne, 20, 304 Blue Bells of Scotland, 20 Bonnie Dundee, 20 British Orenadiers, 28 "Drink to me only with thine eyes," 176 Ood save the King, 28, 1 15, 304 Oood King Wencedas (Gardiner : Noel), Molly on the shore, 19 Robin Adair, 86 Ride Britannia, 28, 304 Rakoczy March, 295 Sailor's Hornpipe, 115, 213, 216 " H't^tn a mile of Edinboro" toum,"86 Yankee Doodle, 29 Nessler, Victor (1841. Alsaoe : 1890) : Bridal Processional March, 18 Nevin, Ethelbert (1862, U.S.A. : 1901): "Narcissus," 18 O'Neill, Norman (1875, London) — Burlesque, Op. 15, No. 3, 76 Gigue, Op. 27, No. 2, 19, 66, 76 PaK;hul8ki, Heinrich (1859, Russia) : " La Fileuse," Op. 3, No. 2, 19 Paderewski, Ignace Jan (1860, Po- land) : Dances, Op. 5, 9, 12, 20 Purcell, Henry (1658, London: 1695)— Cebell (GavotU), 207 " Golden Sonata " {moderato ; ada- gio ; allegro : grave ; allegro), 21 Bachmaninofl, Sergei (1873, Russia) : Preludes, Op. 23, 305 Raff, Joseph (1822, Switzerland: 1882) : Cavatina, Op. 85, 18 Rameau, J. Ph. (1683, Dijon : 1764) : Rigaudon, 104 Ravel, Maurice (1876, Basses-Pyr^- nies) — " Jeux d'eau, 22 " Miroirs," 22 Valses nobles ct sentimentales, 22 Reger, Max (1873, Bavaria : 1916)— 7 Characterstucke, Op. 32 (1899) : No. 5, Intermezzo in C major, 311 6 Morceaux, Op. 24 (1899) : No. 6, Rhapsodie (in Brahms' style), 15, 312 Walzer, Op. 11, 304 Rimsky-Korsakoff, Nicholas (1844, Russia : 1908) : Caprice espag- nole. Op. 34, 304 Rossini, Giacomo (1792, Italy : 1868) : La Regatta Veneziana (Liszt trans.), 19 Rubinstein, Anton (1830, Russia: 1894)— Melody in F, 18 Staccato £tude, C major, 19 Saint-S&ens, Ch. Camille (1835, Paris) Concerto (pftc), Op. 22, G minor : 3rd mvt., 305 " Le Cygne," 19 Symphonic Poem (orch.), "Le Rouet d'Omphale," Op. 31, 303 Scarlatti, Domenico (1685, Naples : 1757)— •• The Cat's Fugiu," 76 Sonata (" esercizio ") in A major, 21 Scharwenka, Fr. Xavor (1850, German Poland) : Polish Dances, Op. 9, 20 INDEX 321 Schonberg, Arnold (1874, Austria) : 5 KlavierstUcke, Op. 11, 22 Schubert, Franz Peter (1797, near Vienna: 1828)— 6 Ecossaisen, Op. 18 (a), 46, 60, 62, 89, 94, 310 Divertissement d la hongroise (1824), Op. 54, 20, 298 4 Impromptus, Op. 90 (1827) : No. 1, C minor, 217 No. 2, E flat major, 231, 261 No. 3, G major, 194 No. 4, A flat major, 260, 265 4 Impromptus, Op. 142 : No. 2, A flat major, 257 No. 3, B flat major, 285 3 Klavierstiicke (May, 1828) : No. 3, AUegro in C major, 281 Militar-Marsch, Op. 51, No. 1 original version, 18 Militar-Marsch, Op. 51, No. 1 Carl Tausig arrangement, 286 6 Moments musicals, Op. 94 (1827) No. 3, F minor, 18, 79 No. 4, C sharp minor, 285 No. 5, F minor, 286 Phantasie (" Wanderer "), Op. 15 (? 