ABSTRACT
Laying aside Harold Schonberg's conflation of 'English' with 'British', it would be instructive to ascertain in a little more detail what Schonberg meant by "the classical school". Schonberg's other formative model for English piano playing, Felix Mendelssohn, according to contemporary accounts, also displayed 'purity' in that the music given in performance was perceived to be of more importance than the 'effect'. It is customary for greater amounts of rubato to be used in a performance of music from the Romantic era. The exclusive use of solo repertoire can be justified on the grounds that the pianist's art is being experienced in the most direct way possible because there is no moderating influence from any other musician. Every note played is, as far as possible when mediated by a recording, fully representative of the individual controlling mind and hand.
