Violin MasteryTalks with Master

Violinists andTeachers

Martens, Frederick H.

Release date: 2005-04-04Source: Bebook

[Illustration: EUG�E YSAYE, withhand-written note]

VIOLIN MASTERY

_TALKS WITH MASTER VIOLINISTSAND TEACHERS_

COMPRISING INTERVIEWS WITHYSAYE, KREISLER, ELMAN, AUER,THIBAUD, HEIFETZ, HARTMANN, MAUD POWELL AND OTHERS

BY

FREDERICK H. MARTENS

WITH SIXTEEN PORTRAITS

NEW YORK FREDERICK A.STOKES COMPANYPUBLISHERS

_Copyright, 1919, by_FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY

* * * * *

_All rights reserved, including that oftranslation into foreignlanguages_

FOREWORD

The appreciation accorded Miss HarrietteBrower's admirable books on PIANOMASTERY has prompted the presentvolume of intimate _Talks with MasterViolinists and Teachers_, in which anumber of famous artists and instructorsdiscuss esthetic and technical phases ofthe art of violin playing in detail, theirconcept of what Violin Mastery means, andhow it may be acquired. Only limitation ofspace has prevented the inclusion ofnumerous other deserving artists andteachers, yet practically all of the greatestmasters of the violin now in this countryare represented. That the lessons of theirartistry and experience will be of directbenefit and value to every violin studentand every lover of violin music may beaccepted as a foregone conclusion.

FREDERICK H.MARTENS. 171 Orient Way,Rutherford N.J.

CONTENTSPAGE FOREWORD

v

EUG�E YSAYE The Tools of ViolinMastery 1

LEOPOLD AUER A Method withoutSecrets 14

EDDY BROWN Hubay and Auer:Technic: Hints to the Student 25

MISCHA ELMAN Life and Color inInterpretation. TechnicalPhases 38

SAMUEL GARDNER Technic andMusicianship 54

ARTHUR HARTMANN The Problem of

Technic 66

JASCHA HEIFETZ The Danger ofPracticing Too Much.Technical Mastery andTemperament 78

DAVID HOCHSTEIN The Violin as aMeans of Expression andExpressive Playing 91

FRITZ KREISLER Personality in Art 99

FRANZ KNEISEL The Perfect StringEnsemble 110

ADOLFO BETTI The Technic of theModern Quartet 127

HANS LETZ The Technic of Bowing 140

DAVID MANNES The Philosophy ofViolin Teaching 146

TIVADAR NACH� Joachim andL�nard as Teachers 160

MAXIMILIAN PILZER The Singing Toneand the Vibrato 177

MAUD POWELL TechnicalDifficulties: Some Hints forthe Concert Player 183

LEON SAMETINI Harmonics 198

ALEXANDER SASLAVSKY What theTeacher Can and Cannot Do 210

TOSCHA SEIDEL How to Study 219

EDMUND SEVERN The JoachimBowing and Others: The LeftHand 227

ALBERT SPALDING The MostImportant Factor in theDevelopment of an Artist 240

THEODORE SPIERING The Applicationof Bow Exercises to theStudy of Kreutzer 247

JACQUES THIBAUD The IdealProgram 259

GUSTAV SAENGER The Editor as aFactor in "Violin Mastery"

277

ILLUSTRATIONS Eug�e Ysaye _Frontispiece_

FACINGPAGE

Leopold Auer 14

Mischa Elman 38

Arthur Hartmann66

Jascha Heifetz 78

Fritz Kreisler 100

Franz Kneisel 110

Adolfo Betti 128

David Mannes146

Tivadar Nach� 160

Maud Powell 184

Toscha Seidel 220

Albert Spalding240

Theodore Spiering248

Jacques Thibaud260

Gustav Saenger278

VIOLIN MASTERY

EUG�E YSAYE

THE TOOLS OF VIOLINMASTERY

Who is there among contemporarymasters of the violin whose name standsfor more at the present time than that of thegreat Belgian artist, his "extraordinarytemperamental power as an interpreter"enhanced by a hundred and one specialgifts of tone and technic, gifts often alludedto by his admiring colleagues? For Ysayeis the greatest exponent of that wonderfulBelgian school of violin playing which isrooted in his teachers Vieuxtemps andWieniawski, and which as Ysaye himselfsays, "during a period covering seventy

years reigned supreme at the_Conservatoire_ in Paris in the persons ofMassart, Remi, Marsick, and others of itsgreat interpreters."

What most impresses one who meetsYsaye and talks with him for the first timeis the mental breadth and vision of theman; his kindness and amiability; his utterlack of small vanity. When the writer firstcalled on him in New York with a note ofintroductio from his friend and admirerAdolfo Betti, and later at Scarsdale where,in company with his friend Thibaud, hewas dividing his time between music andtennis, Ysaye made him entirely at home,and willingly talked of his art and itsideals. In reply to some questions anent hisown study years, he said:

"Strange to say, my father was my veryfirst teacher--it is not often the case. I

studied with him until I went to the Li�eConservatory in 1867, where I won asecond prize, sharing it with Ovide Musin,for playing Viotti's 22d Concerto. Then Ihad lessons from Wieniawski in Brusselsand studied two years with Vieuxtemps inParis. Vieuxtemps was a paralytic when Icame to him; yet a wonderful teacher,though he could no longer play. And I wasalready a concertizing artist when I methim. He was a very great man, thegrandeur of whose tradition lives in thewhole 'romantic school' of violin playing.Look at his seven concertos--of course theyare written with an eye to effect, from thevirtuoso's standpoint, yet how firmly andsolidly they are built up! How interesting istheir working-out: and the orchestral scoreis far more than a mere accompaniment.As regards virtuose effect only Paganini'smusic compares with his, and Paganini, ofcourse, did not play it as it is now played.

In wealth of technical development, in truemusical expressiveness Vieuxtemps is amaster. A proof is the fact that his workshave endured forty to fifty years, a long lifefor compositions.

"Joachim, L�nard, Sivori, Wieniawski--alladmired Vieuxtemps. In Paganini's andLocatelli's works the effect, comparativelyspeaking, lies in the mechanics; butVieuxtemps is the great artist who madethe instrument take the road ofromanticism which Hugo, Balzac andGauthier trod in literature. And before allthe violin was made to charm, to move,and Vieuxtemps knew it. Like Rubinstein,he held that the artist must first of all haveideas, emotional power--his technic mustbe so perfected that he does not have tothink of it! Incidentally, speaking ofschools of violin playing, I find that there isa great tendency to confuse the Belgian

and French. This should not be. They aredistinct, though the latter has undoubtedlybeen formed and influenced by theformer. Many of the great violin names, infact,--Vieuxtemps, L�nard*, Marsick, Remi,Parent, de Broux, Musin, Thomson,--are allBelgian."

*Transcriber's note: Original text read"Leonard".

YSAYE'S REPERTORY

Ysaye spoke of Vieuxtemps'srepertory--only he did not call it that: hespoke of the Vieuxtemps compositions andof Vieuxtemps himself. "Vieuxtemps wrotein the grand style; his music is always richand sonorous. If his violin is really tosound, the violinist must play Vieuxtemps,just as the 'cellist plays Servais. You know,

in the Catholic Church, at Vespers,whenever God's name is spoken, we bowthe head. And Wieniawski would alwaysbow his head when he said: 'Vieuxtemps isthe master of us all!'

"I have often played his _Fifth Concerto_,so warm, brilliant and replete withtemperament, always full-sounding, rich inan almost unbounded strength. Of course,since Vieuxtemps wrote his concertos, agreat variety of fine modern works hasappeared, the appreciation ofchamber-music has grown and developed,and with it that of the sonata. And themodern violin sonata is also a vehicle forviolin virtuosity in the very best meaningof the word. The sonatas of C�ar Franck,d'Indy, Th�dore Dubois, Lekeu, Vierne,Ropartz, Lazarri--they are all highlyexpressive, yet at the same time virtuose.The violin parts develop a lovely song line,

yet their technic is far from simple. TakeLekeu's splendid Sonata in G major;rugged and massive, making decidedtechnical demands--it yet has a wonderfulbreadth of melody, a great expressivequality of song."

These works--those who have heard theMaster play the beautiful Lazarri sonatathis season will not soon forget it--are alldedicated to Ysaye. And this holds good,too, of the C�ar Franck sonata. As Ysayesays: "Performances of these great sonatascall for _two_ artists--for their piano partsare sometimes very elaborate. C�arFranck sent me his sonata on September26, 1886, my wedding day--it was hiswedding present! I cannot complain asregards the number of works, reallyimportant works, inscribed to me. Thereare so many--by Chausson (hissymphony), Ropartz, Dubois (his

sonata--one of the best after Franck),d'Indy (the _Istar_ variations and otherworks), Gabriel Faur�(the Quintet),Debussy (the Quartet)! There are morethan I can recall at the moment--violinsonatas, symphonic music,chamber-music, choral works,compositions of every kind!

"Debussy, as you know, wrote practicallynothing originally for the violin andpiano--with the exception, perhaps, of awork published by Durand during his lastillness. Yet he came very near writingsomething for me. Fifteen years ago hetold me he was composing a 'Nocturne' forme. I went off on a concert tour and wasaway a long time. When I returned to ParisI wrote to Debussy to find out what hadbecome of my 'Nocturne.' And he repliedthat, somehow, it had shaped itself up fororchestra instead of a violin solo. It is one

of the _Trois Nocturnes_ for orchestra.Perhaps one reason why so much has beeninscribed to me is the fact that as aninterpreting artist, I have never cultivateda 'specialty.' I have played everything fromBach to Debussy, for real art should beinternational!"

Ysaye himself has an almost marvelousright-arm and fingerboard control, whichenables him to produce at will the finestand most subtle tonal nuances in allbowings. Then, too, he overcomes themost intricate mechanical problems withseemingly effortless ease. And his tone haswell been called "golden." His owndefinition of tone is worth recording. Hesays it should be "In music what the heartsuggests, and the soul expresses!"

THE TOOLS OF VIOLIN

MASTERY

"With regard to mechanism," Ysayecontinued, "at the present day the tools ofviolin mastery, of expression, technic,mechanism, are far more necessary than indays gone by. In fact they areindispensable, if the spirit is to expressitself without restraint. And the greatermechanical command one has the lessnoticeable it becomes. All that suggestseffort, awkwardness, difficulty, repels thelistener, who more than anything elsedelights in a singing violin tone.Vieuxtemps often said: _Pas de trait pourle trait--chantez, chantez_! (Not runs for thesake of runs--sing, sing!)

"Too many of the technicians of the presentday no longer sing. Their difficulties--theysurmount them more or less happily; butthe effect is too apparent, and though, at

times, the listener may be astonished, hecan never be charmed. Agile fingers, sureof themselves, and a perfect bow strokeare essentials; and they must besupremely able to carry along the rhythmand poetic action the artist desires.Mechanism becomes, if anything, moreaccessible in proportion as its domain isenriched by new formulas. The violinist ofto-day commands far greater technicalresources than did his predecessors.Paganini is accessible to nearly all players:Vieuxtemps no longer offers the difficultieshe did thirty years ago. Yet thewood-wind, brass and even the stringinstruments subsist in a measure on theheritage transmitted by the masters of thepast. I often feel that violin teaching to-dayendeavors to develop the esthetic sense attoo early a stage. And in devoting itself tothe _head_ it forgets the _hands_, with theresult that the young soldiers of the

violinistic army, full of ardor and courage,are ill equipped for the great battle of art.

"In this connection there exists anexcellent set of _�udes-Caprices_ by E.Chaumont, which offer the advancedstudent new elements and formulas ofdevelopment. Though in some of them 'theframe is too large for the picture,' andthough difficult from a violinistic point ofview, 'they lie admirably well up the neck,'to use one of Vieuxtemps's expressions,and I take pleasure in calling attention tothem.

"When I said that the string instruments,including the violin, subsist in a measureon the heritage transmitted by the mastersof the past, I spoke with special regard totechnic. Since Vieuxtemps there has beenhardly one new passage written for theviolin; and this has retarded the

development of its technic. In the case ofthe piano, men like Godowsky havecreated a new technic for their instrument;but although Saint-Sa�s, Bruch, Lalo andothers have in their works endowed theviolin with much beautiful music, musicitself was their first concern, and not musicfor the violin. There are no more concertoswritten for the solo flute, trombone,etc.--as a result there is no new technicalmaterial added to the resources of theseinstruments.

"In a way the same holds good of theviolin--new works conceived only from themusical point of view bring about thestagnation of technical discovery, theinvention of new passages, of novelharmonic wealth of combination is notencouraged. And a violinist owes it tohimself to exploit the great possibilities ofhis own instrument. I have tried to find new

technical ways and means of expression inmy own compositions. For example, I havewritten a _Divertiment_ for violin andorchestra in which I believe I haveembodied new thoughts and ideas, andhave attempted to give violin technic abroader scope of life and vigor.

"In the days of Viotti and Rode theharmonic possibilities were morelimited--they had only a few chords, andhardly any chords of the ninth. But nowharmonic material for the development ofa new violin technic is there: I have someviolin studies, in ms., which I may publishsome day, devoted to that end. I am alwayssomewhat hesitant about publishing--thereare many things I might publish, but I haveseen so much brought out that was banal,poor, unworthy, that I have always beeninclined to mistrust the value of my owncreations rather than fall into the same

error. We have the scale of Debussy andhis successors to draw upon, their newchords and successions of fourths andfifths--for new technical formulas arealways evolved out of and follow after newharmonic discoveries--though there is asyet no violin method which gives afingering for the whole-tone scale. Perhapswe will have to wait until Kreisler or I willhave written one which makes plain thenew flowering of technical beauty andesthetic development which it brings theviolin.

"As to teaching violin, I have never taughtviolin in the generally accepted sense ofthe phrase. But at Godinne, where I usuallyspent my summers when in Europe, I gavea kind of traditional course in the works ofVieuxtemps, Wieniawski and othermasters to some forty or fiftyartist-students who would gather

there--the same course I look forward togiving in Cincinnati, to a master class ofvery advanced pupils. This was and will bea labor of love, for the compositions ofVieuxtemps and Wieniawski especiallyare so inspiring and yet, as a rule, they areso badly played--without grandeur orbeauty, with no thought of the traditionalinterpretation--that they seem thepiecework of technic factories!

VIOLIN MASTERY

"When I take the whole history of the violininto account I feel that the true inwardnessof 'Violin Mastery' is best expressed by akind of threefold group of great artists.First, in the order of romantic expression,we have a trinity made up of Corelli, Viottiand Vieuxtemps. Then there is a trinity ofmechanical perfection, composed of

Locatelli, Tartini and Paganini or, a moremodern equivalent, C�ar Thomson,Kubelik and Burmeister. And, finally, whatI might call in the order of lyricexpression, a quartet comprising Ysaye,Thibaud, Mischa Elman and Sametini ofChicago, the last-named a wonderfully fineartist of the lyric or singing type. Of coursethere are qualifications to be made.Locatelli was not altogether an exponent oftechnic. And many other fine artistsbesides those mentioned share thecharacteristics of those in the variousgroups. Yet, speaking in a general way, Ibelieve that these groups of attainmentmight be said to sum up what 'ViolinMastery' really is. And a violin master? Hemust be a violinist, a thinker, a poet, ahuman being, he must have known hope,love, passion and despair, he must haverun the gamut of the emotions in order toexpress them all in his playing. He must

play his violin as Pan played his flute!"

In conclusion Ysaye sounded a note ofwarning for the too ambitious youngstudent and player. "If Art is to progress,the technical and mechanical element mustnot, of course, be neglected. But a boy ofeighteen cannot expect to express that towhich the serious student of thirty, the manwho has actually lived, can give voice. Ifthe violinist's art is truly a great art, itcannot come to fruition in the artist's 'teens.His accomplishment then is no more than apromise--a promise which finds itsrealization in and by life itself. YetAmericans have the brains as well as thespiritual endowment necessary tounderstand and appreciate beauty in ahigh degree. They can already point withpride to violinists who emphaticallydeserve to be called artists, and anotherquarter-century of artistic striving may

well bring them into the front rank ofviolinistic achievement!"

II

LEOPOLD AUER

A METHOD WITHOUTSECRETS

When that celebrated laboratory ofbudding musical genius, the PetrogradConservatory, closed its doors indefinitelyowing to the disturbed political conditionsof Russia, the famous violinist and teacherProfessor Leopold Auer decided to pay thevisit to the United States which had sorepeatedly been urged on him by hisfriends and pupils. His fame, owing to suchheralds as Efrem Zimbalist, Mischa Elman,Kathleen Parlow, Eddy Brown, FrancisMacMillan, and more recently SaschaHeifetz, Toscha Seidel, and Max Rosen,

had long since preceded him; and thereception accorded him in this country, asa soloist and one of the greatest exponentsand teachers of his instrument, has beenone justly due to his authority andpre�inence.

It was not easy to have a heart-to-heart talkwith the Master anent his art, since everyminute of his time was precious. Yetushered into his presence, the writerdiscovered that he had laid aside for themoment other preoccupations, and wasamiably responsive to all questions, oncetheir object had been disclosed. Naturally,the first and burning question in the caseof so celebrated a pedagogue was: "Howdo you form such wonderful artists? Whatis the secret of your method?"

[Illustration: LEOPOLD AUER, withhand-written note]

A METHOD WITHOUTSECRETS

"I know," said Professor Auer, "that there isa theory somewhat to the effect that I makea few magic passes with the bow by way ofillustration and--_presto_--you have aZimbalist or a Heifetz! But the truth is Ihave no method--unless you want to callpurely natural lines of development, basedon natural principles, a method--and so, ofcourse, there is no secret about myteaching. The one great point I lay stresson in teaching is never to kill theindividuality of my various pupils. Eachpupil has his own inborn aptitudes, hisown personal qualities as regards tone andinterpretation. I always have made anindividual study of each pupil, and giveneach pupil individual treatment. And

always, always I have encouraged them todevelop freely in their own way as regardsinspiration and ideals, so long as this wasnot contrary to esthetic principles andthose of my art. My idea has always beento help bring out what nature has alreadygiven, rather than to use dogma to force astudent's natural inclinations into channelsI myself might prefer. And another greatprinciple in my teaching, one which isproductive of results, is to demand asmuch as possible of the pupil. Then he willgive you something!

"Of course the whole subject of violinteaching is one that I look at from thestandpoint of the teacher who tries to makewhat is already excellent perfect from themusical and artistic standpoint. I insist on aperfected technical development in everypupil who comes to me. Art begins wheretechnic ends. There can be no real art

development before one's technic is firmlyestablished. And a great deal of technicalwork has to be done before the greatworks of violin literature, the sonatas andconcertos, may be approached. InPetrograd my own assistants, who werefamiliar with my ideas, prepared my pupilsfor me. And in my own experience I havefound that one cannot teach by word, bythe spoken explanation, alone. If I have apoint to make I explain it; but if myexplanation fails to explain I take my violinand bow, and clear up the matter beyondany doubt. The word lives, it is true, butoften the word must be materialized byaction so that its meaning is clear. Thereare always things which the pupil must beshown literally, though explanation shouldalways supplement illustration. I studiedwith Joachim as a boy of sixteen--it wasbefore 1866, when there was still akingdom of Hanover in existence--and

Joachim always illustrated his meaningwith bow and fiddle. But he neverexplained the technical side of what heillustrated. Those more advancedunderstood without verbal comment; yetthere were some who did not.

"As regards the theory that you can tellwho a violinist's teacher is by the way inwhich he plays, I do not believe in it. I donot believe that you can tell an Auer pupilby the manner in which he plays. And I amproud of it since it shows that my pupilshave profited by my encouragement ofindividual development, and that theybecome genuine artists, each with apersonality of his own, instead of violinisticautomats, all bearing a marked familyresemblance."

Questioned as to how his various pupilsreflected different phases of his teaching

ideals, Professor Auer mentioned that hehad long since given over passing finaldecisions on his pupils. "I could expressno such opinions without unconsciouslyimplying comparisons. And so fewcomparisons really compare! Then, too,mine would be merely an individualopinion. Therefore, as has been my customfor years, I will continue to leave anyultimate decisions regarding my pupils'playing to the public and the press."

HOURS OF PRACTICE

"How long should the advanced pupilpractice?" Professor Auer was asked. "Theright kind of practice is not a matter ofhours," he replied. "Practice shouldrepresent the utmost concentration ofbrain. It is better to play withconcentration for two hours than to

practice eight without. I should say thatfour hours would be a good maximumpractice time--I never ask more of mypupils--and that during each minute of thetime the brain be as active as the fingers.

NATIONALITY VERSUS THECONSERVATORY SYSTEM

"I think there is more value in the idea of anational conservatory than in the idea ofnationality as regards violin playing. Nomatter what his birthplace, there is onlyone way in which a student can become anartist--and that is to have a teacher whocan teach! In Europe the best teachers areto be found in the great nationalconservatories. Thibaud, Ysaye--artists ofthe highest type--are products of theconservatory system, with its splendidteachers. So is Kreisler, one of the greatest

artists, who studied in Vienna and Paris.Eddy Brown, the brilliant Americanviolinist, finished at the BudapestConservatory. In the Paris Conservatorythe number of pupils in a class is strictlylimited; and from these pupils eachprofessor chooses the very best--who maynot be able to pay for their course--for freeinstruction. At the Petrograd Conservatory,where Wieniawski preceded me, therewere hundreds of free scholarshipsavailable. If a really big talent came alonghe always had his opportunity. We tookand taught those less talented at theConservatory in order to be able to givescholarships to the deserving of limitedmeans. In this way no real violinisticgenius, whom poverty might otherwisehave kept from ever realizing his dreams,was deprived of his chance in life. Amongthe pupils there in my class, havingscholarships, were Kathleen Parlow,

Elman, Zimbalist, Heifetz and Seidel.

VIOLIN MASTERY

"Violin mastery? To me it represents thesum total of accomplishment on the part ofthose who live in the history of the Art. Allthose who may have died long since, yetthe memory of whose work and whosecreations still lives, are the true masters ofthe violin, and its mastery is the record oftheir accomplishment. As a child Iremember the well-known composers ofthe day were Marschner, Hiller, Nicolaiand others--yet most of what they havewritten has been forgotten. On the otherhand there are Tartini, Nardini, Paganini,Kreutzer, Dont and Rode--they still live;and so do Ernst, Sarasate, Vieuxtemps andWieniawski. Joachim (incidentally the onlygreat German violinist of whom I

know--and he was a Hungarian!), thoughhe had but few great pupils, andcomposed but little, will always beremembered because he, together withDavid, gave violin virtuosity a noblertrend, and introduced a higher ideal in themusic played for violin. It is men such asthese who always will remain violin'masters,' just as 'violin mastery' is definedby what they have done."

THE BACH VIOLIN SONATAS ANDOTHER COMPOSITIONS

Replying to a question as to the value ofthe Bach violin sonatas, Professor Auersaid: "My pupils always have to play Bach.I have published my own revision of themwith a New York house. The mostimpressive thing about these Bach solosonatas is they do not need an

accompaniment: one feels it would besuperfluous. Bach composed so rapidly, hewrote with such ease, that it would havebeen no trouble for him to supply one hadhe felt it necessary. But he did not, and hewas right. And they still must be played ashe has written them. We have the 'modern'orchestra, the 'modern' piano, but, thankheaven, no 'modern' violin! Suchindications as I have made in my editionwith regard to bowing, fingering,_nuances_ of expression, are more or lessin accord with the spirit of the times; butnot a single note that Bach has written hasbeen changed. The sonatas are technicallyamong the most difficult things written forthe violin, excepting Ernst and Paganini.Not that they are hard in a modern way:Bach knew nothing of harmonics,_pizzicati_, scales in octaves and tenths.But his counterpoint, his fugues--to playthem well when the principal theme is

sometimes in the outer voices, sometimesin the inner voices, or moving from one tothe other--is supremely difficult! In the lastsonatas there is a larger number of smallmovements--- but this does not make themany easier to play.

"I have also edited the Beethoven sonatastogether with Rudolph Ganz. He worked atthe piano parts in New York, while Istudied and revised the violin parts inPetrograd and Norway, where I spent mysummers during the war. There was not somuch to do," said Professor Auermodestly, "a little fingering, some bowingindications and not much else. No reviserneeds to put any indications for _nuance_and shading in Beethoven. He was quiteable to attend to all that himself. There isno composer who shows such refinementof _nuance_. You need only to take hisquartets or these same sonatas to convince

yourself of the fact. In my Brahms revisionsI have supplied really needed fingerings,bowings, and other indications! Importantcompositions on which I am now at workinclude Ernst's fine Concerto, Op. 23, theMozart violin concertos, and Tartini's_Trille du diable_, with a special cadenzafor my pupil, Toscha Seidel.

AS REGARDS "PRODIGIES"

"Prodigies?" said Professor Auer. "Theword 'prodigy' when applied to someyouthful artist is always used with anaccent of reproach. Public and critics areinclined to regard them with suspicion.Why? After all, the important thing is nottheir youth, but their artistry. Examine thehistory of music--you will discover that anynumber of great masters, great in thematurity of their genius, were great in its

infancy as well. There are Mozart,Beethoven, Liszt, Rubinstein, d'Albert,Hofmann, Scriabine, Wieniawski--theywere all 'infant prodigies,' and certainlynot in any objectionable sense. Not that Iwish to claim that every _prodigy_necessarily becomes a great master. Thatdoes not always follow. But I believe that amusical prodigy, instead of beingregarded with suspicion, has a right to belooked upon as a striking example of apronounced natural predisposition formusical art. Of course, full mentaldevelopment of artistic power must comeas a result of the maturing processes of lifeitself. But I firmly believe that everyprodigy represents a valuable musicalphenomenon, one deserving of thekeenest interest and encouragement. Itdoes not seem right to me that when the artof the prodigy is incontestably great, thatthe mere fact of his youth should serve as

an excuse to look upon him with prejudice,and even with a certain degree of distrust."

III

EDDY BROWN

HUBAY AND AUER:TECHNIC: HINTS TO THESTUDENT

Notwithstanding the fact that Eddy Brownwas born in Chicago, Ill., and that he is sogreat a favorite with concert audiences inthe land of his birth, the gifted violinisthesitates to qualify himself as a strictly"American" violinist. As he expresses it:"Musically I was altogether educated inEurope--I never studied here, because Ileft this country at the age of seven, andonly returned a few years ago. So I wouldnot like to be placed in the position ofclaiming anything under false pretenses!

HUBAY AND AUER: SOMECOMPARISONS

"With whom did I study? With two famousmasters; by a strange coincidence bothHungarians. First with Jen�Hubay, at theNational Academy of Music in Budapest,later with Leopold Auer in Petrograd.Hubay had been a pupil of Vieuxtemps inBrussels, and is a justly celebratedteacher, very thorough and painstaking inexplaining to his pupils how to do things;but the great difference between Hubayand Auer is that while Hubay tells a studenthow to do things, Auer, a temperamentalteacher, literally drags out of him whateverthere is in him, awakening latent powershe never knew he possessed. Hubay is asplendid builder of virtuosity, and has afine sense for phrasing. For a year and a

half I worked at nothing but studies withhim, giving special attention to technic. Hedid not believe in giving too much time toleft hand development, when withoutadequate bow technic finger facility isuseless. Here he was in accord with Auer,in fact with every teacher seriouslydeserving of the name. Hubay was afirst-class pedagog, and under hisinstruction one could not help becoming awell-balanced and musicianly player. Butthere is a higher ideal in violin playingthan mere correctness, and Auer is aninspiring teacher. Hubay has written someadmirable studies, notably twelve studiesfor the right hand, though he neverstressed technic too greatly. On the otherhand, Auer's most notable contributions toviolin literature are his revisions of suchworks as the Bach sonatas, theTschaikovsky Concerto, etc. In a way itpoints the difference in their mental

attitude: Hubay more concerned with thetechnical educational means, one whichcannot be overlooked; Auer moreinterested in the interpretative, artisticeducational end, which has alwaysclaimed his attention. Hubay personallywas a _grand seigneur_, amulti-millionaire, and married to anHungarian countess. He had a fine ear forphrasing, could improvise most interestingviolin accompaniments to whatever hispupils played, and beside Rode, Kreutzerand Fiorillo I studied the concertos andother repertory works with him. Thenthere were the conservatory lessons!Attendance at a European conservatory isvery broadening musically. Not only doesthe individual violin pupil, for example,profit by listening to his colleagues play inclass: he also studies theory, musicalhistory, the piano, _ensemble_ playing,chamber-music and orchestra. I was

concertmaster of the conservatoryorchestra while studying with Hubay.There should be a national conservatory ofmusic in this country; music in generalwould advance more rapidly. And it wouldhelp teach American students to approachthe art of violin playing from the right pointof view. As it is, too many want to studyabroad under some renowned teacher not,primarily, with the idea of becoming greatartists; but in the hope of drawing greatfuture commercial dividends from aninitial financial investment. In Art thefinancial should always be a secondaryconsideration.

"It stands to reason that no matter howgreat a student's gifts may be, he can profitby study with a great teacher. This, I think,applies to all. After I had already appearedin concert at Albert Hall, London, in 1909,where I played the Beethoven Concerto

with orchestra, I decided to study withAuer. When I first came to him he wantedto know why I did so, and after hearing meplay, told me that I did not need anylessons from him. But I knew that there wasa certain 'something' which I wished to addto my violinistic make-up, and instinctivelyfelt that he alone could give me what Iwanted. I soon found that in manyessentials his ideas coincided with those ofHubay. But I also discovered that Auermade me develop my individualityunconsciously, placing no unduerestrictions whatsoever upon my mannerof expression, barring, of course,unmusicianly tendencies. When he has areally talented pupil the Professor giveshim of his best. I never gave a thought totechnic while I studied with him--the greatthings were a singing tone, bowing,interpretation! I studied Brahms andBeethoven, and though Hubay always

finished with the Bach sonatas, I studiedthem again carefully with Auer.

TECHNIC: SOME HINTS TOTHE STUDENT

"At the bottom of all technic lies the scale.And scale practice is the ladder by meansof which all must climb to higherproficiency. Scales, in single tones andintervals, thirds, sixths, octaves, tenths,with the incidental changes of position, arethe foundation of technic. They should bepracticed slowly, always with thedevelopment of tone in mind, and not toolong a time at any one session. No one canlay claim to a perfected technic who hasnot mastered the scale. Better a good tone,even though a hundred mistakes be madein producing it, than a tone that is poor,thin and without quality. I find the Singer

_Finger�bungen_ are excellent formuscular development in scale work, forimparting the great strength which isnecessary for the fingers to have; and theKreutzer _�udes_ are indispensable. Tosecure an absolute _legato_ tone, a truesinging tone on the violin, one should playscales with a perfectly well sustained andsteady bow, in whole notes, slowly and_mezzo-forte_, taking care that each noteis clear and pure, and that its volume doesnot vary during the stroke. The quality oftone must be equalized, and each wholenote should be 'sung' with a single bowing.The change from up-bow to down-bow and_vice versa_ should be made without abreak, exclusively through skillfulmanipulation of the wrist. To accomplishthis unbroken change of bow one shouldcultivate a loose wrist, and do special workat the extreme ends, nut and tip.

"The _vibrato_ is a great tone beautifier.Too rapid or too slow a _vibrato_ defeatsthe object desired. There is a happymedium of _tempo_, rather faster thanslower, which gives the best results. CarlFlesch has some interesting theories aboutvibration which are worth investigating. Aslow and a moderately rapid _vibrato,from the wrist_, is best for practice, andthe underlying idea while working must betone, and not fingerwork.

_Staccato_ is one of the less importantbranches of bow technic. There is a knackin doing it, and it is purely pyrotechnical._Staccato_ passages in quantity are only tobe found in solos of the virtuoso type. Onenever meets with extended _staccato_passages in Beethoven, Brahms, Bruch orLalo. And the Saint-Sa�s's violin concerto,if I remember rightly, contains but a single_staccato_ passage.

"_Spiccato_ is a very different matter from_staccato_: violinists as a rule use themiddle of the bow for _spiccato_: I use theupper third of the bow, and thus get mostsatisfactory results, in no matter what_tempo_. This question as to what portionof the bow to use for _spiccato_ eachviolinist must decide for himself, however,through experiment. I have tried bothways and find that by the last mentioneduse of the bow I secure quicker, cleanerresults. Students while practicing thisbowing should take care that the wrist, andnever the arm, be used. Hubay has writtensome very excellent studies for this form of'springing bow.'

"The trill, when it rolls quickly and evenly,is a trill indeed! I never had any difficultyin acquiring it, and can keep on trillingindefinitely without the slightest

unevenness or slackening of speed. Auerhimself has assured me that I have a trillthat runs on and on without a sign offatigue or uncertainty. The trill has to bepracticed very slowly at first, later withincreasing rapidity, and always with a firmpressure of the fingers. It is a verybeautiful embellishment, and one muchused; one finds it in Beethoven,Mendelssohn, Brahms, etc.

"Double notes never seemed hard to me,but harmonics are not as easily acquiredas some of the other violin effects. I advisepressing down the first finger on thestrings _inordinately_, especially in thehigher positions, when playing artificialharmonics. The higher the fingers ascendon the strings, the more firmly they shouldpress them, otherwise the harmonics areapt to grow shrill and lose in clearness.The majority of students have trouble with

their harmonics, because they do notpractice them in this way. Of course thequality of the harmonics produced varieswith the quality of the strings that producethem. First class strings are an absolutenecessity for the production of pureharmonics. Yet in the case of the artist, hehimself is held responsible, and not hisstrings.

"Octaves? Occasionally, as in Auer'stranscript of Beethoven's _Dance of theDervishes_, or in the closing section of theErnst Concerto, when they are used toobtain a certain weird effect, they soundwell. But ordinarily, if cleanly played, theysound like one-note successions. In theexamples mentioned, the so-called'fingered octaves,' which are very difficult,are employed. Ordinary octaves are not sotroublesome. After all, in octave playingwe simply double the notes for the

purpose of making them more powerful.

"As regards the playing of tenths, it seemsto me that the interval always soundsconstrained, and hardly ever euphoniousenough to justify its difficulty, especially inrapid passages. Yet Paganini used thisawkward interval very freely in hiscompositions, and one of his 'Caprices' is avariation in tenths, which should be playedmore often than it is, as it is very effective.In this connection change of position,which I have already touched on withregard to scale playing, should be sosmooth that it escapes notice. Amongspecial effects the _glissando_ is reallybeautiful when properly done. And thiscalls for judgment. It might be added,though, that the _glissando_ is an effectwhich should not be overdone. The_portamento_--gliding from one note toanother--is also a lovely effect. Its proper

and timely application calls for goodjudgment and sound musical taste.

