The art of Emanuel Feuermann; Schubert and Brahms, part 1

From four College Radio in Amherst the eastern educational radio network presents the third in a six part series of programs devoted to the art of a manual for a man host for this series is cellist Seymour Itzkoff a member of the Department of Education at Smith College. I would like to begin today's program with a foreman recording of Schubert Sonata in a minor for cello and piano. The arpeggio Annie with Gerald Moore at the piano. This recording was made in England in the early 30s. Schubert wrote this a not an 18 24 for a friend Vinson's Shuster who played the arpeggio ni a six string fitted instrument played like the cello but too like the guitar. It was in fact sometimes called guitar the more the instrument was at that time a recent creation by a John George style for a Vienna who had introduced it a year earlier in 1903. The arpeggio only proved to be a sterile hybrid and disappeared almost as suddenly as it had come leaving the Schubert is not to be transcribed for

both cello and viola. There are a number of technical problems for the cello which arise out of the necessary reduction from six strings tuned in fourths to four strings tuned and fit awkward across the string maneuvers some very wide ranging jumps and a great deal of playing which takes place in the high positions of the A and the strings as a result the piece can take on an artificially thin quality and does sound very unsure and when put in lesser hands. For these reasons it has also become a part of the viola repertoire and has often been performed violist for whom the difficulties are more manageable. And yet musically still satisfying. The arpeggio is not among Schubert most profound chamber works. Nevertheless in the hands of for him and its lyricism is quite beguiling in this said. It is typical Schubert. Let us now hear the A minor Sonata for cello and piano the arpeggio only played by Emmanuelle for human and General Moore.

Good. Morning. And. And. And and. And. And. Let it. Go. On.

It is. More. Than the Earth. Who. Are One.

Of whom. Or who else.

Movement.

Yes. I'm not. Perfect.

Good. Thing.

Her. With. Her.

And with whom. Good. Food. Are good. Woohoo.

We have just heard a performance of Schubert Sonata in a minor for cello on piano the arpeggio Ani with a manual for women and girls more at the piano. One wonders after hearing a performance such as this whether made by a cellist such as Philemon a violinist like Heifetz or pianist of the caliber of her words or Rubenstein. What it is that creates the kind of mystique that surrounds both their persons and their art and keep their audience in a perpetual state of an throw Mitt. Certainly it is not the mere display of preternatural abilities abilities which are rooted in innate biological capacities. We all assume the prior existence of the built in measure of talent whatever that may be. But these are just displayed to many diverse qualities for us to draw any conclusions based on simple genetic reasoning and mere accounting of the obstacles that confront aspiring wunderkind there can make us aware of the diverse circumstances which shaped the career of any musical candidate. How many brilliant young technicians

have seen their physical capabilities evaporate with adolescent inventory. In addition how few of those who bring their technical eclat to fruition in adulthood realize the intellectual the emotional or even the charismatic qualities which mark off the true virtue also. These are qualities which refer to the rich are also his own personal development. There is in addition a bond of sympathy between artist and audience which adds to his powers of communication. This bond this form not only out of the audience's recognition of the inexplicable amalgam of innate and environmental elements which go into making the artist but also by the fact that he is their artist. There's a common cultural locus serves to remind the public that given similar opportunities the discipline of effort and perhaps a certain measure of talent. The same possibilities exist for all of us. The great virtue OSI are always practitioners of a common and prized cultural endeavor. The history of ancient Greece reveals an illustration of this point. I musical

competition was held at the at the Pythian Games of 586 B.C.. A certain to cut us who played the all of us in instrument related to the oboe but with two mouthpieces was the winner. He played a composition illustrating the combat between Apollo and the dragon. Thus our earliest known example of program music. The effect was so powerful that the performance remained famous for centuries. That's why Elsa caught us abilities might not have been transferable to our culture so as to going to have an equal measure of fame. His role is a musical virtue also in his own culture is quite similar to that of the modern performing artist. It was far more than the mere public display of awesome abilities of the sort represented by a Babe Ruth. And here we come to a final service at the virtue also musician performs for his public. It is his capacity through his musical art to evoke a resonance both individually meaningful and culturally communicable in his musical performance he touches and releases our deepest emotional intuitions. In addition he

