THE ART OF
THE PLAYER-PIANO
To my Father
JOHN FRANCIS GREW
Yardley Wood
95477 / .^,.
THE ART OF |f|
THE PLAYER-PIANO
A TEXT-BOOK FOR STUDENT AND TEACHER
BY 9511
SYDNEY GREW
"... though indeed all are naturally
^2 inclined unto Rhythme. . . ."
LONDON
KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & CO., LTD,
NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO.
1922
LIBRARY
SEP
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 roll.
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.
S. G.
CONTENTS
PART I
PAGE
PREFACE v
CHAPTER
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
XL TONE-PRODUCTION, CONTROL-LEVERS, AND SUS-
TAINING-LEVER 67
XII. SINGING-TONE, MELODY-LEVERS, AND AUTOMATIC
MELODISER V 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 (&) THE LYRIC
SPIRIT IN Music TEMPO-CONTROL . . 91
vii
viii CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
XVI. STUDIES IN METRICAL COUNTING (c) THE SCHERZ-
oso SPIRIT IN Music MANIPULATION or CON-
TROL-LEVERS 98
XVII. STUDIES IN METRICAL COUNTING (d) THE SPIRIT
OF RHYTHMICAL ENERGY SYNTHETIC USE
OF LEVERS ' . " . .. . . 104
PART II
XVIII. RHYTHMICAL PEDALLING . . . .112
XIX. PROSODIAL TERMS AND RHYTHM IN THE ABSTRACT 115
XX. RHYTHM OF VERSE (a) IAMB AND TROCHEE . 132
XXI. RHYTHM OF VERSE (6) CHORIAMBUS . . .146
XXII. RHYTHM OF VERSE (c) DACTYL AND ANAPEST . 153
XXIII. MUSICAL VALUES AND RHYTHM OF 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
CHAPTEK 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 pedalling. 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 intelligence. 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 intelligence 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 instrumentalists move from the small to
the great. Some singers and pianists do not ever develop the
larger understanding 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 tempo 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 instrument
as soon as he can deliver 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 under 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 course 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
feeling. Music, therefore, must itself be clear in form, and its
performance must be architecturally stable, if it is not to appear
rambling 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
full 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 Schumann'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 corn-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
delight greater than floating through an unfamiliar piece of
pleasant music.) And when you have once learned a piece, you
must cease to play it analytically, 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 literally 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 5
over they are over 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
calls 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
difnculty 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.
ii
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 rhythmic.
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 idealisation 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 Modern 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-
ments, in spite of this limitation. . . . We remember hearing a modern 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.
in
Pedalling is for the player-pianist what breathing is for the
singer and bowing for the violinist, or to draw illustration
from the instrument out of which the player arose what finger-
touch is for the pianist. The pedalling, indeed, is the touch,
" direct " when unmodified by any mechanical appliance, " con-
trolled " when modified by the Touch-buttons or Control-levers.
The various appliances 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 appliances (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 appliances cannot put matters right. At base the Art of the
Player is pedalling, whether the detail under consideration be
the marking of metre, the production of tone, the individualising
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 quality, climax, 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 delicately
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.
rv
I have said that music is an idealisation of singing and measured
movement. It is indeed this, th5 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 " impossibility 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 Dance floats into my
mind. It is the tenth of the Brahms set, the piece in E major.
It floats into mind in slower tempo than usual, and with greater
insouciance. I am filled with the spirit of the first eight beats, the
initial rhythmical phrase. I see the dancer freed of the physical
bonds of gravitation, as it were balanced in air upon the second
note of the music, into the time of which he has sprung from the
impact of the first note. I see him making his graceful gesticu-
lation, assuming the posture of the dance, in conditions that
PRELIMINAKY 9
might well be extended to an eternity of earth-free buoyancy,
but returning with exquisite indifference to earth to repeat the
phrase. I see his glorious freedom of energy on the fourth note,
where with emphatic motion he anticipates on a weak part of
the measure the metrical power of the following strong part,
leaving that strong beat without power when the time of its
existence approaches. I see the music in the accompaniment
inspiring and supporting him as he maintains himself in air, stay-
ing him by new force transmitted through the fourth and fifth
notes of the music, staying him also by the force transmitted by
those motive thrusts on the second and sixth notes (which thrusts
we call in technical language syncopation, and in the language
of musical expression alia zoppa.) I see, moreover, in all this
a manifestation of that affinity of beats which we call the Phrase-
ology of Music, and which (to anticipate terms which we shall
not use until a later portion of our study) compels us to borrow
from the language of prosody such words as iambic, trochaic, and
the like, and to strain language for descriptive epithets in the
effort to convey some idea of the matter that is seeking
outlet.
But rhapsodies are not in place at so early a stage of work.
They must be discontinued.
Yet the idea I would convey, and which I feel we must carry
with us, is an important one it is of the importance of all ideas
that have made for civilisation and for the advancement of the
human race those ideas Emerson presses into the essay where he
tells us that Nature will work for us if we but give it opportunity.
" I admire still more the skill which, on the sea-shore, makes the
tides drive the wheels and grind corn, and which thus engages
the assistance of the moon, like a hired hand, to grind, and wind,
and pump, and saw, and split stone, and roll iron. Now that is
the wisdom of a man, in every instance of his labour, to hitch
his wagon to a star, and see his chore done by the gods them-
selves. That is the way we are strong, by borrowing the might
of the elements."
And that is the idea I would have us impress on ourselves, the
idea that we must hitch our instrument to the star of Khythm
and put ourselves in the way of getting our work done by the
god of measured movement ; since otherwise our work is
laborious, its results are doubtful, and in the end we can never
be sure of full and entire satisfaction.
10 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
The player-piano is no dead mechanism. The force it requires
to actuate it is no heavy physical force. It is not to be driven by
unimaginative effort, but moved by artistic inspiration. Its
genius is of the genius of Nature ; and it is moved to artistic life
according as we place ourselves in line with the natural powers
of Rhythm.
CHAPTEK II
THE INSTBUMENT AND ITS MUSIC
THE salesman has it among his duties to explain the instrument
to a purchaser. This, with a little advice as to how the roll is to
be inserted and removed, is all the instruction a beginner receives.
There are not, so far as my knowledge goes, professional
teachers of the player-piano in the United Kingdom, though a
few exist in America. Musicians have scarcely, even yet, turned
seriously to the instrument, and it has not been hitherto observed
that the instrument has a technique of execution ; or, if this has
been observed, the principles of the technique have not hitherto
been determined. I believe the contents of this book form the
first effort to abstract and expound the principles of the art of
the player. Under the circumstances, teachers hitherto have had
nothing to teach, and beginners could not have received instruc-
tion. Years hence, there will be a world of teachers of the player ;
and it is my hope that this book will benefit the young teacher
who desires a fresh field of activity. He may be assured that this
field will be rich and wide.
The playerist who wants musical instruction of the order that
will help him in his work, should take lessons from a musician
in the rudiments of music (chiefly in respect of time, terms of
expression, the elements of form, and matters of style in musical
performance). The best instructors, however, are (a) musically
minded friends who will listen to a man's playing and tell him
how they like it or why they do not like it, and (6) performers at
concerts pianists, organists, singers, violinists and 'cellists,
choirs, orchestras, and the rest ; because all that goes to making
music can be poured into the player, and if not produced there
absolutely, be at least suggested, or imagined, by the performer.*
Different makes of player have different manipulatory appli-
ances, but these resolve themselves into (a) Tempo-control, (6)
* It is to be wished that one of the larger manufacturers of the player-
piano would establish a bureau of information for player-pianists,
11
12 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
Power-control, (c) separation of melody and accompaniment, and
(d) control of the dampers of the pianoforte.
The appliances may be buttons or levers, the latter balanced
or not. Certain of the mechanical aids to playing may be either
a single or a dual appliance. One appliance again may serve two
purposes. For convenience, I reduce all these to (a) the Tempo-
lever, (6) the Control-levers, (c) the Melody-levers, and (d) the
Sustaining-lever.
The Tempo-lever must work easily, and be sensitive in opera-
tion, so that minute changes of pace are possible. It should be
so made that it will remain in any position, even when the fingers
are removed. It alone should have command over speed : if
pedalling affects speed, something is wrong with the instrument.
The Sustaining-lever should also work easily, and be immediate
in operation. It is not convenient in playing, to have Tempo-
lever and Sustaining-lever set for the same hand ; because these
are the two appliances most constantly used.
The Control-levers " control " the motive-power that is pro-
vided and maintained by the pedalling. When on, they cut off
power and enable us to play softly even when & fortissimo supply
of power exists in the instrument. Also they permit us to build
up a supply of power during a pianissimo, for use in a suddenly
appearing fortissimo.
When the Control-levers are on, the tone is reduced to a uni-
form level, and we have no power of accent or increase in the
Pedals. In many instruments their operation is graded, so that
by gradually bringing them off or on we create a crescendo or
diminuendo upon uniform Pedal power.
It frequently happens that a change from loud to soft, or the
reverse, has to be made within the five-hundredth part of a
minute. Sudden changes of this character are impossible with-
out the help of the Control-levers. Gradual changes of tone are
possible by open pedalling, and should always be so effected.
The Melody-levers or Buttons are two in number. One con-
trols the treble register of the piano, the other the bass. The note
called middle E is usually the highest note in the register of the
Bass-control. Modern rolls sometimes have a central line to
show what perforations are respectively under the influence of
each lever.
Often it happens that melody and accompaniment are so
interwoven that we cannot separate them by the Melody-levers,
THE INSTRUMENT AND ITS MUSIC 13
In such cases we make use of whatever device of separation is
introduced into instrument and roll.*
The various soloising or melodising devices depend upon
shutting-off power from the accompaniment. Under these con-
ditions, it follows, first that we cannot grade the tone of the
accompaniment by means of pedalling, and secondly that the
melody perforations being removed from the operation of the
Control-levers we cannot control the tone of the melody by
means of the Control-levers.
Some makes of roll provide a continuous indication of the
tempo rubato, or free time. This help is of value ; it is authorita-
tive when made by the composer. We must never slavishly
follow it, however, and unless we can feel the reason for any
departure from strict time, it is better to ignore the indication.
The Sustaining-lever is sometimes brought into operation by
means of side-perforations. This is useful, but never sufficient to
excuse our personal use of the lever. We must keep in mind that
the mechanical operation of the Sustaining-lever naturally absorbs
power, and may in delicate playing disturb our calculations.
The foregoing is a rough-and-ready explanation of the manipu-
latory appliances. It is not scientific. Scientific knowledge of
the structure of the player-pianof may be got from periodicals
like Musical Opinion, and from handbooks issued by makers of
the instrument.
The degree of tone proper to a piece, or to a passage in a piece,
is shown on the roll by a number of abbreviations of terms of
expression. These, with their English equivalents, are :
pp (pianissimo) very soft
p (piano) soft
mp (mezzo piano) moderately soft
mf (mezzo forte) moderately loud
/ (forte) ..... loud
ff (fortissimo) .... very loud
The pianoforte is so called because upon it the player may play
piano ox forte merely by varying his touch, the instruments of the
keyboard type that preceded the piano being unresponsive (so
far as varying tone is concerned) to pressure of the fingers. The
piano was first called the fortepiano.
* " Themod'st " is a registered descriptive term for one of these devices,
the property of the ^Eolian Company.
t Pianola is a patented trade-name, the property of the ^Eolian Com-
pany, New York and London. It has, however, passed into literature as
the name for the player-piano in general.
14 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
The degree of tone is indicated further by a line of bold dots,
which roves the surface of the roll. This line signifies pp when it
reaches the extreme left and ff when it reaches the extreme right.
Unfortunately, the line is not always reliable, being sometimes
out of place. It then fails to indicate the exact point at which
change of tone is to be made. In many cases where music con-
tains sudden loud ejaculations, or equally sudden whispers, the
indentation in the line is an inch or more out of position. Such
misplacement means a complete distorting of music if we obey
the directions of the line. In the more recent rolls this defect is
more or less done away with. I have noticed rolls in which the
line is as accurate as the perforations.
The perforations are an exact transcription of the notes. (See
the examples on pages 91 and 93.) They are cuttings to an
exact standard. The standard is not departed from throughout
the piece. If the " whole beat " (the unit of the metre) is repre-
sented on the roll by a perforation the length of one half-inch,
every metrical beat of the piece, whether filled with a single note
or with a number of short notes, occupies an exact half-inch of
the roll. Therefore in pedalling a piece in strict time, the metrical
pulsations of the music succeed one another with clock-like
regularity.
Occasionally, however, where a pause or fermata occurs on a
short note, the perforation for that particular note is arbitrarily
lengthened for the convenience of bringing the Tempo-lever over
to zero.
Experiments have been made to provide for the tempo rubato
by artificially lengthening and shortening the perforations.
Such departures from the normal standard of the whole-beat
space are not good ; and I strongly advise you to avoid like the
plague a roll in which a uniform standard of pulse-length is not
maintained.
The music easiest to play, and the music that is most im-
mediately effective, is that of which the idiom is entirely pianistic.
Thus the greater part of the music of Liszt, a considerable part
of the music of Chopin, and a very great portion of the music of
such composers as Moszkowski and Chaminade, practically plays
itself. The music hardest to play, and that which calls for greatest
technical skill and musical feeling, is that of which the idiom is
not specifically pianistic, as much of the music of Bach, Beet-
hoven (the slow movements and the scherzos), Schumann, and
THE INSTRUMENT AND ITS MUSIC 15
Brahms. (I must not be taken as implying that the music of
these composers is not pure pianoforte music. It is as purely
pianistic as the most fastidious might desire. But it is less an
exhibition of pianoforte writing than an utterance of broad and
general musical thoughts, and is therefore less restricted to the
superficial characteristics of the instrument.) Anyone will play
quite fairly well a Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody after a few weeks'
experience of the player ; and an entire beginner will play
almost at first attempt the works composed specially for the
instrument by composers like Moszkowski.
For by nature the player-piano is a virtuosic instrument,
splendid in brilliancy and power ; and here, as everywhere else
in art and life, we must show our skill and sincerity by how we
disguise virtuosity and modify brilliancy. When we can play
slow, rich-toned, lyrically sustained music, we prove ourselves
true artists. Bravura music is child's play for the player-pianist.
It is so elementary a detail of his art that after a little while he
is almost asfiamed to be found indulging in it, and in the end
he finds greater pride in ability to play a simple lyric like
MacDo well's To a Wild Rose than in the ability to play brilliant
passages like Liszt's La Campanella or sturm und drang pieces
like the same composer's Mazeppa etude.
Here are a few pieces of the class of music that will not play
itself on the instrument. It may interest the reader to experi-
ment with them at once.
Reger. Rhapsodic, Op. 24, No. 6.
Beethoven. Sonata, Op. 10, No. 3 (the last movement), and
Sonata, Op. 27, No. 2 (the first movement).
Bach. Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D minor.
Balakirew. Oriental Fantasie, " Islamey."
Schumann. Novellette in B minor, Op. 21, No. 3.
Franck. Prelude, Chorale, and Fugue.
Brahms. Intermezzo, Op. 117, No. 2.
Chopin. Mazurka in E flat minor, Op. 6, No. 4, and the
Etude in A minor, Op. 25, No. 4.
The supply of music provided for the player includes the greater
portion of keyboard music composed from the early seventeenth
century to the close of the first decade of the twentieth century ;
with no small selection of vocal and operatic music, and of what-
ever else has been transcribed for performance on the piano.
CHAPTER III
BECOMING ACQUAINTED WITH MUSIC AND THE PLAYER
FIRST make yourself comfortable at the instrument. Sit far
enough away to give your legs ease combined with power ; and
near enough to let your fingers cling to the turned-down lid which
protects the levers, without awkwardly inclining your body. I
do not commend clinging to the lid : it is better to sit upright,
and to fold the arms. I explain in a moment why you probably
find the stool slips back as you pedal.
Adjust the roll as directed in the salesroom, fix the Tempo-lever
as directed on the roll, switch on the mechanically operating
appliances, and then so work the pedals as to keep the roll in
steady movement and the tone firm.
You may find after a few strokes that the resistance of the
pedals stiffens. Do not stop pedalling, but ease the force of two
or three successive (or, better, alternate) strokes. Should the
pedals bind, you may cease pedalling ; but you will then probably
have difficulty in starting again. You may find, on the other
hand, that the resistance in the pedals weakens, and the pedals
become so slack under pressure that the strokes have no effect.
Do not now thrust spasmodically with your feet, but interpolate
a number of short strokes, with sharp attack upon the stroke.
Before you begin to play, the roll should be in a position that
brings the first perforation about two inches from the tracker.
Easing the force of the pedal-strokes gives the motive-power
an opportunity to exhaust itself. Interpolating short and rapid
pedal-strokes enables the power to build itself up to the necessary
strength.
Keep the feet continuously upon the pedals, and work with free
ankles. Any stiffening of the ankles (or of any other part of the
body) makes for fatigue and bad tone. You may raise your
heels slightly in moments of exceptionally vigorous pedalling.
Your knees, however, you should keep still.
The pedal-strokes must be directed toward the floor, not for-
16
BECOMING ACQUAINTED WITH MUSIC 17
ward to the instrument. The forward thrust transmits energy
to the stool ; and as your stool when so energised cannot do other
than slip back, such energy is more than waste effort, it is direct
hindrance to playing, for you have to stop to jerk yourself up to
the instrument again.
If you find your body has a tendency to roll and sway in
moments when you are excited by music or by the task of playing,
you need not distress yourself. Call to mind the attitude of
violinists and pianists. None the less, however, you should
practise the art of playing quietly.
Do not develop a heavy perspiration. You are bound to get
warm in playing a heavy piece, just as the concert-pianist is ;
but excessive heat is at once inelegant and a proof that you are
working harder than is necessary. And if you sweat visibly, or
require to dry your face at the end of every movement, people
will gradually realise that you lack the only strength that is
durable and telling, which is, mental strength.
Do nothing mechanically. Respond freely to the music. The
player is no treadmill, whereat one has to grind automatically,
but a pleasant companion that will inspire you as you inspire it.
Do not for the first hour or two of work give thought to the
varying volume of tone proper to the piece, but be content to
produce and maintain a fair average loudness.
As soon as you feel at home with the pedals, introduce the
Control-levers as advised by the roll. And as soon as you begin
to feel generally happy in the matter of pedalling, do what you can
to follow the broader sweeps of the tempo rubato. In this last
respect, though, you will be wise for the time being not to try
to follow the more minute inflexions of the time, because these
are generally connected with accentual or expressive effects in
the music which you cannot hope to create until you are an
experienced pedaller.
If you have a desire to feel that you are doing the performance
all yourself, try to adopt the system of pedalling that gives a
stroke to each melody-note or metrical beat, not, of course, a
full, deep stroke, but a slight movement of the pedals.
It is, for reasons that need not be detailed here, inadvisable to
try to play in your first hours music with which you are already
acquainted. It is also inadvisable to select pieces of passionate,
extremely energetic, or exceedingly delicate, character.
I give a roughly graded selection of pieces for work on the fore-
18
THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
going lines. These pieces should serve to introduce you at one
and the same time to music and instrument.
(I). Pieces of more or less self -playing nature.
Nights of Gladness waltz.
Spinnlied, Op. 327, No. 22.
Magic Bells, Op. 21.
Attaque des Uhlans, Op. 213.
L 'Irresistible Galop.
Gangar, Op. 54, No. 2.
Death of Ase, Op. 46, No. 2.
Amorettentanze, Op. 161.
Dreams on the Ocean.
Sommernachtstrdume, Op. 171.
Gipsy Rondo.
Lieder Nos. 4 and 9.
Bridal Processional March.
Stars and Stripes for Ever march.
Beautiful Blue Danube waltzes.
Maypole Dance.
En route march.
Ancliffe.
Bohm.
Bohm.
Bohm.
Bache.
Grieg.
Grieg.
Gung'l.
Gung'l.
Gung'l.
Haydn.
Mendelssohn.
Nessler.
Sousa.
Johann Strauss.
Sydney Smith.
Sydney Smith.
Beethoven.
Bohm.
Chaminade.
Massenet.
Moszkowski.
Schubert.
Schubert.
(a) Funcke.
Nevin.
Raff.
Rubinstein.
Thome.
(b) Chopin.
Elgar.
Moszkowski.
Pieces of clearly marked rhythm.
Ruins of Athens (Turkish March).
Leichte Cavallerie.
Marche americaine.
Parade militaire.
Ungarischer Tanz, Op. 11.
Moment musical in F minor, Op. 94, No. 3.
Military March in D, Op. 51 , No. 1 (not
Tausig's arrangement).
(III). Melodious Pieces.
Ecoutez moi.
Narcissus.
Cavatina, Op. 85.
Melody in F.
Simple Aveu.
Nocturne in E flat, Op. 9, No. 2.
Salut a" Amour.
Serenata, Op. 15, No. 1.
BECOMING ACQUAINTED WITH MUSIC
19
(IV). Pieces of straightforward nature yet well-marked charactei
Bantock.
Chaminade.
Chopin.
Debussy.
Dvorak.
Grainger.
Grieg.
Handel.
Henselt.
HeUer.
Liszt.
Liszt.
Moszkowski.
Moszkowski.
Mozart.
O'Neill.
Pachulski.
Landon Ronald.
Rossini-Liszt.
Rubinstein.
Schubert-Liszt.
Schubert.
Saint Saens.
Schumann.
Sinding.
Sinding.
Tchaikovski.
Wachs.
Serenade.
Divertissement, Op. 105.
Waltz in Aflat, Op. 34, No. 1.
Two Arabesques.
Humoreske, Op. 101, No. 7.
Molly on the Shore.
Morning Mood, Op. 46, No. 1.
Harmonious Blacksmith Variations.
Si oiseau fetais.
Tarantelle, Op. 88, No. 2.
Gnomenreigen.
St. Francis preaching to the Birds.
Spanish Dances, Op. 12.
Po&me de mai, Op. 67, No. 1.
Eine kleine Nachtmusik.
Gigue, Op. 27, No. 2.
La Fileuse, Op. 3, No. 2.
Pensee Musicale.
La Regatta Veneziana.
Staccato Etude in C.
Soirees de Vienne.
Impromptu in A flat, Op. 90, No. 4.
Le Cygne.
Papillons, Op. 2.
Marche grotesque, Op. 32, No. 1.
Rustle of Spring.
Casse Noisette Suite.
Capricante.
After a while, it becomes well to try to induce the player to
" sing " familiar tunes and melodies. The instrument will sing
satisfactorily, even in the hands of a beginner ; but only if he
pedal sensitively, and with a sort of lyric touch, and if he
delicately manipulate the Tempo-lever.
In playing the music of the following rolls, one should therefore
imagine that the words of the songs are being uttered, and that
the melodic phrases are being cadenced as by a singer.
(V). (a) Welsh, Irish, and Scotch National Songs, as arranged
by various musicians.
Old English Airs.
20
THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
(6) Auld Lang Syne, as paraphrased by E. Hoffmann.
The Blue Bells of Scotland, as transcribed by Lange.
Bonnie Dundee, as varied by Lange.
You may at an early date have a desire to examine a number
of representative pianoforte pieces, also a curiosity to observe
the character of the music produced by different European
nationalities and by composers of different epochs. I therefore
name here a few compositions that may serve such desire. (It
must be noted that the following pieces are by no means easy to
play without considerable thought and extended practice.)
(VI). Compositions possessing national characteristics.
English.
Balfour Gardiner.
Harry Far j eon.
B. J. Dale.
French.
Debussy.
Spanish.
Rafael de Aceves.
Isaac Albeniz.
Granados.
Italian.
Sgambati.
Sgambati.
Bohemian.
Smetana.
Dvorak.
Hungarian.
Schubert.
Joseffy.
Brahms.
Dohnanyi.
Polish.
Chopin.
Paderewski.
F. X. Scharwenka.
Russian.
Tchaikovski.
Noil.
In the Woods, Op. 21, No. 5.
Sonata in D minor (an exceedingly diffi-
cult composition).
Danses.
Aragonesa, Op. 51.
Sevillanas.
Spanish Dances.
Melodies poetiques. Op. 36.
Intermezzo, Op. 21, No. 4.
Polka, Op. 8, No. 1.
Sclavonic Dances, Op. 46.
Divertissement hongroise.
Czardas.
Hungarian Dance in D flat, No. 6.
Winter-reigen, Op. 13, No. 8.
Mazurkas, Op. 6.
Dances, Op. 5, 9, and 12.
Polish Dances.
Scherzo a la russe, Op. 1, No. 1.
BECOMING ACQUAINTED WITH MUSIC 21
Jarnefelt. Prelude.
Sibelius. Idyll, Op. 24, No. 6.
Norwegian.
Grieg. Dances, Op. 35.
Danish.
Gade. FruhlingsUumen, Op. 2, No. 3.
(VII). Historical Compositions.
(a) From 1575 to 1650 (the primitive period of instrumental
music).
John Bull. Kings Hunt Jigg.
Byrd. Earle of Salisbury Pa vane.
Dowland. Lachrymae Pavane.
Orlando Gibbons. Fantasia offoure parts.
(b) from 1650 to 1725 (the early period of harpsichord music).
Henry Purcell. The Golden Sonata.
Couperin. Les Moissoneurs.
Couperin. Les petits Moulins a Vent.
(c) from 1700 to 1750 (the great period of harpsichord music).
Bach. Gavotte in D minor (6th English Suite).
Handel. Air and Variations in Bflat.
Daquin. Le Coucou.
Scarlatti. Sonata in A major.
(d) from 1750 to 1825 (the classical epoch).
C. Ph. E. Bach. Sonata in F minor.
Mozart. Fantasie in C minor and Sonata in
A major.
Haydn. Sonata in E flat.
Beethoven. " in Bflat, Op. 22.
Beethoven. Variations on a Waltz, Op. 120.
(e)from 1825 to 1850 (the romantic period).
(1) Field. Nocturne in Bflat.
Weber. Momenta capriccioso, Op. 12.
Schubert. Wanderer Fantasie, Op. 15.
(2) Mendelssohn. Andante and Rondo capriccioso, Op. 14.
Mendelssohn. Variations in E flat, Op. 82.
Chopin. Berceuse, Op. 57.
Chopin. Impromptu in F sharp, Op. 36.
Schumann. Fantasiestucke, Op. 12.
Liszt. Consolations.
22 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
(/) from 1850 to the present day.
(1) Brahms. Ballade in G minor, Op. 118, No. 3.
MacDowell. Sea Pieces, Op. 55.
(2) Korngold. Seven Pieces for the Pianoforte.
Medtner. Sonata, Op. 25.
Ravel. Jeux d'eau.
Ravel. Miroirs.
Ravel. Valses nobles et sentimentales.
Schonberg. Three Pieces, Op. 11.
Scriabin. Poemes, Op. 32, 34, 44, and 69.
Cyril Scott. Sphinx, Op. 63.
(VIII). Exceptionally representative compositions.
Beethoven. Sonata appassionata, Op. 57.
Liszt. La Benediction de Dieu dans la solitude.
Balakirew. Islamey.
Chopin. Polonaise in A flat, Op. 53.
Chabrier. Bourree fantasque.
Franck. Prelude, Chorale, and Fugue.
Franck. Prelude, Aria, and Finale.
Liszt considered that Balakirew's Islamey fantasie, was the
most difficult piece of pianoforte music ever written.
I do not imagine that you will find much to please you in
group (2) of section (/). The Schonberg pieces will amuse as
showing a recent Teutonic mentality represented in music. But
if you are amused, remember still that the pieces are serious
music, and that the composer is a genius ; also that the works
are things of beauty. The Ravel and the Scriabin represent
modern French and Russian ideals respectively. (In Arnold
Bennett's novel " The Glimpse " is a long passage on Ravel it
comes in the opening chapter of the book.) Korngold is an Aus-
trian composer ; he was born in 1897 and commenced the writing
of music in 1904. Scott is an Englishman, Medtner a Russian.
The chief peculiarity you must be prepared for in playing these
ultra-modern works is their harmonic newness. The Schonberg
pieces are so curious in harmony that it is possible to play them
on a 65-note instrument with an 88-note roll without making
them sound much more fantastic and peculiar, that is to say, to
the ear of the person inexperienced in modern music.
CHAPTER IV
PEDALLING
IN our first hours we meet with failure in the playing of loud full
chords. The perforations stretch themselves across the roll, firm,
solid, and temptingly emphatic. They promise good ringing
tone and crashing climax. We watch the roll carefully, and on
the instant the perforations reach their slots, we deliver a power-
ful stroke. But the result is bad. The chord is born in weakness.
It is supine, backboneless ; and we realise that we have failed to
command the situation.
The cause of our failure is that we have not built up, previously
to the coming of the chord, the motive-power necessary to make
the pedal-stroke effective. The particular stroke, therefore, how-
ever strong, and however well timed is delivered upon slackness
and is bound to end in weakness ; for the power is a sort of spring-
board from which the stroke takes its leap, and a springboard
must be adequately sprung to provide the elasticity needful in
making a leap effective.
The foundation of the art of player-pianism is establishing and
maintaining elastic firmness in the pedals.
At other times in our first hours, we find the pedals either so
stiff that we cannot move them, or so slack that as we thrust at
them they yield as if passing into empty air, the roll perhaps
coming to a standstill, or the notes failing to speak.
Conditions of rigidity come about from the motive-power being
in excess of the demand, and conditions of over-pliancy from the
motive-power being insufficient. We correct the first condition
by easing the energy of a few consecutive strokes, or by ceasing
to pedal for a moment or two. The other condition we correct
by suddenly delivering a number of short and rapid strokes as I
have already remarked.
Since the demand for motive power varies constantly, one
phrase of the music moving in quiet unaccompanied melody-
notes while the next perhaps moves in crowded and heavy toned
23
24 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
chords, we have as constantly to vary the nature and frequency
of the strokes. Experience teaches ; but until we have gained
experience, we provide too much power for the light, soft phrase,
and insufficient power for the loud and massive phrase.
Our technical tasks in pedalling are, to keep the pedals moving
regularly, and to control the " touch " (i.e. the feel of the pedals),
and to vary the depth of the stroke. We ultimately learn how to
carry out these tasks by means of Metrical Pedalling, which is
a system of pedalling dependent upon the metre of music.
As to the task of varying the depth of the pedal-stroke, I find
thfc greater part of playing is carried out with the pedals in middle
position. The centre of the stroke is the centre of the downward
range of the pedal. The upward and downward points of the
stroke are naturally equidistant from this centre.
A stroke may vary in extent from a fraction of an inch to the
full range of movement possible to the pedal.
The higher position of the pedals is useful in playing light and
swift music. The lowermost position seems most useful when a
heavy resistance prevails in the pedals and when the playing is
to b^ strong and massive.
I, is better to play by means of short frequent strokes than to
play by means of long and leisured movements.
The extent of the strokes cannot be great in rapid pedalling,
because there is then no time for deep thrusts. We are like the
pianist who is playing a rapid staccato, or the drummer who is
executing a rapid roll ; the pianist cannot lift his fingers high,
and the drummer cannot move his sticks far from the drum-head.
At such times our pedalling becomes little more than a vibratory
oscillation of the pedals ; yet however slight the strokes, there
must always be that certain firmness in the pedals, and we should
always be able to feel them as the rider feels the mouth of his
horse.
The tone is not affected by the pedal-stroke after the note has
once sounded. So far as the individual note is concerned, it
does not matter what we do while its perforation is passing over
the slot. The " act of touch " is confined to the striking of the
note. But the continuance of the stroke (or the interpolation of
other strokes) during the time of the sounding note, influences
the motive-power, and so prepares for the touching of the next
note.
The quality of the tone of a note is determined, first by the
PEDALLING
power prevailing at the moment, and secondly by the character
of the stroke delivered on the instant the perforation touches the
slot. The tone will be loud if the power is great, and soft if the
power is small. The note will be forcefully touched if the stroke
is alert and vigorous. If the stroke is easy and gentle, the note
will be smoothly produced.
When we are in full command of our instrument, and are
playing with full and final artistry, our pedalisation is the ex-
ternal manifestation of something created beforehand in our
minds. It is the manifestation of something previously imagined.
We know ex arte what it is we desire to produce. Nothing we do
is accidental. In this respect we are as singers and violinists.
Such executive musicians as these perform on instruments which
have to create, as well as utter, notes. They have, therefore, to
imagine the note to create it in the region of the inner conscious-
ness before they can utter it. We player-pianists perform on
an instrument which makes notes for us, but no more. All the
rest we have to make for ourselves ; and as the mere notes of
music are raw and inartistic material, this rest is very important
indeed. Where the singer or the violinist imagines first his notes,
the player-pianist imagines first his rhythms and artistic effects :
he creates these in terms of airy nothings, and he then bodies
them forth in terms of actual sound.
And this is where the well-developed technique the corpus
sanum of the mem sana, is as necessary for playerist as for singer.
The singer does not think of his technique. He does not consider
the ways and means of utterance. As soon as he has formed the
note in his mind he instinctively utters it with his .voice. The
process is subconscious literally instinctive the natural work-
ing of a perfect machine. The playerist has two machines to
operate, the one his instrument, the other his own body. The
latter is actuated from within himself. The former is operated
upon by the latter. Our playing is, therefore, a matter of under-
standing what is wanted, and of instinctively realising desires
by the operation of a well-trained body, of which the more vital
portion is the feet.
And so the technique of the pedals resolves itself into (a)
accumulating and maintaining an artistic measure of motive
power, and (6) executing at the right moment the particular
stroke demanded by the music. The first respect is complex. It
is the crux of our art, None ever solves it without patience,
26 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
constructive work, and innate artistic gifts. The second is
simple. It requires little more than an exercise of the
rhythmical and metrical senses. Of these, the metrical sense
is the simpler, and the first to be developed. The metrical
sense is safely to be developed by the facts outlined in
Chapters V-VIII and the studies given in Chapters XIII-XVII.
The rhythmical sense is actually simple, being a faculty of
nature ; but it cannot be developed unless it truly is natural in
us a man, colour-blind, cannot train himself to blend colours.
(See page 32.) All, however, as Sir Thomas Browne remarks,
are naturally inclined to rhythm, if only to the degree of
finding it possible and pleasant to walk and dance in time.
The problem of how to teach rhythm mentally, and in the
abstract, is highly complex ; perhaps in the end each man must
solve it for himself. The facts and theories of rhythm gathered
into Chapters XIX-XXIV, if imaginatively apprehended,
will afford material for the active exercise of the rhythmical
consciousness ; and the pieces graded for observation in
Chapters XXV-XXIX will stimulate the rhythmical powers of
the student of player-pianism, even if taken as simply as the
pieces in the first two groups of Chapter III.
The stroke which is used to provide power may be called
the " motive " stroke ; and that which is used to produce
characteristic accents and cadences, may be called the
" dynamic " stroke.
CHAPTER V
METRE OF MUSIC
IN this and the chapters immediately following, our work is
theoretical, being related to musical metre. We have to learn
how to count beats, as preliminary to practising how to pedal
them.
We can either count aloud or in silence. Counting has to be
periodic, whatever happens at the moment of a count, and metri-
cal pedalling gives a stroke to a count, whether notes come on
the count or not. Many metrical strokes are only a slight physical
acknowledgment of the beat.
There are two elemental metres or times, as they are freely
called. Duple-metre (two-time) is made of two beats, and triple-
metre (three-time) is made of three. These are the " simple "
times.
In musical notation, a line is scored across the stave before the
notes falling on the first beat. If our roll were thus scored, the
line would be horizontal, not perpendicular.
The space between one line and the next is the bar, and the
lines are the bar-lines. The beat to the right of the line is count 1 ,
and that to the left count 2 or 3, according to the " Simple " metre.
When I have occasion to indicate the metrical outline of a
phrase of music, I place my outline horizontally. I set upright
lines to mark the bars, and (borrowing the idea from tonic sol-fa)
dotted lines to mark the beats. I do not attempt to suggest the
rise and fall of the music, but give the pulsational plan, in a level
that reflects the even tone of voice we use for counting. Notes
shorter than a beat I indicate by short dashes, and notes
longer than a beat by running the dash from one count to
another.
The first beat of a bar is stressed, and is the " strong " beat.
The other beats are " weak." In triple-time, however, there is a
27
28 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
" secondary " accent : this may be either the second or the third
count of the bar, and it is highly important we should know which
it is. In the average slow waltz, the secondary accent comes on
the second count : in some mazurkas, and frequently in the Beet-
hoven scherzo, it comes on the third.
Vocal music has the strong beats on the accented syllables.
Dance music has them upon the firmer motive steps of the dance
figure. Alternate bars in the waltz are strong and weak, because
we initiate a movement that occupies six counts, of which the
first agrees with the firm, pulling pressure of the left foot ; there-
fore though each bar in the waltz contains counts of the order
strong- weak-weak, one of the strong counts is stronger than the
other.
The hymn-tunes Easter Hymn, No. 1 (W. H. Monk) and Easter
Hymn, No. 2 (from the Lyra Davidica of 1708) are in duple time,
and the tune Hursley (Ritter) is in triple. The opening lines of
the hymns sung to these tunes are " Jesus Christ is risen to-day "
and " Son of my soul, thou Saviour dear." The latter is some-
times sung to tunes in duple time, a circumstance which intimates
a common principle between these two metres. (The latter half
of our study in this book is designed to reveal this principle, and
to show how by understanding it we may play complex and
intricately accentuated music.)
The single beat may be variously divided and subdivided,
but its time-quantity remains the same. The division may be
by two or three, and the subdivision may be by the same. Thus a
beat may be in halves or thirds, and the half or the third may be
itself in halves or thirds. Each group of notes has a name
duplet (duole), triplet (triole), sextuplet, and so forth. The beat
may be split up into fives, sixes, nines, etc., but such effects are
chiefly decorative, and do not carry the subsidiary metrical accen-
tuation by which we show that the beat is divided into twos or
threes.
A beat may be divided into irregular portions, as of three-
quarters and a quarter, or as two-thirds and a third. Sometimes
the same beat will be divided into halves in one line of the music,
and into thirds in another line. Such moments give us oppor-
tunity for delicate phrasing by means of Tempo-lever and
Control-levers.
You may at this moment think analytically through tunes like
" God save the King," " Rule, Britannia," " The British Grena-
METRE OF MUSIC 29
diers," and " Yankee Doodle," and observe how the beats are
broken into short notes.
n
Metres that are not simple are " compound." The meaning of
this term is literal, because such metres are formed by compound-
ing two or more simple bars.
Two bars of duple-time make a quadruple-time bar. This
counts (a). Count 3 is relatively weak compared with count 1 ;
but it is still a strong beat, being the first of a simple duple-time
bar. Two bars of triple-time make a sextuple-time bar, which
counts (b) :
(a) I II (b) I II
7254. 723456.
Octuple-time (c) is rare. Bars that count nine (d) are fre-
quent ; also bars that count six, in the balance of (e) :
(c) I II (d) I II III
I II' III IV" 123, 456, 789
1 2, 3 4, 5 6, 7 8
(e) I II III
1 2, 3 4, 5 6
We do not often find music written in twelve-time.
