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A painter hangs his or her finished pictures on a wall, and everyone can see it. A composer writes a vG#,J&aW
work, but no one can hear it until it is performed. Professional singers and players have great R&F O-{S
responsibilities, for the composer is utterly dependent on them. A student of music needs as long and e(Y5OTus
as arduous a training to become a performer as a medical student needs to become a doctor. Most 3fdqFJ O
training is concerned with technique, for musicians have to have the muscular proficiency of an EKf! j3
athlete or a ballet dancer. Singers practice breathing every day, as their vocal chords would be :?f^D,w_B
inadequate without controlled muscular support. String players practice moving the fingers of the left Da&Br m
hand up and down, while drawing the bow to and fro with the right arm—two entirely different uow{a*q d6
movements. `=19iAp.
Singers and instruments have to be able to get every note perfectly in tune. Pianists are spared this :@K~>^+U
particular anxiety, for the notes are already there, waiting for them, and it is the piano tuner’s W WN2
responsibility to tune the instrument for them. But they have their own difficulties; the hammers that s>ohXISB[
hit the string have to be coaxed not to sound like percussion, and each overlapping tone has to sound *:8,w?Nt
clear. K-4 o_:F
This problem of getting clear texture is one that confronts student conductors: they have to learn to h4N&Yb fo
know every note of the music and how it should sound, and they have to aim at controlling these ^\7GFpc
sound with fanatical but selfless authority. Wh^wKF~%
Technique is of no use unless it is combined with musical knowledge and understanding. Great artists kWbD?i-
are those who are so thoroughly at home in the language of music that they can enjoy performing _FP'SVa}D
works written in any century. _E8doV
