eated tours
of the entire musical world. He never gave any serious attention to
musical composition. As an interpreter of the works of Chopin no one in
recent times has ever excelled de Pachmann, but he also gave numerous
recitals showing a great breadth of style in the performances of works
of the other great masters particularly Brahms and Liszt.

(The following conference was conducted in English, German, French and
Italian.)

XIV

SEEKING ORIGINALITY

VLADIMIR DE PACHMANN

THE MEANING OF ORIGINALITY

"Originality in pianoforte playing, what does it really mean? Nothing
more than the interpretation of one's real self instead of the
artificial self which traditions, mistaken advisors and our own natural
sense of mimicry impose upon us. Seek for originality and it is gone
like a gossamer shining in the morning grass. Originality is in one's
self. It is the true voice of the heart. I would enjoin students to
listen to their own inner voices. I do not desire to deprecate teachers,
but I think that many teachers are in error when they fail to encourage
their pupils to form their own opinions.

"I have always sought the individual in myself. When I have found him I
play at my best. I try to do everything in my own individual way. I work
for months to invent, contrive or design new fingerings--not so much for
simplicity, but to enable me to manipulate the keys so that I may
express the musical thought as it seems to me it ought to be expressed.
See my hand, my fingers--the flesh as soft as that of a child, yet
covering muscles of steel. They are thus because I have worked from
childhood to make them thus.

"The trouble with most pupils in studying a piece is that when they
seek individuality and originality, they go about it in the wrong way,
and the result is a studied, stiff, hard performance. Let them listen to
the voice, I say; to the inner voice, the voice which is speaking every
moment of the day, but to which so many shut the ears of their soul.

"Franz Liszt--ah, you see I bow when I mention the name--you never heard
Franz Liszt? Ah, it was the great Liszt who listened--listened to his
inner voice. They said he was inspired. He was simply listening to
himself.

MACHINE TEACHING

"_Nun, passen Sie mal auf!_ I abominate machine teaching. A certain
amount of it may be necessary, but I hate it. It seems so brutal--so
inartistic. Instead of leading the pupil to seek results for himself,
they lay