Lesser Lights
There lived in Beethoven's time and in Beethoven's city a brilliant pianist who might have received more attention had his fellow musicians been less noted. This was Johann Hummel. He lived during the time of Beethoven, Cramer, Kalkbrenner, Weber and Field, and was a pupil of Mozart, Clemcnti and Albrechtsberger. He also had the advice of Haydn and Salieri. Master Hummel was a quick witted boy. He profited by his lessons and made immense progress. Mozart was so impressed by the child's playing that he offered him lessons for nothing. These lessons were informal and irregular, and the young artist gained more from the lyrical or musical side, than from the technical side of music.
After two years, Hummel appeared in a concert given by Mozart, and his success was so decided that the boy's father took him on a concert tour of Germany and Holland.
His next teacher was Clementi, the composer of so many interesting studies. The change from the melodious school of Mozart to the serious one of Clementi was great indeed, but Hummel needed this thorough preparation for his career as concert pianist. Hummel made many tours of Russia and of France. His concerts were brilliant affairs and he had triumphs wherever he played. The strongest point about Hummel was his extempore playing. A great deal was expected of extempore players in those days; the player had to know every kind of elaboration and every art form, from a simple melody up to a complete fugue. In this field Hummel had no rival but Beethoven. Hummel held no narrow prejudice against his rival; but Beethoven bore Hummel a grudge, which was not made up until Hummel visited Beethoven a short time before the great master's death. It was through Hummel's duet arrangement of Beethoven's symphonies that many people became acquainted with them, and it is pleasant to remember that Hummel made it possible for every pianist to enjoy these masterpieces.
You might not like Hummel's playing, it was light and graceful, brilliant, of course, but rather superficial; and you might not like the piano he used, it was, however, the best of that day, an instrument of light action without much depth of tone. If you have studied the history of piano making you will see that piano technic has kept pace with the instrument, and to-day we hear artists who try to make the piano sound like an orchestra; such a thing would have been impossible in Hummel's day. Do you know Hummel's Sonatas? I think you would like them, there are sweet melodies running through all of them, and fine well-polished themes or sentences, they are works of refinement but wholly lacking ^n that "something" that touches the heart. Piano students should remember Hummel for his Piano School which was a decided advance upon any previous piano methods. Among the important changes he made was a more rational method of fingering, another change was the manner of playing the trill. Hummel insisted that the trill should begin upon the principal note and not upon the auxiliary note. The influence of Hummel's method was far-reaching, he was the teacher of Czerny, who, in turn, was the teacher of Liszt, and Liszt is looked upon as the father of modern piano technic. Let us try to remember the pianist Hummel who lived bravely by the side of the giant Beethoven and won applause and success in spite of the fact that he was "a lesser light."—J. S. W.