Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
APRIL 24, 1920
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MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
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1 The Fundamental Principles Involved
(
in the Composing and Arranging of
| BY DR. EDWARD SCHAAF
Music lor the Player-Piano 1
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(Editor's Note. Doctor Schaaf is a musician who has
given mudh attention to the problem of arranging music
for the player-piano in such a way as to bring out the
instrument's true voice and real musical value. As he
says, "there is only one way to unlock the magic of the
player-piano keyboard and that is to treat the instrument
as a new voice in music." Doctor Schaaf has self-sac-
rificingly devoted much of his time, without thought of
material reward, to the rewriting of music for the special
purpose of making it truly suitable for the player-piano
and has achieved some astounding results. He has also
composed a number of special pieces for the player-piano
only, conceived in the most modern style of what he calls
"plastic music"; and altogether wonderful. Doctor Schaaf
has already published in The Music Trade Review the re-
sults of some earlier researches into this subject, and the
present series of extremely interesting and fascinating ar-
ticles, of which this is the twelfth, represents the latest
fruit of his studies.)
do much more. It can negotiate rhythmical
patterns deliberately conceived in a spirit of
almost magical ingenuity; patterns in fact whose
intricacies carry them far beyond the sphere of
mere manual performance. I have frequently
shown how the player-piano has blazed the way
towards new discoveries in tonal effect, and now
I append one or two additional specimens of
scoring, of which the style is> not only foreign,
but impossible, to the art of the ordinary pian-
PHRASING
The investigations I have been undertaking
in respect to speed, and the rather remarkable
points which have arisen therefrom, lead nat-
urally into the consideration of phrasing in
general.
The term "phrasing" comprises a variety of
musical conceptions. Baldly speaking it refers
of course merely to the grouping of musical
sounds by the performer, according to his own
individual ideas of interpretation. It thus fol-
lows that a performer may "phrase" his reading
of a musical composition in a manner which
brings out beauties unperceived
by the composer, or at any rate
visible only to one who is capa- f
ble of entering into the heart / /
of the composer's intention.
In the case with which we are
dealing, however, the business
- ?
of the composer for the player
piano is to master in advance / -
all the possibilities of variety C^
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of tone grouping as respects
rhythm, duration or intensity of tone; and to
set these down on the perforated sheet in such
a manner that the player-pianist, by judicious
manipulation of the speed control, may obtain
effects of the most pleasing and artistic k ; nd.
In fact, in its highest sense the work of the
arranger may be described as that art which
will enable him to endow his transcription upon
a music roll with such life that it cannot become
monotonous, even when badly manipulated.
In its narrow sense, which at the same time
is most important of all, "phrasing" refers to
the artistic manipulation of rhythm. The fol-
lowing considerations are based mainly upon
this idea.
Fig. 79
ist. The passage shown in Fig. 79 is taken from
the opening bars of my fantasy for the player-
piano, "Pandora's Box." Here the speed is far
too great for execution by the fingers, as the
tones are intended to be produced at a rate of
about twenty-two per second.
Again, the
player-piano transcription of my song, "June,"
n
Fig. 78
againsit another.
For instance, the passage
shown in Fig. 78 is from Chopin's "Fantasie
Impromptu." The reader will also recall pas-
sages in the Wagnerian operas ("Walkiire,"
"Parsifal," etc.) where the conductor is called
on simultaneously to indicate six-four time to
one part of the orchestra, and four-four time
to another part.
Now the reader will realize by this time that
complexities of, this sort are quite simple for
the player-piano. Indeed, this instrument can
FOR TONE, QEAUTV
AND LASTING
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ACCOMPLISHMENT
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widely s e p a -
'Migrated intervals
Fig. 82
of the airpeg-
giated treble figure and the
coloring is one of Aeolian
sweetness as the melodic notes
charge the tonal atmosphere.
Tempo
In connection also with the
general subject of phrasing, I
should like to point out that
the composer
or
arranger
ought to indicate, much more
carefully than is commonly
the case, the changes in speed which he finds
necessary, in connection with his conception of
the phrasing. It is much better for him to in-
dicate at every point the proper metronomic
figure which corresponds with the scale of the
tempo dial on the player-piano. All player-
piano motors to-day are timed for a uniform
tempo dial, so that the figure 60, for instance,
means that when the pointer is there the motor
of any player-piano will run the paper at the
rate of six feet per minute; no more, no less.
Of course no composer for the player-piano
would desire for a moment to stiffen the phras-
ing or discourage the play-
er-pianist in the attempt to
add the personal touch to
his interpretations through
judicious use of the tempo
lever. Indeed, with the mas-
ter player-pianists, just as
with the master pianist, the
JL-
Fig. 80
contains a passage, among others, as shown by
Fig. 80. The reader will perceive how the
dynamic and rhythmic factors demand deftness,
lightness and fluency of their phrasing and in-
terpretation such as the player-piano alone pos-
sesses.
Clarity and Crispness
When a manual pianist plays a very rapid
passage, extending over several measures, he
always unconsciously lays more and more
dynamic stress as he goes along; and from
start to finish also stresses the right hand sec-
tion.
So much is this a usual practice in
Intricate Rhythms
It is well known that any pianist of good
capacity can perform music in quadruple time
with one hand, against triple time in the other
hand.
Composers frequently display great
skill in thus offsetting one kind of rhythm
piano can impart the golden ripple which lies
in the phrasing, and is intended to be brought
out. Although the passage is written in only
two voices, the most dexterous pianist could
scarcely manage the passage manually, for the
speed required for M. M. 76 is twelve tones per
second. Of course a skilled pianist can easily
play a scale or a scale-like passage at this rate
of speed, but he positively cannot with the
necessary evenness and lightness play a pro-
gression of intervals like
these, which skip about in
such a dazzling manner.
The smooth phrasing of a
passage which contains an
accompanying harmony that
is to be sustained is some-
times very greatly aided by
the arpeggio, as illustrated
by Fig. 82. Here the great
i
speed of the
Fig. 81
pianoforte playing that composers for this in-
strument come to depend upon this dynamic
peculiarity to give them a proper balance in
passages like thesie. Now, the player-piano, of
course, can readily lend itself to this sort of
style, but its chief business £ si to function as a
new and powerful musical voice, which is neither
pianistic nor orchestral in the ordinary senses
of those terms. As I shall shortly show, many
effects of contrast and color are possible with
the player-piano which can be obtained from no
other instrument. It is therefore bad practice
to neglect this wonderful realm of tonal effects
for the sake of the manual tradition of right-
hand emphasis. The quotation shown by Fig. 81
is from my Valse in E Flat Major, and the
reader will perceive that only the swift, light
and pearly accentuation powers of the player-
r*AXJTO-PI/AVER, ~
WERNER INDUSTRIES CO. Cincinnat
composer realizes that only the most general
signs are needed, since the musical taste and
experience of the performer will guide him in
respect of all the smaller or interior accelera-
tions, retards, etc.
Unfortunately, however, there is very little
understanding on the part of the general mass
of those who use the player-piano concerning
the employment of the phrasing lever, or tempo
lever as it is usually called. It is, therefore,
very necessary that the composer should take
the utmost care to indicate all tempo changes
by definite figures, relating to the tempo dial
of the instrument.
In this connection there is just one more
point that I should like to emphasize. All play-
er-pianos include in their equipment some form
(Continued on page 7)
P I A N O
A.ND