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A painter hangs his or her finished pictures on a wall, and everyone can see it. A composer writes a 0-FbV,:;
work, but no one can hear it until it is performed. Professional singers and players have great tP UQ "S
responsibilities, for the composer is utterly dependent on them. A student of music needs as long and ;J:YNup
as arduous a training to become a performer as a medical student needs to become a doctor. Most JBqzQ ^[n
training is concerned with technique, for musicians have to have the muscular proficiency of an psMagzr&)e
athlete or a ballet dancer. Singers practice breathing every day, as their vocal chords would be
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inadequate without controlled muscular support. String players practice moving the fingers of the left .F]6uXd
hand up and down, while drawing the bow to and fro with the right arm—two entirely different [x&&N*>N
movements. #
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Singers and instruments have to be able to get every note perfectly in tune. Pianists are spared this .C1^QY-wL
particular anxiety, for the notes are already there, waiting for them, and it is the piano tuner’s *6 h.#$\
responsibility to tune the instrument for them. But they have their own difficulties; the hammers that I%ez _VG
hit the string have to be coaxed not to sound like percussion, and each overlapping tone has to sound BdceINI
clear. pD]Ry"
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This problem of getting clear texture is one that confronts student conductors: they have to learn to b x@CzXre;
know every note of the music and how it should sound, and they have to aim at controlling these 2`z+_DA
sound with fanatical but selfless authority. m'S-
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Technique is of no use unless it is combined with musical knowledge and understanding. Great artists N\p 3* # M
are those who are so thoroughly at home in the language of music that they can enjoy performing NzEuiI}
works written in any century. [~J4:yDd=
