The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1967, Blaðsíða 80

78
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Summer 1967
tion “Ach, Du Lieber Augustin”. I
could have stayed with Gustav Damn
for ever, but Mr. Palsson was firm and
soon had me on the Schrimer’s sona-
tine. These, and arpeggios, were the
bane of my twelfth year.
★ ★
Come 'thirteen, and I was slated to
play in Miss Jones’, the head mistress’s
drawing-room one awful Tuesday
evening in January. Mr. Palsson was
determined I was to make as good a
showing as any of the other teacher’s
pupils chosen as victims for the same
evening. By then, I suspected he knew
the worst, that I was no musician. At
any rate he selected a piece for me,
but whether it was a valse, an etude
or a sonata I’ll never know. It was
replete with thumping crashes, cres
cendos, hands crossing over and
kindred fireworks. Jonas very wisely
judged that what I lacked in artistry,
I could make up in virtuosity. For an
encore, we rehearsed “Traumerei”.
But when the time came, we didn’t
need it, the audience, no doubt, feel-
ing it had had enough.
Why Jonas Palsson plugged away
at teaching me for all those years, I’ll
never know. I’d hate to think it was
only because my parents paid on the
dot. But, if he failed to teach me the
piano—or rather, if I failed to learn—
at least he did succeed in teaching me
one thing—the love of fine music. For
him, Chopin, Beethoven and Lizst
were living, breathing human beings,
and under his blunt fingers their music
.sprang to rare and lovely life. Forget-
ful of the hour’s instruction allotted
to me, he would sit and play one art-
its’s work after another for me, but
mostly for himself. Fie would talk and
explain the passages to me and I would
listen and absorb. It wasn’t any of your
teacheripupil romances so beloved of
Hollywood, for Mr. Palsson was a very
much married man, with three darling
little girls. But I feel sure that the man
realized if he couldn’t teach my fingers
the intricacies of majors and minors,
sharps and flats, at least he could instil
in me a love of music. And for this
understanding I have a lifelong grati-
tude.
—From the Winnipeg Citizen.