A practice regime

After a year’s sabbatical in 1953, the pianist Horowitz found a routine and rebuilt his technique:

I realized I had to work out new daily schedules for myself – so much time for study, for rest, for reflection, for exercise … Soon my days had a new rhythm, a new serenity.  Every day I start with what I call calisthenics, exercises that I invent myself.  Each day, a new set, which I play very, very slowly.  When I practice the standard literature that I have played before, I practice section by section, and I never move from one to the other until I am satisfied.  Each week I devote at least two to three hours of my practice time to music I have never seen or played before.

Abram Chasins, “The Return of Horowitz”, The Saturday Evening Post, October 22, 1966, p.102-3.

Cited in: Gerig, Reginald (1974) Famous Pianists and Their Technique.  Washington: Robert V. Luce, p.307.

Posted

in

by

Greg

Tags:

, ,

Featured Content

Be a work of art
“One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art.” Oscar Wilde, Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young
Go Out to All the World – Psalm 116 (117)
Title: Go out to all the world Text: Psalm 116 (117). R. Mk 16:15 Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and organ Product medium: PDF score and part SAMPLE:
Beethoven as a boy
In his Beethoven: Biography of a Genius, Marek provides an insight into Beethoven as a boy: The boy was looking out of the window, his head cradled in his hands.  His mien was serious, his glance rigid. Cäcilia Fischer came along the courtyard and saw him. “How are you, Ludwig?” she shouted up to him.  […]
Bach’s wedding
Johann Sebastian Bach married Anna Magdelena, 3rd December 1721. They married at home, by command of the Prince of Saxe-Weissenfels. It was Bach’s second marriage. Bach purchased a 264 quarts (about 250 litres) of wine, worth 84 thalers and 16 groschen (about one fifth of his annual salary). Siblin, Eric (2009) The Cello Suites.  Crows […]
Aim above the mark
“If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it; Every arrow that flies feels the attraction of earth.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), American poet.
Oration XIV (St. Gregory the Theologian)
Title: Oration XIV Text: St. Gregory the Theologian Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and piano Product medium: PDF score Samples:
Two paths for the future of classical music
Greg Sanders ponders the position of classical music and describes the need for it to catch up with culture, without simply “dumbing it down”: “Of course, I think that if we really understand current culture, we’ll want to go the other way, and make classical music smarter.” Greg Sanders, Arts Journal Blog, February 2, 2009. […]
Baroque they are not
Between 1910 and 1938 the Austrian violin virtuoso Fritz Kreisler produced some arrangements of works by Boccherini, Martini, Couperin, Vivaldi and Porpora. They were positively achieved by the crticis.  In 1935, Kreisler revealed that there were not arrangements at all, but in fact works which he had written from scratch.  Suddenly critic’s attitudes to the […]
George and Ira Gershwin preview Porgy and Bess
The stage director of the first Porgy and Bess production recalls hearing the score in Gerswhin's New York apartment: They both blissfully closed their eyes before they continued with the lovely "Summertime" song.  George played with the most beatific smile on his face.  He seemed to float on the waves of his own music with […]
Here I Am, Lord – Psalm 39 (40)
Title: Here I Am, Lord Text: Psalm 39 (40): 2, 4, 7-1.  R. vv.8-9 Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: SATB and piano Product medium: PDF score and part SAMPLE: