Groundwork of the Leschetizky Method

Annotation

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. Twenty years ago I became your pupil, and for more than ten years you have considered me worthy to hold the office of your assistant. Let this be my justification for publishing, in this book, what you have taught me throughout this long period, and what I in turn have tested on hundreds of pupils. I am well aware that a finished pianist can no more be formed by a theoretical method alone than a painter or sculptor can be trained by books on painting or sculpture; nevertheless, my book may claim a certain right to exist, if only as a welcome reminder to many former disciples of the Leschetizky School of their early instruction, and, for the later pupils, as affording a correct idea of the basis of that School.<br><br>Following the spirit of the latter, I have been at pains to avoid pedantry. My work does not aim at a slavish observance of rule, but is meant to be a guide to fine and correct piano-playing. I am rendered the more desirous of attaining this end by reason of the honorable distinction conferred upon my work by the illustrations of your own hand.<br><br>I thank you most sincerely for this distinction, and beg you to accept the dedication of this book. Thus it only returns to the fountainhead whence we all draw.