47
MUSICAL COURIER
THE HAND POSITION COUNTS
By B. H. Wike
surely lead to bad habits. There can be no relaxation in such a manner. Place your hands, palms down, on a table. Elevate and lower the palms with fingers still touching the surface and notice as you raise and lower the fingers when you find a position which affords you the most freedom in action. After you have tried this and found out what you wish, according to the formation of your hand, try this position at the keyboard. Play scales, passages from favorite works, chords, and finally a piece or two that you have memorized. See at the end of the exercise whether you have done it easier than before. If you find an im-provment, keep that position in mind every time you play. It is good to go occasionally to the bare table and take a good square look at your hand position as you have been using it at the piano. Don’t hesitate to change the position if you can gain by it.
At all events, if you know your hand position is wrong, and you can not correct it yourself, or feel doubtful about it, look up a good teacher who is conscientious enough to ferret out the matter for you and then follow his instructions to the letter afterwards.
From the bad hand position,, with its accompanying bad arm and wrist action we come to other habits which are noticeable in swaying of the body, jumping slightly off the seat when trying to play loudly, etc. Moreover, bad hand position and stiff arms and wrists make accuracy a difficult matter to attain, even after a season of slowest practice and hard work. The correct hand position is the natural one, and the natural one is the one which is best suited to your hand alone, because it is different from somebody else’s.
[This is for pianists at every age, but is obviously intended for those of moderate ability. But it is good advice for everybody, especially those who are striving so earnestly to attain results that they are likely to overlook the pitfalls of bad habits.—The Editor.]
The hand position should be watched. It is easy enough to find after a little investigation what position your hand should assume at the keyboard, but it is a still easier matter to fall into bad habits and forget that good position. What is good for one hand will not always suit another, for hands differ as one star from another in glory. One whose fingers are long and hand slim will naturally need to assume a different position from one whose fingers are rather short and hand plump and broad. Nevertheless, you will find pupils whose teacher tells them all to assume one cut and dried hand position. What is the result? Some of these pupils whose hands the direction fits may forge ahead and accomplish satisfactory results; those whose hands the order does not fit will necessarily be handicapped and probably either make slow progress or grow discouraged. These latter ones may actually have as much talent as the others, but the set hand-position is an obstacle they can not get round without their teacher’s sanction. For that reason every sincere teacher will do well to examine the hand position of everyone of his pupils to see what position suits it best.
In your practice alone, too, whether you are a pupil or whether you are a teacher, you will need to watch your hand position. Relaxation is a great thing, but it becomes impossible to attain many times because of several things. Hands with the fingers held stiff, bird-claw fashion, will
derful range and handles it skillfully. Her stage presence is delightful.—Lima Times-Democrat.
Ethel Jones charmed an appreciative audience with a program well suited to show to advantage her warm, colorful voice. Many of her tones are deep, rich contralto and she sings with feeling. She is very dramatic and was gracious in responding to enthusiastic demands for encores.—Ashtabula Star-Beacon.
highly laudatory, and the Evening Gazette published the following:
Olive Marshall sang her soprano arias with a flawless quality of tone, and the applause of the audience gave her a sincere welcome on her initial appearance in Worcester.
Marguerita Sylva Busy North and South
Marguerita Sylva is returning from the South where she delighted the Southern audiences with her charming personality. And not only in the South is she so much appreciated. Hardly back North, the following cities are awaiting her appearance: January 29, Boston, Jordan Hall; February 2, Montclair High School; February S, Richmond, Va., City Auditorium; February 8, Philadelphia, Witherspoon Hall; February 13, New York, Rubinstein Club.
Ethel Jones Scores in Ohio
Ethel Jones’ recent tour of Ohio brought the following press encomiums for the gifted mezzo:
The solos for the contralto voice require sympathetic treatment and in these airs Ethel Jones was at her best. TTie mellow breadth of her voice and direct simplicity of style made an appeal not to be denied. There are times when one prefers sympathy and warmth to size.—Akron Press.
It has been a long time since Lima’s music lovers heard a more pleasing or more proficient singer. The charm of voice, the understanding, the delivery is there. She is gifted with a voice of won-
J anuary 2 5, 1923
tival at Pittsburgh, Kan., doing the Stabat Mater and The Messiah.
Some recent press comments follow:
Pleasing, clear tenor voice, possessing the charm of the youthful artist.—Madison (Wis.) Capital-Times.
Throngs hear Arthur Kraft sing. There could be no doubt of the popularity of Arthur Kraft; not only was every seat taken in the big Auditorium, but auditors lined the walls at the rear both upstairs and down. It was a flattering sort of attendance. His voice mellow, with a masculine quality of sweetness, is controlled with admirable art. Knowing the artistic advantages of restraint, he also knows how to release an occasional flood of sound.—Register, Rockford, 111.
Long before the time to start the concert, the large auditorium was filled and only standing room available. Mr. Kraft has brought a marvelous natural voice near to technical perfection with the result that he is rapidly going to the front ranks of American tenors. His upper tones possess a quality of limped sweetness that is seldom heard and in the middle register his voice is remarkable for its resonance. Excellent diction and breath control enhance its beauty.—Rockford Star.