A SPANISH VIOLIN

"I usually play a 'Strad,' but very often turnto my beautiful 'Guillami,'" said Mr. Brownwhen asked about his violins. "It is an oldSpanish violin, made in Barcelona, in 1728,with a tone that has a distinct Stradivariuscharacter. In appearance it closelyresembles a Guadagnini, and has oftenbeen taken for one. When the dealer ofwhom I bought it first showed it to me itwas complete--but in four distinct pieces!Kubelik, who was in Budapest at the time,heard of it and wanted to buy it; but thedealer, as was only right, did not forgetthat my offer represented a prior claim,and so I secured it. The Guadagnini, whichI have played in all my concerts here, I am

very fond of--it has a Stradivarius tonerather than the one we usually associatewith the make." Mr. Brown showed thewriter his Grancino, a beautiful littleinstrument about to be sent to the repairshop, since exposure to the dampatmosphere of the sea-shore had openedits seams--and the rare and valuable Simonbow, now his, which had once been theproperty of Sivori. Mr. Brown has used awire E ever since he broke six gut stringsin one hour while at Seal Harbor, Maine. "Awire string, I find, is not only easier toplay, but it has a more brilliant quality oftone than a gut string; and I am now soaccustomed to using a wire E, that I wouldfeel ill at ease if I did not have one on myinstrument. Contrary to general belief, itdoes not sound 'metallic,' unless the stringitself is of very poor quality.

PROGRAMS

"In making up a recital program I try toarrange it so that the first half,approximately, may appeal to the morespecifically musical part of my audience,and to the critics. In the second half Iendeavor to remember the general public;at the same time being careful to includenothing which is not really _musical_. This(Mr. Brown found one of his recentprograms on his desk and handed it to me)represents a logical compromise betweenthe strictly artistic and the more generaltaste:"

PROGRAM

I. Beethoven . . . . . Sonata Op. 47(dedicated to Kreutzer)

II. Bruch . . . . . . Concerto (G minor)

III. (a) Beethoven . . . . Romance (in Gmajor) (b) Beethoven-Auer . .Chorus of the Dervishes (c) Brown . .. . . Rondino (on a Cramer theme)(d) Arbos . . . . . Tango

IV. (a) Kreisler . . . . La Gitana(Arabo-Spanish Gipsy Dance of the 18thCentury) (b) Cui . . . . . . Orientale (c) Bazzini. . . . . La Ronde des Lutins

"As you see there are two extendedserious works, followed by two smaller'groups' of pieces. And these have alsobeen chosen with a view to contrast. The_finale_ of the Bruch concerto is an_allegro energico_: I follow it with aBeethoven _Romance_, a slow movement.The second group begins with a taking

Kreisler novelty, which is succeeded byanother slow number; but one veryeffective in its working-up; and I end myprogram with a brilliant virtuoso number.

VIOLIN MASTERY

"My own personal conception of violinmastery," concluded Mr. Brown, "might bedefined as follows: 'An individual toneproduction, or rather tone quality,consummate musicianship in phrasing andinterpretation, ability to rise above allmechanical and intellectual effort, andfinally the power to express that which isdictated by one's imagination and emotion,with the same natural simplicity andspontaneity with which the thought of areally great orator is expressed in theeasy, unconstrained flow of his language.'"

IV

MISCHA ELMAN

LIFE AND COLOR ININTERPRETATION.TECHNICAL PHASES

To hear Mischa Elman on the concertplatform, to listen to him play, "with all thatwealth of tone, emotion and impulse whichplaces him in the very foremost rank ofliving violinists," should be joy enough forany music lover. To talk with him in hisown home, however, gives one a deeperinsight into his art as an interpreter; and inthe pleasant intimacy of familiarconversation the writer learned much thatthe serious student of the violin will beinterested in knowing.

[Illustration: MISCHA ELMAN, withhand-written note]

MANNERISMS IN PLAYING

We all know that Elman, when he plays inpublic, moves his head, moves his body,sways in time to the music; in a word thereare certain mannerisms associated with hisplaying which critics have on occasionmentioned with grave suspicion, asevidences of sensationalism. Half fearingto insult him by asking whether he was"sincere," or whether his motions were"stage business" carefully rehearsed, ashad been implied, I still ventured thequestion. He laughed boyishly and wasevidently much amused.

"No, no," he said. "I do not study up any'stage business' to help out my playing! Ido not know whether I ought to comparemyself to a dancer, but the appeal of thedance is in all musical movement. Certainrhythms and musical combinations affectme subconsciously. I suppose the directinfluence of the music on me is such thatthere is a sort of emotional reflex: I movewith the music in an unconscioustranslation of it into gesture. It is all soindividual. The French violinists as a ruleplay very correctly in public, keepingtheir eye on finger and bow. And thisappeals to me strongly in theory. Inpractice I seem to get away from it. It is amatter of temperament I presume. I amwilling to believe I'm not graceful, butthen--I do not know whether I move or donot move! Some of my friends have spokenof it to me at various times, so I suppose Ido move, and sway and all the rest; but

any movements of the sort must beunconscious, for I myself know nothing ofthem. And the idea that they are 'prepared'as 'stage effects' is delightful!" And againElman laughed.

LIFE AND COLOR ININTERPRETATION

"For that matter," he continued, "every realartist has some mannerisms when playing,I imagine. Yet more than mannerisms areneeded to impress an American audience.Life and color in interpretation are the truesecrets of great art. And beauty ofinterpretation depends, first of all, onvariety of color. Technic is, after all, onlysecondary. No matter how well played acomposition be, its performance musthave color, _nuance_, movement, life!Each emotional mood of the moment must

be fully expressed, and if it is its appeal issure. I remember when I once played forDon Manuel, the young ex-king ofPortugal, in London, I had an illustration ofthe fact. He was just a pathetic boy, verydemocratic, and personally very likable.He was somewhat neglected at the time,for it is well known and not altogetherunnatural, that royalty securelyestablished finds 'kings in exile' a bitembarrassing. Don Manuel was amusic-lover, and especially fond of Bach. Ihad had long talks with the young king atvarious times, and my sympathies hadbeen aroused in his behalf. On the eveningof which I speak I played a Chopin_Nocturne_, and I know that into myplaying there went some of my feeling forthe pathos of the situation of this youngstranger in a strange land, of my own age,eating the bitter bread of exile. When Ihad finished, the Marchioness of Ripon

touched my arm: 'Look at the King!' shewhispered. Don Manuel had been movedto tears.

"Of course the purely mechanical mustalways be dominated by the artisticpersonality of the player. Yet technic isalso an important part of interpretation:knowing exactly how long to hold a bow,the most delicate inflections of its pressureon the strings. There must be perfectsympathy also with the composer'sthought; his spirit must stand behind thepersonality of the artist. In the case ofcertain famous compositions, like theBeethoven concerto, for instance, this is sowell established that the artist, and neverthe composer, is held responsible if it isnot well played. But too rigorous anadherence to 'tradition' in playing is alsoan extreme. I once played privately forJoachim in Berlin: it was the Bach

_Chaconne_. Now the edition I used was astandard one: and Joachim was extremelyreverential as regards traditions. Yet hedid not hesitate to indicate some changeswhich he thought should be made in theversion of an authoritative edition,because 'they sounded better.' And 'Howdoes it sound?' is really the true test of allinterpretation."

ABSOLUTE PITCH THE FIRSTESSENTIAL OF APERFECTED TECHNIC

"What is the fundamental of a perfectedviolin technic?" was a natural question atthis point. "Absolute pitch, first of all,"replied Elman promptly. "Many a violinistplays a difficult passage, sounding everynote; and yet it sounds out of tune. The firstand second movements of the Beethoven

concerto have no double-stops; yet theyare extremely difficult to play. Why?Because they call for absolute pitch: theymust be played in perfect tune so that eachtone stands out in all its fullness and claritylike a rock in the sea. And without afundamental control of pitch such a masterwork will always be beyond the violinist'sreach. Many a player has the facility; butwithout perfect intonation he can neverattain the highest perfection. On the otherhand, any one who can play a singlephrase in absolute pitch has the first andgreat essential. Few artists, not barringsome of the greatest, play with perfectintonation. Its control depends first of allon the ear. And a sensitive ear findsdifferences and shading; it bids theviolinist play a trifle sharper, a trifle flatter,according to the general harmonic color ofthe accompaniment; it leads him toobserve a difference, when the harmonic

atmosphere demands it, between a Csharp in the key of E major and a D flat inthe same key.

TECHNICAL PHASES

"Every player finds some phases of techniceasy and others difficult. For instance, Ihave never had to work hard for quality oftone--when I wish to get certain coloreffects they come: I have no difficulty inexpressing my feelings, my emotions intone. And in a technical way _spiccato_bowing, which many find so hard, hasalways been easy to me. I have never hadto work for it. Double-stops, on thecontrary, cost me hours of intensive workbefore I played them with ease andfacility. What did I practice? Scales indouble-stops--they give color and varietyto tone. And I gave up a certain portion of

my regular practice time to passages fromconcertos and sonatas. There is wonderfulwork in double-stops in the Ernst concertoand in the Paganini _�udes_, for instance.With octaves and tenths I have never hadany trouble: I have a broad hand and awide stretch, which accounts for it, Isuppose.

"Then there are harmonics, flageolets--I,have never been able to understand whythey should be considered so difficult!They should not be white, colorless; butcall for just as much color as any othertones (and any one who has heard MischaElman play harmonics knows that this is nomere theory on his part). I never think ofharmonics as 'harmonics,' but try to givethem just as much expressive quality asthe notes of any other register. The mentalattitude should influence theirproduction--too many violinists think of

them only as incidental to pyrotechnicaldisplay.

"And fingering? Fingering in generalseems to me to be an individual matter. Aconcert artist may use a certain fingeringfor a certain passage which no pupilshould use, and be entirely justified if hecan thus secure a certain effect.

"I do not--speaking out of my ownexperience--believe much in methods:and never to the extent that they beallowed to kill the student's individuality. Aclear, clean tone should always be theideal of his striving. And to that end hemust see that the up and down bows in apassage like the following from the Bachsonata in A minor (and Mr. Elman hastilyjotted down the subjoined) are absolutely

[Illustration: Musical Notation]

even, and of the same length, played withthe same strength and length of bow,otherwise the notes are swallowed. In light_spiccato_ and _staccato_ the detachednotes should be played always with asingle stroke of the bow. Some players,strange to say, find _staccato_ notes moredifficult to play at a moderate tempo thanfast. I believe it to be altogether a matter ofcontrol--if proper control be there thetempo makes no difference. Wieniawski, Ihave read, could only play his _staccati_ ata high rate of speed. _Spiccato_ isgenerally held to be more difficult than_staccato_; yet I myself find it easier.

PROPORTION IN PRACTICE

"To influence a clear, singing tone with theleft hand, to phrase it properly with the

bow hand, is most important. And it is amatter of proportion. Good phrasing isspoiled by an ugly tone: a beautifulsinging tone loses meaning if improperlyphrased. When the student has reached acertain point of technical development,technic must be a secondary--yet notneglected--consideration, and he shoulddevote himself to the production of a goodtone. Many violinists have missed theircareer by exaggerated attention to eitherbow or violin hand. Both hands must bewatched at the same time. And thequestion of proportion should always bekept in mind in practicing studies andpassages: pressure of fingers and pressureof bow must be equalized, coordinated.The teacher can only do a certain amount:the pupil must do the rest.

AUER AS A TEACHER

"Take Auer for example. I may call myselfthe first real exponent of his school, in thesense of making his name widely known.Auer is a great teacher, and leaves muchto the individuality of his pupils. He firstheard me play at the Imperial MusicSchool in Odessa, and took me toPetrograd to study with him, which I didfor a year and four months. And he couldaccomplish wonders! That one year he hada little group of four pupils each one betterthan the other--a very stimulating situationfor all of them. There was a magnetismabout him: he literally hypnotized hispupils into doing better than theirbest--though in some cases it was evidentthat once the support of his magneticpersonality was withdrawn, the pupil fellback into the level from which he hadbeen raised for the time being.

"Yet Auer respected the fact thattemperamentally I was not responsive tothis form of appeal. He gave me of his best.I never practiced more than two or threehours a day--just enough to keep fresh.Often I came to my lesson unprepared,and he would have me playthings--sonatas, concertos--which I had nottouched for a year or more. He was asevere critic, but always a just one.

"I can recall how proud I was when he sentme to beautiful music-loving Helsingfors,in Finland--where all seems to bebloodshed and confusion now--to play arecital in his own stead on one occasion,and how proud he was of my success. YetAuer had his little peculiarities. I have readsomewhere that the great fencing-mastersof the sixteenth and seventeenth centurieswere very jealous of the secrets of theirfamous feints and _ripostes_, and only

confided them to favorite pupils whopromised not to reveal them. Auer had hislittle secrets, too, with which he was loth topart. When I was to make my _d�ut_ inBerlin, I remember, he was naturallyenough interested--since I was hispupil--in my scoring a triumph. And hedecided to part with some of his treasuredtechnical thrusts and parries. And when Iwas going over the Tschaikovsky _D minorconcerto_ (which I was to play), he wouldselect a passage and say: 'Now I'll play thisfor you. If you catch it, well and good; if notit is your own fault!' I am happy to say that Idid not fail to 'catch' his meaning on anyoccasion. Auer really has a wonderfulintellect, and some secrets well worthknowing. That he is so great an artisthimself on the instrument is the moreremarkable, since physically he was notexceptionally favored. Often, when he sawme, he'd say with a sigh: 'Ah, if I only had

your hand!'

"Auer was a great virtuoso player. He helda unique place in the Imperial Ballet. Youknow in many of the celebrated ballets,Tschaikovsky's for instance, there occurbeautiful and difficult solos for the violin.They call for an artist of the first rank, andAuer was accustomed to play them inPetrograd. In Russia it was considered adecided honor to be called upon to playone of those ballet solos; but in London itwas looked on as something quiteincidental. I remember when Diaghilevpresented Tschaikovsky's _Lac desCygnes_ in London, the Grand-DukeAndrew Vladimirev (who had heard meplay), an amiable young boy, and a patronof the arts, requested me--and at that timethe request of a Romanov was stillequivalent to a command--to play theviolin solos which accompany the love

scenes. It was not exactly easy, since I hadto play and watch dancers and conductorat the same time. Yet it was a novelty forLondon, however; everybody was pleasedand the Grand-Duke presented me with ahandsome diamond pin as anacknowledgment.

VIOLIN MASTERY

"You ask me what I understand by 'ViolinMastery'? Well, it seems to me that theartist who can present anything he plays asa distinct picture, in every detail, framingthe composer's idea in the perfect beautyof his plastic rendering, with absolute truthof color and proportion--he is the artistwho deserves to be called a master!

"Of course, the instrument the artist uses isan important factor in making it possible

for him to do his best. My violin? It is anauthentic Strad--dated 1722. I bought it ofWilly Burmester in London. You see he didnot care much for it. The German style ofplaying is not calculated to bring out thetone beauty, the quality of the old Italianfiddles. I think Burmester had forced thetone, and it took me some time to make itmellow and truly responsive again, butnow...." Mr. Elman beamed. It was evidenthe was satisfied with his instrument. "As tostrings," he continued, "I never use wirestrings--they have no color, no quality!

WHAT TO STUDY AND HOW

"For the advanced student there is awealth of study material. No one everwrote more beautiful violin music thanHaendel, so rich in invention, in harmonicfullness. In Beethoven there are more

ideas than tone--but such ideas!Schubert--all genuine, spontaneous! Bachis so gigantic that the violin often seemsinadequate to express him. That is onereason why I do not play more Bach inpublic.

"The study of a sonata or concerto shouldentirely absorb the attention of the studentto such a degree that, as he is able to playit, it has become a part of him. He shouldbe able to play it as though it were animprovisation--of course without doingviolence to the composer's idea. If hemasters the composition in the way itshould be mastered it becomes a portionof himself. Before I even take up my violin Istudy a piece thoroughly in score. I readand reread it until I am at home with thecomposer's thought, and its musicalbalance and proportion. Then, when Ibegin to play it, its salient points are

already memorized, and the practicinggives me a kind of photographic reflex ofdetail. After I have not played a numberfor a long time it fades from mymemory--like an old negative--but I needonly go over it once or twice to have aclear mnemonic picture of it once more.

"Yes, I believe in transcriptions for theviolin--with certain provisos," said Mr.Elman, in reply to another question. "Firstof all the music to be transcribed mustlend itself naturally to the instrument.Almost any really good melodic line,especially a _cantilena_, will sound with afitting harmonic development. Violinists offormer days like Spohr, Rode and Paganiniwere more intent on composing music _outof the violin_! The modern idea lays stressfirst of all on the _idea_ in music. Intranscribing I try to forget I am a violinist,in order to form a perfect picture of the

musical idea--its violinistic developmentmust be a natural, subconsciousworking-out. If you will look at some of myrecent transcripts--the Albaniz _Tango_,the negro melody _Deep River_ andAmani's fine _Orientale_--you will see whatI mean. They are conceived as pictures--Ihave not tried to analyze too much--andwhile so conceiving them their freeharmonic background shapes itself for mewithout strain or effort.

A REMINISCENCE OFCOLONNE

"Conductors with whom I have played?There are many: Hans Richter, who was amaster of the baton; Nikisch, one of thegreatest in conducting the orchestralaccompaniment to a violin solo number;Colonne of Paris, and many others. I had

an amusing experience with Colonneonce. He brought his orchestra to Russiawhile I was with Auer, and was giving aconcert at Pavlovsk, a summer resort nearPetrograd. Colonne had a perfect horror of'infant prodigies,' and Auer had arrangedfor me to play with his orchestra withouttelling him my age--I was eleven at thetime. When Colonne saw me, violin inhand, ready to step on the stage, he drewhimself up and said with emphasis: 'I playwith a prodigy! Never!' Nothing couldmove him, and I had to play to a pianoaccompaniment. After he had heard meplay, though, he came over to me and said:'The best apology I can make for what Isaid is to ask you to do me the honor ofplaying with the _Orchestre Colonne_ inParis.' He was as good as his word. Fourmonths later I went to Paris and played theMendelssohn concerto for him with greatsuccess."

V

SAMUEL GARDNER

TECHNIC ANDMUSICIANSHIP

Samuel Gardner, though born inJelisavetgrad, Cherson province, inSouthern Russia, in 1891, is to all intentsand purposes an American, since hisfamily, fleeing the tyranny of anImperialistic regime of "pogroms" and"Black Hundreds," brought him to thiscountry when a mere child; and here in theUnited States he has become, to quoteRichard Aldrich, "the serious andaccomplished artist," whose work on theconcert stage has given such pleasure tolovers of violin music at its best. The young

violinist, who in the course of the sameweek had just won two prizes incomposition--the Pulitzer Prize (Columbia)for a string quartet, and the Loeb Prize fora symphonic poem--was amiably willing totalk of his study experience for the benefitof other students.

CHARLES MARTIN LOEFFLER ANDFELIX WINTERNITZ AS TEACHERS

"I took up the study of the violin at the ageof seven, and when I was nine I went toCharles Martin Loeffler and really beganto work seriously. Loeffler was a very strictteacher and very exacting, but heachieved results, for he had a most originalway of making his points clear to thestudent. He started off with the Sevcikstudies, laying great stress on the properfinger articulation. And he taught me

absolute smoothness in change of positionwhen crossing the strings. For instance, inthe second book of Sevcik's 'TechnicalExercises,' in the third exercise, the bowcrosses from G to A, and from D to E,leaving a string between in each crossing.Well, I simply could not manage to get tothe second string to be played without thestring in between sounding! Loefflershowed me what every good fiddler_must_ learn to do: to leap from the end ofthe down-bow to the up-bow and _viceversa_ and then hesitate the fraction of amoment, thus securing a smooth, clean-cuttone, without any vibration of theintermediate string. Loeffler never gave apupil any rest until he came up to hisrequirements. I know when I played theseventh and eighth Kreutzer studies forhim--they are trill studies--he said: 'Youtrill like an electric bell, but not fastenough!' And he kept at me to speed up

my tempo without loss of clearness ortone-volume, until I could do justice to arapid trill. It is a great quality in a teacherto be literally able to _enforce_ the pupil'sprogress in certain directions; for thoughthe latter may not appreciate it at the time,later on he is sure to do so. I rememberonce when he was trying to explain theperfect _crescendo_ to me, fire-enginebells began to ring in the distance, thesound gradually drawing nearer the housein Charles Street where I was taking mylesson. 'There you have it!' Loeffler cried:'There's your ideal _crescendo_! Play itlike that and I will be satisfied!' I remainedwith Loeffler a year and a half, and whenhe went to Paris began to study with FelixWinternitz.

"Felix Winternitz was a teacher whoallowed his pupils to developindividuality. 'I care nothing for theories,'

he used to say, 'so long as I can seesomething original in your work!' Heattached little importance to the theory oftechnic, but a great deal to technicaldevelopment along individual lines. Andhe always encouraged me to expressmyself freely, within my limitations,stressing the musical side of my work.With him I played through the concertoswhich, after a time, I used for technicalmaterial, since every phase of technic andbowing is covered in these great works. Iwas only fifteen when I left Winternitz andstill played by instinct rather thanintellectually. I still used my bow armsomewhat stiffly, and did not think muchabout phrasing. I instinctively phrasedwhatever the music itself made clear tome, and what I did not understand I merelyplayed.

KNEISEL'S TEACHINGMETHODS

"But when I came to Franz Kneisel, my lastteacher, I began to work with my mind.Kneisel showed me that I had to thinkwhen I played. At first I did not realize whyhe kept at me so insistently aboutphrasing, interpretation, the exactobservance of expression marks; buteventually it dawned on me that he wasteaching me to read a soul into eachcomposition I studied.

"I practiced hard, from four to five hours aday. Fortunately, as regards technicalequipment, I was ready for Kneisel'sinstruction. The first thing he gave me tostudy was, not a brilliant virtuoso piece,but the Bach concerto in E major, and thenthe Viotti concerto. In the beginning, untilKneisel showed me, I did not know what to

do with them. This was music whose notesin themselves were easy, and whosedifficulties were all of an individual order.But intellectual analysis, interpretation, areKneisel's great points. A strict teacher, Iworked with him for five years, the mostremarkable years of all my violin study.

"Kneisel knows how to develop technicalperfection without using technicalexercises. I had already played theMendelssohn, Bruch and Lalo concertoswith Winternitz, and these I now restudiedwith Kneisel. In interpretation he makesclear every phrase in its relation to everyother phrase and the movement as awhole. And he insists on his pupilsstudying theory andcomposition--something I had formerly notbeen inclined to take seriously.

"Some teachers are satisfied if the student

plays his _notes_ correctly, in a generalway. With Kneisel the very least detail, atrill, a scale, has to be given its propertone-color and dynamic shading inabsolute proportion with the balancingharmonies. This trill, in the first movementof the Beethoven concerto--(and Mr.Gardner jotted it down)

[Illustration: Musical Notation]

Kneisel kept me at during the entirelesson, till I was able to adjust itstone-color and _nuances_ to theaccompanying harmony. Then, thoughmany teachers do not know it, it is atradition in the orchestra to make a_diminuendo_ in the sixth measure, beforethe change of key to C major, and this_diminuendo_ should, of course, beobserved by the solo instrument as well.Yet you will hear well-known artists play

the trill throughout with a loud, brillianttone and no dynamic change!

"Kneisel makes it a point to have all hispupils play chamber music because of itstruly broadening influence. And he isunexcelled in taking apart structurally theBeethoven, Brahms, Tschaikovsky andother quartets, in analyzing and explainingthe wonderful planning and building up ofeach movement. I had the honor of playingsecond violin in the Kneisel Quartet fromSeptember to February (1914-1915), at theoutbreak of the war, a most interestingexperience. The musicianship Kneisel hadgiven me; I was used to his style and athome with his ideas, and am happy tothink that he was satisfied. A year later asassistant concertmaster in the ChicagoSymphony Orchestra, I had a chance tobecome practically acquainted with theorchestral works of Strauss, d'Indy and

other moderns, and enjoy the Beethoven,Brahms and Tschaikovsky symphonies as aperformer.

TECHNIC ANDMUSICIANSHIP

"How do I regard technic now? I think of itin the terms of the music itself. Musicshould dictate the technical means to beused. The composition and its phrasesshould determine bowing and the tonequality employed. One should not think ofdown-bows or up-bows. In the Brahmsconcerto you can find many long phrases:they cannot be played with one bow; yetthere must be no apparent change of bow.If the player does not know what thephrase means; how to interpret it, how willhe be able to bow it correctly?

"And there are so many different_nuances_, especially in _legato_. It is as arule produced by a slurred bow; yet it mayalso be produced by other bowings. Tosecure a good _legato_ tone watch thesinger. The singer can establish theperfect smoothness that _legato_ calls forto perfection. To secure a like effect theviolinist should convey the impression thatthere is no point, no frog, that the bow heuses is of indefinite length. And theviolinist should never think: 'I must playthis up-bow or down-bow.' Artists of theGerman school are more apt to begin aphrase with a down-bow; the French startplaying a good deal at the point. Up ordown, both are secondary to finding out,first of all, what quality, what balance oftone the phrase demands. The conductorof a symphonic orchestra does not carehow, technically, certain effects areproduced by the violins, whether they use

an up-bow or a down-bow. He merelysays: 'That's too heavy: give me less tone!'The result to be achieved is always moreimportant than the manner of achievement.

"All phases of technical accomplishment, ifrightly acquired, tend to become secondnature to the player in the course of time:_staccato_, a brilliant trick; _spiccato_, thereiteration of notes played from the wrist,etc. The _martellato_, a _nuance_ of_spiccato_, should be played with a firmbowing at the point. In a very broad_spiccato_, the arm may be brought intoplay; but otherwise not, since it makesrapid playing impossible. Too manyamateurs try to play _spiccato_ from thearm. And too many teachers are contentedwith a trill that is merely brilliant. Kneiselinsists on what he calls a 'musical trill,' ofwhich Kreisler's beautiful trill is a perfectexample. The trill of some violinists is

_invariably_ brilliant, whether brilliancy isappropriate or not. Brilliant trills in Bachalways seem out of place to me; while inPaganini and in Wieniawski's _Carnaval deVenise_ a high brilliant trill is veryeffective.

"As to double-stops--Edison once said thatviolin music should be written only indouble-stops--I practice them playing firstthe single notes and then the two together,and can recommend this mode of practicefrom personal experience. Harmonics,where clarity is the most important thing,are mainly a matter of bowing, of a sureattack and sustaining by the bow. Ofcourse the harmonics themselves aremade by the fingers; but their tone qualityrests altogether with the bow.

EDISON AND OCTAVES

"The best thing I've ever heard said ofoctaves was Edison's remark to me that'They are merely a nuisance and shouldnot be played!' I was making some recordsfor him during the experimental stage ofthe disk record, when he was trying to getan absolutely smooth _legato_ tone, onethat conformed to Loeffler's definition of itas 'no breaks' in the tone. He had hadSchubert's _Ave Maria_ recorded byFlesch, MacMillan and others, and wantedme to play it for him. The records were allplayed for me, and whenever he came tothe octave passages Edison would say:'Listen to them! How badly they sound!' Yetthe octaves were absolutely in tune! 'Whydo they sound so badly?' I inquired.

"Then Edison explained to me thataccording to the scientific theory ofvibration, the vibrations of the higher tone

of the octaves should be exactly twicethose of the lower note. 'But here,' hecontinued, 'the vibrations of the notes allvary.' 'Yet how can the player control hisfingers in the _vibrato_ beyond playing hisoctaves in perfect tune?' I asked. 'Well, ifhe cannot do so,' said Edison, 'octaves aremerely a nuisance, and should not beplayed at all.' I experimented and foundthat by simply pressing down the fingersand playing without any _vibrato_, I couldcome pretty near securing the exactrelation between the vibrations of theupper and lower notes but--they soundeddreadful! Of course, octaves sound well in_ensemble_, especially in the orchestra,because each player plays but a singlenote. And tenths sound even better thanoctaves when two people play them.

WIRE AND GUT STRINGS

"You ask about my violin? It belonged tothe famous Hawley collection, and is aGiovanni Baptista Guadignini, made in1780, in Turin. The back is a single piece ofmaple-wood, having a broadish figureextending across its breadth. Themaple-wood sides match the back. The topis formed of a very choice piece of spruce,and it is varnished a deep golden-red. Ithas a remarkably fine tone, very vibrantand with great carrying power, a tone thathas all that I can ask for as regards volumeand quality.

"I think that wire strings are largely usednow-a-days because gut strings are hardto obtain--not because they are better. I donot use wire strings. I have tried them andfind them thin in tone, or so brilliant thattheir tone is too piercing. Then, too, I findthat the use of a wire E reduces the volume

of tone of the other strings. No wire stringhas the quality of a fine gut string; and Iregard them only as a substitute in thecase of some people, and a conveniencefor lazy ones.

VIOLIN MASTERY

"Violin Mastery? Off-hand I might say thephrase stands for a life-time of effort withits highest aims unattained. As I see it theachievement of violin mastery represents acombination of 90 per cent. of toil and 10per cent. of talent or inspiration.Goetschius, with whom I studiedcomposition, once said to me: 'I do notcongratulate you on having talent. That is agift. But I do congratulate you on beingable to work hard!' The same thing appliesto the fiddle. It seems to me that only bykeeping everlastingly at it can one

become a master of the instrument."

VI

ARTHUR HARTMANN

THE PROBLEM OF TECHNIC

Arthur Hartmann is distinctly andunmistakably a personality. He stands outeven in that circle of distinguishedcontemporary violinists which is so largelymade up of personalities. He is acomposer--not only of violin pieces, but ofsymphonic and choral works, chambermusic, songs and piano numbers. Hiscritical analysis of Bach's _Chaconne_,translated into well-nigh every tongue, isprobably the most complete andexhaustive study of "that triumph of geniusover matter" written. And besides being amaster of his own instrument he plays the

_viola d'amore_, that sweet-toned survival,with sympathetic strings, of the 17thcentury viol family, and the Hungarian_czimbalom_. Nor is his mastery of thelast-named instrument "out of drawing," forwe must remember that Mr. Hartmann wasborn in Mat�Szalka, in Southern Hungary.Then, too, Mr. Hartmann is a genial andoriginal thinker, a _litt�ateur_ of no meanability, a bibliophile, the intimate of thelate Claude Debussy, and of many of thegreat men of musical Europe. Yet from thereader's standpoint the interest he inspiresis, no doubt, mainly due to the fact that notonly is he a great interpreting artist--but agreat artist doubled by a great teacher, anunusual combination.

[Illustration: _Photo by E.F. Foley, N.Y._ARTHUR HARTMANN, withhand-written note]

Characteristic of Mr. Hartmann'shospitality (the writer had passed apleasant hour with him some years before,but had not seen him since), was the factthat he insisted in brewing Turkish coffee,and making his caller feel quite at homebefore even allowing him to broach thesubject of his visit. And when he learnedthat its purpose was to draw on hisknowledge and experience for informationwhich would be of value to the seriousstudent and lover of his art, he did notrefuse to respond.

WHAT VIOLIN PLAYINGREALLY IS

"Violin playing is really no abstractmystery. It's as clear as geography in away: one might say the whole art isbounded on the South by the G string, on

the North by the E string, on the West bythe string hand--and that's about as far asthe comparison may be carried out. Thepoint is, there are definite boundaries,whose technical and esthetic limits may beextended, and territorial annexationsmade through brain power, mentalcontrol. To me 'Violin Mastery' meanstaking this little fiddle-box in hand [andMr. Hartmann suited action to word byraising the lid of his violin-case anddrawing forth his beautiful 1711 Strad],and doing just what I want with it. And thatmeans having the right finger on the rightplace at the right time--but don't forget thatto be able to do this you must haveforgotten to think of your fingers asfingers. They should be simplyunconscious slaves of the artist's psychicexpression, absolutely subservient to hisideal. Too many people reverse theprocess and become slaves to their

fingers.

THE PROBLEM OF TECHNIC

"Technic, for instance, in its mechanicalsense, is a much exaggerated microbe of_Materia musica_. All technic mustconform to its instrument.[A] The violinwas made to suit the hand, not the hand tosuit the violin, hence its technic must bebased on a natural logic of handmovement. The whole problem oftechnical control is encountered in the firstchange of position on the violin. If weviolinists could play in but one positionthere would be no technical problem. Thesolution of this problem means, speakingbroadly, the ability to play the violin--forthere is only one way of playing it--with areal, full, singing 'violin' tone. It's not aquestion of a method, but just a process

based on pure reason, the working out ofrational principles.

[Footnote A: This is the idea whichunderlies my system for ear-training andabsolute pitch, "Arthur Hartmann'sSystem," as I call it, which I havepublished. A.H.]

"What is the secret of this singing tone?Well, you may call it a secret, for many ofmy pupils have no inkling of it when theyfirst come here, though it seems very muchof an 'open secret' to me. The finishedbeauty of the violin 'voice' is a round,sustained, absolutely smooth _cantabile_tone. Now [Mr. Hartmann took up hisStrad], I'll play you the scale of G as theaverage violin student plays it. Yousee--each slide from one tone to the next, abreak--a rosary of lurches! How can therebe a round, harmonious tone when the

fingers progress by jerks? Shifting positionmust not be a continuous movement ofeffort, but a continuous movement in whicheffort and relaxation--that of deadweight--alternate. As an illustration, whenwe walk we do not consciously set downone foot, and then swing forward the otherfoot and leg with a jerk. The forwardmovement is smooth, unconscious,coordinated: in putting the foot forward itcarries the weight of the entire body, themovement becomes a matter of instinct.And the same applies to the progression ofthe fingers in shifting the position of thehand. Now, playing the scale as I nowdo--only two fingers should be used--

[Illustration: Musical Notation]

I prepare every shift. Absolute accuracy ofintonation and a singing legato is theresult. These guiding notes indicated are

merely a test to prove the scientificspacing of the violin; they are not soundedonce control of the hand has beenobtained. _They serve only to accustomthe fingers to keep moving in the directionin which they are going_.

