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A painter hangs his or her finished pictures on a wall, and everyone can see it. A composer writes a v[Q)cqj/
work, but no one can hear it until it is performed. Professional singers and players have great "b1_vA]03
responsibilities, for the composer is utterly dependent on them. A student of music needs as long and 1/cb;:h>
as arduous a training to become a performer as a medical student needs to become a doctor. Most EAY9~b6~c
training is concerned with technique, for musicians have to have the muscular proficiency of an l $z Nsf.
athlete or a ballet dancer. Singers practice breathing every day, as their vocal chords would be ++ dV5
inadequate without controlled muscular support. String players practice moving the fingers of the left uFok'3!g7%
hand up and down, while drawing the bow to and fro with the right arm—two entirely different #m$H'O[WG\
movements. 2Cr+Z(f
Singers and instruments have to be able to get every note perfectly in tune. Pianists are spared this 1c}'o*K_%
particular anxiety, for the notes are already there, waiting for them, and it is the piano tuner’s Ce:R
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responsibility to tune the instrument for them. But they have their own difficulties; the hammers that 66|lQE&n
hit the string have to be coaxed not to sound like percussion, and each overlapping tone has to sound wSAm[.1i
clear. qL'3MY.!
This problem of getting clear texture is one that confronts student conductors: they have to learn to y:,{U*49
know every note of the music and how it should sound, and they have to aim at controlling these I*
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sound with fanatical but selfless authority. } K*ri
Technique is of no use unless it is combined with musical knowledge and understanding. Great artists {xH
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are those who are so thoroughly at home in the language of music that they can enjoy performing 5vpf;
works written in any century. NGze: gPmO
