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A painter hangs his or her finished pictures on a wall, and everyone can see it. A composer writes a b
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work, but no one can hear it until it is performed. Professional singers and players have great /me ]sOkn
responsibilities, for the composer is utterly dependent on them. A student of music needs as long and |cp_V
as arduous a training to become a performer as a medical student needs to become a doctor. Most {D :WXvI
training is concerned with technique, for musicians have to have the muscular proficiency of an }~ N\ A
athlete or a ballet dancer. Singers practice breathing every day, as their vocal chords would be Y
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inadequate without controlled muscular support. String players practice moving the fingers of the left ZU `~@.`i
hand up and down, while drawing the bow to and fro with the right arm—two entirely different JKO *bbj
movements. }LQV2 hKTG
Singers and instruments have to be able to get every note perfectly in tune. Pianists are spared this < 3*q) VT
particular anxiety, for the notes are already there, waiting for them, and it is the piano tuner’s K ;]dZ8
responsibility to tune the instrument for them. But they have their own difficulties; the hammers that P>)J:. tr0
hit the string have to be coaxed not to sound like percussion, and each overlapping tone has to sound N;BuBm5K
clear. ?m7i7Dz
This problem of getting clear texture is one that confronts student conductors: they have to learn to 9HiyN>(
know every note of the music and how it should sound, and they have to aim at controlling these <SOG?Lh~
sound with fanatical but selfless authority. B]}gfVO
Technique is of no use unless it is combined with musical knowledge and understanding. Great artists JC~ 4 B3!
are those who are so thoroughly at home in the language of music that they can enjoy performing YGs'[On8
works written in any century. }N G P!
