John Singer Sargent: Musician

"Dame Ethel Mary Smyth" by J.S. Sargent*

"Joachim is credited with the remark that 'had Sargent taken to music instead of painting he would have been as great a musician as he was a painter.' Other musicians also thought very highly of his musical talents. Violinist, pianist and composer Charles Martin Loeffler penned:

'Dear Sir, In answer to your question about John Singer Sargent's 'musicalness' permit me to jot down in a loose way the various impressions I received of this in the course of many years of my enjoying the privilege of his delightful and generous friendship. I met Mr. Sargent some 35 years ago after a Symphony Concert in Boston where I had played Lalo's 'Symphonie Espagnole,' a delightful work of which Sargent was very fond. He arranged for our meeting a few days later when he played with me 'en petit Comite' the Symphonie Espagnole in which he revealed himself as the admirable musician which he innately was. He was quite amazing in accompanying The 3rd Movement ('Intermede') a quite splendid piece of music with rather complicated rhythms in 5/8 time, which he played with complete musical and rhythmical understanding, verse and spirit. He sailed through his part in Faure's perplexingly 'Swift' Sonata. Not by any means that he always played all the notes, but better than that, when cornered by a surprise difficulty, he revealed his genuine talent for music by playing all that which was and is most essential.'

Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist, Mr. Percy Grainger wrote: 

'John Singer Sargent was one of the most outstanding musicians I have ever met. To hear him play the piano was indeed a treat, for his pianism had the manliness and richness of his painting, though, naturally, it lacked that polished skillfulness that comes only with many hourly daily practice sessions spread over many years. He delighted especially in playing his favourite, Faure... Music seemed to be less a recreation to him than a sacred duty, the duty of aiding especial musical talent wherever he found it. It was primarily the creative musicians (composers) to whom he was most powerfully drawn, and whom he aided most extensively. He had only to announce his approval of any musician for hostesses to spring up ready to engage these proteges, hoping that their performance at their 'At Homes' would guarantee them Sargent's coveted presence - which it usually did."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "John Sargent" by Evan Charteris.)

*"Ethel Smyth (1858–1944), the daughter of a British major-general, took up music in the face of parental opposition, studied in Leipzig, and established herself as a composer of oratorios and concertos. Her best-known work is the opera The Wreckers (1906) with a libretto by her close friend Harry Brewster. Smyth was also a committed champion of women’s rights and played a prominent role in the suffrage movement.
In her autobiography, Smyth describes posing for this drawing while seated at the piano and singing. She recalled that Sargent implored her "to sing the most desperately exciting songs I knew." The resulting portrait, created in an hour and a half, suggests the concentration of her performance." (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/21426 )