"I have put analysis last because it is the crowning virtue, the prime
necessity. We study analysis here in the studios, learning how to
separate music into its component parts, together with simple chord
formations, general form and structure of the pieces, and so on. Can you
comprehend the dense ignorance of many music students on these subjects?
They will come here to me, never having analyzed a bit of music in their
lives, having not an inkling of what chord structure and form in music
mean. If they played piano even a little, they could hardly escape
getting a small notion of chord formation. But frequently vocal
students know nothing of the piano. They are too apt to be superficial.
It is an age of superficiality--and cramming: we see these evils all the
way from the college man down. I am a Yale man and don't like to say
anything about college government, yet I cannot shut my eyes to the fact
that men may spend four years going through college and yet not be
educated when they come out. Most of us are in too much of a hurry, and
so fail to take time enough to learn things thoroughly; above all we
never stop to analyze.
"Analysis should begin at the very outset of our vocal or instrumental
study. We analyze the notes of the music we are singing, and a little
later its form. We analyze the ideas of the composer and also our own
thoughts and ideas, to try and bring them in harmony with his. After
analyzing the passage before us, we may see it in a totally different
light, and so phrase and deliver it with an entirely different idea from
what we might have done without this intelligent study."