Straightjackets

It is interesting to note what composers thought of one another. Personally I think Schumann's comment on Czerny is quite bad. "A good man but nothing more" I am also going to investigate the idea that one can sight read by instinct such as Liszt. It must certainly help if you can anticipate the music and therefore a sense of comfort in reading unfamiliar works. In reading Czerny's description of Liszt it seemed obvious that Czerny had a slight case of sour grapes. How could be in any sense a better pianist or composer if he remained under the tutorship of Czerny, who he surpassed in every way, for 3 more years. I think Liszt did fairly well. It is probably a good thing that he left when he did. I appreciated Czerny's view on the importance of true interpretation regarding each composer.

I was also amazed to read about the artistic piano teaching of Türk, the emphasis on a good sound not harsh or without presence, and the awareness of correct hand position and posture by many teachers of the time. I also enjoyed reading that the highest aim in piano playing according to musicians of the day was to express the character of a work and to transmit it to the audience. (That is the characters of the work of course not the performer's own) I think it was Arrau who said that technique is formed by the character.

Lastly, it seemed that Logier was one of the first teachers interested in making money with a piano method. (It is better to teach 30 students in one hour than 30 in 30 hours right?) And I bet he charged quite a bit for his apparatus. I really like the idea of the chiroplast, especially for small children. I understand how hard it is to teach young ones to keep up their wrists. You simple cannot run around picking up wrists all day if you have a class of 30! The only additional material that I would use personally, in teaching 30 children between the ages of 7 and 10 at the same time, would be 30 straight jackets and ritalin. Make them sit nice and still.