Quintuple-time is a compound of a duple bar and a triple, or
the reverse. Septuple-time is a compound of a triple and a
quadruple. These times are rare in metre, but frequent in rhythm.
We often find that seven adjacent bars lie as :
i IF i ii in' i ir
1234, 123456, 1234.
I should call such a phrase " amphibrachic."
in
I may interpolate a general remark. The bar in music is a matter
of compromise a rough-and-ready means of indicating the tem-
poral intervals through which music passes. It is not a dominat-
ing factor in music, but is the most subservient of factors,
continuously thrust aside and put down by the mighty will of
rhythm, the true god and master of music. Its stresses are
ignored and overridden. Its limits are expanded and contracted.
Its beats are moulded into every conceivable shape, until for
30 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
moment after moment the elementary metrical pulsations may
have no recognisable existence. (See page 132.)
Metre is indeed the humblest of the attributes of music. And
it submits willingly to its position. Yet for a long time for more
than a hundred years musicians have looked on metre as the
chief thing. They have confused the terms metre and rhythm,
and have said that these are synonymous. They have elected
and submitted to a tyranny the tyranny of the bar-line, as it
has been called. They have clung to the beats, to the close and
arid pulses of the metre, when they should have yielded to the
great waves of the rhythm.
The present generation has begun to escape this tyranny.
The great masters never, knew it. Bach, in all his music other
than the dance-pieces, has no knowledge of metre in the strict and
regular sense of the term. His greater music is metre-less, all
phrase and rhythm. He uses bar-lines, and we count or beat
time to his music ; but he moves with such phraseological free-
dom that if we wanted to indicate metrically the character of
his phrases we should be changing the metrical indication every
moment. Young composers to-day are beginning to write with
a similar freedom. Some of them (as the Englishman Cyril
Scott) try to modify the compromise. They change their time-
signatures from bar to bar, and we in counting to their music
have to change our group-counts as constantly.* They, with
Bach, use subtle compounds ; bars compounded of alternate
octuple and quadruple bars, sextuple bars with interpolations
of duple bars, quadruple bars with occasional duple and triple
bars, and so on in exhaustless variety.
In our later study of music from the position of rhythm we
shall ignore the bar, and play not by bar but by motive and phrase.
We shall then know what the beauty of music is, and learn how
our instrument is to be charged with the full rhythmical spirit of
art, which is ineluctable, never to be escaped from, and willing
to do for us what we can never do by our sole selves. We shall
then escape entirely the tyranny of the bar-line, and become
convinced of one great advantage which player-pianists, by the
shortcomings and insufficiencies of the principles which govern
the perforating of the roll, have over other musicians, the advan-
tage derived of a complete absence from eye and mind of the
exact, rigid, mechanical bar-line, with its compromise that none
* Scott's Water-Wagtail is a simple example of changing metre.
METRE OF MUSIC 31
can adjust to performance who has not a full imaginative under-
standing of the rhythm of music.
rv
In early stages of performance, counting beats is a practical
convenience. It has everything to recommend it and nothing to
discommend. It is helpful also in later stages of study when we
come upon passages where the movement of the music is not
clear, because often we cannot understand a piece until we have
counted and pedalled it with mechanical firmness and metrical
exactitude. We cannot, moreover, explain irregularities except
by referring to the beats as counts. And, finally, the beats teach
us how to pedal.
Counting is like beating time for a band. The conductor
originally was no more than a marker of the time. His office was
practical to hold together a body of players who could not,
without direction, keep themselves together.*
The conductor nowadays is a performer. He gives the time to
his band, but also he plays upon his band as an instrumentalist
plays upon his instrument. Our position is in this respect
analogous to the modern position of the conductor. We have an
instrument that produces notes for us ; we give it the time ; we
control its accentuating of music ; and we make it play according
to our ideas of the piece. But we do not beat time for the player.
The player will keep strict time so long as the Tempo-lever is not
moved. It is for ourselves we beat time, to the end that we may
know where we are in the music, and to the further end that we
may learn how to correct the tendency of the instrument to group
wrongly the divisions and subdivisions of the beats. (See page 35.)
Counting is sometimes tedious. It is laborious when we use
an audible voice, and mentally fatiguing when we think definitely
in actual figures. But it becomes easy and pleasant as soon as we
drop counting in definite figures, and learn how to conceive a
metre as a short series of beats, systematically grouped, and
regularly recurring. We all have a natural, more or less instinc-
tive, capacity to conceive without counting groups of twos,
* The orchestral conductor beats down-up for two-time music, down-right-up
for three-time, and down-left-right-up for quadruple. Thus the first beat in
any metre is the " down-beat," and the last beat is the " up-beat " ; the
other beats in triple and quadruple metres are "cross-beats," or "in- " and
" out-beats," according to circumstances. (See Chapter XIII.)
32 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
threes, fours, and sixes, just as we have a subjective capacity to
recognise without counting a small number of objects.
It is not easy to measure off exact intervals of time. For some
persons it seems about as hard as to draw a circle in free-hand.
And when the music we are counting is broken up into lilting
phrases, it is not a simple matter to keep the counts from jolting
along in sympathy with the uneven movement of the notes.
Yet if we are to control ourselves, our music, and our instru-
ment, we must have power to count with the inexorably stern
uniformity of time itself, which never varies its spacing of
instants, be those instants filled with the sprouting of a seed, with
wars and revolutions, or with (so far as an unconscious individual
is concerned) nothingness.
The clear steady ticking of a clock helps counting. A metro-
nome is better than a clock, because the speed of its beats can be
varied.
A clock seems to tick naturally in duple-time tick-tack, tick-
tack. But by concentration we can make the clock present its
ticks in triple-time, quadruple-time, six-time, and even in five-
time. Our metrical sense develops quickly when we train it so
to accentuate the ticking of the clock. The metronome can, by
means of its adjustable bell, be made to mark off metrical groups
of two, three, four, and six.
The metrical character of music is determined by the pulse,
not by the half -pulse. Now it frequently happens that a piece in
duple-time moves more or less entirely in half-beats, which
means that it moves in bars that contain each a series of four
consecutive notes or chords of equal length ; but such music is
not in four-time, it is still in two-time ; and if we should take the
half -beat as the standard of metrical measurement, and count and
play to a counting in fours, we destroy the accentual character
of the music. The Gavotte movement is a case in point.
In counting music that moves in half-beats, we prepare our-
selves for the minor divisional pulsations ; we expect them, and
we receive them, but to no alteration in the rise and fall of the
beats. Duple-time has two beats only, a strong beat and a weak
beat. The division of the beats does not give it four beats. If
it did, it would cause the metre to have two strong beats and two
weak ones.
Yet for convenience of study we frequently count in half -beats.
But this is for convenience only, and we have to adjust the matter
METRE OF MUSIC 33
as BOOH as we are familiar with the movement of the music and
able to take the duplet-division of the beat.
On the other hand, however, we freely compound simple bars,
as when in two-time music we run together two adjacent bars
and count them as one bar of quadruple-time. This does not
interfere with the metrical character of the music, except perhaps
in the respect of making it slightly smooth.*
* Listen to the ticking of the clock, and allow every two ticks to present
themselves as half-beats. The first tick of every four will seem strong. Then
allow every tick to present itself as a whole-beat. The first tick of every two
will now seem strong. Count in slow twos in the first case and in quick fours
in the second.
CHAPTER VI
PULSE-GROUPS
I
As we discovered from the ticking of the clock, equipollent sounds
may be grouped by the mind into various forms, with a sense of
stress on the first sound of each group. Such stress has no
material existence.
When sounds are the result of a periodic throbbing action, the
sound formed by the chief motive throb is fuller in volume, or
more emphatic in initiation, than those formed by the minor
throb or throbs. The stress felt on the first of each rhythmised
group of sounds is then objective.
Weak beats belong to a strong one. They are affiliated, either
by rising into the strong beat following, or by falling from the
strong beat preceding, or when weak beats affiliate to a
strong one by the strong beat sometimes acquiring a weak
beat on either side. This is the " rhythmical " aspect of metre,
and will be fully considered later ; but the principle is so natural
that we should have it thus stated immediately.
The pulsations of an express train come to me in rapid sixes,
the five weak pulses falling from the strong pulse, and with a
secondary stress on the fourth throb of the group. The puffs of
a railway engine taking up a heavy load, come to me first as
gigantic detached throbs, and then as the engine gathers way
as groups of two, until the accelerando of movement contracts
the puffs into groups of four, the last three puffs in falling cadence
from the first one.
The strong pulse of a group is, from the point of view of rhyth-
mical energy, the master-pulse, or root, of the motive or phrase.
No exercise of the will can compel pulses which have a natural
group affinity, to group themselves according to any other
principle. If a beat is a strong beat, we cannot subjectively
establish it as a weak one. If the grouping is duple, it must be
duple, and if it is triple it must be triple. We cannot falsify nature.
34
PULSE-GROUPS 35
But our instrument can, and under certain conditions, and
left to itself does, falsify nature, turning twos into threes, and,
at times, threes into twos. I have already referred to this, but I
mention it again because of its supreme importance. The player
will sometimes falsify the accentual affinity of long passages,
indeed, of entire pieces, when there happens to be nothing in
the music to tell it is wrong, and when exact knowledge is lacking
in the performer. I have heard experienced player-pianists play
with consistently wrong grouping of the notes (phrasing in twos
when they should have phrased in threes), many such works as
Chopin's Prelude in B major, Op. 28, No. 11. Etude in D flat,
Op. 25, No. 8, and Etude in F minor, Op. 25, No. 2 (the upper
part of this last piece ; though in this case the fault lay in the
music, which in the lower part implies that the upper part is to
move with a duple affinity of its successive notes). And on the
other hand, I have heard player-pianists play in triplet grouping
where they should have played in duplet grouping, such works as
Chopin's Etude in Eflat, Op. 10, No. 11, and Etude in Eflat minor,
Op. 10, No. 6. I have myself played with erroneous grouping of
the short notes unfamiliar music, until I have been brought up
by some sudden confusion in the flow of the metre. And I re-
member on one occasion setting before a gifted performer and
cultured musician the Capriccio in F sharp minor of Brahms, Op.
76, No. 1, a work with which he was not acquainted. He played
it under the guidance of the instrument, and therefore with a
three-note affiliating of the running figures. The result was good
in parts ; in other parts it was bad, and all through the piece
there was a feeling of latent discomfort. This the player put down
to the characteristic " cross accentuations " and Browning-like
obscurity of Brahms. But when I suggested that he should
conceive the movement in the terms of a duplet-blending of the
running notes, and when he had played the piece according to
this, the correct, conception, he found there was nothing but
ease, fluency, and naturalness in the music ; though there still
remained two passages where conceive he never so passionately
the instrument continued to send the notes out in worldly
threes instead of spiritual twos.* An hour's work and thought
put these matters right in his mental conception of the music
* These two passages were (1) the cadenza-like close to the first part of the
recapitulation, just before the pomt where the movement in quavers com-
mences, and (2) the last five bars but three of the piece.
36 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
and the piece then flowed throughout with the easy ripple of a
brook.
It is from such general experiences that I derive my theory
that we may control our instrument by power of correct mental
conception of the music ; that we must create within ourselves
an image of what is to be produced, as the singer and the violinist
first conceive their notes before they make them. And it is from
such particular experience as this instance with the Brahms
Capriccio, that I have the confidence to say that by intelligent
command of the player-piano we can make the instrument do
what the music requires of it, even to the extent of removing its
tendency under certain conditions to accentuate wrongly and to
phrase falsely.
Now music is one of those manifestations of recurrent sounds
where grouping is natural and inevitable. It is one of those
forms of pulsation where motive stress is positive, where the
strong beat has objective existence. Therefore we cannot
arbitrarily alter the grouping of the pulses without changing the
nature of the music. And since the grouping is natural and in-
evitable, we cannot play easily and well, or, in other words, we
cannot put ourselves in the way of appropriating the motive
power of music and of turning it to our advantage and con-
venience, unless we recognise the grouping, perceive the principle
operating through it, and submit ourselves to it.*
n
Music of the simpler kinds is regular in metre. Its strong
pulses are uniformly periodic. Consequently most pieces are
measured off into bars of uniform length, and may be counted
throughout to an unvarying sequence of counts twos, threes,
fours, and so on.
But the syllabic movement of music varies. The bars may be
differently occupied. They may be filled with very long notes,
or with very short ones. They may have moments of seeming
nothingness, intervals of silence, " empty times," as we shall
name these, or " rests " as they are named in the ordinary lan-
* It is not necessary in simple metrical counting (or even in simple metrical
pedalling) to mark the stresses. There is generally something in the music that
establishes the stronger beats. It is merely necessary that we should have a
consciousness that the strong beats are the strong beats.
PULSE-GROUPS 37
guage of music.* The music may proceed by means of vigorous
figures of such curious non-metrical accentuation as to submerge
the bar, so that for bar after bar the strong heat of the bar
becomes the weak beat of the rhythm. Counting under such
conditions is difficult. We may lose the sequence of the beats
and go astray in our naming of them. And when we have lost
count, we may continue at sea even when the music has become
metrically straightforward again, unless (like the conductor
who has lost his beat) we rapidly straighten ourselves by drop-
ping or jumping one or two counts. But (as I have already in-
sisted), we must be able to count steadily through the roughest
of metrical disturbances. We need have no fear as to the
possibility of counting through them.
The chief influences which disturb or obscure the pulse-group-
ing of music that is still fundamentally regular in metre, are the
following :
(1) Breaking up into sub-beats the strong portions of a bar, and
leaving the weak portions occupied with whole-beat notes ; in other
words, filling the strong beats with short notes but not the weak
as well. (Division is more natural on weak beats ; for short
notes on a beat weaken that beat and by contrast strengthen the
following beat.)
(2) Running a note struck on a weak beat into the following strong
beat, so that though a note sounds on that strong beat, no note is
struck upon it. This is a form of syncopation. It misplaces
accent, allocating stress to the weak beat.
* There are two orders of empty times or silent moments. One is metrical,
the other is phraseological. The metrical silence is a measured gap in the sound.
Through it the beats pulsate as steadily as the heart throbs while we stop
breathing for a moment. Such an empty space is an integral segment of the
time. It is an organic, or structural, feature. The phraseological silence is
extra-metrical. It is not organic, but functional, akin to an involuntary
cessation of the breathing just before we begin to say something emphatic or
just after we have said it. It is the point of separation between a completed
action and an initiated action, or a pause before climax. In musical performance
that depends upon human breath, it is the momentary silence induced by the
performer taking in breath. It is, of course, unmeasured. It may be created
either by the clipping of a note, or by a slight retention of the tempo that is,
by playing a note staccato, or by playing the beats in tempo rubato. The organic
silence is a practical matter. It looks after itself. The functional silence is the
reverse. The latter is not expressed in musical notation, or on the roll ; because,
being non-metrical, there is no space in which to express it. But composers
have means of indicating it by marks of expression and phrase-curves, by
commas, by such words as tenuto, and by fermatas set between the beat-spaces.
The phrase-silence should be provided for on the roll by a shortening of the
perforations. (See page 220, at (o) and (p), also page 254 (Study No. 30), for
rhythmised silences.)
38 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
(3) Leaving the strong beats empty but filling the weak. This also
is syncopation. It is a cause of trouble to the player-pianist,
particularly when the tempo is quick and beats are close together,
empty times and chords following in quick succession. It is
difficult, because of the tendency of the instrument to accent a
detached note or chord. This difficulty disappears as rhythmical
sense develops.
(4) Irregularly accentuating a weak beat. Beethoven accent-
uates thus. He runs a climactic passage into nothingness,
finishing on a loud weak beat when we expect him to continue a
step further into a still louder strong beat. Chopin does some-
thing similar in his mazurkas. He accents the last (the third)
beat of the bar, both when that beat is the finish to the preceding
phrase and when it is the beginning of a new phrase. The Beet-
hoven practice is difficult for the player-pianist. The Chopin is
so easy that, if we are aware of the expressive principle operating
in the beat, we produce the effect without thought.
(5) Pausing upon beats or upon fractional parts of a beat.
(6) Pausing between beats or between fractional parts of a beat.
The fermata avanti battuta or fermata fuor di tempo (to invent
descriptive terms) is a modern practice. It is a dramatic or rhe-
torical device. The beat before the fermata runs its full metrical
course ; and then, before the next beat has being, an extra-
metrical moment of silence is induced. This has to be provided
for in the roll by means of extra-metrical space between perfora-
tions, since there is no possibility of stopping the roll between
consecutive, end on end, perforations. Therefore we occasionally
(but not often) have in our rolls short spaces without perforations
which do not represent a metrical detail, and so must not be
counted to.*
(7) Altering the tempo of the piece. This is provided for on the
roll, either by changing the standard length of the whole-beat
perforation, or by retaining the same standard and indicating a
change in the position of the Tempo-lever.
(8) Altering the metre, as by a change from duple to triple.
Generally accompanied by alteration of tempo.
(9) Interpolation of an additional beat, so that in two-time comes
a bar of three. (This, of course, is not exactly a point to antici-
pate in regular metre, but it occurs in simple modern music.)
* It would be well if on the roll could be printed the word fermata or the
sign | . | , to indicate that such spaces are additional to the metre.
PULSE-GROUPS 39
In selecting pieces for elementary study of metre, we naturally
avoid music where any of the above are noticeably present,
particularly the features numbered 2, 3, 6, and 9. We freely
select pieces which have characteristic accentuation (4) ; but so
long as we are occupied with, metrical study, we ignore non-
metrical accentuation. Where we find in our pieces the extra-
metrical " pause before the beat " or " pause out of the time,"
we do not ignore these, if only for the reason that the extra-
metrical blank space in the roll compels attention. We do not
reject a piece merely because one bar happens to have three full
beats while the rest have the otherwise prevailing two or four :
it is easy to provide in counting for the interpolation, the only
difficulty being how to locate the point. We select preferably
music that progresses in the way characteristic of the pianoforte,
with decorated movement of the parts, independent accompani-
ments, and the other idiomatic features of this kind of music.
We are careful to select music that pleases us, and music that,
moreover, sounds like music even when so mechanically pro-
duced as by our present restricted style of performance. Above
all, we select music that counts well ; and if we find that we have
in hand a roll that will not apparently count at all, we put it aside
until such time as we have learned how to count for the fault
will be in us, not in the composition.
in
I return to the chief subject of the chapter.
Any system of artificially dividing matters of continuity
must be based on subjective principles. And any method of
apprehending the division must similarly be based on the
same.
The mind cannot conceive what is measureless. It can con-
ceive only what is ordered into constituent and periodically re-
current parts in a word, rhythmised, or made cadential.
Time, for instance, is a matter of ceaseless and uninterrupted
continuity. To keep from losing ourselves in time, we divide it
into periodically recurring segments of minutes, hours, and weeks.
The minute and the hour we divide into sixty parts, the days
(themselves natural divisions of time) we group into sevens.
The Chinese having a different rhythmical sense use the cycle
of sixty for the grouping of days, weeks, and years. The Western
affiliating of days into the week of seven days is due to our charac-
40 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
teristic rhythmical sense, also to qualities inherent in the fact
seven. We realise seven as a whole, and we recognise a position
in any part of the whole. Seven presents itself as one with three
on either side, or as one followed by three sets of two or two
sets of three, or as a four followed by a three, and so on. (See
page 29, "septuple-time.")
The form of Shakespearean verse is the outcome of efforts to
present a thought in a way that permits the mind to take the
thought in swift, instantaneous whole. We know where we are
in the line while it pursues its course. We feel its characteristic
genius its segments of two and three
I II III I I II
The
quality of mercy j is not strained
and its inner constitution :
But
I II III IV i V
look i the dawn i in russet mantle i clad.
(a) \ (b) (c) \ (d)
Simple music lies chiefly in phrases of eight pulses. The cause
of this is at once natural and psychological.
We cannot produce simple music except by exercise of the
faculty for observing movement in eights. In other words, we
cannot produce music except by reading in sentences. We shall
see later, in our playing of hymns and chorales, that people
require eight pulses to a line of music, whatever the syllabic
character of the line of poetry. We shall see still later that people
similarly require dance-music to move in phrases of eight.
The musician never has, in playing, less than a phrase in his
grasp. In reading printed music " from sight " he generally
takes at a glance an eight-beat or eight-bar phrase. If he reads
from bar to bar, his playing becomes no more intelligible than the
reading of a child who reads syllable by syllable.
Now we player-pianists have a peculiar difficulty, to remove
which my entire system of self-education at the player has been
devised. The difficulty is that we cannot, when playing our
pieces, read music by sentence.
In reading a book we create the text from punctuation mark to
punctuation mark. We embrace with a single movement of the
mind several thought-groups of words, and we form the necessary
mental image of the idea conveyed in the complete sentence. We
PULSE-GROUPS 41
have to learn to do the same in reading (i.e. producing) music at
the player. We have to conceive music in terms of sentences.
The process is easy, and as interesting as profitable. We have
merely to extend our metrical-counting, to compound several
successive simple or compound bars into one large phraseological
bar, and to realise the group-affinity of the pulses and bars.
The music then orders itself as days order themselves into weeks.
When I say in reference to a piece that it contains, for example,
two sections, and that each of the sections contains two sentences,
I am in effect saying that a stretch of time contains four weeks,
and that these four weeks couple themselves into two adjacent
fortnights. And when I say that the piece contains not only the
four sentences, but some slight additional matter, I am in effect
saying that a day or two has been added to the first or second of
the two fortnights.
The longest piece may be visualised as a single point, in the
way an historical epoch can be signified by a brief term (the
" Middle Ages "), and in the way a poem, or a great philosophy,
can be expressed in a couple of works (as " vaulting ambition "
for Macbeth and " Love one another " for the Christian religion).
We play easily and well when we have power to visualise a piece
as a synthesis of parts, to affiliate all its sections, from single
pulses upwards ; but we cannot develop this power until we have
learned to analyse music into parts ; to read it in motives,
phrases, sentences, and sections. The beginning lies with metre,
and with the grouping of pulses.
CHAPTER VII
PHRASE, CADENCE, AND FORM
A PHRASE of notes in music is as a thought-group of syllables in
prose and poetry. It contains, expresses, or represents, a single
idea.
One beat of the beats forming the phrase, dominates the rest.
That is to say, all beats in a phrase other than the dominant beat
are in rhythmical affinity with that beat, either rising to it or
falling from it.
Therefore a phrase is a section of music containing one chief
point of cadential stress, as a thought-group of words is a verbal
phrase containing one syllable stronger than the rest.
The chief point of accentual stress may be anywhere in a bar,
or anywhere in two adj acent bars. When it is in the first or second
of every two bars, those bars are either actually compounded by
the composer, or may be compounded by the performer (I qualify
and explain this remark as occasion makes necessary). Thus if,
in a piece in triple-metre, the general flow of the music affiliates
every second bar to the bar preceding, the point of strongest
stress is (in strict metrical accentuation) beat 1 of that preced-
ing bar. The composer then compounds the bars, producing a
six-time. For various reasons, however, he may not compound
the bars. He may still retain the simple metre of 1-2-3. But we,
for convenience of study, may compound them ; though we must
still play in such manner as shall produce the metrical effects the
composer desires.
The arbitrary compounding of bars is our first step on the road
to the rhythmical phrasing of music. It is our first escape from
the tyranny of the bar-line ; our first acquisition of the native
powers of cadence, and our first experience of the architectonic
qualities of music. But since it is at present only an intellectual
exercise in extending the range of our counting, running on (for
42
PHRASE, CADENCE, AND FORM 43
instance) from 1 to 6 instead of returning to 1 after 3, we snail
call it merely " extended metrical counting."
A clause in music is a compound of several phrases. A sentence
is a compound of several clauses. These terms are used with
conventional significance. The ideas they denote in music are
those they denote in literature.
ii
Phrases, clauses, and sentences, close with a cadence. They
would not otherwise be thought-group portions. The cadence-
close of a full sentence is often akin to a full stop or period.. The
clausular cadence is akin to colons, semicolons, and commas.
The phrase-cadence may have a comma-like value ; but usually
it has a less conclusive force.
The sentence-cadence is the full-close. Its more usual form is
in melody and in harmony as that amen we use in church
services with the upper part moving from te to doh. (Less usual,
but still frequent, is the form with the upper part moving from re
to doh.) This form of cadence is called authentic. It forms the
perfect cadence. By position it becomes the " final cadence."
A form of final cadence which is little used in music in modern
times is that amen of which the two upper notes are the same
(doh). This is the plagal cadence. Chopin uses it at the end of
his Etude in D flat, Op. 25, No. 8, but with the upper part rising
from lah to doh, and also in his Mazurka in B flat, Op. 7, No. 1.
Debussy employs it in his pianoforte piece Minstrels.
The clause-cadence is the middle cadence. It is free in form.
The more frequent middle cadence in classical music is an in-
version of the authentic full close, i.e. as with the chord of -men
set before the chord of a-. This is the imperfect cadence. It
forms a half-close, and has a comma-like value.
A cadence must naturally contain at least two chords. It must
also occupy at least two beats or counts (except when the move-
ment of the chords is abruptly effected upon half -beats). For
convenience, we call the last chord the cadence chord, as when we
say " the cadence chord comes on the seventh beat."
Since there are two beats in a cadence, one of the chords must
come on a stronger beat than the other. If the second chord is on
the stronger beat the cadence is masculine. If the first chord is
on the stronger beat it is feminine.
I caution you against accepting these terms literally. The
THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
general idea among musicians is that the feminine cadence is
weak and the masculine strong. But this general idea is
erroneous. The feminine cadence is often stronger than the
masculine. It is used in powerfully rhythmic music (as the
polonaise), and it gives to such music effects of enormous ac-
centual vigour. When we player-pianists have a massive femi-
nine cadence, with the first chord magnificently piled on the
strong beat of the bar, we have opportunity to show how we can
accentuate tones and how by artistic transition into the second
chord we can phrase harmonic progressions. Such a feminine
cadence gives us joy as that which closes the first section of the
Allegro of Beethoven's first sonata a great crashing fortissimo
on the strong half of the two-bar movement, followed by a
transient, almost imperceptible piano chord on the weak half.
The feminine cadence is less easy to playerise than the mascu-
line. It represents a falling rhythm, and falling rhythms demand
delicate control of tone and motive-power. The masculine
cadence is, of course, a rising rhythm.*
Csesural cadences and rhetorical pauses are frequent in music.
The caesural cadence occurs at any moment, as it does in prose
and poetry. We shall observe these two matters as soon as we
learn the character of musical expression and the elementary
principles of rhythm.
in
The architectural plan of a piece of music must be binary or
ternary, i.e. two-part or three-part.
Binary form comprises two sections, ternary three. The third
section of orthodox ternary form is an exact or modified reprise of
the first. In sonatas and symphonies it is called the recapitula-
tion. The middle section of a piece is either new matter, or a
development of the ideas of the first. In sonatas the middle
section is mostly developmental ; in marches, dances, and other
simple forms it is new, taking then the name trio (from the cir-
cumstance that in older days, when music was written in indi-
* By calling to mind certain lines from familiar hymns, the two forms of
cadence become clear. Feminine cadence. (1) " Hark a thrilling vdice is
| sdunding " | ; (2) " Lo He comes with clouds descending "| ; (3) "Earth
has many a noble | city " | . Masculine cadence. (1) " God frdm on high hath
\ heard " ; (2) " Jesua Christ is risen to- \ day," (here the cadence-beat is
inflected). When a line of poetry is made of an even number of metrical
syllables, it has a feminine cadence if (a) the syllables alternate in the order
strong-weak, and if (6) the initial syllable is strong.
PHKASE, OADENCE, AND FORM 45
vidual, voice-like parts, the middle section was written in three
parts to make it lighter in effect than its companions, which were
written in four).
Binary form is more complex than ternary. It is the form
towards which all forms tend, as when the sonata in the hands of
Beethoven passes from the form of (1) to that of (2) :
(Exposition (1st section)
II Development (2nd )
Recapitulation (3rd )
veE
[
f I Exposition
I II
Development
f III Recapitulation
I IV Coda, or second Development
with the exact centre of the piece coming at the close of the
Development.
Music, like poetry, moves in responsive or parallel lines. It
also moves stanza- wise. Music could, therefore, be printed in the
way verse is printed, with spaces between the stanzas, a fresh
start for each line, and indentions to show the rhyming parallels.
Music disposes its lines in couplets, in threes, and so on. Such
groups rhyme ; but they rhyme cadentially, not according to
any rule of assonance. Music next disposes its couplets or
triolets in further responsive parallelism.
The principles and practices of musical form are invariable
and universal. There is no difference other than of degree be-
tween a simple short metre hymn tune (e.g. Franconia, as sung
to the hymns " Blest are the pure in heart " and " The Advent
of our King ") and a great symphonic movement. A line of
music is either a clause or a sentence.
As was remarked in the last chapter, the standard length of a
line is eight beats (or sixteen, which is in effect the same as eight).
Nearly all hymns are adapted to the eight-beat clause, whether
their lines contain eight, seven, six, five, four, or even three,
syllables. This is what brings about two-, three-, and four-beat
chords. It is also what brings about occasional empty-times.
The most elementary form in music is the single couplet a
piece containing two sentences only. To this the name binary
would be given. But it is not really a form. It is too brief and
simple, affording the Art no scope for those passages of contrast,
repeat, reprise, and recapitulation, which are necessary in estab-
lishing structure.
46 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
When a composer is writing simple music, he adopts this
simple binary, single-couplet form for his successive numbers
and sections. He then generally repeats each sentence before
proceeding to the next. (See the Schubert Ecossaises, and the
Beethoven Bagatelle in D.)
A similar elementary form is that which contains three sen-
tences, as in the hymn " Rock of Ages " and the Chopin C minor
Prelude. To this the name ternary would be given, were not this
plan also too slight and restricted to be of use when standing
alone. The ternary form is adopted for sectional parts of com-
positions. It is, perhaps, the chief sectional form in use. (See
the seventh of the Schubert Waltzes, Op. 18(a).)
Either sentence, or both sentences, in the couplet may be re-
peated. The repeat may be exact, as in the hymn-tune Meinhold
(page 52), or it may be varied. When Chopin repeats a sentence
or couplet, he often asks for the repeat to be played in tempo
rubato. The repeat of the first sentence of the trio of Schubert's
Bflat Scherzo is effected an octave higher than the original.
True binary-form contains at least two couplets, not merely
two sentences ; and true ternary contains three couplets. The
hymn " Ten thousand times ten thousand " is in true binary
form. The hymn " Christ is risen " is in true ternary. (We call
the return to Section I the reprise in simple ternary pieces, not
recapitulation, reserving that word for large symphony or sonata
movements.)
Section I or section II may contain a sentence of three-clause
extent, as in the fine Protestant tune Erk, where the second
sentence contains three clauses. Section II may contain even
four clauses, as in Nun danket, or five, as in Luther's Ein* feste
Burg. In such cases the two-clause sentence of section I is
generally played through twice, the repeat giving to section I
some equal measure of weight and architectural significance.
Binary and ternary sections are interwoven in the course of
musical compositions. These sections are themselves grouped
into twos and threes by the further operation of the two powers
(binary and ternary). The greatest work is ultimately to be
reduced, by synthetic association of the sections, to the simple
formula I-II, or to the equally simple formula I-II-III (III
being as I).
Form is rhythm expanded to the qualities of proportion. I
do not deal with proportion in this book, except in passing.
CHAPTER VIII
CHORALES AND FOUNDATIONAL METRES
WE may teach ourselves how to count, and learn to think music
in metre and sentence, by studying hymn-tunes. I bring forward
a few tunes available for player-pianists ; these are to serve as
practical supplement to the theoretical statements of the last
three chapters.*
William Shrubsole's tune Miles Lane is in quadruple-time. It
Hymns Ancient and Modern. be g ins on the upbeat, and its clauses end
No. 300, All hail the power, therefore on the downbeat or outbeat,
207, Our blest Redeemer, according to the nature of iambic verse.
222,Ten thousand time*. The tymn is constructed of alternate
eight-syllable and six-syllable lines :
All hail the power of Jesus' Name ;
Let Angels prostrate fall ;
Bring forth the royal diadem
And crown Him Lord of all.
If each pair of lines were set a syllable to a beat, the musical
sentence would contain an eight-pulse clause and a six-pulse,
I II III IV I II III
All hail the power of Je-sus' Name' Let Angels prostrate fall."
612 3456 7 8123 4 5
In order to effect true balance of clause, the syllable fall takes
a three-pulse note (counts 5, 6, 7), which makes the sentence
" regular " and leaves count 8 free for the ensuing sentence.
This tune is exceptional in the second sentence. The words
Crown Him are treated in refrain ; they appear three times, each
syllable taking a two-pulse note. The second of each pair of
notes is, furthermore, a fermata ; it is to be played by bringing
* Hymn-tunes are elementary things of music ; but, says Dryden,
Angels first should practise hymns, and string
Their tuneful harps, when they to Heav'n would sing.
47
48 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
the Tempo-lever to zero the moment the chord is struck, and by
holding the lever there as long as necessary : the return to place
for the next note has to be immediate, so that the movement
shall resume in strict time.
The three successive Crown Him phrases, are contrasted in
tone (1) piano, (2) crescendo, (3) forte. By careful pedalling during
the fermata, we prepare the power to produce the tone of the
following phrase.
The last line 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,
1 2:3 4 15 6 : 7
ten-derilast fare- well. : . .
8
Our Blest . . Reideemer
A
8
:3
56:7 8
ere He: breathed His
Guide . . a iCom-fort er be- jqueathed With us ....!... to dwell: . .
1 2 !3 4 I 5 6 i 7 8
1213 4 15 6 i 7
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 lines of varying length.
(1) Seven syllables Ten thousand times ten thousand,
(2) Six In sparkling raiment bright,
(3) Eight The armies of the ransom'd Saints
(4) Six Throng up the steeps of light :
(5) Seven 'Tis finish'd ! all is finish'd,
(6) Six Their fight with death and sin ;
(7) Eight Fling open wide the golden gates
(8) Six 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
CHORALES AND FOUND ATIONAL METRES 49
to have a parallel clause, unless in the quadruple metre is inserted
a three-beat bar :
8
Ten
1 2 j 3 4
thou-sand; times ten
56 j 71 1 2;34| 5-6- : 7
thou-sand :in|spark-ling ;raiment| 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 L 1 2 ! 3 ,
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
"controlled."
The hymn " As pants the hart " is constructed of alternate
eight- and six-syllable lines. In the ordinary way of musical
Hymns Ancient and Modern. form > & 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 hymn 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 11-2 3
As pants the
So [longs my
1-2 3 11-2 3 (1-2 3
I II
hart for cool-ing streams, When heat-ed|in the
soul, God, for Thee, And
1-2 3 11-2 3
1-2
chase
Thy re-jfreshing grace.
I II III
We can realise 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 hymn are of seven-
syllable length, beginning and ending with strong syllables, the
cadences are masculine. 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).
E
50 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 cata-
lectic, and that of the Chopin prelude the trochaic acatalectic.
The counting may be 7 8 1 2 3 4 5-6, 781234 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 coming,
Be at rest!"
But the composer (the Rev. Sir H. W. Baker, Bt., musician,
clergyman, and aristocrat) has set each line even the three-
syllable 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
. , , _ barred in a two-pulse metre instead of
Hymns Ancient and Modern. ,, , , r , ,1-1
No. 134, Jew.OMtj.rta. ^ e ^1 four-pulse, is partly because
to-day. the alleluias would in four-time stretch
138, Christ is risen. O ut in long and unwieldly bar, but
" : 40 ' j 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
hymn-tunes of the century.
Sullivan'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 :
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 suffer' d loss
By divine decree ;
2nd sentence : He hath died upon the Cross,
But our God is He.
Section III.
1st sentence : (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 line, 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 12 3 4 56
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 lines
7 8
1 2
3 4
12
; 34
Can thy
ter- rors,
death, ap-
pal
: US
5 6
1 2
3 4
56
Je sus
lives ! by
this we
know
Thou,
grave, can-
not en-
thrall
: us
7 8
1 2
3 4
12
I 34
52 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
And finally, it finishes with a six-beat " coda " :
5 6 12 34
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-Italian music of the sixteenth
(A. <b M., No. 402.) century, and reminds us of the Ave Maria of
Jacob Arcadelt, who was born about 1514. (The Ave Maria was
arranged as an organ-piece by Liszt.)
The tune is binary in form section I (repeated) and section II.
Each section contains one sentence, and each sentence two
clauses. The tune is adapted to lines of seven- and eight-syllable
length. The clauses that take the seven-syllable lines are normal
they contain eight beats, apportioning the last two to the final
syllable. The clause that takes the eight-syllable line is not
normal. It is ten beats in length, giving two-pulse chords to
the last two syllables. The emotional effect of this extension is
strangely peaceful. I offer lines which reflect the form (and
also, in a measure, the spirit) of the tune :
Section I. Weary men, that still await
Death as refuge from thy weeping ;
(repeat) Shrinking from the blows of Fate,
Think ye not that Death's but sleeping :
Section II. Death's a moment's gentle break,
As from night to day we wake.
The Passion Chorale is almost the keystone of the St. Matthew
Passion of Bach. It occurs several times in the course of that
Passion Chorale. work, and always at moments of extreme
(A. and M., No. ill.) emotional intensity. Bach uses it there as
a calming influence : he offers it as a means of inspiring those
profound depths of feeling and understanding where agitation
cannot be. The tune is thus as significant for the musician
CHORALES AND FOUND ATIONAL METRES 53
as the St. John's Gospel is for the theologian. Yet originally the
tune was written for a love-song. It was composed by Hans Leo
Hassler in 1601 (Mein Q'muth is mir verwirret).
sacred Head, surrounded
By crown of piercing thorn !
bleeding Head, so wounded,
Reviled, and put to scorn !
Death's pallid hue comes o'er Thee,
The glow of life decays,
Yet angel-hosts adore Thee,
And tremble as they gaze.
The tune Erk shows how a section can contain three clauses
Eric. instead of the usual two (see the Schubert
(A. and M., No. 293.) Waltzes, No. 3) :
Section I. Sing praise to God Who reigns above,
The God of all creation,
(repeat) The God of power, the God of love,
The God of our salvation ;
Section II.
Clause (1) With healing balm my soul He fills,
(2) And every faithless murmur stills ;
(3) To God all praise and glory.
The second clause of section II would normally end the section.
It would then have the customary full-close. But since the sec-
tion is extended, the clause has an " interrupted " cadence.
Lines 2, 4, and 7 are the same in form as the line " Ten thousand
times ten thousand." But they are not set to syncopated beats.
The two-pulse chord is given to the sixth syllable, which neces-
sitates a fermata on the seventh syllable.
The inner parts move occasionally in quarter-beat notes.
The tune A stronghold sure exists in two forms, (a) so adapted
Eirf feste Burg. as to preserve the normal eight-beat form in
(A. & M, No. 378.) ea ch clause ; (6) so adapted as to set each
syllable to one note (except in the 7-syllable lines).
