The time has gone by when the
musician and composer was considered a sort of freak, knowing music and
nothing else. We know the great composers were men of the highest
intelligence and learning, men whose aim was to work out their genius
to the utmost perfection. Nothing less than the highest would satisfy
them. As George Eliot said, 'Genius is the capacity for taking infinite
pains.' Think of the care Beethoven took with every phrase, how many
times he did it over, never leaving it till he was satisfied."
In speaking of the great European teachers Mr. Roeder continued:
"We hear much of the Leschetizky method; but with that master technic is
quite a secondary matter over which, when once the principles are
mastered, he troubles himself but little. It is the conception of the
work as a whole which concerns him, how to project it, so to say, most
effectively to an audience. He brings into prominence now this part, now
that, accenting here, slightly exaggerating there, in order to make the
picture more vivid to the listener. Harold Bauer is another illuminating
master for those who have a technical equipment adequate to the
performance of great works of piano literature. Some go to him who are
not ready for what he has to give, but to those who can direct attention
to the meaning of the music, he is a wonderful inspirational force.
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