HOW TO TEACH, HOW TO LEARN, HOW TO FORM A JUDGMENT OF MUSICAL PERFORMANCES. Translated from the German FRIEDRICH WIECK. BOSTON: LOCKWOOD, BROOKS, & COMPANY. 1875. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1875, by NOYES, HOLMES, AND COMPANY, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son....

Friedrich Wieck , the author of the work a translation of which is here offered to the public, was during his long life a distinguished teacher of music. He died in the autumn of 1873. He was the father and teacher of the celebrated pianist, Clara Wieck, now Fr. Dr. Clara Schumann, widow of the renowned composer Robert Schumann, who was also a pupil of Wieck. His second daughter, Fräulein Marie Wieck, is well known in Germany as an artistic performer on the piano-forte. I have translated this li

I here present to the musical public a book written in a style of my own, not a scientific and systematically well-arranged treatise. This no reasonable man would expect of an old music-master, who, in his long practice in the realm of tones, could not arrive at learned and too often fruitless deductions. Nature made me susceptible to that which is good and beautiful; a correct instinct and a tolerable understanding have taught me to avoid the false and the vicious; a desire for increased knowle

You ask, my dear friend, for some particular information about my piano method, especially with regard to my mode of elementary instruction, which differs essentially from that in common use. I give you here the main points; and, if you place confidence in my experience of forty years, and if you will supply those details which I have omitted, your own varied experience as a thoughtful, talented, and earnest piano-teacher will enable you to understand my theory, from the following dialogue betwe

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ. Herr Zach , formerly a flute-player, not very wealthy. His Wife , of the family of Tz. (rather sharp-tempered). Stock , her son, 17 years old (is studying the piano thoroughly). Mr. Buffalo , music-master of the family. Dominie , piano-teacher (rather gruff). Cecilia , his daughter, 13 years old (shy). Zach ( to Dominie ). I regret that I was unable to attend the concert yesterday. I was formerly musical myself and played on the flute. Your daughter, I believe, plays pretty wel

(A Letter addressed to the Father of a Piano Pupil). It is a pity that you have no sons, for a father takes great delight in his sons; but I agree with you, when you say that, if you had one, you would rather he should break stones than pound the piano. You say you have many friends who rejoice in that paternal felicity, and whose sons, great and small, bright and dull, have been learning the piano for three years or more, and still can do nothing. You are doubtless right; and, further, they nev

Mrs. Solid. I should be glad to understand how it is that your daughters are able to play the numerous pieces which I have heard from them so correctly and intelligently, without bungling or hesitation, and with so much expression, and the most delicate shading; in fact, in such a masterly manner. From my youth upwards, I have had tolerable instruction. I have played scales and études for a long time; and have taken great pleasure in studying and industriously practising numerous compositions of

I have just returned exhausted and annihilated from a concert, where I have been hearing the piano pounded. Two grand bravoura movements have been thundered off, with the pedal continually raised; and then were suddenly succeeded by a soft murmuring passage, during which the thirteen convulsed and quivering bass notes of the fortissimo were all the time resounding. It was only by the aid of the concert programme that my tortured ears could arrive at the conclusion that this confusion of tones wa

You exclaim: "What is that?—a sentiment for the soft pedal! a sentiment of any kind in our times! most of all, a musical sentiment! I have not heard of such a thing in a concert-room for a long time!" When the foot-piece to the left on the piano is pressed down, the key-board is thereby moved to the right; so that, in playing, the hammers strike only two of the three strings, in some pianos only one. In that way the tone is made weaker, thinner, but more singing and more tender. What follows fro

I once more introduce my readers to the scenes of my active, musical life, with an invitation to accompany me to a musical tea-party. My object is, in a short and entertaining manner, to remove very common prejudices; to correct mistaken ideas; to reprove the followers of mere routine; to oppose to malicious cavilling the sound opinions of an experienced teacher; to scourge dogmatic narrow-mindedness; and in this way to advance my method of instruction. DRAMATIS PERSONÆ. John Spriggins (jovial a

(A Letter to a Young Lady Singer.) My dear Miss ——, —You are endowed with an admirable gift for singing, and your agreeable though not naturally powerful voice has vivacity and youthful charm, as well as a fine tone: you also possess much talent in execution; yet you nevertheless share the lot of almost all your sisters in art, who, whether in Vienna, Paris, or Italy, find only teachers who are rapidly helping to annihilate the opera throughout Europe, and are ruling out of court the simple, nob

Our vocal composers, followed by many singing-teachers and singing institutions, have almost banished from music the true art of singing; or, at least, have introduced an unnatural, faulty, and always disagreeable mode of delivery, by which the voice has been destroyed, even before it has attained its full development. The consideration of this fact induces me to communicate some portions from my journal, and to unite with them a few opinions of the noted singing-master, Teschner, of Berlin. Mus

Mrs. N . Her daughter Fatima , eighteen years old . An Aunt . Dominie . Towards the end of the evening, the piano-teacher , Mr. Feeble . Dominie ( rather anxiously to Fatima ). Will you do me the favor, Miss, to play something on the piano? Your aunt has told me a great deal about your playing. Fatima ( smiling graciously ). But, really, the piano is out of tune,—so my teacher says. Dominie. But does not your teacher attend to having your piano always kept in tune? Fatima. Mamma says it is too e

(A Discourse on Piano-Playing, delivered to an Audience of Lady Pupils.) Ladies,—As I am about to make a journey of a few weeks with my daughters, we will suspend for a short time our musical meetings. On my return, you will resume them with fresh interest. We will then not only play and sing together, but occasionally talk upon kindred subjects. Your friends will be made welcome, provided they are really interested in simple and noble musical performances, which make no attempt at display. We w

My daughters play the music of all the principal composers, and also the best salon music. Limited views of any kind are injurious to art. It is as great a mistake to play only Beethoven's music as to play none of it, or to play either classical or salon music solely. If a teacher confines himself to the study of the first, a good technique, a tolerably sound style of playing, intelligence, and knowledge are generally sufficient to produce an interpretation in most respects satisfactory. The mus

A large and varied experience is required for a correct estimate of musical talent in the young. Do not be deceived by the early evidences of talent; for instance, interest in melodies, correct feeling for time, an instinct for accenting the important notes, inclination for some peculiar though often perverted style of performance, quick apprehension, a natural aptitude for playing, a nice hearing, animation, rapid progress, docility, superficial gayety; even if all or a part of these traits are

(An Evening Party at Mr. Gold's.) DRAMATIS PERSONÆ. Mr. Gold , the banker (fond of music). Mrs. Gold (sings, and is an invalid.) Mr. Silver , bookkeeper (formerly a singer with Strauss). Mr. Pious , a friend of the family (a musical impostor, and a hypocrite generally). Mr. Forte , a foreign piano virtuoso (of weak nerves). Dominie , a piano-teacher. Emma , his daughter. (Mrs. Gold has just been singing in the modern Italian manner; suddenly alternating exaggerated high and low tones, given in a

I have received the following communication from an old literary friend, to whom I sent my eighth chapter, requesting his opinion of it:— Motto. There are unreceptive times, but that which is eternal outlives all times. — Joh. von Müller . My dear Friend, —I have read your eighth chapter. What you facetiously call "the three trifles" seem to me to be three most important points, even if you had described them simply as fine taste, deep feeling, and a good ear. Who expects superlative excellence