Hummel's Piano Method (1828)

[Scordatura]

Hi to all!

I'm currently building an interactive website for pianists, piano-teachers and methodologists which aims to share and improve understanding of piano-technique and its fundamental problems and concerns. The site will include a substantial reference library of historically important pedagogical literature, much of which has long been out-of-print and, in certain cases, is unobtainable in electronic form on the net or from the British Lending Library.

One such case is Hummel's "Complete theoretical and practical course of instructions on the art of playing the pianoforte" in its English translation (Boosey, 1829) - a work important both for its impact on the piano-playing world at the time and as an almost unique example of a full-blown piano-method authored by a great virtuoso pianist. My hunt for it has got nowhere to date (apart from a few downloaded etudes extracted from the method), so this post is a plea to fellow Pianophiliacs: can anyone please help me out on this in any way?

As regards my website, it's not yet launched and launch date is still some way off. I'll let you know when it's useable. In the meantime, I'll be watching out for posts on technical and teaching matters in Pianophilia, poised to reply if I think I can offer anything useful!

Thanks in anticipation,
Scordatura.

[HullandHellandHalifax]

Hello Scordatura,
it is indeed one of those items that is almost impossible to find.
I have one, both parts bound separately, (shock, horror, faints from the other end), I couldn't believe it myself when I found a copy in Utrecht advertised by a secondhand music dealer. It was not cheap!
My copy is in perfect condition and unfortunately for us, very tightly bound and too large to fit on an A4 scanner, I have always been planning to see if I can photocopy the pages and reduce them to A4 for scanning, but up to now have not had the time to copy the 500+ pages.
I suppose I could make that a priority now and do it in small batches until eventually it is finished. You will appreciate I do not want to destroy the binding in the process. Leave it with me.
best wishes
Brian

[Scordatura]

Hello Brian!

Thanks enormously for that! It's really heartening simply to learn that a copy of the English edition does still exist outside of university and national reference libraries, and I can well imagine your pride in possessing one in prime condition. I'm deeply grateful for your interest in my own hunt and especially for your willingness to share with me (and Pianophiliacs generally) your intention to scan the books. That, I agree, will be no small undertaking, even if you do find an expedient way of doing so that doesn't compromise their condition, and if there were a risk of that, personally I most likely wouldn't embark on it. So, in reply to your hugely generous "leave it with me", please let me reassure you I'll understand perfectly should you decide the task is too demanding to pursue.

If you do feel the project is feasible, please, don't overwork yourself on my account! I do in fact possess a .pdf scan of the complete German-language first edition, offering me two possible workarounds for now. The more complicated course would be to OCR any pages with text and replace the passages with English translations (Hummel's German is well within my translating ability), while the simpler and quicker method would merely to put together a separate, text-only .pdf of the translation for use alongside the German original. For me, neither workaround would truly substitute for the Boosey original itself, but possibly users of my site might feel contented with whatever format I can offer.

So yes, Brian, I shall leave it with you - with my sincerest appreciation, best wishes and fingers crossed!

Richard.

P.S. I was most interested to read and ponder over your question concerning the B min Prelude in the "Playing Chopin" topic and, before quitting this Pianophilia session, will try to put together and add a post which I hope will answer at least some of it for you in concrete terms. Ciao for now!

[HullandHellandHalifax]

Phew! that was concentration and a bit of patience, but here is Part 1 of (at least )3.

Hummel - Art of Playing the Piano Forte - Part 1.pdf

In my copy Part 1 was bound with Part 3, Part 2 was bound apart. Part 1 is 121 pages, Part 3, 74+ pages and Part 2 309 pages.
So here is Part 1, I will copy Part 3 next and then embark on the marathon, it will take some time as you will realise so please be patient.
As i scanned it I read it through and can thoroughly recommend it's study, it is the compendium of piano playing of the turn of the 1800's and will be great for acquiring the technique to play Beethoven (and Hummel of course) and Cramer and Czerny, it is obvious that "fingerfertigkeit"was the order of the day, and well worth learning.
regards to all.
Brian

[Timtin]

Dear HHH,
This Hummel Piano Method book is superb! Even the addresses of the subscribers are printed.
If any publishers of facsimiles out there want fresh material to reprint, this would be ideal imo.
Bw, Tim.

[HullandHellandHalifax]

Dear HHH,
This Hummel Piano Method book is superb! Even the addresses of the subscribers are printed.
If any publishers of facsimiles out there want fresh material to reprint, this would be ideal imo.
Bw, Tim.

...and have you looked at the names Timtin... the glitterati of the British musical establishment of that day, Ignaz Moscheles, George Griffin, Thomas Adams, Thomas Attwood, Sir Henry Bishop, W.H. Callcott, J.B.Cramer, J.B.Logier, Vincent Novello, Charlton H. Palmer, Cipriani Potter, plus a plethora of minor organist/religious composers.
This book was certainly regarded as important for it to be translated into English.
regards
Brian
PS maybe there is a new quiz for you, guess who the subscribers were?

[Scordatura]

Hello Brian!

Thank you so much for this - and the result is truly wonderful. I do hope your original has survived its ordeal unimpaired! As for scanning the remaining volumes, please, do wait until the time feels right and don't over-exert yourself!

Best wishes,

Richard.

[klaviersonic]

Thank you for this beautiful score!

[HullandHellandHalifax]

After Part 1 comes part 3 of course, totally logical. Actually part 2 is some 310 pages and will take some time before i have it reduced and scanned, but hopefully before the summer the Hummel will be complete.
So here is the last part which is only 75 pages.
best wishes
Brian

Hummel - Art of Playing the Piano Forte - Part 3.pdf

[Scordatura]

Hello Brian,

Having been away for the past 2 weeks I've only just now caught up with your posting of Hummel Part 3 - apologies for my belated reply! Magnificent work, a really excellent result there. And fascinating reading, too, as expected; the 2 scanned parts rank alongside only C.P.E. Bach in terms of detail and comprehensiveness, and wholly justify the Method's reputation as the most authorative of its day. Many, many thanks, Brian!

All best wishes,

Richard.