One of our foremost American tenors; sings with a delightful tone quality.—Janesville Gazette.
Mr. Kraft, a golden tenor. The singers increasing prestige in the critical eastern concert world is not hard to understand. His voice gives pleasure on so many counts. Of lovely pure tone quality and timbre, unforced and flexible, liquidly eloquent in every demand made of it, clean of diction, impressive in the use of the pause and pianissimo, and stamped with a refinement and sympathy of interpretation. In the aria from Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast, Mr. Kraft took up the solo, Onaway, Awake Beloved; you could have heard a pin drop when he concluded, with one golden high note.—Beloit Daily News.
Activities of Charles Trowbridge Tittmann
The distinguished basso, Charles Trowbridge Tittmann, whose professional activities keep him pretty well tied down to his work in Washington, D. C., where he is soloist and precentor in All Souls’ Unitarian Church, occasionally takes wing and for a short space of time and fills engagements in oratorio and recital in various parts of the country. He has sung in a large number of local concerts and recitals in Washington and Baltimore these past few months, and during the coming Spring will fill engagements, as he has done for many years, at some of the leading American festivals. On December 29, he sang the bass arias with the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, Ernest Lunt, conductor, in what was said by the press to have been the finest presentation of The Messiah heard in Pittsburgh. On December 31, he gave a recital before a crowded house at the First Presbyterian Church, Wheeling, accompanied by Edwin M. Steckel, and on January 1, assisted by Mrs. Bard, contralto, he gave another recital in Wheeling, this time for the New Year’s Eve celebration of the Scottish Rite Masons. On January S, in Washington, he sang in concert with Elsa Raner, violinist and Richard Lorleberg, cellist. He was accompanied by Harry Mueller. On January 9 Mr. Tittmann was scheduled to sing The Messiah with the University of Virginia Choral Society, that being his third Messiah engagement in three weeks, for he also sang The Messiah on December, 18, with the Washington Choral Society. Engagements with the Washington Opera Company and Baltimore Oratorio Society are other January dates. The following are a few of his recent press notices:
He is a great bass. . . . His voice is essentially a man’s organ. —Washington Post, December 19.
Rarely have we heard the air, Why Do the Nations so Furiously Rage, performed with greater gusto.—Washington Times, December 19.
Charles T. Tittmann, whose work in many Bach festivals has made him a favorite in the East, gave most intelligent readings to the great bass solos, and the large vibrant voice was that of a prophet.—Pittsburgh Despatch, December 30.
He sings with rare intelligence, and though his liberal use of certain devices became almost a mannerism, they unquestionably increased the effect of dynamic virility in his singing of his florid arias.—Pittsburgh Gazette Times, December 30.
The fine legato of the early Italian numbers, his certain musician-ship gave the German classic adequate rendition, and, over all, the virility and excellent quality of his voice made this concert one of importance. Technically, Mr. Tittmann left no flaws to advertise. His intonation and ease of registeral transition was extraordinary. —Wheeling Register, January 1.
Fitziu-Thomas Recital a Big Success
Anna Fitziu and John Charles Thomas appeared jointly in Albany on January 8, and won the following criticisms:
As the saying goes, Miss Fitziu “caught the house,” and sang in a most charming and delightful manner. Her numbers were given with great beauty of tone, artistic poise and much tonal loveliness. John Charles Thomas, by his superb and beautifully trained baritone voice and his masterly interpretations, became a great favorite at once and made a most pronounced success. His success on the concert stage has been phenomenal and all over this broad land he is acclaimed one of the finest baritones of the present day.—Albany Journal.
Evenly scaled and with tones of rare beauty, Miss Fitziu’s voice is of great dramatic power, and throughout her remarkable range, displayed all the earmarks of the born artist. Miss Fitziu is rated as one of the handsomest women on the stage, and last night’s audience agreed. Mr. Thomas is one of the best baritones on the concert stage, and the laurels he has won during the present season were brought to the feet of Albany last night.—Albany Times-Union.
Mr. Thomas’ baritone impresses one at first with its purity and the splendor of its phrasing. It suggests the warmth and glow of Amato. The diction is excellent and the tone production easy in all registers, and the musical method charms one. .	.	. Anna
Fitziu displayed a voice well worth hearing. Her voice has both richness and power. She is a mistress of encores.—Albany Knickerbocker Press.
Marion Amstrong Wins Ovation in Troy
Marion Armstrong, Scotch-Canadian soprano, received an ovation when she sang to three thousand people in Troy, N. Y., December 14, as soloist with the Oriental Temple Band, William Moller conductor. The enthusiasm with which she was received is indicated by the following:
The solo work was also fetching and artistic. Miss Armstrong, particularly in her group of Scotch songs, was cordially received. The audience liked her, as manifested by its plaudits. Miss Armstrong has a voice of much purity and excellent range of tone, careful and distinct diction and unaffected charm of manner. Her Scotch plaid scarf gave a touch of realism ... as she sang the songs of the auld land.—Troy Record.
Olive Marshall’s Singing Lauded
Olive Marshall gave a successful presentation of the soprano solos in Handel’s Messiah, at Worcester, Mass., December 28. The Evening Post and Daily Telegram were