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Back in the day, the English were a wild set, always fighting wars, writing bawdy plays, beheading people, and marrying multiple times (two of King Henry VIII's six wives were named Anne, incidentally, proving he had at least some taste :)). But as the centuries progressed, they got a good deal more straight laced and proper, culminating with the nineteenth century and the reign of the intensely decorous Victoria. This taste for the correct carried over into the English piano school, and in particular the teachings of Tobias Matthay.

Matthay was extremely interested in the science and mechanics of playing the piano. At what velocity and angle do we hit the key for a certain tone, and how, having struck the key, do we release it? He had a great many theories and exercises on these points, most of which seem a little incomprehensible and beg the question; are we to be expected to think of all of these things in the split second we hit each note? Matthay himself admitted that his species of touch all blend together when a pianist is playing real music. What is the point then? Other than that we should all experiment with and think about how we are hitting the keys, I think that it is good for pianists to have a basic working knowledge of the mechanism of the piano. It only makes sense, if we know how the key mechanism works, we will be able to do more with it.

What interested me in particular about Matthay, however, was his chart on p. 374 of Gerig's text, outlining the different elements that go into playing the piano well. I like how he differentiated the emotional aspect of interpretation from the intellectual aspect. While it is extremely important, and I would say indispensable, to have a firm grasp on and conception of the emotion in the music we are playing, it is also vitally important to have a firm grasp of the music on an intellectual level. To understand, as he says, the form, the phrase structure, rhythm, etc. This is what separates us from Liberace, ladies and gentlemen. This, and another one of his sections on the chart; artistic-judgment. It is vitally important that we know when enough is enough. The only way I know to study this aspect is, what many of the musicians in this book have already recommended; listening to other great performers, and to singers.

Perhaps, if we pay close attention to these aspects, and to tone production, we will reach an emotionally complex and yet precise art at the happy medium between Henry VIII and Victoria. Cheerio!