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MUSICAL MEMORY. 47 |
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' again, as a general rule, the works of Mendelssohn make less demand upon us than those of Beethoven, and many of Beethoven's less than those of Chopin and Schumann. Until our memory is quite reliable for pieces which are simple both in construction and detail, it is unwise to attempt pieces of a more complex and intricate nature.
100. (IV.) Our last condition is Moderate in Difficulty.—In order to give an adequate interpretation of a work from the book, it is necessary that all its technical difficulties should be well within our powers, and this condition should be still more emphasised if to the difficulty of performance we add the extra effort of playing from memory. It is idle to pretend that we are in any sense interpreting a piece, if, whether we are playing from the book or not, all our powers are employed in •overcoming its technical difficulties.
101. As previously stated the qualifications of these conditions are purely relative to the powers of the pupil, and the extent to which they apply to any special piece must be decided by the teacher, or if the student has not the guidance of such, he must experiment with his own powers, and decrease his test pieces in length and difficulty, until he has discovered the degree to which he can securely memorize, even if it be but the shortest and simplest of Mendelssohn's " Lieder." Upon ■such a foundation he must gradually build, ever remembering that only by regular daily exercise and constant effort to remember pieces of greater length and difficulty, will he fully develop his retentive powers and make them thoroughly reliable and secure. |
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