I

IGNACE JAN PADEREWSKI


One of the most consummate masters of the piano at the present time is
Ignace Jan Paderewski. Those who were privileged to hear him during his
first season in this country will never forget the experience. The
Polish artist conquered the new world as he had conquered the old; his
name became a household word, known from coast to coast; he traveled
over our land, a Prince of Tones, everywhere welcomed and honored. Each
succeeding visit deepened the admiration in which his wonderful art was
held.

The question has often been raised as to the reason of Paderewski's
remarkable hold on an audience; wherein lay his power over the musical
and unmusical alike. Whenever he played there was always the same
intense hush over the listeners, the same absorbed attention, the same
spell. The superficial attributed these largely to his appearance and
manner; the more thoughtful looked deeper. Here was a player who was a
thoroughly trained master in technic and interpretation; one who knew
his Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann and Liszt. These things of
themselves would not hold an audience spellbound, for there were other
artists equally well equipped. In a final analysis it was doubtless
Paderewski's wonderful _piano tone_, so full of variety and color, so
vital with numberless gradations of light and shade, that charmed and
enthralled his listeners. It mattered to no one--save the critics--that
he frequently repeated the same works. What if we heard the Chromatic
Fantaisie a score of times? In his hands It became a veritable Soliloquy