PAOE TWO
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1923
De Pachmann----Chopineer
ORLANDO BEEDE
If a child prodigy is made to per- the psychology student in discovering
form before large audiences, then why the subject of de Pachmann's thoughts,
should not a valuable gentleman do and also it is helpful to the student
the same? One overlooks little faults of interpretation in realzig the pi-
in the child's presentation and inter- anist's totallack of it.
pretation of a piece. He is not con- Aside from the lack of virtuoso qual-
sidered too seriously, but leniency is ities already mentioned the critic will
allowed through mere love or pity. experience difficulty in deciding just
And so it ought to be in one's atti- what the trouble is when de Pach-
tude toward de Pachmann. Just as masn plays unless he is sitting within
you marvel at the technique of the.lhearing distance of his jabber. There
child of five years, be astounded with will come a beautiful Chopin melody
the seventy-five year old Vladimir so-sdthe little man at the piano will
capabilities.remark in broken English that this is
Toseiti tako ve dtifuilsthat the next is not so sub-
To se-tonsly attack or ryen criticize m ia iebatfll~twl
de Pachmann is wicked; toeven sa"
that de Pachmann irtrrprets 'a piecec a taro. T'e first be-micilitart
one way or tc other is wickeda' that the n e played such as ast ac
it is an outright falsehood for he Is never ben played before, as de Pach-
e cprs s it.Wen the les
no sense of interpretation. Put i x
4psinting out the defects whcich con- cid e1hae
stitute this lack of interpretatio -ther e a.? lbocrti r c i - r -
is nothing unioty. The third ;iald parent aversoon. But when te bian-
was horribly distorted in rhythm at. -i m ly r 'curs.c litte gni,
as in the A minor Polonaise all su- "- ciltc r'achd rvana, ior
posed climaxes would break ldown bcf - s s
tore being reached. The forth Screr a ' c-c smar1, anner.
zo is a piece of long form. ThInkcm Ba i-aul
of it in sections and playing itiwith o ae t e 'l'Is ".
out rhythms as he did, it was impo si c' ' d .Pcmann's wa-ikness.
ble to follow. He has but one touch a es.' c conesiecns-, ':ewould
and how can one say that de Pach ' ying that this is e
mann interprets when -he pla the s 0t ' of t war the nusic, but as
Polonaise a la Berceuse, when ce in- i - ci I.heIcondemns h iself-again it
variably effects very convenient ritar i-c paete-c. In all seriousness Ie be
dandos at difficult spots, and when hlieves that he is the greatest inter-
turns to smile at the audience before pr-tec of Chopin, say noticing of his
the climaxes are reached? His plan- certainty of being the greatest pianist
issimo is exquisite except in fast pas-i the world has produced. Does one for
sages as in the F minor Etude. The a oments-.believe that Chopin meant
Bercense he did play beautifully, and his I'relicde t-- be chopped into three
the B minor Mazurka was 'his great- ,bits? .o, Chopin wrote a Prelude.
est feat. Had one heard only that not three bits. This is just where de
Mazurka he would have said that it Pachmana fools himself. One feels
was a great pianist who was playing ncgry at the man who deceives an-
it. When a man is master of only other and sorry for him who is de-
one touch he is not an interpreter. ceived; but when a man deceives him-
One might as well say that a man who self-what then? Choose to pity the
knows o4y the French language is a little, old man rather than to scorn
linguist. Another deficiency is de -him.
Pachmann's lack of tone. The Polo-
naise demands virility of tone, not to GENIUS
mention the Polonaise rhythm. It Is (Continued from Page One)
as foolish to say that his tong does have none. For they are not his, but
not carry as it is to speak of his of his higher self,-a something apart
interpretation for the former has no from him.
volume whatsoever. He may once All this seems a far cry from those
have known how to play things as the geniuses whom history describes as
ought to be played, but now he has having caroused, dissipated, and be-
forgotten: he does not play Chopin, he come secy gluttons of sensual volupt-
merely plays with Chopin and it is uousness It is strangely apart from
pathetic, for he does not realize his those who sinking ever lower into the
downfall. This business of continual abyss of mental dispair, at last merge
side-remarks and entertaining antics, into complete insanity. It is concern-
is really objectionable for it distracts ing these so-called geniuses that Dr.
