one who understands its secrets and, furthermore, when it is
properly played, it is quite the finest[215] instrument ever yet
brought under the control of a single performer. Again, the pi-
anoforte is not meant for great rapidity of utterance, such as, for
instance, we associate with the violin, the flute or the clarinet.
It is, in fact, often playedtoo fast, sounding like a pianola or a
machine rather than an instrument with a soul. If there be no
lingering over the notes, beautiful effects have no opportunity
to be heard. Rapidity and brilliance on the pianoforte do not
depend on so many notes per second but on vitality and preci-
sion of accent. These admirable qualities of the instrument are
due to the great number of vibrating metal strings (in a modern
concert-grand, about two hundred and thirty,i.e., three strings
to each of the twelve notes of the seven octaves, save for a few
of the lowest bass notes); to the large sounding board (about
twenty-four square feet, on the largest model), and above all
to the damper pedal which Rubinstein—so appropriately—calls
the soul of the pianoforte. The very term Pianoforte implies
a wealth of meaning; for a special glory of the instrument is
its power of shading, its flexibility of utterance, from piano to
forte or vice versa. The limits themselves, to be sure, are not
so striking as in certain other instruments,e.g., the pianoforte
cannot produce the almost ghostly whisper of which the clar-
inet is capable, nor can it equal the trumpet or the trombone
in intensity or volume. But it can produce a very beautiful pi-
anissimo; and if a sense of relativity be kept, and soft effects
begun quietly enough, it can be made to sound with remark-
able brilliancy. The pianoforte should always be played with
a keen regard for this power of shading, of nuance; the tones
should undulate like the winds or the waves. Anything like the
steady sostenuto level for which the organ shows itself so fitted
is, except for special effects, entirely foreign to the nature of the
pianoforte. Nor should we ever attempt to make it, per se, a
loud, overpowering instrument. Its forte and its brilliancy are
purely relative; and, when forced to do something unsuited to
its real nature, it protests with a hard, unmelodious tone.
[Footnote 213: The few exceptions being the Polish Songs, the
Trio for Violin, ’Cello and Pianoforte and the orchestral accom-
paniment to the two Concertos.]
[Footnote 214: There will occur to every one numerous passages
in which the pianoforte is expected to be a kettle-drum, or where