In the second form, the clauses are of eight-beat and six-beat
length, according to text. A pause is necessary on the
last note of every clause. The seven-syllable lines are set as
in Erk.
54 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
The second version of the tune moves in firm, solid chords.
The first moves with beats broken into half-beats.
Section I. Rejoice to-day with one accord,
Sing out with exultation ;
(repeat) Rejoice and praise our mighty Lord,
Whose arm hath brought salvation , . .
Section II.
Sentence (I) His works of love proclaim
The greatness of His Name . . .
Sentence (2) For He is God alone
Who hath His mercy shown ;
Let all His saints adore Him. . . .
Ein'feste Burg was composed by Luther himself (1526). It has
been accepted as one of the greatest of Protestant chorales.
The tune Nun danket was composed by Johann Cruger, theolo-
gian and musician (1649).
Nun danket. Now thank we all our God,
(A. and M., With heart, and hands, and voices,
No. 379.) Who wondrous things hath done,
In Whom His world rejoices :
Who from our mother's arms
Hath blest us on our way,
With countless gifts of love,
And still is ours to-day.
In playing hymn-tunes on the player-piano, we aim for richness
and fullness of tone, smoothness of progression (ignoring metrical
stresses) ; swelling and diminishing of sound according to the
sentiment of the words ; and occasional slackening and hastening
of tempo. We pause on cadence-chords at points where a body
of singers need to take breath. We try to hear the independence
of the inner parts, and particularly the boldness of the bass.
CHAPTER IX
LISTENING TO INNER VOICES
THE average ear takes in little beyond the top line of music ; it
accepts the chords, and receives occasional fragments of inner
melody, but does not observe that the under parts have possibly
as individual a character as the top line. The average ear is as
the average eye, which fails to see, when looking at wooded land,
that there are secondary distances and varying depths.
Music is vital in every part, though in certain of the parts the
vitality may be of a lower order. And the chief life may not be
in the treble melody, but in the alto, the tenor, or the bass.
I know no piece of music but has touches of significance in
inner parts. There is sometimes a melody outlined even in the
chords of a waltz accompaniment. When (as in the hymn-tune
Alford, at the point of the cadence " Their fight with death and
sin ") an extended cadence-chord has movement in the under
parts, that movement is usually of expressive character, and the
ear should be trained to accept it.
It is not difficult it is certainly interesting to train the ear
to enter into the tonal depths of music. The mind then perceives
that apparently blank spots, or passages of apparently struc-
tural nature only, have individual beauty, or are essentially
decorated, and that the passages are not obscure, but filled with
light, and with light that is the more beautiful in that it is
twilight.
Music composed of accompanied melody is called homophonic
(" homophony ") ; but usually it is called simply melodic. Music
made of parts which have equal value is called either polyphonic
or contrapuntal.
The predominantVoice in melodic music need not be the treble.
It is only since the" rise of modern music that the predominant
melody has lain mostly in the upper voice ; three hundred years
55
56 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
ago it lay mostly in the tenor, from which circumstance, indeed,
that voice takes its name tenere, to hold. Two pieces set later
for study the Chopin Waltz in A minor and the MacDowell Lied
show how the chief melody may be in different voices for
different sections of the same composition.
A vital characteristic of contrapuntal music is that no one
voice shall be predominant. Yet it is natural that interest should
centre from moment to moment in a particular part, and this
obtains whenever the writing is " imitative," i.e. repetitionary,
the figure given in one voice following responsively in other
voices. Under conditions of contrapuntal imitation, the voice
which holds the pattern-figure is ordinarily the principal one ;
but there is no arbitrary compulsion that it should be so. Imita-
tions are often scientific ; in the hands of masters, however, the
style is playful, fantastic, or gravely emotional. Imitation is
valuable for traioing the ear to follow inner movement.
When the imitation is of an entire melody, and the imitation
accompanies the pattern while the pattern is still in making, but
at a distance of a few pulses, the style becomes the " canonic."
The tune of Thomas Tallis, the Tudor composer, which we sing
to the hymns " Glory to Thee, my God, this night," " Glory to
Thee who safe hast kept," " The night is come : like to the day,"
etc., is a canon of this order. The treble leads with the tune, and
the tenor repeats the tune at a distance of four beats. As the
hymn ends when the soprano has reached the end of the tune, it
follows that the tenor has to cease four notes from the finish of
the tune ; the four notes of the tenor opening of the hymn-tune
are, however, these last four of the melody. In the original ver-
sion, the leading voice was probably the tenor, the imitational
response being made by the treble. (Bass and alto of this hymn-
tune are free accompanying parts.)
Modern composers (Tchaikovski, Grieg, and several second-
rate British musicians) use a sort of bastard canon in their instru-
mental music, whereby a salient phrase of the melody is made to
appear in the accompaniment at points where the melody has a
long note. This type of canon is irritating, first because of its
obviousness, and secondly because of its saccharine quality.
The period of which Bach (born 1685, died 1750) was the cul-
mination, was the contrapuntal epoch. Much music of the period
is melodic or harmonic ; and there is a good deal of polyphonic
writing in the music of the later classical, romantic, and modern
LISTENING TO INNER VOICES 57
periods ; but the chief thought in music up to Bach and Handel
is contrapuntal, and the period is correctly named. The first
fugue in the Well-Tempered Clavier is typical of Bach's serenest
counterpoint, the fourth of his more massive and varied style, and
the thirteenth of his most graceful. The fifth fugue in this work
is Handelian in character, and the twentieth is somewhat pre-
Bach, i.e. primitive, in mood and style. The twenty-second and
twenty-fourth fugues are nobly spiritual pieces of purest poly-
phony. The works I name here should be studied in hours of
quietness and leisure, and not until experience is gained of music
and player.
When a composer wants a certain part to stand out well, he
may separate the part widely from its companions ; or mark it
forte amid a prevailing piano ; or write against it some such
phrase as marcato il basso or il tenore ben cantando (i.e. well-sung).
These directions are not transcribed to the roll. And when the
composer wants a single detached note to stand out, he marks it
sf, sfz, or fp ; or attaches the sign of emphasis > 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 slight /erwafo. 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 lines 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.
ii
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 pedalling, 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 reality 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 find 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 individuality 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 slight 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, qualities with no objective
existence in their respective instruments. And it enables the
player-pianist to conceive individuality of parts even in cases
where, in the nature of things, actual individuality is impossible.
We know we cannot 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 actuality from our instrument, 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 belief that the harsh
sounds, conveying, indeed, or being significant of sweet images
or thoughts, were themselves sweet."
CHAPTEK X
PUNCTUATION, PHRASING, AND FEEE-TIME
A TEMPO nuance is an acceleration, a retardation, or a pause.
The ritenuto (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 fermata, 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 fer-
mata. This also depends on the rhythm of the music.
The rit or accel 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-line 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
a fermata, we resume from some point that is metrically clear.
PUNCTUATION, PHRASING, 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.
ii
Music has to be punctuated, as definitely as prose and poetry ;
otherwise it is unintelligible. A cadence-less performance is
inartistic, like a child's sing-song recitation.
Punctuation is a first step to phrasing. It is effected by a
delicate 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
coBsura of a line of poetry, it requires especially delicate phrasing.
The cadence to the final clause permits a more emphatic rubato
and a more decided break in the movement.
As already said, a cadence may be masculine 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 line :
But
1 2'
look . . the
3 4'
dawn . . in
5 6 78"
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 glide sluggishly back to the
62 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 slight
silent fermata. 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 little more space allotted to it
than is normal, we may explain the matter as a rhetorical, or
sense, detail of punctuation. (See page 37n.)
ra
Rigid tempo is impossible and undesirable impossible because
of the native flexibility 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 crescendos and to enhance
diminuendos. The impassioned crescendo naturally takes a
slight hurrying (stringendo), though its climax will probably
take a slight pause, the topmost beat perhaps marked by the
composer ten, or sostenuto. A solemn and weighty crescendo will
strengthen itself by a broadening (allargando) 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 fermata 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 dwelling 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 startlingly foreign chord, it is often
necessary to pause upon the beat in order to make the situation
intelligible. 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 modern " 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 tempo (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
flat minor, the Prelude and Fugue in F sharp major, the Fugue in
B minor all 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 rubato.
The freedom of time in lyrical pianoforte music is as the free-
dom of time adopted by singer and violinist. In music repre-
senting movement (i.e. dance-music) the tempo rubato 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 pitgh, 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 rubato 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 applies 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 inclining 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 placer. 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
accel or the rit suggested by the composer. Notes are immutable,
also rhythms ; but tonal and temporal nuances are variable, as
are other qualities the nature of which is artistic and the effect
of which the revelation of personality. 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 rhythm 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 tempo 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
appliance 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.
g Chopin. Valse in Gflat, Op. 70, No. 1.
F Chopin. Grande Valse brillante, Op. 18.
66 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
Brahms. Hungarian Dances Nos. 5 and 6 (in F sharp minor
and Dflat).
Beethoven. Largo appassionato 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'Neill. 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, 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 modern
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 modern pianoforte, the modern idea of free time, and
the like ; 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
68 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 fortes
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 pedalling 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
piano.
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 affinity to the swell-pedal of the organ.
Few player-pianists, however, are content to let swelling 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-PRODUCTION 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 supplied 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 pedalling.
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-line is out of place, coming too soon or too late, and so em-
bracing in the piano what should be forte, and the reverse.
in
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 swelling gradations, until the passage
that descends in octaves into the bass; then resume the
original pianissimo).
70 THE AET OF THE PLAYEK-PIANO
Grieg, Op. 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 a 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, Op. 25, No. 9. Etude in Gflat (the first and third parts
are light in tone, the middle part is loud, abruptly ending
so).
Grieg, Op. 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 feeling rather than of
physical tone).
(b) 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.
Keger, Op. 32, No. 3. Burkske.
Balfour Gardiner. Noel.
Chopin, Op. 30, Nos. 1 Mazurkas in C minor andjB 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-PKODUCTION 71
(Modern) :
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 from 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 lies against the wires
is raised. The hammer leaps away from the wires after impact,
but the damper does not return until the ringer 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 possibilities
of soft touching greater than a note struck with dampers down.
72 THE AKT 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 ringers. 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 slight, being but a yield-
ing to the vibration of the sounding wires. (It is, I hope, under-
stood by the reader that the slightest 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,
modern 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 journalistic 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-PRODUCTION 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 outline, 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-
ability of the organ to mark accents, of the violin 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 outlines 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
fingers. In soft playing, the continuous employment of the lever
upon the striking of the successive notes causes the notes to glide
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 fermata 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 individualising of parts
without which the music is incoherent. Aided by sensitive pedal-
ling and intelligent 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 little
finger. It should not be gripped between thumb and first finger.
And only the ringer should move as the lever is drawn in or
74 THE AKT 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
earlier. 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 employing 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 characteristic in the Bach Chromatic Fantasia and in
the last two pieces given on page 66 ; also in Weber, Op. J2, 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-like 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 Corde " orders the release of the soft pedal.
VI
There is a detail of player-technique peculiar 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 III
1 (2 3) (4) '5678 T
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
MELODISER
SINGING-TONE is effected solely by the pedals, and the 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 quality of your instru-
ment, and your own sense of cantabile, 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) Hirtenknabe
(" Shepherd's Boy "), Op. 54, No. 1.
Simple lyric music is like 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 pedalling. 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 lyric poly-
phony must be played on open pedalling.
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 AET OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
cantando 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, Op. 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.
ii
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 Try sting -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 :
Sibelius. Idyl, Op. 24, No. 6.
Chopin. Nocturne (in B major), Op. 62, No. 1.
The Sibelius has pauses between beats.
Modern composers have little use for the scientific canon ; but
they adopt canon in pieces where song or dance 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.
in
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. Capriccio, 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 possibility 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 'bass-control drawn in and the treble left open :
Mozart. Finale (" Turkish March ") from Sonata in A
major.
f Chopin. 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 moments 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 control and release
tone for accompaniment and melody :
Schumann. W arum ? 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. Fruhlingsnacht (" Spring Night ").
Strauss. Traum durch die Ddmmerung.
Paul Corder. Prelude (in E 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 cantabile. 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 rubatos in bars 13, 15, 19,
25 ; and slower time in bars 32-36. At bar 21 " En animant
surtout dans 1'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
effect 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 effect is likely to come at a given moment. But we cannot
pedal by rule and principle, and we are still likely to miss desired
effects. The opening paragraph of page 23 is still with us.
The first step to acquiring ability to hit a note as it should be
hit, is Metrical Pedalling, 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
counting 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
METRICAL PEDALLING 83
on beat 2. Where a single stroke does not create enough power
for beats 2 and 3, we may deliver 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
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 familiar
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 solid 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 pedalling is only a method
of practice, a temporary phase of study designed to give command
of the pedals and to make familiar the metre of music. It is useless
in artistic playing, and of little value in rhythmical playing
as distinguished from metrical ; for in artistic playing we pedal
according to the position of the climactic 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, JTjjJ^. ) ^ ne 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,
n n n > tfle subsidiary accents lie then upon the first quaver
99999 9 f A i .
of each pair.
Metrical pedalling 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 forte even when there is not a full/orte supply
of power accumulated in the instrument.
METRICAL PEDALLING 85
Ease of playing 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 ( M JTJ j J~3 1 /. ) is 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 pedalling 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 /J..j jj.. I ) 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-PIAJSTO
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. 25, 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, M r) 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.
. b
-.1 V-.-i ? _/
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 light and clear, mov-
ing with animation, and requiring little motive-power, even in
Handel ^he ^ OU( ^ sections. The choral portion of the
Judas Maccabceus. piece has three sections, and the instrumental
Chorus and Instru- portion two. As used in the oratorio, the first
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 :
12 34
See the jcon quering
Sound 1he_ j trum pete
____ __, i _____
beat
The short strokes of this and later abstracts represent the per-
forations. They give the outline of the metre.
The instrumental portion of the piece is in slightly faster tempo
when used in the oratorio ; but when used as an independent
march, it retains the tempo 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 G minor. created.
Throughout the piece, count 3 is broken into two notes, the
first of these taking three-quarters of the beat.
The pulse affiliation 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 emotionality 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 afermata : I give on page 92 a suggestion as to the playing
of such chords.
MacDowelPs tone-picture Starlight shows quadruple-time in
another aspect. The metre appears at first glance to be a spacious
MacDowdl, Op. 55. duple, which would give two counts only to
Sea Pieces, No. 4. the opening chord in the accompaniment.
Sternlicht. g ut ac t ua lly it i s 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 under 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 solid 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 pianissimo :
we have about a two-hundredth part of a minute in which to
draw the Control-levers.
MacDo well'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. is (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.
ii
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. o f the dancers ; this last is the tone-poem in
waltz-form, which came into being with the rise of the romantic
90 THE AKT OF THE PLAYEK-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 established 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
difference 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. . . . Thank God!" 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
qualities 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) lyrical feeling, (III) animation and play of fancy, and
(IV) direct rhythmical energy. The plan and scope of the classical
sonata and symphony form a synthesis of these four qualities.
I have planned our present stage of study on symphony lines.
We have already observed the elements of construction, and are
now to look into some aspects of lyrical music, leaving the
qualities 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 melos, 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 feeling 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.
Grieg, Op. 55, No. 4. Its metre is quadruple ; the eighth note,
Peer Gynt Suite, No. 2. which takes a whole bar, is preceded by
Solvejgs Lied. ^ wo 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 ? f "
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
92 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
The playerist learns how to make his instrument sing on direct
touch by means of passages like 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 slight 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 little 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
resumption 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 pedalling 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. * ne crossbeat throughout its accompani-
Fantasiestucke, No. 3. ment, also at times an equivalent synco-
Warum ?
,
* : I ill
' i Ill
/ / I
II II
^
2. .>. .
^ 6 C
A. Short bass notes.
" B. Accompaniment chords (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,
MacDowett, Op. 55. from " *h rou g n vigour " to " with great
Sea Pieces, No. 5. tenderness." The metre of the piece does not
Lted ' 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
a".
94 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
The first clause of the opening sentence adapts itself to
a la la la. Tra
<?
23*
. crescendo
la la la ! We
6 7 8
sin^i a merry
/ a s 4
6 7
The second clause of the sentence continues forte > " steadily
vigorous," with a ritenuto and afermata on a count 7 (the Tempo-
lever must be at zero before the note on the next 8 is sounded).
During ihefermata, the Control-levers are drawn in for the follow-
ing pianissimo. This soft phrase must be played on heavy pres-
sure the Control-levers on so as to make possible the ensuing
abrupt fortissimo, which is the chorus. The chorus is to be played
" with rough vigour."
Section II. The second singer sings in the tenor register.
He is accompanied by the Warum ? syncopation. The mood now
is " passionate," and the tempo slower by a sixth. The reminis-
cent spirit characterises this section ; the tempo slackens further,
and a melody of " great tenderness " ensues.
Section III is the same as section I, but with a long pause at
the end of the solo.
The coda takes (a) the middle melody of section II, and (6)
the opening melody of the piece, all very soft and tender.
The A minor waltz of Chopin is simpler as regards playerism
than any other of the tone-poems in waltz form of this romantic.
Chopin, Op. 34, H' * s ^ n general design akin to the MacDowell
No. 2. Valse in Lied. In shape and sequence of sentences it is
A minor. o f ^he c j ass o f mus j c represented in the Schu-
bert Ecossaises. We may count the music in sixes.
I. Preludial Introduction. The piece begins with a tenor
melody. The accompaniment consists of chords on beats 2 and
3 and 5 and 6, beats 1 and 3 being empty. The chords are places
above the melody, as in section II of the MacDowell Lied.
II. The main portion of the work is in three sections. It begins
at the point where the melody goes into the upper part and the
conventional waltz accompaniment enters.
(a). The first section has, in the melody, an empty time on
count 4, which gives to the music a touch of gay insouciance
perhaps of playful impudence.
(6). The second section is mazurka-like. It is at once more gay
in spirit and deeper in mood than the preceding (a). It is
characterised by tonal richness in counts 4-5-6. In those
STUDIES IN METRICAL COUNTING 95
counts a second voice enters, blending with the voice of the
melody.
(c). The third section is like a song. The melody has notes of
three-beat extent. At first the mood is simply happy it repre-
sents a care-free enjoyment of pleasantness. Then it becomes
contracted to the expression of something more intense.
III. The whole of II is repeated.
IV. The coda is formed (1) of the original preludial opening,
(2) of an interlude where the accompaniment remains the same
but where the melody becomes a running 'cello-like theme in the
bass (the blood of the dancers is warmed ; it flows more quickly),
and (3) of the original opening again.
This piece was Chopin's favourite among his waltzes.
I bring MacDowell's Plantation Tune into our observation of
MacDowdl, P . 51. ! y rical music > and for s P ecial reasons.
Amerikanische Wold Idyllen, It is a piece of scherzo-like character
^- 7 - a humoresque : the composer says it
Plantagenkldnge. , -, i j , -j
must be played umonstwo and giojoso
(merrily, jocosely) ; yet, none the less, it is apiece in pronounced
lyrical mood.
One would imagine that the merry scherzo and the passionate
lyric could have little in common. Yet, indeed, they often have
very much in common. The scherzo may be (as it is) energetic,
fanciful, sprightly, " unbuttoned " (this last phrase being Beet-
hoven's), and the lyric may be all sweetness, grace, passion, and
warm personality ; yet lyric qualities will enter into the scherzo,
and scherzoso elements will enter into the lyric especially the
modern imaginative and characteristic lyric. The familiar
Humoreske of Dvorak is sometimes played by violinists in the
style of a Nocturne, and some of the nocturnes of Chopin are
fanciful. Beethoven frequently brings a lyrical melody into the
wildest of his scherzos. And at base this From Uncle Remus of
Edward MacDowell (the " Uncle Remus " being the Southern
darkie created by Joel Chandler Harris) is a warmly moving
lyric. If we play it in slow tempo and with impassioned feeling,
with lingering tenutos, rich tone, and delicate fancy, it reveals
touches of elemental passion, a certain melancholy, and a definite
plaintiveness, all surrounded by a pastoral charm. Yet it is still
a humoreske, and it must be performed in quick time ; though 1
hesitate to say whether the music is more beautiful read quickly
than slowly.
96 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
ii
Composers may desire so intimate an expression, that melody
shall seem to be speaking. They rarely achieve their desire, the
device employed (i.e. the recitative) being too familiar as a detail
of song to permit it an abstract or subjective character when
used instrumentally. But occasionally the instrumental recitative
is satisfactory, as in the Chromatic Fantasia of Bach and portions
of the Clavier Toccatas of the same composer, and as in the first
movement of Beethoven's Sonata in D minor, Op. 31, No. 2
the work known as the " dramatic " sonata. Liszt uses the recit
in extreme instrumental elaboration for example, in the
following of the Rhapsodies hongroises :
No. 1 (E major) : the first and third strains of the opening
lento quasi recitativo ; and again in the fourth portion of
the piece,* the term of expression here being recitando
plintivo.
No. 3 (Bflat) : the opening andante pesante espressivo, and its
reprise.
No. 6 (D flat) : the third section, andante espressivo (this is to
be played with the Softening-pedal for the first sentence).
No. 8 (F sharp minor) : the lento malinconico assai which begins
the work.
No. 13 (A minor) : the whole of the extended andante sostenuto
malinconico which constitutes the first half of the composi-
tion.
The middle part of the Ungarisch of Ferdinand David (Op.
30 ; the first of the two arrangements of the work made by
Liszt) consists of alternations of brief slow recitatives and equally
brief allegros.
There are touches of this order of lyrical feeling in Grieg's
Geheimniss, and in various parts of the great Prelude, Choral,
and Fugue of Cesar Franck. The Franck work should be studied
at a later date, in conjunction with the Chromatic Fantasia.
There is a famous touch of recitative in the first movement of
Beethoven's C minor Symphony ; it comes in the development
* The second section of the piece ends with a cadenza ; the third section
is an andantino, very soft and light, and concluding with a pause on its last
accompaniment note, followed by an extra-metrical pause. The fourth section
begins with an unaccompanied tenor melody, the initial note preceded by an
arpeggiated chord.
STUDIES IN METRICAL COUNTING 97
section the time is held up for a moment while the oboe utters
a plaintive and appealing phrase.
Beethoven directs his Bagatelle in D to be played con una certa
Beethoven,Op.33,No.6. espressione parlante ("with a certain, or
Bagatelle in D. positive, speaking expression "), and I
recommend this piece as an assured means to mastery of
instrumental recitative.
In this " trifle," the lyrical spirit of the classical epoch is
revealed. The work may strike the inexperienced mind as naive.
I have, however, rarely heard it well played, even by pianists ;
and in some respects it sets the player-pianist a problem he will
not encompass until after many years of work at his instrument :
the two opening notes of the melody are alone material for gifted
performers.
The instrumental recitative is a piece of poetical declamation,
an approximation to speech cadence. It requires tonal inflexions
as nearly vocal as is possible, and the extremest delicacy and
subtlety of tempo nuance. Its rhythm is as the rhythm of
expressive gesture, and its melodies have the qualities inherent
in speech that effects statement less by actual words than by
tone and inflexion. I refer you to pages 127 and 128.
CHAPTER XVI
STUDIES IN METRICAL COUNTING (c) THE SCHERZOSO SPIRIT IN
MUSIC MANIPULATION OF CONTROL-LEVERS
THE musical elements of the classical scherzo lay in the minuet,
the waltz, the mazurka, various country dances, and the like
primitive forms. Its spirit was formed of the period 1789-1815.
The classical scherzo is usually in triple-time. The movement
is swift and strong, and so the bar generally forms the metrical
standard. The result is that the scherzo moves by emphatic
downbeats ; the upward spring of the conductor's baton being
immediate, and having no metrical significance.
While practising slowly, we count in sixes, compounding two
bars. On rare occasions, Beethoven and Brahms write scherzo
pieces in six-time. But it is necessary to know that at any
moment the counting must extend to nine, because the composer
may introduce a three-bar phrase.
A few scherzos are in duple-time, where also the bar forms the
metrical unit.
In the Beethoven scherzo, the first full bar is customarily
" strong," and the piece proceeds by alternate strong and weak
bars, the latter affined to the former. The sectional cadences,
and the final cadence, are therefore in effect feminine cadences.
This fact is not recognised by musical theorists.
The clauses and sentences are usually regular in Beethoven,
and so a scherzo may be counted (in bars) in fours and eights.
But four-bar (that is, half -sentence) phrases are frequent ; where-
fore if we count in eights, we must prepare for an occasional
twelve-bar passage.
The half-sentence phrase will probably come before a reprise
or middle section, or before the coda. It will perhaps contain
the three-bar phrase in place of the prevailing two-bar. Such a
five-bar phrase will be as :
bars I II I II III
beats I 2 3' 456* 123' 456' 789'
98
STUDIES IN METRICAL COUNTING 99
and the bar II of the latter portion will have the secondary accent
of triple-time.
The scherzo of Schubert is constantly irregular in phrase and
clause length. He and Bach are the two great masters of the
free phrase.
The meaning of scherzoso is playful, jesting, sporting, banter-
ingly pleasant. Such emotional qualities are effected by surpris-
ing stresses on the weak beats, by syncopated accentuation, and
strong tonal contrast. Thus the scherzo and the lyrical fugue
represent the two most advanced details of player-pianism.
After 1800 the scherzo took on deeper significances. Its mood
became tragic, impassioned, and agitated. Later on it became
theatrical, as in the Pathetic Symphony of Tchaikovski. We might
believe that the scherzo represents the nineteenth century as the
fugue represents the century between 1650 and 1750.
We do not observe waltz and mazurka elements in the Beet-
hoven scherzo ; but these are clear in the Schubert and (in
different degree) Chopin. I am not referring to the detached
scherzos of Chopin.
i
There are two detached scherzos of Schubert (composed 1817).
Schubert. The one in B flat shows the influence of
Two Scherzos (1817). mazurka and waltz ; the one in D flat is
almost pure minuet.
The accompaniment of the B flat piece is empty on the third
count of the bar. The " motive " lies as counts 312.
The form of this composition is ternary : (1) scherzo, (2) trio,
(3) scherzo.
The counting should be extended, mostly to twelves, each set
of twelve counts covering a clause phrased thus :
with a sense that the rhythmic climax is on count 7.
Scherzo. Section 1. Four clauses, forming two couplets.
Couplet I. { Clause 1 piano.
[ 2 piano.
1 pianissimo.
TT i 2 piano for counts 12 and 1 ; then
" suddenly fortissimo for counts 2, 3, and 4, with
diminuendo on counts 5 to 11.
100 THE AKT OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
Section 1 is repeated.
Scherzo. Section 2. Three clauses, followed by three phrases
of irregular length.
Clause 1 piano, with detached fortepianos on counts 1 and 4.
2 pianissimo.
3 pianissimo.
Phrase 1 of seven counts piano crescendo (6 1 2 3' 4 5 6").
2 of nine counts sforzato fortissimo on count 1, where
comes a three-perforation chord in the bass.
Phrase 3 of nine counts, piano to pianissimo, with a pause over
count 8. (Counts 3, 6, 7, and 8 are empty times.)
At count 9 begins the third section.
Scherzo. Section 3. This is as section 1, with two playful
variations :
(a) Couplet II, clause 1 is of six beats only.
(6) 2 is suddenly forte on its first two
beats.
Sections 2 and 3 are repeated.
Trio. The trio should be counted in sixes, not in twelves.
The companion scherzo, the composition in D flat, is metrically
strict, but free in phrase. It should be counted in threes, giving
two counts to the opening chord, and used as a study in delicately
fanciful playing.
The third number of Grieg's Peer Gynt suite is a tempo di
mazurka, i.e. a piece " in the style of " the mazurka. It begins
Orieg, Op. 46, No. 3. with a fermata chord of the length of four
Anitra's Tam. counts 1 1 2 3 1 4 ; this chord is followed by
two empty counts 5 and 6. Grieg marks & fermata over count
5 : we may similarly regard count 2 as the beat which receives
the fermata in the opening chord.
Before the melody of the piece enters, there are four bars of
accompaniment. Our practice-counting should be in sixes, with
the sense retained that each set of 1 1 2 3 j 4 5 6 | countings repre-
sents a phrase. In the first section of this piece, it is not counts
2 and 5 that receive a characteristic stress, but counts 3 and 6.
In the middle section of the piece, are two points where count-
ing must run to nine, owing to an expansion of the phrase : these
points are easy to locate they are where the melody ceases for
three bars, accompaniment alone being made in the music.
The piece ends with & fermata chord of the same, character as
the one that opens the piece.
STUDIES IN METRICAL COUNTING 101
The twenty-third mazurka of Chopin illustrates the downbeat
Chopin, Op. 33, No. 2. nature of strong triple-time music. We must
Mazurka in D. s t u dy it first to triple-time counting, and
then take the bars and play in sentences of eight.
The form is ternary, with coda. Sections I and III are viva-
cious ; section II is more solid, and might be given in slightly
slower tempo. The coda is at first quicker than III, and then
slower.
Section I.
(a) an eight-bar sentence, forte ; the same repeated pianissimo.
(b) forte ; the same repeated pianissimo.
(c) fortissimo, the same repeated pianis-
simo.
We must be aware of the 1-2-3 of the bars, because the tone
does not change except at the actual beginning of the next
sentence.
The composer says that the triple-time counts must pass at
the rate of 216 to the minute. We have to draw in, or release,
the Control-levers between one count 3 and the next count 1.
Therefore we have a four-hundred-and-thirty-second part of a
minute for the operation roughly a seventh of a second. The
matter is not made easier by the fact that the last count 3 of the
loud sentences has to be specially stressed in a manner character-
istic of the mazurka. The control cannot be effected coldly and
to calculation, and few players can manage it except by the fine
rhythmical consciousness which the second part of this book
plans to develop.
The coda begins where the bass gives one-count reiterations
of the same note, the upper part containing whole-bar notes. It
passes to three sets of counting in twelve beats, and one set of
nine. The latter is stressed thus :
sf sf
123' 456' 7-8-9.
ii
The spirit of the Beethoven scherzo is better gathered into our
consciousness by inspired playing of a number of pieces, than by
cool analytical observation of one or two specimens. I, therefore,
give a list from Beethoven of sonata and symphony scherzos and
associated pieces, first remarking that many of these cannot be
102 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
played correctly until we have worked through the concluding
chapters of this book, and further, that unless our rolls are per-
fectly accurate in respect of expression marks and indications of
changes of tone, we cannot possibly perform the pieces without
reference to the printed music.
(a) Typical Beethoven scherzos of relatively simple character.
These are generally the third movement of the work of
which they form part.
(1) Sonata in A, Op. 2, No. 2 (begin on count 3). The trio is
impassioned.
(2) Sonata in A, Op. 28 (begin with three-count notes).
This piece intimates the lively animation of Beethoven.
(3) Symphony in D, Op. 36 (begin on count 1). The bars at
the outset are alternately loud and soft.
(4) Sonata in C, Op. 2, No. 3 (begin on the second half of count
2). The trio is a flowing passage of music ; it may be
contrasted with the middle parts of the Bagatelle in C,
Op. 33, No. 2 and of the Bagatelle in G, Op. 126, No. 5.
(5) Bagatelle in C, Op. 33, No. 2 (begin on count 1).
(6) Bagatelle in A flat, Op. 33, No. 7 (begin on count 1). An
exceptionally difficult piece for the player-pianist.
(7) Sonata in A fiat, Op. 26 (begin on count 3).
(b) Movements which are of scherzo-like significance, yet still
named minuets. Each of the following starts on count 3.
(1) Sonata in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1.
(2) D, Op. 10, No. 3.
(3) B flat, Op. 22.
(4) Symphony in 0, Op. 21.
(c) Movements which stand in sonatas as scherzos, but are not
so-named, taking some such general term as allegretto or
presto.
(1) Sonata in E flat, Op. 7 (begin on count 1).
(2) F, Op. 10, No. 2 ( 3).
(3) Symphony in B flat, Op. 60 ( 3).
(4) A, Op. 92 ( 3).
(d) Movements in tempo (Tun menuetto ; from :
(1) Sonatina in G, Op. 49, No. 2. The theme of this piece is
used in a similar movement in the Septet, Op. 20.
STUDIES IN METRICAL COUNTING 103
(2) Sonata in F, Op. 54. This is an important composition,
though rarely played nowadays. The Sonata in F is
overwhelmed by its predecessor in the list of Beethoven's
sonatas, which is the famous Waldstein, and by its suc-
cessor, the equally famous Appassionata.
(e) Movements of scherzo nature, not in triple-time, and not
placed in the scheme of the sonata as the scherzo movement.
(1) Sonata in C minor, Op. 10, No. 1; the last movement
(counting in quarter-beats 4 5 6' 7 8 | 1-2-3").
(2) Sonata in E flat, Op. 31, No. 3; the second movement
(count to half-beats 1-2-3 4.)
if
(/) The more tremendous of the Beethoven scherzos are in the
(1) Sonata in Bflat, Op. 106.
(2) Symphony E flat, Op. 55.
(3) C minor, Op. 67.
(4) D minor, Op. 125.
(g) The following pieces are interesting and instructive in this
present connection :
(1) Sonatina in G, Op. 79 ; the first movement : an example
of the dance tedesca.
(2) Bagatelle in G, Op. 126, No. 5 ; an example of the lyric
rapture that may glorify the scherzo. No composer but
Beethoven has captured for music the note sounded in
this and kindred pieces.
(3) Sonata in E minor, Op. 90 ; the first movement : a beau-
tiful example of idealised movement in triple time.
In the Sonata in E flat, Op. 31, No. 3, the second movement is
the scherzo in duple-time, and the third a minuet.
CHAPTER XVII
STUDIES IN METRICAL COUNTING (d) THE SPIRIT OF RYHTHMICAL
ENERGY SYNTHETIC USE OF LEVERS
THE six pieces grouped for study here take us to several lands
and ages, and reveal various types of humanity. We identify
ourselves with each piece, and become French as the French of the
days of Rousseau and the Marquise de Pompadour ; Thuringian
with the warm and earnest emotionality of the Central Germans
in the half-century before Goethe ; evasive, rollicking, humour-
some, and skittishly sly, yet entirely natural, with the old freed
darkie of the Southern States ; refined and active-minded with
finer type of Teuton of fifty years ago ; gay with the Magyar, and
rhetorical with the gipsy. In mind, we are to tread squarely or
daintily, leap or shuffle, move with sedateness or in whirling
gyration. Our instrument will not hinder, if we but put it in
the way of music:
Each of the six pieces has a typical quality of directness, the
sections shooting to a point visible at the outset. There are no
inward searchings, little concern for cool and measured structure,
and few touches of passion ; but instead of these are many fancies,
much variety and contrast, and high spirits. The pieces are easy
to play. The only troublesome passage is the andante in the
middle of the Liszt. The MacDowell may appear erratic and over
volatile ; yet even the MacDowell is easy, its volatility no more
than surface decoration of ideas fundamentally clear and direct.
The rigaudon from Rameau's opera Dardanus (1739) is old in
Rameau. some respects, but not old-fashioned. The music
Dardanus. is pleasant to the ear cloyed with luscious nine-
Eigauion. teenth-century harmony, and the form grateful to
the modern mind.
Section I. The piece is in four-time, beginning on the upbeat.
104
STUDIES IN METKICAL COUNTING 105
Counting should be in eights, every two eight-count clauses being
read as a sentence. The cadences are variously masculine and
feminine, and there are touches of the syncopation of the out-
beat (i.e. beats 2 and 3 tied together).
Section I has eight clauses.
Section II. The construction of the second section is novel,
the music moving at times in sequential imitation, counts 5-8
responding to, or imitating, counts 1-4. We count the section
as follows :
(a) three sets of eight, and one set of four, beats.
(6) a set of eight, then a set of four upon a /erwata-chord,
followed by another set of eight.
(c) two sets of eight.
Section III. The third section is a varied repetition of the
second. It counts thus :
(a) three eights and a four.
(6) two eights and a four,
(c) two eights.
Section IV contains four clauses.
Trio. The syncopation of the out-beat occurs eighteen
times in the course of the trio. The sentences are of
eight-beat length, mostly beginning on beat 8 and ending on
beat 7.
Kameau is the composer whose name young French composers
adopt as their rallying cry in their present-day effort to throw
off Teutonic musical influence.
In the Kameau rigaudon the principal movement is by notes
and chords of whole-beat length, and the secondary movement
Bach by notes of half-beat length. The only
WoMtemperirtes Klavier, shorter notes are in those beats where
Bk - L the dotted-note movement enters in
Prelude and Fugue, No. t. pass ; ng j n ^ g^ p^^ ^ D ^
the first book of the Forty-eight Preludes and Fugues, the
movement is effected by notes of quarter-beat length, and
in the companion Fugue in D the movement is strongly
characterised throughout by the dotted-note figure.
The prelude is in quadruple-time. It begins on the downbeat.
The notes in the bass mark the metre, these notes being of whole-
106 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
beat length. The upper part moves in quarter-notes, four to a
beat.
Of each group of four quarter-notes, the last three belong in
rising affiliation to the first of the following group : that is why
the upper part begins a quarter-beat after the bass.
Towards the end of the piece come some long notes in the bass.
The last of these ends with a strong chord played in arpeggio,
which may be held a moment infermata. The chord comes on
beat 1 ; it is followed by a little flourish (beats 2, 3, and 4), and
passes into two sharp chords. The two chords pass in their
turn to a magnificent authentic cadence a large and noble
gesture.
In this piece, from the point of the arpeggio chord to the
close, is revealed, one dominating aspect of the spirit of Bach
his confident serenity and superb strength. The passage should
be played rhetorically, with eloquent emphasis, with the fullness
and freedom an orator uses in lofty perorations.
As there is nothing in the earlier part of the prelude to lead the
listener to expect the grand close,* the spaciousness of the passage
comes to him as a surprise. Such surprises are among the trea-
sures of art. When they are so fine as in this present case, they
are among the permanent wonders of art. I have personally
played the D major Prelude and Fugue from memory for some
fifth of a century ; yet I never reach this passage without a sense
of novel discovery. At the moment of writing, with the music
stable in my mind, it has the eternal freshness of a piece of rising
ground topped by trees which I have for years seen many times
a day.
The reason is that art is as nature inexhaustible in fresh-
ness of effect, and in newness of significance, Yet the credit of
such artistic experience is not due to the music alone. Some credit
is due in other directions, these other directions being subjective
and intimately personal ; for we may apply to art the philosophy
of Coleridge :
Lady ! we receive but what we give,
And in our life alone does Nature live.
* The prelude ... is graceful and playful. The fugue has a very
distinctive character; it seems to march in defiantly, and then stride on
proudly with a somewhat rigid dignity . . . (after bar 17) the composition
attains its greatest brilliancy from the contrasts suggested by the theme ;
sudden bursts and pathetic grandeur developed side by side. (Spitta : 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
The movement of the fugue is characterised by the dotted-note
rhythm, this appearing on beats 3 and 4 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 published in 1722. It represents the
German mind of the generation preceding the generation of
Rameau.