"The tone is produced by the left hand, bythe weight of the fingers plus anundercurrent of sustained effort. Now, yousee, _if in the moment of sliding youprepare the bow for the next string, theslide itself is lost in the crossing of thebow_. To carry out consistently this idea ofeffort and relaxation in the downwardprogression of the scale, you will find thatwhen you are in the third position, theposition of the hand is practically the sameas in the first position. Hence, in order togo down from third to first position with thehand in what might be called a 'block'position, another movement is called for to

bridge over this space (between third andfirst position), and this movement is thefunction of the thumb. The thumb,preceding the hand, relaxes the wrist andhelps draw the hand back to first position.But great care must be taken that thethumb is not moved until the first fingerwill have been played; otherwise therewill be a tendency to flatten. In theillustration the indication for the thumb isplaced after the note played by the firstfinger.

"The inviolable law of beautiful playing isthat there must be no angles. As I haveshown you, right and left hand co�dinate.The fiddle hand is preparing the change ofposition, while the change of strings isprepared by the right hand. And alwaysthe slides in the left hand are prepared bythe last played finger--_the last playedfinger is the true guide to smooth

progression_--just as the bow handprepares the slides in the last playedbowing. There should be no such thing asjumping and trusting in Providence to landright, and a curse ought to be laid on thosewho let their fingers leave the fingerboard.None who develop this fundamental aspectof all good playing lose the perfect controlof position.

"Of course there are a hundred _nuances_of technic (into which the quality of goodtaste enters largely) that one could talk ofat length: phrasing, and the subtle thingshappening in the bow arm that influence it;_spiccato_, whose whole secret is findingthe right point of balance in the bow and,with light finger control, never allowing itto leave the string. I've never been able tosee the virtue of octaves or the logic ofdouble-stops. Like tenths, one plays ordoes not play them. But do they add one

iota of beauty to violin music? I doubt it!And, after all, it is the poetry of playingthat counts. All violin playing in its essenceis the quest for color; its perfection, thatsubtle art which hides art, and which is sorarely understood."

"Could you give me a few guiding rules, afew Beatitudes, as it were, for the seriousstudent to follow?" I asked Mr. Hartmann.Though the artist smiled at the idea ofBeatitudes for the violinist, yet he wasfinally amiable enough to give me thefollowing, telling me I would have to takethem for what they were worth:

NINE BEATITUDES FORVIOLINISTS

"Blessed are they who early in lifeapproach Bach, for their love and

veneration for music will multiply with theyears.

"Blessed are they who remember theirown early struggles, for their mercifulcriticism will help others to a greaterachievement and furtherance of the DivineArt.

"Blessed are they who know their ownlimitations, for they shall have joy in theaccomplishment of others.

"Blessed are they who revere theteachers--their own or those of others--andwho remember them with credit.

"Blessed are they who, revering the oldmasters, seek out the newer ones and donot begrudge them a hearing or two.

"Blessed are they who work in obscurity,

nor sound the trumpet, for Art has everbeen for the few, and shuns the vulgarblare of ignorance.

"Blessed are they whom men revile asfuturists and modernists, for Art can evolveonly through the medium of iconoclasticspirits.

"Blessed are they who unflinchingly servetheir Art, for thus only is their happiness tobe gained.

"Blessed are they who have manyenemies, for square pegs will never fit intoround holes."

ARRANGING VERSUSTRANSCRIBING

Arthur Hartmann, like Kreisler, Elman,

Maud Powell and others of his colleagues,has enriched the literature of the violinwith some notably fine transcriptions. Andit is a subject on which he has well-definedopinions and regarding which he makescertain distinctions: "An 'arrangement,'" hesaid, "as a rule, is a purely commercialaffair, into which neither art nor �theticsenter. It usually consists in writing off themelody of a song--in other words, playingthe 'tune' on an instrument instead ofhearing it sung with words--or in the caseof a piano composition, in writing off theupper voice, leaving the rest intact,regardless of sonority, tone-color or eveneffectiveness, and, furthermore, withoutconsideration of the idiomatic principles ofthe instrument to which the adaptation wasmeant to fit.

"A 'transcription,' on the other hand, canbe raised to the dignity of an art-work.

Indeed, at times it may even surpass theoriginal, in the quality of thought broughtinto the work, the delicate and sympathetictreatment and by the many subtleties*which an artist can introduce to make itthoroughly a _re-creation_ of his choseninstrument.

*Transcriber's note: Original text read"subleties".

"It is the transcriber's privilege--providinghe be sufficiently the artist to approach thepersonality of another artist withreverence--to donate his own gifts ofingenuity, and to exercise his judgment ineither adding, omitting, harmonically orotherwise embellishing the work (_whilepreserving the original idea andcharacteristics_), so as to thoroughly_re-create_ it, so completely destroyingthe very sensing of the original _timbre_

that one involuntarily exclaims, 'Truly, thisnever was anything but a violin piece!' It isthis, the blending and fusion of twopersonalities in the achievement of anart-ideal, that is the result of a trueadaptation.

"Among the transcriptions I have mostenjoyed making were those of Debussy's_Il pleure dans mon coeur_, and _La Filleaux cheveaux de lin_. Debussy was mycherished friend, and they represent alabor of love. Though Debussy was not,generally speaking, an advocate oftranscriptions, he liked these, and Iremember when I first played _La Fille auxcheveaux de lin_ for him, and came to a bitof counterpoint I had introduced in theviolin melody, whistling the harmonics, henodded approvingly with a '_pas b�e �!_'(Not stupid, that!)

DEBUSSY'S PO�E FOR VIOLIN

"Debussy came near writing a violin piecefor me once!" continued Mr. Hartmann,and brought out a folio containing lettersthe great impressionist had written him.They were a delightful revelation of thehuman side of Debussy's character, andMr. Hartmann kindly consented to thequotation of one bearing on the _Po�e_ forviolin which Debussy had promised towrite for him, and which, alas, owing to hisillness and other reasons, never actuallycame to be written:

"Dear Friend:

"Of course I am working a great dealnow, because I feel the need of writingmusic, and would find it difficult to buildan aeroplane; yet at times Music is

ill-natured, even toward those who loveher most! Then I take my little daughterand my hat and go walking in the Bois deBoulogne, where one meets people who

have come from afar to bore themselvesin Paris.

"I think of you, I might even say I am inneed of you (assume an air of exaltationand bow, if you please!) As to the_Po�e_ for violin, you may rest assuredthat I will write it. Only at the presentmoment I am so preoccupied with the'Fall of the House of Usher!' They talk toomuch to me about it. I'll have to put an endto all that or I will go mad. Once more Iwant to write it, and above all _on youraccount_. And I believe you will be theonly one to play the _Po�e_. Others willattempt it, and then quickly return to theMendelssohn Concerto!

"Believe me always your sincere friend,

"CLAUDEDEBUSSY."

"He never did write it," said Mr. Hartmann,"but it was not for want of good will. As toother transcriptions, I have never done anythat I did not feel instinctively would makegood fiddle pieces, such as MacDowell's_To a Wild Rose_ and others of hiscompositions. And recently I havetranscribed some fine Russianthings--Gretchaninoff's _Chantd'Automne_, Karagitscheff's _Exaltation_,Tschaikovsky's _Humoresque_, Balakirew's_Chant du Pech�r_, and Poldini's little_Poup� valsante_, which Maud Powellplays so delightfully on all her programs."

VII

JASCHA HEIFETZ

THE DANGER OF PRACTICINGTOO MUCH. TECHNICALMASTERY ANDTEMPERAMENT

Mature in virtuosity--the modern virtuositywhich goes so far beyond the meretechnical mastery that once made the terma reproach--though young in years, JaschaHeifetz, when one makes his acquaintance"off-stage," seems singularly modest aboutthe great gifts which have brought himinternational fame. He is amiable,unassuming and--the best proof, perhaps,that his talent is a thing genuine andinborn, not the result of a forcing

process--he has that broad interest in artand in life going far beyond his ownparticular medium, the violin, withoutwhich no artist may become truly great.For Jascha Heifetz, with his wonderfulrecord of accomplishment achieved, andwith triumphs still to come before him,does not believe in "all work and no play."

[Illustration: JASCHA HEIFETZ, withhand-written note]

THE DANGER OF PRACTICINGTOO MUCH

He laughed when I put forward the theorythat he worked many hours a day, perhapsas many as six or eight? "No," he said, "I donot think I could ever have made anyprogress if I had practiced six hours a day.In the first place I have never believed in

practicing too much--it is just as bad aspracticing too little! And then there are somany other things I like to do. I am fond ofreading and I like sport: tennis, golf,bicycle riding, boating, swimming, etc.Often when I am supposed to be practicinghard I am out with my camera, takingpictures; for I have become what is knownas a 'camera fiend.' And just now I have anew car, which I have learned to drive,and which takes up a good deal of mytime. I have never believed in grinding. Infact I think that if one has to work very hardto get his piece, it will show in theexecution. To interpret music properly, itis necessary to eliminate mechanicaldifficulty; the audience should not feel thestruggle of the artist with what areconsidered hard passages. I hardly everpractice more than three hours a day on anaverage, and besides, I keep my Sundaywhen I do not play at all, and sometimes I

make an extra holiday. As to six or sevenhours a day, I would not have been able tostand it at all."

I implied that what Mr. Heifetz said mightshock thousands of aspiring youngviolinists for whom he pointed a moral: "Ofcourse," his answer was, "you must nottake me too literally. Please do not thinkbecause I do not favor overdoingpracticing that one can do without it. I'mquite frank to say I could not myself. Butthere is a happy medium. I suppose thatwhen I play in public it looks easy, butbefore I ever came on the concert stage Iworked very hard. And I do yet--butalways putting the two things together,mental work and physical work. And whena certain point of effort is reached inpractice, as in everything else, there mustbe relaxation.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF AVIRTUOSE TECHNIC

"Have I what is called a 'natural' technic? Itis hard for me to say, perhaps so. But ifsuch is the case I had to develop it, toassure it, to perfect it. If you start playingat three, as I did, with a little violinone-quarter of the regular size, I supposeviolin playing becomes second nature inthe course of time. I was able to find myway about in all seven positions within ayear's time, and could play the Kayser_�udes_; but that does not mean to say Iwas a virtuoso by any means.

"My first teacher? My first teacher was myfather, a good violinist and concertmasterof the Vilna Symphony Orchestra. My firstappearance in public took place in anovercrowded auditorium of the Imperial

Music School in Vilna, Russia, when I wasnot quite five. I played the _FantaisiePastorale_ with piano accompaniment.Later, at the age of six, I played theMendelssohn concerto in Kovno to a fullhouse. Stage-fright? No, I cannot say I haveever had it. Of course, something mayhappen to upset one before a concert, andone does not feel quite at ease when firststepping on the stage; but then I hope thatis not stage-fright!

"At the Imperial Music School in Vilna, andbefore, I worked at all the things everyviolinist studies--I think that I playedalmost everything. I did not work too hard,but I worked hard enough. In Vilna myteacher was Malkin, a pupil of ProfessorAuer, and when I had graduated from theVilna school I went to Auer. Did I godirectly to his classes? Well, no, but I hadonly a very short time to wait before I

joined the classes conducted by Auerpersonally.

PROFESSOR AUER AS ATEACHER

"Yes, he is a wonderful and anincomparable teacher; I do not believethere is one in the world who can possiblyapproach him. Do not ask me just how hedoes it, for I would not know how to tellyou. But he is different with eachpupil--perhaps that is one reason he is sogreat a teacher. I think I was with ProfessorAuer about six years, and I had both classlessons and private lessons of him, thoughtoward the end my lessons were not soregular. I never played exercises ortechnical works of any kind for theProfessor, but outside of the bigthings--the concertos and sonatas, and the

shorter pieces which he would let meprepare--I often chose what I wanted.

"Professor Auer was a very active andenergetic teacher. He was never satisfiedwith a mere explanation, unless certain itwas understood. He could always showyou himself with his bow and violin. TheProfessor's pupils were supposed to havebeen sufficiently advanced in the technicnecessary for them to profit by hiswonderful lessons in interpretation. Yetthere were all sorts of technical _finesses_which he had up his sleeve, any number offine, subtle points in playing as well asinterpretation which he would disclose tohis pupils. And the more interest andability the pupil showed, the more theProfessor gave him of himself! He is a verygreat teacher! Bowing, the true art ofbowing, is one of the greatest things inProfessor Auer's teaching. I know when I

first came to the Professor, he showed methings in bowing I had never learned inVilna. It is hard to describe in words (Mr.Heifetz illustrated with some of thosenatural, unstrained movements of arm andwrist which his concert appearances havemade so familiar), but bowing as ProfessorAuer teaches it is a very special thing; themovements of the bow become more easy,graceful, less stiff.

"In class there were usually fromtwenty-five to thirty pupils. Aside fromwhat we each gained individually from theProfessor's criticism and correction, it wasinteresting to hear the others who playedbefore one's turn came, because one couldget all kinds of hints from what ProfessorAuer told them. I know I always enjoyedlistening to Poliakin, a very talentedviolinist, and C�ile Hansen, who attendedthe classes at the same time I did. The

Professor was a stern and very exacting,but a sympathetic, teacher. If our playingwas not just what it should be he alwayshad a fund of kindly humor upon which todraw. He would anticipate our stockexcuses and say: 'Well, I suppose you havejust had your bow rehaired!' or 'These newstrings are very trying,' or 'It's the weatherthat is against you again, is it not?' orsomething of the kind. Examinations werenot so easy: we had to show that we werenot only soloists, but also sight readers ofdifficult music.

A DIFFICULTY OVERCOME

"The greatest technical difficulty I hadwhen I was studying?" Jascha Heifetz triedto recollect, which was natural, seeing thatit must have been one long sinceovercome. Then he remembered, and

smiled: "_Staccato_ playing. To get a good_staccato_, when I first tried seemed veryhard to me. When I was younger, really, atone time I had a very poor _staccato_!" [Iassured the young artist that any one whoheard him play here would find it hard tobelieve this.] "Yes, I did," he insisted, "butone morning, I do not know just how itwas--I was playing the _cadenza_ in thefirst movement of Wieniawski's F{~MUSICSHARP SIGN~} minor concerto,--it is full of_staccatos_ and double stops--the rightway of playing _staccato_ came to mequite suddenly, especially after ProfessorAuer had shown me his method.

VIOLIN MASTERY

"Violin Mastery? To me it means the abilityto make the violin a perfectly controlledinstrument guided by the skill and

intelligence of the artist, to compel it torespond in movement to his every wish.The artist must always be superior to hisinstrument, it must be his servant, one thathe can do with what he will.

TECHNICAL MASTERY ANDTEMPERAMENT

"It appears to me that mastery of thetechnic of the violin is not so much of amechanical accomplishment as it is ofmental nature. It may be that scientists cantell us how through persistency the brainsucceeds in making the fingers and thearms produce results through the infinitevariety of inexplicable vibrations. Thesweetness of tone, its melodiousness, its_legatos_, octaves, trills and harmonics allbear the mark of the individual who useshis strings like his vocal chords. When an

artist is working over his harmonics, hemust not be impatient and force purity,pitch, or the right intonation. He must coaxthe tone, try it again and again, seek forimprovements in his fingering as well as inhis bowing at the same time, andsometimes he may be surprised how, quitesuddenly, at the time when he leastexpects it, the result has come. More thanone road leads to Rome! The fact is thatwhen you get it, you have it, that's all! I amperfectly willing to disclose to the musicalprofession all the secrets of the mastery ofviolin technic; but are there any secrets inthe sense that some of the uninitiated takethem? If an artist happens to excel in someparticular, he is at once suspected ofknowing some secret means of so doing.However, that may not be the case. Hedoes it just because it is in him, and as arule he accomplishes this through hismental faculties more than through his

mechanical abilities. I do not intend tominimize the value of great teachers whoprove to be important factors in the life of amusician; but think of the vast army ofpupils that a master teacher brings forth,and listen to the infinite variety of their_spiccatos_, octaves, _legatos_, and trills!For the successful mastery of violin techniclet each artist study carefully his ownindividuality, let him concentrate hismental energy on the quality of pitch heintends to produce, and sooner or later hewill find his way of expressing himself.Music is not only in the fingers or in theelbow. It is in that mysterious EGO of theman, it is his soul; and his body is like hisviolin, nothing but a tool. Of course, thegreat master must have the tools that suithim best, and it is the happy combinationthat makes for success.

"By the vibrations and modulations of the

notes one may recognize the violinist aseasily as we recognize the singer by hisvoice. Who can explain how the artistharmonizes the trilling of his fingers withthe emotions of his soul?

"An artist will never become great throughmere imitation, and never will he be ableto attain the best results only by methodsadopted by others. He must have his owninitiative, although he will surely profit bythe experience of others. Of course thereare standard ways of approaching thestudy of violin technic; but these are toowell known to dwell upon them: as to theniceties of the art, they must come fromwithin. You can make a musician but not anartist!

REPERTORY ANDPROGRAMS

"Which of the master works do I like best?Well, that is rather hard to answer. Eachmaster work has its own beauties.Naturally one likes best what oneunderstands best, I prefer to play theclassics like Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart,Bach, Mendelssohn, etc. However, Iplayed Bruch's G minor in 1913 at theLeipzig Gewandhouse with Nikisch, whereI was told that Joachim was the only otherviolinist as young as myself to appearthere as soloist with orchestra; there is theTschaikovsky concerto which I played inBerlin in 1912, with the Berlin PhilharmonicOrchestra with Nikisch. Alsa Bruch's Dminor and many more. I played theMendelssohn concerto in 1914, in Vienna,with Safonoff as conductor. Last season inChicago I played the Brahms concerto witha fine and very elaborate _cadenza_ byProfessor Auer. I think the Brahms

concerto for violin is like Chopin's musicfor piano, in a way, because it standstechnically and musically for somethingquite different and distinct from otherviolin music, just as Chopin does fromother piano music. The Brahms concerto isnot technically as hard as, say,Paganini--but in interpretation!... And inthe Beethoven concerto, too, there is asimplicity, a kind of clear beauty whichmakes it far harder to play than many otherthings technically more advanced. Theslightest flaw, the least difference in pitch,in intonation, and its beauty suffers.

"Yes, there are other Russian concertosbesides the Tschaikovsky. There is theGlazounov concerto and others. Iunderstand that Zimbalist was the first tointroduce it in this country, and I expect toplay it here next season.

"Of course one cannot always playconcertos, and one cannot always playBach and Beethoven. And that makes ithard to select programs. The artist canalways enjoy the great music of hisinstrument; but an audience wants variety.At the same time an artist cannot play onlyjust what the majority of the audiencewants. I have been asked to playSchubert's _Ave Maria_, or Beethoven's_Chorus of Dervishes_ at every one of myconcerts, but I simply cannot play them allthe time. I am afraid if program makingwere left altogether to audiences theprograms would become far too popular incharacter; though audiences are just asdifferent as individuals. I try hard tobalance my programs, so that every onecan find something to understand andenjoy. I expect to prepare some Americancompositions for next season. Oh, no, notas a matter of courtesy, but because they

are really fine, especially some smallerpieces by Spalding, Cecil Burleigh andGrasse!"

On concluding our interview Mr. Heifetzmade a remark which is worth repeating,and which many a music lover who is _plusroyaliste que le roi_ might do well toremember: "After all," he said, "much as Ilove music, I cannot help feeling that musicis not the only thing in life. I really cannotimagine anything more terrible thanalways to hear, think and make music!There is so much else to know andappreciate; and I feel that the more I learnand know of other things the better artist Iwill be!"

VIII

DAVID HOCHSTEIN

THE VIOLIN AS A MEANS OFEXPRESSION ANDEXPRESSIVE PLAYING

The writer talked with Lieutenant DavidHochstein, whose death in the battle of theArgonne Forest was only reported towardthe end of January, while the distinguishedyoung violinist, then only a sergeant, wason the eve of departure to France with hisregiment and, as he modestly said, his"thoughts on music were rather scattered."Yet he spoke with keen insight andauthority on various phases of his art, andmuch of what he said gains point from hisown splendid work as a concert violinist;

for Lieutenant Hochstein (whose standinghas been established in numerousEuropean as well as American recitals)could play what he preached.

SEVCIK AND AUER: A CONTRASTIN TEACHING

Knowing that in the regimental band hewas, quite appropriately, a clarinetist, "theclarinet in the military band being theequivalent of the violin in theorchestra"--and a scholarship pupil of theVienna _Meisterschule_, it seemed naturalto ask him concerning his teachers. Andthe interesting fact developed that he hadstudied with the celebrated Bohemianpedagog Sevcik and with Leopold Auer aswell, two teachers whose ideas andmethods differ materially. "I studied withSevcik for two years," said the young

violinist. "It was in 1909, when a class often pupils was formed for him in the_Meisterschule_, at Vienna, that I went tohim. Sevcik was in many ways a wonderfulteacher, yet inclined to overemphasize themechanical side of the art. He literally_taught_ his pupils how to practice, how todevelop technical control by the most slowand painstaking study. In addition to hisown fine method and exercises, he alsoused Gavinies, Dont, Rode, Kreutzer,applying in their studies ideas of his own.

"Auer as a teacher I found altogetherdifferent. Where Sevcik taught his pupilsthe technic of their art by means of asystem elaborately worked out, Auerdemonstrated his ideas through sheerpersonality, mainly from the interpretativepoint of view. Any ambitious student couldlearn much of value from either; yet in ageneral way one might express the

difference between them by saying thatSevcik could take a pupil of medium talentand--at least from the mechanicalstandpoint--make an excellent violinist ofhim. But Auer is an ideal teacher for thegreatly gifted. And he is especially skilledin taking some student of the violin whilehis mind is still plastic and susceptible andmolding it--supplying it with lofty conceptsof interpretation and expression. Of courseAuer (I studied with him in Petrograd andDresden) has been especially fortunate asregards his pupils, too, because active in aland like Russia, where musical genius hasalmost become a commonplace.

"Sevcik, though an admirable teacher,personally is of a reserved and reflectivetype, quite different from Auer, who isopen and expansive. I might recall a littleinstance which shows Sevcik's cautiousnature, the care he takes not to commit

himself too unreservedly. When I tookleave of him--it was after I had graduatedand won my prize--I naturally (like all hispupils) asked him for his photo. Severalother pupils of his were in the room at thetime. He took up his pen (I was lookingover his shoulder), commenced to write_Meinem best_.... And then he stopped,glanced at the other pupils in the room,and wrote over the _best_ ... he hadalready written, the word _liebsten_. Butthough I would, of course, have preferredthe first inscription, had Sevcik completedit, I can still console myself that the other,even though I value it, was an afterthought.But it was a characteristic thing for him todo!

THE VIOLIN AS A MEANS OFEXPRESSION

"What is my idea of the violin as a mediumof expression? It seems to me that it is thatof any other valid artistic medium. It is notso much a question of the violin as of theviolinist. A great interpreter reveals hisinner-most soul through his instrument,whatever it may be. Most people think theviolin is more expressive than any otherinstrument, but this is open to question. Itmay be that most people respond morereadily to the appeal made by the violin.But genuine expression, expressiveplaying, depends on the message theplayer has to deliver far more than on theinstrument he uses as a means. I havebeen as much moved by some pianoplaying I have heard as by the violinplaying of some of the greatest violinists.

"And variety, _nuance_ in expressiveplaying, is largely a matter of the player'smental attitude. Bach's _Chaconne_ or

_Sicilienne_ calls for a certain humility onthe part of the artist. When I play Bach I doit reverentially; a definite spiritual qualityin my tone and expression is the result.And to select a composer who in manyways is Bach's exact opposite, Wieniawski,a certain audacious brilliancy cannot helpbut make itself felt tonally, if this music isto be played in character. The mental andspiritual attitude directly influences its ownmechanical transmission. No one artistshould criticize another for differences ininterpretation, in expression, so long asthey are justified by larger concepts of art.Individuality is one of the artist's mostprecious possessions, and there arealways a number of different angles fromwhich the interpretation of an art work maybe approached.

VIOLIN MASTERY

"Violin mastery? There have been onlythree violinists within my own recollection,whom I would call masters of the violin.These are Kubelik (when at his best), Franzvon Vecsey, Hubay's pupil, whom I heardabroad, and Heifetz, with his cameo-likeperfection of technic. These I would callmasters of the violin, as an instrument,since they have mastered every intricacyof the instrument. But I could name severalothers who are greater musicians, andwhose playing and interpretation, to saynothing of tone, I prefer.

TONE PRODUCTION:RHYTHM

"In one sense true violin mastery is aquestion of tone production and rhythm.And I believe that tone production

depends principally upon the imaginativeear of the player. This statement may seemsomewhat ambiguous, and one might ask,'What is an imaginative ear?' My ear, forinstance, demands of my violin a certainquality of tone, which varies according tothe music I am playing. But before I thinkof playing the music, I already know fromreading it what I want it to sound like: thatis to say, the quality of the tone I wish tosecure in each principal phrase. Rhythm isperhaps the greatest factor ininterpretation. Every good musician has a'good sense of rhythm' (that much abusedphrase). But it is only the _great_ musicianwho makes so striking and individual anapplication of rhythm that his playing maybe easily distinguished by his use of it.

"There is not much to tell you as regardsmy method of work. I usually work directlyupon a program which has been

previously mapped out. If I have beenaway from my violin for more than a weekor two I begin by practicing scales, butordinarily I find my technical work in theprograms I am preparing."

Asked about his band experiences atCamp Upton, Sergeant Hochstein wasenthusiastic. "No violinist could help butgain much from work with a military bandat one of the camps," he said. "Forinstance, I had a more or less theoreticalknowledge of wind instruments before Iwent to Camp Upton. Now I have apractical working knowledge of them. Ihave already scored a little violincomposition of mine, a 'Minuet in OldenStyle' for full band, and have found itpossible by the right manipulation topreserve its original dainty and gracefulcharacter, in spite of the fact that it isplayed by more than forty military

bandsmen.

"Then, too," he said in conclusion, "I haveorganized a real orchestra of twenty-oneplayers, strings, brass, wood-wind, etc.,which I hope is going to be of real use onthe other side during our training period inFrance. You see, 'over there' the soldierboys' chances for leave are limited and wewill have to depend a good deal on ourown selves for amusement and recreation.I hope and believe my orchestra is notonly going to take its place as one of themost enjoyable features of our army life;but also that it will make propaganda ofthe right sort for the best music in a broad,catholic sense of the word!"

It is interesting to know that this patrioticyoung officer found opportunities in campand in the towns of France of carrying outhis wish to "make propaganda of the right

sort for the best music" before he gave hislife to further the greater purpose whichhad called him overseas.

IX

FRITZ KREISLER

PERSONALITY IN ART

The influence of the artist's personality inhis art finds a most striking exemplificationin the case of Fritz Kreisler. Some timebefore the writer called on the famousviolinist to get at first hand some of hisopinions with regard to his art, he hadalready met him under particularlyinteresting circumstances. The questionhad come up of writing text-poems for twosong-adaptations of Viennese folk-themes,airs not unattractive in themselves; butwhich Kreisler's personal touch, hisindividual gift of harmonization had liftedfrom a lower plane to the level of the art

song. Together with the mss. of his ownbeautiful transcript, Mr. Kreisler in the oneinstance had given me the printed originalwhich suggested it--frankly a "popular"song, clumsily harmonized in a"four-square" manner (though written in3/4 time) with nothing to indicate its latentpossibilities. I compared it with his mss.and, lo, it had been transformed! Gone wasthe clumsiness, the vulgar and obviousharmonic treatment of themelody--Kreisler had kept the melodicoutline, but etherealized, spiritualized it,given it new rhythmic _contours_, adeeper and more expressive meaning.And his rich and subtle harmonization hadlent it a quality of distinction that justified acomparison between the grub and thebutterfly. In a small way it was anilluminating glimpse of how thepersonality of a true artist canmetamorphose what at first glance might

seem something quite negligible, andcreate beauty where its possibilities alonehad existed before.

It is this personal, this individual, note inall that Fritz Kreisler does--when he plays,when he composes, when hetranscribes--that gives his art-effort sogreat and unique a quality of appeal.

Talking to him in his comfortablesitting-room in the HotelWellington--Homer and Juvenal (in theoriginal) ranked on the piano-top besideDe Vere Stackpole novels and othercontemporary literature called to mind thatthough Brahms and Beethoven violinconcertos are among his favorites, he doesnot disdain to play a Granados _SpanishDance_--it seemed natural to ask him howhe came to make those adaptations andtranscripts which have been so notable a

feature of his programs, and which havegiven such pleasure to thousands.

[Illustration: FRITZ KREISLER, withhand-written note]

HOW KREISLER CAME TOCOMPOSE AND ARRANGE

He said: "I began to compose and arrangeas a young man. I wanted to create arepertory for myself, to be able to expressthrough my medium, the violin, a greatdeal of beautiful music that had first to beadapted for the instrument. What Icomposed and arranged was for my ownuse, reflected my own musical tastes andpreferences. In fact, it was not till yearsafter that I even thought of publishing thepieces I had composed and arranged. For I

was very diffident as to the outcome ofsuch a step. I have never written anythingwith the commercial idea of making it'playable.' And I have always felt thatanything done in a cold-blooded way forpurely mercenary considerationssomehow cannot be good. It cannotrepresent an artist's best."

AT THE VIENNACONSERVATORY

In reply to another query Mr. Kreislerreverted to the days when as a boy hestudied at the Vienna Conservatory. "I wasonly seven when I attended theConservatory and was much moreinterested in playing in the park, wheremy boy friends would be waiting for me,than in taking lessons on the violin. Andyet some of the most lasting musical

impressions of my life were gatheredthere. Not so much as regards study itself,as with respect to the good music I heard.Some very great men played at theConservatory when I was a pupil. Therewere Joachim, Sarasate in his prime,Hellmesberger, and Rubinstein, whom Iheard play the first time he came toVienna. I really believe that hearingJoachim and Rubinstein play was a greaterevent in my life and did more for me thanfive years of study!"

"Of course you do not regard technic asthe main essential of the concert violinist'sequipment?" I asked him. "Decidedly not.Sincerity and personality are the first mainessentials. Technical equipment issomething which should be taken forgranted. The _virtuoso_ of the type of OleBull, let us say, has disappeared. The 'stunt'player of a former day with a repertory of

three or four bravura pieces was not farabove the average music-hall 'artist.' Themodern _virtuoso_, the true concert artist,is not worthy of the title unless his art is theoutcome of a completely unified nature.

VIOLIN MASTERY

"I do not believe that any artist is truly amaster of his instrument unless his controlof it is an integral part of a whole. Themusician is born--his medium ofexpression is often a matter of accident. Ibelieve one may be intended for an artistprenatally; but whether violinist, 'cellist orpianist is partly a matter of circumstance.Violin mastery, to my mind, still falls shortof perfection, in spite of the completesttechnical and musical equipment, if theartist thinks only of the instrument heplays. After all, it is just a single medium of

expression. The true musician is an artistwith a special instrument. And every realartist has the feeling for other forms andmediums of expression if he is truly amaster of his own.

TECHNIC VERSUSIMAGINATION

"I think the technical element in the artist'seducation is often unduly stressed.Remember," added Mr. Kreisler, with asmile, "I am not a teacher, and this is apurely personal opinion I am giving you.But it seems to me that absolute sincerity ofeffort, actual impossibility _not_ to react toa genuine musical impulse are of greatimportance. I firmly believe that if one isdestined to become an artist the technicalmeans find themselves. The necessity ofexpression will follow the line of least

resistance. Too great a manual equipmentoften leads to an exaggeration of thetechnical and tempts the artist to stress itunduly.

"I have worked a great deal in my life, buthave always found that too large anamount of purely technico-musical workfatigued me and reacted unfavorably onmy imagination. As a rule I only practiceenough to keep my fingers in trim; thenervous strain is such that doing more isout of the question. And for aconcert-violinist when on tour, playingevery day, the technical question is notabsorbing. Far more important is it for himto keep himself mentally and physicallyfresh and in the right mood for his work.For myself I have to enjoy whatever I playor I cannot play it. And it has often doneme more good to dip my finger-tips in hotwater for a few seconds before stepping

out on the platform than to spend a coupleof hours practicing. But I should not wishthe student to draw any deductions fromwhat I say on this head. It is purelypersonal and has no general application.

"Technical exercises I use verymoderately. I wish my imagination to beresponsive, my interest fresh, and as a ruleI have found that too much work alongroutine channels does not accord with thebest development of my Art. I feel thattechnic should be in the player's head, itshould be a mental picture, a sort of'master record.' It should be a matter ofwill power to which the manualpossibilities should be subjected. Technicto me is a mental and not a manual thing.

MENTAL TECHNIC: ITS DRAWBACKAND ITS ADVANTAGE

"The technic thus achieved, a technicwhose controlling power is chiefly mental,is not perfect--I say so frankly--because itis more or less dependent on the state ofthe artist's nervous system. Yet it is the oneand only kind of technic that canadequately and completely express themusician's every instinct, wish andemotion. Every other form of technic isstiff, unpliable, since it cannot entirelysubordinate itself to the individuality of theartist."

PRACTICE HOURS FOR THEADVANCED STUDENT

Mr. Kreisler gives no lessons and hencereferred this question in the most amiablemanner to his boyhood friend andfellow-student Felix Winternitz, the

well-known Boston violin teacher, one ofthe faculty of the New EnglandConservatory of Music, who had come inwhile we were talking. Mr. Winternitz didnot refuse an answer: "The serious student,in my opinion, should not practice lessthan four hours a day, nor need he practicemore than five. Other teachers maydemand more. Sevcik, I know, insists thathis pupils practice eight and ten hours aday. To do so one must have theconstitution of an ox, and the results areoften not equal to those produced by fourhours of concentrated work. As Mr.Kreisler intimated with regard to technic,practice calls for brain power.Concentration in itself is not enough. Thereis only one way to work and if the pupilcan find it he can cover the labor of weeksin an hour."

And turning to me, Mr. Winternitz added:

"You must not take Mr. Kreisler tooseriously when he lays no stress on hisown practicing. During the concert seasonhe has his violin in hand for an hour or sonearly every day. He does not call itpracticing, and you and I would consider itplaying and great playing at that. But it is agenuine illustration of what I meant when Isaid that one who knew how could coverthe work of weeks in an hour's time."

