ST SCHELLING

THE HAND OF A PIANIST

As I sat in the luxurious salon of the apartments near the Park, where
Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Schelling were spending the winter, sounds of
vigorous piano practise floated out to me from a distant chamber. It was
unusual music, and seemed to harmonize with the somewhat Oriental
atmosphere and coloring of the music-room, with its heavily beamed
ceiling of old silver, its paintings and tapestries.

The playing ceased and soon the artist appeared, greeting the visitor
with genial friendliness of manner. He was accompanied by the "lord of
the manor," a beautiful white bull terrier, with coat as white as snow.
This important personage at once curled himself up in the most
comfortable arm-chair, a quiet, profound observer of all that passed. In
the midst of some preliminary chat, the charming hostess entered and
poured tea for us.

The talk soon turned upon the subject in which I was deeply
interested--the technical training of a pianist.

"Technic is such an individual matter," began Mr. Schelling; "for it
depends on so many personal things: the physique, the mentality, the
amount of nervous energy one has, the hand and wrist. Perhaps the
poorest kind of hand for the piano is the long narrow one, with long
fingers. Far better to have a short, broad one with short fingers. Josef
Hofmann has a wonderful hand for the piano; rather small, yes, but so
thick and muscular. The wrist, too, is a most important factor. Some
pianists have what I call a 'natural wrist,' that is they have a natural
control of it; it is no trouble for them to play octaves, for instance.
Mme. Carreno has that kind of wrist; she never had difficulty with
octaves, they are perfect, Hofmann also has a marvelous wrist. I am
sorry to say I have not that kind of wrist, and therefore have been much
handicapped on that account. For I have had to work tremendously to
develop not only the wrist but the whole technic. You see I was a wonder
child, and played a great deal as a small boy. Then from fifteen to
twenty I did not practise anything like what I ought to have done. That
is the period when the bones grow, muscles develop--everything grows.
Another thing against me is the length of my fingers. When the fingers
are longer than the width of the hand across the knuckle joint, it is
not an advantage but a detriment. The extra length of finger is only so
much dead weight that the hand has to lift. This is another disadvantage