Cincinnati Conservatory of Music - Pans Pipers Yearbook (Cincinnati, OH)

Page 175 text:

If I had spent two hours a day for the 1,461 Days in developing the old bean, instead of Carrying the kitchen stove to Quebec or Hamilton, I'd be a musical Einstein now instead of a harmony Teacher in the Conservatory Basement. Isn't it strange: When I was young no One thought of teaching a pupil to Listen to music. The pendulum has made a mighty Swing'since then. Today we try to generate Listening, Understanding and Appreciation, both in pupils and hoi PolIoi, and the reason it's so hard to Do is that lots of pupils dontt want to Listen or appreciate or ' Understand. They want to be concert Artists, and make hoi polloi Listen and appreciate and Understand. Tell me, why is It that people would rather play like Rachmaninoff than compose like Him? Why would a singer rather debut in Martha than have composed Pelleas? Why should the Violinist prefer to play the Bruch G Minor than to have Written the Mendelssohn E Minor? Maybe ifs because itis easier to move a Muscle than the old bean. The sad Part of it is, when they grow Up they'll really want to know and hear and Think, and will have to 'blliff through Life, learning by hard knocks what might have Come easily and opulently. Life becomes a serious thing Later, especially to a Man. When I see some of the' boys Here, aiming to become professional Musicians, I wonder what the world has in Store for them. Their practice average is less than Four hours, with twelve more to Fill. It takes a lot to eat to eat three Hours, so there is left nine , Hours with absqutely nothing to Do. They want to be concert artists, but Page 189

Page 174 text:

Living. If it were not for the Dreams and illusions, probably now Pd be a M. E. or a C. E. or ' Something instead of what the Germans call a Musiker. So I'm glad I Dreamed. But I wish some One had told me in a way I could Believe, that I could become a better Musiker if I used the old Bean more and the fingers Less. If some one had shown Me how to do an hourts practice in sixty Minutes! If that someone had Said: Son, to be a concert- Pianist, the Lord must have given You a pair of hands that can Play the Etude in Thirds after a week's Practice; a head that can memorize the F Minor Ballade and transpose it to any Key; an ear that can determine the Pitch of a bird's song- and a Heart that can carry you through grime and Poverty; a willingness to give up Friend, home and family for the sake of a Career; a tongue that can speak Silver when the thoughts flash Steel; a smile that will charm the the Soul is repelled; the grace of a Page and the wiles of a Plenipotentiaryethese things and a few More you need to insure a Career . If he had told Me this in a believable Way, maybe I would have cut Down my practice to four Hours a day, and by a practical Use of the rest of the Time learned earlier to Sight-read, transpose, improvise, play ensemble, really Studied harmony, counterpoint, canon, fugue, instrumentation Conducting, organ, borrowed one at a time every instrument of the orchestra and found its capacity and limitations, Studied a foreign language or two, and learned to use English better, and a lot of other Things. , Page 168

Page 176 text:

May have to give music lessons. Later in Life some will spend the cold winter Nights sighing over the fate of poor American musicians who are forced to Compete with highly skilled and carefully Trained foreigners, who knew Greek and Latin and Calculus, and two modern Languages, and the theoretical learning of Bach, before they were twenty. If our Boys would only realize they must be Musicians to be concert-artists, theyld put Five of the wasted nine towards making a good Job of themselves. That's fair enough, four Hours to the fingers and five to the old Bean. And then, if fate plays a dirty Trick, and no one comes forth with the small Fortune needed to launch a career, they will Realize why their own teachers are Teachers and not concert artists, and Themselves will become competent and Highly-paid teachers. Dohnanyi, Schnabel, Jonas, Godowsky, Lehvinne and Game earn their Living giving music lessons. Itls a fine Profession if your music is in your Head aswell as. in your Fingers. I like to think that, if I had been told this Twenty years ago, I Would have believed It; But more likely Iid had-scoffed at the Bird who intimated I couldn't become a second Paderoosky. I would have held him a spoil Sport, 3 wet lhlanket and a dash of cold Water and gone on dreaming. ' If life is Just the pursuit of happiness, I'found my Share in the dreaming and illusions of Youth. An appearance in Aeolian Hall Performing the Beethoven Emperor , under Weingartner as guest conductor, would give Me no greater thrill than my favorite Dream of filling the place of the other Artist who had to leave the stage with his . Performance half-fmished. So maybe I oughtn't to Crab. gGEORGE A. LEIGHTON. Page 170