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MUSICAL MEMORY. |
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•them with the greatest advantage, and thus acquire the security necessary for musical performance, is quite another question.
77. Because, however, we have insisted upon a musician possessing a •cultivated memory for musical sounds, and recommended that he should also possess one for musical performance, we hope our readers will not infer that we have any desire to increase the amount of public or semi-public memory-playing which is prevalent at the present day. In fact we do not hesitate to pronounce the fashion, now so universally adopted, of playing without the book, to be one of questionable value, if it is not in some cases absolutely harmful. It is not to those who possess great powers of concentration and retention that any harm can accrue; these doubtless play far better without the assistance of the music, but for those who do not feel their memory absolutely secure, yet whom public opinion, more or less compels to play from memory, the prolonged strain of anxiety and nervousness, in addition to casting its shadow over their performance, exercises, for a considerable period previous to this, no slight or salutary influence upon their bodily and mental health. Despite this, the judicious introduction of memory-playing, simply as a form of training and not for public exhibition, cannot, we think, be without distinct value.
78. In the following chapters we shall offer for our reader's consideration some suggestions with reference to the study of music for memory performance. First, with regard to the general conditions which favour memorization, drawing attention to their application to the special subject before us; Second, the principles which should guide us in framing a scheme for training the memory of the piano student; Third, the method
.of studying pieces for memorization. |
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