Josef Lhevinne is one of the last noted Russian pianists to attain
celebrity in America. At his first appearance in New York he amazed the
critics and music lovers by the virility of his style, the
comprehensiveness of his technic and by his finely trained artistic
judgment. Lhevinne was born at Moscow, in 1874. His father was a
professional musician, playing "all instruments except the piano." It is
not surprising that his four sons became professional musicians. Three
are pianists and one is a flutist. When Josef was four his father
discovered that he had absolute pitch, and encouraged by this sign of
musical capacity placed the child under the instruction of some students
from the conservatory. At six Lhevinne became the pupil of a
Scandinavian teacher named Grisander. When eight he appeared at a
concert and aroused much enthusiasm by his playing. At twelve he became
the pupil of the famous Russian teacher, Wassili Safonoff, at the
conservatory at Moscow, remaining under his instruction for six years.
At the same time his teachers in theory and composition were Taneieff
and Arensky. In 1891 Rubinstein selected him from all the students at
the conservatory to play at a concert given under the famous master's
direction. After that Lhevinne had frequent conferences with the great
pianist, and attributes much of his success to his advice. In 1895 he
won the famous Rubinstein Prize in Berlin. From 1902 to 1906 he was
Professor of Piano at the conservatory at Moscow. One year spent in
military service in Russia proved a compulsory setback in his work, and
was a serious delay in his musical progress. Lhevinne came to America in
1907 and has been here five times since then. His wife is also an
exceptionally fine concert pianist.

XIII

PIANO STUDY IN RUSSIA

JOSEF LHEVINNE

RUSSIA'S MANY KEYBOARD MASTERS

"Russia is old, Russia is vast, Russia is mighty. Eight and one-half
million square miles of empire not made up of colonies here and there
all over the world, but one enormous territory comprising nearly one
hundred and fifty million people, of almost as many races as one finds
in the United States, that is Russia. Although the main occupation of
the people is the most peaceful of all labor--agriculture--Russia has
had to deal with over a dozen wars and insurrections during a little
more than a century. In the same time the United States has had but
five. War is not a thing to boast about, but the condition