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A painter hangs his or her finished pictures on a wall, and everyone can see it. A composer writes a 8b !xMFF"
work, but no one can hear it until it is performed. Professional singers and players have great *#9?9SYSk
responsibilities, for the composer is utterly dependent on them. A student of music needs as long and |Iknk,
as arduous a training to become a performer as a medical student needs to become a doctor. Most uJ`:@Z^J
training is concerned with technique, for musicians have to have the muscular proficiency of an GL%)s?
athlete or a ballet dancer. Singers practice breathing every day, as their vocal chords would be [}HS[($
inadequate without controlled muscular support. String players practice moving the fingers of the left a+RUSz;DL
hand up and down, while drawing the bow to and fro with the right arm—two entirely different I? RUVs
movements. U+R9bn
Singers and instruments have to be able to get every note perfectly in tune. Pianists are spared this =~ k}XB
particular anxiety, for the notes are already there, waiting for them, and it is the piano tuner’s : {
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responsibility to tune the instrument for them. But they have their own difficulties; the hammers that .k$Yleg
hit the string have to be coaxed not to sound like percussion, and each overlapping tone has to sound cJf&
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clear. U1 `pY:P
This problem of getting clear texture is one that confronts student conductors: they have to learn to z\"9T?zoo
know every note of the music and how it should sound, and they have to aim at controlling these Hy5 6@jW+E
sound with fanatical but selfless authority. ;d<O/y,:4
Technique is of no use unless it is combined with musical knowledge and understanding. Great artists <0;G4fE7[H
are those who are so thoroughly at home in the language of music that they can enjoy performing r
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works written in any century. +IMt$}7[