MacDowelTs scherzo-]ike Of Br'er Rabbit is in duple-time ; but
for convenience of study we may count in half -beats, giving count
MacDowett, Op. 61. 8 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 Eabbit. 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 startling contrasts of tone the latter too elaborate to
be detailed verbally.
The capriccio is the modern equivalent of the early classical
scherzo. Its name has a literal signification ; but as with the
Brahms, Op. 76. scherzo, so with the capriccio the mood and
Klavierstucke, No. 2. style may be delicate. The B minor Capriccio
Capriccio in B minor. of Brahms (1879) is in duple-time, beginning
on the down-beat ; owing to irregularities in the length of
sentences, it must be counted 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
ii
We will finish our first studies in counting to simple music with
two examples of Hungarian music, one by a composer born in
German Hamburg (Brahms), the other by a composer born 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 familiar syncopation of the cross-
beat. The true alia zoppa (" in limping style ") is, however,
more than a simple syncopation : 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 Gipsy 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 " & la hongroise " (or " all' Ongarese "),
" Ungarischer," " a 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
Brahms reading to a system of counting in half -beats.
Ungarische Tame, The piece is in duple-time. The first chord
No. 6. ^ represents count 1, the second count 2 ; for the
flat major. reg ^ ^ e 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 likewise 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 cadentially on page 234.)
110 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
The sixth of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies contains four
Liszt. sections. The third and fourth are dramatically
Rhapsody interconnected, the former leading directly into
in D flat. tlle 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 bfermata 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 fermata.
II. 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
difficult 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
accentuations is felt only when we count in whole beats.
STUDIES IN METRICAL COUNTING 111
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 outline 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 PEDALLING
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 pedalling.
Player-pedalling has principles and regulce. When these are
in operation, the effect is always the same, whatever the instru-
ment, the music, or the performer. But the principles affect only
one-half the matter of pedalling ; 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,
112
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 delivered instinctively, and cannot be
taught. Rhythmical- and accentual-strokes also are, in the end,
delivered 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 deliberately.
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 believe, 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 ; and however diversely a form of
rhythm may be named, it still remains the same rhythm.
Rhythmical pedalling is that which delivers a stroke at the
climax 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 alike in each case.
Tempo rubato and rhythm are inseparable ; and so rhythmical-
pedalling, and the use of the Tempo-lever, move constantly
together. When we were studying metrical pedalling, 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 realisation.
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 difficult, 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 outline 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 realises 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
U6 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
winch 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
pulse according to binary or ternary division ; that is, by dividing
the pulse into two or three portions. The division may itself be
subdivided :
Pulse 1 Pulse 1
Binary division 1 2 Ternary division 123
Binary subdivision 1-2 3-4 Binary subdivision 1-2 3-4 5-6
o u
and so 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 prevailing 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 Tupper.
Affiliated 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 difference 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 pulse movement
of music ; but often we have to count in half -pulses, third-pulses,
and quarter-pulses. However minute the division we count, we
have still to carry in mind the pulse and the measure ; and how-
ever large the extent covered in a count, we have still to observe
and produce the subsidiary motives. What to avoid when count-
ing to pulse or measure, is the stiffness of stilt- walkers ; and
what to avoid when counting to small divisions of the pulse, is
the mincingness of marionettes. In the end we play in thought-
groups of pulses : yet we require the ability to articulate each
PROSODIAL 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
csesurse 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 slight, evanescent, and entirely
incalculable waiting upon certain points of the motive, which
points may be points of approach to or departure from the climax
of the motive, or the point of the climax itself. Musical scientists
in Germany have given to this type of accent the name " agogic "
(I repeat here several remarks made in earlier 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 established 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.
n
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 like 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 caesura 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 application 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 vitalise 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 66-66). 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.
PKOSODIAL TEEMS 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.
in
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 modern 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 qualities and principles of organised
movement which differentiate 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 sounds : we are
then on the way to an understanding of the movement of music,
with its constant change of emphasis and ceaseless rubato.
Few composers have the sensitive mind for verbal quantity,
and still less for poetic rhythm, which is probably one reason why
poets like Tennyson do not care to hear their lyrics 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 delicacies and refinements and powers of poetic thought
lie 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 slips 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 unintelligible
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 modern
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 reconciling metre with the natural rhythm
of conversation, Massenger is unrivalled. Read him aright, and
* " Emphasis itself is twofold, the rap and the drawl, or the emphasis by
quality of sound, and that by quantity the hammer, 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 spread 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 llth edition of the Encyclopedia 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 " J J (Ex. 1) as
in black act, rich gifts, and God spake. Two shorts make a
" pyrrhic " j j (Ex. 2), as in spirit, 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, Orel, lightly, sweetly,
deeply. A short and long make an " iamb " (iambus, or iambic)
J J (Ex. 4), as in apeak, apert, apart, debris, d&but.
122 THE AET OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
Rhythm 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 half-colloquial 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-line, 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
H ^ 't (Ex. 5), while the iambus lifts itself over the bar-line ^ *
.vsv.y 3\/*>.
(Ex. 6). The spondee lies within the four-count bar if a falling-
rhythm J J I (Ex. 7). If a rising-cadence, it lifts itself over
( fg -jry I
the bar-line ^ (Ex.8).
Perpendicular lines, of the character of bar-lines, are used in
PROSODIAL TERMS AND RHYTHM 123
scanning poetry to mark off the feet, but without regard for
point of stress. Thus an iamb appears as- ^ - , and a trochee
as - w I . I adopt, of course, the musical practice. Where there
is danger of ambiguity in my scanning of composite measures, I
separate the numerical indications by the comma, or group the
notes under the bracket i - i.
Iamb and trochee (we will assume) are one-pulse figures ; the
spondee is a two-pulse. There are, consequently, two iambs, or
two trochees, enshrined in the quantity of a spondee a statement
which indicates the principle guiding me in my present attempt
to find a language for the discussion of musical rhythm.
Iamb and trochee are derived from the spondaic particle
according to a simple process A pulse is divisible by two or by
three. The binary division gives two notes of equal length ; the
ternary, three notes of equal length. Any two of the latter may
be run together, forming a note of two counts, but of only two-
thirds of the pulse quantity. This resulting " long " is written as
a minim (or as two crotchets tied together), and so the trochee
and the iamb appear as shown in Ex. 5 and Ex. 6.
There are no signs in music to differentiate between the minim
which represents a whole pulse (Ex. 7) and the minim which
represents two-thirds of a pulse (Ex. 5). The pulse that is to be
divided by three, and which, therefore, counts to three counts,
is written as a dotted minim.
One pulse will form a metrical unit, as the trochee and iamb,
(also as the " tribach," or figure of three shorts, where music
trips along in response to the ternary division of the pulse, with
no adjusting of the divisions into trochees or iambs) ; but two
pulses are required to make a rhythmical unit. This is a leading
fact, to be carried in mind.
Therefore it takes two iambs, or two trochees, to make a mea-
sure, and to occupy the space of the spondee. Metrical counting
is extended right through the measure, and so the " ditrochee "
> I A
C* J . \ ."** I (Ex. 9) when a falling-rhythm, and -I *--? ? \'-* * \
(Ex. 10) when a rising. The " diiamb " similarly counts
124 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
Falling diiambs. Rising ditrochees.
Boccaccio. Doriensis.
Admmelech. Dorylaus.
decarbonate. Ramath Lehi.
decapitate. Ramath Mispeh.
Alleluia.
Zachariah.
Verbal examples of cadenced quantity, whether detached
words, as here, or lengthy phrases of poetry, as later, are to be
uttered with precision and firmness, in rich middle voice. Each
syllable is to be retained its metrical space of time, the divi-
sional counts pulsing through the consciousness ; and the mind
is to be kept sensitive to the rhythmical rise or fall of the measure.
Breath is to be taken at the end of a measure, and in such manner
as shall not disturb the cadential character of the movement.
There is no reason why the examples should not be chanted in
monotone ; but then it is more comfortable to work in a room
at the top of the house, or when the rest of the family are out.
The first stage in rhythmical study is passed when we can con-
struct a cadence at will, because then we have acquired the
ability to think in terms of pure rhythm.
In all poetry, " dactyl " and " anapest " are one-pulse
figures, as are trochee and iamb. Their two shorts represent the
one short of the two-syllable figures. Thus dactyl and anapest
are the half of a two-pulse measure. In English, the dactyl
may appear in place of the trochee, and the anapest in place of
the iamb. Dryden's statement represents only an idea that pre-
vailed between 1650 and 1750 among poets, and to the end of the
school of Dr. Johnson among critics : Shakespeare and the
Elizabethans were not acquainted with the idea.
But in our work, for the time being, dactyl and anapest are
two-pulse figures, produced by the binary division of one long
of the spondee. Thus these figures form a full measure. The
anapest comes, therefore, from the rising-spondee (Ex. 8) *
(Ex. 13), and the dactyl from the falling-spondee (Ex. 7)
(Ex. 14).
J JJ
/- 34
PROSODIAL TERMS AND RHYTHM 125
Anapests. Dactyls.
debonair. way-baggage.
debutant. horse-power.
apropos. love's magic.
God's spirit.
The anapest shapes itself in triple-time as if p \ (Ex. 15),
: 43 6 \/'f-J ',
( .<
and the dactyl as *pl r\ (Ex. 1 6) . Thus the shorts are themselves
l/*y.Vi? f \
as a trochee. We shall see later that the trochee and iamb may
be of equal quantity in each particle. This interchangeability
of duple and triple time does not seem to have been observed in
former attempts to explain musical rhythm in terms of poetical.
In the phrase of the Communion Service, " therefore with
angels and arch-angels," the last word is usually uttered in
dactylar quantity, and modern composers sometimes set the word
with accent on the first syllable. But it is an amphibrach, not a
dactyl, the stress belonging to the middle syllable. Elizabethan
composers sometimes give a long note to arch- and a short one
to -an- ; our choruses then stress the long note, but the com-
posers want it unstressed. Instrumental music may have a
figure with a minim before the bar-line and two crotchets after
it 3-4 1 2. When count 1 is stressed, an effect of power and
roughness is created, which is probably what the composer
desires. When the composer stresses the long, and binds into
legato the three notes of the figure, he produces syncopation by
change of ictus. There is no syncopation in music of the madrigal
epoch, but only change of metre, and local metrical independence
of the voices.
VI
The trochee may appear as a motive of counts 1-2-3 4, and
the iamb may appear as 4 1-2-3.
The shorts of the anapest may be " trochaised " :
also the shorts of the dactyl : If f'f (Ex. 18). It is not easy
126 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
for the player-pianist to phrase such a trochee as this of the word
-power, because his instrument has a tendency to affine a short
and weak note to the strong note following (as the word the in
Ex. 17 is iambically affined, by sense, to the word wolf). He
counteracts the tendency by temporal and tonal nuance.
VII
The relation of the dactyl and spondee, shows that the secondary
stress is on the first of the two shorts. (Ex. 14 and 16.)
A word like masculine is wrongly placed by prosodists among
dactyls. Its secondary stress is at the end ; the same with
Palestine, and many thousands of English words.
Pronouncing these words to quantity, and giving each stressed
syllable the quantity of two counts, we create the " amphi-
macer
? J 4-J
(Ex. 19). This is a five-count figure, which we
do not care for as a rhythmical measure in speech or music.
It begins and ends with stress, and we find it more comfortable
to move from weak to strong, or the reverse, not from strong to
strong. Choriambic measures (a choriamb is a trochee followed
by an iambus) are uncomfortable in English, and in music we
find it difficult to perceive the naturalness of two adjacent counts
1. Emphasis of syncopation, however, frequently brings to-
gether what is, in effect, a couple of counts 1 ; and Elizabethan
composers regularly end one phrase with a downbeat and im-
mediately begin the next phrase with another downbeat :
41123 4 1-2-3 4
... God, af-ter thy great good ness.
The syllables in italics form an antispastus (iamb followed by
trochee) in duple-time. Therefore we require ability to produce
two strong accents in succession.
But in everyday speech and music we effect a compromise.
We retain the stresses, and allow the first to have the greater
emphasis ; but the quantities we adjust so that the first stress
has a note or syllable of one count only. The result is the figure :
By derivation, this figure should be called the amphimacer.
PROSODIAL TERMS AND RHYTHM 127
I am, however, concerned in this chapter of definitions to let a
name denote a quantity, and so cannot use the name amphi-
macer, because that name denotes a five-count figure. Ex. 20 is,
in shape, as the anapest of Ex. 13. It is, in metre, a falling-
cadence, proceding from count 1 downwards. I suggest there-
fore we call it the " falling-anapest."
The falling-anapest is a common musical rhythm, from the
time of Byrd (1543-1623) and Bach (1685-1750) to Chopin and
Schumann and Grieg. It is little used in present-day new music.
The German musical theorists have not admitted it into their
systems, and have said that when a composer has used it noting
his music to count as 1 2 3-4, 1 2 3-4 he has noted wrongly ;
and the theorists have corrected his mistake, printing his music
to pass to the counting 3 4 1-2, 3 4 1-2. The long of the
falling-anapest sometimes has an expressive emphasis. We may
dwell agogically on count 1 of Ex. 20, but not on count 3 of
Ex. 13. The falling-anapest is used to vigorous ends in Hungarian
music. In Grieg, MacDowell, and other minor composers, it is
both lyrical and serious in character.
Amphimacers.
Palestine. Accaron. Asmadai.
Aroar. Adonai. Abarim.
Hesebon.
Falling-anapests : bodyguard, diadem, diaphragm.
Often in the dactyl the beauty, tonal weight, or significance
of the middle syllable, induces an agogical pause upon that
syllable. If the pause were measured, the result would be a
figure counting 1-2 3-4 5, which is the counting of the anti-
bacchius. Here again we compromise, and effect the rhythm :
(Ex. 21.) The figure of short-long-short (see Ex. 22) is the
amphibrach. I suggest we call the dactyl as thus modified, the
" falling-amphibrach." It is our familiar Hungarian alia zoppa.
A pulse, or portion of a pulse, may be trochaically inflected
either consistently, and all through a passage, or casually ; and
the proportion may be as 1 plus 1, 1J plus J, or 2 plus 1. The
result is not rhythm, but expression ; as when in ordinary speech
I say Don't do that, and you respond And why nbt ? dwelling on
the last word, and giving to it a supercilious upward turn of the
128 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
voice. My command is anapestic ; so is your rejoinder, even
though its movement would have to be expressed in musical
notation by four notes. The point of this remark is that there
are many notes in a piece of music which have not to be looked
on from the standpoint of rhythm. (See page 96.)
Careless or over-emotional speakers convert a plain long into
a trochee, especially if there is a voiced consonant at the end.
The word anywise sometimes comes from the pulpit with a drop
of an octave upon the final z-sound ; 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 like 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.
VIII
The amphibrach proper is a phraseological variant among
anapests (Ex. 13) and dactyls (Ex. 14). It is in no way a rhythm
of syncopation : V V'. (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 count 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 outlined 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 : Azazel, Jemima * ; hosanna, delighted ;
horizon, aorta ; azotus. ... (" 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 " falling-
J I
iamb
(Ex. 23). This in quadruple-time stands as
* This word is correctly an amphimacer (Ex. 19).
PROSODIAL TERMS AND RHYTHM 129
(Ex. 24). The ditrochaic measure (Ex. 9) is frequently disposed
\*rtf fair'- e/ras\
thus If r IT F . I (Ex. 25). The same spirit operates in the
jy* j ''* * * A >
amphibrach, producing the rhythm -* - 1 ^ , (Ex. 26) (" Ten
* / ^
thousand times ten thousand ").
Falling-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 intermingling 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
dwelling of the voice is effected, not on the point of accent, but
on the suffixal 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
J J J
molossus may be a falling-cadence throughout ^ ^_^ (Ex. 27),
or a rising-cadence with one long before the bar-line
(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 affinity 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.
Ex. 29
JJJJ
" major-ionic," a long plus a dactyl.
J J!J I J
Ex. 30 j j | ji \^ 2 " minor-ionic," an anapest plus a long.
Ex. 31 13^7 JF7
\ /-/
Ex.32
Ex.33
Ex.34
77 J]7
/ 2-3. 4 \ /-2
/Z J
JiJ JJ
" choriambus," a trochee plus an iamb,
"choriambus," with falling-iamb (Ex. 23).
" antispastus," iambic plus trochee.
" antispastus," with falling-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 affiliation 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 underlies, 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-line 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 VEKSE (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, in.)
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 intelligible per-
formance. Metrical analysis establishes but the mechanical
structure ; it disregards even the intellectual affinity 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 italicised 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), I wander'd ; 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 rubato or agogical dwelling on the last syllable of the
amphibrach which converts the pulse into a " bacchius," J
(Ex. 35. )
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
132
RHYTHM OF VERSE 133
result in effects somewhat akin to such a reading of the Words-
worth line, as I wan 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. 1' ten 2' 3 4"
Divisions. 6 1-2 3' 4r-5 6" 1-2 3 45"
Where rests, i.e. empty times, occur, I use the sign (f-j for a
divisional-count, and the sign (i) for a subdivisional-count,
^ j
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 will 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 establish 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 OF^THE PLAYER-PIANO
A phrase of two dipodies is a " dimeter," as in the line of
Wordsworth used a moment ago. A phrase of three dipodies is
a " trimeter," as in
I II 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 lie thus, in three dipodies,
but in two measures, each of three feet :
. . . since
Thought hankers after speech, while no speech may evince
Feeling like music, mine o'erburthened with each gift
From every visitant, at last resolved to shift
Its burthen to the back of some musician dead
And gone, who feeling once what I feel now, instead
Of words, sought sounds . . .
And not in vain I urge : " dead and gone away,
Assist who struggles yet, thy strength become my stay,
Thy record serve as well to register I felt
And knew thus much of truth ..." Who was it helped me, then ?
What master's work first came responsive to my call,
Found my eye, fixed my choice ? Why, Schumann's " Carnival ! "
Browning, Fifine at the Fair, Section XC.
The blank verse of Shakespeare and Milton 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 no music in himself,
Nor is not moved by concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons. . . .
The blank verse line 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 line 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
KHYTHM OF VERSE 135
prevailing four-pulse phrases, a rubato 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.
William, my teacher, my friend ! dear William and dear Dorothea !
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 live, 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.
in
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 lover is more condoling." Ercles' is as
a part " to tear a cat in, to make all split." 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 foolish 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 caesurae after each measure, and sometimes after each pulse.
Pulses 1 234 5
(a) We both have fed as well and we can both endure.
(b) Among the trees in pairs they rose, they walk'd.
(c) Thy soul was like a star, and dwelt apart.
(d) From these high hills as when a spring doth fall.
(e) (I 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 puke is formed of two syllables ;
and except for endure (a), among (b), apart (c), each syllable is an
individual word. The seventh example (g) shows how two pulses
run into a measure, with no caesura between one pulse and the
other. This last feature is illustrated in the next group of
examples of iambic movement.
(h) Of night or loneliness, it recks me not :
I fear the dread events that dog them both,
Lest some ill-greeting touch attempt the person
Of our unowned sister.*
(i) These soft and silken airs are not for me.
The music must be shrill and all confus'd
That stirs my blood ; and then I dance. . . .
(that must be our cure)
(j) To be no more ; sad cure : for who would lose,
Though full of pain, 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 odr iinown'd sister.
RHYTHM 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 Fifine 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 23
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 prevailing metre of crotchet rising into minim (Ex. 6), yet at
the same time to have the equivalent of guests came, sat 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:- jQf jjlf (Ex.36).
_r\-, .^_ - *^_.* -.
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 falling-iamb (Ex. 23). The feature was
used by Elizabethan composers, and is one of the as yet undis-
coveredsecrets of their rhythms.
I suggest the following poems as studies in iambic pulse and
measure :
(1) A piece of madrigal verse,* set by Richard Alison (Allison)
and published in 1606, the year after the Gunpowder Plot. The
collection of which this forms part, contained " a thanksgiving
for the deliverance of the whole estate from the late conspiracie."
The poem has been set by present-day composers. Alison 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. Fellowes (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 ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
of Bamfield ("If music and sweet poetry agree ") included in
Shakespeare's The Passionate Pilgrim (No. 8). The caesura
breaks every line into exact halves :
The sturdy rock
By raging seas
The marble stone
By little 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 hammer 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 Tichborne, 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-
borne, 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 :
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 life is done.
My prime of youth
is but
My feast of joy
is but
My crop of corn
is but
And all my good
is but
My lif e is fled,
and yet
And now I live,
and now
The Spring is past,
and yet
The fruit is dead,
and yet
My youth is gone
and yet
I saw the world,
and yet
My thread is cut,
and yet
And now I live,
and now
I sought my death,
and found
I looked for life,
and saw
I trod the earth,
and knew
And now I die,
and now
The glass is full,
and now
And now I live,
and now
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 lines 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) lies 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 modern 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
modern iambic. Of the opening stanza, the words grow, our, His,
youth, trust, and perhaps nor, require the tenuto, or expressive
agogic :
Grow old along with me !
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, 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 feeling (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 lightness and fancy. And so
poets who incline 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
brilliant.
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 feeling, 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 falling-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 itself 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 pulse 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 elided 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
, I II I II
will be introduced: ^ 3> 4 _ 5 6 ? ^ 3 , 4 _ 5 6> ,; or the
preceding pulse will be contracted into the falling-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".
Modern composers adopt the latter plan. Such a caesura as this,
occurring in instrumental music, requires a slight 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 line 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 eyelid :
So awake when I am gone,
For I must now to Oberon.
Observe the beautiful " enjambment " of
6
1-2' 3 j 4-5-6
Love for- \ bid
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 delicate 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
(/ wander' d) will come a trochee (lonely}. 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 Comus (line 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
-I O O
count each ' j j / He would then indicate a secondary
stress on count 2. (See Ex. 68, page 170.)
What thou seest 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 known '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 Galuppi's.)
The following studies will serve to fill the student with the
various trochaic qualities of clarity, lightness, personal feeling,
and intensity of mood.
(1) The text of a madrigal from Thomas Bateson (1604). I
italicise 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 delight the eyne.
(2) From Shelley's Dirge for the Year (" Orphan Hours, the
Year is dead ").
As the wild air stirs and sways
The tiee-swung cradle of a child,
So the breath of these rude days
Rocks the Year : be calm and mild,
Trembling 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
requires the spondaising effected by the phrasing : -,_n o_i
Here,, in Shelley's cradle of a, the sound of the letter I runs sweetly
into the first count 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 caesura in the second line, would
convert the meaning into, " I have also gazed : and now, a long
adieu." Instrumental music has similar caesural 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 ?
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
such mediaeval hymns as the Stabat mater dolorosa.
(4) Poe: 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 145
This is a unique example of trochaic cadency, and the harmonies
are sustained like harmonies of Bach.
(5) Browning : A Toccata of Galuppi's.
(6) From The Passionate Pilgrim :
in i ii
Crabbed age and youth
Cannot live together.
Youth is full of pleasance,
Age is full of care ;
Youth like summer morn,
Age like winter weather ;
Youth like summer brave,
Age like 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 typically impassioned piece does not seem to have survived
with music from the Elizabethan epoch ; but it has been set as a
solo song by Hubert Parry.
(7) William Watson : Song (" April, April Laugh thy
girlish laughter.")
The two ditrochees of Death has' boldness" besides' coldness"
would adjust themselves in triple-time music as in Ex. 37 :
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 VEESE (6) CHOEIAMBUS
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 prevailing
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 147
ii
The choriamb is not recognised as an English poetical rhythm,
but it enters constantly into iambic verse. We can, indeed,
read scarcely six lines 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 per son
Of our unown'd sister.
4 5-6 1-2 3 4-5 6
III I- II-
Experimentalists in metre produce choriambic verse, as
Swinburne :
Love, what ailed them to leave
life 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.
1-21 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 :
. (Ex.38).
f
The Elizabethan 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 melisma
(cadenza).
148 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
(1) Study in choriambics. From the chorus which opens
Robert Bridges' Demeter.
The measures printed in italics are not choriambs. The
metrical value of the line is that of nine minims, the penultimate
pulse of each line being half as long again as the others. As we
realise the cadency of these lines, and adjust sense and metre, we
find the apparently academic verse has lightness, energy, and
freshness the qualities of its subject. These are created by
rhythm of the order that is inherent in instrumental music.
II III
And one
When fair
Now birds
Now down
Now all
I II III
season of all
Spring is afield,
early arouse
its rocky rill
bursteth anew,
I II III-
chiefly delit-
happy is
their pretty min-
murmureth ev-
wantoning in
I
-eth us
the Spring !
-strelling ;
-ry rill ;
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 delite.
Now maids playfully dance o'er enamell'd meadows,
And with goldy blossom deck forehead and bosom ;
While old Pan rollicketh 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
1-23 4 1 2-3
e choriamb passes into triple-time music, as shown in the
rTT T ; rsr (Exs. 39 and 40).
are aware ^fcfiW ft i iil V
figure, of which tht
Of the six counts of i m
^ the trochee (Ex. 5) may be a two-count
rst count will be metrically the stronger.
measure, the trochee may stand on 1 2,
RHYTHM OF VERSE 149
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 :
0t/r\ //ma 'are ' //> ///j \Aand* ,-r\ j -i \ mi / i i r i
fif f ] f ?} f ( Ex - 41). The first iamb of this pattern
6 I /*' J i V jr-tf I iv
(" 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 r 2-3 4-5"
are in His hand
into the light and bounding
III I II
5 6' 1-2' 3-4".
are in His hand
Between these two rhythms 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. [* J * I J 3 1 J 3\ J (Ex. 42). The composer may
3 4' 5-6| I' .2-3 1 4' 5-61 1-2
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 AKT 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
complicated further by the circumstance that the minim may be
decoratively inflected (see page 127). It may also be rhythmised,
as in \l cii JL\&f (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 reality : 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.
Antispastus. (a) My flocks feed not,
My ewes breed not,
My rams speed not,
Choriambus. (b) All is amiss.
Ditrochee. (c) Love's denying,
Faith's defying,
Heart's renying,
(b) 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.
(b) 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 wilde 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 mokssus. (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.
(Ex.44). See page 175.
152 THE AKT 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 ill able
Dactyl. Ever to come up with Dactyl trisyllable.
Iamb. Iambics march from short to long.
Anapest. With a leap and a bound the swift anapests
throng.
Amphibrach. One syllable long, with one short at each side
Amphibrachys hastes with a stately stride.
Amphimacer. First and last being long, middle short,
Amphimacer
Strike his thundering hoofs like a proud
high-bred racer.
(4) The bacchius :
Adieu love, adieu love, untrue love,
Your mind is light, soon lost for 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 (j) :
(a) Come to me, (c) grief, for ever ;
Come to me, tears, day and night ;
Come to me, plaint, ah, helpless ;
(e) Just grief, heart tears, (/) plaint worthy.
(a) Go from me, (c) dread to die now ;
Go from me, care to live more ;
Go from me, joys all on earth ;
(/) Sidney, (h) Sidney, (i) is dead.
(6) Sidney, the hope (g) of land strange ;
Sidney, the flower (h) of England ;
Sidney, the spirit heroic ;
Sidney is dead, (i) is dead.
The above piece of elaborate prosody is from one of the " funerall
Songs of that honorable Gent. Syr Phillip Sidney, knight," as
set for singing by William Byrd.
CHAPTER XXII
BHYTHM 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
caesura after the second, but not one after the third. This four-
measure anapestic phrase appears in simplest outline as :
(Ex. 45).
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 falling-anapest (Ex. 20) and the
spondee (Ex. 7). The following is a typical dactylar phrase :
j j
(Ex.46).
I remarked above that anapestic rhythm is one of the founda-
tional movements and forms in music, despite 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 off or despite. Lightness of touch, mental
and physical ; brilliance of concept and of execution ; energy,
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 rubato 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 lines of four and three pulses :
(Ex. 47.)
12 3 4 1 234
I cannot eat but little meat, my stomach is not good f*
But sure I think that I can drink with him that wears a hood f*
(S<e Ex. 57.)
There is a profound reason a reason at once objective and
psychological, underlying 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 phrase 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 intelligibility, 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 paeon 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 sufficiently 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 155
(3) The pulse may acquire the quantity of the two shorts
following. What follows in the next measure will probably be
the choriamb :
solitude ! where are the charms ?
The word " solitude " being a falling-anapest, we adjust the
quantities thus :
o
r rcf
<< ' 2 J*~
Where <rr* Me
r
(Ex.49).
J'
(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 line 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 courseis are wont to respire.
But the Earth has just whispered a warning
That their flight must be swifter than fire.
They shall drink the hot speed of desire.
They shall
hey shall drink the hot ipeed of delaine
r r r t r r rr r (Ex. so).
> V /-* J-4 S-' 3 4\/-a ^ '
Studies in anapestic and amphimacer verse.
(1) Matthew Arnold : A Modern Sappho.
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 AET 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 :
7%f . warm se/n Ss . /&//%/
J i J J J J J (Ex. 51).
* i j& /'dls**
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 $e- -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 line, " 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 " light." The antithetical importance of this word is
rendered by metrical stress :
Let your
light sis.ters
play
, ,.,_ , L- < Ex " 53 >'
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
II I II I
in
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 loveliest 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, anywhere
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. :
wonderment
..... washer
(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-Gotha is a brilliant example of the form (see page 167) :
(1) Hist, but a word, (tyjair and soft I
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 159
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 difference ;
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 stiffer hence.
One is incisive, corrosive ;
Two retorts, nettled, curt, crepitant ;
Three makes rejoinder, expansive, explosive ;
Four overbears them all, strident and strepitant ;
Five ... Danai'des, Sieve !*
* This rather obscure allusion is to the story of the daughters of Danaus.
The Danai'des 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 ?
Where 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 running us off before we achieve it.
IV
Anapestic poetry is difficult 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 rektes 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 :
JJJj J JJ J J; J (Ex.54).
sensitive I plant in a
garden ',
But modified by emphasis, and varied in length of pulse, the line
assumes beauty :
J -l-TJiJ JJ JJi J (Ex.55).
A .gp.fjjj . ggt in a % rdn | ^ V
I know few forms of aasthetic 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 intellectuality (in the case of this
poem) of the poet's thought and object, the richness of his
language, and the music-like 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 defmiteness 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.
j* jju j j' n
A I sensitive ! plant irv a I garden
j j'
grew. And the '.young winds ! Fed it with
j -n j j- j
silver! dew, And it
opened its fan- like
leaves to the light, And
7 **!
closed them be-!neath the
f wr'-
/;? J^--y
kisses of iNifcht. (EX. 56.)
162 THE ART 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
pulse 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 stiffness,
and touched by the living spirit of rhythm :
Iambic.
No. 96 Vexilla Regis. " The Royal Banners forward
go."
311 Seditions. " The Heavenly Word proceed-
ing forth."
177 Jesu, dulcis memoria. " Jesu, the very thought is
sweet."
,,509 .... " Be near us, Holy Trinity "
(this hymn and tune have
some exceptionally fine in-
stances of trochaic caesuras).
Trochaic.
No. 396 Urls beata. "Blessed city, heavenly Salem."
,, 309 Pange Lingua. " Now, my tongue, the mystery
telling."
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 lamenbings,
Words sharply sweet, and sweetly sharp consenting ;
sweet unkindness, 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 measure's, and to let emphasis
govern. This will put us in the way of feeling and Nature ; and
Nature will carry on the work, for the reason that rhythm of
emphasis is intrinsic in the substance of modern 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 follow : it is impossible to fit sense
and convenience of utterance into such lines as these of Pope,
without very free modification of the normal iambic quantity :
One tragic sentence, if I dare deride,
Which Betterton's 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 unstressed 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
165
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
rhythm. It also shows at times where he has modified it
unnecessarily, and, perhaps, made mistakes.
I illustrate this recommendation by giving the outline of
Schubert's setting of the song from Two Gentlemen of Verona.
The poem is trochaic, the lines 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
corn-mend her ?
and wise is she.
did lend her
ad-mired be.
J.
J'
JJ'-PJ.
J'
JJ
r "J
Who
Is
Sylvia 'what
is she
That
J'
J
jj
J
J>
-
all our swains com-
mend
her
d-
Ho-
J|fj r Jl
ly Ifair and
wise
J
is
J3
she
r-J
The
heav'ns such grace did
J. J3 JJ _
That a
That a
dored
J J" J-
dor-ed
lend her I
be
be
She might
She might
(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 4-5-6
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 falling-
iamb (Ex. 24).
(b) 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 catalectic 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 line 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. * * r ** (Ex. 58).
/ 2-3 J
Such a figure as this is used in order to carry the music along, the
decorative treatment of count 4 compelling an immediate con-
tinuance, and so giving the count 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
167
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 A'ida ; 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)
Lord of our
J J J
Star of our
Hear and re
j j in j j j j
life, and I God of our sal-
j j
nighf and
j. : n
Hope of every
vation
J J
nation
Thy! Church's suppli- cation
J J J] J. IJ-
3rd Cod ANmi0M-ly
(Ex. 60 a).
I Lord
ii
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
Op. 46, No. 3, which has this figure in triple-time (Ex. 59). I * r *
1 ' <?
168 THE ART 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 dwelling
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 adjust themselves in quadruple-time. Set out
in triple-time, and maintaining strict quantity, the line appears as
Measure5
(Ex. 60 0).
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 :
O Sflcrad I Head sur-l round-: cd Bv I crown of I pierc-ind I thorn
ur-| round-; d By I crow
cit!p,cl c.
/
(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. Instrumentalists
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 b),
and convey the same " touch " to the count as it exists in
the quadruple-time version (Ex. 60 c).
MUSICAL VALUES AND KHYTHM 169
in
The choriamb (Ex. 31), passes to triple-time in the manner
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
fekJ I
is constantly brought into Elizabethan music by
our conventional barring in four- time. The problem is, of course,
how to deliver two accentual beats and strokes in such close
proximity as counts 4 and 1 ; also how not to disturb the sense
of falling-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
dmcing' will in triple-time be as &\& i ( Ex - 62 )- tnis
motive is the reverse of that shown in Ex. 25. The motive in Ex.
62 explains another difficult syncopation of quadruple-time :
J J J J (Ex. 63 a), the nature of which is to be clearly seen
"
3
I
when the motive is associated with the phrase a trim dancing. The
choriambic companion of this antispastus is y j.
(Ex. 63, b),
I Z
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., <- (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 csesurae. His rubato
brings the four-time motives into approximation with their
triple-time originals. J JIJ JjJ
The minor-ionic (Ex. 30) produces in triple-time Fubo * I f* J "> i
(Ex. 65). And the major-ionic produces in triple-time the
rhythm of ,- I J JjJ JJ\ (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 r *&& * * (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 (b) the light, but firm, touching of the short ones. Studies
exemplifying 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 applied 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
A . > j
its first note is the equivalent of a " long " : j f\ (Ex. 68).
The falling-anapest has its secondary accent on count 3, and it
(A j > i
r '*- ^
(Ex. 69). The dactyl as Ex. 68 provides the simple waltz-accom-
paniment ; the falling-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 tenuto ; and this rubato 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 rubato.
The rising-anapest, under the conditions now being outlined,
is as r r f ( Ex - 7 )- ( See Ex - 42 and Ex. 43.) These
MUSICAL VALUES AND RHYTHM 171
various triple-time anapests approximate by rubato to the am-
phimacer (Ex. 19). , A ^
The amphibrach of Ex. 22 appears as (,, (Ex. 71 a) ;
and the amphibrach of Ex. 21 appears as ^ * J (Ex. 71 6).
I / 3f
The anapest frequently comes as J"3U (g x< 72). The
3. I /-g f
dactyl sometimes comes as J Jl (Ex. 73), but only in
steady or humorous music.
The following is a typical Schubertian passage :
There are other triple-time rhythms which derive from the
various pseons.
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 parallelism, 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 flexibility of pulse and measure. It
depends on thought-cadence, mood, and dramatic situation or
epic elevation. Ability to read it well is an indication of con-
siderable rhythmical intelligence and of sensitiveness to the
agreement of feeling 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 (English)
172 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
tongue." Coleridge remarks that the " simple feet may suffice
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 intelligible 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 intelligible, 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 dwelling emphasis, or the diffused retardation." (See, for
instance, Ex. 78, on page 176.)
Music provides for these pauses, dwellings, and retardations,
in the setting of poetry for singing ; and it is by the independent
study of poetic rhythm on our present lines, and especially by
study of vocal music, that we may learn the nature of those
attributes of cadenced movement when the piece is not " applied "
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 compliment to the reader ; not
that vicious obscurity which proceeds from a muddled head."
CHAPTEK XXIV
KHYTHM 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 light 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 Comus 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 Eternity :
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, until the
words are " music to our ear," and have become the " Golden Key
that opes " the Palace of Eternal Rhythm.
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) :
(a) Take these' again" ; (b)for, to the noble mind . . .
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
175
(2) With each syllable of the measure spondaised as to quan-
tity, the diiamb becomes a " dispondee " (c) :
(c) Rich gifts' wax poor" (b) (when givers prove unkind).
Here again the pressure on the point of the three-time pulse
(prove) 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 blood burns, (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
toy
(Ex. 75).
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 | J J
Ac
r J J
<? /few
I J^jT-J (Ex.76),
w /X Ma/\ ffioa
176
THE AKT OF THE PLAYEK-PIANO
(4) The amphibrach (Ex. 22), with its last syllable long, pro-
duces the " bacchius " (See Ex. 56, at the kisses).
Confin'd and pester 'd 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 plus 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,
'"TTyjlTB^
in plainest triple-time setting, of J
(Ex. 77).
Such csesural 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.
ii
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 :
emfs\ m
He/
/fte tongue
these
fr'r.f ff r f (Ex.78). Such
a passage as the following is frequent in chordal music
AxA ,s I ao&af fy I Mate /M I /foe* me
(the words are from Macbeth, Act III, scene 4).
The lines from Pope quoted on page 163 might have the musical
J., /3J , r ^
l?ltf~V7
values of
r
j
ton
yr f
** (Ex.80).
rr v
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 effect. 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.
fc) Choriambus pleasure bring (with count 4 empty. See
Ex. 83.)
Intermixture of (a) anapests and (b) diiambs, as in
3 4 12" 3 1-2' 3 1-2"
(a) Ye hear how ... (b) the tales are told,
Ye know why . . . the forms are fair
when compressed to regular movement in quadruple-time, with-
out empty times, results in phrasing which Bach requires con-
stantly, also Beethoven, Schubert, and sometimes Brahms, and
of course all composers to one degree or another :
(Ex. 81.)
in
The student who, having ability 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 caesurse, need not consider that a fresh
rhythmical 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.
<*
(Ex. 82).
His practice is regular and consistent. In the mazurkas,
for example, he slurs one measure into the next when count
6 of the first measure is specially stressed. The effect is
variously passionate, voluptuous, or restless. Beethoven en-
178 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
jambs less frequently ; he prefers to hit count 6 sharply, and then
to take up the following count 1 in piano ; and so there is some-
times need for an extra-metrical caesura between & forte count 6
and a piano count 1.
