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A painter hangs his or her finished pictures on a wall, and everyone can see it. A composer writes a $1YnQgpT
work, but no one can hear it until it is performed. Professional singers and players have great ^Ue >T 8
responsibilities, for the composer is utterly dependent on them. A student of music needs as long and -VL3em |0
as arduous a training to become a performer as a medical student needs to become a doctor. Most PYGHN
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training is concerned with technique, for musicians have to have the muscular proficiency of an <pCZ+Yv E"
athlete or a ballet dancer. Singers practice breathing every day, as their vocal chords would be uP.3(n[&
inadequate without controlled muscular support. String players practice moving the fingers of the left Em;zi.Y+V
hand up and down, while drawing the bow to and fro with the right arm—two entirely different C' Q} Z_
movements. ;IyQqP#,<
Singers and instruments have to be able to get every note perfectly in tune. Pianists are spared this [LE_lATjU
particular anxiety, for the notes are already there, waiting for them, and it is the piano tuner’s Ad(j&P
responsibility to tune the instrument for them. But they have their own difficulties; the hammers that -4.+&'
hit the string have to be coaxed not to sound like percussion, and each overlapping tone has to sound e([}dz
clear. pV_2JXM~@
This problem of getting clear texture is one that confronts student conductors: they have to learn to ]*).3<Lw
know every note of the music and how it should sound, and they have to aim at controlling these `J;_!~:
sound with fanatical but selfless authority. CAk.2C /
Technique is of no use unless it is combined with musical knowledge and understanding. Great artists yo5|~"yZY
are those who are so thoroughly at home in the language of music that they can enjoy performing ]`%cTdpLj
works written in any century. : 7'anj