AN EXPLANATION BY MR.WINTERNITZ

I tried to draw from the famous violinistsome hint as to the secret of the abidingpopularity of his own compositions andtranscripts but--as those who know him areaware--Kreisler has all the modesty of thetruly great. He merely smiled and said:"Frankly, I don't know." But Mr. Winternitz'

comment (when a 'phone call had takenKreisler from the room for a moment) was,"It is the touch given by hisaccompaniments that adds so much: aharmonic treatment so rich in design andcoloring, and so varied that melodies werenever more beautifully set off." Mr.Kreisler, as he came in again, remarked: "Idon't mind telling you that I enjoyed verymuch writing my _Tambourin Chinois_.[A]The idea for it came to me after a visit tothe Chinese theater in San Francisco--notthat the music there suggested any theme,but it gave me the impulse to write a freefantasy in the Chinese manner."

[Footnote A: It is interesting to note thatNikolai Sokoloff, conductor of the SanFrancisco Philharmonic, returning from atour of the American and French armycamps in France, some time ago, said: "Mymost popular number was Kreisler's

_Tambourin Chinois_. Invariably I had torepeat that." A strong indorsement of theinternationalism of Art by the actual fighterin the trenches.]

STYLE, INTERPRETATION AND THEARTISTIC IDEAL

The question of style now came up. "I amnot in favor of 'labeling' the concert artist,of calling him a 'lyric' or a 'dramatic' orsome other kind of a player. If he is anartist in the real sense he controls allstyles." Then, in answer to anotherquestion: "Nothing can express music butmusic itself. Tradition in interpretationdoes not mean a cut-and-dried set of ruleshanded down; it is, or should be, a matterof individual sentiment, of innerconviction. What makes one man an artistand keeps another an amateur is a

God-given instinct for the artistically andmusically right. It is not a thing to beexplained, but to be felt. There is oftenonly a narrow line of demarcation betweenthe artistically right and wrong. Yet nearlyevery real artist will be found to agree asto when and when not that boundary hasbeen overstepped. Sincerity andpersonality as well as disinterestedness,an expression of himself in his art that isabsolutely honest, these, I believe, areideals which every artist should cherishand try to realize. I believe, furthermore,that these ideals will come more and moreinto their own; that after the war there willbe a great uplift, and that Art will realize tothe full its value as a humanizing factor inlife." And as is well known, no great artistof our day has done more toward theactual realization of these ideals hecherishes than Fritz Kreisler himself.

X

FRANZ KNEISEL

THE PERFECT STRINGENSEMBLE

Is there a lover of chamber musicunfamiliar with Franz Kneisel's name? Itmay be doubted. After earlier Europeantriumphs the gifted Roumanian violinistcame to this country (1885), and aside fromhis activities in other directions--as a soloartist he was the first to play the Brahmsand Goldmark violin concertos, and theC�ar Franck sonata in thiscountry--organized his famous quartet.And, until his recent retirement as itsdirector and first violin, it has beenperhaps the greatest single influence

toward stimulating appreciation for thebest in chamber music that the country hasknown. Before the Flonzaley was, theKneisels were. They made plain how muchof beauty the chamber music repertoryoffered the amateur string player; not onlyin the classic repertory--Haydn, Mozart,Beethoven, Spohr; in Schubert, Schumann,Brahms; but in Smetana, Dvor� andTschaikovsky; in C�ar Franck, Debussyand Ravel. Not the least among Kneisel'sachievements is, that while theprofessional musicians in the cities inwhich his organization played attended itsconcerts as a matter of course, the averagemusic lover who played a stringinstrument came to them as well, andcarried away with him a messagedelivered with all the authority of superbmusicianship and sincerity, one whichbade him "go and do likewise," in so far ashis limitations permitted. And the many

excellent professional chamber musicorganizations, trios, quartets and_ensembles_ of various kinds which havecome to the fore since they began to playoffer eloquent testimony with regard to thecultural work of Kneisel and his fellowartists.

[Illustration: FRANZ KNEISEL, withsignature]

A cheery grate fire burned in thecomfortable study in Franz Kneisel's home;the autographed--in what affectionate andappreciative terms--pictures of greatfellow artists looked down above thebook-cases which hold the scores of thosemasters of what has been called "thenoblest medium of music in existence,"whose beauties the famous quartet has sooften disclosed on the concert stage. AndMr. Kneisel was amiability personified

when I asked him to give me his theory ofthe perfect string _ensemble_, and the partvirtuosity played in it.

"THE ARTIST RANKS THE VIRTUOSOIN CHAMBER MUSIC"

"The artist, the _Tonk�nstler_, to use aforeign phrase, ranks the virtuoso inchamber music. Joachim was no virtuoso,he did not stress technic, the lessimportant factor in _ensemble_ playing.Sarasate was a virtuoso in the best sense ofthe word; and yet as an _ensemble_ musicplayer he fell far short of Joachim. As I seeit 'virtuoso' is a kind of flattering title, nomore. But a _Tonk�nstler_, a 'tone-artist,'though he must have the virtuoso technicin order to play Brahms and Beethovenconcertos, needs besides a spiritualinsight, a deep concept of their nobility to

do them justice--the mere technicdemanded for a virtuoso show piece is notenough.

VIOLIN MASTERY IN THESTRING QUARTET

"You ask me what 'Violin Mastery' means inthe string quartet. It has an altogetherdifferent meaning to me, I imagine, than tothe violin virtuoso. Violin mastery in thestring _ensemble_ is as much mastery ofself as of technical means. The artist mustsink his identity completely in that of thework he plays, and though the lastBeethoven quartets are as difficult as manyviolin concertos, they are polyphony, thecombination and interweaving ofindividual melodies, and they call for amastery of repression as well asexpression. I realized how keenly alive the

musical listener is to this fact once whenour quartet had played in Alma-Tadema'sbeautiful London home, for the greatEnglish painter was also a music-lover anda very discriminating one. He had a finepiano in a beautifully decorated case, andit was an open secret that at his musicalevenings, after an artist had played, the lidof the piano was raised, and Sir Lawrenceasked him to pencil his autograph on thesoft white wood of its inner surface--_butonly if he thought the complimentdeserved_. There were some famousnames written there--Joachim, Sarasate,Paderewski, Neruda, Piatti, to mention afew. Naturally an artist playing atAlma-Tadema's home for the first timecould not help speculating as to hischances. Many were called, butcomparatively few were chosen. We wereguests at a dinner given by Sir Lawrence.There were some fifty people prominent in

London's artistic, musical and social worldpresent, and we had no idea of beingasked to play. Our instruments were at ourhotel and we had to send for them. Weplayed the Schubert quartet in A minorand Dvor�'s 'American' quartet and, ofcourse, my colleagues and myself forgotall about the piano lid the moment webegan to play. Yet, I'm free to confess, thatwhen the piano lid was raised for us weappreciated it, for it was no emptycompliment coming from Sir Lawrence,and I have been told that some verydistinguished artists have not had itextended to them. And I know that on thatevening the phrase 'Violin Mastery' in an_ensemble_ sense, as the outcome ofceaseless striving for co�dination inexpression, absolute balance, and all thedetails that go to make up the perfect_ensemble_, seemed to us to have a verydefinite color and meaning.

THE FIRST VIOLIN IN THE STRINGQUARTET

"What exactly does the first violinrepresent?" Mr. Kneisel went on in answerto another question. "The first violin mightbe called the chairman of the stringmeeting. His is the leading voice. Not thathe should be an autocrat, no, but he musthold the reins of discipline. Many thinkthat the four string players in a quartethave equal rights. First of all, and aboveall, are the rights of the composer, Bach,Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert,--as the casemay be. But from the standpoint ofinterpretation the first violin has someseventy per cent. of the responsibility ascompared with thirty per cent. for theremaining voices. In all the famous quartetorganizations, Joachim, Hellmesberger,

etc., the first violin has been the directinginstrument and has set the pace. Aschairman it has been his duty to say whensecond violin, viola and 'cello wereentitled to hold the floor. Hellmesberger,in fact, considered himself the _whole_quartet." Mr. Kneisel smiled and showedme a little book of Hellmesberger's Viennaprograms. Each program was headed:

HELLMESBERGER QUARTET

with the assistance of

MESSRS. MATH. DURST, CARLHEISSLER, CARLSCHLESINGER

"In other words, Hellmesberger was thequartet himself, the other three artistsmerely 'assisted,' which, after all, is goingtoo far!

"Of course, quartets differ. Just as we haveoperas in which the alto solo _r�e_ is themost important, so we have quartets inwhich the 'cello or the viola has a moresignificant part. Mozart dedicated quartetsto a King of Prussia, who played 'cello, andhe was careful to make the 'cello part themost important. And in Smetana's quartet_Aus meinem Leben_, the viola plays amost important r�e. Even the second violinoften plays themes introducing principalthemes of the first violin, and it has its briefmoments of prominence. Yet, though thesecond violin or the 'cellist may be,comparatively speaking, a better playerthan the first violin, the latter is and mustbe the leader. Practically every composerof chamber music recognizes the fact in hiscompositions. He, the first violin, shouldnot command three slaves, though; butguide three associates, and do it tactfully

with regard to their individuality and thatof their instruments.

"ENSEMBLE" REHEARSING

"You ask what are the essentials of_ensemble_ practice on the part of theartists? Real reverence, untiring zeal andpunctuality at rehearsals. And then, anabsolute sense of rhythm. I rememberrehearsing a Volkmann quartet once with anew second violinist." [Mr. Kneisel crossedover to his bookcase and brought me thescore to illustrate the rhythmic point inquestion, one slight in itself yet as difficult,perhaps, for a player without an absolutesense of rhythm as "perfect intonation"would be for some others.] "He had alovely tone, a big technic and was a prizepupil of the Vienna Conservatory. Wewent over this two measure phrase some

sixteen times, until I felt sure he hadgrasped the proper accentuation. And hewas most amiable and willing about it, too.But when we broke up he pointed to thepassage and said to me with a smile: 'Afterall, whether you play it _this_ way, or_that_ way, what's the difference?' Then Irealized that he had stressed his notescorrectly a few times by chance, and thathis own sense of rhythm did not tell himthat there were no two ways about it. Therhythmic and tonal _nuances_ in a quartetcannot be marked too perfectly in order tosecure a beautiful and finishedperformance. And such a violinist as theone mentioned, in spite of his tone andtechnic, was never meant for an_ensemble_ player.

"I have never believed in a quartet gettingtogether and 'reading' a new work as apreparation for study. As first violin I have

always made it my business to first studythe work in score, myself, to study it until Iknew the whole composition absolutely,until I had a mental picture of its meaning,and of the interrelation of its four voices indetail. Thirty-two years of experience havejustified my theory. Once the first violinknows the work the practicing may begin;for he is in a position gradually andtactfully to guide the working-out of theinterpretation without losing time in thestruggle to correct faults in balance whichare developed in an unprepared 'reading'of the work. There is always one importantmelody, and it is easier to find it studyingthe score, to trace it with eye and mind inits contrapuntal web, than by makingvoyages of discovery in actual playing.

"Every player has his own qualities, everyinstrument its own advantages. Certainpassages in a second violin or viola part

may be technically better suited to thehand of the player, to the nature of theinstrument, and--they will sound betterthan others. Yet from the standpoint of thecomposition the passages that 'lie well' areoften not the more important. This is hardfor the player--what is easy for him heunconsciously is inclined to stress, and hemust be on his guard against it. This isanother strong argument in favor of athorough preliminary study on the part ofthe leading violin of the construction of thework."

THE FIRST VIOLIN IN CHAMBERMUSIC VERSUS THEORCHESTRA CONDUCTOR

The comparison which I asked Mr. Kneiselto make is one which he could establishwith authority. Aside from his experience

as director of his quartet, he has been the_concert-meister_ of such famous foreignorchestras as Bilse's and that of the_Hofburg Theater_ in Vienna and, foreighteen years, of the Boston SymphonyOrchestra in this country. He has alsoconducted over one hundred concerts ofthe Boston Symphony, and was director ofthe Worcester Music Festivals.

"Nikisch once said to me, after he hadheard us play the Schumann A minorquartet in Boston: 'Kneisel, it was beautiful,and I felt that you had more difficulty indeveloping it than I have with anorchestral score!' And I think he was right.First of all the symphonic conductor is anautocrat. There is no appeal from thecommands of his baton. But the first violinof a quartet is, in a sense, only the 'firstamong peers.' The velvet glove is anabsolute necessity in his case. He must

gain his art ends by diplomacy and tact, hemust always remember that his fellowartists are solo players. If he is arbitrary,no matter how right he may be, he disturbsthat fine feeling of artistic fellowship, thatdelicate balance of individualtemperaments harmonized for and by asingle purpose. In this connection I do notmind confessing that though I enjoy a goodgame of cards, I made it a rule never toplay cards with my colleagues during thehours of railroad traveling involved inkeeping our concert engagements. Iplayed chess. In chess the element of luckdoes not enter. Each player is responsiblefor what he does or leaves undone. Anddefeat leaves no such sting as it does whenall may be blamed on chance. In an_ensemble_ that strives for perfectionthere must be no undercurrents of regret,of dissatisfaction--nothing that interfereswith the sympathy and good will which

makes each individual artist do his best.And so I have never regretted giving cardsthe go-by!"

HINTS TO THE SERIOUS VIOLINSTUDENT

Of late years Mr. Kneisel's activity as ateacher has added to his reputation. Fewteachers can point to a galaxy of artistpupils which includes such names asSamuel Gardner, Sascha Jacobsen,Breskin, Helen Jeffry and Olive Meade(who perpetuates the ideals of his greatstring _ensemble_ in her own quartet)."What is the secret of your method?" Iasked him first of all. "Method is hardly theword," he told me. "It sounds toocut-and-dried. I teach according toprinciples, which must, of course, vary inindividual cases; yet whose foundation is

fixed. And like Joachim, or Leschetiszky, Ihave preparatory teachers.

THE GENERAL FAULT

"My experience has shown me that thefundamental fault of most pupils is thatthey do not know how to hold either thebow or the violin. Here in America theviolin student as a rule begins serioustechnical study too late, contrary to theEuropean practice. It is a great handicap tobegin really serious work at seventeen oreighteen, when the flexible bones ofchildhood have hardened, and have notthe pliability needed for violin gymnastics.It is a case of not bending the twig as youwant the tree to grow in time. And thosewho study professionally are often moreinterested in making money as soon aspossible than in bending all their energies

on reaching the higher levels of their art.Many a promising talent never developsbecause its possessor at seventeen oreighteen is eager to earn money as anorchestra or 'job' player, instead ofsacrificing a few years more andbecoming a true artist. I've seen it happentime and again: a young fellow reallyendowed who thinks he can play for aliving and find time to study and practice'after hours.' And he never does!

"But to return to the general fault of theviolin student. There is a certain angle atwhich the bow should cross the strings inorder to produce those vibrations whichgive the roundest, fullest, most perfecttone [he took his own beautiful instrumentout of its case to illustrate the point], andthe violin must be so held that the bowmoves straight across the strings in thismanner. A deviation from the correct

attack produces a scratchy tone. And it isjust in the one fundamental thing: theholding of the violin in exactly the sameposition when it is taken up by the player,never varying by so much as half-an-inch,and the correct attack by the bow, in whichthe majority of pupils are deficient. If theviolin is not held at the proper angle, forinstance, it is just as though a piano wereto stand on a sloping floor. Too manystudents play 'with the violin' on the bow,instead of holding the violin steady, andletting the bow play.

"And in beginning to study, this apparentlysimple, yet fundamentally important,principle is often overlooked or neglected.Joachim, when he studied as a ten-year-oldboy under Hellmesberger in Vienna, onceplayed a part in a concerto by Maurer, forfour violins and piano. His teacher wasdispleased: 'You'll never be a fiddler!' he

told him, 'you use your bow too stiffly!' Butthe boy's father took him to B�m, and heremained with this teacher for three years,until his fundamental fault was completelyovercome. And if Joachim had not givenhis concentrated attention to his bowingwhile there was still time, he would neverhave been the great artist he later became.

THE ART OF THE BOW

"You see," he continued, "the secret ofreally beautiful violin playing lies in thebow. A Blondin crossing Niagara finds hiswire hard and firm where he first steps onit. But as he progresses it vibrates withincreasing intensity. And as the tight-ropewalker knows how to control the vibrationsof his wire, so the violinist must master thevibrations of his strings. Each section ofthe string vibrates with a different quality

of tone. Most pupils think that a big tone isdeveloped by pressure with the bow--yetmuch depends on what part of the stringthis pressure is applied. Fingering is anart, of course, but the great art is the art ofthe bow, the 'art of bowing,' as Tartini callsit. When a pupil understands it he hasgone far.

"Every pupil may be developed to acertain degree without ever suspectinghow important a factor the manipulation ofthe bow will be in his further progress. Hethinks that if the fingers of his left hand areagile he has gained the main end in view.But then he comes to a stop--his left handcan no longer aid him, and he finds that ifhe wants to play with real beauty ofexpression the bow supplies the only truekey. Out of a hundred who reach thisstage," Mr. Kneisel went on, rather sadly,"only some five or six, or even less,

become great artists. They are those whoare able to control the bow as well as theleft hand. All real art begins with phrasing,and this, too, lies altogether in the masteryof bow--the very soul of the violin!"

I asked Mr. Kneisel how he came to writehis own "Advanced Exercises" for theinstrument. "I had an idea that a set ofstudies, in which each single studypresented a variety of technical figuresmight be a relief from the exercises in somany excellent methods, where pages ofscales are followed by pages of arpeggios,pages of double-notes and so forth. It isvery monotonous to practice pages andpages of a single technical figure," headded. "Most pupils simply will not do it!"He brought out a copy of his "Exercises"and showed me their plan. "Here, forinstance, I have scales, trills,arpeggios--all in the same study, and the

study is conceived as a musicalcomposition instead of a technical formula.This is a study in finger position, with allpossible bowings. My aim has been toconcentrate the technical material of awhole violin school in a set of _�udes_ withmusical interest."

And he showed me the second book of thestudies, in ms., containing exercises inevery variety of scale, and trill, bowing,_nuance_, etc., combined in a singlemusical movement. This volume alsocontains his own cadenza to the Beethovenviolin concerto. In conclusion Mr. Kneisellaid stress on the importance of thestudent's hearing the best music at concertand recital as often as possible, and on thevalue and incentive supplied by a musicalatmosphere in the home and, on leavinghim, I could not help but feel that what hehad said in our interview, his reflections

and observations based on an artistrybeyond cavil, and an authoritativeexperience, would be well worthpondering by every serious student of theinstrument. For Franz Kneisel speaks ofwhat he knows.

XI

ADOLFO BETTI

THE TECHNIC OF THEMODERN QUARTET

What lover of chamber music in its moreperfect dispensations is not familiar withthe figure of Adolfo Betti, the guiding brainand bow of the Flonzaley Quartet? Born inFlorence, he played his first public concertat the age of six, yet as a youth found ithard to choose between literature, forwhich he had decided aptitude,[A] andmusic. Fortunately for American concertaudiences of to-day, he finally inclined tothe latter. An exponent of what manyconsider the greatest of all violinisticschools, the Belgian, he studied for four

years with C�ar Thomson at Li�e, spentfour more concertizing in Vienna andelsewhere, and returned to Thomson asthe latter's assistant in the BrusselsConservatory, three years before hejoined the Flonzaleys, in 1903. Withpleasant recollections of earlier meetingswith this gifted artist, the writer sought himout, and found him amiably willing to talkabout the modern quartet and its ideals,ideals which he personally has done somuch to realize.

[Footnote A: M. Betti has published anumber of critical articles in the _GuideMusical_ of Brussels, the _Rivista Musicale_of Turin, etc.]

THE MODERN QUARTET

"You ask me how the modern quartet

differs from its predecessors?" said Mr.Betti. "It differs in many ways. For onething the modern quartet has developed ina way that makes its inner voices--secondviolin and viola--much more importantthan they used to be. Originally, as inHaydn's early quartets, we have a violinsolo with three accompanying instruments.In Beethoven's last quartets theintermediate voices have already gained afreedom and individuality which beforehim had not even been suspected. In theselast quartets Beethoven has already setforth the principle which was to becomethe basis of modern polyphony: '_first ofall_ to allow each voice to express itselffreely and fully, and _afterward_ to seewhat the relations were of one to the other.'In fact, no one has exercised a morerevolutionary effect on the quartet thanBeethoven--no one has made it attain sogreat a degree of progress. And surely the

distance separating the quartet asBeethoven found it, from the quartet as heleft it (Grand Fugue, Op. 131, Op. 132), isgreater than that which lies between theFugue Op. 132, and the most advancedmodern quartet, let us say, for instance,Sch�berg's Op. 7. Sch�berg, by the way,has only applied and developed theprinciples established by Beethoven in thelatter's last quartets. But in the modernquartet we have a new element, one whichtends more and more to becomepreponderant, and which might be called_orchestral_ rather than _da camera_.Smetana, Grieg, Tschaikovsky were thefirst to follow this path, in which themajority of the moderns, including Franckand Debussy, have followed them. And inaddition, many among the most advancedmodern composers _strive for orchestraleffects that often lie outside the naturalcapabilities of the strings_!

[Illustration: ADOLFO BETTI, withhand-written note]

"For instance Stravinsky, in the first of histhree impressionistic sketches for quartet(which we have played), has the first violinplay _ponticello_ throughout, not thenatural _ponticello_, but a quite specialone, to produce an effect of a bag-pipesounding at a distance. I had to try againand again till I found the right technicalmeans to produce the effect desired. Then,the 'cello is used to imitate the drum; thereare special technical problems for thesecond violin--a single sustained D, withan accompanying _pizzicato_ on the openstrings--while the viola is required tosuggest the tramp of marching feet. And,again, in other modern quartets we findspecial technical devices undreamt of inearlier days. Borodine, for instance, is the

first to systematically employ successionsof harmonics. In the trio of his first quartetthe melody is successively introduced bythe 'cello and the first violin, altogether inharmonics.

THE MODERN QUARTET ANDAMATEUR PLAYERS

"You ask me whether the average quartetof amateurs, of lovers of string music, canget much out of the more modern quartets.I would say yes, but with some seriousreservations. There has been muchbeautiful music written, but most of it iscomplicated. In the case of the olderquartets, Haydn, Mozart, etc., even if theyare not played well, the performers canstill obtain an idea of the music, of itsthought content. But in the modernquartets, unless each individual player has

mastered every technical difficulty, themusical idea does not pierce through,there is no effect.

"I remember when we rehearsed the firstSch�berg quartet. It was in 1913, at aChicago hotel, and we had no score, butonly the separate parts. The results, at ourfirst attempt, were so dreadful that westopped after a few pages. It was not till Ihad secured a score, studied it and againtried it that we began to see a light. Finallythere was not one measure which we didnot understand. But Sch�berg, Reger,Ravel quartets make too great a demandon the technical ability of the averagequartet amateur.

THE TECHNIC OF QUARTETPLAYING

"Naturally, the first violin is the leader, theConductor of the quartet, as in its earlydays, although the 'star' system, with onevirtuose player and three satellites, hasdisappeared. Now the quartet as a wholehas established itself in the _virtuoso_field--using the word _virtuoso_ in its bestsense. The M�ller quartet (Hanover),1845-1850, was the first to travel as achamber music organization, and thefamous _Florentiner_ Quartet the first torealize what could be done in the way offinish in playing. As _premier violiniste_ ofthe Flonzaley's I study and prepare theinterpretation of the works we are to playbefore any rehearsing is done.

"While the first violin still holds first placein the modern quartet, the second violinhas become much more important thanformerly; it has gained in individuality. Inmany of the newer quartets it is quite as

important as the first. In Hugo Wolf'squartet, for example, first and secondviolins are employed as though in aconcerto for two violins.

"The viola, especially in modern Frenchworks--Ravel, Debussy, Samazeuil--has aprominent part. In the older quartets onereason the viola parts are simple isbecause the alto players as a rule weretechnically less skillful. As a general thingthey were violinists who had failed--'therefugees of the G clef,' as EdouardColonne, the eminent conductor, oncewittily said. But the reason modern Frenchcomposers give the viola special attentionis because France now is ahead of theother nations in virtuose viola playing. It ispractically the only country which may besaid to have a 'school' of viola playing. Inthe Smetana quartet the viola plays a mostimportant part, and Dvor�, who himself

played viola, emphasized the instrument inhis quartets.

"Mozart showed what the 'cello was able todo in the quartets he dedicated to the''cellist king,' Frederick William of Prussia.And then, the 'cello has always the musicalimportance which attaches to it as thelower of the two 'outer voices' of thequartet _ensemble_. Like the second violinand viola, it has experienced a technicaland musical development beyondanything Haydn or Mozart would havedared to write.

REHEARSING

"Realization of the Art aims of the modernquartet calls for endless rehearsal. Fewpeople realize the hard work andconcentrated effort entailed. And there are

always new problems to solve. Afterpreparing a new score in advance, wemeet and establish its general idea, itsbroad outlines in actual playing. And then,gradually, we fill in the details. Ordinarilywe rehearse three hours a day, less duringthe concert season, of course; but alwaysenough to keep absolutely in trim. And wevary our practice programs in order tokeep mentally fresh as well as technicallyfit.

INTONATION

"Perfect intonation is a great problem--onepractically unknown to the averageamateur quartet player. Four players mayeach one of them be playing in tune, inpitch; yet their chords may not be truly intune, because of the individual bias--atrifle sharp, a trifle flat--in interpreting

pitch. This individual bias may be causedby the attraction existing between certainnotes, by differences of register and_timbre_, or any number of otherreasons--too many to recount. The truebeauty of the quartet tone cannot beobtained unless there is an exactadjustment, a tempering of the individualpitch of each instrument, till perfectaccordance exists. This is far more difficultand complicated than one might at firstbelieve. For example, let us take one ofthe simplest violin chords," said Mr. Betti[and he rapidly set it down in pencil].

[Illustration: Musical Notation]

"Now let us begin by fixing the B so that itis perfectly in tune with the E, then_without at all changing_ the B, take theinterval D-B. You will see that the sixth willnot be in tune. Repeat the experiment,

inverting the notes: the result will still bethe same. Try it yourself some time,"added Mr. Betti with a smile, "and you willsee. What is the reason? It is because themiddle B has not been adjusted,tempered! Give the same notes to the firstand second violins and the viola and youwill have the same result. Then, when the'cello is added, the problem is still morecomplicated, owing to the difference in_timbre_ and register. Yet it is a problemwhich can be solved, and is solved inpractically everything we play.

"Another difficulty, especially in the caseof some of the _very daring_ chordsencountered in modern compositions, isthe matter of balance between theindividual notes. There are chords whichonly _sound well_ if certain notes arethrown into relief; and others only ifplayed very softly (almost as though they

were overtones). To overcome suchdifficulties means a great deal of work,real musical instinct and, above all, greatfamiliarity with the composer's harmonicprocesses. Yet with time and patience thetrue balance of tone can be obtained.

TEMPO

"All four individual players must be able to_feel_ the tempo they are playing in thesame way. I believe it was Mahler whoonce gave out a beat very distinctly--one,two, three--told his orchestra players tocount the beat silently for twenty measuresand then stop. As each _felt_ the beatdifferently from the other, every one ofthem stopped at a different time. So_tempo_, just like intonation, must be'tempered' by the four quartet players inorder to secure perfect rhythmic inflection.

DYNAMICS

"Modern composers have wonderfullyimproved dynamic expression. Every littleshade of meaning they make clear withgreat distinctness. The older composers,and occasionally a modern like EmanuelMoor, do not use expression marks. Moorsays, 'If the performers really havesomething to put into my work the signsare not needed.' Yet this has itsdisadvantages. I once had an entirelyunmarked Sonata by Sammartini. As mostfirst movements in the sonatas of thatcomposer are _allegros_ I tried thebeginning several times as an _allegro_,but it sounded radically wrong. Then, atlast, it occurred to me to try it as a _largo_and, behold, it was beautiful!

INTERPRETATION

"If the leader of the quartet has livedhimself into and mastered a composition,together with his associates, the result issure. I must live in the music I play just asan actor must live the character herepresents. All higher interpretationdepends on solving technical problems ina way which is not narrowly mechanical.And while the _ensemble_ spirit must bepreserved, the freedom of the individualshould not be too much restrained. Oncethe style and manner of a moderncomposer are familiar, it is easier topresent his works: when we first playedthe Reger quartet here some twenty yearsago, we found pages which at first wecould not at all understand. If one hasfathomed Debussy, it is easier to playMilhaud, Roger-Ducasse, Samazeuil--for

the music of the modern French school hasmuch in common. One great cultural valuethe professional quartet has for the musicalcommunity is the fact that it gives a largecircle a measure of acquaintance with themode of thought and style of composerswhose symphonic and larger works areoften an unknown quantity. This applies toDebussy, Reger, the modern Russians,Bloch and others. When we played theStravinsky pieces here, for instance, his_P�rouschka_ and _Firebird_ had not yetbeen heard.

SOME IDEALS

"We try, as an organization, to beabsolutely catholic in taste. Nor do weneglect the older music, because we playso much of the new. This year we aredevoting special attention to the American

composers. Formerly the Kneisels tookcare of them, and now we feel that weshould assume this legacy. We havealready played Daniel Gregory Mason'sfine _Intermezzo_, and the other Americannumbers we have played include DavidStanley Smith's _Second Quartet_, andmovements from quartets by Victor Kolarand Samuel Gardner. We are also going torevive Charles Martin Loeffler's_Rhapsodies_ for viola, oboe and piano.

"I have been for some time making acollection of sonatas _a tre_, two violinsand 'cello--delightful old things bySammartini, Leclair, the EnglishmanBoyce, Friedemann Bach and others. Thisis material from which the amateur couldderive real enjoyment and profit. TheLeclair sonata in D minor we have playedsome three hundred times; and its slowmovement is one of the most beautiful

_largos_ I know of in all chamber music.The same thing could be done in the wayof transcription for chamber music whichKreisler has already done so charminglyfor the solo violin. And I would dearly loveto do it! There are certain 'primitives' of thequartet--Johann Christian Bach, Gossec,Telemann, Michel Haydn--who havewritten music full of the rarest melodiccharm and freshness. I have muchexcellent material laid by, but as youknow," concluded Mr. Betti with a sigh,"one has so little time for anything inAmerica."

XII

HANS LETZ

THE TECHNIC OF BOWING

Hans Letz, the gifted Alsatian violinist, iswell fitted to talk on any phase of his Art. Apupil of Joachim (he came to this country in1908), he was for three yearsconcertmaster of the Thomas orchestra,appearing as a solo artist in most of ourlarge cities, and was not only one of theKneisels (he joined that organization in1912), but the leader of a quartet of hisown. As a teacher, too, he is active ingiving others an opportunity to apply thelessons of his own experience.

VIOLIN MASTERY

When asked for his definition of the term,Mr. Letz said: "There can be no such thingas an _absolute_ mastery of the violin.Mastery is a relative term. The artist is firstof all more or less dependent oncircumstances which he cannotcontrol--his mood, the weather, strings, athousand and one incidentals. And then,the nearer he gets to his ideal, the moreapt his ideal is to escape him. Yet,discounting all objections, I should say thata master should be able to expressperfectly the composer's idea, reflected byhis own sensitive soul.

THE KEY TOINTERPRETATION

"The bow is the key to this mastery in

expression, in interpretation: in a lesserdegree the left hand. The average pupildoes not realize this but believes that merefinger facility is the whole gist of technic.Yet the richest color, the most delicate_nuance_, is mainly a matter of bowing. Inthe left hand, of course, the _vibrato_ givesa certain amount of color effect, theintense, dramatic tone quality of the rapid_vibrato_ is comparable on the violin tothe _tremulando_ of the singer. At thesame time the _vibrato_ used to excess isquite as bad as an excessive _tremulando_in the voice. But control of the bow is thekey to the gates of the great field ofdeclamation, it is the means of articulationand accent, it gives character, comprisingthe entire scale of the emotions. In fact,declamation with the violin bow is verymuch like declamation in dramatic art. Andthe attack of the bow on the string shouldbe as incisive as the utterance of the first

accented syllable of a spoken word. Thebow is emphatically the means ofexpression, but only the advanced pupilcan develop its finer, more delicateexpressional possibilities.

THE TECHNIC OF BOWING

"Genius does many things by instinct. Andit sometimes happens that very greatperformers, trying to explain sometechnical function, do not know how tomake their meaning clear. With regard tobowing, I remember that Joachim (amaster colorist with the bow) used to tellhis students to play largely with the wrist.What he really meant was with anelbow-joint movement, that is, moving thebow, which should always be connectedwith a movement of the forearm by meansof the elbow-joint. The ideal bow stroke

results from keeping the joints of the rightarm loose, and at the same time firmenough to control each motion made. Adifficult thing for the student is to learn todraw the bow across the strings _at a rightangle_, the only way to produce a goodtone. I find it helps my pupils to tell themnot to think of the position of the bow-armwhile drawing the bow across the strings,but merely to follow with the tips of thefingers of the right hand an imaginary linerunning at a right angle across the strings.The whole bow then moves as it should,and the arm motions unconsciously adjustthemselves.

RHYTHM AND COLOR

"Rhythm is the foundation of all music--notrhythm in its metronomic sense, but in thebroader sense of proportion. I lay the

greatest stress on the development ofrhythmic sensibility in the student. Rhythmgives life to every musical phrase." Mr.Letz had a Brahms' quartet open on hismusic stand. Playing the followingpassage, he said:

[Illustration: Musical Notation]

"In order to give this phrase its properrhythmic value, to express it clearly,plastically, there must be a very slightseparation between the sixteenths and theeighth-note following them. This--the bowpicked up a trifle from the strings--throwsthe sixteenths into relief. As I have alreadysaid, tone color is for the main partcontrolled by the bow. If I draw the bowabove the fingerboard instead of keepingit near the bridge, I have a decidedcontrast in color. This color contrast mayalways be established: playing near the

bridge results in a clear and sharp tone,playing near the fingerboard in a veiledand velvety one.

