Though and Action in Musical Europe

by Arthur Elson

In the Zeitgeist, Alexander Moszkowski, brother of Moritz, makes a prophecy for the pianola, and claims that it will soon oust the pianist. In the Allgemeine Musik-Zeitung, Irene Wild replies, and with show of reason.

Moszkowski claims that a piece of music is analogous to a picture, and, therefore, needs to "middleman" between composer and performer; but the conclusion is hardly correct, for a composition cannot be taken in an instant, like a picture, but must be played through by man or machine. Irene Wild aptly remarks that self playing violins are not on the market, and that no one has criticised the violinists for their presence in the recitals. As matters are at present, some of the applause goes to the pianist, violinist, or singer, as well as to the composer represented. Moszkowski hold this wrong. If it substitutes a personal hero worship for real appreciation of the music, then it surely is wrong. But probably those who exalt the performer unduly are not really musical, and might tire of pianola recitals. At any rate, the truly musical hearer appreciates the composition, even though he may give due meed of applause to the performer. The pianola would not heighten his appreciation of the work.

The second writer laments the excess of technique in modern playing, and points back to the good old times when Clara Schumann won homage, not so much by her modest technique as by her musical personality. She considers that the pianola marks another step forward in technique at the expense of true musicianship. The man who will prefer pianola recitals to the work of great artists (we still have many), palpitating with life and spirit, is not the man to appreciate Moszkowski's "ideal contact" between hearer and composer. There is still room for the personality of the performer and the individuality of his interpretations.

There is a large field for the pianola in the spreading of musical knowledge. It can carry the world's repertoire to places where the pianist is never heard. It cannot reproduce great works with the exact touch of the artist, but it does well enough for its purpose. Now, however, a greater machine has arisen, of which the Mignon player piano is the first example. The actual playing of the composer is taken down by a sound recording machine, from which the roll is made directly. This reproduces every nuance of the performer's shading, and an instrument of this sort disseminates not only the compositions, but the rendering given them by any or all of the world's great pianists. It is a substitute for the pianist rather than a rival, but one hesitates to make any prophecies.

Music of the Far North

In the Monthly Journal of the International Music Society, W. Thalbitzer and Hjalmar Thuren write on Eskimo music. Their particular brand of this article comes from the settlement on the east coast of Greenland, first clearly explored by Holm twenty-five years ago. The authors find poetry and song well developed in the colony, and have recorded much of the latter by means of the phonograph. The Eskimos have narrative songs, magic charms, legendary songs, lullabies, boat songs, hunting songs and the so called drum songs. That latter include chiefly songs of dispute, conflict or legal procedure. They are accompanied by the drum, which is the only musical instrument that these Eskimos possess. The drum is used to accompany religious songs also.

The melodies of this tribe are quite numerous. As in other primitive races (notably American Indian) the sense of rhythm is highly developed; song and drum, for example, will have rhythms that are wholly distinct from each other. The songs, especially, are very complex in this matter. Their melody varies from the parlato style through the lyric to the fortissimo scream, though the latter is not inappropriately used. In form nearly all the songs are three part. There is no very definite scale, but the intervals are diatonic and sometimes pentatonic. Often a song is based on no more than three chief notes, though interesting effects are obtained by the use of frequent grace notes. These songs are superior to much of our Indian music, but no composer has yet written as Eskimo suite. The two schools are much alike, as races that are ignorant of harmony usually show a high development of rhythm.

The Etude Magazine February 1911