In the Early Twentieth Century, The Idea that Pianists Should be Musician-Scholars

Reading Passage Question

In the early twentieth century, the idea that pianists should be musician-scholars whose playing reflected the way composers wanted their music to sound replaced the notion that pianists should be virtuosos whose performances thrilled audiences with emotional daring and showy displays of technique. One important figure to emerge in the period, though a harpsichordist rather than a pianist, was Wanda Landowska (1879–1959). She demonstrated how the keyboard works of Baroque composers such as Bach, Handel, Scarlatti, and Couperin probably sounded in their own times. It would be a mistake to consider Landowska a classicist, however. She had been born in an age of Romantic playing dominated by Liszt, Leschetizky, and their pupils. Thus she grew up with and was influenced by certain Romantic traditions of performance, whatever the stringency of her musical scholarship; Landowska knew how to hold audiences breathless, and when she gave recitals, they responded with deathlike silence and rapt attention.

Her playing was Romantic, but it was at least as close in spirit to the style of playing intended by composers of the Baroque (1600–1750) and Classical (1750–1830) eras, as have been the more exacting but less emotionally resonant interpretations of most harpsichordists since Landowska. She had a miraculous quality of touch, a seemingly autonomous left hand; no artist in her generation could clarify with such deftness the polyphonic writing of the Baroque masters. And none could make their music so spring to life.

Her achievements were the result of a lifetime of scholarship, truly remarkable physical gifts, and resilient rhythm, all combined with excellent judgement about when not to hold the printed note sacrosanct. Of course, developing such judgement demanded considerable experience and imagination. She was a genius at underlining the dramatic and emotional content of a piece, and to do so, she took liberties, all kinds of liberties, while nevertheless preserving the integrity of a composer’s score. In short, her entire musical approach was Romantic: intensely personal, full of light and shade, never pedantic.

Thanks to Landowska, Bach’s music (originally composed for the harpsichord) now sounded inappropriately thick when played on the piano. One by one, pianists stopped playing Bach’s music as adapted for the piano by Liszt or by Tausig. Then they gradually stopped performing any kind of Baroque music on the piano, even Scarlatti’s. The piano repertoire, it began to be felt, was extensive enough without reverting to transcriptions of Baroque music originally written for the harpsichord—and piano performances of Bach and Scarlatti were, despite the obvious similarities between the harpsichord and the piano, transcriptions, no matter how faithfully the original notes were played. In accordance with this kind of purism came an emphasis on studying composers’ manuscript notations, a relatively new field of musicology that is flourishing even today.

“In the early twentieth century, the idea that pianists should be musician-scholars”- is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.
This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 6 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation

1. The passage suggests that Landowska’s playing embodied a rejection of which of the following?

A) Emotionally resonant interpretations of musical works.
B) An audience’s complete silence during a performance.
C) Performances of previously obscure Baroque works.
D) The idea that a performer can correctly judge when not to hold the printed note sacrosanct.
E) Performances emphasising showy displays of technique that compromise the integrity of a composer’s original score.

2. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about the compositions of Scarlatti?

A) They were adapted by Liszt and Tausig.
B) They have not been transcribed faithfully.
C) They were not composed during the Baroque period.
D) They were composed for instruments other than piano.
E) They fell out of favour with most musicians in the early twentieth century.

3. The passage suggests that Landowska would probably have objected most strongly to which of the following?

A) A performance of a Bach keyboard piece played on the harpsichord.
B) A performance of a Handel organ piece on a Baroque pipe organ.
C) A modern composition written for a harpsichord and two pianos.
D) A piano solo in which the performer occasionally departs from the tempo indicated by the composer.
E) A performance of a piano and violin sonata in which the piano part is played on the harpsichord.

4. The author’s assertion that Landowska should not be considered a classicist serves primarily to emphasise which of the following?

A) Landowska specialised in playing the works of composers of the Baroque era.
B) Landowska’s repertoire included orchestral music only.
C) Landowska’s musical performances were not devoid of emotion.
D) Landowska’s repertoire emphasised works of long-lasting interest and value.
E) Landowska advocated the study of Classical style or form.

Suggested GMAT Reading Comprehension Questions

• A One-Child Policy was Implemented in China in 1979
• Seeking a Competitive Advantage, Some Professional Service Firms
• On the surface, the Conquest of the Aztec Empire by Herman Cortes
• But Man is Not Destined to Vanish. He can be Killed, but he cannot be Destroyed, Because his Soul is Deathless and his Spirit is Irrepressible.
• When Literary Periods are Defined on the Basis of Men’s Writing, Women’s Writing Must be Forcibly Assimilated
• Behind Every Book Review There are Two Key Figures: A Book Review Editor and A Reviewer.
• Barbara Strozzi was a Singer and Composer of Madrigals, Aria
• During the Victorian Period, Women Writers were Measured Against A Social
• It Is Perhaps Not Surprising that Debate has Arisen Over Bioluminescence-Based Biotechnologies
• The Fact that Superior Service can Generate a Competitive Advantage
• The Origin of the Attempt to Distinguish Early from Modern Music
• The Phenomenon of College Basketball's Surging Popularity Remains a Challenge to Classify
• The Health Commissioner Said that The Government had Implemented Strict Measures to Eradicate the Contaminated Food
• The Recent Global Boom in the Market Price for Scrap Steel and Aluminium Leads To A Sudden Rise in the Theft of Everyday Metal Objects
• Ethnohistoric Documents from Sixteenth-Century Mexico Suggesting that Weaving and Cooking were the Most Common Productive Activities for Aztec Women
• Solar Ponds are Bodies of Water in Which Circulation is Incomplete and There is a Very High Salt Concentration that Increases with Depth
• Traditional Social Science Models of Class Groups in the United States are Based on Economic Status
• Conventional Wisdom has it that Large Deficits in the United States Budget Cause Interest Rates to Rise.
• Comparable Worth, as a Standard Applied to Eliminate Inequities in Pay
• Even More Than Mountainside Slides of Mud or Snow, Naturally Occurring Forest Fires Promote the Survival of Aspen Trees.