SUGGESTIONS IN TEACHING

"I find that, aside from the personalillustration absolutely necessary whenteaching, that an appeal to the pupil'simagination usually bears fruit. Indeveloping tone-quality, let us say, I tellthe pupil his phrases should have agolden, mellow color, the tonal equivalentof the hues of the sunrise. I vary mypictures according to the circumstancesand the pupil, in most cases, reacts tothem. In fast bowings, for instance, I makethree color distinctions or rather sounddistinctions. There is the 'color of rain,'when a fast bow is pushed gently over thestrings, while not allowed to jump; the

'color of snowflakes' produced when thehairs of the bow always touch the strings,and the wood dances; and 'the color of hail'(which seldom occurs in the classics),when in the real characteristic _spiccato_the whole bow leaves the string."

THE ART AND THE SCHOOLS

In reply to another question, Mr. Letzadded: "Great violin playing is great violinplaying, irrespective of school ornationality. Of course the Belgians andFrench have notable elegance, polish,finish in detail. The French lay stress onsensuous beauty of tone. The Germantemperament is perhaps broader,neglecting sensuous beauty for beauty ofidea, developing the scholarly side.Sarasate, the Spaniard, is a unique nationalfigure. The Slavs seem to have a natural

gift for the violin--perhaps because ofcenturies of repression--and arepassionately temperamental. In theirplaying we find that melancholy,combined with an intense craving for joy,which runs through all Slavonic music andliterature. Yet, all said and done, Art is andremains first of all international, and thegreat violinist is a great artist, no matterwhat his native land."

XIII

DAVID MANNES

THE PHILOSOPHY OF VIOLINTEACHING

That David Mannes, the well-knownviolinist and conductor, so long director ofthe New York Music School Settlement,would be able to speak in an interestingand authoritative manner on his art, was aforegone conclusion in the writer's mind. Avisit to the educator's own beautiful "MusicSchool" confirmed this conviction. In replyto some questions concerning his ownstudy years Mr. Mannes spoke of his workwith Heinrich de Ahna, Karl Halir andEug�e Ysaye. "When I came to de Ahna inBerlin, I was, unfortunately, not yet ready

for him, and so did not get much benefitfrom his instruction. In the case of Halir, towhom I went later, I was in much bettershape to take advantage of what he couldgive me, and profited accordingly. It is apoint any student may well note--that whenhe thinks of studying with some famousteacher he be technically and musicallyequipped to take advantage of all that thelatter may be able to give him. Otherwiseit is a case of love's labor lost on the part ofboth. Karl Halir was a sincere and verythorough teacher. He was a Spohr player_par excellence_, and I have never foundhis equal in the playing of Spohr's_Gesangsscene_. With him I studiedKreutzer, Rode, Fiorillo; and to know Haliras a teacher was to know him at his best;since as a public performer--great violinistas he was--he did not do himself justice,because he was too nervous andhigh-strung.

[Illustration: DAVID MANNES, withhand-written note]

STUDYING WITH YSAYE

"It was while sitting among the first violinsin the New York Symphony Orchestra that Ifirst heard Ysaye. And for the first time inmy life I heard a man with whom I fervently_wanted_ to study; an artist whose wholeattitude with regard to tone and soundreproduction embodied my ideals.

"I worked with Ysaye in Brussels and in hiscottage at Godinne. Here he taught muchas Liszt did at Weimar, a group of from tento twenty disciples. Early in the morninghe went fishing in the Meuse, then back tobreakfast and then came the lessons: notmore than three or four a day. Those who

studied drew inspiration from him as thepianists of the Weimar circle did from theirMaster. In fact, Ysaye's standpoint towardmusic had a good deal in common withRubinstein's and he often said he wishedhe could play the violin as Rubinstein didthe piano. Ysaye is an artist who hastranscended his own medium--he hasbecome a poet of sound. And unless theone studying with him could understandand appreciate this fact he made a poorteacher. But to me, in all humility, he wasand will always remain a wonderfulinspiration. As an influence in my careerhis marvelous genius is unique. In my ownteaching I have only to recall his tone, hisplaying in his little cottage on the banks ofthe Meuse which the tide of war has sweptaway, to realize in a cumulative sense thethings he tried to make plain to me then.Ysaye taught the technic of expression asagainst the expression of technic. He gave

the lessons of a thousand teachers in placeof the lessons of one. The greatesttechnical development was required byYsaye of a pupil; and given thispre-requisite, he could open up to himever enlarging horizons of musical beauty.

"Nor did he think that the true beauty ofviolin playing must depend upon six toeight hours of daily practice work. Iabsolutely believe with Ysaye that unless astudent can make satisfactory progresswith three hours of practice a day, heshould not attempt to play the violin.Inability to do so is in itself a confession offailure at the outset. Nor do I think itpossible to practice the violin intensivelymore than three-quarters of an hour at atime. In order to utilize his three hours ofpractice to the best advantage the studentshould divide them into four periods, withintervals of rest between each, and these

rest periods might simply represent atransfer of energy--which is a rest initself--to reading or some other occupationnot necessarily germane to music, yetlikely to stimulate interest in some otherart.

SOME INITIAL PRINCIPLES OFVIOLIN STUDY

"The violin student first and foremostshould accustom himself to practicingpurely technical exercises without notes.The scales and arpeggios should never beplayed otherwise and books of scalesshould be used only as a reference. Quiteas important as scale practice are brokenchords. On the violin these cannot beplayed _solidly_, as on the piano; but mustbe studied as arpeggios, in the mostexhaustive way, harmonically and

technically. Their great value lies indeveloping an innate musical sense, inestablishing an idea of tonality andharmony that becomes so deeply rootedthat every other key is as natural to theplayer as is the key of C. Work of this kindcan never be done ideally in class. Butevery individual student must himselfcome to realize the necessity of doingtechnical work without notes as a matter ofdaily exercise, even though his time belimited. Perhaps the most difficult of alllessons is learning to hold the violin. Thereare pupils to whom holding the instrumentpresents insurmountable obstacles. Suchpupils, instead of struggling in vain with aphysical difficulty, might rather take up thestudy of the 'cello, whose weight rests onthe floor. That many a student was notintended to be a violin player by nature isproved by the various inventions,chin-rests, braces, intended to supply what

nature has not supplied. The study of theviolin should never be allowed if it is goingto result in actual physical deformity:raising of the left shoulder, malformation ofthe back, or eruptions resulting fromchin-rest pressure. These are all evidencesof physical unfitness, or of incorrectteaching.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF VIOLINTEACHING

"Class study is for the advanced student,not the beginner. In the beginning only theclosest personal contact between theindividual pupil and the teacher isdesirable. To borrow an analogy fromnature, the student may be compared tothe young bird whose untrained wings willnot allow him to take any trial flightsunaided by his natural guardian. For the

beginning violinist the principal thing todo is to learn the 'voice placing' of theviolin. This goes hand in hand with theproper--which is the easy andnatural--manner of holding the violin, bowstudy, and an appreciation of the acousticsof the instrument. The student's attentionshould at once be called to the marvelousand manifold qualities of the violin tone,and he should at once familiarize himselfwith the development of those contrasts ofstress and pressure, ease and relaxationwhich are instrumental in its production.The analogies between the violin voiceand the human voice should also bedeveloped. The violin itself must to allintents become a part of the playerhimself, just as the vocal chords are part ofthe human body. It should not beconsidered a foreign tone-producinginstrument adjusted to the body of theperformer; but an extension, a projection

of his physical self. In a way it is easier forthe violinist to get at the chords of theviolin and make them sound, since theyare all exposed, which is not the case withthe singer.

"There are two dangerous points inpresent-day standards of violin teaching.One is represented by the very efficientEuropean professional standards oftechnic, which may result in an absolutefailure of poetic musical comprehension.These should not be transplanted herefrom European soil. The other is thenon-technical, sentimental, formlessspecies of teaching which can only resultin emotional enervation. Yet if forced tochoose between the two the former wouldbe preferable since without tools it isimpossible to carve anything of beauty.The final beauty of the violin tone, the pure_legato_, remains in the beginning as in

the end a matter of holding the violin andbow. Together they 'place' the tone just asthe physical _media_ in the throat 'place'the tone of the voice.

"Piano teachers have made greateradvances in the tone developing technic oftheir instrument than the violin teachers.One reason is, that as a class they are moreintellectual. And then, too, violin teachingis regarded too often as a mystic art, anoccult science, and one into which onlythose specially gifted may hope to beinitiated. This, it seems to me, is a fallacy.Just as a gift for mathematics is a specialtalent not given to all, so a _natural_technical talent exists in relatively fewpeople. Yet this does not imply that themajority are shut off from playing the violinand playing it well. Any student who hasmusic in his soul may be taught to playsimple, and even relatively more difficult

music with beauty, beauty of expressionand interpretation. This he may be taughtto do even though not endowed with a_natural_ technical facility for the violin. Aproof that natural technical facility isanything but a guarantee of highermusicianship is shown in that the musicalweakness of many brilliant violinists,hidden by the technical elaboration ofvirtuoso pieces, is only apparent whenthey attempt to play a Beethoven _adagio_or a simple Mozart _rondo_.

"In a number of cases the unsuccessful soloplayer has a bad effect on violin teaching.Usually the soloist who has not made asuccess as a concert artist takes upteaching as a last resort, withoutenthusiasm or the true vocational instinct.The false standards he sets up for hispupils are a natural result of his ownineffectual worship of the fetish of

virtuosity--those of the musicalmountebank of a hundred years ago. Ofcourse such false prophets of the virtuosehave nothing in common with suchhigh-priests of public utterance as Ysaye,Kreisler and others, whose virtuosity is atrue means for the higher development ofthe musical. The encouragement ofmusicianship in general suffers for thestress laid on what is obviously technical_impedimenta_. But more and more, astime passes, the playing of such artists asthose already mentioned, and others likethem, shows that the real musician is thelover of beautiful sound, which technicmerely develops in the highest degree.

"To-day technic in a cumulative senseoften is a confession of failure. For technicdoes not do what it so often claimsto--produce the artist. Most professionalteaching aims to prepare the student for

professional life, the concert stage. Hencethere is an intensive _technical_ study ofcompositions that even if not whollyintended for display are primarily andprincipally projected for its sake. It is awell-known fact that few, even amonggifted players, can sit down to playchamber music and do it justice. This is notbecause they cannot grasp or understandit; or because their technic is insufficient. Itis because their whole violinistic educationhas been along the line of solo playing;they have literally been brought up, not toplay _with_ others, but to be accompanied_by_ others.

"Yet despite all this there has been anotable development of violin study in thedirection of _ensemble_ work with, as aresult, an attitude on the part of theviolinists cultivating it, of greater humilityas regards music in general, a greater

appreciation of the charm of artisticcollaboration: and--I insist--a technic bothfiner and more flexible. Chambermusic--originally music written for theintimate surroundings of the home, for asmall circle of listeners--carries out in itsinformal way many of the ideals of thelarger orchestral _ensemble_. And, asregards the violinist, he is not dependentonly on the literature of the string quartet;there are piano quintets and quartets,piano trios, and the duos for violin andpiano. Some of the most beautifulinstrumental thoughts of the classic andmodern composers are to be found in theduo for violin and piano, mainly in thesonata form. Amateurs--violinists who lovemusic for its own sake, and have sufficientfacility to perform such workscreditably--do not do nearly enough_ensemble_ playing with a pianist. It is notalways possible to get together the four

players needed for the string quartet, but apianist is apt to be more readily found.

"The combination of violin and piano is asa rule obtainable and the literature isparticularly rich. Aside from sonatas byCorelli, Locatelli, Tartini, Bach, Mozart,Beethoven, Haendel, Brahms andSchumann, nearly all the romantic andmodern composers have contributed to it.And this music has all been written so as toshow the character of each instrument atits best--the piano, harmonic in its nature;the violin, a natural melodic voice, capableof every shade of _nuance_." That Mr.Mannes, as an artist, has made a point of"practicing what he preaches" to thestudent as regards the _ensemble_ ofviolin and piano will be recalled by all whohave enjoyed the 'Sonata Recitals' he hasgiven together with Mrs. Mannes. And asan interpreting solo artist his views

regarding the moot question of gut_versus_ wire strings are of interest.

GUT VERSUS WIRE STRINGS

"My own violin, a Maggini of more than theusual size, dates from the year 1600. Itformerly belonged to Dr. LeopoldDamrosch. Which strings do I use on it?The whole question as to whether gut orwire strings are to be preferred may, inmy opinion, be referred to the violin itselffor decision. What I mean is that ifStradivarius, Guarnerius, Amati, Magginiand others of the old-master builders ofviolins had ever had wire strings in view,they would have built their fiddles inaccordance, and they would not be thesame we now possess. First of all there arescientific reasons against using the wirestrings. They change the tone of the

instrument. The rigidity of tension of thewire E string where it crosses the bridgetightens up the sound of the lower strings.Their advantages are: reliability underadverse climatic conditions and theincontestable fact that they make thingseasier technically. They facilitate purity ofintonation. Yet I am willing to forgo theseadvantages when I consider the wonderfulpliability of the gut strings for whichStradivarius built his violins. I can see theartistic retrogression of those who areusing the wire E, for when materiallythings are made easier, spiritually there isa loss.

CHIN RESTS

"And while we are discussing the physicalaspects of the instrument there is the 'chinrest.' None of the great violin makers ever

made a 'chin rest.' Increasing technicaldemands, sudden pyrotechnical flightsinto the higher octaves brought the 'chinrest' into being. The 'chin rest' was meantto give the player a better grasp of hisinstrument. I absolutely disapprove, intheory, of chin rest, cushion or pad.Technical reasons may be adduced tojustify their use, never artistic ones. I admitthat progress in violin study is infinitelyslower without the use of the pad; but themore close and direct a contact with hisinstrument the player can develop, themore intimately expressive his playingbecomes. Students with long necks andthin bodies claim they have to use a 'chinrest,' but the study of physical adjustmentscould bring about a better co�dinationbetween them and the instrument. A thinpad may be used without much danger,yet I feel that the thicker and higher the'chin rest' the greater the loss in

expressive rendering. The more weaccustom ourselves to mechanical aids,the more we will come to rely on them....But the question you ask anent 'ViolinMastery' leads altogether away from thematerial!

VIOLIN MASTERY

"To me it signifies technical efficiencycoupled with poetic insight, freedom fromconventionally accepted standards, theattainment of a more varied personalexpression along individual lines. It maybe realized, of course, only to a degree,since the possessor of absolute 'ViolinMastery' would be forever glorified. As itis the violin master, as I conceive him,represents the embodier of the greatestintimacy between himself, the artist, andhis medium of expression. Considered in

this light Pablo Casals and his 'cello,perhaps, most closely comply with therequirements of the definition. And this isnot as paradoxical as it may seem, since allstring instruments are brethren,descended from the ancient viol, and the'cello is, after all, a variant of the violin!"

XIV

TIVADAR NACH�

JOACHIM AND L�NARD ASTEACHERS

Tivadar Nach�, the celebrated violinvirtuoso, is better known as a concertizingartist in Europe, where he has played withall the leading symphonic orchestras, thanin this country, to which he paid his firstvisit during these times of war, and whichhe was about to leave for his London homewhen the writer had the pleasure ofmeeting him. Yet, though he has notappeared in public in this country (if weexcept some Red Cross concerts inCalifornia, at which he gave his auditors ofhis best to further our noblest war charity),

his name is familiar to every violinist. Foris not Mr. Nach� the composer of the"Gypsy Dances" for violin and piano,which have made him famous?

Genuinely musical, effective and largelysuccessful as they have been, however, asany one who has played them can testify,the composer of the "Gypsy Dances"regards them with mixed feelings. "I havedone other work that seems to me,relatively, much more important," said Mr.Nach�, "but when my name happens to bementioned, echo always answers 'GypsyDances,' my little rubbishy 'Gypsy Dances!'It is not quite fair. I have publishedthirty-five works, among them a 'RequiemMass,' an orchestral overture, two violinconcertos, three rhapsodies for violin andorchestra, variations on a Swiss theme,Romances, a Polonaise (dedicated toYsaye), and Evening Song, three _Po�es

hongrois_, twelve classical masterworks ofthe 17th century--to say nothing of songs,etc.--and the two concertos of Vivaldi andNardini which I have edited, practicallynew creations, owing to the addition of thepiano accompaniments and orchestralscore. I wrote the 'Gypsy Dances' as amere boy when I was studying with H.L�nard in Paris, and really at hissuggestion. In one of my lessons I playedSarasate's 'Spanish Dances,' which chancedto be published at the time, and at oncemade a great hit. So L�nard said to me:'Why not write some _Hungarian_ Gypsydances--there must be wonderful materialat hand in the music of the _Tziganes_ ofHungary. You should do something with it!'I took him at his word, and he liked my'Dances' so well that he made me playthem at his musical evenings, which hegave often during the winter, and whichwere always attended by the musical _Tout

Paris!_ I may say that during these lastthirty years there has been scarcely aviolinist before the public who at one timeor the other has _not_ played these 'GypsyDances.' Besides the _original_ edition,there are two (pirated!) editions inAmerica and six in Europe.

[Illustration: TIVADAR NACH�, withhand-written note]

THE BEGINNING OF A VIOLINISTICCAREER: PLAYING WITH LISZT

"No, L�nard was not my first teacher. I tookup violin work when a boy of five years ofage, and for seven years practiced fromeight to ten hours a day, studying withSabathiel, the leader of the RoyalOrchestra in Budapest, where I was born,though England, the land of my adoption,

in which I have lived these last twenty-sixyears, is the land where I have found allmy happiness, and much gratifying honor,and of which I have been a devoted,ardent and loyal naturalized citizen formore than a quarter of a century. Sabathielwas an excellent routine teacher, andgrounded me well in thefundamentals--good tone production andtechnical control. Later I had far greaterteachers, and they taught me much, but--inthe last analysis, most of the little I haveachieved I owe to myself, to hard, untiringwork: I had determined to be a violinistand I trust I became one. No seriousstudent of the instrument should everforget that, no matter who his teacher maybe, he himself must supply thedetermination, the continued energy anddevotion which will lead him to success.

"Playing with Liszt--he was an intimate

friend of my father--is my most preciousmusical recollection of Budapest. I enjoyedit a great deal more than my regular lessonwork. He would condescend to play withme some evenings and you can imaginewhat rare musical enjoyment, whathappiness there was in playing with such agenius! I was still a boy when with him Iplayed the Grieg F major sonata, whichhad just come fresh from the press. Heplayed with me the D minor sonata ofSchumann and introduced me to the mysticbeauties of the Beethoven sonatas. I canstill recall how in the Beethoven C minorsonata, in the first movement, Liszt wouldbring out a certain broken chromaticpassage in the left hand, with a mighty_crescendo_, an effect of melodiousthunder, of enormous depth of tone, andyet with the most exquisite regard for thebalance between the violin and his owninstrument. And there was not a trace of

condescension in his attitude toward me;but always encouragement, a tenderaffectionate and paternal interest in ayoung boy, who at _that moment_ was abrother artist.

"Through Liszt I came to know the greatmen of Hungarian music of that time: Erkel,Hans Richter, Robert Volkmann, CountGeza Zichy, and eventually I secured ascholarship, which the King had foundedfor music, to study with Joachim in Berlin,where I remained nearly three years.Hubay was my companion there; butafterward we separated, he going toVieuxtemps, while I went to L�nard.

JOACHIM AS A TEACHER ANDINTERPRETER

"Joachim was, perhaps, the most

celebrated teacher of his time. Yet it is oneof the greatest ironies of fate that when hedied there was not one of his pupils whowas considered by the German authorities'great' enough to take the place the Masterhad held. Henri Marteau, who was not hispupil, and did not even exemplify his stylein playing, was chosen to succeed him!Henri Petri, a Vieuxtemps pupil who wentto Joachim, played just as well when hecame to him as when he left him. The samemight be said of Willy Burmester, Hess,Kes and Halir, the latter one of thoseBohemian artists who had a tremendous'Kubelik-like' execution. Teaching is andalways will be a special gift. There aremany minor artists who are wonderful'teachers,' and _vice versa_!

"Yet if Joachim may be criticized asregards the way of imparting the secrets oftechnical phases in his violin teaching, as a

teacher of interpretation he wasincomparable! As an interpreter ofBeethoven and of Bach in particular, therehas never been any one to equal Joachim.Yet he never played the same Bachcomposition twice in the same way. Wewere four in our class, and Hubay and Iused to bring our copies of the sonataswith us, to make marginal notes whileJoachim played to us, and theseinstantaneous musical 'snapshots' remainvery interesting. But no matter howJoachim played Bach, it was always with abig tone, broad chords of an organ-likeeffect. There is no greater discrepancythan the edition of the Bach sonataspublished (since his death) by Moser, andwhich is supposed to embody Joachim'sinterpretation. Sweeping chords, whichJoachim always played with the utmostbreadth, are 'arpeggiated' in Moser'sedition! Why, if any of his pupils had ever

attempted to play, for instance, the end ofthe _Bour�_ in the B minor _Partita_ of Bach_�la Moser_, Joachim would have brokenhis bow over their heads!

STUDYING WITH L�NARD

"After three years' study I left Joachim andwent to Paris. Liszt had given me letters ofintroduction to various French artists,among them Saint-Sa�s. One evening Ihappened to hear L�nard play Corelli's _LaFolia_ in the _Salle Pleyel_, and the liquidclarity and beauty of his tone so impressedme that I decided I must study with him. Iplayed for him and he accepted me as apupil. I am free to admit that my tone,which people seem to be pleased to praiseespecially, I owe entirely to L�nard, forwhen I came to him I had the so-called'German tone' (_son allemand_), of a harsh,

rasping quality, which I tried to abandonabsolutely. L�nard often would point to hisears while teaching and say: '_Ouvrez vosoreilles: �out� la beaut�du son!_' ('Openyour ears, listen for beauty of sound!').Most Joachim pupils you hear (unless theyhave reformed) attack a chord with the nutof the bow, the German method, whichunduly stresses the attack. L�nard, on thecontrary, insisted with his pupils on theattack being made with such smoothnessas to be absolutely unobtrusive. Being anephew of Mme. Malibran, he attachedspecial importance to the 'singing' tone,and advised his pupils to hear greatsingers, to _listen_ to them, and to try andreproduce their _bel canto_ on the violin.

"He was most particular in his observanceof every _nuance_ of shading andexpression. He told me that when heplayed Mendelssohn's concerto (for the

first time) at the Leipsic _Gewandhaus_, ata rehearsal, Mendelssohn himselfconducting, he began the first phrase witha full _mezzo-forte_ tone. Mendelssohnlaid his hand on his arm and said: 'But itbegins _piano!_' In reply L�nard merelypointed with his bow to the score--the _p_which is now indicated in all editions hadbeen omitted by some printer's error, andhe had been quite within his rights inplaying _mezzo-forte_.

"L�nard paid a great deal of attention toscales and the right way to practice them.He would say, _'Il faut filer les sons: c'estl'art des ma�res_. ('One must spin out thetone: that is the art of the masters.') Hetaught his pupils to play the scales withlong, steady bowings, counting sixty toeach bow. Himself a great classicalviolinist, he nevertheless paid a good dealof attention to _virtuoso_ pieces; and

always tried to prepare his pupils for_public life_. He had all sorts of wise hintsfor the budding concert artist, and was inthe habit of saying: 'You must plan aprogram as you would the _m�u_ of adinner: there should be something forevery one's taste. And, especially, if youare playing on a long program, togetherwith other artists, offer nothingindigestible--let _your_ number be arelief!'

SIVORI

"While studying with L�nard I met Sivori,Paganini's only pupil (if we exceptCatarina Caleagno), for whom Paganiniwrote a concerto and six short sonatas.L�nard took me to see him late oneevening at the _H�el de Havane_ in Paris,where Sivori was staying. When we came

to his room we heard the sound of slowscales, beautifully played, coming frombehind the closed door. We peeredthrough the keyhole, and there he sat onhis bed stringing his scale tones likepearls. He was a little chap and had thetiniest hands I have ever seen. Was this adrawback? If so, no one could tell from hisplaying; he had a flawless technic, and areally pearly quality of tone. He was veryjolly and amiable, and he and L�nard weregreat friends, each always going to hearthe other whenever he played in concert.My four years in Paris were in the mainyears of storm and stress--plain living andhard, very hard, concentrated work. I gavesome accompanying lessons to help keepthings going. When I left Paris I went toLondon and then began my public life as aconcert violinist.

GREAT MOMENTS IN ANARTIST'S LIFE

"What is the happiest remembrance of mycareer as a _virtuoso_? Some of the greatmoments in my life as an artist? It is hard tosay. Of course some of my courtappearances before the crowned heads ofEurope are dear to me, not so muchbecause they were _court_ appearances,but because of the graciousness andappreciation of the highly placedpersonages for whom I played.

"Then, what I count a signal honor, I haveplayed no less than _three_ times as a soloartist with the Royal Philharmonic Societyof London, the oldest symphonic society inEurope, for whom Beethoven composedhis immortal IXth symphony (once underSir Arthur Sullivan's baton; once under thatof Sir A.C. Mackenzie, and once with Sir

Frederick Cowen as conductor--on this lastoccasion I was asked to introduce my newSecond concerto in B minor, Op. 36, at thetime still in ms.) Then there is quite anumber of great conductors with whom Ihave appeared, a few among them beingLiszt, Rubinstein, Brahms, Pasdeloup, SirAugust Manns, Sir Charles Hall� L.Mancinelli, Weingartner and Hans Richter,etc. Perhaps, as a violinist, what I like bestto recall is that as a boy I was invited byRichter to go with him to Bayreuth and playat the foundation of the Bayreuth festivaltheater, which however my parents would_not_ permit owing to my tender age. Ialso remember with pleasure an episodeat the famous Pasdeloup Concerts in the_Cirque d'hiver_ in Paris, on an occasionwhen I performed the F sharp minorconcerto of Ernst. After I had finished, twoladies came to the green room: they werein deep mourning, and one of them greatly

moved, asked me to 'allow her to thank me'for the manner in which I had played thisconcerto--she said: _'I am the widow ofErnst!'_ She also told me that since hisdeath she had never heard the concertoplayed as I had played it! In presenting tome her companion, the Marquise deGallifet (wife of the General de Gallifetwho led the brigade of the _Chasseursd'Afrique_ in the heroic charge of GeneralMargueritte's cavalry division at Sedan,which excited the admiration of the oldking of Prussia), I had the honor of meetingthe once world famous violinist Mlle.Millanollo, as she was before hermarriage. Mme. Ernst often came to hearme play her late husband's music, and as aparting gift presented me with hisbeautiful 'Tourte' bow, and an autographedcopy of the first edition of Ernst'stranscription for solo violin of Schubert's'Erlking.' It is so incredibly difficult to play

with proper balance of melody andaccompaniment--I never heard any onebut Kubelik play it--that it is almostimpossible. It is so difficult, in fact, that itshould not be played!

VIOLINS AND STRINGS:SARASATE

"My violin? I am a Stradivarius player, andpossess two fine Strads, though I also havea beautiful Joseph Guarnerius. Ysaye,Thibaud and Caressa, when they lunchedwith me not long ago, were enthusiasticabout them. My favorite Strad is a 1716instrument--I have used it for twenty-fiveyears. But I cannot use the wire strings thatare now in such vogue here. I have to haveItalian gut strings. The wire E cuts myfingers, and besides I notice a perceptibledifference in sound quality. Of course,

wire strings are practical; they do not'snap' on the concert stage. Speaking ofstrings that 'snap,' reminds me that the firsttime I heard Sarasate play the Saint-Sa�sconcerto, at Frankfort, he twice forgot hisplace and stopped. They brought him themusic, he began for the third time andthen--the E string snapped! I do not think_any_ other than Sarasate could havecarried off these successive mishaps andbrought his concert to a triumphantconclusion. He was a great friend of mineand one of the most _perfect_ players Ihave ever known, as well as one of thegreatest _grand seigneurs_ amongviolinists. His rendering of romantic works,Saint-Sa�s, Lalo, Bruch, was exquisite--Ihave never, never heard them played asbeautifully. On the other hand, his Bachplaying was excruciating--he played Bachsonatas as though they were virtuosopieces. It made one think of Hans von

B�low's _mot_ when, in speaking of acertain famous pianist, he said: 'He playsBeethoven with velocity and Czerny withexpression.' But to hear Sarasate playromantic music, his own 'Spanish Dances'for instance, was all like glorious birdsongand golden sunshine, a lark soaringheavenwards!

THE NARDINI CONCERTO INA

"You ask about my compositions? Well,Eddy Brown is going to play my Secondviolin concerto, Op. 36 in B flat, which Iwrote for the London Philharmonic Society,next season; Elman the Nardini concerto inA, which was published only shortlybefore the outbreak of the war. Thirtyyears ago I found, by chance, three oldNardini concertos for violin and bass in the

composer's _original_ ms., in Bologna. Thebest was the one in A--a beautiful work!But the bass was not even figured, and thetask of reconstructing the accompanimentfor piano, as well as for orchestra, andreverently doing justice to the composer'soriginal intent and idea; while at the sametime making its beauties clearly andexpressively available from the standpointof the violinist of to-day, was not easy. Still,I think I may say I succeeded." And Mr.Nach� showed me some letters fromfamous contemporaries who had made theacquaintance of this Nardini concerto in Amajor. Auer, Thibaud, Sir Hubert Parry(who said that he had "infused the workwith new life"), Pollak, Switzerland'sranking fiddler, Carl Flesch, author of thewell-known _Urstudien_--all expressedtheir admiration. One we cannot forbearquoting a letter in part. It was from OttokarSevcik. The great Bohemian pedagogue is

usually regarded as the apostle ofmechanism in violin playing: as theinventor of an inexorably logical system ofdevelopment, which stresses the technicalat the expense of the musical. Thefollowing lines show him in quite adifferent light:

"I would not be surprised if Nardini,Vivaldi and their companions were toappear to you at the midnight hour inorder to thank the master for having givennew life to their works, long buriedbeneath the mold of figured basses;works whose vital, pulsating possibilitiesthese old gentlemen probably neversuspected. Nardini emerges from youralchemistic musical laboratory with sofresh and lively a quality of charm thatstarving fiddlers will greet him with thesame pleasure with which the beegreets the first honeyed blossom of

spring."

VIOLIN MASTERY

"And now you want my definition of 'ViolinMastery'? To me the whole art of playingviolin is contained in the reverent andrespectful interpretation of the works ofthe great masters. I consider the artist onlytheir messenger, singing the message theygive us. And the more one realizes this, thegreater becomes one's venerationespecially for Bach's creative work. Fortwenty years I never failed to play the Bachsolo sonatas for violin every day of mylife--a violinist's 'daily prayer' in its truestsense! Students of Bach are apt, in thebeginning, to play, say, the _finale_ of theG minor sonata, the final _Allegro_ of the Aminor sonata, the _Gigue_ of the B minor,or the _Preludio_ of the E major sonata like

a mechanical exercise: it takes _constant_study to disclose their intimate harmonicmelodious conception and poetry! Oneshould always remember that technic is,after all, only a _means_. It must beacquired in order to be an unhamperedmaster of the instrument, as a medium forpresenting the thoughts of the greatcreators--but _these thoughts_, and nottheir medium of expression, are the chiefobjects of the true and great artist, whoseaim in life is to serve his Art humbly,reverently and faithfully! You rememberthese words:

"'In the very torrent, tempest, and, as I maysay, the whirlwind of passion, you mustacquire and beget a temperance that maygive it smoothness. Oh, it offends me to thesoul to hear a robustious, periwig-patedfellow tear a passion to tatters, to veryrags, to split the ears of the groundlings,

who for the most part are capable ofnothing but inexplicable dumbshows andnoise!...'"

XV

MAXIMILIAN PILZER

THE SINGING TONE AND THEVIBRATO

Maximilian Pilzer is deservedly prominentamong younger American concertviolinists. A pupil of Joachim, Shradieck,Gustav Hollander, he is, as it has alreadybeen picturesquely put, "a graduate of therock and thorn university," an artist whoowes his success mainly to his own naturalgifts plus an infinite capacity for takingpains. Though primarily an interpreter hisinterlocutor yet had the good fortune tohappen on Mr. Pilzer when he was giving alesson. Essentially a solo violinist, Mr.Pilzer nevertheless has the born teacher's

wish to impart, to share, where talentjustifies it, his own knowledge. He himselfdid not have to tell the listener this--thelesson he was giving betrayed the fact.

It was Kreisler's _Tambourin Chinois_ thatthe student played. And as Mr. Pilzerillustrated the delicate shades of _nuance_,of phrasing, of bowing, with instant rebukefor an occasional lack of "warmth" in tone,the improvement was instantaneous andunmistakable. The lesson over, he said:

THE SINGING TONE

"The singing tone is the ideal one, it is thenatural violin tone. Too many violinstudents have the technical bee in theirbonnet and neglect it. And too manybelieve that speed is brilliancy. When theysee the black notes they take for granted

that they must 'run to beat the band.' Yetoften it is the teacher's fault if a goodsinging tone is not developed. Where theteacher's playing is cold, that of the pupilis apt to be the same. Warmth, roundedfullness, the truly beautiful violin tone ismore difficult to call forth than is generallysupposed. And, in a manner of speaking,the soul of this tone quality is the _vibrato_,though the individual instrument also hasmuch to do with the tone.

THE VIBRATO

"But not," Mr. Pilzer continued, "not as it istoo often mistakenly employed. Of course,any trained player will draw his bowacross the strings in a smooth, even way,but that is not enough. There must be aninner, emotional instinct, an electric sparkwithin the player himself that sets the

_vibrato_ current in motion. It is an inner,psychic vibration which should bereflected by the intense, rapid vibration inthe fingers of the left hand on the strings inorder to give fluent expression to emotion.The _vibrato_ can not be used, naturally,on the open strings, but otherwise itrepresents the true means for securingwarmth of expression. Of course, somedecry the _vibrato_--but the reason is oftenbecause the _vibrato_ is too slow. Oneneed only listen to Ysaye, Elman, Kreisler:artists such as these employ the quick,intense _vibrato_ with ideal effect. Anexaggerated _vibrato_ is as bad as what Icall 'the sentimental slide,' a common fault,which many violinists cultivate under theimpression that they are playingexpressively.

VIOLIN MASTERY AND ITS

ATTAINMENT

"Violin mastery expresses more or less theaspiration to realize an ideal. It is a hope, aprayer, rather than an actual fact, sincenothing human is absolutely perfect.Ysaye, perhaps, with his golden tone,comes nearest to my idea of what violinmastery should be, both as regardsbreadth and delicacy of interpretation.And guide-posts along the long road thatleads to mastery of the instrument?Individuality in teaching, progress alongnatural lines, surety in bowing, atone-production without forcing,cultivating a sense of rhythm and accent. Ialways remember what Moser once wrotein my autograph album: 'Rhythm andaccent are the soul of music!'

