Liszt was undoubtedly the greatest revealer of the secrets of piano
playing in the 19th century, and his pupils and those who have
assimilated his teachings occupy a large part of the pianistic activity
of today. Among the first of Liszt’s pupils to become famous were
Tausig and von Bülow. =Carl Tausig=, born in 1841, died in 1871, was
trained by his father, and later studied with Liszt, under whose
guidance he achieved a phenomenal accuracy of technic, and a commanding
power of interpretation. His short life was spent mainly in concert
tours. He established a school of music in Berlin for advanced piano
playing. His untimely death cut short a brilliant career. His edition
of Clementi’s _Gradus_ and a collection of finger exercises are
invaluable to teachers and to students. =Hans von Bülow=, born in 1830,
died 1894, was intended for the law, although he studied the piano
as a boy under Friedrich Wieck. In 1850, he became so absorbed in
Wagner’s music that he abandoned all idea of the law. He studied the
piano with Liszt at Weimar, and soon acquired a remarkable technic. He
was never a pianist of the virtuoso type; his strength lay in striving
to reproduce the intention of the composer as faithfully as possible.
His interpretations of Beethoven were especially famous, although he
was progressive in his tastes. In 1876, he made a tour in the United
States, where he did much to advance the cause of new music. As early
as 1865 he conducted performances of Wagner’s operas, and later his
association with orchestras at Meiningen and of the Berlin Philharmonic
Society placed his reputation as a conductor in the front rank. He was
extremely energetic in Wagner’s behalf and did much to bring his works
to a public hearing. His editions of Cramer’s studies and Beethoven’s
sonatas are of great value.
Among Liszt’s later pupils, one of the foremost is =Eugen D’Albert=,
born in 1864. He received his early training in England, but in 1881,
as a prize scholar, he studied with Liszt at Weimar. After brilliant
concert tours through Europe, he came to America, in 1889, with
Sarasate, where his ability was at once recognized. He has since
largely renounced the career of virtuoso for that of composer, although
he made a visit to the United States in 1905, giving a number of
recitals.
=Moritz Rosenthal=, possibly the most fully equipped virtuoso
technically now before the public, was born in 1862. At first a
pupil of Mikuli, a disciple of Chopin, and later of Joseffy, he came
ultimately to Liszt, with whom he studied for ten years. After numerous
European tours he came to the United States in 1888, where he dazzled
his audiences by his unusual command of technic. He reappeared in
America in 1896-97, and has since made triumphal progress through
Europe. As an interpreter he is less successful than as a virtuoso.
He is court pianist of Roumania. He has published a collection of
technical exercises with Ludwig Schytté.
=Bernhard Stavenhagen=, born in 1862, is another noted Liszt pupil.
He acted as Liszt’s secretary during his later years, and at the same
time received lessons. In 1890, he became court pianist at Weimar. In
1894-95, he visited America. Since then he has acted as conductor at
Dresden and Munich.
=Emil Sauer=, another phenomenal pupil of Liszt, was born in 1862.
At first a pupil of Nicholas Rubinstein, he studied with Liszt from
1884 until the latter’s death. He possesses an extraordinary technic,
and is almost unrivalled for the extreme brilliancy of his effects.
He has received many decorations from various courts of Europe. In
1897-98, he visited the United States, where he made a sensation. Since
1901, he has been at the head of the piano department in the Vienna
Conservatory, giving his attention to pupils in the artist department.
Among other talented pupils of Liszt may be mentioned Alfred
Reisenauer, Arthur Friedheim and Richard Burmeister, all of whom have
been heard in this country. The foregoing account does not begin to
enumerate all, merely the celebrated pupils of Liszt. Others will be
referred to in the course of this and the next lesson.
=Belgian Pianists=.—In piano playing, the Brussels Conservatory
is far below the level of the Paris Conservatory, although the
director =Gevaërt= has a world-wide reputation for his text-book on
orchestration, and the symphony concerts at the conservatory, led
by him, have a high place in orchestral standards. Nevertheless, in
the piano department two names deserve mention: Brassin and Dupont.
=Louis Brassin= (1840-1884) studied at the Leipzig Conservatory under
Moscheles, where he remained five years, winning numerous prizes. In
1866, he became first piano teacher at the Stern Conservatory in
Berlin. Later he joined the Brussels Conservatory, as professor of
piano playing, where he taught from 1869-1878. In 1879, he accepted a
position at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where he remained until
his death, in 1884. Brassin was not only known as a fine pianist
and teacher, but also by his transcriptions from “The Ring of the
Nibelung.” He also composed piano pieces and even two operettas.
=Auguste Dupont= (1828-1890) studied at the Liége Conservatory. After
several years of wandering life, he became professor of piano at the
Brussels Conservatory, a position which he held until his death, in
1890. He is known also as a composer of graceful piano pieces, a
concerto and a concert-piece, in all of which the influence of Schumann
is seen.
=Johannes Brahms= (1833-1897), famed both as composer and pianist,
was the son of an orchestral musician in Hamburg, whose circumstances
were of the humblest. As a child he developed remarkable ability as a
pianist, but his first lessons in composition awakened an enthusiasm
that absorbed his entire being. He was comparatively unknown when at
the age of twenty Schumann brought him into public notice by hailing
him as the successor of Beethoven.
Unlike most composers, Brahms was mature from the very beginning.
His early works bear no trace of the uncertainty and imitation
generally associated with youth, and it was this remarkable maturity
that interested Schumann and gave point to his predictions for the
future of the young musician. Unaffected by the pomp and glow of
the ultra-romantic tendency initiated by Berlioz and culminating at
present in the works of Richard Strauss, he remained true to the great
classical school which rests on Bach and Palestrina. Unlike the modern
impressionistic school, his art is based on essentially musical ideas
and their contrapuntal treatment; it is architectural rather than
pictorial. In such a scheme, color is subordinate to thematic interest,
hence his instrumentation often appears heavy and austere to those who
look for the brilliancy and tone painting of Liszt or Wagner. His music
in general is founded on Bach and Beethoven.
[Illustration: JOHANNES BRAHMS.]
His works for the piano are large and orchestral in style, and demand
a technic of their own, which was at first considered unsuited to the
nature of the instrument. Von Bülow remarks that while in Bach we hear
the organ, in Beethoven the orchestra, in Brahms we hear both organ and
orchestra. Notwithstanding their dignity and nobility of conception,
they won their way but slowly to favor. Their newness of style and
difficulty of execution estranged both public and musicians. Though
Brahms’ four symphonies have become reasonably familiar, his piano
works have not even yet achieved widespread popularity. They comprise
two concertos, three sonatas, many variations, and a host of smaller
pieces—ballades, scherzos, intermezzos, capriccios, etc. Brahms never
wrote for the stage but was active in all other departments of music.
His greatest choral work is the “German Requiem,” composed in memory
of his mother, to texts selected by himself from the Scriptures and
sung in German, instead of in Latin, hence its name. He drew no little
inspiration from the Folk-song, which he uses not only in the form
of harmonies and rhythms distinctly based on Folk melodies, but in
literal quotations serving as themes in several of his instrumental
compositions. This contact with the people through their songs gives
particular freshness and vigor to much of Brahms’ music, as well as a
sturdy Teutonic character that stamps it as distinctively national in
spirit.
It is perhaps too soon to deliver an authoritative judgment as to the
ultimate rank that Brahms will take among the great composers of the
past. There is no doubt, however, that he is one of the commanding
figures of the last century and that he has enriched the world with
a mass of noble music, all of which deserves to be known for its
elevation and consummate mastery of detail.