Music White You Wait

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17569, 20 June 1925, Page 17 (Supplement)

Music White You Wait

The Lost Art of Improvisation.

has the art ol* extemv v porisation gone out so completely? In bygone days no self-respecting pianist giving a performance considered that he had done his duty if lie did not display his powers in dealing with a theme provided by the audience, and everyone has read, of course, of the feats of such masters as Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven in tills way. There was, for instance, Bach’s famous contest with Marehand, a boastful Frenchman, to whose vanity he administered wholesome corrective. At a concert at Dresden Marehand had won great applause by his brilliant extemporised variations on a French air. Bach, who was in the audience, was then invited, to try his hand, and he proceeded to repeat all Marchand’s variations and to add to them twelve others of his own of infinitely greater beaut'". He further informed Marehand that he was prepared to perform any musical task which he chose to set him if he. Marehand/ would accept the same obligation. Marehand, whose overbearing and vain-glorious character- ha.d mad© him verv 'anpoff-.’-.r, accepted the challenge, and all arrangements were made for the contest. When the time arrived. however, the Frenchman tailed to appear, and inquiry elicited the fact that Tie had departed hastily the

Handel and Mozart, Handel's wonderful powers in this ■ respect drew attention to him at a very early period of his career. And those powers ho retained to the end of liis days, so that in the case of his organ concertos it was his habit, more often than sketch in the organ part, leaving it with se rentes confidence 1o the inspiration of the moment to supply all else that was required . As for Mozart, he. excited amazement even as a child by his incredible achievements under this head, and later he, too, frequently engaged in 1 friendly keyboard combats with his : contemporaries. On one of these occasions his rival was Clementi, the famous Italian virtuoso, who was invited while on a visit to Vienna in 1871 to play against him. Clementi started with a sonata of his own, Mozart following with softie variations. Seme, manuscript sonatas of Paisigllo were then placed on the desk and both alternately read-move-ments at sight: and finally they were asked by the Emperor, Joseph 11.. who was present, to take a theme from out of these sonatas and improvise on it in '.urn while the other accoinpani-

eel on a second piano. In the end the honours were declared, on this occasion, to be divided. Beethoven v. WoelffL Even more memorable weie some o: the contests ol the same order in which Beethoven took part. In one which caused a great stir his opponent was W oelffl, a famous pianist of the day. This took place at the iiouse of a wealthy amateur, Baron ton Wetzlar, and in this case also two pianos were provided upon which each artist improvised in turn upon themes provided by the host, with results which one can well believe were astonishing. As 1o Beethoven's improvisation in general many eloquent accounts have been left by those tv ho heard him. “ His c emporisa . • "was most brilliant and striking. In whatever company he happened to be he knew how to produce, such an effect upon hi- hearers that frequently not an eye remained dry, while many would break out into loud sobs." Among more recent composers no one excelled more in this line perhaps than Mendelssohn, of whose amazing facility many astonishing stories are narrated. One, for instance, tells of three different cadenzas which he improvised on the same day when playing Beethoven's G- major piano concerto with the Philharmonic Society - the first two at rehearsal in the morning and the third, totally different fr • •-i• : ■■ r ■•: ors, ;i t the coni ert itself. "John O' London's Weekly."