Grand Characteristic Studies fbr the Pianoforte. By J. MOSCHELES.
If the last work was intended for the many, this is addressed to the few. It is (though not so announced) a continuation of its author's former Studies for the Pianoforte ; more elaborate and difficult than any of its predecessors. In truth, to execute these exercises well, a person must have made pianoforte.playing one of the chief objects of life. Whether the musical gratification derived from the conquest of such difficulties will repay the time and labour which it demands, may rea- sonably be doubted : one thing is quite certain, that the most perfect compositions for the pianoforte are not the most difficult of' execution. Some of these Studies attempt the description of different passions,— such as terror, wrath, affection ; others natural scenes,—a nur- sery tale, or moonlight on the waters ; in the performance of which the player is recommended "to use his own ingenuity and reflec- tion in expressing the passions, sentiments, and general character which he supposes the author to have felt and intended at the time he com- posed each piece." Whoever paints nature, by the agency of whatever art, will render his picture not merely the copy of a natural scene, but the impression of that scene on his own mind. This is distinctly perceivable in these descriptive studies. MOSCHELES, like every great artist, has his own style, his own peculiar method of treating any and every subject. Those points which others would pass over lightly or treat incidentally, he brings prominently and powerfully out. Hence the player will find some difficulty in obeying the composer's recommendation "to use his own ingenuity in expressing the sentiments," 8.:c. which are embodied in these studies. No other colour or character can be correctly im- parted to them than that which the composer himself would give. The player must adopt the expression and the style of MOSCHELES. Iii exact proportion to his approximation to that style will be his success, and as often as he departs from it he will fail. The fit exercise for his ingenuity will be the composition (for instance) of another moonlight scene on the waters.
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