A Talk with Godowsky - The Laws Governing Interpretation

SUBJECTIVE AND OBJECTIVE

"We hear much talk of subjective and objective in musical interpretation. These termsare apt to be misleading. Pianists look at the subject from different viewpoints, according to their temperaments and aims. The impulsive nature takes the composition as it first appears to him, without further analysis, and strives to preserve that conception. He trusts to the present moment to furnish inspiration. Under extremely favorable circumstances he may be able to give a really inspired performance. Without these conditions his utterances may lack all glow and power. Rubinstein was an illustration of this style."

"On the other hand, the careful analytical player, who does not trust to first impressions, who studies every point and determines beforehand exactly how he will render the composition, may lack true inspiration and leave us cold. Von Bulow might be cited as a player of this type. The ideal interpreter is one who, keeping before him the first ideal, has thought out every effect and nuance he wishes to make, yet leaves himself mentally untrammeled, to be moved by the inspiration which may come to him during performance.

FACTORS OF INTERPRETATION

"The two great factors in interpretation are Logic and Proportion. If you examine a Greek statue you find it perfect in classic form and line. Its proportions are faultless. Among the composers the most perfect examples of proportion are Beethoven and Brahms. They are the Greeks of musical art."

"These two qualities logic and proportion must dominate the thought of the interpreter also he must express them in his work. In just the degree that he lacks them will his performance fall short of beauty and expressiveness."

"Some players might be called pianists of the piano. The instrument itself is paramount with them rather than the music. The piano itself stands first with them. They will make all possible effects that are legitimate within the scope of the instrument, but never strive to make it something it is not. De Pachmann, Griinfeld and Sauer are of this type. Busoni, on the other hand, does not entertain this view. He is so great, such a deep, profound thinker, such a philosopher; he is a class by himself. For him the piano often represents the organ. See his transcriptions of the Bach organ compositions. He interprets them in this style, with much pedal and great tonal sonority. As organ tones in a cathedral resound and re verberate, owing to the vast spaces, so are the effects Busoni makes on the piano of continuous tone-vibrations."

"The piano is a wonder; there is so much to think of and study about it and its marvelous literature. I have found pianists generally are much deeper thinkers than singers, for example," I remarked.

"Singers do not analyze their work as pianists do. If one has a beautiful voice, the mere quality of tone will enthrall the listener, outside of the song to be interpreted. If the singer merely vocalize a scale, it is still beautiful and appealing. But the pianist must do so many things besides merely playing the notes before he can make an appeal. He must consider tone quality, dynamics, pedaling, power and the whole concept of the piece."

"You speak of the word pianism. The word as used now includes, I take it, the entire subject of touch, technic, tone and performance. How odd that a word affects society like a new disease! All hasten to acquire it. The word pianism is the only one that can be applied to an instrument outside of the human voice. You can say vocalism, but not violinism."

THE PIANIST A CONDUCTOR

"The pianist is virtually a conductor, and his ten fingers are the instruments over which he holds sway. They are to do his bidding. He has a whole orchestra under his hands. The orchestral conductor merely directs his men; the pianist must both direct his whole orchestra and play all his various instruments, the fingers. His task is a more strenuous one than that of any other soloist."

"Then the literature of the piano. When you think of it, no other instrument has the literature of the piano. Has there ever been a composer like Chopin for any instrument? The greatest composers for violin were Vieuxtemps and Wieniawski; but their work cannot compare in value to what Chopin has done for the piano. He wrote solely for that one medium; he is the poet of the piano. Look at Beethoven; he did more for the piano than for any other instrument. He composed nine symphonies for orchestra and thirty-two sonatas for piano. A sonata, as you know, is a symphony for one instrument. His last five sonatas are greater than anything he ever wrote for orchestra. The Opus 57, Appassionata, is a superb symphony. His last symphonies, outside of the Ninth, the greatest, are not equal to the last five piano sonatas in value. Berlioz wrote principally for orchestra; he may be called the first romanticist for that medium. I call him the apostle of ugliness. His works for orchestra cannot compare in value to what either Beethoven or Chopin has given to the literature of the piano."

PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION

"To come down to more explicit terms in regard to ideas of interpretation, I feel that, after a certain period of study, the pianist should trust more to his intuitions in the interpretation of a composition. Intuition first, backed up by logical reasoning. Some put it the other way round; they put reason first, and as a result their performance is dry and soulless. For instance, I play a passage and make it sound pleasant, expressive; it pleases my ear. I then analyze the effects I have made and see if they are logical and correct. For I must prove each point according to laws of interpretation."

"There are laws of interpretation. One of them is never to lay stress on a concord, but rather on a dissonance. The stronger the dissonance the heavier the stress put upon it. That is a fundamental law. Another principle is, not to fill rest places with sound. How many players sin in this way; either by not observing rests or by filling up the place of silence by tones prolonged by pedal. Silence plays a very important role in music. Silence should not be interfered with, filled up or obstructed. Many times it is necessary to hold pedal, if one has to jump from the bottom to the top of the keyboard. But one must know whether to bridge over the skip with pedal or to let there be silence between the two."

TRADITIONS

"We speak of traditions of interpretation. This should not mean dry, academic formulas it should not mean the traditions of the schools and conservatories. They conserve the old ideas, for that is the meaning of the word. Real tradition in piano playing originates with great artists who have discovered and evolved certain effects through intuition. When these intuitions stand the test, and measure up to the highest standards of art, they become traditions."

"The subject of interpretation is a very broad as well as a deeply interesting one. It is one upon which I have bestowed a great deal of thought and made many discoveries. I repeat, I feel we should trust more to our intuitions than we do. It is claimed by one learned man that, if the world had followed this course, we should now be on a higher plane of civilization than we are; present events seem to bear out his theory."