there need be small
wonder at the wide prevalence of a distinctly technical cult. All who
know the real nature and mission of music must condemn such a cult. It
is a sign of a want of true appreciation to admire technique for
technique's sake. It is a mistaking of the outward shell for the
kernel, a means for the end. There are still many players who aim to
secure this admiration, either because they are deficient in real
musical feeling, or because they believe themselves surer of winning
applause by thus appealing to the lowest form of appreciation. In the
early part of the century they would have been handicapped by the
instrument which lent itself to delicacy, clearness, and gracefulness
of expression, but had little power. Now the pianoforte has become a
thing of rigid steel, enduring tons of strain from its strings, and
having a voice like the roar of many waters; to keep pace with it
players have become athletes with

"Thews of Anakim
And pulses of a Titan's heart."

[Sidenote: _Technical skill a matter of course._]

They care no more for the "murmurs made to bless," unless it be
occasionally for the sake of contrast, but seek to astound, amaze,
bewilder, and confound with feats of skill and endurance. That with
their devotion to the purely mechanical side of the art they are
threatening to destroy pianoforte playing gives them no pause
whatever. The era which they illustrate and adorn is the technical era
which was, is, and ever shall be, the era of decay in artistic
production. For the judicious technique alone, be it never so
marvellous, cannot serve to-day. Its possession is accepted as a
condition precedent in the case of everyone who ventures to appear
upon the concert-platform. He must be a wonder, indeed, who can
disturb our critical equilibrium by mere digital feats. We want
strength and velocity of finger to be coupled with strength, velocity,
and penetration of thought. We want no halting or lisping in the
proclamation of what the composer has said, but we want the contents
of his thought, not the hollow shell, no matter how distinctly its
outlines be drawn.

[Sidenote: _The plan of study in this chapter._]

[Sidenote: _A typical scheme of pieces._]

The factors which present themselves for consideration at a pianoforte
recital--mechanical, intellectual, and emotional--can be most
intelligently and profitably studied along with the development of the
instrument and its music. All b