MUSIC.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 598, 28 August 1909, Page 9

MUSIC.

v• • (Bt Treble CLEJ.) How Rublnstoln Taught. Mr. Josef Hoffmann tells in the May number of the "Girl's. Own Paper" "How Rubinstem Taught Him to Play." Mr. Hofmann had the privilege of being Rubinstein's only pupil outsido the regular students of the-Im-perial Conservatoire at St. Petersburg. He. studied with Rubinstein for two years, from the age of sixteen to eighteen, and since that time he has studied only by himself. Rubinstein, writes his pupil,. cnose the method of indirect instruction , through suggestive comparisons. Ho touchcd' upon' tho strictly musical only, upon rare occasions. 11 I \ ever pkyed for-, his pupil. He only talked, and tho pupil'translated his moaning into music and musical utterances. When tho pupil played the-same phrase twice in succession, and played. it both timeiS alike, ,the master would say,. "In fine weather you' may play it as you did, but'when it rains ; )lay it differently." Often ho would grow enthusiastic about a" certain conception, only to prefer: a different one the next day. He never permitted the pupil to' bring'to.' him as a lesson any composition more than once. Nor did he ever permit One of his own ivorks to be brought as a lesson'. The piano was shockingly' out, of tune, but 'to this condition of the; piano the master Was alvray serenely indifferent. He followed every note of the pupil's ■ playing with' his eyes riveted on the printed page,, and was a great j stickler for the • letter—which is surprising I considering tliO'liberties he was wont to take when ho played the, same ivorks. He once said to young Hofmann, ; "When ,you, are.,as old as I am 'now-, you my : do. as I you can." ' • '• i

Once when .Hofmann'played a Liszt rhapsody : pretty' badly, Rubinstein said:; "The way you play this :piecp l would ;bo all right for auntie <ir mamma. Now let us See how we play such Before your fingers .touch the keys : you: must begin the ' piece mentally.' What is_ the character. of this piece ? Is it dramatic, tragic,' lyric, romantic, humorous, heroic, sublime, mystic " 1 / Why is' piano-playing so difficult? Rubinstein's answer was, "Because it is proiio *to be , either, affected or else afflicted with •mannerisms;; and when these two pitfalls are luckily, avoided; then it,,is liable to be—dry, The truth lies between those three' mischiefs." . ■

The Ways of Massenet, •Age does not impair Massenot's 'ability to turn out a, new opera every year or two. Ho celebrat/ed bis sixty-seventh birthday last month, a few days after ■ the production of his "Bacchus," an opera which is not,'likely to prove one of .his successes. ' There is said to be some good music in it, but the libretto is foolish. Massenet owes his .comparative youthfulness to his hygienic good sense. According to a- writer in "Le Temps," he retires every evening at eight o'clock, and never accepts an invitation to a theatre except for an afternoon, performance. He gets up ,at, four o'clock in the morning, and shortly afterwards ho is at work. By ten o'clock his musical labours are ended, and he attends to others, more prosaic duties. He'has a curious habit of making marginal notes on his manuscript scores—notes relating to all sorts of irrelevant things, such as the state of the weather. On one page of his "Werther" score there is an entry to the effect that on the previous day, Juno 25, 1887, Charpentier had won the Grand Prix' de Rome. Charpentier,,, the , composer .of ".Louise," .was a, pupil of Massenet, at the Paris Conservatoire.

Elgar's Symphony. Herr Ifykisch has given his judgment on Elgar's Symphony to the "Musical Times" as follows!— •• .' . "I consider ' Elgar's Symphony a masterpiece of. the first order, one that will soon be justly ranked on the same level with tho great, symphonic models—Beethoven and Brahms. The' music is strong in invention, workmanship, and development, from beginning to end. I find that some critics have > pressed .a somewhat unfavourable opinion of the first movement; but it, is sb'logical, so well balanced, and there is so much in it that only needs to be properly expressed in order to make everything clear. Eacfi time I conduct the work', my admiration for it —very sincere and not superficial from tho beginning—increases. . It. was tho same with my orchestra at the Gewandhaus, Leipzig. There I held four rehearsals of .the symphony, and on each successive occasion the players ■became more and more excited, until they were almost as enthusiastic as myself. Our audiences are naturally cold towards anything new, but the; work was .a. great success, and aroused great enthusiasm,". ■ Notes. ' ' . ■ : Kussewitzky, the double-bass player and conductor, ! who has given 250,000 dollars ill aid of young Russian composers, is the husband of a very rich woman. Ho has been, giving conceits lately in London, where'it is reported that English composers also aro to benefit by his generosity. Thfey . need someone to help them. "The task •of the modem composer," says London "Truth," "might be said to consist of throe stages of progressively increasing difficulty. The first consists in writing the work, the second: in getting it published, aiyl the third in getting people to plav it and buy it. It ig not enough, in other words, to \vrite works and get them published: the public must aJso bo persuaded to like thom, and this is usuallv the hardest task of all."

r Isidoro de Lara has written another opera, called "Solca," and it was recently performed for the first time in Paris. The libretto is by Jean Richepin, and the story is that of a gipsy girl, Solea, who in Rhodes, during the Middle Ages, loves tho Christian knight, Lioncol, and would seduco him from! his, duty, but in vain; foi; ho is staunch. She is converted, and at the last, -when after defeat in battle bo-loses heart, it is she, the newly-baptised Christian, who screws his courage up, and both die together girise their livoa to save hia country. '