HARP AND PIANO.

Shannon News, 31 May 1927, Page 2

HARP AND PIANO.

FROM EGYPTIAN TIMES TO THE

PRESENT DA*

WHO IS THE GREATEST PIANIST?

The origin of that permanently. established instrument, the piano, was traced by Mr. Edwin Dennis, A.Jt.C.M. in the second lecture of the series! on “The Appreciation of Music,” which he gave in the De Luxe Concert Cliamber on Monday evening, under the auspices of the W.E.A. The attendances so far liave not been large, but have rather been confined to aT-.few earnest students of the art and philosophy of music; but it should be known that large part of the lecturer’s remarks are of general interest, and his skill as a racouteur adds considerable point to them. The first instrument among those forming, the ancestors of the piano, Mr. Dennis slionfed, \vas ’he harp, a very ancient medium of expression, which was found to have been in use at Thebes.in the 13th century B.C. The old Egyptians liad a harp standing six feet high, besides the smaller types. The medieval harp had only one scale, and in order to i produce semitones the strings had to be stopped with the fingers, thus robbing the player of the use of one of his hands for the time being. In the modern development of the instrument the double action was embodied, by means of which the pitch of the strings is raised by two separate half-tones by the use of pedals. The minor scale can only be set in the descending form, the ascending requiring a change of pedals. Describing the link between the harp and the pianp, in the clavichord, Mr. Dennis said that originally somebody conceived the idea of laying the harp on its side and putting a keyboard in front of it. This instrument was used in Germany up to the 19th century, and Baeh preferred it to the piano, while Beethoven could best eont.r6l tone and expressive interpretation by its,use. In thd 15th and 16th centuries tlnre were the spinet and the harpsichord, the former being the harpsichord on a small scale. The latter occupied an important place from the 15th to the 18th century; .and in Florence and Rome in 1600 it was used to accompany orchestras in oratorio work, the bass notes being supported by large viols. In considering the piano proper from the historical point of view, the name of- BrcadWood figured more than any other. Backers invented the English action, and Broadwood and Stoddart perfected it: Another man who entered early' into the piano business was Bord, of Pans. The piano was invented by Cristofori, an Italian. Bach played liis first solo on a piano in London in 1768. Broadwood in 1783 in-

troduced pedals, and in 1790 she invent'ed the first piano with five and a-half octaves. Perhaps the man who had exerted the most influence on presentday players was . Czerny, who was taught by Beethoven and Clementi, and who in turn taught Liszt and Hullah. Probably 75 per cent, of presentday .pianists were practically indebted directly to Czerny, who'invented the scales thaif would overcome all the technical difficulties that players were likely to. meet. Dealing with the much-debated question as to, who is the greatest living pianist, Mr Denhis said that" different people would have different ideas on the subject, probably with good reasons for them. The question was -whether there was a “best” pianist to-day. Mr Dennis quoted the names of 14 pianists whom he considered to be at the top of the tree. Rachmaninoff was one of the best composers who was a brilliant pianist. Rosenthal’s technique had not been surpassed. As interpreters various others were brilliant. Backhands technical ability was marvellous, but he did not impress one with his playing, which left the hearer colder than the performances of some other pianists did. Grainger was a technical wonder, and he had much expression. The same could be said of Paderewski and Levitsky. Hambourg had got to the stage where he took a glory in breaking the strings occasionally. A '.most interesting figure, though he was not playing at present, was old Paelimann, wlio was an exception to ' the dictum that a man could not be at the same time a wonderful musician and a business man. Paclimann was a

marvellous business man, and yet he was probably the greatest exponent of Chopin in the world to-day. He was a peculiar little man, but he was absolutely the idol of the London public. He seemed to have the right idea of what to do with pianoforte music, and did it. He did not play any encores, and lie would not have any compunction in telling his hearers to “shut up.” Cyril Towsey, of Auckland, had gone oh a small four, as a solo pianist, with Paehmann, who was greatly attached to him. . Mr Dennis added some information as to the evolution of rhythm in music, and its derivation from dancing. In modern times the influence of the dance on composers was very marked, especially in regard to the movement of the waltz. The dance had come into its own more in the present day than it had ever done. Ten or twelve years ago the English people came to realise what classical dancing meant.