one's attention from the music, mak- Nisbet is right. Genius is the most
ing it difficult to judge its real worth. cotnple- and delicately balanced hu-
But since de Pachmann will insist man machine conceivable. No finer
upon talking, it is only genteel AO adjostmert Of all sensibirtis could
consider the lecture past of his recital, be created. That is w-y it is so pow-
and incidentally it is of great aid t IerUl, and so free from the friction
aof his. But a delicate 'achine is
Most easilyibroken down. it will whiri
F. L. Tilden. i...... ...Editor on steadily, smoothly, almost effort-
Donald E. L. Snyder.... .uBook essly hut a groin of sand nitt 'nid
Normand Lockwood......Music cwchuanoty in its igorance
Robert Bartron Henderson'
Ihas often been the trower o this
Gordon Wierr....s.'.rt rr, ronecsmpletely understands
Lisle Rose, Halsey Davdss, clmuccn lee the gris hic-
Newell Bebout, Samuel Moore ;eif Quite 5-cticcl" "' s cueer. He
Jr. lfadmittedly diffcrent from the aver-
The Sunday Magazine solcits age man, else he would be no genius.
manuscripts from all peroci a He is eccentric in the very nature
inted with the University. Man- of his ability. That which conforms
uscripts must be typewritten, to the circle of thought is concentric.
triple spaced and written on one That which does not is eccentric. No
side only. * *
The Sunday Magazine acknowl human being less conforms than the
edges The American Secular Un-. genius, therefore he is most ecci
ion review service for "The Un- trio. The world of men judges its
official Observer" department. * dictates sane. Quite logically, then,
he who flirts with those dictations is
primarily odd, qu. i 'ossible,--in-
sane. With tc t' ug-' the world
clothes itst cg- ' en wib
It is the policy of this wagaine to
publish articles of opinion by both strike out -i cen i tun rate. bThe
students and faculty members if, in mind o .e wocld ost cslow. It '- fran-
the judgment of the editor, these arts
cles are of intrinsic value and interest. tically tenacious of old conceptiote.
This does ot mean that c-c oleipts
solicited or vountarily offered a-e and does not, can not, will not sec
necessarily in accord ith editorial beyord the horizon of today. T here
epinion -thar in principeite fo erm.I
skirnishrs, then, 'ache dare beyjccs-
the horizon and return with strange well written ones, truly, but not indi-
stories to tell, are seldom, if ever, cative of the brighter brilliance of
understood. Their fellows grin wise- his genius. The instant the fine bal-
ly and shake their heads. 'Poor ance is broken, that instant the beauty,
things,' they say, 'of course they're order, and harmony of intuitive genius
queer.' There is nothing more dis-, is ended. An insane man often pos-
heartening to the genius than scorn
of his creations. To him they are sesses a facle wit and a brilliance of
not to be questioned. They are the perception, but he never knew and,
gift of the gods,-vital, real, lovely. according to all experience, science.
When the world belittles them he or dogna, he never can know the or
ggrows despondent, morose, melan- derliness and pure harmony of
echoly. Here is the grain of sand though characteristic of the genius
Here the purr- of the. machine is The product of an unbalanced mind
changed to an ominous grinding. Gen- uy b, lever, even startlingly-so, but
iuses are men living ahead of their it will not be of a real constrctive
nine. Years after they are dead and natr,.Te mind rf a genius is
the very force of. events has dragged , shblybalanced one. Anc insan:
uan to a point where he can see the d is a sadly unbalanced one. Th
truth ci ttheir visios, man looks ibck mind of a genius may be marshatted
ind glorifies thosep rophetso n a single direction but eery ._
Humanity is ocot the-caa -cauncs held sn intense scspcnsio.
he destruction of genius. Too o t _otherwise i wouldI not be rrecet
the genius-allot- -his' inelyba dac :1 : ':cis-ite cf geni'
aeeitihies to =-weigh this way -or ptcy. The trecc'nduscr p-w
a' A _tre ke"'lymvarcof all ' crn 'ay be directed ia
5i . "155' s i'''et'Iive but'ver 'am of tl'c't
tle :onyradult r sense. But in e incr .cic i imt'ability, suceptb
cam I ,: ,y tat f or sl t ciogct currnt.
1 n de y the mlomcenit pcysi-ccrt tt ., 5 is, sc ceptIc s
cal .i_^.m. 'o deneration sets in, tcat e ,sy slightest impulse, but.unilI.
mec=.t hisigenascVsan.es: tn'ss Ires t his balance tlIs .ay or
r_ zg ove:'ttercreaionsbecame he rons a connecton with tt :-
mn, ofhit, 'uental. anguish, si 'wn ': irnf.wiling 6cpply.- Te
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