1820), 21, 295, 303 Quartet (string) in D minor (posth.), 285 2 Scherzi (1817): No. 1, B flat major, 46, 99, 267 n. No. 2, D flat major, 100 Sonatas for Pianoforte : Op. 42, A minor (1825): 1st mvt., moderato, 65 3rd mvt., scherzo, 171, 234, 257 Op. 53, D major (? 1825) : 2nd mvt., con moto, 260, 276 3rd mvt., scherzo, 273 4th mvt., rondo {allegro mode- rato), 224 Op. 120, A major : 2nd mvt., andante, 254 Op. 143, A minor (1823): 1st mvt,, allegro giusto, 85, 86, 224 2nd mvt., andante in F major, 75 Op. 147, B major (1817) : 2nd mvt., 251, 262 3rd mvt., srJierzo, 71, 280 Sonata in B flat (? 1828), 303 2nd mvt., andante sostenuto, 86 4th mvt., allegro ma non troppo, 86 Schubert, Franz Peter — Songs: An Sylvia (" Was ist Sylvia f "), 166 Der Tod und das Madchen, 286 Der Wanderer, 296 Wanderer's Nachtlied, 296 Symphony in C major (No. 7), 304 13 Variations (Huttenhrenner), A minor, 286 Walzer, Op. 18(a) (1816), 46, 63, 62, 89 Walzer, " Soiries de Vienne " (Liszt transcriptions), 19 Schumann, Robert Alexander (1810, Saxony: 1856)— Canonic Song, Op. 68, No. 27, 79 Carnaval, Op. 9 (1834), 303 Concerto (pfte, and orch.), Op. 54, 262 Fantasiestiicke, Op. 12 (1837), 21 No. 1, Des Abends, 262 No. 2, Aufschvmng, 275 No. 3, Warum ? 78, 80, 93, 199n., 312 No. 4, GriUen, 270 No. 8, Ende vom Lied, 216, 221, 246, 279 Faschingsschwank aus Wein (Car- navalpranck). Op. 26, No. 1 : Fantasiebilder, 303 FrUMingsnacht (Song : Liszt tran- scription), 81, 302 " Grief foreboding " {Albumbldtter), Op. 124), 72 Humoreske, Op. 20 (1839), 3 Kinderscenen, Op. 16 (1836-1839) : No. 2, Curiose Geschichte, 267 No. 6, Wichtige Begebenheit, 267 No. 7, Trdumerei, 66, 78 Novelletten, Op. 21 (1838) : No. 1, D minor, 195, 224 No. 3, B minor, 15, 262 n. No. 5, D major, 296 Novellette, B minor (Bunte Blatter, Op. 99, No. 9), 302 PapiUons, Op. 2 (1829-1831), Ift Scott, Cyril (1879, Cheshire}— " Dance negre," Op. 58, No. 5, 7ff' " Pierette," 304 " Sphinx," Op. 63, 22 Valse scherzando. Op. 58, No. 1, 80 " Water- Wagtail " {Bergeronnette), Op. 71, No. 3, 30 n., 304 Scriabin, Alexander (1872, Russia : 1915): Poemes, 0pp. 32, 34, 44, 69, 22 322 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Sgambati, Giovanni (1843, Rome) — M&odiea poetiquea. Op. 36, 20 Intermezzo, Op. 21, No. 4, 20 Sibelius, Jean (1865, Finland)— IdyU, Op. 24, No. 6, 21, 71, 78, 264 Nocturno, Op. 24, No. 8, 199 n. Binding, Christian (1856, Norway) — FrOMingarauchen, 19 Marche grotesque. Op. 32, No. 1, 19 Smetana, Friedrich (1824, Bohemia : 1884) : Polka, Op. 8, No. 1, 20 Smith, Sydney (1839-1889)— March, " En route," 18 Maypole Dance, 18 Sousa, J. P. (1856, U.S.A.): March, " Stars and Stripes for ever,", 18 Strauss, Johann (1825, Austria : 1899) : Waltzes, " Beautiful Blue Danube," 18 Strauss, Richard (1864, Munich) — Burleske, D minor (1884-1885), pfte. and orch., 304 " Ein Heldenleben," Op. 40 (1898), orch., 303 