XV
MAXIMILIAN PILZER
THE SINGING TONE AND THE VIBRATO
Maximilian Pilzer is deservedly prominent
among younger American concert violinists.
A pupil of Joachim, Shradieck, Gustav
Hollander, he is, as it has already been picturesquely
put, "a graduate of the rock and
thorn university," an artist who owes his success
mainly to his own natural gifts plus an infinite
capacity for taking pains. Though
primarily an interpreter his interlocutor yet
had the good fortune to happen on Mr. Pilzer
when he was giving a lesson. Essentially a
solo violinist, Mr. Pilzer nevertheless has the
born teacher's wish to impart, to share, where
talent justifies it, his own knowledge. He himself
did not have to tell the listener this—the
lesson he was giving betrayed the fact.
It was Kreisler's Tambourin Chinois that
the student played. And as Mr. Pilzer illustrated
the delicate shades of nuance, of
phrasing, of bowing, with instant rebuke for
an occasional lack of "warmth" in tone, the
improvement was instantaneous and unmistakable.
The lesson over, he said:
THE SINGING TONE
"The singing tone is the ideal one, it is the
natural violin tone. Too many violin students
have the technical bee in their bonnet and neglect
it. And too many believe that speed is
brilliancy. When they see the black notes they
take for granted that they must 'run to beat
the band.' Yet often it is the teacher's fault if
a good singing tone is not developed. Where
the teacher's playing is cold, that of the pupil
is apt to be the same. Warmth, rounded fullness,
the truly beautiful violin tone is more difficult
to call forth than is generally supposed.
And, in a manner of speaking, the soul of this
tone quality is the vibrato, though the individual
instrument also has much to do with
the tone.
THE VIBRATO
"But not," Mr. Pilzer continued, "not as it
is too often mistakenly employed. Of course,
any trained player will draw his bow across
the strings in a smooth, even way, but that is
not enough. There must be an inner, emotional
instinct, an electric spark within the player
himself that sets the vibrato current in motion.
It is an inner, psychic vibration which
should be reflected by the intense, rapid vibration
in the fingers of the left hand on the
strings in order to give fluent expression to
emotion. The vibrato can not be used,
naturally, on the open strings, but otherwise it
represents the true means for securing warmth
of expression. Of course, some decry the vibrato—but
the reason is often because the vibrato
is too slow. One need only listen to
Ysaye, Elman, Kreisler: artists such as these
employ the quick, intense vibrato with ideal
effect. An exaggerated vibrato is as bad as
what I call 'the sentimental slide,' a common
fault, which many violinists cultivate under the
impression that they are playing expressively.
VIOLIN MASTERY AND ITS ATTAINMENT
"Violin mastery expresses more or less the
aspiration to realize an ideal. It is a hope, a
prayer, rather than an actual fact, since nothing
human is absolutely perfect. Ysaye, perhaps,
with his golden tone, comes nearest to
my idea of what violin mastery should be, both
as regards breadth and delicacy of interpretation.
And guide-posts along the long road
that leads to mastery of the instrument? Individuality
in teaching, progress along natural
lines, surety in bowing, a tone-production without
forcing, cultivating a sense of rhythm and
accent. I always remember what Moser once
wrote in my autograph album: 'Rhythm and
accent are the soul of music!'
THE SHINING GOAL
"And what a shining goal is waiting to be
reached! The correct interpretation of Bach,
Haendel and the old Italian and French classics,
and of the vast realm of ensemble music
under which head come the Mozart and Beethoven
violin sonatas, and those of their successors,
Schumann, Brahms, etc. And aside
from the classics, the moderns. And then
there are the great violin concertos, in a class
by themselves. They represent, in a degree,
the utmost that the composer has done for the
interpreting artist. Yet they differ absolutely
in manner, style, thought, etc. Take Joachim's
own Hungarian concerto, which I played for
the composer, of which I still treasure the
recollection of his patting me on the shoulder
and saying: 'There is nothing for me to correct!'
It is a work deliberately designed for
technical display, and is tremendously difficult.
But the wonderful Brahms concerto, those
of Beethoven and Max Bruch; of Mozart and
Mendelssohn—it is hard to express a preference
for works so different in the quality of
their beauty. The Russian Conus has a fine
concerto in E, and Sinding a most effective
one in A major. Edmund Severn, the American
composer and violinist, has also written a
notably fine violin concerto which I have played,
with the Philharmonic, one that ought to be
heard oftener.
PLAYING BACH
"Bach is one of the most difficult of the great
masters to interpret on the violin. His polyphonic
style and interweaving themes demand
close study in order to make the meaning clear.
In the Bach Chaconne, for instance, some very
great violinists do not pay enough attention to
making a distinction between principal and
secondary notes of a chord. Here [Mr. Pilzer
took up a new Strad he has recently acquired
and illustrated his meaning] in this four-note
chord there is one important melody note
which must stand out. And it can be done,
though not without some study. Bach abounds
in such pitfalls, and in studying him the closest
attention is necessary. Once the problems involved
overcome, his music gains its true
clarity and beauty and the enjoyment of artist
and listener is doubled.
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