Walker-My_Musical_Ex.. - Walter Cosand

PREFACE
me has been caused by the many appeals made to me
for counsel and guidance—appeals that have laid on
me the burthen of a responsibility which I never could
have foreseen and still less desired, since they con-
tained such questions as could never be adequately
dealt with by any amount of correspondence.
Among the questions which have been put to me,
there is, however, one which I have no diiSculty in
answering, and the appearance of this second edition
seems to offer a very suitable opportunity for doing so.
That question is, ' What is the Henselt method ?'
To this I reply that it is a method of pianoforte
study which may be divided into two heads—con-
sidered under two aspects.
I. The purely technical or physical—a preparatory
drill which, according as it may be more or less com-
pletely carried out, is intended to fit the hand for
approaching and mastering every imaginable difficulty
presented to us in the works of pianoforte composers.
II. The mental, or that method of studying piano-
forte pieces which has for its aim an intelligent appre-
ciation of the composer's intentions, and a thorough
cari;ying out of the same.
Now, as regards the first or technical aspect of the
school, I am of opinion that, apart from personally
conveyed teaching, no amount either of talking or
writing on the subject could enable the student to get
a definite hold of it.
The mental aspect of the method is, however, admir-