THE SHINING GOAL

"And what a shining goal is waiting to bereached! The correct interpretation ofBach, Haendel and the old Italian andFrench classics, and of the vast realm of_ensemble_ music under which head comethe Mozart and Beethoven violin sonatas,and those of their successors, Schumann,Brahms, etc. And aside from the classics,the moderns. And then there are the greatviolin concertos, in a class by themselves.They represent, in a degree, the utmostthat the composer has done for theinterpreting artist. Yet they differabsolutely in manner, style, thought, etc.Take Joachim's own Hungarian concerto,which I played for the composer, of which Istill treasure the recollection of his pattingme on the shoulder and saying: 'There isnothing for me to correct!' It is a workdeliberately designed for technicaldisplay, and is tremendously difficult. But

the wonderful Brahms concerto, those ofBeethoven and Max Bruch; of Mozart andMendelssohn--it is hard to express apreference for works so different in thequality of their beauty. The Russian Conushas a fine concerto in E, and Sinding amost effective one in A major. EdmundSevern, the American composer andviolinist, has also written a notably fineviolin concerto which I have played, withthe Philharmonic, one that ought to beheard oftener.

PLAYING BACH

"Bach is one of the most difficult of thegreat masters to interpret on the violin. Hispolyphonic style and interweaving themesdemand close study in order to make themeaning clear. In the Bach _Chaconne_,for instance, some very great violinists do

not pay enough attention to making adistinction between principal andsecondary notes of a chord. Here [Mr.Pilzer took up a new Strad he has recentlyacquired and illustrated his meaning] inthis four-note chord there is one importantmelody note which must stand out. And itcan be done, though not without somestudy. Bach abounds in such pitfalls, and instudying him the closest attention isnecessary. Once the problems involvedovercome, his music gains its true clarityand beauty and the enjoyment of artist andlistener is doubled.

XVI

MAUD POWELL

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES:SOME HINTS FOR THECONCERT PLAYER

Maud Powell is often alluded to as ourrepresentative "American _woman_violinist" which, while true in a narrowersense, is not altogether just in a broaderway. It would be decidedly more fair toconsider her a representative Americanviolinist, without stressing the term"woman"; for as regards Art in its highersense, the artist comes first, sex beingincidental, and Maud Powell is first andforemost--an artist. And her infinitecapacity for taking pains, her willingness

to work hard have had no small part in theposition she has made for herself, and thesuccess she has achieved.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF ACONCERT VIOLINIST

"Too many Americans who take up theviolin professionally," Maud Powell toldthe writer, "do not realize that the masteryof the instrument is a life study, thatwithout hard, concentrated work theycannot reach the higher levels of their art.Then, too, they are too often inclined tothink that if they have a good tone andtechnic that this is all they need. Theyforget that the musical instinct must becultivated; they do not attach enoughimportance to musical surroundings: tohearing and understanding music of everykind, not only that written for the violin.

They do not realize the value of_ensemble_ work and its influence as aneducational factor of the greatest artisticvalue. I remember when I was a girl ofeight, my mother used to play the Mozartviolin sonatas with me; I heard all themusic I possibly could hear; I was taughtharmony and musical form in directconnection with my practical work, so thattheory was a living thing to me and noabstraction. In my home town I played inan orchestra of twenty pieces--Oh, no, nota 'ladies orchestra'--the other memberswere men grown! I played chamber musicas well as solos whenever the opportunityoffered, at home and in public. In factmusic was part of my life.

[Illustration: MAUD POWELL, withhand-written note]

"No student who looks on music primarily

as a thing apart in his existence, as abread-winning tool, as a craft rather thanan art, can ever mount to the high places.So often girls [who sometimes lack thepractical vision of boys], although havingstudied but a few years, come to me andsay: 'My one ambition is to become a great_virtuoso_ on the violin! I want to begin tostudy the great concertos!' And I have totell them that their first ambition should beto become musicians--to study, to know, tounderstand music before they venture onits interpretation. Virtuosity withoutmusicianship will not carry one far thesedays. In many cases these students comefrom small inland towns, far from anymusic center, and have a wrong attitude ofmind. They crave the glamor of footlights,flowers and applause, not realizing thatmusic is a speech, an idiom, which theymust master in order to interpret the worksof the great composers.

THE INFLUENCE OF THETEACHER

"Of course, all artistic playing representsessentially the mental control of technicalmeans. But to acquire the latter in the rightway, while at the same time developingthe former, calls for the best of teachers.The problem of the teacher is to preventhis pupils from being too imitative--allstudents are natural imitators--andfurthering the quality of musicalimagination in them. Pupils generally havesomething of the teacher's tone--Auerpupils have the Auer tone, Joachim pupilshave a Joachim tone, an excellent thing.But as each pupil has an individuality of hisown, he should never sink it altogether inthat of his teacher. It is this imitative trendwhich often makes it hard to judge a young

player's work. I was very fortunate in myteachers. William Lewis of Chicago gaveme a splendid start. Then I studied in turnwith Schradieck in Leipsic--Schradieckhimself was a pupil of Ferdinand Davidand of L�nard--Joachim in Berlin, andCharles Dancla in Paris. I might say that Iowe most, in a way, to William Lewis, aborn fiddler. Of my three Europeanmasters Dancla was unquestionably thegreatest as a teacher--of course I amspeaking for myself. It was no doubt anadvantage, a decided advantage for me inmy artistic development, which wasslow--a family trait--to enjoy thebroadening experience of three entirelydifferent styles of teaching, and to be ableto assimilate the best of each. Yet Joachimwas a far greater violinist than teacher. Hismethod was a cramping one, owing to hisinsistence on pouring all his pupils into thesame mold, so to speak, of forming them

all on the Joachim lathe. But Dancla wasinspiring. He taught me De B�iot'swonderful method of attack; he showed mehow to develop purity of style. Dancla'smethod of teaching gave his pupils atechnical equipment which carried bowingright along, 'neck and neck' with the fingerwork of the left hand, while the Germansare apt to stress finger development at theexpense of the bow. And without everneglecting technical means, Dancla alwaysput the purely musical before the purelyvirtuoso side of playing. And this is alwaysa sign of a good teacher. He was unsparingin taking pains and very fair.

"I remember that I was passed first in aclass of eighty-four at an examination, afteronly three private lessons in which toprepare the concerto movement to beplayed. I was surprised and asked himwhy Mlle.---- who, it seemed to me, had

played better than I, had not passed. 'Ah,'he said, 'Mlle.---- studied that movementfor six months; and in comparison, you,with only three lessons, play it better!'Dancla switched me right over in histeaching from German to French methods,and taught me how to become an artist,just as I had learned in Germany tobecome a musician. The French school hastaste, elegance, imagination; the Germanis more conservative, serious, and has,perhaps, more depth.

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

"Perhaps it is because I belong to an olderschool, or it may be because I laid stresson technic because of its necessity as ameans of expression--at any rate I workedhard at it. Naturally, one should neverpractice any technical difficulty too long at

a stretch. Young players sometimes forgetthis. I know that _staccato_ playing was noteasy for me at one time. I believe a real_staccato_ is inborn; a knack. I used togrumble about it to Joachim and he toldme once that musically _staccato_ did nothave much value. His own, by the way, wasvery labored and heavy. He admitted thathe had none. Wieniawski had such awonderful _staccato_ that one finds muchof it in his music. When I first began to playhis D minor concerto I simply made up mymind to get a _staccato_. It came in time,by sheer force of will. After that I had notrouble. An artistic _staccato_ should, likethe trill, be plastic and under control; fordifferent schools of composition demanddifferent styles of treatment of such details.

"Octaves--the unison, not broken--I did notfind difficult; but though they are supposedto add volume of tone they sound hideous

to me. I have used them in certainpassages of my arrangement of 'DeepRiver,' but when I heard them played,promised myself I would never repeat theexperiment. Wilhelmj has committed evena worse crime in taste by putting six longbars of Schubert's lovely _Ave Maria_ inoctaves. Of course they represent skill; butI think they are only justified in showpieces. Harmonics I always found easy;though whether they ring out as theyshould always depends more or less onatmospheric conditions, the strings and theamount of rosin on the bow. On the concertstage if the player stands in a draught theharmonics are sometimes husky.

THE AMERICAN WOMANVIOLINIST AND AMERICANMUSIC

"The old days of virtuoso 'tricks' havepassed--I should like to hope forever. Notthat some of the old type virtuosos werenot fine players. Remenyi playedbeautifully. So did Ole Bull. I rememberone favorite trick of the latter's, forinstance, which would hardly pass musterto-day. I have seen him draw out a long_pp_, the audience listening breathlessly,while he drew his bow way beyond thestring, and then looked innocently at thepoint of the bow, as though wonderingwhere the tone had vanished. It invariablybrought down the house.

"Yet an artist must be a virtuoso in themodern sense to do his full duty. And herein America that duty is to help those whoare groping for something higher andbetter musically; to help without rebuffingthem. When I first began my career as aconcert violinist I did pioneer work for the

cause of the American woman violinist,going on with the work begun by Mme.Camilla Urso. A strong prejudice thenexisted against women fiddlers, whicheven yet has not altogether beenovercome. The very fact that a Westernmanager recently told Mr. Turner withsurprise that he 'had made a success of awoman artist' proves it. When I first beganto play here in concert this prejudice wasmuch stronger. Yet I kept on and securedengagements to play with orchestra at atime when they were difficult to obtain.Theodore Thomas liked my playing (hesaid I had brains), and it was with hisorchestra that I introduced the concertos ofSaint-Sa�s (C min.), Lalo (F min.), andothers, to American audiences.

"The fact that I realized that my sex wasagainst me in a way led me to bestartlingly authoritative and convincing in

the masculine manner when I first played.This is a mistake no woman violinist shouldmake. And from the moment that JamesHuneker wrote that I 'was not developingthe feminine side of my work,' Idetermined to be just myself, and play asthe spirit moved me, with no furtherthought of sex or sex distinctions which, inArt, after all, are secondary. I neverrealized this more forcibly than once,when, sitting as a judge, I listened to thecompetitive playing of a number of youngprofessional violinists and pianists. Theindividual performers, unseen by thejudges, played in turn behind a screen.And in three cases my fellow judges andmyself guessed wrongly with regard to thesex of the players. When we thought wehad heard a young man play it happenedto be a young woman, and _vice versa_.

"To return to the question of concert-work.

You must not think that I have played onlyforeign music in public. I have alwaysbelieved in American composers and inAmerican composition, and as anAmerican have tried to do justice as aninterpreting artist to the music of my nativeland. Aside from the violin concertos byHarry Rowe Shelly and Henry HoldenHuss, I have played any number of shorteroriginal compositions by suchrepresentative American composers asArthur Foote, Mrs. H.H.A. Beach, VictorHerbert, John Philip Sousa, Arthur Bird,Edwin Grasse, Marion Bauer, CecilBurleigh, Harry Gilbert, A. Walter Kramer,Grace White, Charles Wakefield Cadmanand others. Then, too, I have presentedtranscriptions by Arthur Hartmann, FrancisMacmillan and Sol Marcosson, as well assome of my own. Transcriptions arewrong, theoretically; yet some songs, likeRimsky-Korsakov's 'Song of India' and

some piano pieces, like the Dvor�_Humoresque_, are so obviously effectiveon the violin that a transcription justifiesitself. My latest temptative in that directionis my 'Four American Folk Songs,' a simplesetting of four well-known airs withconnecting cadenzas--no variations, nospecial development! I used them first as_encores_, but my audiences seemed tolike them so well that I have played themon all my recent programs.

SOME HINTS FOR THECONCERT PLAYER

"The very first thing in playing in public isto free oneself of all distrust in one's ownpowers. To do this, nothing must be left tochance. One should not have to give athought to strings, bow, etc. All should bein proper condition. Above all the violinist

should play with an accompanist who isused to accompanying him. It seemssuperfluous to emphasize that one'sprogram numbers must have beenmastered in every detail. Only then canone defy nervousness, turning excess ofemotion into inspiration.

"Acoustics play a greater part in thesuccess of a public concert than mostpeople realize. In some halls they are verygood, as in the case of the ClevelandHippodrome, an enormous place whichholds forty-three hundred people. Herethe acoustics are perfect, and the artist hasthose wonderful silences through whichhis slightest tones carry clearly andsweetly. I have played not only solos, butchamber music in this hall, and was alwayssorry to stop playing. In most halls theacoustic conditions are best in theevening.

"Then there is the matter of the violin. I firstused a Joseph Guarnerius, a deeper tonedinstrument than the Jean BaptistaGuadagnini I have now played for anumber of years. The Guarnerius has atone that seems to come more from withinthe instrument; but all in all I have foundmy Guadagnini, with its glassy clearness,its brilliant and limpid tone-quality, betteradapted to American concert halls. If I hada Strad in the same condition as myGuadagnini the instrument would bepriceless. I regretted giving up myGuarnerius, but I could not play the twoviolins interchangeably; for they wereabsolutely different in size andtone-production, shape, etc. Then my handis so small that I ought to use theinstrument best adapted to it, and to usethe same instrument always. Why do I useno chin-rest? I use no chin-rest on my

Guadagnini simply because I cannot findone to fit my chin. One should use achin-rest to prevent perspiration frommarring the varnish. My Rocca violin is aninteresting instance of wood worn inridges by the stubble on a man's chin.

"Strings? Well, I use a wire E string. Ibegan to use it twelve years ago onehumid, foggy summer in Connecticut. Ihad had such trouble with strings snappingthat I cried: 'Give me anything but a gutstring.' The climate practically makesmetal strings a necessity, though somekind person once said that I bought wirestrings because they were cheap! If wirestrings had been thought of whenTheodore Thomas began his career, hemight never have been a conductor, for hetold me he gave up the violin because ofthe E string. And most people will admitthat hearing a wire E you cannot tell it from

a gut E. Of course, it is unpleasant on theopen strings, but then the open stringsnever do sound well. And in the highestregisters the tone does not spin out longenough because of the tremendoustension: one has to use more bow. And itcuts the hairs: there is a little surface napon the bow-hairs which a wire string wearsright out. I had to have my four bowsrehaired three times last season--anaverage of every three months. But all saidand done it has been a God-send to theviolinist who plays in public. On the wire Aone cannot get the harmonics; and thealuminum D is objectionable in someviolins, though in others not at all.

"The main thing--no matter what stringsare used--is for the artist to get hisaudience into the concert hall, and give it aprogram which is properly balanced.Theodore Thomas first advised me to

include in my programs short, simplethings that my listeners could 'get holdof'--nothing inartistic, but somethingselected from their standpoint, not frommine, and played as artistically aspossible. Yet there must also be somethingthat is beyond them, collectively.Something that they may need to hear anumber of times to appreciate. Thisenables the artist to maintain his dignityand has a certain psychological effect inthat his audience holds him in greaterrespect. At big conservatories wheremusic study is the most important thing,and in large cities, where the general levelof music culture is high, a big solidprogram may be given, where it would beinappropriate in other places.

"Yet I remember having many recalls at ElPaso, Texas, once, after playing the firstmovement of the Sibelius concerto. It is

one of those compositions which if playedtoo literally leaves an audience quite cold;it must be rendered temperamentally, thebig climaxing effects built up, its Northernspirit brought out, though I admit that eventhen it is not altogether easy to grasp.

VIOLIN MASTERY

"Violin mastery or mastery of anyinstrument, for that matter, is the technicalpower to say exactly what you want to sayin exactly the way you want to say it. It istechnical equipment that stands at theservice of your musical will--a faithful andcompetent servant that comes at yourmusical bidding. If your spirit soars 'toparts unknown,' your well trained servant'technic' is ever at your elbow to preventirksome details from hampering yourprogress. Mastery of your instrument

makes mastery of your Art a joy instead ofa burden. Technic should always be thehand-maid of the spirit.

"And I believe that one result of the warwill be to bring us a greaterself-knowledge, to the violinist as well asto every other artist, a broaderappreciation of what he can do to increaseand elevate appreciation for music ingeneral and his Art in particular. And withthese I am sure a new impetus will begiven to the development of a musicalculture truly American in thought andexpression."

XVII

LEON SAMETINI

HARMONICS

Leon Sametini, at present director of theviolin department of the Chicago MusicCollege, where Sauret, Heermann andSebald preceded him, is one of the mostsuccessful teachers of his instrument in thiscountry. It is to be regretted that he has notplayed in public in the United States asoften as in Europe, where his extensive_tourn�s_ in Holland--Leon Sametini is aHollander by birth--Belgium, England andAustria have established his reputation asa virtuoso, and the quality of his playingled Ysaye to include him in a quartet ofartists "in order of lyric expression" with

himself and Thibaud. Yet, the fact remainsthat this erstwhile _prot�� of QueenWilhelmina--she gave him his beautifulSanto Serafin (1730) violin, whose goldenvarnish back "is a genuine picture,"--toquote its owner--is a distinguishedinterpreting artist besides having a realteaching gift, which lends additionalweight to his educational views.

REMINISCENCES OF SEVCIK

"I began to study violin at the age of six,with my uncle. From him I went to Elderingin Amsterdam, now Willy Hess's successorat the head of the Cologne Conservatory,and then spent a year with Sevcik inPrague. Yet--without being his pupil--Ihave learned more from Ysaye than fromany of my teachers. It is rather the customto decry Sevcik as a teacher, to dwell on

his absolutely mechanical character ofinstruction--and not without justice. First ofall Sevcik laid all the stress on the left handand not on the bow--an absolute inversionof a fundamental principle. Eldering hadtaken great pains with my bow technic, forhe himself was a pupil of Hubay, who hadstudied with Vieuxtemps and had histradition. But Sevcik's teaching as regardsthe use of the bow was very poor; hispupils--take Kubelik with all his marvelousfinger facility--could never develop a bigbow technic. Their playing lacks strength,richness of sound. Sevcik soon noticed thatmy bowing did not conform to his theories;yet since he could not legitimatelycomplain of the results I secured, he didnot attempt to make me change it. Musicalbeauty, interpretation, in Sevcik's casewere all subordinated to mechanicalperfection. With him the study of someinspired masterpiece was purely a

mathematical process, a problem intechnic and mental arithmetic, without abit of spontaneity. Ysaye used to roar withlaughter when I would tell him how, whena boy of fifteen, I played the Beethovenconcerto for Sevcik--a work which I myselffelt and knew it was then out of thequestion for me to play with artisticmaturity--the latter's only criticisms on myperformance were that one or two noteswere a little too high, and a certainpassage not quite clear.

"Sevcik did not like the Dvor� concertoand never gave it to his pupils. But I livednext door to Dvor� at Prague, and meetinghim in the street one day, asked him somequestions anent its interpretation, with theresult that I went to his home various timesand he gave me his own ideas as to how itshould be played. Sevcik never pointedhis teachings by playing himself. I never

saw him take up the fiddle while I studiedwith him. While I was his pupil he paid methe compliment of selecting me to playSinigaglia's engaging violin concerto, atshort notice, for the first time in Prague.Sinigaglia had asked Sevcik to play it, whosaid: 'I no longer play violin, but I have apupil who can play it for you,' andintroduced me to him. Sinigaglia became agood friend of mine, and I was the first tointroduce his _Rapsodia Piedmontese_ forviolin and orchestra in London. To returnto Sevcik--with all the deficiencies of histeaching methods, he had one great gift.He taught his pupils _how to practice_!And--aside from bowing--he made allmechanical problems, especially fingerproblems, absolutely clear and lucid.

A QUARTET OF GREATTEACHERS WITH WHOM

ALL MAY STUDY

"Still, all said and done, it was after I hadfinished with all my teachers that I reallybegan to learn to play violin: above allfrom Ysaye, whom I went to hear playwherever and whenever I could. I thinkthat the most valuable lessons I have everhad are those unconsciously given me byfour of the greatest violinists I know:Ysaye, Kreisler, Elman and Thibaud. Eachof these artists is so different that no oneseems altogether to replace the other.Ysaye with his unique personality, theimmense breadth and sweep of hisinterpretation, his dramatic strength,stands alone. Kreisler has a certainsparkling scintillance in his playing that ishis only. Elman might be called the Carusoamong violinists, with the perfectedsensuous beauty of his tone; while Thibaudstands for supreme elegance and

distinction. I have learned much from eachmember of this great quartet. And if theartist can profit from hearing and seeingthem play, why not the student? Everyrecital given by such masters offers theearnest violin student pricelessopportunities for study and comparison.My special leaning toward Ysaye is due,aside from his wonderful personality, tothe fact that I feel music in the same waythat he does.

TEACHING PRINCIPLES

'My teaching principles are the results ofmy own training period, my ownexperience as a concert artist andteacher--before I came to America I taughtin London, where Isolde Menges, amongothers, studied with me--and what eitherdirectly or indirectly I have learned from

my great colleagues. In the Music CollegeI give the advanced pupils their individuallessons; but once a week the whole classassembles--as in the Europeanconservatories--and those whose turn it isto play do so while the others listen. This isof value to every student, since it giveshim an opportunity of 'hearing himself asothers hear him.' Then, to stimulateappreciation and musical developmentthere are _ensemble_ and string quartetclasses. I believe that every violinistshould be able to play viola, and in quartetwork I make the players shift constantlyfrom one to the other instrument in orderto hear what they play from a differentangle.

"For left hand work I stick to the excellentSevcik exercises and for some pupils I usethe Carl Flesch _Urstudien_. For studies ofreal _musical_ value Rode, of course, is

unexcelled. His studies are themasterpieces of their kind, and I turn theminto concert pieces. Thibaud and Elmanhave supplied some of them withinteresting piano accompaniments.

"For bowing, with the exception of a fewpurely mechanical exercises, I usedKreutzer and Rode, and Gavinies.Ninety-nine per cent. of pupils' faults arefaults of bowing. It is an art in itself. Sevcikwas able to develop Kubelik's left handwork to the last degree of perfection--butnot his bowing. In the case of Kocian,another well-known Sevcik pupil whom Ihave heard play, his bowing was by nomeans an outstanding feature. I often haveto start pupils on the open strings in orderto correct fundamental bow faults.

"When watching a great artist play thestudent should not expect to secure similar

results by slavish imitation--another pupilfault. The thing to do is to realize theprinciple behind the artist's playing, andapply it to one's own physical possibilities.

"Every one holds, draws and uses the bowin a different way. If no two thumb-printsare alike, neither are any two sets offingers and wrists. This is why not slavishimitation, but intelligent adaptation shouldbe applied to the playing of the teacher inthe class-room or the artist on theconcert-stage. For instance, the little fingerof Ysaye's left hand bends inwardsomewhat--as a result it is perfectly naturalfor him to make less use of the little finger,while it might be very difficult or almostimpossible for another to employ the samefingering. And certain compositions andstyles of composition are more adapted toone violinist than to another. I rememberwhen I was a student, that Wieniawski's

music seemed to lie just right for my hand.I could read difficult things of his at sight.

DOUBLE HARMONICS

"Would I care to discuss any specialfeature of violin technic? I might saysomething anent double harmonics--asubject too often taught in a mechanicalway, and one I have always taken specialpains to make absolutely plain to my ownpupils--for every violinist should be ableto play double harmonics out of a clearunderstanding of how to form them.

"There are only two kinds of harmonics:natural and artificial. Natural harmonicsmay be formed on the major triad of eachopen string, using the open string as thetonic. As, for example, on the G string [andMr. Sametini set down the following

illustration]:

[Illustration: Musical Notation]

Then there are four kinds of artificialharmonics, only three of which are used:harmonics on the major third (1);harmonics on the perfect fourth (2);harmonics on the perfect fifth (3); andharmonics--never used--on the octave:

[Illustration: Musical Notation]

Where does the harmonic sound in eachcase? Two octaves and a third higher (1);two octaves higher (2); one octave and afifth higher (3) respectively, than thepressed-down note. If the harmonic on theoctave (4) were played, it would sound justan octave higher than the pressed-downnote.

"Now say we wished to combine differentdouble harmonics. The whole principle ismade clear if we take, let us say, the firstdouble-stop in the scale of C major inthirds as an example:

[Illustration: Musical Notation]

"Beginning with the lower of these twonotes, the C, we find that it cannot not betaken as a natural harmonic

[Illustration: Musical Notation]

because natural harmonics on the openstrings run as follows: G, B, D on the Gstring; D, F{~MUSIC SHARP SIGN~}, A onthe D string; A, C{~MUSIC SHARP SIGN~},E on the A string; and E, G{~MUSIC SHARPSIGN~}, B on the E string. There are threeways of taking the C before mentioned asan artificial harmonic. The E may be taken

in the following manner:

Nat. harmonic Artificialharmonic [Illustration: Musical Notation][Illustration: Musical Notation]

Now we have to combine the C and E aswell as we are able. Rejecting thefollowing combinations as_impossible_--any violinist will see why--

[Illustration: Musical Notation]

we have a choice of the two _possible_combinations remaining, with thefingering indicated:

[Illustration: Musical Notation]

"With regard to the _actual execution_ ofthese harmonics, I advise all students to tryand play them with every bit as much

expressive feeling as ordinary notes. Myexperience has been that pupils do notpay nearly enough attention to theintonation of harmonics. In other words,they try to produce the harmonics_immediately_, instead of first making surethat both fingers are on the right spotbefore they loosen one finger on thestring. For instance in the following:[Illustration: Musical Notation] first play[Illustration: Musical Notation] and then[Illustration: Musical Notation] then loosenthe fourth finger, and play [Illustration:Musical Notation]

"The same principle holds good whenplaying double harmonics. Nine tenths ofthe 'squeaking' heard when harmonics areplayed is due to the fact that thefinger-placing is not properly prepared,and that the fingers are not on the rightspot.

"Never, when playing a harmonic with anup-bow [Symbol: up-bow], at the point,smash down the bow on the string; buthave it already _on_ the string _before_playing the harmonic. The process isreversed when playing a down-bow[Symbol: down-bow] harmonic. Whenbeginning a harmonic at the frog, have theharmonic ready, then let the bow _drop_gently on the string.

"Triple and quadruple harmonics may becombined in exactly the same way.Students should never get the idea that youpress down the string as you press abutton and--presto--the magic harmonicsappear! They are a simple and naturalresult of the proper application of scientificprinciples; and the sooner the studentlearns to form and combine harmonicshimself instead of learning them by rote,

the better will he play them. Too often astudent can give the fingering of certaindouble harmonics and cannot use it. Ofcourse, harmonics are only a detail of thecomplete mastery of the violin; butmastery of all details leads to mastery ofthe whole.

VIOLIN MASTERY

"And what is mastery of the whole?Mastery of the whole, real violin mastery, Ithink, lies in the control of theinterpretative problem, the power toawaken emotion by the use of theinstrument. Many feel more than they canexpress, have more left hand than bowtechnic and, like Kubelik, have not theperfected technic for which perfectedplaying calls. The artist who feels beautykeenly and deeply and whose mechanical

equipment allows him to make others feeland share the beauty he himself feels is inmy opinion worthy of being called amaster of the violin."

XVIII

ALEXANDER SASLAVSKY

WHAT THE TEACHER CAN ANDCANNOT DO

Alexander Saslavsky is probably bestknown as a solo artist, as theconcertmaster of a great symphonicorchestra, as the leader of the admirablequartet which bears his name. Yet, at thesame time, few violinists can speak withmore authority anent the instructivephases of their Art. Not only has he beenactive for years in the teaching field; but asa pedagog he rounds out the traditions ofFerdinand David, Massard, Auer, and Gr�n(Vienna _Hochschule_), acquired duringhis "study years," with the result of his own

long and varied experience.

Beginning at the beginning, I asked Mr.Saslavsky to tell me something aboutmethods, his own in particular. "Method isa flexible term," he answered. "What theword should mean is the cultivation of thepupil's individuality along the lines bestsuited to it. Not that a guide which may beemployed to develop common-senseprinciples is not valuable. But even here,the same guide (violin-method) will notanswer for every pupil. Personally I findDe B�iot's 'Violin School' the mostgenerally useful, and for advancedstudents, Ferdinand David's second book.Then, for scales--I insist on my pupilsbeing able to play, a perfect scale throughthree octaves--the Hrimaly book of scales.Many advanced violinists cannot play agood scale simply because of a lack offundamental work.

"As soon as the pupil is able, he shouldtake up Kreutzer and stick to him as thedevotee does to his Bible. Any one whocan play the '42 Exercises' as they shouldbe played may be called a well-balancedviolinist. There are too many purelymechanical exercises--and thecircumstance that we have Kreutzer, Rode,Fiorillo, Rovelli and Dont emphasizes thefact. And there are too many elaborate andcomplicated violin methods. Sevcik, forinstance, has devised a purely mechanicalsystem of this kind, perfect from a purelymechanical standpoint, but one whoseconsistent use, in my opinion, killsinitiative and individuality. I have hadexperience with Sevcik pupils in quartetplaying, and have found that they have noexpression.

WHAT THE TEACHER CAN ANDCANNOT DO

"After all, the teacher can only supply thepupil with the violinistic equipment. Thepupil must use it. There is tone, forinstance. The teacher cannot _make_ tonefor the pupil--he can only show him howtone can be made. Sometimes a purelyphysiological reason makes it almostimpossible for the pupil to produce a goodnatural tone. If the finger-tips are notadequately equipped with 'cushions,' and apupil wishes to use the _vibrato_ there isnothing with which he can vibrate. There isreal meaning, speaking of the violinist'stone, in the phrase 'he has it at his fingers'tips.' Then there is the matter of _slow_practice. It rests with the pupil to carry outthe teacher's injunctions in this respect.The average pupil practices too fast, is tooeager to develop his Art as a money

maker. And too many really giftedstudents take up orchestra playing, whichno one can do continuously and hope to bea solo player. Four hours of study workmay be nullified by a single hour oforchestra playing. Musically it isbroadening, of course, but I am speakingfrom the standpoint of the student whohopes to become a solo artist. An operaorchestra is especially bad in this way. Inthe symphonic _ensemble_ more care isused; but in the opera orchestra theyemploy the _right_ arm for tremolo! Thereis a good deal of _camouflage_ as regardsstring playing in an opera orchestra, andmuch of the music--notably Wagner's--isquite impracticable.

"And lessons are often made all too short.A teacher in common honesty cannotreally give a pupil much in half-an-hour--itis not a real lesson. There is a good deal to

be said for class teaching as it is practicedat the European conservatories, especiallyas regards interpretation. In my studentdays I learned much from listening toothers play the concertos they hadprepared, and from noting the teacher'scorrections. And this even in a purelytechnical way: I can recall Kubelik playingPaganini as a wonderful display of the_technical_ points of violin playing.

A GREAT DEFECT

"Most pupils seem to lack an absolutesense of rhythm--a great defect. Yet wherelatent it may be developed. Here Kreutzeris invaluable, since he presents every formof rhythmic problem, scales in variousrhythms and bowings. Kreutzer's 'ExerciseNo. 2,' for example, may be studied withany number of bowings. To produce a

broad tone the bow must move slowly, andin rapid passages should never seem tointroduce technical exercises in a concertnumber. The student should memorizeKreutzer and Fiorillo. Flesch's _Urstudien_offer the artist or professional musicianwho has time for little practice excellentmaterial; but are not meant for the pupil,unless he be so far advanced that he maybe trusted to use them alone.

TONE: PRACTICE TIME

"Broad playing gives the singing tone--thetrue violin tone--a long bow drawn its fulllength. Like every general rule though,this one must be modified by the judgmentof the individual player. Violin playing isan art of many mysteries. Some pupilsgrasp a point at once; others have to haveit explained seven or eight different ways

before grasping it. The serious studentshould practice not less than four hours,preferably in twenty minute intervals.After some twenty minutes the brain is aptto tire. And since the fingers are controlledby the brain, it is best to relax for a shorttime before going on. Mental and physicalcontrol must always go hand in hand. Fourhours of intelligent, consistent practicework are far better than eight or ten offatigued effort.

A NATIONALCONSERVATORY

"Some five years ago too many teachersgave their pupils the Mendelssohn andPaganini concertos to play before theyknew their Kreutzer. But there has been achange for the better during recent years.Kneisel was one of the first to produce

pupils here who played legitimately,according to standard violinistic ideals.One reason why Auer has had suchbrilliant pupils is that poor students werereceived at the Petrograd Conservatoryfree of charge. All they had to supply wastalent; and I look forward to the time whenwe will have a National conservatory inthis country, supported by theGovernment. Then the poor, but musicallygifted, pupil will have the sameopportunities that his brother, who iswell-to-do, now has.

SOME PERSONAL VIEWS ANDREFLECTIONS

"You ask me to tell you something of myown musical preferences. Well, take theconcertos. I have reached a point wherethe Mendelssohn, Mozart, Beethoven, Bach

and Brahms concertos seen to sum up whatis truly worth while. The others begin tobore me; even Bruch! Paganini,Wieniawski, etc., are mainly mediums ofdisplay. Most of the great violinists, Ysaye,Thibaud, etc., during recent years arereverting to the violin sonatas. Ysaye, forinstance, has recently been playing theLazzari sonata, a very powerful andbeautiful work.

"My experiences as a 'concertmaster'? Ihave played with Weingartner; Saint-Sa�s(whose amiability to me, when he firstvisited this country, I recall with pleasure);Gustav Mahler, Tschaikovsky, Safonoff,Seidel, Bauer, and Walter Damrosch,whose friend and associate I have been forthe last twenty-two years. He is awonderful man, many-sided and versatile;a notably fine pianist; and playingchamber music with him during successive

summers is numbered among mypleasantest recollections.

"In speaking of concertos some time ago, Iforgot to mention one work well worthstudying. This is the Russian Mlynarski'sconcerto in D, which I played with theRussian Symphony Orchestra some eightyears ago for the first time in this country,as well as a fine 'Romance and Caprice' byRubinstein.

"Is the music a concertmaster is calledupon to play always violinistic? Far from it.Symphonic music--in as much as theconcertmaster is concerned, is usually notidiomatic violin music. Richard Strauss'sviolin concerto can really be played by theviolinist. The _obbligatos_ in hissymphonies are a very different matter;they go beyond accepted technicalboundaries. With Stravinsky it is the same.

