Franz Mohr

Horace Greeley hgreeley@stanford.edu
Thu, 23 Jun 2005 19:07:30 -0700


At 06:41 PM 6/23/2005, you wrote:

>Heard him in Columbus, OH a while back. He lost me after I asked him if 
>there was any room for improvement for the piano as a whole and he said 
>no, the piano is now as good as it will ever be (or something very close 
>to that). I left.

Sorry that that was your experience.

\\minor rant\\

FWIW, Franz is not only a product of his generation, he is the last living 
link to what used to be at Steinway.  Further, he teaches in 
parables...stories.  Even if they seem to be off target, they carry a 
point.  One simply has to be able to hear what is being said.  Listen 
carefully to what he says about working with Horowitz and you will discover 
the "secret" of the latter's control.

If one needs to hear endless reductive blather, then he is simply not the 
guy.  There are endless talking heads out there with little to say who take 
great pleasure in saying it at great length.  When all of the measuring and 
weighing and all the rest of that stuff is over and done with, the piano 
must still be a musical instrument which speaks or the whole exercise has 
been a massive waste of time, energy and material.

People forget that music and its allied arts are just that - art.  At some 
point, technique has played its part and it is time to move on to what 
matters...communication of the ineffable.  That certainly does not mean 
that the development of the piano (or anything else, for that matter) has 
to come to a close.  It does mean that we all need to remember why it is 
that we do what we do.

\\end rant\\

Avery, if you make it to see him tomorrow, please give him my 
regards.  Also, please tell him that I am still using a "C" fork...Thanks!

Best.

Horace



>Greg
>
>
>
>At 09:35 PM 6/23/2005, you wrote:
>>Don't hold your breath. It's a S&S PR speach and not much more. Unless, 
>>of course, if you enjoy digging into S&S mythology......
>>
>>Nice guy though. I did like him. However, I'm fairly content with my 
>>religion. Just a bit much, IMHO.
>>
>>Terry Farrell
>>
>>>Just one of the good things about living in a BIG city. Franz Mohr is 
>>>going to be
>>>here tomorrow at the Steinway dealership. I "think" it's just a talk kind of
>>>thing but we're supposed to get a copy of his book! I'm really looking 
>>>forward
>>>to it! Thankfully, I don't HAVE to work tomorrow! :-)
>>>
>>>Avery
>>
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
>
>Greg Newell
>Greg's piano Forté
>mailto:gnewell@ameritech.net
>
>_______________________________________________
>pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives


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