IV
I give a few passages of poetry which afford material in
rhythmical study. Some of the passage I set out in rough
columns, so that the measure or phrase can be read at a glance.
(1) Midsummer-Night's Dream, Act II, scene 1.
(amphimacers ; as falling-anapest, p. 126).
Over hill, over dale,
Thorough bush, thorough brier,
Over park, over pale,
Thorough flood, thorough fire,
(trochees)
I do wander every where,
Swifter than the moon(e)s sphere ;
And I serve the fairy queen,
(iambics)
To dew her orbs up-on the green.
The cowslips tall her pensioners be :
(trochees)
In their gold coats spots you see ;
These be rubies, fairy favours,
In those freckles live their savours :
(iambics)
I must go seek some dewdrops here
And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear.
(2) Pope : Ode for St. Cecilia's Day*
(iambics)
De-scend, ye nine ! descend and sing ;
The breathing instruments in-spire ;
Wake into voice each silent string,
And sweep the sounding lyre !
* There were a dozen " odes for St. Cecilia's Day " written in the half-
century around 1700. These were intended for musical setting, and the writers
made attempts to imitate the choral movement of Greek poetry. The odes
are alike, in sentiment and expression, and packed with the barren dicM
of the period. The difference between a musical poem by Dryden, Addison,
Mr. Thomas Yalden, and Pope, and a musical poem by Browning, expresses
the difference between the poetical thought of the Augustan age and the
finer aspect of general thought in the later Victorian.
RHYTHM OF VERSE
179
pleasing strain
com-plain
trumpet sound
all a-round
re-bound.*
" 2-3' 4^5-6
(trochees)
In a sadly
Let the warbling lute
(anapests)
Let the loud
Till the roofs
The shrill echoes
1-2-3' 4 5-6"
(iambics with spondaic quantities).
While, in more lengthened notes and slow,
The deep, majestic, solemn organs blow.
(trochees)
Hark ! the numbers soft and clear
Gently steal upon the ear ;
(iambics)
Now louder, and yet louder rise,
And fill with spreading sounds the skies.
(amphibrachs)
Ex-ulting in triumph now swell the bold notes,
In broken air trembling the wild music floats ;
(iambics)
Till, by degrees, re-mote and small,
The strains decay, and melt a- way,
... in a dying, dying falLf
* This line is good. The empty space is what comes between an echo
and its sound, and the two-count -re- is strong.
t Read rhythm for sound, in the second verse of this passage from Pope.
'Tis not enough no harshness gives offence,
The sound must seem an echo to the sense :
Soft is the strain when Zephyr gently blows,
And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows ;
But when loud surges lash the sounding shore,
The hoarse, rough verse should like the torrent roar :
When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw
The line too labours, and the words move slow ;
Not so, when swift Camilla scours the plain,
Flies o'er th' unbending corn, and skims along the main.
These lines are as onomatopoetic in rhythm as in sound. They form a counter-
part to the Coleridge Lesson in Metrical Feet (page 152), in cadence echoing
the main attributes of the thought ; whereas the Coleridge lines illustrate ,
180 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
(3) Spenser : Shepheard's Calender ; Maye. (There are four
pulses to a line in this Mgloga.)
Thilke same Kidde (as I can well devise)
Was too very foolish and unwise ;
For on a tyme, in Sommer season,
The Goat her dame, that had good reason,
Yode forth abroade un-to the greene wood,
To brouze, or play, or what shee thought
good :
But, (for she had a motherly care
Of her young sonne, and wit to beware),
She set her youngling be-fore her knee,
That was both fresh and lovely to see,
And full of favour as kidde mought be.
" My sonne " (quoth she and with that gan weepe 3
For carefull thoughts in her hart did creepe)
" God bless thee, poore Orphane ! as he mought me,
And send thee joy of thy jollitee."
Tho marking him with melting eyes,
A thrilling throbbe from her hart did aryse,
And interrupted all her other speache
With some old sorowe that made a new breache :
Seemed she sawe in the youngling's face
Th* old lineaments of his father's grace.
3 \ / 2-3 I -4
77>e 0& MMMMMO I
! r leer f r
(Ex. 83).
It may be a propensity peculiar to myself, or at least one that
I carry to extreme ; but I have a constant desire, in reading
iambic verse, to begin as many lines as possible with choriambus.
Hence the frequent appearance in the above passage from Spenser
of words on the strong beat which, in ordinary reading, might
slip back to the rising beat. The choriambising of measures
establishes two weak syllables between the initial syllable and
the next strong one ; and this gives, I find, buoyancy to move-
ment, and provides scope for expressive enlargement of quantity
in one or other of the intervening weak syllables. I find also
in metre only, the design of the pulses mentioned. Another example of Pope's
artful echoic skill is the couplet
A needless Alexandrine ends the song,
That, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along.
RHYTHM OF VERSE 181
that it removes obviousness and commonplace from certain
phrases (as " was too very foolish " " for on a tyme," " that was
both fresh," " and with that gan weepe " "as he mought we."
I find, again, that it strengthens (and indeed creates) detail of
tonal beauty ; as in the opening lines of the Spenser, where the
harmonic colour is that of deep-voiced consonant z, which
appears four times in a framework of softer s-sound relieved
once by an intermediary sh and which then forms the continua-
tive link into the sequel :
Thilke same Kidde
az I can well devize,
waz too very fooKs^
and unwize :
The colour of assonance is at all times an attribute of good
poetry. Sometimes it has taken the place of rhythm and rhyme.
Langland tried to establish it afresh after Chaucer, failing in the
attempt, but producing a piece of beauty and vitality The
Vision of Piers Plowman. Whitman availed himself largely of
assonance, in so far as this is a matter of harmonic response, but
without admitting the practice when describing his methods ;
and also, I believe, without critics observing the characteristic
beauty resulting from the practice. So firmly held was Whitman
by a particular harmonic colour, that he would break grammar
even to retain it. A pure z-sound will colour poetry much as
the tone of the cor anglais colours orchestral music.*
(4) Piers Plowman. (The italicised words show the allitera-
tion : a few lines have but two alliterative points.)
I looked on my left hand, as the Lady told me,
And was ware of a woman, wonderly clad,
Her robe, fur-edged, the finest on earth,
Crowned with a crown, the king hath no better,
Fairly her fingers were fretted with rings,
And in the rings red rubies, as red as a furnace,
And diamonds of dearest price, and double sapphires,
Sapphires and beryls, poison to destroy,
Her rich robe, of scarlet dye,
* Section 8 of Whitman's Memories of President Lincoln is constructed on
the z-sound.
182 THE AKT OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
Her ribbons, set with gold, red gold, rare stones,
Her array ravished me, such riches saw I never ;
I wondered who she was, whose wife she were.
What is this woman, said I, so wonderly clad ?
Quoth she, That is Meed the maid, she oft hath harmed me,
She hath slandered my love, that is named Loyalty,
And belied her to Zordk, that have the laws to keep.
Falsehood hei father is, withj/tcMe tongue,
That, since he came to earth, never said sooth,
And Meed is mannered after him, as nature will.
.Z/&e father, like son : and every good tree maketh grooe? fruits.
(5) Any movement further from strict metre takes us to prose,
or to Whitman. This next passage, from Religio Medici, has
lofty rhythm, but one entirely non-metrical (which rather refutes
the idea that only poets can write purest prose, since it is only
they who understand how to avoid intrusion of metrical effects).
It is my temper,
and I like it the better,
to afiect all harmony ;
and sure there is musick
even in the beauty, and the silent note which Cupid strikes,
far sweeter than the sound of an instrument.
For there is a musick where ever there is a harmony, order, or
proportion :
and thus far we may maintain the music of the Sphears ;
for those well-ordered motions, and regular paces,
though they give no sound unto the ear,
yet to the understanding
they strike a note most full of harmony.
Whosoever is harmonically composed' delights in harmony ;
which makes me much distrust the symmetry of those
heads which declaim against all Church-Musick.
For my self,
not only from my obedience,
but my particular Genius,
I do embrace it :
For even that vulgar and Tavern-Musick,
which makes one man merry, another mad,
strikes in me a deep fit of devotion, and a profound con-
templation of the First Composer.
RHYTHM OF VERSE 183
There is something in it of Divinity more than the ear discovers :
it is an Hieroglyphical and shadowed lesson of the whole World, and
creatures of God ;
such a message to the ear,
as the whole World, well understood,
would afford the understanding.
In brief, it is a sensible fit of that harmony
which intellectually sounds in the ears of God.
I will not say, with Plato, the soul is an harmony,
but harmonical,
and hath its nearest sympathy unto Musick :
thus some,
whose temper of body agrees,
and humours the constitution of their souls,
are born poets,
though indeed all are naturally inclined to Rhythme.
(6) Whitman : Proud Music of the Storm. (There is perhaps
no more metre in the following than in the passage from Sir
Thomas Browne, but the cadency is that of poetry, not prose.)
Now the great organ sounds,
tremulous,
while underneath
(as the hid footholds of the earth,
on which arising rest
and leaping forth depend
all shapes of beauty,
grace and strength,
all hues we know,
green blades of grass and warbling birds,
children that gambol and play,
the clouds of heaven above),
The strong bass stands,
and its pulsations intermits not,
Bathing,
supporting,
merging all the rest,
maternity of all the rest ;
And with it every instrument in multitudes,
The players playing,
all the world's musicians,
184 THE AET OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
The solemn hymns and masses rousing adoration,
All passionate heart-chants,
sorrowful appeals,
The measureless sweet vocalists of ages.
And for their solvent setting
earth's own diapason of winds and woods and mighty ocean waves,
A new composite orchestra,
binder of years and climes,
ten-fold renewer,
As of the far-back days the poets tell,
the Paradise,
the straying thence,
the separation long,
but now the wandering done,
the journey done,
the journeyman come home,
and man and art with Nature fused again.
(7) Whitman : Death's Valley (Whitman was proud that he had
thrown off poetic " tags," and eluded orthodox cadence ; yet
many of his loftier poems are as rhythmical, and sometimes as
metrically sound, as the blank verse of Shakespeare and Milton.
More as a curiosity, I give his Death's Valley in blank verse form :
the only bad line in my casting is the fourth, the metre of which
is trochaic. I have slightly altered the place of the parenthesis.
It is not necessary for me to more than mention that the
characteristic beauty of Whitman's rhythm is lost when the lines
are compressed into classical shape. This poem the last but
two of Whitman's was written to a picture called The Valley of
the Shadow of Death by George Inness, the American painter).
Nay, do not dream, designer dark,
Thou hast portray'd or hit thy theme entire :
I, hoverer of late by this dark valley,
By its confines, having glimpses of it,
Here enter lists with thee,
Claiming my right to make a symbol too.
For I have seen many wounded soldiers die
After dread suffering have seen their lives
Pass off with smiles ; and I have watched the death-hours
Of the old, and seen the infant die ;
The rich, with all his nurses and his doctors ;
RHYTHM OF VERSE 185
And then the poor, in meagreness and poverty.
And I myself for long, death, have breathed
My every breath
Amid the nearness and the silent thought of thee.
And out of these and thee (not fear of thee,
Nor gloom's ravines nor bleak nor dark, for I
Do not fear thee, nor celebrate the struggle
Or contortion or hard- tied knot)
I make a scene, a song of the broad blessed light
And perfect air, with meadows, rippling tides,
And trees and flowers and grass, and the low hum
Of living breeze ;
And in the midst God's beautiful, eternal
Right hand : thee, holiest minister of Heaven,
Thee, envoy, usherer, guide at last of all,
Rich, florid, loosener of the stricture-knot
Call'd life, sweet, peaceful, welcome Death.
(8) And now, after reducing to metre a passage cast originally
in thought-cadence, I reverse the process, and loosen into thought
-rhythm a passage written in metre ; disregarding and obscuring
the rhyme.
The passage is section 61 of Browning's Fifine at the Fair,
where Browning gives one of his characteristic explanations of
music, this time in contrast with poetry as a means of expressing
elusive thought. I have been guided in my analysis, first by
step and sequence of thought, and secondly by the rhythmical
accent ; perhaps I should not say firstly and secondly, because
as is invariably the case when poetic expression is good
mechanism and matter are one in this passage, and analysis
from either position produces the same result.
The metre is iambic, six pulses to a line ; and the pulses are
phrased into two measures of equal length, as shown by the
opening line of the section. I direct special attention to (a) the
frequent introduction of a thought by the measure compounded
of amphibrach and amphimacer (e.g. " Ah Music' wouldst thou
help ") ; (b) the constant turning to clear and lengthy iambics
the moment thought is well under way ; (c) the fine climactic
effect of the choriambus which marks the conclusions of thought
(" Hardly transpierce as thou," " Music-like : cover space,"
" Let me flap far and wide," and as I personally feel it to be
186 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
" Once fairly on the wing " ) ; and (d) the absence of trochaic
movement.
(And frank I will respond' as you interrogate.)
Ah, Music, wouldst thou help !
Words struggle with the weight so feebly
Of the False, thick element between
Our soul, the True, and Truth ! which,
But that intervene false shows of things,
Were reached as easily
By thought reducible to word,
As now by yearnings
Wrought up with thy fine free force,
Oh Music,
That canst thrid,
Electrically win a passage through
The lid of earthly sepulchre
Our words may push against,
Hardly transpierce as thou !
Not dissipate, thou deign'st,
So much as tricksily elude
What words attempt to heave away i' the mass,
And let the soul,
Exempt from all that vapoury obstruction, view
Instead of glimmer underneath,
A glory overhead.
Not feebly, like our phrase, against the barrier go
In suspirative swell
The authentic notes I know,
By help whereof,
I would our souls were found without the pale,
Above the dense and dim which breeds the doubt I
But Music, dumb for you,
Withdraws her help from me ;
And since to weary words recourse again must be,
At least permit
They rest their burthen here and there
Music-like :
Cover space !
My answer, need you care
If it exceeds the bounds,
Reply to questioning you never meant should plague ?
Once fairly on the wing,
Let me flap far and wide !
CHAPTER XXV
TWO-PULSE MEASUBE : QUADRUPLE-TIME
THE normal construction of the musical sentence is :
SENTENCE 2, 3, 4, or more clauses.
CLAUSE 2 or 3 phrases.
PHRASE 2 measures (counting in pulses 1 2, 3 4) ; or
3 measures (counting in pulses 1 2, 3 4, 5 6).
MEASURE 2 pulses (counting in primary division, i.e. in
half -pulses, 1 2, 3 4, for quadruple-time).
The molossus-measure (three pulses) is " irregular " in a piece
constructed of the spondee-measure (two pulses).
Ternary-form is the musical architecture which groups sen-
tences into three sections :
(a) FIRST SECTION
(b) SECOND SECTION
(c) THIRD SECTION
1, 2, 3, or more, sentences.
1, 2, 3, or more, sentences,
usually a recapitulation
SECTION.
of FIRST
(a) is part 1 of the piece ; it is, in classical forms, played through
twice ; (b) and (c) form Part 2 of the piece ; Part 2 is played
through twice in the simpler types of instrumental composition.
The normal " minuet and trio " (" scherzo and trio," etc.) has
three large sections : (1) in ternary-form, as above ; (2) ditto,
but sometimes with Part 2 not repeated ; (3) as (1), but with no
repeat of either Part 1 or of Part 2.
Binary-form is the architecture which groups sentences into
two sections or parts.
The sentences of a section are related according to two prin-
ciples. In this respect, each clause is as a line of poetry. There-
fore the section is a sort of stanza, and ought to be carried in the
mind as such. The two principles of relation are (a) parallelism
and response, and (b) repetition. Their operation leads to the
187
188 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
musical equivalent of rhyme, and thus each principle is the same
in the end.
I do not invariably point out the manifestations of these
principles when analysing pieces for rhythmical study, except
by implication, as when I say a certain sentence is the same as
another slightly earlier sentence, or as when I refer to a clause
as the companion of another. But I assist the student to grasp
the stanza-formation of music by dividing lengthy sections into
serial " parts," and by stating at once how many clauses the part
contains. It makes for interest and sureness of touch, to have in
mind a picture of the shape and character of the part we are
playing. A piece is fully known when we see it as a picture or
diagram.
Two companion clauses form a couplet, the second clause
being the " response " to, or the " parallel " of, the first clause.
Three clauses will be associated as (1) a plus b, and c ; (2) a,
and b plus c ; (3) a plus c, with b interludial.
Four clauses will be (4) two couplets ; (5) a detached clause,
with the other three disposed as (1), (2), or (3) ; or (6) a plus d,
with b plus c forming an interludial couplet.
Such a formation as (6) is usually extended to five clauses, by
having a companion parallel to d. And so the five-clause part
will read as a: b, b : a, a that is, a plus (d plus e), with (b plus c)
interludial.
Parallel clauses generally have the same musical idea.
The Ditrochee (Ex. 9) in quadruple-time :
(from the Spondee-falling (Ex. 7) )
(1) Resurrexit.
Phrase 1 Christ is risen ! Christ is risen !
Measures I II
Pulses 1234
Divisional counts 1 2> 3 4" 5 6 7 <T*
* My extended divisional-counting, which runs two measures together
(also my extended pulse-counting, which sometimes runs four measures into
a continuous phrase of music) ignores at present the rise and fall of cadence
within the space covered by the counts. The point of cadential climax can
be shown in a phrase, by so adjusting counts as to bring count 1 on the point
of climax. But this makes for complexity of analysis, and I postpone it
awhile.
TWO-PULSE MEASURE : QUADRUPLE-TIME 189
Each, measure of the phrase is a pure (i.e. " acatalectic ")
ditrochee.
Phrase 2 He hath burst his bonds in twain
Counts T 2 3" 4 5' 6 7-8"
Pulses 5678
Measures III IV
The second measure (IV) is short of a syllable. The quantity of
the measure is filled out by continuing the third syllable ; this
results in the falling-anapest (Ex. 20), with amphimacer quantity
(Ex. 19), the note for " bonds " being dotted. Observe the
caesuras indicated by the punctuation of the divisional-counts,
and compare Ex. 81. Phrase 2 is the " dimeter catalectic
trochaic." Its counting (1 2' 3 4" 5 6 7-8'") represents an
enormous number of musical phrases (see page 153).
Phrase 6 By di-vine de-cree . . .
123 4 5-6-7-8
III IV
The phrase is short of three syllables. The quantity is occupied
by a four-count extension of the solitary long of the last measure.
In instrumental music, the melody, and also the harmony, may
be thus catalectic, yet inflexional movement will continue in
the under parts.
(2) Stephanos. Phrase 1 (" Art thou weary, art thou lan-
guid ") is normal. Phrase 2 (" Art thou sore distressed ") is
catalectic.
Phrase 4
Be
. at . .
rest . .
Counts
1-2
3-4
5-6-7-8
Pulses
5
6
7 8
Measures
III
IV
The fourth phrase is a single measure, which contains a cata-
lectic ditrochee. Filling the phrase with this single measure,
results in the " phrase-anapest " a rhythm with which com-
posers frequently end pieces. It is in effect as a sudden doubling
of the size of the measure, and makes for dignity, quietude, or
power. " Be at rest " is a rising cadence.
(3) Easter Hymn. The refrain, " alleluia," is a ditrochee. By
extension it becomes ionic (page 130). See page 190, from thy
weeping.
190 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
(4) Meinhold
Phrase 1 Weary men, that still await
This is the familiar catalectic phrase.
The second phrase is acatalectic ; but its last trochee (" weep-
ing ") takes two pulses, not one, and the result is a five-pulse
phrase responsive to the four-pulse phrase which precedes it :
Death, as refuge from thy weep ing
Counts T 23 4" 5' 6 7-8 9-10'"
Pulses 1 2345
Measures I II
Such five-pulse measures are frequent in Schubert. Beethoven
uses them at the point of conjunction between section 2 and
section 3 of sonata pieces. The five pulses may be, as here, 2
plus 3 ; or they may be as 3 plus 2, as 2 plus 2 plus 1, or any other
of the possible compounding of five into two or three sections.
(5) Chopin : Prelude in C minor, Op. 28, No. 20.
Three sentences, each of four ditrochee-measures ; with a
single concluding chord for coda.
Every measure is acatalectic. The third chord of each measure
(i.e. count 3 and count 7 of every phrase) is trochaised in the
manner of f and J (see Exs. 17 and 18, page 125).
A crescendo begins at the fifth pulse (i.e. the ninth chord) of
the opening sentence. It continues to the end of the sentence,
the last chord (the sixteenth from the beginning) being the loudest
of all. The result is a marking of this count 8, somewhat as
indicated in Ex. 61.
(6) Grieg : The Death of Ase, Op. 43, No. 2.
Binary form. First section, three sentences ; second section,
two sentences ; and coda.
(a) Sentence 1. Two clauses, each containing four measures.
The measures are ditrochaic. The first two measures are cata-
lectic, producing the four-count falling-anapest (Ex. 20). The
fourth measure is the same. Measure III, by articulating counts
2 and 4, converts the trochees into subsidiary dactyls (Ex. 14).
The rhythm of the entire clause is outlined in Ex. 45. It is im-
portant to note that the subsidiary figures are dactyls, as punc-
tuated in the quarter-pulse counting of Ex. 45, the pulse being
integral : if the pulse were not integral, these subsidiary figures
would be anapests, rising from a weak count to a strong.
TWO-PULSE MEASURE : QUADRUPLE-TIME 19
The measure at the end of the sentence is as Ex. 24, with the
first count broken into halves. This produces a falling-anapest ;
and so the music conforms to the general rule that dactyls shall
be alternated with the emphatic falling-anapest.
Sentence 2 is the same in form as sentence 1.
Sentence 3 is a repeat of sentence 1.
(6) Sentence 4 ; eight measures, each a catalectic ditrochee.
Sentence 5 : as its companion, but of nine measures. The
first clause has four measures, the second five, the extension
being brought about by a repeat of the eighth measure. Thus
this fifth sentence counts 1-8, 1-8 for the first clause ; and for
the second clause, 1-8, 1-8, and 1-4.
Coda. A " phrase-anapest " of eight counts, followed by a
" phrase-spondee," naturally of eight counts also.
(7) Chopin : Prelude in Dflat, Op. 28, No. 15.
Ternary form. Ditrochaic measures, but with various modifi-
cations, some rhythmical, and some melodic.
FIEST SECTION. In three parts. The clause contains four
measures.
The falling-ditrochee (as in the words softly sleeping), if lacking
the second particle, becomes the dactyl ^ sleeping.
The dactyl, by anticipation in metrical position of its second
particle the particle, that is, which has the secondary accent
becomes the amphibrach of Ex. 21. See Ex. 52, at the words
light sisters.
The acatalectic ditrochee may be set out in the cadency
of this amphibrach. It merely requires that the first trochee
shall be given to count 1, and the second to counts 2-3 and 4.
Count 1 may be divided into halves, as in the sentence-close
of Death of Ase, or into the proportions of three-quarters and
a quarter (the " dotted-note division ").
The first measure of the present Chopin piece is arranged in
the amphibrachic way, with a trochee on count 1. The second
measure has the trochee of three counts for the long and one count
f ., , r 2-3 4" 5-6-78"' _, . x ,.
for the short : M -, -, -, Thus, in this one
softly sleeping, oa oy.
192 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
phrase, we have three manifestations of the trochee, the poetic
equivalent of the eight counts being a dimeter catalectic trochaic
(a verse of four feet, incomplete to the degree that its final foot
is empty), and the musical value being an expanding of the third
foot to the full quantity of the measure. (See page 255.)
(1) Clauses 1 and 2 each of four measures.
(2) Clause 3 of four measures.
Clause 4 of seven measures, in the relation of four and
three (and, again, the three in the relation of two and one).
(3) Clauses 5 and 6 as Clauses 1 and 2.
SECOND SECTION. In two parts. Every clause contains four
measures. There are some powerful rhythms in the second part
(2), the power rising from the circumstance that the bass has a
different rhythm from the upper portion. This second part is
one of those passages of music which should be memorised, and
studied in silence.
(1) Four clauses : sotto wee (" under the voice," i.e. as in an
undertone, and mysteriously) ; but only for first and second
clauses a crescendo continues through the third clause, reaching
fortissimo for the fourth clause, which is marcato in each of its
pulses.
The ditrochee may be empty as regards its first particle. In
this case, count 1 will either be empty, or its quantity will be
acquired by the preceding measure. The resulting figure (counts
2, 3, and 4) is as the amphibrach of Ex. 71 (a). Count 2 is to be
poco marcato when thus the beginning of a passage.
Clauses 1, 2, 3 : these end with a four-count note, which
means that the final ditrochaic measure is short of the last
three particles.
Clause 4 fortissimo : the measure is a spondee, not a ditrochee ;
the music moves, therefore, in two-count chords.
The above four clauses are repeated as a whole.
(2) Four clauses. I give a complete abstract of the counting
and caesural punctuation of these clauses, for observation when
the music is so completely memorised that it can be thought
through in silence in the manner we think through a poem. To
repeat a vital principle a piece of music is finally learnt only
when it can be performed away from the instrument. The art
of the player rests on ability to see by mental vision, and step
TWO-PULSE MEASURE : QUADRUPLE-TIME 193
by step, each measure and phrase of a piece, so that what has
to be done by hands and feet becomes no more than a concrete
realisation of an intellectual conception.
The indications printed in italics refer to the movement and
cadency of the bass.
Clause 1
I II III IV
(a) 1-2 3-4' 5-6-7 8" (c) 1 2' 3 4" 5-6-7-8'"
'(&) 1-2 5' 4 5- (d) 8 1-2 3-4' (e) 5-6 7 8"'
(a) represents the ditrochee of the phrase ; measure I has the
trochee in particles of equal quantity (i.e. spondaised) ; measure
II has it in the relation of 3 to 1.
(6) the choriambus of counts 1-2 3' 4 5-6-7".
(c) the ditrochee of the measure. (Measure IV represents the
catalectic ditrochee, the last three particles wanting. Measures
III and IV form an anapest of four pulses.)
(d) the bacchius o/Ex. 35. (e) the dactyl.
Clause 2
V VI VII VIII
(6)1-2 3' 4 5"(/)6' 7 8"(c)l 2' 34" 5-6-7-8"'
1-2 3-4' (g) 5 6-7-8" (h) 1 23 4'
(e) measure V, choriamb : as count 5 is taken by measure V,
measure VI has
(/) the amphibrach of Ex. 71 (a).
(g) the iamb-falling, of Ex. 24 actually, of course, the ditrochee
incomplete, in that the second foot is absent, and so with the second
particle of the measure extended to fill its space (call to mind the
sentence-close of "Ase ").
(h) the amphibrach of Ex. 21.
Clause 3 is as clause 1, except that IV in the treble is a dactyl,
and that (d) has not the short of the bacchius.
Clause 4
V VI VII VIII
1-2 3' (i) 4 5-6 7" (i) 8 1-2 3 (j) 4 5 6'"
1^2 3 45-6-7" (k) 8 1-2-3" (k) 4 5-6"'
(i) the amphibrach of Ex. 22, preceded in V by the trochee of
three counts.
194 THE ART OF THE PLAYER^PIANO
(j) the amphibrach as Ex. 26.
(k) the iamb of four counts.
THIRD SECTION. Three clauses, and a final phrase of eight
counts.
The only indication of pace and style is the word sostenuto.
The second section is as a funeral procession recollected in a
disturbed dream.
(8) Schubert : Impromptu in G major, Op. 90, No. 3.
Ternary form. Large trochaic movement, with modifications
of dactyls, iambs-falling, the trochee of 3 to 1, and so forth.
Count two to the opening note in the bass. The clause takes
eight counts, and so the sixth note in the bass begins in the second
clause of the piece.
The delicate accompaniment is formed by breaking the half-
count into a group of three notes.
FIRST SECTION. Twelve clauses, pianissimo, with slight local
crescendos.
SECOND SECTION. In four parts.
(1) Clause 1 : eight counts forte, and four piano.
2 : the same, but with the four-count phrase
played twice.
(2) Clause 1 : eight counts pianissimo, and four counts.
,, 2 : eight counts pianissimo, with cres to a sfz
count 7.
3 : the same, but with the additional phrase of
four counts, pianissimo.
(3) Four clauses of 1-8 counts, the first and third loud, also
the counts 7-8 of the second clause.
(4) Clause 1 : eight, and four, all pianissimo.
2 : eight, cres.
3 : eight, with count 5 sfz. The tone is pp for
count 8, and in the middle of this count there
is a pause.
Each additional phrase of four counts admits a rubato, as does
each noticeable tonal nuance.
TWO-PULSE MEASUKE : QUADRUPLE-TIME 195
THIRD SECTION.
(1) Nine clauses, and a half-clause phrase of four counts.
(2) Four clauses.
(3) One clause ; and another which takes twelve counts
(counts 9-12 being the final chord).
Tempo and style : andante. The literal meaning of this term
is " going," and so the piece must be played in " going " fashion.
Reaol to counts of shorter quantity than I direct, the music might
seem tiresome.
(9) Schumann : Novelletten, Op. 21, No. 1, in D minor.
Seven sections : A, B, A ; ; A, B, A.
FIRST SECTION. Ditrochaic cadency. The sharp accentual
pressure of the weak particle is frequent. Five clauses, each of
four measures.
Clause 1 I II III IV
1 2' 3-4" 5 & 7 <$'" 1 2' 3 4" 56 7-8"
Si ff
Clause 2 I II III IV
1 2 3' 4 56 7 8'" 1 2 3> 4 56 7 8"
f*f f fa
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 slight 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, Ende 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 hyphens. 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 4-5 6-7 8-9 10 11 12 1"'
Rit
(b) IV V VI I (7 pulses)
12-1 2-3 4-5 6-7 8-9 10 11 12 T"
Rit
(c) I II III (5 pulses)
12-1 2-3 -5 6-7 8 1"
(d) III IV V VI (8 pulses)
7-8-1 2-3 4-5 6-7' 8-1 23' 4-5 6 T"
Rit
(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 T 2 3" 4 5' 6 7'" (3) the concluding fortissimo 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 conforza : 108 counts to the minute.
TWO-PULSE MEASURE : QUADRUPLE-TIME 197
(10) Chopin : Etude 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 ; (b) the stressed weak particle which forces the
cadence forwards, and so compels a light 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 7, 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 of 1 2' 3 4" 5 & 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' 123' 123
1 2' 3 4" 1 2' 3 4' 5 6" 1 2' 3 4' 5 6"
allegro rail lento rit
The minor prelude is of passionate mood ; the alterations in
speed and style of the second section are due to this quality 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 ; (b) 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 Etude, Op. 10, No. 1.
(12) Beethoven : Sonata in G, Op. 14, No. 2 the second move-
ment, Andante with variations. (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 :
1 2 3-4' 5 6 7 r".
cres forte piano
(b) (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.
Clause 1
Measures I II III IV
Counts 1 2' 3" 4 5' 6 78" 1 2' 3-4" 56' 7r"
piano (a) (b) forte (c)
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 #' 78" 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 tenuto is possible on count 8, and a rough rubato in the whole
of measure II.
Clause 2
Measures I II III IV
Gourds 1 2' 3 4" 5 6' 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 1-8, 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 fitude 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 unwaveringly 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: Nocturne, Op. 24, No. 8; the
Warum? 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 counts, measures III, IV ; (3) a phrase of ten counts,
measures IV, V, VI.
Phrase 2
Measures III IV
Pulses 567
Counts 1 2' 3 4" 5 r"
pianissimo
Phrase 3
Measures V VI
Pulses (a)Q 1 2' 3 4"
Counts rrirjrjrri*
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 expected 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-measure of the
polonaise, and also into the subsidiary pulse rhythm of the scherzo. If we
play in quick time the music of these three measures, and count thus
Measures III IV V
Pulses 12 3' 4 5 6"
we produce the rhythm of
'J Ji'j- Ji'j J
(Ex. 84) (counts 1 and
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
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
Beethoven, 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 pulse, and has falling-anapests (Ex. 20) in its remaining
three pulses. Thus the opening phrase, in quarter-pulse count-
ing, is as :
Measures I II
Pulses 1234
Divisional counting 123 4" 5 6' 7 8"
i-pulse 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 marcm 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.
ii
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 (o) j n
Praise the Lord, ye heavens ad-ore Him
Pulses 4 1 2 3(c)
Counts 7 8 T (b) 2 3' 45 6"
(a) the trochee of 1 J and J, that is, the dotted note for the strong
particle.
(b) count 2 acquired as anacrusis by the next measure, convert-
ing the second pulse into an iamb (counts 2 and 3). This
cadencing (781" 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 falling-anapest
(Ex. 20) : see the sentence-close of Ase.
(d)
Phrase 2 Praise Him, angels in the height
7 8' 1 2" 3 4 56"
(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 light 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
(e)
(e) the measure may acquire the following strong count. Thus
counts 8 T 23" 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-falling, etc. Counts 7 and 8 will then be
a distinct unit, also counts 5 and 6. The phrase becomes
4' 1 2' 3"
78' 1234" 5 Q"
TWO-PULSE MEASURE : QUADRUPLE-TIME 203
which is, in the larger regard, as the amphibrach of Ex. 22. This
is a csesural 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 41 23
Now, my tongue, the mystery telling
Counts 781 23456
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 ) 1 23 45-6 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) 1 234 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
half 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 foflowed by a three-pulse
measure,
204 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
In expressive, or strongly emotionalised, music of ditrochaic
cadency, we may have rubatos 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
modern 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 rubatos, if only in obedience to the
general law that departure from normal must be made clear
and prominent.
(16) Meinhold (page 52).
8123
Weary men who still await
Death as refuge from thy weep-ing
4 5 678
Shrinking from the blows of Fate . . .
9123
The enlargement shown in myst'ry telling (plain-song melody)
and in from 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 affinity to the middle member which
-ing has to weep- 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 syncopation 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.
Familiar 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 falling-measure perhaps being just as
appropriate. Sometimes alternative tunes will be in one case in
rising-ditrochee, and in the other case in falling. 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 falling-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 2" 3 4' 5-6"'
206 THE AKT OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
(a) The subsidiary dactyl in counts 1 and 2. Thus the fifth note
in the treble is not affined to the sixth.
Clause 1, phrase 2
Measures III IV
Pulses V 1 2' 3"
Counts 78' 1234' 5 6'"
(b) 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
4123 41 2
3
78' 12" 34' 5,6" 78 1,2" 34
! 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 pulse.
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 delicate 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 (b). The
piece has seven clauses, and a short phrase for coda.
Clause 1
4123' 4 1' 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 Sixth
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.
TWO-PULSE MEASURE : QUADRUPLE-TIME 207
(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 of 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 5' 4 T\ 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 English dance of Gavotte character.
The foregoing pieces, though of value in themselves, may be
looked on as preliminary 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 published 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 publication 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 T 8 1"
l-pulse Counts 3 4' 5-6" 7 8' 1-2" 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" 67' 8 1"
piano 3 4' 5 6" 7 8' 1 2" 3 4' 5" (a) 6-7 8' 1-2"
fa
(a) count 6 acquired by next measure, and tied to count 7, as in
Ex. N 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 climax of the clause.
Clause 4 is as Clause 1.
Clauses II III (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"
(b) (c) (d)
(b) the minor-ionic, as discussed on page 204, here with enormous
vigour.
(c) measure IV is the climactic point of these five clauses
(d) the extension which effects the minor-ionic compels the next
measures to have the falling-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, aX\. 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 II' III IV I"
1 2' 3 4" 5 6' 7 8 1"
I 9 2 3 4" 5 & 7 8" 1 2' 3 4" 5 & 7 8' 1 2"
(3) Four clauses, all piano. The same cadency of measure and
of plause 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 iir iv i" ii in i
Pulses 2 3' 4 5" 6 T 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 follows 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 omphibrach-anapest (see Ex. 84) :
(Ex. 86).
The Repeat of First Section is exact, but the Codetta is as :
fortissimo sempre fff
ii iir iv i" ii in' 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 clause takes
measures III-IV I-II", and is therefore a manifestation in the
clause-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' (g) 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)
Clause 1 III IV I II" (repeat for Clause 2)
5 6' 7 8" 1 2' 3-4
Sentence (4) as (1) ; but observe Clause 1 :
III IV I II"
5-6 7 8" 1 2' 3 4"
rf rf
Measures V-VL of the original are elided. Beethoven has accents
on pulses 1 and 3 here ; we may have a rubato in the large melodic
dactyl of pulses 5-8, and a touch of rapturous feeling in the entire
clause. It should be clear to your mind why such a touch of
feeling 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. I now indicate the
half -pulses again.
(1) Four clauses.
pianissimo
Clauses 1, 2, and 3 II III' IV I"
3 4' 5-6" 7 8" 1-2-3 4' 5-6-7 8" 1-2
(h)
(A) note carefully this three-count trochee, with its stressed long.
fortissimo
Clause 4 II III IV V VI I (i)
(h) 5-6-7 8" 1-2-3 4" 5-6-7 8" 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 by/z 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'"
fa fa
Clause 3 I II III IV I
1 2' 3 4" 5 & 7 8" 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"(j) 2' 3 4' 1"
Counts 3 4' 5 6" 7 8' 1 2" 3 4' 5 6" 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 in' iv i" ii in i
2 3' 4 5" 6 7' 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 fitting pedal-stroke.
Prestissimo. 108 pulses to the minute.
212 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
in
The Diiamb (Ex. 11) in quadruple-time :
(from the Spondee-falling (Ex. 7) ).
(23) Erk.
Phrase 1 Sing praise to God, who reigns above
Measures I II
Pulses 12 34
Counts 8 T 2 3" 45' 6 7"
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 T 2 3" 4 5-6 7"
Pulses 5 678
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 pulse.
This establishes a vital principle of diiambic music : What
appears by character of notes to be a diiamb, and therefore as
a cadencing of the order of 4 T 23" may actually be amphi-
brachic, demanding a cadencing of 4' 1 2' 2". Compare study
17 above, at (b).
(24) Alford.
I II
Phrase 1 Ten thousand times ten thousand
812 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 IV
Phrase 2 In sparkling raiment bright . . .
81 2' 3 5-6-1"
Thought should be given to the trochaic caesurae of the words.
jSuch 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 Grieg Op. 46, No. 4.
You may get the aesthetic effect of trochaic stresses by well-
sounding each z-sound in the following iambic line :
1 II
The daisies, lilies, pansies, droop
8 1 2 3 4" 5 ff 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 r
%-pulses (a) 7 8 1-2" (b) 3-4 5 6" (b) 7-8 1 2" 3-45-6"
The subdivisional counting indicates the subsidiary rhythms :
(a) anapest (Ex. 13) in the bass ; (b) 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 exemplified 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 T 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' (b) III IV"
Counts 8 T 2 3" 4 5-6-T" 8 T 2 3" 4 5' 6 7"
(PJ
(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.
(b) 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 II' III IV" I
(d) 8 1-2' 3 4" (e) 5 6-7 *"' (/) 1 2' 3 4" (e) 5 6-7 8' 1
s f fa (9) fP
pianissimo fortissimo
(d) the second paeon (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 linked 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.