The violin _obbligato_ inRimsky-Korsakov's _Sch��azade_, though,is real violin music. Debussy and Ravel aremost subtle; they call for a particularlygood ear, since the harmonic balance oftheir music is very delicate. Theconcertmaster has to develop his owninterpretations, subject, of course, to theconductor's ideas.

VIOLIN MASTERY

"Violin Mastery? It means to me completecontrol of the fingerboard, a being athome in every position, absolute surenessof fingering, absolute equality of toneunder all circumstances. I rememberYsaye playing Tschaikovsky's _S��adeM�ancolique_, and using a fingering forcertain passages which I liked very much.I asked him to give it to me in detail, but he

merely laughed and said: 'I'd like to, but Icannot, because I really do not rememberwhich fingers I used!' That is mastery--acontrol so complete that fingering wasunconscious, and the interpretation of thethought was all that was in the artist's mind!Sevcik's 'complete technical mastery' isafter all not perfect, since it representsmechanical and not mental control."

XIX

TOSCHA SEIDEL

HOW TO STUDY

Toscha Seidel, though one of the morerecent of the young Russian violinists whorepresent the fruition of Professor Auer'sformative gifts, has, to quote H.F. Peyser,"the transcendental technic observed inthe greatest pupils of his master, acommand of mechanism which makes therough places so plain that the traces oftheir roughness are hidden to theunpracticed eye." He commenced to studythe violin seriously at the age of seven inOdessa, his natal town, with MaxFiedemann, an Auer pupil. A year and ahalf later Alexander Fiedemann heard him

play a De B�iot concerto in public, andinduced him to study at the SternConservatory in Berlin, with Brodsky, apupil of Joachim, with whom he remainedfor two years.

It was in Berlin that the young violinistreached the turning point of his career. "Iwas a boy of twelve," he said, "when Iheard Jascha Heifetz play for the first time.He played the Tschaikovsky concerto, andhe played it wonderfully. His bowing, hisfingering, his whole style and manner ofplaying so greatly impressed me that I feltI _must_ have his teacher, that I wouldnever be content unless I studied withProfessor Auer! In 1912 I at length had anopportunity to play for the Professor in hishome at Loschivitz, in Dresden, and to mygreat joy he at once accepted me as apupil.

STUDYING WITH PROFESSORAUER

"Studying with Professor Auer was arevelation. I had private lessons from him,and at the same time attended the classesat the Petrograd Conservatory. I shouldsay that his great specialty, if one can usethe word specialty in the case of souniversal a master of teaching as theProfessor, was bowing. In all violin playingthe left hand, the finger hand, might becompared to a perfectly adjusted technicalmachine, one that needs to be kept welloiled to function properly. The right hand,the bow hand, is the direct opposite--it isthe painter hand, the artist hand, itsphrasing outlines the pictures of music; its_nuances_ fill them with beauty of color.And while the Professor insisted as amatter of course on the absolute

development of finger mechanics, he wasan inspiration as regards the rightmanipulation of the bow, and its use as amedium of interpretation. And he made hispupils think. Often, when I played apassage in a concerto or sonata and itlacked clearness, he would ask me: 'Whyis this passage not clear?' Sometimes Iknew and sometimes I did not. But not untilhe was satisfied that I could not myselfanswer the question, would he show mehow to answer it. He could make everyleast detail clear, illustrating it on his ownviolin; but if the pupil could 'work out hisown salvation' he always encouraged himto do so.

[Illustration: TOSCHA SEIDEL, withhand-written note]

"Most teachers make bowing a verycomplicated affair, adding to its

difficulties. But Professor Auer develops a_natural_ bowing, with an absolutely freewrist, in all his pupils; for he teaches eachstudent along the line of his individualaptitudes. Hence the length of the fingersand the size of the hand make nodifference, because in the case of eachpupil they are treated as separateproblems, capable of an individualsolution. I have known of pupils who cameto him with an absolutely stiff wrist; and yethe taught them to overcome it.

ARTIST PUPILS AND AMATEURSTUDENTS

"As regards difficulties, technical andother, a distinction might be madebetween the artist and the averageamateur. The latter does not make theviolin his life work: it is an incidental.

While he may reasonably content himselfwith playing well, the artist-pupil _must_achieve perfection. It is the differencebetween an accomplishment and an art.The amateur plays more or less for thesake of playing--the 'how' is secondary; butfor the artist the 'how' comes first, and forhim the shortest piece, a single scale, hasdifficulties of which the amateur is quiteignorant. And everything is difficult in itsperfected sense. What I, as a student,found to be most difficult were doubleharmonics--I still consider them to be themost difficult thing in the whole range ofviolin technic. First of all, they call for alarge hand, because of the wide stretches.But harmonics were one of the things I hadto master before Professor Auer wouldallow me to appear in public. Some findtenths and octaves their stumbling block,but I cannot say that they ever gave memuch trouble. After all, the main thing with

any difficulty is to surmount it, and just_how_ is really a secondary matter. I knowProfessor Auer used to say: 'Play with yourfeet if you must, but make the violinsound!' With tenths, octaves, sixths, withany technical frills, the main thing is tobring them out clearly and convincingly.And, rightly or wrongly, one mustremember that when something does notsound out convincingly on the violin, it isnot the fault of the weather, or the stringsor rosin or anything else--it is always theartist's own fault!

HOW TO STUDY

"Scale study--all Auer pupils had topractice scales every day, scales in all theintervals--is a most important thing. Andfollowing his idea of stimulating the pupil'sself-development, the Professor

encouraged us to find what we neededourselves. I remember that once--we werestanding in a corridor of theConservatory--when I asked him, 'Whatshould I practice in the way of studies?' heanswered: 'Take the difficult passages fromthe great concertos. You cannot improveon them, for they are as good, if not better,as any studies written.' As regardstechnical work we were also encouragedto think out our own exercises. And this Istill do. When I feel that my thirds andsixths need attention I practice scales andoriginal figurations in these intervals. Butgenuine, resultful practice is somethingthat should never be counted by 'hours.'Sometimes I do not touch my violin all daylong; and one hour with head work isworth any number of days without it. At themost I never practice more than threehours a day. And when my thoughts arefixed on other things it would be time lost

to try to practice seriously. Withouttechnical control a violinist could not be agreat artist; for he could not expresshimself. Yet a great artist can give even atechnical study, say a Rode _�ude_, aquality all its own in playing it. Thattechnic, however, is a means, not an end,Professor Auer never allowed his pupils toforget. He is a wonderful master ofinterpretation. I studied the greatconcertos with him--Beethoven, Bruch,Mendelssohn, Tschaikovsky, Dvor�*, theBrahms concerto (which I prefer to anyother); the Vieuxtemps Fifth and Lalo (bothof which I have heard Ysaye, that supremeartist who possesses all that an artistshould have, play in Berlin); the Elgarconcerto (a fine work which I once heardKreisler, an artist as great as he is modest,play wonderfully in Petrograd), as well asother concertos of the standard repertory.And Professor Auer always sought to have

us play as individuals; and while he neverallowed us to overstep the boundaries ofthe musically esthetic, he gave ourindividuality free play within its limits. Henever insisted on a pupil accepting hisown _nuances_ of interpretation becausethey were his. I know that when playing forhim, if I came to a passage whichdemanded an especially beautiful _legato_rendering, he would say: 'Now show howyou can sing!' The exquisite _legato_ hetaught was all a matter of perfect bowing,and as he often said: 'There must be nosuch thing as strings or hair in the pupil'sconsciousness. One must not play violin,one must sing violin!'

*Transcriber's note: Original text read"Dvor�".

FIDDLE AND STRINGS

"I do not see how any artist can use aninstrument which is quite new to him inconcert. I never play any but my ownGuadagnini, which is a fine fiddle, with abig, sonorous tone. As to wire strings, Ihate them! In the first place, a wire Esounds distinctly different to the artist thandoes a gut E. And it is a difference whichany violinist will notice. Then, too, the wireE is so thin that the fingers have nothing totake hold of, to touch firmly. And to me themetallic vibrations, especially on the openstrings, are most disagreeable. Of course,from a purely practical standpoint there ismuch to be said for the wire E.

VIOLIN MASTERY

"What is violin mastery as I understand it?First of all it means talent, secondly

technic, and in the third place, tone. Andthen one must be musical in anall-embracing sense to attain it. One musthave musical breadth and understandingin general, and not only in a narrowlyviolinistic sense. And, finally, the goodGod must give the artist who aspires to bea master good hands, and direct him to agood teacher!"

XX

EDMUND SEVERN

THE JOACHIM BOWING ANDOTHERS: THE LEFT HAND

Edmund Severn's activity in the field ofviolin music is a three-fold one: he is acomposer, an interpreting artist and ateacher, and his fortuitous control of thethree vital phases of his Art make his viewsas regards its study of very real value. Thelover of string music in general wouldnaturally attach more importance to hisstring quartet in D major, his trio for violin,'cello and piano, his violin concerto in Dminor, the sonata, the "Oriental," "Italian,""New England" suites for violin, and thefine suite in A major, for two violins and

piano, than to his symphonic poems fororchestra, his choral works and his songs.And those in search of hints to aid them tomaster the violin would be most interestedin having the benefit of his opinions as ateacher, founded on long experience andkeen observation. Since Mr. Severn is oneof those teachers who are born, not made,and is interested heart and soul in thisphase of his musical work, it was notdifficult to draw him out.

THE JOACHIM BOWING

"My first instructor in the violin was myfather, the pioneer violin teacher ofHartford, Conn., where my boyhood waspassed, and then I studied with FranzMilcke and Bernard Listemann,concertmaster of the Boston SymphonyOrchestra. But one day I happened to read

a few lines reprinted in the _Metronome_from some European source, which quotedWilhelmj as saying that Emanuel Wirth,Joachim's first assistant at the Berlin_Hochschule_, 'was the best teacher of hisgeneration.' This was enough for me:feeling that the best could be none toogood, I made up my mind to go to him.And I did. Wirth was the viola of theJoachim Quartet, and probably a betterteacher than was Joachim himself. Violinteaching was a cult with him, a religion;and I think he believed God had sent himto earth to teach fiddle. Like all theteachers at the _Hochschule_ he taught theregular 'Joachim' bowing--they wereobliged to teach it--as far as it could betaught, for it could not be taught everyone. And that is the real trouble with the'Joachim' bowing. It is impossible to makea general application of it.

"Joachim had a very long arm and when heplayed at the point of the bow his armposition was approximately the same asthat of the average player at the middle ofthe bow. Willy Hess was a perfectexponent of the Joachim method ofbowing. Why? Because he had a very longarm. But at the _Hochschule_ the Joachimbowing was compulsory: they taught, ortried to teach, all who came there to use itwithout exception; boys or girls whosearms chanced to be long enough couldacquire it, but big men with short arms hadno chance whatever. Having a mediumlong arm, by dint of hard work I managedto get my bowing to suit Wirth; yet I alwaysfelt at a disadvantage at the point of thebow, in spite of the fact that after my returnto the United States I taught the Joachimbowing for fully eight years.

"Then, when he first came here, I heard

and saw Ysaye play, and I noticed howgreatly his bowing differed from that ofJoachim, the point being that his first fingerwas always in a position to press_naturally_ without the least stiffness. Thisled me to try to find a less constrainedbowing for myself, working alongperfectly natural lines. The Joachimbowing demands a high wrist; but in thecase of the Belgian school an easy positionat the point is assumed naturally. And it isnot hard to understand that if the bow bedrawn parallel with the bridge, allowingfor the least possible movement of handsand wrist, the greatest economy of motion,there is no contravention of the laws ofnature and playing is natural andunconstrained.

"And this applies to every student of theinstrument, whether or no he has a longarm. While I was studying in Berlin,

Sarasate played there in public, with themost natural and unhampered grace andfreedom in the use of his bow. Yet theentire _Hochschule_ contingentunanimously condemned his bowing asbeing 'stiff'--merely because it did notconform to the Joachim tradition. Ofcourse, there is no question but thatJoachim was the greatest quartet player ofhis time; and with regard to theinterpretation of the classics he was not tobe excelled. His conception of Bach,Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms was wonderful.The insistence at the _Hochschule_ onforcing the bowing which was natural tohim on all others, irrespective of physicaladaptability, is a matter of regret. Wirthwas somewhat deficient in teaching lefthand technic, as compared with, let us say,Schradieck. Wirth's real strength lay in hissincerity and his ability to make clear themusical contents of the works of the great

masters. In a Beethoven or Spohr concertohe made a pupil give its due emphasis toevery single note.

A PRE-TEACHING REQUISITE

"Before the violin student can even beginto study, there are certain pre-teachingrequisites which are necessary if theteacher is to be of any service to him. Theviolin is a singing instrument, andtherefore the first thing called for is a goodsinging tone. That brings up an importantpoint--the proper adjustment of theinstrument used by the student. If hislessons are to be of real benefit to him, thecomponent parts of the instrument, post,bridge, bass-bar, strings, etc., must beaccurately adjusted, in order that thesound values are what they should be.

"From the teaching standpoint it is farmore important that whatever violin thestudent has is one properly built andadjusted, than that it be a fine instrument.And the bow must have the right amount ofspring, of elasticity in its stick. A poor bowwill work more harm than a poor fiddle, forif the bow is poor, if it lacks the rightresilience, the student cannot acquire thecorrect bow pressure. He cannot play_spiccato_ or any of the 'bouncing'bowings, including various forms ofarpeggios, with a poor stick.

DRAWING A LONG BOW

"When I say that the student should 'draw along bow,'" continued Mr. Severn with asmile, "I do not say so at a venture. If hisinstrument and bow are in proper shape,this is the next thing for the student to do.

Ever since Tartini's time it has beenacknowledged that nothing can take theplace of the study of the long bow, playingin all shades of dynamics, from _pp_ to_ff_, and with all the inflections of_crescendo_ and _diminuendo_. Part ofthis study should consist of 'mute'exercises--not playing, but drawing thebow _above the strings_, to its full length,resting at either end. This ensures bowcontrol. One great difficulty is that as a rulethe teacher cannot induce pupils topractice these 'mute' exercises, in spite oftheir unquestionable value. All the greatmasters of the violin have used them. Viottithought so highly of them that he taughtthem only to his favorite pupils. And evento-day some distinguished violinists playdumb exercises before stepping on therecital stage. They are one of the bestmeans that we have for control of theviolinistic nervous system.

WRIST-BOWING

"Wrist-bowing is one of the bowings inwhich the student should learn to feelabsolutely and naturally at home. To mythinking the German way of teachingwrist-bowing is altogether wrong. Theiridea is to keep the fingers neutral, and letthe stick move the fingers! Yet this iswrong--for the player holds his bow at thefinger-tips, that terminal point of thefingers where the tactile nerves are mosthighly developed, and where their directcontact with the bow makes possible thegreatest variety of dynamic effect, and alsoallows the development of far greaterspeed in short bowings.

"Though the Germans say 'Think of thewrist!' I think with the Belgians: Put your

mind where you touch and hold the bow,concentrate on your fingers. In otherwords, when you make your bow change,do not make it according to the Joachimmethod, with the wrist, but in the naturalway, with the fingers always in command.In this manner only will you get the truewrist motion.

STACCATO AND OTHERBOWINGS

"After all, there are only two generalprinciples in violin playing, the long andshort bow, _legato_ and _staccato_. Manya teacher finds it very difficult to teach_staccato_ correctly, which may accountfor the fact that many pupils find it hard tolearn. The main reason is that, in a sense,_staccato_ is opposed to the nature of theviolin as a singing instrument. To produce

a true _staccato_ and not a 'scratchato' it isabsolutely necessary, while exerting theproper pressure and movement, to keepthe muscles loose. I have evolved a simplemethod for quickly achieving the desiredresult in _staccato_. First I teach the attackin the middle of the bow, without drawingthe bow and as though pressing a button: Ihave pupils press up with the thumb anddown with the first finger, with all musclesrelaxed. This, when done correctly,produces a sudden sharp attack.

"Then, I have the pupil place his bow in themiddle, in position to draw a down-strokefrom the wrist, the bow-hair being pressedand held against the string. A quickdown-bow follows with an immediaterelease of the string. Repeating theprocess, use the up-stroke. The finishedproduct is merely the combination of thesetwo exercises--drawing and attacking

simultaneously. I have never failed to givea pupil a good _staccato_ by this exercise,which comprises the principle of allgenuine _staccato_ playing.

"One of the most difficult of all bowings isthe simple up-and-down stroke used in thesecond Kreutzer _�ude_, that is to say, thebowing between the middle and point ofthe bow, _t�e d'archet_, as the French callit. This bowing is played badly on theviolin more often than any other. Itdemands constant rapid changing and, asmost pupils play it, the _legato_ quality isnoticeably absent. Too much emphasiscannot be laid on the truth that the 'singingstroke' should be employed for allbowings, long or short. Often pupils whoplay quite well show a want of true_legato_ quality in their tone, becausethere is no connection between theirbowing in rapid work.

"Individual bowings should always bepracticed separately. I always oblige mypupils to practice all bowings on the openstrings, and in all combinations of the openstrings, because this allows them toconcentrate on the bowing itself, to theexclusion of all else; and they advance farmore quickly. Students should never becompelled to learn new bowings whilethey have to think of their fingers at thesame time: we cannot serve two masterssimultaneously! All in all, bowing is mostimportant in violin technic, for control ofthe bow means much toward mastery ofthe violin.

THE LEFT HAND

"It is evident, however, that the correct useof the left hand is of equal importance. It

seems not to be generally known thatfinger-pressure has much to do withtone-quality. The correct poise of the lefthand, as conspicuously shown by Heifetzfor instance, throws the extreme tips of thefingers hammerlike on the strings, andrenders full pressure of the string easy.Correctly done, a brilliance results,especially in scale and passage work,which can be acquired in no other manner,each note partaking somewhat of thequality of the open string. As forintonation--that is largely a question oflistening. To really listen to oneself is asnecessary as it is rare. It would take avolume to cover that subject alone. Wehear much about the use of the _vibrato_these days. It was not so when I was astudent. I can remember when it waslaughed at by the purists as an Italianevidence of bad taste. My teachersdecried it, yet if we could hear the great

players of the past, we would beastonished at their frugal use of it.

"One should remember in this connectionthat there was a conflict among singers formany years as to whether the straight toneas cultivated by the English oratoriosingers, or the vibrated tone of the Italianswere correct. As usual, Nature won out.The correctly vibrated voice outlasted theother form of production, thus proving itslawful basis. But to-day the _vibrato_ isfrequently made to cover a multitude ofviolin sins.

"It is accepted by many as a substitute forgenuine warmth and it is used as a_camouflage_ to 'put over' some very badart in the shape of poor tone-quality,intonation and general sloppiness oftechnic. Why, then, has it come intogeneral use during the last twenty-five

years? Simply because it is based on thecorrectly produced human voice. The oldplayers, especially those of the Germanschool, said, and some still say, the_vibrato_ should only be used at theclimax of a melody. If we listen to aSembrich or a Bonci, however, we hear avibration on every tone. Let us not forgetthat the violin is a singing instrument andthat even Joachim said: 'We must imitatethe human voice,' This, I think, disposes ofthe case finally and we must admit thatevery little boy or girl with a natural_vibrato_ is more correct in that part of histone-production than many of the greatmasters of the past. As the Negro pastorsaid: 'The world do move!'

VIOLIN MASTERY

"Are 'mastery of the violin' and 'Violin

Mastery' synonymous in my mind? Yes andno: 'Violin Mastery' may be taken to meanthat technical mastery wherewith one isenabled to perform any work in the entireliterature of the instrument with precision,but not necessarily with feeling for itsbeauty or its emotional content. In thissense, in these days of improved violinpedagogy, such mastery is not uncommon.But 'Violin Mastery' may also beunderstood to mean, not merely a coldthough flawless technic, but its living,glowing product when used to express theemotions suggested by the music of themasters. This latter kind of violin masteryis rare indeed.

"One who makes technic an end travelslight, and should reach his destinationmore quickly. But he whose goal is musicwith its thousand-hued beauties, with itscall for the exertion of human and spiritual

emotion, sets forth on a journey withoutend. It is plain, however, that this is theonly journey worth taking with the violin asa traveling companion. 'Violin Mastery',then, means to me technical proficiencyused to the highest extent possible, forartistic ends!"

XXI

ALBERT SPALDING

THE MOST IMPORTANTFACTOR IN THEDEVELOPMENT OF AN ARTIST

For the duration of the war Albert Spaldingthe violinist became Albert Spalding thesoldier. As First Lieutenant in the AviationService, U.S.A., he maintained the ideals ofcivilization on the Italian front with thesame devotion he gave to those of Art inthe piping times of peace. As he himselfsaid not so very long ago: "You cannot dotwo things, and do them properly, at thesame time. At the present moment there ismore music for me in the factoriesgloriously grinding out planes and motors

than in a symphony of Beethoven. Andto-day I would rather run on an office-boy'serrand for my country and do it as well as Ican, if it's to serve my country, than to playsuccessfully a Bach Chaconne; and I wouldrather hear a well directed battery ofAmerican guns blasting the Road of Peaceand Victorious Liberty than the combinedapplause of ten thousand audiences. For itis my conviction that Art has as much atstake in this War as Democracy."

[Illustration: _Copyright by Matzene,Chicago_. ALBERT SPALDING]

Yet Lieutenant Spalding, despite thearduous demands of his patriotic duties,found time to answer some questions of thewriter in the interests of "Violin Mastery"which, representing the views andopinions of so eminent and distinctivelyAmerican a violinist, cannot fail to interest

every lover of the Art. Writing from Rome(Sept. 9, 1918), Lieutenant Spaldingmodestly said that his answers to thequestions asked "will have to be simpleand short, because my time is very limited,and then, too, having been out of music formore than a year, I feel it difficult to deal inmore than a general way with some of thequestions asked."

VIOLIN MASTERY

"As to 'Violin Mastery'? To me it meanseffortless mastery of details; thecorrelating of them into a perfect whole;the subjecting of them to the expression ofan architecture which is music. 'ViolinMastery' means technical mastery in everysense of the word. It means a facility whichwill enable the interpreter to forgetdifficulties, and to express at once in a

language that will seem clear, simple andeloquent, that which in the hands of othersappears difficult, obtuse and dull.

THE MOST IMPORTANTFACTOR IN THEDEVELOPMENT OF AN ARTIST

"As to the processes, mental and technical,which make an artist? These differentprocesses, mental and technical, are toomany, too varied and involved to invite ananswer in a short space of time. Suffice it tosay that the most _important_ mentalprocess, to my mind, is the development ofa perception of beauty. All theperseverance in the study of music, all theapplication devoted to it, is not worth atinker's dam, unless accompanied by thisawakening to the perception of beauty.And with regard to the influence of

teachers? Since all teachers vary greatly,the student should not limit himself to hisown personal masters. The true student ofArt should be able to derive benefit andinstruction from every beautiful work ofArt that he hears or sees; otherwise he willbe limited by the technical and mentallimitations of his own prejudices andjealousies. One's greatest difficulties mayturn out to be one's greatest aids in strivingtoward artistic results. By this I mean thatnothing is more fatally pernicious for thetrue artist than the precocious facilitywhich invites cheap success. Therefore Imake the statement that one's greatestdifficulties are one's greatest facilities.

A LESS DEVELOPED PHASE OFVIOLIN TECHNIC

"In the technical field, the phase of violin

technic which is less developed, it seemsto me is, in most cases, bowing. One oftennotes a highly developed left hand techniccoupled with a monotonous and oftentimesfaulty bowing. The _color_ and _variety_ ofa violinist's art must come largely from hisintimate acquaintance with all that can beaccomplished by the bow arm. The breakor change from a down-bow to an up-bow,or _vice versa_, should be under suchcontrol as to make it perceptible onlywhen it may be desirable to use it for coloror accentuation.

GOOD AND BAD HANDS:MENTAL STUDY

"The influence of the physicalconformation of bow hand and string handon actual playing? There are no 'good' or'bad' bow hands or string hands (unless

they be deformed); there are only 'good'and 'bad' heads. By this I mean that thefinest development of technic comes fromthe head, not from the hand. Quickness ofthought and action is what distinguishesthe easy player from the clumsy player.Students should develop mental studyeven of technical details--this, of course, inaddition to the physical practice; for thismental study is of the highest importancein developing the student so that he cangain that effortless mastery of detail ofwhich I have already spoken.

ADVANTAGE ANDDISADVANTAGE OF CONCERT ATTENDANCE FOR THE STUDENT

"Concerts undoubtedly have great value indeveloping the student technically andmentally; but too often they have a directly

contrary effect. I think there is a verydoubtful benefit to be derived from thepresent habit, as illustrated in New York,London, or other centers, of the studentattending concerts, sometimes as many astwo or three a day. This habit dwarfs thedevelopment of real appreciation, as thestudent, under these conditions, can littleappreciate true works of art when he hascrammed his head so full of truck, andworn out his faculties of concentration untillistening to music becomes a mechanicalmental process. The _indiscriminate_attending of concerts, to my mind, has anabsolutely pernicious effect on the student.

NATIONALITY AS AFORMATIVE INFLUENCE

"Nationality and national feeling have avery real influence in the development of

an artist; but this influence is feltsubconsciously more than consciously,and it reacts more on the creative than onthe interpretative artist. By this I mean thatthe interpretative artist, while reservingthe right to his individual expression,should subject himself to what heconsiders to have been the artisticimpulse, the artistic intentions of thecomposer. As to type music to whoseappeal I as an American am susceptible, Iconfess to a very sympathetic reaction tothe syncopated rhythms known as'rag-time,' and which appear to beespecially American in character." For thebenefit of those readers who may notchance to know it, Lieutenant Spalding's"Alabama," a Southern melody and dancein plantation style, for violin and piano,represents a very delightful creativeexploitation of these rhythms. The writermakes mention of the fact since with

regard to this and other of his owncompositions Lieutenant Spalding wouldonly state: "I felt that I had something tosay and, therefore, tried to say it. Whetherwhat I have to say is of any interest toothers is not for me to judge.

PLAYING WHILE IN SERVICE

"Do I play at all while in Service? I gave upall playing in public when entering theArmy a year ago, and to a great extent allprivate playing as well. I have on one ortwo occasions played at charity concertsduring the past year, once in Rome, andonce in the little town in Italy near theaviation camp at which I was stationed atthe time. I have purposely refused all otherrequests to play because one cannot dotwo things at once, and do them properly.My time now belongs to my country: When

we have peace again I shall hope oncemore to devote it to Art."

XXII

THEODORE SPIERING

THE APPLICATION OF BOWEXERCISES TO THE STUDYOF KREUTZER

A. Walter Kramer has said: "Mr. Spieringknows how serious a study can be made ofthe violin, because he has made it. He hasinvestigated the 'how' and 'why' of everydetail, and what he has to say about theviolin is the utterance of a big musician,one who has mastered the instrument."And Theodore Spiering, solo artist andconductor, as a teacher has that widerhorizon which has justified the statementmade that "he is animated by the thoughtsand ideals which stimulate a Godowsky or

Busoni." Such being the case, it was withunmixed satisfaction that the writer foundMr. Spiering willing to give him the benefitof some of those constructive ideas of hisas regards violin study which haveestablished his reputation so prominentlyin that field.

TWO TYPES OF STUDENTS

"There are certain underlying principleswhich govern every detail of the violinist'sArt," said Mr. Spiering, "and unless theviolinist fully appreciates theirsignificance, and has the intelligence andpatience to apply them in everything hedoes, he will never achieve that absolutecommand over his instrument whichmastery implies.

"It is a peculiar fact that a large percentage

of students--probably believing that theycan reach their goal by a short cut--resentthe mental effort required to master theseprinciples, the passive resistance, evidentin their work, preventing them fromderiving true benefit from their studies.They form that large class which learnsmerely by imitation, and invariablyretrograde the moment they are no longerunder the teacher's supervision.

"The smaller group, with an analytical bentof mind, largely subject themselves to theneeded mental drill and thus provide forthemselves that inestimable basic qualitythat makes them independent and capableof developing their talent to its full fruition.

[Illustration: THEODORE SPIERING,with hand-written note]

MENTAL AND PHYSICALPROCESSES CO�DINATED

"The conventional manner of teachingprovided an inordinate number ofmechanical exercises in order toovercome so called 'technical difficulties.'Only the _prima facie_ disturbance,however, was thus taken intoconsideration--not its actual cause. Theresult was, that notwithstanding the greatamount of labor thus expended, the efforthad to be repeated each time the problemwas confronted. Aside from the obviouslyuncertain results secured in this manner, itmeant deadening of the imagination andcramping of interpretative possibilities. Itis only possible to reduce to a minimumthe element of chance by scrupulouslycarrying out the dictates of the lawsgoverning vital principles. Analysis andthe severest self-criticism are the means of

determination as to whether theory andpractice conform with one another.

"_Mental preparedness_ (Marcus Aureliuscalls it 'the good ordering of the mind') isthe keynote of technical control. Togetherwith the principle of _relaxation_ itprovides the player with the most effectivemeans of establishing precise andsensitive co�eration between mental andphysical processes. Muscular relaxation atwill is one of the results of this co�eration.It makes sustained effort possible(counteracting the contraction ordinarilyresulting therefrom), and it is freedom ofmovement more than anything else thattends to establish confidence.

THE TWO-FOLD VALUE OFCELEBRATED STUDY WORKS

"The study period of the average Americanis limited. It has been growing less year byyear. Hence the teacher has had toredouble his efforts. The desire to give mypupils the essentials of technical control intheir most concentrated and immediatelyapplicable form, have led me to evolve aseries of 'bow exercises,' which, however,do not merely pursue a mechanicalpurpose. Primarily enforcing the carryingout of basic principles as pertaining to thebow--and establishing or correcting (asthe case may be) arm and hand (right arm)positions, they supply the means ofcreating a larger interpretative style.

"I use the Kreutzer studies as the mediumof these bow-exercises, since theapplication of new technical ideas is easierwhen the music itself is familiar to thestudent. I have a two-fold object in mindwhen I review these studies in my

particular manner, technic andappreciation. I might add that not onlyKreutzer, but Fiorillo and Rode--in fact allthe celebrated 'Caprices,' with thepossible exception of those ofPaganini--are viewed almost entirely fromthe purely technical side, as belonging tothe classroom, because their musicalqualities have not been sufficiently pointedout. Rode, in particular, is a veritablemusical treasure trove.

THE APPLICATION OF BOWEXERCISES TO THE STUDYOF KREUTZER

"How do I use the Kreutzer studies todevelop style and technic? By making thestudent study them in such wise that thefollowing principles are emphasized in hiswork: _control before action_ (mental

direction at all times); _relaxation_; and_observance of string levels_; forunimpeded movement is more importantthan pressure as regards the carryingtone. These principles are among the mostimportant pertaining to right arm technic.

"In Study No. 2 (version 1, up-strokes only,version 2, down-strokes only), I have mypupils use the full arm stroke (_granddetach�). In version 1, the bow is takenfrom the string after completion ofstroke--but in such a way that thevibrations of the string are not interferedwith. Complete relaxation is insured byrelease of the thumb--the bow beingcaught in a casual manner, third and fourthfingers slipping from their normal positionon stick--and holding, but not tightlyclasping, the bow.

"Version 2 calls for a _return

down-stroke_, the return part of the strokebeing accomplished over the string, butmaking no division in stroke, no hesitatingbefore the return. Relaxation is secured asbefore. Rapidity of stroke, elimination ofimpediment (faulty hand or arm positionand unnecessary upper arm action), is theaim of this exercise. The pause betweeneach stroke--caused by relinquishing thehold on the bow--reminds the student thatmental control should at all times beparamount: that analysis of technical detailis of vital importance.

"In Study No. 7 I employ the same vigorousfull arm strokes as in No. 2: the up anddown bows as indicated in the originalversion. The bow is raised from the stringsafter each note, by means of hand (littlefinger, first and thumb) not by arm action.Normal hand position is retained: thumbnot released.

"The _observance of string levels_ is veryessential. While the stroke is in progressthe arm must not leave its level in ananticipatory movement to reach the nextlevel. Especially after the down-stroke is itadvisable to verify the arm position withregard to this feature.

"No. 8 affords opportunity for a _r�um� ofthe work done in Nos. 2 and 7:

[Illustration: Musical Notation]

"It is evident that the tempo of this studymust be very much reduced in speed. The_return_ down-stroke as in No. 2: the_second_ down-stroke as in No. 7: theup-strokes as in No. 2.

"In Study No. 5 I use the hand-strokeonly--at the frog--arm absolutely

immobile, with no attempt at tone. Thisexercise represents the first attempt atdissecting the _martel� idea: precisetiming of pressure, movement (stroke),and relaxation. The pause between thestrokes is utilized to learn the value of lefthand preparedness, with the fingers inplace before bow action.

"In Study No. 13 I develop the principles ofstring crossing, of the extension stroke,and articulation. String crossing is themain feature of the exercise. I employthree versions, in order to accomplish myaim. In version 1 I consider only thecrossing from a higher to a lower level:

[Illustration: Musical Notation]

version 2:

[Illustration: Musical Notation]

version 3 is the original version. Inversions 1 and 2 I omit all repetitions:

[Illustration: Musical Notation]

Articulation is one of the main points atissue--the middle note is generallyinarticulate. For further string crossinganalysis I use Kreutzer's No. 25. Study No.10 I carry out as a _martel� study, with thestring crossing very much in evidence;establishing observance of the notesoccurring on the same string level,consequently compelling a more judicioususe of the so-called wrist movement (notmerely developing a supple wrist, withindefinite crossing movements, which inmany cases are applied by the playerwithout regard to actual string crossing)and in consequence securing stability ofbow on string when string level is not

changed, this result being secured even inrapid passage work.

"In Studies 11, 19 and 21 I cover shiftingand left thumb action: in No. 9, fingeraction--flexibility and evenness, the leftthumb relaxed--the fundamental idea ofthe trill. After the _interrupted_ types ofbowing (grand _detach�, _martel�,_staccato_) have been carefully studied,the _continuous_ types (_detach�, _legato_and _spiccato_) are then taken up, and inpart the same studies again used: 2, 7, 8.Lastly the slurred _legato_ comes underconsideration (Studies 9, 11, 14, 22, 27,29). Shifting, extension and string crossinghave all been previously considered, andhence the _legato_ should be allowed totake its even course.