Enoch Arden, Op. 38 (1897-1898), recitation music, 303 Festival March, Op. 1 (1871), orch., 303 Intermezzo, Op. 9, No. 3 (1882- 1883), 304 " Rosenkavalier " (1911), 305 Salome (1905), opera : finale, 304 Sonata for 'cello and pfte., Op. 6 (1882-1883), finale, 303 Song, " Traum durch die Ddmmer- ung," Op. 29, No. 1 (1894- 1895), 81 Tchaikovski, Peter Iliitch (1840, Russia, 1893>— Casse Noisette suite. Op. 71 (o), (1892), orch., 19 Tchaikovski, Peter Iliiteh — Concerto, pfte. and orch.. Op. 23 (1875), 304 Scherzo h, la russe. Op. 1, No. 1, 20 Symphony No. 5 in E minor. Op. 64 (1887) : finale, 305 Symphonie pathelique. Op. 74 (1893), 303 2nd mvt., allegro con grazia, 235 Thome, Francis (1850-1909) : Simple aveu, 18 Wachs, Paul (1851, France) : Capri- cante march, 19 Wagner, Richard (1813, Leipzig: 1883) : Tristan and Isdda, opera (1857-1859): prelude, 303 Weber, Carl Maria von (1786, Hol- stein: 1826)— " AufiForderung zum Tanz " {Invita- tion d la Valse), Op. 65 (1819), 90 Les Adiettx, Op. 81 (T not by Weber), 66,304 Momento capriccioso. Op. 12 (1808), 21, 74 n., 260 Polacca brillante, Op. 72 (1819), 297 Rondo brillante, Op. 62 (1819), 304 Sonatas for Pianoforte : Op. 24, C major (1812): 3rd mvt., Menuetto, 261 Op. 39, A flat major (1816) : 3rd mvt., Menueilo capriccioso, 262 4th mvt.. Rondo, 78 Op. 49, D minor (1816): Ist mvt., allegro feroce, 70, 303 2nd mvt., andante con moto, 304 3rd mvt., Rondo, 303 Op. 70, E minor (1822), 304 INDEX 323 GENERAL INDEX ^'Abstract " (abaolute) music, 63, 172, 296 aecd. (accelerando), 60 Accent. See Streaa, Emphasis, tentUo, Metre AccontuatioQS, rhythmical, 227 Accompaniment to melody, 77-80 Addison, 171, 178 n. .^Solian Company, 13 n. Agogio (see also rubato, tenuto), 62, 117, 127, 132, 136, 139, 269 n. aUarg. (qUargando), 62 aUa zoppa, 9, 79, 107, 108, 110, 127, 287 (3) Anatde France, 58 andante, 195 Arcadelt, 52 Arnold, Matthew, 155 arpeggio, 74, 96 n., 211 (k) Articulation of sound, 115, 222. See Phrasing a tempo {in tempo), 60 Augmentation, 216, 301 Bach, 3, 6, 14, 30, 52, 63, 64, 67, 81, 99, 104, 106, 210, 223, 226, 273 Bar and bar-lines, 27, 29, 42, 122 Bar and Measure, 122 Barnfield, 138 Bass-notes to be bold, 79 (6) Beating time, 31, 83 Beats (counts), 27 — Division and subdivision, 28, 32, 36, 37 (1), 105, 116, 204 Beethoven, 14, 38 (4), 52, 63, 67, 95, 98, 118 n., 140, 177-8, 198, 207, 209, 210, 223, 226, 239 (/), 247, 280, 298 Bennett, Arnold, 22 Binary (form, etc.), 44r-5, 187, 204 Bissected-chord (accompaniment), 79, 107, 197, 199 n. Bolero, 297 n. Brahms, 3, 15, 35, 62, 63, 98, 108, 298 Bridges, Robert (" Demeter "), 148 Browne, Sir Thomas (" ReUgio me- dici"), 182 Browning, Elizabeth, 140, 144, 246-7 — {" Catarina to Camoens "), 144, 145, 245 Browning, Robert, 4, 8, 35, 83, 178 »., 185 — "A Toccata of Galuppi's," 143, 145, 201 Browning, Robert, "Abt Vogler," 177 — " Fifine at the Fair," 134, 137, 185 — " Master Hugues of Saxe-Gotha," 168 S., 223 — " One Word More," 139 — " Rabbi ben Ezra," 139, 300 — " Summum Bonum," 156 Byrd, 152 Cadenoes and closes, 25, 43, 53, 61, 299 — feminine, 43, 44, 49, 74, 98 — masculine, 43, 49 Cadence-chord, 43, 55 Cadential stress, 42, 99 cadenza, 109, 110, 147, 197 (11) calando, 62 Canon, 56, 78, 79, 258, 299 cantando (cantabile), 57, 71, 77, 92 Capriccio, 107 Chaminade, 3, 14 Change of measure. See Measure ; also Spondee- and Mdossus-msasure Change of metre (see also 5-time, 7- time, irregular metres), 38, 49, 235 (4), 263, 271 (e) — of tempo, 38(7), 60, 93-4 Chopin, 6, 14, 38 (4), 46, 62, 63, 64, 67, 90, 95, 99, 128, 140, 142, 177, 223, 247, 260 (a), 298 Chordal music, 85, 258 (6), 278, 295 (4) " Qassical " music, 63, 67, 97, 223 Clause, 43, 99, 153 ff., 188 rhythm, 225 ff. aementi, 228 Coda, 45, 52 Coleridge, 59, 106, 120 n., 120-1, 161, 172 — " Hexameters," 135 — " Lessons in Metrical Feet," 152, 179 n. Command of the Player, 2, 7, 17, 23, 25, 36, 111, 211(28), 295(7) Compound times, 29, 42 Compounding simple times (for study), " extended metrical counting," 33, 40-1,98 Conducting, 31, 37, 98 Contrapuntal music. See Polyphony — epoch, 56 Control-levers (touch-buttons, accent- buttons), 12, 48, 50, 68, 77, 89, 93, 101, 110 324 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO Counting beats (time), 27, 31, 36, 37, 122, 130, 226 — Musical Studies, 87-111 — divisions and subdivisions of beats, 32, 93, 110 n., 116 ccmrarUe {correnle), 306 S. Cowper (verses, " Alexander Sel- kirk "), 154 ff. Creative Imagination in musical per- formance, 8, 26, 26, 30-1, 34, 35-6, 40-1, 68, 104, 113 ores, 62 Cross beat, 31 n. Crossing of parts and voices (contra- puntaJ music), 67 Dakce music, 28, 88, 108 — idealised, 6, 8, 63, 78, 88-9, 307 Development, 44-5 dim, 62 Discord, expressive performance of, 63, 233 (6) Dotted-note movement, rhythm, and motive, 28, 48, 84-6, 88, 106, 107, 125, 127, 214 Dowland, John, 137 Down-beat, 31 n. Dryden, 47 n., 120, 124, 137, 178 n. drwle, 238 [82 Duple-time (two-beat time), 27, 32, 50, — interpolated 3-time bar, 98. See also Change of metre Dynamic pedal-stroke, 26, 82, 84 Echo effects, 67, 70 Ecossaise, 89 Eight-beat (-bar) phrase and clause, 40, 45, 47-64, 61, 225 Elgar, 62 Elision of pulse or measure (parallel cUuses), 209, 210, 225, 227, 271 (e), 286 (18) — beat, See Change of Metre Elocution, 2, 117, 120 Emerson, 9 Emphasis (stress, accent), 120 n., 121 Empty times ("rests"), 37, 38(3), 38(5), 118, 143, 168, 170, 176, 220 (o), 221, 254, 269, 281 {68) See also Caialectie — in femuUa, 91 Ezpo8itij OlOIIVH / lir-r,,:,, AA ilii'li ^^0 112 580 """