* Fortepiano (fp) means that the note is to be loud, and what follows the
note is to be soft. It is different from sforzato (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 T 2 3" 4 5-6-7 5" 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
(i) 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 31 II
8 1 i* 3" 4 5' 6 7-5'"
(j) (*)
(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 prevailing dotted note rhythm.
Trio. The ditrochaic cadency of the measure. Four clauses,
all as :
Clause 1 I (1) II III IV
1 2 3' 4" 56 T 5" 1 2' 3 4" 56 7-5'"
p cres f ff p cres ff fz fz
(I) 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 ; 5 1 2" 3 4' 5 6 7'"
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 5-6-7" (n) 8 1-2 3 5-6
piano cres piano ores 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
tf
(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 3" (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 9 3 4" (d) 5 6 r
*ftf
(c) The ditrochee (counts 1 and 2 are in double pyrrhic pro-
celeusmaticus, as in Grieg's Hall of the Mountain Kings), (d)
The falling-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 (e) 1-2-3 4' (/) 5-6 7-8" : (e) 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 plus 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, familiar 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 ;
Alike 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,
Shottery) is another bad example of the use of the diiambus-
rising. A good example is Dyke's Trinity College and the little-
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-pulse line. 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
21 21 23 41
He sat to watch o'er customs paid,
A man of scorned and hard'ning trade ;
A-like 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 $" 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8" (Ex. 87)
*f *f *f *f
(a) the stressed count 4 as summit of slight crescendo (see Ex. 61).
(b) 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 T 2 5" 4 5' 6 7" 8 T 2 5" 4 5' 6 r
(c) sf tenuto (d)
(c) each measure is in the falling-diiambic. (d) a rubato.
Clause 2
5/1 II III
8 1 2" 3 4' 5 6" 7 8' 1"
(e) ten(f) (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 7, 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 T 8 1" (i) 2 3' 4" 5 & 7 8"
tenuto
(h) the rising-diiamb.
(i) the rising-diiamb, but cut short with count 4 to provide for
the di trochee-falling of the measure VI. Counts 2, 3, 4 form
therefore the amphibrach of Ex. 71 (a).*
(3) Four clauses.
Clauses 1, 2, and 3 are strongly ditrochaic, leading off as in
* For a general remark concerning these many interpolated amphibrachs
see 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 4" 5 & 7-8" 1 2" 3 4" (i) 5 6 7" (j) 8 1"
sf sf sf sf sf sf sf (k)
(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)
piano 2 3' 4 5" 6 7 8" 1-2-3-45-6 7 8
(I) (i) forte sfz sfz
(I) the diiamb-rising.
(m) the marcato of counts 7 and 8 is very important.
MIDDLE SECTION. Six clauses, each of eight measures.
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) Clause 4.
Measures I II III IV I
piano 2 3' 4 5" 6 T 8 1" 2 3' 4 5" 6 T 8 1"
(I) (I) (n) (n)
(n) chords, to be played sotto voce.
Clause 5 is exactly the same as clause 4.
Clause 6 II III IV
(Ex. 88) (o) r r r r" e T 8 r (p) r r' (i) * r r
(o) an empty measure, counting 23' 45" (see page 37 n.).
(p) another empty measure, counting 23' 456"
Clause 71 II III
(q) 7 8' 1-2 r r (r) 5-6 7-8 1-2-3-4"
4
(q) the anapest-rising (that is, the di trochee catalectic).
(r) the phrase-anapest of eight counts.
Tempo and style. Allegro assai, quasi presto.
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 3 4' 1 2". Those in
the last clause are falling, and so count 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 #' 1"
(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 type 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 81234, 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
amphibrach of Ex. 22-0) ^~^.f ng (see page 168).
Now as the iamb may be extended to a feminine-cadence, so
may this amphibrach. The result is
81-23 4
" We all have most con-fid-ing-ly " (c).
The resulting figure (c) is the second paeon, 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
4-v A- ;..-*-.! 2-3 4 __. .
place within this paeon, producing con _j^. ing _.i y ^). This is a
short-short, long-short, and is therefore a third paeon. 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 delicate 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 - Aaeaill ^ 77
(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
(e) 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 of :
( /) 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 caesura is as (e), count 4 is a suffix, to be
touched as such, and there will be certain rubato in counts 3 4,
with a swift taking up of counts 5 6 ; if the inner caesura is as (/),
count 4 is a prefix, to be made consonant-like in touch, and there
will be a different order of rubato.
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 application,
that exceptions perhaps equal observances) : Beethoven prefers
(e) : Schubert, Schumann, and Chopin prefer (/). The distinction
establishes 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 prefix 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. 7 la.
The foregoing may strike the student as argument " fine as a
skein of the casuist Escobar's," though I believe it is not " worked
on the bone of a lie." 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 applied 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 : Novellette, 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. 7 la.
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 7, 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 following :
n
(Ex. 90), which is bars 9-12 of the finale of Beethoven's tionuta in M flat,
Op. 27, 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 rr in iv"
8 1 % 3" 4 & 6-7-8 1 2' 3 4" 5 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 motive. The true
analysis of the sentence is :
1 II III IV
8 f 2 3' 4 5" 6-7-8' 1 2" 3 f 5 6 7"
(a) (6) (c) (d) > >
(a) iamb, (6) diiamb, (c) spondee of counts 6-7-8 and 12, decoratively
inflected, (d) the trochee of counts 3 4, and the amphibrach of Ex. 71 b. See
for the stresses upon counts 6 and 7, the remarks on page 169.
* 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
suppli- how (e) may have, on the short of the trochee (-ch's) 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-
count 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 tying
of notes, but altering of csesurae 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
II III".
Convert the two foregoing into rising diiambs and ditrochees
of the phrase :
(a) VI VII' VIII 1" II III' IV V"
(b) in iv v vi" vii vnr i ii"
The entire clause may be a falling 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 falling
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 measures II and III, and perhaps
something tumultuous in measures V and VI.
Six of the measures may form into molossus phrases :
Phrase (a) Phrase (b) Phrase (c)
I IT III IV V VI VII VIII"
Always now is swelling rubato in VII, and usually quietude in V ;
while VI, being prefixal instead of sumxal, will perhaps have
sharpness and precision of attack.
Clauses of six measures will be either as the spondee (IV V VI'
I II HI") or as the molossus (I IF 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 III' IV V" ; or
I II' III IV V", or I II' III IV" V". The last is Hungarian.
Clauses of nine and eleven measures, also clauses of seven,
have equal variety.
RHYTHM OF PHRASE AND CLAUSE 227
Of 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
likely.
A frequent form of elision is for a clause to enter on the
measure which ordinarily represents the finishing of the clause
preceding :
ten
I II' III (IV")
V VT VIII VIII"
rf
Theorists call this overlapping. The elision causes a weak
measure to become a strong one. The overlap may take place
anywhere :
(a) I IT (III IV")
(6) V VI' VII VIII"
(c) v vr vn vnr
(a)-(b) 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 elision. 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 rhythmical
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 barlines. 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 lies 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 circumstance 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 literature much as Clementi's Gradus ad
Parnassum belongs to pianoforte literature.
The last variation is dealt with in Section III of Chapter
XXVII. (The counting in italics 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.
Parti. Clause 1
III IV I II
Theme 7 8 l-2'3 4" 5 67 8" 1 2'3 4' 5-6"
Var. 12 612' 3" 4 5" 6 123 4-5"
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 piano fp
7 8'9 10' 11 12" 1 2' 3 4" 5 6' 7 8" 1-2 3(4 5 6)"
6 T 8' P" 123 45 6" 1-23 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 falling-
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) 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
1234-5
(e)
(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 cres p
III IV V VI" VII VIII' I II"
4 5' 6 7" 8 1 2 3" 4 5 6 7' 8 1 2 3"
7 8 1-2' 3 4 5-6" 7 8' 1 2-3 4'5-6"
tf
Sentence 2 : as sentence 1, but of six measures :
cres p (rubato]
III IV V VI" I II"
Sentence 3 : a continuation of the idea, and of the phraseology,
of the latter part of sentence 2 :
cres forte. . . .
Ill IV V VI VII' I II
4' 5 6' 7" 8 1 2'3 4 5 6' 1 2 3"
trtr
Sentence 4 :
/r
piano pianissimo dim pp
III IV V VI" VII VIII' IX I II"
Part 2. Sentence 5 : as sentence 1.
Sentence 6 :
cres 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 delicate appearances
of the three-measure phrase (III I II) amid the prevailing
two-measure phrases (I II).
THIRD 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
III IV V VI" VII VIII' 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"
1234"
Sentence 5 :
sf
in iv v i ri"
56' 78' 9 10" 123
1-2 34' 5-37 8' 9-10 11 12" 12345-6
() rf rf
(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"
ares $ 4 5-6"
forte
(3) Schubert : Impromptu in Eflat, 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 established 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 in" iv v vr i ii"
4 5 6' 1 2-3 4 5-6" 1 2 3'4-5-6"
rf rf
232 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
Clause 5
(rising-cadence) ( falling-cadence)
III I' II III" IV V I ' II"
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 VI' VII VIII IX 1"
7 8-9 10 11-12' 1 2-3-4-5-6" 7 8-9 1-2-3-4-5-6 1-2-3
s f *f rf sf
Part 3. Four clauses :
Clause 7 (as Clause 1)
cres
II (as VI) III' IV 1" II III' IV V"
Clause 9
fortissimo (three-measure phrases)
VI VII VIII" I II III' IV V VI"
4 5-6 1 2-3 4 5-6" 1 2-3 4 5-6 7 8-9 sf sf sf
s f rf s f
Clause 10
I II III IV I II"
1 2-3 4 5-6 7 8-9 10 11 12" 1-2-3 4^5-6
rf rf rf 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 ben marcato
III IV V VI" VII VIII' I II"
7 8-9' 10 11-12" 1 2 3' 4 5-6 (a)
sf sf (cres dim) sf
KHYTHM OF PHRASE AND CLAUSE 233
(a) in measures V and I, and in most parallel measures in later
clauses, give a cres 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 II"
Clause 3
fff piano ff piano
III IV V VI" VII VIII' I II"
7 8-9 10 11-12 7 8-9 10 11-12
ffz piano fz piano
(V) (*>)
(6) observe the sforzato discord, and its resolution in the next
measure.
Clause 4
/ // / //
III IV V VI" VII VIII' I II"
Clause 5
ff s f s f (tenuto) forte
III IV V VI" VII VIII' I II"
w
(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 falling 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, but 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 II' 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"
rf sf sf sf sf sf sf sf sf sf
234
THE AKT OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
Clause 10
fortissimo dim decres
VI VII I' II III' IV V"
1 2' 3 4' 5 6" 1-2-3-4-5-6' 7-8-9-1-2-3"
rf tf
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 established at the end of
the Middle Section.
Coda. Four clauses.
Clause 1 (take Middle Section, Clause I, fortissimo)
Clause 2 (repeat the foregoing)
Clause 3
fortissimo accelerando rubato
III IV V VI" VII VIII' I II' III"
7 8-9' 10 11-12" 1 2 3' 4 5-6" 4 5-6" 7 8 9"
Clause 4
I IF 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.
i ii' in iv" v vi' vii viir ix"
(5) Beethoven : Sonata in Bflat, Op. 106 ; the second move-
ment.
(6) Beethoven : Sonata in Aflat, 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 III IV I
l-pubes 3 4 5 6" 7 8 9 10' 1 2 3 4" 5 6 7 8' 1 2 3 4"
f sfp sost rit
II I II III
5678' 1 2 3 4> 5 6 7 8' 1 2 3 4"
f vivo
IV t
1234' 12"
sf piano
II
Quintuple and Septuple Metres.
Pieces in metres uniformly of five and seven pulses are rare
and not difficult to play.
(1) Tchaikowsky : Symphonie pathetique, Op. 74; the second
movement.
I II
12- 34-
1 2' 3 4 5" 6 T 8-9-10"
(2) Chopin : Sonata in C minor, Op. 4 ; the third movement.
I II III IV
1- ten 2 3- ten 4 1-2 3-4
1 2 3' 4 5" 6 7 8' 9 10" 1 2 3' 4 5" 6 7-8' 9 10"
rf rf
(3) Brahms : Variations on a Hungarian Song, Op. 21, No. 2.
I II
1- 231- 23
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 ? 6 T 1 2" 3 4 F 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 XXVII
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 outlined 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 II
Pulses 1 2' 3 4"
Third-pulses 1-2-3 4-5-6 7-8-9 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,
236
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 relinquish their individual powers, and affiliate 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
individuality 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 reality, 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
outlined in (2), with the resulting differences of interior move-
ment, csesurae, 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 counting 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 italics indicate the primary
division of the pulse, as in Chapter XXV.
(7) The pulse of the molossus-measure may be divided, not
by two, but by three :
Measure I
Pulses 123
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.
ii
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,
sounds like 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" 81 2' 3"
All hail the power of Je sus' Name
Triple-time 6 7-8' 9 10-11" 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
so created, and the two notes of the melody in count 3 ;
and then note this as illustration of the practice of Beethoven
Tp_ Q11Q
in his clause-cadences. The triple-time form might be -, n%
(2) 4 56 7 8' 12 3"
Our blest Re-deem-er' ere he breathed
6 7-8 9 10-11 12' 1-2 3 4-5"
4567 8 1-2-3
His tend-er last fare-well
6 7-89 10-11 12 1-2-3-4-5
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 delicacy of rhythm, with gain in
verbal expression.
(3) 12 3412 34
Art thou wea-ry art thou lan-guid
4-5 6 1-2 34-56 1-23
1234 1-2-3-4
Art thou sore dis-tressed
4-5 6 1-2 3 4r-5-G
1 234 1234
Come to me, saith One, and com-ing
7-8 91-23 4-56 1-2 3
1_2 3-41-2-3-4
Be at rest
4-5 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) 567 81 234
Je- sus Christ is risen to-day . . .
7_3 9 io_ll 12 1-2 3 4-5 6
567 8 12 3 - 4
Al ..... le. . .lu . . . . ia. . .
789 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 6781 23-4
Wea- ry men, that still a- wait,
7-8 9 10-1112 1-2 3
5 6789 10 1-2 3-4
Death as re- fuge from thy weep ing
7-8 9 10 11-121-2 3 1-2-34-5-6
5 6781 2 34
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-falling) 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 12 3
sacred Head sur-round- ed
12 1-2-3 4^5
45 678 1-2-3
By crown of piercing thorn
67-89 1011121-2-3-4-5
The truer scanning, in triple-time, is :
By crown of pierc-ing thorn
67-891234-5
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.
sur-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 all beside . . .
(8) No. 290, Wiltshire : Through all the changing scenes of life
In trouble and in joy . . .
(9) No. 438, Beatitudo : 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 line is
catalectic. Being in triple-time, it does not provide for the
missing foot. The conversion to duple-time must therefore alter
the cadences :
41 234123
As pants the hart for cooling streams*
6 1-2 3 4-56 1-234-6
4 1234 1-2-3
When heated in the chase.
6 1-2 31-234-6
The coinciding of the weak word " in " and the strong count 7,
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 line of the stanza :
So longs my soul, God for Thee,
And Thy re/resting grace
(11) The tune Cloisters (Ex. 60 (a)), becomes dignified when
cast into quadruple-metre :
1-2 3 4 1-2-3 4 1 2341-2 3-4
Lord of our life and God of our sal-va-tion
1 231-231 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 (b), of which the latter
has an enlargement of the pulse which converts the two measures
into three :
II I
(12) 456781 23
(a) All peo-ple that on earth do dwell
Sing to the Lord with cheer- ful voice
It was usual in earlier English 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
41 212341
* Or, better (see page 218) : As pants the hart for cooling streams.
6 1-2 3 1-2 3 4-56 1-2
TRIPLE-TIME 243
in the way of modern 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-S 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 lines.
The hymn is sung to a quadruple-time tune St. Anne and also
to a triple-time tune Old Eighty-fast :
4567 81 23
The Son of God goes forth to war
6 7-89 10-11 12 1-2 3 4-5
4567 8 1-2-3
A King-ly crown to gain
67-891-2 34-5
(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. 39-40. It appears as three notes of equal length followed
by one note of two counts, phrased in simplest fashion as 1 2' 3 4-5.
Dr. Crofts, in the original form of his St. Matthew, has both the
emphatic diiamb of Ex. 41 and the choriamb ; but in the modern
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 7-891 2-3 4-5-6
Was strong to heal and save
Modem 6 7-8 91-23 4-5
789 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
1 2
Counts
5
6
7-8-9
10
11
12
1-23-4
Art
thou
wea-
- r y
art
thou
lan-guid
3
4
5
6
1 2
3
5
6
7-8-9-10
11-12
1.2 (3-^-5-6)
Art
thou
sore
dis-
-tressed
4
5
6
1 2
3
4
7
8
9
10
11
12
1-2-3-4
5-6-7-8
Come to
Me,
saith
One,
and
pom
-ing
5
6
1 2
9-10
11-12
1-2-3-4
Be
at
rest.
The counts in brackets are empty times.
m
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 ^-2-3 -5-6 re P resentm g tlie
-j o
same spondee-measure as the counting of ^_2 3 /[ ^^ e P os i~
tion in the present section is different. Here it is the pulses 1-2-3
1 2
which have to represent the half-pulses 10-3-4 ^^ so we se ^
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
half-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
341 2 3412
(16) I will 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-
3 123 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 establishes 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, mystfry telling ; page 208 (Clause 5, at
(&)) ; 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 counting 123, 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 7-8
1 2 3-4 5-6
I II III
This example fixes pulse 1 of the triple as the pulse which has
bipartite qualities. Reading the illustration in line, with smooth
phrasing of hyphenated particles, and detached touching of
individual particles, we arrive at :
I II' III IV" V VI VII"
1_2 3-4 5-6 1-812 3-4 5-6
which is but our clause of seven pulses or measures, the clause
which in hymns counts as :
III IV I II" III I II"
5_6 7-8 1-2 3-4 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 pulse is the third :
(17) 12 3 123
1-2 3-4 5 6 1-2 3-4 5-6
Whatso- ever eyes terr-ene
Be the sweetest his have seen
1^2-3 45 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
falling-anapest of Ex. 20 and Ex. 69. I set Mrs. Browning's
italicised " be " 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 456 (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 rubato 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 di trochee 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 slightly similar question arose with Ex. 41, page 149.
(18) 1 2 3' 1 2"
(a) 1 2 3-4 5-6 (b) 1 23-4
Through the for- est have I gone
But A-thenian found I none
(c) 5 61 2 3-4 5-6 1-2-3-4-5-6
31' 23
(a) " Through the forest " . . . . falling-ditrochee
(b) " 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 vitality. It is not found in Chopin and Grieg.
Chopin's variety lies in tonal nuance, the rubato, 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 religious 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" 456' 1-2-3"
All hail the power of Je-sus' Name
3 1 2 3" 1 2
4561-2 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 D, 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"
Var. 6 1 2 3' 4" 5 6' 7 8"! 2 3' 4" 5 6' 7 8"
(22) Beethoven : Sonata in Eflat, Op. 27, No. 1; the first two
movements (these are on the same roll).
(a) Andante (72 of the impulse counts to the minute) :~
II I
i-pulses 5 6 7 8' 1 2 3 4
^-pulses 1-2 3-4 5-6-7-8 1-2 3-4 5-6-7-8
TRIPLE-TIME 249
The andante ends with J-pulse counts 5-6 7. Let count 8 be as
12 for the sequel.
(6) Allegro (108 J-pulses to the minute).
II I
^-pulses 5678 1234
(8-) 12 12 3' 45 6" 7 89 10-11" 12 1 23' 456" 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 of 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"
J-pulses2 3' 4 5" 6 7' 8 1"
45 & 7 8 9" 10 11 12' 12 3" 456' 7 8 9" 101112' 123"
The above represents the opening clause. There are ten such
clauses in the First Section. The last ends
I"
1 2
1 2 3 4-5
(the Middle Section is to progress in the falling 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' 4-5 6" cres 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 molto 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).
IV
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 1' 2 3" 4 5 6" 1-2 3' 4 (5 6 )"
Counts 1-2' 3-4' 5-6" 7-8 9-10-11-12" 7" 891011 12"
Clause 2 : ends upon counts 1 2' 3-4 5-6" 7-8 9". The
remaining counts 10 11 12, contain an amphibrachic link into
the second sentence. (See Ex. 84, for the cadency of these counts
7-S' 9" 10' 11 12".)
Second Sentence. An interludial clause of four measures, i.e.
twelve pulses.
Third Sentence. As the first sentence, but with elision :
I II' III IV V I II"
1' 2 3" 4 5-6" 1 2-3' 4 5-6" 1 2' 3" 1' 2 3' 4 5"
piano sf sf sf sf 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 & 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 appassionato. 88 counts to the minute.
TRIPLE-TIME 251
(24) Schubert : Sonata in B major, Op. 147 ; the second
movement.
FIRST SECTION. The opening theme is as
123 123
1 2 3' 4 5 6" 1 2' 3-4-5-6"
(a) (b)
(a) the compound motive of Ex. 84 ; (b) the falling-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 establishes 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 count 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.
Andante.
(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
123 231
(a) 1 2 3' 4 5 tf", but (b) 2 3" 4 5' 6 1"
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 7").
I do not think this reading the correct one. Accepting the phras-
ing (a), we may, on the authority of Ex. 71 (6), slightly 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 : Etude in C sharp minor, Op, 25, No. 7. This
piece shows a modern 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
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,
Book 1.
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-pulses :
Measure I
-Pulses 123
l-pulses 1234 56
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 establish the halves of
the compound rhythm. 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 modern 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 caesurae 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 ;
123
yet the Schubert is (a) ^ ^ ^ 5*6 7 8 1 2 3 A" an( * t ^ te ^ acn * s
(6) 1 2 3
123456 T 8 12S 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 csesurse :
Phrase 2.
Measures I II'
Pulses 1 2 3' 4 56"
l-pulse counts 1 2 1 1 2 3 4" I V 1 2 3 4"
SECOND SECTION. The opening phrase is as
tf
1 2' 1 2-3 4" 1 2' 1 2' 3 4"
fortissimo . . . .piano
or, in counting straight through the phrase
rf
1 2' 3 4-5 6" 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
(a) 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 itself there for a moment. This remark applies 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 123 empty, and half-
pulses 456 filled with three tremendous fortissimo chords.
Largo, con gran 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
123 456
1-2 3' 45 6" 1-2-3' 4 5 6",
III IV
charmingly maintained and varied.
FIEST SECTION.
rubato
1st 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 & 7 8 9". But in
measures III-I of the last phrase, the phras-
ing becomes as 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 II"
forte piano pianissimo
9th and 10th Clauses are as the third and fourth,
llth 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 123
Counts 1-2' 3-4-6-6"
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 (b) Brahms : Hungarian Dance in F sharp minor ;
No. 17 of the set, the vivace sections.
(32) Chopin : Mazurka in F, Op. 68, No. 3.
FIRST SECTION. The falling-ditrochee and falling-anapest :
I II
Pulses 1 2 3' 4 56"
J-pulses 1 2' 34 56" 1 2' 3-4-5-6"
J-pulses 1-2-3 4' 1-2-^-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"
'/ tf
Allegro, ma non 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 falling-iamb. The fourth phrase is the
antispastus : pulses I 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 123. The
trochee on pulse 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 falling-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"
pulses 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-falling.
Vivace. 160 pulses to the minute.
(36) Chopin : Mazurka in G, Op. 50, No. 1.
The MIDDLE SECTION has a melody in the bass :
1 2 3
1 2' 3-45 tf"
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 (" lineaments "). Compare the minuet from Grieg's
Sonata, Op. 7.
Animato. 66 measures to the minute.
The foregoing group of mazurka-studies, has made us familiar
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 qualities, 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 257
(38) Schubert : Impromptu in Aflat, Op. 142, No. 2.
FIRST SECTION.
Sentence 1. Phrase I
III IV I II
(6) 7 8 9' 10 11 12" 123 4 5
5-6 i-.? 3-U 6" 1-2' 3-4^5 6" 1-2 3-4 5-6' 1-2-3-4"
pianissimo
Sentence 2. The motive is the same, but the music is now
chordal (not melodic, as in Sentence 1) :
III IV
789' 10 11 12"
(6) 1-2 3-4-6' 6" 1-2 3-4-5' 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) :
in iv v vi" vii viii' ix x" xi-xir xin-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 establish the fact that each pair of measures forms a falling-
phrase, the even-numbered measure being sufnxal.
258 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
Clause 1
Phrase 1
III IV V VI"
pulses
T 8 9" 10' 11 12" 1' 2 3" 4' 5 6"
1-2' 3456" 7-8' 9 10 11-12" 1-2' 3456" 7-8 9-10-11-12"
tf
Phrase 2
VII VIII' I II"
7' 8 9" 10' 11 12" 1' 2 3" 4' 5-6
tf tf
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 molto
III IV V VI" VII VIII' IX X" I II"
(a) (b)
(a) canon between bass and treble, the bass leading.
(b) a chord to a pulse, marcato.
MIDDLE SECTION.
Sentence 1. The tone is pianissimo, and the spirit tmnquillo.
There are three phrases in the sentence :
(1) (2) delicate (3)
III IV V VI" VII VIII" IX X' I II"
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 :
123
2-2 (-3-4)' 5 6"
These are powerful moments in the piece.
THIRD SECTION. The last clause is ffz. Measures VII VIII'
I II" are molto 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 everything "in the air." Let this empty time be as a
quantity of imagined measures I-II-III.
Coda. Presto. Count four clauses, as follows :
(1) IV V VI VII" VIII' 1 II III"
ten ten
(2) IV V VI VII" VIII' IX X' XI XII"
cres sf
(3) I II III IV V VI VII VIII' IX X XI XII' I"
fa
(4) II I
fa fa
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
/. /.as indicating the figures of Ex. 69 and Ex. 68, and
so to place the csesurae 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: Momenta capriccioso,
Op. 12 (second sentence), bissected-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
l-(2)' 3-4' 5 6" (1) 2 3' (4) 5 6"
(Pulse-counts in brackets, represent empty times). The ninth
phrase is as :
m
I II III' 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 :
*/ s f rf s f s f
%-pulse counts 1-2-3-4" 5 6 1-2' 345-6123-4*56 1-2' 345-6
pulses 12 3123123123
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 5612.
(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 sf
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 : Des Abends, Op. 12, No. 1.
Observe that the melody is syncopated as in Study No. 45
(except in moments where it becomes as 2_o AK g _i\
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 4-5 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 falling-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 He as
(o) (a) (b)
iv v vi r ii in",
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 Novellette in B minor, Op. $1, 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, Capriccio, Op. 116, No. 1, from 6th phrase.
TRIPLE-TIME 263
so 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 italics 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 T dim
7 8-9 10' 11 12-1-2" 3 4-5 6' 7 8-9-10" 11 12-1 2' 3 4-5-6"
5 6-78' 1 2 3-4" 5 6-7 8' 1 2-3-4" 5 6 7 8' 12-3-4"
II sf IIP IV sf T VI fp F dim
II III"
7 8-9 10' 11 12' 123-4-5-6"
5 6-7 8' 9 W 11 1% 1-2-3-4"
II IIP I"
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 prevailing
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 spirituality and significance
of facts, to which is no end.
VII
Sextuple in relation to Quadruple
Ditrochee and Diiamb
The ditrochseus 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 term
the trochee a measure, and the ditrochee a phrase.
(49) Sibelius : Idyl, Op. 24, No. 6.
The faUing-ditrochee. Each pair of measures is in falling
rhythm, and each two-phrase clause is the same :
Measures I II' III IV"
Pulses 1-2 3' 4-5 6" 7 8 9' 10-11 12"
^-pulses 1-2-3' 4 5-6
(a)
(a) The half -pulse 4 is prefixal. It should be clearly articulated,
and a slight tenuto be given to pulse 9.
(50) Grieg : Sonata in E minor, Op. 7 ; the third movement.
Minuet. The trochee and the falling-iamb are simultaneously
present. Read the six-count phrase as in rising cadence :
II I
upper part 4 5-6' 1 2-3"
bass 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 lie
as :
ii in 5 iv i" ii nr iv i" ii in 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 Menuetto, ma poco piu lento. (" Like a minuet, but a
little slower.")
(51) Bach : Prelude in C sharp major, from Well-tempered
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 II"
(a) The melody is syncopated : T TT
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 falling-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) 1 2 3' (6) 4 5 6"
> > >
(a) Ex. 71,6; (b) 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 1"
(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 lies in the stresses and
delicate caesurse.
The second sentence of the minuet is " imitative."
Bead the sentences as : V VF VII VIII" I II" III IV".
266 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
The last sentence of the minuet is as ;
p cres rubato
V VI' VII VIII" I II"
piano pianissimo
III IV V VI' VII VIII"
pp ppp
I II III IV V VI' I II' 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 csesurae, and conse-
quently with trochaic bars. Observe a syncopation in the
melody:-*"} 2'^'
VIII
Simple Motive of the Molossus
Amphibrach
When no pulse 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 compound motives
derived from the amphibrach-falling 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
worship the King
All-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 :
mezzoforte
II III' IV I"
3 4 5' 6 1 2" 3 4 5' 6 1-2
*f rf rftf
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 non troppo.
(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 solid chords : 6 l 2 ' VA
f s f s ftf
Sentence 2. The motive is a falling-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 delight the player virtuoso.
FIRST SECTION. One sentence (repeated) :
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-ditrochee
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 Chopin Prelude 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 ; ako
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. %, 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 IF V VI"
6 7 8' 9 10 11' 12 1 2 3' 4 5"
cres (b) forte
(b) The phrasing of measures V-VI is as " gratefully' sing"."
Phrase 2
VII VIII' IX X XI' I II"
6 7 8' 9 10 11" 12 1 2 3' 4 5 (6)' 7 8-(9)" (1) 2 3' 4"
piano 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" 123' 4"
tr
Phrase 2
ritardando
VII VIII IX' I II' III IV I II"
5 6' 7-8 9" 1 2 3' 4 5 6" 1 2 3' 4 5 6" 7 8 9' 10 11 12" (12345)
cres dim pianissimo
THIRD SECTION as First, but of twelve measures only.
Trio. Three sentences, all as III IV V VI" VII VIII' I II".
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 VIII' I II"
fP s f 'rf *f ff 1' 2 34-5"
///
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 (b) 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
a fermata.
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. 65. 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 falling-di trochee, and (2) the sentence of the
rising-spondee :
phrase B phrase A . . .
v-vi vn-viir i-n ni-iv.
The recasting gives extreme lightness 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.
rf
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"
(a) (b) sf (c) (d)
(a) The amphibrach of Ex. 71 (6), with anacrusis, i.e. the
antispastus.
(b) 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
(12* 3 4 56"}
the end pulse is stressed * f ' and the motive
becomes as 3 1 2'. S J
>
MIDDLE SECTION. Here is the syncopation of Study No. 54,
carried into the entire chord.
Sentence 1. Clause 1 :
piano
III IV V VI"
6-7 8 9' 10-11" 12-1 2 3' 4-5
TRIPLE-TIME 271
Clause 2 :
piano cres f ff
VII VIIF I II" III IV I II"
6-7 8 9' 10-11" 12-1 2' 3-4 5" (1) 23 4-5 6' 1' 2 3 4-5
(e) (f) grave action dignify* d
(9)
(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.
(g) The verbal pattern is from Ex. 80.
Sentence 2.
Clause 1 piano
III IV V VI
6-7' 8 9-10 11" 12 1 2 3' 4-5
Clause 2
PP
vir vin" i ii"
6-7 8' 9-10 11" 12-1 2-3' 4 5"
ten ten ten ten
Hit Humor. 72 measures a minute.
(61) Beethoven: Sonata in B flat, Op. 22 ; the third movement.
Sentence 1 (repeated)
IV V VI' VII" VIII' I II' III"
9 10-11' 12 1 2" 3' 4 5 6' 7 8" cres rubato piano
piano rubato
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 falling-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 AKT 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 minor, from English Suitss (No. 3).
FIRST SECTION. Four clauses.
Clause 1
in iv v vi vir vin i ii
(1)' 2 3 4' 5 6 r 1-2-3-4"
Clause 2 rit
III IV V VI" VII VIII' I II"
5 6' 1 2 3 y 4" 5 & T 2 <T 4' 5 (5"
(a)
(a) Imagine a motive as : 5-6 1-2-3 4, and compare this with
the motive of Ex. 22.
Clause 3 sf
III IV V VI" I II III"
1.2-3 4-6-6 r
Clause 4
IV V VI VII" VIII' IX X' I II
2 3' 4 5 6 r 2 3' 45 6" 1 2 3' 45 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
III IV V VI' VII VIII' I II"
Clause 2
cres sf forte dim p forte dim
III IV V VI" VII VIII' IX X' I II"
TRIPLE-TIME 273
Clause 3
p cres forte dim p forte dim
III IV V VI' VII VIII' IX X' I II"
Clause 4
cres forte dim piano
III IV V VI' I II III"
rit 1 2 3-45 & r
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 lift 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 (Italian)
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 light and swift or abrupt and solid, 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 quality 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 AftT 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 brilliant little 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 7-(2"
rf rf
FIRST SECTION. It must be clearly established 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 VIII' I II"
5 6' 1-2 3-4" 5 6' 1-2 3-4
rf */ rf s f
Sentence 2
piano
III IV V VI' I II"
5 6' 7 8 9-10' 11 12" 1 2 3-4' 5 6 7 8' 9-10
*f rf s f
III IV V VI' I II"
11 12' 1-2 3-4" 5 6' 1-2 3-4"
*/ */ rf s f
The foregoing two sentences are played twice.
SECOND SECTION.
Sentence 1
fortissimo
III IV V VI" VII VIII" IX X' I II"
5 6' 1-2 3-4 5 6' 1 2 3' 4 5-6" 1-2 3-4' 5 6" 1-2 3-4"
*/ */ rf s f rf rf rf rf
(a) (b)
TRIPLE-TIME 275
(a) Syncopation by change of ictus (page 259).
(6) The falling-di trochee (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 cres sf dim pp sf
Clause 2 III IV V VI" VII VIII' IX X' I II"
w
(a) An empty fermata 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 f oundational motives
of triple-time :
FIRST SECTION.
forte sf
(1) Opening theme : III IV I II"
5 & 1-2 3' 4" 5 & 1-2 3-(4)"
(2) End of sentence 1
rf~
III IV I II" III IV I II"
5 & 1-2 3-4 5-6" 1-2 3-4 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 (" 'presto "). 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
4 5' 6 1-
But the amphibrachic cadency described at the beginning of
Chapter XX prevails. The affinity of the particles is therefore
not as All hail' the power", but as a-twining' flowers".
Schubert stresses the metrically strong particles i.e. the
" long " of each iamb, half-pulses 5 and 1. This stressing reveals
6' 12"
the larger iambic foundation of the motive /. /. . He also
ties the bass-notes of half -pulses 4 and 5. ^ ^
Sentence 1 (played twice).
piano mf forte piano
III IV V VI" VII VIII' I II"
6 1 2' 3 4-5"
45 & 1-2-3"
Sentence 2 : contains a syncopation whereby the quadruple-
time diiamb of 2 3' 45" is imposed on the prevailing metre.
As in other studies, I set out the syncopation 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 IF I II'
6 1 - 2' 3 4 - 5" 6 1' 2 3" 4 5'
45 & 1-2-3" 45 & 1-2-3" 45 & 1" 2 3' 4 5" 6 T 8 1"
f ff piano pianissimo rit
TRIPLE-TIME 277
I II"
6123 4 5"
2 3' 4 r 2 3-4 5-& 1-2-3"
ares forte
Sentence 3 :
m iv* v vi" vii vnnii"
6 1 2' 3 4 5" 6 1 2' 3 4 5"
456' 1-2-3" 456' 1-2-3" 4 5 6' 1 2 8" 4. 5 6* 1-2-3"
sf 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 P 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 :
in iv v vi" i n-iir iv-v vi" i ii"
s f s f P PP f f
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 (b) the
lower.
Each subsidiary motive, however minute, will be seen to be
one of the motives with which we are already acquainted.
Measures III IV
Pulses 612 3 45 6
J-pulses 10 11 12 1 23 45 6 789 10 11
sf sf sf sf
i-pulses (a) 7-8 T 2-3 4 1-2' 3-4-5" 6-7 8 r 2-3 4 1-2' 3-4-5-6"
(b) 3 4 T 2- 3 4 5" 781' 3 4 T 2-3 4 5' 6 78 1-2"
sf *f sf sf 8 f
278 THE AET 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
line out of two or more polymetrical lines. Then, when each line
is known as a separate thing, the two lines may be combined,
with some fair chance of your being able to retain the separate
individuality of each voice.
Should you find this piece unplayable, you may perhaps
corisole 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-rneasure phrase runs its counts to eighteen.)
forte fortissimo
in iv v vi" VH vni ix* i IF
^pulses.. 1-2 3-4-5' 6-7 5' 1-2 3-4-l'2-3 5-6 7-8-1
12 3456
Sentence 2
pianissimo una corda dim
III IV V VI" VII VIII IX' I II"
^-pulses 1 2-3' 4-5 6" 7 8-9' 10-11 12"
12345 6
ritard
Sentence 3
piano tutte corde
III IV V VI" VII VIII' I II"
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) 2 345
(1) 2-3 4' (5) 6-7 <" (9)"
sf p ppp
The figures in brackets are empty times. There is a fermata on
(9). With f 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 delicate in character than
the accentuations in Section 2.
FOURTH SECTION : as Second.
Coda: based on First Section, with a syncopated chordal
figure filling 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 little 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 vitality, 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-like touch proper to all prefixal
particles. The suffix requires the delicate touch and fine shading-
ofE proper to all terminal inflexions where the spirit of the music
is not climactic 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 light. Can you conceive
and utter in perfect tone, phrasing, and rhythmical cadency, a
. , , ri 61 2' 34 5"?
series of sounds like:
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 34
(a) i-puhes melody : 6 7 8' 1 2 3-4-5" 678'1 2 3-4-5"
bass : 3 4 5 6-7 3 4 5-6-7
There are other minute motives in this piece :
1 2
(b) ^-pulses 1 2-3 4' 5 6-7 8"
I 2
(c) 1-2-3 4' 5-6-7 5"
23' 6 7"
Allegro. 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' 1-2-3 456' 1-2 3-4"
Allegretto.
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 (123' 45 6")
2 3 4' 6 7 8' 10 11 12" 234'
piano smorzando
(123' 45 6")
234' 234'
ppp
(1 2 3')
234' 5-6-7-8-9
forte sf
Notes are given only where figures stand in italics. Each group
is the amphibrach. Learn the passage, by rubato 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 :
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 Klavierstucke composed in May, 1828. FIRST 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 C 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 else where, little more than the ditrochee 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 falling pyrrhic on the
up-pulse ; &*? *t*
i in
1-23 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 slight characteristic stress on the short ;
and add a one-count short, in sumxal relation.
The pure dactyl in triple-time (Ex. 68) may be similarly created
from the trochee of duple-time (1 #') with suffixal short added.
The dactyl alternates with the following rhythms :
(a) the spondee / *_ n o KQ o\ . the spondee occupies
the weak, or suffixal, portion of the phrase, but musical theorists
declare the reverse (see page 127).
(b) the falling-anapest (Ex. 20).
(c) the falling-amphibrach (Ex. 21).
(d) the amphibrach (Ex. 22 and Ex. 26).
I II III
(e) the molossus : 1 2' 3" 41 2"
34' 5-6" 7-9 1-2 3-4"
282
DACTYLAR RHYTHM & IRREGULAR CLAUSE 283
(/) the falling-iamb (Ex. 24).
(g) the various csesural 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 034" 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 plus 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 iir iv v"
n
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 Italian 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
dactylic 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 Keble, " Sun of my soul, thou Saviour
dear."
284 THE AET 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 Herb\ 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 III' IV I"
3-45 & 7 8 1-2"
Jer-ru sa lem on high
My song and ci ty is
(9) Lax Benigna, No. 266 (Dykes). This tune is in the larger
molossus :
612 34 5 6
4 561-2 34 56 1-23-4-5-6
Lead, kindly Light, amid th 5 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 II' I II III"
1^2-3 4-5 & 1-5" 61-23 4-5 G 1-3 4-6
Lead, kindly light a-mid th' en-circling gloom
I II"
1-3 4^5 & 1.5
Lead thou me on
in
(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 falling (suffixal) 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 climactic phrase of the piece :
forte cres fff sf
1 2' 3 4" 5-6-7 8"
1-2 3 4' 5-6 7 <T
Andante sostenuto.
(11) Schubert : Impromptu in B flat, 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
^-pulses 1 2 3-4-6-6 7-8'
^-pulses 1 2 3 4
Moderato.
(13) Schubert : Thirteen Variations on a theme of A. Hiitten-
brenner's. A useful preliminary 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 ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
(17) Beethoven : Bagatelle in A, Op. 33, No. 4.
Andante.
(18) Schubert : Militdr-Marsch in D flat (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 II"
pulses 5 6' 7 8" 1 2' 3 4"
i-pulses 1 2 3 4' 5-6 7 8" 1-2 3 4' 5-6 7-8"
bass: ^-pulses 1-2' 8 4 5-67-8"
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
III IV I II" III IV V" I II' III IV V VI" I II"
/// W
(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.
a).
Measures I II'
(a) pulses 1 2' 3 4"
(6) %-pulses 12' 3 4" 5 6' 7 5"
(c) %-pulses 1-2 3 4' 5-6 7 5" sf sf
(d) sf
DACTYLAR RHYTHM & IRREGULAR CLAUSE 287
(a) The phrase as a whole is a ditrochee-f ailing, 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 outline of the Brahms Rhapsodic given as Ex. 26,
and recall the csesural modification of the ditrochee which pro-
duces 1' 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"
tfrf s f
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, born of the passing
moment.
(4).
forte cres fortissimo
Measures (e) I (/)H marcato
pulses 123' 4 5"
%-pulses 12345" 6 T 89 10"
l-pulses 1-2 3 4' 5-6 7 ' 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, tha-t 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 :
piano (h)
r ii in"
1 2' 3 4" 5 6"
%-pulses 1 2' 3 4" 5 & 7 8" 9 Iff 11 12"
rf rf
(h) The cadential climax of the phrase is measure II. The pulses
therefore, if planned 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 56"
^-pulses 1 2' 3 4" 1 2' 3 4" 5 & 7 8"
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 II (t)
1 2' 3 4 5"
%-pulses 12' 3 4" 5 & 7 8" (9 10)
l-pulses 1-2 3 4' 5-6 7-8" piano ff ff
piano forties
(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 piu 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 : Etude in G flat, Op. 25, No. 9.
Assai allegro. 112 pulses a minute. There is a dactyl to a
pulse. You will discover the dactyl in the line of music which is
next above the accompaniment. The accompaniment is the bi-
sected chord, each chord filling 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.
FIRST SECTION.
phrase 1
Clause II II
(four 12 3 4" 5 6' 7 8"
measures) 1-2 3 4' 5 (5-7" 8
forte piano
Clause 21 II
(five 1234 5678
measures) 1-2-3 4r-5 6-7 8 1 2-3
f P f
290 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
Clause 3 as clause 1, but containing two measures only.
Clause 4 six measures, the fifth containing six pulses :
piano cres f piano
I II' III IV V- VI
1234' 1 2' 3 4" 5 6' 1 2' 3 4"
Clause 5 four measures.
Clause 6 seven measures, the second containing six pulses :
I II' III IV V VI' VII"
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 6' 7 S"
piano sf piano sf
(cf. Ex. 61).
Allegro molto. 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 VIII' IX X"
5 6' 7 8" 1 2' 3 4" 5 6' 7 8" 1 2 3 4
1-2 3-4' 5-6 7 S" 1-2 3-4' 5-6 7"
XI I' 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 pulses, the motive being compound ;
the measure in Study 25 has two pulses.
DACTYLAR KHYTHM & IRREGULAR CLAUSE 291
Sentence 2 :
ni-iv v vi" vii-viir i ii"
5 6-7-8' 1 2-3-4" 5 6-7-8' 1 2-3^"
forte
Sentence 3 : in part as sentence 1 :
piano dim
III IV V VI" VII I II' III I II"
5 6 1 2 3 4' 5-61-234"
9-10-11 12' 1-2-3 4' 5-6 T-'tf
Sentence 4 :
piano cres dim
in iv v vi" vii-vm-i ii"
1 2 3"
The Third Section of the piece resumes as shown in Chapter
XXVI.
(26) Brahms : Rhapsodic 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' 5-3 7-8' 1 2' 3-4 5-6 7-8"
(a) s f rf s f
w
(a) dactyls in measures III-V.
(b) 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 f The thirteenth phrase is a superb
sjp
anapest ; it is characteristic of the next portion of the piece.
292 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
PART II
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 0"
piano dim
(a) V VI' VII VIII" I IF III IV"
(b) V VI' VII VIII" IX X' XI XII" I II' III IV"
ores f marcato piti 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 IF III I II"
(e) III IV V" I II' III I II"
p p cres
(/)III IT V VI" I II III IV"
(g) as (d)
(h) the response to (e) and (/), but as :
p cres f p dim
III IV V VI" I II' III IV
Section 3 : Take (a) and (b) from above. Observe the sfz
of the last two chords.
THE RETURN TO PART III
The music is a mysterious development of the theme of the
opening phrase of the piece. The tone is pianissimo ma ben
marcato. The end is a tumultuous ff, with amphibrachs of
pulses 1 2-3 4. The amphibrachs are likely 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.
(a) six of the phrases of III IV V I II"
ppcres
(b) one phrase of III IV I II"
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 cres fortissimo
III IV V VI" VII VIII IX' X I II"
5 6-7 8' 1 2-3 4" 5 6-7 89' 10 11 12" 1' 2 3 4"
rf s f s f s f s f tf s f s f s f s f
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 : fortissimo "
III IV I II' III"
5 6 7 8' 1 2 3 4' 5 6"
rfrf
fortissimo
(b) one phrase : I II' III IV V VI"
1234"
rfsfsfsf
(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
sf sf sf sfz
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 lie beyond these, are the respects of sus-
tained melody, intimate rubato, clear polyphony, and personality.
(27) Liszt : Rhapsodic hongroise in Eflat, No. 9, " Le 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 ART 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 afnne the
inflexion to the first " short " of the dactyl.
SECOND SECTION, sempre moderate e capriccio. The accompani-
ment is the amphibrach of 1 2-3 4'.
THIRD 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 of ^ % $ j 2' 3 4" ^ s 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). This 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 5"
(2) un poco meno 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 fermata at the close.
(3) allegretto.
Clause II II rit
1 2 3 4' 5 6 7 8' 9 10"
1-2 3 4' 5 6 7-8
Take Clause 1 twice.
Clause 2 I rit
12 34' 56"
1-2 3 4' 5-6 7-8'
Take Clause 2 four times. Then take Clause 1 twice, and Clause 2
three times.
DACTYLAK RHYTHM & IRREGULAR CLAUSE 295
poco piu animate. 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 1-2 3 4' 5-6-7-8".
Here ends the first main part of the finale.
(5) piu animate. (With this begins the second part of the
finale).
Clause 1 I II
1 2 3 4' 5 6 7-3" (three times)
VII
12345-6 (once)
The remainder will analyse itself. Make a large rail in the final
1234
1-2 3 4' 5 6 7-8 an< ^ an ^i c ip a ^ e a change of rhythm, style,
and pace.
(6) allegro moderate. A development of the opening moderate
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 Hungarian
melody. Berlioz develops it in the " Hungarian March " of his
Faust. The march-theme is as :
(8) 1 2' 3 4" 5 6 7 8"
(7-8) 1-2 3 4' 5-6 7 5" 1-2 3-4 5-6-7-8
The theme of the Trio is in the diiambic, with subsidiary anapests:
8 1' 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 the 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 AKT OF THE PLAYEK-PIANO
von Liebenberg, who probably could play the last movement
without Mephistophelian 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 Kuh'.
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 Bliithe 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 caesura
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 : Novellette 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 T 2 3 4' 5 tf" 1 2-3 4-5 6" 1 2' 3 4' 5 6 7"
*/ rf
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 1 2 3' 4 5 6"
1 2"
We dealt with this parallelism of molossus-measure and spondee-
phrase in Chapter XXVII.
(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
Italian 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' <T 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 3 Jf
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 established a
rhythmical motive, he keeps to it for a long while.
(34) Schubert : Divertissement & la hongroise, Op. 54.
(35) Chopin : Etude in F, Op. 10, No. 8.
(36) Chopin : fitude 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
FUGUE
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 lines.
Often the subject is not the principal detail of the passage
containing it ; and always the circumstances surrounding and
preparing for the appearance of the subject are the chief qualities
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 development.
Part II
First Section : 2nd development.
Second recapitulation.
Coda.
Understanding of fugue architecture depends on sense of tonality,
or key-relationship. Its phraseological nature is made clear in
299
300 THE AKT 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
rubato. 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 Rabbi ben Ezra or reading the concentrated and
interwoven thoughts of Shakespeare in his final periods.
ii
The following studies are from the first book of The Well-
tempered 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 3' 4 1"
l-pulses (b) 2 3' 4 5" (b) 6 T 8 T
\-pulses (a) 3 4 5-6' 7-8 1-2" (a)
2 341"
(d) 234' (e) 5 6 7 8' 1
3 4 5-6 7-8' 1 2 3-4-5-6 7 8' 1
ten
FUGUE 301
(a) the " anapest-spondee."
(6) 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-falling (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"
^-pulses 4 5 6' 7 8' 1 2 3" 4 5' 6 T 8 T 2 3"
(3) E flat minor.
pulses 1 2 3 4' 56' 7 8 1 2"
^-pulses (a) 1-2 3-4r-5 & 7 8" 123-4' 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 3-4-5' 6 7 8' 9 10 11 12"
(5) ~Bflat minor.
1 2 3 4
l_2 3--5> 6 7 8"
(6) B major.
II III' IV I"
2 3' 4 5" 6 7 8 1"
2 3' 4 5-6" 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 iir iv i"
2' 3 4" 5 6' 7 8 1"
23 4' 5-6 r 8 T 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 Furnivall 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 list 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. Novellette, Op. 99.
302
A WORD TO THE TEACHER
303
Mendelssohn.
Debussy.
Saint-Saens.
Tchaikovski.
Richard Strauss.
Chopin.
Weber.
Chopin.
Schumann.
jj
Schubert.
Liszt.
Chopin.
Schumann.
Schubert.
Weber.
Strauss.
Schumann.
Grieg.
j
Chopin.
Mendelssohn.
Beethoven.
Wagner.
Strauss.
Mozart.
Beethoven.
Bantock.
??
Mozart.
Lieder, No. 20.
Nocturne, Fetes.
Le Rouet d'Omphale*
Symphony No. 6.
EIN HELDENLEBEN.
Sonata Op. 6 (last movement).*
Etude, Op. 25, No. 9*
Allegro, Op. 49 (from Sonata HI)*
Waltz, Op. 64, No. 2.
Carnaval (first roll).
Carnavalpranck, Op. 26, No. 1.
Sonata in B flat.
Rhapsodies Nos. 18 and 10.
Posthumous Waltz, in E minor.
Carnaval (second roll).
Fantaise, Op. 15.
Sonata, Op. 49 (third movement).
Enoch Arden.
Carnaval (third roll).
Lyric Suite, Op. 62 (first roll).*
(second roll).
Polonaise, Op. 71, No. 3.
Scotch Fantasie, Op. 28.
Andante in F.
Sonata, Op. 31, No. 1.
32 Variations.
Sonata, Op. 31, No. 3*
Op. Ill*
Op. 10, No. 1*
Op. 53.
Sonata Pathetique, Op. 13.
Sonata, Op. 28.*
Op. 22 (first three movements).
Waltzes in E flat.
Tristan and Isolde Prelude*
Festival March, Op. 1.*
Sonata No. 18.
Deutscher Tanz, Nos. 1 and 3.
WITCH OF ATLAS.
Egyptian Suite.
Sonata No. 6.
304
THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
Corder.
Chopin.
Weber.
Bach.
Beethoven.
Tchaikovski.
Beethoven.
, Mendelssohn.
Liszt.
Weber.
Beethoven.
Schubert.
Chopin.
Bach.
Chopin.
Strauss.
Reger.
Cyril Scott.
Weber.
Auld lang syne.
Liszt.
Cyril Scott.
Chopin.
York Bowen.
Chopin.
M
Weber.
Elgar.
Debussy.
Rimsky-KorsakofE
Chopin.
PRELUDE No. 2.
Valse, Op. 70, No. 3.
Sonata in E minor, Op. 70.*
Fantasia in C minor.
Bagatelles, Op. 33.
Pianoforte Concerto, Op. 23.
Variations on God Save the King.
,, Rule Britannia.
Rondo, Op. 129.
Variations, Op. 35.
Symphony in A major.
Andante and Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 14.
Hungarian Rhapsody, No. 8.
Sonata, Op. 49 (second movement).
Symphony, No. 2 (scherzo).
No. 7 (movements 2, 3, and 4),
Rondo, Op. 1.
Well-tempered Clavier, Fugue No. 11.
No. 9.
Fugue in A minor (organ).
Prceambulum.
Giguefrom French Suite, No. 5.
Nocturne, Op. 9, No. 3.
Burlesque in D minor.
Intermezzo, Op. 9, No. 3.
Salome.
Waltzes, Op. 11.
Water Wagtail, Op. 71, No. 3.
Rondo brillante, Op. 62.*
Hungarian Rhapsody, No. 13.
Pierrette.
Valse in D flat, Op. 64, No. 1.
Suite in D minor.
Nocturne, Op. 37, No. 1.
Polonaise, Op. 44.
Les Adieux.
ENIGMA VARIATIONS.
L 'Enfant Prodigue.
. Capriccio, Op. 34.
Mazurkas, Op. 59.
A WORD TO THE TEACHER
305
Chopin.
Gung'l.
Brahms.
Richard Strauss.
Tchaikovski.
Rachmaninoff.
Chopin.
Rachmaninoff.
Bache.
Saint-Saens.
Grieg.
Debussy.
ROMANCE, Op. 11.
Rheinsegen Walzer, Op. 218.
Hungarian Dance, No. 1*
Rosebearer.
Symphony, No. 5 (finale).
Prelude, Op. 23, No. 1.
Valse brillante, Op. 34, No. 1.
Prelude, Op. 23, No. 5.
No. 2.
No. 6.
L 'Irresistible Galop.
SECOND CONCERTO (third movement).
Symphonic Dances.
L'Apres-midi d'un Faune*
CHAPTER XXXI
POLYMETKE AND SYNCOPATION
IN section VI (page 259), I gave studies only in the caesural
change which converts the J (or J) metre into the | (or J) ;
that is to say, I gave studies only in that syncopation by change
of ictus which converts (a) the spondee-measure with ternary
division of the pulse, into (6) the molossus-measure with binary
division :
(a) I- II- (b) 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 J (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 J metres was a regular
feature of music ; also the concorporation of the two metres,
the J coming in one voice while the | came in another. (The
system of alternation is adopted by modern editors of plain-
song mediaeval hymn tunes ; but the editors enlarge the actual
quantity, as well as change the caesurae.) 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 " car-
rente." 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 J.
It then runs in two-bar (spondaic) measures, exactly as the
scherzo. The final bar strikes a chord on count 1, and then the
music ceases :
(1) Partita No. V, G major, Corrente (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 0" (see pages 147-148).
(d) four of the spondee-measures.
This old dance, idealised 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 molossus-6ar which has the signature
of | (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) English Suite, No. Ill, G- minor (allegro vivace).
(10) English 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) English Suite, No. I, A major, the first courante (allegro
moderato).
Part 2 the third measure.
(13) English Suite, No. II, A minor :
Part 1 measures 4, 5, and 6.
* A courante should always be preceded on the player roll by the
aUemande belonging to it, because in the architecture of the Bach suite
attemande and courante 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) English 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
2 (or I), and that which has the signature of J. The music
is then written in the bar of six crotchets. The spondee-measure
becomes the prevailing cadency, and so the signature is the J.
The molossus caesuras are now the exception :
(19) French Suite, No. Ill, B minor (allegro vivace).
Chopin, in his Valse in A flat, Op. 42, has in the accompani-
ment of the normal 2 metre, but uses in the melody the cadency
of the . Bach does something the same in the brilliantly
interesting Minuet of the fourth Partita. This piece is in three
crotchet bars, and the clauses are all 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 be 1 2' 3 4' 5 6". There
is one clause where the writing is two-part ; here the bass is
in J time, and the treble in J .
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 2> and
the motive either the anapest of Ex. 72 or the amphibrach of
Ex. 7 la. (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 J during
the first section. The measure is ditrochaic, in simple form
(Ex. 9) with use of that trochee I called the " falling-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
J bass and a * melody. (The latter portion of this piece
except the concluding seven bars is in J time).
Even in the simplest music, two metres may be thus con-
corporated. Thus in the second of the Schubert ficossaises, 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 establish this concorporation of metres in
places where the composer does not want it.
Finally with regard to the syncopation by change of ictus
and csesuraa, the phrase of the courante in J 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) measures I' II- IIT IV-
Minims 1 2 3' 4 5 6" 1 2' 3 4" 5 6
Crotchet-counts 1 2' 3 f 5 6" 7 8' 9 Iff 11 12" 123 4' 123 4" 5678
cres rit ten dim
Pedalling rhythmically, you deliver a stroke against the ninth
minim ; pedalling metrically, you strike the tenth. The ancient
courante justifies the remarks made on pages 236-8, and allies
itself with the mazurka (page 261 n.).
ii
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 outline it here.
The polymetre of the courante, as we have seen, permits three
pulses counting j n m
1 2' 3 4' 5 tf"
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 5 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 (5" 1 2' 3 4"
The spondee portion of this quintuple compound-time sometimes
admits a rubato that approximates the spondee of counts 1 2' 3 4
to the spondee of counts 1 2 3' 4 5 6".
Reger : Intermezzo in C major, Op. 32, No. 5.
First Section : andante.
(a) 4 5' 1-2-3" six times
4 5' 1-2-3' 4 5" once
(6) 1 2-3' once
4 5' 1 2-3" five times
4 5' 1 2-3' 4 5" once
Second Section : piu mosso (" double as fast ").
(a) 1 2' 3 4 5" 6 7 8' 9 10" . . .twice
1 2 3' 4 5" 6 7 8' 9 10 11".. once
1 2' 3 4 5" three times
(6) 1 2' 3 4 5" 6 7 8' 9 10" ...once
1 2' 3 4 5" 6 7' 8 9 10" ...twice
(c) 1-2-3 4-5' 6 7' 8 9 10" eleven times
(d) piu adagio once
1' 2" 3 4' 5 6' 7 8' 9 10" ...once.
in
It is necessary for the student to understand clearly that
syncopation, as an attribute of rhythm, is modern, and that it
does not exist in music of the polymetrical centuries. Therefore,
312 THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
if we take our modern mind to polymetrical music, and perform
the music with the throb and force of modern syncopation, we
falsify it. This fact is not generally known, by editors, teachers,
performers, and writers, and such a statement as the following
is frequently made, to the confusion of the student (the remark
was made by a musician in 1921 relative to " rag-time ") :
" Syncopation is among the oldest musical effects, and was used
artistically by composers centuries before the negroes saw
America," which is to say, hundreds of years before 1620.
Polymetrical music is peculiar only when played incorrectly ;
played correctly, it is worthy its place by the side of Shakespeare.
Of late, music has tended once again towards polymetre ; and
so extremely modern music is made clear by knowledge of
extremely old.
Modern syncopation is in metre what chromatic notes and
chords are in harmony an " accidental " departure, in one
voice or in all voices, from the normal metre into another metre,
but not a departure long enough to establish the metre thus
touched upon. Polymetre is as a modulation in harmony ;
it may be " transient," or " absolute." Some forms of synco-
pation are characteristic, as the alia zoppa, and as that syncopa-
tion which produces the accompaniment in Schumann's Warum ?
The latter syncopation has an office in rhythm somewhat similar
to the office served in harmony by a trill between a note of the
key and a chromatic note a semitone away.
The student may observe ancient and modern polymetre in
the following pieces (he will need to read the music from the
printed score) :
(1) Byrd : The Bells (" Alte Meister des Klavierspiels,"
Peters ed.)
(2) Gibbons : Fantasia of four e parts.
(3) Brahms : Intermezzi, Op. 76, Nos. 6 and 8.
(4) Reger : Rhapsodie (den Manen J. Brahms), Op. 24, No. 6.
(5) Casella : A la maniere de Vincent d'Indy, " Prelude a
TApres-midi d'un Ascete" (1914).
(6) Casella: Pagine di Guerra (1915), No. 4, "In
croci di legno. . . ,"
INDEX
MUSICAL COMPOSITIONS
Albeniz, Isaac (1861, Spain : 1909)
Cadiz-Gaditana, 199 n.
SeviUanas, 20
Ancliffe: "Nights of Gladness"
waltz, 18
Bach, Karl Ph. Em. (1714 : 1788) :
Sonata, 21
Bach, John Sebastian (1685, Eisen-
ach : 1750, Leipzig)
Chromatische Fantasie (1730), 15,
63, 66, 96
Courantes and Correntes, 199 n.,
307-10
Englische Suiten (-1726), No. 3,
G minor
Prelude, 272
Gavotte and Musette, 206, 289
Englische Suiten, No. 6, D minor
Gavotte and Musette, 21, 206
Gigue, 234
Fantasia in C minor (1738), 304
Franzosische Ouverture, B minor :
Echo* 70
Franzosische Suiten (-1722), No. 5,
G major
Gavotte, 205
Gigue, 304
Fugue in A minorf (from a Preludio
con Fuga), 304
Italienisches Concert (1735) : 2nd
mvt., 251
Partitas (1726-1731), No. 5, G
major
Prceambulum, 304
Minuet, 309
Suite in B flat (Kellner's " Sammel-
werke ") : Echo, 70
Suites for violoncello, No. 6 :
Gavotte, 69
Toccata con fuga (clavier), 63, 96
Each, John Sebastian
Wohltemperirtes Klavier, " 48 Pre-
ludes and Fugues " ; Book I
(-1722)
No. 1, C major, 57, 198
No. 2, C minor, 197, 300
No. 3, C sharp major, 264, 301
No. 4, C sharp minor, 57, 63
No. 5, D major, 57, 85, 86, 105,
198
No. 8, E flat minor, 63, 252, 301
No. 9, E major, 304
No. 10, E minor, 198, 301
No. 11, F major, 304
No. 13, F sharp major, 57, 63
No. 19, A major, 76
No. 20, A minor, 57
No. 22, B flat minor, 57, 224,284,
301
No. 23, B major, 198, 201, 301
No. 24, B minor, 57, 63, 224
Bache, Francis E. (1833, Birmingham:
1858)
" L'Irresistible " Galop, 18, 305
Balakirew, Mily Alex. (1838, Russia :
1910)
" Islamey," Oriental Fantasie, 15,
22, 69
Bantock, Granville (1868, London)
Egyptian Suite (1893), 303
Serenade (1897), 19, 78, 80
" Witch of Atlas " (Shelley) (1902),
303
Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770, Bonn :
1827, Vienna)
Andante favori (1804), 303
7 Bagatelles, Op. 33 (1782-1802),304
No. 2, C major, 102
No. 4, A major, 286
No. 6, D major, 46, 97
No. 7, A flat major, 102
* See Spitta : Life of Bach, vol. 3, page 166.
f Wrongly described in player-catalogues as " For Organ,"
313
314
THE AKT OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
Teethoven, Ludwig van
6 BagateUes, Op. 126 (1823)
No. 6, G major, 103
Deutscher Tanz, 303
Marcia atta turca ("Ruins of
Athens "), 18
Rondo a capriccio (published 1828),
304
Septet, Op. 20 (written before 1800),
102
Sonatas for Pianoforte
Op. 2 (1796), No. 1, F minor :
1st mvt., 44
3rd mvt., 102
4th mvt., 70, 80, 207, 213
Op. 2, No. 2, A major :
2nd mvt., 66, 250
3rd mvt., 102, 267
4th mvt., 167 n.
Op. 2, No. 3, C major, 3rd mvt.,
102
Op. 7 (1797), E flat major :
2nd mvt., 118 n., 253
3rd mvt., 102
Op. 10 (1798), No. 1, C minor, 303
3rd mvt., 103
Op. 10, No. 2, F major, 2nd mvt.,
102, 269
Op. 10, No. 3, 66, D major
1st mvt.,
2nd mvt., 281
3rd mvt., 102, 265
4th mvt., 15, 224
Op. 13 (1799), C minor, 81, 303
Op. 14 (1799), No. 1, E major,
3rd mvt., 230, 290
Op. 14, No. 2, G major,
1st mvt., 280
2nd mvt., 80, 198, 209, 213,
221, 246
Op. 22 (1800),tBflat major, 21, 303
3rd mvt. (menuetto), 102, 149
(Ex. 42), 271
Op. 26 (1802), A flat major :
2nd mvt., 102
3rd mvt., 214
4th mvt., 234
Op. 27 (1802), No. 1, E flat major:
1st mvt., andante, allegro, an-
dante, 248
2nd mvt., allegro molto e vivace,
248
3rd mvt., adagio con espress,
allegro vivace, 224 n.
Op. 27, No. 2, C sharp minor :
1st mvt., 15
2nd mvt., 240, 257, 266
Eeethoven, Lugwig van
Op. 28 (1801), D major, 3rd mvt.,
102,255
Op. 31 (1802), No. 1, G major, 303
3rd mvt., 220
Op. 31, No. 2, D minor, 1st mvt.,
96
Op. 31, No. 3, E flat major, 303
2nd mvt., 85, 103
3rd mvt., 103, 260
Op. 49 (1796), No. 2, 2nd mvt.,
tempo di menuetto, 102
Op. 53 (1804), C major, 103, 303
Op. 54 (1806), F major, 1st mvt.,
tempo di menuetto, 103
Op. 57 (1804), F minor, 22, 103
Op. 79 (before 1808) :
1st mvt., 103
3rd mvt., 289
Op. 90 (1814), 1st mvt., 103
Op. 106 (1818), B flat major, 2nd
mvt., 103, 234
Op. Ill (1822), C minor, 303
Symphonies for Orchestra
No. 1, C major, Op. 21 (before
1800), 3rd mvt., 102
No. 2, D major, Op. 36 (1802),
3rd mvt., 102, 304
No. 3, E flat major, Op. 55 (1804),
103
No. 4, B flat major, Op. 60 (1806),
102
No. 5, C minor, Op. 67 (1805-),
96, 103
No. 7, A major, Op. 92 (1812), 304
2nd mvt., allegretto, 257, 285
3rd mvt., presto, 102
No. 9, D minor, Op. 125, 2nd
mvt., 103
12 Variations (1797), " See, the con-
quering hero," 88
15 Variations, with Fugue, E flat,
Op. 35 (1802), 304
7 Variations (1804), " God save the
King," 304
32 Variations, C minor (1806-1807),
303
6 Variations, Op. 76 (see " Marcia
alia turca ")
33 Variations, Op. 120 (1823), on a
Diabelli waltz, 21
Waltzes in E flat, 303
Bohm, Karl (1844, Berlin)
" Ataaque des Uhlans," Op. 213, 18
" Light Cavalry," Galop, 18
" Magic Bells," Op. 21, 18 [18
" Spinning-Song," Op. 327, No. 22,
INDEX
315
Bowen, York (1884, London)
Suite in D minor, 304
Brahms, Johannes (1833, Hamburg :
1897, Vienna)
Fantasien, Op. 116 (1892) :
No. 1, Capriccio, t> minor, 262 n.
No. 3, Capriccio, G minor, 224
21 Hungarian Dances (1869-1880),
Simrock Edition :
No. 1, G minor, 234, 305
No. 5, F sharp minor, 66
No. 6, D flat major, 20, 66, 108,
234
No. 10, E major, 8, 298
No. 12, D minor, 71
No. 17, F sharp minor, 255
No. 19, B minor, 81
No. 21, E minor, 289
3 Intermezzi, Op. 116 (1892) :
No. 1, E flat major, 261
No. 2, B flat minor, 16
Klavierstiicke, Op. 76 (1879) :
No. 1, Capriccio, F sharp minor,
35
No. 2, Capriccio, B minor, 79, 107
No. 3, Intermezzo, A flat major,
199 n. [310
No. 5, Capriccio, C sharp minor,
No. 6, Intermezzo, A major, 312
No. 8, Capriccio, C, 281, 312
Klavierstiicke, Op. 118 (1893) :
No. 2, Intermezzo, A major, 267n.,
309
No. 3, Battade, G minor, 22, 217
No. 5, Romanze, 309
No. 6, Intermezzo, E flat minor,
252
Klavierstiicke, Op. 119 (1893) :
Ehapsodie, E flat, 153 (Ex. 46),
291
Sonata in C major, Op. 1 (1853) :
3rd mvt., 70
Sonata, F minor, Op. 2 (1853),
finale, 66, 298
11 Variations (original theme), Op.
21, No. 1 (1861), 234
13 Variations (Hungarian song), Op.
21, No. 2, 235
Bull, John (1573, England : 1628)
" Kings Hunt " jigg, 21
Byrd, William (1543, England: 1623)
" Earle of Salisbury " pavane, 21
The Bells, 312
Casella, Alfredo (1883, Turin)
A la maniere de Vincent d'Indy, 312
" In Alsazia : croci di legno," 312
Chabrier, Alexis (1842, France : 1894):
Bourree fantasque, 22
Chaminade, Cecile (1861, France) :
Marche americaine, 18
Divertissement, Op. 105, 19
Chopin, Fran$ois Frederic (1809,
Poland : 1849, Paris)
Berceuse, D flat major, Op. 57
(1844), 21
3 Ecossaises (posthumous) (1830),
79
12 Etudes, Op. 10 (1829-1831) :
No. 1, C major, 198
No. 2, A minor, 79, 197
No. 5, G flat major, 69
No. 6, E flat minor, 35
No. 8, F major, 298
No. 11, E flat major, 35, 74 n.
12 Etudes, Op. 25 (1830-1834) :
No. 2, F minor, 35
No. 4, A minor, 15, 199 n.
No. 5, E minor, 86
No. 7, C sharp minor, 252
No. 8, D flat major, 35, 43
No. 9, G flat major, 70, 79, 289,
303
No. 10, B minor, 70
No. 11, A minor, 298
Impromptu, A flat major, Op. 29
(? 1838), 218
Impromptu, F sharp major, Op. 36
(1838), 21
" Maiden's Wish " (17 Polish Songs)
1829-1847), 302
4 Mazurkas, Op. 6 (1832), 20
No. 4, E flat minor, 15
5 Mazurkas, Op. 7 (? 1832) : No. 1,
B flat, 43, 80
No. 2, A minor, 78
4 Mazurkas, Op. 17 (? 1834) : No. 1,
B flat, 80
4 Mazurkas, Op. 30 (? 1838) : No. 1,
C minor, 70
No. 2, B minor, 70
No. 3, D flat major, 71
4 Mazurkas, Op. 33 (? 1838) : No. 2,
D major, 101
4 Mazurkas, Op. 41 (1838-1839) :
No. 3, B major, 256
3 Mazurkas, Op. 50 (1841) : No. 1,
G major, 256
No. 2, A flat major, 255, 260
3 Mazurkas, Op. 59 (? 1846), 304
No. 2, A flat major, 81
4 Mazurkas (posthumous), Op. 67
(1835) : No. 1, G major, 70,
256
316
THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
Chopin, Francois Frederic
4 Mazurkas (posthumous), Op. 68 :
No. 1, C major (1830), 256
No 2, A minor (1827), 71
No. 3, F major (1830), 255
No. 4, F minor (1849), 78
3 Nocturnes, Op. 9 (1832) : No. 2,
E flat major, 18, 81
No. 3, B major, 304
3 Nocturnes, Op. 15 (1833) : No. 2,
F sharp, 81
2 Nocturnes, Op. 27 (? 1836) : No. 1,
C sharp minor, 69
2 Nocturnes, Op. 37 (1838-1839) :
No. 1, G minor, 304
2 Nocturnes, Op. 62 (? 1846) : No. 1,
B major, 78
2 Polonaises, Op. 40 (1838) : No. 1,
A major, 76
No. 2, C minor, 253, 297
Polonaise, Op. 44 (1841), F sharp
minor, 250, 297, 304
Polonaise, Op. 53 (? 1843), A flat, 22
3 Polonaises (posth.), Op. 71 (1829) :
No. 3, F minor, 303
20 Preludes, Op. 28 (1839) :
No. 4, E minor, 80
No. 7, A major, 267 n.
No. 8, F sharp minor, 81
No. 11, B major, 35
No. 15, D flat major, 191
No. 20, C minor, 46, 49, 88, 190,
214
No. 21, B flat major, 80
Prelude, Op. 45 (? 1841), C sharp
minor, 7, 80
Romance from Pfte. Concerto, Op. 11
(1830), 305
Rondeau, Op. 1 (? 1825), C minor,
298, 304
Rondeau, Op. 16 (? 1834), E flat,298
Scherzo, Op. 39 ( 1838-1 839), C sharp
minor, 76
Sonata, Op. 4 (posth.), C minor
(1828) : 3rd mvt., 235
Sonata, Op. 35 (1838), B flat minor :
3rd mvt., 195
Valse brillante (Grande), Op. 18
(? 1834), E flat, 65
3 Valses brillantes, Op. 34 (? 1838) :
No. 1, A flat major, 19, 305
No. 2, A minor, 56, 94
Valse, Op. 42 (? 1840), A flat major,
309
3 Valses, Op. 64 (1847) : No. 1,
D flat, 304
No. 2, C sharp minor, 303
Chopin, Francois Frederic
2 Valses, Op. 69 (posth.) : No. 2,
B minor (1829), 80
3 Valses, Op. 70 (posth.) : No. 1,
G flat (1835), 65
No. 3, D flat major (1830), 304
Valse in E minor (posth.), 303
Chorales : see Hymn-tunes and Cho-
rales.
Corder, Paul (1879, London)
Prelude in E major (1906), 81, 304
Couperin, Franois (1668, Paris :
1733)
" Les Moissoneurs " (Suite mvt.), 21
" Les petits Moulins a 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,
1st 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
Danses (1904), 20
" Des pas sur la neige " prelude
(1910), 81
" L'Enfant prodigue " (1884), 304
" Minstrels " prelude (1910), 43
3 Nocturnes for Orchestra (1890) :
No. 2, " Fetes," 303
" Prelude a 1'Apres-midi d'un
Faune" (1902), 305
Dohnanyi, Ernst von (1877, Hun-
gary)
Winter-reigen, Op. 13, No. 8, 20
Dowland, John (1563, Ireland : 1626)
Lachrymce (" Passionate Pavanes "),
21
Dvorak, Antonin (1841, Bohemia :
1904)
Humoreske, Op. 101, No. 7, 19, 95
Slavische Tanze, Op. 46, 20
Elgar, Edward (1857, 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, Cesar Auguste (1822, Liege :
1890, Paris)
Prelude, Aria, and Finale (1886-
1887), 22
Prelude, Choral, and Fugue (1884),
15, 22, 96
Funcke : " Ecoutez moi ! " 18
Gade, Niels Wilhelm (1817, Copen-
hagen : 1890)
Fruhlingsblumen, Op. 2, No. 3, 21
Gardiner, H. Balf our (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, 77
No. 2, Gangar (Norwegian Pea-
sants' March), 18
Lyrische Stiicke, Bk. 6 ; Op. 57 :
No. 4, Geheimniss, 77, 96
Lyrische Stiicke, Bk. 7 ; Op. 62, 303
Norwegische Tanze, Op. 35, 21
Peer Gynt 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 Gynt suite, No. 2 (orch.), Op.
66 : No. 4, Solvejgs 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)
Amorettentanze, Op. 161 (waltzes),
18
" Traume auf dem Ocean," 18
" Sommersnachtstraume," Op. 171,
18
Rheinsegen Walzer, Op. 218, 305
Handel, George Frederick (1685,
HaUe : 1759, London)
Air and Variations, B flat (from
Prelude, Allegro, Aria con varia-
zioni),2l
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 alV 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 fetais, 19
Hoffmann, Edward : Auld lang syne,
paraphrase, 20, 304
Hymn-tunes and Chorales
Alford (Dykes, 1823-1876), "Ten
thousand times," 48, 55, 129,
212
Alia Trinita beata (Italian, c. 1336),
" Blessed feasts," 283
Angelus (German, c. 1657), "At
even, ere the sun," 168, 241
Austria (Haydn), " Praise the
Lord," 202
Beatitudo (Dykes), "How bright
these," 241
318
THE AKT OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
Hymn-tunes and Chorales
Burford (Eng., 17th cent.), " Jesu
Christ, if aught," 241, 242
Canon (Thomas Tallis, c. 1510-
1585), " Glory to Thee," 56
Christchurch (Charles Steggall,1826-
1905), " Jerusalem on high,"
284
Christus Consolator (Dykes), "Art
thou weary," 240, 244
Cloisters (Joseph Barnby, 1838-
1896), " Lord of our life," 167,
224 w., 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
Eirf feste Burg (Luther), " Rejoice
to-day," 46, 53, 213
Erk (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
Gloucester (Edward Hodges, 1796-
1867), " He sat to watch," 217,
218
Hursley (1792), " Sun of my soul,"
28
Innocents : " Conquering kings," 205
Irby (H. J. Gauntlett, 1805-1876),
" Once in royal David's city,"
205
Jesu, dulcis memoria (mediaeval),
" Jesu ! the very thought,"
162
Keble (Dykes), " Sun of my soul,"
283
Love divine (John Stainer, 1840-
1901), 205
Lux benigna (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, 52, 168, 190, 204, 240
Hymn -tunes 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 Cr tiger, 1649),
" Now thank we," 46, 54
Old 81st (Eng., 16th cent.), "The
Son of God goes forth," 243
Old 100th (L. Bourgeois, c. 1510,
Paris), 242
Old 104th (16th-17th cent.), "0
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, 1601),
" sacred Head," 52, 128,
168, 204, 212, 215, 222, 241
Plain-song (mediaeval), " Be near
us," 162
Plain-song (mediaeval), " From east
to west," 218
Redhead, No. 76 (R. Redhead, 1820-
1901), " Rock of ages," 49, 50
Eesurrexit (Arthur Sullivan, 1842-
1900), " Christ is risen ! " 46,
51, 168, 188
St. Albinus (Gauntlett), "Jesus
lives ! " 51
St. Anne (Wm. Crofts, 1678-1727),
" O God, our help," 131, 243
St. Cross (Dykes), " O come and
mourn," 283
St. Cuthbert (Dykes), "Our blest
Redeemer," 48, 239
8t. George (Gauntlett), " God from
on high," 44 n.
