‘Liszt did not give piano lessons in the way it had been done from Czerny to the present;
rather he would wax eloquent on the high forms of art ... similar to the way that Greek
philosophers passed their ideas on to their disciples without being teachers.’
Sauer also noted how tempos in Liszt’s music had changed:
‘You should also have heard now [Liszt] played the Campanella: with what generosity
he attacked the octave passages ... and with what refinement he played the bell ... How
different appear to me the Campanellas that I hear today, which always seem to aim at
breaking speed records.’
Source: Excerpted from website ‘Arbiter Liner Notes: Emil von Sauer: 1940 Live
Recordings from Amsterdam & Vienna: Emil von Sauer, piano’ by Allan Evans, which
reproduced parts of Sauer’s as yet untranslated autobiography ‘Meine Welte’.
SCALES
A scale is an ordered series of musical intervals typically used in a key.
Composers of the classical period, when writing for the piano or other instruments, relied
to a significant extent on the use of scales. Scales also form the basis of much of the later
writing for the piano.
The study and practice of scales by a pianist is essential to:
! gain an understanding of keys and key signatures;! achieve finger control, velocity of movement and melodic legato;! play the piano repertoire of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert ; and! play the larger piano repertoire.The following scales need to be mastered:
! Major, harmonic minor and melodic minor scales with both hands together in
similar motion for four octaves; and! Major and harmonic scales with both hands together in contrary motion for two
octaves.Some teachers advise the abolition of scales and arpeggios. This is a profound mistake.
Scale-playing is the best mode of achieving finger control, velocity of movement and
melodic legato. Perhaps the following story will be a consolation to the young student
who finds it difficult to reconcile himself to the practice of scales. On one occasion the
Irish dramatist Edward Martyn told me that he and a companion had made their way to