| PAGE | ||
| I. | 1830-1862 | [1] |
| II. | 1862-1905 | [14] |
| III. | THE EVOLUTION OF THE METHOD | [25] |
| IV. | THE METHOD | [39] |
| V. | THE LESSONS | [51] |
| VI. | THE CLASS | [66] |
| VII. | THE CENTRE OF THE CIRCLE | [75] |
ILLUSTRATIONS
| LESCHETIZKY AT THE PIANO | [Frontispiece] |
| From a copyright photograph by Mr. H. S. Mendelssohn, London, W. | |
| To face page | |
| LESCHETIZKY'S VILLA IN THE CARL LUDWIG STRASSE, VIENNA | [14] |
| LESCHETIZKY IN 1903 | [18] |
| ON THE KAHLENBERG | [22] |
| DR. ARNE (OLD SCHOOL) | [26] |
| A GROUP OF PUPILS | [50] |
| LESCHETIZKY AND MARK HAMBOURG | [70] |
| LESCHETIZKY AT KARLSBAD | [76] |
| THE PROFESSOR'S BIRTHDAY | [80] |
CHAPTER I
1830 TO 1862
Theodor Leschetizky was born in Poland at the Castle of Lancut, near Lemberg, June 22, 1830. His father, a Bohemian by birth, held the position of music-master to the family of Potocka. His mother, Theresa von Ullmann, was a Pole.
The Potocki had luxurious tastes. They were cultivated people, who cared for beautiful things, and were rich enough to have them. The Castle itself, a fine old building, stood in the middle of a large park, surrounded by trees and plenty of open land; it contained a picture-gallery and a private theatre. This was the home in which Leschetizky passed his childhood, seeing life as a delightful thing, full of grace and ease, which might have been quite perfect had there been no music lessons. But at the age of five he began to learn the piano, and had to study two hours a day from the beginning. He loved music intensely, and might even have loved practising; but his father, according to the parental custom of the day, was so extremely severe that the lessons were a misery to both, and, but for his mother's gentle help, might have ended in his hating the instrument altogether.
In spite of such troubles, his progress was extraordinary. In four years he was ready to play in public, and made his first appearance at an orchestral concert in Lemberg. He played a Concertino of Czerny, and created a considerable sensation; "but," he says, "I cannot remember very much about the music, because at the time my mind was entirely taken up with the rats." Concerts were given so rarely in those days that any place was considered fit to play in. Leschetizky's first concert-room—probably a little more primitive than most—was built of wood; the light came in through the cracks, and the floor was full of holes, through which climbed the aforesaid rats in hundreds, running about fearlessly, not only during rehearsal, but at the concert itself.
After this exciting début Leschetizky went about playing everywhere, and very quickly became famous as a "wonder-child." Everybody talked about him and wanted to hear him; great ladies borrowed him for their salons when they could, and fêted and spoilt him, as great ladies always do—all of which he enjoyed as much as they did.