St. Helen (G. C. Martin, 1844-1916),
" Lord, enthroned," 205
St. Matthew (Crofts), " Thine arm,
Lord," 243
St. Thomas (18th cent.), " Lo, He
comes," 44 n.
Sanctuary (Dykes), " Hark ! the
sound," 205
Shottery (E. Hulton), "Sweet Sa-
viour, in Thy," 218
Stephanos (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
Trisagion (H. Smart), " Stars of the
morning," 284
Urbs beata (mediaeval), " Blessed
city," 162
Vexitta 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, Hungary: 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) : Gavotte in B minor, 70
Lange, Gustav (1830, Germany :
1889)
"Blue BeUs of Scotland" para-
phrase, 20
" Bonnie Dundee " variations, 20
Lassen, Per : Crescendo, 70
Liszt, Franz (1811, Hungary : 1886)
Consolations, 21, 71, 78
Gnomenreigen e"tude, 19
Harmonies poetiques et religieuses :
No. 3, " Benediction de Dieu dans
la solitude," 22
No. 9, Andante lagrimoso, 80
La Campanella etude (Paganini), 15
Legende : " 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 flat major, 96
No. 4, E flat major, 85
No. 5, E minor, Hero'ide-elegiaque,
66, 85, 86
No. 6, D flat and B flat major,
96, 110
Liszt, Franz
Hhapsodies 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, 85,
295
MacDoweU, 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
Lieder 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
Moszkowski, Moritz (1854, Germany) :
Canon, Op. 15, No. 4, 79
Poeme 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 Nachtmusie (Overture,
Eomanze, Menuetto, 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 lang syne, 20, 304
Blue Bells of Scotland, 20
Bonnie Dundee, 20
British Grenadiers, 28
"Drink to me only with thine eyes,"
176
God save the King, 28, 115, 304
Good King Wenceslas (Gardiner :
Noel],
Molly on the shore, 19
Robin Adair, 86
Rule Britannia, 28, 304
Rakoczy March, 295
Sailor's Hornpipe, 115, 213, 216
"Within a mile of Edinboro' town ,"86
Yankee Doodle, 29
Nessler, Victor (1841, Alsace : 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
Pachulski, 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 (Gavotte), 207
" Golden Sonata " (moderato ; ada-
gio ; allegro : grave ; allegro), 21
Rachmaninoff, 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 (1875, Basses-Pyre-
nees)
" Jeux d'eau, 22
" Miroirs," 22
Valses nobles et sentimentales, 22
Reger, Max (1873, Bavaria : 1916)
7 Characterstiicke, 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 fitude, C major, 19
Saint-Saens, Ch. Camille (1835, Paris)
Concerto (pfte), 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 Fugue," 76
Sonata (" esercizio ") in A major, 21
Scharwenka, Fr. Xaver (1850, German
Poland) : Polish Dances, Op. 9,
20
INDEX
321
Schonberg, Arnold (1874, Austria):
3 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. 64, 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 Klavierstucke (May, 1828) : No. 3,
Allegro 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., attegro giusto, 85, 86,
224
2nd mvt., andante in F major,
75
Op. 147, B major (1817) : 2nd
mvt., 251, 262
3rd mvt., scherzo, 71, 280
Sonata in B flat (? 1828), 303
2nd mvt., andante sostenuto,
85
4th mvt., allegro ma non troppo,
85
Schubert, Franz Peter
Songs :
An Sylvia (" Was ist Sylvia ? "),
165
Der Tod und das Mddchen, 285
Der Wanderer, 296
Wanderer's Nachtlied, 296
Symphony in C major (No. 7), 304
13 Variations (Huttenbrenner), A
minor, 285
Walzer, Op. 18 (a) (1816), 46, 53,
62,89
Walzer, " Soirees 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. 64,
262
Fantasiestiicke, Op. 12 (1837), 21
No. 1, Des Abends, 262
No. 2, Aufschwung, 275
No. 3, W arum ? 78, 80, 93, 199w.,
312
No. 4, Grillen, 270
No. 8, Ende vom Lied, 216, 221,
246, 279
Faschingsschwank aus Wein (Car-
navalpranck), Op. 26, No. 1 :
Fantasiebilder, 303
Fruhlingsnacht (Song : Liszt tran-
scription), 81, 302
" Grief foreboding " (AlbumUatter),
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, Traumerei, 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 t
Op. 99, No. 9), 302
Papillons, Op. 2 (1829-1831), 19
Scott, Cyril (1879, Cheshire)
" Dance negre," Op. 58, No. 5, 76
" Pierette," 304
" Sphinx," Op. 63, 22
Valse scherzando, Op. 58, No. 1, 80>
" Water- Wagtail " (Bergeronnette),
Op. 71, No. 3, 30/i., 304
Scriabin, Alexander (1872, Russia:
1915): Poemes, Opp. 32, 34,
44, 69, 22
322
THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
Sgambati, Giovanni (1843, Rome)
Melodies poetiques, Op. 36, 20
Intermezzo, Op. 21, No. 4, 20
Sibelius, Jean (1865, Finland)
Idyll, Op. 24, No. 6, 21, 71, 78, 264
Nocturno, Op. 24, No. 8, 199 n.
Binding, Christian (1856, Norway)
FruUingsrauclien, 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 (a),
(1892), orch,, 19
Tchaikovski, Peter Iliitch
Concerto, pfte. and orch., Op. 23
(1875), 304
Scherzo a la russe, Op. 1, No. 1, 20
Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64
(1887) : finale, 305
Symphonie pathetique, 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 Isolda,
opera (1857-1859) : prelude,
303
Weber, Carl Maria von (1786, Hoi-
stein: 1826)
" Auff orderung zum Tanz " (Invita-
tion a la Valse), Op. 65 (1819),
90
Les Adieux, Op. 81 (? 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., Menuetto capriccioso, 262
4th mvt., Rondo, 78
Op. 49, D minor (1816) : 1st
mvt., allegro feroce, 70, 303
2nd mvt., andante con moto, 304
3rd mvt., Hondo, 303
Op. 70, E minor (1822), 304
INDEX
323
GENERAL INDEX
"ABSTRACT " (absolute) music, 63, 172,
296
accel. (accelerando), 60
Accent. See Stress, Emphasis, tenuto,
Metre
Accentuations, rhythmical, 227
Accompaniment to melody, 77-80
Addison, 171, 178 w.
2Eolian Company, 13w.
Agogic (see also rubato, tenuto), 62,
117, 127, 132, 136, 139, 269 n.
allarg. (allargando), 62
aUa zoppa, 9, 79, 107, 108, 110, 127,
287 (3)
Anatole 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 (1), 247, 280, 298
Bennett, Arnold, 22
Binary (form, etc.), 44-5, 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 (" Religio me-
dici"), 182
Browning, Elizabeth, 140, 144, 246-7
("Catarina to Camoens "), 144,
145, 245
Browning, Robert, 4, 8, 35, 83, 178 n.,
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,"
158 ff., 223
- " One Word More," 139
" Rabbi ben Ezra," 139, 300
" Summum Bonum," 156
Byrd, 152
CADENCES 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 Molossus -measure
Change of metre (see also 5-time, 7-
time, irregular metres), 38, 49, 235
(4), 263, 271 (e)
of tempo, 38 (7), 60, 93^
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)
" Classical " music, 63, 67, 97, 223
Clause, 43, 99, 153 ff., 188
rhythm, 225 ff.
Clementi, 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, 217(25), 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, llOw., 116
courante (corrente), 306 ff.
Cowper (verses, " Alexander Sel-
kirk"), 154 ff.
Creative Imagination in musical per-
formance, 8, 25, 26, 30-1, 34, 35-6,
40-1, 58, 104, 113
cres, 62
Cross beat, 31 n.
Crossing of parts and voices (contra-
puntal music), 57
DANCE 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, 105, 107,
125, 127, 214
Dowland, John, 137
Down-beat, 31 n.
Dryden, 47 n., 120, 124, 137, 178 n.
duole, 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, 47-54, 61, 225
Elgar, 62
Elision of pulse or measure (parallel
clauses), 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(6), 118, 143, 168, 170, 176,
220 (o), 221, 254, 259, 281 (68)
See also Catalectic
in fermata, 91
Exposition, 45
Expressive playing, 81
-FALLING-CADENCY (-motives, -rhy-
thms), 44, 98, 122, 127, 226, 229,
257 (39), 282 (a)
Fantasia, 273
Fellowes, Edmund Horace, 137 n.
Feminine and masculine cadences,
43-44
Fermata (pause), 14, 37 n., 38(5),
38 (6), 44, 60, 136, 172
as in singing, 49, 51, 53, 175
(Ex. 76)
See also Agogic, the " dwelling em-
how counted in metre, 60, 100,
249 (c)
player-technique for the, 47-8, 92
fermata avanti battuta, 161 (Ex. 56),
175 (Ex. 76), 178
Five-time (quintuple-metre), 29, 126,
127, 134, 203, 235, 243, 271 (e), 310
Five-bar phrase and clause, 98, 190 (4),
203, 208 (5), 217 (28), 226, 228 (1),
231 (5), 281 (69), 283, 287 (4), 294 (2)
Form in music, 3, 44, 45, 46, 90, 99,
187
and substance one identity, 171,
179 n., 185
fortepiano (fp.), 57, 214 n.
Fugue and fugue-playing, 57, 99,
158 ff., 299 ff., 308
GAVOTTE, 32, 203, 205, 207, 213
Goethe, 104
Grieg, 56, 247
Grotesque, 107
HANDEL, 57, 87
Harmonic surprise, 63
Harris, Joel Chandler, 95
Haydn, 67, 108, 207
Herbert, George, 177
Homophony, 55
Hood, Tom, 157
humoresque, 95
Hungarian (see also alia zoppa, Liszt,
etc.), 107, 108, 110, 127, 228, 294,
297, 298
Hymns and tunes (chorales), in music-
study, 28, 46, 47-54, 57, 61, 162,
188-90, 202-5, 212-13, 217-18, 238-
44, 248, 266 n., 283-4
See Index of Musical Composi-
tions
rhythmical stresses in singing,
205, 217-18, 242
IMAGINATION, 58-9. See Creative
imagination
Imitation (polyphonic), 56, 78, 266
(53). See Canon
INDEX
325
Inflexion, 49, 50, 127-8, 150, 189, 212,
294
Inner voices (parts), 55, 73
Interchange of metres. See Five-time,
etc.
Intercommunity of metres. See Metre
of Music
" Irregular " musical structure, 154,
187, 207, 225, 230-1, 231-4, 254(37),
257, 266
JOACHIM, 108
KEATS, 140
Kipling, 300
Klopstock, 59
Korngold, 22
LANGLAND (" Piers Plowman "), 181
legato (see enjambment), 177
Liszt, 14, 22, 52, 63, 67, 96, 108, 298
Longfellow, 116
Lyrical music, 63, 77, 89, 91
qualities in the scherzo, 95
MACAULAY, 300
MacDowell, 15
Madrigal Verse
* Beauty is a lovely sweet," 143
' Come to me, grief," 152
' Crabbed age and youth," 145
' My flocks feed not," 150
' O sweet grief," 162
' The sturdy rock," 138
Masculine and feminine cadences, 43-4
Massenger, 120, 161
Mazurka, 6, 28, 38 (4), 64, 98, 101, 140,
166, 170, 177, 246, 261 n.
tempo di } 100, 297
Meaning and Form, one identity, 3,
116, 120
Measure, 115, 122
the two-pulse, counting to four (see
Spondee), 4, 130, 133
counting to six (see Spondee),
130
intermixture of two- and three-
pulse measures, 98, 234 (10). See
also 5-pulse phrase
the three-pulse, counting to six
(see Molossus), 129, 133
Medtner, 22
melisma, 147, 197 (11)
Melody -levers (accompaniment-con-
trol), 13, 80-1
Mental observation of music (silent
study), 83, 88, 111, 114, 124, 192,
207, 248, 280, 288
mesto, 252
Metre of music, 27 ff., 30-1, 36-8,
162
See Duple-time, etc.
" irregular metres," 38 (9), 129,
141
relation of duple (or quadruple)
and triple (intercommunity of
metres), 28, 125, 168, 169, 170-1,
228 (1), 238 ff., 245-6, 281 (68)
Musical Studies, 238-44, 244-9,
284
interchange of metres. See " Ir-
regular " metres, Change of metre,
five-time, etc.
interlacing of metres. See Poly-
metre, syncopation, spondee and
molossus measures
unit of (one pulse), 123
Metre-less (unbarred) music, 6, 38 (6),
108
Metrical analysis, and rhythmical,
132, 215 n.
pedalling, 24, 27, 31, 36 n., 82, 87,
112
Studies in, 87-111, 197 (11)
sense, 26, 32
stress, 82
unit (one pulse), 123
Metronome, 32
Milton, 116, 161, 172, 300
" Comus " (LI) 174 ; (1.398) 151 ;
(1405) 136, 142, 147
Minuet, 98
tempo di, 102
Modern music, 22, 30, 63, 67, 72, 306,
312
Moszkowski, 14, 15, 108
motive, 30, 34, 114, 116
Motive pedal-stroke, 26, 82, 84, 113
power, provision of, in the player,
23, 113
Mozart, 67, 207
Musette, 206 (20)
Music, the nature of, 3, 6, 8, 36, 52,
63-5, 91, 95, 104, 113, 119, 120, 137
enjoyment of, 3, 4
historical sequence of composi-
tions, 21, 207
knowledge of, 2-4, 11, 35, 36, 110,
227-8, 260-1, 263
listening to, 55
national characteristics in, 20
study of, 4, 5
326
THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
NINE-TIME, 29, 131, 238
Nine-bar clause and sentence, 191 (6),
226, 234 (4), 260 (a), 278-9
Nuances of time, 60
of tone, 62, 67, 202, 242 (Wa)
OCTUPLE-TIME, 29
One-pulse bars, 98
rhythmical affiliation of, 98
Out-beat, 31 n.
Overlapping of measures, 196, 214 (g),
216, 227, 272
PACHMANN, 246
Pause. See fermata
Pedalling, 7, 16, 23 ff., 68, 75-6, 82-5,
112
momentary slackness or rigidity of
the pedals, 16, 23
the pedal-stroke, 23-5, 75-6, 84,
112
Phrase, 30, 40, 42, 100, 200 n.
Phrasing, 37 n., 60 ff., 115, 116, 132,
133, 192, 247
See articulation, cadencing, punctu-
ating, rhythmising, polymetre
Pianoforte, 13, 71, 77
music, 14-15, 39, 149-50, 278
" Pianola," 13 n.
piti mosso (" shorter pulse "). See
stretto
Player-piano, 12, 69, 73
its tendency to stress incorrectly,
31, 35, 38 (3), 126, 149, 310
Player-pianism, 1-5, 6-7, 15, 23, 25,
30, 31, 40, 44, 54, 57-9, 65, 75-6,
99, 111, 113, 126, 137, 196, 228, 250,
265 (53), 267 (58), 269 n., 279, 289
(22), 293, 300
Player-pianist, 47 n., 71, 72, 85, 120,
227-8
first pieces, 16 ff.
Poe, " The Raven," 144
Poems on music, 178 n., 185
set for rhythmical study. See
Arnold, Bridges, Browning, Cole-
ridge, Cowper, Herbert, Hood, hymns,
Langland, madrigal verse, Milton,
Poe, Pope, Shakespeare, Shelley,
Spenser, Still, Tichborne, Watson,
Whitman, Wordsworth
Poetry, reading of, 2, 57, 68, 117, 120,
1 80-1 . See quantitative reading, etc.
and Music, rhythmical nature,
120-1, 296
Polonaise, 44, 128, 200 n., 297
Polyphony and polyphonic music,
44-5, 55, 56, 64, 73, 77, 227, 284 (10)
Polymetre and polymetrical music,
129, 206 (d), 227, 259 ff., 276-7, 278,
306 ff.
Pope, 116, 163, 176, 178 n., 180 n.
Practising, 5, 39
presto, 276
Prosodical Terms, the use of, 113, 117,
120-1, 245-6, 247
Prosody, 9. See Index, page 329
Pulse (beat), 115, 123
affiliation and grouping (see
motive), 34, 37
QUADRUPLE-TIME, 29, 32, 50, 82, 88,
130
Quantity. See Prosodical Terms
Quintuple -time, 134-5
BAG-TIME, 312
Bameau, 105
Bavel, 22
Becapitulation, 45, 46
recit (recitando, recitative), 96, 252 (26)
Beger, 67
Bepeat of sections (musical form), 46,
52, 53, 187
Beprise of sections, 44, 46
Besolution of discord, 63
Bests. See Empty times
Bhythm, 6, 9, 29, 60, 113, 115, 116,
148, 179 n., 200 n., 226, 227, 246
and Metre, 120
of Emphasis, 163
in the abstract, 113, 115
Change in Cadency of Motive and
Clause, 218 ff., 209, 229, 231-2
See Motive, Phrasing, etc.
Bhythmical analysis (by caesurse), 132,
215 n.
climax. See Cadential Stress
consciousness, 26, 38 (3), 101, 113,
115, 160, 247
expression, 139
pedalling, 69, 113-14, 211 (k)
unit (two, or three, pulses), 123
Bising rhythm (motive, cadence), 44,
142
rit (ritenuto, ritardando, the " diffused
retardation "), 51, 60, 88, 172
Boll, the player-, 14, 30, 38 (6), 38 (7),
39, 40, 57, 60, 62, 67, 68, 69, 72, 73,
102
the perforations (examples of), 91,
93
INDEX
327
" Romantic " music, 64, 89, 223
post-, music, 105, 107
Rousseau, 104
rubato. See Tempo rubato
SCHERZO, 6, 14, 28, 95, 98, 101, 107,
140, 166, 170
lyrical elements in the, 95, 103,
267 n.
scherzoso, 64, 99
Schonberg, 22
Schubert, 90, 99, 108, 134, 203, 207,
223, 226, 257, 280, 295-6, 298
Schumann, 14, 63, 67, 90, 127, 134,
223, 226
" Scotch snap," 86
Scott, Cyril, 30
Sentence (-structure), 434, 45-6, 53,
87, 98, 108, 187
Septuple-time, 29, 49, 108, 235
Sequence (musical construction), 51,
62, 105
Seven-bar (-pulse) sentence, 49, 192
(2), 209(4), 230, 242 (1 Oa), 246,
295 (5)
Sextuple-time (two-pulse, spondee),
29, 42, 130
( ) in relation to 4-time, 238-
44
(three-pulse, molossus), 29, 129, 131
sf, sfz (sforzato, sforzando), 57, 214 n.,
269 n. See also tenuto, Trochee with
stressed suffix, and Iamb with stressed
prefix
" Sforzato pedal-stroke," 25
Shakespeare, 4, 41, 116, 118 n., 124,
161, 172, 300 .
" Comedy of Errors," 173
"Hamlet," I, 1 (1.166), 40, 61
I, 3(1.115), 173
Ill, 1 (1.96), 173
"Macbeth," II, 2 (1.27), 130;
(1.63) 118
Ill, 4 (1.86), 176
"Merchant of Venice," IV, 1
(1.184), 40
V, 1 (1.83), 134
" Midsummer Night's Dream,"
I, 2 (1.34), 135
II, 1 (1.2), 178
II, 2 (1.27), 142 ; (1.66) 140-1,
247
" Two Gentlemen of Verona,"
IV, 2 (1.40), 165
Shelley, 140, 161
" Autumn : a Dirge," 156
" Dirge for the Year," 143
Shelley, " Prometheus Unbound," II,
3, To the deep, 155, 156
II, 5, On the brink of the Night,
155
" The Sensitive Plant," 161
Sight-reading (music), 4, 40
Singing-tone. See cantando
Six-bar (-pulse) clause, 52, 53, 226
Softening-lever, 74, 92, 96 (No. 6)
Sonata (symphony), 45, 91
architectural plan of normal first
movement, 44-5
Song, idealised, a basis of abstract
music, 6
sostenuto, 62
sotto voce, 192 (1), 220 (n)
Spenser, 180
Spitta, 106, 273
Still, Bishop John (Song: "Jolly
Good Ale "), 154
Stress, metrical, 27, 34, 36 n., 37, 38 (4)
(secondary) in triple-time, 28, 82,
128, 129, 209
( ) in quadruple-time, 126, 128,
207
subsidiary, 28, 84
expressive, 136, 139. See also
under Prosodial Terms
stretto (" piti mosso "), 261
stringendo, 62
Subsidiary rhythmical motive, 116,
174, 200 n., 213, 237(4), 273-4,
276-7
Sustaining-lever, 13, 67, 71-2, 137,
142, 220, 248
Swinburne, 147
Sympathetic vibration (pianoforte)
71-2
Symphony. See Sonata
Syncopation, 9, 37 (2), 38 (3), 49, 93,
196, 199, 205, 270-1, 276-7, 312
by change of ictus and caesurse, 125,
126, 129, 131, 146, 225, 233, 259-63,
275 (a), 276-7, 292, 306 ff.
by adjustment of quantity (synco-
pation of emphasis), 129, 131, 149,
158
of the half-beat, 93, 199 n., 281
(69)
See Polymetre
TCHAIKOVSKI, 56, 63, 67, 99
Tempo-lever, 12, 60, 65
tempo rubato, 13, 17, 37 n., 46, 57,
60-5, 114, 117, 134-5, 141, 154, 169,
170, 172, 204, 218, 223, 226, 229,
245-6, 247
328
THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
tempo^ rubato, artificially effected in
the player roll, 14
in poetry, defined by Coleridge,
121
See also Nuances of time, Agogic
tempo-sforzato pedal-stroke, 75-6
Ten-beat clause, 51, 52, 109
Tennyson, 83, 120
tenuto (" dwelling emphasis " ; see
also agogic and sforzato), 37 n., 61-2,
136, 172, 269 n.
See also tempo rubato
Ternary form, 44-5, 51, 93, 187
Thought-grouping of syllables, 116
Three-bar measure, amid two-bar,
190, 230 (3), 234 (10), 290 (4). See
also Five-bar ; Spondee- and Molos-
sus-measures
Tichborne, Chideock, 138
Times. See Metre of music
Tone production, 24, 68, 77
Musical Studies, 69-71, 78-81
(contrasts of), 13, 14, 23-4, 67, 99,
101, 110,215(0
( how effected, 12, 48, 110
" Tone-Poem " and descriptive music,
89, 194, 201
See Index of Compositions (e.g.
Bantock, Strauss, Saint-Saens, etc.)
Touch, 24-5
direct and controlled, 7, 68
(motive-accentuation : rhythm),
168, 197, 204, 215 (/), 241, 179, 283,
289 (23)
Tovey, Donald, 121
tre (" lutte ") corde, 75, 278
Trio (form), 44
triole, 238
Triple-time, 27, 89, 236
(the secondary metrical accent of)
27-8, 38 (4), 99, 100, 209 (4), 225
( ) on count 3, 128, 235 (2),
269. See also Trochee, Iamb, etc.
one-pulse time, 98, 101
(three-minim) in relation to quad-
ruple (four-crotchet), 244 ff.
Tupper, 116
Twelve-time, 29
Twelve-count phrase, 194 (8), 197
UNA CORDA, 74, 86, 278
Unit of rhythm. See Measure,
Rhythmical Unit
Up-beat, 31 n.
VIVACE (" vivacious "), 265, 273 (63)
Vocal music, 28
" Voices " and parts, 55
WALTZ, 28, 55, 89-90, 98, 170
Watson, William, 145
Weber, 19, 90, 297
Whitman, 8, 64, 116, 181
" Death's Valley," 184
" Proud Music of the Storm," 183
Williams, Abdy, 6 n.
Wolf, Hugo, 296
Wordsworth, 132, 140, 142
INDEX
329
PKOSODICAL TERMS
Acatalectic, 140, 189 ff., 212
Amphibrach (4-time), 128 (Exs. 22,
26), 86
(verbal), 128, 125, 152 (3), 156 (4),
179
(by csesural phrasing), 132, 140 (c),
141 (d), 148, 168 (Ex. 60, b), 212 ff.,
215 (j)
(3-time), 171 (Ex. 71, a), 266 n. ;
Musical Studies, 267 ft., 309
the Subsidiary, 219 n., 247, 221 ff.,
274, 279 ff., 283
falling (alia zoppa), 127 (Ex. 21),
167, 191 (7), 285 (12)
(3-time), 171 (Ex. 71, b)
( ) in Compound Motives. See
Molossus
rhythm of the Phrase, 202-3,
206 (&), 206 (18)
of the Clause, 218, 29
Amphimacer, 126 (Ex. 19)
(falling-anapest), 126 (Ex. 20). See
also Anapest
(ditrochee catalectic), 140 (a),
152 (3), 155-6, 158 (2), 178 (1)
(caesural), 132
(by syncopation), 157 (Ex. 52)
quantity (dotted-note), 189
Anacrusis, 140, 155 (4), 167
Anapest (4-time), 124 (Ex. 8)
(verbal), 125, 152 (3)
(6-time, two pulses: |), 125
(Ex. 15), 131
(ditrochee catalectic ; amphi-
macer), 153 (Ex. 45), 178 (1), 189 ff.,
201 ff.
falling (amphimacer), 126 (Ex. 20),
127, 153 (Ex. 45), 158, 190 (6), 201
( ) 3-time, 170 (Ex. 69)
(3-time, one pulse), 171 (Ex. 72),
309
( ) equal quantity (molossus-
measure), 170 (Ex. 70), 270 (c),
272 ff.
compound-motive (iamb-anapest),
ISO (Ex. 43), 111 (Ex. 81), 266 n.,
267 n., 268 (a). See also Molossus
(compound-motive)
Anapestic phrase-rhythm, 40, 189,
191, 220 (r)
verse, 154 ff., 160-1, 179
Antibacchius (palimbacchius), 127,
152 (5), 170 (Ex. 68)
Antispastus, 126, 130, 143(0), 150,
169 (Ex. 62), 176 (Ex. 77), 270 (a)
Bacchius, 132, 143(2), 151, 152,
155 (4), 156 (4), 161 (Ex. 56), 166,
176, 193 (d)
Brachycatalectic, 157
Caesura, 135, 144(3), 157, 174 (1),
252 n.
Catalectic (see Empty times), 131, 134,
140, 154, 168, 189 ff., 212
Choriamb in Diiambic verse (the
inverted foot), 147, 174 (1), 180-1,
185 (c)
in I metre, 167 (Ex. 60, a), 242 ( 11),
243 (14, a)
in * metre (syncopation by accent),
IW(Ex. 61), 169 (Ex. 63, b), 219
(Ex. 87)
Choriambic verse, 147-8, 158 (1), 126,
177 (c)
Choriambus, | (molossus-measure),
130 (Ex. 31), 146
2 (spondee-measure), 146
Chorus. See Trochee
Dactyl (two-pulse), | metre, 124-5,
282
I metre, 125 (Ex. 16), 284 (9)
Dactylar verse, 167, 152, 135, 157 ff.,
283 ff.
music, 284-96
the subsidiary motive, 283,
190 (6), 206 (20), 286 (18), 289 (22,
23), 296 ff.
Dactyl, 3-time, 142 (/), 167 (Ex. 59),
171 (Ex. 73), 176 (5)
(molossus-measure), 170 (Ex.
68), 284 (7)
(alia zoppa), 127 (Ex. 21), 177
(b). See also Antibacchius
Dibrach, 121
Diffused retardation and Dwelling
emphasis (rubato, tenuto), 120-1, 172
Diiamb. See Iamb)
two-pulse, I time, 123-4 ; Musical
Studies, 263-6
I time, 167-8 ; Musical Studies,
212-17, 217-21
of equal quantity (dispondee),
152 (3), 175 (2)
(by stress), 276 n.
330
THE ART OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
Diiamb in quantity of pyrrhic and
spondee, 149 (Ex. 41)
the relation of triple and quad-
ruple times, 168, 238-43, 248
the relation of spondee-measure
and molossus-measure, 248 (19),
276-9
Dimeter, 134, 189, 212
Dispondee. See Spondee, Diiamb,
Ditrochee
Ditrochee. See Trochee
(two-pulse, I time), 123-1, 129 ;
Musical Studies, 263-6, 269, 275 (3),
309
( I time), 167-8, 188-90, 201-5 ;
Musical Studies, 190-201, 205-11
the relation of quadruple (duple)
and triple times, 238-44, 244-50.
See also Molossus, Ionic, Anapest,
Amphimacer
Empty times (catalectic), 143, 154,
175 (Ex. 76), 176 (Exs. 78-80),
177 (c), 180 (Ex. 83)
Enjambment (legato), 141-2, 144, 177
Epitrite, 151, 152, 172, 175(3), 177,
216 (e)
Falling motive, 122
Hypercatalectic, 142, 164
Iamb. See Diiamb
(3-time, one-pulse), 121 (Ex. 4),
122 (Ex. 6), 131, 168, 243 (13),
149 (Ex. 41)
(2-time, one-pulse), 122, 131, 167-8,
243 (Ex. 13)
(four counts), 125
( spondee), 122, 136-7, 151 (2),
149 (Ex. 41)
the dotted-note, 85
with stressed prefix, or tenuto,
136-7, 243
in music, 196, 267 (55), 271-2
as "rising-trochee," 149 (Ex.
42), 271-2
falling. See Trochee
Iambic pentameter (iambic trimeter
catalectic: blank verse), 130, 134,
154, 172
verse, 152 (3), 135-9, 162, 173 ff.,
178 ff.
the feminine csesura (amphibrach),
128, 132, 168 (Ex. 60, b), 239 (1)
Iambic verse, the trochaic phrasing,
132, 142, 151 (2), 162 (509), 213, 266
(54)
Ictus, syncopation by change of. See
Molossus
Ionics, 172
major, 130, 169, 170
minor, 130, 169, 205, 208 (6), 281
as ditrochee (molossus-measure),
169, 180 (Ex. 83), 189(2), 204,
240-1, 245 (16), 247, 273 ff., 275 (6) ;
Musical Studies, 273 ff.
Longs and Shorts, 121
Molossus (three-pulse measure),
129-30
in verse, 151 (2), 157. See also
Epitrite
Compound Musical Motives, 245-8,
250-4, 255-9, 266-71, 272-5, 276-9,
296 (30)
(anapest - amphibrach, amphi-
macer -amphibrach), 200 (Ex. 84),
145 (6), 151 (a)*
Musical Studies, 250(23), 251
(24) ff., 255 ff.
(amphibrach-anapest, amphi-
brach-amphimacer), 209 (Ex. 86),
185 (a) ; Musical Study, 250 (23)
ditrochee, 245 ff., 266, see also
Ionics ; Musical Studies, 255-9
measure (i) and Spondee-measure
(), 236 ff., 244 ff., 310
syncopation by change of
ictus, (I), 259 ff ; Musical Studies,
260-2, 276-7, 233(5), 234: (10);
(II), 260, 306 ff.
Paeon, 160, 171, 172, 175
by csesura, from Iamb, 176 (5),
155 (3), 214 (d)
from Anapest, 154 (1), 155 (5)
from Amphibrach, 222 (c)
Palimbacchius. See Antibacchius
Proceleusmaticus, 216 (c), 301 (4)
Pyrrhic, 121 ff., 151, 157
See Trochee
Quantity, 119, 121, 163 ff.
Quantitative reading of verse, 119,
124, 135, 147, 161, 162, 209 (4)
metrical motives modified by
emphasis and pause, 126, 127, 128,
129, 140, 143, 156 (4), 158, 163 ff., 171
* " and tell me' it is safe."
INDEX
331
Quantitative reading : synthetic
Studies in Verse and Prose, 180-6
Beading to Metre, 135, 147, 161, 162,
180-1
Rising motive, 122
Scansion, 123
Spondee, 121, 122, 123, 192 (1)
in verse, 152, 135, 155 (2), 179
by tenuto and dwelling emphasis.
See Bacchius, Diiamb, Dispondee,
Epitrite, Ionic, Iambus, Molossus,
Trochee
-measure, 6-time (two-pulse),
123 ff., 236 ff. See Molossus
measures, with interpolated
Molossus-measure, 98, 234 (10) ;
See also Five-bar phrases, Three-
measure phrase
Subsidiary motives. See Anapest, etc.
Suffix and Prefix, 122, 223
Tribrach, 123
Trimeter, 134
Trochee. See Dilrochee
(3-time, one-pulse), 121 (Ex. 3),
122-3
(emphatic contraction, Iamb- fall-
ing), 85, 128 (Ex. 23), 129, 137, 146,
168, 239 (1), 264 (50), 309
(2-time, one-pulse), 143, 148 (Ex.
40), 167-8
(four counts), 125, 165 (Ex. 67) ff.
(varying quantities), 165 (Ex. 57),
191-2
(four counts, spondaised), 143 (1),
166 (e)
with stressed suffix, 128, 140, 146,
177-8, 195, 197 (b), 199, 201, 213,
220, 235 (2), 249, 251, 256, 260, 269,
290, 293 (a)
-rising. See Iamb
Trochaising (the dotted-note move-
ments), 86, 125, 127-8, 212, 214
Trochaic verse, 152 (3), 150 (1), 162,.
178 (1), 139-45, 188-90, 201-5, 247
with Iambic caesura, 141 (e)
with amphibrach (anacrusis), and
iambic foot, 128, 141, 143 (g)
332
THE AKT OF THE PLAYER-PIANO
MOTIVES AND RHYTHMS IN MUSIC-TYPE ABSTRACT
Ex.
PAQB
1
121
2
121
3
121
4
121
5
122
6
122
7
122
8
122
9
123
10
123
11
123
12
123
13
124
14
124
15
125
16
125
17
125
18
125
19
126
20
126
21
127
22
128
23
128
24
128
25
129
26
129
27
129
28
129
29
130
30
130
31
130
32
130
33
130
34
130
35
132
36
137
37
145
38
147
39,40
148
41
149
42
149
spondee (4-time)
pyrrhic
trochee (3-time)
iambus (3-time)
trochee (3-time)
iamb (3-time)
spondee (falling cadence)
spondee (rising cadence)
ditrochee (6-time), falling
ditrochee, rising
diiamb (6-time), falling
diiamb, rising
anapest (4-time)
dactyl (4-time)
anapest (6-time)
dactyl (6-time)
anapest (" trochaised,"
dotted-note)
dactyl (" trochaised ")
amphimacer (5-time)
" falling-anapest "
(4-time)
" falling-amphibrach "
(alia zoppa)
amphibrach (4-time)
" falling-iambus "
(trochee)
" falling-iamb " (4-time)
ditrochee (6-time)
amphibrach (4-time)
molossus
molossus
major ionic
minor ionic
choriambus
choriambus
antispastus
antispastus
bacchius
iambs (stressed prefix)
trochees (csesural change
and adjustment of
quantity)
choriambics (strict quan-
tities)
choriambics (adjusted
to 6-time)
iambs (syncopated)
iambs (syncopated :
" rising - trochee ") ;
from Beethoven, Op.
22, menuetto
Ex. PAGE
43 150
44
45
151
153
46 153
47 154
48 154
49, 50 155
51 156
52 157
53
54
158
161
55,56 161
57 165
58 166
59 167w.
60 (a) 167
60(6)
60 (c) 168
61
169
62 169
63 (a) 169
63(6) 169
64 169
65, 66 169
170
170
iamb and anapest
(3-time)
1st epitrite
anapests with subsidiary
dactyls (from Grieg,
Op. 46, No. 2)
dactylar musical phrase
(from Brahms, Op. 119,
No. 4)
catalectic foot (empty
time)
3rd paeon
anapests (csesural and
quantitive phrasing)
bacchius (amphibrach
quantity) and amphi-
brach (4-time)
anapests (amphimacer by
syncopation)
dactyls (syncopated)
anapests and iamb (strict
4-time)
anapests and iambs (free
metre)
" Who is Sylvia ? "
ditrochee (from Ex. 21)
dactyl (Ex. 73)
" Cloisters "
relation of 3-time and
2-time (feminine cadence,
Ex. 22)
choriamb (4-time), (Ex.
87), syncopation by
stress
antispastus (6 - time);
strict quantity, synco-
pation by change of
ictus
antispastus (4 - time) ;
syncopation by stress
choriamb (4-time) ; syn-
copation by stress
antispastus (Ex. 63 a),
dotted-note
ditrochee (ionic quan-
tity), by syncopation
(6-time)
ditrochee (ionic quan-
tity) ; syncopated
dactyl (3-time), equal
quantities ( ant i bac-
chius stresses)
INDEX
333
PAGE
170
70 170
71 (a) 171
71(6) 171
72
73
75
76
77
171
171
74 171
175
175
176
78 176
anapest-falling (3-time),
equal quantities (am-
phimacer stresses)
anapest-rising (3-time),
equal quantities
amphibrach (3-time),
equal quantities
amphibrach-falling
(3-time), equal quan-
tities
anapest (3-time)
dactyl (3-time), (Ex.
59)
anapestic rhythms
(3-time) ; from Schu-
bert, Op. 42, scherzo
epitrite (3-time), synco-
pation
iambs (rhythmical phras-
ing)
antispastus (3 - time),
molossus-measure
iambs (3-time), with
catalectic foot
Ex. PAGB
79, 80 176 iambs (3-time), rhyth-
mical phrasing and
empty times
81 177 anapest and diiamb
(4-time)
82 177 enjambment
83 180 rhythmical phrasing and
empty times
84, 85 200 compound-motive (mo-
lossus), anapest-amphi-
brach (equal quantities)
86 209 compound-motive(molos-
s\i8),amphibrach-anapest
(equal quantities)
87 219 choriamb (4-time),
(Ex. 61), from Chopin,
Op. 29
88 220 rhythm in empty
measures, from Chopin,
Op. 29
89 222 in re subsidiary amphi-
brach
90 224 from Beethoven, Op. 27,
No, 1 ; finale
Printed in Great Britain at
The Mayflower Press, Plymouth.
William Brendon & Son, Ltd.
PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY
MT
700
Grew, Sydney
The art of the player-
piano
Music