satisfies our critical aesthetic awareness of form and proportion. In this sense the virtue also now rises to the point of becoming a truly creative artist. Let us now briefly pursue the reasons behind the amazing production of so many virtuosi such as a manual for women. During that short period of European history which ended with World War 1 there are hints in Foreman's life and career which are instructive. Music permeated the culture which the elder for humans provided for their children. It was not of course a recreational conception of music. Rather it constituted their physical and emotional existence. Musical literacy was as important to them as the ordinary forms of literacy are to the average family today. Music then was a vocation and not an avocation. Instrumental achievement was expected in the same sense that we expect our infants to pick themselves up and walk at age one or talk at two. It was inconceivable to them that music could be tasted and dropped after a few months

not found to be to the child's liking as had as happened so often in our day. Today we conceive of music as a pleasurable enhancement of life on a par with other entertainment TV cinema radio informants youth music was not only a basic learning task of that environment but one of the few joys available to the adult as well as the child. We cannot ever know definitively what pedagogical and psychological conditions produced a virtue also. It is doubtful that even so famous a violin teacher as Leopold hour could explain the correlation between his teaching and the results achieved by his students. But obviously there was an attitude even if unconsciously held which was conducive to attaining the level of competency that these youngsters realized. Perhaps a tentative hypothesis is warranted here. Simply if cryptically stated these young wonders use their instruments as personal objects of physical exploration

the learning circumstances must have been open ended in that their energies were expended naturally and intuitively in their quest for control and mastery. How else can we explain the very rapid encompassing of the possibilities available on the instrument. So typical of the ritual also. It is important that study begin at an early age to ensure the necessary union of buy an instrument. Perhaps it is not crucial that the child start at age three or four. He can begin at five or seven perhaps even later. What is important is that his progress not be tedious and drawn out at some time not too long after his first acquaintance with the instrument. The spark ought to be ignited which will catapult him poet technically the earlier and more firmly rooted is his ability to handle easily the literature of the instrument. The more opportunity he will have in adolescence and young maturity to refine and perfect his art. The critic Irving call a dean recalling for humans Master Book masterful control of

and physical union with his instrument noted that for him and never looked at a single board or needed to observe his actions while he played. It is not necessary to envision the ritual also practicing in numerable hours a day to achieve this control. We have noted previously that only during a two year Leipsic period under Julius Klingle if women practice to five to seven hours daily that we might expect that the virtue also. What is more important than sheer hours on the instrument is the economy of the effort involved. Given an early and intimate association with the instrument what is needed is the ability to focus oneself directly on the technical or musical problems that must be resolved. A tremendous awareness in control of one's capabilities are here presume. Then one can do is for him and usually did study the music away from the cello and with a few run through is on the instrument to perform it as conceived. Joseph Shuster at that time first cellist with the Berlin Philharmonic recalled a five or

six week vacation period that he spent with women in the 1920s. Shuster did not believe that four women had brought an instrument with him. He certainly never practiced during this time. Yet on two days notice for him and accepted an engagement to substitute for the Hungarian cellist Arnold for all to see in a divorce our cello concerto just going along for the performance and reported that it was unbelievable for its perfection and beauty for him and carved out his own standard of chillis to competence in artistry both technically and aesthetically. Cello playing of this kind of not exist before one wonders to what higher level he might have aspired to. Had he been surrounded by cellist of similar capabilities in his time. In this sense flame in significance goes beyond as concrete instrumental achievements. His kind of on the street has now become the paradigm of the cellos capabilities. Eugene Ormandy has recalled the occasion of the recording of the Brahms double concerto that we are