"Although I do, temporarily, place thesestudies on a purely mechanical level, I am

convinced that they thus serve to call intobeing a broader _musical_ appreciationfor the whole set. For I have found that inspite of the fact that pupils who come to mehave all played their Kreutzer, with veryfew exceptions have they realized themusical message which it contains. Thetime when the student body will havelearned to depict successfully musicalcharacter--even in studies andcaprices--will mark the fulfillment of theteacher's task with regard to the cultivationof the right arm--which is essentially theteacher's domain.

SOME OF MR. SPIERING'S OWNSTUDY SOUVENIRS

"It may interest you to know," Mr. Spieringsaid in reply to a question, "that I beganmy teaching career in Chicago

immediately following my four years withJoachim in Berlin. It was natural that Ishould first commit myself to thepedagogic methods of the _Hochschule_,which to a great extent, however, Idiscarded as my own views crystallized. Ifound that too much emphasis allotted thewrist stroke (a misnomer, by the way), wasbound to result in too academic a style. Bytransferring primary importance to thecontrol of the full arm-stroke--with thehand-stroke incidentally completing thecontrol--I felt that I was better able toreflect the larger interpretative idealswhich my years of musical developmentwere creating for me. Chamber music--ayouthful passion--led me to interest myselfin symphonic work and conducting. Theseactivities not only reacted favorably on mysolo playing, but influenced mydevelopment as regards the broader,more dramatic style, the grand manner in

interpretation. It is this realization thatplaces me in a position to earnestly advisethe ambitious student not to disregard thegreat artistic benefits to be derived fromthe cultivation of chamber music andsymphonic playing.

"I might call my teaching ideals acombination of those of the Franco-Belgianand German schools. To the former Iattribute my preference for the largesweep of the bow-arm, its style and tonalsuperiority; to the latter, vigor ofinterpretation and attention to musicaldetail.

VIOLIN MASTERY

"How do I define 'Violin Mastery'? Theviolinist who has succeeded in eliminatingall superfluous tension or physical

resistance, whose mental control is suchthat the technic of the left hand and rightarm has become coordinate, thus forminga perfect mechanism not working atcross-purposes; who, furthermore, is sowell poised that he never oversteps theboundaries of good taste in hisinterpretations, though vitally alive to thehuman element; who, finally, has so broadan outlook on life and Art that he is able toreveal the transcendent spiritcharacterizing the works of the greatmasters--such a violinist has truly attainedmastery!"

XXIII

JACQUES THIBAUD

THE IDEAL PROGRAM

Jacques Thibaud, whose gifts as aninterpreting artist have brought him somany friends and admirers in the UnitedStates, is the foremost representative of themodern French school of violin-playing.And as such he has held his own eversince, at the age of twenty, he resigned hisrank as concert-master of the Colonneorchestra, to dedicate his talentsexclusively to the concert stage. So greatan authority as the last edition of theRiemann _Musik-Lexicon_ cannot forbear,even in 1915, to emphasize his "technic,absolutely developed in its every detail,

and his fiery and poetic manner ofinterpretation."

But Mr. Thibaud does not see any greatdifference between the ideals of _lagrande �ole belge_, that of Vieuxtemps,De B�iot, L�nard, Massart and Marsick,whose greatest present-day exponent isEug�e Ysaye, and the French. Himself apupil of Marsick, he inherited the Frenchtraditions of Alard through his father, whowas Alard's pupil and handed them on tohis son. "The two schools have marriedand are as one," declared Mr. Thibaud."They may differ in the interpretation ofmusic, but to me they seem to havemerged so far as their systems of fingertechnic, bowing and tone production goes.

THE GREATEST DIFFICULTY TOOVERCOME

"You ask me what is most difficult inplaying the violin? It is bowing. Bowingmakes up approximately eighty per cent.of the sum total of violinistic difficulties.One reason for it is that many teacherswith excellent ideas on the subject presentit to their pupils in too complicated amanner. The bow must be used in anabsolutely natural way, and overelaboration in explaining what should be asimple and natural development oftenprevents the student from securing a goodbowing, the end in view. Sarasate (he wasan intimate friend of mine) always used hisbow in the most natural way, his control ofit was unsought and unconscious. Were I ateacher I should not say: 'You must bow asI do'; but rather: 'Find the way of bowingmost convenient and natural to you anduse it!' Bowing is largely a physical andindividual matter. I am slender but have

long, large fingers; Kreisler is a larger manthan I am but his fingers are small. It standsto reason that there must be a difference inthe way in which we hold and use the bow.The difference between a great and amediocre teacher lies in the fact that thefirst recognizes that bowing is anindividual matter, different in the case ofeach individual pupil; and that the greatestperfection is attained by the developmentof the individual's capabilities within hisown norm.

[Illustration: JACQUES THIBAUD,with signature]

MARSICK AS A TEACHER

"Marsick was a teacher of this type. Ateach of the lessons I took from him at the_Conservatoire_ (we went to him three

days a week), he would give me a new_�ude_--Gavinies, Rode, Fiorillo, Dont--toprepare for the next lesson. We alsostudied all of Paganini, and works by Ernstand Spohr. For our bow technic heemployed difficult passages made into_�udes_. Scales--the violinist's dailybread--we practiced day in, day out.Marsick played the piano well, and couldimprovise marvelous accompaniments onhis violin when his pupils played. Icontinued my studies with Marsick evenafter I left the _Conservatoire_. With him Ibelieve that three essentials--absolutepurity of pitch, equality of tone andsonority of tone, in connection with thebow--are the base on which everythingelse rests.

THE MECHANICAL VERSUS THENATURAL IN VIOLIN PLAYING

"Sevcik's purely soulless and mechanicalsystem has undoubtedly produced anumber of excellent mechanicians of theviolin. But it has just as unquestionablykilled real talent. Kubelik--there was agenuinely talented violinist! If he had hadanother teacher instead of Sevcik he wouldhave been great, for he had great gifts.Even as it was he played well, but Iconsider him one of Sevcik's victims. As anillustration of how the technical point ofview is thrust to the fore by this system Iremember some fifteen years ago Kubelikand I were staying at the same villa inMonte-Carlo, where we were to play theBeethoven concerto, each of us, in concert,two days apart. Kubelik spent the live-longday before the concert practicing Sevcikexercises. I read and studied Beethoven'sscore, but did not touch my violin. I went tohear Kubelik play the concerto, and he

played it well; but then, so did I, when myturn came. And I feel sure I got more out ofit musically and spiritually, than I wouldhave if instead of concentrating on itsmeaning, its musical message, I hadprepared the concerto as a problem inviolin mechanics whose key was containedin a number of dry technical exercisesarbitrarily laid down.

"Technic, in the case of the more advancedviolinist, should not have a place in theforeground of his consciousness. I heardRubinstein play when a boy--what did hisfalse notes amount to compared with hiswonderful manner of disclosing the spiritof the things he played! Plant� the Parisianpianist, a kind of keyboard cyclone, onceexpressed the idea admirably to anEnglish society lady. She had told him hewas a greater pianist than Rubinstein,because the latter played so many wrong

notes. 'Ah, Madame,' answered Plant� 'Iwould rather be able to play Rubinstein'swrong notes than all my own correct ones.'A violinist's natural manner of playing isthe one he should cultivate; since it isindividual, it really represents him. And ateacher or a colleague of greater famedoes him no kindness if he encourageshim to distrust his own powers by too goodnaturedly 'showing' him how to do this, thator the other. I mean, when the student canwork out his problem himself at theexpense of a little initiative.

"When I was younger I once had to playBach's G minor fugue at a concert inBrussels. I was living at Ysaye's home, andsince I had never played the compositionin public before, I began to worry about itsinterpretation. So I asked Ysaye (thinkinghe would simply show me), 'How ought I toplay this fugue?' The Master reflected a

moment and then dashed my hopes byanswering: _'Tu m'emb�es!'_ (You boreme!) 'This fugue should be played well,that's all!' At first I was angry, but thinkingit over, I realized that if he had shown me, Iwould have played it just as he did; whilewhat he wanted me to do was to work outmy own version, and depend on my owninitiative--which I did, for I had no choice.It is by means of concentration on thehigher, the interpretative phases of one'sArt that the technical side takes its proper,secondary place. Technic does not existfor me in the sense of a certain quantity ofmechanical work which I must do. I find itout of the question to do absolutelymechanical technical work of any length oftime. In realizing the three essentials ofgood violin playing which I have alreadymentioned, Ysaye and Sarasate are myideals.

SARASATE

"All really good violinists are good artists.Sarasate, whom I knew so intimately andremember so well, was a pupil of Alard(my father's teacher). He literally sang onthe violin, like a nightingale. His purity ofintonation was remarkable; and histechnical facility was the mostextraordinary that I have ever seen. Hehandled his bow with unbelievable skill.And when he played, the unassuminggrace of his movements won the hearts ofhis audiences and increased theenthusiasm awakened by his tremendoustalent.

"We other violinists, all of us, occasionallyplay a false note, for we are not infallible;we may flat a little or sharp a little. Butnever, as often as I have heard Sarasate

play, did I ever hear him play a wrongnote, one not in perfect pitch. His Spanishthings he played like a god! And he had awonderful gift of phrasing which gave acharm hard to define to whatever heplayed. And playing in quartet--thegreatest solo violinist does not alwaysshine in this _genre_--he was admirable.Though he played all the standardrepertory, Bach, Beethoven, etc., I cannever forget his exquisite rendering ofmodern works, especially of a littlecomposition by Raff, called _La F�d'Amour_. He was the first to play theviolin concertos of Saint-Sa�s, Lalo andMax Bruch. They were all written for him,and I doubt whether they would have beencomposed had not Sarasate been there toplay them. Of course, in his own Spanishmusic he was unexcelled--a whole schoolof violin playing was born and died withhim! He had a hobby for collecting canes.

He had hundreds of them of all kinds, andevery sovereign in Europe hadcontributed to his collection. I know QueenChristina of Spain gave him no less thantwenty. He once gave me a couple of hiscanes, a great sign of favor with him. Ihave often played quartet with Sarasate,for he adored quartet playing, and theseoccasions are among my treasuredmemories.

STRADIVARIUS ANDGUARNERIUS PLAYERS

"My violin? It is a Stradivarius--the samewhich once belonged to the celebratedBaillot. I think it is good for a violin to rest,so during the three months when I am notplaying in concert, I send my Stradivariusaway to the instrument maker's, and onlytake it out about a month before I begin to

play again in public. What do I use in themeantime? Caressa, the best violin makerin Paris, made me an exact copy of my ownStrad, exact in every little detail. It is sogood that sometimes, when circumstancescompelled me to, I have used it in concert,though it lacks the tone-quality of theoriginal. This under-study violin I can usefor practice, and when I go back to theoriginal, as far as the handling of theinstrument is concerned, I never know thedifference.

"But I do not think that every one plays tothe best advantage on a Strad. I'm abeliever in the theory that there arenatural Guarnerius players and naturalStradivarius players; that certain artists dotheir best with the one, and certain otherswith the other. And I also believe that anyone who is 'equally' good in both, is greaton neither. The reason I believe in

Guarnerius players and Stradivariusplayers as distinct is this. Some years ago Ihad a sudden call to play in Ostende. Itwas a concert engagement which I hadoverlooked, and when it was recalled tome I was playing golf in Brittany. I at oncehurried to Paris to get my violin fromCaressa, with whom I had left it, but--hissafe, in which it had been put, and to whichhe only had the combination, was locked.Caressa himself was in Milan. Itelegraphed him but found that he couldnot get back in time before the concert torelease my violin. So I telegraphed Ysayeat Namur, to ask if he could loan me aviolin for the concert. 'Certainly' he wiredback. So I hurried to his home and, with hisusual generosity, he insisted on my takingboth his treasured Guarnerius and his'Hercules' Strad (afterwards stolen fromhim in Russia), in order that I might havemy choice. His brother-in-law and some

friends accompanied me from Namur toOstende--no great distance--to hear theconcert. Well, I played the Guarnerius atrehearsal, and when it was over, every onesaid to me, 'Why, what is the matter withyour fiddle? (It was the one Ysaye alwaysused.) It has no tone at all.' At the concert Iplayed the Strad and secured a big tonethat filled the hall, as every one assuredme. When I brought back the violins toYsaye I mentioned the circumstance tohim, and he was so surprised andinterested that he took them from the casesand played a bit, first on one, then on theother, a number of times. And invariablywhen he played the Strad (which, by theway, he had not used for years) he,Ysaye--imagine it!--could develop only asmall tone; and when he played theGuarnerius, he never failed to develop thatgreat, sonorous tone we all know and loveso well. Take Sarasate, when he lived,

Elman, myself--we all have the habit of theStradivarius: on the other hand Ysaye andKreisler are Guarnerius players _parexcellence_!

"Yes, I use a wire E string. Before I foundout about them I had no end of trouble. InNew Orleans I snapped seven gut stringsat a single concert. Some say that you cantell the difference, when listening,between a gut and a wire E. I cannot, and Iknow a good many others who cannot.After my last New York recital I had teawith Ysaye, who had done me the honor ofattending it. 'What strings do you use?' heasked me, _�propos_ to nothing inparticular. When I told him I used a wire Ehe confessed that he could not have toldthe difference. And, in fact, he has adoptedthe wire E just like Kreisler, Maud Powelland others, and has told me that he ischarmed with it--for Ysaye has had a great

deal of trouble with his strings. I shallcontinue to use them even after the war,when it will be possible to obtain good gutstrings again.

THE IDEAL PROGRAM

"The whole question of programs andprogram-making is an intricate one. In myopinion the usual recital program, piano,song or violin, is too long. The public likesthe recital by a single vocal orinstrumental artist, and financially and forother practical reasons the artist, too, isbetter satisfied with them. But are theyartistically altogether satisfactory? I shouldlike to hear Paderewski and Ysaye, Bauerand Casals, Kreisler and Hofmann allplaying at the same recital. What a variety,what a wealth of contrasting artisticenjoyment such a concert would afford.

There is nothing that is so enjoyable for thetrue artist as _ensemble_ playing with hispeers. Solo playing seems quiteunimportant beside it.

"I recall as the most perfect and beautifulof all my musical memories, a stringquartet and quintet (with piano) session inParis, in my own home, where we playedfour of the loveliest chamber music worksever written in the following combination:Beethoven's 7th quartet (Ysaye, Vo. I,myself, Vo. II, Kreisler, viola--he plays itremarkably well--and Casals, 'cello); theSchumann quartet (Kreisler, Vo. I, Ysaye,Vo. II, myself, viola and Casals, 'cello); andthe Mozart G major quartet (myself, Vo. I,Kreisler, Vo. II, Ysaye, viola and Casals,'cello). Then we telephoned to Pugno, whocame over and joined us and, after anexcellent dinner, we played the C�arFranck piano quintet. It was the most

enjoyable musical day of my life. A concertmanager offered us a fortune to play in thiscombination--just two concerts in everycapital in Europe.

"We have not enough variety in ourconcert programs--not enoughcollaboration. The truth is our form ofconcert, which usually introduces only oneinstrument or one group of instruments,such as the string quartet, is too uniform incolor. I can enjoy playing a recitalprogram of virtuose violin pieces wellenough; but I cannot help fearing thatmany find it too unicolored. Practicalconsiderations do not do away with thetruth of an artistic contention, though theymay often prevent its realization. What Ienjoy most, musically, is to play togetherwith another good artist. That is why I havehad such great artistic pleasure in the jointrecitals I have given with Harold Bauer.

We could play things that were reallyworth while for each of us--for the pianoparts of the modern sonatas call for avirtuose technical and musical equipment,and I have had more satisfaction from this_ensemble_ work than I would have had inplaying a long list of solo pieces.

"The ideal violin program, to play inpublic, as I conceive it, is one that consistsof absolute music, or should it containvirtuose pieces, then these should havesome definite musical quality of soul,character, elegance or charm torecommend them. I think one of the bestprograms I have ever played in America isthat which I gave with Harold Bauer at�lian Hall, New York, during the season of1917-1918:

Sonata in B flat . . . . . . _Mozart_

BAUER-THIBAUD

Scenes from Childhood . . . ._Schumann_ H. BAUER

Po�e . . . . . . . . . _E. Chausson_ J. THIBAUD

Sonata . . . . . . . . . _C�arFranck_ BAUER-THIBAUD

Or perhaps this other, which Bauer and Iplayed in Boston, during November, 1913:

Kreutzer Sonata . . . . . ._Beethoven_BAUER-THIBAUD

Sarabanda } Giga } . . . .. . . _J.S. Bach_ Chaconne }

J. THIBAUD

Kreisleriana . . . . . . ._Schumann_ H. BAUER

Sonata . . . . . . . . . _C�arFranck_ BAUER-THIBAUD

Either of these programs is artistic fromthe standpoint of the compositionsrepresented. And even these programsare not too short--they take almost twohours to play; while for my ideal programan hour-and-a-half of beautiful musicwould suffice. You will notice that I believein playing the big, fine things in music; inserving roasts rather than too many _horsd'oeuvres_ and pastry.

"On a solo program, of course, one mustmake some concessions. When I play a

violin concerto it seems fair enough to givethe public three or four nice little things,but--always pieces which are trulymusical, not such as are only 'ear-ticklers.'Kreisler--he has a great talent fortranscription--has made charmingarrangements. So has Tivadar Nach�, ofolder things, and Arthur Hartmann. Theseone can play as well as shorter numbersby Vieuxtemps and Wieniawski that aredelightful, such as the former's _Ballade etPolonaise_, though I know of musicalpurists who disapprove of it. I consider this_Polonaise_ on a level with Chopin's. Ortake, in the virtuoso field, Sarasate's_Gypsy Airs_--they are equal to any LisztRhapsody. I have only recently discoveredthat Ysaye--my life-long friend--has writtensome wonderful original compositions: a_Po�e ��iaque_, a _Chant d'hiver_, an_Extase_ and a ms. trio for two violins andalto that is marvelous. These pieces were

an absolute find for me, with the exceptionof the lovely _Chant d'hiver_, which I havealready played in Paris, Brussels,Amsterdam and Berlin, and expect tomake a feature of my programs this winter.You see, Ysaye is so modest about his owncompositions that he does not attempt to'push' them, even with his friends, hencethey are not nearly as well known as theyshould be.

"I never play operatic transcriptions andnever will. The music of the opera, nomatter how fine, appears to me to have itsproper place on the stage--it seems out ofplace on the violin recital program. Theartist cannot be too careful in the choice ofhis shorter program pieces. And he canprofit by the example set by some of theforemost violinists of the day. Ysaye, thatgreat apostle of the truly musical, is ashining example. It is sad to see certain

young artists of genuine talent disregardthe remarkable work of their greatcontemporary, and secure easily gainedtriumphs with compositions whose musicalvalue is _nil_.

"Sometimes the wish to educate the public,to give it a high standard* of appreciation,leads an artist astray. I heard a well-knownGerman violinist play in Berlin five yearsago, and what do you suppose he played?Beethoven's _Trios_ transcribed for violinand piano! The last thing in the world toplay! And there was, to my astonishment,no critical disapproval of what he did. Iregard it as little less than a crime.

*Transcriber's note: Original text read"standad".

"But this whole question of programs andrepertory is one without end. Which of the

great concertos do I prefer? That is adifficult question to answer off-hand. But Ican easily tell you which I like least. It isthe Tschaikovsky* violin concerto--I wouldnot exchange the first ten measures ofVieuxtemps's Fourth concerto for thewhole of Tschaikovsky's, that is from themusical point of view. I have heard theTschaikovsky played magnificently byAuer and by Elman; but I consider it theworst thing the composer has written."

*Transcriber's note: Original text read"Tchaikovsky".

XXIV

GUSTAV SAENGER

THE EDITOR AS A FACTOR IN"VIOLIN MASTERY"

The courts of editorial appeal presidedover by such men as Wm. Arms Fisher, Dr.Theodore Baker, Gustav Saenger andothers, have a direct relation to theestablishment and maintenance ofstandards of musical mastery in generaland, in the case of Gustav Saenger, with"Violin Mastery" in particular. For thiseditor, composer and violinist is at homewith every detail of the educational andartistic development of his instrument, anda considerable portion of the violin musicpublished in the United States represents

his final and authoritative revision.

"Has the work of the editor any influenceon the development of 'Violin Mastery'?"was the first question put to Mr. Saengerwhen he found time to see the writer in hiseditorial rooms. "In a larger sense I think ithas," was the reply. "Mastery of any kindcomes as a result of striving for a definitegoal. In the case of the violin student theroad of progress is long, and if he is not tostray off into the numerous by-paths oferror, it must be liberally provided withsign-posts. These sign-posts, in the way ofclear and exact indications with regard tobowing, fingering, interpretation, it is theeditor's duty to erect. The student himselfmust provide mechanical ability andemotional instinct, the teacher mustdevelop and perfect them, and the editormust neglect nothing in the way ofexplanation, illustration and example

which will help both teacher and pupil toobtain more intimate insight into themusical and technical values. Yes, I thinkthe editor may claim to be a factor in theattainment of 'Violin Mastery.'

OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES

"The work of the responsible editor ofmodern violin music must haveconstructive value, it must suggest andstimulate. When Kreutzer, Gavinies andRode first published their work, little stresswas laid on editorial revision. You will findlittle in the way of fingering indicated inthe old editions of Kreutzer. It was not tilllong after Kreutzer's death that his pupil,Massart, published an excellent littlebook, which he called 'The Art of StudyingR. Kreutzer's �udes' and which I havetranslated. It contains no less than four

hundred and twelve examples speciallydesigned to aid the student to master the_�udes_ in the spirit of their composer. Yetthese studies, as difficult to-day as theywere when first written, are old wine thatneed no bush, though they have gained bybeing decanted into new bottles ofeditorial revision.

[Illustration: GUSTAV SAENGER, withhand-written note]

"They have such fundamental value, thatthey allow of infinite variety of treatmentand editorial presentation. Every studentwho has reached a certain degree oftechnical proficiency takes them up. Yetwhen studying them for the first time, as arule it is all he can do to master them in apurely superficial way. When he haspassed beyond them, he can return tothem with greater technical facility and,

because of their infinite variety, find thatthey offer him any number of new studyproblems. As with Kreutzer--an essential to'Violin Mastery'--so it is with Rode, Fiorillo,and Gavinies. Editorial care has preparedthe studies in distinct editions, such asthose of Hermann and Singer, specificallyfor the student, and that of Emil Kross, forthe advanced player. These editions givethe work of the teacher a more directproportion of result. The differencebetween the two types is mainly in thefingering. In the case of the studenteditions a simple, practical fingering ofpositive educational value is given; andthe student should be careful to useeditions of this kind, meant for him. Krossprovides many of the _�udes_ withfingerings which only the virtuoso playeris able to apply. Aside from technicalconsiderations the absolute musicalbeauty of many of these studies is great,

and they are well suited for soloperformance. Rode's _Caprices_, forinstance, are particularly suited for such apurpose, and many of Paganini's famous_Caprices_ have found a lasting place inthe concert repertory, with pianoaccompaniments by artists like Kreisler,Eddy Brown, Edward Behm and MaxVogrich--- the last-named composer'sthree beautiful 'Characteristic Pieces' afterPaganini are worth any violinist's attention.

AMERICAN EDITORIALIDEALS

"In this country those intrusted witheditorial responsibility as regards violinmusic have upheld a truly Americanstandard of independent judgment. Thetime has long since passed when foreigneditions were accepted on their face value,

particularly older works. In a word, theconscientious American editor of violinmusic reflects in his editions the actualstate of progress of the art of violin playingas established by the best teachers andteaching methods, whether the works inquestion represent a higher or lowerstandard of artistic merit.

"And this is no easy task. One mustremember that the peculiar construction ofthe violin with regard to its technicalpossibilities makes the presentation of aviolin piece difficult from an editorialstandpoint. A composition may be sowritten that a beginner can play it in thefirst position; and the same number maybe played with beautiful effects in thehigher positions by an artist. This accountsfor the fact that in many modern editions ofsolo music for violin, double fingerings, forstudent and advanced players

respectively, are indicated--an essentiallymodern editorial development. Moderninstructive works by such masters asSevcik, Eberhardt and others have madetechnical problems more clearly andconcisely get-at-able than did the oldermethods. Yet some of these older worksare by no means negligible, though ofcourse, in all classic violin literature, fromTartini on, Kreutzer, Spohr, Paganini,Ernst, each individual artist represents hisown school, his own method to theexclusion of any other. Spohr was one ofthe first to devote editorial attention to hisown method, one which, despite its age, isa valuable work, though most students donot know how to use it. It is really a methodfor the advanced player, since itpresupposes a good deal of preliminarytechnical knowledge, and begins at oncewith the higher positions. It is rather aseries of study pieces for the special

development of certain difficult phases,musical and technical, of the violinist's art,than a method. I have translated andedited the American edition of this work,and the many explanatory notes withwhich Spohr has provided* it--as in hisown 9th, and the Rode concerto (includedas representative of what violin concertosreally should be), the measures beingprovided with group numbers forconvenience in reference--are notobsolete. They are still valid, and any onewho can appreciate the ideals of the_Gesangsscene_, its beautiful _cantilene_and pure serenity, may profit by them. Ienjoyed editing this work because I myselfhad studied with Carl Richter, a Spohrpupil, who had all his master's traditions.

*Transcriber's note: Original text read"provied".

THE MASTER VIOLINIST AS ANEDITOR

"That the editorial revisions of a number ofour greatest living violinists and teachershave passed through my editorial rooms,on their way to press, is a fact of which Iam decidedly proud. Leopold Auer, forinstance, is one of the most careful, exactand practical of editors, and the fact isworth dwelling on since sometimes thegreat artist or teacher quite naturallyforgets that those for whom he is editing acomposition have neither his knowledgenor resources. Auer never loses sight ofthe composer's _own ideas_.

"And when I mention great violinists withwhom I have been associated as an editor,Mischa Elman must not be forgotten. Ifound it at first a difficult matter to induce

an artist like Elman, for whom no technicaldifficulties exist, to seriously consider thelimitations of the average player in hisfingerings and interpretative demands.Elman, like every great _virtuoso_ of hiscaliber, is influenced in his revisions bythe manner in which he himself doesthings. I remember in one instance I couldsee no reason why he should mark thethird finger for a _cantilena_ passagewhere a certain effect was desired, andquestioned it. Catching up his violin heplayed the note preceding it with hissecond finger, then instead of slipping thesecond finger down the string, he took thenext note with the third, in such a way thata most exquisite _legato_ effect, like abreath, the echo of a sigh, was secured.And the beauty of tone color in thisinstance not only proved his point, but hasled me invariably to examine very closelya fingering on the part of a master violinist

which represents a departure from theconventional--it is often the technical keyto some new beauty of interpretation orexpression.

"Fritz Kreisler's individuality is alsoreflected in his markings and fingerings.Of course those in his 'educational' editionsare strictly meant for study needs. But ingeneral they are difficult and based on hisown manner and style of playing. As hehimself has remarked: 'I could play theviolin just as well with three as with fourfingers.' Kreisler is fond of 'fingered'octaves, and these, because of hisabnormal hand, he plays with the first andthird fingers, where virtuose players, as arule, are only too happy if they can playthem with the first and fourth. To verify thisindividual character of his revisions, oneneed only glance at his edition ofGodowsky's '12 Impressions' for violin--in

every case the fingerings indicated aredifficult in the extreme; yet they supply thekey to definite effects, and since this musicis intended for the advance player, arequite in order.

"The ms. and revisions of many otherdistinguished artists have passed throughmy hands. Theodore Spiering has beenresponsible for the educational detail ofclassic and modern works; ArthurHartmann--a composer of markedoriginality--Albert Spalding, Eddy Brown,Francis MacMillan, Max Pilzer, DavidHochstein, Richard Czerwonky, CecilBurleigh, Edwin Grasse, Edmund Severn,Franz C. Bornschein, Leo Ornstein, RubinGoldmark, Louis Pershinger, Louis VictorSaar--whose ms. always look as thoughengraved--have all given me opportunitiesof seeing the best the American violincomposer is creating at the present time.

EDITORIAL DIFFICULTIES

"The revisional work of the master violinistis of very great importance, but often greatartists and distinguished teachers holdradically different views with regard topractically every detail of their art. And itis by no means easy for an editor likemyself, who is finally responsible for theireditions, to harmonize a hundredconflicting views and opinions. Thefiddlers best qualified to speak withauthority will often disagree absolutelyregarding the use of a string, position,up-bow or down-bow. And besidesmeeting the needs of student and teacher,an editor-in-chief must bear in mind theartistic requirements of the music itself. Inmany cases the divergence in teachingstandards reflects the personal

preferences for the editions used. Lessambitious teachers choose methods whichmake the study of the violin as _easy_ aspossible for _them_; rather than thosewhich--in the long run--may be mostadvantageous for the _pupil_. The besteditions of studies are often cast aside fortrivial reasons, such as are embodied inthe poor excuse that 'the fourth finger istoo frequently indicated.' According to theold-time formulas, it was generallyaccepted that ascending passages shouldbe played on the open strings anddescending ones using the fourth finger. Itstands to reason that the use of the fourthfinger involves more effort, is a greater taxof strength, and that the open string is aneasier playing proposition. Yet a reallyperfected technic demands that the fourthfinger be every bit as strong and flexibleas any of the others. By nature it is shorterand weaker, and beginners usually have

great trouble with it--which makes perfectcontrol of it all the more essential! And yetteachers, contrary to all sound principleand merely to save effort--temporarily--forthemselves and their pupils, will oftenreject an edition of a method or book ofstudies merely because in its editing thefourth finger has not been deprived of itsproper chance of development. I know ofcases where, were it not for the guidancesupplied by editorial revision, the averageteacher would have had no idea of thepurpose of the studies he was using. Onegreat feature of good modern editions ofclassical study works, from Kreutzer toPaganini, is the double editorialnumeration: one giving the sequence as inthe original editions; the other numberingthe studies in order of technical difficulty,so that they may be practicedprogressively.

A UNIQUE COLLECTION OFVIOLIN STUDIES

"What special editorial work of mine hasgiven me the greatest personal satisfactionin the doing? That is a hard question toanswer. Off-hand I might say that, perhaps,the collection of progressive orchestralstudies for advanced violinists which Ihave compiled and annotated for thebenefit of the symphony orchestra playeris something that has meant much to mepersonally. Years ago, when I playedprofessionally--long before the days of'miniature' orchestra scores--it was almostimpossible for an ambitious young violinistto acquaint himself with the first andsecond violin parts of the great symphonicworks. Prices of scores wereprohibitive--and though in such works asthe Brahms symphonies, for instance, the

'concertmaster's' part should be studiedfrom score, in its relation to the rest of the_partitura_--often, merely to obtain a firstviolin part, I had to acquire the entire set ofstrings. So when I became an editor Idetermined, in view of my own unhappyexperiences and that of many others, togive the aspiring fiddler who reallywanted to 'get at' the violin parts of thebest symphonic music, from Bach toBrahms and Richard Strauss, a chance todo so. And I believe I solved the problemin the five books of the 'ModernConcert-Master,' which includes all thosereally difficult and important passages inthe great repertory works of the symphonyorchestra that offer violinistic problems.My only regret is that the grasping attitudeof European publishers prevented therepresentation of certain importantsymphonic numbers. Yet, as it stands, Ithink I may say that the five encyclopedic

books of the collection give the symphonyconcertmaster every practical opportunityto gain orchestral routine, and orchestralmastery.

A NEW CLASSIFICATION OFVIOLIN LITERATURE

"What I am inclined to consider, however,as even more important, in a sense, thanmy editorial labors is a new educationalclassification of violin literature, one whichpractically covers the entire field of violinmusic, and upon which I have beenengaged for several years. Insomuch as aneditor's work helps in the acquisition of'Violin Mastery,' I am tempted to think thiscatalogue will be a contribution of realvalue.

"As far as I know there does not at present

exist any guide or hand-book of violinliterature in which the fundamentalquestion of grading has been presented_au fond_. This is not strange, since thetask of compiling a really valid andlogically graded guide-book of violinliterature is one that offers great difficultiesfrom almost every point of view.

"Yet I have found the work engrossing,because the need of a book of the kindwhich makes it easy for the teacher tobring his pupils ahead more rapidly andintelligently by giving him an oversight ofthe entire teaching-material of the violinand under clear, practical heads in detailorder of progression is making itself moreurgently felt every day. In classification(there are seven grades and a preparatorygrade), I have not chosen an easier andconventional plan of _general_consideration of difficulties; but have

followed a more systematic scheme, onemore closely related to the study of theinstrument itself. Thus, my 'PreparatoryGrade' contains only material which couldbe advantageously used with children andbeginners, those still struggling with thesimplest elementary problems--correctdrawing of the bow across the openstrings, in a certain rhythmic order, andthe first use of the fingers. And throughoutthe grades are special sub-sections forspecial difficulties, special technical andother problems. In short, I cannot help butfeel that I have compiled a real guide, onewith a definite educational value, and not acatalogue, masquerading as a violinisticBaedeker.

VIOLIN EDITIONS "MADE INAMERICA"

"One of the most significant features of theviolin guide I have mentioned is, perhaps,the fact that its contents largely cover thewhole range of violin literature inAmerican editions. There was a time, yearsago, when 'made in Germany' wasaccepted as a certificate of editorialexcellence and mechanical perfection.Those days have long since passed, andthe American edition has come into itsown. It has reached a point ofdevelopment where it is of far morepractical and musically stimulating valuethan any European edition. For Americaneditions of violin music do not take somuch for granted! They reflect in thehighest degree the needs of students andplayers in smaller places throughout thecountry, and where teachers are rare ornon-existent they do much to supplyinstruction by meticulous regard for alldetail of fingering, bowing, phrasing,

expression, by insisting in explanatoryannotation on the correct presentation ofauthoritative teaching ideas andprinciples. In a broader sense 'ViolinMastery' knows no nationality; but yet weassociate the famous artists of the day withindividual and distinctively national trendsof development and 'schools.' In thisconnection I am convinced that one resultof this great war of world liberation wehave waged, one by-product of thetriumph of the democratic truth, will be anotably 'American' ideal of 'ViolinMastery,' in the musical as well as thetechnical sense. And in the development ofthis ideal I do not think it is too much toclaim that American editions of violinmusic, and those who are responsible forthem, will have done their part."

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook ofViolin Mastery, by Frederick H. Martens

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